NARS

NARS NARSissist Wanted Power Pack Lip Kit in Cool Nudes: 3 Things to Know

March 13th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

nars wanted power pack lip kit cool nudes — $26 for two NARS Powermatte minis

Awww…freak out!

(Le freak, c’est chic!)

FREAK OUT!

If you listen to disco, you know that your booty is guaranteed to start shaking whenever this song plays.

Le Freak, by the way, is also the name of one of the liquid lipsticks in the new $26 NARS NARSissist Wanted Power Pack Lip Kit in Cool Nude, which is coming exclusively to Ulta very soon — March 18th!

nars le freak lip swatch — Le Freak, a matte pale pink

Cool Nudes is one of three new liquid lip kits from NARS, and each comes with two cute Powermatte Pigment minis. One of the shades is a re-promoted shade from the permanent line (American Woman), and the other, Le Freak, is a new limited edition pale pink.

nars le freak american woman swatches — Le Freak (a new LE shade) and American Woman (a re-promoted shade from the permanent collection)

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14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 9: Glossy, Sheer Cherry Red Lips With NARS Scandal

February 10th, 2018 by Karen 5 Comments

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

This glossy cherry ? creates the sheerest veil of yellowy red — even sheerer than Neutrogena’s Deep Cherry, and ya know, that’s why I like it. NARS Scandal ($21) is shiny, sheer, sweet and innocent.

Ah… It takes me back to my middle school years, when sheer rollerball glosses were all the rage, and every girl’s lips looked like this after they touched up after lunch.

Among the things I love about it: that I can still see my lip freckles when it’s on.

The sheerness might make Scandal more of a layering gloss for ladies and gents who prefer bold lip colors, but I love this on its own, especially when it’s worn with just mascara, a little concealer and a messy bun.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A Glamorously Grungy Makeup Tutorial: Smoky Reddish Brown Eyes and Vampy Matte Lips

February 7th, 2018 by Karen 24 Comments

I’m warning you now — ONLY wear this makeup when you want to feel like a total bad-@ss capable of capturing, and then breaking, all of the hearts in a room within the span of 5 minutes.

This beauty buddy movie pairs two bold focal points together — a messy reddish brown smoky eye and a crisp blackened red matte lip — to create a jammin’ juxtaposition of grungy and glam, and you know I’m all about the contrasts in makeup.

To keep the overall look approachable and well out of Insta-glam territory, I paired the eyes and lips with moderately matte skin (there’s a semblance of a sheen), casual, messy brows and a warm bronzed mauve cheek.

Are you ready to rock?

What you’ll need

FACE PRODUCTS

Face Primer with pearly sheen (BECCCA Backlight)
Medium coverage liquid matte foundation (NARS Natural Longwear Radient Foundation in Stromboli and Valencia)
Concealer for your under eye area, if you want (MAC Matchmaster Concealer in 4)
Face Powder (MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Golden Tan)
Warm pinkish mauve powder blush (MAC Extra Dimension in Faux Sure!)
Peachy tan bronzer (MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Give Me Sun)
Matte blackened red lipstick (MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipstick in Carnivorous)
Reddish brown lip liner (MAC Mahogany)

EYE MAKEUP

Brow gel, either clear or a color that matches your brows (Hourglass Arch Brow Volumizing Gel in Warm Brown)
Two powder eyeshadows: a warm reddish brown powder eyeshadow (MAC Swiss Chocolate) and a glittery bronzy peach (MAC Honey Lust)
A warm reddish brown eyeliner, ideally something creamy which you can buff out and blend (MAC Costa Riche)
Mascara (Benefit BAD Gal Bang!)

TOOLS

Smudge brush (MAC 219S)
Fluffy angled eyeshadow brush (MAC 275S)
Blush brush (MAC 127S)
Flat eyeshadow brush (or, you can just use a finger)
Something to blend your foundation (BeautyBlender)

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14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 4: Classic Matte Red Lips With NARS Dragon Girl

February 4th, 2018 by Karen 19 Comments

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

I’ve been wearing this classic NARS matte red lipstick for, oh, almost 10 years now, and for the life of me, I still can’t get the name right. I always call it “Dragon Roll” instead of “Dragon Girl.” I guess I REALLY like sushi.

This is a classic red matte to me because it’s right in the middle between cool and warm, and it isn’t too blue or too red. I’m wearing it here with a warm gold cream shadow along my lash lines, but sometimes I wear it with cool silver or platinum cream shadows, and I like it just as much with those colors, too.

‘Twas an Emo Super Bowl

I watched the entire game, except for the last 15 minutes, which was when El Hub made us turn it off because he couldn’t take it anymore. He made me laugh so hard, LOL. He said, “I just love sports so much. I can’t handle it!” (This was right after the Patriots took the lead.)

Fly, Eagles, fly!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 3: Glossy, Cool-Toned Lips With Neutrogena Deep Cherry Gloss and NUDESTIX Mystic Lip Pencil

February 3rd, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

neutrogena deep cherry nudestix mystic k peace — Anyone else get THIS excited about HomeGoods? Anyone?

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

It was good hunting today, and by “hunt,” I’m referring to my trip to HomeGoods, where I went hunting for farmhouse decor for my office…even though I didn’t really find anything farmhouse-related that I liked.

It was still a productive hunt, though! — and I mean “hunt” in the truest sense of the word, because let’s get real, HomeGoods is like The Hunger Games of home decorating stores. If you see something you want, you better chase that down like a lioness chases down her prey.

But ya know, it was Caturday, and even though I was wearing sweats and a messy bun, I still wanted to wear red lips for #14DaysofRavishingRed.

An opaque lipstick seemed like a little too much for today, so I went with one of my favorite casual ways to wear red instead — by layering a red gloss on top of a nude lipstick.

The deep, cool-toned cherry red gloss I’m wearing borders on magenta. It’s Neutrogena Hydro Boost Lip Shine in Deep Cherry, and when it’s layered on top of a creamy nude brown (NUDESTIX Mystic), the brown tones down the intensity of the red, so that you end up with a casual glossy brown lip with a hint of red.

Of course, you can do this with any red gloss — doesn’t have to be a cool-toned cherry red like this.

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14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 2: Creamy Scarlet Lips With NARS Rita Lipstick and MAC Brick Lip Liner

February 2nd, 2018 by Karen 8 Comments

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

Me when El Hub said that all of my red lipsticks look the same to him:

I mean, come on! Sure, this NARS Rita lipstick and MAC Brick liner combo I’m wearing above is red, and warm, and has a touch of orange in it, just like the Thrillest/Holy Red combo yesterday, but it has WAY less orange in it.

Like, if that Thrillest/Holy Red look has a dollop o’ orange, this Rita/Brick look has just a tinge.

Still, both are warm and red and orange-y, but within that similarity, they’re completely different!

At least that’s what I tell myself as I lust over my 573rd tube of red lipstick…

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14 Days of Ravishing Red! — Day 1: Creamy Warm Red Lips With Kosas Thrillest Lipstick and NARS Holy Red Lip Liner

February 1st, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

Are you ready for 14 Days of Ravishing Red? Stay tuned as we explore ravishing red ? lipsticks, lip liners and glosses every day on our way to ? Valentine’s.

“Warm it up, Kris!”

Oh, I’m about to. 🙂 Kosas Thrillest lipstick and NARS Holy Red lip liner both have the subtlest, least obnoxious yellowy orange undertones, but there’s no mistaking them for cool-toned colors. They’re definitely warm reds, but they aren’t as warm as some orange reds (MAC Lady Danger comes to mind).

I think opaque warm reds like these are vintage va-va-voom! — and I love this look, especially with bronzed lids and/or lash lines.

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10-Minute Work or Weekend Makeup With Red Blush, Red Lipstick and Smudgy Bronze-Black Cat Eyeliner

January 13th, 2018 by Karen 24 Comments

10 minute makeup — Today’s 10-minute makeup

A few things:

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m wearing the same pajamas I put on Thursday night.
My head feels like it’s being squished in a vice (yes, I’m still a walking germ factory).
I haven’t washed my hair in three (four?) days.

But thanks to the healing power of makeup, I can pretend I briefly look like I’m a somewhat functioning adult, LOL!

This 10-minute makeup look was 1) to help myself feel better, and 2) for Sheena (yay for the Bay, girl, woo-hoo!), who liked the NUDESTIX Intense Lip + Cheek Pencil in Purity post earlier this week but wanted to see me use a darker color from the line.

This time I used warm red Stiletto, and I used it as both a blush and a sheer lip color. And then I also did a smudgy, bronze-y black cat eye.

Everything I used is listed below, and if you have any questions, you know where to find me (hints: it involves Netflix, a laptop and my couch).

nudestix stiletto — When you’re trying to not look like you’re a walking germ factory…

One note about the skin. I used a very sheer liquid skin tint to even everything out just a touch, then boosted the coverage on my cheeks with a loose foundation. This is a very cool shortcut I like to do when I’m pressed for time/have very little patience.

Also, because I went into this look planning to only spend 10 minutes on it, and because the pencil was an opaque bright red, I opted for the sheer lip stain because I figured I’d be able to fudge the edge of the lip line (which I did).

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