Archives for 2013

Laura Mercier’s Caviar Stick Eye Colours Have Me Singing Easy Eye Makeup’s Praises

January 31st, 2013 by Karen 30 Comments

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour Sand Glow — Here I’m wearing Laura Mercier’s $24 Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Sand Glow, one of 18 available shades

Cream shadow sticks! Now, if you’re thinkin’, “Been there, done that (*snaps*),” and wondering why you should spend a hot second contemplating another cream shadow stick, well, GURL, when I walked up on Laura Mercier’s new $24 Caviar Stick Eye Colours at Sephora a couple weeks ago, I suddenly heard this Lionel Richie song…

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour seashell swatch — Laura’s Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Seashell

Okay, not really, but I did achieve makeup nirvana…

I love these things so much that I just got a great idea! — you, me, all of us, mojitos (and Shirley Temples) and a HUGE karaoke bar.

And criss-cut fries. 🙂

We’ll all wear different shades of Laura’s Caviar Sticks on our eyes and take the stage by storm!

For the record, these sticks aren’t new, but Laura’s adding six spring shades to go with the 12 shades currently in her permanent collection (here are swatches).

I wish I knew why it took me so long to notice these, and now I’m kicking myself in the butt for that…

It’s not that we haven’t seen shadow sticks before. At one point in time, MAC had something similar, the Shadesticks, that are now discontinued, and Bobbi Brown recently released something very similar for spring.

So, shadow sticks, what are they, exactly? Generally, they’re cream eyeshadows that come in twist-up packaging.

You take one, draw directly on your skin, blend out the edges, and BAM! — you’re wearing eyeshadow.

Simple, and really, really easy.

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour closeup — From the left: Seashell, Grey Pearl and Sand Glow

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour swatches — Swatches from the left: Seashell, Grey Pearl and Sand Glow

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What’s Your Favorite Kind of Lipgloss Applicator?

January 31st, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Clarins Gloss Prodige Intense Colour & Shine Lip Glosses in Water Lily and Vibrant Rose — The new $22 Clarins Gloss Prodige Intense Colour & Shine Lip Glosses in Vibrant Rose (on the left) and Water Lily (on the right), both from the new Clarins Rouge Ã‰clat collection for spring 2013; available now at Clarins counters, Nordstrom and nordstrom.com

I’ve always been a doe-foot gal, myself. Especially the flat ones. Flat doe feet, so to speak, like the long, skinny, flat ones that come with the new Gloss Prodiges from Clarins.

Why? The reason’s not very scientific, I’m afraid. 🙂 I just like the way they work.

So I take the foot and stick it in my mouth…

Wait — let me try that again.

I take the doe foot, and place it between my kisser, point first, so that the flat sides cover the surface of both my top and bottom lips. Then, I slide it back and forth.

Pretty basic…

Clarins Gloss Prodige Intense Colour & Shine Lip Gloss in Water Lily

By the way, since we’re on the subject of these Gloss Prodiges, I like that I don’t need a mirror to apply the lighter shades like Water Lily. They’re just that sheer. But for the darker shades like Vibrant Rose, I do like to check that I’m at least close on the application, LOL! The reflective surface on my iPhone’s screen will usually suffice. 🙂

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Aerin Beauty’s A Garden at Dusk

January 31st, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk Face Palette

Aerin Beauty’s new spring 2013 A Garden at Dusk Face Palette ($70). Available now at Bergdorf Goodman and bergdorfgoodman.com.

Tortie Girls

January 31st, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

These pics are kinda old. They’re from my trip to Kauai last year, aka the vacation where I walked around with cat food in my pockets.

Anyway, I read a story recently about a lost tortie named Holly who walked 200 miles to return to her family, and lately I’ve been obsessed with getting Tabs a tortie sister.

It’s probably not gonna happen (#wishfulthinking), but a cat lady can dream.

Even Though It Doesn’t Scream or Shout, the New Clarins Rouge Ã‰clat Make-Up Collection Face Palette Knows What It’s All About: Soft, Almost Bare Spring Cheeks

January 30th, 2013 by Karen 9 Comments

Getting cheeky with the new Clarins Rouge Ã‰clat Spring Make-Up Collection Face Palette ($35)…

Eyewitnesses report seeing double rainbows all the way across the sky at the Clarins counter this spring, as a new line of “so intense” lipsticks in bright, fun shades arrived, much to the delight of color lovers (and guys/gals who like rainbows).

If you haven’t tried the new Rouge Ã‰clat lipsticks yet, hint-hint, swing by your nearest Clarins counter when you can, and try Tropical Pink, because in a word (a fake word), ah-MAY-zer-ing!

It and the other opaque, smooth, moisturizing colors in the line do for lips what puppies, kittens and rainbows do for my heart (good things).

And perhaps to offset some of that lipstick intensity, Clarins couples the look this spring with soft, almost bare cheeks, courtesy of the new limited edition $35 Rouge Ã‰clat Face & Blush Palette.

Isn’t it cute? At first I thought the design on the pan was a hibiscus, but now I think it’s an iris flower, which would make sense, as irises feature either prominently or thematically throughout the spring collection (have you seen the Iris Blossom Eye Quarted Mineral Palette?).

Um…doesn’t the Face & Blush Palette look a lot like a bronzer?

Ooh, gurl! — you know how I am about bronzer! 🙂

FAKE ANNOUNCEMENT: Meet other like-minded bronzer lovers (feline and human), discuss the pans you’ve hit, and snack on chocolate-chip cookies and lemonade (gravy available) at the MBB Bronzers Anonymous Club. Meetings every Wednesday night at the Tabs the Cat Community Center, 6-10 p.m. Cats and human walk-ins welcome.

You can wear the Face & Blush Palette as a blush, bronzer, highlighter or as an all-over face powder, depending on your skin tone and the effect you’re looking for. Clarins gave it a matte finish and designed the semi-sheer, pinkish tan powder for skin tones from light to dark.

For the most part, I wear it as a blush, buffing one or two layers on my cheeks. I particularly love the way it looks on bare skin, but I’ll also wear it atop a small amount of BB cream or tinted moisturizer, where it creates a great, girl-next-door vibe that I like for minimal makeup looks.

I do feel like my cheeks look brighter and more refreshed with it on, but that’s not even my favorite thing about it.

I love the subtle effect, and how the look is soft, but doesn’t fade into the background. This is a face powder that shakes its fist at the sky and says, “Universe, I might not be the brightest or boldest thing in the solar system, but I’m here, dammit, and I’m effing fabulous!”

Try it as a bronzer (doesn’t appear to have heavy orange tones) or blush if you’re a very fair feline, a blush or face powder if you have medium skin tone, and if you’re a darker damsel, see if you can swatch it first, as I suspect it could go a little ashy on darker skin…

If it does, no sweat. Wear it as a soft, non-shimmery highlighter, ala the MAC Beauty Powders, but with the sheen turned way, way down.

Oh, and the formula melts like butter on hot mashed potatoes…

(Guess who didn’t have enough for lunch.)

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It’s Like Kevin Bacon in That Barn Scene From Footloose…

January 30th, 2013 by Karen 124 Comments

k-yelling-into-a-towel — There was a method to the madness…

My voice is kinda gravelly this morning. It sounds like I spent the whole night eating Fruity Pebbles without any milk, and a big reason is because I spent part of last night locked in my bathroom yelling into a folded towel.

I know that sounds completely insane! — but hear me out. There was a method to my madness.

I had kind of a bad day yesterday. The morning started off fine, it was cool, lunch was fine, and then somewhere around 1 or 2, things just went off the rails. First, I realized that I accidentally deleted a bunch of pics that I took. Second, I dunno, sometimes I just have really bad writing days. As with anything, some days it’s easy, and some days it’s hard. And yesterday it was hard.

By the end of the day, I was already in tears, but then I read kind of a nasty comment from a stranger criticizing pretty much my entire outlook on blogging, and how I exhibit “too much personality” (seriously?).

That pushed me over the edge… I lost my sh*t and started thinking of prison fights and the word, “shank,” as in, “to shank someone.”

LOL! I’m obviously not really going to shank anyone, but I’m just sayin’ — the word occurred to me. 🙂

I’d come unhinged, but I didn’t want to worry El Hub or cry the night away. I just needed a way to vent my feelings.

So, I grabbed my stopwatch, set it for 10 minutes, locked myself in the bathroom and told myself that I could blow my top! — and at the end of the 10 minutes, I would let it go, put it behind me, stop crying, and move on.

In the bathroom, I folded a towel, buried my face in it and cried and yelled and cursed!!

It was very much like that scene from Footloose when Kevin Bacon/Ren is doing gymnastics in the barn and roaring at the universe (“You don’t know me!!”), except much less cardiovascular.

And you know what? It worked. The funny thing is, I yelled myself out after 5 minutes. I didn’t even yell the full 10. I guess just giving myself permission to fall apart went a long way toward helping me feel better.