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Archives for October 2008

Halloween for Beauty Addicts: Choose Your Makeup Treat

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How cool would it be if we went trick or treating but got makeup instead of candy? Out of some of these recent collections, which makeup treat would you choose?

Which makeup treat would you choose?

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10 Recent Makeup Collections

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Palettes and Sets
Lancome’s C’est Magnifique Holiday Color Collection
Estee Lauder’s Vintage Jewels Holiday Color Collection
MAC Red She Said
MAC Manish Arora
Shu Uemura Mika Collection
Chanel Holiday 2008
Benefit Holiday 2008
Smashbox Rapture Holiday 2008
Nars Holiday 2008

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Philosophy’s The Haunted House Shower Gels Are Scary Good!

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True confession: when I visit other people’s homes I peek inside their showers to see what shampoos and body washes they use.

Of course, if someone were to peek into my shower, they’d probably think I have shower gel ADD. It’s jam packed with products, like the shampoo aisle at Rite Aid, LOL! I’ve covered every single square inch of usable surface area. It drives El Hub crazy. I listen when he’s in there and hear thud after thud as bottles and jars fall from the shower ledge and into the tub, followed almost immediately by something like “Damnit!” or “Argh!” or “Karen!”

Well, this week the ledge inside my shower has also been home to Philosophy’s The Haunted House ($30) shower gel set.

It comes with three 6-oz. bottles of Halloween-inspired scented shower gels. Each doubles as a shampoo or bubble bath, and all three come in a cute lil’ haunted house box.

  • Pumpkin Spice Muffin smells just like homemade pumpkin muffins (with plenty of brown sugar and cinnamon!) baking in the oven.

  • Caramel Apple has a sweeter scent, like caramel, with just a hint of crisp juicy Granny Smith Apple.

  • Black Licorice reminds me of the licorice plants that grew all over my neighborhood in the East Bay. I have great memories of the smell but don’t really like the taste of licorice, so this was my least favorite of the three.

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Get Smudgy with Stila Kajal Eye Liners

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Mirror, mirror on the wall, which eye liner’s the smoothest of all?

Stila’s Kajal Eye Liner ($18) lays smooth smack down on pencil liners that tug and skip along lash lines. Available in eight shades, it literally glides across the skin, creating solid, intensely colored lines — no muss, no fuss.

Available in 8 Shades

I tried two of them, Emerald and Amethyst. Both performed admirably when used on my upper and lower lash lines, creating both soft and sharp lines with a single swipe. The tip texture feels unusually soft and creamy, and it was a cinch to smudge out lines for smokey looks.

Similar to MAC Kohl in Smolder

Smudginess — is that even a word? I don’t know if it is, but either way I think it accurately describes the texture and feel of this formula. Kajal reminds me of MAC Kohl Eye Liner in Smolder, a pencil I often use in my smokey eye looks.

The MAC Kohls cost a few dollars less ($14.50 vs. $18) and come in a wider selection of colors (15 vs. 8), but I think Stila Kajals perform just slightly better. Both brands have enough muscle to last the day and deliver seriously intense color, but the Kajals are just a wee bit easier to apply and to smudge. Now, do they perform 24% better than the Kohls? — because that’s the difference in price. Of that, I’m not so sure.
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L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes: BHA Me

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I think there’s something therapeutic about watching bad reality TV from the couch while I remove my makeup with a cleansing wipe. Last night I grabbed L’Oreal’s new Skin Genesis Micro-Smoothing Wet Cleansing Towelettes, which I’ve been itching to try for a while, and wiped away my makeup (and my cares) while LC, Spencer, Heidi, Audrina and Justin-Bobby (that dumb ass) battled it out on The Hills.

Why I love BHA Products

L’Oreals Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes are the first wipes I’ve used that contain BHA, or beta hydroxy acid (aka salicylic acid). I have mild adult acne, and past BHA products have helped relieve my acne without drying out my skin. I seem to respond well to BHAs, so I was looking forward to putting Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes to the test.

BHAs are widely reported to decrease the appearance of wrinkles, roughness and mottled pigmentation caused by sun-damage. Dermatologists often recommend BHAs over AHAs because they’re generally less irritating, but here’s a previous post with more detailed information on BHAs and AHAs.

What Sets These Towelettes Apart?

I gotta say… these are the softest wipes I’ve ever used. The embossed fabric looks fluffier and feels much softer against the skin than MAC Wipes do. Plus, they give a little, like cotton, and have a pleasant (albeit intense) honeysuckle/rose fragrance, which I like.
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Prescriptives LipShine: Lipstick Coverage with Lipgloss Shine

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Prescriptives gave me deja vu today. I was playing with a couple of the colors from their new LipShine lipstick collection ($17.50 each) and realized I’d seen this movie before.

The lipgloss-in-lipstick’s clothing thing — the easy application of a lipstick with the high shine of a lipgloss — has been done before, even a couple times earlier this year. MAC, with their Slimshines ($14.50), and Avon, with their Glazewear ($8), both released lipgloss-lipstick hybrids in 2008.

Which makes sense, right? What’s not to like about getting the best of both worlds?

What Sets Prescriptives LipShines Apart?

Prescriptives may cost a little more than either the MAC Slimshines or Avon’s Glazewear, and the LipShines come in fewer colors (12, versus Avon’s 15 and MAC’s 24), but they deliver a lusciously thick formula more moisturizing than the hybrids by Avon and MAC. All three offer plenty of shine and non-stick, sheer-to-medium coverage that lasts an average of three hours, but the LipShines outshine the others when it comes to moisture, and that’s no small thing.

12 Prescriptives LipShine Shades

  • Vanilla Latte: golden nude with pink shimmer
  • Mocha Chill: warm caramel brown
  • Iced Coffee: tawny nude with shimmer
  • Sunkissed: tawny reddish brown with shimmer
  • Bellini Fizz: coral with golden pearl
  • Strawberry Twist: rose with bronze pearl
  • Pink Smoothie: pop pink with shimmer
  • Raspberry Ice: berry pink with shimmer
  • Passionfruit: coral with pink golden shimmer
  • Black Cherry: deep plum burgundy
  • Pinkberry: soft rose
  • Boysenberry: plum with golden shimmer

See them here…

Both of the two shades I tested, Strawberry Twist and Boysenberry, have lots of shine and very subtle, pretty shimmer.

Strawberry Twist


Boysenberry



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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, October 13

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  1. Mood:

    2. Cheerful 🙂

  2. Breakfast:

    3. Coffee and strawberry frosted Pop Tarts

  3. Fragrance:

    4. Lancome Miracle Forever

  4. Eye makeup:

    5. I’m still in my jammies, but I’m thinking about Mineral eyeshadow from the MAC Emanuel Ungaro collection.

  5. Momentary makeup issue:

    6. Dark circles, blah! I suppose if I look on the bright side, they give me an excuse to use products like the Pixi Neutralizing Palette and Clarins Instant Light Perfecting Touch.

  6. Eyebrow status:

    7. They aren’t always well behaved, but they’re being reasonable this morning. I pluck a bit each day to keep them under control.

  7. Last movie I watched:

    8. The first half of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor. WOW, that man was handsome!

  8. Latest makeup or beauty find:

    9. Clarins Instant Smooth Foundation.

  9. Shoe crush:

    10. These boots by Seychelles Footwear. I really like them in Clay.

  10. Goals for the week:

    11. Think about going back to school for journalism, get Tabs a Halloween costume, find eye palettes to bring to Florida for Jen’s wedding next month, get in as much outside jogging as possible before it’s too cold and refrain from shoveling large amounts of brie down my gullet.

Your turn. Just copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
Breakfast:
Fragrance:
Eye makeup:
Momentary makeup issue:
Eyebrow status:
Last movie I watched:
Latest makeup or beauty find:
Shoe crush:
Goals for the week:

*Dundadun!*

Do you hear that, ladies? It’s the sound of trumpets heralding our arrival! Together, not even the dreaded Monday can stand in our way.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Halloween Looks: What Not to Wear to Work Tomorrow

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Candy, carved pumpkins, ghouls and ghost stories — an excuse to dress like freaks!

I love Halloween… 🙂

I’m stocking up on those huge bags of Snickers mini candy bars from Rite Aid and Safeway. I buy them every year, allegedly for the trick-or-treaters, but chocolate alone can’t satisfy my dark heart this All Hallows Eve. Nope, for that I need MAC’s annual Halloween face charts!

MAC’s artists really push themselves creatively with these looks. I’m building up the courage to try a couple of them myself this year using the instructions on the MAC website.

MAC 2008 for Halloween

  • Amphibian: A cool blue water nymph.
  • Colour Spill: Abstract color placed against white makeup makes this face like something straight out of a painting.
  • Tronika: This robotic look brings out your inner Terminator. Loving this!
  • She’s a Doll: A precious doll that would go great with curled hair and bows.
  • Midnight Bloom: A pretty, lush floral look.
  • Tribal: Reminds me of tribal masks.
  • Woody: Whee! A naughty wood sprite!
  • Skullmeister: A scary face straight out of MJ’s Thriller video.
  • Play the Fool: A playful court jester.
  • Space Diva: A creepy alien queen.

Wouldn’t it be cool to wear one of these looks for Halloween? My favorites are Tronica, Midnight Bloom and Woody. That Woody look is hawt!

Which MAC Halloween look do you like best?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Oct. 12

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Tabs got a new iPod last week and loaded it up with some of his favorite tunes. He’s a big fan of the Beastie Boys (the early years).

He says hi. 🙂

It’s sunny here today, and now that I’ve finished this post I’m gonna go for a run before lunch. Hope you’re having a good one, and enjoy this week’s Sundays with Tabs.


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