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

Share Your Look: What Makeup Are You Wearing?

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barbie loves stila makeup blog beauty blog

Happy Sunday, pretties!

I was having a lot of fun with these picture frames in Photoshop this morning and thought, “Hmm… wouldn’t it be cool to take YOUR pictures and do a roundup of them like the other pictures in this post?”

So let’s do it!

If you have access to a digital camera, take a picture of your makeup and send it to me in this form (or send a link). Include the names of the products you’re wearing and a description of your look.

I’ll take a bunch of the looks and put them together in a resource post with a sprinkling of Photoshoppery, some comic bubbles, some pretty picture frames and perhaps a guest appearance by Tabs.

I think it’ll be cool to be able to see a bunch of different looks together in the same post.

Whatever look you’re wearing, share it with the form and attach a photo (or a link, like to Flickr, Photobucket or pics on your blog).

Here’s my look today…

barbie loves stila makeup blog beauty blog

A description of my look: El Hub and I are heading out to brunch, so I’m going a little casual today with shimmery brown eyes, pink cheeks and a shimmery brownish pink lip. I started with the palette and lipgloss from the Jewel Stila Loves Barbie can. I’ve been repping the scarf/gold hoops combo in my pics lately, but that’s because my hair’s been absolutely out of control!

barbie loves stila makeup blog beauty blog
Private eyes are watching you… watching your every move…

How to share your look

Fill out this form, and attach a picture of your fine self. If you want to get your pet up in the mix, go for it.

FEED OR EMAIL READERS: I haven’t figured out how to get the form to work correctly from the feed or the emails yet. I think it’s possible, but for now, if you’re reading this on the feed, please click this link if you want to fill out the form.

I’m off to devour some banana pancakes. Talk to ya in a few. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Should Animal Testing of Cosmetics Be Banned in America?

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European Union bans animal testing of cosmetics

Last week the European Union made it official, outlawing the testing of cosmetics products on animals. In the U.S., it’s still voluntary.

Leaping Bunny Program logoTabs has a background in science, but he thinks times have changed. In many cases it’s no longer necessary to test products on live subjects because of the vast amount of research already done, and he wishes more companies would get with the program — programs like Leaping Bunny. Products with this logo are certified to not have been tested on animals at any stage of their development.

As of last Wednesday…

“… the EU has banned all animal tests for cosmetic ingredients, formulations, and final products. In addition, the sale of cosmetics and ingredients that have been tested on animals, regardless of where the testing occurred, is also prohibited, with the exception of three test areas (repeated-dose toxicity, reproductive toxicity, and toxicokinetics). The final three test areas will be banned in March 2013.”


source

Should animal testing of cosmetics be banned in America? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Should animal testing of cosmetics be banned in America?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, March 14

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illamasqua

Makeup for your alter ego

Get me across the pond, *STAT*, and point me to the nearest shoppe selling Illamasqua makeup!

Beauty at Paris Fashion Week

If you missed Paris Fashion Week like I did, here’s a makeup rundown straight from the runway.

Summer Days from China Glaze

That’s it! I’m finished waiting for summer. I think I’ll just enter to win a set of China Glaze’s Summer Days instead.

Now accepting applications

I need a *sugar daddy* to buy me all this lovely Chanel hotness.

Hot blues for summertime

I’m dreaming of all the blue and purple makeup shades from The Body Shop’s Hot Brights summer collection.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Chanel Summer 2009 Cote D’Azur: 3 Ways to Wear Tangerine Dream Aqualumiere Gloss

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chanel summer 2009 cote dazur tangerine dream aqualumiere gloss

When I checked out the Chanel Cote D’Azur summer collection earlier this week, its vibrant shades of red, orange, pink and bronze Aqualumiere Glosses made my lipgloss-lovin’ heart skip a few beats. I loved all the colors, but one shade stood out from the rest — a shimmery orange shade called Tangerine Dream.

Like a fiery Hawaiian sunset in the tube, she applies as a semi-sheer orange with shimmery golden flecks on the lips.

chanel summer 2009 cote dazur tangerine dream aqualumiere gloss

If you like peach, coral or gold lipsticks, you may also like Tangerine Dream. I think she plays nicely with other shades in those families.

This morning I wanted to pretend it was summer, so I tried a summery lip with Tangerine Dream above a layer Benefit’s Gilded Pencil.

benefit gilded
A single layer of Benefit Gilded

chanel summer 2009 cote dazur tangerine dream aqualumiere gloss
Gilded with Tangerine Dream

And I think it’s a combo that’d work well with a coral blush like Benefit Coralista on the cheeks.

For the eyes, I might wear something green (in honor of St. Patrick’s Day), like two products from the upcoming MAC Sugarsweet collection, Aquavert Eyeshadow and Cakeshop Shadestick.

Speaking of MAC Sugarsweet, there’s a lipstick in the release called Lollipop Loving. It’s a shimmery peach with green and golden pearl. I thought she might work with Tangerine Dream and gave her a try.
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Fergie: Her Best Hair?

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Fergie hair and makeup

And I’m gonna miss you
Like a child misses their blanket
But I’ve got to get a move on with my life
It’s time to be a big girl now…
And big girls don’t cry.
–Fergie Ferg

Ahh, such sage words from Stacy Ann Ferguson (born March 27, 1975)!

Rockin’ it out since Kids Incorporated, Fergie has always kept busy. She’d been a cheerleader, a straight-A student, a spelling bee champion, a Girl Scout, a pop music sensation (remember Wild Orchid?) and a TV star years before hitting it REALLY big as a vocalist for the Black Eyed Peas.

Fergie Ferg generally likes long locks, but she’ll switch up the color now and then and throw in the occasional tiara to keep her look fresh. Last Thursday she was seen sporting the long and straight brunette look in Picture 1, but next week she could be back to pony tails or curls! 🙂

Which of Fergie's hairstyles do you like the best?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Colour Ready: What Would You Get?

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MAC Colour Ready

MAC Colour Ready or not…

…here it comes! The MAC Colour Ready collection arrives next month. It’s a dainty little release containing just nine products, three of them new additions to MAC’s Prep+Prime line.

The new lipsticks, eyeshadow, liner and pencil are meant to cover the makeup basics, but there’s nothing basic about these colors.

There are no blah browns or beiges here. It may be a small release, but it’s all about *BOLD*, as in vivid fuchsia, hot pink and a dash of bright green.

The Lipsticks, $14

Show Orchid Lipstick: Vivid Hot Pink
Impassioned: Amped up fuchsia

Eyeshadows, $14.50

Bitter: Shimmery golden green
White Frost: Shimmery bright white

Penultimate Eye Liner, $16.50

Rapid Black: True black
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Confessional

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quelle-horreur-final

Heya, cuties! I’m feeling the need for some end-of-the-week beauty catharsis. As I sit here typing this sentence, my hair stinks more than sticky pleather pumps in the summertime.

This week several beauty rituals fell by the wayside. There were so many exciting makeup releases to cover (Chanel summer!!), plus I had hella reading and homework to do.

Thank goodness for all the fab beauty remedies we have at our fingertips. Without ’em, I might’ve completely devolved into Pig-Pen territory.

pigpen-1

With the Powers-That-Be as my witness, here are all the beauty violations I’m guilty of this week.

rene-furterer-naturia
Beauty Confession: I can’t remember the last time I washed my hair. I think it might’ve been Tuesday? I’m usually very motivated to be clean so I shower every night, but for the past few days I haven’t been washing my hair before bed. Drying five pounds of wet hair at 1 a.m. is no fun.

When my hair smells sketchy in the mornings I reach for Rene Furterer Naturia Dry Shampoo ($24). It’s a fine powder mist I spray on my roots. Naturia removes the greasy smell, erases oily shine and boosts volume. While not as refreshing as a real deal shampoo sesh, in a pinch it gets the job done.

sally-hansen-kwik-off
Beauty Confession: All the nails on my left hand are different colors. Avril Lavigne could get away with it during her Sk8er Boi era. On me it just looks plain crazy.

When I’m feeling swamped, eliminating the cotton ball from the nail polish removal equation makes the job a billion times easier.

Sally Hansen has one for busy beauties like us called Kwik Off ($4). It’s a big ole’ sponge soaked with nail polish remover and housed in a jar. I open the jar up, stick my finger into a pre-made hole in the sponge, twist it around a few times, et voila — my nail polish disappears faster than Cuba Gooding Jr.’s film career.

clean-shower-fresh-eau-de-parfum
Beauty Confession: I haven’t showered in two days. Earlier I mentioned that I usually shower every night, but last night I was totally glued to the tube (The Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo, watch it!). Plus, just the thought of squeezing a jar of body wash felt exhausting.
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You’re Making Me Blush!

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Benefit Coralista Blush

Rise and shine, morning glories! Aren’t you glad it’s Friday? I sure am.

What did you do last night? I just chillaxed on the couch watching The Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo. I secretly want the matchmaker’s job!

Whenever Patty — she’s the matchmaker — holds a casting for new potential dates for her clients, I always check out their makeup. 🙂

Last night it was blush. It can make such a huge difference to your look. Here are some of my favorite blush posts from the past few months.

Benefit Coralista Blush Has Got Me Purring

“Coralista’s soft, shimmery coral-pink looks neutral on my cheeks, and that’s weird because most coral blushes usually look warmer on my skin tone. I’m thinking it has something to do with the cooler pink tones, like they mellow out the warmer corals. Both warm and cool beauties ought to be able to work this blush with equal flava.” 🙂

Blush for Beginners

“Here’s another attempt at a video. This one’s about blush, and I apologize because I let Tabs do the editing. I think he got a little carried away.”

Benefit Dallas Blush Gives Cheeks a Peachy Glow

“Despite wanting a sturdier box, I really like Dallas blush a lot. I’m giving her prime retail space on top of my dresser so she’s available when I need quick color on my cheeks before running out the door.”

Blush Technique: The Bounce

“Rise and shine, morning glories. It’s Friday, yea! Are you ready for the weekend? In this short video I talk about one of my standby blush application techniques, codenamed The Bounce.”

Powder Blush: A Pink Brown Flush for Spring

“As the only blush released with Chanel’s Spring 2009 Bohemian Fantasy Collection, Fandango, a shimmery pink and brown, applies with intense color that really brings out the brown in my skin. To avoid dark, muddy cheeks, I layered it slowly with a MAC 187 skunk brush, trying to use a light touch.”

Blush Technique: The Swirl

“A few days ago I showed one way to apply blush using a technique called The Bounce (bounce, baby!). Here’s a second method. This one’s nicknamed The Swirl.”

Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Top Blusher Brush: A Budget Friendly Beast

“BOW DOWN before the mighty Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Flat Top Blusher Brush. Marvel at its multi-tasking prowess and how it applies blushes and foundations with ease. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself trembling — with glee! — at the cash register. Not only is this brush amazing, but it’s also cheap — $14.99. Holla!”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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