Archives for February 2014

Gardening With MAC A Fantasy of Flowers: Today I Grew a Look With Pink Lips and Green Eyes

February 6th, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

It’s raining here today, which normally would leave me feeling rather blah (I get the blues when the sun goes away), but today? Not so much.

First, it’s been a dry winter, and we need the rain. Second, the construction guys can’t work when it’s wet…so it’s been gloriously quiet this afternoon. 🙂

All I can hear are raindrops on my window, which is a very soothing sound.

Funny thing is, when it’s sunny outside and the workmen are working (we’re having our siding repaired), I put on my biggest headphones and listen to YouTube videos of ambient rain to drown out the noise, haha! Oh, the irony…

So, because today is kind of cold and gray, I felt like doing something a little springy and colorful. I went with a bright green cat eye with golden coral cheeks and a pink lip using makeup from the new MAC A Fantasy of Flowers collection.

If you ever feel like wearing bright green liner or shadow but aren’t quite sure what to do with it and don’t want anything too over the top, try a green cat eye.

No, seriously. Dude, you can do it!

I like this eye look because there’s a bright pop of color and minimal blending, and sometimes when I’m even lazier than I was today, I’ll skip everything else and just do a single swipe of green on my upper lash lines instead.

With bright green liner like this, I’ll usually tightline my upper lashes with a black liner or eyeshadow (here I’m using MAC’s Carbon Eye Shadow) to give more depth to my eyes and create the illusion of thicker lashes (since mine are naturally wimpy).

Just adds a little somethin’ somethin’…

The green liner I’m wearing here is MAC’s new Sassy Moss from A Fantasy of Flowers, by the way, and woo-hoo! — do I feel like a sassy-pants when I wear it. 🙂

It’s just so vibrant, and all it takes is a couple layers. Very cool. In a way, it reminds me of one of my old-school favorite MAC Fluidlines, Jadeye, but less teal and more green. Similar pop on the skin.

[Continue reading…]

You Have to Make an Emergency Beauty Shopping Run at the Drugstore for an Unexpected Overnight Stay. What Do You Pick Up?

February 6th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser, $8.99

Before I get to my list, can I just say that I’ve actually been in this exact situation several times before…

Uh…maybe I should clarify. I don’t make a habit of spending random nights away from home, but sometimes when I drive out to my parents’ house, which is about an hour away, and it gets late, I just stay the night out there and drive back the next morning.

So I’ll be making this Rite-Aid or Walgreens run at some ridiculous hour in the middle of the night/early morning, and when I do, without fail, there will be an odd character there wandering about who will invariably stop to ask me if I happen know whether the store carries birdseed…and Redbull, to which I’ll smile awkwardly and reply, “Wha?”

Anywho, tangent… Now for that emergency list.

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Hydrating Cleanser — This is a great makeup remover, and it gets my face squeaky clean without stripping every microgram of moisture from my skin or triggering horrible breakouts. I swear, I could go through Breaking Bad-sized industrial chemistry vats of this stuff. I love it that much.
Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for Combination Skin — Because without mega moisturizing from a product I can trust to get the job done, the perpetually problem dry spots on my cheeks and around my nose go cah-ray-zaaaaay the next morning.
A toothbrush, toothpaste and floss — I don’t even like to entertain the concept of going to bed without brushing and flossing my teeth. Dude, even back during the height of my clubbing days when I’d get home at obscene o’clock, I’d always brush and floss before bed, because both of my parents have teeth and gum issues, and it made me extra weird about dental hygiene. I don’t know if that’s TMI…but if it is, my bad!
Gud by Burt’s Bees Red Ruby Groovy Natural Softening Conditioner — This is assuming that my head feels or smells gross. If it does, I like to conditioner wash it with a lightweight, reliable conditioner like this, which always leaves my hair feeling less gross, and smelling like a yummy grapefruit (incidentally, I’m going through a grapefruit phase at the moment).
Gud by Burt’s Bees Red Ruby Groovy Natural Body Lotion — Yup, dry skin issues again. Always… I’m usually more flexible about my soaps and will just use whatever is around, but then after showering I’ll hydrate the heck out of my bod with something like this. I love the smell (again, grapefruit), it absorbs well, and it moisturizes like WHOA!

Your turn, babe. 🙂 The scenario: you have to make an emergency beauty shopping run at the drugstore for an unexpected overnight stay. What do you pick up?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

New From Dolce & Gabbana: Perfection Veil Pressed Powder

February 6th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

Dolce & Gabbana Perfection Veil Pressed Powder

One thing I think Dolce & Gabbana does extremely well is pressed powder (have you tried their blush? AH-MAZE-BALLS!), so I’m very excited about introducing my mug to their new face powder.

Perfection Veil Pressed Powder ($60) is all about natural, trasnlucent radiance. It’s supposed to seamlessly blend into the skin and remain there inconspicuously, even after several touchups.

As a woman perpetually on the prowl for face makeup that looks as close to real skin as possible, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. 🙂

The six-piece Perfection Veil Pressed Powder range of permanent products includes translucent rose ivory Nude Ivory 1, translucent pale tan Natural Glow 2, translucent rosy beige Soft Blush, translucent light tan Caramel 4, translucent golden beige Soft Sand 5 and translucent deep tan Biscuit 6.

The ones seducing your eyeballs here now are Nude Ivory 1, Caramel 4 and Biscuit 6.

They’re available now at Dolce & Gabbana counters and online at saksfifthavenue.com.

Wearing This on the Treadmill Tonight…

February 5th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

MAC’s Viva Glam Rihanna Lipstick ($16) and Lipglass ($15).

Because…I have nowhere else to wear ’em. 🙂

Both are available now at MAC counters and online.

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers: Like the Best Parts of Spring (Without the Allergies)

February 5th, 2014 by Karen 25 Comments

Spring. Fifth grade. The mid ’80s. You couldn’t miss me as I navigated the hallowed halls of Alvarado Middle School, not because of my terrible hair (I had the same ‘do as all of my Filipino uncles… Ugh, so tragic!), but because I was a walking floral nightmare. Not a floral fantasy, like MAC’s new 34-piece A Fantasy of Flowers collection.

My floral jacket. It. Was. Hideous. It was the jacket I wore with every single outfit, even though it didn’t go with anything, and it just made me look crazy. It had this obnoxious floral print with all sorts of flowers just mushed on top of each other. It was ugly, but I thought I was the sh*t.

This collection isn’t like that jacket at all. It’s colorful, but in a balanced way that makes sense. It’s like wandering through a carefully thought out cottage garden…

There are lots of floral hues, pinks, corals peaches, purples and roses grounded with earthier browns and lush greens. It’s like a garden early on a dewy morning, and everything is fresh, and there’s a sense of newness, and that’s because there are lots of shimmery finishes here that catch the light, just like drops of dew catch sunlight on flower petals.

Most of the shimmer comes from the Mineralize products — Eye Shadows, Blushes and Skinfinishes.

This isn’t the kind of collection where the cheeks and eyes look real and natural, and for me that’s the fantastical part of this floral fantasy. The shimmers are turned up! — and wearing them makes me feel like a more glamorous version of my everyday self. Then, you add the really bright Fluidlines and Pigments in the release, which are like the statement pieces for me, and you get even more fantastical.

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers Mineralize Skinfinish and Blushes — A Fantasy of Flowers Mineralize Skinfinishes ($30 each) and Mineralize Blushes ($25 each)

There’s a lot going on with cheeks and eyes here, and perhaps because of that MAC kept the lips relatively tame. The colors — pink, coral, peach, berry and rose — remind me of misted flower petals and fancy bouquets… All six of the Lipsticks are in MAC’s creamy Lustre finish, and the six glosses are Cremesheen Glasses, so the lippies are pretty much sheer-to-medium coverage. Nothing too heavy or super opaque, and even the darkest and brightest lip shades are sheer enough to allow some of your natural lip color to peek through.

I had some fun with these pics, but I have a lot more planned for this release — looks and more in-depth reviews. The release arrives on counters tomorrow and is available now on maccosmetics.com.

Take a stroll through MAC’s latest garden, and let me know what you think. 🙂

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers Eyeshadows Fluidlines Pigments — A Fantasy of Flowers Mineralize Eye Shadows ($21 each), Fluidlines ($16 each) and Pigments ($21 each)

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers Cremesheen Glasses and Lipsticks — A Fantasy of Flowers Cremesheen Glasses ($20 each) and Lipsticks ($15 each)

MAC A Perfect Topping Skinfinish, a a pale pearly pink — A Perfect Topping Skinfinish, a a pale pearly pink

MAC Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish, a coppery bronze — Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish, a coppery bronze

MAC Pink Sensibilities Mineralize Eye Shadow, a pinkish brown, a chocolate brown, a yellowish pink and an icy bluish pink — Pink Sensibilities Mineralize Eye Shadow, a pinkish brown, a chocolate brown, a yellowish pink and an icy bluish pink

[Continue reading…]

Do You Still Do Your Makeup When the Weather Outside Is Frightful (Rainy, Snowing, Crazy Humid)?

February 5th, 2014 by Karen 39 Comments

MAC Style Blush on my cheeks — Brr, it’s cold outside…

You get all dolled up, spend a chunk of your morning getting ready to face the day, and then BAM! — you open the door and it’s the storm of the century outside. Maybe it’s a torrential downpour, and the rain is coming in from all directions (even sideways!), or it’s a blizzard, and there’s five feet of snow blocking your front door, or it’s monsoon season in the tropics, and it’s humid enough outside to breath with gills, and melt even the most industrial strength long-wearing makeup in a matter of minutes.

When the weather outside is frightful, do you still do your makeup?

I totally do. We don’t regularly get extreme, extreme weather here, but sometimes we do. Here it’s heavy downpours, usually in the late winter and spring, and when they happen, I bust out my waterproof and long-wearing stuff.

I usually start with a waterproof mascara. Maybelline makes one I love called Full ‘N Soft Waterproof. It handles heavy rain, and it’s super affordable (just $7).

Then I’ll add a tough-as-nails brow filler like Hourglass Arch, which I’m seriously obsessed with (again!).

For my skin, MAC Face and Body, which doesn’t budge for nothin’. Then under-eye concealer to cover up those pesky dark circles, followed by a little powder, blush and bronzer. I’ll usually go with something non-sticky on my lips, like a stain or lipsticks, since getting hair caught in my gloss is never fun…

How about you? Do you still do your makeup when the weather outside is frightful (rainy, snowing, crazy humid)?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Welcome to the hump. 🙂

Good Stuff on Gloss Daily, the Ladies’ Home Journal Beauty Blog

February 4th, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Up Your Eye Makeup Game — 5 tips to up your eye makeup game

Would you like to thwart those dastardly dark circles, take your best driver’s license picture ever, look like you spent $40 on a lipstick when you only spent $4, up your eye makeup game, and add more meow to your cat liner looks? Check out Gloss Daily, the Ladies’ Home Journal beauty blog.

I’ve been contributing articles to them every other week since last winter (it was kind of a dream come true being affiliated with LHJ), and I like everyone I’ve been working with over there.

It’s a pretty good blog, and there are a bunch of blogger contributors. Swing by when you get a chance, and please leave a comment over there if you find something you like (thank you).

Here’s kind of a random sampling of the posts I’ve done…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

NYX Introduces Tempting New Shades of $5 Butter Gloss To Excite Lips and Make Tummies Rumble

February 4th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

I can’t even begin to understand the concept of skipping dessert.

Well, that’s not true… I get it. Sometimes I do it, too. But I hate it whenever I do. Every time.

It’s easy for my friend Cindy, though. Whenever a waiter asks, “Would you like to see the dessert menu?” she can easily say no (she’s more into salty snacks than sweets), but that’s not even an option for me. I have to see the dessert menu because I live for the sweet stuff, man.

A meal doesn’t seem complete unless I’ve had a piece of cake or a scoop of ice cream at the end, and if it were more socially acceptable to completely skip appetizers and the main dish entirely and go straight to dessert, I totally would.

I like to get my sweet on any way I can, which is why I have a soft spot for these NYX Butter Glosses.

Have you taste tested these sheer glosses before (I meant figuratively, but they do have a light brown sugar and vanilla flavor and scent that I like)? They cost $5 each and originally arrived last spring, when they were added to the permanent line.

They have a satiny finish, a lightweight, super comfy, non-sticky formula and delectable names like Peach Cobbler and Cherry Pie.

They tend to apply a little patchy on me at first and only last about an hour, but I like ’em for what they are, and the price seems right.

NYX recently added 10 more shades, including the three yummy-sounding ones here — rosy nude Angel Food Cake, hot pink Cupcake and berry Raspberry Tart.

NYX Butter Gloss in Angel Food Cake — Angel Food Cake

[Continue reading…]