Product Reviews

The Day in Beauty Vol. 24: The Best Black Liquid Liner and a Makeup Tip for Late Nights

July 27th, 2016 by Karen 40 Comments

essie pre show jitters swatch — Essie Gel Couture in Pre-Show Jitters ($11.50)

I Love the ’90s…

That was the name of the concert I went to last Saturday night — I Love the ’90s — with my friend Marisol, and it was the first time I stayed out late since…

Shoot, I can’t even remember, but it’s been a looong time. I’ve been serving hard time in baby jail for almost five months now, and even before Connor arrived, back when I was still pregnant, I wasn’t going out a lot because I was ginormous, always tired and constantly uncomfortable.

Anywho, like I was saying, I hadn’t been out since forever, and when we were driving back home in the middle of the night from Jackson, California, which is a small town — I’m sorry, Jacksonites — out in the middle of nowhere, I suddenly got the feeling that I was wearing 20 layers of makeup on my face.

I wasn’t wearing a ton, though. Just, like, NARS tinted moisturizer, some powder, a little bit of cat eye makeup, so nothing too cray, but after being out and about in the summer sun for a few hours and perspiring at the concert, that drive home was rough.

I couldn’t wait to get home and wash my face, and Marisol said the same thing.

Has that ever happened to you? — where you get the sudden urge to wash your face in the car on a long drive home in the middle of the night? I mean, Marisol and I can’t be the only two people.

Oh! — I just thought of a genius (if I do say so myself) idea for the next time I’m out and about in the wee hours (whenever that may be). I’ll bring along a pack of makeup wipes to keep in the car! 🙂

That way I can remove my makeup, wipe down my face, and let my skin breathe. Then when I get home, I can just fall right into bed, ah…

By the way, these new Clinique Take the Day Off Micellar Cleansing Towelettes are SO BOMB.

Clinique Take the Day Off Micellar Cleansing Towelettes for Face & Eyes ($14 for 50 wipes) — Clinique Take the Day Off Micellar Cleansing Towelettes for Face & Eyes ($14 for a pack of 50 wipes)

[Continue reading…]

It’s Just The Barest Blush by The Estée Edit

July 26th, 2016 by Karen 16 Comments

estee edit barest blush coy coral — Wearing The Estée Edit Barest Blush in Coy Coral ($28, one of four shades)

I really hope I don’t drop one of these blushes by The Estée Edit because…

I have a penchant for dropping things. I don’t know why, but when I’m applying makeup, gravity always gets involved, and something usually lands on my foot (P.S., it usually hurts).
And I also have a feeling that if I were to drop one of these compacts, the precious pan inside it would break, triggering a loud WAHHH!

These silver sweethearts are called The Barest Blushes by The Estée Edit. They’re $28 each and available in four shades.

The packaging may look sturdy, but really, it’s not. It’s lightweight plastic and, truth be told, feels fairly flimsy. I fear these won’t be able to handle the rigors of my butterfinger life.

(Seriously, every single piece of makeup I own? — on the floor at least 20 times a day. Totally not kidding.)

Even so, what lives within these delicate darlings is pure gold, and that’s why I keep wearing ’em.

These aptly named blushes came out with the rest of The Estée Edit line earlier this year. The two shades I’ve been wearing the most — Coy Coral and Ember Glow — look completely natural. I’m talking about that heat-rushing-to-your cheeks kind of flush, and they’re totally spot-on if you like a natural cheek look.

Yes, if I were ever in a position where all of my goodies were hanging out and all eyes were on me (also known as “my nightmare”), my cheeks would probably turn a shade similar to Coy Coral. ?

These have a fine shimmery golden overspray on them that disappears after you’ve used them a few times and, not gonna lie, I don’t mind that they disappear, because I’ve been into matte, and low-level shine, cheeks lately.

estee edit barest blush ember glow — The Estée Edit Barest Blush in Ember Glow

[Continue reading…]

The Six New NARS Hardwired Eyeshadow Shades for Fall 2016

July 22nd, 2016 by Karen 22 Comments

Could there be a hidden corner of the human brain tucked away near the back that makes us hardwired to make grabby hands whenever we see shimmery, sparkly, glittery things?

Solely based on my experience, I think the answer to that is “yes,” LOL! Because homegirl wants ALL OF THE GLITTERS. 🙂

All of them…

I definitely feel that familiar, inescapable tug in my gut when I open the NARS Hardwired Eyeshadows.

NARS is adding six new shades for fall, coming exclusively to Sephora starting August 1, and holy wow! — the shimmer.

Like the previously released Hardwired Eyeshadow shades, these shine bright enough to see from across a room — heck, or across town. Maybe from across state lines, even.

These highly pigmented powder shadows have varying levels of glitter, shimmer and pearl, so you get a lot of light reflecting back when you pop them on your skin. It’s very eye-catching.

nars hardwired parallax — Wearing NARS Hardwired Eyeshadow in Parallax on my lids

[Continue reading…]

The It Cosmetics Superhero Palette Has a Smoooooth Superpower

July 21st, 2016 by Karen 21 Comments

The new $42 It Cosmetics Superhero Palette should just put on a cape and soar across the sky already.

Like the next summer superhero movie…it’s coming soon! — to the It Cosmetics website (August) and Ulta (September), and its superhero power is allegedly that it has the ability to help lids look as though they’ve turned back time.

it cosmetics superhero palette 1 — What’s your superhero power?

In addition to the nine incredibly smooth powder eyeshadows in the main row, which are divided among Nudes, Neutrals and Liners, the palette also has three larger Eye Foundation shades, which are good base colors for your entire eyelid.

I think my lids look really smooth with these shadows, and the formula is also supposed to help lids long term, thanks to anti-aging collagen, silk, peptides and antioxidants.

it cosmetics superhero palette k2 — Wearing Pow! all over my lid, Superstar from my lash line into the crease, and Superhero along the lash line

[Continue reading…]

These Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Sticks Make Unevenness and Redness Go POOF!

July 20th, 2016 by Karen 31 Comments

It’s kind of amazing how far foundation has come in such a relatively short amount of time. There are so many products on counters now that are getting close to realistic-looking skin. I’m talking finishes and textures and colors and coverages that are virtually imperceptible, and all I have to say to that is “yay!” This is a trend worthy of an all-caps WOOT-WOOT.

These new $46 Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Sticks are the latest realistic-looking foundations to jump into the ring, providing the coverage of a concealer, the maneuverability of a liquid and the weightlessness of a powder.

And that’s all great, but I also like how quick they can be used (roughly a minute or two). It’s like boom, boom, boom! — a little swipe here, a little swipe there, cheeks, nose, forehead, chin. Then blend that in with a brush for lovely, even-toned skin without any of that heaviness, or that caked-on nonsense where it feels like you’re wearing a mask.

hourglass vanish foundation before-after — From the left: bare skin, then a layer of Beige by itself, and then Beige worn with additional makeup

[Continue reading…]

NUDESTIX Gel Colour Lip + Cheek Balm: These Glossy, Pigmented Pencils Do Double-Duty

July 20th, 2016 by Karen 15 Comments

nudestix gel color — Four of the eight NUDESTIX Gel Color Lip + Cheek Balms ($24 each)

I had a dream the other night that I left these NUDESTIX Gel Colours out on my desk, and a toddler-sized Connor Claire found them and used them to draw all over my office walls.

But like, honestly, I wasn’t even mad at her, because I thought, “Girl, you’ve got good taste! If I were a kid, I’d probably do the same thing. BRAVO.”

These NUDESIX Gel Colours came out a while back (late spring/early summer, I believe) in eight $24 shades.

They may look like standard-issue lip pencils, but naaaah — they’re much more than that. With these you get an uber-moisturizing, long-lasting, easy-to-blend lip balm (my dry lips totes approve) with a shiny gel finish, and they also double as blush.

nudestix gel color rebel — NUDESTIX Gel Color Lip + Cheek Balm in Rebel (my fave!)

[Continue reading…]

The New NARS Sculpting Multiples: Twice as Nice and Coming Soon to Sephora

July 18th, 2016 by Karen 15 Comments

The new $39 NARS Sculpting Multiples are twice as nice, because you get, not one, but two shades in each stick — two shades of creamy NARS Mutiple goodness, which you can wear on your eyes, your cheeks, your lips, or to sculpt and highlight yo’ face.

A regular single NARS Mulitple stick also sells for $39, so these are double-your-pleasure duos.

One of the shades in each duo is a lighter shade for highlighting, and the other is a darker shade for contouring.

I’m not really a big contour-er (is that a word?), but if you are, that’s what the darker shades are for. Me? I’m more about the highlight (although I will also play with the countour shades too). 🙂

[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Fall 2016: Glitter, Sparkle, Shine and an Epic Full-Coverage Matte Foundation

July 13th, 2016 by Karen 34 Comments

Oh, my gawd! It’s so easy to get sucked into the glittery, shimmery, shiny vortex that is the Urban Decay Fall 2016 collection.

My eyes turned into emoji hearts ? the first time I opened the Moondust Eyeshadow Palette ($49), but to my surprise the thing that made me go “WHHHAAAAA!” the loudest was the All Nighter Liquid Foundation ($40).

urban decay all nighter foundation-6 — Three shades of Urban Decay All Nighter Liquid Foundation for comparison

I’m not a full-coverage matte gal right now. Right now I’m more into dewy finishes and light-to-medium coverage. So I’m fine with my freckles peeking through, but this new foundation could convert me to Team Full-Coverage Matte.

Like, seriously, I used half a pump of shade 7.0, which pretty much a dead ringer for my MAC NC42 skin tone — half a pump, dude! — and I put it on with my fingers, thinking, “Whatever, let’s just see where this goes.”

Somehow, that small amount pretty much covers my entire face. My skin looks even toned, and my pores look smaller, but the finish still looks natural, and not heavy or masky, which is a frequent issues I have with a lot of the full-coverage matte foundations out there (ugh).

If there’s anything in this release worthy of grabby hands, I think it’s Urban Decay All Night Liquid Foundation.

urban decay razor sharp — The Urban Decay Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear Liquid Eyeliners ($22 each)

I mean, there’s also some other cool stuff in the collection, like a new line of liquid eyeliners called the Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear Liquid Eyeliners ($22 each).

They have a brush applicator, which usually spells “wonky-@ss line” for me, but not with these, even when I quickly sloosh a small amount of Snakebite (the metallic coppery bronze) on my upper lash lines. The brush is actually very smooth and easy to use!

urban decay razor sharp swatches-1 — 11 of the 20 Urban Decay Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear Liquid Eyeliners

[Continue reading…]