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

Connor Claire, Model in Training

March 4th, 2016 by Karen 137 Comments

That, my friend, did not exactly go according to plan.

Hello from rainy San Francisco. I’m here with El Hub and Ms. Connor Claire in our hospital recovery room after a few challenging days.

Everything is A-OK now, and Connor and I are trading makeup secrets and talking nail polish, but for a while there, it was a bit of an ordeal.

I went into labor at 4 p.m. on Monday, and it took 37 hours of labor, three hours of pushing and an emergency cesarean section that the head surgeon called the hardest cesarean she’s ever done.

I can’t lie, it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, but it’s over now. Now we’re all just resting and recovering.

We should be leaving the hospital tomorrow, and TGIF! I can’t wait to get home to Novato.

I’ve been reading the posts by the interns (haven’t they been great?) and following all of your comments (thank you for all of your well-wishes and concern). Looks like Tabs has been doing a great job holding down the MBB fort. What a well-organized, professional tabby. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Crazy Colors Made Wearable: A Question of Balance

March 4th, 2016 by Carolina Braina 41 Comments

Wearable Bright Makeup — MAC Lipstick in Heroine ($17) on my lips

If you know me (and chances are you don’t yet, but I do hope we get there!), then you’ll know that I love color, especially when it comes in the form of a TF-engraved bullet — but I’m not one to underestimate the power of purple eyeshadow or teal liner either.

Yet the comments I get the most on my blog are when I wear natural, classic looks. Which got me wondering… How’s that even possible? Can you wear colorful makeup and still look natural?

Well, as a matter of fact, YES, I think you totally can! As with everything in life, it’s a question of balance.

Which simply means that if you play something up, you should play something else down. So, if you’re using bright shades on your eyes or lips, in order to get well-balanced, natural-looking makeup, my main suggestion is to go very minimal with your base and brows. Let me explain this in more detail…

Start with a light base

Even though I often have quite a few blemishes to conceal, I usually like to apply a lightweight foundation (my oily skin loves Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet, because it’s matte, yet luminous), and then use a full-coverage concealer only on my problem areas, so that the end result is very natural and not mask-like at all.

Contour subtly with powder products

Since cream contour can often look too heavy and harsh, I recommend opting for sculpting powders, which are not as easy to overdo.

Skip the highlight

I know highlighters are all the rage these days, but in my opinion the very shimmery/metallic ones can look pretty artificial. If you feel like your complexion looks too dull and flat, try using something more understated like the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders or a highlighting blush.

Keep your brows as natural possible

I think this is really crucial to balance out those crazy hues. Very strong, sculpted brows can easily make you look overdone, so my suggestion is to either use a tinted gel to define and set in one single step, or a pencil to very lightly fill them in (for a softer look, try using the side of the tip rather than the point).

Ditch those falsies and black liner

Although your Instagram or Pinterest feeds are probably suggesting that makeup isn’t complete without falsies and thick black liner, I personally disagree. In my opinion, if you’re going for a colorful, yet fresh-faced look, you can just skip them altogether. OR, if you find that lashings of mascara aren’t enough to define your eyes, I suggest adding a very thin line with a little flick and/or individual lashes.
[Continue reading…]

New for Spring! Essence Lip Swatches

March 3rd, 2016 by Jen Clark 38 Comments

Ever since that fateful day I picked up one of their lip liners, Essence has continued to keep me pleasantly surprised with the quality of their makeup. In the world of extremely affordable makeup, the brand keeps working their way up to the tippy top.

They recently released a couple of new lip products for spring 2016 — their Shine & Sheer Lipsticks, and the Essence Liquid Lipsticks — and I love me a good lipstick! I also love me some makeup that I don’t have to sell my soul for, so this is a match made in affordability heaven.

Let’s start with my favorite of the two, the Liquid Lipsticks. There are six available shades, and one thing to understand before going out and buying every one is that they might not be what you expect when you think of “liquid lipstick.” My experience with liquid lipsticks is more along the lines of Kat Von D and Colourpop, where they go on super liquid-y and opaque and dry down matte.

These are more of a really pigmented gloss, but they still sit nicely on the lips and last a decent amount of time. I really am a huge fan of these for a plump and shiny lip.

Ready for the best part? They. Are. Only. $3.49.

Wut.

Essence Spring 2016 Almost Real 03 — “Almost Real” 03

Essence Spring 2016 Colour Party 01 — “Colour Party” 01

Essence Spring 2016 Peach Party 05 — “Peach Party” 05

Essence Spring 2016 Beauty Secret 02 — “Beauty Secret” 02

[Continue reading…]

A Brief Essay on Seeing Eye to Eye With My Bare Skin

March 3rd, 2016 by Marcella Yakalis 34 Comments

I catch my reflection in the window of the downtown D train. In my bathroom mirror, as I pass by a shop. While I still struggle everyday to live comfortably in my body (I am a size 22, 5 foot 6), I often find it even harder to live in my skin.

Around six months short of 25, I noticed the blemishes forming on my chin and forehead were not just the occasional stress related zit. They were cyclical, they scarred even when I didn’t pick them, they were incredibly painful. Through my late teens and early twenties, I never had more than the occasional flareup, and never ones that gave me so much shame. I went off my hormonal birth control, thinking that was the issue, but it still persisted. I stopped wearing makeup entirely, afraid to agitate my skin.

Like so many other women, I was struck with sudden adult acne as a result of PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and didn’t know it. It wasn’t until I actually went to a dermatologist, who suggested, from my acne patterns, that I might have the condition. I made a mental note to check on it and asked what could be done about my skin. I was prescribed Aczone Gel, 5%, as well as a retinoid (Adapalene) and a tretinoin (Atralin)

These medications greatly improved my skin over a short period of time. The combination of all three settled the horrifying red bumps that littered my chin, cheeks, and my forehead. As my face cleared up, I became excited at the prospect of being able to wear makeup without feeling like I was just covering up a disaster. I didn’t realize at the time how badly the marks had scarred me, in more than just a physical sense.

When I looked in the mirror, this is what I saw: sunken eyes and horrible skin, broken capillaries around my nose, bags under my eyes that I’ve had since I was four, that weird chicken pox scar above my right brow. When my skin began to clear up, I saw my face, my bare face, and I didn’t like what I was seeing. When I was wrapped up in the acne covering my face, I didn’t have to deal with the fact that I didn’t particularly like my face.

Despite the myriad of treatments I now use, I am still reluctant to wear makeup and try new products. I’m afraid that my skin will react poorly or that it will burn. This fear, however, has made me more comfortable in showing my bare face. When I used to go out with a bare face (and I mean bare, not even concealer) I was ashamed to look in the mirror. I still had the allergy eyes and the scars, but as I learned to deal with my bare face as it was, I realized that while I had been ashamed of the acne, I had often used it as a blanket for my insecurities when it came to my natural looks. Now that my skin was on the road to recovery, I had nothing to hide behind.

Living with my acne, and learning to actually like my own face again, is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I always used to think scars were really cool until I started seeing them on my face…and feeling them far deeper.
[Continue reading…]

What Had Been a Pre-BG Mini Sephora Haul

March 2nd, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

I wrote this post shortly before Monday’s Cirque du BG got underway, but I still wanted to share it.

They (and by “they” I’m referring to folks on the interwebz) say that walking helps to encourage babies to exit le womb…so I took a nice, long walk around my local Sephora the other day.

LOL! No, seriously, I did laps around the store, going up and down the aisles, to get labor to start, and got friendly words of encouragement from the girls I know who work there.

A few things also somehow mysteriously found their way into my hot little hands. Whoops!

I grabbed…

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Fresh Cut Split End Mender ($24): This treatment is supposed to seal and heal split ends, and I have been seeing a few split ends here and there… It’s probably because it’s been a while since I got a haircut, and since I may or not be getting another one until May, I hope this helps!

Yves Saint Laurent Volupté Tint-In-Oil in Peach Me Love ($32): From the YSL Permanent line. A moisturizing glossy lip color suspended in a moisturizing treatment oil, and OH! — it’s so freaking good. Why did it take me so long to get on this train? I want all of teh colors right meow!

Lancôme Definicils Waterproof High Definition Mascara ($27.50): Bought this because it holds curl and stands up to tears. I like the brush, too, because it’s on the skinny side and easy for me to control.

I also grabbed this L’Occitane Sephora Perk (I think it was VIB 500 points… Or maybe it was 550. I can’t remember.) with minis of their shower oil, makeup cleansing oil, skin oil, one of my favorite hand creams and a cute makeup bag. I just packed it into my hospital bag!

Also, you know what I just realized? I just realized that the next time I go to Sephora, Baby Girl will probably be with me. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

My First Time…Using Brow Cream | Becca Shadow & Light Brow Contour Mousse

March 2nd, 2016 by Adia Goss 41 Comments

After being a brow pencil loyalist since forever, I finally tried my first brow cream — new Becca Shadow & Light Brow Contour Mousse ($25).

I’ve always avoided brow creams (and mousses, pomades, etc.) because I was afraid they’d be super thick and make me look like Burt’s long lost sister, but I’m a huge fan of Becca products, so I was cautiously optimistic when I tried this one.

Shadow & Light Brow Contour Mousse comes in a little pot with a waxy brow color on one side and a shimmery highlight creme on the other. It’s available in three shades — Cocoa (for light-medium hair), Cafe (for medium hair) and Mocha (for medium-dark hair). Here’s a closer look at Cocoa and Mocha.

First, the brow color side of these feels pretty firm to the touch but easily blends into my brows, while the highlight color is quite creamy and sticky. As you might be able to see from the top picture, the highlight side isn’t firm at all, and when I went to swatch Cocoa (on the left), I left a HUGE dent in it (oops!).

I didn’t have any problems with wear time (both sides last all day long), but I did discover that, for me, using this brow mousse is more involved and a bit messier than brow pencils and brow gels.

Here are swatches of two of the colors (Cocoa and Mocha):

Cocoa is a cool-toned grayish brown pretty close to my skin color but definitely too light for me to use in my brows. Its accompanying “Arch Defining Creme” (highlighter) is the same color as the one that accompanies Mocha, and it looks much peachier in this swatch than it does on my face. In fact, I think it looks subtle on me and helps to define my brows nicely.

As for Mocha, it’s a warm-toned brown. Since my hair is jet black, I wondered at first if it would be too light for me, but it actually worked! I think that being lighter it gives my brows a softer look and helps me avoid the look of super intense brows.

Here’s a step-by-step on how I use Becca Shadow & Light Brow Contour Mousse:

Step 1 — I brush my brows up using a disposable spoolie.

[Continue reading…]

Hello World

March 2nd, 2016 by Karen 327 Comments

Connor Claire Monterichard, 3/2/16, 6 pounds, 4.8 ounces.

We’re tired (such a long story) but doing well.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addicts,

Karen and Connor Claire

An Insider’s Guide to Makeup Shopping in Italy

March 1st, 2016 by Carolina Braina 80 Comments

I don’t know about you, but being the beauty lover that I am, whenever I travel to a foreign country I’m always on the hunt for makeup products I can’t find back home. No fridge magnets for me; lipsticks are my favorite souvenirs! 😉

Follow me today on a little virtual shopping spree of Bologna, so that the next time you visit Italy, you’ll be perfectly capable of finding your way through the Italian beauty jungle on your own.

Let’s go to the old town then, shall we? Since there’s a lot of variety in terms of stores, it’s definitely the best place for shopping, and we can do a bit of sightseeing too… I’ll see you by the Neptune Fountain, Bologna’s most popular meeting point.

Neptune Fountain Bologna Italy — Neptune Fountain and Piazza Maggiore, the main square, in the background

If you’re interested in high-end cosmetics, we should go to a profumeria (beauty store). Most profumerie belong to big retail chains, like Sephora, Limoni or Douglas, but quite a few independent stores still survive. Some of these are called bioprofumerie and only carry natural and organic products. Would you like to check one out?

Limoni Beauty Store Bologna Italy — This Limoni beauty store used to be a church, and it was built in the 18th century. Can you see the décor inside? Pretty cool, eh?

Tortellini Pasta Bologna Italy — Tortellini on display, one of Bologna’s many specialties

Oh, you’re saying you’d rather go to a makeup counter? Well, actually, here we don’t really have makeup counters. Our department stores are usually smaller than those in the US, and most of the time their beauty departments only have self-service aisles instead of counters.

If you’re looking for what you’d call ‘drugstore makeup’, we can’t go to a drugstore.

Why, you ask me? Well, because our drugstores (farmacie) are very different from American ones and don’t sell much else other than medicines. The only beauty products you can find there are French pharmacy skincare (Bioderma, La Roche Posay, Avène, and the like), so if you’re interested in Maybelline or similar Italian brands, we should go to a supermarket instead.

Here, all supermarkets have a beauty corner where you can find products in the drugstore price range. The same types of products can also be found at Acqua & Sapone or Tigotà, two retail chains that specialize in cleaning supplies and personal care items.

I don’t know if you have something similar in the US, but they kinda remind me of drugstores, minus the drugs!

Italian Drugstore Bologna — A farmacia (drugstore) on a pedestrian street in Bologna’s old town

KIKO Store Bologna Italy — In the old town there are nearly 25 miles of porticoes, which will keep us sheltered from any kind of weather

[Continue reading…]