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

Sheer Ecstasy: MAC Strobe Lip Conditioner Sticks

March 14th, 2008 by Karen 49 Comments

Imagine a nearly transparent version of your favorite brightly colored lipstick — what you’d end up with would look a lot like MAC’s new Strobe Kiss and Strobe Current Tinted Lip Conditioner Sticks, two little lovelies from MAC’s new Strobe Collection. In stick form both look bold and bright, but they apply unexpectedly sheer. Picture a transparent wash of color.

mac-cosmetics-strobe-current-kiss-lip-conditioner-stick-product-shot

I got my hands on two of the five available shades — Strobe Kiss, a light coral with golden shimmer, and Strobe Current, a shimmery red plum. [Continue reading…]

Face of the Day: Olive Green and Purple Eye

March 13th, 2008 by Karen 67 Comments

With Eversun Beauty Powder Blush and Strobe Kiss Tinted Lip Conditioner, MAC did not let me down. After work I spent the afternoon playing with makeup. Hey, sometimes it makes total sense to take half an hour to apply makeup instead of tackling your to-do list. Some days are like that. Check out the fruit of your girl’s lazy afternoon:

I paired Eversun and Strobe Kiss with a green and purple eye. This took a lil’ longer than my standard 10-minute makeovers. It looks subtle, but there was lots of blending and eyeliner. Time flies when you’re having fun!

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Lip Look: Flirt! Glamourazzi Extreme Lip Lacquer in 07 Spotlight

March 12th, 2008 by Karen 46 Comments

No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. For once, I’m not wearing pink lipstick, LOL!

Spotlight is one of three lip colors ($12 each) in Flirt’s Glamourazzi Extreme Lip Lacquer line. A peachy bronze with a touch o’ sparkle, Spotlight has staying power and lots of shine. I applied it before leaving for work this morning and didn’t have to reapply for four hours! It even lasted through the turkey wrap I had for lunch. The brush pen tip makes it easy to apply in a rush, even when I’ve got one sandal out the door.

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Hello Aveeno Active Naturals Eczema Care, Goodbye Itchy Skin

March 12th, 2008 by Karen 44 Comments

For me, spring heralds the arrival of allergy season and periodic bouts of hives along with random patches of itchy skin. Yea, spring!

When my allergies are acting up, I try to avoid scented body products because they will often make the situation worse. Thank goodness for Aveeno Active Naturals Eczema Care Body Wash ($9.99 ) and Moisturizing Cream ($9.99), a superstar unscented combo able to clean and moisturize without irritating or drying out my allergy-prone skin.

Aveeno Active Naturals Eczema Care Body Wash and Moisturizing Cream

Use: To cleanse and moisturize the itchy, extra-dry skin associated with eczema
Price: $9.99 apiece
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Both Eczema Care Body Wash and Moisturizing Cream are fragrance- and steroid-free, making them ideal for people with sensitive skin. Created by dermatologists to provide itch relief to eczema sufferers (you don’t have to suffer from eczema to use it, though), each contains oat essence and ceramides, compounds with soothing properties. These products are so gentle that they’re approved for use on baby skin (but, as with any product, read your labels and consult a physician if in doubt). [Continue reading…]

Face of the Day: A Smokey Eye with MAC Club

March 11th, 2008 by Karen 70 Comments

I had a lot of fun with MAC Club eyeshadow today. Its versatility makes it great for creating quick, daytime smokey eyes. I had about three seconds to put on my makeup this morning, and I owe this look to MAC Club. Paired with a few new products from Fafi and the N Collections, MAC Club helped me finish this look in 10 minutes.

Believe it or not, but there is a completely rational explanation (as soon as I think of it) for why my nails are different colors in this picture.

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New Shop-A-Matic Lets You Browse Through 109 Lipsticks: New York Magazine

March 10th, 2008 by Karen 24 Comments

New York Magazine online has posted a spiffy feature in which you can browse through a huge assortment of pretty lipsticks. You can compare by thumbnail image or view them as a slide show with swatches, prices and availability. Both drugstore and department store brands appear in the lineup. I spotted Maybelline, Clarins and Clinique and couldn’t help but notice the MAC presence, holla!

New York Magazine Shop-A-Matic

“We tested over 400 [lipsticks] to make sure they looked, smelled and rocked the lips hot,” says Sharon Clott, online assistant market editor at New York Magazine.

For each lipstick there’s a product shot, swatches and the colors on the lips of NY Magazine staffers. (Side note: do you suppose lipstick tester/model was in their job description? I’d so apply for that gig in a hot second.)

I’d like to see them add swatches done on real skin to the swatches they’ve provided on white backgrounds, but the lip pics still give you a good idea of each color.

Earlier today on the site I found quite a few lippies to add to my to-try list, including Haute Face Matte Lipstick in Star Power (#66) and Clarins Joli Rouge in Hot Pink (#79). Have fun!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Michael Kors’ Capri Perfume Is Paradise in a Bottle

March 10th, 2008 by Karen 39 Comments

It knocked me right off my surfboard! Figuratively speaking. That’s how much I liked Capri, Michael Kors’ latest addition to Island, his line of tropical-inspired perfumes for women. The entire set, all three fragrances — Capri, Hawaii and Fiji — impressed me. How often can any of us say that about a full set of anything?

Capri, along with the two other scents in the set, surprised me because, honestly, when I think of Michael Kors, I don’t immediately equate the man with perfume. Instead, I think of accessories (his bags are all over Macy’s) and his very orange tanned face on Project Runway. But all that has changed for me now. The next time Kors releases a fragrance, I’ll pay close attention, because if his future fragrances are on par with Capri, Hawaii and Fiji, they’ll be great.

Hitting fragrance counters about a month ago, Capri looks and smells like tropical vacation in a bottle. The very sight of the bottle made me think of white, sandy beaches and blue, rolling surf.

White florals like Capri have a tendency to be overwhelmingly strong, but Capri’s blend of bitter Seville orange and bergamot (a small, pear-shaped citrus fruit grown in Italy) notes, mixed with violet, fig and white moss, hit just the right subtle intensity.

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Not Your 80s Hairspray: Bumble and Bumble’s Spray de Mode Makes Me Want to Use Hairspray Again

March 9th, 2008 by Karen 45 Comments

Bumble and Bumble enlisted the help of French hairdresser Laurent Philippon to test and fine tune the formula of their Spray de Mode hairspray over several seasons of professional use backstage at the Paris shows (aka in the trenches), and the hard work shows.

Let me just come out and say it: Spray de Mode is nothing like 1980’s hairsprays. I can’t even begin to estimate the obscene amount of stinky, flaky, crunchy aerosol hairspray I used when high hair was the fashion du jour.

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