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

Hey, girlies. How are you doing? Me — I’ve been in a mental funk for a couple days. Does that ever happen to you? I think I just need a creative booster shot. Any ideas?

I wasn’t in the mood for adventure this weekend and didn’t stray far from the TV. I watched *hella* episodes of The Golden Girls and Stargate Atlantis (attention fellow sci-fi nerds: this is a GREAT SHOW!), played with El Tabs and started a new book (The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory).

Of course, I couldn’t resist the urge to play with makeup. It’s like the call of the wild or something. 🙂 All weekend long I’ve been wearing Stila SPF Shine Lip Color in Tina ($22), a coppery brown.

I first read about Shine Lip Color on Bella Sugar’s blog back in May. Stila packed SPF 20 into these eight shades, each with a glossy yet sheer finish. Formulated with vitamins A, C and E, Shine Lip Color feels moisturizing and light on my lips. It’s lightly scented with vanilla, but the scent dissipates quickly.

A swatch of Stila Lip Shine in Tina without the flash

With the flash

The finish is surprisingly sheer, which makes the product easy to apply directly from the tube, even without a mirror. Unfortunately, the sheerness also means you can expect to have to reapply every couple hours. No big deal, though. If you’re like me, you don’t mind having to reapply.

Stila Lip Shine reminds me a lot of Shu Uemura’s Crystal Shine lipsticks, so if you’re a fan of those you might like these, too. And Shine Lip Color has distinct anti-funkiness properties — like coffee, good food and Christian Bale — guaranteed to pick you up when you’re feeling kind of blah. 🙂

Daily Photo

I love the design and the font on this cover. I started reading the book last night and stayed up late putting a solid dent in the story. I’m only through the first 100 pages, but what I’ve taken away from it so far is that being a member of England’s royal court in the 1600s must have been downright exhausting.

Hope you’re feeling good today. 🙂 I’ll keep on keepin’ on if you do the same.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen
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When I saw Benefit’s new BADGal Plum mascara ($19), curiosity outweighed my deep seeded fear of looking like a hot purple mess. I dove right into it, applying three coats and hoping for the best.

The first time I withdrew the wand from the tube I actually said “OooOOOoooh!” out loud in the middle of the store.

As the newest member of Benefit’s BADGal mascara line, BADGal Plum joins the original BADGal (in black) and BADGal Blue.

The richness of the purple on the wand was a little intimidating at first. I didn’t want to end up looking too Prince circa Purple Rain, but upon application Plum actually looks *really* subtle, and not very purple, as a matter of fact. Three coats gives lashes an almost burgundy-chocolate tint.

The color is so subtle that you have to look closely to see it at all. It isn’t the flashiest colored mascara (for a bolder tinted mascara, try Clarins Wonder Mint Waterproof Mascara in Teal), but it does add a little oomph that I don’t see from regular black. I can’t wait to try it with warm, gold-based shadows like MAC Soba (a gold brown) or MAC Ricepaper (a peachy gold).

It started to clump with the third coat, so I think I’ll stick with two from now on. In terms of lash quality, BADGal delivers noticeably thicker lashes but not significantly longer ones. While it’s not waterproof, it doesn’t smudge or flake, and it has enough staying power to last all day.

Happy Saturday, ladies! Right now I’m playing with the Clarins Jazzy Colors collection. I’m going to take some close-up pictures of the So Sublime palette, so I’m setting up my little photography area. After that I may go for a run, but we’ll see. What’s crackin’ today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I popped by Sephora this afternoon to snag a jar of Stila Hydrating Finishing Powder. I’d been wanting to try it for a while (review coming soon!), but, like a true makeup junkie, I couldn’t just grab one thing and leave. I had to look around, and then these cute Wallet Palettes by Pop Beauty took hold of me and wouldn’t let go!

A Real Eye Shadow Bargain

There are seven of them, ranging in price from $32 to $42. Each wallet contains a different color-themed eye shadow palette. They go by the names Brown Eyes, Green Eyes, Blue Eyes, Smokey Eyes, Smokey Rose, Day to Play and Bronze Pop.

The palettes are mixes of coordinated shimmers and matte shadows; a couple of them also come with blushes and lipsticks.

I think my favorites are Smokey Rose and Day to Play ($42 each).

Smokey Rose’s purple, faux-snakeskin case is packed with enough to create several different smokey looks — 12 eye shadows (shades of neutral pink, rose and blue), four blushes and two lipsticks. I can totally see myself packing these for a weekend trip! And the price… I really like the sound of $42 for 18 products. That works out to $2.33 each!

And Day to Play’s cute silver wallet houses 24 (!) eye shadows. At $1.75 each, it’s one of the better eye shadow bargains I’ve seen in a while.
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What comes to mind when you hear the words, “Giorgio Armani Lip Wax“? If you’re preoccupied with excess hair removal like I am, you probably pictured a hairy ‘stache, hot wax and hair removal strips.

Nope!

Lip Wax is actually Giorgio Armani’s latest compact lipstick. These fab $26 lipsticks have a silky, feather-light formula that glides across lips like silk lingerie on smooth skin.

The semi-matte finish contains a hint of gloss, making it perfect for elegant, ladylike looks. Grab your pocketbook, pull on your white gloves and don your pillbox hat because it’s time to hit the tea party circuit, Ms. Thang.

Giorgio Armani Lip Wax, No. 4

Giorgio Armani Lip Wax, No. 6

Giorgio Armani’s Lip Wax Shades

• Number one (nude beige): a shade lighter than the natural lip color
• Number two, (antique rose) : a discreet lip highlight
• Number three (sienna) : brings warmth to the lips
• Number four (raspberry) : pink purple
• Number five (cardinal red) :a bright, transparent red
• Number six (deep Chianti) : a rich color for strong marked lips

Each of the six shades comes in its own elegant black compact (no brush included). For the lip pics above I applied the colors with a MAC 316 lip brush, but fingers would also work fine for a light lip stain.
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