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
There’s one Bobby Brown for recipes that call for cheese (as in cheesy ’90s R&B), and another Bobbi Brown for recipes that call for long lasting cream shadows.
Fellow fans of the later’s Long-Wear and Metallic Long-Wear shadows depend on their smooth, non-creasing formula when quick, elegant eye looks are on the menu. For this summer’s Beach collection, Chef Bobbi’s cooked up five new Long-Wear shadows, these with an ocean theme ($22 each).
I was out fashion hunting at the mall yesterday afternoon, rutting around for a respectable pair of jeans (more on that in a few), when I bumped into a gal with skin that looked smoother than a porcelain doll.
My curiosity got the better of me; I politely asked for her secret, to which she replied, “I don’t really do anything.”
B*tch…
Just kidding! 🙂 Kinda…
With the otherworldly size of the pores of my face, sometimes I forget that there really are (lucky) people out there who simply never have to worry about their skin — no big-@ss pores or annoying fine lines.
For the rest of us, there’s NARS Pro-Prime Skin Smoothing Face Prep ($30 for a .26-oz jar).
One of two new summer primers from NARS, it’s an invisible, lightweight product designed to be layered beneath foundation or patted on top of makeup for spot treatments (by reducing shine) and to smooth the appearance of fine lines, pores and rough patches on the face.
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Love the mix of neutral shades in the Smashbox Naked Beauty Mini Lip Gloss Kit for summer ($25)!
Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencils from left: Purple Velvet, Pure Gold, Rocky Mountain Green and Electric Blue ($4 each).
Have you worn these pencils before? What do you think?
Somewhat disheveled (is that a mood?). This morning I awoke to the sound of Tabs pouncing and pawing at something on the floor. Turns out it was a slug, yay! And I freaked out.
I’m cool with spiders and insects, but I don’t do well with slimy slugs and worms. 🙁
The one I like the most is probably the one I have now. It’s layered and down past my shoulders so it has lots of movement. Only took me 35 years to find!
Oh, that’s tougher. Hmm… It’s a tossup between the time a stylist hacked away at my curly/wavy hair with a razor (I had a frizz halo for six months after!) or the horribly cropped, boyish cut my parents forced upon me when I was 12. It led folks to assume I was a little dude… Yes, it was *that* bad.
That’s easy! Mozzarella and basil, please. I’ll take a margherita pizza any day of the week.
I can walk semi-comfortably in 3.5 inches; anything higher than that spells disaster.
En Vogue’s Born to Sing, The Pharcyde’s Biazarre Ride II the Pharcyde, U2’s Achtung Baby and the Miss Saigon soundtrack… I still have each of these on tape — yes, tape. Of course, I don’t have a tape player anymore (go figure).
A mojito, a margarita on the rocks (with salt) or a Corona…
A gold necklace with large interlocking pieces. I got it on sale in the Macy’s costume jewelry section years ago and reach for it whenever I can’t figure out what to wear. It pretty much goes with everything.
My favorite pair of Lucky jeans (the ones with the hole in the thigh!), a purple tank top and a light brown sweater.
To manage my time wisely (a constant struggle), to prepare a few healthy dinners and — this one’s my most important objective — to remember to smile.
It’s yet another Monday, my friends. Apart from the slug incident in the living room this morning (bluh!), today’s just chugging along. I stayed up late last night to watch True Blood before bed (what did you think?), and now I’m paying for it. Thank goodness for caffeine, right?
Do you have a moment to touch base with the Monday Poll? If you do, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.
Le list
1. Mood:
2. Best hairstyle you’ve ever had?
3. Worst hairstyle you’ve ever had?
4. Favorite pizza toppings?
5. Highest heel you can wear without toppling over?
6. Favorite CDs/records from you teen years?
7. If we met at a bar for drinks, what would you order?
8. One of your favorite pieces of jewelry and why you love it?
9. Outfit:
10. Your weekly goals:
I can’t wait to rock this week with you. Let’s DO THIS!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
What’s the deal with these two-day weekends, ladies? Let’s start a petition! I want three days from now on. Two days is barely enough time to run errands, much less have fun. Who’s with me? I’ve got one signature from a coworker so far: 
Notwithstanding the length of it, did you have a good weekend? What are you doing tonight, and does it involve True Blood? 🙂
Tabs is actually napping right now, even though this is prime tabby time (dusk). I think he’s jet lagged from all of the traveling he’s been doing lately. See, we’re entering kitteh modeling season, so things are picking up.
OOH! As a matter of fact, here are pictures from the shoots he did this week:
Jouer Body Butter ($32) and Bath & Body Oil ($28) are like a leisurely stroll through a garden bursting with fragrant summer blooms.
The light infusion of gardenia, jasmine and honeysuckle flowers won’t abandon you midway through your day. Like good friends, both products are there when and where you need them, moisturizing your driest bits with a blend of sweet almond, apricot kernal and jojoba oils that leave skin soft, but not greasy.
I like to mix a few drops of the oil with the cream for what amounts to pure hydration heaven.
As for the packaging, this elegant duo (I love glass bottles with a little heft to ’em) could look classy on almost any dresser.
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Okay, so, I think I know why I was tossing and turning in bed last night. Apparently, I saw a movie yesterday that my subconscious wishes I could un-see. Has that ever happened to you? I feel like I could have lived the rest of my life, happy and mentally balanced, having never seen the things I saw in that theater. It’s not that I think Splice is a terrible movie, because I like certain things about it, but some of the scenes are just…wrong on so many levels. If you decide to see it, prepare to lose your innocence forever!
Let me put it this way: the last time I was this disturbed by a movie was Deliverance, and I’m still afraid of the woods.
Back to lighter, less stressful topics like makeup and beauty, ahh… 🙂 Did you learn any new tricks or come across any drugstore gems this week? I’m thinking about swinging by Rite-Aid this afternoon for some post-movie trauma TLC.
If you’re new to the blog, the weekly roundup does two things: 1) it highlights some of my favorite products of the week and 2) lets my imagination run wild with a few minutes of photoshop fun.
Have a good one today, and I’ll catch you in a few. Time to get my second cuppa joe…
BENEFIT THE POREFESSIONAL
OIL-FREE PRIMER
My 30s came with a few cool perks — wisdom, Tabs and El Hub — that have helped offset the drawbacks of getting older, but there’s one area of aging I’m still trying to offset: my pores. Compared to how they looked in my 20s, THEY’RE HUGE! They’re like Olympic swimming pools within which people could host a swim meet, and to some sad degree, it just comes with the territory. Over time, pores enlarge. Accumulated sun damage, other environmental factors and the natural aging process itself all weaken the support structures around them.
But Benefit says there’s hope! The new Benefit The Porefessional ($28, available now at Ulta.com, and Benefit counters and stores beginning next month).
The lightweight, oil-free primer is designed to minimize the appearance of those behemoth pores when it’s either worn as a primer beneath makeup, where it creates a smooth canvas for foundation and powder, and/or applied on top of your face paint throughout the day, where it softens the skin with a matte finish. Read more…
URBAN DECAY
SEPHORA EXCLUSIVE SHADOWS
So I’m kinda lovin’ on Urban Decay’s new eyeshadow colors, but WOW! — they sure are frosty.
Freelove, Woodstock, Psychedelic Sister, Haight, Dashiki and Aquarius launched exclusively at Sephora and Sephora.com last month ($17 each), and they have everything UD lovers (like moi) adore about the line — smooth textures, playful pigments and insane color payoff — along with a whole lotta frost.
While I love a good frosty shadow, they aren’t always the easiest products to wear. Go even a tad overboard with them (been there, done that), and they can look heavy on the skin and highlight fine lines and wrinkles. Read more…
CHEAP AND EASY
MAKEUP STORAGE
Back before BIC lighters and matches, primitive men went on quests for fire! And today, not unlike ancient man, I embarked upon my own special quest, but this one was for neatness and better makeup organization.
It took weeks of preparation! — okay, maybe not weeks. The idea stemmed from a comment left by MBB reader Marisa (thanks, girl!) and the eyeliners and cream shadows I dealt with a couple of weeks ago.
Before that, I’d resigned to let my lip products live lives of disarray, tossing them all into a clear plastic box.
But that just wasn’t working. I was stressing out every time I had to pull it out to find something, like yesterday, when I spent an obnoxious amount of time looking for my tube of Lychee Luxe (I knew it was in there!).
There had to be a better way.
This is why I love craft stores: cheap and easy storage solutions. For this project I needed scissors, Scotch tape, one big box and a bunch of smaller empty boxes from lipsticks and gloss. Read more…
T3 TWIRL
CURLING IRON
Big, bouncy curls aren’t Victoria’s Secret anymore. Word got out, and now it’s easy to get runway ready hair at home with the T3 Twirl 1.25-Inch Curling Iron ($119).
Those V.S. chicks get help from a dedicated team of stylists who tease their locks into perfectly tousled submission; the T3 Twirl gets help from its 1.25-inch diameter barrel.
The unit joined T3’s stable of styling tools earlier this year. To improve upon the design of old school curling irons that delivered inconsistent heat, the company implemented some very scientific-sounding technology. Straight up, they make it sound like the Kublai Khan of curling irons! T3’s Single Pass digital heating insures that the iron gets hot f a s t. It also helps it maintain consistent heat through the length of the barrel. Read more…
5 TOP DARK CIRCLE
CONCEALERS
So I’m kinda lovin’ on Urban Decay’s new eyeshadow colors, but WOW! — they sure are frosty.
Freelove, Woodstock, Psychedelic Sister, Haight, Dashiki and Aquarius launched exclusively at Sephora and Sephora.com last month ($17 each), and they have everything UD lovers (like moi) adore about the line — smooth textures, playful pigments and insane color payoff — along with a whole lotta frost.
While I love a good frosty shadow, they aren’t always the easiest products to wear. Go even a tad overboard with them (been there, done that), and they can look heavy on the skin and highlight fine lines and wrinkles. Read more…
TOO FACED
LIP INSURANCE
The Problem: Your favorite pigmented lip products disappear faster than Coolio’s rap career (OMG, Gangsta’s Paradise!). Is there anything you can do about it?
Too Faced says sÃ, se puede! Worn beneath other lip products, their new Lip Insurance lip primer ($19, available at Sephora stores and online) is designed to prevent color fading, bleeding and creasing while simultaneously ramping up the richness of lipsticks and glosses. It’s also jam packed with ceramides and peptides to plump lips and help restore natural collagen.
Too Faced took out all the guesswork from choosing colors, too, because it’s only available in one, which they call Nude. Nude goes on clear with a matte finish and has a light, non-sticky texture that feels smooth like butter. Being a huge fan of Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I couldn’t wait to give Lip Insurance a try. Read more…
ESSIE SUMMER 2010
NAIL POLISHES
Not all summer nail polishes inspire spontaneous boogie down sessions, but the moment I peeped the creamy colors in the Essie Summer 2010 collection, my booty wanted to hit the dance floor!
Essie founder and head honcho (honchette?) Essie Weingarten said she based the six-piece collection — bright with splashes of summery greens, pinks, corals and reds — on the floral prints she’d seen on the runways at New York Fashion Week. If you like what she came up with, you can find the six shades for $48 at beauty stores, salons and also online. I used two coats for these swatches, and every color applied smoothly, with the exception of Miss Matched, which was a tad streaky. All of them exhibit that classic Essie texture (very creamy) and shine. Read more…
MAC DAZZLE LASH
MASCARA
I awoke this morning to a dazzling development! No, not my birthday; I saw that coming from miles/weeks away. This dazzling development was a tube of MAC Dazzle Lash resting on my nightstand. I set it there before bed last night so I’d see it first thing this morning. Why? To remind myself to tell you about it first thing this morning.
MAC Dazzle Lash isn’t new, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before. It’s one of the many MAC mascaras in the company’s permanent collection. With a velvety, non-clumping formula that adds subtle thickness and lash length, it’s designed to deliver a seemingly natural lash look with extreme curl hold. Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
