Dolce & Gabbana Lilac Nail Lacquer
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana’s Three New Voluptuous Lipsticks Are Gentle, True and Nude
My favorite thing about the three new Dolce & Gabbana Voluptuous Lipsticks in the True Monica collection? That even if you’re clad in frayed sweatpants and a t-shirt peppered with holes, and your hair passed the point when it probably should’ve been washed THREE DAYS AGO, and there are still sticky boogers all up in your eyes because you decided not to wash your face this morning…you’ll still feel like a seductive Italian screen siren wearing one of them, pouty lips and all.
The three $33 lipsticks, each of them inspired by Italian actress/model/all-around hot babe Monica Bellucci, whom you might remember from The Matrix Reloaded, or more recently from The Whistleblower with Rachel Weisz, and one of her signature makeup looks with smokey eyes and nude-toned, full lips.
For the all important question: “Which of these warm, creamy lip colors would I wear to jury duty or the DMV?”
The answer: “Any of them.” 🙂 Creamy beige Nude Monica, pinkish beige True Monica or pale rose Gentle Monica.
But why stop at the courthouse? Slip one on anytime you want to stop traffic, perhaps with your hair down, a pair of femme fatale high heels and a body-con dress.
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The New Dolce & Gabbana Smoky Smooth Eye Colour Quad Puts My Inner Corvette in Neutral and Drives Me Wild
I love the new neutral Dolce & Gabbana Smoky Smooth Eye Colour Quad ($59) like…like Mariah loves wind machines. Like Iron Man loves tinkering. Like Portlandia loves bird motifs (“Put a bird on it!”). Like Ben Affleck loves beards. Like drag queens love contouring…
For me, good neutral quads are like tropical vacations. They just make everything better. 🙂
When I’m stumped for what to wear with crazy colors like that hot pink glitter over there (ooh!) or that matte red blush over there (ah!), I’ll go with one, two — or when I’m feeling more adventurous — three or four neutrals on my eyes.
Why?
Because they go with everything!
But…
…not all neutral quads get it right.
Sometimes, there are problems with the powders, and the shadows end up on my cheeks. Other times, they’re way too pigmented, or not pigmented enough, or they pull a David Copperfield and disappear right before my eyes, or they’re just annoyingly chalky.
But the matte black, pearly neutral gold, shimmery chocolate brown and shimmery golden beige in Dolce & Gabbana’s Smoky Quad do WERK!
Pencil in Time With Dolce & Gabbana’s Graphite Intense Khol Eye Crayon
“A storm’s brewin’…”
I always wanted to say that. 🙂 Storms are brewing within Dolce & Gabbana’s new $30 Graphite pencil — a rain cloud of a blackened gray liner for lash and water lines, and my new gunmetal gray liner love.
There’s something almost meteorological about this deep, dark gunmetal… Micro flecks of shimmer dance along its surface like little lightning sparks.
It’s quite the Gothic scene, too, like a sweet lace dress with black leather cuffs and spikes — the perfect marriage of delicate and dangerous. Classic with an edge. Kittens with claws.
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How Often Do You Change Your Nail Polish?
Weekly? Bi-weekly? Umm…daily?
Big surprise! — I go through phases. Sometimes more often, sometimes less. Generally, though, I’ll change my fingers once a week, occasionally upping that to every other day, or daily, depending on flights of fancy and/or seasonal release schedules.
As for my toes, once a week. Sometimes two.
So many nail polishes, so little time! 😀
How about you? How often do you change your nail polish?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Dolce & Gabbana’s True Monica Collection Lipsticks
Mmm, so creamy.
Dolce & Gabbana’s True Monica Collection Lipsticks, $33 each. Available now at select Saks Fifth Avenue Stores and online.
Four Beauty Pick-Me-Ups From René Furterer, Repêchage, Dolce & Gabbana and Estée Lauder
Kicking off the week with a beautiful start! Well, trying to at least. 🙂
Last weekend, ugh! — totally floored me. That two-day migraine felt like a symphony of jackhammers in my head, and it was rough. It’s gone now, thank goodness, and I’m feeling more like myself again.
So, earlier today, just as I was about to jump back into the pet assisting grind, I thought, “Ya know what? What I need right now is to do something that makes me feel really, REALLY great, even if it’s just for a half an hour.”
I needed a beauty pick-me-up, so I made a cup of chamomile tea, grabbed a few new fave beauty products from René Furterer, Repêchage, Dolce & Gabbana and Estée Lauder, and told Tabs that I’d back to work in a few.
René Furterer Karité Intense Nourishing Mask
First order of business: a hot shower and René Furterer’s Karité Intense Nourishing Mask ($46 for a 6.93-ounce jar), a five-minute deep conditioning treatment for dry hair that smoothes and hydrates with a mix of fair-trade shea butter and plant oils.
I just started using it last week, and I think it’s the reason why I had a series of near-epic hair days — like, the best I’ve had in months. Karité adds body, shine and leaves my hair smelling like lilies. I love it!
Repêchage Hydra Dew Illuminating Cream Mask
Have I mentioned that I’ve been on a face mask kick? I don’t know, but there’s something about a good face mask that gives me…hope, LOL! I’m also a big fan of sitting on my butt and doing absolutely nothing while I wait for a mask to work its magic.
My skin’s been a little dry lately (you know, ’cause winter) so after I jumped out of the shower, I applied a layer of Illuminating Cream Mask for Normal to Dry Skin ($38 for a 2-ounce tube) by Repêchage, an under-the-radar brand actually carried in spas all over the world. Their whole line contains products with “nutrient-rich seaweed” harvested off the Brittany Coast of France.
After 10 minutes, I tissued off the mask and could almost hear my skin sighing with relief. Ahh…
Dolce & Gabbana Desire
If I could, I’d hug every single one of the perfumers over at Dolce & Gabbana. I feel like they get me, ya know (says the girl who wore Light Blue on her wedding day)?
Desire’s, a de-lovely fruity floral, is their newest scent ($93 for a 1.6-ounce bottle). It lasts all day long for me and brings to mind overseas adventures, exploring foreign cities at night with a new love.
The official fragrance notes include…
A Beauty Breakdown for the Aerin Beauty Casis Gloss Makeup Look: Radiant Skin, Gold Cat Eyes, Peach Cheeks and Pink Lips
Thanks for the great feedback on yesterday’s Aerin Beauty Casis Gloss review, my friend. 🙂
There were quite a few requests in the comments for a full breakdown of the look, so here it is!
I always enjoy switching things up, so for this look, I used products I already had in my makeup bag, but in a slightly different way.
The tweaks? I wore a full-coverage foundation all over my face (not just on my chin, which is what I usually do), used two face primers (a trick I recently learned from a Sephora artist) and added some highlighting and contouring.
Before we jump in, let me just say how this was kind of a long process. There was a lot of layering, blending and buffing from start to finish. Wish I could say that I whipped this out in five minutes, but it took more like 45, LOL!
Not the quickest makeup look around, I know. If I were running to TJ’s to buy Buttermilk Pancake Mix, I probably wouldn’t go there, but for pics or maybe a party, I’d do it again, assuming I had time.
Okay, here we go — all of the makeup products in order, from start to finish.
- Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet (face)
- SK-II Skin Signature Eye Cream (lids and under-eye area)
- MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance Face Primer (forehead, cheeks, nose, chin and around my mouth)
- BECCA Rejuvenating Primer (forehead, cheeks, nose, chin and around my mouth)
- NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base (lids)