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

Les Naturels De Chanel Swatches and First Impressions

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les naturels de chanel

Flashy it ain’t, but if you love neutrals like Lady Gaga loves cards, Chanel’s latest collection deserves a closer peek.

The 10-piece Les Naturels De Chanel contains goodies for eyes, lips and cheeks ($27-40) and features cream, brown, gray, pink and peach shades in finishes ranging from soft shimmer to matte.

I popped by the Chanel counter this afternoon to do my due diligence. 🙂

Like most neutrals, these didn’t scream “LOOK HERE!” from across the room, and they may be too quiet for some, but their elegance still captured my attention. They remind me of something Bobbi Brown (aka Queen of the Neutral Look) would create.

Product shots

les naturels de chanel orchid rose
Orchid Rose Joues Contraste Powder Blush, $42

les naturels de chanel lily and slate eyeshadow
Lily and Slate Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadows, $29 each

les naturels de chanel lotus and mahogany eyeshadows
Lotus and Mahogany Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadows, $29 each

les naturels de chanel bel air unity waterlily glossimer
From top to bottom: Bel Air, Unity and Waterlily Lesvres Scintillantes Glossimers, $27 each

The release also includes two lipsticks, both of which are repromotes from the summer 2008 collection, but I spaced out at the counter and forgot to take pictures, oops! The two shades are called Naive (a creamy pink) and Curious (a creamy brown) and will go for $30 each.

Swatches

les naturels de chanel swatches lily slate lotus mahogany ombre essentielle
From left to right: Lily, Lotus, Mahogany and Slate Ombre Essentielle Eyeshadows
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How to Make Your Loose Powder Last

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loose-powder-with-brush

No matter how hard I try, I’m awful when it comes to controlling how much product I use with my loose powder jars.

It’s not like I’m devoid of muscle control, or like I’m shakin’ the jars like a Polaroid picture.

I don’t know, but every time I gently shake a jar to load the sifter tray, mayhem ensues; powder gets everywhere, and I’m sent down the same product-wastin’ path…

The wastefulness starts with the excess of powder in the tray. It’s why my brush gets overloaded with powder, which I end up blowing off or tapping away when I go to dilute the brush before application.

A lot product gets wasted in the process, and that makes me kind of cranky. 🙁

Makeup McGyver!

I finally found a way to doctor those jars of loose powder to cut back on waste.

It’s a cheap and easy trick that takes less than three minutes to do, and it makes it easier to control the amount of powder that feeds through those built-in sifters, consequently reducing the amount of product that gets lost to the wind.

What you’ll need

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  • A jar of loose powder (the kind that comes with a sifter)
  • Scotch Tape
  • Q-Tips

Step by step, oh baby…

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First, create a clean surface for the tape by removing the powder from the holes in the sifter area with a Q-tip.

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Next, grab a small piece of tape from the dispenser; place it on top of a few of the holes in the sifter.
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Should Makeup Be Tax Deductible as a Business Expense if Wearing It Meant Earning More Money at Work?

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Business woman in makeup

A new study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management shows that makeup can boost a woman’s earning potential by a whopping 25 percent!

Researchers studied 186 men and 98 women who all lunched alone in the same restaurant, served by two waitresses aged 19 and 20.

After a beautician applied makeup to the waitresses, male customers were 70 percent more likely to leave a tip, and the average size of each tip rose by 25 percent.

The addition of makeup had virtually no effect on the amount of tips that female customers left, but the researchers said the results had implications for all women in the workplace.

Psychologist Ingrid Collins of the London Medical Centre said men tipped the made-up waitresses more because they appeared more alluring — and also because cosmetics made them seem more “child-like and needy…”

OUCH!

“It makes men feel they need to be masculine and tipping, providing for this need, does that rather well.”

Or, did the women wearing makeup just look cleaner, tidier, more confident and organized?

What do you think? Would you wear makeup if it meant earning more money at work?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

New from NARS: What Would You Get?

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nars-loves-san-francisco-top
Ladies, do ya ever go through makeup phases? Right now I’m having a serious NARS moment!

It’s like I physically can’t stop myself from reaching for Supervixen lip gloss, The Multiple Orgasm (ha!) and the Modern Love palette every morning. Call me crazy, but I’ve been hearting all three so much I might as well attach ’em to my body. 🙂

I guess that it’s no surprise today’s sesh of WHAT WOULD YOU GET, which features new limited edition NARS items, killed me a little softly. It was so hard to decide!

WHAT WOULD YOU GET works like this — you check out the pictures, read through the product descriptions and then tell me in the comments what you’d like to take home for your virtual haul.

Option one: a smokin’ hawt set of vintage NARS nail polishes

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To celebrate their 15th anniversary this year, NARS recently resurrected five old school NARS Nail Polish favorites ($16 each).

  • Cha Cha: a semi-sheer tangerine with golden shimmer
  • Hunger: a creamy orangey red
  • Zizi: a clear peach with golden glitter
  • Tallulah: a creamy dark plum
  • Blue Lagoon: a shimmery powder blue

Isn’t that purple to die for?

NARS nail polishes are thin and apply with rich, non-streaky color. The polish resists chipping well and lasts a long time, too.

Option two: The NARS Loves San Francisco Set

nars-loves-san-francisco-set

NARS plus my favorite city (*please* don’t call it Frisco) equals makeup nirvana. This extremely limited edition set features four previously released NARS products re-christened with names inspired by San Francisco ($75).

  • Angel Island Single Eye Shadow: a sparkly lavender
  • Golden Gate Bridge Highlighter/Cheek Color: a bright, yellowish gold
  • Haight Ashbury Eye Shadow Duo: a light matte gray and a shimmery pale green
  • Alamo Nail Polish: a shimmery, bronzey cream

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Smashbox Limitless Long Wear Lip Gloss: Make Way for Sheer Shine

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smashbox limitless long wear lip gloss final

You gals gave some awesome recommendations the other day when I asked about your favorite pigmented lip glosses, and they’ll be preserved for blog eternity in the archives! 🙂

I think we all appreciate highly pigmented products, but what about sheer, shiny glosses?

A couple of sheer lip glosses I reach for a lot are the Chanel Aqualumieres and MAC Cremesheen Glass. They’ve become standby products for me, but they might have company on my dresser soon; a new lip gloss line from Smashbox looks intriguing.

They’re called Limitless Long Wear Lip Glosses, and they run $21 each.

Smashbox loaded ’em up with SPF 15 and says the new line of six, sheer glosses lasts for up to six hours on the lips.

They’re both taste- and fragrance-free and feel thick without feeling sticky, which means my hair won’t cling to my lips every time a strong wind blows.
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Comment to Win MAC Style Warrior Bright Future Eyeshadow

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This giveaway is closed! Thank you for entering. I’ll be contacting the winner soon.

060309-mac-style-warrior-bright-future

If the summer sun hasn’t brightened your corner of the world yet, MAC’s Bright Future eyeshadow may be able to help.

One of five shadows in the new MAC Style Warrior collection, it’s a vibrant yellow — almost like a slice of summer in the pan.

If Mother Nature isn’t cooperating and you need a summer sunshine fix, enter today’s giveaway! 🙂

The prize

One lucky lady will win a pan of frosty, golden MAC Style Warrior Bright Future eyeshadow (a $14.50 value).

How to enter

It only takes a second to enter (well, a few seconds). Just leave a quick comment on this post letting me know something that always brightens your day.

A big cup of coffee, an upbeat song and well-behaved hair are all things that brighten my day!

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59PM PST Thursday night.

Noroc!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

This giveaway is closed! Thank you for entering. I’ll be contacting the winner soon.

What’s Your Hot Weather Makeup Routine?

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self-tanning

I *loves* me some hot weather, but extreme heat and/or humidity wreak havoc on my makeup.

MBB reader Sara knows where I’m coming from, and she’s hoping we can help her with a few makeup tips to beat the heat.

I live on the East Coast (New Jersey), and it’s starting to get warmer out. What’s the best summer makeup, and what works best for minimal/warm weather coverage?

I found myself blotting my makeup off the other day because it was so hot, and I was sweating.

Sara

Hi Sara,

First off, when it’s REALLY hot outside, I stick to minimal makeup.

Here’s a routine I started doing a few years back while living in a town called Davis (go Ags!). Temps there would often reach triple digits. People would call it “hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk!”

I never gave that a try, but I always wanted to. 🙂

My “It’s Getting Hawt in Here” Makeup Routine

  1. It all starts with a great sunscreen. Then, I fill in my brows and conceal my dark circles.
  2. Next, to brighten my eyes, I curl my lashes and apply two coats of a waterproof mascara (I usually go with waterproof mascara when it’s hot out) like Stila Lash Visor, and if I have the time, I’ll also line my upper lash line with a black waterproof eyeliner like Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner.
  3. For a little color in my life, I’ll dot some liquid blush on my face, and I really like Benefit’s Benetint on my cheeks, blended in with my fingers. I like liquid blushes because they seem to outlast creams or powder blushes in uber-intense heat.
  4. I usually wear both powder AND a tinted moisturizer, but not when it’s hot. It just feels too heavy. Instead, I’ll skip both, but in their place I’ll bring along some blotting papers like MAC Blot to cut down on the shine throughout the day.
  5. I’ll finish with a sheer lipgloss on my lips, something like Chanel Aqualumiere Lipglosses for work or Neutrogena MoistureShine Lip Soothers for play.

Lovelies, what’s your take on summer makeup? Do you change your routine when it heats up outside? What can Sara do with her makeup to breeze through the Jersey summer in style?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

It’s All About the Glitter!

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Today Jessica of Little Thoughts and Lovely Things gives the 411 on ways to wear glitter.

All about the glitter

My name is Jessica, and I’m your guest beauty blogger this afternoon. 🙂

1jk

MBB guest mascot Kitty and I (yes, I do have a kitty named Kitty) are easy to please. As long as Kitty gets her naps and can shed all over the house, and I have my makeup — particularly glitter — we’re great!

NOTE: Make sure you’re careful with glitter around your eyes, and only use glitter products approved for use with makeup (no craft store glitter!).

Glitter adds that extra “pop” to any look. Apply a lot to, say, the entire lid, and people will definitely look your way. Or, play it safe for school or work with a lighter application for a subtle shimmer.

2jk

The first time I tried using a loose glitter shadow, I skipped the base and applied it directly to my eyelid. By the end of the day… well, you know how that went. I got it everywhere but my eyes! — on my hands, my clothes, my desk and all over my cheeks.

No problem. You can definitely apply glitter in a way that won’t leave your coworkers wondering why you looked dressed to hit the disco, or why there are bits of glitter in their sandwich.

Loose glitter

What it is
The most concentrated form of glitter you can get. Unless you don’t mind getting glitter all over the place, you’re either going to want to mix it with a base or something else.

Bases
You could use something creamy like a MAC Paint Pot ($16) as a base for loose glitter, but you’ll probably end up with more fallout than if you actually mixed it with something like Mixing Medium.

Ask about Mixing Medium at your nearby MAC Pro Store (the water-based kind, about $15), or you can make a base yourself by mixing 2/3rds water with 1/3rd glycerine (bought from a drugstore).

The glycerine just makes everything sticky, so in this case the glitter adheres to your skin.

Consider also trying MAC Fix+ ($17), which combines glycerine with a couple of other ingredients like cucumber extract.

Just drizzle a few drops onto your brush, dip your brush into your loose glitter, and then pat it on your eye.

If you’d prefer a more liquid consistency, you can actually mix your MAC Fix+ and glitter together in a container or in a palette and can even make your own glittery shadow or liner.

A makeup sealant like Benefit’s SheLaq ($30) also helps make glitter stick to skin, but it’ll cost you a lot more than either MAC Fix+ or its drugstore equivalent.

Application

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There are many different ways to apply glitter. One way is to apply it to the entire lid. In this pic I’m wearing NYX Glitter Powder in Silver (about $2).

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Or, in the center of your lid above the iris, for a little understated sparkle (MAC Glitter in Reflects Antique Gold over MAC Amber Lights shadow, about $20, but much cheaper if you get it with a holiday pigment set).

5jk

Glitter also works added to your lipgloss. Here’s some NYX Glitter in Clear over NYX Round Lipgloss in Doll Pink…

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Or perhaps above your blush as a highlighter for your cheekbone, though I don’t apply glitter on my face on a regular basis. Above shows some NARS Orgasm Blush and NYX Glitter in Clear over Revlon Crème Shadow in White…
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