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Archives for 2013

BECCA Belle Époque Ultimate Crème Eyeliner Keeps a Lined Eye on the Future With a Purple Nod to the Past

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BECCA Belle Epoque Ultimate Creme Eyeliner
Wearing BECCA’s new Belle Époque Ultimate Crème Eyeliner ($20 for a 0.08-ounce jar), one of four completely brand-spankin’ new Crème Eyeliners recently added to BECCA’s permanent collection

I’ll be the first to admit it because it’s totally true. When it comes to purple eye liner, I’m the star of my own personal snooze-fest.

It happens sometimes after 25 or 26 years… That’s how long I’ve been wearing purple eye liner (since about 1987).

I started by sneaking a rogue stick of purple Lancôme liner out of the house with me every day and lining my upper lash lines with it when I got to school (so sneaky!).

Admittedly, I had no idea what I was doing, so I probably looked like Honey Boo Boo on a bad pageant day, but I didn’t care. I loved the stuff. Still do.

So predictable, I know. 🙂 But you know what? Purple liner does great things for brown, green and hazel eyes.

I’ve always loved the look and felt that brown eyes (mine are brown) look so much more chocolatey and delicious when they’re lined with plum.

Lately, the purple liner love o’ my life has been BECCA’s new teeny, tiny jar of Belle Époque (a shout-out to France’s “Beautiful Era,” I presume), a deep, shimmery eggplant cream liner that draws feathery strokes in a single sweep and has a formula that lasts all day long.

BECCA's Ultimate Crème Eyeliner in Belle Epoque small

BECCA Belle Epoque Ultimate Creme Eyeliner swatch
Yummy, plummy, shimmery goodness!

BECCA Belle Epoque Ultimate Creme Eyeliner fluidline for size
A 0.08-ounce jar of BECCA Belle Époque Ultimate Crème Eyeliner on the left, a 0.10-ounce jar of MAC Fluidline in the middle and a 0.12-ounce Laura Mercier Crème Eye Liner on the right for scale

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A Peachy Pick For Improv Spring Picnics or Any Time You’re in a Rush: Jouer Honeysuckle Tint Quickly Blossoms on Cheeks and Lips

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Jouer Honeysuckle Tint
It’s picnic time with Jouer’s new Honeysuckle Tint on my cheeks and lips! — part of the new spring 2013 collection available now online and at Jouer counters inside Nordstrom and Henri Bendel stores

My favorite part of last weekend? When El Hub knocked on my office door to invite me on an impromptu picnic.

Mind you, the picnic itself was great, but immediately before El Hub knocked on my door, I was feeling a little blue… The picnic was a perfect opportunity to not only spend some quality time with him but also with Honeysuckle, a new spring shade in Jouer’s line of $20 multitasking cream Tints for cheeks and lips.

Naturally, a picnic with your sweetie is infinitely better when you’re wearing peach blush and lipstick to go with your sandwiches, chips and lemonade.

Jouer Honeysuckle Tint Picture
Pretty in peach

I was crunching numbers (taxes, bluh) when I heard a tap-tap-tapping on my door…

One look at my sad face and bleary eyes told El Hub all he needed to know.

“You wanna go on a picnic?” he said, stepping over Tabs, who was sprawled in front of the doorway like a 20-pound kitty gatekeeper. “You, me, sandwiches from Whole Foods and a nice patch of grass? Come on, let’s go. Can you be ready in five minutes?”

He handed me a glass of water he was holding and an allergy pill. “Here, take this, Bubble Girl.”

This time of year, I’m allergic to everything, so I chugged it down. He grabbed the glass and turned to leave.

“Five minutes isn’t enough,” I said after him.

He bounded down the stairs and hollered back, “Now it’s only four minutes!”

Sh*t. Four minutes?? I kicked into fast-and-furious makeup overdrive, rubbing a few dots of tinted moisturizer on my cheeks and chin, patting concealer under my eyes, brushing a bit of eye shadow into my brows and curling my lashes.

A minute left on the clock, but I felt like something was still missing…

I looked around the room and noticed Tabs rolling on his back, blinking with sleepy eyes. My pan of Jouer Honeysuckle was half buried beneath his tum.

Large and in charge…and hiding makeup wherever he goes!

Seriously, dude. I will never understand how or why this cat enjoys stealing and sleeping on makeup. It’s just the weirdest thing. I guess it’s good that Jouer housed the 0.07-ounce pan of Honeysuckle in a sturdy brown compact, because not only can it withstand jostling around in my makeup bag, it can also withstand the power of a portly XXXL tabby.

After liberating the compact from Tabs’ voluptuous girth, I pried it open with my fingers, and swept and blended Honeysuckle’s sheer, lightweight cream formula on my cheeks and lips.

Purrfect. The semi-matte peach was exactly the kind of casual color I needed for an improv picnic and the rest of the day after, since it lasts 5-6 hours on my dry cheeks, and about an hour on my lips.

Jouer Honeysuckle Tint Swatch
Silky smooth, ma!

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A Cure for Sallow Skin: Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer

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Physicians Formula's Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer in Bronzer
The $13.95 Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer in Bronzer (also available in a second version called Light Bronzer), available now at drugstores and online

In an ominous dream I had the other night, Olympic Skater Johnny Weir warned me that I was making a big mistake…

In the dream he told me two things — 1) that I didn’t have enough sequins in my wardrobe and 2) that I wasn’t wearing bronzer often enough.

I had to agree with him about the bling…

By nature, I love to sparkle. So I’m totally on board with that.

But about Johnny’s second bit of advice, I hrrumphed!

“Duuuuude,” I screamed from my dream seat next to the rink, “I wear bronzer a lot. Like all the time!”

He landed a triple axle and yelled from across the ice, “Don’t lie. I saw you at Kate Spade yesterday, and you looked tow’ up. What you need is a good golden tan bronzer. The warm, healthy glow could do you some good.”

Then he skated up to me, pulled the white scrunchie I was wearing from my hair (I never figured out why), and skated off until he disappeared into a hot pink fog…

(Yeah, I really have to stop eating those rice crispy treats before bed.)

This was one of those dreams I initially forgot about but remembered later in the day.

It was Saturday, warm and sunny outside, but I was feeling pretty crummy about being stuck indoors doing my taxes. At the time I was wearing my rattiest pajamas with a scrunchie in my hair (yes, it was white) and didn’t have on a lick of makeup.

I’d just glanced over at my pan of Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer sitting on my desk when the dream occurred to me and I blurted, “Johnny Weir!”

The golden bronzer is part of a new spring collection of products designed to increase yo’ sex appeal.

Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer closeup

Ingredients

Mica, Diisostearyl Malate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Fragrance, Synthetic Wax, Nylon-12, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Magnesium Stearate, Ethylhexyl Isononanoate, Lauroyl Lysine, Kaolin, Epimedium Sagittatum Leaf / Stem Extract, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Fruit Powder, Dimethicone / Methicone Copolymer, Androstadienone, Pregnadienol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol. May Contain: Iron Oxides, Iron Oxides, Red 30, Tin Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Yellow 5 Lake

Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer swatches
Swatches of the darker part of the pan on the left, the golden part in the middle and both the shades swirled together on the right

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray

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Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
That’s my jam!

Yes, using Urban Decay’s $29 All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray involves adding another step to my makeup routine, and no, it’s probably not as essential as under-eye concealer.

Buuut, that doesn’t make me like it any less. 🙂

If I were going on a big trip (say, lattes and macarons in Paris with RyGos, seeing as he’s on hiatus from acting) and accidentally forgot it at home, would I be crushed?

No, I think not.

Probably not. Okay maybe a little…

With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, I have been whipping out this makeup-saving spray mist more and more often. A few spritzes postpone fading and keep my makeup on my mug longer.

And it’s just so refreshing! — like standing in the mist beside a tropical waterfall…except without the mosquito swarms, frizzy hair and bikini muffin top, of course.

Stuff locks my look down all day long. Like, say it was the morning of the zombie apocalypse…

I’m just staying, for instance. 🙂

If it were that day, and I remembered to spray this on first thing in the morning, I’m confident that my foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow and bronzer would still be going strong when the biters finally took me down that night. (Side note: last night’s Walking Dead? Merle?? Daryl? We need to talk.)

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
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Two Ways to Win Too Faced Cosmetics Better Than False Lashes

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WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winners are @thatonegrl27 and Aelyn! Congratulations, gals! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Too Faced Better Than False Lashes
Two ways to win Better Than False Lashes from Too Faced Cosmetics

Freakin’ Zac Efron and his genetically blessed eyelashes! He doesn’t have to deal with the drama that mere morals endure when we — okay, I — long for a big lash look.

I bet he’s never experienced a false lash band poking at his inner corners or a lash strip unexpectedly popping up during the middle of an interview (um, can you say mortifying?).

Yup, as much as I love the look of false lashes, sometimes I don’t want to bother with the extra baggage that can come with wearing them. And that’s when Too Faced’s Better Than False Lashes comes in handy.

It’s a two-piece, multi-layered system that dramatically bumps up my lash look. Nylon fibers help stretch the length of each lash, while a thickening and lengthening mascara locks everything in place.

Too Faced Cosmetics Better Than False Lashes Before and After

The trick seems to be in the application process. I apply one layer slowly and carefully, wait for it to completely dry, and then apply the next layer. If I rush through it at all, the whole false lash effect kinda flies out the window.

It’s a process, but when I follow the directions down pat, I’m rewarded by dramatically long, lifted lashes that I think Zac-y Poo would envy.

Lashes like WHOA!

Every time I wear it, somebody inevitably asks if I’m wearing falsies, and I tell ’em nope! — it’s Too Faced Better Than False Lashes.

Watch out, Zac!

Curious to see how Better Than False Lashes fares on your fringe? Then you’ll definitely want to get in on today’s giveaway.

Two lucky ladies (or gents) will win:

One (1) Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Nylon Lash Extension System valued at $35 which includes:

  • One 0.30-ounce tube of Activating Mascara Base & Top Coat
  • One 0.02-ounce tube of Flexistretch Nylon Lash Fibers

  • There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, when was the last time you wore false lashes? What’s a go-to Too Faced product that you can’t live without? What’s one thing you wish you could improve about about your lashes? Do you ever wear colorful mascara? — you get the idea.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Too Faced Cosmetics Better Than False Lashes! http://bit.ly/10Gil5O

  • The deadline to enter is Wednesday, March 27, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. (PST).
  • Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
  • A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
  • Contest is open to individuals internationally and in the United States who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
  • Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
  • The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
  • Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winners are @thatonegrl27 and Aelyn! Congratulations, gals! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 264

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Always be a unicorn.
The Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll for March 25, 2013

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. Have you ever awkwardly slipped or tripped in front of a large group of people (hopefully without getting hurt)?
    OMG, YES! I was watching Wicked with my friend Cindy at a fancy theater some years back. Our seats were up in the nosebleed section, at the top of these really steep steps, and right at the start of intermission, Cindy and I decide to go grab a snack in the lobby, so we start heading down the stairs, and somehow — WHOOPS! — I miss a step and tumble all the way down…

    Of course, I was wearing a dress with a flowy skirt at the time, and um…apparently I gave the patrons a different kind of show, if you know what I mean.

  2. Do you do blue eye liner?
    Absolutely. I have brown eyes with a faint ring of dark blue around the outer edges, and I like the way blue liner makes the ring look more intense.

  3. Can you recommend a comfy pair of flats?
    I can now! The striped pair of Dr. Scholl’s flats I saw at DSW last Friday.

    Only reason I didn’t get them was because I couldn’t get over the huge silver buckle… Reminded me of the Green Bay Packers logo (and I’m a 49ers fan).

  4. Your current favorite makeup or beauty indulgence?
    I seem to have developed a serious affinity for pricey eye creams and potions, which is probably linked to the fact that I’ll be turning 38 (!) in two months.

    Anywho, lately I’ve been loving lightweight (but not light on pocketbooks; it’s $98!) Guerlain Super Aqua-Eye Serum, which moisturizes the heck out of my eye area. Plus, it absorbs quickly, doesn’t irritate my eyes and smells like roses.

  5. Did you deal with any sibling rivalry when you were growing up?
    Oh, yeah. Big time. I was wildly jealous of my younger brother because I felt like my parents favored him. He got away with everything!

    It led to many fights, but we eventually got over it…in our 30s, haha!

  6. I’m excited about _____.
    The Host!

    It’s the new Stephenie Meyer movie coming out this Friday, and I’m thinking about going to the midnight showing.

  7. Name a great book you loved so much that you’ve read it at least twice.
    The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker. The writing will take your breath away (at least it did mine).

  8. Do you keep the fortunes from fortune cookies?
    If they move me in some way, then yes, I keep them in my wallet for months. Sometimes years.

  9. How often do you do DIY (do it yourself) projects?
    Um, never? But I love the idea. I want to be one of those ladies in the Lowe’s commercials happily painting a room or refinishing a dresser. It seems very satisfying… I just don’t ever seem to have enough time.

  10. Some of the best advice I ever received was to…
    …be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then, always be a unicorn. 🙂

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

Le List

1. Have you ever awkwardly slipped or tripped in front of a large group of people?
2. Do you do blue eye liner?
3. Can you recommend a comfy pair of flats?
4. Your current favorite makeup or beauty indulgence?
5. Did you deal with any sibling rivalry when you were growing up?
6. I’m excited about _____.
7. Name a great book you loved so much that you’ve read it at least twice.
8. Do you keep the fortunes from fortune cookies?
9. How often do you do DIY (do it yourself) projects?
10. Some of the best advice I ever received was to…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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