No matter where you are at this very moment, these flowers are right there with you. 🙂
Your very own blooms to brighten your day.
DAILY PHOTO: Blooms to Brighten Your Wednesday
Archives for July 2013
With Its Glitter All Grown Up, Navy Blue NARS Kamchatka Eyeshadow Ships Out This Fall Carrying a Smokey, Shimmery Surprise
Can I get a “hells, yeah” for bomb-@ss smokey shadows you can wear along your lash lines?
I realize that’s a very specific shout-out, but duuuude, you know how many times I’ve tried to smoke out a shadow along my lash lines only to end up looking like a reject from the Thunderdome? — with my lids all dark, contrasty and totally and completely unblended, even though I practically broke my wrist trying to smooth out the edges?
Picture the most questionable makeup look you’ve ever seen on Toddlers and Tiaras, but applied in the dark, upside down, without any brushes.
Now, push that disturbing image out of your mind, because there’s none of that nonsense with new navy blue NARS Kamchatka ($24). This bad boy totally gets it right! 🙂
(Well, at least along lash lines.)
Yes, NARS had some fun with this color. It’s one of those secretly shimmery shadows — a Clark Kent Kamchatka, perhaps? — that looks like a run-of-the-mill matte navy in the pan, but it turns into a Kryptonian superhero when it touches skin, as flecks of silver glitter within the formula flex their tiny makeup muscles.
I think it’s a gorgeous, grownup take on the sparkly stuff.
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Powder Surge! Retro Lips Go to the Matte With the NARS Fall 2013 Velvet Matte Lip Pencils
This morning I had a Channing Tatum revelation.
In 1990, Chan-Tate — master of abdominal gyrations and star of many of my favorite daydreams — was 10 years old.
That same year, I was 15, and my younger brother was 11. So, technically, Channing could have been my lil’ brother’s homeboy, which by default means I could have been Channing Tatum’s babysitter.
Cue sad unicorn face!
Hmm… There’s something very weird about that. At approximately the same time I discovered the wonders of matte lipsticks (more on this in a sec), I could also have been preparing Channing Tatum a Hot Pocket for lunch, reading him a story, or scolding him for jumping on the couch.
Yup, matte, powdery-lookin’ lips were all the rage back then. For a period of about 10 years, while young Channing Tatum was probably pretending to be a Thundercat in the backyard, the world faced a severe shortage of glossed and glittery lips.
But, as they say, what’s old is new again. 🙂 It’s time for us to talk about lips and NARS Fall 2013.
Take my hand, friend, as the waves of ’90s nostalgia crash over us…
In a collection heavy on matte eyes and lips, with the Velvet Matte Lip Pencils, there isn’t a single sparkle to be found between pale pink Paimpol and brick-like Mysterious Red.
Mysterious Red
Of the two, Mysterious Red is the showstopper for me, albeit one that isn’t entirely unique. While striking and bold, I’ve seen the color and shades like it before (NARS Forbidden Red, MAC RiRi Woo and MAC Red come to mind).
Beautiful and classic, this warmish opaque brick red is the exact lip color I longed for in the summer of 1990, when I desperately wanted to look like Madonna in her Express Yourself video, yet despite its stark, flat matte finish, it feels surprisingly smooth on my lips.
For comparison, you know that dramatic, powdery effect you get with MAC RiRi Woo? Well, Mysterious Red has it, too, but without the tugging or skipping.
And being a pencil, it’s a cinch to use. Just line and fill in your lips.
If you compulsively collect reds and want to freshen your collection for fall, Mysterious Red would be a solid choice. It may not be the most groundbreaking shade, but at least you know it won’t go out of style before you’ve worn it down to a stub.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-
Paimpol
Under close examination, I do see some sparkles on pink chiffon Paimpol’s tip, but there isn’t a twinkle in sight when it’s on my lips, where it’s more of a straight-up flat matte.
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2-Minute Review: NARS Yamal Single Eyeshadow
Got 120 seconds for François?
WHAT IT IS: NARS Yamal Single Eyeshadow. A sheer, cool brown matte single shadow that looks like a fawn’s delicate fur. It’s one of four shadow singles in the new NARS fall 2013 collection, and the only one that’s limited edition.
WHAT IT DOES:
- This soft, silky matte blends without misbehaving
- Like a lighter version of Urban Decay’s Buck Eyeshadow, or MAC Era with a cooler color temp, a tad more taupe and zero shimmer
- It’s a smooth operator, especially for a matte, never looks chalky and refrains from chilling out in my fine lines
- Worn with NARS Pro Prime, it lasts all day on my combination skin without creasing or fading
- Elegant worn alone on lids with a black liner along the water lines and a smidgen of NARS Kamatcha (also from the fall 2013 collection) eyeshadow smudged along the lower lash lines
- The only limited edition NARS Eyeshadow Single in the fall 2013 collection
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DAILY BEAUTY: 3-Wick Candles From Bath and Body Works, On Sale Now
Last weekend I wandered into a Bath and Body Works just look around (yeah, right!) and wandered out with a few candles that were on deep discount.
These 3-wick candles were originally $20 apiece, but I snagged ’em on sale for $9 each (they’re also on sale for $12 online now, if you don’t live close to one of the stores).
Oh, the scent… Just. Like. Summer. 🙂
Lakeside’s official fragrance story: “Like the water after a cannonball, jump into an invigorating blend of fresh water, sheer musk and the perfect pop of lemon zest.”
Um, ok. I think I will.
I love the pic of the girls jumping into the water. Isn’t that cute?
Now, I’ve never stepped foot in a boathouse before, and I’ve never rowed, but if either one smells like Boathouse Row, heck, I’m doing both at least once.
I got two extras to give as hostess gifts. Bath and Body Works will even wrap your candles and tie them with a pretty bow for free. 🙂
DAILY PHOTO: French Fry Dreams Do Come True
Yesterday El Hub and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with a late lunch at The Boon Fly Cafe in Napa.
So, I joke all the time about wanting to eat a bucket of fries, and I finally got the chance! Boon Fly serves their fried strings o’ glorious potato goodness in an actual tin bucket.
No, really. It’s a real bucket.
The rest of the feast…
Boon Fly is a bit off the beaten path, but if you’re ever out here for wine tasting and looking for grub, it’s a cute, casual joint with great service and yummy food. Highly recommended, especially the fries. 🙂
Laying Out the Welcome Matte for Glitter: This Fall, Two Pure Matte Lipsticks Sparkle at NARS
Don’t be fooled. Just because they call deep purple La Paz and coppery pink Peloponnese “Pure Matte Lipsticks” doesn’t mean they aren’t perfectly capable of powering you through a psychedelic Care Bears-themed rave or a princess party.
Both lipsticks, the only two in the new NARS fall 2013 collection, contain a fair amount of glitter — you know, just in case you need to party.
Leave it to François to bedazzle two matte lipsticks with the crushed silver bits of a broken disco ball!
It’s just so unexpected and really, really cool. The medium-sized flecks of silver glitter sparkle in a matte base.
It’s just too bad that neither of these — La Paz nor Peloponnese — feel as good as they look, at least not on my dry lips, which is strange, as I usually think of the NARS Pure Mattes as being on the more comfortable end of the matte lipsticks spectrum.
These, though, seem surprisingly tight and drying…
The only explanation I can come up with is the glitter — not that it’s gritty or anything, but I think it might be throwing a wrench into the texture/finish ratio.
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Elevate Your Fuzzy Little Caterpillars to Golden Arches With the New NARS Brow Gel and Brow Perfector
I like big brows, and I cannot lie.
You other brothas can’t deny.
When a girl walks in,
With her bushy brows,
And those arches on her face, I get sprung.
BABY GOT BROWS! I just misquoted Sir Mix-a-lot, what?
Guess who’s got big brows on her mind, babes. They’re kind of a thing for fall, which is probably why brands like NARS are rolling out the red carpet for big brows with products like their new fall Brow Gels and Brow Perfectors ($22 each).
I’ve been trying to grow out my fuzzy little caterpillars for a while, but it hasn’t been easy, thanks to the aftereffects of the era of pencil-thin brows known as the ’90s.
Mine naturally also sort of fade away around the middle mark, and then there’s the issue of Raul…the really annoying bald spot on my left brow. It’s like a no-man’s land up in that spot! Absolutely nothing grows there.
Yeah, thank goodness for side-swept bangs…and these new NARS Brow Perfector pencils and brush-on Brow Gels, both been of which have been helping me fulfill my dreams of Brooke Shields brows circa 1982.
The NARS Brow Perfector ($22)
François and friends designed the NARS Brow Perfector, which comes in four shades, each with a natural matte finish, to fill, shape and define brows, and they made the twist-up pencil oval to differentiate it from the pack of similar products.
The oval shape is supposed to make it easier to control, helping you get the exact brow shape, angle and size you want.
There’s Salzbourg (a light brown), Caucase (a medium brown), Kalamata (a medium brownish taupe) and Suriname (a black)…
I’ve been using a combination of the two darker colors, Kalamata and Suriname (a very stark, dark black), because I feel like there’s a wide gap between them. Neither one by itself matches my natural brow color. Something between the two shades would be perfect for we lasses with dark brown locks.
First thing I noticed about these was the texture. They’re hard — like polar opposites of soft, waxy brow pencils like Benefit’s Instant Brows.
But I don’t think that’s a problem at all. In fact, many of the harder brow pencils I’ve tried stay put longer, at least for me, and this one does, too. When I draw mine in at the crack of dawn, they still look prim and proper 12-14 hours later.
Interestingly, all of these Brow Perfector colors appear to contain gray undertones, and a couple of them remind me of some of my MAC brow filling favorites, except in pencil costume. Salzbourg makes me think of MAC Omega, and Kalamata reminds me of MAC Concrete.
These pencils apply very sheer, so I have to build them up when I want darker brows. Perfect, because I’ve been known to go overboard with darker pencils anyway — something that’s pretty hard to do with these. They may take a little longer to use, but I’ll take that trade-off for the added control these provide.
As for the twist-up tip, we have a love/hate relationship… On the one hand, I love the ease of use — no need to sharpen! — but the oval shape hasn’t been the best for fine detail work.
Even so, I like these. With a matte finish that looks natural, and epic staying power, the only change I might suggest is an easy way to sharpen them.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+
The Brow Gels ($22)
Dude, these are DOPE! Much better than the MAC and Anastasia brow gels I’ve been alternating between for the past couple months.
They come in four shades — three pigmented and one colorless — with the pigmented shades actually being pigmented enough to see on your skin and brows.
Cool. 🙂
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