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Archives for October 2008

MAC Blue Zone Face of the Day

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You know how Picasso went through his blue phase? Well, for my look today I thought I’d follow Pablo’s lead.

Once I made up my mind about blue, I cleared space on the bathroom sink and set out some products from the recent MAC Suite Array collection.

I hate having a lot of errands and household chores to do over the weekend, but sometimes that’s just how it goes. I did this blue and purple eye while I whined my way through five loads of laundry.

  1. I started the look by priming my lids with Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer to give the shadows extra staying power.
  2. Next, I applied MAC Rave Pearlglide Eye Liner onto the lid.
  3. I swept the dark shade from the MAC Blue Zone eye duo directly on top of the liner with a Sonia Kashuk Large Eye Shadow Brush.
  4. With the tip of my ring finger moving in a circular motion, I rubbed in the pan of the light shade from the MAC Blue Zone eye duo. I patted the finger onto the center of each lid to deposit the color.
  5. Then, I lined both my upper and lower water lines with MAC Black Russian Pearlglide liner. Thanks to readers Tricia and Vero for bringing to my attention that MAC’s Pearlglide liners aren’t approved for use on the water line. It’s best to skip the Pearlglide in this step and use something like MAC Technakohl liner instead. Thanks, Tricia and Vero!

To finish the eyes, I curled my lashes and added two coats of Tarte 4 Day Lash Stain mascara (I’m going to review this soon).

I kept the cheeks light with Clinique Fresh Bloom Allover Color in Almond Blossom and topped off the look with a soft pink lip using MAC Modesty Creamsheen Lipstick and Stila Grapefruit Lip Glaze gloss.

How was your day? Did you do anything fun? The highlight of my day was the brief hour I went out for lunch with El Hub. We had Puerto Rican at Sol Food in San Rafael. It’s one of my favorite places up here and really hits the spot when you’re in the mood for home cookin’ (and carbs!).

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Clarins Blog Treasure Hunt: Find the Post [WIN A PRIZE]

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UPDATE: We have a winner! Connie, you were the first person to submit the correct answer, which was Random Acts of Beauty: Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. Congratulations!

Clarins Blog Treasure Hunt

Happy Saturday, ladies! Or, I should say, “Shiver me timbers, arrr!” I have pirates on my mind — don’t ask me why — and wanted to try something new.

Tabs hid pirate beauty booty somewhere in the archives and dares you to find it. Enter the blog archives treasure hunt by finding the picture of pirate Tabs hidden within a post. Keep reading for a clue…

The Prize

The winner receives two of my favorite Clarins products: the Clarins So Sublime Quartet and Clarins Wonder Mint Waterproof Mascara; a $63 value.


How to Enter

Look through the blog archives to find the hidden picture of pirate Tabs (just like the one above). When you find it, send me an email (karen_at_www.makeupandbeautyblog.com) with the name of the post. The first person to email the correct answer wins.

Use every tool at your disposal, intrepid treasure hunter! — the blog search box, Google, the monthly archives links in the right sidebar or the navigation links above and below each post. Good luck!

Here’s your clue…

When yer tummy’s achin’,
and yer fur’s a’ flakin’,
quit yer fakin’, Pirate Tabs.

Head on down,
where deals abound,
and grab a tasty treat.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict, 🙂

Karen

P.S. Comments are turned off for this post.

Cute Hats 40-80% off at Gap

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At the mall this afternoon I wandered into the Gap. Not surprisingly, there were signs posted all over the place announcing various sales. Doesn’t it seem like there are always sales at the Gap?

I did find a couple great deals, though. This plaid belted bucket hat, originally $16, was marked down to a mere three dolla dolla bills, ya’ll!

Or how ’bout this tan conductor’s hat? — on sale for $9 (originally $16).

Look at that chocolate brown and pink polka dot liner. Mmmm…

The $3 bucket hat came home with me… 🙂

I checked the Gap website when I got home and noticed a bunch of heavily marked down women’s clothes and accessories here and here. The hats are there, too, but the prices vary. The conductor hat that I saw in-store for $9 is only $4 online.

Hope your weekend gets off to a good start. No big plans for me. Tonight, I’m just chilling at home with El Hub and Tabs, getting ready to watch a little TV. Stargate Atlantis, anyone?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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Lippmann Collection Nail Colors, Holiday 2008

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e=mc squared, yo! All the numbers I crunched at work earlier this week nearly drove me insane. I’ve been seeing Microsoft Excel workbooks in my sleep and need something to take my mind off of all these spreadsheets and formulas.

I know! — I’ll paint my nails. 🙂

Take a gander at the new Lippmann Collection Holiday 2008 colors ($15 each). The four new full-size shades are available online and at Nordstrom stores nationwide.

  1. Icing on the Cake: Pale pink frost
  2. Maneater: Deep chocolate brown cream
  3. Holiday: Candy apple red with fine red and magenta shimmer (limited edition)
  4. Superstar: Brown with copper glitter (limited edition)

The last shade I used to paint my nails was a little on the dark side (Sally Hansen’s The Good Earth, a shimmery chocolate brown), so I’m leaning toward something lighter this time, like Icing on the Cake.

Or maybe Superstar… Those coppery glitter flecks are tempting.

Which Lippmann holiday shade do you like best?

View Results

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Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara: Super Size Me!

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Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara ($7) lured me with its bold claim to boost lash volume by 400%.

400%!

I expected some beasty Snuffleupagus lashes and drooled all over myself daydreaming about ’em.

Super Size Me

According to the product marketing (when is that not a red flag?), Neutrogena’s patent-pending formula contains a touch of olive oil to penetrate and plump each lash core. When used with the included uber brush, the company claims it takes lashes from normal to super-sized.

Exaggerate Much?

I was achin’ for some of that 400%, let me tell you, so I applied three layers of Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara and pulled out my measuring tape, LOL!
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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, October 9

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The Coolest Sticky Notes, Ever

  • If I don’t write stuff down then I don’t remember, so I’ve got Post-It/sticky notes all over the place. These cheeky sticky notes from Knock Knock can keep my boring, yellow Post-Its company. My faves are the You Rock and Or Else pads.

Name that Makeup Compact

  • I live in the ‘burbs now, but I’m a city girl at heart. Last night I spent a good half an hour cruising through photographer Amin Torres’ photo blog featuring pics depicting everyday life in New York City. I couldn’t help but stop at this shot of a woman applying mascara on the subway (been there, done that). Can you guess what compact she’s holding? — ’cause I’m stumped.

Do You Really Need That Extra Oxygen?

Sex and the City: The Font

  • I’m a total font geek, so my eyes lit up when I found this neat slideshow on BBC News featuring fonts from famous movie posters. The Sex and the City movie posters use a font called Trajan, Franklin Gothic was featured in the poster for Dark Knight and Neutraface is the font gracing the new James Bond movie posters for Quantum of Solace. Now I’m soOOoo ready for final Jeopardy’s Font Geek category!

Merging Beauty and Science

  • The New York Times reports that a new “beautification engine” computer program uses a mathematical formula to virtualize more attractive versions of human faces. The Times ran pics of several people’s faces through this “beautification engine.” Can I just say I was not surprised to find that actor James Defranco’s cutie pie mug remained virtually unchanged? Hit me up, James!

125 Foods to Help You Not Look Like a Sausage in Your Bridesmaid Dress

  • I gotta squeeze into a bridesmaid dress for my friend Jen’s wedding next month. Needless to say, my eating habits haven’t been great (chocolate cake, anyone?) lately. I’ve been busy and just shove whatever I can find into my gullet. I have to get back on track, and to help me on my way I’m using this handy dandy article featuring 125 of the best Packaged Foods by Women’s Health magazine. It includes printable lists of healthy drinks, breads and soups to look for at the grocery store. Now I have one less excuse to head to In-n-Out for dinner.

Work that Cape(let)

  • I’ll use any excuse to wear a cape in public. Here’s a really cute knitted capelet I found on Esty. I’d wear this over a white turtleneck in winter or a tank top in the spring.

Hey, ya’ll! Happy, happy, Thursday! I feel genuinely, certifiably NUTS because I woke up at 5:30 this morning. Hello, fourth cup of coffee. 🙂 Anyway, I’m about to put on some makeup… yay! It’s looking like a Beiges de Chanel quad kinda day. What makeup did you reach for this morning?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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A Copper, Tan and Blue Eye with Cargo Color Palette in Vienna

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Hi, girlies! Today was one of those days where things were just non-stop craziness at work. I was training a new hire and trying to do 20 other things at the same time — not the best conditions to be training someone in — and everything had to be done like five minutes ago. I’m really glad to be home. 🙂

Before I kick back with my veggie burrito in front of the Tivo (I haven’t watched Monday night’s Heroes yet; still lovin’ ya, Peter Petrelli!), here’s the look I wore to work today. I knew today would be a rough day and wanted to wear something colorful (while still safe for the office) and upbeat. It’s a shimmery copper and tan eye with blue accents and features a few different holiday and fall products, including the new Cargo Color Palette in Vienna ($28).

One of eight Cargo eye shadow palettes released specifically for Sephora this fall, Vienna contains four huge pans of uber-blendable, shimmery shadow in copper, beige, tan and slate blue.

Step by Step: The Eyes

  1. First, I primed my lids with Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer (makes the shadows last longer).
  2. Next, I applied Vienna’s beige shade on my brow bone with a Sonia Kashuk Large Eye Shadow Brush.
  3. Then, I swept Vienna’s tan shade into the crease with a MAC 217 blending brush.
  4. I patted Vienna’s copper shade onto my lids and just barely into the crease with the same Sonia Kashuk Large Eye Shadow Brush from step 2.
  5. Next, I wet a Sonia Kashuk Angled Eye Shadow Brush with a spritz of MAC Fix+ and swept the wet brush head across the pan of slate blue eye shadow to pick up the color. I applied the wet shadow to my upper lash line, thickening the line as it moved closer to the outer corner of the eye.
  6. With the same Sonia brush, I applied the blue shade again, this time on the lower water line.

To finish the eyes, I curled my lashes and added one coat of Chanel Exceptionnel mascara in Noir.


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Bath and Body Works Shea Cashmere Shower Cream: See Ya Later, Ashy Alligator Skin

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Where my dry skinned girls at??

If your skin is like mine and enters ashy overdrive in fall, you probably need all the moisturizing help you can get. When Mother Nature chills out, and your skin dries out, grab a tube of Bath and Body Works’ new True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere Shower Cream ($15), stat!

New to Bath and Body Works

Part of the new True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere body care line, Shea Cashmere Shower Cream softens and soothes through a combination of moisture-rich shea butter, cashmere extract (think goat hair), and other ingredients. The six-piece collection includes the Shower Cream ($15), as well as a Body Cream ($17.50), Body Lotion ($16.50), Bubble Bath ($18), Hand Cream ($14.50) and Foot Cream ($15).

Weird Consistency but Smells Fab!

The cream’s consistency freaked me out when I first squeezed the tube because it looks just like curdled milk. Eeeew… Good thing it smells better than it looks. In fact, the warm caramel scent reminds me of dulce de leche ice cream.

Immediate Results

Shea Shower Cream forms a very fine foam in the shower rather than lots of big bubbles. It feels kind of like washing your skin with lotion. Immediately after rinsing I felt a difference in the softness of my skin. I toweled off and, after letting my skin dry out for a bit, saw that my skin didn’t look as ashy as before.

Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere Shower Cream

Price: $15
Use: A body shower cream to clean, soften and moisturize skin
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

I’m not abandoning my go-to body wash, Neutrogena Rainbath Shower and Shave, but for the time being Shea Shower Cream rules my shower roost (it’s actually a small ledge above the tub, lol!).

Puppy Love

I’ve been missing Shauna a lot lately. She’s the family’s dog and lives with my folks in the East Bay, so I don’t get to see her very often. I guess that missing her is why I’ve been compelled to snap pictures of every random dog in my ‘hood.

I ran into these two cuties in front of the Safeway across the street as they waited for their person. I love how the one in front looks so serious, like he’s thinking about calculus.

It looks like it’s going to be a crisp and sunny fall day today. I’m going to see if I can squeeze in a quick run before I head to work. Gotta take advantage of the clear weather before it disappears for a while.

Have a fab Wednesday! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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