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Archives for April 2008

A Makeup and Beauty Break in San Francisco

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makeup and beauty blog union square san francisco heart
Happy Friday, ya’ll! We made it! At this very moment I’m heading out the door for a short trip into San Francisco. I’m bound for Union Square to have lunch with a friend and to do some much-needed shopping. My need for new pants has reached code red status; if I don’t get a new pair of khakis and some lightweight jeans ASAP, my bum will riot! I’ve been falling out of every pair of pants I own, and that is NOT CUTE.

I need your help! I plan to swing by a few makeup counters today. If you have any urgent makeup recommendations for me, lemme know in the comments. With my trusty Crackberry/Blackberry, I’ll get your suggestions in milliseconds. Dang, don’t you love living in the digital age? I sure do, most of the time. Pony Express would so not cut it.

Check in later today for a review of Shu Uemura’s UV Under Base and whatever other gems I discover in the city.

Hope you’re having a great day so far!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Counts Down to the Sex and the City Movie Release

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Makeup and Beauty Blog SATC Poll-final1

Bust out your Manolos, ladies, because the countdown is on! As of today, there are only 49 days until the May 30 release of the Sex and the City movie. I am a die-hard fan of the show, and when the last season aired a few years ago I almost felt like I’d lost a fabulous group of girlfriends.

makeup and Beauty Blog SATC Poll-final2

I know that many of you love the show as much as I do. It’s fun to think about which character you identify with the most. My friends C-Lo and J-Money identify with Miranda. While I’ll always have a beef with her choices concerning Mr. Big, Carrie cracks me up. I like to think of myself as a Carrie. I, too, am a shoe geek and writer … and I dig her quirky taste in clothes.

How about you? Which character from the show do you most identify with?

The movie opens on a Friday, so I’m planning to hit the first show. Fridays are my days off! You best believe I intend to wear my four-inch heels to the theater at 11am![Continue reading…]

Clinique Long Last Glosswear SPF 15: Pretty New Shades, Long-Lasting Lip Protection

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Clinique long last glosswear spf 15 1

“Ohhhh, so purty!” I said when I first laid eyes on Long Last Glosswear SPF 15 ($14), Clinique’s latest lipgloss offering. “They’ve got SPF 15? I’ll take ’em all!”

I fall victim to any beautiful lipgloss colors with combined SPF protection. Check out these little lovelies:
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9 Things I Wish I Didn’t Know

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makeup and beauty blog tabby got back
Driving home from the gym tonight I heard the song Baby Got Back on the radio, the 1992 smash hit by celebrated lyricist Sir Mix-a-Lot (LOL). I cannot stand that song, but for reasons unknown I am able to recite every single word of it. As soon as that intro starts I am compelled to sing: “I like big butts and I cannot lie! Those other brothers can’t deny!”

After subjecting El Hub to my questionable rapping skillz in the car I thought to myself, “Dang, I wish I didn’t know the words to Baby Got Back.” And so this list was born…

9 Things I Wish I Didn’t Know

  1. How hurtful people can be.

  2. The crunchy sound that a brand new Honda Civic makes when it hits a Brady Bunch-esque station wagon at an intersection in Vallejo, California.

  3. Writer’s block.

  4. How heartbreak feels.

  5. The names of all the characters in Family Guy. Both El Hub and my brother love the show and subject me to it often and against my will.

  6. The previous winners of Flavor of Love: Hoopz (Season 1) and Deelishish (Season 2). Give it up, Flav! You’re never going to find love on VH1, and all those hours spent watching your show take up valuable space in my brain that I could’ve filled with useful knowledge about rocket science and sea turtles.

  7. How it feels to doubt myself.

  8. The nausea that occurs while one is eating an apple and suddenly realizes there’s a live, green, wiggly worm inside it.

  9. How mortifying it is for a little sixth grade girl (we’ll call her Karen) to pass gas in a room full of sixth graders. Three words, ladies: scarred for life.

How about you? Do you have a list of things you wish you didn’t know? Leave them in the comments, or send them to me in an email if they’re too personal for the blog.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Lip Look: Crushing on Three Custom Colors Papaya Crush!

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three custom color specialists papaya crush lipgloss wand
three custom color specialists papaya crush lipgloss wand product shot

“How did you know, ’cause I never told. You found out, I’ve got a crush on you.”

–The Jets, Crush on You

From the second I awoke on this gloomy, overcast morning, the song Crush on You (by The Jets) was stuck in my head. “What did it mean?” I wondered.

Low and behold, after applying my face and eye makeup, what was the first lipgloss to catch my eye? — Three Custom Colors Papaya Crush ($18.50), a sheer, coral-red liploss with just a touch of gold shimmer. Crush indeed.

Papaya Crush is less pigmented than Three Custom Colors’ Dahlia but shares the same thin texture.

In the picture above I’m wearing two coats, which was just enough to achieve a subtle pop of coral color without going over-the-top. If you’re color shy but have been wanting to try a cute coral lipgloss, Papaya Crush should be a good way to get your feet (lips?) wet.
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L’Oreal Cosmetics Fun Facts

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When you think of L’Oreal, do visions of candy bars dance through your head? Don’t be alarmed if they do. As a matter of fact, after this post, you may never again be able to look at a tube of Voluminous Mascara without picturing a Nestle Crunch bar.

Swiss food giant Nestle owns a 28 percent stake in L’Oreal. Today Nestle, which owns bits and pieces of dozens of different companies, sold an $11 billion chunk of contact lens maker Alcon. What does this have to do with L’Oreal? Well, rumor has it that Nestle intends to use the proceeds from the Alcon sale to stage a full takeover of L’Oreal. Yes, Nestle is sweet on makeup.

This afternoon, in the pursuit of “makeup knowledge,” your girl 1) ate a Nestle Crunch bar and 2) uncovered a few fun facts about L’Oreal.

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Did you know…

  • L’Oreal’s largest single shareholder is 85-year-old French heiress Lilian Bettencourt, daughter of L’Oreal’s founder. Worth an estimated $22 billion, Bettencourt is also the world’s richest woman.

  • Swiss food company Nestle owns 1/4 of the company.

  • L’Oreal is the world’s largest cosmetics company.

  • L’Oreal is also the top nanotechnology patent-holder in the United States.

  • L’Oreal was founded in 1907 by Eugene Schueller, a young French chemist who developed an innovative hair-color formula. He named his improved hair dye Auréole. With that, the history of L’Oreal began.

  • L’Oreal employs 50,500 people (only 24 percent work in France) in over 130 countries.

  • Spokespeople for L’Oreal have included Aishwarya Rai, Matthew Fox, Ben Affleck and the Spice Girls.

  • L’Oreal consists of over a dozen global brands split into five groups: consumer products, professional products, luxury products, active cosmetics and The Body Shop.

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Bobbi Brown Quick Face Collection: Long-Wear Cream Shadow Swatches

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bobbi brown cosmetics quick face long wear cream shadow final final
For most of us, Monday means having to go back to work (drat!), but it doesn’t also have to mean forsaking cute makeup. Take a gander at the Long-Wear Cream Shadows from Quick Face, Bobbi Brown’s (le queen of the neutral makeup) latest collection. What do ya think?

Matte and shimmerless, these bad boys apply easily by finger or brush (I used the MAC 252). I felt they did an admirable job adding subtle definition to my eyes. Wear each color by itself or beneath layers of other powdered shadows.

There are five colors in the collection:

  • Cement – grey beige
  • Malted – mocha beige
  • Navajo – creamy pinkish white
  • Slate – medium grey
  • Stone – beige brown

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Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean Breeze Perfume: Fresh, Citrus and Floral

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Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean Breeze

Spring Fragrance Quest continues this weekend with Elizabeth Arden’s new Mediterranean Breeze perfume.

I spent most of last night with my nose buried in my forearm, breathing in its fresh, citrusy, floral scent. I was watching Wesley Snipes slay vampires in the cinematic masterpiece that is Blade II (LOL), periodically sniffing my arm like a crazy person. Seriously, this stuff is fragrance ecstasy and made me lose control of my vocal chords a few times, causing me to scream at the TV: “Oh gawd!” “It’s just too good!” “Soo frickin’ good!” etc., etc.

Mediterranean Breeze is a lighter, more citrusy followup to Elizabeth Arden’s original Mediterranean perfume and evokes a similar beach-y, vacation-in-a-bottle feeling. The scent opens with a burst of white nectarine, bergamot and grapefruit. Then come the floral notes: Corsican violet, wild jasmine petals and sweet almond flower. Finally, it dries down to warmer cedarwood, sandalwood and musk.

The citrus here really takes Mediterranean Breeze to the next level. In general, I’m not the biggest fan of sweet fruit fragrances, but the bergamot and grapefruit add sophistication to Mediterranean Breeze. They’re citrusy, but not overly sweet.

Something about the fragrance reminds me of fresh, clean water (similar to Aqua di Gio Women and Cool Water Woman), like I’m sipping lemonade on the verandah of a fabulous Spanish villa overlooking the sea.

MBB field trip! (I wish!)
elizabeth Arden
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