Sonia Kashuk

It’s a Giant Halloween! Here’s My Hodgepodge Mani Mix of Glittery Copper, Black and Orange Shades With Zoya, OCC, Deborah Lippmann and Sonia Kashuk

October 31st, 2012 by Karen 29 Comments

I did a couple of different things last night. One, I painted my nails orange and black, both for Halloween and to cheer the Giants winning the World Series, and two, I (kinda) watched The Last Exorcism on Netflix.

On that last one…good grief! What was I thinking firing up a movie about a teenager possessed by a demon 30 minutes before bed?!

Come on, Karen, wake up!

I actually didn’t make it through the whole thing on account of a terrible scene involving a little barn kitty…

I couldn’t take it! But thankfully my nails were dry by then, so I just ran away from the TV screaming “No! No! No!” and went upstairs to bed.

For my nails, I knew I wanted something more complicated than a single color but easier than a fancy work of nail art, so after digging through my drawer of polishes, I settled on a hodgepodge mani mix of glittery copper, black and orange shades…

paint-job-halloween-polish — Clockwise from the black polish in the lower left: Sonia Kashuk Starry Night, Deborah Lippmann I Love the Nightlife, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Copperhead and Zoya Penny

There’s a big rally/parade down in San Francisco today for the Giants, and I’m heading down, but please don’t tell Tabs. I know he’d want to go, but he’s such a cat diva. With the time it takes him to get ready, we’d never make it on time.

My plan is to distract him by mixing a handful of Greenies in with his gravy. Then I’ll quietly sneak out the door. 🙂

In candy news, do you ever crave chocolate in the morning?

I don’t know if it’s hormonal (probably), or just because there’s a big bag of Fun Size Snickers on the kitchen counter, but every day lately I wake up ravenous for chocolate.

What’s up with that?

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Haute Hair for a Hot Price! The $9.99 Sonia Kashuk Studly Haute Hair Sets

August 16th, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

sonia kashuk studly haute hair set 1
Sonia Kashuk studded headband

Like I needed another reason to absolutely adore Sonia Kashuk.

As if her cute travel bags, smarty pants makeup cases, luscious nail polishes and oh-so-affordable brushes (her Bent Eyeliner Brush changed my life!) weren’t reason enough, now she’s hitting Target shelves with a new line of stylin’ limited edition hair accessories.

Released for fall, her Studly Haute Hair Sets ($9.99 each) are totally tough girl approved.

The first set pairs a studded headband with a set of two silver studded bobby pins, and it’s available now at Target stores and online at target.com.

The second set, also available in Target stores but unfortunately not online, puts a studded barrette together with four studded elastics.

sonia kashuk studly haute hair set 2
Silver studded bobby pins

sonia kashuk studly haute hair set 3
Studded elastics
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The Mission Is a Glow With The New Sonia Kashuk Perfecting Translucent Illuminator

August 8th, 2012 by Karen 17 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Perfecting Translucent Illuminator

You know what would be really nice? I mean, besides a shirtless Alcide Herveaux baking me semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies from scratch in my kitchen.

No shirts for Alcide I know I was going somewhere with that…

Oh, yeah! 🙂 It would be really nice to have an extra hour every morning just to put on makeup. Then I could blend, pat, and smudge till my heart’s content without having to hurry (or hear El Hub yell from downstairs, “Babe! What are you doing?! We were supposed to leave the house 15 minutes ago!”).

Dare to dream, right?

The reality is usually closer to 10 minutes than an hour, and I have to make every one of those seconds count.

Sonia Kashuk understands. Her new $14.99 Perfecting Translucent Illuminator makes the most of makeup time, so you never have to leave the house without at least a little highlighter.

sonia kashuk perfecting translucent illuminator product shot

It’s a warm, peachy golden cream/gel highlighter with a light-reflecting shimmer that creates the look of flawless, fresh skin.

sonia kashuk perfecting translucent illuminator swatch
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Putting Jewels in Reach: The $4.79 Sonia Kashuk Fall 2012 Nail Colours Might Look Expensive, But They’re Priced Just Right

August 7th, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Fall 2012 Nail Colours from the left: Hocus Pocus, Emerald City, Two Cents, Dime a Dozen and All Vamped Up

Beep-beep-beep!

Did you hear that…? That beeping sound? Is a truck backing up outside my window? Did I suddenly get a page from 1997 (007734-411-007-911)?

Oh, I see what it is. It’s just the sweet, sweet sound of my Bargain Beauty Thrill-o-Meter sounding off. 🙂

Even before I swatched ’em, I had a feeling Sonia Kahuk’s five new $4.79 fall Nail Colours would rock my budget-loving boat.

With finishes from creamy to metallic and colors perfect for fall, these highly pigmented jewel-toned polishes look like the kinds of nail accoutrements I’m more accustomed to seeing on Dior and Chanel counters, and with price tags closer to $30 than $5.

Looking at metallic copper Two Cents and creamy eggplant All Vamped Up, fall seems just days away, and I can almost hear the leaves crunching beneath my feet as I stroll around my neighborhood looking at Halloween decorations…

Creamy purple Hocus Pocus and rich green Emerald City should look right at home on my paws as I hoist a cup of hot cocoa up to my lips (can’t forget the marshmallows!), while gunmental Dime a Dozen looks like a lovely shade to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with the fam.

In the swatches below, I’m wearing two coats of Emerald City, Two Cents and Dime a Dozen. I think I also could’ve gotten away with two coats of Hocus Pocus and All Vamped Up, but I decided to apply a third because I noticed the faintest bit of streaking from those two in direct sunlight.

Sonia Kashuk Fall 2012 Nail Colours from the left: Two Cents, Dime a Dozen, Hocus Pocus, Emerald City and All Vamped Up
From the left: Two Cents, Dime a Dozen, Hocus Pocus, Emerald City and All Vamped Up

Sonia Kashuk Emerald City swatch
Emerald City

Sonia Kashuk Two Cents swatch
Two Cents
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Sonia Kashuk Serves Sheer Lips and Opaque Tips for Fall With the New Lips and Tips Mini Nail and Lip Set

August 3rd, 2012 by Karen 14 Comments

sonia kashuk lips and tips

Whoever said that celebrity pet assisting is easy was smoking some hella strong catnip.

The grueling hours and working on weekends, late-night airport trips, difficult dietary restrictions (Gravy with every meal?! Come on!) — but it can also be very rewarding, like this afternoon. Tabs didn’t give me the stink eye once today, and he even said an appreciative “Mrrow” when he climbed onto my lap for a handful of Greenies.

In fact, he was so agreeable today that he let me quit work early — right after I finished organizing his accessories closet (mostly ties, ascots, top hats and a small, but growing, collection of monocles) and buffing his claws.

First thing I did after quitting for the day was watch this old interview of Jeremy Renner…

Skip to 3:17 for a gem of J-Ren beauty wisdom!

Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better, I opened the $12.99 limited edition Sonia Kashuk Lips and Tips Mini Nail and Lip Set.

And my Friday went from good to great. 🙂

sonia kashuk lips and tips
From the left: Nail Polish in Lacquered Lilac, Lipgloss in Shrinking Violet, Nail Polish in Undercover Lover and Lipgloss in Sealed with a Kiss

The four-piece set of color-coordinated miniature sheer glosses and opaque nail polishes comes with two pairs of matching red and purple shades for lips and nails.

The two unscented, unflavored glosses are smoooove! — and non-sticky — while the high-shine nail polishes have pigment to spare.

sonia kashuk lips and tips
Wearing Nail Polish in Undercover Lover and Lipgloss in Sealed with a Kiss

I love how Sonia chose coordinating colors with varying levels of coverage, and I think it’s cool how the products in the set work with each other when they’re worn together.
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Dirty Makeup Brushes Are Bristling Over Sonia Kashuk’s Brush & Sponge Cleanser

March 27th, 2012 by Karen 22 Comments

sonia kashuk brush sponge cleanser

Another Target run, another spur-of-the moment beauty purchase from Sonia Kashuk. Allegedly, I swung by the store for detergent (I’m a Gain girl. How about you?). It’s not my fault I always end up in the beauty section.

Heck, though, since I was already there, I figured I’d look for a full-size bottle of Sonia’s Making Waves Nail Colour, and bring one or two or five home, LOL!

(Remember it, the bright sea green, from her new A Powerful Punch Set? Yep, I like it that much.)

But while I was searching for it, something else got my attention: this bottle of Sonia’s Brush & Sponge Cleanser ($7). It was hidden behind some makeup bags, as if someone had squirreled it away back there for safekeeping (I’m totally guilty of doing this many times).

Now, I’m still happily engaged to Burt’s Bees Mango & Orange Energizing Body Bar as my de facto brush cleanser, but I’m also curious like a cat.

A single word in the directions on the back of the bottle sealed the deal for me.

To use the cleanser, you’re supposed to wet your brushes or sponges by spraying them with some of the product, which you then work into a lather (weird!). Then, rinse until the water runs clean.

Most of the liquid brush cleansers I’ve used before, like the one from MAC, don’t usually work up a lather, which makes this one kind of unusual.

Color me intrigued…

sonia kashuk brush sponge cleanser
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Sonia Kashuk Packs a Wallop With the New Powerful Punch Mini Nail Colour Set

March 10th, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

sonia kashuk a powerful punch mini nail colour set

Last night I had a bright idea (if I do say so myself). I was on my way to the checkout stand at Target with some emergency bananas and dental floss in my little basket when I said to myself, “Self, let’s take a quick look at the beauty aisle.”

As soon as I turned the corner, one of the first things I spotted was Sonia Kashuk’s new A Powerful Punch Mini Nail Colour Set ($9.99), and whoops! — it accidentally fell into my basket. 🙂

The limited edition set, new for spring 2012, comes with four petite polishes — three brights and one neutral — all of them with creamy finishes.

Here are some swatches from this afternoon. For each of these, I used two coats…

sonia kashuk a powerful punch mini nail colour set