A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
What do you think of the colors in the NYC New York Color Custom Compact for Brown Eyes?
The palette come with four shadows, an eyelid primer and a cream highlighter in colors for — yup, you guessed it! — brown eyes. I picked mine up from Tar-ghay for $7.
Good morning, young lady. How did you sleep? I’ve only just come downstairs from bed, and Tabs, who’s always pretty talkative and excited first thing in the morning, is zigzagging between my legs, giving me kitty hugs. It’s really quite precious.
Whoa! — I just had the coolest memory pop into my head of one of those old Folgers coffee commercials. The ones with that great jingle: “The best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cuuuuup.”
I swear, I can actually smell coffee right now after hearing a jingle! It’s fascinating.
Anywho, what’s on your plate for today? I hope you have something fun lined up. The Cargo stuff we looked at yesterday got me thinking about fun makeup and how much I appreciate when companies come up with cool themes and stories for their products.
MAC is always great about it. Their collections are so distinct and have so much personality — I LOVE that kind of thing. It’s just more fun for me than generic themes like COMPANY Z SPRING 2011 COLOR NO. 458.
I don’t know… I like it when makeup is about more than painting colors and pictures on our outsides, ya know? It can also be about painting pictures in our minds (ooh! trippy).
Which brings me to the topic of this morning’s post — Sephora, a great source of both good and bad examples of themed makeup.
If you haven’t already guessed, it’s giveaway time. 🙂
Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
All aboard! The cosmetics captains at Cargo aimed to take us on a trip with their new spring 2011 collection, and I like the destination.
I took a long, leisurely look at the six piece collection today (aren’t the pouches cute?) and absolutely love the travel theme. Most of the color products lean warm, and I think they work well with my yellow undertones. If you like the way you look in warmer shades, you might like them too.
For what it’s worth, don’t miss the Voyages Safari collection/kit. I was surprised by how great the products looked on both darker and lighter skin tones.
Now I just need someplace to go! 🙂
Four cute kits with special Voyages packaging…
Other travel necessities…
When it came to my attention that Sephora Beauty Insiders got a free gift on their birthday, the first thing I did was shout “FREE GIFT!” The second thing I did was get myself down to my local Sephora on my bday to collect.
I received a nice little set with a mini-eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow. The mascara looked promising, but I wasn’t holding out the highest hopes because I have high standards when it comes to mascaras, and I want the ones I use to lengthen and create volume at the same time (the spider-leg-look doesn’t appeal to me). I don’t like flaking, smudging, or wet/runny formulas at all, and I don’t want them to be so hard to remove that I have to wash my eyes three times in a row. I can’t stand that.
It had seemed to me that I would never find my mascara mate. That was, until my birthday date with Sephora Lash Plumper mascara.
The first things I noticed were the wand and brush head. I’d been using Covergirl Lashblast Fusion and hated the bulky head. Sephora’s has your normally slender wand style with a typical volumizing head — and not with the gel-like bristles that most mascaras have nowadays. This brush tapers off at the tip, which makes it ideal for getting into corners. As for the packaging, it’s no-nonsense, no frills or flash, but that doesn’t bother me in the least.
After examining the wand and brush, I checked the formula. It’s absolutely perfect! It’s never dripping wet (like Lancome Hypnose Drama) nor bone dry (like Covergirl Lashblast Volume), and it doesn’t fall off in gobs at the tip.
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Coming Feb. 10 to North America and internationally this March…
Tabs is ready. Are you?
I swung by the mall yesterday on my way to get my bangs trimmed and snuck in some swatches of these beautiful Wild Violets (Estee Lauder’s limited edition collection for spring). 🙂
Available now on counters and online, the collection features coppery neutrals, trendy grays and purples for eyes and nails; and adventurous corals, reds, pinks and violets for lips.
For reference, I’m an NC35 (have you tried the MAC Foundation Finder?).
Eyeshadow Palette in Wild Violet Pure Color ($42)
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You walk down the cement steps and move cautiously through a wall of lights; the air buzzes with dance music, as if it’s filled with angry insects. Bodies meld together, indistinct forms of color and movement and flesh.
The bartender hands you a drink you’re unfamiliar with, but you take a sip anyway. You notice someone across from you on the dance floor. He slinks between shapes in the amorphous crowd, the top two buttons of his shirt undone. He looks at you; your eyes lock. You cross the floor and take his hand in yours. Together, you make your way onto the raised floor. Two bodies becomes one; indistinct forms of color and movement and flesh.
You step onto the dais, surreptitiously checking your hair in the small mirror you always keep with you. Satisfied that nothing is out of place, you advance, and a swarm of skeptical eyes sweep toward you. Your polished boots click as you approach the podium, sure of every step. Your notes are already there. You begin your presentation. Someone coughs, but it doesn’t break your stride. Nothing could. You make the merger, impress your peers, get the promotion.
You strut down the crowded halls, chin held just a tad too high, but you know it. Your black bookbag taps lightly against your side in silent rhythm with your movement. You don’t need to weave around the masses of gossiping children, because the masses move around you. You turn and laugh at the joke your friend just made, not concerned in the least with where you’re going.
1 Million by Paco Rabanne is all about power.
Notes of chilled grapefruit, blood mandarin, smooth peppermint, sweaty musk, dry cinnamon bark, aged leather, tonka bean, subtle patchouli, and amber ketal don’t just call for attention; they demand it.
1 Million begins with airy peppermint and sparkling blood mandarin. These two notes are rather distinct for the first five minutes or so, creating a refreshing blend that lends a sort of brightness and glow akin to that which accompanies a night with a lover. However, these soon begin to fade and give leave to more smoothly blended Middle Notes.
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How cute is the new Cargo Voyages Gloss Collection? It’s one of six new products from Cargo’s spring 2011 collection.
Available late February at Ulta, Beauty 360 and Sephora inside JC Penny stores. Can’t wait? Snag it now at cargocosmetics.com.
