Urban Decay

The Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette, 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils and Vice Lipsticks: Burn, Baby, Burn!

June 7th, 2017 by Karen 31 Comments

urban decay naked heat heat k — I’m feeling the heat! That’s the new Urban Decay Naked Heat palette on my eyes, the UD Alkaline 24/7 Glide-On Pencil on my lash lines, and UD Vice Lipstick in Heat.

I don’t know if there’s an official term to describe the fear of Bunsen burners…like “Bunsenburn-a-phobia,” but if there isn’t one, there totally should be, because whenever I was in the lab back in college and had to stand near a Bunsen burner, I’d always quiver a little…and not in a cute booty shaking way.

OPEN FLAMES —–> SO SCARY!

You’ll be happy to know that there are no intense open flames in/around the new Urban Decay Naked Heat collection. *Whew!*

urban decay naked heat open — Sooo many mattes, YES!

The new $54 Urban Decay Naked Heat palette arrives June 12th, but that’s only for UD Beauty Junkies, members of UD’s online rewards program (which you can sign up to join here). Beauty Junkie members will get exclusive early access to an extremely limited supply of Naked Heat palettes that day. For everyone else, Naked Heat lights up later this month, and it’ll continue to smolder in perpetuity, though, as it and the two eye pencils launching with it are being added to the permanent line.

There are also three lipsticks in the collection, but those are limited edition.

urban decay naked heat swatches final — From the top, the Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette, the 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils and the Vice Lipsticks

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Punk Rock Pink // Urban Decay

June 7th, 2017 by Karen 17 Comments

urban decay frenemy lipstick — Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Frenemy

Dude, I’m the least punk rock person EVER, but if I were a punk rock-arina, I’d totally wear this monochromatic pink makeup look with a faux-hawk. 🙂

I was inspired to “go there” today by a pic I saw of model Ruby Rose on the Urban Decay website a couple weeks ago.

I’ve mentioned this before, but you know, I’ve been trying to push myself to attempt more colorful looks that don’t take hella years to do, and I’m proud to say that I banged this one out in 30 minutes! It’s mostly Urban Decay on my eyes and lips, with some MAC, Nudestix and Clinique added for good measure.

It took all I had to resist the temptation to blend too many shadows on my lids (BECAUSE THAT’S SO MUCH FUN!) and keep MY foundation and concealer to a minimum.

With something like this, all you have to do is add a “big statement” of some kind, like a pair of OTT lashes and/or a bright lip, and you’re golden.

Oh! — I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention what I think is the most important secrets to doing this look. I think the secret to being happy with it is accepting that it (probably) isn’t going to turn out perfectly, and that’s perfectly fine. If your liner is a little wonky or your eyeshadow isn’t as blended as it could be, just go with it, and keep in mind that it didn’t take forever.

Getting glam in half an hour for me is nothing short of a miracle, because back in the day BTB (before the baby), a look like this could easily have spiraled into two hours!

Basically, here’s the quick rundown…

Starting with my skin, to even out my complexion, I’m wearing MAC Next to Nothing Face Colour in Medium Plus all over my face with MAC Matchmaster Concealer in shade 5 under my eyes and atop my cheeks (side note: have you tried this concealer? IT’S REALLY GOOD!). Then I set everything with a thin layer of MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder in Medium Golden.

For my eyes, I applied a thin layer of Nudstix Magnetic Eye Color in Putty from lashes to brow line, then swept the hot pink shade from the Urban Decay Basquiat brights palette in the crease, before blending out the edges with the lighter pink shadow from the same palette.

I drew thin winged liner with the Clinique Pretty Easy Liquid Eyelining Pen, then put on the craziest lashes known to womankind — a.k.a. the House of Lashes false lashes (the one called Iconic).

And I dusted a little bit of the bronzer and hot pink blush from the UD Basquiat blush/bronzer palette on my cheeks.

Because I couldn’t settle on a single lipstick to wear, I ended up trying on a bunch of pinks from the Urban Decay Vice Lipstick line.

I think my favorite one of these is either Menace or Frenemy…

urban decay pda lipstick — Vice Lipstick in PDA

urban decay psycho lipstick — Vice Lipstick in Psycho

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Urban Decay’s The Velvetizer Instantly Transforms Base Makeup Finishes Into a Velvety Satin

May 31st, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

urban decay velvetizer — The new Velvetizer from Urban Decay is available now exclusively at Sephora ($34 for a 0.28-oz. jar).

At the risk of totally dating myself, one of the old-school makeup tricks we used back in the day was to dust a little loose powder on my lips after applying lipstick. I’d dust it right on top with a finger (or, if I was feeling extra fancy, a brush!) to transform any lipstick finish into a matte.

It’s a similar idea to how the new Urban Decay The Velvetizer works.

Velvetizer is a loose, translucent powder ($34 for a good-sized 0.28-oz. jar, a Sephora-only product). You mix a little with your favorite tinted moisturizer or foundation, and it instantly transforms the finish into a velvety satin without futzing with the color.

The trick is getting the ratio right of powder to liquid, and it can take some practice. I’ve found that if I add too much powder, the mixture will pill up, almost like it’s peeling.

This isn’t a big surprise, considering the fact that the second ingredient is dimethicone, and products with a lot of dimethicone in them do tend to pill up when I use too much on my skin.

It’s not a perfect science. I just kinda eyeball it, but Urban Decay suggests using a dime-sized amount per full pump of foundation or tinted moisturizer, but I rarely use a full pump of my base makeup anymore. So I use more like a half a dime-sized amount.

I shake it into my palm, add a bit of Naked Skin One and Done, mix them together with a finger, then apply that with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush.

urban decay velvetizer ingredients — Ingredients

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Urban Decay Naked Skin The Illuminizer Translucent Pressed Beauty Powder

May 26th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder packaging — There’s a new face powder from Urban Decay coming soon.

If you’ve ever wanted to decorate your face with gems — no, literally wear gems ? on your face — now’s your chance! Urban Decay has a new face powder coming out called Naked Skin The Illuminizer Translucent Pressed Beauty Powder.

Gosh, that’s a mouthful…

It has white synthetic sapphires in it for a lovely, luminous glow.

Sounds fancy, doesn’t it?

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder — Ooh, sleek packaging…

This is basically like a MAC Beauty Powder. You can wear it all over your face as a setting powder, or use it as a targeted highlighter for specific areas.

It just comes in one shade, but it’s supposed to be universally flattering. I built it up in the swatch below to give you an idea of the hue, which is kind of a peachy beige with little silver sparkles.

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder swatch — Swatch-a-rooooo!

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Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium Looks Like Unicorn Tears…or a Runnier, Subtler Version of Strobe Cream

May 25th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

No worries! Allow me to allay your fears. No, you do not need to know the color of your aura in order to wear the new Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium.

Incidentally, my aura is bright yellow and orange, but the only reason I know that is because a friendly mystic spontaneously read my aura in a restroom inside the Bellagio Casino in Last Vegas.

Lucky me!

Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium is an opalescent liquid serum that you can mix with your foundation for a dewy, glowing finish.

The color is… Well, it’s… It isn’t easy to describe, but I’m gonna do my best here. It’s a sheer opalescent white with pink pearl particles that are so barely there that you have to squint to see them.

Basically, it looks like unicorn ? tears, or a runnier, subtler version of MAC Strobe Cream.

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New Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter Travel Contouring and Highlighting Palettes

May 25th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

urban decay naked skin shapeshifter packaging — The new Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter palettes ($45 each), available now online and at Sephora Ulta

Hmm… Would I change my tune about contouring if the new Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter palettes had actual werewolves on the packaging? I dunno, maybe. You know how I get about vampires and werewolves.

Aren’t these pretty? And when you open them up, look at that — even more prettiness! There are four powders on one side, five creams on the others and, in the middle between them, a huge mirror.

urban decay naked skin shapeshifter light medium shift — Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter in Light Medium Shift ($45)

urban decay naked skin shapeshifter medium dark shift — Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter in Medium Dark Shift ($45)

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Purple Power! A New Purple Liner Love I Found at Sephora

May 16th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

purple eyeliners — Kindasorta obsessed with purple at the moment. Here’s an assortment of old faves (and a new one!) from the top: MAC Eye Kohl in Prunella ($17), Urban Decay Glide on Eye Pencil in Vice ($20), Sephora Colorful Shadow & Liner in Violet ($14), Make Up For Ever Waterproof Eye Pencil in 1-90 ($21) and MAC Pearlglide Intense in Designer Purple ($17)

It’s both wonderful and terrifying to live so close to a Sephora, because when I get on a makeup whim, I can just hop in my car, and BAM! Five minutes later I’ve got every purple liner in the store swatched on the back of my hand.

Yeah, I’m going through a purple liner phase right meow, big time (in case you haven’t noticed, LOL!). I love the look of a warm brown lid with purple liner on the lash lines. I’ve just been into it lately! Please be patient with me as I work my way through it…

Anyways, Connor convinced me to go to Sephora last Friday (yes, it was all the baby’s doing), so we went looking for a new purple to add to my collection. This latest love is a shade called Violet by Sephora Collection.

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New Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potions! UD Fix, Freebase, Caffeine and Sin

May 15th, 2017 by Karen 14 Comments

urban decay fix — New New eye primers from Urban Decay! From the top: Fix, Freebase, Caffeine and Sin

I do this thing, and I probably shouldn’t be telling you this but whatevs, but whenever I think of the word “base,” like eyeshadow base, as in Urban Decay’s new Eyeshadow Primer Potion eyeshadow base, I think of Ace of Base from the ’90s, ya know? I saw the sign? I can hear the first few bars in my head. Clearly TMI. Whatever, I know you secretly love that song and know all the words. 🙂

Yeah, Urban Decay released a bunch of new eyeshadow bases, a.k.a eye primers. There are four, and they’re $20 each.

How do you feel about eyeshadow bases? Are they a must have? Or a waste of time? I’m a fan. The one I use daily is NARS Pro-Prime, and it’s my fave, but I like UD’s a lot, too.

I like how it intensifies and holds on to color, but I think the NARS one is slightly easier to do more complicated blending with, which is why I tend to use it (not that I’ve been doing a ton of complicated blending lately, but hey).

But Urban Decay’s works great, too, and it’s a good option if you’re into cruelty-free. Shadows that I wear on top last just as long as they do with NARS Pro-Prime.

urban decay fix swatch — Swatches from the top: UD Fix, Freebase, Caffeine and Sin

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