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

Saturday Surfing: Birds of Paradise, Funky Earrings and Angelina Jolie

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Hey, hey, cutie pie! Howzit going today? Tabs and I are just sitting here at my desk reading the December issue of Vogue. He’s been eyeing the picture of Angelia Jolie on the cover with great interest.

He’s a BIG (about 15 pounds) fan of hers and also hopes to make the jump from modeling into movies and philanthropy. 🙂

tabs wants a chin scratch
I can has chin scratch??

I’m mesmerized by Angie’s eye look here… That brownish beige smokey eye looks killer, right? It turns out the eyeshadows are from the Dolce & Gabbana Desert Quad (the one from the Ethereal Beauty Holiday Collection). I think I might give the look a try this afternoon, and if it turns out okay, I’ll take some pictures.

Speaking of pictures, remember the chandelier earrings I had on yesterday?

I found them at Forever 21 last week for — I think it was $7? They’re my new favorite pair because they seem to go with everything, I guess because they’re so busy and dangly. Here I’m wearing them with a green, yellow, gray and purple top, but I think they even look cute with basic black and white tops too (the other end of the spectrum).

urban decay afterglow glide on cheek tint on karen of makeup and beauty blog

Really, you can’t beat the price. $7 is less than lunch (well, it’s less than a $7 lunch)!

And that leads to my tummy, which is rumbling like crazy. Hmm… How about heading to Panera for a chai latte and tomato soup? YUM! Doesn’t that sound delish?!

Saturday Surfing: Sites I Surfed Today

I hope you’re rockin’ the suburbs (or wherever you are) on this fantabulous December day. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Burt’s Bees $6 Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream Makes Nails Cuter and Cuticles Better

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Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

Oh, Burt, baby, where’ve you been all my life? Your $6 Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream ($6) has been like manna from heaven to the shredded carrots I call cuticles. The rich, all-natural nail treatment smoothes the dry, cracked crevices around my nails while strengthening the nails themselves with sweet almond oil, vitamin E and cocoa butter. It keeps cuticles moisturized for hours, and the light lemony scent smells downright delicious.

The thick wax-like consistency takes longer to massage in than my trusty Sephora Cuticle Pen, but because of it the product also feels more substantial on my tips, which I like. I use it off and on throughout the day, but my favorite time to use it is right before bed, on both my fingernails and toenails (so it can work its magic overnight).

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream box
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Chanel Rouge Allure Goes Extrait de Gloss

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Chanel Insolence Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss Swatch on Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog
Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Insolence

Form doesn’t exactly follow function in the Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss line. Half the time I can’t tell the colors apart by looking at the tubes. But I really don’t care, because even the tubes look great. 🙂

Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss Review

Coco (or rather Karl) did sneak in a practical touch (the least they could do for $32 a pop). The paddle-like applicator, which Chanel refers to as flocked, takes precision to the next level. I feel like it provides more control than good ol’ doe-foot applicators.

Launched last fall, the relatively new line of glosses comes in nine shiny shades that, according to the Chanel makeup artist I spoke with, are replacing the Aqualumieres [INSERT SINGLE TEAR ROLLING DOWN CHEEK], which are being — you might want to sit down for this — phased out.

I’ll probably lose sleep over losing the Aqualumieres, especially Candy Glow, but these new kids have game, including a four-hour wear time, and a thick, non-sticky texture (unscented and unflavored). I’ll always love the Aqualumiers, but I think they’re thinner, sheerer, slicker, and don’t last quite as long as these.
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Bask in the Glow of the Urban Decay Afterglow Glide-On Cheek Tints

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urban decay afterglow glide on cheek tint on karen of makeup and beauty blog
Urban Decay Afterglow Glide-On Cheek Tint in Quickie on cheeks and Crush on lips

Urban Decay thinks they found a way to package post-workout cheeks, so now we can get that lit-from-within glow without having to step foot on a treadmill (YEA!).

There is, of course, another, more enjoyable way to get the same effect, but James Franco isn’t returning my calls.

That second way to glow is probably what Urban Decay was thinking when they gave the seven new Afterglow Glide-On Cheek Tints ($24) their sassy names. And to help you and your partner cover all your bases, they even work on lips.

Fans of coral and peach blushes might like reddish Bang, and/or Indecent, an apricot with golden pearl. Pink ladies should check out hot pink Crush, bubblegum pink Quickie (my fave!), and golden pink Score. And berry lovin’ babes might want to get Greedy (a blackberry) with Fetish, a shimmery mauve.

These have a thin texture and literally melt into my skin. It makes blending a snap, and that makes them great for tight schedules. I’ve just been using clean fingers to lightly dab them onto the plumpest part of my cheeks, aka the apples.

After that, I use the remaining product on my fingers along my cheekbones, fading up and out. At this point, I will reach for a brush, a clean powder brush, and run it over my cheeks to blend everything together, and finish with a few taps on my kisser.


Center: Crush. Clockwise from pink shade lower left: Score, Greedy, Quickie, Indecent, Bang and Fetish
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Is Kerastase Elixir the Ultime Hair Styling Jewel?

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Is your hair budget burning a hole in your pocket? New $50 Kerastase Elixir Ultime hair oil will douse that fire fast. My stylist used some on my freshly cut and colored ‘do this week. It’s a fragrant (perfect for the season, like warm vanilla, amber and cloves) multi-purpose blend of oils including argan, camelia and linseed, among others, and the stylists here say it’s the talk of the town.

They’ve been using it on their clients in a variety of ways — as a pre-shampoo treatment for dry and coarse hair, as a prep before blow drying to defrizz and add shine, as a styling serum to smooth out flyaways and dry ends, and some of them have also been using it before color treatments, where they say it helps dyes apply more evenly to every strand.

After my trim and color, the stylist squeezed a few pumps into her hands and worked them through my hair from roots to ends before blow drying. When all was said and done, I felt like a hair model! My familiar mop was transformed into a luxuriously soft and shiny coat.


NOTE: It does contain silicones in case you’re averse to them


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What’s Different About the New Benefit Full-Finish Lipsticks?

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benefit wanna full finish lipstick on karen of makeup and beauty blog
Wearing Benefit Full-Finish Lipstick in Wanna

Benefit’s boxed blushes aren’t the only girls getting new outfits for spring. In January the company’s Full-Finish Lipsticks ($18 each) are also getting gussied up, with thicker bullets and shorter tubes.

Benefit is phasing out all but one of the existing shades (UPDATE: I just received info from Benefit saying that they will not be phasing out all the existing shades of Full-Finish. Instead, they’ll be adding these 12 new shades to the current line. Some of the colors in the current line will remain and be repackaged into the new tubes. I’ll update you once I get word of which shades will be staying and which ones will be going.) Fame Game (from the It Girl Collection, Fall 2009), and introducing 11 new ones. But all 12 of them have the exact same moisturizing, creamy formula Full-Finish fans like us know and love.

The (NEW) Benefit Full-Finish Lipsticks…

  • Pillow Talk: a hot pink
  • Wanna: a raspberry
  • Espionage: a black cherry
  • Pinking of You: a pop of pink
  • Rumor: a rose quartz
  • Slow Zone: a tropical coral
  • Shy: a ballet slipper
  • Saucy: a sparkling tangerine
  • Fame Game: a dusty rose
  • I Tink I Love You: a bronze rose
  • Mod Squad: a shelly pink
  • Oh Currant: a berry wine

Don’t tell El Hub, but tonight I made out with Wanna, Shy, Espionage, Slow Zone, Pinking of You and Fame Game.

Benefit full finish lipstick review swatches photos spring 2011 closeup
Benefit Full-Finish Lipsticks from the left front: Slow Zone and Wanna; Back: Espionage, Pinking of You and Shy
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