Urban Decay

Before and After New Urban Decay Brow Beater and Brow Tamer

July 6th, 2015 by Karen 24 Comments

My brows and I don’t hold hands and sing songs around the campfire.

My brows and I don’t “hug it out.”

This is because my brows and I have dueling agendas. While they like the sparse spots that appear around their arches, I want brows that are fluffy and full.

While they like looking unfinished and being underwhelming, I want brows that give out high fives and say, “Haaay, GURL, HAAY!” when they enter a room.

This epic, ongoing battle for total and complete brow domination recently led me to try two new brow products coming soon from Urban Decay — one, a new line of Brow Beater pencils ($20 each), and the other a new line of Brow Tamer brow gels (also $20 each).

Both promise to bust out bad@ss submission holds on brows to wrestle them into place.

urban decay brow beater — Urban Decay Brow Beater from the left in Dark, Neutral Brown, Taupe and Warm Brown

[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipstick: Urban Decay Goes Back to the Beauty Future!

July 2nd, 2015 by Karen 34 Comments

urban decay matte lipstick — The Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipsticks

“Ladies and gentlemen of the graduating class of 1993!

[APPLAUSE]

Wear lipstick!

[LOUDER APPLAUSE]

Specifically, matte lipstick!!

[INTENSE APPLAUSE]

Because if there’s one piece of unsolicited makeup advice I can give to you on this, the beginning of your bold beauty journey into adulthood, it is to wear matte lipstick. Often. Starting right now. Because then, not only will you be partaking of what was one of the hottest fashion trends of the ’90s, but you’ll also be embracing its triumphant return as a trend again now and in the future!

[LONG APPLAUSE]

My second piece of advice for you is this: put down the damn tweezers, because unlike matte lipstick, those full, bushy brows of yours will not return if you whittle them all the way down into pencil thin lines.”

— Anonymous graduation speech

Yes, kids, matte lipsticks, like The New Kids on the Block, are staging a comeback! They’ve returned from the ’90s glam graveyard, and they’ve brought with them some of the era’s most iconic dark brown and taupe shades, like 1993, one of Urban Decay’s upcoming new $22 Matte Revolution Lipsticks.

urban decay matte lipstick 1993 — Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipstick in 1993 (the year I graduated!)

Dude!! That’s when I graduated from high school. Back then, when I wasn’t wearing my band uniform (BAND GEEK 4 LIFE), you probably would have found me in a plaid shirt, jeans (or Z. Cavarrici pants), a thick black headband, hoop earrings and really, REALLY dark brown matte lipstick. 🙂

urban decay 1993 — Wearing Urban Decay Matte Revolution Lipstick in 1993 and daydreaming about high school…

[Continue reading…]

10 Things You Should Know About the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

June 2nd, 2015 by Karen 54 Comments

10 Things You Should Know About the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

It’s smokier than the time my brother showed up late to a hip-hop dance show smelling like he spent the last 20 minutes hot-boxing in the car. Translation: it’s incredibly freaking smokey! — and you can do a lot of different things with it, like a smokey bronze eye, smokey gray, smokey brownish black, a smokey black panda eye, a smokey plum, a smokey taupe… Lots of smokey possibilities.
It’s completely clothing optional (It’s called Naked Smoky, after all, which reminds me… I spell it “smokey,” but UD spells it “smoky”), although I do recommend wearing clothes if you’re going out wearing this makeup.
On that note, I may or may not be wearing clothes in these pics. Take a guess! 🙂 And then say “CLOTHES: YES” or “CLOTHES: NO” in the comments. LOL!
The name may cause confusion if you discuss it with your Filipino mother.
MOM: What are you doing?
ME: Oh, checking out this thing called Naked Smoky.
MOM: What do you mean you’re naked!? I didn’t raise you to be naked on the Internet!
ME: No. Mom, no, I’m not naked…
MOM: And you’re smoking now too? Smoking is bad. Don’t smoke!
If you go to DSW wearing Naked Smoky on your lids, you’ll be the most glamorous person there. (True story! I just got back from looking at shoes… Didn’t buy anything, boo.)
It will not help you make friends with the neighborhood kitties…but it can be used to create smokey eyes like the eyes of your favorite smokey-eyed kitty.
Speaking of cats, if you happen to run into Tabs while wearing the grays and browns in this palette and he rubs his face all over your face (as he’s apt to do when he’s looking for love), you will not be able to see the cat hairs he leaves on you since most of these colors match his fur. Again, true story.
If you get it, you’ll have another brush to add to your “Emergency”/”Just in Case”/”Things I Probably Won’t Use Every Day” pile, because the dual-ended brush that comes with it is meh. I’ll give it props for not being scratchy, but I think the brush heads are too dense and stiff to do any real-deal hard-core smokey blending. They just end up pushing stuff all over the place, so I’d grab a fluffy tapered brush and a domed blending brush instead. Fluffy blending brushes all the way, son!
While playing with it, you may become so wrapped up that you forget to eat lunch. Yes…you guessed it. TRUE. STORY.
It hurts like a mo’ fo’ when it falls on your foot. So try to avoid dropping it on your foot. 🙂

The 411 on the Urban Decay Naked Smoky palette

[Continue reading…]

In Case You Were Wondering If Your…

May 13th, 2015 by Karen 37 Comments

…immaculate new bottle of Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray will stay fresh to def forever, it won’t. LOL! I hate to dash your hopes, but things are going to get dirrrty.

Case in point: the pic above. I didn’t realize just how dirty those white bottles get until I opened a new one and placed it next to an old one.

OK, first of all, I have no idea what nebulous wormhole the left bottle’s original purple cap disappeared into, but I think the ill-fitting cap on there now is from a rand-o bottle of hairspray.

Second, how did I not notice this poor state of affairs until now? I grab this bottle literally every day (which is probably why it’s covered in makeup, ha!). I’ll usually wash the dirt off a bar of soap, so my blatant disregard for this poor bottle’s sorry condition is weird to me.

Anyway! If you haven’t tried this makeup setting spray before (it’s a total unsung makeup hero), you must! I’ve lost count of how many bottles of it I’ve gone through over the years. Maybe five or six? I even bring a travel-sized one with me on trips. It’s that hardcore, man.

With the Urban Decay Summer 2015 Ultimate Ozone Multipurpose Primer Pencil, Ozone Bulks Up

April 9th, 2015 by Karen 23 Comments

One thing’s clear about Urban Decay’s $20 Ultimate Ozone Multipurpose Primer Pencil — this handy husky wonder multitasks, and it handles some of its tasks better than others.

This here is basically a larger version of UD’s existing clear Ozone Lip Pencil, which many makeup lovers use for multiple purposes. It’s a clear-colored, unscented, unflavored multipurpose pencil with a silicone-like texture.

Have you ever tried Benefit’s dr. feelgood? It feels a lot like that — slippery and velvety — and did I mention it multitasks?

For instance, you can use it as a lip primer, where it helps keep your lipstick or gloss from wandering beyond your natural lip line, anchoring them down for extended wear time. Just trace and fill in your lips with Ozone first, and then layer your gloss and/or lipstick on top.

You can also use it as a makeup remover, by dabbing Ozone lightly over any mascara, eyeshadow or liquid liner boo-boos/mistakes, and then lifting any wayward flecks and bits away with a Q-tip.

Or, use it as a blurring face primer, by blending it all over and around fine lines and wrinkles.

First, I think it rocks as a lip primer. It makes my lipgloss last and stay put much longer than when I’m just left to my own devices without it (I’m a lip smacker/rubber, as you may already know if you’ve watched my YouTube videos… I know, I know. I’m trying to break the habit, but it’s so hard!).
[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Summer 2015: The Eyeshadow Primer Potions Get New Outfits

April 8th, 2015 by Karen 43 Comments

Shakin’ my head, man, because…repackaging. In theory, I don’t mind it, as long as the product itself, assuming I like it, which I do in this case, doesn’t change, and the new packaging improves upon something or makes the whole experience better, as in NOT harder to use.

What I’m not crazy about is new packaging, when the new package contains less product, especially when the price stays the same, OR actually goes up.

It’s been happening a lot over the past few years, like with the Tarte LipSurgences and Tarte Cheek Stains, or the Benefit Boxed Blushes…and now it’s happening at Urban Decay.

Their newly repackaged Eyeshadow Primer Potion tubes, which are being released with the new Summer 2015 Collection, are slightly smaller than the previous versions (0.33-ounce tubes now, versus what had been 0.37 ounces).

It’s a very, very small difference in size, and the prices remain the same, thankfully — $20 for the Original, Eden, Minor Sin and Enigma Primer Potions, and $24 for the Anti-Aging one — but still.

I’m all for streamlining and lightening one’s load, but seriously, what’s up with that?

Anywho. #rantover 🙂

urban decay eyeshadow primer — The Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potions, $20-24 each

UD’s eyeshadow primers are designed to be worn under powder and cream shadows for more vibrant color and longer wear time, and that hasn’t changed. Neither have the formulas, really, but we do get a new one, Enigma (available now), and a slightly reworked Sin (now called Minor Sin), while the others — Original, Eden and Anti-Aging — are carryovers updated with the new packaging. Original formula dries down invisibly, while Eden, Minor Sin and Greed are shades that can also be worn as shadows or highlighters.

Regarding the packaging, UD kept the squeeze tube but removed the needlepoint applicator, replacing it with a doe-foot bedazzled with a bejeweled cap.

Ooh, fancy…

urban decay eyeshadow primer swatches — From the left: Original, Eden, Minor Sin and Anti-Aging

I like the new doe-foot. I actually prefer it to the old needlepoint because I can cover a lot of space with it on my lids quickly, not that it took a ton of time with the needlepoint tip. I think the doe-foot’s just a little faster. Minor thing though.
[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Summer 2015: New Eyeshadow Shades

April 8th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

Well, now I know what to wear in the unlikely event that Charli XCX invites me to be a backup dancer in one of her videos. This: the new Urban Decay Summer 2015 Eyeshadow shades (arriving April 15 at Urban Decay counters and online for $18 each).

The “shifts,” as they’re called, have a cool 20-something party girl vibe. It’s very “big hair don’t care/let’s get drunk on the mini-bar.”

But I’m getting ahead of myself! — so lemme back up a little.

[INSERT SOUND OF AN OLD-SCHOOL CASSETTE TAPE REWINDING *HERE*]

The eight new shades join UD’s existing Eyeshadow permanent line. Six of them are “shifts” — duo-chromes that appear to change color in the light, like that holographic thing. The other two are matte browns, about which I have to say, “YAY!” Transition colors. 🙂 LOL! Leave it to me to get all cheerleader-y about the matte browns…

Whatever, I can always use another matte brown. Hand on my heart and hair to the sky, it’s the truth!

[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection: Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush Has Boomchickawawa Written All Over It

April 7th, 2015 by Karen 41 Comments

Afterglow.

Like boomchickawawa!

In a pan.

But without the sweat and potentially awkward conversation.

And/or nakedness. 🙂

Yes! — Urban Decay’s new line of powder blush singles joins the permanent line on April 15 with the rest of the Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection. The brand does already have a line of blush trios (which are called Naked Flushed), but these represent their first foray into The Land of Blush Singles in a while.

They’re $26 each and available in 12 shades, with the idea being that you put one of them on, and boom! — you look like you’ve been boomchickawawa-ing all day long, which would certainly burn a lot of calories, but I digress…

There are some neutrals here, as well as some crazy colors, but I think they’ll all be fairly wearable by beginners and full-on makeup divas with a capital “D.” And even the brighter colors, like bright purple Bittersweet and reddish orange Bang, are easy to blend out on my cheeks.

Unfortunately, there is a catch… They kick up a lot of powder, because the formula is super soft and airy, and very light. When I run a brush across one of the pan, the brush picks up and scoots around a lot of powder — more than when I use denser blushes by MAC or NARS.

So, on the one hand, you might make a little mess with these while you’re applying ’em, but on the other hand, they’re easy to blend. There are some things you can do to minimize the messiness factor, too, like, after swirling my brush in the pan, I’ll tap, tap, tap it firmly against the edge of the compact to unload every ounce of excess, and if that still isn’t enough, I’ll lightly blow on the brush head before bringing it to my cheeks.

urban decay afterglow blush — Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush ($26 each)

[Continue reading…]