A surfer paddling out into the lineup in Huntington Beach, California.
Paddle Out, Surf Baby
Archives for May 2011
Welcome to the Offices of Urban Decay Cosmetics: Where Wonderland Meets Newport Beach
At one point on my quick trip to Southern California this week, I must have taken my eyes off the sidewalk in front of me for a moment (oops!), because before I knew it, I’d fallen into a rabbit hole…
And this wasn’t just any rabbit hole. Nope, it was a magic one that transported me to Newport Beach and the offices of the largest independently owned color cosmetics company in the United States. 🙂
Disguised as an unassuming gray building…
Despite appearances, this quiet, unassuming gray building nestled on a side street in Newport Beach isn’t an accountant’s office or a place that makes frames. It’s actually the offices of Urban Decay.
Inside, it’s purple, purple, everywhere!
Sweet carnival of chroma, batgirl! The outside belies the pageantry of purple taking place inside these walls. The interior is a cornucopia of color (I never would have guessed it from the building’s facade).
Two Ways to Win the New Too Faced Primed & Poreless Bronze Tint Skin Smoothing Face Primer (a $30 Value)
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Allison! Congratulations, Allison! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
It’s a makeup triple threat! The new Too Faced Primed & Poreless Bronze Tint face primer doesn’t just sing, dance and act put pores and imperfections into stealth mode, it also gives the skin a warm, bronzy glow while keeping the sun’s damaging rays at bay with the power of SPF 20.
Too Faced developed it to work with as many different skin tones as possible (and it seems to deliver pretty well on that), so gals from every color of the rainbow could rock it.
Which brings us to the purpose of this morning’s post…
Are you ready for another giveaway? 🙂
- One (1) Too Faced Primed & Poreless Bronze Tint SPF 20 face primer (a $30 value)
- There are two ways to enter, 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, like, how often do you wear a face primer? What were your favorite TV shows when you were a kid? What’s your idea of a dream vacation? What do you have on your desk right now? — you get the picture!
- Second, you can enter by following me on
Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win Too Faced Primed & Poreless Bronze Tint Skin Smoothing Face Primer (a $30 Value) http://bit.ly/iM57VW
- The deadline to enter is Friday, May 13, 2011 at 11:59PM (PT).
- Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
- A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
- Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
- Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
- The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Oh, and if you haven’t already entered to win yesterday’s giveaway for all four Urban Decay Primer Potions, you have until 11:59PM Pacific Time Thursday night (tonight). Pacific Time because that’s where Tabs and I live. 🙂
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Allison! Congratulations, Allison! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
MAC Surf Baby: Summer Stash Crushed Metallic Pigment
The violet shade from the MAC Surf Baby Summer Stash Crushed Metallic Pigment set ($32.50 for four shades).
How’d you wear this?
MAC Surf Baby: Surf the Ocean Crushed Metallic Pigment
The golden bronze shade from the MAC Surf Baby Surf the Ocean Crushed Metallic Pigment set ($32.50 for four shades).
Would you rock this?
What Scent Are You Wearing?
Before I left home this morning I spritzed on some Burberry Summer for Women Eau de Toilette ($79), a limited edition fruity green floral available now at select department stores.
Isn’t the bottle gorgeous? There’s not much to it, but I love the way it looks in the light.
Officially, the fragrance profile includes…
- Top notes: pomegranate, orange, mandarin and green leaf
- Middle notes: rose, freesia and lily of the valley
- Base notes: cedar wood, sandal wood and white musk
Because of the citrus and freesia notes in this, it totally remind me of another one of my Burberry faves, Brit Sheer. Both scents last all day on me, too.
What scent are you wearing today? When I asked him, El Hub’s answer was “I’m wearing Speed Stick in Ocean Surf.” 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. I still have to tell you what happened with Urban Decay today, but right now I’m plum tuckered out. I’m going to try to catch some Z’s before they all get away… Sleep well, beautiful (you too, Tabs).
MAC Unsung Heroes: Teddy Eye Kohl
I firmly believe that life’s too short to waste wearing boring brown eyeliners (or, on an unrelated note, wearing shoes in summer).
Today’s inductee into the hallowed halls of MAC Unsung Heroics is called 
Teddy, and when it comes to boring, he’s anything but. Teddy is a MAC Eye Kohl ($14.50) pencil, an intensely rich, dark bronzy brown with subtle golden shimmer, and it’s that shimmer that takes Teddy from the bored-room to the bedroom best room (haha! oops, bad pun).
I think I use Teddy almost as often as MAC Powersurge. It’s one of those colors that always seems appropriate, day or night, and it totally hits the spot when I want to draw extra attention to my eyes but don’t feel like wearing basic black.
Its soft, creamy texture glides along my lash and water lines, defining the shape of my eyes. Every so often I’ll even wear it as a base by smudging it onto my lids; other times I might layer it beneath powder shadows, where I think it looks particularly cute with bronzy golds like MAC Woodwinked.
Two Ways to Win All Four Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potions (a $76 Value)
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Sol C.! Congratulations, Sol! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
Sometimes the word “tube” refers to something bad, like that time years ago when you were in line at the grocery store. You were wearing a tube top and carrying your friend’s little girl, and the child reached up and pulled down your top (true story!).
And then sometime the word “tube” refers to something great, like the new packaging for Urban Decay’s four Primer Potions — Eden, Greed, Original and Sin. UD moved them into easy-to-squeeze tubes, making it that much easier to use every last drop.
A lot of gals love these primers, and I do too. They accentuate the richness of both powder and cream shadows and extend how long they last on the skin, keeping products in place from dawn till dusk. Or way past dusk, depending on your schedule. 🙂
I think Eden’s my fave. Which one’s yours?
- One (1) Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden (a $19 value)
- One (1) Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Greed (a $19 value)
- One (1) Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original (a $19 value)
- One (1) Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin (a $19 value)
- There are two ways to enter, 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, like, what’s your favorite Urban Decay product of all time? Have you ever lived in a big city? Where would you live if you had all the money in the world? Do you have any regrets? Who inspires you? What shoes are you wearing today? — the sky’s the limit!
- Second, you can enter by following me on Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Two Ways to Win All Four Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potions (a $76 Value) http://bit.ly/jXtokl
- The deadline to enter is Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 11:59PM (PT).
- Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
- A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
- Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
- Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
- The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Happy hump day, young lady. 🙂 My flight must have just taken off about 20 minutes ago, so I’m probably about a third of the way from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I’ll touch base again soon. Have a good one today.
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Sol C.! Congratulations, Sol! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂