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Archives for July 2010

MAC In the Groove: A Face of the Day with Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish

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I was chomping at the bit to try MAC Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish today but told myself I had to finish all of my chores first (gah! laundry). Now that I’ve gotten some quality face time with it, all I can say is WOOT! I can see why MAC mavens have been lusting after this shimmery coral blush.

For this look I paired Stereo Rose with icy blue/peachy pink eyes and a peachy pink pout. I got the idea for the eyes from this face chart (the one for On the Scene), one of six MAC made for In the Groove.


Looking kinda senior portait-y, ha ha!
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Christina Hendricks: Her Best Hair?

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Christina Hendricks: Her Best Hair?

Obsessed with Anne of Green Gables, a 10-year-old Christina Hendricks (born May 3, 1975), who was very blonde at the time, decided she wanted to go red.

“Let’s just go to the drugstore and get one of those cover-the-gray rinses!” her mother said.

And they did. 🙂

At school the next day, Christina recalls, she felt like herself — and she’s gone back to the same color time and time again ever since.

These days, playing sexy secretarial pit boss and ’60s working woman Joan Holloway on AMC’s Mad Men (new season starts July 25!), Christina’s character can’t help but steal scenes, and yesterday she earned her first Emmy nomination to prove it.

Which of Christina's hairstyles do you like best?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Win a $596 Prize Package from LORAC and ABS Clothing

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  • The giveaway is now closed, and the winner is being contacted. Before you go, check the home page for ongoing giveaways.

Welcome to the weekend, young lady. 🙂 It’s almost quittin’ time! Are you going out tonight with your crush or your girls? If you are, do you have your clothes picked out yet?

If all else fails, reach for that little black dress (do you have one?). That’s what LORAC had in mind when they created their latest neutral eye palette. It features four shadows and a primer designed to go with practically everything.

Dressed to the nines in a chic patent leather case, the Little Black Palette ($32) makes quick work of neutral eyes.

Its four shimmery shadows in beige, peach, copper and chocolate brown (along with a clear eye primer) have made it one of my go-to girls for evening looks this summer. The sparkling, easily blendable shadows are packed with pigment, and whether I do a quick swipe of a single shade, or do a more involved smokey eye with several colors, this Little Black Palette makes “going out” makeup a lot easier for me.

Care to take your very own Little Black Palette out for a night on the town?

The Prize

Thanks to LORAC and A.B.S., one lucky lady will win a prize package worth $596, with LORAC’s Little Black Palette and a super cute little black dress from designer A.B.S.

Doesn’t the dress just beg to be taken out to cocktails? Modern yet feminine, it has an asymmetrical silhouette (LOVE the detailing on the sleeve!) with just enough sass to take the Little Black Palette, a pair of killer heels and your favorite clutch to the next level! All together, they’re a recipe for hotness, mamma!


The middle swatch above shows NC35 skin; bottom swatch shows NW20

How To Enter…

2ways2enterEntering is easy. There are two different ways, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all! You could share something random, describe your favorite little black dress, write a limerick, or type the first word you think of when you hear the word, “love.” love

My favorite black dress is a little scoop-neck from H&M. It hits just above the knee and has a high-waisted belt and short sleeves. Stretchy, so it fits all my junk, it never needs ironing. It’s respectable enough to wear to work but just dressy enough to take out to drinks.

  • Sorry, international babes. LORAC wants to limit this giveaway to US readers only, but I’ve got something else lined up that includes you gals early next week.

Follow me
Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $596 Prize Package from LORAC and ABS Clothing http://bit.ly/9c9Q5O

Recap…

The are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

  1. Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win.
  2. Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:

    Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $596 Prize Package from LORAC and ABS Clothing http://bit.ly/9c9Q5O

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, July 11.

Res secundae!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

  • The giveaway is now closed, and the winner is being contacted. Before you go, check the home page for ongoing giveaways.

Makeup-Wise, What Have You Suddenly Discovered You Were Doing Wrong?

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filling browsHave you ever had any “Aha!” makeup moments? Ones where you felt like you were the last person in the world to figure something out?

I’ve had my share.

One came a couple of years ago while I was filling in my eyebrows. You wouldn’t think it could take someone more than 30 years to figure this out but SURPRISE! — it can. 🙂

I’ve been using the MAC 266 brush and Concrete eyeshadow to fill in my brows for as long as I can remember. One day I was doing them in front of a mirror and happened to tilt my chin up to check my work from a different angle.

BAM! Filled in, my left eyebrow looked considerably shorter than my right. Because of how I’d been doing it all these years, holding the brush with my right hand, I’d always made my left brow look shorter by not filling in the inner part (the side closest to my nose) as fully as the inner part of my right.

At least it only took a few decades to figure it out…

Makeup-wise, what have you suddenly discovered you were doing wrong?

Thanks to Lifehacker for coming up with the idea for this question!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Swatch Out! And Get MAC In The Groove

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MAC IN THE GROOVE
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Stereo Rose

Today zillions of MACaholics (including yours truly) descended like locusts! were drawn to makeup counters like moths to a flame.

Question: Why did we do it?

Answer: To get MAC In The Groove. The 35-piece beauty bonanza — with makeup morsels for eyes, lips, cheeks and face — relies heavily on MAC Mineralize products.

With goodies ranging from $14-42, it’s like this year’s version of last summer’s Colour Craft, which I kinda adored.

Along with oodles of new makeup and a couple of highly anticipated re-promotes (Stereo Rose, anyone?), we also got a reformulated line of smoove Mineralize Eye Shadow Trios, YAY!

Did you swing by a MAC counter today? I’m curious to hear if you tried to snag shimmery golden coral Stereo Rose. Seems like it was one of the fast movers. I figured it might sell out at my local counter, so I called ahead to reserve one just in case.

If you weren’t able to visit a counter today, here are some swatches (for reference, I’m an NC35). 🙂

MAC in the groove mineralize eye shadow trio love to love
Mineralize Eye Shadow Trio in Love to Love
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NARS Fall 2010: My Dinner Date Face of the Night/Day

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Yeah, my tummy just rumbled, but I can’t tell if I’m hungry for food or hungry for more makeup. Some days I swear I derive more sustenance from NARS and MAC (more In The Groove swatches coming soon) than I do from actual edibles, ha!

This afternoon I invited four tidbits from the nine-piece NARS Fall 2010 collection to play with me and the NARS Orgasm/Laguna Blush and Bronzing Duo (NOTE: all seasonal NARS products are rolled into their permanent collection). At the time I didn’t have dinner date makeup in mind, but El Hub just asked me to Thai…and he suggested I call this look my Dinner Date Face of the Night/Day. 🙂


NARS fall 2010 items clockwise from left: Tzarine Duo Eyeshadow, Coconut Grove Singe Eyeshadow, Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil, Strawberry Fields Lip Gloss. NARS Orgasm/Laguna Blush and Bronzing Duo from the permanent line

For the eyes, I layered the shimmery gunmetal gray shadow from the Tzarine Duo on top of the Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil and swept the shimmery beige shadow from Tzarine below my brow bone. Then, I lined my lash and waterlines with Coconut Grove Single Eyeshadow.
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NARS Fall 2010: A Playful Mix of Texture and Pigment

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nars fall 2010 swatches review photos daphne

True story: I was so starstruck when I briefly met Francois Nars last year that I lost all control of my vocal cords. With my head tilted ever so slightly and my eyes locked on his, I asked, “Did you ever know that you’re my hero?”

Yup, I’d quoted Wind Beneath My Wings… If there was anaward for World’s Biggest Dork, someone should’ve handed it to me right then and there!

I appreciate that Francois Nars didn’t bust out laughing at me that day, but I admire him for something else — how he handles his seasonal color collections.

As cheesy at it sounds, I think his color stories are metaphors for how I want to live my life. He’s always dancing to the beat of his own drum and clearly having a blast while doing it.

For his fall 2010 collection, he added a smattering of kooky colors to a base of everyday wearable shades. I’ve been playing with six items from the nine-piece collection, which debuts online on August 5 before arriving in stores this September July 15 and in stores this August, methinks Francois was feeling experimental.
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