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

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

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Is the Tarte NeutralEYES Eye Shadow Palette Universally Flattering? Well, the Universe Is a BIG Place…

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tarte neutraleyes

universally flattering |yü-nə-ˈvər-səl-lē ˈfla-tə-riŋ|
adjectival phrase
1 A phrase which has come to mean “looks great on everyone,” but which more properly understood means “looks great on almost everyone” : I’m looking for a shade that’s 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 like…

  • 10 shadows (eight mattes and two shimmers) with light-to-medium pigmentation in a cute, refillable case
  • A full-size EmphasEYES Aqua-Gel Eyeliner in Brown
  • A dual-ended eyeshadow brush
  • A tiny bottle of Lifted Eye Primer
  • Printed instructions for both a “Day Look” and “Night Look”

Tarte selected neutral colors they felt would work well on a wide range of skin tones, and I particularly like the darker shades — the matte deep teal, shimmering bronze, matte brown, matte plum and matte navy. I can can see them looking fab on pale and dark beauties alike.

The shadows apply smoothly, exhibit minimal fallout, blend like a dream and contain a healthy serving of pigment. They’re intense, but not so intense that I look overly made up with them on. The look has punch, but it’s still safe and work-friendly.

Now, I had a little trouble with the lighter shades… The matte beige, pink and taupe — the three shadow colors that come with special “Day Look” instructions — looked chalky on my tan skin, and at one point while using them I hit something I call the blending “point of no return.” That’s where the colors just start to run into each other and turn into a monochromatic mess. After my third attempt with them, I figured the beauty gods were trying to tell me something, so I scrapped the idea and tried a different look with the Shimmering Soft Peach and Matte Deep Teal colors instead…

Yup, if your skin tone is similar to mine (or darker), you may find the lighter colors in the palette a bit challenging to use.

tarte neutraleyes with phone

tarte neutraleyes closed

tarte neturaleyes
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, February 28

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  • 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. 159. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. Just peachy. 🙂

  2. Did you watch the Oscars last night? If you did, what did you think?

    3. I caught the last half of the show with the big categories. I thought Ann looked beautiful in every one of her outfits, and James looked quite dapper, but most of the jokes I saw fell rather flat. My favorite part was probably Billy Crystal’s short segment.

  3. Have you ever dated someone you met online?

    4. Before I met El Hub, I went on a few dates with guys I’d met on Craigslist. They were all nice dudes, but no sparks. This was over 10 years ago, mind you, when the site wasn’t as scary/seedy, and WAY before Lifetime movies like The Craigslist Killer.

  4. Button-down denim skirts, yea or nay?

    5. Yea when I rocked that look in sixth grade (with my high-top Reeboks); now, not so much.

  5. Favorite drugstore body lotion?

    6. CeraVe. Budget beauty babes, that stuff’s great for dealing with ashy skin.

  6. Your default work outfit?

    7. When I’m just working from home, my default look is rather unglamorous, but when I have a meeting or an event to go to, I’ll usually reach for my J. Brand 811 skinny jeans, a blazer and heels.

  7. A country you’d love to visit?

    8. Where to begin? For starters, Italy. I’d love to eat my way through Tuscany…

  8. Something you wish you had more time for?

    9. Dance classes!

  9. What are you wearing on your lips today?

    10. MAC Cremesheen Glass in Deelight from the MAC Packed to Go Girl About Town set. It’s been my go-to gloss as of late.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. I’m keeping it simple this week. I plan treat myself kindly and with love. 🙂 Oh, and I need to drink more water throughout the day.

I drink a redonkulous amount of tea, and one of my favorite brands lately has been Yogi. They have an almost hippie-dippy vibe, and sell the regular flavors along with various blends to address different issues like stress, joint health and “regularity” (hey, it’s an issue).

Anywho, all of their teabags have a corny little quote on the label (which I love). Some of them really get me thinking, like this morning’s: “Whatever you are, you are. Be proud of it.”

What am I? Well, I’m a slightly out-of-shape, Nutella-loving cat lady with a penchant for pink lipgloss. I also have a bunch of traits many people would consider faults. I wear my heart on my sleeve (NO poker face whatsoever), I’m not very competitive, and I’m probably too sensitive for my own good.

I’m always trying to improve in these areas, you know, to get tougher and all, but at my core, I know this is who I am.

Gotta hand it to those Yogi tea folks for their great tea and good food for thought. Whatever you are, you are. Be proud of it, my friend. 🙂

Anywho, back to the Monday Poll. Will you come by and say hi? I always like hearing from ya.

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. Did you watch the Oscars last night? If you did, what did you think?
3. Have you ever dated someone you met online?
4. Button-down denim skirts, yea or nay?
5. Favorite drugstore body lotion?
6. Your default work outfit?
7. A country you’d love to visit?
8. Something you wish you had more time for?
9. What are you wearing on your lips today?
10. Weekly goals:

You have yourself a great week, okay?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Fight for Your Right to Party with Big, Bouncy Party Curls

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This series is powered by Pantene.

Big, bouncy curls

True story: I used to run around the house singing (rapping?) the Beastie Boys’ Fight for Your Right to Party at the top of my lungs when it came out back in 1986, and it totally threw my parents for a loop. Bless their hearts, they were first generation Americans, and they didn’t always grasp the subtleties of pop culture or understand my appreciation for things like rap.

“You gotta fight for your right to party.”
— Beastie Boys

Never mind that I was only 11 at the time. My mum literally thought that I was ready to fight for my right to party, and she reacted like any responsible parent would. She banned me from dating until 25 and said “No parties until you finish medical school at the top of your class!”

That plan didn’t last long, of course. I went on my first date at 14 and never quite made it to med school (I can’t stand the sight of blood). As for the partying, well, I did my share in college, but not enough to turn me into a cautionary tale.
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Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 128

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Tabs for the Return of Black Swan

“And the Oscar goes to…”

Today’s special installment of Sundays with Tabs is a salute to the movies. 🙂 You may already know this about us, but Tabs and I are HUGE movie buffs. We probably consumed a hundred pounds of popcorn this year, and Tabs made great headway transitioning from kitty modeling to film, having starred in a number of blockbusters like…

Tabs for The Fighter 2

Tabs for The Social Catwork
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The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

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The Makeup and Beauty Blog Weekly Roundup

It’s Oscar night, yo! And I’m so excited this year because Tabs was nominated in TWO different categories — the Best Supporting Cat Actor category for his performance in Tabs Story 3, and then also in the Best Makeup category (of course) for his work on The Fighter. A lot of people don’t know this, but it was Tabs and his wicked blending who really made Christian Bale look like he lost all that weight.

Are you gonna watch the show? I have to because of Tabs (I feel like a proud stage mom!), but I also want to see how co-hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco do. They’ll be the first-ever female/male Oscar hosting duo, and it’s also unusual for a host to be one of the nominees as Franco is up for Best Actor for 127 Hours.

Before the festivities begin, here’s one last look back at a few of the things we talked about this week in the lovely worlds of makeup and beauty. 🙂

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

The Bobbi Brown + Tibi Peony & Python CollectionBOBBI BROWN + TIBI
PEONY & PYTHON COLLECTION PUTS THE SQUEEZE ON PURPLE AND PINK

One day last year during a trip to the Philippines my parents trekked deep into the heart of the jungle on a tour to see a massive python (their idea of a good time), but when they finally located the legendary beast, it turned out to be so desensitized to tourists that it practically posed for the cameras.

When they returned home to California and showed me the pictures, I still couldn’t bear to look at them without shivering. You see, I’m one of those girls averse to creepy crawly things…even tame ones that work in the tourism industry. Read more…

Essie and the Essie Spring 2011 French Affair Collection? DO OUI LOVE ESSIE AND THE
ESSIE SPRING 2011 FRENCH AFFAIR COLLECTION?

The one time I visited France was part of a whirlwind European vacation with El Hub before we got married, and we rode the rails to get around, hustling from train station to train station in performance fleece and flannel.

I must have looked more like a hobo than a fashionable girl, burdened by the weight of my big red backpack, as I passed perfectly put-together French women on the streets, them with their scarves and perfume; me with my maps and dirty laundry.

I tried to soak up as much proximity glamor as possible, a feat I believe is also possible by osmosis, even though there’s very little (read: no) scientific evidence to back it up. (Persnickety science fun fact: technically it would probably be glamor through diffusion, not osmosis, since osmosis refers specifically to the movement of water molecules from a higher to lower concentration through a semi-permeable membrane.) Read more…

MAC Subculture Lip Pencil MAC UNSUNG HEROES:
SUBCULTURE LIP PENCIL
Colleges could teach courses in ways to pair MAC Subculture Lip Pencil ($13). Seriously, I wear this warm rosy nude with practically everything. EVERY. FRICKIN’. THING. I use it so much that I’ve gone through about four sticks of it over the past few years. It’s a regular Ms. Versatility, boo, and if you two haven’t met, it’s high time ya did.

Many gals, myself included, feel that Subculture’s color matches the natural color of their lips perfectly, which, I know, seems counterintuitive. I mean, why buy a lip pencil in the same shade as your lips?

Well, for the definition, doll. 🙂 I use this creamy, long-wearing, non-feathering pencil to define my pucker with crisp edges when I wear lipsticks and/or gloss, and I also think my lips look smoother and plumper with it on. Read more…

MAC Jeanius CollectionEVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN WITH THE
MAC JEANIUS COLLECTION

OH, what I wouldn’t give to be able to fit into my acid wash Guess overalls from seventh grade. I’d wear them to the MAC counter on March 3 (with one strap up and one down, of course) to welcome the limited edition MAC Jeanius Collection. 🙂

To any and all denim angels listening, please take pity on my 35-year-old bum. It longs to fit into a pair of size 7 juniors pants.

I’m pretty stoked about MAC’s 16-piece denim-themed collection for eyes, lips, cheeks and nails, even if we’ve seen similar themes like it before. Read more…

Benefit B.Right Skin Care LineTHE BENEFIT B.RIGHT SKIN CARE
LINE LAUNCHES APRIL 2011

Hi, cutie! I’m live blogging from the Benefit headquarters in San Francisco and just wanted to give you a quick sneak peek at what’s coming down the pipe from Benefit — a new skin care collection launching in April called B. Right. The eight-piece collection, which focuses on hydration and brightening, is designed to work hand in hand with Benefit’s makeup.

The products are designed to work quickly and easily, with prices ranging from $21-38. Expect to see cleansers, a toner, an eye makeup remover, an exfoliator, an eye cream and face moisturizers. Read more…

Pacifica Indian Coconut Body Butter I’M NUTS OVER PACIFICA INDIAN
COCONUT NECTAR BODY BUTTER

I can’t decide whether to praise or curse (a pox upon thee!) those little bins by the register at Sephora, with all their last-minute impulse purchase temptations… Last Saturday, after I’d already found what I’d gone into the store to get, I was in the checkout line when one of those blasted bins acquired the power of speech!

“Karen,” it whispered. “Over here, by the register.”

Of course, I had to look. I saw these little 2.5-oz bottles of Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter for $5. I grabbed one and took a quick sniff.

I love the scent, which Pacifica describes as a warm coconut vanilla, but I get more of a warm vanilla cake with coconut frosting and a light drizzling of dulce de leche on top. In other words, YUM! I’ve come damn close to gnawing off my arm Donner party-style, and each time I’ve worn it I swear I’ve craved cupcakes. Read more…

Givenchy Naivement Couture Collection HAUTE STUFF COMING THROUGH!
THE NEW GIVENCHY NAIVEMENT COUTURE COLLECTION FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2011

Merci beaucoup, Givenchy. Today your 10-piece Naivement Couture Collection for spring/summer 2011 let me momentarily forget about winter and the aching chill in my booty bones.

I may have even developed a fever in Sephora while swatching Naivement’s palette of sun-kissed pink, orange and gold, because I had a hallucination, fo’ reals!

At one point an eye palette in my hand turned into a tube of sunscreen right before my eyes (wha!?). When I looked up, I was standing on a warm beach at sunset. There was a bucket of beer at my feet and a man standing beside it. The man was James Franco. “Where’d you run off to, babe?” he said, and I answered, “Sephora?” I turned my head to see where I’d come from, but when I turned it back, James and the beach were gone. Read more…

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balms THESE $7 BURT’S BEES TINTED LIP
BALMS ARE THE BEE’S KNEES

Burt sure keeps his bees busy! Their latest creation, a concoction of 100% natural ingredients, gives a soothing sheer tint to lips.

Available in six sheer shades ranging from pink to red to neutral, these Tinted Lip Balms ($7 each) moisturize and nourish lips with soft flower waxes, shea butter and added vitamin E.

The ones I’ve been wearing lately are peachy Tiger Lily and Pink Blossom. Both feel smooth, light and non-sticky on my lips, and I dig their light, sweet raspberry flavor and scent.

Like all of Burt’s products, the Tinted Lip Balms proudly display (well, they could) the official Tabs Stamp of Approval, since they’re cruelty-free and were developed without being tested on animals. Read more…

MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick MAC SHEEN SUPREME LIPSTICK
SWATCHES AND PRODUCT PHOTOS

Whew! It’s been a full on MAC swatch fest here at Casa MBB today. 🙂 Here’s the last of the bunch — six of the 14 new MAC Sheen Supreme Lipsticks ($14.50 each). Smooth, creamy, and with a light vanilla scent and flavor, these new lippes feel a lot like the discontinued MAC Slimshines. Expect to see the Sheen Supremes kissing lips at MAC stores and counters on March 3. Read more…

How do you feel about changing your hair color?HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT
CHANGING YOUR HAIR COLOR?

I’ve changed my hair color so many times over the years that I’m not even sure what my natural hair color is anymore (I just know it contains some gray). Yes, despite all the many things I fear about our world — underground caverns, the coming zombie apocalypse, submarines, and earthworms come to mind — I’m downright courageous when it comes to the color of my coif.

Senior year in college, I wore it mahogany brown with a single blonde streak in the bangs, which I kept long, swept to the side and always, ALWAYS tucked behind my left ear. After graduation, hoping it would make me look older and more responsible, I trekked up and down San Francisco’s steep hills with long, jet black hair flowing behind me. A few years later, after a gut-wrenching breakup, I entered my red phase, hacking my hair into a short bob and adding angry vermillion streaks. And when I felt I’d finally moved on, so did my hair, which morphed into an optimistic fawn brown with sunny golden streaks. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Jeanius in Action: How Cool Are These Jeans?

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mac jeanius pretty please
MAC Jeanius Lipstick in Pretty Please on lips

Hey, girlie. 🙂 Thought you might like to see a couple of pieces from the upcoming MAC Jeanius Collection in action (arrives March 3 in North America; internationally some time in March).

The denim-inspired collection consists of cool-toned makeup in shades of of blue, gray, silver, black, pink, burgundy and black. Across these pics here, I’m wearing nine of the 16 pieces.

mac jenius all
MAC Jeanius products clockwise from lower left: Eye Shadow in Diva in Distress, Eye Shadow in Stovepipe Black, Eye Shadow in Motorhead, Eye Shadow in White Jeanius, Lipglass in Docile, Lipstick in Acid Washed, Lipstick in Pretty Please, Lipstick in Riveting Rose and Blush in Pink Cult

mac jeanius eye closeup
Eye Shadow in Diva in Distress, Eye Shadow in Stovepipe Black, Eye Shadow in Motorhead and Penultimate Liner in Rapidblack

mac jeanius acid washed
Blush in Pink Cult on cheeks and Lipstick in Acid Washed on lips
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Ion Color Defense Shampoo and Conditioner: Team Ion Could Use Some Help with Their Hair Color Defense

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Sam

Written by Sam

Makeup artist and blogger Sam has been keeping an Ion his hair since trying this hair care duo. Find out if they’re the solution to your color-treated troubles in today’s guest post.

Why can’t beauty brands just be good or bad? Because being both just makes things more complicated. They do it all the time. A company will go and make something fantastic, and then turn around and make something god-awful (without telling me first). It must be how beauty company execs have their fun, by tricking unassuming beauty buyers into becoming faithful to their brand before throwing them for a loop and causing them to call into question their entire belief system… Not funny, guys. Rude.

Now, I’ve used Ion products before and have loved the ones I’ve tried. Their Clarifying Shampoo (Sally Beauty, $5.99 for a 12-oz. bottle) has its own spot on my shower shelf; I use it habitually every Friday, so it wasn’t so much a question of whether to buy their Color Defense shampoo and conditioner (Sally Beauty, $5.99 each for a 12-oz. bottle) as it was a question of which size bottles to buy (I settled on the 33.8-oz. ones for $7.99 each).

At the register, the salesgirl didn’t comment on the products as she manually entered them into the computer (for some reason, their product scanner always seems to be broken), and I found her silence unsettling. Not unsettling enough to change my mind, however, so I picked up the goodies and left the store with my heavy bag.

After having a quick snack at home (what…? Adults have snack time too), I hopped into the shower and popped open the giant shampoo bottle’s cap. First, I wish it had come with a pump, as holding a 33.8 oz. bottle of shampoo upside down in the shower with one hand is a rather risky endeavor (yes, I dropped it). What came out of the bottle was an extremely gelatinous, coral-colored goop. I’m not a naturally clumsy person, but this product just doesn’t seem to want to stay in my hands. First, dropping the bottle, and then the actual shampoo blob slipped out from between my palms twice as I worked to emulsify it. Even with rather wet hands, the stuff just didn’t seem to want to leave its singular form. After a third, careful attempt, I finally worked enough into a mild lather and massaged it through my hair.

It felt fine. Just… fine. I wasn’t expecting much texturally, as Ion tends to be a no-frills company, but I certainly would have enjoyed slightly more lather (even from a color-protecting shampoo), or a bit more slip, but I’m not one to complain if something does its job. After letting it sit for a minute or so, I rinsed it out, but my hair definitely didn’t feel quite clean.
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