weeklyroundup

Heya, girls. How was your Easter? I just got back from visiting my parents across the Bay. Lots of eating (of course) and hanging out. How about you? What did you do today?

I’m sad to see the weekend end, but did you have a favorite new collection or beauty product this week? I think I’m gonna go with Pacifica’s Malibu Lemon Blossom Body Butter. Mmm…

Bright Lights, Sheer Lippies: Two New Gloss Fluo de Chanel Lipglosses for Summer 2010

“I usually covet punchy, pigmented glosses, but these leave a lighter kiss of pretty color instead (unflavored, no scent). While the color may be easy to miss, the price is hard to ignore. ”

The Dolce and Gabbana Brush Collection

“With prices starting near $30, the five-pieces in the brush set for eyes, face and lips are clearly for lovers of luxury, but I think they look the part with that gold lettering on those matte black handles. Sure do look lush!”

One Easy Way to Rock MAC Art Supplies

“Inspiration for the winged purple liner goes to ’80s hair metal band Motley Crue. I was listening to them on iTunes when it came to me. Here I’m wearing a toned-down version of the wing for daytime wear, but you could always ramp it up for evenings with a thicker line and a bigger flick.”

Pacifica Totally Makes Scents: Take Malibu Lemon Blossom Body Wash and Body Butter, For Example

“Packed with moisturizing shea and mango butters, aloe vera gel, and sweet almond oil, this body butter has SERIOUS game. It’s thick, rich, and a little bit goes a long, long way. It keeps my driest parts smooth and ash-free all day long (I’d say a full 24 hours), and I love that it doesn’t leave a greasy film on my skin.”

Thar She Blows! Getting Blown at the Blo Bar, SF

“Okay, so the name’s kinda cheesy/pervy, but don’t let that scare you away. I got blown at the Blo Bar in San Francisco yesterday, and I can’t wait to go back. It’s completely legit and involves two of my favorite things: efficiency and fabulous hair.”

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How’s it going out there? What have you guys been up to this weekend? Something fun I hope. Tabs, El Hub and I are just chugging along and enjoying the arrival of spring, finally! We’re such weather lightweights out here, LOL! I feel terrible for the folks on the East Coast still digging themselves out from under all that snow. Damn, I hope spring treats them well because this of all years they deserve it.

Before I post the open thread today I’m spending some time practicing with my cameras. You’d be amazed to know how much time I spend on photography. It’s like my life is a quest to figure out how to take the perfect picture. Straight up, photography is NOT easy, and there is no magic bullet, no magic number of megapixels that suddenly produces a great shot, but if I were forced to choose between 1) the best DSLR on the market with a $2,000 pro lens in bad lighting or 2) a $70 Canon PowerShot point-n-shoot camera outdoors on a sunny day — hands down, I’d go with the cheap camera with good lighting every time.

Anywho, we made it through another week together. 🙂 MAC Art Supplies sure looks pretty. Can’t wait to take a closer look at the collection over the next few days…

What was your favorite new collection or product of the week? Do you have one? That’s a tough one, but I’ll go with Illamasqua’s Pastel Nails. I think that yellow’s just divine.

A Little Bit of Rock N’ Roll with MAC Art Supplies

“Fittingly, the first song on my iPod’s workout playlist today was Motley Crue’s Home Sweet Home, and it FIRED ME UP! — so much so that I felt like rock n’ rolling into some pink and purple makeup for my face of the day…”

More Summery Colors and Shimmery Fun from Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess

“With highly saturated purples, bronzes, teals and gold, Estee Lauder’s Bronze Goddess summer collection salutes makeup mavens who love intense, rich color by thoroughly bringing on the bling.”

I’m Dreaming of Dolce and Gabbana Midnight Bloom

“I had a dream once where I was wandering through a beautiful tropical garden at night … Dolce & Gabbana’s Midnight Bloom summer makeup collection would have fit right in.”

Blues and Greens with MAC Art Supplies and MAC Trip

“Because a little color always helps, I reached for the MAC Trip Cool Eyes Palette and a few things from MAC Art Supplies, as well as Benefit’s permanent collection and a Lancome mascara. In a little while I was feeling 100% better and kinda like this…”

Vetting MAC Art Supplies Pro Longwear Lipstain Markers

“Here are seven of the nine colors. I’m curious to hear what you think. I like how rich the reds and browns are, but I think a lot of ’em look alike on my lips, maybe due to my pigmented pucker.”

Branch Out This Spring With Sonia Kashuk’s Bamboo Brushes

“New for spring, Sonia crafted these limited-edition eye, face and cheek brushes from eco-friendly bamboo, cork and a mix of natural and synthetic fibers. There’s something kind of branch-y and natural about them, like, if the Swiss Family Robinson wanted to make elegant makeup brushes, these are what they’d look like, ha!”

I’m Sweet on Illamasqua Pastel Nails

“Memories of Easter mornings flooded back today when I swatched two of the four colors from Illamasqua’s Pastel Nails collection for spring. The colors have been available through illamasqua.com for a while, but they arrive at US Sephora stores this May ($14 each).”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

How’s your weekend coming along? I woke up a little later than usual (thank ye gods for eight full hours of shuteye!!), and I’m just sitting here in my jammies, sipping green tea and catching up on your comments. 🙂

Yesterday’s jaunt in San Francisco was fun. I wanted to take some pictures, so I dragged my camera (and El Hub) around the city. I love wandering through SF streets and exploring new places… it’s one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Speaking of exploring, here are some of my favorite posts of the week. I’ve been having a blast with FOTDs this month. If you ever do FOTD’s of your own, please feel free to post links to them in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.

Also, I’m thinking about holding contests with makeup challenges where we all submit versions of different looks to win a prize (yes, definitely open to international readers too). Let me know if that’s something you might be interested in! I think it could be a lot of fun.

A Glittery Green and Gold St. Patrick’s Day Look with Milani and MAC

“On the agenda for tomorrow night: a pub that serves green beer, and since I want to look the part, this morning I worked on my St. Patrick’s Day green and gold eye look using MAC and a mix of new drugstore stuff from Milani.”

A Sunset-Inspired Face of the Day with MAC, Urban Decay and Benefit

“What better inspiration than a beautiful sunset, right? I picked shimmery, peachy golden eyes and a pink lip with some random MAC, Urban Decay and Benefit.”

Are Milani’s Infinite Liquid Eye Liners Drugstore Duping MAC?

“Their five new Infinite Liquid Eye Liners fluid liners have a lot in common with the MAC Liquidlasts (similar thin texture, brush applicator and rich pigmentation), but one way they REALLY differ is price.”

Get a Dior-able Crushed Glow for Summer

“Dior maintained a classic feel with Crush Glow by going with five traditional summer eyeshadow colors in gold, coral, pink, taupe and bronze-brown. No color boundaries are broken here, for sure, but I’m cool with that because of how wearable these neutrals are…”

Urban Decay Eden Eyeshadow Primer Potion

“I really like Eden; I think it does a great job of getting the eyeshadows to stay on and hang on all day long, and it’s really user friendly, much more user friendly than the original Primer Potion.”

Honey, Lancome’s Juicy Tubes Are Turning 10!

“Lancome revamped the Juicy Tube formula, making Hungarian honey the main ingredient (WOW!). They also left out all of the preservatives and opted for naturally-derived hydrators and pigments like royal jelly, shea butter and annatto.”

Let MAC Art Supply the Makeup for Your Next Trip

“Arriving April 1, the 24-piece bonanza bursts with great-looking on-the-go goodies in pencil and pen form. MAC had self-portraiture in mind when they envisioned the collection, a theme I can really get behind. Aren’t our faces, after all, the canvases upon which we express our own makeup art? Duuuude, that’s kinda poetic, methinks.”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen