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

Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, August 8

August 8th, 2008 by Karen 12 Comments

BBC – Thread
In true BBC fashion (i.e. quality), BBC – Thread is a monthly online fashion magazine dedicated to eco-fabulous style. It has to be experienced to be fully appreciated, and I can’t do it justice in print. The interface sort of grows organically under your mouse pointer as you explore each month’s different feature articles, images and videos. Very cool.

BeThree
BeThree hopes to stand out in the growing crowd of online-only women’s social communities/magazines. With sections on beauty, lifestyle & trends, nutrition, travel, life coaching and more, at first glance it looks like its competitors. So, what sets it apart? Spend two minutes on the site, and I think you’ll agree: there’s much to be said for a basic blog layout — clean, simple, not overstimulating. Sometimes less IS more.

Benefit Cosmetics
Ever since the trip to the Benefit counter last week, I’ve been enamored with the line. They have so many fun and quirky makeup products with the *cutest* packaging. Did you know they’re based in SF? Bay Area represent!

Amazon.com – Women’s Interest Magazines
Huge savings on magazine subscriptions. I forgot that Amazon.com sold magazine subscriptions, too. They sell everything else, LOL! Self for $12/year ($1/issue), InStyle for $23.88/year ($1.84/issue), Vanity Fair for $15/year ($1.25/issue) — some of the best deals in magazine subscriptions I’ve ever seen, some as much as 80% off the cover price.

[Continue reading…]

Celebrate 8-8-08 with Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

August 8th, 2008 by Karen 3 Comments

Today only, all purchases of Eight Hour Cream products made through the Elizabeth Arden site will ship for free, which is nice because they don’t always offer free shipping. They’re also throwing in free samples of Eight Hour Cream, Skin Protectant, Intensive Moisturizing Body Treatment and Intensive Moisturizing Hand Treatment.

The sale caught my eye because I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Arden’s Body Treatment, Hand Treatment and Lip Protectant Stick.
[Continue reading…]

MAC Cult of Cherry: A Look at Some Lipsticks

August 8th, 2008 by Karen 39 Comments

G’morning, girls! 🙂 I had makeup dreams last night. I dreamt I was sitting on my bed, gloriously happy and surrounded by makeup. I was playing with MAC’s upcoming Cult of Cherry collection, probably because I thought about it so much yesterday.

The entire MAC Cult of Cherry collection will include these and 10 other lipsticks and glosses when it arrives on MAC counters later this month.

So Scarlet Amplified Lipstick ($14)

MAC’s product marketing describes the shade as a “clean grape burgundy.” On me it’s a cool 40’s-style red with a touch of purple. I think it’s one of the most stunning shades I’ve seen in a while. It makes me want to don fishnets and dance to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy!

Jampacked Lipglass ($14)

Depending on the light, Jampacked ranges from a deep, rich purple to the softer violet in the picture above. It’s a gorgeous purple gloss with a hint of shimmer. The shimmer must be what makes it dance in the light.

Creme Cerise Lustre Lipstick ($14)

A pretty nude that looks tan on me.

Kirsch Mattene Lipstick ($14.50)

Deep, dark and moody, two coats of this burgundy matte left me with lips that my high school chola friends would have envied, but because the shade is so dark it’s also incredibly hard to apply. There’s no way in *hellz* I could wear it dark without a lip brush, lip liner and 20 extra minutes, but if I dot it directly onto my lips and blend it with my fingers, it leaves a light stain. If you want/need a vampire dark look (’cause you never know), then this is your shade.

America’s Best Dance Crew — Spoiler Alert!

Do NOT read past the break here unless you’re prepared to find out what happened on last night’s show. No joke.
[Continue reading…]

MAC Cult of Cherry: T-Minus Two Weeks and Counting

August 7th, 2008 by Karen 47 Comments

Here’s a brief peak at some of the products from MAC’s upcoming Cult of Cherry collection. I haven’t been this excited about a MAC collection since … well, since the last MAC collection.

What makes Cult of Cherry noteworthy? For me it’s the rich reds, dark plums and chocolate browns. The collection includes nine lipsticks (four Mattenes), two blushes, five Lipglasses, three eye shadow quads, two nail polishes and Zoom Lash mascara (also part of MAC’s permanent collection).

Tempting Quad

What do you think of Tempting Quad? It houses four shadows for $36.

Next to Nothing: A pinky beige shimmer shadow; on me it shows up more pink.
Tempting: OMG. Where has this rich, shimmery golden brown been all my life? It just melts into my skin. What a fabulous crease shade.
Dark Edge: A sheer, deep chocolate brown semi-matte that’s a bit on the cool side. I really like this in the outer V.
Sharp: This shimmery green-gold shade turned out to be a nice surprise. In the pan it looked a little garish, but I like the way it looks on my lids.

On this eye that’s Next to Nothing on my brow bone, Tempting in the crease, Sharp on the lid and Dark Edge in the Outer V. I have a feeling there are endless ways to wear this quad. It’s lurve, ladies!

[Continue reading…]

Lip Look: Today with Chanel Formentera Lipstick

August 7th, 2008 by Karen 17 Comments

chanel-aqualumiere-formentera-final

My obsession with pink lipstick kicked into high gear again. Today I’m wearing beigey pink-gold Chanel Formentera Aqualumiere Sheer Colour Lipshine SPF 15 ($27).

Part of the Chanel Fall 2008 makeup collection, Formentera shines like mad yet feels whisper light on my lips. It’s a pretty option when you want the staying power of a lipstick with the shine of a gloss. I’ve been pairing it with subtle smokey eyes, like this khaki-grey eye with Benefit Cream Shadows or this black-champagne eye with Clinique’s Midnight matte.

ALERT: Coco Chanel Heads to Lifetime Television!

Confession time: I loves me some Lifetime (“Television for Women!”) movies, especially ones starring B-list celebs like Tori Spelling. I can’t resist dramatic woman-in-peril story lines.
[Continue reading…]

Project Beauty: Makeup Meets Your Nintendo DS

August 7th, 2008 by Karen 11 Comments

Gaming legend Sega and cosmetics giant Shiseido are teaming up to bring makeup tips and beauty advice to the Nintendo DS.

Details are sketchy, but rumor has it that Project Beauty, aka Shiseido Beauty Solution Supervised Exploration Center Project Beauty (LOL!) will go on sale in Japan this November.

With an optional add-on camera, users will be able to take photos of faces, which are then analyzed by the system. Based on bone structure, skin tone and the position of features in the face, the program then creates tailor-made makeup looks optimized for your convenience. Geek out, yo!

Depending on how it’s executed, I think the idea has potential. I’m intrigued! Software like this could potentially come in handy, especially if it’s made available for devices like smartphones. Quality beauty-related applications for mobile devices would come in handy while one is haulin’, yah? 😉

I’m guessing that since Shiseido is involved with Sega and Nintendo on this one, the makeup and skin care suggestions will draw primarily from their line of products, but who knows? — if it catches on in Japan, other makeup brands may soon follow.

If MAC or Chanel released a lipgloss advisor for my iPhone I’d be all over it in a *hot second*!

What fashion or beauty applications would you like to see developed for your game system or mobile phone?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sally Hansen Diamond Lip Treatment Gloss Is on Sale at Rite Aid

August 6th, 2008 by Karen 23 Comments

Hey, chicas! I stopped by Rite Aid to grab a snack before dance class. *Somehow* I ended up in the makeup section, LOL. Check out this sweet sale on my favorite drugstore gloss, Sally Hansen Diamond Lip Treatment. Regularly $4.95, it’s currently buy one, get the second one half off.

It’s a highly moisturizing, super shiny gloss and comes in 17 different shades. I keep Antique Bronze (a tan-bronze shimmer) in my stash at home for easy nude lips. Yep, the rhinestone on the case is a bit cheesy, but I pretend that I can see the future if I gaze into it.

How was your day today? I’m glad we’re over the hump!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Simulate Sleep with Bobbi Brown Metallic Eye Shadows

August 6th, 2008 by Karen 34 Comments

Yippee! Let’s hear it for sleep deprivation! I stayed up late again reading Breaking Dawn. Now I’m a little bleary eyed and loopy. In my altered state I realized a few things:

Did you know there’s a difference between the words “ya’ll” and “y’all”?
I Must. Have. More. Coffee. When I’m tired my coffee consumption increases, which consequently makes me even more tired when the caffeine wears off. Shoot!
Shimmery pastel eye shadow colors aren’t a substitute for a good night’s sleep, but light shades of purple, green, pink and beige shimmer eye shadows do help to conceal tired eyes. Huzzah!

My eye look of choice for the past few days has been a light purple and beige eye with a touch of green. I’ve been using the three pastel shades in Bobbi Brown’s new Metallic Eye Shadow collection ($20).