A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Don’t worry. These new Milani Lip Flashes ($7 each) have totally got you covered. No really, they do. These chubby gloss pencils pack pigment and shimmer like WHOA!
If you 
golden full coverage glosses, these might be right up your alley. They come in eight shades; I tried the one actually called Lip Flash. It’s an unscented, unflavored shimmery bronze with a thick, sticky texture that really clings to lips, helping it last about four hours on mine.
Becca Cosmetics Professional Brush Soap, $15. Available now at select Becca retailers and also online.
If you liked 12 Monkeys, Groundhog Day and Moon, don’t miss Source Code. For serious! I was hooked from the opening credits. The movie opens with some incredible swooping overhead shots of daytime Chicago looking bigger and brighter than I ever thought it did and then zooms in on a man yanked awake from a restless sleep on a commuter train. The man knows himself as an Army helicopter pilot who an instant ago had been flying a combat mission over Afghanistan, and now, as if somehow teleported from thousands of miles away, he finds himself where? On a train? Who are these people? WTF? GREAT. SCI. FI. FLICK.
How about you? What have you been up to this weekend? I hope you’re doing something fun.
Last week took a lot out of me, and if it wasn’t for the Becca Halcyon Days Palette and China Glaze Island Escape collection, I might not have made it through… Okay, that’s being overly dramatic, but you get the idea.
This is unrelated, and I hadn’t thought of it like this before, but doesn’t it seem like the prices of Target’s makeup and beauty products have been trending upward lately? Wait — not only at Target. I haven’t done the math yet, but it seems like after a brief downward price trend, makeup prices everywhere are again heading up. Where we were seeing some great value kits and palettes from beauty brands late last year, now we’re seeing a return to the $45-65 range, especially for department store kits and palettes.
I hope I’m wrong… Maybe I’m just attributing too much to Jemma Kidd’s recent higher-priced products.
THE BECCA HALCYON DAYS PALETTE SOFTLY SHIMMERS
LIKE SUNSET AT AN EXPENSIVE BEACH RESORT
When I opened the new Becca Halcyon Days Palette ($65), sunbeams shot out of the pans directly into my gold, bronze and coral-lovin’ heart. BAM! This palette is almost everything I could ever want from summer makeup. Just thinking about it fills the air with the scent of sunscreen, my mouth with the taste of orange Creamsicles, and my ears with the sound of surf pounding on a beach.
Take unseasonably warm weather like we’re having here in the Bay Area this week (this, after last week’s downpours and freeze-your-butt-bones weather), add Halcyon Days, and you get one happy Karen. 🙂
Here, let me show you! Grab my virtual hand because the journey to summer, summer, summertime is just a hop, skip and a Becca palette away. Read more…
STRIKE A POSE (THERE’S NOTHING TO IT)
WITH JK JEMMA KIDD IN VOGUE PERFECT BLUSH
Don’t just stand there, let’s get to it, strike a pose, there’s nothing to it —
Aw, man! It was only after I took these pictures that I put two and two together. I should have done Vogue poses for these pics! Oh, well… Next time.
Have I ever told you about the time my friend Cindy and I went to Madonna Night at a club in San Francisco? Yep, the DJ played Madge hits all night long. It was awesome! — except for one thing, and that thing had nothing to do with the music and everything to do with my height.
I’m a little shorty, and every time the DJ played Vogue, which he did several times, I spent the entire song dodging sharp Vogue elbows to my temples and long arms to my face. I left the club happy that night, but I looked like a to’ up rag doll with a mild concussion. Read more…
I’M BRINGING JELLY BEANS
TO MY CHINA GLAZE ISLAND ESCAPE
With a name like Island Escape, China Glaze’s new nail polish collection could be about bright, tropical colors, but the sugar fiend in me can’t help but see jelly beans in these bottles.
The six-piece summer collection (about $5 per bottle) features a rainbow of tropical candy colors — four shimmers (108 Degrees, Cha Cha Cha, Senorita Bonita and Blue Iguana), which require two coats to reach full opacity, and two creams (Papaya Punch and Electric Pineapple), which take three.
If you were wondering, yes, I did eat these jelly beans, starting with the popcorn ones first (they’re my fave!).
I’ve had excellent luck with China Glaze polishes over the years; they’re some of the sturdiest and most chip-resistant polishes I’ve tried. They get the texture and consistency just right — it’s not too thick nor thin — and they don’t skimp on the pigment. Read more…
THE JEMMA KIDD GLITTERATI SHADOW DUST DUO
COLLECTION IS CONSPIRING AGAINST BOREDOM
In Dan Brown’s new book, a secret society of cream shadow enthusiasts plots to overthrow the government from a network of hidden catacombs beneath the country’s largest Target store. At the heart of this cosmetics conspiracy — the JK Glitterati Shadow Dust Duo Collection.
Angels & Demons was only the beginning! Where the Illuminati failed, the Glitterati succeed by appealing to lazy ladies who love shimmery cream shadows. Each of the three $18 duos in the collection has two ends. On one, a cream shadow with a doe-foot applicator; on the other, a loose powder shadow with a roller ball.
Despite being expensive for a drugstore makeup product, the flexible, long-wearing duos quickly spread to Target’s many stores nationwide…
It’s quite a page-turner. 🙂 Read more…
MIGHT AS WELL FACE IT I’M ADDICTED TO DIOR
THE NEW DIOR ADDICT LIPSTICK
Alright, did someone sneak in a second Monday today? Yeesh! I had a tough Tuesday, ladies. Couldn’t focus worth squat. I felt like a cat in a thunder storm — perpetually on edge and ready to freak out. The only headway I made all day was with these newly reformulated Dior Addict lipsticks ($28 each). I say headway because I actually tried them on my lips.
Dior refers to these as iconic, a gutsy claim if we were talking about a different company, but Dior gets a pass from me for marketing speak like that. That’s how much I like the brand. Their corny tagline, on the other hand, I think I’ll gently tease: “A declaration of love between beauty and style, color and couture, and Dior and its addicts.” Come on, guys. You can do better than that. 🙂
I counted 44 shades on their website and tried three of them today. The new formula seems slightly thicker and more pigmented to me than the old one did. I could wax philosophic about how hydrating and extraordinarily shiny these heavenly bobbins are, but wax is one thing these lipsticks don’t do. Well, they do, but they do it less than usual, which is to say that they’re made with 25% less wax than classic lipsticks are. Read more…
WHAT’S THE STORY MORNING GLORY?
THE TALE BEHIND BARE ESCENTUALS BE CARES SWEET SMILE EYECOLOR
One thing I’ve always liked about makeup is the story behind the product, and how when you see a piece of makeup, you’re not just looking at a lipstick or an eyeshadow. Sometimes, you’re also seeing someone’s hopes and dreams.
Who was that someone at Bare Escentuals who, when they first saw the opalescent purplish grey that would later become limited edition BE Cares Sweet Smile eyeshadow, thought they would release the color to honor Jessica, one of their customers, and her sister, who underwent 24 operations to correct a cleft palate?
I’ve been wearing Sweet Smile as a light wash over my lids this week for a hint of color and blue sparkle that don’t look too overdone. The color isn’t incredibly pigmented, but applying it with a wet brush helps (makes it more intense). Read more…
SONIA KASHUK’S NEW SPRING 2011 NAIL COLOURS
HAVE A FORMULA THAT’S RIGHT ON TARGET
If Sonia Kashuk’s new Nail Colours were any easier to apply, they’d be called Nail Polish for Dummies — or, in my case, Nail Polish for the HELLA Sleep Deprived.
I barely slept at all last night, which, as you can probably imagine, isn’t conducive to good decision making. For reasons I won’t even try to understand, I decided to do some swatching this morning…at 3 a.m. (aka the witching hour). Yes, I know. Crazy, right? Well, I was awake, and it just seemed like a good idea at the time. Despite the ridiculous hour and this little thing called “poor hand-eye coordination,” Sonia’s polishes still did a remarkable job.
I tried three of the four new colors released for spring — khaki green Fatigued, creamy purple Violetta and bright reddish coral Tutti Frutti. I also really wanted to try the fourth shade, hot pink Jammin, but I haven’t been able to track it down. Like another one of Sonia’s popular products, her Flat Top Brush, it’s always sold out at the store. Read more…
THIERRY MUGLER MAKEUP, COMIC SANS AND
FASHION DON’TS FOR DUDES
Hey, friend. How’s Wednesday treating you? Sorry if it seems like I haven’t been around as much as usual, especially in the comments, but I’ve been a little out of sorts. It started with a bad case of writer’s block yesterday, which I think I’m still recovering from. I feel much better today, but it still wore me out.
I feel selfish complaining with everything going on in the world, but who else can I tell if not you? Unless it involves gravy, Tabs isn’t concerned.
Even though I haven’t been able to express myself, I’ve been dying to tell you about some of the weird things that have crossed my path lately, like…
Comic Sans! You know how much I like typography, right, and can’t stand Comic Sans? Well, for some reason, I’ve been getting almost one e-mail per day written ENTIRELY in Comic Sans. Like, paragraph after paragraph of bold 18-pt Comic Sans, usually in violet, orange or pink. 🙂 I kid you not! The universe is having a free-for-all font field day at little old moi’s expense. It makes me want to laugh and barf at the very same time. Read more…
THE URBAN DECAY ROLLERGIRL NAIL KIT
MAKES THE CLAWS COME OUT
Sometimes I wonder if Tabs has lost his ability to connect with felines and humans outside of the digital world. Since getting his iPhone, he communicates more and more of his requests demands via text, like this one from yesterday: Woman, you need to swatch the Urban Decay Rollergirl Nail Kit ASAP or suffer the consequences. Don’t make me take my claws out!
I haven’t worn them long enough to gauge wear time yet, but so far I like the colors and formula. They apply smoothly with nary a streak, and two coats deliver full, opaque coverage.
Roller girls, roller boys and makeup-loving tabby cats, this $28 limited edition summer kit of six minis skates onto counters soon. See anything you like? Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
The new Urban Decay Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer, $30 each. Available in Halo (a sheer alabaster for fair skin tones), Bodyguard (a sheer nude for fair to medium skin tones), Bulletproof (a sheer sand for medium skin tones) and Forcefield (a sheer fawn for medium to dark skin tones). Coming soon to Sephora, Ulta, select Macy’s stores and also online.
Well, it’s official — my skin and I aren’t getting any younger, and since we love long-wearing eye makeup, both of us were ready for the jelly that is Urban Decay’s new Meltdown Makeup Remover ($24), a creamy gel designed to whisk away waterproof eye makeup while moisturizing the delicate skin around the eyes.
The products contains a bunch of nifty-sounding ingredients like antioxidant-rich cranberry and raspberry seed oils, sea whip extract (similar to coral, also known as sea fan; the extract has anti-inflammatory properties), kukui nut oil (a powerful Polynesian humectant to aid with hydration), oat oil (to encourage collagen production) and beta carotene (to smooth and reduces the appearance of wrinkles).
I noticed the scent immediately as it’s…interesting — like eau de vanilla, funky musk, workout shoes and college dorm room incense. Not an award-winning fragrance, but I think the creamy texture, which feels almost like a lotion and spreads easily across my lids and lashes, makes up for it.
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Photo by sekushy
Some of the most inappropriately applied makeup products are the ones we use every day, like shine/shimmer products and setting powder. When used correctly, they can produce beautiful, subtle effects, but when used improperly things can go terribly, horribly, no-good, very badly wrong.
Let’s review some application techniques and tips to help you use shine/shimmer products and setting powders to perfection.
Shiny isn’t usually a word you want used in reference to your face. It brings to mind other less attractive words like greasy, oily, dirty — you get the picture. But no glow at all can make skin look flat, two-dimensional, dull, and expose things like large pores and dry patches (not a good look either).
What we want is a happy medium — a selective sheen — with a bit of “wetness” on the tops of our cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, on the chin, and on our cupid’s bow. Everywhere else should be more or less matte.
To pinpoint exactly where to apply, stand almost directly under an overhead light, and note where the light highlights the planes of your face. We’ll call these your highpoints.
When you have some time to prepare, try using a cream or liquid foundation, and then dust a powder lightly over every part of your face except for your highpoints. Blot these areas with a tissue instead. This way, the moisture in your foundation will produce a skin-like gleam only where you want it to, and where one would appear naturally.
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Thierry Mugler Lip Lacker Pexi Glosses, $40 each. Available now exclusively online.
Rise and shine, morning glory. It’s going to be a beautiful (Comic Sans-free) day. 
The birds are singing…
…and adventure awaits!
What are your plans for today? If I can finish my chores early (seriously, Tabs should learn how to vacuum his own fur balls), I would love to see a movie. I hear Source Code is supposed to be good, and the idea of Jakey Poo and a big bucket of popcorn sounds delish.
OOH! The coffee’s ready. I’m gonna go grab a cup. Would you care for one too? Stay a while. Why don’t you enter today’s giveaway, and I’ll be right back.
Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
