weeklyroundup

Can I ask you a question, ladies? It’s very important. Okay, not really. It’s about bangs. I got mine trimmed a few weeks ago, and they’ve grown out to where they’re starting to work my nerves. My stylist offers free bang trims, which I know a lot of stylists do, but I’m not quite sure if I should tip her, and if I do, how much. I mean, I love how she cuts my hair. She’s gifted with curls and waves, but it doesn’t take long to trim bangs, and my regular haircuts do cost an arm and a leg… I just don’t want to be rude, but she does stress how the trims are free.

Do you ever take stylists up on their offer of free bang trims, and if you do, do you tip?

In other news, it’s Sunday! Do you know where your tabby cat is? Mine’s on my lap, making biscuits on my thigh.

What are you doing today? Got anything fun lined up? El Hub and I are going out to get breakfast, and then I’ll be back here to work on a project for tonight on the blog. Stay tuned! 🙂

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

OROFLUIDO HAIR
ELIXIR

When I went to get my bangs trimmed a couple weeks ago my stylist gave me a sample of Orofluido Beauty Elixer (regularly $32 for a 3.38-oz. bottle) and raved on and on about how it was to going to change my life, starting with my hair.

I’d never heard of Orofluido before, but it’s a small indie haircare line a little more popular in Europe than here in the States. They only list two products on their website — the Beauty Elixer that my stylist gave me, and something new called Shine Spray. Read more…

URBAN DECAY
COWBOY JUNKIE SHADOWS & GLOSS SET

Of course, on the ONE DAY I actually need the only cowboy hat I’ve ever owned, I can’t find it. Welcome to the story of my life. Wherever you are, my beloved black straw cowboy hat, I reckon we would’ve made sweet music together today, taking pictures of ourselves covered in glitter with the new Urban Decay Cowboy Junkie Shadows & Gloss Set ($38).

The new set rides into town for the holidays, kicking up glitter in its wake with four powder shadows, a liner and one lonesome lip gloss.

Three members of the set hail from the Midnight Cowboy eyeshadow gang, known for their eye-catching, dramatic glitter.

But this glitter is like dust on a desert trail (gets everywhere). Midnight Cowboy (a gritty, glittery peachy pink), Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (a glittery peachy tan) and Midnight Cowgirl (a glittery gold) leave fallout everywhere — beneath my eyes, around my nose and on my cheeks. Shoot, I even found some on Tabs.

I think if you’re going to try to get behind this set, you just gotta go with the glitter and fallout. Resistance is futile. It’s kinda like the zombie apocalypse that way, I guess. Read more…

LORAC BOX OFFICE HIT
FULL FACE PALETTE

How do you spell a scream, friends? Gaaaaah! perhaps? I had one of those days… I started with grand plans and great expectations to write about, among other things, the beauty gods’ gift to big hair and the new smokey Urban Decay Black Palette, but I hit The Great Wall.

No, not the one in China.

Writer’s block, which you might think I wouldn’t get anymore after four years and 4,000 posts, but I do.

I’d hoped for witty prose, but all that came out of my fingertips today was gooey green baby poo. At one point I just gave up on the whole sentence thing and decided to take a ton of pictures of the LORAC Box Office Hit Full Face Palette ($35) instead. Read more…

NYX EYEBROW
SHAPER

Some mornings I just CANNOT get it together, and even something as simple yet important as operating the coffee maker might as well be quantum physics.

I call those my makeup-for-dummies days, and when they strike I turn to instant coffee my arsenal of tools and tricks to fake a good night’s sleep.

Can’t have my neighbors mistaking me for the first wave in the coming zombie apocalypse, right?

The latest addition to my makeup-for-dummies kit, NYX’s new Eyebrow Shaper ($8.75), is one of several new eyebrow products from NYX this fall. It’s a colorless, waxy brow gel in pencil form — perfect for sculpting and taming unruly brows — and for me it takes the place of having to fill in my brows with a colored brow pencil, wax or eyeshadow, particularly when I’m tired and/or lazy (read: often). Read more…

A COMPARISON OF URBAN DECAY
PURPLE EYESHADOWS

Last night when MBB reader Steph B asked this about the Urban Decay Cowboy Junkie Palette ($38), I thought it was a perfect excuse to paint my arm purple.

Hmm… Good question. To get to the bottom of it, I busted out some of the similar Urban Decay purples in my stash to do a quick comparison.

I don’t have Purple Haze, but Flash, Freakshow, Ecstasy and Frigid are currently available as singles in UD’s permanent line; AC/DC is from last fall’s Book of Shadows Vol. II.

From the left that’s Romp (from the Cowboy Junkie Palette), Flash ($17), Freakshow ($18), Ecstasy ($17), AC/DC and Frigid ($18).

I’d have to say that of these colors here, Romp most closely resembles AC/DC in its pan, but I think it looks more like Frigid (a dark purple with hints of navy blue and black) on the skin. Read more…

CLARINS BAROCCO
HOLIDAY 2010 COLLECTION

Ladies, I haven’t felt very glamorous this week… On a scale of 1 to 10, my glamorousness has been hovering around a -3. With scrunchies in my hair and my bum glued to the couch and wrapped in stretchy pants, I’ve watched just about every zombie movie and TV show released since 1969. Has it been educational? Sure, but it hasn’t been great for glamor.

The new Clarins Barocco Holiday Collection couldn’t have come at a better time.

Look at all that fancy… 🙂 It’s like a shot of fabulous straight to the heart!

The floral swirls/filigree designs both inside and out, and the rich berry, gold, black and peach shades seduced the sweat pants right off me (actually, they were raggedy yoga pants). These are products begging to be worn with a shimmery golden gown and dangerously high heels. Read more…

NYX VELVET ROPE
10 COLOR EYESHADOW PALETTE

Oh, my goodness! Look at all that purple. Is this a Prince video or a beauty blog? 🙂

Today I left the thugs to their gangsta’s paradise while I escaped yet again to my purple one. I could go on and on about how much I love purple eyeshadow, but the No. 1 reason why I think every girl (or makeup loving boy, for that matter) should play with purple is because of how great it goes with everything.

Alright, I admit I’m plum biased, but I think purple looks great on almost everyone. Whether brown, green, gray, blue or hazel eyes, the right purple on your lid or lash line can make those peepers POP!

POP! Yeah, I use that word a lot…but you know what I mean.

Now, brace yourself for a plethora of purple, and behold the new NYX Velvet Rope 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette ($9.75)! Read more…

SEPHORA LAVENDER
CUTICLE OIL PEN

The only thing that could possibly make Sephora Stimulating Lavender Cuticle Oil pens ($12) better would be if you could buy them at bulk prices in packs.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but this pen’s the frickin’ bomb-dot-com, particularly if your cuticles look like Snooki after a long night at da club…

Twisting the bottom soaks the brush tip with moisturizing oil. Then just brush onto dry cuticles. Simple but effective.

I picked one up at Sephora’s Friends & Family sale, and my only regret is that I didn’t get more.

This Stimulating Lavender version is one of three flavors. Last year’s was called Nourishing Cuticle Oil (there’s also Healing Eucalyptus). This one works the same as that one but has a lavender scent. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Rise and shine, morning glory! How did you sleep? I’m actually sleeping right now, yep, at this very moment. I’m transmitting this post electrochemically from a dream, a trick I’ve developed after years and years of blogging.

What are you up to today? I’m thinking about going out for breakfast, like a real breakfast with bacon, eggs, pancakes, the whole nine yards. That, of course, means braving the cold rain outside, which I’m not looking forward to AT ALL.

While I get my sh*zz together and get ready to go, what did you think about the Giants winning the World Series this week? To be honest, I’m not a big baseball fan (more of a football/basketball kinda girl), but it’s easy to get excited when the home team is doing well and crazed fans are running around screaming “GO GIANTS!” at every turn.

And I saw some interesting Giants-themed makeup this week, a lot of it being worn by those very same crazed fans. I wonder how many people went to work like that. Heck, I wonder how many people actually went to work at all!

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

KORRES 10-COLOR
PENCIL KIT

Holy wow! That’s a lot of liners. And they’re full size too!

The pencils in the Korres Limited Edition Vitamin E 10-Color Pencil Kit work out to just $3.25 each ($32.50 for the kit). Of course, all of them are green. 🙁

No, not literally. I mean they’re eco-friendly and 100% natural, according to Korres, made with moisturizing Vitamin E and jojoba oil. And considering that eyeliners this size (standard 0.04 oz. pencils) usually go for $16 apiece, the kit’s one of the best holiday bargains I’ve seen this year so far.

Korres included a wide range of pigmented colors in popular shades from their permanent line… Read more…

NARS TROUBLE MAKER
LIMITED EDITION KIT

I got in trouble today, ladies. Yes, the principal called me into his office and said, “Karen, you are no longer my favorite trouble maker.”

Wha!?

“The new NARS Trouble Maker set is, and you’re just going to have to learn to live with it… You may go back to class now.”

The $60 limited edition kit was designed to help your eyes raise hell. To that end, it comes with a Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara, an Eyeliner Stylo and a bottle of Eye Makeup Remover.

I’m happy to hang out with this Trouble Maker. It comes with some really nice pieces, like the eye primer. That one’s the frickin’ bomb dizzle!

The mascara and makeup remover are above average, too, while I think the liquid liner’s just good (not great). In a nutshell, it’s a pretty sweet kit for the money and a good value from NARS. Purchasing the products separately would cost $89 (the Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base alone costs $24), so $60 isn’t too bad.

One could always get the set with stockings in mind, keeping the primer (seriously, it’s amazing!) and the mascara or makeup remover, and giving the remaining items away. Read more…

NARS CRAZY HEART
LIPGLOSS SET

I learned something oddly thrilling today. The new NARS Crazy Heart Set ($50) glosses are sheer enough to apply while walking down the street without a mirror (try it sometime), yet pigmented enough to make an impact on passers by.

This is brilliant news! Now I can devote more precious time and energy to important things, like unraveling the mystery behind Zac Efron’s allure.

The set comes with five sheer shades from the NARS permanent lipgloss line — Easy Lover (a hot pink), Babe (a reddish orange), Orgasm (a shimmery golden pink), Turkish Delight (a creamy light pink) and Misbehave (a cherry red with golden shimmer) — all of them highly wearable, with the exception of Turkish Delight, which looks kinda milky before it mellows into an attractive pale pink.

MAC Nymphette-s might like Orgasm, Nymphette’s sheerer cousin, and ladies who’ve always wanted to wear red lips but were too afraid to try should take a look at Babe. Read more…

BOBBI BROWN
GLITTER LINER

Above is what happens when your home team wins the World Series while you’re swatching Bobbi Brown Glitter Eyeliner in Silver ($20).

Last night was crazy! After the game we could hear loud booms off in the distance that I presumed were revelers detonating cherry bombs, or perhaps the start of that zombie invasion I’m always talking about.

I was ready to go into Apocalypse Mode and head for the hills! Survival kit? Check. El Hub, Tabs, emergency purse and this new Bobbi limited edition liquid liner? Check.

Why the liner? Ya know, because it’s nice to look good in the face of certain doom. Read more…

HOURGLASS EXTREME
SHEEN HOLIDAY SET

I love the blue top I’m wearing in this picture, but I’m not entirely proud of the stretchy black pants I’m wearing with it (too many 100 Grand bars before, during and after Halloween), even though they’re incredibly comfy.

How comfy are they? Well, they’re almost as comfy as the glosses in the new Hourglass Extreme Sheen Kit ($45).

Yes, you read that correctly. The three glosses in the limited edition holiday set are almost as comfortable as stretchy pants. 🙂 And they’re some of the most delightful lip products I’ve ever worn.

The colors in the kit lean toward the warm end the color spectrum, like Ignite, a golden peachy pink; Siren, a shimmery reddish copper; and Child, a pale warm pink. Read more…

BOBBI BROWN
SMOKEY EYE PALETTE

Okay, methinks it’s time to stop scaring the neighbors. With last week’s beehive and that other blast to beauty’s past, I got more than a few sideways glances every time I went outside.

I don’t really know my neighbors very well, but I’m sure they know me — as the crazy lady who walks her cat on a leash while wearing lots of eye makeup and bathrobes. Ha! Gotta love it.

I kept getting that look, you know the one, where they’re afraid to make eye contact, but their glassy, straight-ahead stares betray what they’re really doing, which is watching you from the side with their peripheral vision… I do it a lot at restaurants to see what everyone else is eating, haha.

This morning I decided to give ‘em a break and go back to wearing something a little less shocking in public. Out came the new Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Palette ($45).

Have you seen it yet? One of three new kits in the just-released Choose Your Glam collection, it comes with four powder eyeshadows perfect for black/gray smokey eyes.

I’ve been chomping at the bit for this one, specifically for the sparkly black Long-Wear Eye Paint in Onyx. Read more…

$5 WET N WILD
COLOR ICON KITS

I wonder how much it costs to mail a letter to the North Pole. I ask because I’d really like to thank Santa for releasing these Wet N Wild Color Icon Kits ($5) for the holidays.

Being just $5 each and coming with six coordinating shadows and a mini-eyeliner, the four kits give new meaning to the words, “travel friendly.”

Well, the liner’s nothing to write home about. I mean, it’s nicely pigmented, but it feels a little rigid against my skin. The shadows, on the other hand — oh, the shadows! Rich, bold and just as buildable as the the company’s fab Color Icon Singles.

Again, these are just $5, WOW!

Of the four kits — Sugar Plum Fairy, Golden Goddess, Snow Sprite and Night Elf — I’ve tested two of them so far. Read more…

L’OREAL HiP EYE
SHADOW DUOS, MIDNIGHT MUSE

As much as I love a good bargain, budget beauty doesn’t always deliver. With some drugstore beauty products, you just don’t know what caliber of quality you’re gonna get.

The HiP Eye Shadow duos we looked at last week from the new L’Oreal Midnight Muse collection showed a lot of promise, and you showed a lot of interest, so I took two of them (Enchantress and Darkwave) out for indoor test drives today.

Now I know why these HiP shadows have so many fans. 🙂

The matte and high-shine shimmer shadows in both duos are easy to blend and exhibit very little fallout. These are top-shelf drugstore beauty products. We’re talking glass case material here, like the kinds of products that deserve their own display at the very front of the beauty aisle. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Mouse over the picture for a surprise!

Happy All Hallow’s Eve, ghouls! I hope you’re having a frightfully fantastic day filled with mini-Snickers, candy corn or whatever sweet treat floats your boat.

Ladies, I had such a blast at the Monster Bash on the USS Hornet last night. I wish you could have been there. I’ve never danced on a big ship like that before. I wanted to go as a ’50s sock-hop girl but ended up going as a wannabe member of Run-D.M.C because 1) I couldn’t find my poodle skirt and 2) it was an easier costume to do.

About 1,000 people showed up, most of them adults but also some teens and younger kids. A band called The Cocktail Monkeys played cover songs from the ’60s through today. Lots of fun costumes and a great haunted house, too. I danced beside a storm trooper, a guy with massively large lobster claws and even the infamous Michael Myers!

The ship itself was so cool! It was huge, and the area where they held the party was filled with old helicopters and planes. When El Hub and I weren’t dancing, we checked out different planes and I even got to sit in the cockpit of an old jet. I learned it wasn’t easy to climb in and out of those things in four-inch heels!

Anywho, right now I’m watching Legion again and counting down the hours till The Walking Dead premiere (yay, zombies!).

I had so much fun this week with all the different Halloween themed hair and makeup looks. I hope you had a great week too. 🙂

USS Hornet Monster Bash 2010, Alameda, CA

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

BOBBI BROWN
CRYSTAL EYE PALETTE

You know you’re from California when you’re already complaining about the weather after the first rains of the season. You see, I’m a certified weather wimp, and I was over the moon this morning when I looked out the windows and saw blue skies.

Tabs was even happier than I was because it meant he’d be able to go outside again after being cooped up all weekend long, and the first thing we did was go for a nice, long walk.

While he mouth mowed his favorite patch of grass, I gazed up at the sky and thought, “blue…” I know! — I’ll do a blue eye look with maybe a dash of purple to celebrate the day. Right away I knew I wanted to use the Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette from the Holiday 2010 Collection. Read more…

MAKE UP FOR EVER
ROCK FOR EVER PALETTE

Oh, gawd! So I have another bad TV addiction, and they call it Dancing with the Stars. Why they call it that I’ll never know, since said “stars” include third string reality TV-ers like The Situation from MTV’s Jersey Shore and Audrina from The Hills, but I digress…

I was just channel surfing one night a few weeks ago when I randomly stopped to watch. I swear it was like when Britney had her breakdown and shaved her head. I desperately wanted to look away but couldn’t. The show had me by the eyeballs and would not let go!

Maybe it was the sparkly costumes or the pyrotechnic displays (seriously, on stage fire is like the oldest trick in the “you gotta watch this!” book), but now I’m hooked. And who knew that Jennifer Grey would still be such a kick @ss dancer after all these years, or that 6’8″ Rick Fox would have to work on pointing his toes?

Last night’s episode had a rock n’ roll theme, which means flames, a weird appearance by Bret Michels and his blonder than blond weave, and an awkward pasodoble danced by former NFL champ Kurt Warner (El Hub is totally rooting for him!).

None of it really rocked and rolled to me, but the Make Up For Ever Rock For Ever Eye Palette ($45), on the other hand — that’s another story. Now THAT to me is ROCK. N. FRICKIN’. ROLL! Read more…

KORRES LIP
BUTTER GLAZE

Blue skies may have been smiling at me yesterday, but my face of the day left me with lips like the Sahara. My kisser needed TLC today, and Korres Lip Butter Glaze ($14; available in five shades) came to my rescue.

The mad moisturizing, non-sticky formula is surprisingly thin and lightweight, but Korres still found room inside it for a subtle vanilla fragrance, which I like (it is unflavored, though). I put Pomegranate (a pinkish coral) on this morning, and by mid-day my lips already felt and looked a lot better.

Both of the colors I’ve tried, Pomegranate and bright red Wild Rose, could almost pass for Jello from afar (peach and fruit punch, respectively!). They create a semi-transparent, shiny layer of goodness on my lips. Read more…

L’OREAL MIDNIGHT
MUSE HiP STUDIO DUOS

It’s not like I needed another reason to swing by the drugstore, aka my home away from home, but these limited edition $8 L’Oreal HiP Studio Secrets Professional Shadow Duos gave me one anyway.

Here are four of the six HiP (High Intensity Pigments) Studio Secrets from the Midnight Muse collection that arrived on counters in September.

I love their names…Moon Goddess, Luna Noir, Enchantress and Dark Wave. Don’t they sound like a coven of witches (BOO!)? Most of these are highly pigmented (hello, Enchantress!). Moon Goddess, however, looks quite sheer.

Not bad for less than $10 for two shadows, yah? Read more…

DARK CIRCLES HATE
THIS POWERFUL COMBO

OOH, GURL, that’s the new MAC Pro Longwear Concealer ($16.50)/Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener ($18) combo (Longwear applied on top of Photo Op).

I don’t remember what prompted me to try the two of them together, but let me tell you — they’re frickin’ rad, especially when my dark circles look extra dark and purplish.

First, I blend in a few dots of Photo Op (a golden peach liquid with a hint of shimmer) under each eye to prime them for concealer. I’ll give them about a minute to dry and follow up with MAC Pro Longwear Concealer patted and blended right on top.

I’m normally an NC 35 in MAC foundation, but I’ve been using Longwear Concealer in NW 30 because I think its peachier tones do a better job on my dark circles. Read more…

BIG SEXY HAIR
SPRITZ & STAY

Need big hair in a hurry (heck, you never know)? Big Sexy Hair to the rescue!

Get long-lasting shine and touchable hold in a heartbeat (or so the company claims) with new Spritz & Stay ($15) non-aerosol hairspray. It’s formulated with “fast-dry technology” to (you guessed it) dry f a s t .

I needed help locking down the volume of my Snooki poof yesterday, and Big Sexy did the deed.

I can’t tell if it dries any quicker than other styling products, but I like the hold. It certainly kept my poof nice and high! 🙂

With hold like this, my hair isn’t exactly blowing in the wind — which reminds me, I love the fruit punch scent — but it doesn’t feel crunchy or cemented in place, either. Read more…

RUSK W8LESS HAIR DRYER
FLAT IRON COMBO KIT

Do you remember The Far Side comics by Gary Larson? Some of them must have been based on my life, like this one to the right for the Midvale School for the Gifted.

It’s true. I’m like a female version of that kid. “Stupid door! Must. Push. Harder! Gah!”

As a matter of fact, I had a Midvale moment last night with the packaging for the Rusk W8LESS The Power of Light kit ($166).

The kit comes with two limited edition pink products, the Rusk W8LESS Hairdryer and Flat Iron, released for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and, no joke, the box took me at least 10 minutes to open (a Rubik’s Cube would have been easier to solve!). Read more…

LUSH GORILLA
PERFUMES

I’ve been trying to get behind the new Lush Gorilla fragrances mostly because I love, LOVE the packaging.

But there’s one thing I don’t get…

What’s up with the gorilla?

Well, not this particular one here. I mean the use of Gorilla in the name. I just don’t get the reference. None of them smell like gorilla, or how I imagine a gorilla would smell, and the sleek black packaging just doesn’t scream great ape to me.

I’ve sniffed five of the six scents, each of them available in spray and solid stick form — Imogen Rose, Lust, Orange Blossom, The Smell of Freedom and Tuca Tuca — and with the exception of Orange Blossom, which smells like the jasmine plant in my front yard (DIVINE!), I’m not in love. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What’s shakin’, bacon? Happy Sunday! I’m taking it a little easy today because I was out late last night with some friends down in San Jose. Of course I got lost, because that’s what people do in San Jose. We went to a cozy wine bar called Chin Chin and did some catching up. Now I’m watching Tabs tear the sh*zz out of his cat tower while I eat pumpkin buttered toast for breakfast, yum.

Oh, have you seen Catfish? It’s a documentary about a photographer who falls in love with a girl on Facebook. He decides to meet her in real life but begins to suspect she doesn’t really exist when he tries to track her down and can’t. It’s a mystery of sorts and pretty interesting. Well worth checking out.

Have you had a good weekend? What’s the weather like out there? It’s storming like crazy here! I feel like we went from summer to winter without much of a fall. I hope we get a break from the rain soon, because if we don’t, Tabs may tear the roof off this mother.

Here’s a look back at some of the makeup and beauty stuff we talked about this week. MAC A Tartan Tale got a lot of attention in Beauty Land, as does almost everything from MAC. How do you feel about the collection? Are you stoked about it or not impressed?

GUERLAIN ROUGE
BRILLIANT BEE LIPSTICK

This Bee is a creamy, full-coverage (yes!) deep violet with tiny flecks of golden glitter, and it feels like a feather on the lips, ahh…

I’d heard the Rouge G Le Brilliant lippies were long wearing, and this one lives up to the hype. It wears off slowly over about five hours, which usually includes a snack or a meal.

Oh, and the bomb @ss tube! I’ve never seen anything like it before, but it’s also really functional. Guerlain squeezed a mirror in the cap (I LOVE the logo!), and the tube has some heft to it too. Should I ever find myself an unwilling member of a Jersey Shore club brawl, it could double as a weapon.

Kids, violence is NEVER the answer…but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Read more…

LUSH GOTH JUICE
HAIR STYLING GEL

Goth Juice?

Before you answer that, I’m referring to Lush’s Goth Juice ($16), a medium-hold non-sticky styling gel, and not a new energy drink for fans of The Cure.

Seems like noses either love or loathe Lush products, and even though they don’t always agree with my nose (I’m more of a fruity florals kinda girl than a hippy/pot brownie babe), some of their stuff just works.

Like Goth Juice. Sure, it’s got that eau de lemon and Pine-Sol thing going, but for fast, effortless, undone styles, Goth Juice gets it done.

Lush credits a mix of botanical oils (hemp and flaxseed), fresh lemon infusion, olibanum (a resin from the boswellia tree; also goes by the name frankincense) and oakmoss for making the magic happen.

I busted out a full on elle-oh-elle when I read the product’s description on the company’s website:

“Olibanum and oakmoss leave your hair smelling like the deep, dark pine forest where Robert Smith goes to be alone.” Read more…

DOLCE & GABBANA
EVOCATIVE COLLECTION

While I was cruising down (Saks) Fifth Avenue today, otherwise known as surfing their site (they’re having a Friends & Family Sale; I didn’t come across the new Ethereal Holiday Collection, but I did window shop almost everything from the Evocative Collection for fall.

I’m not sure how Evocative’s vampiric berries, wines and pinks go with her springy blues and that one totally random coral, but being confused has never stopped me before, ha!

I’ll just try to wrap my head around something tangible…like the ultra pigmented, creamy coral Classic Cream Lipstick in Cosmopolitan and Shine Lipstick in Orchid. They should help me focus, but if I’m still out of sorts after that, the buttery soft and sheer beige, pink, taupe and purple shadows in the quad should help. Read more…

MAC A TARTAN TALE
SWATCH PREVIEW

Heya, ladies. Here’s a smattering of products from the massive MAC A Tartan Tale holiday collection launching on October 28 (that’s next week!). I thought you might like to see a few swatches. Tabs is demanding lip and face shots soon. Read more…

NYX SPECIAL
EFFECTS LASHES

Wow, how fun are these NYX Special Effects Lashes ($10; available in 40 styles)? I’m building up the courage to wear the brown spotted Leopard ones out in public, and I’m almost there. I’m thinking mall date, perhaps?

Electric blue Midnight Walts is another story… I’m reserving that one for private, in-home displays of cray-cray. I feel très Looney Tunes with ‘em on, not gonna lie.

I love how many there are to choose from (40 in all), and at $10, they’re $5 cheaper than the freakiest $15 Urban Decay Urban Lashes and half the cost of falsies from Shu Uemura (which are great, I might add).

I’m not sure about the other styles, but Leopard and Midnight Walts didn’t come with lash glue. Luckily I had a spare tube on hand.

As you might expect, some pairs are easier to apply than others. Leopard was a cinch (took about five minutes); Midnight Walts, on the other hand, wasn’t (took about 15 minutes). NOTE: I’m incompetent when it comes to applying false lashes, so your results may vary. That I was able to apply either of these without losing an eye was a minor makeup miracle. Read more…

DIOR ENDLESS
SHINE QUINT, HOLIDAY 2010

What up, buttercup? How was your week? Mine was pretty peachy, thank you very much, and I owe it all to Dior Endless Shine.

We spent Wednesday afternoon together, you know, just frolicking like cherubs with cameras. Turns out the holiday quint, one of two in Dior’s Holiday 2010 Collection, is quite the budding photographer.

With the quint’s peach shade demanding so much of my attention, it only seemed right to build a look around it, so I picked out some complementary bits o’ holiday makeup from Chanel, NARS, MAC and Dolce & Gabbana and put together this here face of the day.

That’s Dolce & Gabbana Crayon Intense in 10 and 12 and Dior 5-Colour Iridescent in Endless Shine #529 on my eyes, NARS Blush in Sex Appeal on my cheeks, and Chanel Glossimer in Pleasing atop Chanel Rouge Coco in Patchouli on my lips.

What do ya think? Are the eyes too frosty? They’re smokey but not loud. Now I just wish I had somewhere to go.

Hmm, I wonder what time Tuttimelon opens. Read more…

MAC A TARTAN TALE
EYE SWATCHES

Once upon a Tartan’s Tale, I peeped eye colors I would regale, but not so many, I’m sad to say, as I had hoped earlier today.

The Pearlglides are, without a doubt, my favorites from the tale no doubt, but I await, so patiently, the final act, let’s call it three.

From what I’ve seen of the collection’s eye products so far, and I’ve only seen about a quarter of it, nothing’s completely stolen my heart (but the Pearlglides have it on layaway).

A lot of what I’ve seen has been surprisingly sheer, which I guess would be cool if we were talking about Clinique, but this is MAC. In other words, where’s the beef pigment? Read more…

H2O PLUS
HAND AND NAIL CREAM TRIO

Quick, name one hip hop song in which Timbaland does NOT appear as a guest artist.

Takes a minute, doesn’t it? The guy is everywhere! He’s like a hip hop virus. I had my iTunes on random yesterday, and I swear the man was uttering nonsense in every other song. “Uh huh, uh uh,” “freaky-freaky-freaky!”

But no matter how many times he’s been featured in songs — and I’m fairly sure it’s in the hundreds — I bet I have him beat hands down in one area: hand washing. Because I like to wash my hands. A lot.

This also means my hands get dry. A lot (often?).

It’s worse in the colder months, which means hand creams? — totally my BFFs. Lately I’ve been getting my moisture on with these travel-friendly 2-oz. tubes of Hand and Nail Cream from H2O Plus. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Don’t you just love the mall? I mean really love it? Yesterday I spent half the day at one, and it was glorious! — not the mall, but the experience. The mall was just okay (Northgate in San Rafael). They do have a Macy’s and an H&M…but that’s about it. Oh, and a See’s Candy (YES! I’ll take a free sample, nom nom nom).

It was nice to be away from the computer for a while, ya know? I forget sometimes how many hours I spend online…

I finally caught The Social Network, too, and I thought it was much better than I expected, not that I thought it would be bad at all. I know the reviews have been great, and a lot of you gals have been urging me to see it, but I thought really? — El Hub, I practically live online as it is; can’t we see a movie about vampires instead?

And then last weekend we did see the movie about vampires (Let Me In, loved it!), so this time it was either The Social Network or Jackass 3D. ‘Nuff said.

I thought it was just a solid, well directed film, and the acting blew me away, especially when you consider the amount of dizzying dialogue. Some of the lines are delivered so fast they’d give David Mamet whiplash! Seriously, the actors must have been mainlining caffeine on the set.

Anywho, I hope you’re having a good weekend so far. What have you been up to? Can you stay awhile (I’ll make the coffee)? We can chitchat and take a look back at some of the things we talked about this week.

NEUTROGENA RAINBATH
REFRESHING SHOWER AND BATH GEL

Hmm… I honestly don’t know what Tabs would have said about me if he’d known me back in my Neutrogena Rainbath Refreshing Shower and Bath Gel phase ($8 for an 8.5 oz bottle), aka the late ’90s, aka my club kid days.

“Meow,” perhaps?

In his short kitty lifetime, he’s only known me as his cranky, uncool mum — the boring one who hits the haaay every night at 10.

He probably would have liked the late nights and parties because, back then, that’s how I rolled.

My, how things change. Read more…

SMASHBOX WISH FOR THE
PERFECT POUT

Er, can you guess who’s been listening to Eric B. & Rakim?

I’m still auditioning songs for The Ultimate ’90s Hip Hop Playlist (keep those recs coming!), and today, while listening to Don’t Sweat the Technique and swatching the new Smashbox Wish For The Perfect Pout ($29), it hit me — this hip hop classic kinda reminds me of this limited edition holiday kit.

Have you ever tried putting on an opaque, bright gloss without a mirror? It’s hard, right? It requires sweating over one’s lipgloss technique, so to speak. You gotta get the color even and if it goes beyond your natural lip line you look all kinds of crazy… Yes, I’ve totally done this before, and it’s not cute.

But with the glosses in Wish For The Perfect Pout, it’s all gravy, as Tabs would say. The six shimmery shades go on with different degrees of sheerness, so if I accidentally apply too much, the contrast doesn’t look as stark as it would with a full-coverage gloss. Shoot, I could probably put these glosses on while doing the butterfly (remember that dance?) and still come out looking semi-sane. Don’t sweat the technique, indeed. Read more…

DIOR HOLIDAY 2010
FIVE GOLDS FACE OF THE DAY

The $58 quint also goes by the more marketable stage name, the Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow Palette in Five Golds #001, and it’s one of two new Dior eyeshadow quints for holiday 2010.

The five metallic shadows aren’t as pigmented as usual for Dior, but they certainly do shimmer!

Based on the colors, I’m not entirely sure why Dior chose to call the palette Five Golds. Two of the shades (the silvery one, and the one on the far left in the swatch pic below) don’t have any (or very little) gold in them at all. Read more…

NARS HOLIDAY
2010

Holy wow, pumpkin! All I have to say is werk!

I’m not talking work like cubicles, time sheets or lame vacation requests, but the neck swerving, hair flipping, three snaps in z-formation kinda work — the kind of work NARS obviously put into their holiday 2010 collection.

For the holidays, it’s nice to see something almost traditional — with lots of golds, silvers, berries and plums — from such an untraditional brand.

But I did say “almost.” 🙂 After all, this is still NARS we’re talking about. The colors are a casual affair, many of them shimmery and saturated but not heavy or foreboding. Read more…

KIKO MAKE UP
MILANO

Not gonna lie, but shopping at Kiko Make Up Milano was hella stressful.

I checked out one of the big Italian brand’s freestanding stores in Milan last month, and it was PACKED! Wall-to-wall teenagers, makeup and Japanese tourists, except for one short, brown beauty blogger and a really clueless American dude who zigzagged into the store, held up a shopping list on his phone and bellowed to no one in particular, “I need to bring all this home to my girlfriend or she’s gonna kill me.” HA HA! Seriously, I couldn’t make this sh*z up.

There wasn’t a lot of room in the store to move around because every square inch was covered with makeup (stimulus overload!). Enhancing the effect, they blasted loud techno music, so it was kinda like being in da club, or a makeup hybrid of Forever 21/Claire’s/Abercrombie and Fitch. Read more…

DIOR HOLIDAY 2010
EYESHADOW QUINTS

Whoa, what’s this? A holiday collection that actually looks like a holiday collection?!?

Get out!

Dior decided not to break with tradition while they broke away from the pack with a classic holiday color palette in shades of gold, black, gray and pink.

They must have figured they’d leave the springy holiday stuff to their luxury counterparts (Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana) this time around.

Good call. 🙂

Four of the nine items in the collection (available now in stores) are palettes. Palettes have been playing a big role this season, and it looks like they also were over at Dior HQ.

Here’s a quick look at both of the eyeshadow quints and a pricing/availability breakdown of everything in the release. Read more…

SMASHBOX WISH COLLECTION
HOLIDAY 2010 FIRST LOOK

“What should I wish for?”

“I don’t know. Maybe one these new limited edition kits from Smashbox.”

“OOH! Those are pretty.”

“I know! They just came out with their holiday collection, Wish 2010.”

“Wish? Oh, very punny. Wish. I get it now.”

The four new kits range from $16-46 each and come with various combinations of products for eyes, lips, cheeks and face.

In the holiday spirit, Smashbox plans to donate $1 from the sale of each Wish collection purchase (up to $25,000) to the Children’s Miracle Network.

Even though that kind of thing can seem like a marketing maneuver, it isn’t always, and the fact remains — it’s something that quite a few cosmetics companies simply never do (donate a portion of sales to charity), so I say “Good job, Smashbox!” 🙂

Take a peek at these product pics and swatches of two of the four new kits, Wish For The Perfect Pout ($29) and Wish List ($49). Read more…

VERONICA MALIBU
SEAWEED AND PINEAPPLE BODY SCRUB

I love a good meat tenderizer as much as the next gal, but I didn’t expect to find one — make that two in my new body scrub!

No, indie skin care line Veronica Malibu does not have quality control issues at their manufacturing plant. The meat tenderizers I found in this jar of Seaweed & Pineapple Body Scrub ($28 for a 2-oz. jar) were added deliberately, and they make the product stand out in the crowded field of skin scrubs.

Lately, I haven’t been in the mood for abrasive or painful scrubs; I want something kinder and gentler, so when I found out that water, aloe vera gel and seaweed were the top three ingredients in Veronica Malibu’s new scrub, it piqued my interest. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Rise and shine, morning glory! How was your Saturday? It was a pretty autumn day here in Novato. The leaves are just starting to fall, and since I can’t do anything to stop the coming winter, I guess that means I’d better focus on the positives and learn to live with it, le sigh…

If you ever get the chance to visit the San Francisco Bay Area, I really hope you make it up here to Northern Marin County. The rolling, grassy hills and oak tree forests look like something transported from the Loir Valley in France, except with ranch-style homes and Costco stores taking up places where epic chateaus and gardens would be.

That’s not to say it isn’t as pretty here, but the French do have a different perspective on suburban commercial development (they basically don’t allow it).

Speaking of France, being so close to Wine Country here gives us lots of quaint French bakeries, which resemble regular bakeries and sandwich places but have outdoor seating and the word “French” somewhere in the name. 🙂 The one we went to yesterday was lovely. We got salads and sandwiches and sat outside on their nice patio for lunch.

Tabs chose to stay home, of course, to work out on his new cat tower, which he has yet to master. There’s a carpeted basket at the very top, about 7 feet off the ground, that mocks him from above. He hasn’t built up the courage to climb that high up it yet because I guess he thinks the whole thing will topple over under his weight (a valid concern).

Or maybe he’d rather just marvel at it like we marvel at Gothic architecture.

What are you up to today? Starting tomorrow I won’t see much of El Hub for the rest of the week because of a big project he’s working on (he slays ogres and dragons), so I want to squeeze in some quality time with him today. For that to transpire, he actually needs to wake up, of course (ahem!).

Fill me in on the highlights of your week as far as makeup and/or beauty were concerned. Have you tried any new looks lately? I’m particularly curious about hairstyles right now. Have you done anything new with yours?

Before you go, here’s a little look back at some of the beauty products and topics we blogged about earlier this week:

GUERLAIN KISSKISS STRASS
ROSE DE LA REINE

Please tell me there’s room in the Lovely-Luxury-Lipsticks-That-Don’t-Last-Long-But-Have-Kick-Ass-Packaging Hall of Fame (or LLLTDLLBHKAPHOF for short), because I may have found their next inductee.

Llimited edition KissKiss Strass in Rose de la Reine ($31) is one of nine luxe ladies in the new Guerlain Les Ors holiday collection, pricey products from a line that’s been all about the bling since 1853.

Napoleon III’s wife loved Guerlain, so, ya know, budget’s not exactly their thang. Read more…

FRED FARRUGIA
MODULAR MAKEUP

The Semi Matte Lipstick/Matte Lip Powder Duos in 04 (a matte red) and 06 (a matte hot pink) are really rocking my world. This probably won’t come as a surprise, but each one comes with a creamy semi-matte lipstick and a pigmented lip powder. 🙂 Fred designed them to be used together. Using either fingers or a lip brush, apply a layer of the cream lipstick first, patting the matching lip powder directly on top. The result? A vibrant, highly pigmented, long-wearing matte lip look.

I can’t believe how easy these are to apply (I used my fingers in these pics). They’re non-drying and hang around all day long, even withstanding She-Ra sized meals! I just wish they weren’t so blasted tough to remove (not a big problem, though)… Good ol’ Kirkland wipes can’t take ‘em down, but Clinique Take the Day Off Balm can.

Another standout: Powder Blush in 07. It’s like a darker, more intense NARS Orgasm (a shimmery golden peach). The pigment in this peach does NOT mess around. The color leaps onto brushes that get anywhere near it, and even a small amount delivers a pretty flush. Skin also agrees with it, lapping it up like a sponge. But a word of caution: it’s so intense, SO VIVID, that it can be a little tough to control. My mantra’s been dilute, dilute, dilute! Read more…

BOBBI BROWN
BEAUTY RULES PALETTE

Last week a stranger, who was obviously one of the politest men in California and/or vision impaired, called me “a young girl” (I’m in my 30s, yo!), and I’m not gonna lie — it was awesome.

I remember being 14 and totally obsessed with makeup… My, how things change! 🙂 If I’d seen something like the Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules Palette ($45) back then, I would’ve been all over it in a hot second, assuming, of course, that I would’ve been able to talk my mom into buying it for me.

I mean, it’s sure not cheap, but talk about pretty starter palettes! The colors strike me as great ones for girls just getting into makeup (and for parents who don’t want to worry about their teenager looking like jail bait). Read more…

BENEFIT CREASELESS CREAM
SEPHORA SHADOWS & LINERS

I feel like I’ve been robbed of a Tuesday afternoon. Seriously, where’d it go? One minute I’m playing with a few of the new Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liners ($19 each; exclusive to Sephora), and the next minute it’s dark and I hear crickets outside!

Maybe I was just having so much fun finger painting my lids that time got away from me.

I know I’ve gushed over Benefit’s Creaseless Creams many times before. I’m like a broken record with them, “Benefit Creaseless Creams! Benefit Creaseless Creams!” Sorry. It’s just that I like ‘em that much. Read more…

TOO FACED
COMPLEXION PERFECTION KIT

I swear, this is just the coolest thing ever. As people, we get a lot of great makeup released specifically for us, so it’s refreshing to finally see a major cosmetics company like Too Faced release a palette designed specifically for cats! — BIG cats no less.

Okay, not really. To clarify, you do not have to be a leopard or even a cat lady who loves leopards to love the Too Faced Leopard Love Complexion Perfection Palette ($30). You do, however, probably have to be a girl who likes super sheer color.

Too Faced released it a while back with some other goodies for fall, but I only recently started wearing it out.

It comes with three different powder products — a bronzer, a blush and a brightener — and one of them’s already a star. The brightener, which goes by the name Pink Leopard, happens to be a big bestseller from the brand as a member of the permanent line, but the other two products are new — otherwise known as “previously undiscovered species of cats.” Read more…

CHANEL LES TENTATIONS
FACE OF THE DAY

Before I crashed and burned this afternoon, I tried the new Chanel Le Tentations de Chanel Holiday 2010 Collection on for size, and ooh, baby! — I’m lovin’ these chocolate browns and playful pinks.

Sure, the collection doesn’t exactly fit your standard holiday fare, but who cares? If you like it, you like it. And besides, it’s not like early October is the dead of winter, right?

In these shots here, that’s the Tentation Cuivrée quad atop the Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow in Splash on my eyes, Tweed Fuchsia blush on my cheeks and Magnolia lipstick topped with Pink Pulsion Glossimer on my lips.

Even in my semi-conscious haze (NOTE TO SELF: Stop watching bad reality TV after midnight!), this wasn’t a difficult look to do because of how well the colors in the quad work together.

Oh, and I didn’t really appreciate this until I had it on my skin, but the light pink shade has the cutest little bits of glitter; I’m looking forward to wearing it as a single wash of color over the entire eye.

The dark brown shadow’s also full of surprises. It has this subtle duochrome quality to it where it appears to flash from dark brown to plum to bronze, depending on the light. SO HAWT! Read more…

BOOTS NO. 7
OPULENCE EYE PALETTE

Does your Target have a produce section? Isn’t that the most convenient thing ever? I was at ours yesterday, allegedly there to buy grapes, when I ran into the Boots No. 7 limited edition Opulence Eye Palette ($10).

It comes with five powder eyeshadows (four shimmers and one matte) in shades of gold, brown, navy, beige and black. The colors, Boots says, were inspired by Russian Tsarinas and the 1980s, because, ya know, those two things totally go together so well.

How would you wear this palette? I’m thinking a day look using the navy on the lid and the brown along the lower lash line, hmm… Read more…

CHANEL LES TENTATIONS
HOLIDAY 2010

In case you didn’t get the memo, Holiday is the new Spring. Well, at least it is according to Chanel. To the traditionalists out there, the new Les Tentations de Chanel Holiday 2010 Collection isn’t your typical holiday fare — you know, reds, golds and plums — but this isn’t the first time Chanel’s decided to mix it up.

Last year they celebrated summer for Christmas with blues, greens, golds and corals over the holidays. With a mix of pinks, fuchsias, browns and beige, this year they’re all about spring. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Four days, 12,000 miles, 10 pounds of gelato and a blog, DAMN! I still can’t believe I was in Milan this week. It was such a quick trip, but I hope you felt a little like you were there with me. A few weeks ago if you’d told me that Dolce & Gabbana would invite me to Milan to cover their Fashion Week show, I would have said, “Oh shut the front door!” And can I bring my cat?

What makeup have you been obsessing about lately, and what were some of the products on your mind (and your eyes) this week? Here’s some of the stuff we talked about around here.

DOLCE & GABBANA MAKEUP
MILAN FASHION WEEK, SUMMER 2011

You know how sometimes you see a look come down the runway and you’re like, “Whoa! Where the heck did that beam down from? Enterprise, do you read me?”

Take the orange eyeshadow makeup artists sent Tom Cruisin’ down the catwalk in New York not long ago. Don’t get me wrong — I lurves me some brights, and I’m all for artistic expression when it comes to le war paint, but it’s also nice to see runway looks I might actually wear in real life. Read more…

DOLCE & GABBANA MAKEUP
ETHEREAL BEAUTY COLLECTION, HOLIDAY 2010

Oy, what a relief! My poor luggage found its way home last night, none the worse for wear, and when I busted it open, BAM! Tabs jumped inside. 🙂

Somehow he even knew which compartment held the Dolce & Gabbana Ethereal Beauty Collection products for holiday 2010.

I’ve been meaning to swatch these for you for days! Most of the colors in the 15-piece collection, a collaboration between makeup artist Pat McGrath and designers Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, are totally new. Only two of them, Volumizing Lashes in Black ($29) and Intense Nail Lacquer in Pink 100 ($20), are re-promotes from the permanent line.

None of the products, which arrive at Saks Fifth Avenue stores in mid-October, are exactly bargains, unfortunately, but the prices are typical for a luxury line, ranging from $20 at the low end all the way up to $59 at the top. Read more…

GUERLAIN 6 COULEURS
EYE SHADOW PALETTES

“Nobody does luxury like Guerlain, but not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined something as glamorous as their new Écrin 6 Couleurs eye shadow palettes that came out this fall. The pictures speak for themselves: just look at that filigree cover, the little bee (symbol of Guerlain that dates back to XIX century) on it, and the large beautiful mirror that opens up to the side of the palette. It was only appropriate to name each of the five palettes after a Guerlain boutique in Paris!

The one I ended up buying is named after Guerlain’s flagship boutique at 68, Avenue des Champs-Elysées. My choice was partly due to the fact that I like purple and don’t have enough grays, and partly because I really like the thought of looking at Champs-Elysées in the morning…” Read more…

$6 GOODY
SPIN PINS

Goody Spin Pins ($6), ohmahgawd, they’re awesome. I brought a pair with me on my trip last weekend based on your recommendations, so thank you — you were so right!

They’re basically these beefed up, coiled metal bobby pin-like doohickies (two per pack) for securing your hair into a bun; Goody says each one does the work of 20 bobbies (no, not the ones in law enforcement), and they come in two shades, one for lighter hair and one for darker. Each pack comes with two pins. Read more…

MAC BLOT
POWDER/PRESSED

What’s up, friend? This post is getting to you kinda late, I know, and I’m sorry. Long story short, but my flight was delayed out of Milan yesterday. Consequently, I almost missed the connecting flight out of Germany to get back home (NOTE: If you’re the person I steamrolled in the international terminal of the Frankfurt airport yesterday…my bad!).

I managed to make the flight (YEA!), but my luggage didn’t (BOO!). And, of course, it contained all of the makeup I was hoping to dish about today — stuff from Dolce & Gabbana Holiday, Kiko, Madina and a brand called Fred Farrugia.

Thankfully, the airline emailed to say they found the bag and put it on the first train plane home. Read more…

BURT’S BEES CRANBERRY & POMEGRANATE
SUGAR SCRUB

I find it both hilarious and totally fitting that Burt’s Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Sugar Scrub ($13 for an 8-oz. jar) has a warning on the label that reads, “do not consume.” Seriously, they have to tell you not to eat the product because it looks and smells THAT good — like a jar of berry-licious preserves or a sugary frozen treat.

I dug into it when I jumped in the shower after I got home from the airport last night. I noticed on the list of ingredients (it’s 100% natural) that it contains a BUNCH of different oils, among them soybean, coconut, cranberry, olive and grape seed. The Zia Skin Basics Bamboo Exfoliant I was happily using last week just didn’t seem hydrating enough to restore the moisture that had been sucked from my skin by the recirculated air on the plane.

Sugar, soybean oil and cranberry oil are the top ingredients, and I swear I can feel all three. The product’s certainly rich, yet I can still feel the tiny grains of what I assume are sugar. They do have some grit to them, but they’re nowhere near as painful abrasive as the grains in Zia’s Bamboo (they may get the job done but feel like torture in a tube!). Read more…

PRESTIGE TOTAL
INTENSITY EYELINERS

“Is there such a thing as too many eyeliners? I have a zillion yet I still want more. I’d always thought Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils were the smoothest liners ever with their vegan, to-die-for formula, but I think I’ve found some close competition. 🙂

Not long ago I discovered the Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliners at Ulta. My local Ulta, however, didn’t have testers. Being obsessed with color, I took a chance and picked up three of them!! For a mere $5.50 apiece, they seemed like drugstore dupes of the Urban Decay eyeliners. Luckily, all of them are super creamy, have excellent pigmentation and DO NOT budge once they’ve set. Prestige Cosmetics claims they’re paraben-free too, so what’s not to love?” Read more…

E.L.F. STUDIO
POWDER BRUSH

I have a confession to make… even though I’m a beauty blogger and people expect me to look nice all the time, sometimes I’m just too lazy to apply foundation. This is especially true when I’m rushing to get ready for class in the morning. But then I discovered powder foundation and my life was complete… except that I didn’t have the right tool to apply it.

See, most powder foundations come with those sponges that I don’t like for two reasons — they’re hard to clean, and most people never wash them anyway. So I tried a kabuki brush, which can easily be washed, except that the short stubby handle meant I couldn’t put it in my brush organizer with the rest my brushes. Read more…

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
SIGN PROJECT & GIVEAWAY

Hi, ladies. As many of you know, breast cancer has touched my family, as it has many of yours. It’s something I think about all year long, but especially when October rolls around.

For the past two years I’ve run donations for breast cancer charities, but this year I’d like us to try something different — an e-rally of sorts.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is about many things — remembering friends and family, promoting the importance of early detection, helping to raise funds for research and treatment, and standing in support of those affected by the disease.

That’s why I made the sign you see at the top of this post. It’s one easy way to say, “We’re all in this together, and I’m here with you.” Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There’s nothing like a big fashion show except maybe a shot of adrenalin in the heart, LOL! The show’s over, and I’m back at the hotel now, cleaning up and prepping a post (it’s about 9:30PM here). It’s fascinating how effortless the makeup looked amidst the chaos surrounding the runway.

Speaking of intense situations, funny story — well, potentially helpful story if you decide to take an international trip but don’t have a passport. The reason I had to drive into the city to renew my passport last Monday was because I let it expire and needed a new one right away. Most local post offices can issue new passports and renew existing ones, but doing it that way takes weeks. They snap your picture, usually in a little room off the main lobby, you fill out some forms, show proof of citizenship, pay a fee of around $100, and then four to six weeks later you get a brand new passport in the mail good for 10 whole years.

When you only have a few days before an unplanned trip, you can visit one of the U.S. State Department’s main passport offices, which are scattered throughout the country in mostly major metropolitan areas. There they can do the whole process in a day, but it costs extra ($70 more for the rush), and you have to make a somewhat challenging appointment over the phone. Challenging because of the State Department’s labyrinthine phone system and limited hours of operation.

The moral of the story: don’t do what I did. Apply online ahead of time if you think you might like to take a trip within the next few years, and if you already have your passport, renew it online before it expires.

I’m not entirely sure why that occurred to me right now, haha! I think I’m going loony…

While I jot down my thoughts on the show, here’s a quick look back at some of the products we talked about earlier this week.

Hope you’re having a good weekend. You better be enjoying yourself, or by Jove I’ll sick Tabs on ya!

BENEFIT LIPSTICK IN
SUGAR COOKIE

Do me a quick favor and check your blush stash, boo. If you find enough peaches to bake a cobbler, then I’d like you to meet my new go-to girl, Benefit Silky Finish Lipstick in Sugar Cookie ($18).

The color — a warm, shiny peach with flecks of gorgeous gold — has been around for a while as a permanent member of Benefit’s Silky Finish Lipstick line. Like the other Silky Finish gals, she’s got a thin, creamy texture (very hydrating, to boot) that glides on slick and smooth, and I think she looks GREAT paired with peach blushes like Benefit Georgia, NARS Orgasm, MAC Sunbasque, MAC Margin and MAC Peaches.

Do you remember the sparkly glitter from last week’s look with MAC Lipgelee in Resort Life (part of the Venomous Villains release)? — how it ended up all over the place? Well, Sugar Cookie isn’t messy like that at all. Her golden glitter stays put, but all is not peaches in the garden of golden glitter. Read more…

URBAN DECAY
URBANGLOW CREAM HIGHLIGHTER

I suppose if I really wanted an authentic candlelit glow I could walk around with a candle up next to my face, but talk about a big pain in the @ss, right? 🙂 And dangerous too!

No problem. The new Urban Decay Urbanglow Cream Highlighters ($24 each) are safer than open flames but just as illuminating.

UD packed these four cute compacts in Wicked, Sin, Brown Sugar and Moonshine with pearly glows and pigment to spare.

They kinda work like spotlights for the skin. Just pat on cheeks, at your temples, down the bridge of your nose or at the inner corners of your eyes for an instantly brighter outlook and a luminescent glow. They apply smoothly to bare skin, or on top of liquid foundations or tinted moisturizer, but I don’t recommend them for use atop powder foundations. When I tried, they looked kinda cakey.

I’ve been wearing Wicked (the shimmery pink) and Sin (the shimmery champagne) on particularly rough days when I haven’t gotten enough sleep the night before because they’re pretty good at quickly faking wide-awake eyes. Read more…

MAC PRO
LONGWEAR CONCEALER

I’ve been a big supporter of timeBalm concealer ($18), but MAC’s new line of medium-to-full coverage matte liquid concealers just might sway my vote. 🙂

MAC created them to conceal dark circles, spots and discolorations with a long-wearing, flawless, natural-looking finish.

The 16 available shades ($16.50 each), which come in a small glass bottle with a pump applicator top, dropped on counters last week with two other products, the Pro Longwear Lipcreme Lipsticks ($16) and Pro Longwear SPF10 Foundations ($29.50).

In a nutshell, this stuff works like a liquid version of timeBalm (I like it more than the actual liquid version of timeBalm). I’ve been wearing it in NW 30 lately (for reference, I’m an NC 35), to cover up my under-eye circles, and like timeBalm it thoroughly blocks out the dark areas without creasing, feathering, fading or settling into my fine lines. Read more…

CHANEL SOHO
GLOSSIMER IN STAR

A glittery pinkish purple lipgloss? Yes, please!

And the fact that this one’s also a Chanel Glossimer doesn’t hurt — well, except for the $27 price. That part hurts, but overlooking the way in which that makes my tummy churn, yippee!

She’s called Star, and like her namesake she’s all about the sparkle (with a very light tint). We’re talking good glitter here, very fine, and it doesn’t migrate around my lips.

Star feels thick and slightly sticky to me with a wear time around 90 minutes (mediocre for a gloss), and I’m glad that Chanel kept her scent- and flavor-free. Read more…

CHANEL SOHO
NAIL POLISHES

Well, it’s official. Elvis and summer have left the building. They walked out the back door, the one by the loading dock, and met for brewskies down at the Harvest Moon, you know, that little pub where all the classic fall nail colors hang out after work.

Every fall I pack up my warm weather must-haves — my neon nail polishes, fuchsia glosses, booty shorts with “I heart the Jersey Shore” written across the back (kidding!) to make room for autumn’s awesome goodies. This year, I’m clearing space for a couple of real workin’ stiffs called Steel (a shimmery gunmetal gray) and Strong (a shimmery blackened plum), Chanel’s two new SoHo Le Vernis nail polishes for fall ($23 each).

Why do autumn leaves make me want to paint mah talons with darker colors? Is it a cavewoman thing? Who knows, but if you like the look of dark fall nails, feast your Bette Davis eyes on these. Read more…

URBAN DECAY
LITTLE SINS PRIMER POTION SET

Er, I’m not talking sins of the “seven deadly” variety, one of which, lust, I have for Ryan Reynolds.

These kinder, gentler sins live in the Urban Decay Little Sins Eyeshadow Primer Potion Set ($29), a brand spankin’ new Sephora exclusive with four travel-sized bottles of Urban Decay’s famous Primer Potion in four different shades.

Stop unsightly shadow creasing and fading with the three classic shades in Original, Sin and Eden, or get a little selfish with the newest shade, shimmery golden Greed.

Greed, a cool-toned lemony gold on my NC35 skin, brightens lids with a noticeable glow, and I can really see it being a hit with girls who like the way they look in coolish yellowish golds.

If you like these Little Sins, the limited edition kit’s available now at Sephora and online at sephora.com. Read more…

SHISEIDO LUMINIZING
SATIN EYE COLOR TRIOS

Shiseido is not a word that springs to mind when I think “bright eyeshadow,” but their new Luminzing Satin Eye Color Trios ($33 each) sure got my attention.

I stumbled on these in the city the other day. The seven powder shadow trios, inspired by Shiseido Makeup Artistic Director Dick Page’s world travels, are completely new to the line, and bright is their modus operandi (they also feel silky smooth).

Take a look, and let me know if you see anything you like. I’m all over a pink, yellow and green trio called YE406 Tropicalia, not that I can think of a way to work all three of the colors into the same look.

Any ideas? Come on, there’s gotta be a way! 🙂 Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen