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
I spent the morning writing in my father-in-law’s office in their new home in Redding, California. I love the light in this room… so buttery and soft.
Notice the empty cup of coffee. I haven’t had coffee in forever, and now I’m bouncing off the walls. WHEE!
Hope you’re having a nice Monday so far. 🙂
I have to say, for a long, long time I didn’t think much of NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Star Sailor ($33), and I sailed past it many times without giving it as much as a sneaky side-eye glance.
Then, one day, the planets and stars were aligned just right, and I decided to see what swatches of its two shadows would look like on my skin.
Over the moon! — that’s how I felt when the first shade, a shimmery yellow gold, and the second, a shimmery golden bronze, blossomed before me, like a nebula under the watchful eye of the Hubble Space Telescope…
Sorry, I’m a sucker for a good (or middling) space reference. 🙂
If you happen to like neutrals with an interstellar kick, give Star Sailor a try, especially if you’re looking to upgrade from basic browns and beige. The shimmery yellow gold shade on the left side of the duo reminds me of a slightly warmer MAC Gorgeous Gold; the shimmery bronze on the right, with its golden undertones, brings to mind another one of my favorite shades, MAC Powersurge Eye Kohl eyeliner, except in eyeshadow form.
Worn together or apart, I like how much attention both shadows draw. They’re noticeable, but stop well short of shouting, “HEY! CHECK OUT MY EYES!”
Hi, cutie. Hope you’re having a great night. Just a few holiday pictures from my parents’ house.
You know me… Couldn’t keep my hands off the camera for long.
Posing with a mango and the Christmas grub
My brother brought these egg tarts
Ham for the fam
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Icicles in my hometown look like this. 🙂
I can’t speak for all families, but mine has a lot of weird old wives tales and superstitions, one of which involves giving the gift of shoes.
It states that if you ever give anyone a pair of shoes, they’re supposed to give you something in return; otherwise, well, let’s just say it’s bad for the relationship.
I have no idea where this one comes from, but I do know that one of my college roommates had heard of it, too. Once after giving me a pair of boots as a gift, she even reminded me, “Don’t forget to give me something back,” and suggested a penny. I loved the boots so much that I forgot about the penny and the superstition. A year later, after a huge argument, she moved out, and we haven’t spoken since.
Years have passed since the last time I received the gift of shoes, and over that time I’ve kept all of my close relationships intact. Coincidence? Hmm… 🙂
Of course, I love shoes and sometimes get myself a pair for Christmas, but when I do, as silly as it sounds, I always pay myself a penny in return, just in case (because you never know).
This year my Santa self gave me these leopard print Sam Edelman Lylas, which I found on sale online at Dillard’s.
Observe the possessive tabby in the pictures… As you can see, he has already claimed the shoes as his own.
I suspect that he believes they’re another cat.
FLASH — In breaking makeup monster news, a gang of despicable (yet somewhat cute) creatures was spotted this morning outside a Sephora store. Witnesses heard one of them roar, “Rawr! Open! Open! Monster need makeup!”
Details are sketchy, but it doesn’t look like any makeup was harmed…
NARS UNSUNG HEROES
AFGHAN RED LIPSTICK
Every year around this time, my regular weakness for red lipsticks turns into a serious condition, but even now, it’s usually treatable (with the careful administration of crimson cosmetics), except when I’ve been exposed to a jewel-toned red from NARS.
Then, the only cure is a tube of something like NARS Lipstick in Afghan Red ($24), a rich pinkish garnet. I tooled around town with this particular tube all weekend long, trying to keep the fever at bay…
To be safe, I should probably just keep it in my purse.
Never mind that my purse is already loaded down with compacts, other lippies, emergency cans of gravy and the occasional acorn, it never hurts to be prepared. Once you’ve been exposed to a shade like Afghan Red, you never know when another red lipstick episode will occur. Trying to predict them is like trying to forecast when terry cloth tracksuits will be back in style (read: impossible to know). Read more…
IF YOU LIKE SMOKEY LOOKS,
MAKE SPACE IN YOUR MAKEUP COLLECTION FOR MAC NEBULA PIGMENT
Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise…
Wait — no they’re not. This isn’t a voyage. It’s actually a review of the new MAC Nebula Pigment ($20). I guess I just had a random Trekkie moment, like that time at the gym back before I’d met El Hub. I was running on the treadmill when a cute boy climbed up on the one next to me, turned my way and said, “Hi.”
My witty response: “Live long and prosper.”
Oh, yeah. It was smooth…
Seriously, though, I might not have had game, but I did know a lot about Star Trek. Read more…
MIXED METAL MANIS: GET THE PARTY AND CONVERSATION
STARTED WITH A SILVER AND GOLDEN GLITTER OMBRE MANICURE
Yes, ma’am, I’m still in a metallic mani mode, also known as a mixed metal mani state of mind. Why? Because it’s magnetic! — not literally, of course — but I think there is something bewitching about nails that look like shiny baubles shimmering in silver and gold. Perhaps it’s because they remind me of disco balls, or perhaps it’s an ancient urge more primitive and primal than that.
This particular metal mani, a silver and gold ombre affair, is a manifestation of this MAC purse from holiday 2007, and how its tweed pattern melts from silver to gold (LOVE!). Read more…
NARS UNSUNG HEROES
DAMNED VELVET MATTE LIP PENCIL
Lately (in case you haven’t noticed), I’ve had a thing for red lips. I look at them the same way I look at pairs of black shoes, which is to say that one tube (or pair) is never enough.
There are just so many different spins on the red lip motif, just as there are when it comes to black shoes. With the shoes, you’ve got your black high heels, low heels, stacked heels, platforms, and don’t get me started on the sub-shades of black.
It’s the same thing with crimson lip colors. Every one is unique, or at least different in some small but significant way. Read more…
BUXOM TRUE HUE, BABY I LOVE YOU:
THE NEW $24 BUXOM TRUE HUE BLUSHES ARE COMING IN FEBRUARY TO SEPHORA
Calling all blushing beauties and buffs! — Buxom plans to introduce a new collection of colorful cheek products into their permanent line. The new True Hue family arrives in February, bursting with bold pigments and, according to Buxom, the powers of a plant called rhodiola.
Buxom claims that the plant, used for centuries by people in Russia and Scandinavia to cope with the stress and cold of Siberian life, makes cheeks wearing the True Hue blushes appear refreshed, but I’d probably give these pigments more credit for that. I find them very easy to manipulate, thanks to super smooth powders that are a breeze to build up or sheer down. Read more…
ARE YOU A TOCCA GRACIELLA GIRL
It’s her hair you notice first — long, loose and wavy, and still a little damp from this morning’s shower. Today she’s riding her rickety bicycle, the one with the worn wicker basket on the front, along the cobblestone streets of the small Italian village you both call home.
“Hello, Graciella!” you call to her. She sees you, smiles and waves a hand high in reply.
Clackity-clack-clack, goes the bicycle, as it moves along the cobblestones. She’s wearing a flowery, flowing dress today, and all of a suddenly the air is filled with the scent of oranges, you assume from her shampoo. Fresh from a visit to the early morning market, her basket is brimming with white lilies and a brown paper bag filled with pears. Hungry (she’s always hungry), she nibbles on one of them as she cruises along, and when she passes you, there’s a whiff of soft musk from her skin, but it slowly drifts away. Read more…
MIXED METAL MANIS:
LIKE BRITNEY, MY NAILS ARE GOING BEIGE, SILVER AND GOLD
Aha! I always knew (or hoped) that those countless hours spent watching Pop-Up Video would pay off eventually. Yup, it was while watching Britney shake her moneymaker in the Toxic video (one of my faves) the other that day that I came up with this idea for a Mixed Metal Mani.
You know that nude bodysuit she wears with the diamonds? Wouldn’t that look pretty chic and blingy on your nails? — a minimalist nude nail layered with gold and silver glitter? Read more…
I CAN’T IMAGINE FALLING OUT OF LOVE WITH
LAURA MERCIER’S NEW BAKED EYE COLOUR PALETTE
Are they macarons, or are they eyeshadows? Well, that depends. The baked beauties in Laura Mercier’s new Baked Eye Colour Palette ($48) just might be a bit of both.
Like macarons, they make me smile. All five of the shimmery shadows in brown, bronze, beige, pink and purple deposit very little fallout on my cheeks, and I love the glowing, wide-awake look their punchy pigments bestow upon my eyes.
The palette, a holiday release, also comes with a time-saving surprise — a dual-tipped brush with a flat eyeshadow brush on one end and a dense, pointed cream shadow brush on the other. Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Merry Christmas, friend and fellow makeup lover! 🙂
Greetings from my old childhood bedroom in Union City. I’m here at my parents’ house, thinking about those scenes in so many movies when the kids, all grownups now, go home for the holidays and see their old rooms…
I can’t believe that this tiny, little space was for years the center of my solar system. It’s where I dreamed so many dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up, and now it’s a storage room in the house, haha! My old bed is still here, and so are my old stuffed animals, but now they share the bed with my mom’s extra purses (she loves her purses) and the random nicknacks that no longer get top billing in the living room.
I just wanted to say a quick hi this morning and thank you for being a friend.
Wait — did I just quote The Golden Girls? At any rate, I hope that wherever you are and whatever you’re doing right now, you’re happy and safe. And please also know that you’re loved.
Tabs asked me to pass along his best regards. He’s had a busy weekend, jam packed with star-studded holiday events, like the annual Fashionable Felines Celebrity Ball.
I do hope that Tabs takes some time off this week… He’s such a workaholic, as you can tell from his latest batch of kitty modeling pictures. This week he worked on several holiday campaigns for MAC, NARS and Benefit, among other brands. He just might be the hardest working plus-size kitty model in the business.
El Hub and I are heading up to Redding now to spend the afternoon with his parents. See you again soon.
NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Red Square ($24), tonight’s unsung hero, has a lot in common with MAC Lady Danger and NARS Heat Wave, but while it hangs out in the same bright reddish orange circles, it sports sportier, travel-friendly attire.
