Archives for April 2008

Bobbi Brown Lip Crayons: Practical Colors for Work

April 6th, 2008 by Karen 34 Comments

bobbi Brown Lip Crayons post 040608

Depending on your line of work, you may not be able to get away with bright colors like MAC Russian Red. The workaday world forces many of us to tone down our look from time to time. Maybe it’s the makeup gods toying with our emotions, but bold, bright colors like MAC Russian Red aren’t always appropriate at the office. So, what do we do when “The Man” forces us to skip the uber-shiny bright reds and glitter that we love so much?

Enter Bobbi Brown. If you need (or prefer) neutral, practical colors, take a look at the limited edition Lip Crayons ($22) from Bobbi Brown’s latest release, the Quick Face Collection. These chunky monkey, semi-matte lipstick pencils are glitter- and shine-free. They’ll do ya right.

Check out these three conservative, work-friendly shades:
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MAC Makeup – MAC Russian Red Lipglass Face of the Day

April 5th, 2008 by Karen 45 Comments

mac cosmetics russian red lipglass fotd 4

Do you ever find yourself obsessed with makeup and style from a certain era? A few years ago I went through a 1940s phase, and I wore this Dita Von Teese inspired look every day for months!

Because MAC Russian Red Lipglass is so va-va-voom, I went with simple, neutral eyes using MAC Ricepaper Eyeshadow, MAC Soba Eyeshadow and fatty black eyeliner, courtesy o’ MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack. I also like this same basic look with cheeks and lips in either plum or pink. Or, if you can pull it off, pale pink cheeks and beige lips look great, too (tres Angelina Jolie).

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Chanel Sublimage Eye Cream: Mad Money Moisturizer

April 4th, 2008 by Karen 24 Comments

Product: Chanel Sublimage Eye Cream
Price: $175 (!) for 0.5 oz jar (!!)
Use: A top-notch eye cream
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B-

I wish I’d known how outrageously expensive Chanel’s Sublimage Eye Cream was before I dipped my paws into the wee sample jar (0.13 oz). For two weeks I’d been gleefully applying it morning and night, impressed by its ability to reduce the appearance of my ever-present dark circles. I was ready to crown it as the stuff of eye cream fantasy when I found out the price.

Brace yourself.

It’s $175! Holy credit card debt, ya’ll!

What a shame, too, because I love this cream. Sublimage moisturizes remarkably well, doesn’t irritate the sensitive skin around my eyes, reduces puffiness and decreases the appearance of my dark circles. Those are the benefits I noticed, but Chanel also claims the cream targets wrinkles, fine lines and helps restore skin’s natural firmness. It’s thick and rich yet absorbs surprisingly well, and I think it smells faintly of vanilla ice cream, yum.

If I were blessed with the power of rhyme (I’m not), I’d write a rap about it and ask Timbaland to make a banging remix that I could dance to all day long. I love this stuff that much. I love it even more than my previous eye cream crush, MAC Moisturelush ($30, 0.5 oz jar), and that’s saying a lot. I feel Chanel’s Sublimage moisturizes as well as (or better than) MAC Moisturelush does but soaks in faster and requires less work to apply.
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MAC Lipglass in Russian Red: A Bold Lip Look

April 4th, 2008 by Karen 32 Comments

mac Cosmetics russian red lipglass

Dang, that’s red…

And sheer?

No, not sheer.

Subtle?

No, not subtle.

Bold, bright and sexy?

Hell, yeah!

There are things in life that every girl should try at least once. Make one of those things MAC Russian Red Lipglass ($14). Nothing says “I kick booty” like entering a room with knock-out red lips does. Russian Red’s blue-based (blue undertones) lipgloss brings your lips to full attention, soldier! To work it well, you’ll also need…

Confidence. Russian Red’s shine and bold color aren’t for the faint of heart. People WILL stare. Revel in the attention!

Lipliner, and a healthy dose of patience to apply. Vivid colors like Russian Red make it easy to spot uneven lipliner and lipgloss application, so take your time. To achieve a crisp, defined red lip, I first line my lips with MAC Red Enriched Cremestick liner, taking special care to balance the left and right sides. With a crisp lip line in place, I slowly apply two coats of Russian Red inside the lines. Why two coats? Because if you’re gonna go red, you may as well go big.

Maintenance. I’ve found that Russian Red requires tender love and care. Wearing it, I have to check on my lips constantly because, seriously, it gets all over the place. One windy day, while wearing Russian Red gloss, some of my hair got stuck in the gloss. I haphazardly pulled free the strands of hair and tucked them behind my ear. I didn’t realize until half an hour later that it had left faint red streaks of gloss on my cheek. Lovely.

Another time, I accidentally dribbled a few drops of coffee down my chin. When I went to clean up with a napkin I momentarily forgot that I was wearing Russian Red. One quick swipe later … yup, crazy clown lips.

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Choose Your Own (MAC Cosmetics) Adventure

April 3rd, 2008 by Karen 31 Comments

The new MAC-pod
I’d buy this in a hot minute if it were real (but it’s not, sigh).

Hey, gals! How ya be? I’m heading out the door for a quick bite to eat. Puerto Rican food, anyone? Hope your day went well.

Viva la carbs!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Tag: Hump Day Games

April 2nd, 2008 by Karen 52 Comments

Every once in a while a fellow beauty blogger will invite me to play a game of blog tag. In blog tag, a blogger is asked a series of fun questions or asked to write something like I Love the 80s!.

When you’re done, you tag another blogger, and it spreads from there (like wildfire!). I don’t always have time to play, but today when my homegirl Christine of Temptalia.com tagged me to play Getting to Know You, I couldn’t resist! Ya’ll know I love to write lists.

Here are my answers, in no particular order…

Things I’m passionate about

Dancing
Surfing
El Hub 🙂
Blogging
Kindness
Cultivating a unique point of view to share with the world
Not being stagnant, and challenging myself to evolve mentally, physically and artistically
Flossing and dental hygiene in general
Bringing out the best in others
Laughter, humor and having fun
Details
Adventure!
Audrey Hepburn’s fashion style in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Music

Things I’d like to do before I die

Be a mum
Interview Madonna
Write a teen fiction book
Skydive one last time (this ought to happen before the becoming a mum thing, I reckon)
Go on a worldwide surf vacation
Drink a pina colada and get caught in the rain
Live in Paris
Be able to bench press with one 45-pound plate on each side of the bar (!)
Grow a watermelon
Eat that watermelon
Send my parents on an awesome vacation
Own a pony

Things I say often

I love you.
What’s up?
I’m feeling all shades of crazy!
Did you brush?
Oh my god, what’s that smell?
Where’s Tabs? (This is in reference to the neighbor’s tabby, whom I’ve named Tabs — alternate spelling: Tabz. He’s also referred to as Tab-money, Tabula rasa and Taboo.)

makeup and beauty blog tag tab money
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Get Long, Dramatic Lashes with Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara

April 2nd, 2008 by Karen 32 Comments

Makeup and Beauty Blog Shu Uemura Precise Volume Mascara 1

I’m the type of girl who doesn’t care for drama, but I’ll take dramatic lashes any day! If you crave long, can’t-miss-me lashes like I do, get thee a tube of Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara ($23)! Using it lately I’ve achieved some of the longest, most defined lashes I’ve seen on myself in a while.

Because Shu bills Precise Volume Mascara as a “volumizer,” I expected thicker, fuller lashes mainly at the base of the lash. Instead, two coats seemed to extend the length of my lashes near the tip.

The results look dramatic to me; I feel like I’m wearing falsies, or like I applied some sort of miracle grow lash formula.
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You Must Choose: Separated at Birth! Mario Lopez and Jay Manuel

April 1st, 2008 by Karen 44 Comments

There’s no shortage of reality TV reruns on the boob tube, and I’m a lil’ ashamed to admit the multi-show marathons always send me into a state of five-hour couch paralysis. The other day, I sat down to watch cycle 8 of America’s Next Top Model for like the fourth time (team Natasha, yo!) when it hit me: Jay Manuel bears a striking resemblance to America’s Best Dance Crew host Mario Lopez (of Saved by the Bell fame).

You know you can’t deny the resemblance.

This got me thinking: which half of this dynamic, separated-at-birth duo would I rather share a cup of coffee with? Jay or Mario?
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