Urban Decay

The Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Palettes in Blackmail and Junkie for Holiday 2016

September 1st, 2016 by Karen 21 Comments

urban decay vice lipstick palettes both — Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Palettes

“You say ‘lipstick hoarder’ like it’s a bad thing.”

I mean, yeah, my shoulders might permanently tilt on my right side because of my penchant for carrying around 8-10 tubes of lipstick to go grab a boba tea from the mall, but at least I’m always prepared…because ya never know. If I’m ever struck by an uncontrollable need to switch from a neutral lip to an epic red — and trust me, urges like that are right up there with Nutella yearnings — I’ll be prepared.

urban decay vice lipstick palette — The Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Palettes look like this…

I thought about this the other day when I swapped out neutral peachy pink Ex-Girlfriend lipstick for bright orangey red EZ (swoon!) from the new $35 Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Palette in Blackmail, one of two Vice Lipstick Palettes from UD this year for the holidays.

It’s so easy to switch your lipstick shade when you have 12 of them in a sleek travel case.

And the palettes also come with a respectable, retractable lip brush, and it’s better than most, because most travel lip brushes are about as useful as painting your lips with a handful of pine needles.

urban decay vice lipstick palette open — Pretty packaging

Both of these UD Vice Lipstick Palettes — Blackmail and Junkie — are $35 each, which isn’t bad, considering that each one has 12 shades.

The Blackmail palette seems tame, with its lovely mix of nudes and brights, beside its rock ‘n’ roll rebel yell sister, Junkie, with its edgier colors and that cray-cray forest green.

urban decay vice lipstick palette blackmail — The Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Palette in Blackmail (one of two; $35 each)

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The Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics Eyeshadow Palette

August 30th, 2016 by Karen 37 Comments

Meanwhile, eight eyeshadows later…

I don’t even know how this happened.

OMG!

I started with two neutral browns from the new $55 Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics Palette, which is a new holiday palette from UD (you can sign up to find out when it’ll be available), but then 45 minutes had gone by and I’d burned through almost the entire greatest hits album from The Cure.

I fell into the Eye Makeup Black Hole, which happens to me periodically…and by “periodically,” I mean all the damned time.

But isn’t that always the way it is with these Urban Decay Naked Palettes? You go in fully intending to do a simple look with just two of the shadows, but lo and behold — POOF! — there went half the day.

Or is that just something I do? A lot?

It’s been six years since the original Naked Palette dropped like the bikinis and briefs on a nude beach, and UD is still playing with the brown/beige/taupe theme. This one’s all about those neutral matte powder shadows.

Well…most of them are matte. There is one highlighting shadow that does have some very subtle shimmer (which was a brilliant addition, BTW!).

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My 3 Favorite Lippies Right Now (And ConnorClaire.com Clue #3)

August 24th, 2016 by Karen 31 Comments

3 fave lipsticks right now — My 3 current lipstick faves (to go with connorclaire.com clue #3!)

Lips without lipstick are like Bell without Biv. Or Devoe. Or like Tony without the other two Tonies. Or DJ Jazzy Jeff without the Fresh Prince. Or Lisa Lisa without Cult Jam and Full Force…

You get the picture. 🙂

I love lipstick, and here are my three favorite lipsticks right now, along with clue #3 for connorclaire.com.

Yes, the secret will be out any. Day. Now!

1. Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Menace

urban decay menace — Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Menace

Truth is, I haven’t been going ham with my eye makeup lately because I’m still working my way through this “little bit o’ liner” phase.

But I’m sure it’ll pass… PLEASE, MAKEUP GODS, LET THIS PHASE PASS!

Until it does, and I work my way back up to wearing all of the cats and kittens on my lids again, I cheat the system by wearing a really bright lipstick.

It draws attention to my lips and creates a focal point for my look that still makes it seem like I actually came to play, ya know?

My first favorite lipstick of the moment is Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Menace ($17). It’s a creamy, ultra smooth, ultra pigmented matte medium fuchsia SO bright that you can see it on someone doing the running man across the room.

(The old-school one; not the new one.)

Plus, it’s comfy and isn’t drying, so it doesn’t worsen the dry lip flake situation, and I can swipe it directly from the tube and skip the liner.

2. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Apoline

I had creamy rose NARS Apoline in my pocket yesterday.

And the day before that.

And possibly even the day before that!

Yeah, I wear it a lot…

It’s a gorgeous full-coverage nude, and it’s completely opaque.

BONUS #1: For a silky, creamy lippie, it has incredible staying power. I put it on in the morning and can forget about it for at least four hours.

BONUS #2: Every time I say the name out loud — “Apoline” — I think of Apollonia, and then I think of Prince and start singing Raspberry Beret.

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Urban Decay Fall 2016: Glitter, Sparkle, Shine and an Epic Full-Coverage Matte Foundation

July 13th, 2016 by Karen 34 Comments

Oh, my gawd! It’s so easy to get sucked into the glittery, shimmery, shiny vortex that is the Urban Decay Fall 2016 collection.

My eyes turned into emoji hearts ? the first time I opened the Moondust Eyeshadow Palette ($49), but to my surprise the thing that made me go “WHHHAAAAA!” the loudest was the All Nighter Liquid Foundation ($40).

urban decay all nighter foundation-6 — Three shades of Urban Decay All Nighter Liquid Foundation for comparison

I’m not a full-coverage matte gal right now. Right now I’m more into dewy finishes and light-to-medium coverage. So I’m fine with my freckles peeking through, but this new foundation could convert me to Team Full-Coverage Matte.

Like, seriously, I used half a pump of shade 7.0, which pretty much a dead ringer for my MAC NC42 skin tone — half a pump, dude! — and I put it on with my fingers, thinking, “Whatever, let’s just see where this goes.”

Somehow, that small amount pretty much covers my entire face. My skin looks even toned, and my pores look smaller, but the finish still looks natural, and not heavy or masky, which is a frequent issues I have with a lot of the full-coverage matte foundations out there (ugh).

If there’s anything in this release worthy of grabby hands, I think it’s Urban Decay All Night Liquid Foundation.

urban decay razor sharp — The Urban Decay Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear Liquid Eyeliners ($22 each)

I mean, there’s also some other cool stuff in the collection, like a new line of liquid eyeliners called the Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear Liquid Eyeliners ($22 each).

They have a brush applicator, which usually spells “wonky-@ss line” for me, but not with these, even when I quickly sloosh a small amount of Snakebite (the metallic coppery bronze) on my upper lash lines. The brush is actually very smooth and easy to use!

urban decay razor sharp swatches-1 — 11 of the 20 Urban Decay Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear Liquid Eyeliners

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An All-Matte FOTD With the Buxom Suede Seduction Eyeshadow Palette

June 24th, 2016 by Adia Goss 13 Comments

Yes, you read that right — all matte! — which is a big jump for me because, as you guys probably know about me by now, I live for the GLOW. I like my eyeshadows sparkly, my blush shimmery and my lips glossy.

But I felt like challenging myself today with a look using all matte products, and the Buxom Suede Seduction Eyeshadow Palette, which is available now at Ulta for $40, has five neutral matte shades.

I really how it turned out! I’m surprised! I think it’s a classic makeup look. I certainly won’t be abandoning my hoard of glowy things, but I can incorporate more matte finishes into my makeup routine. I think this makeup would be very appropriate for a job interview or for some kind of professional pictures. I remember a while back that Marcella emailed Karen and all of us interns asking for advice on makeup for a job interview, and if I’d known about this Buxom palette then, I definitely would have recommended it!

The shadows are very soft and easy to blend. Plus, the colors aren’t too warm or cool, so they’re super versatile.

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The Day in Beauty Vol. 19: Benefit Ready, Set, Brow! and Squid With Glowing Eyeshadow

June 18th, 2016 by Karen 16 Comments

Seriously, I don’t know why I keep trying, because every single time I try to make a kissy face in a photo, I feel like I look completely ridiculous.

How do girls do it?!

How do they take those kissy face pictures and look cute? It’s one of life’s mysteries I’ll never understand…

But I keep trying, like I am here with my latest crush from Benefit, Ready, Set, Brow! ($24)

It’s a freaking awesome clear brow gel, and I never thought I’d be raving again about a brow gel other than Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel, which had been my absolutely loyal ride-or-die for a while (I can’t even tell you how many tubes I’ve gone through), so much so that I always stocked up whenever Sephora had a VIB sale, but I don’t know if that’s going to be happening anymore with Ready, Set, Brow! in my life.

Basically, it’s really, really good, maybe even be better than Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel.

Now, you might be thinking, “Karen, it’s a clear brow gel. How mind-blowing can it be?”

Well, pretty mind-blowing!

You know that look of brushed-up brows that’s really popular right now? I can never get that exact look with Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel. Even though it seems like it has good hold and usually keeps my brows in place, I don’t think it’s strong enough to hold my brow hairs in place when I want them to go places they don’t naturally want to go.

Maybe my brow hairs are just too unruly… I don’t know.

But I can never quite get that Cara Delevigne pushed-up brow look with Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel, but with Benefit’s bad boy, I totally can.

The brush has teeny, tiny teeth, which are great at grabbing and maniuplating the hairs, so I can really get in there and push them around (Anastasia’s, by comparison, has a brush that looks like a regular old mascara brush).

Plus, the gel itself has extra super duper strong hold and dries stiffer than Anastasia’s. I could probably jump out of an airplane or stand in front of a Beyoncé fan with this stuff in my brows and they wouldn’t move.

Ready, Set, Brow! comes out in a few days on June 24. Look for it when it does because it’s a winner.

urban decay space cowboy moondust — Glitter!

Oh, and that glittery action in that picture on my lids? That’s Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Space Cowboy. The Moondusts are part of Urban Decay’s permanent line, and they’re astronomically sparkly.

Right before I took these pics, I was wearing a really basic 15-minute neutral look, and you know how it is — you’re puttering around, but then you get the urge to do something jazzy with what you’re wearing, so I took Space Cowboy, which is basically like a pressed golden peachy beige glitter in a pan, and picked up some of it by swirling a finger in the pan. Then I pressed it on my lids.

Et voilà! Sparkle for days.

If using your fingers freaks you out, you could also load up a flat eyeshadow brush and spray it with something like Make Up For Ever Mist and Fix before applying it to your lids.

I mean, you could also spray the brush first, then dip it into the pan (which is what a lot of peeps do), but when I do that, it changes the texture of the eyeshadow when it dries.

Just a quick tip there! 🙂

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Urban Decay Is Back in Wonderland With the 2016 Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection

May 27th, 2016 by Anna Oh 12 Comments

“I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours.”
~ Lewis Carroll

Those are some inspiring words, and they’re words that UD also uses to describe the new limited edition $60 Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette and $18 Lipsticks, sequels to Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows. With an emphasis on individuality and embracing the things that make us different, this collection is for the beauty risk-takers!

The Alice Through The Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette ($60)

urban decay alice in wonderland — The gorgeous, intricate box hides the slide-out eyeshadow palette

Even with the neon kaleidoscope eyeshadow colors, I didn’t find the palette difficult to wear. I’ve heard some mixed reviews about the shadow formula, and that’s open to interpretation, but I will say that the best-performing eyeshadows also happen to be the ones that matter the most. I think it says a lot about the palette’s wearability that I was able to come up with an Alice-themed look on my first try!

There are enough smokier neutrals, along with a trio of terrific matte blending shades, to bring harmony to the bright and quirky shades.

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#FOTD Starring the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette and My New Fave Clinique Lippie

May 20th, 2016 by Jen Clark 28 Comments

Daytime Glam FOTD naked 3 — Today’s daytime glam look!

You guys are all my friends here, right?

That’s what I thought, so I can vent a little bit? I know you guys will listen to me.

Well, there’s only so much my poor husband can handle. As a mom and, honestly, I know that’s partly a cop-out excuse, an introvert, I don’t get out of the house as often as I’d like.

When I do finally peel off the sweatpants that have been plastered to my body since the day before and put on an outfit that doesn’t make me look like a hobo, I want to do something nice with my makeup too. That’s when I usually go for something in the “daytime glam” category, which is what I did today.

But first, the venting. I spent a lot of time on my makeup and hair today, and I even threw on a dress. Lookin’ hot, I was ready for a day out of the house, but my son had other plans. He’s two and a half right now, and I know it has got to be hard to be two. He’s got an amazing vocabulary, but when he’s upset or overwhelmed, he sometimes has a hard time getting his feelings out in a way that doesn’t involve screaming or crying.

We hit the town, but he was not having it. At the first store we went to he had a total meltdown, for reasons unbeknownst to me. I’m talking a screaming-thrashing-snot-flying-everywhere kind of meltdown.

Needless to say, with both of us in tears feeling so sorry for ourselves, we headed home… Just like that, our day out of the house was over.

I can’t even fathom how hard it would be to have two kids, but for those of you who don’t know, I’m having a baby girl in September! 🙂 Moms, please tell me it gets better and that having two isn’t hard at all. Lie to me if you must!

Now for the fun part of this post — the makeup! I recently did a little collaboration with Anna and Adia on how we rock pink eyeshadow, and I went with a really bright look. They did really pretty, more wearable looks, so I was feeling inspired to use some similar colors.

I decided to break out my Naked 3 Palette because it’s full of those gorgeous rosy/mauve tones I was looking to use.

I’ll tell you quickly how I got this look. I started by using ‘Limit’ (a light mauve-y rose) in the crease, then deepened it up a bit using ‘Nooner’ (mid toned mauve-y rose).

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