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

Archives for October 2012

Even Brows Need Good Arch Support, and the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil Delivers That

by 24 Comments

katy perry moment!

Did you hear the news?? TMZ is reporting that pop princess/cat lady Katy Perry attended the SF Giants victory parade in San Francisco today. 🙂

And that’s not all. Surrounded by throngs of rowdy revelers, she threw an impromptu concert!

LOL! Yeah, that’s me hammin’ it up…

Dude! I have to tell you about a great product I used today, but before that, you ever play Where’s Waldo?

Or how about Where’s Marmalade? Can you spot him in the top pic? I figured that since Katy’s a cat lady, I ought to have at least one kitteh with me on tour.

Please, I implore you, don’t tell Tabs…

So, that blue wig? I LOVE IT! But too bad it hid my brows today, because I think they looked pretty darned fierce thanks to the new $32 Hourglass Arch Sculpting Brow Pencil.

Surprise! — I was running late getting out of the house in Katy costume this morning and had a lot to do, but only 10 minutes to do it in, so I raced through everything. Quickly, I filled in my brows with Arch’s awesome twist-up triangle tip, using broad strokes with one of its longer edges to fatten the sparse spots.

After that, I sculpted the ends a little, sharpening them using the triangle’s tip. All told, it probably took about a minute.

Of course, the brows were concealed by my wig…but I knew they were there, looking all full and fabulous, as opposed to harsh, ala Cruella de Vil.

According to Hourglass, the Arch Sculpting Brow Pencil’s formula combines the benefits of a powder and a wax to create brows that look soft, natural and full. Not quite hard like a stiff eye liner, or soft like a creamy kohl, the consistency has a little give to it. It’s firm, but not too firm, and it feels almost powdery. Soft wax within the formula binds the powdery pigments to each individual hair, keeping the strays in line.

I’m sporting a pretty strong brow look in these before and after pics, but I could’ve toned it down by running the included brow brush, which is on the opposite end of the pencil, through my brows.

hourglass arch review before after
Before (left) and after (right)


[Continue reading…]

Who Wore It Better? — The Golden Disco Halloween Necklace

by 32 Comments

Tabs versus Karen who wore it better disco necklace

Okay, I’m not getting my hopes up about winning this latest round, because I admit that Tabs looks hella fierce up there with his bling, but I’d like to at least do well…

Oh, who am I kidding? It’s obvious which one of us is the true Disco Queen.

Eh, who knows? Maybe the sparkly gems on my lashes will put me ahead (Dior Grand Bal, baby!). They’ve gotta count for something, right?

Right…?

Who wore the golden disco necklace better?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy Halloween!

It’s a Giant Halloween! Here’s My Hodgepodge Mani Mix of Glittery Copper, Black and Orange Shades With Zoya, OCC, Deborah Lippmann and Sonia Kashuk

by 29 Comments

Happy Halloween!

I did a couple of different things last night. One, I painted my nails orange and black, both for Halloween and to cheer the Giants winning the World Series, and two, I (kinda) watched The Last Exorcism on Netflix.

On that last one…good grief! What was I thinking firing up a movie about a teenager possessed by a demon 30 minutes before bed?!

Come on, Karen, wake up!

I actually didn’t make it through the whole thing on account of a terrible scene involving a little barn kitty…

I couldn’t take it! But thankfully my nails were dry by then, so I just ran away from the TV screaming “No! No! No!” and went upstairs to bed.

For my nails, I knew I wanted something more complicated than a single color but easier than a fancy work of nail art, so after digging through my drawer of polishes, I settled on a hodgepodge mani mix of glittery copper, black and orange shades…

Clockwise from the black polish in the lower left: Sonia Kashuk Starry Night, Deborah Lippmann I Love the Nightlife, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Copperhead and Zoya Penny

There’s a big rally/parade down in San Francisco today for the Giants, and I’m heading down, but please don’t tell Tabs. I know he’d want to go, but he’s such a cat diva. With the time it takes him to get ready, we’d never make it on time.

My plan is to distract him by mixing a handful of Greenies in with his gravy. Then I’ll quietly sneak out the door. 🙂

In candy news, do you ever crave chocolate in the morning?

I don’t know if it’s hormonal (probably), or just because there’s a big bag of Fun Size Snickers on the kitchen counter, but every day lately I wake up ravenous for chocolate.

What’s up with that?


[Continue reading…]

Peanut Butter and Jelly, Meet Black Liner and Red Lipstick (Another Power Couple): The New Hourglass Icon Collection and Film Noir Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse

by 35 Comments

hourglass icon and eclipse
Wearing the new Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in Icon and Film Nor Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, and thinking about a PB&J sandwich…

The six or seven (no kidding) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I ate last week got me thinking about other great pairings, like Bogie and Bacall, Hall and Oats, Nutella and anything, and red lips and black liner…

Red lips and black liner — a quick and easy, everyday combo that always hits the spot (much like, in my case, creamy peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwiches on super soft, fresh bread).

But woman cannot live on sandwiches alone. No, this one also needs makeup! Like these pieces from the new Hourglass holiday collection — four long-wearing, blueish red lip products in a shade called Icon ($28-30 each), and a black pencil liner called Eclipse (the $28 Film Noir Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, which is also available in a brown called Espresso).

Altogether, they’re like comfort food (but for your face). 🙂

Hourglass Extreme Sheen High-Shine Lip Gloss in Icon (new!), $28
Hourglass Extreme Sheen High-Shine Lip Gloss in Icon, $28, and Film Nor Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, $28

Hourglass Panoramic Long Wear Lip Pencil (new!), $28
Hourglass Panoramic Long Wear Lip Pencil, $28

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Icon, $28
Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Icon, $28

[Continue reading…]

Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: Disco Queen

by 48 Comments

last minute halloween ideas: disco queen

When that brief moment of pause hits as you’re about to push the “order” button on that sequined, sleeveless black jumpsuit, and you think to yourself, “Really, will I ever have a reason to wear this crazy contraption?!” — IGNORE IT.

You just never know when you’ll get the urge to look like Blanche Marie Elizabeth Hollingsworth Devereaux. Or when you’ll need something to wear with your last-minute Disco Queen Halloween costume.

last minute halloween ideas: disco queen
Keep on dancin’!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love disco? Yes, my fellow Dancing Queen, I like to Let It Whip to Brick House!! You could’ve done The Hustle to half the songs played at my wedding, fo’ reals!

So when I found this plastic “Disco” necklace at Party City last week (just a few feet from the Sexy Clown costume), it beckoned me to bring it home.

zoya ziv
I’m wearing two coats of Zoya Ziv on my nails, but you could easily get away with just one

#catlady moment: I kindasorta wish I had a kitty-size one to put on Tabs, so we could match. Oh, wait…

disco tabby
He’s mighty, mighty…just lettin’ it all hang out!

[Continue reading…]

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.