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Archives for September 2008

Dior Vernis Nail Enamel in Liquorice: Plum Diggity!

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Dior Vernis Nail Enamel in Liquorice without flash

I’d been starting to forget how much I love purple when I remembered Dior Vernice Nail Enamel in Liquorice ($19).

It came out as a Nordstrom exclusive early in the summer. With its deep, rich plum and flecks of shimmery gold, it was everything I look for in a nail polish suitable for all occasions.


Dior Vernis Nail Enamel in Liquorice with flash

Unfortunately, ye mighty makeup gods chose to make it a limited edition, perhaps to toy with our emotions, and it’s already pretty scarce.

Nordies already took it down from their site, but I’ve had some luck finding discontinued limited edition products at Nordstrom by asking counter people to check around for me. If you’re unable to track it down, don’t fret. Try Sally Hansen’s Salon Nail Lacquer in Alchemy ($6) instead. It contains a little less gold (maybe that’s why it costs so much less, lol!) but has a very similar color.

Liquorice is an elegant, dynamic shade with a hint of pimp daddy thrown in for good measure. Depending on the light, the color pivots from a dark eggplant to a warm burgundy-gold. I can totally see myself behind the wheel of an old El Camino painted in Liquorice. Add some chrome rims and I’d be hella ridin’ dirty.

I just got back from a quick run. The leaves are beginning to fall, and pretty soon at this time I’ll be jogging in the dark. Lovely… I’m gonna miss the longer days.

Now I’m eating a brownie and watching the new 90210 on TV for the first time. I’m feeling the urge to paint my toes. 🙂

Whatcha doin’ tonight?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

How To: A Purple Smokey Eye with Stila Convertible Eye Color in Violet

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I hate going to work completely tow’ up, but it seems like I’m always running late. What I need are makeup tools and tips to help me save time when I’m getting ready for work, and I think I found one: Stila Convertible Eye Color ($20).

Part Transformer, part James Bond gadget, it delivers three great tools in one — a twist-up eye pencil, a smudging sponge, and, when you twist the middle of the pen, a coordinating eye shadow.

Stila Convertible Eye Color in Violet made quick work of this smokey purple eye.

The Violet shade’s pencil is a shimmery, dark plum; the coordinating shadow is a shimmery lavender.

Isn’t she cute?

For the eye look pictured up top, I started by applying a thin layer of primer on my lids with Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

I used the eye pencil end of the Stila Convertible pen to draw a thick line on each lid, starting at the outer side of the lash line and working my way inward. I took care to apply as close to the base of the lashes as possible, right along the roots.

To diffuse the color into the crease, I gently rubbed the smudging sponge along the top of the liner, taking care to make the liner darkest near the lash line.


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Clarins Wonder Plum, Where’s the Plum?

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Clarins Wonder Plum stars as the shy Ms. Little Plum in this highly anticipated sequel to the smash hit, The Attack of the Plum Mascaras! On counters now, it’s the latest long, natural lash product release from the people who brought us the rest of the Wonder Length Mascara family.

Okay, enough with the movie hype…
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Sept. 29

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  1. Mood:

    2. Nervous! I have a lot on my plate at work today, and I’m afraid I won’t get everything done.

  2. Outfit:

    3. Since I haven’t gotten ready yet, a tank top and shorts under a terry cloth robe.

  3. Shoes:

    4. None right now, but since it looks like it’s going to be chilly, I think I’ll wear my chocolate brown, knee-high boots.

  4. Lips:

    5. Softlips Lip Protectant in Cherry

  5. Best thing about last weekend:

    6. My friend Jen’s bridal shower.

  6. Nails:

    7. Sally Hansen’s The Good Earth on my toes, but I’m thinking about replacing it with Dior’s Mystic Violine.

  7. Hair product I’m loving:

    8. Bumble & Bumble’s Curl Conscious Holding Foam.

  8. Book I’m reading:

    9. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

  9. Body Lotion:

    10. Stella McCartney Soft Body Milk.

  10. Goals for the week:

    11. Organize my writing desk (NO MORE PROCRASTINATING!), do my laundry, get everything done at work and resist the urge to chop off all of my hair!

Morning, lovelies! It’s time for another Monday Poll. Just copy this empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
Outfit:
Shoes:
Lips:
Best thing about last weekend:
Nails:
Hair product I’m loving:
Book I’m reading:
Body Lotion:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover

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Being called cheap and easy are compliments if you’re a bottle of Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover, $7. It removes all of my eye makeup quicker than you can say “fierce,” and it does it without stinging my pocketbook or my sensitive peepers.

Removes Makeup Without Leaving an Oily Residue

It proved its star budget beauty status last night when I got home from that bridal shower. It was late, and I was completely exhausted. All I wanted to do was crash in bed.

I was tempted to go to sleep without removing my makeup, but I mustered up the energy to give Gentle Eye Make Up Remover a try. I soaked a cotton ball in the unscented, oil-free solution. A few quick swipes later, and my eye makeup was gone. As tired as I was, I figured what the hey and tried it on the rest of my face and lips. It worked just as well there, too, removing everything. It doesn’t even have to be rinsed off with water. My skin felt clean and refreshed, with barely any effort at all. There I’d gone making such a huge deal about having to remove my makeup, grumbling to myself when all I’d wanted to do was crash, but the whole process took less than two minutes.

Removes Waterproof Makeup Too

I did have to bust into the cotton balls a second time to remove my waterproof mascara. Gentle Eye Make Up Remover didn’t struggle a bit with the waterproof liner I was wearing, but it did have some trubs with the waterproof mascara. It may not be as effective on waterproof mascara as oil-based removers like Lancome’s Bi-Facil (but it works well enough in a pinch).

Product: Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover

Price: $7
Use: An inexpensive no-rinse eye makeup remover
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Bridal Shower Hijinks

The bridal shower was a lot of fun. The closest I came to winning a game was 3rd place out of 30 in the “Make a Bridal Gown Out of Toilet Paper” game. Eat your heart out, Vera Wang.

I swear to gawd nothing pervy happened in this picture; it was one of the other games!

Even though the shower was billed as a tea party, there was more than enough fried food to go around. No karaoke, though.

After the shower I paid my parents a visit, and Shauna the dog greeted me with one of her trademark tummy flashes.

I hung out with my folks for a few hours and saw from the full bottles of products in the bathroom that my mom hadn’t used any of the stuff I gave her at the start of the summer.

Maybe she wasn’t using the products I’d gotten because she’d found something she liked even more…

I like the prancing horses on the back of the bottle! And it’s multi-tasking… It works on both your mane AND your tail, LOLOL!

How was your day today? I didn’t do anything, really, just chilled at home.

Hope you had a great Sunday! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. From the lovely ladies of the Splendicity network comes last week’s best in beauty, fashion and shopping blogging.
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Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Sept. 28

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Look out Kate Moss! The phone’s been ringing off the hook with job offers for Tabs. That Dior thing last week put him on the map. He signed with Ford Modeling on Tuesday and spent two days shooting a spread for Shu; then, on Thursday he flew to Paris for Chanel.

He’s been so busy lately… I hope he still has time for me.

Here are pics of his recent work. Click to view the gallery.

Lip Look: Carol’s Daughter Candy Paint Lipgloss

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Afternoon, cuties! I stepped away from my friend Jen’s bridal shower for a minute to say hi. I started this post before I left the house this morning. With WordPress it’s easy to finish blog posts from a mobile phone, which is kinda cool.

Anywho, the gift bags were a big hit. Although it’s a tea party theme, and we’re having different teas and dainty finger sandwiches, the party was organized by Filipinos, which also means fried food and perhaps even some karaoke, LOL! I practiced in my living room this morning with a few Jordin Sparks songs. 🙂

I wanted to share some lip looks with ya. These three cuties pictured above are from the Candy Paint lipgloss line ($13.50 each) by Carol’s Daughter. The company is well known for fragrances, body and hair products. These glosses mark their first foray into cosmetics.

Bronze Goddess: a sheer brown with shimmery gold

Grown and Sexy: A sheer pink with shimmery gold

Hot Mocha: A creamy brown

The shades look darker in the tube than they do once they’ve been applied. The formula reminds me of MAC Lipglasses but is a touch thinner and not quite as sticky. These give off a strong minty fragrance that lasts for a few minutes (it may still be there; could be I just got used to it) and a slight mint flavor. I’m not crazy about the sensory overload, but if you like mint these will be like Christmas candy to you.

The product contains all natural ingredients, notably grapeseed oil, shea butter, aloe vera extract and vitamin E, and the whole recipe adds up to some quality hydration and lip conditioning. Carol’s Daughter managed to do this all without mineral oil, artificial colors and parabens, too.
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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, Sept. 27

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How-To: Hayden Panettiere’s Emmys Look

  • Super heroine Hayden Panettiere rocked a cute, tasteful smokey eye to the 2008 Emmy Awards last week. BellaSugar put together this handy how-to with tips from celeb makeup artist Amy Oresman.

How To Cope With A Quarter-Life Crisis (Part Two)

  • A few years ago I went through a craptacular time in my life, questioning my career and some of the bigger decisions I’d made through that point. When I came across this spec-freakin-tacular post by Gala of galadarling.com, the phrase “quarter-life crisis” cleared up a few things for me. If you’re stumbling through your 20s like I did, read on, soulja!

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick is Phenomenal!

How to Wear: Scarves

  • I lurve scarves! — and with scarf weather quickly approaching, I danced in my chair when I found this short video clip on how to wear scarves at Who What Wear. I want that damn closet too…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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