Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

The Sonia Kashuk Brush Couture Limited Edition Flat Top Blush/Powder Brush Is Dressed for Success

March 18th, 2011 by Karen 26 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Brush Couture Flat Top Multipurpose Blush Powder Brush

Oh, just gazing at this brush makes me happy. 🙂 Isn’t the tile print on Sonia Kashuk’s new Sonia Kashuk Brush Couture Flat Top Multipurpose Blush/Powder Brush ($11) adorable? It’s going to look so cute sitting on my vanity.

But good looks aren’t the only thing this limited edition brush has going for it. It also flawlessly applies loose powders, bronzers, and cream and powder blushes, too, just like Sonia’s legendary Synthetic Flat Top Brush. The big difference between the two is just that these bristles are made of natural fibers (I’m not sure what kind).
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Sonia Kashuk Spring Awakenings Face Palette

March 18th, 2011 by Karen 8 Comments

The limited edition Sonia Kashuk Spring Awakenings Face Palette ($20), new for spring 2011 and available now at select Target stores.

It includes four eyeshadows (a matte tan, a matte chocolate, a metallic bronze and a shimmery champagne), a deep brown “eye intensifier” (which looks like a powder liner), a coral powder blush and three sheer lip glosses (a shimmery nude, a shimmery cocoa and a shimmery rosewood).

Do you like?

From Stonehenge to QVC: The Tarte 8th World Wonder Kit

March 18th, 2011 by Karen 24 Comments

tarte 8th world wonder

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympus and now Tarte. Someone wake up Herodotus. It’s time to add one more to his Seven Wonders of the World, and this one’s a QVC exclusive.

Tarte continues to sizzle this spring. Their recently released $53 limited edition 8th World Wonder Kit comes with some Tarte colors you can’t find anywhere else, like Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten.

tarte 8th world wonder
Hi, Glisten… Pardon me while I wipe this drool off my chin!

In the kit, Glisten joins six other pieces for eyes, lips, face and cheeks, all in a cute purple clutch purse.

Tarte 8th World Wonder Kit ($53)

Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten — I’m in love with the glow I get from this shimmery peachy pink. Like the other blushes in Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Blush line, Glisten is pigmented, easy to blend and lasts and lasts and lasts.
PureOptic Lipgloss in Golden — I think this shimmery golden peachy pink kinda sorta resembles MAC Nymphette, except that it’s lighter and doesn’t contain quite as much pigment. I find the minty scent and flavor refreshing, but I’m not crazy about the thick, sticky texture… It feels too heavy on my lips.
Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eyeliner — Something tells me this rich, shimmery bronze-plum eyeliner will look incredible on brown brown eyes and green eyes. I’ve worn it successfully along my lash line, but when I wore it along my waterlines, my eyes teared up.
Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Balancing Foundation — Medium, the shade I’ve been testing, seems too light for my skin tone, but I’m still wearing it around the house for fun. With the kit, you can choose the shade of foundation you want.

The feel of this lightweight, fluffy mousse reminds me of Laura Mercier’s Silk Creme Foundation. Like Laura’s creme, it’s pigmented and full coverage, yet it still feels darn near weightless on my skin.
Airbrush Finish Foundation Brush — Designed to apply liquid foundations, this soft, full brush head produces diffused looks with aplomb.
Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara — This jet black mascara adds natural-looking length and thickness to lashes.
Eyeshadow Palette — I didn’t get to try this palette of brown, bronze, purple and pink powder shadows, but here’s what Stef thought about it at We Heart This.

tarte 8th world wonder
Here are six of the items shown next to my iPhone for scale (the missing product is the eyeshadow palette)
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Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten

March 18th, 2011 by Karen 5 Comments

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten, available in the Tarte 8th World Wonder Best of The Amazon 7-pc Clay Collection (a QVC exclusive).

Bite Beauty Vitamin Gel Tastes So Good I Had to Have Seconds

March 18th, 2011 by Karen 33 Comments

Three words: Botan Rice Candy.

If you know what I’m talking about, don’t you just love the edible rice paper wrapper? YUM! I ate tons of those chewy, lemon-orange flavored candies as a kid. My mom would always let me put one pack in the cart whenever we’d go grocery shopping.

I hadn’t thought about them in years until the other day when I slipped a layer of new Bite Beauty Vitamin Gel in Pink Grapefruit ($18) on my lips.

It’s one of five vitamin-enriched flavors in Bite’s new line of moisturizing, non-sticky lip treatments, and I think it tastes EXACTLY like Botan Rice Candy (but not like grapefruit), om nom nom!

Bite Beauty Vitamin Gel in Pink Grapefruit

The pretty color, a barely there pink tint, shines brightly with a high gloss finish, but this one’s flavor will keep me coming back for more, and more, and more. It’s that yummy!
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Glisten Closely, Because Jouer Has Something Shimmery to Say: The Jouer Glisten Up Collection for Spring 2011

March 17th, 2011 by Karen 37 Comments

jouer glisten up
Jouer Glisten Lip Gloss in Nude Glisten on lips and Glistening Brightening Powder on upper cheek bones

My brain perceives sparkly makeup and ice cream (BASKIN-ROBBINS!) in similar ways. When I see either of them behind their respective counters, I do a lot of ooh-ing and aah-ing with grabby fingers in the air. Most of the time I can barely speak at all, with the only sentence I’m able to utter consisting of the words, “I want!”

That’s what glitter can do to ya. It’s powerful stuff — especially good glitter, like the kind in Jouer’s new Glisten Up collection for spring.

jouer glisten up in hand
From left to right: Glisten Lip Gloss in Rose Glisten, Coral Glisten and Nude Gliste; Glisten Brightening Powder

Indie line Jouer takes a simple, straightforward approach to makeup that’s both feminine and sophisticated at the same time. The brand reminds me of Becca…if Becca left the beach early to hang out downtown.

Like good-looking, well-mannered men who also happen to be a little short, good glitter is small, fine and sophisticated (Ben McKenzie in a suit). It’s glitter for grownups. Picture the kind of glitter Snooki would wear, swing the pendulum in the opposite direction, and BAM! That’s good glitter (sorry, Snooks!).
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I Thought I’d Be Hungrier for Bite Beauty Lip Rouge Multitasking Lip Color and Blush

March 17th, 2011 by Karen 44 Comments

Bite Beauty Lip Rouge in Nectarine

Oh, hell naw! Remember how excited I was to try the new $22 Bite Beauty Lip Rouge in Nectarine? Check it. THIS (up top) is what happened the very first time I opened the compact.

What a way to make a gal grumpy, right? I suppose one could even say it “bites.” Sure, the compact could have been damaged in shipping; it may not have had anything at all to do with Bite Beauty’s quality control, but I’ve received many other orders from Sephora, and this kind of thing’s never happened before…

Nevertheless, we persevere! I’m not going to let a possible shipping accident stand in the way of getting Lip Rouge on my lips and cheeks.

Looking at their name, you may be wondering if vampires made the new Bite Beauty line. Nope. The 50 pieces in the line, which recently went on sale at Sephora, get their name from the edible ingredients they contain — ingredients like resveratrol, a potent antioxidant.

I’d hoped that matte peach Nectarine, one of six creamy Lip Rouge shades in the line, would have a thin texture like the Urban Decay Afterglow Glide-On Cheek Tints (LOVE!) previously released for spring, but it’s surprisingly thick, almost like a matte lipstick.

Bite Beauty Lip Rouge in Nectarine box