Product Reviews

The Urban Decay Basquiat Collection: UD’s Best Collection Ever

May 1st, 2017 by Karen 28 Comments

urban decay basquiat exhibition lipstick — Urban Decay UD Jean-Michel Basquiat. I’m wearing the Gold Griot Eye Palette on my lids, Gallery Blush Palette on my cheeks and Exhibition Lipstick on my lips.

If you’ve ever been stuck in a makeup rut, I’m telling you, the new Urban Decay UD Jean-Michel Basquiat collection will kick you outta that funk like that. *snaps*

“Art as makeup. Makeup as art.”

That’s the tagline for the collection, which is available now (sort of, but more on that in a minute). And the collection is a work of art. I think it’s incredible. This is some of the best — THE BEST — makeup Urban Decay has ever done. Like, every single thing in this collection makes me want to paint my face in a myriad of different ways.

But let me back up juuust a bit…

Urban Decay Gold Griot Eyeshadow Palette

[Continue reading…]

These Too Cool for School Skin Care Products Have Egg-Cellent Scents

May 1st, 2017 by Karen 2 Comments

too cool for school eggs — Crack open some eggs!

How weird would it be to have an omelet-scented face mask?

Pretty weird, right?

It’s almost something I’d expect to see from Too Cool for School. They’re a quirky K-beauty brand available at Sephora, and, for instance, they make this mascara I love called Dinoplatz, which is 1) amaze-balls at locking the curl from my lash curler while lifting and lengthening my lashes, and 2) it also has dinosaurs on the tube.

That’s a double whammy right there!

With their EGG line of skin care products, you’ll literally have egg on your face, because they all contain egg whites and yolk extracts for tightening, brightening and moisturizing.

Let’s get real, though. The main reason I wanted to try these, all of which are available in the brand’s permanent line, is to smell them, because I’m a nosy noodle. 🙂

Egg Mousse Soap Facial Cleanser ($12): It contains egg white extract for dissolving dead skin cells and excess oil, but it smells nothing like a fritatta, in case you were wondering (I was). It smells like freesia to me, and I really like it. The scent is just right and not overpowering.

I don’t know why, but I find it weirdly satisfying to wash my face with this thick, rich mousse. I’m definitely going to finish the bottle. My combo dry/oily skin feels clean and hydrated when I rinse it off.

Egg Mousse Soap Facial Cleanser ingredients
Water, Tea-Cocoyl Glutamate, Palmitic Acid, Glycerin, Butane, Triethanolamine, Sodium Coco Amphoace- Tate, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Propanediol, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Propane, Myristic Acid, Milk Protein Extract/Extrait Protéine Du Lait, Egg Yolk Extract /Extrait De Jaune D’oeuf, Albumen Extract, Glyceryloleate, Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, Sodium Chloride, Allantoin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Butylene Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Disodium Edta, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance.

Egg Mousse Pack Facial Mask ($20): Again with the faint floral freesia scent. I like it! To use this mousse-y mask, you apply the mousse to your face, wait five minutes, then rinse it off. The egg yolk extract in it is supposed to be very moisturizing.

All I know is that it makes my skin tingle, and after I rinsed it off, the dry, sensitive skin on my cheeks feels extra tight.

I think this might be better for people with oily skin, instead of combo skin like mine.

Egg Mousse Pack Facial Mask ingredients
Water, Betaine, Butylene Glycol, Lauryl Phosphate, Isopentane, Trehalose, Carbon Dioxide, Arginine, Potassium Laureth Phosphate, Laureth-1 Phosphate, Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate, Egg Yolk Extract/Extrait De Jaune D’oeuf, Albumen Extract, Dipropylene Glycol, Potassium Hydroxide, Glyceryl Caprylate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ppg-3 Caprylyl Ether, Acrylates /C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Carbomer, Disodium Edta, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Fragrance.

Egg Mousse Mask Pore Tightening Sheet Mask ($6): Whatever you do, refrain from eating crumbly shortbread cookies while wearing this sheet mask, because if you don’t, you’ll make a huge mess.

I’m just sayin’!

Anywho, my pores look a little tighter after I use this freesia-scented mask… Just a little bit.

[Continue reading…]

The MAC Fruity Juicy Collection Is a Fiesta of Fruit for Bronzed Babes

April 27th, 2017 by Karen 23 Comments

mac fruity juicy collection top pic — The MAC Fruity Juicy collection, coming May 28th to MAC counters and online (available through June 29th)

Hey, have you ever noticed that when someone cuts up some fruit ? for you, even if it’s, like, the stringiest, most mediocre mango or the blandest apple ever, it tastes better?

What’s up with that? I don’t even know.

mac fruity juicy packaging — Frooooooot!

Like, if someone walked up right now with a tray of all the fruit on the packaging for the new MAC Fruity Juicy collection and said, “Hey! Here’s some coconut and banana slices for you. And half a nice papaya. Mmm… And we’ve got some tasty pineapple cubes!” I would not be hating life.

It’s a warm-toned color collection

Summer, summer, summertime! I know! It’s almost here. I can hardly contain myself [INSERT CONNOR CLAIRE’S HIP WIGGLY DANCE]. 🙂

That’s one of the things I always look forward to — MAC summer collections. Most of the time they’re warm and colorful to go with whatever summery bronzed bodaciousness you’re wearing, and Fruity Juicy is too.

mac fruity juicy collection open — The yum-inducing MAC Fruity Juicy collection

A focus on face and cheek products

A tropical fruit salad o’ makeup, Fruity Juicy goes all out with face and cheek products, which makes sense to me, seeing as how MAC tends to focus on bronzed, beautiful skin in their summer collections.

There are four bronzers (I’ve tried the two $27 Bronzing Powders but haven’t tried the $33 Studio Sculpt Bronzers yet), two liquid highlighters (Lustre Drops in Sun Rush and Bronze Hero, both $21), a beautiful $33 bronzer/blush/highlighting Pearlmatte Face Powder called Oh My Passion, and a bottle of Prep+Prime Coconut Fix+, which I need to spray on my face RIGHT NOW. *spray*

Ah… That smells so good. We’ll get to that one in a second.

mac fruity juicy boxes — Now I want a smoothie…

[Continue reading…]

Unsung Makeup Heroes: The $5 Ardell Baby Demi Wispies False Lashes

April 27th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

The long-running Unsung Heroes series here on Makeup and Beauty Blog features some of our all-time favorite permanent collection products.

Oh, lawd, when I see super dramatic lashes now at Ulta or Sephora I always think, “Those would make me look completely insane.”

Mind you, I’ve rocked big, real-deal false lashes many times before, and they’re fun, and some are more comfortable than others are, but at this stage in my life, after having not worn falsies very often for months, I feel like the big, flashy falsies make me look nuts, and that’s where these Ardell Baby Demi Wispies come in.

Girl, these are SO GOOD! And they’re only $5.

ardell baby demi wispies — Wearing the Ardell Baby Demi Wispies

[Continue reading…]

Revlon ColorStay™ Crème Eye Shadow Kicked Me Into #makeuphoarders Mode

April 26th, 2017 by Karen 12 Comments

revlon colorstay creme eye shadow — Revlon Colorstay™ Crème Eye Shadow

Girl, the struggle is so real. These Revlon ColorStay™ Crème Eyeshadows kicked me into #makeuphoarders mode real quick because they look, feel and blend A LOT like MAC Paint Pots. On my lids (which are dry), they last all day long, too. And they’re only $7.99, WHAT?!

Revlon even hid a brush in the cap, which I really don’t use…but I like that it’s there. It’s very James Bond.

revlon colorstay creme eye shadow 2 — From the top: 705, 710, 740, 755 and 760

[Continue reading…]

It Cosmetics Confidence In Your Glow Blushing Bronzer, or Neapolitan Ice Cream? You Be the Judge

April 25th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

it cosmetics confidence in your glow 1 — The new It Cosmetics Confidence in Your Glow Blushing Bronzers counterclockwise from the top in Instant Natural Glow, Instant Nude Glow and Instant Warm Glow, $32 each and available now

Clearly, the universe doesn’t want me to go low-carb because it put these blush pans in front of my eyes.

Don’t they look like Neapolitan ice cream? Seriously, I’m starving over here.

OK, it could just be me and my tum making that jump, LOL!

At any rate, these are the new It Cosmetics Confidence In Your Glow Blushing Bronzers, and each pan has a separate bronzer, blush and highlighter.

Now available in the It Cosmetics permanent line

These are new this month and available in three combo shades. There’s Instant Nude Glow, Instant Warm Glow and Instant Natural Glow.

Peachy Nude Glow is the lightest, Warm Glow is smack dab in the middle, and Natural Glow has the deepest shades. All of them lean warm with satiny, glowing finishes similar to the MAC Extra Dimension blushes, and they’re $32 each.

Basically, It Cosmetics squished a powder bronzer, blush and highlighter together in a single pan, which isn’t exactly a brand new concept in the world of makeup (peeps have been doing it for years), but I do think these are cuter than usual.

You can use the three products in each of the pans separately, but with combo powder pan products like these, I almost never do. Most of the time I mix them together with my brush and apply the combo to my cheeks.

it cosmetics confidence in your glow swatches — From the top: Instant Warm Glow, Instant Nude Glow and Instant Natural Glow

Smooth, and not patchy

Whenever I’m mixing multiple cheek products together, I’m always hoping that the products will blend well, but a lot of the time they end up patchy.

With these I was afraid I’d see a blob of bronzer on one part of my cheek and a spot of blush on another, but the soft, silky powders melt into each other. When you swirl your brush in the pan and sweep the combined color on your cheeks, it goes on evenly.

[Continue reading…]

DRUGSTORE GEM ALERT! Revlon Colorstay 2 in 1 Angled Kajal Eyeliner

April 21st, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

This new Revlon angled eyeliner pencil could totally pass for a brow pencil, amiright?

Observe the angled tip. If I hadn’t been paying attention (which happens ~~sometimes~~ often when I’m applying makeup early in the morning), I would’ve put the shade I’m wearing here (Fig) in my brows.

Purple brows. Hmm… Thinking about it now, that would’ve been kind of cool.

These Revlon ColorStay 2 in 1 Angled Kajal Eyeliners are so bomb! They’re smooth, pigmented, and the angled tip hugs my lid curves. The waterproof formula fabulously flows along my lash and water lines, too. Drawing neat lines is a snap.

Oh, and it absolutely does not move!

[Continue reading…]

New Skin Care From Urban Decay

April 20th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

urban decay rehab makeup prep — New skin care from Urban Decay

I would have been a poor product prognosticator because I never — never! — expected to see an Urban Decay skin care line. No, a career as a fortune teller is clearly not in my immediate future.

A skin care line from Urban Decay. That is NOT what I expected, but it’s kinda cool, because when I think of UD, I think of color, glitter and crazy lipstick. I picture putting everything and the kitchen sink on my face, and sure, they also have the Naked palettes, but when I think of Urban Decay at its core, I think of bold, bad-@ss makeup.

Even though skin care seemed a little out of left field to me at first, it doesn’t anymore after seeing the products. There are seven in all, ranging from $15-28 each, and they’re divided into two groups — 1) products to prepare your skin for makeup, and 2) another group of products to remove your makeup.

And the products really are true to UD’s makeup roots, because they’re focused on preparing skin for face paint and helping it look its best. And then also on helping you remove everything you just put on.

[Continue reading…]