NARS Nepal Eyeshadow ($23). Available now at NARS counters and also online.
NARS Nepal Eyeshadow
Archives for December 2011
NYX Put Me in an Affectionate Mood With Their Latest $4.50 Lip Gloss
“Sensory overload.”
That’s how I feel about many of NYX’s lip products due to their flavors and scents. Sometimes I think they’re just too strong, but I don’t feel that way about their new “Mood” Lip Gloss in Affectionate ($4.50), one of two new Mood Lip Glosses from NYX for the holidays (the second’s called Sensual, ooh-la-la!).
Still, Affectionate’s no lightweight when it comes to taste and scent. As soon as I remove the cap, the scent of strawberry hard candy fills the room. Subtle? Not hardly, but I find it kinda pleasant. At least I don’t think it tastes or smells synthetic, which is something, I guess.
The NYX Mood glosses take the idea of mood rings to new heights, beginning as one shade that changes to another once they’re on the lips. Affectionate starts out as a shimmery white but transforms into a natural-looking shade of shimmery pink (the pink doesn’t appear to vary for different wearers).
Dry Lips Should Love Japanese Spring and Richly Revered, Two of the Cremesheen Glasses from Daphne Guinness for MAC
Wearing MAC Cremesheen Glass in Japanese Spring on my lips
The Cremesheen Glasses ($18.50 each) in the new Daphne Guinness for MAC collection are among my favorite pieces in the release because I think they’re also among the easiest ones to wear.
The collection catapults onto North American counters December 26 and internationally a little later in January with four Cremesheen Glass shades — Borealis, a pale grayish pink with iridescent pearl; Japanese Spring, a pale dirty pink; Narcissus, a dirty eggplant; and Richly Revered, a deep plummy brown. I’ve been wearing two of the four this week, Japanese Spring and Richly Revered, and because of how sheer they are, we get along just great.
Japanese Spring looked familiar to me when I met it, but it took me a little while to place. MAC Ever So Rich — that’s what it reminds me of — one of my favorite Cremesheen Glasses of all time.
I think Spring’s light touch of pink is what keeps it looking natural, and I like the subtle kick it gives to pink and purple lipsticks when it’s worn on top.
Sheer plummy brown Richly Revered, the second shade I’ve been wearing, strikes me as a good work shade. I like that I don’t have to wear it with a lip liner, which is something I feel I usually have to do with more pigmented glosses.
Japanese Spring on top and Richly Revered on the bottom
Swatches of Japanese Spring on the left and Richly Revered on the right
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I Love the Night Life
I love to boogie (on the disco ’round).
NARS Night Life Eyeshadow, $23. Available now at NARS counters and also online.
Two Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora!
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Dana! Congratulations, Dana! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
Might as well face it, I’m addicted to Pukka Love…
I’ve been drinking so much of this stuff lately! It’s a tea called Love by Pukka ($6.95) that I get from the Vitamin Shoppe, but I’m sure it’s carried at other places, too. Design ho that I am, I picked it up first because of the box, but the description of the flavors is what had me sold: “organic rose, chamomile and lavender flower to warm your heart.”
Aww and NOM!
Imbibing this beautiful beverage is supposed to soothe, relax, and make you feel more balanced — all things I constantly need, haha! — and I love the taste. It’s a sweet aromatic floral like the lavender flower hard candies I used to get from the Asian grocery store down the street when I was kid.
It’s herbal and caffeine-free, so I can drink as much as I want throughout the day without getting the shakes, and for variety I’ve been alternating it with Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Chai.
A cup of tea can be a simple way to show yourself some love…
Yes, that was very cheesy, but so true. 🙂
And now, ready or not, it’s giveaway time!
- One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).
- 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 are your favorite kinds/flavors of tea? Have you ever attended high tea before? How would you summarize 2011 for you? How do you feel about fragrances with tea notes? Have you finished all of your holiday shopping? — you get the idea.
- Second, you can enter by following me on
Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora! http://bit.ly/rXkTyQ
- The deadline to enter is Sunday, December 18, 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).
- Sephora eGift Certificates can only be redeemed online and are not valid in stores or available for purchase or redemption in Canada. International winners may opt to substitute the Sephora eGift card prize for $50 sent directly to their email address by PayPal instead.
- 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
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Dana! Congratulations, Dana! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
Laura Mercier Limited Edition Travel Brush Set
The Laura Mercier Limited Edition Travel Brush Set ($85), available now at Laura Mercier counters and also online.
The Daphne Guinness for MAC Blush Ombres: Just as Sweet the Second Time Around
Wearing MAC Blush Ombre in Azalea Blossom on my cheeks
Dang, you have a great memory for MAC makeup! I should call you “Total Recall.” 🙂 Forget Sudoku and crossword puzzles; trying to recollect the first time MAC colors launched is a great brain exercise for beauty buffs.
And yes, you’re right! Two of the new Daphne Guinness for MAC Blush Ombres ($26 each) appeared last year in the Spring Colour Forecast collection. Azalea Blossom (a light cool pink) and Vintage Grape (a mid-tone violet pink) are staging a comeback, except now they cost $1 more than they did in 2010 (a sign of the times, yo).
If you missed ’em the first time around, you get a second chance. They offer the same moderate, buildable coverage they did back then, in a finish about halfway between shimmer and matte.
Each one combines two colors in the same pan, and as far as I can tell, the gradients aren’t an overspray. Swirl the two colors together to create a single shade, or keep them apart and use separately. I’m partial to wearing the lighter halves as blushes and highlighters and the darker halves for contouring.
I just love how these look on the skin. The grains are so fine that they’re almost undetectable!
Blush Ombre in Azalea Blossom
Blush Ombre in Vintage Grape
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Laura Mercier Limited Edition Baked Eye Colour Palette
The Laura Mercier Limited Edition Baked Eye Colour Palette for holiday 2011 ($48). Available now at Laura Mercier counters and also online.
What do you think of these shades? I love ’em and think they could easily transition into spring.