Product Reviews

Could Guerlain Rouge G Le Brilliant Bee the Lipstick You’ve Been Looking For?

October 18th, 2010 by Karen 86 Comments

Puttin’ on a happy face with Guerlain Rouge G Le Brilliant in Bee

You’re probably expecting this to be a lead about makeup (a logical assumption), but I spent the better part of the afternoon at my obstetrician’s office today, and I’m a wee bit emotional right now.

Before you jump to any conclusions, it was just a checkup. 🙂 Thankfully everything’s working fine (knock on wood!), but I’ve been thinking a lot about kids lately. The doc looked straight in the eyes and said, “Get cracking.”

It’s weird — sometimes I feel like I’m ready; other times I’m not so sure. To my makeup lovin’ moms out there, how did you know it was time?

After my appointment, I felt like I needed a tube of makeup TLC, and it came in the form of limited edition Guerlain Rouge G Le Brilliant lipstick in B64 Bee.

guerlain les ors holiday 2010 rouge g le brilliant b64 bee case
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Get Luminous Locks with Lumenesse Shampoos, Conditioners and Hair Stylers for Color Treated and/or Unruly Hair

October 18th, 2010 by Karen 15 Comments

Lumenesse of Shampoos, Conditioners

New Lumenesse aims to keep your hair bangin’ bright and muy fuerte with their line of pricey salon and Cosmoprof professional hair care goodies.

The small line of seven shampoos, conditioners and stylers reminds me of Pureology in just about every way — the design of the bottles, the textures and consistencies of the products, their fragrances, pricing and even their scientific-sounding take on hair.

Here, it’s all about the nanos, as in nano-pentapeptide technology and nano fade defense. In scientific terms, a nano is something really, really small. 🙂 Heck, they sound awfully high tech, if nothing else.

Unfortunately, the products do cost a pretty penny (err, more like 2,000 of them). The hair stylers hover around $20 apiece, and the three-piece shampoo, conditioner and styling kits run about $70 each (there are a couple different kits; more on that later).

I’ve been putting the $70 Hydration Trio Kit through its paces for the past two weeks to see how the Hydrating Shampoo (12 oz.), Hydrating Conditioner (10 oz.) and Shine Define Sculpting Lotion (10 oz.) would fare against my unruly highlighted hair.

Hydrating Shampoo: The vanilla rose fragrance smells light, pleasant and ladylike to me, but I’m still glad it fades fairly fast (would probably conflict with any other fragrances in the vicinity if it didn’t). The shampoo lathers into a fine foam instead of big scrubbing bubbles, and even after rinsing it out, I feel like the strands are still coated with a fine layer of something (good I presume?). I know we’re talking about hair here, and mine seems to approve of Lumenesse Shampoo, but my scalp also responds well to the product. A lot of shampoos leave my scalp dry, itchy and flaky after a couple weeks of regular use (gross, but it’s the truth), but this doesn’t do that at all. SIDE NOTE: That’s also why I shampoo with conditioner every so often.
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Don’t Gloss O-ver the Smashbox Wish List Kit

October 16th, 2010 by Karen 12 Comments

Wearing Smashbox O-Gloss Gold on lips, Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Stardust on cheeks, Photo Finish Foundation Primer on face, Photo Op Under-Eye Brightener and Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner along my lashlines

Smashbox hopes to make wishes come true this year with the new five-piece $49 Wish List kit ($108 value). A buck from every purchase goes to the Children’s Miracle Network (I would have liked to have seen them give a little more than $1, but at least it’s something).

It comes with five smashing products — Photo Op Under-Eye Brightener, O-Gloss Gold, Photo Finish Foundation Primer – Travel Size, Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Stardust, Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner.

Smashbox wish holiday 2010 collection wish list wish-wish-list-box

O-Gloss Gold: As soon I put it on, I thought, “Wow, sure is gold!” But it quickly mellows out to a pretty peach. It’s a long-lasting golden peachy pink, smooth but not sticky, with a light peppermint flavor and scent.

Photo Op Under-Eye Brightener: A warm, shimmery peachy pink liquid highlighter designed to be worn under concealer. I’ve been applying it in the hollows at the inside corners of my eyes. It delivers a subtle brightening effect, not an “Oh, my, gawd! I look 10 years younger” kinda thing.

Fusion Soft Lights Powder: One of the prettiest little pinwheel pans I’ve seen in a while (the shades are all supposed to be swirled together). It gives a soft, peachy pink glow. I like that the shimmer isn’t overly frosty and doesn’t settle into my pores like some shimmery blushes do.

Photo Finish Foundation Primer: I’ve said it before, but I’m not the biggest fan of this. Perhaps because it contains silicone, it feels heavy on my skin, and I feel like my skin can’t breathe with it on. It doesn’t ruin the kit, though, because I know how many women love this primer, so I’d probably just give it to someone who’d love it more than I do.

Jet Set Waterproof Liner: Just a basic black waterproof liner in a tiny jar barely the diameter of a nickel (but I’ve never even finished a jar of eyeliner before, so it probably doesn’t matter). I do wish they’d managed to squeeze a liner brush in the box… That would have come in handy.

O-Gloss Gold

Smashbox wish holiday 2010 collection wish list swatches
Swatches from left: Fusion Soft Lights in Baked Stardust, Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner in Midnight Black, Photo Op Under-Eye Brightener, O-Gloss Gold, Photo Finish Foundation Primer

PRICE: $49
AVAILABILITY: Sephora and online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

You Just Might Lava c.Booth Deep Cleansing Volcanic Mud Mask

October 16th, 2010 by Karen 8 Comments

Written by Annabella

Not even active volcanoes can stop UK beauty blogger Annabella of Skin Scrubs! Her beauty adventures have taken her from the British Isles to Appalachian drugstores — like the one where she discovered the subject of today’s guest post.

Mother Nature is a powerful force. It makes the trees grow, gives us beautiful tabby cats, and can delay flights for several hours when Icelandic volcanoes decide to erupt.

My holiday flight to Atlanta was delayed by nine hours last spring as the Icelandic volcano EyjafjallajÃ¶kull decided once again to spew ash into the air. Thankfully I found out the evening before so I wasn’t sitting around the airport all morning; however we still ended up sitting on the ground waiting for a new time slot to take off as the ash cloud above weaved its way around UK airspace. Eventually we took off but our flight was nearly two hours longer than usual as we had to fly around the ash. I am grateful though that our delays weren’t as bad as the first time disruptions started earlier this year.

A few days later whilst driving around the hills of Kentucky I went into a Rite-Aid store looking for something that I can’t remember only to notice the c.Booth Deep Cleansing Volcanic Mud Mask ($9.99 for a 4 fl. oz. tube) sitting on the shelf. Already knowing that a volcano can delay my holiday, I wondered if it was powerful enough to help my mostly oily, some times irritated and blotchy skin.
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‘Tis the Season for Red, Green and Gold: The China Glaze Holiday 2010 Nail Polishes

October 15th, 2010 by Karen 17 Comments

china glaze holiday 2010 swatches

‘Tis the season, lacquer lover! Soon we’ll be hearing the Sound of Music on the tube, watching Uncle Erwin overdo the eggnog and getting packages of granny panties stuffed in our stockings from mom (yep, that has happened to me).

In the beauty world, ’tis also the season for red, green, silver and gold — like the colors in the new 16-piece China Glaze Tis the Season to Be Naughty and Nice Holiday Collection.

With so much variety among the shades (about $6 each) and textures, there should be enough here to satisfy those seasonal color cravings.

I haven’t finished testing these for durability and wear time yet, but if they’re anything like the China Glaze polishes I’ve worn before, and I see know reason to suspect otherwise, they should last about 10 days on nails with the help of a base coat (with minimal chipping).

The limited edition collection lives in beauty stores now, and like all of China Glaze’s nail polishes, these are also DBP-, toluene- and formaldehyde-free.

china glaze holiday 2010 swatches phat santa ruby deer mrs claus party hearty
Swatches from left: Phat Santa, Ruby Deer, Mrs. Claus, Party Hearty

China Glaze starts the party with a couple of really fun reds. Phat Santa and Ruby Deer look almost alike in their bottles, but they come into their own on nails. Phat Santa looks a smidge darker than vibrant Ruby does to me.

Red also makes sparkly appearances in Party Hearty (green, gold and red glitter in a clear base) and Mrs. Claus (red glitter in a red tinted jelly base). If you’re a fan of Lippmann’s glitter polishes, these might be worth a peek (they’re also $6 vs. $18 for the ones from Lippmann).

china glaze holiday 2010 swatches mistletoe kisses jolly holly peace on earth little drummer boy
Mistletoe Kisses, Jolly Holly, Peace on Earth, Little Drummer Boy
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NARS Holiday 2010 Collection: Have a Berry Francois Christmas and a Happy NARS Year

October 14th, 2010 by Karen 60 Comments

nars holiday 2010

Holy wow, pumpkin! All I have to say is werk!

I’m not talking work like cubicles, time sheets or lame vacation requests, but the neck swerving, hair flipping, three snaps in z-formation kinda work — the kind of work NARS obviously put into their holiday 2010 collection.

For the holidays, it’s nice to see something almost traditional — with lots of golds, silvers, berries and plums — from such an untraditional brand.

But I did say “almost.” 🙂 After all, this is still NARS we’re talking about. The colors are a casual affair, many of them shimmery and saturated but not heavy or foreboding.

Francois usually likes to throw in a few quirky shades, but this time he shows some restraint to tell a tightly woven color story. He still cuts loose, of course, with unexpected pops of taupe, peach and blue, but it all just fits together.

With the exception of sheer Sex Appeal Blush and Little Darling Lipstick, the lip, eye and nail products burst with color. Francois, inspired by Irish heiress and fashion icon Daphne Guinness, aimed for seductive, audacious and bold, and dagnabbit, homeboy nailed it.

The company’s trademark quality is evident throughout the release, from the pigments to their application and smooth textures.

Oh, yeah. The new eyeshadow trio in the pic at the top is a first for NARS. They’ve never done an eyeshadow trio before, and I like it (doesn’t it look like a Rothko painting?).

If you’re afraid the eye colors might be too intense, don’t worry; I think they’re still work friendly. Just use a light touch when you apply them, and dilute, dilute, dilute.

nars holiday 2010 swatches review photos all

nars holiday 2010 swatches review photos okinawa trio eyeshadow product shot
Okinawa Trio Eyeshadow (limited edition), $45

nars holiday 2010 swatches review photos melusine duo eyeshadow product shot
Melusine Duo Eyeshadow, $32
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Dior Holiday 2010: A Five Golds Face of the Day

October 13th, 2010 by Karen 42 Comments

dior five golds

“Hey, you gotta try some of this tres leches cake. It’s hella good!”

“No thanks.”

“Seriously? The last time you turned down desert was, like, never. Come on, have a bite.”

“No, I don’t want any. I’m not into goat milk.”

“What?”

“I’m not into goat milk.”

“Uh…I don’t think there’s goat milk in it.”

“Really? Isn’t it one of the three milks? — cow milk, goat milk…”

“Dude, really? They mean regular milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk — get it?”

“Ohhhhh…”

So went one of the many odd conversations I’ve had with my good guy friend N. Black. Playing with Dior’s new Five Golds quint today reminded me of that conversation. What would N. Black have thought if it had been five milk cake instead of three??

The $58 quint also goes by the more marketable stage name, the Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow Palette in Five Golds #001, and it’s one of two new Dior eyeshadow quints for holiday 2010.

dior holiday 2010 makeup swatches review 001

dior holiday 2010 makeup swatches 001 on nc35 skin
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Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel: The Old Faithful in My Shower

October 13th, 2010 by Karen 55 Comments

Neutrogena Rainbath Review

Hmm… I honestly don’t know what Tabs would have said about me if he’d known me back in my Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel phase ($8 for an 8.5 oz bottle), aka the late ’90s, aka my club kid days.

“Meow,” perhaps?

In his short kitty lifetime, he’s only known me as his cranky, uncool mum — the boring one who hits the haaay every night at 10.

He probably would have liked the late nights and parties because, back then, that’s how I rolled.

My, how things change…

‘Fridge magnet philosophy

Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel sure takes me back… I’ve been using it off and on for years, at least as far back as the mi-’90s. It’s like the Old Faithful in my shower and keeps returning over and over again.
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