Product Reviews

Great Wear Time and Hydration Give $8 L’Oreal Le Gloss the Win

July 17th, 2011 by Karen 35 Comments

Okay, so you know those new L’Oreal Colour Riche Le Glosses?

Um…kind of awesome.

They come in 16 colors across a wide range of finishes and different levels of coverage, and they feel fantastic on my lips — smooth, comfy and non-sticky. They also have a very faint vanilla flavor and scent.

L’Oreal gave them argan oil, omega 3’s and vitamin E to condition lips, and I gotta say, these are among the most moisturizing drugstore glosses I’ve ever worn.

I was surprised by how long the color lasts. Wear time is great for a non-sticky gloss. I get about three hours out of them, and they’re even able to survive a snack and a glass of water.

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MAC Me Over with the 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush

July 16th, 2011 by Karen 19 Comments

MAC 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush

To: MAC Cosmetics I look forward to the day MAC does us a solid by finally adding the beyond awesome MAC 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush ($24.50) to their permanent eye brush lineup, but until then I guess these periodic appearances will just have to do.

To say the 226, which makes one of its periodic limited appearances next month in the MAC Me Over Fall 2011 Collection, is just one of my favorite MAC brushes of all time would be like saying New York is a nice little town. I’ve actually had nightmares about losing it, no joke. It’s fan-frickin’-tastic for applying color into the crease, and I it so much that it always comes with me whenever I travel. I literally never leave home without it, LOL!

Basically, the 226 is like a thinner, pointier version of the famed MAC 224, which many MACaholics adore for applying color into the crease. I love it, too, especially for applying under-eye concealer and for blending out harsh lines, but when it comes to crease work, I prefer the shorter bristles of the 226.

The 224’s larger, fluffier brush head covers a wider area than the 226 does, depositing more shadow than I need on my lids. The 226’s shorter bristles and more compact brush head, on the other hand, not only fit the size and shape of my crease area better than the 224, but I don’t think its bristles splay out as much, and therefore give me more control over the eyeshadows I apply.
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More Pigment and I Would Have Been Swept Away by These L’Oreal One Sweep Sculpting Blush Duos

July 15th, 2011 by Karen 17 Comments

Interesting, but is it a gimmick or actually an imaginative innovation? Either way, I gotta give it up to L’Oreal for at least trying something new. The contoured brush that comes with each of the four One Sweep Sculpting Blush Duos ($12.95 each) is designed to define and brighten cheeks at the exact same time.

Wait — how’s that?

Well, the compacts for Poppy, Nectar, Flush and Posh come with both a cheek blush and a sculpting powder (to define the cheek bones), as well as a special U-shaped brush to pick up and deposit both products in the same sweep.

Running the concave brush across the pan parallel to the center line loads it up with both colors, one on each side. I was fairly sure I’d end up with striped cheeks (how ’80s!), but the doohickey surprisingly worked.

Sort of.

Nectar (left) and Posh Chic (right)

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Undertones Don’t Interfere with Long-Lasting L’Oreal Extra-Intense Liquid Pencil Eyeliner in Carbon Black

July 15th, 2011 by Karen 19 Comments

Four-leaf clovers, true love, pink diamonds and double rainbows all seem commonplace compared to eyeliners in dark, true black. The landscape is littered with supposedly black liners that, once they’re applied to skin, turn out to have undertones like green, brown and gray.

To put it mildly…that’s annoying, but it’s not a problem for L’Oreal’s new Extra-Intense Carbon Black Liquid Pencil Eyeliner ($9), an honest-to-goodness true black.

This enchanting ebony eyeliner doesn’t just skip on the funky undertones; it also skims across my lash and water lines with ease, where it lasts 10 straight hours, even through a few tears.

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Yes, I’ll Take a Ticket to Ride the China Glaze Metro Collection This Fall

July 14th, 2011 by Karen 44 Comments

china glaze metro collection

When I close my eyes and quiet my mind, I see my city self…

Even from all the way up here, 40 stories above the street below, I can hear the hustle and bustle of urban life. There’s a distant car alarm whirring like a warbler, its peal rising up through the concrete canyons to my ears. Closer, the throttle of a bus engine opens as it pulls away from a curb, and cars carry on conversations with beeps instead of words.

I’m sitting at my desk typing beneath a huge window that almost covers one entire wall of my high-rise apartment in the sky (thankfully, in a neighborhood beyond the reach of the fog). From my desk, the window looks like a large blue painting to my eye. When I get up from my chair, walk over to the window and look down…

I’m back in Novato again, standing in front of my window at home, the sounds of traffic replaced by the distant buzz of weed whackers and the unmistakable cawing of a crow (yes, we can all hear you, bird!). I look down a few feet to the familiar golden hillside of dry grass outside. A gang of wild turkeys (dayum, those things are hella ugly!) is slowly scouring the base of a tall oak tree I can almost touch, its branches rising well above the top of the condominium complex.

Ah, the charms of small-town life! 🙂

If you long for the concrete catwalks and sidewalks of your favorite gritty city, you might like the new China Glaze Metro Collection (about $5 per bottle), coming this fall.

The new 12-piece collection of polishes features a mix of mostly desaturated blue, purple, raspberry, red, burgundy, terracotta, beige, gray, green and Dijon for uptown girls and downtown darlings.

I’ve always admired the way China Glaze takes chances with greens and yellows, and there are a couple of interesting ones here. Sometimes, they can look a little too baby poo-ish/Hot Topic for me, but I think both are very refined this time.

Trendsetter, a mustard yellow, looks elegant with its gorgeous golden shimmer, and I think Westside Warrior, a creamy camo green, would have looked right at home in last year’s Chanel Khaki Collection. It seems much more expensive than $5 to me.

China Glaze Metro Collection: Product Pics

china glaze metro collection Trendsetter Westside Warrior Concrete Catwalk
From left to right: Trendsetter, Westside Warrior, Concrete Catwalk

china glaze metro collection Street Chic Traffic Jam Urban-Night
Street Chic, Traffic Jam and Urban-Night
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It’s the Creasing with Too Faced Exotic Color Intense Eye Shadow in Cop a Teal That Makes Me Blue

July 14th, 2011 by Karen 44 Comments

One of my favorite things about makeup is how we’re not just allowed to let our moods, whims and temporary obsessions influence our color choices and techniques; we’re actually encouraged to. Heck, that’s a big part of the whole shebang, and along those lines, I’ve been feeling blue…

Not blue in a bad way. Just blue.

I don’t really know why or what triggered it, but for some reason I’ve been liking blue even more than usual, especially blue eyeshadows, which is why I had sky high hopes for $18 Exotic Color Intense Eye Shadow in Cop a Teal, one of 12 shades from Too Faced Cosmetics.

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Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop Eyeshadow Primer Wants to Wipe Out Red

July 13th, 2011 by Karen 39 Comments

I’ve been on a culinary kick lately, ya know, cooking more than usual, because as much as I love the frozen food aisle at Trader Joe’s, I think I’ve hit my upper limit for microwaveable bean burritos this year. And all of the time I’ve been racking up at the stove has also led to a startling discovery: lemon zest — the scrapings you get from running a lemon against a grater — that stuff is the muthu truckin’ shiz!

It contains all of these aromatic, flavorful oils that make it a great seasoning for dishes like fish, pasta, salad, and pretty much anything and everything else I’ve been adding it to lately.

I bet if I’m not careful, what is still just a zesty infatuation could explode into a full-blown lemon zest addiction.

And then what? Where would I be?

Oh, I know — probably thinking about lemon zest while I play with the new Too Faced Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop Color Correcting Eye Shadow Primer ($18). 🙂

It’s basically a pale lemon yellow version of the original Too Faced Shadow Insurance, a creamy eyeshadow primer designed to offset discolorations on the lids and extend the wear time of eyeshadows applied atop it.

I’ve long liked the regular version, even though the idea of it isn’t that revolutionary anymore. As far as similar lemony/yellow primers, Benefit makes one called Lemon Aid ($20) that didn’t really work for me, so I wanted Lemon Drop to rock. Plus, I kinda the name. The yellow tints are designed to neutralize redness in the skin.

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Urban Decay Fall 2011 Hits a Wide Range of Notes

July 13th, 2011 by Karen 37 Comments

VOGUE! By the way, it’s not easy to dance holding makeup.

Dance with me, ladies, to the Top 40 beats of Urban Decay’s Fall 2011 (come on, don’t be shy). Whether you’re a cutie who loves classic colors, a neutral loving-lass or a babe who can’t live without her big, bold brights, the DJ has a little something for everyone on the playlist tonight.

Like a radio station that plays pop during daylight hours and techno at night, UD’s latest collection of eye and lip products balances practical, everyday items, like a new lash curler, brow products, a mascara and neutral eyeshadows and liners, with the brand’s signature brights.

Wait — we’ll talk more in a minute. For now, put on your dancing shoes. 🙂

15-Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection, $55

urban decay 15-year anniversary eyeshadow collection

Just when I thought I’d seen every color available in an Urban Decay palette, UD releases this sleek beauty with 15 new shades! I think it strikes a great balance between neutrals and brights. MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+

Wearing Chase and Tainted on lids

24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $18

urban decay eyeliner liquid waterproof 1
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