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Archives for June 2009

Chanel Rouge Allure Lipsticks in Naive and Curious: Basic, But Beautiful

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The new Les Naturels De Chanel collection repurposes two previously released Rouge Allure lipstick colors ($30 each), and I’m tickled pink!

Curious (a creamy brown) and Naive (a shimmery pink) first appeared last year as part of Chanel Summer 2008.

I can see why they brought these two babies back. Both shades may be basic neutrals, but they’re good staples to have around for conservative lip looks to offset more dramatic eyes.

The two colors are consistent with the neutral vibe of Les Naturels De Chanel.

Like other Rouge Allure lipsticks, I think both of these shades have a consistency like MAC’s Lustre lipsticks — lighter than a matte or cream and slick on the lips.

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Two coats of Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in Curious

Curious

Curious is the warmer of the two, a toasted almond brown with a hint of golden shimmer, and I think it would look great beneath Unity Glossimer or any other shimmery golden brown lipgloss. If you like your lips to look natural and wear warm colors well, you might give Curious a try. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

chanel les naturel de chanel swatches naive rouge allure
Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in Naive

Naive

Naive reminds me of something Angelina Jolie would wear down the red carpet with killer cat eyeliner. It’s a cool pink with subtle golden shimmer, and methinks it’ll look fantabulous with something sheer like Waterlily Glossimer. If you’re into natural-ish pink lips or wear lots of looks with smokey eyes, take a gander at Naive. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

chanel les naturels de chanel swatches rouge allure curious naive
Curious, Naive

Yeah, I don’t think either of these colors revolutionizes the lipstick world as we know it, but they are what they are — basic, elegant, neutral shades that most women could wear every day.

Birthday steal of a deal!

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Yesterday afternoon I quit work early and headed to the mall to do some damage with my birthday gift certificate from El Hub.
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Retro Roundup: One Year Ago on Makeup and Beauty Blog

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Can you believe it’s hump day already? I feel like I just woke up on Sunday morning!

This morning I was wondering what we were buzzing about at this time last year, so I spent a few minutes digging through the archives.

Looks like there were a couple new MAC collections up in the mix (Neo Sci Fi and Cool Heat) and some high SPF sunscreens, too.

Do you remember what you were lusting after this time last year?

MAC Cosmetics Face of the Day: Hot Pink and Silver

I was feeling great one Monday about a year ago and decided to go big and bold with a full face inspired by a hot pink lip in this cosmopolitan-inspired look. These lips stand out from a mile away, so I went with a soft pink and silver eye to add some semblance of balance.

Fight Frizz with Fekkai Summer Hair Zero-Humidity Frizz Control

Zero-Frizz isn’t just a hair smoothing spray. It smells great (like coconut and citrus) and even contains a UV protectant Fekkai calls Solarshield, designed to prevent sun damage and lightening. And no alcohol here, which is a big plus, as hair products containing alcohol tend to dry my hair.

Ojon Rub-Out Dry Cleanser: Shower in a Bottle

One big issue I’ve had with dry shampoos in the past is that quite a few brands smell really terrible, but not Rub-Out. It smells like a mix of citrus and baby powder. The product does a great job cutting down on the shine and relieves any scalp itchiness. I wouldn’t say it cleans hair… but it certainly makes it look better!

MAC Cosmetics Neo Sci Fi Face of the Day

Here’s a look I did one morning when I had sun on my mind. I reached for a few brighter-than-bright items from MAC’s Neo Sci Fi collection, but I didn’t really feel like going buck wild with a lot of blending or a wide variety of products with my look and limited myself to just two (!) eyeshadows.

Splurge or Steal: Essie Neon Delivers Chanel Nail Colors for Less

What did you think of Chanel’s Robertson Boulevard limited edition nail polishes? The neon-bright shades in pink, purple, orange and yellow reminded me of 1960’s pop art, but at $25 apiece, they sure weren’t budget friendly.

Stila Sun SPF 15 Bronzing Powder: Here Comes the Sun

When I stare lovingly at Stila’s Sun Bronzing Powder SPF 15 ($28) compact, I always think of Here Comes the Sun, one of my favorite songs by The Beatles. I love the compact’s cheerful design and pretty bronze case. How can something so small put me in such a wonderful mood?

Are You Down with Man Makeup?

How would you feel if the guy in your life started to wear guyliner (aka eyeliner) and power bronze (bronzer)? Younger men these days are more open to wearing makeup — eyeliner, concealer, bronzer — than ever before. How do you feel about man makeup?

Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection 55 for Face and Body: Goodbye Zombie Tan

I’m a sunscreen addict, and most of the high SPF lotions I’ve tried either haven’t absorbed well — I’m talking five minutes of vigorous rubbing to sufficiently cover one arm — or they’ve left a whitish-grey film on my skin, aka zombie tan. Shiseido overcame both issues with this product. It absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave a white or grey cast.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

How Often Do You Clean Your Makeup Brushes?

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MAC makeup brushes

When I’m not pressed for time, I’ll wipe down the brush heads with a Wet Ones Wipe after each use.

Then, about every other weekend, I’ll clean them more thoroughly with shampoo (I’ve gotten good results with Aussie’s Opposites Attract Protect + Soften; it breaks up dried and caked product fast).

I haven’t cleaned my brushes with shampoo in a couple weeks, though, relying instead on those quickie cleanups with Wet Ones Wipes, but my brush heads are getting pretty gunky (gross!)…

How often do you clean your makeup brushes?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Tuesday Beauty Tips: Birthday Reflections

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birthday-relfections

Today I turned 34, and I’m feeling pretty good about it.

Despite having a little more gray hair (I’m still reeling from that white hair in my eyebrow), the wrinkles around my mouth and my eyes, and that pesky chin hair that sprouts up seemingly overnight (like a mushroom! — all stiff and long!), this birthday feels good.

It’s not a milestone birthday like 16, 21 or 30, but this morning over my first cup of coffee as a 34 year old, I thought of a few reasons to relish my day.

My mom. Last weekend my mom asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I said “Nothing,” because “turning 34 isn’t a big deal.”

She replied, “Of course it’s a big deal. That’s the day we met!”

🙂

I’m reminded that I won’t always have her to share things like birthdays with…

I feel lucky to be alive. Earlier this year I was flipping through my hometown newspaper and stumbled upon a picture of a girl I went to high school with. It was in the obituaries. The photo was her senior class picture, and I remembered it because she’d given me the same one at the end of the year.

I dug it out and read what she’d written on the back: “It’s been great getting to know you, and I’ll see you at the reunion in 20 years.”

Every day is a gift.

Birthdays are for big dreams. When I was in my 20s, I felt like I had all the time in the world, but I don’t.

I know that most of us feel like we’re barely able to keep our head above water — I know I do — so where the heck are we supposed to find time to explore the pyramids of Egypt? I can barely find the time to clean the bathroom at home!

For now, I’m going to work under the premise that adventure won’t just come knocking at the door. You have to reach out and grab it!

How old are you turning this year? Is there something you’d really like to do for your birthday?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Another 21 Skin Care Tips

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Another 21 skin care tips

Girl, before you jump into the rat race today — before you listen to your voicemail at work, check the calendar on your phone, read your new e-mail and all your tweets — relax those shoulders, take a slow, deep breath, and just chill in silence for two minutes with today’s latest list of skin care tips.

Why?

Because stress is bad for your skin (that’s from tip #9). 🙂

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like…

  1. How to Exfoliate With Organic Products: Starting with compresses and pure essential oils, this video covers how to use natural products to exfoliate your way to healthier, happier skin.

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  2. Flax Seeds for Healthy Skin: Ford Models’ Gelila has a secret beauty tip. She incorporates flax seeds into her diet for healthier skin.

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  3. Exercise Your Way to Acne Free Skin: Here’s an angle on the benefits of exercise that I hadn’t heard before. I wonder if Costco still sells those mini-trampolines…

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  4. Sunscreen Tips from a Melanoma Survivor: Worth it for the statistics, if nothing else, but I found this article to be a great resource. One in five Americans will contract skin cancer over the course of their lifetime? That’s more than I thought.

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  5. 5 Delicious Tips for Beautiful Skin: In this post, former supermodel Carol Alt shares some of her diet beauty secrets. I’ve listed a few of these nutritional beauty posts before, but this one has some new info that makes it worth a quick glance.

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  6. Can Vitamins Really Help Treat Acne? The picture is kinda disturbing, isn’t it? This brief post discusses which vitamins do and which vitamins don’t help treat acne.

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Illamasqua: Makeup for Your Alter Ego

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Today UK makeup artist Rochelle shares her thoughts on Illamasqua, a new makeup line that some are calling the next MAC.

illamasqua cosmetics fantasy collection

Britain’s up-and-coming Illamasqua launched in Selfridges, London in September 2008 and has since rolled out to a limited number of stores across the UK and online (click here to see their online store). And the company now ships to the US, so you guys can also get your hands on the goodies, yay!

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The Illamasqua counter

Developed by professional makeup artists and produced by Kryolan, Illamasqua is fast becoming a MAC rival, and perhaps it’s no coincidence that their flagship concession is right next to MAC in Selfridges, London. Like MAC does, they pay special attention to professional MUAs, giving them a generous 40% discount.

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Illamasqua Romance collection

I was so excited when I saw the visual promos for this brand. They’re really stunning and unique and unlike anything I’ve seen before — quirky, like the Carrie Bradshaw of the makeup world.

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Illamasqua Sirens collection

Illamasqua’s tag line is “makeup for your alter ego,” and they break the brand down into four stories:

  1. 1920’s Berlin
  2. Noir
  3. Fantasy and Romance
  4. Sirens (limited edition)

We’ve all got a hidden siren inside, haven’t we, girls? 🙂

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Illamasqua Fantasy collection

The brand has a slightly dark, naughty feel to it, and I would have so loved to have been in the meeting room when they came up with the names for the products (slut, moan, sadist anyone?!). It’s all about bringing out that sexy alter ego.

A few notes on the products

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The eyeshadows, in particular, are unusual in that all but two or three of them are matte shades. I think it’s so nice to have a brand that has kept the colours striking while simultaneously keeping them simple and not overloading the shimmer.

The cream eyeshadows are also lovely, and Illamasqua also has a line of pure pigments with amazing colour payoff. The company is very generous with the eyeshadow pans, too, which are larger than MAC pans, and they offer the option to customise eyeshadow quads by choosing your own colours to go in each of the palette’s four pans.

illamasqua cosmetics 1920s berlin collection
Illamasqua 1920’s Berlin collection

I’m a bit of a Magpie when it comes to gorgeous packaging (hel-loooo, Chanel!), and I haven’t been disappointed by the beautiful but simple designs of Illamasqua’s products.

Sleek black compacts with a discreet Illamasqua logo, and the pigment containers are particularly novel in their design, which stops you tipping out too much (ever had your heart stop after accidentally knocking over a MAC pigment and seeing all that lovely stuff fall on the bathroom floor?).

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Illamasqua 1920’s Berlin collection

If you’re ever in London, get yourself down to Selfridges to check out their concession. You can even book a makeover (£30, redeemable against products), and the stand has laptops on each counter that MUAs can use to research looks for you. You can Google Dita Von Teese, or whatever floats your boat, and voila! You’ve got a picture on hand, and you also get a DVD of your makeover to take home with you. How cool is that!

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Price-wise, I would say it’s mid-range. Expect to pay around $21 for a single eyeshadow, $18.50 for a lipgloss and around $29.50 for a foundation, so slightly more than MAC, but not as much as Chanel.

I have to say — I really love this brand and think it’s become my new favourite obsession. 🙂

This post was written by Rochelle, a freelance makeup artist from the UK. When she isn’t doing bridal makeup, creating special looks for as many as 100 brides a year (that’s a lot of makeup!), she enjoys spending time with her husband, Paul, and 5-year-old daughter, Emma, who is showing absolutely no interest in makeup.

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