unsung heroes

Unsung Makeup Heroes: e.l.f. Solid Sponge Cleanser

October 9th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

What’s an unsung hero in beauty-speak? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup (or polish!) morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. My long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

If you’ve been visiting MBB for a while now, you might already know that my ride-or-die makeup brush cleanser has been good ol’ Dr. Bronner’s solid soap for years; however, one thing that drives me crazy and has always driven me crazy about Dr. B’s is that once you use that white bar, it never looks anywhere near as pristine as it did when you first opened it, and it ends up looking dirty and gross in the soap dish…

The part of me that’s morphing into a lady who only wears muumuus and yells at kids on her lawn does not like this, which is why I bought the e.l.f. Solid Sponge Cleanser. It’s black, so you can’t see any dirt on it, which I adore. Plus, it works crazy well. Even your jankiest brushes will sparkle quicker than you can say, “GET OFF MY LAWN.”

elf solid sponge cleanser review — Ahhh!

This soap is made to clean makeup sponges like Beautyblenders and whatnot, but you can also use it on natural and synthetic fiber makeup brushes. It foams up in a hummingbird’s heartbeat, and then BAM! — cuts through whatever’s in your bristles. Then it rinses out with just a few splashes of water. When I leave my brushes out to air dry, the next time I use them, they feel soft, not crunchy, and they smell kinda minty… I wonder if that has something to do with the charcoal they added to the soap, which is supposed to have anti-bacterial properties).

Hmm…

Dare I say that it works faster Dr. B’s?! ?

Oh, and P.S., it’s only $4, bargain hunters. I get mine at Target.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Essie Clothing Optional

August 29th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

essie clothing optional swatch — I may or may not be wearing pants.

What’s an unsung hero in beauty-speak? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup (or polish!) morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. My long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

It’s that time of year again! (At least here in the Bay Area.). Around the end of August and into early September, the weather here is cray. One day it’ll be 95 degrees, and you’re barely clothed on the way to the pool, and the next day you’re wearing long pants and a sweater to meet a friend for coffee.

It’s that weird weather transitional phase between summer and fall. I feel like that’s a space in the land of nail polish, too, and this color by Essie called Clothing Optional is the perfect color for that in-between phase when you may or may not want to wear super bright summery corals and neons, and you’re also still not ready to dive into Bordeaux, navy and oxblood.

Essie describes it as a sienna brown, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a rad, rich, almost rosy taupe, and from some angles it looks like brick.

And I think it’s a completely different beast in full sunlight, when I’d swear it’s a pinkish peachy brown with microshimmer (but the light has to hit it just right for that to come through).

It’s quite the ? chameleon; I love it.

I also love that even though it’s capable of functioning as a nude nail, especially if you have a tan like I do, it contrasts enough with the skin to be eye-catching and noticeable. It’s not like when I’m wearing a nail polish that just blends into my skin tone.

Sometimes I like being able to see my nails when they’re painted, but I also don’t want to be distracted by them, if that makes sense…especially when I have something like a meeting to go to.

Clothing Optional is perfect for showing that you pay attention to small details, like getting your nails done, but your fingers won’t be distracting to the people you’re chatting with, especially if you talk with your hands a lot like I do.
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Coffee Eye Pencil

January 8th, 2019 by Karen 32 Comments

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

A picture of MAC Coffee Eye Pencil ($18) with a big-@ss cup of ☕ coffee? So meta, I know! Oh, and not just any big-@ss cup of coffee. This was my second cup of the morning.

Dude, I wake up at 5! An obnoxious level of caffeine is the only way I get through life these days.

I’ve mentioned MAC coffee a few times lately, but I’ve been hesitant to give it the “unsung heroes” treatment because, for reasons unknown, it vanished from the MAC website, which was sacrilegious craziness to me because it’s the best dark brown matte pencil I know.

It really is. I wear it more than all of my other MAC liner loves.

Yes, even more than Teddy, Costa Riche and — I can’t believe I’m about to type this — Powersurge.

Ever since I discovered the power of pencils that *aren’t* black, I’ve been all about brown liner (it’s the whole “black liner looks so harsh on me now that I’m older” thing).

mac coffee swatch — Livin’ that NC42 life, yo.

mac mineralize foundation loose medium dark — Wearing Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Natural Eyehadow Palette, MAC Coffee liner, MAC Gingerly blush, MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Burnt Spice and MAC Dazzleglass in Tangerine Tropica

This particular dark chocolate brown doesn’t have red undertones, and it does all the right things for me. It works on my water lines (both upper and lower), doesn’t irritate my eyes (and, GIRL, everything irritates my eyes these days), and it doesn’t smudge unless I want it to.

It’s not as soft as a gel or a soft kohl, so it doesn’t glide along like those formulas, but perhaps that’s why it sticks to skin so well. I can wear MAC Coffee all day long without any transferring onto my lower lash line or up into my crease.

(Don’t worry — you won’t be tugging to apply it. It’s hard, but it’s also very pigmented and not dry at all, so no skipping, if that makes sense.)

Be warned: Once you try MAC Coffee, you’ll become addicted…just like real coffee.

Speaking of coffee…

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