Product Reviews

The Story of Burberry Beauty Pale Barley Eyeshadow No. 22

January 24th, 2012 by Karen 48 Comments

Their love was forbidden, but they could no longer deny their passion.

By day, they sat across counters from one another, so close but yet so far, sneaking glances here and there whenever no one was looking. But at night, after the store lights dimmed and while the other eyeshadows slept peacefully in their pans, MAC Pro Longwear Eyeshadow in Sweet Satisfaction would sneak over to the NARS counter to meet Cyprus Eyeshadow, her one true love.

It was a clandestine affair, and it continued until Sweet Satisfaction started showing signs of a telltale bump…

Knowing that their families would never accept their cross-counter love, they boldly left the worlds they knew and sought refuge in a place called Burberry Beauty.

Burberry Beauty’s family had only settled the region in July of 2010. They did not yet have a competitive wall like the older, more established lines, but they greeted Sweet Satisfaction and Cyprus with open arms, making them feel at home.

Several months passed, and then, in the spring of 2012, Sweet Satisfaction gave birth.

She and Cyprus decided to raise the lovechild as a member of the Burberry Beauty clan, dressing the little one in Burberry Beauty’s distinctive family garb — a gunmetal case with a check pattern — and when they asked the Burberry elders to christen her, they agreed.

They named her Sheer Eye Shadow in Pale Barley No. 22 ($29) and added her to the spring/summer 2012 collection.

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Burberry Beauty Sheer Eye Shadow in Barley No. 22, a new shade from the spring/summer 2012 collection

From the left: MAC Sweet Satisfaction, Burberry Beauty Pale Barley and NARS Cyprus

Swatches from the left: MAC Sweet Satisfaction, Burberry Beauty Pale Barley and NARS Cyprus
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Easy Does It With NARS Makeup Removing Water

January 24th, 2012 by Karen 22 Comments

Ahhh… If my dry skin could talk, that’s what it would say about new NARS Makeup Removing Water ($29).

Gentle. That’s the figurative word here and what I like most about the product, thanks to soothing botanical ingredients like cucumber, chamomile and hyaluronic acid. It works without any soaps, oils, fragrances or alcohol to remove makeup while, according to NARS, toning and moisturizing the skin.

And, even better, it’s supposed to work without scrubbing/rubbing.

MAC Cleanse Off Oil/Tranquil and I have been in a hot-and-heavy relationship for a while now, but when I heard that FranÃ§ois was releasing a new makeup remover that wouldn’t require rubbing, I was intrigued…

When I turned 36, fine lines seemed to crop up overnight! — so things like being able to remove my makeup without having to tug at my skin are suddenly a lot more important to me now.

And to remove long-wearing eye makeup, like waterproof mascaras, eyeliners and highly-pigmented eyeshadows, there’s NARS $25 Eye Makeup Remover. Described as a “high-performance, extremely mild makeup remover that removes all types of makeup, including waterproof,” the non-greasy, oil-in-water formula glides across skin, leaving a silky, smooth feeling without leaving a residue behind, and it contains soothing natural ingredients like aloe and cucumber to calm sensitive skin.

When I’m out running errands and wearing a moderate amount of makeup — maybe a primer, a little bit of tinted moisturizer, powder, eyeshadow, blush, gloss and mascara — I’ll soak one cotton round with Makeup Removing Water, and that’s enough to do the job (without my having to scrub/tug) in between 1-2 minutes.
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If You Like Long-Wearing Blushes, You May Want to Spring for These Amazonian Clay Blushes From Tarte

January 23rd, 2012 by Karen 52 Comments

Wearing Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten

Daily revelations, January 23, 2012

“Isosceles” and “Camembert” are two very dignified words.
The retail pet products world discriminates against cats (at Target, dogs get both sides of an entire aisle for toys and canine accessories, but cats just get one small section of wall!).
What does it mean when you’re no longer embarrassed about saying things like this out loud: “The kitty appetizers with the shredded pieces are way classier than the ones with cubed bits.”
ZOMG! Tarte’s four shimmery, glittery Amazonian Clay Blushes for spring 2012 are totally great!

I’m still trying to track down whether these four new $25 blushes are limited edition or permanent, but I’m really hoping that Tarte decides to keep ’em around, because I can easily see myself wearing Adored (a cool pink with purplish glitter), Frisky (a red with golden glitter), Buff (a nude peachy brown with silver glitter) and Glisten (a shimmery peachy gold from last year’s QVC-exclusive 8th World Wonder kit) all year round.

Like their older siblings, these four new shades also contain (you guessed it!) Amazonian Clay! — an ingredient that Tarte claims is able to adapt to different skin conditions, both moisturizing dry patches and absorbing grease in oily areas at the same time.

My dry cheeks have yet to feel a sudden surge of moisture when they wear these, but I can say that the blushes haven’t made my alligator skin situation any worse.

Also like last year’s blushes, these pigmented powerhouses have amazing grip strength! They latch onto my cheeks and don’t let go for nothin’, not even after multiple trips to and from my car yesterday in the rain. They stayed put all day long until I removed my makeup around 9 at night, so if you need or want a long-wearing blush, you could do a lot worse than these.

But, you might be wondering, what about the glitter? Well, I think Tarte handles it well. It’s definitely not glitter ala Claire’s/Hot Topic. Tarte appears to be using a semi-matte blush base for Adored, Frisky and Glisten that tones down the party effect, so it’s visible from an arm’s length away, but the glitter flecks are so tiny and subdued that I think they look refined. We’re talking classy glitter here, babe. 🙂

Frisky

Adored
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L’Occitane Cherry Princess Proves That Every Girl Can Be a Princess From Provence

January 22nd, 2012 by Karen 17 Comments

L'Occitane Cherry Princess

Never underestimate the healing power of a shower, cute pajamas and new Cherry Princess bath and body products from L’Occitane. They combine to create one of the most powerful trifectas of recuperative relaxation known to womankind!

Drill Sergeant Tabs worked me hard this week, and by Friday I was totally beat. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to go out (he’s such a party animal!).

So while Tabs went out clubbing with his new BFF, Bruno Mars, I stayed home, took a long shower with L’Occitane and rented movies instead.

I discovered a few fabulous new L’Occitane treats from the new five-piece Cherry Princess collection of bath and body products (coming Jan. 30), like their Pearlescent Shower Cream ($20 for an 8.4-ounce bottle), Eau de Toilette ($40 for 1.7 ounces) and Hand Cream ($10 for 1 ounce). These three items, along with a Solid Perfume ($12 for 0.35 ounces) and a Silky Body Gel ($25 for 8.4 ounces), comprise the limited edition release.

This time around, L’Occitane takes us straight to Luberon, an area of Provence in France that stretches 30 miles along rugged hills east of Avignon, incorporating cherry extracts from the region into each of the products in the Cherry Princess line.
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I See Vampires In the Sun With Twilight Falls and the MAC, Naturally Mineralize Eye Shadows!

January 21st, 2012 by Karen 12 Comments

I’m starting to see vampire references everywhere I look! — now even in the new MAC, Naturally collection.

Two of the five MAC Mineralize Shadows from the release are called In the Sun and Twilight Falls ($20 each)…

In the Sun? And Twilight Falls? Total vampire plugs, right?

Alright, maybe not, but Twilight Falls is my new smokey shadow crush. MAC describes it as a cool brown with bronze veining…

Veining? Vampires? No?

Okay, I’ll stop. 🙂

Twilight Falls

On me, Twilight Falls is a shimmery cool-toned brownish taupe — hardly any fallout — and I love the way it looks when I apply it on my lids with a firm brush like the MAC 239 and then diffuse the edges with something like the 217 for sultry smokey eyes in snap.

I think it’s also super pretty when applied wet. If you remember Earthly Riches from 2007’s Antiquitease, I think Twilight Falls looks like a version of that with more brown.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

In the Sun

MAC describes In the Sun as a gold with violet veining (vampire much?). On my skin, I see a reddish bronze, and it’s my least favorite of the two on account of its texture and moderate fallout.

I do like how it shimmers… Shimmer always makes me go, “Ooh! It sparkles!” But when I wear it, I can see big grains of powder sitting on top of my skin.

I should also say that I tend to have trouble pulling off bronzy reds because I think many of them they can make me look like I’m ill, but if you can work ’em, more power to ya.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: C+

Swatches of Twilight Falls on the left and In the Sun on the right
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Life and Cheeks Are Sweeter With Fresh Honey: MAC, Naturally Mineralize Blush in Fresh Honey

January 21st, 2012 by Karen 13 Comments

If I were to swipe MAC’s $22 Mineralize Blush in Fresh Honey on the back of my hand while standing next to Ryan Gosling at a MAC counter, where he’d be getting replacement pads for his eyelash curler, the part of my brain still paying attention to the swatch would think, “Now that’s a pretty matte.”

(The rest of me would be plotting ways to get Ryan to remove his shirt.)

One of three blushes in the MAC, Naturally collection, Fresh Honey appeared to have a matte finish the first time I saw it on my hand, but when I got it on my cheeks, I saw that it actually has a very soft sheen.

Back at the MAC counter with Ryan… 🙂

After applying two layers of Fresh Honey on my cheeks, I’d turn to Ryan, smile, bat my lashes and say, “Would you like to see a picture of my cat?” Then, since this is my fantasy, he’d be so smitten and charmed by both Tabs and my fresh, healthy-looking cheeks, that he would immediately call Eva Mendez and break up (sorry, girl!).

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Who Makes the Mineralize Skinfinishes in Blonde and Redhead? It’s MAC, Naturally

January 20th, 2012 by Karen 17 Comments

Based on the both of the Mineralize Skinfinish powders released with the 21-piece MAC, Naturally collection, Blondes AND Redheads have more fun.

MAC Naturally Mineralize Skinfinishes And that’s good news for brunettes! Blonde and Redhead ($28 each) are my favorite pieces from the collection, which launched a few weeks back, and I mustn’t be their only fan. Both powders are currently sold out on the MAC website, but you should be able to track them down in stores and on counters (and online at nordstrom.com).

Elder MAC mavens might remember both shades from 2009’s Brunette Blonde Redhead (GREAT collection!). MAC moppets seeing these striped beauties for the first time are in for a treat.

To say the MAC Mineralize Skinfinishes have a cult following is like saying Tabs likes gravy (a BIG understatement). Many MAC fans, myself included, look forward to these powdered pretties and stalk our local makeup counters on the dates of their release, and it’s not uncommon for the limited edition ones like Blonde and Redhead to sell out early.

So, what makes ’em so special? Darned if I know — but it must be something magic. They’re powders that can be used as highlighters, blushes and also as powders for the entire face, and they’re softer than a tabby’s tum and give a glow like whoa to the skin. 🙂

Blonde (a soft pink to rose gradient) and Redhead (a gold to salmon gradient) also show the MSFs at their best. They deposit intense pigments with nearly blinding shimmer that I think makes them marvelous for, among other things, bold, highlighted cheeks.

Swatches of Blonde (left) and Redhead (right)

Wearing Redhead on my cheeks
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With Tour Dates This Spring, China Glaze Electropop Puts on a Colorful Show

January 20th, 2012 by Karen 25 Comments

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I’ve been keeping a secret from you.

No, I’m not a billionaire or a costumed vigilante…although I bet Tabs would look so cute in his little sidekick outfit!

Here it is: I’m a rock star.

Or rather, I would like to be.

Cat’s out of the bag! Yep, one of my resolutions this year was to channel my inner rock star, and no, I don’t mean by fronting a band. 🙂 I mean someone who’s confident and bold enough to tear it up in front of thousands of people on stage. Someone with wicked style, too, like my own lead singer in a one-woman band. The Gwen Stefani of Novato, California.

But wait — it gets cheesier! To remind myself to “embrace my inner rock star,” I leave a lot of Post-Its around the house…

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