Product Reviews

Sheer Is In Bloom at Prescriptives

February 3rd, 2009 by Karen 16 Comments

For the new In Bloom collection, Prescriptives borrowed heavily from one the GREATEST painters of all time: Mother Nature.

To my eye, the palette draws inspiration from sunflowers, marigolds, petunias and lilies. The look itself features sheer eyes, cheeks and a rich, shiny lip.

It brings out my inner spring blossom … and she’s been shy ever since I hit my 30s, LOL! 🙂

The collection includes the limited edition Eye Color Duo eyeshadows ($24 each), Color Duo blushes ($24 each) and Lip Shine lipsticks ($17.50) in a mix of warm and cool shades. I tested three products from the collection: Cheer Color Duo in Warm 01, Eye Color Duo in Marigold and Lipshine in Posy.

Eye Color Duo in Marigold

Think fresh cut spring flowers. That’s what I think of when I see the shimmery gold and coral peach eyeshadow shades in the Marigold Eye Color Duo.

Both colors apply sheer with medium pigmentation because the powder’s finely milled and blends like a dream.

They should work great for semi-responsible occasions, as in work or school, but I’d think twice about using these shades for pictures.

To get the color to show well for this face of the day I had to apply three layers. Luckily, the creamy texture makes it uber easy to layer, which is why I’m keeping this duo close by this spring. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Cheek Color Duo in Warm 01

OOH! Check out the embossed flower design on the Cheek Color Duo. Pretty, yah?

What do you think of the Cheek Color Duo in Warm on my cheeks? It packs a shimmery coral blush on one side and a shimmery golden highlighter on the other. Each shade works when used separately or with its partner for a natural peach flush.

Though the colors themselves in the duo are gorgeous, I don’t think the powders are as finely milled as blush powders by Mac or Nars. Matter of fact, I can see some of the grains sitting on top of my skin, eek! Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Lipshine in Posy

I think I’m in love with Posy’s rosy coral color and her shiny finish… The taste- and fragrance-free formula feels ultra soft and hydrating on my pucker, and it’s an easy to wear shade that I know I’ll reach for often. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Swatches from left to right: Posy, Marigold Eye Duo, Warm Cheek Duo

How do you feel about sheer shades this spring?

In how sheer some of the products are, the In Bloom collection reminds me of the Givenchy Sari and Bobbi Brown Blushed Pink collections.

Aren’t sheer washes and transparent colors all over the place right now??

I mean, I don’t mind because I’m not always in the mood to wear loads of color, but a girl expects good pigmentation when a product costs department store prices.

What do you think? Are you down with In Bloom?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Ecotools Retractable Kabuki Brush Will Sneak Up on Ya

February 2nd, 2009 by Karen 31 Comments

Doesn’t the Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki Brush ($10) look like a secret spy weapon?

LOL! Or is that just me?

Okay, so it’s not a flame thrower or a pocket super computer, but the Retractable Kabuki exudes awesomeness in other ways. It’s built for travel, fitting snugly into my makeup bag.

I like the fat and fluffy brush head, too. It feels kinda like velvet against my skin and applies the perfect amount of powder (not too sheer or heavy!) for touch-ups.

It excels at applying powders or blush, but I bet it would also work as a foundation or creme blush brush.

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Glitter Is Good: The Bobbi Brown Blushed Pink Collection

February 2nd, 2009 by Karen 47 Comments

This spring, Bobbi Brown is going beyond her famous “I’m not wearing makeup” bag o’ tricks and taking a chance on glittery pastel eyes with the Blushed Pink collection.

From left to right: Sparkle Eyeshadow in Mica, Ballet

The limited edition Sparkle Eyeshadows ($24 each) take glitter and make it sophisticated, age appropriate and totally not scary. For me, these four shades are the highlights of the release! 🙂

Bobbi also included a lovely spread of pink lip and cheek colors in her trademark classic style — colors that look natural (read: no hot pinks or fuchsias with blue reflects, yo!) and enhance, rather than disguise, one’s features.

Sparkle Eye Shadow takes center stage in Blushed Pink!

I can’t hang when it comes to big ol’ teeny bopper chunks of glitter (aye, I’m 33!), so any eyeshadow that makes me look like a Hot Topic refugee just isn’t an option.

You know those liquid shadows filled with fine grains of microscopic glitter (like Givenchy Precious Sari Glittering Eyeshadow)? The Sparkle Eyeshadows apply like that.

Seasoned makeup junkies might find them a little too sheer, but glitter shy gals (like moi) who prefer subtler looks might want to give ’em a try. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Today’s Blushed Pink Look: Shimmery pastel eyes with pink cheeks and lips

The Blushed Pink model in the promo pics inspired my look today.

The eyes

For the eyes, I started with a thin layer of MAC Paint Pot in Painterly applied over the entire lid, followed by Mica (a shimmery gray) and Ballet (a shimmery pink) in the crease and on the brow bone.
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Heavy Hydration on the Cheap: Johnson’s Body Care 24-Hour Moisturing Body Wash and Lotion

February 1st, 2009 by Karen 23 Comments

The Battle of Karen vs. Dry Skin is raging, ladies! And my skin needs help, fast. It’s time for a full-on blitzkrieg against scaliness.

I wasn’t sure if the new Johnson’s 24-Hour Moisturizing Body Wash and Body Lotion ($6 each) would be up to the task. My skin needs heavy hydration, especially the skin on my legs (my driest area!), and especially in winter.

In winter my legs get so dry that iguanas envy me, but after using both the 24-Hour Body Wash and Lotion for a week things changed.

I’ve got soft and smooth legs for a change, yes!

Johnson’s 24-Hour Moisturizing Body Wash

Moisturizing Body Wash looks and feels creamy and rich. It’s a low-lathering wash, so don’t expect lots of big foaming bubbles, but it rinses clean and doesn’t leave a noticeable residue.

Now, the humungo 20.3 fl-oz. bottle is bigger than Ernest Hemingway’s ego, but because it’s so big I feel like I’m getting a good deal. I even tried to see how it would work as an emergency shave cream, and it worked great. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Johnson’s 24-Hour Moisturizing Body Lotion

Moisturizing Body Lotion penetrates quickly and leaves my skin feeling smooth but not waxy. I think it’s a fantastic hydrating body lotion. I like to apply it after rinsing and towel drying. Like the monstrous Body Wash, it’s not gonna win any awards for travel convenience (14 fl-oz. bottle), but you get a lot of product for your money. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Johnson’s packed both products with hydrating shea butter and vitamin E and infused them with a pleasing light rose scent. I think they’re fantastic drugstore deals. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Let Lippmann Take You Back to the 80s with Spring Collection 2009

January 30th, 2009 by Karen 26 Comments

Hey, pretty young thing, do you think you can stand the purple rain?

Flash back to the ’80s with Lippmann’s two new spring 2009 nail polish shades. Available next month, both colors pay homage to two of the biggest song hits of the decade, Prince’s Purple Rain and Michael Jackson’s P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).

Purple Rain ($15) gives props to Prince, aka the strange little man who made wearing ruffles and high heels hot. It’s a frosty light violet that reminds me of something from the Wet n’ Wild nail polish line circa 1986, and it’s so dead-on ’80s that I want to pull on some black jelly bracelets and ride around the neighborhood on my banana seat bike!

I love Prince and purple, but I’m not totally sold on Purple Rain. Help me out. What do you think? Does it look a little too pale and frosty on my nails? I keep seeing images of Dame Edna’s purple coif.

Lippmann teamed up with designer Zac Posen to create Purple Rain for his Spring 2009 runway show at Mercedes-Benz fashion week in New York, coming up with the name and helping to develop the color.

I might try layering it over a darker color to deepen the shade.

If you’re of a lighter skin tone than I am and like the way you look in pastels, Purple Rain could look really great on you. Lippmann polishes always deliver when it comes to durability, and that’s also the case here. Making and Beauty Blog Rating: B-

P.Y.T. = one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs of all time! “Pretty young things, repeat after me, say nah nah nah!” So you know I had to bump that jam when I painted my nails with the second shade in Lippmann’s spring release, P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) ($15).

$michael jackson wearing a yellow vest back when he wasn\'t totally scary$
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MAC Creme Team Previews

January 29th, 2009 by Karen 42 Comments

Move over mattes, and make way for MAC Creme Team!

Last year’s Matte 2 and Mattene collections were fun throwbacks to the 90s, but for now MAC’s sweet on creams.

The Cremesheen Glasses in the new MAC Creme Team collection fit nicely with the Cremesheen lipsticks released a few months ago.

I previewed three colors from the upcoming Creme Team collection, and all I have to say is halleluyar! I’m in love with the Cremesheen Glasses.

Creamsheen Glasses feel thinner, slicker than Lipglasses

I’ve never felt the Lipglasses were overly sticky, but some women do. For whatever it’s worth, the new glosses — both Petite Indulgence (sheer hot pink) and Looks Like Sin (sheer berry) — feel noticeably slicker, thinner and less sticky to me than the Lipglasses.

The texture reminds me of high quality E.V.O.O. (shout out to Rachel Ray!) — you know, the way good olive oil feels on your lips. That’s how it feels.

Pigmentation and durability

Although I prefer the way the Cremesheen Glasses feel, the Lipglasses win in the pigmentation department.

I think the Cremesheen Glass colors look brighter in the tube than they look on my lips, but when it comes to durability, the Cremesheens begin to fade after just a couple hours, while the Lipglasses seem to last about twice as long. That’s no big whoop to me, though, because I don’t trip over having to reapply often throughout the day.

To their credit, when the color of Cremesheen’s wears down, it actually looks really pretty, like a transparent, semi-shiny wash of color.

Final thoughts

Right now, I think the closest products MAC has to the Cremesheen Glasses are their Lipgelee glosses. They feel similar and have the same faint vanilla scent but are just slightly thicker and aren’t flavored at all. The Cremsheen Glasses also last longer and have a little more pigmentation. Makeup and Beatuy Blog Rating: A

Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme In Your Coffee

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Smashbox Muse Spring 2009: Bionic Mascara in Black Violet

January 29th, 2009 by Karen 24 Comments

Before Smashbox’s Bionic Mascara in Violet ($19) entered into my life, my favorite violet was Ms. Violet Beauregard of 1971’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971) fame.

I’ve always wondered how the Oompa Loompas de-juiced her after she chewed that gum and turned into a berry, and whether or not her eyelashes turn violet, too. Hmm…

Well, it only took 38 years, but scientists at Smashbox Cosmetics have finally duplicated Willy Wonka’s secret violet process, huzzah!

Behold: Black Violet! It’s one of those elusive purple mascaras that actually looks purple on the wand *and* the lashes.

Several cosmetics lines have recently released purple mascaras (Benefit, Dior, Clarins to name a few), but most failed (I liked the Dior) to really deliver color.

Black Violet, on the other hand, delivers loads of juicy color. In the pics below I’m wearing three layers.

And the purple tint shows up in both natural…

…and flash lighting.

Pretty, yah?

Aside from the intriguing hue, Black Violet’s just slightly above average in terms of lash thickness, length and curl, but the color… ooh, the color…
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New Essie Naturally Clean Moisturizes with All-Natural Ingredients

January 28th, 2009 by Karen 24 Comments

I wash my hands. A lot.

I do it to lessen my odds of catching colds and because I’m a little obsessive.

Perhaps my almost unnatural love of hand cleansing is what has me so stoked about the Essie Naturally Clean collection. The products in the release are 100% natural and contain essential oils like eucalyptus (a natural antiseptic), vitamins and antioxidants. Essie went au natural with Naturally Clean and shied away from harsh chemicals, yea!

The collection had me at hello.

I like the light lemon scent of these five products and their minimalist packaging. Of the five, I’ve tried three:

Purifying Nail Polish Remover ($6 for a 4-fl. oz. bottle; $16 for a 16-fl. oz. bottle)

Viva la FAST!

This stuff works like greased lightning! It removes nail polish faster than you can say the words, “Why, yes, Christian Bale, you may certainly massage my feet.”

Purifying Nail Polish Remover effortlessly lifted the remnants of the Essie Spring 2009 swatches (aka the infamous “broke ass manicure“) that were still clinging to my nails.

I soaked a cotton pad in it, pressed it down on a polished nail and then wiped from cuticle to tip. It only took one swipe — amazing! Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

100% Purifying Hand Treatment with Nourishing Botanicals ($24 for a 8-fl. oz. bottle)

Essie loaded Purifying Hand Treatment with lots of good stuff: aloe and vegetable glycerin to moisturize skin, eucalyptus oil to sanitize and vitamin-enriched rice bran for antioxidant protection. It’s like an all-natural version of Purell with added moisturizers.

At $24 it’s hella expensive — certainly more expensive than Purell — but it’s natural, works well, feels good and, thankfully, a little goes a long way. A pea-sized amount thoroughly cleans and moisturizes both hands. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Purifying Hand Wash with Nourishing Botanicals ($14, 8-oz. bottle)

In winter, frequent hand washing can leave my paws feeling tight and looking ashy.
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