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Archives for January 2012

Summer in Britain Is Burberry Beauty’s Bright Idea for Spring/Summer 2012

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burberry beauty spring 2012 (10)

Slip on your favorite belted trench, Burberry beauty babes, and walk with me while we take a peek at Burberry Beauty’s collection for Spring/Summer 2012.

Since entering the beauty biz in July of 2010, Burberry’s beauty products have emulated their iconic fashion sense with clean, classic, timeless colors and packaging that smacks of class. Look elsewhere for crazy Kesha glitter, because this look is all about natural beauty with elegant pops of panache.

This season, the brand celebrates summers in Britain with shiny, bright, warm shades for lips, neutral colors for eyes and dewy finishes for faces and cheeks. The 12-piece collection showcases seven new shades and three re-promoted colors, and it’s available now online and at select Nordstrom stores.

FYI, San Francisco Bay Area Burberry fans, a new Burberry Beauty counter is coming to the Walnut Creek Nordstrom store, opening in mid-to-late February, so you won’t have to trek all the way to Union Square in San Francisco to get your Burberry on, yay!

Here are pics and swatches of six of the seven new shades. If you frequently fancy Chanel and Trish McEvoy, you may find yourself craving these products as well, especially if you like neutral eyes and pretty pink lips (that here seem a little bit brighter than usual for the brand).

Stay tuned for looks and detailed reviews over the next few days, but for now, let me know what you think.

burberry beauty spring 2012 (1)

burberry beauty spring 2012 (2)

burberry beauty spring 2012 (6)
Lip Cover Soft Satin Lipsticks from the left: Primrose Hill Pink No. 30, Tulip Pink No. 27 and Devon Sunset No. 28, $29 each
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If You Like Long-Wearing Blushes, You May Want to Spring for These Amazonian Clay Blushes From Tarte

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Wearing Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten

Daily revelations, January 23, 2012

  • “Isosceles” and “Camembert” are two very dignified words.
  • The retail pet products world discriminates against cats (at Target, dogs get both sides of an entire aisle for toys and canine accessories, but cats just get one small section of wall!).
  • What does it mean when you’re no longer embarrassed about saying things like this out loud: “The kitty appetizers with the shredded pieces are way classier than the ones with cubed bits.”
  • ZOMG! Tarte’s four shimmery, glittery Amazonian Clay Blushes for spring 2012 are totally great!

I’m still trying to track down whether these four new $25 blushes are limited edition or permanent, but I’m really hoping that Tarte decides to keep ’em around, because I can easily see myself wearing Adored (a cool pink with purplish glitter), Frisky (a red with golden glitter), Buff (a nude peachy brown with silver glitter) and Glisten (a shimmery peachy gold from last year’s QVC-exclusive 8th World Wonder kit) all year round.

Like their older siblings, these four new shades also contain (you guessed it!) Amazonian Clay! — an ingredient that Tarte claims is able to adapt to different skin conditions, both moisturizing dry patches and absorbing grease in oily areas at the same time.

My dry cheeks have yet to feel a sudden surge of moisture when they wear these, but I can say that the blushes haven’t made my alligator skin situation any worse.

Also like last year’s blushes, these pigmented powerhouses have amazing grip strength! They latch onto my cheeks and don’t let go for nothin’, not even after multiple trips to and from my car yesterday in the rain. They stayed put all day long until I removed my makeup around 9 at night, so if you need or want a long-wearing blush, you could do a lot worse than these.

But, you might be wondering, what about the glitter? Well, I think Tarte handles it well. It’s definitely not glitter ala Claire’s/Hot Topic. Tarte appears to be using a semi-matte blush base for Adored, Frisky and Glisten that tones down the party effect, so it’s visible from an arm’s length away, but the glitter flecks are so tiny and subdued that I think they look refined. We’re talking classy glitter here, babe. 🙂


Frisky


Adored
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 204

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One can never go wrong with pearls…

  • You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
    Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. I just finished a quick run, and I feel like I’m floating on an endorphin-fueled high. 🙂 Feels like it’s gonna be a great day!

  2. How do you feel about bright neon clothing?

    3. I’m still on the fence… I noticed a ton of neon shirts, shoes and accessories at Gap and Target last weekend. Talk about flashbacks to the ’80s! I remember wearing an oversized neon green t-shirt in fourth grade that went down to about my knees and thinking I was the ish, haha! It was so obnoxiously bright that it reflected a greenish tint on my chin…

    Not my best look. Still, I don’t mind the idea of wearing something bright and eye-catching, but I’d want to wear it in a way that wasn’t totally obnoxious.

  3. Your favorite lip balm?

    4. Lately, I’ve been stuck on Bite Beauty Vitamin Gel in Pink Grapefruit, a moisturizing lippie that tastes just like Boton Rice Candy (NOM!).

  4. Note to self…

    5. Do whatever it takes to get to that hatha yoga class tomorrow at 6. WHATEVER IT TAKES!

  5. Have you tried zip-lining?

    6. No, but I’d love to! I’d like to do it somewhere that took me soaring out over the tops of tall trees.

  6. When was the last time you rode a bicycle?

    7. Last June over my birthday trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. El Hub and I rented bikes and cruised around Stanley Park. So much fun!

  7. Which of your friends lives the farthest away from you?

    8. I’m lucky that two of my closest friends, Jen and Cindy, live here in the Bay Area, and they’re both about an hour away, so I guess that makes you the farthest. 🙂

  8. What would you do with a six-month, all-expenses-paid break from work or school?

    9. I’d sleep in and do absolutely nothing every day for the first two weeks. Then, I’d spend the next month chasing waves (always, always wanted to go on a surf trip), and then the next few months eating my way through Europe.

    Not sure about the rest of the time… Six months is a long time, and I’m not sure how Tabs would feel about these plans. I mean, I know he’s doing his own thing with his kitty modeling career and probably wouldn’t want to chase me around the world, but there’s no way I could go six months away from him.

  9. Something that makes you feel peaceful?

    10. The sound of rushing water and bubbles for the first few seconds after I dive into a body of water.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Just one this week (well, two, including making it to yoga tomorrow night): don’t stop believing!

It rained buckets here all day yesterday, so no food truck time for me (boo!), but I did make it to the movies.

If you like movies with butt-kicking babes, go see Haywire (it was El Hub’s idea), directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring former MMA fighter Gina Carano, who’s like Jane Bond/Bourne in the flick, which also stars Michael Douglas, Antonio Bandaras, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor (yay!).

It’s probably safe to assume that the Academy will not be doling out any Oscars for the film, I thought it was great. And apparently, according to El Hub (a former martial artist), Gina has top-notch fighting technique and looks tough as nails.

Of course, I wouldn’t know, because other than the correct way to make a fist, I don’t know a thing about fighting. I couldn’t appreciate the finer points of the action scenes, but I still thought it was pretty cool to see a girl action hero delivering so many beat downs.

And now today it’s back to the grind! — which also means it’s time for the Monday Poll. Do you have a minute to touch base and say hi? 🙂

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. How do you feel about bright neon clothing?
3. Your favorite lip balm?
4. Note to self…
5. Have you tried zip-lining?
6. When was the last time you rode a bicycle?
7. Which of your friends lives the farthest away from you?
8. What would you do with a six-month, all-expenses-paid break from work or school?
9. Something that makes you feel peaceful?
10. Weekly goals:

Here’s to us having a great week of record-breaking proportions! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 175

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Tabs for Dolce & Gabbana Gravy

What would you do if you found yourself in Seville on business with one free night to do whatever you want? Well, if you were international kitty supermodel Tabs the Cat, you’d have the brick of cod tapas and gazpacho at Enrique Becerra before heading over to Casa de la Memoria de Al-Andalus to catch Fragua Flemenca perform.

Sí, Tabs had a shoot in Spain this week for NARS, but he was only there for about 24 hours. It was a quick turnaround because his agent booked him for a campaign the following day in Milan with Dolce & Gabbana.

When he got home yesterday he brought me back some yummy Spanish olives, and I got him a crunchy paper toy from Target. Now we’re just watching a little TV together before I get ready for bed.

Oh, I don’t know if you follow kitty modeling, but if you do, here are some highlights from the jobs Tabs had this week. 🙂

Tabs for NARS Flamenco

Tabs for MAC Naturally
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L’Occitane Cherry Princess Proves That Every Girl Can Be a Princess From Provence

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L'Occitane Cherry Princess

Never underestimate the healing power of a shower, cute pajamas and new Cherry Princess bath and body products from L’Occitane. They combine to create one of the most powerful trifectas of recuperative relaxation known to womankind!

Drill Sergeant Tabs worked me hard this week, and by Friday I was totally beat. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to go out (he’s such a party animal!).

So while Tabs went out clubbing with his new BFF, Bruno Mars, I stayed home, took a long shower with L’Occitane and rented movies instead.

I discovered a few fabulous new L’Occitane treats from the new five-piece Cherry Princess collection of bath and body products (coming Jan. 30), like their Pearlescent Shower Cream ($20 for an 8.4-ounce bottle), Eau de Toilette ($40 for 1.7 ounces) and Hand Cream ($10 for 1 ounce). These three items, along with a Solid Perfume ($12 for 0.35 ounces) and a Silky Body Gel ($25 for 8.4 ounces), comprise the limited edition release.

This time around, L’Occitane takes us straight to Luberon, an area of Provence in France that stretches 30 miles along rugged hills east of Avignon, incorporating cherry extracts from the region into each of the products in the Cherry Princess line.
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