Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Behold, my new favorite accessory!
It was a gift from my brother and his girlfriend (looks like they know me well).
The nails are MAC Rebel and the purse is Kate Spade.
Clearly, the world needs more accessories with husky tabbies on them. 🙂
Two of the many reasons I like to run…
This morning after my run I showered with a few new products from Lush. They released six new things this summer, all of them cruelty-free and handmade. Lush calls them “self-preserving,” because they contain high levels of oil, butter and glycerine and a reduced amount of water, which altogether are supposed to stop bacteria from coming around and messing with yo’ groove.
“Mangnificent,” as in mango-nificent, especially if you’re into mangos, which I am.
When I was a kid, dried mangoes were some of my favorite treats in the whole wide world.
Still are, actually. But back in the day they were kind of hard to get here in the U.S., so I’d have to wait for relatives to bring them over when they visited from the Philippines.
There’s nothing quite like dried mango… Sweet, a little tangy and chewy… YUM!
Yes, I’m starved right now.
Anyway, this bar smells just like that! It actually contains both dry and fresh mango (for antioxidants). There’s dried mango on the outside and fresh pureed mango throughout.
The bar also contains Sicilian Lemon Oil and Tunisan Neroli Oil, with the former supposedly increasing seratonin levels in the brain.
Hmm… I am feeling pretty good right now, but that could be ’cause it’s Friday. 😉
I guess you really do learn something new every day, because this stuff was inspired by strawberry marshmallow fluff, which I did not even know existed.
But it does.
Because I Googled it.
And OMG it looks good!
D’Fluff feels fluffy and light directly from the tub, but once you get it on your skin and work it in a little bit, it thickens into a lotion (like this Shave Cream by EOS).
I definitely feel like I get a closer shave with my razor when I use it.
Surprisingly, it’s not as sweet-smelling as I expected. Rather, it’s more tart, like real life fresh strawberries.
In additional to the strawberries, which are supposed to help cleanse the skin, it also contains egg whites to tighten skin and cocoa butter to moisturize.
Both guys and gals can use it, too.
Hint, hint, El Hub. It’s time you parted with that stubble you’ve been rocking all week. #justsayin
Today I’m wearing two coats of MAC Studio Nail Lacquer in Rebel.
I painted my paws with it last night because I wanted to send a pic to my friend, who’s daughter is named Rebel. I told him that she would think he was the BEST DAD EVER if he got her a bottle of this polish. 🙂
How about you? What are you wearing on your nails?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. TGIF!
I’m nearly not as excited about these as El Hub is (he loooooves spicy food), but I like the shapes and colors.
Why am I’m tempted to rub one of those red ones on my lips?
Why?
No, Karen, don’t do that. You’d regret it. Instead, why don’t you look for a lipstick in the same color?
Yes, sometimes I talk to myself in the third person. 🙂
¡Ay, caramba! ¡Este color está en fuego! (Thank you, Efrain!)
This hot pink shade from Chanel’s fall collection totally lights my fire. The brightest of the four Rouge Coco Shine Hydrating Sheer Lipshines released with the États Poétiques fall 2014 collection, Viva ($35) is neither shy nor serious, unlike the dainty pale pinks and deep berry shades in the launch. It’s just bright and lovin’ life. 🙂
¡Viva la Viva!
Depending on the individual color, the Rouge Coco Shines range from sheer to medium coverage, but even when they’re sheer, you can still see the colors on your lips (and they don’t all look alike).
I love that Viva, despite being a bright hot pink, isn’t fully opaque, so I can put it on without a lip brush.
At last!
She no longer eludes me… I have her in my clutches! Three Chanel counters and $36 later, Illusion D’Ombre cream shadow in New Moon is mine!
This coppery cream shadow has minuscule multicolored flecks of glitter, and it came out with Chanel’s summer 2014 collection.
Sadly, it eluded me then, and I’ve been trying to track in down for a while.
It’s been kind of hard to find because it was/is limited edition, but you know what they say… Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 🙂
If you’re interested and they don’t have it at your nearby counter, see if they’ll check another store. If you can find it somewhere, some places will handle the shipping to you for free.
I know Macy’s does…which is where I found this one.
Good luck!
I love many, many things about MAC, but I have to say — I haven’t always been the biggest fan of their nail polishes.
That’s mostly been because of the brush — it’s the old-fashioned style, where the bristles often spread out, which makes applying the polishes kind of a chore.
I dunno… I just prefer the flatter-style of brushes from brands like OPI, where it’s easy to get that nice crisp edge I like. I’ve always found those kinds of brushes easier to use.
And then there’s the MAC formula. Some of the shades just seem to chip sooner than I’d like, and I don’t think I’m the only person who notices it. Whenever I mention a MAC polish to my girlfriends, they’re like, “Yeah. MAC? Nope. The chipping.”
Fast forward to now. 🙂
The brand reworked their entire nail line. The new Studio Nail Lacquer line ($12 each) now includes 36 shades spread out among four finishes in cream, frost, pearl and glitter.
They also introduced new base and top coats called Underlacquer and Matte Overlacquer, respectively.
Joining the Studio Nail Lacquer line is a new family of six top coats called the Nail Transformations (also $12 each), designed to change the look and feel of nail polishes worn with them.
Deets on those soon, as I’m still testing, but if you can’t wait, they’re available now online…
With the reformulation, MAC added conditioning ingredients like Vitamins C, E and B5 to the formula, along with a bunch of new colors (although they did carry over many of the O.G. ones too), and then there’s the aforementioned new brush…
Now it has the flat shape! 🙂 Aaaah! [THE CLOUDS PART]
With it, I notice that I can cover a lot more surface area per swipe, and it’s easier to create nice sharp edges.
They’re almost here! They’re en route, you could say. The Studio Nail Lacquers arrive July 3 on the MAC website (in stores July 10, 2014), and are headed for the permanent line.
The Nail Transformations, however, are available online now, and coming to stores July 3 (also to the permanent line).
This first batch features some of the summery colors (corals, peaches, pinks), reds and darker creams, for those already in fall mode.
So far, so good, in terms of application. Most of the shades I’ve tried go on smoothly and appear pigmented on my nails. In some cases, I’m even able to get away with a single coat.
I’m still testing these for wear time. Will they last longer than the O.G. MAC lacquers before chipping? Stay tuned. Only time will tell…
Let me know which of these catches your eye. Check back a little later for the glitters, frosts and more of the darker shades.
Just a peek into ye olde bathroom cabinet. Here are the makeup removers currently performing acts of great beauty bravery on my bathroom shelf! 🙂
Niiiiiiiiiice, although for the life of me I can’t figure out why an $18 bottle of this is so small (just 1.7 ounces).
It whisks away long-wearing face and eye makeup but isn’t oily, and sometimes it can be tough to find removers like this that don’t leave a greasy or oily film behind. This stuff feels just like water, and it doesn’t irritate my sensitive water lines.
A 1.7-ounce bottle goes for $18. Available now at Trish McEvoy counters and neimanmarcus.com.
This gel formula eye makeup remover is designed for sensitive eyes and feels nice and soothing on my lids. It doesn’t make the skin feel tight, but I find that it doesn’t handle real-deal waterproof stuff, which it’s touted as being able to remove, as well as Trish McEvoy’s remover, and, ironically, it stings my water lines (but my eyes are SUPER sensitive, for what it’s worth).
I don’t really use it very often, mostly when my lids feel dry or tight.
This one’s $16 for a 3.4-ounce tube, and it’s available now at Klorane counters and online.
Good grief! These are hella expensive, but oh, so good.
I mean, I am not a makeup wipe snob at all. I’m usually just as happy with drugstore wipes as I am with anything else. For a long while I’ve alternated between MAC Wipes and the Neutrogena Makeup Remover wipes, but these Cle de Peau ones? — holy crap.
If an eccentric billionaire decided to fund my makeup-loving lifestyle, I’d probably just use these. They’re the softest, most comfortable wipes I’ve ever used.
To borrow an overused phrase, they feel like fluffy little clouds, and they remove everything in a flash. I don’t even have to tug or rub at the skin.
Kinda bomb, but they’re $38 for 50 sheets…
Available now at Cle de Peau Beaute counters and neimanmarcus.com.
This smells like really fancy olive oil to me, which I guess makes sense because olive oil is the numero uno ingredient.
When I use it at night to remove my makeup, I have on more than one occasion imagined having it with tomatoes and basil. 🙂
Mmm… Tomatoes and basil.
It removes everything — long-wearing foundation, waterproof mascara, gel liner, the whole shebang, and one pump does the trick.
I think I might even like it more than MAC Cleanse-Off Oil… I’d say it feels richer, and I have combo dry/oily skin, so I appreciate that.
This one’s $28 for a 6.7-ounce bottle with a pump.
Available at DHC counters and online.