Estee Lauder

Four Beauty Pick-Me-Ups From RenÃ© Furterer, Repêchage, Dolce & Gabbana and EstÃ©e Lauder

March 4th, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

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 RenÃ© Furterer, Repêchage, Dolce & Gabbana and EstÃ©e Lauder, and told Tabs that I’d back to work in a few.

RenÃ© Furterer KaritÃ© Intense Nourishing Mask

First order of business: a hot shower and RenÃ© Furterer’s KaritÃ© 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. KaritÃ© 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…

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The Bronze Goddess Is Back! The New Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess Collection for Summer 2013

February 28th, 2013 by Karen 41 Comments

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Collection Summer 2013 — Wearing Estée Lauder’s new Bronze Goddess Summer 2013 collection

If you’re soooo over winter, Estée Lauder’s 17-piece Bronze Goddess summer collection launches on counters and online this March (um, that’s tomorrow!).

Yes, GURL, summer! I know, I can’t believe it’s already that time.

Swatches and pics of 7 of the 17 pieces below… Let me know if you see something you like.

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Collection 2013 — A closeup of a few items from the new Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess Summer 2013 collection

Estée Lauder Heat Wave Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee — Estée Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Heat Wave ($40)

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Estée Lauder’s New Pure Color Gelee Powder EyeShadow Palette in Batik Sun

February 23rd, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

EstÃ©e Lauder Pure Color Gelee Powder EyeShadow Palette in Batik Sun big

Estée Lauder’s Pure Color Gelee Powder EyeShadow Palette in Batik Sun ($48), one of 17 pieces from the new Bronze Goddess Summer 2013 Collection.

The entire Bronze Goddess Summer 2013 collection includes…

EYES:
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Gelee Powder EyeShadow Palette in Batik Sun ($48)
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Liquid Eyeliner Duo in Black Sands ($29)
NEW Sumptuous Extreme Waterproof Mascara in Extreme Black ($26)
Sumptuous Extreme Mascara in Extreme Black ($25)

LIPS:
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Sheer RollerGloss in Succulent ($18.50)
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Sheer RollerGloss in Squeeze ($18.50)
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in Solar Crush ($25)
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in Fuchsia Fever ($25)

NAILS:
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Nail Lacquer in Hot Spell ($20)

FACE:
NEW Limited Edition Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Heat Wave ($40)
NEW Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Luminous Liquid Bronzer ($28.50)
NEW Bronze Goddess Powder in Light ($36)
NEW Bronze Goddess Powder in Medium ($36)
NEW Bronze Goddess Powder in Medium Deep ($36)
NEW Bronze Goddess Powder in Deep ($36)

FRAGRANCE:
Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Eau Fraiche Skinscent 100 ml ($60)
Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Body Oil Spray 100ml ($50)

Available March 2013 at Estée Lauder counters and esteelauder.com.

EstÃ©e Lauder’s Heavy Petals

December 24th, 2012 by Karen 4 Comments

estee lauder heavy petals closeup — EstÃ©e Lauder’s new Pure Color Nail Lacquer Heavy Petals shades in Narcissist on the left and Dilettante oon the right ($20 each)

Two of the five new nail polishes from the new EstÃ©e Lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquer Heavy Petals Collection ($20 each). Available January 2013.

Estee Lauder’s New Pretty Naughty Pure Color Sheer Matte Lipsticks

December 23rd, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

It’s starting to feel like spring (in the makeup world) with the new Estee Lauder Pure Color Sheer Matte Lipsticks ($25 each; from the new Pretty Naughty collection).

EstÃ©e Lauder’s New Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paints

December 23rd, 2012 by Karen 13 Comments

EstÃ©e Lauder Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paint

Just a quick peek at five of the nine new EstÃ©e Lauder Pure Color Stay-On Shadows ($24 each) that come out next month. 🙂

EstÃ©e Lauder Neon Fuchsia Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paint — Neon Fuchsia

EstÃ©e Lauder Extreme Emerald Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paint — Extreme Emerald

EstÃ©e Lauder Steel Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paint — Steel

EstÃ©e Lauder Chained Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paint — Chained

EstÃ©e Lauder Cosmic Pure Color Stay-On Shadow Paint — Cosmic

estee lauder stay on shadow paints swatches — From the left: Neon Fuchsia, Extreme Emerald, Steel, Chained and Cosmic

estee-lauder-pure color stay on shadow paints paints-closed

December 20th, 2012 by Karen 17 Comments

Estee Lauder Insatiable Pure Color Nail Lacquer — EstÃ©e Lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquer in Insatiable ($20)

She probably doesn’t remember this, but I have this memory of my friend Jen and I sitting at a bookstore one day looking at wedding magazines. We were in our early 20s at the time and had absolutely no husbandly prospects in sight.

You know those phases you go through where you’re like, “All boys suck”?! Well, we were both in one of those phases, but you know how it goes. One minute you’re reading Cat Fancy, but then you catch a glimpse of a gorgeous dress on the cover of a glossy wedding magazine, and all of a sudden you’re like Fox Mulder from the X-Files, and you really, REALLY want to believe.

So we sat there for hours, flipping through pics (“I like that dress,” “Pretty flowers!” “Do you think you might like a big train?”), until at one point in the conversation, we decided that bridesmaids’ dresses in periwinkle — kind of like the color of EstÃ©e Lauder’s new $20 Pure Color Nail Lacquer in Insatiable that I’m completely and totally mad about — were the way to go.

Of course, wouldn’t ya know it? — years later, both of us ended up with completely different bridesmaids’ dresses at our weddings. No periwinkle at all.

Jen went with bronze, and I chose a chocolate brown.

jck-4ever — With my childhood friends, Cindy (left) and Jen (right), on my wedding day in 2006

But if I had gone with periwinkle dresses, I hope they would have been as pretty as Insatiable.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting spectacular the first time I saw Insatiable in its bottle…

Then I applied a layer on one nail. And it was ON!

The only polish in the new Pretty Naughty spring collection, it’s a creamy deep violet gray, wonderfully moody, like the bad boys you know you should stay away from but can’t, or the color of angry storm clouds…

Gawd, I love this color.

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Who Wants to Get Pretty Naughty at Work? I Do, With the New Estee Lauder Pretty Naughty Pure Color Five Color EyeShadow Palette

December 20th, 2012 by Karen 16 Comments

Before I dive into V.I.M.R.I. (Very Important Makeup-Related Information) — aka why you should make room in your work purse for the new $48 EstÃ©e Lauder Pure Five Color EyeShadow Palette in Pretty Naughty — first, a question.

Do you ever mess around with song lyrics to make weird cover songs about your pet?

Anyone? Bueller?

El Hub and I have been doing it lately with the words to Bell Biv DeVoe’s Poison…

One of us will start by singing, “Tabs drivin’ me out of my mind, that’s why it’s hard for me to find…” and then the other person jumps in, “Can’t get Tabs out of my head. Miss Tabs, kiss Tabs, love Tabs (wrong move you’re dead). My cat is poison… POISON!!”

I know. Waaaaay too cat obsessed. 🙂

So let’s talk palettes instead! You might be thinking, “Heck, no. I don’t do pastels,” but hear me out.

I’m not always into pastels, either. Sometimes I think they’re just too light and chalky for my tan skin, but the smooth pastels in the Pretty Naughty palette are surprisingly intense, and they should show up well on light and dark skin tones.

Sweet.

This limited edition quint comes with three pastel shades (a matte sky blue, a shimmery soft pink and a shimmery violet) and two neutrals (a shimmery taupe and a glittery charcoal), and if you’re looking for, like, a palette you can wear to work, but you also want to have a little fun with color — not necessarily a hot pants/disco glitter/rhinestones on a Wednesday morning kind of fun, but more like a long Friday lunch break to look at shoes we can’t afford at Neimans — Pretty Naughty is the palette you’ll want in your makeup bag this spring.

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