Archives for December 2011

My Lips Are Tingling Over These New Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Creams

December 14th, 2011 by Karen 20 Comments

Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Cream in Berry Blast

Applying one of Buxom’s new line of lip creams feels like kissing a peppermint candy cane…

Refreshing!

The seven super shiny plumping glosses in the new Big & Healthy Lip Cream line ($18 each) don’t arrive until February, well after the peak of candy cane season, but if I hadn’t known better, I would have thought they were a Christmas release.

Smelling like coconut buttercream and tasting like mint, they offer sheer-to-medium coverage that lasts about four hours on me. If MAC made a slightly thicker Cremesheen Glass that tingled, it would probably feel a lot like one of these creams, with a similarly smooth, non-sticky texture that feels great on my lips.

Buxom bestowed upon them a host of hydrating helpers like vitamins A and E, and something they call “hyaluronic filling spheres,” which the company claims can moisturize lips from the inside out, but they skipped the preservatives and parabens.

Unfortunately, those hydrating helpers haven’t really worked for me. After my first day with these, my lips began to feel a little tight and dry…

buxom big & healthy lip cream

buxom big & healthy lip cream swatches
Swatches from the left: White Russian, Mudslide, Creamsicle, Pink Lady, Berry Blast, Purple Haze and Cherry Flip
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NARS Unsung Heroes: Taos Blush

December 14th, 2011 by Karen 36 Comments

nars taos blush

NARS Taos Blush ($27) belongs to an elite battalion of blushes in my beauty brigade called the One Swipers, a group of blushes able to deliver all-day color from a single swipe across the pan.

What makes it special?

These One Swipers pack a lot of pigment, so a little goes a long way — which is great when they’re as expensive as a NARS blush. Taos, here, should last until forever, or at least until Bella and Edward break up (whichever comes first).

A platoon leader in the NARS permanent collection, Taos is one of those vibrant colors that I always notice when I walk by an open pan. A bright rosy red with golden shimmer and a wisp of coral, it’s like NARS Torrid’s darker red doppelganger.

I’ll wear it year-round, typically with neutral eyes and lips, but I find myself reaching for it more often around the holidays because of how much I like the way it looks with red lips.

When darker divas ask for blush recommendations, Taos is one of the first blushes that comes to mind, and I think it looks fan-freakin’-tastic on dark complexions, on both warm- and cool-toned babes.

nars taos blush

nars taos swatch
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Sonia Kashuk Went All Out Glam on Her Latest 6-Piece Brush Set

December 14th, 2011 by Karen 30 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Holiday 2011

Neat! Now here’s a brush kit that caught my eye. Of course, it’s hard to miss something with so many sparkles. 🙂

What an interesting selection of brushes in Sonia’s new All Out Glam 6-Piece Brush Set ($24.99) for faces, cheeks and eyes! I see a few brushes here that I can’t recall ever seeing before in a holiday brush kit, like the synthetic-fiber domed face brush, which I like for applying under-eye concealer, and the synthetic-fiber eye/concealer brush, which looks to me like a skinnier, stretched out version of the MAC 219.
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I Think It Would Be Both Weird and Rad…

December 14th, 2011 by Karen 14 Comments

…to have a Christmas wreath decorated with silver and gold nail polish bottles instead of the usual pinecones/berries/whatnot.

NARS Taos Blush

December 13th, 2011 by Karen 11 Comments

Yes, no, maybe so? Lemme know…

NARS Taos Blush, $27. Available now at NARS counters and also online.

With the Essie Luxeffects Collection, Glitter Is a Shine of the Times

December 13th, 2011 by Karen 44 Comments

Essie Luxeffects

The other day at the grocery store, I got to chatting with the cashier who was helping me. She was sporting one of the cutest sparkly manicures I’d seen in a while, and when I told her how much I liked it, she replied, “Aw, thanks! Since I have to wear a uniform every day, I like to do something to spice it up.”

Amen to that! Working for Tabs, I also have to wear a uniform of sorts — you know, sensible shoes and clothes that show I’m responsible enough to handle midnight gravy runs, and other crucial cat-assigned tasks. To spice things up this week, I plan to wear something from Essie Luxeffects.

The new collection of nail polishes launched earlier this month with five glittery shades ($8 each), and WOW! — what a surprise. I think of Essie as a pretty conservative line, so it’s neat to see them take a detour down a sparkly path.

The glitter flecks they used for these polishes, which are designed to be worn alone or layered with other lacquers, come in different shapes and sizes, from larger hexagonal flecks to tiny round ones smaller than a grain of sand, and the variety creates the illusion of depth and dimension.

The collection includes…

essie luxeffects (6)
Essie Luxeffects from the left: As Gold as it Gets, Shine of the Times, A Cut Above, Pure Pearlfection and Set in Stones

essie luxeffects (2)
Set in Stones
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MAC Daphne Guinness for MAC Collection Product Pics and Swatches

December 13th, 2011 by Karen 45 Comments

mac daphne guinness for mac

What up, MACaholics! Here’s a quick peek at product pics and swatches of some items from the new Daphne Guinness for MAC collection. The mostly cool-toned launch hits MAC counters and stores December 26 in North America and January 2012 internationally.

mac vintage grape
Blush Ombre in Vintage Grape, $26

mac azalea blossom
Blush Ombre in Azalea Blossom, $26

mac too chic
Beauty Powder in Too Chic; NOTE: this item isn’t listed in the Daphne Guinness for MAC official PR; I’ll let you know its status is a few

mac nebula
Pigment in Nebula, $20

mac interior life
Eye Shadow X4 in Interior Life, $38
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NARS Unsung Heroes: Night Star Eyeshadow

December 13th, 2011 by Karen 37 Comments

It’s holiday party time! — but if you’re a busy gal with too many emails to answer and a to-do list longer than your arm, getting ready to party may be the last thing on your mind. If it is, perhaps NARS Night Star Eyeshadow can help.

Now, you know me when it comes to wearing color on my eyes — I love it! But I also like the versatility of neutral shades, and that’s the side of me that $23 Night Star excites. An eyeshadow single in the NARS permanent line, it’s a sheer peach with a golden glitter kick — a perfect pick for office parties this time of year.

When I want to brighten my lids and give a golden sparkle to my eyes, this is the color I grab.

I realize that it’s not easy to gauge how the glitter captures the light in the pics (I tried!), but I think the shade is much more sparkly in person than it appears here. This is one of NARS’ quieter colors, and because of that it probably won’t appeal to everyone, but if you have a thing for sheer neutrals with flecks of mid-volume golden glitter, give NARS Night Star a try.

I’ve heard from some makeup lovers who have issues with fallout while wearing Night Star, and I’ve experienced it, too. I get my best results with it when I wear it atop a very sticky primer, like a MAC Paint Pot (Soft Ochre’s my fave to wear with this shade), and apply it by patting the shadow on my lids with a finger, instead of a brush.
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