The second half of the Barielle Wildflower collection for spring!
From left to right: Blossom, Snap Dragon, Blossom ($8 each)
Barielle Wildflowers, Part Two
Archives for January 2010
Swatch Me I’m Falling for Barielle’s New Wildflower Nail Polishes
Mornin’, ladies. 🙂 I’ve been up since four (WHEE!) and wasn’t able to fall back to sleep, so instead of dreaming about Ryan Reynolds I spent the wee hours this morning listening to Debbie Gibson (LOL!) and painting my nails.
I used Barielle’s new Wildflower collection for spring ($8 each).
From left to right: Blossom, Snap Dragon and Daring Dahlia
Barielle says their inspiration for the six new shades came from two things: 1) spring flowers and 2) the many women close to the brand who are still battling against, or have lost their fight with, ovarian cancer.
Three of the colors — A Bouquet for Ava, June Bug and Myrza’s Meadow — are actually named after three of these special ladies, and 100% of the proceeds from sales of the shades through ocrf.org will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (what an awesome idea). 🙂
From left to right: A Bouquet for Ava, June Bug and Myrza’s Meadow
Of course, like Barielle’s other polishes, the six Wildflower shades are free of formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl-phthalate — potentially harmful compounds commonly found in lesser-known, off-market nail polish brands.
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Philosophy Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer Guards Against the Signs of Aging
Ladies, pat yourselves on the back for making it over the Wednesday hump! I can finally taste freedom (aka the weekend), and oh, how sweet it is! 🙂 Before our regularly scheduled MBB programming begins, here’s a sponsored post featuring a newcomer to Philosophy’s skin care line. – Karen
Philosophy Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer is a new skin care savior that boasts the highest level of antioxidants of any Philosophy moisturizer. The satiny formula leaves skin feeling soft, while it helps strengthen skin’s natural rejuvenation potential to guard against signs of aging. All this while it helps protect against free radical attack.
Want to try it? Philosophy is providing a free deluxe sample of the new Eye Hope advanced Anti-Aging Eye Cream (2 ml) with any purchase of the Philosophy Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer. The offer will be valid through January 31. Use code ageless to take advantage.
Barielle Wildflower Collection, Part One
Barielle Wildflower
Three of the six shades from Barielle’s spring 2010 collection. From left to right: A Bouquet for Eva, Myrza’s Meadow and June Bug ($8 each). All of the proceeds (that’s 100 percent!) from these shades will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund if you purchase them from ocrf.org. Shipping is free, too! 🙂
Urban Decay’s Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows Reads Just Like a Fairy Tale
Unless you’ve been living in a rabbit hole with your Cheshire Cat 
, you may have heard the 
surrounding Urban Decay’s new Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows ($52), a limited-edition palette created for Disney to coincide with the upcoming Tim Burton version of the film.
Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows, $52
Fifty-two bones gets ya 16 shimmery shadows, two eyeliners and a mini-Urban Decay Primer Potion in a fantastical pop-up box that shows Alice walking through a field of giant ‘shrooms.
Alice fans have been snatching it up (it’s already sold out on UrbanDecay.com)! But never fear. 🙂 You can sign up to be notified as soon as the next round of palettes goes on sale, or wait and find it at Sephora, Ulta and Macy’s beginning early next month.
Now, there’s been some beauty chatter about how similar this palette is to previous ones from Urban Decay, and whether or not they re-named and re-packaged some existing colors. I did take a quick look at Book of Shadows Volume II (from last fall) and did notice some overlapping shades.
A few of the neutrals in Vol. II, like Half Baked, Twice Baked, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again and YDK, do look similar to Alice’s Muchness, Mushroom, Midnight Tea Party and Mad Hatter. And among the brights, Vol. II’s Ecstasy (the shimmery purple) sure reminds me of Underland, while Jinx (the shimmery blue) kinda looks like Alice.
UPDATE, 1/21/2010: Readers Mel, HC and Jen commented to say that all of the new shades are, in fact, repromotes of existing colors from Urban Decay’s previous collections and permanent line, and the company announced some of the equivalent shades on Twitter: “Shades in the upcoming Alice in Wonderland Palette: Underland (Flash), Chessur (Chopper), Muchness (X), Absolem (Homegrown), Jabberwock (Oil Slick), Drink Me, Eat Me (Sin), Alice (Painkiller), Mad Hatter (Twice Baked), Midnight Tea Party (Midnight Cowboy Rides Again), Vorpal (S&M), Queen (Last Call) and White Rabbit (Polyester Bride)” (click here for a full list)
If you already own a fully stacked stash of Urban Decay shadows, it’s just something to consider. Of course, if you’re a rabid Alice fan or hard-core UD aficionado, a few overlapping colors may not matter to you at all, and if they didn’t, I’d completely understand. 🙂
I should say that the colors, no matter what, are up to typical standards for UD — vibrant, with shimmer that’s out of this world! I like what I’ve seen so far and appreciate the number of neutral shades, especially considering they’re from Urban Decay.
Take a look around, and let me know what you think!
Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows
Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows… can you say woot?
The Alice in Wonderland palette is the latest Book of Shadows from Urban Decay ($52).
Swatches in a just a few, but what do you think so far?
Loading ...Spring into Action with Josie Maran’s Natural Wonder Powder Palette
DANG that Josie Maran! Whoever handles the packaging of this eco-friendly line deserves a Prius, a wheatgrass shot and a pat on the back.
A quick glance today at the Monarch flutterbyes on her new Natural Wonder Powder Palette ($35) was all it took to put a spring in my step.
Talk about practical, environmentally conscious design (also friendly and feminine) that *hella* works!
It gets even better when you open the palette. 🙂 BOOM! It holds five eyeshadows, two blushes and a bronzer in a mix of neutrals and brights. I’ve seen a few spring makeup releases so far, and this one’s been one of the most exciting to me so far.
The eyeshadows, blushes and bronzer in the Natural Wonder palette are infused with Argan oil, an antioxidant-rich oil from Morocco known to calm and soothe troubled skin. And, like all Josie Maran makeup, the palette’s free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and phthalates.
First, there’s the variety. The shades feel fresh and youthful, and I can easily see myself doing looks with them from subtle/sweet to bold/bright.
Then, there’s the shadows, about which I noted a few things (DROOL!)…
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What Are You Wearing on Your Lips Today?
It gusted and rained all night long and now, frankly, I’m ready to shine! This morning I’m wearing raspberry Smashbox Lip Shine in Berry Hot ($19), a semi-sheer gloss from the Heartbreaker collection.
It’s unscented and flavor-free, with a medium weight, non-sticky texture; I chose it more for the color than anything else. 🙂
Have you decided what you’re wearing on your lips today?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen