Archives for July 2013

Oil Hides Around Urban Decay Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder

July 17th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Simply beautiful, but not life changing. That’s how I feel about these new Urban Decay’s Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powders ($24 each) and their gorgeous packaging.

New additions to UD’s permanent line, the powders join UD’s Naked Foundation and Beauty Balm as products designed to produce flawless-looking skin that still appears natural.

Optical blurring pigments (which sound like something a sorceress might pull from her robes) create a soft-focus effect while mellowing out imperfections and controlling oil. The powders are oil-, paraben-, alcohol- and fragrance-free and come in five shades — Naked (works well with shades 0.5-3.0), Naked Medium Light (for shades 2.0-4.0), Naked Medium (4.5-6.5), Naked Medium Dark (6.0-8.0) and Naked Dark (8.0-12.0).

Lots of good stuff here, but by far my favorite thing about these is their ability to control oil. The shade closest to my skin tone, Naked Dark, keeps my oily forehead matte and shine-free for 6-8 hours. I barely even need to touch up when I wear it. Plus, it really does look like natural skin (versus heavy spackle).

Urban Decay Naked Light Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder — Naked Light

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I’d Knock on Wood AND Cross My Fingers for the Chanel Superstition Collection

July 17th, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

Chanel Mystere Quad, $59 — The Chanel Mystere Quad… ($59)

Are you superstitious?

I am…especially when a new fall Chanel Superstition collection comes around.

These are just a few pieces of prettiness from the collection, which is available now at Chanel counters and online.

I know it’s a little weird to be talking about fall in July, but I’m seriously feeling the urge to wear a smokey eye…

Chanel Destiny Le Blush Creme de Chanel, $38 — Destiny Le Blush Creme de Chanel, $38

Chanel Revelation Le Blush Creme de Chanel, $38 — Revelation Le Blush Creme de Chanel, $38

Chanel Fantastic Le Blush Creme de Chanel, $38 — Fantastic Le Blush Creme de Chanel, $38

Chanel Icone Rouge Coco, $34 — Icone Rouge Coco, $34

Chanel Esprit Rouge Coco Shine, $34 — Esprit Rouge Coco Shine, $34

Chanel Khaki Bronze Le Volume de Chanel Mascara, $30 — Khaki Bronze Le Volume de Chanel Mascara, $30

Chanel Khaki Bronze Le Volume de Chanel Mascara (far left) and Mystere Quad (right) — Khaki Bronze Le Volume de Chanel Mascara (far left) and Mystere Quad (right)

Chanel Le Blush Creme de Chanel swatches from the left: 61 Destiny, 63 Revelation and 66 Fantastic — Le Blush Creme de Chanel swatches from the left: 61 Destiny, 63 Revelation and 66 Fantastic

Chanel Icone Rouge Coco Lipstick (left) and Esprit Rouge Coco Shine Lipstick (right) — Icone Rouge Coco Lipstick (left) and Esprit Rouge Coco Shine Lipstick (right)

You know what they say. “If a pan of Chanel crosses your path, it’s seven years good luck!”

Wait — is that how it goes? 🙂

How to Take a Good Selfie

July 16th, 2013 by Karen 29 Comments

Maybe I’m an everyday voyeur, because I sure do enjoy seeing pics of people go about their business on Instagram (here’s me).

It’s interesting! Even the boring stuff, because it’s happening all over the world. Breakfast in Hong Kong, lunch in Toronto, drinks in New York. Every day I get to visit with people’s pets, accompany them on vacation, and indulge in cheat meals (without the calories, whee!). 🙂

I also get a kick out of seeing so many self-portraits, or selfies. Makes me feel like I’m right then and there.

As someone who’s taken her share of blurry selfies, I can tell you that a sharp, cool self-portrait isn’t always as easy as point and click, especially in bad lighting. You’d think it would be pretty simple, right? Just smile, point and click.

In a moving car with a camera phone? Uh, not exactly.

But we have tips! Here are some things you can do to take a fantastic selfie.

Double-check your hair and makeup

Before you actually take your selfie, hold your camera right out in front of your face, straight on, and snap a quick test shot of your hair and makeup.

I do this all the time, not just for selfies, but whenever I finish my makeup. Even better than a mirror, seeing a picture helps me tell if my brows, liner, blush and eyeshadow are even. A test shot can help you target areas that need fixing.

While you’re at it, glance at your clothes to make sure your bra straps aren’t peeking out or your collar’s wonky.

Choose a clear background

I remember reading an Us Weekly article at the salon a while back (my guilty pleasure!) about Tori Spelling’s husband posting a pic on Twitter with Tori’s naked breast in the background.

Not that you’re going to have boobs hanging out behind you in your selfie, but there’s a lesson here. Always check your background before you post pics.

Look for solid colors, like walls, to stand in front of, and de-clutter. Move laundry baskets and messy piles of books — anything you don’t want the world to see. For serious! I can’t tell you how many cute selfies I’ve seen with bras hanging in the background.

I try to find a nearby wall or textured curtains. Generally, the less cluttered your background, the better.

Don’t move a muscle

Do your iPhone pics always look blurry? It’s usually caused by camera shake, which happens when you tap the shutter button while the phone is moving. Even the slightest shake or wiggle can produce a blurry pic, especially in dim light.

Hold your phone as steady as possible. Here’s a trick I borrowed from sharp shooters…

Right before I press the shutter, I take a breathe, exhale and hold for a couple seconds. Very still. Then I tap the button.

Find your light

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My Lips Would Stage a Coup for These New $22 Urban Decay Revolution Lipsticks

July 16th, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

Urban Decay Streak Revolution Lipstick — Wearing Urban Decay’s coral pink Revolution Lipstick in Streak, one of 22 shades in UD’s new Revolution Lipstick line

A couple weeks ago Urban Decay started a revolution. They unleashed a new line of lipsticks unto the world and their permanent collection — the Revolution Lipsticks — and I kid you not, I’ve been wearing them almost every day since.

Renowned for their iconic palettes (hello, Naked!) and eyeshadow singles, UD decided to show some love to lips, and mine certainly love what they’ve done here. This new line of 22 lipsticks keeps the brand firmly near the front of the pack.

Costing $22 each but looking and feeling more extravagant than that, they seem like a bargain next to lippies from Tom Ford and Dolce & Gabbana.

With their concentrated pigments and creamy, smooth formula, even colors that can normally be tricky and uneven, like beiges and pale neutral pinks, apply without a hitch. A single swipe is all it takes.

I find myself having to reapply them after meals, but they easily handle tea. Between meals, I get at least 4-5 hours from them.

Thicker and creamier than Urban Decay’s old lipsticks — the ones with the swirls on the packaging and the silver dagger — they feel more significant (and better) on my lips, but aren’t what I’d call heavy. Not like a ton of product plastered on my pout. I think of them as lipsticks for lipsticks lovers, but if you gravitate toward featherweight glosses and lip colors that look barely there, these are probably not what you need.

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick ($22 each)

Urban Decay Shame Revolution Lipstick 1 — Shame, a deep berry

Urban Decay Venom Revolution Lipstick 2 — Venom, a bright plum

Urban Decay Jilted Revolution Lipstick 3 — Jilted, a deep fuchsia shimmer with blue shift

Urban Decay Anarchy Revolution Lipstick 4 — Anarchy, a bright fuchsia

Urban Decay Turn On Revolution Lipstick 5 — Turn on, a rosy pink

Urban Decay F-Bomb Revolution Lipstick 6 — F-Bomb, a classic red

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I Left My Heart in San Francisco and Put the OPI San Francisco Collection on My Nails

July 16th, 2013 by Karen 54 Comments

The OPI San Francisco Collection, New for Fall/Winter 2013

Before I met El Hub and moved across the Golden Gate Bridge from the city to Marin County (oh, the things we do for love!), I called San Francisco’s Outer Richmond district my home.

I lived in an apartment at the corner of 36th and Geary, about five minutes from the often foggy beach. At night, the 38 Geary Bus would rumble past my window as low fog horns from the Bay lulled me to sleep.

I was in my 20s then, savoring life in the city right at the height of the dot-com boom. I loved the excitement and everything the city had to offer, but truth be told, the experience also kicked my @ss…in a good way though.

I learned a lot — about myself, about what I wanted out of life, what I didn’t want, and even after a decade removed from the city, I’m still awestruck every time I cross the Golden Gate and see the city skyline.

I love that town. 🙂

Needless to say, I’ve been hella freakin’ over the moon about the new OPI San Francisco collection.

And, yes, I said hella. Because that’s how we do it here, babe.

The 15-piece release, new for fall/winter 2013, feels authentic to me, like OPI did their research. It’s like they took postcards of some of the city’s most iconic places and spaces and poured them into the bottles.

May I be your tour guide? I’d love to show you around San Francisco by OPI 🙂

For starters, I think it’s fitting that OPI chose fall for a San Francisco collection, seeing as how it’s such a wonderful season around here. Generally sunnier, warmer and less crowded than summer (yup, it’s the micro-climates here). September through early- to mid-November is my favorite time of year in the city.

Very much like a song sung about SF, the collection embodies the urban aspects of SF — sure, it’s a city — but it also has some very beautiful parks and lush outdoor areas, like the greens of Golden Gate Park and Land’s End (could you imagine a shade of green inspired by the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill?? I die!).

Instead of going that route, though, OPI chose something more street chic, with nautical blues, sandy taupes, foggy grays, Golden Gate/Chinatown reds, burgundies and browns. It’s not urban in an industrial way. More like a hike up and down steep city streets surrounded by epic views and high-rise buildings.

One of the city’s many piers with Angel Island on the right…

The collection features 12 shades in OPI’s regular polish formula, encompassing a mix of creams and shimmers, as well as three textured Liquid Sand shades, and the entire color palette is meant to go with fall’s fashion trends, specifically looks with military details and winter whites.

For me, most of the polishes require two coats, although some of the more glittery shades, like Haven’t the Foggiest and Alcatraz…Rocks, work well with one. They all boast OPI’s signature bad-@ss brush, which is nice and full and wide and makes it very easy to cover an entire nail evenly in two or three swipes.

Hop aboard this cable car with me, and let’s take a look. 🙂

OPI A-Piers to Be Tan — A-Piers to Be Tan

A-Piers To Be Tan is a creamy orange-brown. Call me cat lady, but it reminds of Tabs’ tum more than anything else. It’s one of my least favorite shades here, but I do like the way it contrasts with the rest of the colors in the collection.

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 280

July 15th, 2013 by Karen 45 Comments

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.

How many jobs have you had in your life?
I’ve been working since I was 15, so this’ll take a minute to process. Let’s see… I’ve had 17 jobs over the past 23 years.

Holy crap! That’s what happens when you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up. 🙂 Some of my favorite gigs were pet sitter/dog walker, foreign language lab assistant (I did this for three years in college and loved it) freelance writer and beauty blogger. Some of my least favorites were telemarketer (absolutely awful, but I learned how to handle myself on the phone), PR associate (the ink had barely dried on my business cards before I left this one) and ER intern (OMG, blood!).

How many letters are there in your full name?
A lot. 30. Wow!

What’s the first color that comes to mind?
Blue.

If you could speak any language you don’t speak now, what would it be?
Italiano! I would love to vivere in Italia for a few years… Well, more accurately, I would love to spend a few years eating my way through Italy.

What’s one makeup-related thing you would like to learn?
It’s not a single thing, per se, but I’d like to learn how to do cray-cray special effects makeup and be able to make myself up like the Terminator and just walk around Trader Joe’s buying fruit and chips, looking like a cyborg.

I wonder if dogs would bark at me…

Do you ever wear body glitter?
Does Michael Kors Leg Shine count? If so, then yes. If not, then no. Probably not since around 2001.

Where do you usually get your hair cut/styled?
Alis Peralta at A-Line salon in Corte Madera for my cuts and colors. Highly recommended. I’ve been going to Alis for a few years.

Do you have a favorite drugstore makeup brand (for color products)?
Ooh, that’s a tough one. There are so many great drugstore brands out there. I like Neutrogena for their lip and cheek products, NYX for their eye makeup and Sonia Kashuk for just about everything.

Best shampoo under $10?
I love the gud by Burt’s Bees shampoos, especially in the Orange Petalooza and Ruby Red Groovy scents. They’re pretty mild, so no stripping, and don’t leave behind heavy residues or layers of goo. And they smell flurbing fantastic, too, all fresh and citrusy.

What’s the most important task on your to-do list today?
To track down my wetsuit and give it a good rinse. I gotta start packing for my surf trip to San Diego on Thursday.

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

Le List

1. How many jobs have you had in your life?
2. How many letters are there in your full name?
3. What’s the first color that comes to mind?
4. If you could speak any language you don’t speak now, what would it be?
5. What’s one makeup-related thing you would like to learn?
6. Do you ever wear body glitter?
7. Where do you usually get your hair cut/styled?
8. Do you have a favorite drugstore makeup brand (for color products)?
9. Best shampoo under $10?
10. What’s the most important task on your to-do list today?

Last weekend wasn’t long enough, was it? I wish we could all meet up at the movies today.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

How to Model a Bold Bib Necklace (Masterclass Taught by Tabs the Cat)

July 15th, 2013 by Karen 11 Comments

My employer’s latest obsession? A bib necklace by designer Pam Hiran from Anthropologie.

Tabs was thrilled to find it on sale for $39.95 (marked down from $58).

You know Tabs! He loves a good deal.

He generally prefers to wear jewelry in the nude with little else, but I like to wear this particular piece with a plain white t-shirt and skinny jeans. 🙂

Gotta love Anthropologie.

Feelin’ Crabby

July 15th, 2013 by Karen 8 Comments

The view from my table yesterday at the Crab House, San Francisco Pier 39

Yesterday was such a nice day out here that El Hub and I decided to drive down to the city for lunch. We hadn’t been to any of the touristy areas in a while, so we decided to brave the weekend crowds at Pier 39.

And it was hella crowded! Wall to wall people and traffic jams, but it was fun. The place is like a seafood-themed Disneyland without the rides. Just tons of tchotchke stores, magic shops, puppet shops, aloha shirt stores, crab shacks and a big carousel in the middle of it all.

When we got hungry, we stopped at the Crab House at Pier 39. Got an order of bruschetta, garlic fries and their specialty, “The World Famous Killer Crab.”

WOW! So unbelievably good I couldn’t stop giggling. Possibly one of the best meals of my entire life. The crab was bomb! Garlicky, with olive oil and a parsley seasoning. I’m drooling right now just thinking about it.

If you like crab and you’re ever out this way, you gotta go, but try to make a reservation beforehand. We didn’t and ended up having to wait a half hour or so.

And, um…brace yourself for somewhat brusque service. Our server was efficient and to the point, but he wasn’t exactly a master of small talk, if you catch my drift. The place was all about the crab. If you’re looking for an upscale experience in line with the price, since it’s not the cheapest joint in town, you should probably try elsewhere.

Highly recommended. I cannot wait to go back. When’s my next cheat meal!?