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

A Look at Two Products from the Clinique Redness Solutions Line

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Olga of MakeUpAcademia

Written by OIga

Could Clinique’s Redness Solutions line be the solution to mild rosacea? See what Olga has to say about it in today’s special Thanksgiving Day guest post. 🙂

The Clinique Redness Solutions Line

Having suffered from mild rosacea for a few years, I am always on the lookout for products to conceal the redness on my face without making it look like it has been dipped in pancake mix. This time that search led me to two makeup products from the Redness Solutions line by Clinique: the Targeted Corrector and the Instant Relief Mineral Powder.

Despite the way these two are advertized (helps skin “keep its cool” and reduces redness on contact) they do not reduce redness (at least, not on my skin); they merely conceal it. Good enough for me, so let’s get on with the review. 🙂

Redness Solutions Targeted Corrector

Clinique Targeted Redness Corrector


Before corrector (left) and after (right)

This is a yellow concealer pen with a thick, pasty consistency. It’s pretty dry, so I would avoid using it on the undereye area (luckily, this is the only part of my face that never gets red and bumpy like the rest!). The best part about this corrector is the great coverage it provides — I have tried it both with and without foundation, and the redness was covered up pretty much completely in both cases.
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Happy Thanksgiving: I Am Thankful

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful…

  • For another day, because every one is a gift
  • For El Hub’s love, patience, support and respect
  • For TABS!!!
  • For modern dentistry (aka floss and fluoride, yo!)
  • To live in a country that with all its faults provides people with clean drinking water, cheap produce, tremendous opportunities, the rights to vote and then to badmouth the government, and the freedom to make a complete fool of yourself in public
  • To have family, because many people do not
  • To be lucky enough to witness kindness, compassion, gut-busting laughter, and love on a regular basis
  • To have made it this far (35 years and still going strong-ish!)
  • To have ever tried blogging, because 1) I wasn’t cut out to be a legal secretary or a literary agent, and 2) it gave me the chance to feel useful and appreciated
  • For the opportunity to put my humungous library of humiliating childhood photos and my radical repertoire of 1980s pop-culture references to good use
  • For emails like this one:

    Hi Karen,

    I just wanted to let you know how very much I enjoy your blog. It’s informative, helpful and very funny. I have started to find that I cannot start my day without my daily injection of Karen and Tabs! Thank you so much for your hard work and commitment in putting out your blog. I hope this email goes a little way to letting you know that even in far flung corners of the world (Sydney, Australia in my case) there are people who think you do a wonderful job and have come to rely on your honest and helpful posts. Thanks again and I look forward to many more mornings filled with Makeup and Beauty Blog goodness!

    -Alison

  • For MAKEUP (of course), with a special shout-out to concealer today
  • For you 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Should You Say Yes To These Yes To Cucumbers Facial Towelettes?

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yes to cucumbers facial towelettes review

I experienced what can only be described as a euphoric scent-sory experience the other day with a Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelette ($6 for a pack of 30). El Hub walked in on me while I was holding one of them up to my nose and breathing deeply (smells like those cucumber water drinks you get at a fancy shamncy spas). I must have looked like Gollum from Middle Earth, cradling my little precious…

These softer-than-soft wipes are the latest additions to the Yes To ______ line of organic eco-friendly skin and hair products.

I think the company’s pretty cool, especially when they release something I really like.

The biodegradable cloths say “yes to” removing face and eye makeup without the need for water, but with the help of skin softening cucumber, aloe vera and exfoliating minerals collected from the Dead Sea.

Soft, they are, but they’re still able to cut through foundation, powder, blush and lipstick with ease. Eye makeup, however, is another story. I find myself having to use a second wipe to remove eyeshadow, liner and mascara, and, to take care of waterproof stuff, I give it a little help from Bliss Lid + Lash.

yes to cucumbers facial towelettes review wipe that smile on your face
Cute!
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Don’t Overlook the Earth Tone Sally Girl Eye Shadow Connecting Compacts

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Sam

Written by Sam

Freelance makeup artist and blogger Sam finds a lot to like at his local Sally Beauty and shares with us in today’s guest post.

The Sally Girl Shadows (the Earth Tones)
Shades from left to right: Auburn, Copper, Espresso, Brick, Champagne, and Mauve

With the nude face being one of Fall 2010’s hottest trends, it would be easy for you to just turn to your favorite shimmery champagne shadow, swipe a bit over your lid, and run out of the house. Skin glowing and cheeks instantly tinted red by the late-autumn chill, you’re the image of ultimate chic. But if you feel the look is too plain — too bare — and you’re tempted to reach for that black liquid liner and slap on a thick cat eye, why not turn to your earth tones instead?

On one of my monthly trips to Sally’s a while back, I had just finished my hair product shopping and was waiting for my father to pick me up. Having already examined the aisles twice (I’m always convinced I’ve missed some new, revolutionary product that’s been quietly tucked in between the Cholesterol Masques and the clarifying shampoo), the only display left was the makeup.

I’ll admit it. I’m a makeup snob. Seeing price tags of $5.99, $2.99, and, it pains me to say, $0.99, I was more than skeptical of these modestly packaged beauty items. I reluctantly bowed my head down towards the bare-bones rack.

I skimmed over the cheap looking glitters, eyeliners in simple glass pots, and miles of mini-palettes that I was sure contained less pigment than a freshly washed brush.

“Oh, those are greeeeeaaaat.” I snapped my head up in time with the bursting of the clerk’s gum bubble. She sucked the pink goop into her mouth between pastel lips and nodded. “Yeah, they’re like, comparable to MAC shadows. Really pretty. Great pigment. I looooove ‘em.” She went back to examining her nails.

Comparable to MAC shadows? I thought she had to be exaggerating, but fortunately for me, there was one shadow available for testing.

And she was right.

The Sally Girl Shadows (the Earth Tones)
From left to right: Auburn, Copper, and Espresso

I bought 20. For less than a dollar each, I could afford to take the chance that the tester I had swatched was simply some mistake; a high-end department store brand shadow that had been cleverly or accidentally swapped into a Sally Girl compact to fool makeup enthusiasts like myself. How glad I am that this complicated confabulation was completely wrong.

I purchased a huge variety of shades, from blues and navies, to purples and magentas, to forest greens and day-glo limes. But being the season it is, the six earthtones I hauled have taken a semi-permanent spot in my kit (at least until purple becomes de rigeur again). Fortunately, these little marvels (1.1 grams, to be precise; for comparison, MAC shadows are 1.5 grams) come in connecting compacts, so you can organize them any way you want (I do it by color family so it’s easier to quickly find a shade on a job, but I know plenty of people who do it by “look”, like putting all the shadows they use for a smokey eye in one palette). My earthtones palette contains the shades Auburn, Copper, Espresso, Brick, Champagne, and Mauve. Honestly, I don’t know where half of these names come from. Don’t trust them. Go by the actual shadow. Each of them has a very fine shimmer, which turns metallic when applied wet.

The Sally Girl Shadows (the Earth Tones)
Left to right: Brick, Champagne, and Mauve

Auburn is a sort of orangey burnt-copper shade, perfect for this season’s orange eyeshadow look if you don’t want to be so in-your-face about it. This shade looks stunning with green eyes, and works well as an eyeliner if you want a no-fuss, simple-chic look for days when you have minimal time but need to look put-together.

Copper is actually more of a burnished, almost-antique gold (but with a bit more brown in it). The finish on this is absolutely gorgeous, and creates almost a slick sheen that’s nearly impossible to duplicate without the use of creams or gels.
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Two Ways to Win a Custom iPod Touch Prize Package Worth $616 from Visine

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WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Nancy. Congratulations, Nancy! Go forth and rock. 🙂

Enter the iPod Touch - Visine Giveaway

So, this is kind of random, but it’s random in the most incredibly awesome kind of way. The considerate folks at Visine must have heard about or, far worse, seen pics (NOOOO!) of our bleary-eyed late nights back in the day, because they asked if they could sponsor a giveaway for us on the blog.

They’re offering a very generous prize package that’s sure to 1) get the red out, 2) get the red on (your nails), and 3) get your booty shakin’. The prize includes a bunch of beauty items from Essie, Neutrogena and, of course, Visine, along with a special edition version of the new iPod Touch.

With Tabs being the HUGE (both literally and figuratively) Apple fan that he is, of course I had to say yes.

The iPod Touch is like a souped up iPod, so it’ll play your favorite tunes, of course, but it also has access to Apple’s gargantuan App Store, as well as a camera to make Face Time video calls or to film HD videos. And this one’s adorned with The Crystal Eye of [INSERT AWESOME-SOUNDING ANCIENT-ISH NAME HERE WITH LOTS OF EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!].

The design (I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be an eye, for Visine) is by a company called Crystal Icing. They do a lot of custom skins and cases for celebs. If you’re one of those creative types, and I know you are, maybe you could tell people that it represents a gateway into your music-loving soul… Pretty cool, right? 🙂

The $616 prize package includes:

Visine Maximum Redness Relief Formula
Banish red eyes with the new Visine Maximum Redness Relief Formula. The fast-acting “Hydroblend” formula works like natural tears to remove unsightly redness and provide up to 10 hours of comfort. ($5.99)

A Custom Apple iPod Touch
Listen to music, see your friends on FaceTime, shoot HD Video and play games on this crystallized iPod Touch. It even comes with a party mix of house music from DJ Onionz. (iPod $299; Crystal Icing design, $295)

Essie Red Nouveau Nail Polish
Paint your tips and toes with this creamy crimson. ($8)

Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss in Wine Wellness
Shine on with this sheer wine-colored gloss. ($7)

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

Enter to Win The Visine iPod Touch Giveaway

  • One (1) Apple iPod Touch ($299) with a Crystal Icing decoration (a $295 value) and a house party mix from DJ Onionz
  • One (1) Visine Maximum Redness Relief Formula ($6)
  • One Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss in Wine Wellness ($7)
  • One Essie Nail Polish in Red Nouvea ($8)

  • There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all — tell me what kind of music you’d load onto your new iPod Touch, share the story (just the PG-rated parts) of the last time you seriously needed redness relief for your eyes, dish about what you’re doing today, or, heck, tell me how you feel about chickens.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a Custom iPod Touch Prize Package Worth $616 from Visine http://bit.ly/fkrx4h

  • The deadline to enter is Friday, November 26, 2010 at 11:59PM (PT).
  • Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
  • A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
  • Sorry, international folks. This contest is open to individuals of the United States who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
  • Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
  • The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
  • Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. It’s also not too late to enter this giveaway (since you’re already here). 🙂

P.P.S. Yes, I’m writing this post in the dark from the couch in my in-laws house while roosters crow their brains out in the jungle outside.

WINNER: The giveaway is closed, and the winner is Nancy. Congratulations, Nancy! Go forth and rock. 🙂

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