Illamasqua Cream Pigments clockwise from left : Mould, Hollow and Dab (about $27 each). Available online on March 10 and on counters in the UK on March 17.
Illamasqua Toxic Nature Collection Spring/Summer 2011: Cream Pigments
Illamasqua Toxic Nature Collection Spring/Summer 2011: Nail Varnish in Bacterium
Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Bacterium from the new Toxic Nature Spring Summer collection (about $22). Available online on March 10 and on counters in the UK on March 17.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, March 7
- You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past three years, which I guess makes this somewhere around Vol. 160. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
- Mood:
- What’s your biggest hair concern?
- Orange lipstick?
- What’s the wackiest piece of clothing you own?
- When things get crazy in your life, how do you keep your sanity?
- What’s your preferred brow maintenance method?
- Salty or sweet?
- Three desert island essentials?
- Favorite ’90s music?
- Weekly goals:
A little out of it today (my tea hasn’t kicked in yet), but otherwise good.
Finding stylists able to cut my wavy hair well. I’ve had some awful haircuts over the years that have left me looking like bad topiary.
Heck, yeah! Can I wear some cat eye liner with it?
It’s a tossup between the cropped black-and-white faux fur jacket I got at Bebe back in the early two-thousands, or my shiny, button-down Felix the Cat shirt.
I make lists. LOTS of lists. Because the act of crossing things off of them helps me feel like I’m doing something to restore order to the chaos.
I pluck mine with square-tip tweezers, usually right after I get out of the shower. I find the square-tip ones easier to use than the slanted or pointy ones. And I also like to stay on top of it by doing a little bit of plucking every day, as opposed to waiting and doing a massive hair removal session at one time.
Mostly sweet, but I like both (like salted caramels, or regular popcorn with some kettle corn on top).
Bottled water, a satellite phone and Benjamin McKenzie…or sunscreen (I can’t decide!).
En Vogue’s Funky Divas, the Counting Crows’ August & Everything After, Lil’ Kim’s Crush on You, Biggie’s Ready to Die. Seriously, I could go on forever.
To start every day by updating my to-do list, to focus on just one thing at a time (I’ve been so easily distracted lately), and to run a total of 12 miles before Saturday.
Hey, buddy. 🙂 How was your weekend? Please tell me it was good (but you can tell me if it wasn’t). Things on my side of the keyboard aren’t bad. No complaints. I had a relaxing girl’s spa day with a few friends on Saturday (more on that in a few) and found out that one of my BFF’s is going to be a mom, so that’s pretty great.
Right now I’m here drinking some green tea and writing my to-do list for the day. I’m trying to figure out if there’s any way I can squeeze in a few minutes to visit the Benefit counter today. I’m going through (another) serious Creaseless Cream Shadow phase, and I want to pick up Strut (a shimmery charcoal). Maybe on my lunch hour…
If you get a break this morning, please take a minute to check in. You know how we do it. Just copy/paste the poll in the comments, or drop in to let me know how you’re doing.
- To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.
1. Mood:
2. What’s your biggest hair concern?
3. Orange lipstickl?
4. What’s the wackiest piece of clothing you own?
5. When things get crazy in your life, how do you keep your sanity?
6. What’s your preferred brow maintenance method?
7. Salty or sweet?
8.Three desert island essentials?
9. Favorite ’90s music?
10. Weekly goals:
I hope you have a stellar week. Tabs is sending you cosmic vibes. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Straight Talk: This Curly Girl Also Loves Straight Hair
This series is powered by Pantene.
Looking back, I realize now that holding a scalding hot laundry iron inches away from my face probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’d ever done, but I was a curious teenager, and I’d heard from my friend Jessica that the quickest way to get straight hair was to iron it.
(pause)
Okay, this was the early ’90s, and flat irons hadn’t quite made their way into every straight hair-challenged girl’s bathroom yet, so, one day, after pressing the wrinkles out of my favorite pair of Z. Cavariccis and my black-and-white polka-dot shirt (complete with sheer black sleeves!), I placed my long, wavy hair on the ironing board and…
(Seriously, do NOT try this at home.)
It didn’t take long to turn my unruly lion’s mane into a sleek curtain of straight hair. “Victory!” I roared. Adrenaline burned through my veins! — or I guess it could have been heat from the iron.
This went on for about two weeks until the day my mom walked in on me. What followed was A LOT OF YELLING! And that pretty much put an end to that particular kind of ironing.
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Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 129
A Q&A with Tabs the Cat
1. Favorite place in the world: The top of my cat tower, from where I may observe my domain and assert dominance over the humans.
2. Perfect day: Sleep, gravy, sleep. More gravy.
3. Food can’t live without: Fancy Feast Tuna in — you guessed it — gravy.
4. Fondest memory: My very first Chanel runway show in Paris. After all the hard work and auditions, I felt like I finally made it, ya know?
5. Hobby: Knitting. I know, right? I may not have opposable thumbs, but I can still knit/perl with the best of ’em.
6. Biggest pet peeve: People who yell when they’re angry. I prefer to assert my anger via silent psychological mind games.
7. Best thing I read in the last year: Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat.
8. Inspiration: I’m inspired by gravy those who push the boundaries of creativity.
9. Looking forward to: The nap I’m about to take.
10. Least favorite word: Veterinarian.
11. Stress reliever: Kneading/making biscuits on my assistant’s tummy or thighs. She claims it ruins her clothes…but I wouldn’t exactly call her fashionable anyway. Homegirl’s a hot mess. She dresses like a pre-teen surfer boy.
12. Celebrity to play you in a movie: Brad Pitt. I believe he could accurately portray my intensity. Plus, we have the same abs.
13. Most recent tweet: @thesmerz You inspired me to work on my posing. See, I had my assistant @karenmbb take my pic too! http://yfrog.com/h5fmpzj
14. Favorite guilty pleasure: Stealing makeup from my assistant and hoarding it all in my secret stash, hee hee!
15. Song you know the most lyrics to: Madonna’s Material Girl. It’s my karaoke jam.
16. Favorite show: Cats 101 on Animal Planet. Good stuff.
17. Favorite show you’re embarrassed to admit you watch: Jersey Shore. I know it’s rotting my brain, but I just can’t stop.
18. All-time favorite movie: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
19. Alma mater: I dropped out of school to pursue my modeling career, but I recently received an honorary degree in Feline Studies from UC Davis. GO AGS!
20. Beauty secret: Pamper yourself! I’m a firm believer in spas and salons. Oh, and don’t forget to do your sit-ups.
Who is Tabs the Cat? About three years ago I befriended a stray, flea-bitten tabby cat with a bad case of worms. I could see he’d fallen on hard times, but his profound knowledge of high fashion and department store cosmetics led me to believe that he was more than meets the eye. We became fast friends, and now he’s actually my boss (and a successful kitty model). 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. I hope you had a good weekend. Tabs and I are watching Dawn of the Dead on TV and eating frozen yogurt for dinner. Well, I’m having yogurt… He’s having you know what. 🙂
Happy Birthday to Your Brows! Benefit Now Offers Free Brow Arch Services on Your Birthday
I’m making a note to myself to hit up the Benefit counter on my birthday this June (Gemini’s in the house, y’all!). Beginning this month, the brow lovin’ makeup line will now offer free birthday Brow Arch services at their fantabulous Benefit Brow Bars.
To get groomed and gorgeous brows for free (now THAT’S a good deal), all you have to do is flash a valid government issued photo ID showing your legal date of birth. The free Brow Arch service starts with a consultation, ensuring you’ll get the right brow shape for your face, as well as a practically painless waxing and/or tweezing session.
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The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed
Good morning, young lady. Rise and shine. 🙂
Ooh! Guess what? I found out I’m going to be an aunty! Yup, my girlfriend Jen is going to be a mom. Yesterday I met her and my other BFF Cindy (we’ve known each other since childhood) for a girl’s spa day, and out on the sidewalk before we walked in, Jen said, “Okay, don’t freak out, but I scheduled a pregnancy massage.”
Yea! I plan to be the cool aunt (the one you’d run to when your parents were being square).
I’m secretly hoping it’s a girl because then I could buy her really cute outfits…
Anywho, I think that calls for some coffee! Are you sufficiently caffeinated yet? I’m running a little behind.
Before we get going today, how about one last look back at some of the makeup and beauty products we talked about this week?
The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed
IS THE TARTE NEUTRALEYES EYE SHADOW
PALETTE UNIVERSALLY FLATTERING?
The idea of makeup designed to look great on everyone always gets me excited. What a cool idea, right? — products without boundaries or inhibitions; colors able to get along with everyone.
It reminds me of the time I walked in on a party to find a bunch of people in a huge drum circle. At first I thought, “Uh, oh. Not my scene,” but then I grabbed some bongos and started banging away. Before long I felt right at home. 🙂
Tarte must have had a world like that in mind (maybe?) when they developed the new Tarte NeutralEyes Eye Shadow Palette ($44). Like all of their products, it’s cruelty-free, which scores may-jah points in Tabs’ book. New for spring, the palette comes chock full of good stuff. Read more…
DID SMASHBOX PUT THEIR LIMITLESS LIQUID LINER
PEN ON A HIGH-SODIUM DIET?
What’s the secret to the Smashbox Waterproof Limitless Liquid Liner Pen’s ($22) water repelling powers? Could it be the seasoning perhaps?
Unless I missed the makeup challenge on Top Chef this season, the inclusion of sea salt in the formula must have been a Smashbox idea. Does it help the product work? I’m not sure, but I do see that the company’s Limitless Eye Liner and their bestselling Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner are 100% sea salt-free.
Even if the spice is purely cosmetic (weird!), this bad boy repels water and sweat like a champ. The other day I drew the Black shade along my upper lash line before hopping on the treadmill, and roughly one bucket of perspiration later, it still looked good with nary a smudge. Read more…
RIMMEL MOISTURE RENEW LIPGLOSS
GETS IT ALMOST RIGHT
Sweet holy hydration, Batman! According to the folks at Rimmel, their new Moisture Renew Lipglosses ($6 each; available in 14 shades) reduce dryness up to 95%. That’s a lotta hydration, and lawd knows my lips need it, but seriously, how do they come up with these numbers? Why not say 97%? And doesn’t “up to 95%” also include zero? But I digress…
Getting down to brass tacks, I do think Renew, which I’ve tried in Pink Protect, feels fantastic on my lips. Its light and smooth non-sticky texture certainly doesn’t dry out my lips, and that’s a definite plus.
The new line launched earlier this spring on the heels of last year’s fantastic Moisture Renew Lipsticks. Like those lippies, these catch and reflect sunlight like my favorite pair of aviator sunglasses, and with the addition of SPF 15, they’re not a bad deal for $6 each (although I do think they have quite a bit of competition at that price point). Read more…
I PUMICE TO USE REDKEN NATURE’S RESCUE
REFINING SEA POLISH MORE OFTEN
No, that’s not hot mustard up there, but it’s something no less exhilarating. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it before (this was the last thing that prompted me to say that). It’s an exfoliator…FOR HAIR!
I really expected the new Redken Nature’s Rescue Refining Sea Polish ($19 for a 3.4-oz. tube) to be a gimmick, but it turned out to be kind of brilliant instead. I mean, we already exfoliate our face, bod and our gnarly @ss feet (gurl, don’t make me bust out my heel buffer/parmesan cheese grater on you, and don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about 🙂 ), so why stop with our hair?
To use, just apply the non-foaming Sea Polish paste after shampooing but before conditioning, massaging it gently into your hair section by section. The product contains exfoliating grains of pumice which, when massaged into the hair, scrub away any built-up hair products, grit and grime your shampoo may have missed, while also refining and polishing. Read more…
I’D CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE GLOBE FOR THE
NYX SOFT MATTE LIP CREAMS
Forget “champagne wishes and caviar dreams.” I prefer “makeup wishes and Soft Lip Creams.” 🙂
In my wildest beauty nerd dreams, I’d visit each of the 11 cities featured in the new NYX Soft Lip Creams line ($6 each) just to be able to wear each color in the city it belongs. First London, then Amsterdam, Antwerp, Stockholm, Monte Carlo and Milan. From there it’s across the Adriatic to Istanbul, down to Abu Dhabi, further down to Addis Ababa, way, way east to Tokyo, and then all the way across the Pacific to end in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Of course, to complete the fantasy, I’d fly business class, and Ben McKenzie love would accompany me on the journey (sorry, El Hub!). On planes, in trains and automobiles, we’d talk for hours about The Hunger Games, and then, somewhere over the Mediterranean, he’d reveal his secret fetish for crazy cat ladies. Read more…
GET NAKED FOR LESS WITH THE NYX
NUDE ON NUDE PALETTE
Remember a few years ago when it seemed like every other day a different celebrity would get caught accidentally flashing her goodies on camera? It usually happened while they were stepping out of a limo, falling from a barstool or slipping off of a couch in the club.
Now, I seriously doubt that L. Lo, Brit-Brit, or P. Hilt have had anything to do with the nude/neutral/naked eyeshadow palettes that have arrived on makeup counters lately, but it still makes me wonder: is this a case of life imitating art, or just another strange makeup coincidence? 🙂
Either way, I’m not complaining. I’ll gladly take another palette of good old-fashioned wearable nudes and neutrals any day of the week.
Buzz has been building for the latest one in the limelight, the NYX Nude on Nude Eyeshadow and Lip Palette for spring ($25). Some are calling it a dupe for Urban Decay’s more expensive Naked Palette ($48). Read more…
I’VE TAKEN A SHINE TO THESE
NEW NARS ILLUMINATORS
Truth: sometimes I view fruit solely as a vehicle for the delivery of Nutella — a Nutella delivery system, if you will, with the final destination being my belly.
And, in a way, the new multi-purpose NARS Illuminators in Super Orgasm, Copacabana and Laguna ($29 each) are just like that. The liquid (like fruit) serves as the vehicle to deliver the glitter/pearl (the Nutella) to the skin.
Okay, I could have used a better analogy…but I think you know where I’m going with this. The stuff is basically shimmer suspended in a very sheer tinted liquid.
The newly released shades follow up on last year’s shimmery, multi-purpose Orgasm Illuminator, and, like Orgasm, they’re also designed to work as blushes, bronzers and/or highlighters. Read more…
THIS BRONZE GODDESS IS A STAR
THE ESTEE LAUDER BRONZE GODDESS SEA STAR BRONZING BLUSH
HOTNESS! Can we please pass “Go” and skip directly to summer?
Please??
I can’t make it much longer… It’s imperative that I be poolside soon, and warm, wearing Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Sea Star Bronzing Blush ($34) on my cheeks.
Sea Star is a golden peachy pink blush, both pigmented and shimmery, from the new limited edition Bronze Goddess Soleil Summer 2011 collection, and I’m guessing it’ll look great on a wide range of skin tones. To use it, I mix the colors that comprise the pink sea star with the sandy peach background in the pan; to me, the combined shade looks like a slightly less shimmery version of the lovely NARS Orgasm. Read more…
WHAT’S THE PRICE OF PERFECTION?
ABOUT $6.50, THANKS TO COVERGIRL LIP PERFECTION LIPSTICK
This spring is shaping up to be a memorable one for drugstore lippies, with lips (and wallets) everywhere doing the dance of money-saving joy. First, the long-wearing $10 L’Oreal Infallible Le Rouge lipsticks left their mark; then, the buttery $6 NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams leaned in for a kiss.
But the newest girl in town is a moisturizing lipstick from Covergirl. It boasts a lightweight texture, bold (yet still budget-friendly) color and comes in a whopping 44 shades. Covergirl’s new $6.50 Lip Perfection Lipsticks were designed by Covergirl Global Creative Design Director (and magic makeup maven) Pat McGrath, who’s kinda like the Midas of my makeup world; everything she recommends turns into makeup gold. Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
With the June Jacobs Spa Collection, Good Skin Care Requires a Large Investment
The luxurious skin care products that comprise the pricey June Jacobs Spa Collection practically scream, “I’m from a fancy, high-end spa, and y’all better recognize! (pronounced reco-nize)”
Based out of New York, the indie line sells a wide range of popular spa products for face, body and hair containing nifty plant extracts and compounds like lycium barbarum (goji berry), viola odorata (sweet violet) and matricaria chamomilla (chamomile). The ingredients vary widely per product, so you might want to check the website or labels if there’s anything you’re trying to avoid. All of the products are free of parabens, petrochemicals, sulfates and (in most cases) synthetic fragrances and dyes.
Everything about the line fits with the pricey program, from the packaging to the textures to the scents and, of course, the prices too, which range from about $22 for a moisturizing hand wash to $140 for an age-defying serum. They’re sure to spruce up any room, even a dirty bathroom…
Yes, a dirty bathroom. For an all-too-brief moment, three June Jacobs products allowed me to pretend that my dirty @ss reading room (please don’t judge! I haven’t done much cleaning in weeks) was an oasis of serenity. Forget Calgon — June Jacobs took me away!
3 Products from the June Jacobs Spa Collection
Creamy Cranberry Cleanser — The name says it all. This rich, creamy cleanser has a light cranberry scent, and it leaves a light veil of moisture on my skin after it’s removed (I either wash it off or use a tissue). It doesn’t remove makeup very well, so you may want to remove any first before using. $44 for a 6.7-oz. bottle.
Intensive Age Defying Hydrating Masque — Holy paycheck this is pricey! This unscented, richly hydrating mask feels more like a (nice) thick balm to me. I slather it on after washing my face (concentrating on the dry patches on my nose and cheeks) and sometimes even leave it on overnight. Come morning, my skin feels and looks softer than a baby’s bum. I think it also works great on dry elbows and heels. $80 for a 3.4-oz jar.
Vanda Orchid Mist — The rosemary and geranium scent of this hydrating toner teleports me to the waiting room of a luxury spa. It’s only so-so as far as hydration, but I absolutely LOVE the scent. $48 for a 7.6 oz. bottle.
