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Archives for November 2008

Bobbi Brown Copper Diamond and Party: Bobbi vs. Bobby

November 4th, 2008 by Karen 30 Comments

If there’s a season to go crazy for shimmery glitter-full makeup, then this has got to be it. Even reserved, conservative lines like Bobbi Brown get in on the action. This month Bobbi debuts two glitzy new collections — Copper Diamond and Party, and both are high on shimmer, glitter and metallic finishes.

I wore glitter to the grocery store yesterday thanks to some shtuff from Bobbi’s two new collections. Hey, life is short, and I really wanted spaghetti and salad for dinner!

But my look wasn’t as crazy as it sounds… Although the four products I used do contain shimmer and glitter, they’re still pretty tame, so I didn’t look out of place as I manhandled butter lettuce heads in the produce section, LOL!

Shimmer Brick Compact in Copper Diamond, ($40, limited edition)

I was stoked to try this all-over highlighter. The pan contains five shimmery shades (candlelight, gold, copper, beige and sand) that literally glow on my skin. Bobbi claims that the combination of colors delivers a warm, golden, coppery glow, but on my cheeks I’d call it a transparent golden shimmer. If you’re lighter than I am, you might see more of the actual color than I do, but what I really get is shimmer — and LOTS of it.

Because the Copper Diamond Shimmer Brick packs so much shimmer, I use it with a light touch… Too much shimmer makes my skin look oily, so that’s my one big concern. For the picture above I brushed a MAC 187 duo fiber brush across the entire pan, picking up the combined color, and applied the mixed shade onto my cheeks. Another option would be to use a smaller eyeshadow brush to grab the shades individually and to maybe use them on the eyes as well. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Bobbi Brown versus Bobby Brown — Battle of the Bobbies

The Bobbi Brown Copper Diamond Shimmer Brick Compact looks a little like gold jewelry to me, and back in the ’90s, singer Bobby Brown had a penchant for wearing gold jewelry on stage. Coincidence? I think not.

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There are 30 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews

What’s Your Favorite Smokey Eye, Cheek and Lip Combo?

November 4th, 2008 by Karen 25 Comments

chanel-winter-nights-fotd-2

Every girl’s gotta have one in her rotation of makeup looks — a go-to smokey eye, cheek and lip combo.

Here’s My Smokey Eye, Cheek and Lip Combo — What’s Yours?

My combo’s quick and easy (you know me), and I wear it to family functions and semi-formal events when I want to look mature and put together. 😉

Eyes: Brown smokey eyes with a touch of dark green
Cheeks: Peach cheeks
Lips: Coral lips

How to get the look:
On my eyes, I’ll use the Chanel Winter Nights quad ($56) and a black pencil (preferably waterproof) like Lancome Le Stylo in Noir ($23). I like MAC Sunbasque blush on my cheeks ($18; can also be used as a bronzer), a lovely gilded peach with pearl (think sun-kissed cheeks!), and the lips take a combination of three products: MAC Sublime Culture Cremestick liner ($14.50), Chanel Zanzibar Aqualumiere Lipstick ($26) and Chanel Glossimer in Gazelle ($26).

What’s your favorite smokey eye, cheek and lip combo?

Eyes: __________
Cheeks:__________
Lips:__________

How to get the look:__________

Share yours in the comments. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 25 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun, Makeup

Prescriptives Aglow Holiday 2008: Glow Forth and Shimmer

November 3rd, 2008 by Karen 18 Comments

This morning I woke up to gloomy, overcast weather and felt like I needed to fight back! I dove straight into three of the new items from Aglow Holiday 2008, the new color collection from Prescriptives: Winter Reflections Cool Eye Color Quad, Winter Reflections All-Over Color and Colorscope Lip Gloss in Twinkling.

Winter Reflections Cool Eye Color Quad ($42, limited edition)


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There are 18 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, November 3

November 3rd, 2008 by Karen 59 Comments

  1. Mood:
  2. Relieved! For once, I’m glad it’s a Monday because it should be a slow week at work.

  3. First song I heard today:
  4. Valerie, by the hot mess known as Amy Winehouse (still lovin’ you, girl… just please go to rehab already!).

  5. Outfit:
  6. Running pants, t-shirt and cold-weather running jacket from Lululemon Athletica. Hopefully the rain clears up enough for me to actually do some running in this ensemble. 🙂

  7. Hair:
  8. Messy ponytail.

  9. Lovin’:
  10. Sleep, modern dental technology and plumbing (seriously, no thank you to outhouses), English muffins with a dash of butter and lots of raspberry jam, file cabinets, NonStopPlay.com, Shu Uemura lash curlers and the Orange Dream Machine from Jamba Juice.

  11. Cheeks:
  12. Prescriptives Winter Reflections All-Over Highlighter.

  13. Lip liner:
  14. Chanel Pretty Pink.

  15. What I’m looking forward to today:
  16. Breakfast (I always wake up *starving*), going for a run, rearranging my workspace, watching Heidi get canned in tonight’s episode of The Hills.

  17. Foundation:
  18. Nothing yet, but later today perhaps Laura Mercier Oil-Free Foundation.

  19. Goals for the week:
  20. To call my parents, to find a strapless bra to wear with my bridesmaids dress, to obliterate the piles of paper on my desk and to stay positive no matter what.

Happy Monday, homie! Let me know you’ve got going on this week. Just copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
First song I heard today:
Outfit:
Hair:
Lovin’:
Cheeks:
Lip liner:
What I’m looking forward to today:
Foundation:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 59 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Blush: The Search for The Next Great Makeup Artist

November 3rd, 2008 by Karen 22 Comments

Fire up yo’ DVR, makeup addicts! On Tuesday, November 11 a new show called Blush: The Search for the Next Great Makeup Artist premiers on Lifetime.

In the show, nine makeup artists will cohabitate (read: drama) and compete for a $100,000 cash prize, a contract to work with Max Factor and the opportunity to do makeup for an In Style photo shoot.


So who is show host Vanessa Marcil?
Vanessa starred from 1998-1999 as Gina on Beverly Hills 90210 and won a daytime Emmy Award in 2003 for her role as Brenda Barrett on the soap opera General Hospital.


It’s safe to assume we’ll see typical reality TV show hijinks/tears/sh*t talking in the show, but what I’m *really* hoping for are scenes showing the artists working their brush techniques.

Do you suppose I’m hoping for too much?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 22 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: News

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Nov. 2

November 2nd, 2008 by Karen 25 Comments

Blast! That rotten cat’s at it again. After meowing up a storm last night he went and disappeared today. Can you help me track him down?

He texted me from his iPhone to say he’s in Vegas at a comic book convention … somewhere in this picture (click here for a larger version).

Hope you had a good weekend, girls. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen (and Tabs)

There are 25 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun Keywords: tabs

Shine on with Stila’s $28 Gift of Glaze Lipgloss Set

November 2nd, 2008 by Karen 31 Comments

With Halloween behind us (shoot!), it’s a straight shot from here to the holidays. For me that spells two things: 1) stretchy pants and 2) cute makeup mini-gift sets at Sephora. 🙂

I’d always wanted to try Stila Lip Glaze lipglosses before but never got around to it. Then, I saw the six colors featured in Stila’s new Shine On Gift of Glaze (special to Sephora, $28).

A regular, full-sized Stila Lip Glaze regularly sells for about $22, but the smaller mini-tubes that come with this six-piece set average out to $4.67 apiece — not a bad deal. Four of the shades are some of Stila’s currently best selling Lip Glaze colors; the other two are newbies, Raisin and Gumdrop.

  • Grapefruit: a shimmery pink
  • Apricot: a shimmery pastel peach
  • Vanilla: a shimmery beige
  • Brown Sugar: a shimmery golden brown
  • Raisin: a shimmery golden plum
  • Gumdrop: a creamy coral pink


Stila Lip Glaze in Grapefruit


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There are 31 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews

October’s 10 Top Posts, and Tabby Cat Trubs

November 2nd, 2008 by Karen 13 Comments

Tabs: Harmless Cat or Hell Spawn?

Yowza, I got off to a late start today… Dark, primeval forces took hold of Tabs last night, turning our cute little tabby cat into some kind of furry hell beast. At around 2am, after El Hub and I had gone to bed, Tabs started meowing at the front door to be let outside, so, El Hub, being the trooper that he is, got up to let him out.

Ten minutes later we hear “Meeeoowwww! MEOW!!! MEEEEoooOOOOOoow!!” at the door. He’s screaming his little tabby brains out to be let back inside, so, El Hub goes and lets him back in.

This cycle of doom went on for a couple hours — cry to go out, then cry to come in — until Tabs finally decided in his little evil way that he’d tortured us enough and stopped. We would have just let him cry himself silly outside, but he’s got a set of Pavarotti pipes on him that would have kept the entire neighborhood awake.

But now, of course, Tabs knows that he can control us with his cries, so he feels empowered, and we’re basically at the mercy of our cute 10-pound cat.

My tired ass sure would appreciate any insights into feline psychology, LOL!

1. Chanel Holiday 2008!

“It looks like nothing can stop the gold fever train that roared through the makeup world earlier this year, and now it’s chugging all the way to the holidays! Remember Chanel’s Gold Fever Collection? Well, Holiday 2008 is here, and — you guessed it! — gold (with touches of red, bronze and beige) still plays a starring role.”

2. 10 Fantastic Smokey Eye Tutorials

“One of my favorite things about makeup is that there’s always room to step up your game. I love to imagine all the tips and tricks that I’ve yet to learn. I’m always looking to get better at doing smokey eyes. I’ve come across hundreds of smokey eye tutorials, and I think these 10 are some of the most helpful ones. I hope you find them useful…”

3. MAC Infatuating Rose: 6 Ways to Wear the 6 Cool Eyes Palette

“I momentarily set aside my issues with the huge bling-bling jewel on the top of the MAC Infatuating Rose: 6 Cool Eyes palette ($38, part of the Passions of Red collection) today. Sure, the packaging is cheesy enough to pair with crackers and wine, but I don’t care because the shadows inside this little cheese log more than make up for it.”

4. MAC Emanuel Ungaro Product Pictures, Swatches and First Impressions

“MAC’s highly anticipated collaboration with designer Emanuel Ungaro arrived on counters nationwide today, and it reminds me of stargazer lilies — like a dreamy watercolor painting, with pops of bright but sheer magenta accenting its palette of soft pastels.”

5. 11 Great Makeup Wipes and Cleansers

“A few days ago I reviewed L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes with BHA. A few of you gals then offered up your fave makeup removing wipes and cleansers in the comments. Here’s a list featuring your recommendations and why you love ’em!”

6. Does L’Oreal Bare Naturale Mascara Thicken, Lengthen AND Separate Lashes?

“Have you seen that commercial for L’Oreal’s new Bare Naturale Mascara ($9) in which Penelope Cruz looks into the camera, bats her eyelashes and then BAM! — they morph into super lashes, all thick, lush and magnificent?”

7. Chanel Les Tissages Blushes: When Shimmer Meets Matte

“Slivers of silver and gold thread through these mixes of matte and shimmer. Inspired by classic Coco tweed, each of the four Les Tissages blushes (also referred to as the Chanel Tweed blushes) look like little works of art set in classic black Chanel compacts.”

8. Add Red to Your Lipstick Repertoire with these 10 Tips

“My secret to wearing reds like Lancome’s Absolute Rouge is to apply them using a MAC 316 Covered Lip Brush ($19). With the 316’s firm, pointed tip I can really get in where I need to get, precisely controlling my lines and delivering the right amount of pigment for my look — kinda like drawing with a sharpened pencil versus trying to draw with a stubby crayon.”

9. Bobbi Brown Holiday 2008 Limited Edition Palettes

“A few years ago, when I worked a 9-to-5 gig in downtown San Francisco, I’d bring my makeup and brushes with me to work and apply makeup in the bathroom on my breaks. I’ve always had issues packing light, even for work, so streamlined I was not. I’d walk around looking like I had a turkey stuffed in my bag. If I could turn back time, I’d totally give myself this palette along with a note that read, ‘Streamline, girl!’”

10. 5 More Smokin’ Smokey Eye Tips

“Ladies, when it comes to smoldering smokey eyes, the secret sauce is in the blending. Dark eye makeup looks best when it’s blended really well, and nothing can steal smokey eye thunder like a patchy makeup job that draws attention away from your eyes and onto your makeup. Lawd knows I’ve rushed through my share of smokey eyes. Regrettably, there are few eye makeup looks that can so easily go awry.”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 13 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog

Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

Makeup and Beauty Blog features daily product reviews, makeup tips and beauty news — like an interactive version of a monthly print magazine, except with occasional pictures of my cat.

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