Product Reviews

Bobbi Brown’s Two Pretty Powerful Palettes Pack Plenty of Pink to Spare

December 28th, 2010 by Karen 20 Comments

Does going au natural always mean you have to go naked?

Not according to Bobbi Brown.

Next month, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of her Pretty Powerful campaign, which turned the tables on makeup modeling by turning real women into makeup models, the queen o’ neutrals is launching two new multipurpose palettes with products for eyes, lips and cheeks.

This season, I was inspired to ask my friends — not models — to be the faces for my new campaign. They’re pretty to begin with, but with just a few simple tweaks, they look their absolute, most confident best. That’s pretty powerful.
— Bobbi Brown

The purpose of the two palettes, the first called Pretty and the other one Powerful, was to put a pink twist on Bobbi’s signature natural nudes. She packed both of them with universally flattering shades, and all I have to say is HALLELUJAH! You know I love ya, Bobs, but there’s only so much brown, beige and gray a girl can take. 🙂

I’ve always loved a natural look, but that doesn’t have to mean nude color, and it certainly doesn’t mean washed-out color. The Pretty Powerful Palettes are filled with pink tones that range from soft to warm and even a shot of bright to create a healthy look, because nothing is more beautiful to me than a healthy complexion.
— Bobbi Brown

bobbi brown pretty powerful palette closed
The top of the Powerful palette shown here is black with pink typography; the Pretty one is pink on top with black typography

Both palettes are limited edition, which is a bummer. I don’t ever want to say bye to this packaging. I adore the casual handwritten font on the outside. I think it really sets the right tone considering the products inside. They’re a combination of new and repromoted colors — four neutral powder eye shadows, one powder blush and three lip colors.

The Pretty palette has a selection of lighter and cooler pinks, while the Powerful one broadcasts bolder and warmer shades. I’ve been wearing the products in the slightly more dramatic (well, dramatic for Bobbi) Powerful palette for a couple of days now, and I think I know what kind of girl might like them a lot; she falls for sheer eye makeup and likes to pair it with bold cheeks and lips.
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Be a Dear, Burt, and Thank Your Bees for Me: I Love Burt’s Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme

December 27th, 2010 by Karen 47 Comments

You remember Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, right? My cuticles fell madly in love, and because they loved it so much, I’ve been interested in trying more of Burt’s hand products.

I picked up their Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme ($9) the other day on a whim. I was at Target at the time, buying toilet paper because I can’t trust El Hub to do it anymore (he always gets the cheap stuff that feels like sandpaper), and spotted Burt’s familiar packaging.

This thick, moisturizing cream, which feels almost like a salve (read: REALLY thick, like cold butter), has been around for a while as part of Burt’s permanent collection. It’s made from all natural ingredients, stuff like sweet almond oil and aloe, and has a light almond fragrance that’s easy on my sensitive nose.

It takes a little longer to absorb than a your run-of-the-mill hand creams, but my paws just love this stuff to pieces. I can hear them let out a hearty “Ahhhh…” when I massage it in, LOL! Right after, the product appears to leave behind a slightly greasy residue, but it completely disappears within a few minutes.

I wash my hands often, especially during cold and flu season, and that does a number on my paws. Burt’s Almond Milk quenches their thirst and keeps them supple and soft.

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The New MAC Kissable Lipcolour Glosses Sure Are Great Kissers

December 27th, 2010 by Karen 45 Comments

mac kissable lipcolour woo me swatch

Like silk. That’s how the 12 glosses in the new MAC Kissable Lipcolours line feel on my lips.

Coming in for a landing with the MAC Peacocky collection on January 6, these brash beauties take their cues from peacock feathers — bold but lightweight (like a feather) pink, coral, red, fuchsia, blue (!), brown and mauve — with a thin, non-sticky texture like that of a liquid lipstick, but the crazy shiny finish of a gloss.

What can we expect from the MAC Peacocky Collection? Brace yourself for intense lip and eye colors with dramatic finishes. The new Kissable Lipcolours are joined by a new line of pigmented metallic shadows. The Mega Metal Shadows ($19.50 each) will make eyes shine like the edge of a vorpal sword in shades of white, champagne, mauve, gold, violet, teal burgundy, copper, green, purple, navy and black.

The way these Kissable Lipcolours feel reminds me of how smooth and comfy the MAC Cremesheens feel, but they don’t look anything alike. These pack much more pigment. Where the Cremesheens whisper sweet nothings of light lip color, the Kissable Lipcolours SCREAM AND SHOUT! These colors are bold and cover lips with completely.

The two I’ve tried, Woo Me (a light pink) and Temper Tantra (a midtone reddish brown that must have been inspired by MAC Paramount Lipstick), set down a crazy amount of color.

mac kissable lipcolour woo me temper tantra

mac kissable lipcolour woo me temper tantra 2

mac kissable lipcolour woo me temper tantra wands

mac kissable lipcolour woo me lip swatch

mac kissable lipcolour temper tantra swatch
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The Chanel Ombres Perlees de Chanel Eyeshadow Palette, Kitty Tron and Chai Tea

December 24th, 2010 by Karen 24 Comments

chanel ombres perlees de chanel on karen

Christmas came early this year! Granted it’s only a couple of hours away, but it really did come early, in the form of these three very cool things.

1. Big Train Spiced Chai

Reader Bunny Masseuse recommended this powdered chai mix in the comments a couple weeks ago, and HOT DAYUM! I actually raised the roof in my kitchen this morning when I made a cup (to quote El Hub from the other room: “What the hell are you doing?”). If you like chai, you gotta give it a try (ha! I made a rhyme!).

2. This kitty Tron outfit

I don’t have the words to convey how totally awesome this is. Someone tweeted it today, and the first thing I thought was, does it come in kitty XXL?? Um…Tabby got a big ol’ booty.

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I Would Shake My Bon Bons for this Lush Lip Scrub

December 24th, 2010 by Karen 21 Comments

Lush Bon Bon Lip Scrub

Hell yeah, that was me in the bathroom last night eating Lush Bon Bon Lip Scrub ($8.95) at midnight.

Yes, eating it. 🙂 Even though I’m pretty sure it’s raison d’être is to buff peeling, dry lips back into shape, it tastes exactly like yummy lemon drops.

Hold up — let me ~~eat a scoop~~ exfoliate my lips right now.

Mmm…exfoliate…

Bon Bon’s list of ingredients reads like a dessert recipe, with two kinds of sugar, almond oil, cranberry oil and lemon… No wonder it tastes so good. And I don’t feel weird about eating it either. Not like I did that time I bit off the tip of my Tarte FRXtion lip exfoliator (yes, I really did that). In my defense, that one tastes just like brown sugar.

The grains in Lush’s lip scrub are just rough enough to easily slough away any and all flakey bits on my lips without being so rough that they hurt. Lips are sensitive, after all, and using this has been much more pleasant (and tastier) than my usual approach to lip exfoliation — brushing my lips with an old toothbrush.

Lush Bon Bon Lip Scrub directions

Lush Bon Bon Lip Scrub ingredients
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Would You Say the New Chanel Black Pearl, Pearl Drop and Peche Nacree Nail Polishes Live Up to the Hype?

December 23rd, 2010 by Karen 52 Comments

Chanel Black Pearl Peche Nacree Pearl Drop

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve! I braved the mall today to peep the new Les Perles de Chanel spring collection up close and personal. Yup, to say “the mall was crowded” would be like saying “I like Chanel.” Duh.

I think the last time I was at a mall two days before Christmas was when my friend Jen and I both worked together at The Limited in 1994 (I hawked a lot of ugly purse wallets, yo). Ah, memories…

I couldn’t wait to see the three new limited edition Le Vernis Nail Colours — Black Pearl, Pearl Drop and Peche Nacree ($23 each). There’s been some serious brouhaha about ’em, especially Black Pearl (is that Jack Sparrow?!), which has been hyped as Chanel’s next big thing.

Take a look, and let me know if you think they’re worthy of the buzz. 🙂

Chanel Black Pearl
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Quick-Change Artists, Do You Plan to Make MAC Stylishly Yours?

December 23rd, 2010 by Karen 31 Comments

MAC Neon Orange on Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog

You don’t have to be a crazy cat lady (or a rotund tabby cat with a low-hanging belly) to appreciate a strong cat eye liner look with bold lips. It’s an enduring, timeless combination that looks great on almost everyone.

The new 19-piece MAC Stylishly Yours collection, a limited edition release for eyes, lips and face (pieces $14-22 each), embodies this tried-and-true classic in a modernized, 21st century way.

The collection purrs onto MAC counters, stores and maccosmetics.com on December 26 and stays put through January 11, 2011. Tabs, being the ho for brights that he is, can’t wait.

mac stylishly yours product shot
A few MAC Stylishly Yours products clockwise from the mascara wand at the lower left: Zoom Lash Mascara in New Hue, Cream Colour Base in Virgin Isle, Lipstick in Neon Orange, Cream Colour Base in Movie Star Red and Fluidline in Dark Diversion

With Stylishly Yours, MAC offers fans fun, fast ways to give makeup looks a shot of dramatic color (without having to think too hard). Eyes in the look are kept simple, clean, and simultaneously dramatic with matte black and burgundy gel liner and mascara. Bright coral, pink, magenta, red and violet leap onto lips and cheeks in lipsticks, cream blushes (they double as lip colors, too!) and loose pigments with creamy and shimmery finishes. But that’s not all — two pink pressed highlighting powders imbue faces with a lovely soft sheen.

What I really like about the release are how the brights are both sophisticated and easy to use.

When you know you want to wear something bold but don’t want to invest the time into a super complex drag queen eye with teal, gold and purple, you could slip into one of these lipsticks instead, top it off with a layer of Clear Lipglass, and strut out the door.

Or, you could quickly do a swipe of thick burgundy cat eye liner with the blackened plum Fluidline in Dark Diversion, add a few layers of the burgundy New Hue Zoom Lash Mascara to your lashes, and blend one of the Cream Colour Bases (Virgin Isle’s my fave!) on your cheeks and lips.

MAC Stylishy Yours: Swatches on NC35 Skin

MAC Stylishly Yours swatches cream colour base
Cream Colour Bases from left: Virgin Isle, Tickle Me Pink, Movie Star Red, Madly Magenta

MAC Stylishly Yours swatches lipstick
Lipsticks: Neon Orange, Something New, Cockney and Style Curve
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MAC Fix+ Lavender Setting Spray Makes Your Makeup Behave

December 23rd, 2010 by Karen 31 Comments

mac fix+ lavender

Since I like MAC Fix+ and the scent of lavender, falling for the new MAC Fix+ Lavender ($18, part of the upcoming MAC Cham Pale Collection) was sort of a given.

Or was it?

I use the original Fix+ almost daily with foundation, lightly misting my brush with it before blending to help products adhere to my skin, and I was hoping this latest scented version would smell just as light, refreshing and feminine as both the original and 2009’s limited edition Fix+ Rose.

A MAC Fix+ It Tip

This effect’s even better in the summer, but I like to store my bottle of Fix+ in the fridge; the mist feels gloriously refreshing chilled.

A colorless infusion of water, glycerin, vitamins and minerals, Fix+ Lavender seems to work just as well as the original, but the vanilla-ish lavender scent just doesn’t get along with my sensitive schnoz. Heavy and musky — almost like a men’s cologne — the scent makes my head pulse if I’m not careful about how much I use. Luckily, the fragrance dissipates in no time flat.

mac fix lavender in hand
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