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 Sneak Peek at the New Barbie All Doll’d Up Makeup Line

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Barbie’s turning 50 this year! To celebrate her big 5-0, Mattel is rolling out a new line of cosmetics and skin care products in 2009, says WWD.

The beauty line is just one part of a huge marketing push by Mattel Inc. to market Barbie as a fashion brand and includes new partnerships with Bloomingdale’s, Vera Wang, Jeremy Scott, IMG and the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

From the looks of these product pics the makeup appears targeted for grown ups, rather than kids or tweens. Somebody in marketing obvs has a sense of humor — the makeup line is called “All Doll’d Up,” and the skin care line is named “Plastic Smooth,” LOLZ. Both the cheeky product names and packaging remind me a little bit of Benefit Cosmetics.

I loves me some Barbie so I’m pretty stoked about this! I really hope the products perform well (and that Skipper gets at least a lipgloss shout out). I wonder if they plan to roll out a Ken line for men. 🙂

What do you think about the upcoming Barbie makeup and skin care collections?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Share What Keeps YOU Being Beautiful [WIN A PRIZE]

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UPDATE 11/17/08: The giveaway is closed, and winners will be notified soon. Good luck!


YOU: Being Beautiful, a new beauty book by New York Times bestselling authors Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, hit shelves this week.

This book is the fifth in the YOU: The Owner’s Manual health series, and in it the doctors discuss three levels of beauty in their trademark writing style which blends science with entertainment.

  1. Looking Beautiful: what you can do to keep your skin, hair, teeth, hands, feet and body looking great
  2. Feeling Beautiful: dealing with “inner” beauty health issues like aches, pains and stress
  3. Being Beautiful: how improving your relationships with loved ones can help you find true happiness

Oprah’s homeboys (did you see the book featured on her show on Tuesday?) also talk about how different foods, vitamins, creams, gels and injections can boost how you look on the outside and feel on the inside.

I’m pretty excited about seeing this book in stores because I got to read the drafts at the literary agency, and I can remember when the book looked just like this:

mac-parrot-beauty-book-manuscript.jpg

My favorite parts of the book are the sections detailing the biology of beauty. I also like the helpful YOU Tips! sprinkled throughout the chapters.

YOU Tips!

CREAM IT ON. There are hundreds of skin care ingredients, including many with fancy names and expensive price tags. But there is very little science to most of them and no science to many of them. The list of ingredients that really can make a difference in the skin is small. The big ingredients (and their closely related derivatives) to know:

  • Vitamin A (retinoids)
  • Vitamin B3 (niacin or nicotinamide)
  • Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid, panthenol)
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin E
  • Alpha-hydroxy acids
  • Ubiquinone or coenzyme Q10 (small-molecule antioxidant)
  • Ferulic acid (small-molecule antioxidant)

These eight are examples of skin-care ingredients you can cream on with solid scientific backing.

YOU: Being Beautiful Book Giveaway

Enter today’s YOU: Being Beautiful book giveaway by sharing what keeps you being beautiful in the comments.

The Prize

Ten winners will each receive a copy of YOU: Being Beautiful by Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz (419 pages, hardcover); $26.99 value.

How to Enter

To qualify, leave a comment below on what keeps you being beautiful. You can leave tips talking about what keeps you beautiful on the inside or on the outside (or even both!), and it can be as long or as short as you like, up to a maximum of 250 words. There are no right or wrong answers.
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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, November 14

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I Want All The Bags From the Hayden-Harnett Target Line

  • SO CUTE! I’m a total handbag ho, so I can’t wait for Hayden-Harnett’s Target Line (a collection of tote bags, clutches and a single, random umbrella) to debut on December 28th.

James the Vampire = Kinda Hawt

Say It Ain’t So

  • Are you ready for the return of the bowl bang? I used to have a Dorthy Hamill bowl cut with bangs just like these circa 1981, LOL. 🙂

Coming Soon

  • When you hit those day-after-Christmas sales on December 26, head over to MAC to peep the new Dame Edna collection. Also keep your eyes peeled for Clinique Instant Relief Mineral Powder ($32.50), a yellow, loose powder designed to cancel out red tones, which debuts in January.

The Return of the Pant Suit

The Case of the Disappearing Collar


OMG, scandal. I hadn’t seen Tabs all day yesterday, and when he arrived home last night his collar was totally MIA. This cat better not be cheating on me with another human. 🙁 It’s one of those safety collars that’s designed to break away if a kitty gets stuck, so I am really hoping that unsavory human hands did not remove the stylish blue collar from my rotund, striped friend.

Still, I’m happy it’s Friday. It’s been a long week. Today I’ve got grand plans to buy Tabs a new collar (pink with rhinestones?), test my tube o’ MAC Dazzle Lash mascara and experiment with the Nars Jolie Poupee eye duo (from the Nars holiday 2008 collection). So excited!

Are you having a good day so far?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Is Enormous Lash the Next Great Cult Beauty Item?

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Hi, ladies! I’m here at my fave MAC counter at Nordstrom picking up a tube of the new MAC Dazzle Lash Mascara ($12). I can’t wait to try it when I get home. I hope it delivers glamorous lashes.

Speaking of the eternal quest for bigger lashes, I was wondering if you’ve heard of a product by Beauty Society called Enormous Lash. It’s a liquid lash growth formula that’s supposed to dramatically increase the length of your lashes. You apply the serum to your lash line, kinda like a liquid liner, and in about 30 days your lashes supposedly grow longer and fuller.

Usually I’m very skeptical of lash growth products, but all the makeup artists here are raving about the results. Each person gushes over and over again, “Oh my gawd. It TOTALLY works.”

A single tube of Enormous Lash costs $95 (ouch), but they tell me that’s enough for at least six months.

While I’m tempted to get a tube for myself, I really want it more for my mom-in-law for when she starts doing chemo. She has really long lashes now (which El Hub inherited, the lucky bum), and I know they’ll probably fall out, so I want to give her something that will help her when that time comes.

Have you used Enormous Lash? Did you get good results?

Hope you’re having a great Thursday. I’m off to go play with some Dior shadows. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Cargo Boogie Nights Eye Pencil Set: Makeup Tips and Tricks

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Boogie nights! Keep on dancing… keep on dancing. BOOGIE NIGHTS!

Whew. Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. It’s just that whenever I use the eyeliners from the Cargo Boogie Nights Eye Pencil Set ($18), I can’t help but burst into song (please tell me I’m not the only one who does this).

A limited-edition release for the holidays, the Cargo Boogie Nights set comes with five glittery, mini eyeliners and a sleek case that fits snugly in the palm of my hand.

  • Aqua: shimmery teal with silver glitter
  • Black: shimmery cool blue-black with silver glitter
  • Blue: shimmery royal blue with silver glitter
  • Purple: shimmery dark purple with silver glitter
  • Silver: shimmery silver




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Eco Lips Launches Edible Lip Line

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I’m starving! Where the heck did I put my lip balm?!?

Organic lip balm maker Eco Lips has created a 99 percent organic and 100 percent edible lip line. Pure & Simple joins the company’s growing batch of organic lip products. The “recipe” includes organic sunflower seed oil, organic beeswax, organic flavors and vitamin E and will come in three flavors — kiwi-strawberry, coconut and grape ($1.99 each).

I don’t mind the idea behind tasty lip products, and bravo that these are also mostly organic, but when I wear flavored stuff on my lips I tend to lick it off, immediately. I can’t refrain. If it’s yummy and it’s right there, I lick and smack and … DANGIT!

How do you feel about edible lip products?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Eco Lips even makes a Red Bull-ish energizing lip balm infused with caffeine, green tea and vitamin B12. WEIRD!

Givenchy Pop Gloss Crystal in Plum By Night Brings the Hawtness

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For once Tabs wasn’t the sexiest thing in the house.

Today the honor went to Givenchy Pop Gloss Crystal in Plum By Night ($23.50), one of two limited edition glosses from the Givenchy Holiday 2008 collection.

A dark, shimmery berry shade with multi-colored glitter that’s oh-so-very fine, this cream gloss not only looks pretty, but also feels fabulous on the lips. Its thin, non-sticky and moisturizing formula is a dead ringer for Dior Creme de Gloss.

Like Dior Creme de Gloss, Pop Gloss Crystal is highly pigmented, with *hella* shine and full color-coverage. I’ve found that using less is the key to getting Plum By Night looking its best. 🙂


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Nars Super Orgasm Blush: Less Glitter, Please

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Just uttering the words Nars Super Orgasm Blush ($25), makes my cheeks flush with embarrassment. Maybe it was all those Sunday morning Catholic masses, LOL. All I know is when I say the name of this blush, I feel the need to cover the ears of small children (and pets) within the vicinity.

All awkward name issues aside, I have to give Super Orgasm props. It begets cheeks with a perfect, just-pinched, shimmery peach color. Super Orgasm Blush would totally be the stuff of legend if it weren’t for one flaw — massive, meteoric, chunks of golden glitter.


Nars Holiday Collection 2008

Rich, Pigmented Color… YES!

Released as part of the Nars Holiday 2008 collection, Super Orgasm is the amped-up version of Nars’ best-selling Orgasm Blush, touted for years in beauty mags as a universally flattering shade for a boom-chicka-wah-wah glow.

Unfortunately, the light, peachy-pink color never worked on my tanned skin. Instead of a post-O flush, my cheeks looked candy-colored and clownish. Eeek!

But Super Orgasm’s darker, more intense pigmentation works for me. It’s so saturated with color that just one layer produces a beautiful, golden, peachy-pink glow. Oh yes, yes, yes!

Big, Chunky Glitter… NO!

But then comes the glitter.

Sigh.

There’s lots of it. The pieces are very big and unevenly shaped, so they don’t sit on the skin well. Most of the time I see flecks sticking up on my cheeks!

Also, the glitter pieces migrate like a flock of Canada Geese, flying off my cheeks and landing on my nose, chin and forehead.
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