Topshop

For “That Glow,” Try Topshop Glow Dust in Radiate

December 11th, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Why does all the good stuff disappear?

Twinkies (although I think they’re back).

Josh Hartnett.

Almost Human.

Lauryn Hill.

And now this? I can’t seem to find MAC Golden Bronze Iridescent Powder/Loose anywhere, and it’s scaring me because I think it’s one of those MAC products that deserves a cult following.

I hope it hasn’t been discontinued…

I first heard about it from a MAC Pro Artist friend of mine, the fabulous Keri B, who said she loved using it for bridal makeup. She even called it an unsung makeup hero.

So I bought a jar that afternoon, LOL!

I guess I’m easy that way…

Anyway, like I was saying, I’m afraid that Golden Bronze has been discontinued. 🙁

As a sliver lining, I think I may have found a respectable dupe by Topshop called Glow Dust in Radiate ($18). Similarly fine golden shimmer and warm peachy bronze.

When I wear it in pics, I get an unusually high number of “that glow” comments, which I squirrel away in my makeup memory banks. (For “that glow,” use Glow Dust in Radiate, Karen.)

I just dust some on the tops of my cheekbones with a tapered eyeshadow brush.

A little goes a long way.

You can find Glow Dust in Radiate now at Topshop stores and online.

STORM UPDATE (NOVATO, CA)

Our little oak tree-covered hill here has seen inches and inches of rain over the past 24 hours, but Casa de Tabs in Novato is hangin’ tough! We still have power (for now) and haven’t slid down the hill (knock on wood).

Tabs has been on fuego all day long, though, meowing and mewling and basically harassing me to take him outside, as if he wouldn’t just want to run back inside as soon as he got his paws wet.

The rain always fires him up… Maybe it takes him back to his days as a footloose and fancy-free stray cat on the mean streets of Mill Valley.

Wherever you are this evening, I hope you’re warm and safe.

Topshop Highlighter in Horizon: Available Now at Topshop Stores, Online, and Wherever the Curvature of the Earth Makes Distant Objects Appear to Fall Out of Sight…

December 2nd, 2014 by Karen 35 Comments

Say hello to the dawn of an epic glow as far as the eye can see! — a glow that spans the great expanse of non-glowing-ness from here to eternity. Or the horizon, whichever comes first.

Topshop’s shimmery, bronzy powder highlighter in Horizon ($16) has a mirror-like shine that likes to belt bold tunes in the spotlight, not whisper quietly in the wings… It’s like Celine Dion, except instead of wanting to command the stage, it wants to out-diva whatever else you might be wearing on your cheeks.

And you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to find it (Get it? Horizon? Sorry…), because it’s available now at Topshop stores and online. 🙂

P.S. Happy Tuesday! It hasn’t stopped raining here in two days… And that’s actually not a terrible thing, although Tabs is none too pleased about it.

Just Add a Festive Ribbon or Bow to These Topshop 2014 Holiday Kits, and You Have a Perfect Gift

November 19th, 2014 by Karen 8 Comments

Topshop Holiday 2014 — It’s a Topshop holiday party, *haaay!*

OK, so maybe orange and black aren’t the first two colors that pop into my mind when I think of the holidays (with the exception of that scary one with all the candy)…

But so what? These new Topshop holiday kits are bringin’ the cute! 🙂

Slap a Christmassy ribbon on one of these bad boys, and boom! — hello, stylish present.

Topshop is one of those makeup lines that flies under my radar a lot of the time, but they have some very cute things, and some of those are in these kits.

The Blush and Lip Duo in Innocent and Illicit ($24)

Topshop Blush Lip Duo Set with Lipstick in Innocent and Blush in Illicit — The Topshop Blush Lip Duo Set with Lipstick in Innocent, and Blush in Illicit

Topshop’s blushes are DOPE. They last like Italian marble and look totally natural on cheeks. They’re also why this set caught my eye.

It comes with Illicit, a nude, cool-toned rose cream blush with a dash of micro shimmer. Coincidentally, it was the shade I was wearing today when I went looking for an illicit encounter with my side-cat, Elsa (but I didn’t see her, boo!).

The set also comes with a creamy cool-toned pink lipstick called Innocent, which is super pretty and looks great with black smokey eyes. Sadly, it also seems to like hanging out in my lip lines…

The Mascara and Kohl Kit ($24)

Topshop Mascara and Kohl Kit, $24 — Mascara and Kohl Kit ($24)

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Topshop’s Terrific $12 Cream Blush in Afternoon Tea

October 21st, 2014 by Karen 38 Comments

Topshop Afternoon Tea Blush — Topshop Cream Blush in Afternoon Tea, $12

Do you have to be simultaneously sipping tea out of a dainty teacup while wearing Topshop’s $12 Cream Blush in Afternoon Tea to fully appreciate the nuances of either product?

No, you do not.

It does, however, help. 🙂

And it also helps to appreciate a great deal.

(Incidentally, if you decide to brew a pot of Earl Grey, I’ll take mine with cream and two lumps of sugar, please.)

I almost can’t believe this pretty pink cream-to-powder blush is only $12. It’s a total unsung hero in my book. On my unpredictably combination oily, and sometimes dry, cheeks, I swear it looks exactly like the $38 Le Blush Creme blushes by Chanel, and it lasts just as long. I get from eight to nine hours if I do a minor touchup around hour six.

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I’d Like to Make a Toast to Topshop’s $10 Deep Bordeaux Lip Bullet in Wine Gum

September 22nd, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

AAAH! Finally. A matte lipstick that doesn’t leave my lips feeling like I just finished the Iron Man Triathlon. I’ve been looking for an affordable deep bordeaux shade with a matte finish to wear with my button-up plaid shirts and vintage plastic choker necklaces from the ’90s (you know I’m kidding about the necklaces, right?!), and Topshop’s $10 Lip Bullet in Wine Gum is filling my heart-shaped box to the brim.

Three things: one, I like this product’s name. Wine Gum. That’s just neat to me. 🙂

Second, I like the way Wine Gum feels and works. The moisturizing, super pigmented formula (unscented and unflavored) starts off with a hint of shine, then dries down to a flat matte before eventually transitioning into a matte stain.

Third, I like the price. It’s only $10.

Oh, and I also think the crayon packaging is hella cute.

If you aren’t able to find Wine Gum online, check Topshop or Nordstrom, if you’re so inclined. Topshop also has these Lip Bullets in other colors, too, like fun oranges and reds, and I have spotted those shades available online at nordstrom.com for $10.

How Kohl! It’s Topshop Kohl Pencil in Sable

September 19th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

Because sometimes you just need a soft, smokey brown kohl to wear on your lash and water lines, you know? — one that isn’t too red or gray and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Kohl Pencil in Sable by Topshop is just $8! It’s a kohl, so it’s not that long lasting. I do have to reapply every 4-5 hours or so, but it’s gloriously smooth and smudgy.

It’s available now online and at Topshop and Nordstrom stores.

Play Up Your Cheekbones With Topshop Glow Stick in Play Up

September 18th, 2014 by Karen 6 Comments

There’s a delicate quality to Topshop’s Glow Stick in Play Up ($15) that speaks to the part of me that loves a soft, subtle highlight.

Then there’s another part of me that instantly pictures a sea of sweaty people with glow sticks bouncing up and down in rhythm to a heavy bass beat in a secluded warehouse, but I digress…

Play Up might be too nuanced for you if you like your shimmer to shout from the rooftops (if that’s the case, might I suggest Aura over at Urban Decay?), but I’m digging its golden champagne sheen, which reminds me a little of Hourglass Ambient Powder in Luminous Light.

If you’d like to play up your upper cheekbones with Play Up, make a play date to visit your nearby Topshop store, Nordstrom, or check it out online.