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

Wrap Up Your Weekend in the Open Thread

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Our weekend may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean the fun’s anywhere near over. Grab a drink, kick off your shoes, and welcome to the party. The open thread starts now. 🙂

Makeup and Beauty Blog Open ThreadIf you’re new to the open thread, here it is in a nutshell:

Anything goes! It’s a chat fest where we get together in the comments at the bottom of this post to chill and chat about whatever’s on our minds — makeup, cooking, relationships, whatever. And please feel free to reach out to me or to anyone else (everyone here is really nice!).

It goes on all day (and night), so stop by if/when you can, and as often as you’d like.

A few topics to kick-start the convo…

  1. Are you into typography, and do you have a favorite font?
  2. Have you ever been to a drive-in movie theater?
  3. If you won the lottery this week (say $30 million), what are the first few things you’d do?

Talk to you soon!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

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The Makeup and Beauty Blog Weekly Roundup

Did you have a rollickin’ Saturday night? I had a good time at that Peruvian restaurant in the city. The food was delish, but I got home late. I still feel a little groggy this morning, but it’s nothing a vat of tea can’t fix!

Got a few things on my plate today… We have company visiting next month from Hawaii (El Hub’s parents), so I need to start tidying up NOW! After that hopefully I can squeeze in a trip to the movies to see Inception.

Whatcha got planned?

Before we bid adieu to the week, here’s one last look back at some of the makeup and beauty we talked about. It was another great week for Urban Decay…and for Urbay Decay dupes (*ahem*, NYX).

Have a faboo Sunday morning! Hopefully I’ll see you a little later today in the open thread.

Urban Decay Urban LashURBAN DECAY
URBAN LASH

FREEDOM! I will forever remember July 12, 2010 as the day my inner drag queen liberated herself from a life of frumpy fringe and entered the world of big, bad falsies.

Before Urban Decay’s Urban Lash line ($16 each; 18 to choose from), it took me FOREVER to put on a pair of fake lashes (okay, more like 20 minutes).

Thanks to the new line, which just launched for fall, falsies are officially less of my makeup Achilles’ heel. Read more…

A Benefit Purple and Bronze Eye Makeup TutorialBENEFIT SUNDAY FUNDAY
MAKEUP TUTORIAL

Is it wrong to want Sunday brunch on a Wednesday afternoon? — or to get a little dolled up and don colorful makeup in the middle of the week? I hope not, because today the Benefit Sunday Funday palette and I have reservations. We’re doing a daytime/brunch look together featuring eyes in purple and bronze.

To test the versatility of the brushes that come with the kit, I told myself not to use any other brushes for this look, which was tough because I’m really picky about my eye brushes. I usually ditch the ones that come with palettes like this one, but the Sunday Funday brushes actually shine like stars. I wouldn’t toss my best brushes for ’em, but they should be great for trips and purses when you want to travel light.

Despite the palette’s name, I’m guessing these colors are safe to wear any day of the week, ha! Read more…

NYX Nude on Nude Natural Look KitNYX NUDE ON NUDE
NATURAL LOOK KIT

Let’s strip, shall we? If you’ve been lusting after the hard-to-find Urban Decay Naked palette, NYX has some potentially great news for you and your wallet.

Swatching the NYX Nude on Nude Natural Look Kit ($11) this afternoon, one of three NYX sets released for summer, I was struck by how similar its shades are to some of the ones in UD’s $44 Naked.

Could it be?? A Naked dupe for one fourth the cost?

It’s not a total dupe, of course (see the comparison swatches below); there are some shades between the two that aren’t anything alike, not in how they look OR feel.

Not surprisingly, I think the Urban Decay shadows feel a little smoother and look more intense on my skin, which is not to say the NYX shadows don’t hold their own. In fact, they hella do. Read more…

Boots MakeupBOOTS CANDY PINK
AND STAR ANISE

While I was off stuffing my face with free fruit samples at the farmer’s market last night, I road tested a couple of goodies from the Boots makeup line — Natural Blush Cheek Colour in Candy Pink ($9) and Botanics Lip Gloss in Star Anise ($6). ‘Cause, you know, I’m all about beauty bargains. And multi-tasking. And free food!

Have you tried any Boots makeup before? I’m new to their makeup, but I like the few Boots skin products and makeup wipes I’ve tried.

Originally from merry olde England, the Boots line sailed onto Target shelves a few years ago. Their makeup offering looks pretty thorough with lots to choose from (foundation, blush, eyeshadow — basically, the works) in colors galore. Read more…

Stila Road to Radiance PaletteSTILA ROAD
TO RADIANCE

Now HERE’s a makeup trend I can totally get behind: $10 department store makeup palettes!

Who knew that when Urban Decay launched their $14 Face Case earlier this year it would be the first salvo fired in a budget beauty battle for eyes, lips and cheeks?

Um, can I just say that as far as makeup trends are concerned…budget-friendly travel palettes are like a billion times cooler than vibrating mascara wands? They make my inner bargainista want to raise the roof (1998-style)!

The limited edition Stila Road to Radiance Across the USA palette is the first of five new limited edition $10 Stila travel palettes visiting over the coming months, each one inspired by the fashion, people and colors of different Stila girls around the world (the company plans to release one more of them every month through November). Read more…

Burberry Beauty: An Interview with Christopher BaileyBURBERRY BEAUTY
CHRISTOPHER BAILEY

Burberry Beauty officially launched last Tuesday at the San Francisco Nordie’s store, and I popped by to check out the new makeup line and to chat with Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief creative director (and quite possibly one of the most polite and well-dressed dudes I’ve ever met).

Here are some images of the new line and product swatches to go with the video above. Read more…

Dolce & Gabbana Blossom Smooth Eye Colour DuoDOLCE & GABBANA
BLOSSOM EYE DUO

The iridescent purple and shimmery reddish copper of the Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Duo in Blossom are so bright that they should have come with shades! Expensive ones ($36 for two shadows, oy vey!).

One of 10 powder eyeshadow duos in the company’s permanent line, Blossom lights up lids like a double rainbow all the way across the sky.

These brights pack pigment worthy of a capital WHOA! But they aren’t just vivid; they manage to look soft at the same time.

With a good base (today I used Urban Decay Eden), Blossom also appears to stand the test of time. Almost 7 hours so far and the colors are still going strong.

Now, if we start a write-in campaign and get Dolce & Gabbana to put these on sale every once in a while, we’ll be set! Read more…

LipFusion Boudior Collection Lipgloss in PrincessLIPFUSION LIPGLOSS
IN PRINCESS

Before the $29 price of LipFusion Luxe Boudoir Collection lipgloss makes you totally cranky (that’s Chanel territory, yo!), consider this: $1 of that goes to the Seven Bar Foundation, a non-profit group helping to empower underprivileged women to start small businesses through microfinanced loans.

Truth be told, I’d love to see LipFusion contribute more than $1 from every sale (while lowering or keeping the price the same), but I digress…

The limited edition line contains four shades — Vixen (a shimmery mauve), Lolita (a shimmery pinkish beige), Coquette (a shimmery pinkish coral) and Princess (a shimmery purplish hot pink). Today I tipped my hat to the one called Princess. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Two Ways to Win $110 in Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream Shadows

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  • The giveaway is now closed. Congrats, Sunday! Before you go, check the home page for ongoing giveaways.

Remember that Sex and the City episode when Carrie takes a dive on the runway at the fashion show? She had on jeweled underwear and a pair of sky high stilettos. Well, I had a nightmare where I did the same thing, except that I was wearing a beaded tie-dye bikini and really ugly clogs (?). Midair, as I fell ungracefully toward the folks sitting in the front row, I distinctly remember thinking, “Aww, hell… at least my eye makeup looks cute.”

I’ll just leave the swimsuit modeling to the professionals, like the ones strutting the runways at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week: Swim in Miami right now.

Have you been following any of the shows? The festivities, which focus on beach garb and swimwear, kicked off on Thursday and run through this weekend.

For the second year in a row, Make Up For Ever is sponsoring the makeup for the shows and making sure the models look fly on the catwalk. There’s been no shortage of Aqua Cream shadows this year, which, by the way, I love (here’s my review).

Aqua Creams made an appearance at last night’s Delores Cortes show, where the makeup artists banged out this smoldering greenish gold eye…

If you feel like giving it a try with your very own Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream Shadows (bikini and high heels are totally optional, LOL!), keep reading, boo!

Giveaway Time

To cheer Mercedes Benz Fashion Week: Swim, Make Up For Ever cooked up a fabulous prize package for y’all featuring FIVE of the Aqua Creams (a $110 value).

The Prize

One lucky lady (or gent) will win ALL of the following Aqua Cream Shadows:

One (1) Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in Anthracite, a shimmery, silvery charcoal for eyes and cheeks ($22)
One (1) Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in Steel, a shimmery, silvery gray for eyes and cheeks ($22)
One (1) Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in Silver, a shimmery silver for eyes and cheeks ($22)
One (1) Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in Snow, a shimmery white pearl for eyes and cheeks ($22)
One (1) Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in Peach, a shimmery, peachy pink with golden glitter for lips and cheeks ($22)


Anthracite


Steel


Silver


Snow


Peach

How To Enter…

2ways2enterEntering is easy. There are two different ways, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

  1. First, you can enter by retweeting (RT) the following message:

    Follow @karenmbb and RT to win $110 in Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams http://bit.ly/a0ABjj

  2. Second, enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all — you could talk about why you like cream shadows, what you had for dinner, what you’re doing right now or maybe describe your favorite swim suit.

    My favorite swim suit? A green and white Roxy bikini I bought years ago in Hawaii. It fits me just right (keeps “the girls” on lockdown) and stays on no matter how many times I fall from my surfboard. Most importantly, it makes my booty look cute! Priorities, ya know.

  • Oh, yeah. This giveaway IS also open to international folks and readers living overseas (YAY!); entrants must be at least 13 years of age or older at time of entry.

Recap…

  1. Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win.
  2. Retweet the following message on twitter:

    Follow @karenmbb and RT to win $110 in Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams http://bit.ly/a0ABjj

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, July 18.

Boa sorte!!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Have you also entered the NYX cosmetics/AMEX gift card giveaway (the $200 card’s good anywhere that takes American Express, i.e. Sephora, Macy’s, Ulta, etc.)? It’s worth $322 in prizes, so don’t miss out.

  • The giveaway is now closed. Congrats, Sunday! Before you go, check the home page for ongoing giveaways.

Saturday Surfing

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Ah…good run, but it wasn’t exactly a run, per se. More like a slow, sweaty trot. 🙂

While I’m “running,” I like to sing and groove to my iPod (today I was BUMPING Biggie!), and periodically I’ll throw in a Jersey Shore-inspired fist pump for effect. I’m pretty sure I look completely redonkulous, but in my mind I’m sprinting like a gazelle down the beach in Chariots of Fire, ha!

Care to cool down with me and some Saturday Surfing?

Random bright spots

New in beauty

In other news, have you seen Inception yet with Leo? I’m dying to know if it’s any good (but no spoilers, please)!

What’s the game plan for tonight? I’m supposed to be meeting some friends for Peruvian food (viva la carbs!) in the city. I’m already hungry, of course.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you’re new here, thank you for visiting. Makeup and Beauty Blog is a makeup blog with daily product reviews, beauty tips, giveaways and the random shenanigans of a crazy cat lady/makeup enthusiast named Karen (that’s me!). 🙂

China Glaze Fight Like a Woman Collection Swatches and Thoughts

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china glaze fight like a woman swatches reviews photos

Rise and shine, pal o’ mine. Got a few more nail swatches for ya. These are from the upcoming China Glaze Fight Like a Woman collection ($6 each), which sashays onto shelves this September, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month a few days later.

A portion of each sale goes to benefit the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization devoted to the science of cancer and to promoting better collaboration between international organizations working on cancer research.

Endurance is the shade that REALLY catches my eye… It’s the raspberry pink with silver micro-glitter, but let me know which color you like most in the comments.

china glaze fight like a woman empowerment
Endurance

Creamy Empowerment (the mid-tone pink) is a little thicker than I expected it to be and takes some patience to apply, but it comes out pretty if I take my time and use thin coats. The other two shades are maybe a tad easier to work with.
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Burberry Beauty: An Interview with Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Director

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Burberry Beauty officially launched last Tuesday at the San Francisco Nordie’s store, and I popped by to check out the new makeup line and to chat with Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief creative director (and quite possibly one of the most polite and well-dressed dudes I’ve ever met).

Here are some images of the new line and product swatches to go with the video above.


Burberry Sheer Eyeshadows, $29 each
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China Glaze Awakening Collection: Nails to Drive the Ghouls Crazy for Fall 2010

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China Glaze Awakening

What it do, ghoul-friend? I’m guessing I’m probably not alone in feeling like Halloween’s about a billion light years away right now, but if you’re one of those always-planning-early types (or maybe every day feels like All Hallows’ Eve to you?), peep the three new colors of China Glaze’s upcoming Awakening collection.

Color me a kid from the ’80s, but dayum these colors remind me of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. I was eight years old the first time I saw it and got zilch sleep for two weeks. Every time I’d close my eyes I’d see MJ’s glistening in the dark.

Zombie Zest, a dark green jelly base packed with green and gold glitter and my favorite color out of the three, looks like a nail polish version of those haunting peepers. Childhood scarring aside, I think it also looks kinda like sparkly baby poo. Both describe the color equally well.

The other two shades, Ick-a-body (a brownish green jelly base with burnt orange glitter) and Mummy May I (a purplish black jelly with purple glitter), are a lot of fun, too, especially if you like monstrous colors.

In each of these pics I’m wearing three coats.

china glaze awakening zombie zest
Zombie Zest
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These Boots Were Made for Walking…Around a Farmer’s Market

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While I was off stuffing my face with free fruit samples at the farmer’s market last night, I road tested a couple of goodies from the Boots makeup line — Natural Blush Cheek Colour in Candy Pink ($9) and Botanics Lip Gloss in Star Anise ($6). ‘Cause, you know, I’m all about beauty bargains. And multi-tasking. And free food!

Have you tried any Boots makeup before? I’m new to their makeup, but I like the few Boots skin products and makeup wipes I’ve tried.

Originally from merry olde England, the Boots line sailed onto Target shelves a few years ago. Their makeup offering looks pretty thorough with lots to choose from (foundation, blush, eyeshadow — basically, the works) in colors galore.

Candy Pink blush (a sheer matte pink) and Star Anise gloss (a sheer, creamy nude rose) represent my first dalliances with Boots makeup, and based on the two of them I’m thinking chocks away! — here’s something great for gals who love natural-looking makeup.

Candy Pink Blush

Candy Pink goes on VERY sheer. As a matter of fact, the lightly flushed look in these pics took about three layers. The powder feels velvety soft, and even though it took a few layers to reach the level of color I wanted (it may take you less if you’re lighter than moi), the blush was still pretty easy to apply and blend… Might be something to consider if you’re on the market for a natural pink cheek look.

Star Anise Gloss

I love Star Anise and her medium-weight, moisturizing texture. She’s uber-smooth, too, NOT uber-sticky, and doesn’t feel or look thick or heavy at all. She also has a wonderfully subtle shine.


Candy Pink Blush
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