Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Archives for May 2009

10 Days of Giveaways: Comment to Win Body Shop Peppermint Foot Goodies

by 223 Comments

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

makeup-and-beauty-blog-10-days-of-giveaways-carved-statues

The ancient Hawaiians must have had some *hella* tan and crusty feet…

I’ve been slathering mine with sunscreen, covering the tops with the stuff and getting sunscreen between my toes, and I haven’t suffered any burnt piggies or ankles yet (knock on koa wood).

My feet take a beating every summer, being uncovered and unprotected as much as they are, but nothing could stop me from busting out the flip-flops.

You can get your puppies in gear this season by winning a grab bag filled with Peppermint Foot goodies from The Body Shop! 🙂

The prize

bodyshop-peppermint-giveaway
One lucky lady will win five Peppermint Foot products from The Body Shop (a $64 value):

How to enter

Like yesterday’s giveaway, today’s is easy to enter. Just leave a quick comment below describing your favorite pair of summer shoes/sandals. Be sure to use a valid e-mail address so I can reach you if you win.

No secret here, but my favorite pair of summer shoes are my yellow Aerosoles platform sandals. 🙂

I’ll choose the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59PM PST tonight (Tuesday).

Ya’ll know that crusty feet and cute sandals NEVER look cute together.

Kali tihi!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, May 18

by 61 Comments

leonards-malasadas

  1. Mood:

    2. Cheerful. I slept well last night, and I’ve been able to catch up on some reading on this trip.

  2. Outfit:

    3. Khaki green jersey sundress.

  3. Eyes/cheeks/lips:

    4. Urban Decay Get Baked Palette on my eyes, NARS The Multiple in South Beach on my cheeks and Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer in Venus on my lips.

  4. What book are you reading?

    5. How to Write Fast (While Writing Well) by David Fryxell

  5. A song that can always get you on the dance floor?

    6. It Takes Two, by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock.

  6. What’s your least favorite type of clothing:

    7. High-waisted pants. I have a short torso, so when I wear high-waisted pants that end up just below my boobs I look completely redonkulous. Oh, and I also hate having to wear socks… They oppress my feet.

  7. What lotion are you wearing today?

    8. I picked up a random bottle of Vaseline Firming Smoothing Body Lotion at Longs Drugstore yesterday. Not bad stuff.

  8. Do you dance by yourself when no one is watching?

    9. HECK YAH!

  9. What was your last meal?

    10. Two malasadas (Portuguese doughnut holes; deep fried doughnuts covered in sugar) from a Leonard’s Malasada truck last night. Not exactly the most nutritious of meals, but very tasty!

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Learn to stand-up paddle board, spend lots of time with my family, relax.

Good morning, pretties! I hope your Monday’s been smooth sailing from that first sip of coffee.

Let me know how things are going with you. Just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers to the Monday Poll in the comments. 🙂

Le List

Mood:
Outfit:
Eyes/lips/cheeks:
What book are you reading?
Song that always gets you out on the dance floor:
What’s your least favorite type of clothing?
What lotion are you wearing today?
Do you dance when no one is watching?
What was your last meal?
Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

OPI Bright Pair Nail Polishes for Summer 2009

by 24 Comments

Today the lovely Kelly of Vampy Varnish shares a review of OPI’s newest collection of nail polishes for summer.

OPI Bright Pair

OPI and Paige Premium Denim have paired up this summer to release a really great collection of matching nail polish and colored Paige Denim jeans!

I am a HUGE fan of Paige jeans and OPI, so what could be a better fit? I must confess, though, that I haven’t worn a pair of colored jeans since the ’90s, but I suppose all trends make their way back eventually.

All of these polishes are crèmes, and the application was excellent, as usual for OPI!

opi-over-the-taupe

Over The Taupe is a gorgeous mushroom-y taupe. Offbeat colors like this one have always been some of my favorites, and they seem to be quite popular in general (such as Sephora by OPI’s constantly sold out Metro Chic). It’s similar to You Don’t Know Jacques, from their French collection, but a lot lighter. The application was perfect and this was three coats.

opi-a-grape-fit

It’s A Grape Fit! is so pretty! It’s a fabulous medium lavender and perfect for summer. There have been a lot of lavender crèmes lately, but this isn’t a dupe of any of the ones I have. This was three coats.

opi-shorts-story

Shorts Story is an amazingly flattering bright pink. The undertones are blue, so it leans toward the cooler side of pink. It was very opaque and creamy, and I only needed two coats.

opi-in-my-back-pocket

In My Back Pocket is a pretty tangerine with yellow undertones. I think it would look especially great on those with darker skin tones. I can totally picture it on a pedi peeking out from a fabulous pair of copper colored Greek sandals!

opi-no-room-for-the-blues

No Room For The Blues is quite simply stunning. Sky blue is one of my favorite colors, and I think almost all skin tones could pull this one off. The color has cropped up a lot this season, but I could have a thousand different sky blues and be happy! The application was exceptionally creamy and smooth, and I only needed two coats. 🙂

opi-on-the-same-paige

On The Same Paige is a burnt orange. This picture shows it as being a tomato red, but really it’s much more orange and has a slight rusty tint to it that I like. There have been many oranges and reds this season, but its rustiness makes it unlike the rest. It’s very opaque, and I only needed two coats.

Overall, I think OPI really hit it out of the park with this collection. These polishes sell for about $12.50 apiece, and I was especially happy to see purple, blue and taupe in here, since they aren’t too conservative and are therefore more interesting to me.

Which of these are your favs?

  • On the Same Paige
  • No Room for the Blues
  • Shorts Story
  • In My Back Pocket
  • A Grape Fit!
  • Over the Taupe

This post was written by Kelly of Vampy Varnish, a blog featuring reviews and swatches of nail polish brands and colors. Her favorite nail polish brands include OPI, Rescue Beauty Lounge, China Glaze and Zoya. A long time MAC fan as well, she fell in love with makeup at the age of 13, when she started wearing heavy black winged-out eyeliner and bright Smurf blue eyeshadow.

10 Days of Giveaways: Comment to Win Barielle Sugar Rush Nail Polish Collection

by 262 Comments

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

makeup-and-beauty-blog-10-days-of-giveaways-parrot

Hawaii is like something from an artist’s imagination. Everywhere I turn, colors catch my eye — a vibrant rainbow painted across the sky, thick bunches of bright flowers along the side of the road or the stark blue sea that spans the horizon.

Colorful things have always made me happy. They get the neurons firing and endorphins pumping, and I don’t think we can ever have enough color in our lives, especially when it comes to nail polish!

Speaking of color, it’s what today’s giveaway is all about. 🙂

The prize

barielle-sugar-rush

Two lucky ladies will win a set of all six nail polishes from the Barielle Sugar Rush summer 2009 collection (a $48 value).

barielle-sugar-rush-swizzle-stix
Swizzle Stix

barielle-sugar-rush-sweet-addiction
Sweet Addiction

barielle-sugar-rush-lemonade
Lemonade

barielle-sugar-rush-grape-escape
Grape Escape

barielle-sugar-rush-decadence
Decadence

barielle-sugar-rush-cotton-candy
Cotton Candy

How to enter

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment in the comments section below with the name of your favorite candy of all time!

Mine has to be Snickers candy bars. *LOVE* those! 🙂

I’ll pick both winners at random from among the people who enter by 11:59PM PST tonight (Monday).

ご幸運を祈ります!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

Sundays without Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, May 17

by 17 Comments

Like the crazy cat mom that I am, I called the Hotel Cattyfornia (such a lovely place) to check on Tabs this morning. The staff tells me he’s having a grand time sunning himself in the windows and staring at the caged birds in the center of the playroom.

I miss my kitty, sigh…

Since I’m suffering from a bad case of the cat mom blues, I’m trying to get some kitty lurving from the strays that live in the condo complex here. A gang of tail-less tabbies has always run the place, but I haven’t seen them around lately. The new kings of the neighborhood may be the two cats that guard the playground out front.

cutie-pie-final
I’ve named this gray and white one Cutie Pie…

peanut
…and this black and white one Peanut.

cutie-pie-and-peanut-final
Cutie Pie and Peanut standing guard.

cutie-pie-hiding-final

I like to think Tabs would get along with his Hawaiian brethren!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Style Warriors Swatches and Pictures

by 41 Comments

mac style warriors product pictures all
MAC Style Warriors display

Yesterday I spent about an hour at a Nordstrom store here on Oahu getting familiar with MAC’s new Style Warriors collection. It goes on sale in stores nationwide in a few days (May 21), but Nordies is taking pre-orders right now and has the products available for display on counter (if they’re not out, you may have to ask).

If you can’t wait, MAC has the products, at least most of them, for sale online, but they haven’t turned on their Style Warriors collection page yet, so you’ll have to dig around through their product sections like those for Eyes and Lips to find ’em.

Swatches and pictures (with the exception of the Leg Bronzers and Lustre Drops)

mac style warrior solar riche refined golden bronzer
The other half of the MAC Style Warriors display

mac style warrior soft force tempting night manouevres bright future vibrant grape eyeshadows
Eyeshadows in Soft Force, Tempting, Night Manoeuvres, Bright Future and Vibrant Grape

mac style warriors liberated gold rebel fierce and fabulous style warrior lipglass
Lipglasses from left to right: Liberated, Gold Rebel, Fierce and Fabulous and Style Warrior

mac style warriors sunsational lipstick
Sunsational Lipstick

mac style warriors brave new bronze lipstick
Brave New Bronze Lipstick

mac style warriors purple rite lipstick
Purple Rite Lipstick

mac style warriors tribalist lipstick
Tribalist
[Continue reading…]

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.