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

Shu Uemura Mika Holiday Collection: Eye Color Palettes, Rouge Unlimited Lipstick Swatches and First Impressions

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Um, WOW! The Shu Uemura Mika Holiday Collection is in the mutha truckin’ hizzouse. I was so stoked when I first saw the three new palettes and limited edition Mika lipsticks on the Shu Uemura website, but now that I’ve seen them in person … I LOVE THEM EVEN MORE!

Each of the eyeshadow palettes comes with pressed shadows and a cream liner shade with the same wonderfully high color pigmentation and fine textures we’ve come to expect from Shu Uemura’s eye products.

I think Shu’s among the top brands when it comes to quality and their attention to detail, and one thing I lurve about these particular palettes is how varied the color combinations are — they’re visually interesting yet highly wearable at the same time.

Shu Uemura joined forces with Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa to conceptualize Mika Holiday. I love the clean, floral aesthetic of the eye, lip and face products and makeup storage cases. Check out the entire collection on the Shu Uemura website and let me know what you think.🙂

Midnight Winter Sakura (limited edition, $65)

A palette with strong, rich colors for bold, glamorous looks. I think the blues in this are *amazing* and the coloring vivid and highly pigmented, like deep blue tropical seas.

From left to right:

  • Eyeshadow: a warm and shimmery gold
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery taupe-gold
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery bronze
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery khaki
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery teal-blue
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery royal blue
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery rose-gold
  • Cream liner: a black with hints of shimmery rose and purple

Adorned Marguerite (limited edition, $65)

The vivid shades in this cool-toned palette made me go “OoOOooOOO!” — in particular Adorned Marguerite, which may turn out to be the palette that erases my fear of bold daytime eyeshadow colors forever.

The included sparkly white cream liner isn’t as spreadable as the black liner that comes with the Winter Sakura palette, but I’m excited about layering it beneath a few of the other brighter shades in the palette.

Oh, and what do you think of the psychedelic packaging? It makes me kinda want to stop the world and melt with you.

From left to right:

  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool gray-black with flecks of silver
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool lemon yellow
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool pinkish rose
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery turquoise-blue
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool pastel purple
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery moss green
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery bronze
  • Cream liner: a cool white with flecks of white and silver glitter

Secret Luscious Rose (limited edition, $65)

OMG! This one has my favorite packaging of the three. According to the Shu Uemura website, the palette contains a collection of dusty rose shades to express “elegance and mystery” (LOL!).

Beyond their mystery and elegance, these shades are pretty and practical, but they’re also a lot like several shades I already have. Still, I like this palette and plan to combine the brighter shades with the two neutral shades on the far left.

From left to right:

  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery cool brown (this reminds me of an amped up version of MAC Soba)
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery golden beige
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery red-bronze
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery rose
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery violet
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery royal blue
  • Eyeshadow: a shimmery khaki gold
  • Cream liner: a shimmery, warm brown with flecks of golden glitter

Which Shu Uemura Mika Holiday Collection Eye Color Palette Do You Like Best?

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Mika Collection Rouge Unlimited Lipsticks

With their limited edition pink-petal inspired packaging, the three Rouge Unlimited lipsticks in the Mika Collection are certainly pretty on the outside. As for the lipsticks themselves, all three shades revolve around beige: Petal Pink Beige, Petal Orange Beige and Petal Brown Beige.

I really wanted these shades to work for me, but, unfortch, beige is not my best lip color, and these shades didn’t really pop on my lips like I wanted them to. My favorite one was Petal Brown Beige, mostly because Petal Pink and Petal Orange looked so much alike to me. I’d suggest that unless you really lurve beige, save your pennies and splurge instead on the eye palettes. 🙂

Petal Brown Beige Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, $23


Petal Orange Beige Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, $23


Petal Pink Beige Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, $23



Which Shu Uemura Mika Collection Rouge Unlimited Lipstick Do You Like Best?

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Happy Thursday, ladies! Just have to make it through today at work, and then I’m in the clear for a few days, yea! My week hasn’t been all puppies, flowers and rainbows, but things are starting to look up. 🙂

Hope you’re having a wonderful day.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Retro Roundup: One Year Ago on Makeup and Beauty Blog

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My Halloween Costume — Amy Winehouse

“I haven’t done big hair in about 15 years so I hope this massive bird’s nest on the top of my head stays put for the rest of the day…”

Makeup Tips from LA Fashion Week

“This year Smashbox sponsored the makeup. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, the flawless skin trend we saw at the San Francisco and New York shows was a big theme this year on the LA runways, too.”

Boots No. 7 Restore and Renew Beauty Serum

“Women all over the UK went buck wild after a program on the BBC, Professor Regan’s Beauty Handbook, showed scientifically that No. 7 Restore and Renew (known as ‘Protect & Perfect’ in the UK) repaired photo-aged skin and improved the fine wrinkles associated with photo aging. After the show aired, sales increased by nearly 2000%, with 13 bottles being sold every minute.”

MAC Artist Louise Zizzo Gives Tips for Working With Matte2 and Mattene

“The key is to make sure whenever you are using these shadows or any matte shadows is you need to make sure you have a nice powdery base to put them on, otherwise they will grab patchy. I really recommend using softer brushes to apply these like the #224 and gradually building up to the intensity you desire. Don’t press hard, use a light touch and these look absolutely amazing.”

Product Reviews: Bliss Snow Wonder Body Butter; Thinny Thin Chin; Jingle Bell Socks

“Bliss has got your turkey neck covered, gobble-gobble (totally kidding!), with Thinny Thin Chin, a light lotion designed to improve the appearance of neck lines and cleavage creases.”

Face of the Day with Mac Matte2, aka When Purple Doesn’t Reign

“Try as I might, I can’t seem to get it together when it comes to MAC’s Matte2 shadows. I’ve tried to do a full on matte eye a few times, but it’s just too hard for me in terms of blending. Plus, I need a lil’ sparkle and some shine, ya know?”

Makeup and Beauty Tips for Breast Cancer Patients: Staying Beautiful Inside and Out!

“Remember, life is worth every minute. You can choose your thoughts. Keep a positive attitude, and if there is any time to erase negativity in your life, it’s NOW. Choose to LOVE LIFE and never lose HOPE. Plus, when your kids see you love life and do good for others, they will be happier and will contribute more to this beautiful world in their lifetimes. As you go through this challenge, you will be amazed by your strength, courage, and stamina. You will also be amazed by the resilience of your body.”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Get the Clinique Blackberry Bloom Look: Purple Smokey Eyes, Berry Lips and Cheeks

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Everyone loves blackberries. Take Clinique, for example. Next month they’re introducing Blackberry Bloom, a collection of violet and plum eye, lip and cheek makeup for the holidays. The first time I saw the gorgeous model in this promotional picture — her smokey purple eyes, berry lips and cheeks — I about fell over in my chair!

So, I marshaled my courage and attempted the look with some items from the upcoming collection.

It wasn’t the easiest look I’ve ever tried, but it wasn’t the toughest one either. You can definitely do it with the same shades I used or with other ones already in your collection. Here I used the following items from Clinique Blackberry Bloom:

Eye Products You’ll Need

Colour Surge Eye Shadow Super Shimmer ($14)

  • Black Coffee: shimmery cool brown (limited edition)
  • Black Amethyst: shimmery berry (limited edition)
  • Black Smoke: shimmery gray-black (limited edition)

Kohl Shaper for Eyes ($15.50)

  • Black Honey: matte plum (limited edition)

High Impact Mascara ($14)

  • Black Honey: deep berry-brown (limited edition)


From left to right: Black Coffee, Black Amethyst and Black Smoke eyeshadows


Black Coffee Colour Surge Eye Shadow


Black Amethyst Colour Surge Eye Shadow


Black Smoke Colour Surge Eye Shadow
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MAC Red She Said Face of the Day: Navy Blue, Bronze and Brown Smokey Eye

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For one precious hour last Saturday afternoon I got in some quality me time. El Hub had gone to the bookstore for something, so I had the place to myself. I plopped down on the living room floor with a bowl of chilled grapes, started an episode of Law and Order: SVU (lovin’ ya, Detective Stabler!) on the Tivo and reached for a few items from MAC Red She Said.

My mind was racing with thoughts of Tabs and other troubles, and I needed to distract myself with something uncomplicated, like Inter-view Mineralize Eye Shadow ($17.50), Enough Said Beauty Powder Blush ($18), Quiet, Please lipstick ($14) and Miss Dynamite Dazzleglass ($17.50).


From left to right: Enough Said Beauty Powder Blush, three shades from the Interview Mineralize Eye Shadow trio

I tried this brown, bronze and navy blue smokey eye. When I was done with the look, I walked around the room by myself, pretending I was contemplating impressionist paintings in a fancy art gallery.

Here’s how I did this look…

The Eyes

  1. I started by priming my lids with a layer of MAC Painterly Paint Pot applied with a fingertip.
  2. Next, I layered a mix of the brown and bronze shades from the MAC Inter-view Mineralize Eye Shadow Trio onto the inner two-thirds of my lid using a MAC 252 eyeshadow brush.
  3. Still with the same brush, I patted the navy blue shade from Inter-view onto the outer third of the lid and just barely into the crease, concentrating most of the color on the side closer to the ear.
  4. Then, I wet a MAC 239 eyeshadow brush with a spritz of MAC Fix+ and swept the wet brush head across the pan of bronze eyeshadow to load the brush and applied the rich, wet shadow to the inner third of my lid. With the edge of the brush, I lined the lower lash line.
  5. Using MAC Technakohl liner in Graphblack, I lined my upper and lower water lines.

To finish the eyes, I curled my lashes with the (legendary) Shu Uemura lash curler and added a couple coats of MAC Zoomlash mascara in Zoomblack.

The Cheeks

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5 More Smokin’ Smokey Eye Tips

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Ladies, when it comes to smoldering smokey eyes, the secret sauce is in the blending. Dark eye makeup looks best when it’s blended really well, and nothing can steal smokey eye thunder like a patchy makeup job that draws attention away from your eyes and onto your makeup. Lawd knows I’ve rushed through my share of smokey eyes. Regrettably, there are few eye makeup looks that can so easily go awry.

But don’t be discouraged! Try one of these tips the next time you’re feelin’ smokey.

1. Fingers Are Built-In Brushes

If you’ve never tried a smokey eye using your fingers before, give it a try. Using fingers can even be easier than using a brush. Start by loading up your ring finger with black shadow. Dab over your lid. Follow the black up with a shimmery gray shadow, and blend with a finger. Add mascara and you’re done! Just be careful you don’t drag shadow out of the lid area or too far into the inner corner of the eye.

2. Use Liner Pencils as a Base for Eyeshadows

Color the entire lid with a dark pencil before applying a lighter coordinating shadow (not necessarily the same color) on top of it. It’s a quick way to add more depth than eyeshadows alone and looks amazing!

3. Black Eyeliner and Eye Gloss Mashup

For uber-easy smokey eyes, use a jet black eyeliner smudged out with a bit of eye gloss. You won’t get a look that lasts forever, but a little loose powder patted over the edges will help prevent smearing. NOTE: don’t rub those eyes!

4. Get to the Root of Things

When lining your waterline with black, cover every nook and cranny. Get as close to the root of the lash as possible, even going in between them, to add as much black to the look as possible. What you don’t want is some of your natural skin tone along the waterline showing through to sabotage all your hard work.

5. Dab a Dot for a Pop of Color

For a pop of color, apply a neutral shadow to the entire lid. Then, smudge a dot of brighter shadow in the center of the lid and thoroughly blend.

Happy Hump Day!

How’s your week coming along? I’ve had better, but we don’t get to choose our days. All we can do is choose how we deal with them.

Have you seen the new holiday palettes for Shu Uemura? They’re called mika shu, and I think they’re adorable! I’ll post thoughts and swatches very soon.

Hang in there this week. This kind of comes out of nowhere … but that’s the kind of week I’m having. I’ve got something big on my mind. Our family’s going through some stuff that I’ll be ready to share with you soon, but for now I just want to thank you all for brightening my days and sharing your time with me.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Infatuating Rose: 6 Ways to Wear the 6 Cool Eyes Palette

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I momentarily set aside my issues with the huge bling-bling jewel on the top of the MAC Infatuating Rose: 6 Cool Eyes palette ($38, part of the Passions of Red collection) today. Sure, the packaging is cheesy enough to pair it with crackers and wine, but I don’t care because the shadows inside this little cheese log more than make up for it.

6 Eye Looks with the 6 Cool Eyes Palette


From left to right: Satisfy, Cavort, Bon Fete, Platonic, Feast, Deep Feelings

1. Pink With Indigo Liner

I tried this subtle pink look with just a touch of indigo liner. It’s a simple way to wear a little daytime color.

  1. First, with a MAC 252 eyeshadow brush, I applied Satisfy onto my entire lid, concentrating color on the lid area and fading up toward the eyebrow.
  2. Then, I swept Bon Fete onto the lid, also with the MAC 252.
  3. Taking a MAC 239 eyeshadow brush, I applied Feast onto the outer third of my lid, blending out the edges with a finger.
  4. Next, with a MAC 266 angled brush wet with a spritz of MAC Fix+, I swept the brush head across the pan of Deep Feelings to grab some color and then lined both the upper and lower lash lines with it.
  5. Finally, to complete the eye look, I layered Feast directly on top of Deep Feelings on the lower lash line with a Sonia Kashuk Angled Eye Shadow Brush.

2. Smokey Purple with Indigo Liner

A purple smokey eye can be a good way to wear some color during at work. It’s vibrant but not necessarily as bold as a bright blue or green. I plan to pair this with MAC Too Swoon For lipstick, a light pink shade, to keep the club kid factor in check.

  1. First, I swept Bon Fete onto my entire eye with a MAC 252 brush.
  2. With the same brush, I applied Platonic onto my lids.
  3. And to complete the look, I lined the upper and lower lash lines with Deep Feelings using a wet MAC 266 brush spritzed with MAC Fix+.

3. Purple Parfait

This three-colored lid is a little out of my usual color comfort zone, but I thought it might be fun to try! I’ll be rocking this one in my living room until I build up the courage to wear it outside.

  1. First, I swept Satisfy onto the brow bone with a MAC 252 eyeshadow brush.
  2. Next, I patted Platonic onto the center of the lid with a MAC 239 brush.
  3. Also with the 239, I applied Cavort onto the inner third of the lid (the side closest to my nose).
  4. To add some smokiness to the eye, I used the 239 again to apply Deep Feelings onto the outer third of the lid. Then, with the edge of the brush, I extended the color along the lower lash line and ran a MAC 217 blending brush gently along the edges of the shades to blend away any harsh lines.

4. Simple Slice of Purple

Here’s another simple one with a pop of color. If you’ve just started wearing color, this could be a nice way to get used to seeing it on your lids!

  1. I started the by applying Cavort onto the lids with a MAC 252 eyeshadow brush and then gently blending out any harsh lines with a finger.
  2. To concentrate the color, I wet a MAC 239 eye shadow brush with MAC Fix+ and then swept it across the pan of Cavort to pick up the product. Then, I patted the wet shadow onto the lid area closest to the lash line, taking care to really concentrate the color by the lashes.

5. Purple with a Pop of Pink


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5 More Places to Buy Makeup

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Last week I asked y’all where you like to buy your makeup. Not surprisingly, most of us prefer to shop for makeup at Sephora and MAC stores, but department stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom weren’t far behind.

But beyond those well known makeup outlets, here are a few more sources that may not be on your radar yet…

1. Amazon.com

Pretty soon Amazon’s gonna start selling trips to the moon because they already sell just about everything else, even makeup and beauty. Check out their discounted shipping program, Amazon Prime. For $79/year, you get free 2-day shipping or optional 1-day shipping for $3.99/item on a huge selection of already marked down products. I find that just about everything I buy from Amazon is eligible, and it really works out if you buy more than a couple things from Amazon.com per month and don’t like waiting 5-7 business days for your stuff.

2. Boots

I lurves Boots! The company was founded in Nottingham, England by John Boot, who opened his original shop in 1849. They burst onto the US scene a few years ago, and now the brand is carried at Target and other drugstores nationwide, yea! Their website doesn’t sell direct, but it does have this nifty Skin Wheel doodad, whee!

3. Walgreens

Walgreens? Never heard of ’em, LOL! That’s not likely seeing how there are almost 7,000 Walgreens stores in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Walgreens carries a ton of drugstore makeup, has a great return policy (just keep your receipt!), and many stores are open 24 hours/day.

Through Oct. 31, they’re offering a free 12-month gift subscription to Marie Claire magazine with any purchase of $10 or more on select Beauty Insider products from the Walgreens website, so you could stock up on Biore Cleansing Cloths and get a year of Marie Claire for free.

4. Drugstore.com and Beauty.com

Two stores, one shopping cart. Stock up on beauty swag over at beauty.com, throw in some dental floss and deodorant over at drugstore.com, and then do one checkout for everything. New customers save an additional 10% on beauty and spa products and get free shipping with coupon code BEAUTIFUL at checkout. Straight up, drugstore.com has great prices.

5. Shoppers Drug Mart

If you’re ever north o’ the border and running low on concealer, stop by a Shoppers Drug Mart. They’re Canada’s largest pharmacy chain with more than 1,000 stores operating under the names Shoppers Drug Mart in nine provinces and two territories, and Pharmaprix in Quebec. They carry a wide selection of drugstore and department store makeup brands like Benefit, Boots, Clinique, Smashbox, Lancome and more. Their website doesn’t fulfill orders, though, so this is more for future travel reference than anything else.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. SPOILER ALERT! So whadja think of The Hills last night? Can you believe Audrina dumped that sweet Aussie boy? Damn, I was so Team Corey.

MAC Fascinating Ruby 3 Plum Lips: Is that Ruby Big Enough for Ya?

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Stare deeply into the ginormous gem on the top of MAC’s Fascinating Ruby: 3 Plum Lips ($22.50) palette… IF YOU DARE!

Concentrate hard enough, and the gem will imbue you with mystical makeup powers and reveal the deepest secrets of the universe.

Okay, not really… This gem doesn’t do anything cool like that, but it does contain some pretty cool makeup.


From left to right: Mutual Attraction, Insinuate, Marvel

MAC likes to push the envelope with the packaging of their holiday stuff, and they’re at it again.

Part of the MAC Passions of Red holiday 2008 collection, Fascinating Ruby doesn’t work for me the way that the elegant and edgy packaging of last year’s Royal Assets holiday collection did. Matter of fact, I think it’s a little corny, but who cares, right? I’m here for the makeup more than anything else.

And speaking of that, I like each one of Fascinating Ruby’s three plum lip shades. The set comes with two lipsticks, a gloss and a teeny, tiny lip brush.

I ended up ditching the brush because using it to apply product was like trying to paint with a needle, so I opted for my trusty MAC 316 covered lip brush instead.

  • Mutual Attraction gloss: A shimmery, reddish plum gloss. The silver glitter turns up the drama factor, but I think I’d like it more if the glitter were gold.
  • Insinuate lipstick: I love this cool pink-plum with subtle golden pearl and can’t wait to wear it with purple smokey eyes!
  • Marvel lipstick: A shimmery, deep magenta plum. My lip color really brings out the red in this lipstick. I bet it’ll be a nice option for when I want to wear red with a conservative look.


From left to right: Mutual Attraction, Insinuate, Marvel
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