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
Ms. Elizabeth Arden has been busy in the garden again. Her Smoky Eyes Powder Pencil in Black Violet ($16), one of seven pieces in the new Bronze in Bloom Summer 2011 Collection, can’t wait to decorate your eyes.
It’s an easy-to-use, long-wearing cream pencil that dries to a soft, powdery finish in a pretty, purplish black. I have a feeling it’ll look lovely on lasses with lighter eyes, but I think brown-eyed beauties are really in luck.
Baby turkeys!
MAC Bombshell Lipstick, $14.50. Do you ever wear this shimmery rosy pink? I’m crushing on it hard these days!
I thought it was April showers that brought May flowers, but yet it rained today. What’s up with that? I was getting a little down about it, too, until I saw the colors in the new bareMinerals Love & Happiness Collection ($35). There they were, like a break in the clouds, these shimmery pastels and brights.
The collection is, more accurately, a kit released to commemorate the company’s 35th birthday (happy b-day, BM!). I’ve played with a few other bareMinerals kits before but was never really moved. In some cases, it just seemed like there was either something missing or off about those colors. These, however, look like a garden party (complete with knee-length dresses, fine china and cucumber sandwiches) in a pretty pink box.
“Did someone say party?!”
At the top of the list of not-so-smart things I’ve done over the past few days: starting to watch a scary movie at 10:30 p.m. Yes, that’s when I cranked up Insidious the other night thinking I’d only watch “10 minutes of it” before going straight to bed.
Bad idea.
Of course I had to finish it, which was like watching Britney’s infamous breakdown (I couldn’t look away!), except with sudden loud noises, scary silhouettes seen through darkened windows, and creaky wooden floors. NOTE TO SELF: films featuring demon possession do not make for relaxing bedtime fare.
Luckily, I also managed to do something pretty smart this week, which almost balances things out. I remembered where I put my missing pan of MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Sunbasque ($19.50), one of my summer faves for sunkissed cheeks, and arguably one of MAC’s user-friendliest (I don’t think that’s a real word…) blushes.
Sheertone and I met a couple of years ago at a MAC counter when I’d asked a MAC artist for a blush recommendation. I wanted something easy that would look great with a tan, and she pulled out Sunbasque, a shimmery, peachy pink bronze. What made it special, she said, was the slight red it contains, which complements the reddish tones in tanned skin.
It’s like a multifunction printer, but instead of printing, scanning and faxing, it blushes, bronzes and highlights. The bronze tones lend warmth to my cheeks, while the peachy pink adds a flush of color. The subtle shimmer just draws a little more attention to the face, but not so much that I look like I’m rollin’ straight to da club.
Two layers (it’s sooo easy to blend), and I look like I spent the entire day practicing cannonballs at the pool…and napping and reading Us Weekly.
I ask this question periodically because I get a weird thrill out of finding out what people lug around with them throughout their day.
Strange? Perhaps, but c’est la vie! 🙂
Lately I’ve been traveling surprisingly light, but I think that’s because I just switched purses and haven’t had time to recruit my usual army of random lip glosses, powders and cans of cat food (with gravy, of course).
I’m currently toting five things from the makeup department…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
