Product Reviews

Does Korres Vanilla Guava Showergel Smell Like Macarons? Of Korres

December 18th, 2010 by Karen 20 Comments

Korres Vanilla Guava Showergel

I tore through that box of macarons in record time, but their spirit lives on in the Korres Vanilla Guava Showergel ($19.50).

I’ll go out on a limb and assume that Korres didn’t have my favorite vanilla flavored cookies in mind when they cooked up this moisturizing gel. This newest member of the company’s luxuriously bubbly Showergel line is made from (a very specific) 90.2% natural ingredients. Korres claims the wheat proteins and aloe in the product keep skin moisturized while vitamins C, E and the mineral zinc help reduce visible signs of aging. Tabs doesn’t look a day over five…but he thinks it’s cool that this stuff is also cruelty free.

Korres Vanilla Guava Showergel

Korres Vanilla Guava Showergel ingredients
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Burt’s Bees Milk & Honey Body Lotion Gets a Makeover

December 18th, 2010 by Karen 9 Comments

burts bees milk honey body lotion

The bees over at Burt’s house have been busy. Last fall they reformulated their cruelty-free Naturally Nourishing Milk and Honey Body Lotion for normal to dry skin, and it’s raising quite a stir.

With skin softening milk, honey and botanical moisturizers like coconut, grape seed and sunflower oil, the thick lotion feels like a body cream.

Back when I used the O.G. version a few summers ago, it was thinner and made from 98.2% natural ingredients, but Burt’s kicked that up to 99% now.

I remember liking the original bottle, the sweet honey fragrance and how fast it absorbed, but when winters rolled around it wasn’t moisturizing enough for my alligator skin. Being the fickle lotion lady that I am, I moved on to other things.
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You May Need a Hand with the Sonia Kashuk Dripping in Diamonds Travel Brush Set

December 17th, 2010 by Karen 14 Comments

The seven long-handled makeup brushes tucked within the lovely limited edition Sonia Kashuk Dripping In Diamonds Travel Brush Set ($24.99) may not get a lot of use this holiday season…

…because opening the stylin’ silver clutch is like trying to crack a safe!

I swear, Rubik himself would have struggled to figure it out. The latch, which is set flush against the side, looks the same from the top/bottom. It takes a good deal of force to pry open. Poor El Hub looked like a gorilla with a Gameboy when I asked him to give it a try, and after pawing, growling and clawing at it for about a minute, he finally figured it out (still lovin’ ya, babe!). 🙂

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Chanel Extrait de Gloss in Emoi Made Me Emo in the Best Possible Way

December 17th, 2010 by Karen 39 Comments

For the life of me, I could not take a good picture with Chanel Extrait de Gloss in Emoi ($32) this morning, gah! I don’t know what happened… Maybe it was just the Friday crazies, but whatever it was, I looked either shocked or constipated in every single shot.

But I did learn a valuable lesson about Chanel Emoi during this exercise in photographic futility: no matter what else might be happening, when you wear this shimmery berry gloss, at least your lips will look dignified.

Emoi’s one of nine permanent members of the Extrait de Gloss line, a recently released line of non-sticky, unscented and unflavored lipglosses designed for high shine and long wear (about four hours). It’s the third one of the colors I’ve tried, and just like the other two, Insolence and Imaginaire, its pigmentation is off the frickin’ chain!

While Tyra and Tabs may have been disappointed in my inability to WERK IT this morning, I gotta say — it’s so nice to find a berry gloss that looks great no matter what.

chanel emoi extrait de gloss
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Opulent Opalescence: The Chanel Les Perles de Chanel Collection for Spring 2011

December 16th, 2010 by Karen 55 Comments

chanel les perles de chanel spring 2011 collection on karen of makeup and beauty blog jersey rose and aragonite glossimer
Chanel Les Perles de Chanel Collection for spring 2011

Don your best tweed jacket and pearls, ma chÃ©rie (and dab No. 5 on your pulse points), because it’s time to say bonsoir to the new Chanel Les Perles de Chanel makeup collection.

There’s plenty of photographic evidence that proves our girl Coco wore a lot of pearls. In point of fact, she practically dripped in them because she believed their delicate glow enhanced a woman’s natural beauty.

Her heirs apparent at Chateau Chanel must agree. Remembering how much Coco loved pearls, they created the Les Perles collection for spring 2011, with its preponderance of pearly finishes destined to impart natural-looking luminosity to cheeks, eyes, lips and nails.

Since he joined the team — nay, the movement! — Chanel Global Creative Director Peter Philips has done a fantastic job (in my opinion) keeping Gabby’s spirit and her iconic style alive, and, with Les Perles de Chanel (just look at those shades of black, gray and white!), he’s done it again.

Les Perles is coming next month to Chanel counters but is available now on chanel.com.

Chanel Les Perles de Chanel Spring 2011

Here’s a brief look at a few items from the collection, with more to follow over the coming days. 🙂

Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Espiegle ($42) — A warm peachy pink blush with a subtle golden sheen. It reminds me a little of NARS Orgasm in the pan but applies lighter, with a less frosty finish, and it gives my cheeks a soft, candlelit glow.

Rouge Coco Lipstick in Jersey Rose ($30) — Is it wrong to refer to this lipstick as The Jersey Shore? Yes…Yes, I think it is. Terribly wrong. Jersey Rose is a long-lasting, moisturizing peachy pink with a sultry satin finish, and it lends a lovely hint of shine to the lips.

Rouge Allure Lipstick in Flamboyante ($32) — As soon as I slipped into Flamboyante I said, “Wow! That’s a straight-up red!” Chanel describes it as an intense pink, but it looks more reddish pink on me.

Levres Scintillantes Glossimer in Aragonite ($27) — What it lacks in pigment, Aragonite makes up for in sparkle. This glittery gloss, with a name Jason (of the Argonauts) would love, looks like crushed pearls in a tube! Look closely, and you may see flecks of purple, pink, blue and gold.

Le Crayon Yeux in Gris Scintillant ($28): A gunmetal gray with silver glitter. I think of it as a naughty alternative to a basic black liner.

chanel spring 2011

chanel espiegle joues contraste blush spring 2011 closeup
Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Espiegle ($42)
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Kissing You Again: The Benefit Ultra Shines Lipgloss Line Brings Back a Cult (and Personal) Fave

December 16th, 2010 by Karen 17 Comments

Do you hear that…? That whispery voice? It sounds like it’s saying, “Kiss you, Karen.”

“Kiss you, Karen.”

There! Did you hear it?

Soon-to-be-released Kiss You, a reformulated reincarnation of Benefit’s old Kiss Me gloss, has been calling my name for days, and who am I to deny a tube of glossy pigmented purple goodness?

The new version will be joining the Benefit Ultra Shines Lipgloss line for spring 2011.

benefit kiss you ultra shines gloss
Benefit Ultra Shines in Kiss You

Purple has long been one of my go-to lip colors when it comes to glosses because it’s a great alternative to pink (not to take anything away from pink, which you know I ).

Kiss Me/You and I go way back.

How far back? Well, it’s a long story…

Pre-2009 — Before 2009, Kiss You was known as Kiss Me, and it was part of Benefit’s The Gloss line. It was a clear fuchsia, not very pigmented, that I reached for whenever I wanted a just-kissed lip look. It quickly became a cult fave (and a favorite of mine) and underwent a name change, becoming Kiss You. Seriously, I could sing sonnets about that shade…or perhaps an ode.
Summer 2009 — Benefit discontinued The Gloss line and released a reformulated version of Kiss You in the new Lip Gloss line. Milkier and less pigmented, it was nothing like the original. Disappointed fans huddled in dark corners and held one another tightly while rocking back and forth and mumbling, “Safe place! Safe place!” Okay…so maybe that was just me.
Spring 2010 — The Lip Gloss line was joined by the smooth and shiny Ultra Shines. Among them, a shimmery, purplish pink called Wild Child, which looked/s a little like a slightly pinker version of the Summer 2009 Kiss You.
Today/Spring 2011 — Kiss You is reborn! Once again, it will grace Benefit counters, where I’ll be waiting with bells on, as one of three new-ish Ultra Shines for spring. 🙂

Why are they just new-ish? The other two shades joining Kiss You — Life on the A List (a light bubble gum pink) and Who Are You Wearing (a passion fruit pink) — are also repromotes blasting in from the past.

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The $13 Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set Is Perfect for Party Mode

December 16th, 2010 by Karen 20 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set

Where my party girls at? If you’re booked with back-to-back holiday fetes this year, freshen up your look between bashes with the Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set ($13).

The sparkly silver clutch contains four mini versions of classic Sonia brushes — a powder blush/brush, a blending brush, a small eyeshadow brush and a wee little brush for concealer.

Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set brushes and purse open

Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set purse
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Too Faced Lip of Luxury Lipstick Won’t Stay Long

December 15th, 2010 by Karen 68 Comments

Too Faced Lip of Luxury Lipstick in Free Love

File Too Faced’s Lip of Luxury Lipstick ($20) under “makeup that looks like it belongs on the tip of a pimp cane.” Or, alternately, “Oh, sheaaaa!” 🙂

The jeweled cap isn’t the only thing that glistens in this line of 12 shea butter laced lippies. Creamy, feather light and moisturizing, to boot, their reflective finishes glisten like diamond dust in the light.

I think the shade I’ve been wearing, Free Love (a shimmery light pink), plays especially well with smokey eyes.

Too Faced Lip of Luxury Lipstick Shade Options