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

Philosophy The Miracle Worker Worked a Miracle on Me

December 23rd, 2009 by Karen 11 Comments

Written by Jen, aka Raging Rouge

Today Jen of Raging Rouge describes a miracle she saw with her very own eyes.

Philosophy The Miracle Worker

I’m not one to turn readers away, but if you’re under 35 and under the belief that ignorance is bliss, stop reading this now. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go out for a drink with the girls. 🙂

I say that because if I had to publish a description of my relationship with my skin on Facebook, it would be tagged like this: It’s complicated.

After 35, Mother Nature just smacked me in the face with a 4 by 4. Fine lines started cropping up out of nowhere, and (adding insult to injury) I’m still breakout prone!

Now, for those of you who were brave enough to keep reading beyond the first paragraph, let me offer one more hideous thought: if you thought teen acne was bad, just WAIT until you get pregnant!

Days before my 36th birthday I delivered my second beautiful son, and just like my first pregnancy, the skin around my jawline was a mess. Big patches of cystic acne riddled the area, which had always been completely clear before my pregnancioes. The second time around, though, the breakouts didn’t disappear on their own, and drastic times called for drastic measures!

My first step: regular use of a powerful peel.

Step two: I had tremendous success clearing up the left side of my face using the Exuviance Rejuvenating Treatment Mask but needed something even more powerful along my right jawline. After reading some positive reviews of Philosophy skincare products, I took the plunge.

The superb prices of their holiday value kits also encouraged me to give them a try, like the Miracle Worker kit, which comes with $156 of products for only $85! YeeHa!

I did add one extra ingredient to my skincare cocktail — and this was crucial — Philosophy “Help Me”. It’s a time-release retinol formula known for its strength and effectiveness in clearing up acne and minimizing the appearance of fine lines.

Here was my combined regimen:
[Continue reading…]

A Face of the Day with NARS Habanera

December 23rd, 2009 by Karen 22 Comments

karen-fotd-1

I guess it’s true — you can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl! Even here in the tropics beneath a canopy of banyan and coconut trees (we’re just a few miles away from where they film Lost, FO’ reals!), I can’t stop myself from thinking about San Francisco…

As a matter of fact, the colors I used for my makeup today, with products from the NARS Habanera Duo ($32), are making me think of the City by the Bay.

nars-habanera-swatch

Habanera, a powder duo belonging to NARS’ permanent line, has a gorgeous shimmery slate blue on one side (color reminds me of a wet and foggy San Francisco morning). The other side houses a deep plummy purple with tiny flecks of slate blue glitter that shimmer like the city from across Bay at dusk.

At first glance, I wasn’t sure I’d like the way Habenera would look on me. I’d seen and loved the shades on lighter-skinned beauties but was afraid they’d look a little too light and cool on me (as shimmery pastels can sometimes look quite frosty on darker skin tones).

I think I worried for nothing, though. I get the feeling that women of a wide range of skin tones are going to like the way Habanera looks on them. 🙂 It’s a color that I’m guessing a lot of women can wear.

nars fotd side

If you’re curious about Habanera, I hope you give it a try. Today I was in the mood for something light and fun, so I went with a wide-eyed, shimmery pale blue and plum eye look with long lashes, a sheer plum cheek and a neutral lip.
[Continue reading…]

10 Days of Giveaways: Two Ways to Win Lancome Sparkling Cherub Illuminating Powder

December 23rd, 2009 by Karen 231 Comments

UPDATE: Dec. 25, 2009. The giveaway is now closed, and the winner will be contacted soon. Good luck! 🙂

lancome-sparkling-cherub-ten-days-of-giveaways2

Wait — what’s that sound?! Do you hear it, ladies? The jingling in the distance, like sleigh bells? Santa’s coming! 🙂

Are you almost done with your Christmas preparations and shopping? Are you going to be among the tens of millions of travelers this week?

It’s a mad house out there, isn’t it? Yesterday I braved the Ala Moana Shopping Center here on Oahu (visited by four times as many people/year as Disneyland). It’s the state’s largest mall, and I’m not kidding here: the place is NO JOKE!

Right now I’m fueling up on coffee and Hawaiian sweet bread to go for a leisurely jog around the neighborhood. I think I’ll bring my camera with me…

Before I jet, are you ready for another giveaway (BTW, there’s still time to enter yesterday’s Urban Decay giveaway too)?

The prize

One lucky lady will win Lancome’s Sparkling Cherub Illuminating Powder (a $40 value), a shimmery highlighter for the face and body.

6 lancome-1b

6 lancome-1c

How to enter…

2ways2enter Entering is easy. There are two different ways, 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.

I really hope I make it to the beach today… Come on, Mother Nature, cooperate, will ya? No rain, no rain, no rain.

Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to win Lancome Sparkling Cherub Illuminating Powder (a $40 Value) http://bit.ly/7V6Xqu

Recap…

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.
Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to win Lancome Sparkling Cherub Illuminating Powder (a $40 Value) http://bit.ly/7V6Xqu

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Wednesday, December 24.

Ã•nn kaasa!!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

UPDATE: Dec. 25, 2009. The giveaway is now closed, and the winner will be contacted soon. Good luck! 🙂

How Many Beauty Products Do You Use a Day?

December 23rd, 2009 by Karen 28 Comments

How many beauty products do you use a day?
Yikes! That’s a tough one… I guess it depends on what qualifies as a beauty product and which specific day we’re talking about, but If I just take an average day and include hair products and moisturizers along with the obvious things like mascara, eyeshadow, lipstick and gloss, it’s a pretty big number, LOL!

I’m gonna say 30…

WOW!

Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Good morning, girls. 🙂 I’m the only one awake yet (me and the chickens). It’s not quite dawn here, but I’m still on California time (which is two hours ahead of Hawaii). I’ve got my laptop on the couch that I’ve been sleeping on in my in-law’s small living room. El Hub is sleeping soundly on a foldable cushion beside me on the floor.

Every few hours or so I’ve been connecting via Skype to Makeup and Beauty Blog HQ in California to see how Tabs is doing. So far so good. He’s holding down the fort!

10 Days of Giveaways: Two Ways to Win the Urban Decay Smoke Out Kit in Yerba

December 22nd, 2009 by Karen 346 Comments

UPDATE: Dec. 25, 2009. The giveaway is now closed, and the winner will be contacted soon. Good luck! 🙂

2 urban-decay-smoke-out-1

“Cock-a-doodle-dooOOOOoo!”

Yup, that’s the alarm clock out here in Kaneohe. Every morning, WELL before dawn, wild jungle chickens belt out what I imagine are their chicken Christmas carols…

Just a quick post before heading out for some last-minute shopping. It rained a little bit earlier today, but now the sun’s poking through the clouds, illuminating the jungle in a million shades of green.

green-jungle-boogie

And speaking of green… Urban Decay has a batch of three new smokey eyeshadow sets called, get this, the Smoke Out Kits.

Ready for today’s giveaway? 🙂

The prize

One lucky lady will win Urban Decay’s Yerba Buena Smoke Out Kit (a $34 value) for deep green smokey eyes. It comes with four eyeshadows, a mascara and an eyeliner, too.

2 urban-decay-smoke-out-2

2 urban decay smoke out 3

How to enter…

2ways2enter Entering is easy. There are two different ways, 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. It in, describe your favorite way to do a smokey eye.

I had a hard time with smokey eyes until I learned this trick. They’re a whole lot easier to do when I start with a layer of a creamy pencil like Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On in Zero beneath a powder shadow.

Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to win the Urban Decay Yerba Buena Smoke Out Kit (a $34 Value) http://bit.ly/7TYI4B

Recap…

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.
Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to win the Urban Decay Yerba Buena Smoke Out Kit (a $34 Value) http://bit.ly/7TYI4B

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Wednesday, December 23.

Nawguralek!!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

UPDATE: Dec. 25, 2009. The giveaway is now closed, and the winner will be contacted soon. Good luck! 🙂

Jungle Boogie

December 22nd, 2009 by Karen 7 Comments

Just some fern plants in my in-law’s backyard. Everything here is green because it rains a ton on this side of the island.

Have You Ever Had a Goth Phase?

December 22nd, 2009 by Karen 43 Comments

Have you ever had a goth phase?

What, you might be wondering, does this post have to do with Christmas OR Hawaii? Well, that’s an excellent question! I have no idea. 🙂 I came across this interview of actress Cate Blanchett on StyleList.com in which she says she went through “a big gothic phase” in her younger years.

“Back then,” she says, “I’d go to bed with my make-up on if I’d been out. And I went through a big gothic phase, so my pillow was always covered in black mascara and white pancake make-up.”

LOL! My brush with goth was back around 1994. I went through a phase in which I was outlining and filling in my lips with black eyeliner and then adding a dark matte red lipstick on top. No goth clothes or anything like that, though.

What about you? Have you ever had a goth phase, or are you in the midst of one now?

Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Also in the StyleList.com interview, Cate mentions liking SK-II Facial Treatment Essence. Hmm… Has some promising reviews on MakeupAlley. Have you ever given it a try? I’m curious.

Some of Stef’s Favorite Exfoliators and Cleansers with Kick!

December 22nd, 2009 by Karen 23 Comments

Written by Stef

Today Stef of the fantastical We Heart This (a little bit of everything, a whole lot of love) shares five of her favorite exfoliators.

exfoliatorsB

When my face flakes
When my skin’s dull
When I’m feeling sad….

Gather ’round, children. I’d like to tell you about a few of my favorite scrubs (and I promise not to make your play clothes out of curtains!). That’s right — a good exfoliator can send me spinning on a mountaintop like a modern day Julie Andrews.

But first, why should you exfoliate? Because your skin is constantly shedding dead cells to make way for new ones. The old cells dull your skin, making it uneven and sometimes even dry. So you want them gone, pronto. Exfoliating moves this process along faster. With a good product, your skin will look fresher, you’ll have a smoother surface for makeup application and you’ll get more out of your other skin care products because they will penetrate the skin’s surface better.

Here are my current top five favorites:

1. Bobbi Brown Buffing Grains ($40)

Multi-taskers, listen up. This little time saver cuts two-product facial cleansing/exfoliating down to a single easy step. Bobbi Brown’s Buffing Grains are made of Japanese Adzuki bean powder, gentle yet powerful little granules that you can mix into your favorite cleanser to make it an exfoliator too.

And for bargain hunters, Angel Face Botanicals makes a version with 4 times as much product at half the price.

TIP: You can buy the bean powder from many health food stores for practically free. DIYers can even buy Adzuki beans whole and grind them at home!

2. Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub ($7.50)

Want another time saver? Check out Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub, my drugstore scrub of choice. I really consider this to be more of a cleanser with a kick, as it’s not quite the exfoliating powerhouse as some of my other favorites. But here’s why I like it…
[Continue reading…]