Archives for 2014

The $42 Dolly’s High Roller Collection by Buxom Is a Winning Hand

November 5th, 2014 by Karen 20 Comments

Buxom Dolly's High Roller Collection — Wearing the new limited edition $42 Buxom Dolly’s High Roller Collection, new for holiday 2014 and available now exclusively at Sephora stores and sephora.com

Get ready to look like you spend all of your time at the VIP high-limit tables (as opposed to playing the OMG! Kittens penny slots). Each element in the new $42 Dolly’s High Roller Collection by Buxom evokes livin’ large, cards and casinos.

The nine-piece set comes with chocolate, plum, platinum and pink eyeshadows (and no fallout from any of them, yay!); a cheek trio with a matte plum blush, a shimmery golden beige highlighter and a peachy golden bronzer; and a dual-ended gloss.

Last, but not least, is the waterproof black pencil eyeliner — handy for that glorious moment when I/you/we hit the jackpot and start crying tears of sweet joy.

Just be sure you work quickly with the liner if you plan to do any smudging, because it sets in under a minute.

Added bonus: the set also includes an insert with two step-by-step tutorials (not shown), one for a daytime look, and one for night.

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What Would You Like to Know About Tabs?

November 5th, 2014 by Karen 22 Comments

Together, let's unravel the mystery of the world's greatest kitty supermodel! — Together, let’s unravel the mystery of the world’s greatest kitty supermodel!

I’m looking for questions to ask on my upcoming exclusive Q&A interview with acclaimed kitty supermodel Tabs! This is a huge opportunity for me, and I could really use your help coming up with the questions. 🙂

What should I ask?

Should I ask him about his plans for retirement, how he built his kitty modeling empire, how he tightlines his eyes without opposable thumbs or how he feels about crows?

The sky’s the limit.

Leave me your question ideas here in the comments, and I’ll try to squeeze them in during the interview later this week.

Thanks for your help!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Lids, Liner, Lashes, Lips: A Face of the Day With the New Tom Ford Holiday 2014 Collection

November 5th, 2014 by Karen 20 Comments

The holidays are coming! — and like the Terminator, they can’t be stopped. Or bargained with. Like a festive freight train, they’re a-comin’, ready or not!

With so much to do and fewer daylight hours during the day, every minute is precious. Right now I’m in a phase where the idea of blending three different eyeshadows into my crease (normally a totally sane thing to do) seems impractical, like I’m just burning daylight.

I suppose I could top putting on makeup entirely…

Yeah, right! Haha! Had you going there for a minute, didn’t I? 🙂

But seriously, I have been focussing on quicker looks lately, like this one, which I call “Lids, Liner, Lashes, Lips.”

It’s pretty simple — a single shimmery cream eyeshadow on my lids, black eyeliner, mascara, a bold matte lipstick and a hint of blush and highlighter on my cheeks.

Not too involved, but I think it still makes an impact.

The two focal points are the eyes and lips.

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The King Blanket Costco Haul: A Blanket Fit for a King

November 5th, 2014 by Karen 37 Comments

Going to Costco to get just one thing is like trying to limit yourself to just one potato chip.

Hard.

I went to Costco the other night for one thing — one thing! Apples. That’s all I wanted. In and out.

My friend Marisol had mentioned that there were Honeycrisps there, which I LOVE, and you know how I’ve been on that apples and Babybel cheese kick…

So yeah, my plan was to head straight for the produce section, grab the apples, find the shortest line and boom, get out.

Two hours later…

Yup. In my defense, I had to check out the beauty section. I mean, it was kind of like research, and I did spot a few interesting things…

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Soap & Glory’s New $15 Body Butter Set Has All the Right Smoothes

November 5th, 2014 by Karen 26 Comments

Oh, noes!

My bathroom shelf is buckling under the weight of a mountain of body lotion. What should I do?

I know! I’ll ADD EVEN MORE BODY LOTION TO THE SHELF.

El Hub would probably attempt to counter this logic, but whatevs. I’m a fickle girl who likes multiple moisturizing options. 🙂 Soap & Glory’s new super affordable $15 All The Right Smoothes Set provides three.

How could I not like this set when one of the three moisturizers in it smells a little (OK, a lot) like Coco Mademoiselle, my all-time favorite fragrance by Chanel? It’s called The Righteous Butter, and that’s a perfect name for it. The stuff layers so well with Coco that I plan to get a full-size tub after I finish the set’s 1.69-oz. sampler.

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9 Out of 10 Reindeer Agree: The $39 Benefit Pretty Parfait Holiday Set Is Cute

November 4th, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

Guess who’s already started holiday shopping?

No, not Tabs… He always waits till the last minute.

This girl! This girl has already started. Because I absolutely refuse to be running around at the last minute a la the proverbial headless chicken this year, so I’m trying to get as much as I can done before Thanksgiving.

I started by going to Costco last night and picking up some cute gift tags and wrapping paper, but I’m kind of regretting not also grabbing a set of holiday gift bags, because how the heck am I supposed to wrap this Pretty Parfait makeup set by Benefit?

It’s so cute! — but also kind of awkwardly shaped.

Hmm… Now that I think about it, the reusable tin is probably cute enough to stand on its own sans gift wrapping. Maybe I’ll just stick a bow on it and call it a day. Ho-ho-ho, yo! 🙂

Every year, I like to get one or two “just in case” beauty gifts like this one, which I keep under the tree, just in case I need to get someone a last-minute present.

The $39 limited edition set, which is available now online and at Benefit counters and stores, includes a full-size tube of They’re Real Mascara, a full-size Stay Don’t Stray Eyeshadow Primer in Light/Medium, a full-size Gimme Brow in Light/Medium and a deluxe sample-size (bigger than a standard sampler, but smaller than a regular full size) POREfessional face primer.

Cute, yah?

The $59 Sephora Favorites Give Me More Lip Set Gives Lips All the Pigment They Can Take

November 4th, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Whenever I go shopping at Sephora, there’s a rule I steadfastly adhere to. I tell myself that I can only walk out of the store with what I’m able to carry in my two hands.

No baskets, ever, because the minute a basket gets up in the mix, my credit card starts throbbing with a white hot heat.

Buuuut, you know what they say: where there’s a will, there’s a way. 🙂

With products like the new Sephora Favorites Give Me More Lip Ultimate Lip Sampler Set ($59), I’m able to maximize my self-imposed system of budgetary beauty tyranny. #imjustsayin

The glorious new holiday kit includes 17 (!) sample-sized lip products from 14 makeup brands.

KA-BOOM!

That’s a ton of variety. What’s more, the pieces span a wide range of finishes, textures and coverage levels.

Sephora sorted the products by color family — nudes, berries, pinks and reds — which gives the kit a cohesiveness you don’t always find in limited edition sets.

Sephora Give Me More Lip swatches from the left: Stila Stay All Day Vinyl Lip Gloss in Nude, Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Blush, Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Tint, Too Faced La Creme Lipstick in Naked Dolly, Make Up For Ever Lip LIner in 3C, Tarte LipSurgence in Flush, Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Melted Fuchsia, Benefit Posie Balm and Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Palomino — From the left: Stila Stay All Day Vinyl Lip Gloss in Nude, Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Blush, Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Tint, Too Faced La Creme Lipstick in Naked Dolly, Make Up For Ever Lip Liner in 3C, Tarte LipSurgence in Flush, Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Melted Fuchsia, Benefit Posie Balm and Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Palomino

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So Long, Horse, Because Jouer Just Made This the Year of the Mousse: The New Jouer Long-Wear Creme Mousse Eyeshadows Make Lids Shine Without Highlighting Fine Lines

November 4th, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

Jouer Long-Wear Creme Mousse Eyeshadow Swatches from the left: Dusk, Galaxy, Moonlight, Night Sky, Starlight and Twilight — The new Jouer Long-Wear Creme Mousse Eyeshadows, $30 each

What can I say? Sparkly things give me grabby hands. 🙂

Unfortunately, I also feel like some flashy finishes look straight-up criminal on my eyelids… I’m all for wearing what you want, when you want, but I’m kind of at that stage in my makeup journey when super shimmery frosts, tempting as they are, highlight my fine lines a little more than I’d like.

That said, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to say, “So long forever, sparkle and gloss! I’m living a full-time matte life.” I think I’ll always like a little glitz.

Enter the Jouer Long-Wear Creme Mousse Eyeshadows ($30 each), which came out a little earlier this fall. If you have fine lines like I do, and you crave shimmer like the Gilmore Girls crave coffee, these easy-to-use cream shadows got your back.

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