Product Reviews

There’s Something Fishy About Nails Inc. Kensington Hand Cream, and It’s Not the Scent

August 13th, 2011 by Karen 14 Comments

One of these days I’m gonna start a bumper sticker line for beauty addicts. You’ll find it at Sephora in one of those wire kiosk things that twirl, and the stickers will say things like, “I’m lost without Shu,” and “I’m a ho for hand cream.”

Speaking of that, have you tried the new (well, new to us Yanks) Nails Inc. Kensington Conditioning Hand Cream ($18 for a 3.4-oz. tube)? I like it so much that when I switched purses for the eighth time in just as many days, I was sure to move the tube over with my essentials (wallet, keys, lipgloss, iPhone, emergency travel packet of Nutella).

The cream, which recently made the trip out here from London and now lives at Sephora stores, contains caviar extract, which is fancy for “fish egg juice.” 🙂

Ingredients: Aqua, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Stearic Acid, Cetearyl Alcohol, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa Butter), Triethanolamine, Dimethicone, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Caviar Extract, Soluble Collagen, Parfum, Tocopheryl Acetate, Alcohol Imidazolidinyl Urea, Retinyl Palmitate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Hydroxyproline, Lecithin Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Sorbitol , Tocopherol, Glyceryl Oleate, Butylparaben Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Methylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Propylparaben Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene.

I’m not sure what, if anything, the caviar is doing in there (I suspect it’s more of a red herring, haha!) but it sure sounds rich. The non-greasy cream also contains a few other compounds, unfortunately, like various parabens and dimethicone, that I’d just assume not see in the list of ingredients, but the product’s performance is its saving grace. It’s supposed to reduce the appearance of fine lines while firming the skin and boosting collagen production. I can’t attest to any of those claims yet, but I will say this: it’s mad crazy moisturizing!
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The LORAC Naked Lace Collection Kit Wants You To Misbehave

August 12th, 2011 by Karen 24 Comments

lorac naked lace collection

Can love for lace be hereditary? A trait passed down from generation to generation? I ask because of my granny, who, bless her heart, has every square inch of surface area in her apartment covered with lace doilies. The tables, chairs and even the top of the TV. If it’ll fit a lace doily, granny’s got it covered (literally).

I, too, love lace, but I prefer mine with a darker, sexier edge, like the products in the new LORAC Naked Lace Collection ($28) kit have.

LORAC regularly releases cute sets at great prices, but this new one is probably one of my favorites ever.

It was the purse that sucked me in…

Cute, right? 🙂

Along with the purse, the kit comes with two eyeshadows, a blush and three mini lipglosses in easy-to-wear beige, taupe, pink, peach and nude.

Clockwise from the blush on the bottom, that’s Blush in Rendezvous, Mini Couture Shine in Trend Setter, Mini Couture Shine in Vintage, Mini Couture Shine in Muse, Eye Shadow in Negligee and Eye Shadow in Boudoir

A few thoughts on the products…

The eyeshadows might be a tad frosty for some, but that frost seems to light up my eyes, and I like how easily they blend. The shimmery beige one, Negligee, reminds me of MAC Ricepaper, and Boudoir looks a lot like MAC Satin Taupe.
I love Rendezvous, the pink blush. If it were warmer and not quite as pink, it could be a dupe for NARS Orgasm. One layer (I use the bounce technique) gives cheeks a natural flush.
If you like nude lip glosses, then brace yourself for this: the three Mini Couture Shines, which have a light vanilla flavor and scent, are a lot like non-sticky versions of MAC Lipglasses. Pretty? Most definitely. They are. 🙂

lorac naked lace collection
Swatches from the left, that’s the Eye Shadow in Negligee, Eye Shadow in Boudoir, Blush in Rendezvous, Mini Couture Shine in Vintage, MIni Couture Shine in Trend Setter and Mini Couture Shine in Muse
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Smashbox Brow Tech Wax Disciplines All But the Most Unruly Brows

August 11th, 2011 by Karen 56 Comments

I don’t know what I did to lose their support, but at some point over the past few weeks, my brows decided to stage a coup. A chunk of my left brow just didn’t come to work one day, like it decided, “That’s it! Game over.” Now I have a brow bald spot, and I’m really not sure how it happened.

Then a group of longish witch hairs rode into town one night, probably detecting an opportunity to seize power. I call them “Kool and the Gang.” There may be someone, somewhere out there who finds insubordinate, mutinous brows alluring, but I’m not crazy about the look.

I would have reached for my Benefit Instant Brow pencil to restore balance to my brows, but I used the last of it a few weeks ago.

Perfect excuse to visit Sephora to look for something new. 🙂

But where do I start? I wondered, as I browsed for brow solutions in the store, and that’s when I saw the gal with the bangin’ brows…

They were perfectly filled in and sculpted, the hairs all lying nice and neat, so I asked her for her secret. She said she filled them in first with eyeshadow using an angled brush, and then set them with Smashbox Brow Tech Wax ($20).

Eureka!

I’d heard of it before, Brow Tech — a colorless brow wax that comes in a pot. It’s part of Smashbox’s permanent line.

I already had MAC Concrete and the MAC 266 Angled Brush at home, so I grabbed a pot of Brow Tech and hoped for the best.

There’s really not much to it. It’s a soft, colorless wax that dries to a matte finish. To apply, you brush it directly onto your brows with an angled brush. You can wear it alone or on top of a powder or pencil; I tried it both ways.

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All Eyes on the Make Up For Ever Smoky Couleur Collection

August 11th, 2011 by Karen 59 Comments

make up for ever smoky couleur

Hey, baby, what’s your sign?

No, I’m not throwing you a cheesy pickup line. 🙂 I’m just curious. I’m a Gemini, by the way, and while I probably wouldn’t make major life decisions based entirely on the stars, I like to imagine that they play a role in our lives.

I actually feel very connected to my sign; Geminis are supposed to be good communicators and are said to have dual personalities. I’m still working on the communication part as far as expressing things like frustration and anger in constructive ways (gotta stop slamming doors when I get fussy), but the dual personality thing describes me to a tee! — especially when it comes to makeup.

Some days I prefer bolder eye looks; others, like today, I prefer to take it easier with something mellow, perhaps something using products from the new Make Up For Ever Smoky Couleur collection, for example.

The new 11-piece release, available online and at Sephora stores now, lives for smokey (or smoky) eyes. It encompasses an eyeshadow palette, four mascaras and four pencil eyeliners in a mix of new and repromoted jewel-toned and neutral shades.

You know those convertible black dresses? — the ones you can wear, like, 10 different ways? These colors remind me of ’em. They put everything I need for bold green, blue, purple and classic black smokey eyes, as well as colors for mellower looks like the one I’m wearing today, right at my fingertips.

make up for ever smoky couleur fall 2011

I’ve been playing with five of the products for about a week…

Smoky Palette ($45): So, $45 does sound like a lot for an eye palette, but it breaks down to just $5.63 per pan. That’s not bad considering these lush pigments and their velveteen texture. Even though I’ve met these colors before in other smokey palettes, I think MUFE did a great job picking and choosing which ones to put together. None of them lean too far toward cool or warm and should suit a wide range of beautiful skin tones.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A
Kohl Pencil in #9K and #10K ($17 each): I like that both the mocha brown Kohl Pencil in #9K and matte purple #10K contain very little red, as brown and purple liners with a lot of red in them can make me look live I’ve been crying, but it’s their creamy texture that takes both of these liners to the next level for me. Skipping — what’s that? These don’t skip when I run them along my lash line, and they’re so soft and spreadable that they also work great as bases beneath the powder shadows in the Smoky Palette (or for simple, smudgy liner looks). I do wish they lasted a little longer than the five hours I get from them along my lash lines and the two to three I get from them along my water lines, but we take the good with the bad, I guess.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+
Smoky Lash Couleur Mascaras in Deep Brown #3 and Plummy #6 ($22 each): These tinted mascaras are a twist on Make Up For Ever’s classic Smoky Lash, and I like how I can actually see the colors on my lashes when I wear ’em. One layer yields thick, fatty-bo-batty lashes with lots of volume at the base, and they don’t flake or smudge (yay!). They do, however, tend to relax the curl from my Shu, just a bit, as the day wears on (boo!).
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

make up for ever smoky couleur

make up for ever smoky couleur eye
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Dr. Scholl’s High Heel Inserts Are, Quite Literally, Hot

August 9th, 2011 by Karen 31 Comments

I trekked all over San Diego late last week and through the weekend in my current sandal crush, a pair of Franco Sarto black leather cork wedges I picked up last summer, and after the first day, my feet felt fine; by the end of the second day, however, my feet and I were beginning to feel a little ‘tow up.

I turned to a pair of Dr. Scholl’s High Heel Inserts (about $8) to restore the spring to my step. They’re basically an adhesive gel insert, like a cushioned sticker, that fit into high heels to hopefully make them more comfortable.

I’ve used something similar from Foot Petals called Killer Kushionz, and even though my inner word nerd flinches every time I see the way “Kushionz” is spelled, I love how comfy they are.

Of course, at $12.95 a pop, Kushionz are about 62% more expensive than the inserts from Dr. Scholl’s, a fact not lost on my bargain-lovin’ self. Add to that the cost of shipping, as I’m usually forced to order Kushionz online (I can’t always find them locally), and the difference is usually even greater than that. Meanwhile, the Dr. Scholl’s inserts are carried at most drugstores, and sometimes even at grocery stores like Safeway.
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She Bangs, with the Conair Velvet Touch Medium Nylon Round Brush

August 8th, 2011 by Karen 49 Comments

Greetings from Novato! Sorry I’ve been MIA today, holmes. My flight was delayed out of sunny San Diego, so I spent the better part of this afternoon sitting at my departure gate while a non-stop serenade of saxophone-heavy airport muzak did its best to drive me insane.

Too late! 🙂 Needless to say, after three hours of relentless Kenny G., I was a tad grumpy, but I feel a million times better now that I’m back home with Tabs.

Shoot, I think he was even happy to see me…or maybe he just thinks he’s gonna get gravy tonight (he is).

Oh, and guess what? Lloyd Christmas and I are finally starting to get along, in part because of the new Conair Velvet Touch Medium Nylon Round Brush ($6).

It’s a barrel brush with nylon bristles designed for short to medium length hair, and I picked it up at Target last week before leaving for San Diego. With a blowdryer, it can be used to create soft curls and waves, or to smooth and straighten, which is how I’ve been using it on Lloyd Christmas.

Dang thing dries my bangs in no time flat! All I do is apply a few drops of Orofluido to them first, and then use the brush and my dryer to blow them straight. The bristles hold and spread the hair, exposing more of it to the heated air from the dryer, and I guess the vents in the barrel allow the warm air to get where it needs to go. The soft rubbery handle also helps me keep a good grip on the brush when my hands are wet.
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Oil Absorbent Kaolin Clay and a Much Beloved Color Make Sula Beauty Forget Me Not Blush Impossible to Forget

August 7th, 2011 by Karen 13 Comments

And I thought those stiff, stubby little hairs that popped up on my chin were fast (I swear, it takes less than a second for me to go from hairless to full Santa beard!).

When I saw the new Sula Beauty Blush in Forget Me Not ($8), one of four new powder blushes from the brand, then read that it’s free of parabens, phthalates and petroleum by-products, AND wasn’t tested on animals, I snatched it up even quicker than my wayward chin hairs grow.

It’s a matte peachy pink with the faintest whisper of golden shimmer. I have a feeling that someone at Sula had NARS Orgasm blush in mind when this Forget Me Not came to be, but they chose to button it up, and make it a little less flashy.

Yes, Sula, you’re speakin’ my language. 🙂 I couldn’t wait to get this cutie on my cheeks.

Ingredients: Mica, Zinc Stearate, Magnesium Carbonate, Ester Isopropyl Isostearate, Kaolin, Benzoic Acid. (+/-) Iron Oxide (CI77491, CI77492, CI77499, CI77891), Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Carmine (CI75470), Ultramarines (CI77007 ), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI77163 ), Chromium Oxide Green (CI77288), Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI77289), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI77510), Manganese Violet (CI77742), Silica, Yellow 5 Lake (CI19140 ), Blue 1 Lake (CI42090)

Right away, I liked the look of the swatch on the back of my hand, and then how sheer and natural the blush looked on my cheeks. Why yes, I am the girl next door, thank you very much.

The powder contains kaolin clay, a frequent flyer in a lot of beauty products today, where it’s added to help products absorb oil. Perfect, because when my combination skin kicks into oily overdrive, some blushes slide right off.

Not Forget Me Not. It stays put all day long, which means no touchups (a HUGE plus).
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The New Nuance Salma Hayek Makeup, Skin and Hair Care Line: Available Now Exclusively at CVS/pharmacy Stores

August 6th, 2011 by Karen 49 Comments

Do you remember when Salma Hayek guest starred on a few episodes of 30 Rock a couple seasons ago? She played a caregiver to Jack’s ailing mom, but she and Jack quickly embarked upon a forbidden romance. Forbidden in the “love not meant to be” comedic vein.

Hilarious! Truth be told, as much as I’ve liked Salma, I didn’t see us having much in common. I mean, the woman’s an international sex symbol/movie star, and I spend many days in stretchy pants, and many nights watching TV with my cat.

But then I heard about Salma’s new line of beauty products sold exclusively at CVS/pharmacy stores, and thought, isn’t it great how beauty can bring people together? — sometimes, at the drugstore.

Maybe Salma and I do have a few things in common…

Salma says that her grandma’s homemade beauty recipes, which combined exotic ingredients, inspired her to create the new line. In a weird coincidence, my grandma’s stint as a cosmetology student in the ’80s inspired the awful perm I rocked in kindergarten.

The products are carried at CVS/pharmacy stores, but you can also check ’em out and purchase them online. The items range from $7.99 – $19.99 each.

Salma’s products, which are all paraben free, weren’t tested on animals. In another weird coincidence, I live with an international kitty supermodel/cat diva who loves cruelty-free lines.

Salma’s Beautiful Blends Eyeshadow Quad looks like an H. R. Giger alien egg. In another weird coincidence, I’ve watched Alien more than a dozen times.

Beautiful Blends Eye Quad in Neutral
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