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
Are you happy with your nail clippers? I’m serious. The pair I’ve been using, which is just one of those regular foldable stainless steel ones, tears up my nails. I go through all the work to paint ’em and then use clippers that might as well be garden shears. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I still haven’t found a pair I’d swear by, and my nails could use a hand.
Any recommendations? Who makes the best nail clippers?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Isn’t it too cute!? It’s the iPhone 4 Hard Cover case by Kate Spade ($40), and it was a gift from El Hub for Christmas.
It consists of two separate pieces of stiff, rather slippery plastic that snap together to protect the phone. I think my previous soft silicone cover was a little easier to hold, but I’m getting used to this one now and remembering to grip it tighter.
If you’re sensitive to sound, the hard case amplifies the clickity-clack sound the phone makes when it’s set to vibrate and ringing on a hard surface, and it gives me a start every time a call comes in!
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“Who…”
“Who…”
“Who…” said the owl outside my bedroom window. 🙂 Rise and shine, morning glory. It’s another foggy Hundred-Acre Wood day out here in chilly Northern California, and there’s an owl outside who sounds like he loves it.
I swear, that owl only calls out early on foggy mornings, which tells me he’s got a real flair for the dramatic.
How did you sleep? I’m only just getting up now, so I’m not altogether awake yet.
Did you do anything fun last night? We did end up going to Chipotle for dinner and then to See’s Candy for desert, where I learned a charming little factoid about my favorite chocolatier. Apparently, to gain access to the company’s secret kitchen at its South San Francisco headquarters, one must be employed by the company for 25 years, which makes me wonder…what the heck is going on in that kitchen??
In other completely random news, have you seen this pic of the new Spider-Man? Andrew Garfield (of The Social Network and the Red Riding Trilogy: Part 1) is reprising Tobey’s role in a reboot of the franchise.
I like Andrew, but Tobey did such a great job. Those are some big tights to fill…
And now back to beauty! If you haven’t already guessed, it’s giveaway time.
Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Josie Maran Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation on my face, Argan Illuminizer on my cheeks, beneath my eyes and on the brow bone
Model/makeup maestro Josie Maran likes argan oil almost as much as Tabs likes gravy, and she’s launching a new foundation and illuminator made with the stuff this spring.
Argan oil, of course (not gravy). 🙂
Sheer, lightweight Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation ($42) adjusts to the wearer’s skin tone, beginning white, but changing color as it’s worked into the skin, while shimmery liquid Argan Illuminizer ($28) is designed to give skin a bronzy glow.
Both products will arrive in stores next month (but the foundation’s already available online at sephora.com) and contain Josie’s signature ingredient. Some refer to argan oil as something of a miracle ingredient — a skin-soothing, complexion-clearing, fine-line-erasing, skin-tone-improving, elasticity-restoring, inflammation-reducing miracle ingredient — and if it were any more amazing, it would probably rescue stray kittens on the side. 🙂
I’ve used a few of Josie’s other argan products but never detected a dramatic difference in my skin. That said, I do still like a lot about her line, like how she handles color, the textures she uses and, of course, that her products are eco and pet friendly (Tabs approved).
I dug around for clinical studies to support the use of argan oil and its effects on skin, but I didn’t turn anything up (other than this study on its consumption and heart disease).
Available in two shades, Light/Medium and Medium/Dark, this foundation’s supposed to correct fine lines and wrinkles, and cover other imperfections on the skin, while evening out skin tone.
Can I just vent about my bangs for a moment? Because today they interfered with Smashbox’s spring In Bloom Limitless Long Wear Lip Glosses, and that’s just wrong.
Observe the redonkulous headband in the picture above, which I’ve resorted to wearing on account of my unruly bangs. Ever since I got them trimmed last week, they’ve been extremely uncooperative, jutting out at weird angles and generally behaving badly. The headband keeps them under wraps, but it also kinda steals this sheer gloss’s thunder.
The two cuties below ($21 for each 0.1-oz tube) are part of the recently released Smashbox In Bloom collection for spring (a limited edition affair), and while the collection’s springy floral theme hasn’t exactly revolutionized my concept of spring makeup, I’ve liked the products I’ve seen so far.
Smashbox In Bloom Limitless Long Wear Lip Gloss in Timeless (on the top) and Endless Kiss (on the bottom)
Shimmery coral Endless Kiss and shimmery pink Timeless come in the same long-wearing Limitless Lip Gloss formula Smashbox launched back in 2009.
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It being Friday, and with El Hub promising he’d take me out to dinner tonight, I’m trying to figure out what I want to wear tonight (still haven’t decided).
I also grabbed my current favorite purse, which — wouldn’t ya know it? — contains makeup. Big surprise, right? 🙂
Whatcha got in yours?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Oh, I almost forgot. 🙂 It’s Friday.
The three portable palettes in the Smashbox Style Files ($59) are totally easy to crack. What I mean to say is, there’s no 128-bit encryption or complex p@ssW07ds here. Just a batch of beauty bits (in shimmery neutrals to deep jewel tones) for eyes, lips and cheeks.
For my makeup today, I felt like something fun and fresh, but I didn’t want to think too hard.
Enter the Smashbox Style Files, a new limited edition Sephora exclusive set.
The Smashbox Style Files box
Style Files Shadow palette
These colors aren’t as pigmented as I’d hoped and suffer from some pretty mean fallout, but I do like how easy they are to blend. In all, you get eight shadows in…
Style Files Shadow palette
Style Files Eye Liner palette
Each of the cream liners double as bases for the shadows, so that’s pretty cool. And the pencil liners cling to my lash and water lines like true champs. With this set, you get four Cream Liners and two Limitless Eye Liners in…
Style Files Eye Liner palette
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The two Limitless Long Wear Lip Glosses from the new Smashbox In Bloom Collection ($21 each). The lighter shimmery peachy pink shade is Timeless and the darker coral is Endless Kiss.
Which one’s your fave?
For more details (and swatches!) of the Smashbox In Bloom Collection, check out…
