Product Reviews

Now Here’s a Tip: It’s Atop the New Hourglass Script Precision Liquid Liner Pen

April 20th, 2011 by Karen 54 Comments

Hourglass Script Precision Liquid Liner

So tiny and cute! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a liquid liner tip as teeny as the one atop the new Hourglass Script Precision Liquid Liner pen ($32).

The pen’s extra fine 0.5mm nib would make drafting pens jealous. New for summer, it’s built for the ultimate in line drawing precision and lays down fine, thin lines along my lash line with very little skipping. It did, though, take me a couple of minutes of fiddling to find a good position to hold the pen, as the tip is shorter than most liquid liners and feels a little awkward in my hand.

Jett, the single color available, looks like a shiny grayish black with blue undertones on me.

Hourglass Script Precision Liquid Liner (bottom) and LORAC Front of the Line Pro (top)

Hourglass Script Precision Liquid Liner swatch
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Is Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolor, Well, Pretty Amazing?

April 19th, 2011 by Karen 96 Comments

Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolor strength 1

When makeup marketers name a product “Pretty Amazing,” they’re setting the bar high. I mean, what do they do if the product only ends up being mediocre? How do they answer their boss when she asks, “How did those new Pretty Amazing Lipcolors turn out?” Well, miss, I think they turned out…fine.

Ouch.

I have to admit, I had high expectations when I heard about the new Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolors line of hybrid liquid lipgloss/lipsticks ($16 each). I wondered if they’d make my eyes roll back in my head in ecstasy (I hope!). Would I find myself speaking in tongues?

Judging by their names, the eight new Lipcolors do have a certain swagger. There’s Bravado (a brick rose), Charisma (a coral pink), Ambition (a fuchsia), Courage (a warm strawberry), Fearless (a rosy mauve), Free Will (a pink nude; oddly, I keep wanting to call this one “Free Willy”), Moxie (a bright petal pink) and Strength (a vibrant red). Hot. I’ll call your positive messages, Bare Minerals, and raise you some power. 🙂

No, these aren’t lipglosses for wallflowers. They’re much stronger than that. These are like lipglosses on P90X — super thick and sticky with full-color coverage and subtle shine. Imagine the thick, sticky texture of a MAC Lipglass coupled with the uber-pigmented power of the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams and BAM! — you’re Pretty Amazing.

They’re also unscented and unflavored, but neither of those is their most amazing trait. That distinction goes to their color. It’s saturated and opaque, like the stuff of technicolor dreams.

Even though I find some of the brighter, bolder shades like Strength a little tricky to apply, the flocked applicator helps. As long as I use it with a slow, steady hand, I’m able to precisely draw crisp lines along the edges of my lips.

Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolor iphone
Beside an iPhone for scale…

Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolor wands

Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolor swatches flash
Swatches from left with the flash: Bravado, Charisma, Ambition, Courage, Fearless, Free Will, Moxie and Strength

Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolor swatches without
Swatches without the flash
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The $5 Goody Reversible Headband Makes for Goody, Clean Fun

April 18th, 2011 by Karen 26 Comments

Goody Reversible Headband

Maybe I’m just way too easily amused, but I can see myself having a lot of fun with these new Goody Reversible Headbands ($5).

These fabric wrapped headbands are double sided, so when you feel like switching up your look, all you have to do is move the fabric to reveal the other side. It’s like getting two headbands for the price of one.

One minute, I’m sitting in a crowded boardroom. “Pardon me, everyone,” I say, getting up from my seat. “I’ll be right back.” I walk out of the room and around the corner, reverse the headband, and then nonchalantly walk back to my seat. Hehe… Psyche! 🙂

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How Hot Is the $36 LORAC Hot Off The Red Carpet Collection? It’s So Hot That It Made Summer Start Early

April 18th, 2011 by Karen 36 Comments

lorac hot off the red carpet

The LORAC Hot Off The Red Carpet Collection ($36) may not push the boundaries of summer makeup, but I’m okay with that. With plenty of metallic gold, teal, bronze and brown, products in the five-piece limited edition will look right at home this summer gracing makeup counters and tan, warm skin.

Two words: smokin’ hot. Hot, like Giselle working the Victoria’s Secret runway, or a shirtless Jakey Poo working an outdoor car wash.

Hot Off The Red Carpet joins five other products in LORAC’s Touch Me, Tease Me, TANtalize Me Summer 2011 Collection

The kit comes with four full-size pieces of makeup (two eyeshadow duos, a bronzer and lipgloss) and this cute golder-than-gold clutch…

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Look Your Best Every Day with the Pixi Week of Wakeup Makeup Kit

April 12th, 2011 by Karen 28 Comments

When I was a kid I had one of those sets of underwear with a different printed pair for every day of the week, and being the rebel that I was, I liked to wear the days out of order. Sometimes, I’d wear the Saturday pair on Wednesday, the Thursday pair on Monday — you get the idea.

I wonder if that’s why I feel compelled to wear the products in Pixi’s new Week of Wakeup Makeup ($34) out of order… The new palette contains 21 powder eyeshadows, 7 powder blushes and eight lip glosses sorted into groups for a different look every day of the week (like Underoos for makeup, LOL!). 🙂

Products in the Pixi makeup line, which was developed by makeup artist (and mum) Petra Strand, are designed to enhance natural beauty, so you won’t find any crazy colors here. Just plenty of neutrals in warm and cool shades — basically, tones to bring out a slightly more colorful version of yourself.

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Pacifica French Lilac Body Wash Is Turning Showers Into Gardens

April 12th, 2011 by Karen 19 Comments

Last month I put myself on Pacifica lockdown when I couldn’t find my toothbrush on the bathroom counter. Oh, I knew it was there, buried somewhere beneath a precarious pile of Pacifica Body Butters and Washes, but it took way too much time and shuffling around to find. Gah! “Is this what I’ve become?” I asked my reflection in the mirror.

Right then and there, I made myself a deal. No new bottles or tubes until I finished an old one.

Can I get a woot-woot for small beauty victories? 🙂

The embargo was finally lifted last week, so to speak, when I finished a tube of Malibu Lemon Blossom Body Butter, huzzah! It made room for this lovely bottle of Pacific French Lilac Body Wash ($10 for an 8-oz. bottle).

If you’re still awaiting spring in your area, open a bottle of this in your shower and let its soft, understated floral fragrance and lush coat of foamy bubbles wash the last remnants of winter away.
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Chips, Ahoy! It’s Estee Lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquer, Matey

April 11th, 2011 by Karen 17 Comments

Estee lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquer shades clockwise from the purple bottle on the left: Violet Diva, Fuchsia Flame, Purple Passion and Hot Coral

I try to treat my nails well. I really do. But the constant clacking away at the keyboard, coupled with the opening of countless cans of gravy, take a toll. That’s why I’m looking for nail polishes that do more than merely look good. They also need to stand up to the everyday drama/trauma I put my nails through.

I was hoping to find such a polish when I tried the new Estee Lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquers ($19 each). Last month the brand launched a newly reformulated line, adding eight bold, pigmented shades to their permanent collection (Frozen Fantasy, Rosa Rosa, Hot Coral, Pure Red, Enchanted Garnet, Fuchsia Flame, Purple Passion and Ultra Violet), as well as eight limited edition shades bound exclusively for Nordstrom stores (Sizzling taupe, Oyster Cult, Perfect Storm, Chocolate Crave, Mega Fuchsia, Violet Diva, Wicked Green and Wild Blue).

I’ve long loved EL’s polishes and really hoped these new ones would be just as great as their predecessors.

By all appearances, they are. The new shades sure look gorgeous on nails, don’t they? Vibrant, un-ignorable colors with a finish so shiny that it could cause temporary blindness? Hello!

Last week, along with my usual base and top coats, I wore two coats of Hot Coral on my fingers and Fuchsia Flame on my toes. From the get-go, things looked good; they applied just as smoothly as I hoped they would.

estee lauder pure color nail lacquer
Fuchsia Flame (left) and Hot Coral (right)

estee lauder pure color nail lacquer
Violet Diva (left) and Purple Passion (right)
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Ready, Set, Glow! The New Urban Decay Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizers with SPF 20

April 11th, 2011 by Karen 42 Comments

Urban Decay Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer

Dang, I like how my skin looks with this stuff on. As far as natural-looking finishes, the new Urban Decay Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizers with SPF 20 have got it on lock. Two layers applied with my fingers right after I cleanse and tone, and my skin looks fresh like morning dew (and not in a sequins and disco-ball sorta way).

I don’t usually think of subtle when I think of Urban Decay. The way these tinted moisturizers glow is so refined and quiet that I would have guessed they were from Bobbi or Laura. What a really nice surprise.

Just in time for warmer spring and summer weather, the new line comes in four shades: Halo (a sheer alabaster for fair skin tones), Bodyguard (a sheer nude for fair and medium skin tones), Bulletproof (a sheer sand for medium skin tones) and Forcefield (a sheer fawn for medium and dark skin tones). I think my tan NC35 skin falls somewhere between Bulletproof and Forcefield, so I’ve been mixing the two.

Urban Decay Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer swatches with the flash
Swatches from left with the flash: Halo, Bodyguard, Bulletproof and Forcefield

Urban Decay Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer swatches without the flash
Swatches without the flash
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