Nobody can mangle a quote quite like Jason Stackhouse, legend and True Blood sage.
(Illamasqua Varnish in Harsh, $14.)
I Love the Smell of Nail Polish in the Morning
Archives for September 2009
From Runway to Realway: Red Hot Lips and Shimmery Teal Eyes
New York Fashion Week is just about over, but I’m not ready to let go quite yet.
Today I had some time during my lunch break to play, so I tried to re-create the makeup from last week’s Agent Provocateur runway show.
Inspired by a 70s fetish club, this sultry look features red lips and teal eyes. MEOW!
I’d never think to pair these colors together, but this look turned out surprisingly wearable. I might actually rock this someplace other than my living room, ha!
If ya want a tutorial, gimme a holler in the comments. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Itching to try a few New York Fashion Week makeup looks on yourself? Check out Daily Makeover’s Fashion Week Looks Facebook contest, and enter to win a Zeno Mini (an $89 value).
Streamline Your Makeup Bag with NARS Powder Foundation
The holidays coming! The holidays are coming!
I can hardly believe it’s mid-September already, and that means the holiday travel season isn’t far away.
One of my biggest travel challenges is packing light. I think I’m naturally predisposed to overpack, as if I biologically need 10 different shades of pink lipgloss; maybe it’s a primitive urge to gather?
But after a traumatic airport incident a few years back (a TSA agent almost confiscated a baggie filled with Chanel and MAC, NOOOO!), I’ve gotten better at streamlining what goes into my makeup bag.
Nowadays, I’m all about bringing products that multitask. When space is limited, the more steps and products I can eliminate, the better.
NARS Powder Foundation ($45), my latest foundation love, totally fits the multitasking bill.
Portable and flexible, with a natural finish
Forget hauling a separate liquid foundation, tinted moisturizer and powder. Housed in a sleek, portable case, this flexible pressed powder foundation does it all, evening out tone and wicking away shine from morning ’till night. It does it, too, without looking too thick or too much like a mask. Added bonus: It contains SPF 12.
I apply it in layers until I reach a level of opacity I’m happy with. If I know I’ll just be chillin’ with the fam, I’ll go with one to two layers applied with a kabuki brush, one like the MAC 182 Buffer ($45). It delivers natural, light-to-medium coverage. For a more opaque look, I’ll smooth it on with the included sponge.
Wearing two layers of NARS Powder Foundation applied with a Kabuki brush
Whatever the coverage, NARS Foundation Powder always feels lightweight on my skin. It’s so comfy that I sometimes forget I’m wearing it at all!
Tips on choosing a foundation color
With 18 shades to choose from, there should be something for almost everyone. I use Sahara, which the NARS website lists for “medium red-based complexions.”
When choosing a foundation color, I usually enlist the help of a sales associate or makeup artist — someone to serve as a second opinion. If you’re on your own, though, here are two tips to try:
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Charlize Theron: Her Best Hair?
Film critic Roger Ebert described her performance in 2003’s Monster like this: It was “one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema,” and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed, awarding Charlize Theron (born August 7, 1975) with that year’s award for Best Actress.
After a difficult childhood, she entered acting via the modeling route, first moving on a one-year contract to Milan, Italy at age 16 from her family’s farm near Johannesburg, South Africa. From there it was to New York, where she also studied ballet, and then to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket.
I guess the one-way part was a good idea. 🙂
As for her look? Classic, timeless, feminine — and all around gorgeous.
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Cheap Thrills with C Me Shine Lip Gloss from Yes To Carrots
CHEAP THRILL ALERT!
Hey, now, dirty birdies. Get that mind out of the gutter. I’m not talking ’bout that kind of nasty…
Or this kind for that matter…
I’m talking about the affordably awesome Yes to Carrots C Me Shine Lip Glosses ($6.50 each and available in six shades).
If it weren’t for their faint mint flavor and fragrance (which dissipates quickly), they’d almost be knockoffs of the MAC Lipgelles, which cost twice as much ($14). They have a similar smooth and shiny, non-stick texture and also broadcast seriously intense color.
And with six shades to choose from — Playful Nude, Rose Bliss, Flirty Pink, Carrot Kiss, Red Hot and Cocoa Loco — there’s a decent degree of variety within the line.
I’ve tried three of the colors:
Red Hot
Cocoa Loco
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Bloggerati Spotlight
- Custom flip flops to fit my many moods — The Jet Set Girls
- Damn, I feel invigorated just reading about Mentha Body Vitamin Body Wash — These Lips Are Made For Glossin’
- Recreate more wearable versions of Jill Stuart’s spring runway looks — Makeover Momma
- 4 super shine-enhancing hair products — Hair Thursday
- NARS Cosmetics attacked Thakoon’s runway show with a wild mix of surfer and sumo wrestler — Beauty Blogging Junkie
- I totally forgot that it’s National Hat Month! — A Mom in Red High Heels
- Aspiring beauty bloggers, follow Erika on Twitter to get the inside scoop — Makeup Bag
- Product Girl blog turns 4 this Friday and celebrates with a week of giveaways — Product Girl
- At NYFW’s Band of Outsiders show, MAC was all about sun-tanned surfer girls — Spoiled Pretty
It was almost too hot to surf the web this afternoon… almost.
Blasphemy, right? It’s never too hot to surf. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Shu Uemura Portable Natural Brush 14: A Friend to Dark Circles Everywhere
A mini pony = awesomeness.
A mini pony brush = even more awesomeness!
Say howdy to Shu Uemura’s Portable Natural Brush 14 ($30) — a friend to dark circles everywhere.
I spend a lot of time not sleeping. It’s one of my hobbies… not sleeping. Consequently, I rely on under-eye concealer to hide my dark circles, and to set it I’ll use a little bit of powder and Shu’s Natural Brush 14.
The smallish, fluffy brush head (made with pony hair) fits perfectly into the nook under my eyes. It’s one of the softest brushes in my arsenal and feels like a kiss from Tabs on my delicate skin. Just one swipe applies a sheer veil of powder — natural, not heavy or cakey at all.
At $30 it’s not a cheap tool, but ladies who take makeup seriously could consider it an investment.
Why? Because this pony multitasks!
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Lip Look: NARS Lip Gloss-Lip Stain Gloss Duo in Stolen Kisses and Pampa
Poor El Hub… Homeboy just doesn’t get the relationship women have with their shoes.
Of particular difficulty for him: why I have so many pairs in black.
Over the years we’ve been together I’ve spent hours explaining the differences to him between finishes, heel types and shades (greenish black is so totally NOT brownish black), but it just doesn’t compute. He simply doesn’t get it. Having spent his formative fashion years at Miller’s Outpost and Mervyn’s, all he sees is a big ole’ pile of the same black shoes.
His grasp of makeup is a little better than his fashion sense, though, so when I sat down to explain nude lippies to him I think some of it got through.
“They’re like the black shoes of the lipstick world,” I said. “At first glance they look the same, but when you look more closely you see just how different they really are.”
I think he even gets my current may-jah NARS obsesh, NARS Lip Gloss-Lip Stain Gloss Duo in Stolen Kisses and Pampa ($28).
Lip Stain Gloss in Pampa beneath Lip Gloss in Stolen Kisses
It’s my double-sided secret weapon for brownish pink nude lips! On one side — Stolen Kisses Lip Gloss, a creamy brownish pink with a hint of silver shimmer. On the other — Pampa Lip Stain Gloss, a moisturizing, long-wear lip stain in a shimmery golden brown. Both colors look great paired together or used apart.
Lip Gloss Stain in Pampa
This is one of the lip duos I turn to when I want warm smokey eyes. Stolen Kisses and Pampa play well together with shimmery black and gold looks (Stila Golden Girl) or shimmery brown/bronze ones.
Lip Gloss Stain in Pampa
Lip Gloss in Stolen Kisses
Swatches from left to right: Pampa, Stolen Kisses
A fool-proof way to inject some color into my life without drawing too much attention to my lips. 🙂 I’m crushing hard!
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