Archives for September 2010

There’s nothing like a big fashion show except maybe a shot of adrenalin in the heart, LOL! The show’s over, and I’m back at the hotel now, cleaning up and prepping a post (it’s about 9:30PM here). It’s fascinating how effortless the makeup looked amidst the chaos surrounding the runway.

Speaking of intense situations, funny story — well, potentially helpful story if you decide to take an international trip but don’t have a passport. The reason I had to drive into the city to renew my passport last Monday was because I let it expire and needed a new one right away. Most local post offices can issue new passports and renew existing ones, but doing it that way takes weeks. They snap your picture, usually in a little room off the main lobby, you fill out some forms, show proof of citizenship, pay a fee of around $100, and then four to six weeks later you get a brand new passport in the mail good for 10 whole years.

When you only have a few days before an unplanned trip, you can visit one of the U.S. State Department’s main passport offices, which are scattered throughout the country in mostly major metropolitan areas. There they can do the whole process in a day, but it costs extra ($70 more for the rush), and you have to make a somewhat challenging appointment over the phone. Challenging because of the State Department’s labyrinthine phone system and limited hours of operation.

The moral of the story: don’t do what I did. Apply online ahead of time if you think you might like to take a trip within the next few years, and if you already have your passport, renew it online before it expires.

I’m not entirely sure why that occurred to me right now, haha! I think I’m going loony…

While I jot down my thoughts on the show, here’s a quick look back at some of the products we talked about earlier this week.

Hope you’re having a good weekend. You better be enjoying yourself, or by Jove I’ll sick Tabs on ya!

BENEFIT LIPSTICK IN
SUGAR COOKIE

Do me a quick favor and check your blush stash, boo. If you find enough peaches to bake a cobbler, then I’d like you to meet my new go-to girl, Benefit Silky Finish Lipstick in Sugar Cookie ($18).

The color — a warm, shiny peach with flecks of gorgeous gold — has been around for a while as a permanent member of Benefit’s Silky Finish Lipstick line. Like the other Silky Finish gals, she’s got a thin, creamy texture (very hydrating, to boot) that glides on slick and smooth, and I think she looks GREAT paired with peach blushes like Benefit Georgia, NARS Orgasm, MAC Sunbasque, MAC Margin and MAC Peaches.

Do you remember the sparkly glitter from last week’s look with MAC Lipgelee in Resort Life (part of the Venomous Villains release)? — how it ended up all over the place? Well, Sugar Cookie isn’t messy like that at all. Her golden glitter stays put, but all is not peaches in the garden of golden glitter. Read more…

URBAN DECAY
URBANGLOW CREAM HIGHLIGHTER

I suppose if I really wanted an authentic candlelit glow I could walk around with a candle up next to my face, but talk about a big pain in the @ss, right? 🙂 And dangerous too!

No problem. The new Urban Decay Urbanglow Cream Highlighters ($24 each) are safer than open flames but just as illuminating.

UD packed these four cute compacts in Wicked, Sin, Brown Sugar and Moonshine with pearly glows and pigment to spare.

They kinda work like spotlights for the skin. Just pat on cheeks, at your temples, down the bridge of your nose or at the inner corners of your eyes for an instantly brighter outlook and a luminescent glow. They apply smoothly to bare skin, or on top of liquid foundations or tinted moisturizer, but I don’t recommend them for use atop powder foundations. When I tried, they looked kinda cakey.

I’ve been wearing Wicked (the shimmery pink) and Sin (the shimmery champagne) on particularly rough days when I haven’t gotten enough sleep the night before because they’re pretty good at quickly faking wide-awake eyes. Read more…

MAC PRO
LONGWEAR CONCEALER

I’ve been a big supporter of timeBalm concealer ($18), but MAC’s new line of medium-to-full coverage matte liquid concealers just might sway my vote. 🙂

MAC created them to conceal dark circles, spots and discolorations with a long-wearing, flawless, natural-looking finish.

The 16 available shades ($16.50 each), which come in a small glass bottle with a pump applicator top, dropped on counters last week with two other products, the Pro Longwear Lipcreme Lipsticks ($16) and Pro Longwear SPF10 Foundations ($29.50).

In a nutshell, this stuff works like a liquid version of timeBalm (I like it more than the actual liquid version of timeBalm). I’ve been wearing it in NW 30 lately (for reference, I’m an NC 35), to cover up my under-eye circles, and like timeBalm it thoroughly blocks out the dark areas without creasing, feathering, fading or settling into my fine lines. Read more…

CHANEL SOHO
GLOSSIMER IN STAR

A glittery pinkish purple lipgloss? Yes, please!

And the fact that this one’s also a Chanel Glossimer doesn’t hurt — well, except for the $27 price. That part hurts, but overlooking the way in which that makes my tummy churn, yippee!

She’s called Star, and like her namesake she’s all about the sparkle (with a very light tint). We’re talking good glitter here, very fine, and it doesn’t migrate around my lips.

Star feels thick and slightly sticky to me with a wear time around 90 minutes (mediocre for a gloss), and I’m glad that Chanel kept her scent- and flavor-free. Read more…

CHANEL SOHO
NAIL POLISHES

Well, it’s official. Elvis and summer have left the building. They walked out the back door, the one by the loading dock, and met for brewskies down at the Harvest Moon, you know, that little pub where all the classic fall nail colors hang out after work.

Every fall I pack up my warm weather must-haves — my neon nail polishes, fuchsia glosses, booty shorts with “I heart the Jersey Shore” written across the back (kidding!) to make room for autumn’s awesome goodies. This year, I’m clearing space for a couple of real workin’ stiffs called Steel (a shimmery gunmetal gray) and Strong (a shimmery blackened plum), Chanel’s two new SoHo Le Vernis nail polishes for fall ($23 each).

Why do autumn leaves make me want to paint mah talons with darker colors? Is it a cavewoman thing? Who knows, but if you like the look of dark fall nails, feast your Bette Davis eyes on these. Read more…

URBAN DECAY
LITTLE SINS PRIMER POTION SET

Er, I’m not talking sins of the “seven deadly” variety, one of which, lust, I have for Ryan Reynolds.

These kinder, gentler sins live in the Urban Decay Little Sins Eyeshadow Primer Potion Set ($29), a brand spankin’ new Sephora exclusive with four travel-sized bottles of Urban Decay’s famous Primer Potion in four different shades.

Stop unsightly shadow creasing and fading with the three classic shades in Original, Sin and Eden, or get a little selfish with the newest shade, shimmery golden Greed.

Greed, a cool-toned lemony gold on my NC35 skin, brightens lids with a noticeable glow, and I can really see it being a hit with girls who like the way they look in coolish yellowish golds.

If you like these Little Sins, the limited edition kit’s available now at Sephora and online at sephora.com. Read more…

SHISEIDO LUMINIZING
SATIN EYE COLOR TRIOS

Shiseido is not a word that springs to mind when I think “bright eyeshadow,” but their new Luminzing Satin Eye Color Trios ($33 each) sure got my attention.

I stumbled on these in the city the other day. The seven powder shadow trios, inspired by Shiseido Makeup Artistic Director Dick Page’s world travels, are completely new to the line, and bright is their modus operandi (they also feel silky smooth).

Take a look, and let me know if you see anything you like. I’m all over a pink, yellow and green trio called YE406 Tropicalia, not that I can think of a way to work all three of the colors into the same look.

Any ideas? Come on, there’s gotta be a way! 🙂 Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen