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Urban Decay

Final Word on the Urban Decay Naked Wild West Palette | A Pretty Pink Cheek and Lip Combo With Jane Iredale Clearly Pink Blush and Origins Dusky Rose Lipstick

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urban decay wild west april 2021
I say YAY to Urban Decay Naked Wild West!

After spending a month with the new Urban Decay Naked Wild West palette, I’m happy to say that I can totally recommend it. I enjoy its mix of practical neutrals (a mélange of matte brown, beige, taupe and gray) with colorful teals, bronzes and golds, and if you’re like me and love a wearable, easy eye look, you can get that look quite easily.

Here’s what you do: 1) mix one or two of your favorite mattes with a blending brush, and sweep that onto your lids. Then, 2) wet an angled eye brush, load it up with any of the shades from the palette, and use it to line your upper lash line.

I like to think of this palette as a neutral matte palette with a bunch of fun liner shades. ? And when you use Naked Wild West in this way, you’ll have an endless (and easy) array of wearable combinations to choose from!

One item of note for my ladies with hooded lids — Laredo, the matte gray taupe, is totally key! Since most of the Naked Wild West mattes are warm-toned browns, I like to mix in the cooler-toned Laredo to create the illusion of a deeper crease.

urban decay wild west laredo
Laredo is the key!
urban decay wild west april 2021 closeup
The teal here looks so effortless, methinks.
urban decay wild west april 2021 closeup
Laredo mixed with Nudie on the lids, with a pop of dark matte teal Tex on the upper lash lines

OH! — I stumbled on a new wearable pink lip and cheek combo I like with Jane Iredale PurePressed Blush in Clearly Pink and Origins Dusky Rose Lipstick.

jane iredale clearly pink blush origins dusky rose lipstick
A pretty pink lip and cheek combo!

Jane Iredale Clearly Pink is a powdered pinky beige blush that leans slightly cool, and it totally looks like something Chanel would do! I love how it looks like a matte pink when you sweep it on your cheeks, but you can see the tiniest little flecks of silvery glitter peek when you look closely. It’s sophisticated, and a little goes a long way.

If you like Chanel Pink Explosion or Clinique Cupid, you’ll probably be into Clearly pink.

As for Origins Dusky Rose Lipstick, like the blush, it packs a pigmented wallop. It’s a brownish rose with a cream finish… Have you ever worn MAC Cosmo Lipstick? Because if you have and you liked it, I’m betting Dusky Rose will work for you!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! ???

Rainbow Nails and Bright Lips, Funfetti Cake, and the MAC Makeup in “Promising Young Woman”

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skittles mani mac all fired up
It’s a rainbow of color

For the record, it’s very, very awkward to take a picture of yourself that has your hands in it and have it look natural! Why do I feel like my paws look bigger than my head here? ?

I haven’t worn rainbow nails in a minute, but I absolutely HAD TO after we rented Promising Young Woman last weekend. It’s a thriller starring Carey Mulligan as Cassie, a young 30-something woman who experiences something traumatic that leads her to drop out of medical school, move back in with her parent and…pursue other ends. I don’t want to give away too much, but it involves some revenge.

Cassie wears a pastel rainbow manicure throughout the movie, and it’s front and center at a few key moments.

I’ve been reading about the styling for the film, and it turns out that the manicure was writer/director Emerald Fennell’s idea, and fun fact for ya — she’s the lady who plays Camilla Parker-Bowles in The Crown!

Symbolically, Cassie’s nails and makeup represent both her armor and a weapon. Her sweet girlishness at times conceals her anger.

I just wanted to wear rainbows on my hands to have a little fun, but I definitely appreciate using makeup as armor.

skittles mani mac all fired up

Near the end of the film, there’s a scene with Cassie in a candy-colored wig putting on a bright lipstick, and dagnabbit, even without my glasses on, and consequently being half-blind, I knew it was MAC. The movie’s makeup artist, Angie Wells, used MAC All Fired Up Retro Matte Lipstick.

I’m wearing it here with MAC Beet Lip Pencil.

skittles mani mac all fired up
MAC attack!

Speaking of bright and colorful things…I got a gluten-free sprinkle boxed cake mix and a matching sprinkle cake frosting (both by Pillsbury) at Target a few weeks ago to make a cake, and you know what? It was pretty darned delicious. Both the boxed Funfetti cake and the frosting were surprisingly tasty and flavorful (I could really taste the vanilla). The cake was also light and fluffy, and the frosting spread easily.

Everything was so good that I went back to the store and got more for the next time I have to bake something last-minute!

You know that I’m totally 100% down to bake a cake and make frosting from scratch, but sometimes it’s sooooo nice to have something easy around for when you get a hankerin’ for cake.

While we’re on the topic of baking, look what I found at Michaels…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Elegant Brick Brown Lids and Charcoal Wings (and a Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cake Recipe!)

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I feel like I’m wearing a lot of makeup here, but I’m not…comparatively speaking. Compared to what I used to rock on the daily five or six years ago! ? ? I swear, if I just do a little concealer and foundation these days, and maybe a light dusting of powder, bam! — I feel ready for a black-tie ball from The Great Gatsby.

chanel arthur urban decay naked wild west down swatches
Swatches

Funny thing is…I was trying for an “everyday look” here with UD’s Naked Wild West Palette, which is why I used the matte, neutral workhorse shades — gray, a reddish brick brown, a taupe and a beige. I dunno though… I also couldn’t resist adding a little glitter in the inner corner!

Truth be told, my threshold for “dressing up” is very low now. Basically, whenever I put on a T-shirt and jeans that, ya know…fit, I feel dressed to the nines!

chanel arthur urban decay naked wild west down smile

The Naked Wild West workhorse shadows blend beautifully with very little fallout, and I also like how smooth they look on my lids. They don’t look heavily creased or dry.

To go with the warm red brick tones on the lids, I added a warm reddish blush (Hourglass Diffused Heat, an old standby that goes really well with so many different shades of red lipstick) and sheer warm red Chanel Rouge Coco in Arthur on my lips.

chanel arthur urban decay naked wild west closeup

DUDE, I am on a total Chanel Rouge Coco kick right now! It’s fancy yet approachable, with just the right amount of shine and opacity (or rather, semi-sheerness). The shade on my lips here is called Arthur, which I applied by dabbing the tube lightly on my lips. Then I pressed it in with a finger to create a warm reddish stain.

Makeup worn in this look

And now…

Chocolate chip applesauce cake

chocolate chip snack cake

Quite a few gals requested this recipe, so here it is, from my tummy to yours! I originally billed this as a “one-bowl baking job,” but I was overzealous there. You will need two. I hope that doesn’t stop you from trying it because the batter comes together really quickly, and the cake bakes in about 30 minutes.

choclatechocolate chip cake -chip-cake-front

chocolate chip cake slice

When you’re done, listen for the sound of angels singing (AAAAAHHHHH!!!!), as you’ll be rewarded with the most shockingly delicious, otherworldly, melt-in-your-mouth cake!

If you’re looking to cut down on the simple carbs, feel free to dial back the granulated and brown sugar, or, you could leave out the topping entirely. Or, you can just make it as is!

Since it’s a good amount of cake for just me, El Hub and my sous chef, I usually divvy up the cake and pass on the sugary goodness to my neighbors. You could also try cutting the slices and freezing them, although I haven’t done that yet.

INGREDIENTS

For the batter, wet ingredients:

  • 2 cups no-sugar added applesauce
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) lightly packed brown sugar

For the batter, dry ingredients:

  • 2 cups (10 ounces) gluten-free flour, or all-purpose flour, either one works great
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips, I like Guittard Semi-Sweet because that’s the brand we used in the bakery

For the topping:

  • 2 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. If you’re using a glass pan like I did, preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients — the applesauce, melted butter, vanilla, eggs, granulated and brown sugar.
  3. In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients — flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips. You’ll want to coat the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake while it bakes.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined. Whatever you do, please don’t overmix!
  5. Spread the batter evenly in your prepared pan, then sprinkle the brown sugar and chocolate chip topping evenly across the top.
  6. Bake for 28-30 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top springs back lightly to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a little bit of melted chocolate is just fine). If you’re using a glass pan, you may need to bake a little bit longer… My cake ended up taking about 38 minutes total.
  7. Store well-covered at room temperature, and it should keep for several days!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Soft Teal Wings With the Urban Decay Naked Wild West, a New Tea From Trader Joe’s, and Chocolate Chip Cake!

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urban-decay-naked wild west teal wings

I was chatting with someone IRL a couple weeks ago, and she told me that sometimes she puts on her makeup in the morning before sitting down to work because it makes her feel more productive, and I was like, “YES! You are my people!” ? That’s totally what happened in this look here. I was researching luxury vinyl flooring, so these soft teal wings happened…

Side note: over the years, our carpet has become completely thrashed thanks to the cats, so now I’m learning all about laminate versus vinyl plank flooring versus hardwoods… If you have any flooring knowledge bombs to drop on me, I’m all ears!

urban-decay-naked wild west teal wings swatches

I’m wearing the new Urban Decay Naked Wild West Palette here. Just a couple of the brown matte shades on my lids (Spur and Nudie) and the shimmery teal (Bud) on my lash lines.

I’m still on the fence about this palette and haven’t quite figured out if I think it’s must-have… This is my third time using it, and although I do like the mix of brown, taupe and gray mattes, coupled with the fun blues and golds, I don’t know if it’s that practical. I’m gonna give it a couple more tries, then check back in with you…

urban-decay-naked wild west teal wings

By the way, I’m also testing a new concealer from bareMinerals called The bareMinerals Original Liquid Mineral Concealer. It’s a medium-coverage brightening liquid concealer you can build up in layers to full (specifically for the under-eye area). It’s comes in 17 shades, and it’s available on qvc.com for $25 a tube now.

urban-decay-naked wild west teal wings

urban-decay-naked wild west teal wings

This was my first time using it (I’m wearing Medium/Tan 3.5 C!). So far, I think it’s alright… It’s a little more coverage than I’ve been wearing lately, so it’s kind of shocking to see real-deal concealer on my skin again.

To its credit, it doesn’t pool up in my fine lines or anything, so it’s not super obvious, but I do have to blend out the edges quite a bit because the pigment is very concentrated. I think it should be fine on its own, but it might be a tad too heavy if you like to set your concealer with powder.

In non-makeup related news, I found a delicious new herbal tea at Trader Joe’s called Blood Orange Rooibos, and it’s naturally very sweet to my taste buds (I don’t even add sugar). It has just a touch of citrusy tang too.

trader joes blood orange rooibos tea shelf

trader joes blood orange rooibos tea shelf

I’ve been drinking less Earl Grey tea lately because I read somewhere that cutting down on the caffeine might help with my migraines, which, ugh, have been terrible lately.

I mean, I love me some tea and coffee, but I’ll try anything at this point.

Anywho, if you see this one TJ’s, grab a box. Then grab an extra one for me, hahah! Kidding. It’s super good though, especially with dessert.

I had a cup last night with a slice of gluten-free chocolate chip cake that Connor and I made last weekend.

Sous chef in the house!

chocolate chip snack cake

Not only is this cake easy and delicious, but it’s light and moist, and it just melts in your mouth (the secret ingredient is unsweetened applesauce). If you decide to make it, you could have it in your tummy in less than one hour.

chocolate chip snack cake

The fact that the star ingredient is applesauce almost makes me feel like it’s healthy… 🙂 Yeah, maybe that’s a stretch! It’s still good though, and it’s one of those cakes that’s nice to have around in case company stops by (for when the pandemic’s over).

If you came over, I’d cajole you into having a cup of tea and a slice, for sure!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Warm Reddish Brown Smokey Eyes With Teal Lids and Liner | Day 2 With the Urban Decay Naked Wild West Palette

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urban decay naked wild west teal brown smokey eyes

Don’t ask me why this never occurred to me before, because you know I love streamlining, but today I wore the same shade of eyeshadow as a lid color and a liner color, and WHOOP-WHOOP! — my world is forever changed.

Do you ever do this? Because if you do, you’re officially a genius.

urban decay naked wild west teal brown smokey eyes

There’s a dark matte teal in the new Urban Decay Naked Wild West palette, and that’s what inspired me to try it.

I wanted some contrast between the lid color and liner, so I started by applying the lid shadow with a flat eyeshadow brush. Next, I buffed out the edges with a clean domed shadow brush, then blended a couple of warm matte browns into my crease to soften the edges.

urban decay naked wild west teal brown smokey eyes

After that, to amplify the intensity of the liner, I wet an angled brush with MAC Fix+, loaded it with the teal shadow, and lined my upper upper and lower lash lines. I kept the upper lash line crisp and buffed out the lower lash line for just a whisper of color…

I really like the harmony between the lid and liner colors, and there’s also a slight gradient affect!

I’m going to try it again in the near future, but not with this exact same shade of teal because it’s a little patchy…

urban decay naked wild west teal brown smokey eyes

It’s been a minute since I’ve worn colorful smokey eyes, and I figured out one of the reasons for this while I was doing this makeup — the shape of my eyes has changed so much in the last year, and that’s made doing looks like this a little more challenging to do.

Ya know…it’s just time doing its thang. Plus, the stress of the pandemic. *shrugs*

So what do we do? We adjust, right?

I feel like colorful shadow generally looks better on me when I keep the color lower on my lids and don’t go too far out in the outer corners… Took me a while to figure this one out, but eh, better late than never!

Gosh, I wish makeup magazines talked about this more — how the shape of your face changes as you get older. It feels like I’m relearning everything and starting from scratch. I mean, I knew this was coming, but I don’t feel like I was given an adequate heads-up, LOL!

Makeup worn in this look

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 🙂

Bronze and Gray Lids With the Urban Decay Naked Wild West Palette

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urban decay naked wild west swatches
Yup, more naked. ?

Seriously, how many more of these are they gonna do?!

The newest incarnation of ze Naked palette calls itself Naked Wild West (no relation to Kanye), and it’s inspired by the California desert.

No, not dessert. DESert. ?

urban decay naked wild west swatches

I patted Rustler, the shimmery bronze shade, on my lids and was surprised to see taupe-y grey undertones when I blended out the edges.

Kinda cool…both literally and figuratively, hahaha. To complement the gray, I lined my upper lash line with an angled brush that I’d dipped into Pony Up, the matte dark gray.

I did remember to tap my brushes to unload any excess powder before applying but still ended up with a little bit of fallout on my cheeks. Not a lot though…

I hadn’t done my base yet (a 50/50 mix of Urban Decay 24-Hour Hydration in 50 Medium, and Lancôme Skin Feels Good in Tan, set with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural) so I just wiped it off. No biggie.

urban decay naked wild west swatches

urban decay naked wild west

For my cheeks, I swept a low-key hero from the UD permanent line, the Stay Naked Threesome trio in Naked, onto my cheeks (the bronzer and the blush).

Incidentally, I’m still on an Origins sheer lipstick kick, so I layered two shades on my lips — Honey Blush and Fuchsia Fields — to finish the look.

urban decay naked wild west down

Just for fun, I tried the makeup with a brighter lip using Honest Beauty Passion.

It’s nice to have options, ya know?

In other news…I’m all “mommed out” from the birthday excitement of the past few days, and I’m super tried right now! I skipped exercising yesterday, so I told myself this morning that I had to work out today…but right now all I want to do is take a nap.

Ugh, I know I’ll feel better when I’m done with it though. I just have to remind myself that I don’t have to give it 100%… 50% today will do!

You already know this, but Target has some weird stuff.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

One Bronzy Mauve Eye Look, Two Lip Options

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wander beauty wanderess escape palette mac dance with me
One bronzy mauve eye look, two lip options

Looking for an easy eye makeup look that looks better than the bare minimum and works with a wide variety of lipstick colors? If you are, have I got an eye look for you! ? Check out this bronzy mauve…

Yeah, yeah, who’s wearing lipstick these days? Well, I mean, I think a lot of us are. I was chatting with a few gals on Instagram (here’s me, BTW), and it turns out there are a lot of people out there spending a lot of time at home right now (no, really!?), parenting, surviving and hopefully thriving, in, like, full-on bright red lips because they simply miss wearing lipstick. So, before you put your hands on your hips, shake your finger at me and say, “Karen, everybody’s masked up, so lipstick is total and complete nonsense now!” I politely disagree.

We’re still wearing lipstick, y’all. HEAR US ROAR! ?

LOL!

wander beauty wanderess escape palette eye look
A closeup of the eye look

So, back to the eye makeup… Curl your lashes, fill in your brows, and grab the following:

Key eye makeup products

  1. A bronze cream shadow stick
  2. A matte mauve powder shadow
  3. A matte cool brown eyeshadow
  4. A black or blackish brown pencil liner
  5. A shimmery warm champagne shadow

Here’s what you do

  1. Apply and blend the bronze cream shadow all over the part of your lid that moves when you blink (a.k.a. your mobile lid), as well as the crease, diffusing the shadow into a soft gradient as you move up toward your brows.
  2. Layer the matte purplish mauve eyeshadow directly on top of the bronze cream shadow, first using a flat eyeshadow brush. Next, grab a clean tapered or domed blending brush, and soften out the edges. Now, if you want, run the brush along your lower lash line with however much product remains on the brush.
  3. Next, line your lash lines with the black or brownish black pencil. Then, load a pencil brush with the dark cool brown shadow, and soften the liner by running the tip of the brush along the liner’s edge.
  4. Dab a touch of the shimmery warm champagne into the inner corners…
  5. And finish with mascara, false lashes and a shot of tequila (kidding).

If you want, you can also do the following

  1. Optional step 1: Tightline your waterline. Side note — I *always* do this! Makes my lashes look thicker. ?
  2. Optional step 2: Blend some of the cool matte brown eyeshadow in the outer corner for more depth.

Two lip options

I think this works with so many different lip colors because the balance between the warm bronzy shadow base and the cooler mauve and brown tones makes it suitable to wear with neutral, cool and warm lipsticks. I’ve paired it here with a neutral rosy brown lipstick and a warm cranberry red lipstick to give you two options; I also think this look would be great with dark brown, wine or brick shades.

wander beauty wanderess escape palette mac dance with me
The eye makeup with warm cranberry red lipstick
wander beauty wanderess escape palette laura mercier beige intime
Same eyes, but now with a rosy brown lipstick (t-shirt: Mascara & Kitties)

Product links

What I’m wearing

wander beauty wanderess escape palette laura mercier beige intime mac dance with me
Swatches!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Elegant and Polished Makeup for All Occasions With Playful Pink Cheeks and Lips, and Cool-Toned Matte Grays to Contour Lids

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mac cozy grey honest beauty forever
10-minute makeup with cool toned lids and lips

I always say, “I threw this look on,” but I really did! This took about 10 minutes, not including the few minutes it took to gather my arsenal of supplies, which in this case was not very much. Those are cool-toned grayish-brown lids and rosy beige lips, and I did it right before going to get Connor from school the other day. The highlight was showing it off to a couple of my neighbors when we got home and practiced Connor’s bike riding and did some sidewalk chalk.

I’m telling you, these days, the highlight of my day is often those socially distanced chats with my neighbors. That’s where it’s at!

Anywho, I really like this look. I feel so polished in it and, dare I say, almost cute?!

I like the slight definition on the lids and lashes, the pink blush on my cheeks, the lipstick and the somewhat bushy brows, which are defined but not overly bold.

Here it is in action…

I’ll definitely wear this again, maybe even on a date night (if one of those ever happens again). Ooh! — or on a girl’s night out, or a Saturday at a museum, whenever we can do those things again. I think you could wear pretty much anything with it.

The full breakdown is below, but I think the eyeshadows are the key. I’m wearing two matte cool-toned shadows — a light taupe-gray called MAC Cozy Grey all over my lids. It’s a workhorse from the permanent collection. And a darker gray-brown called MAC Brun.

I have hooded eyes, and I chose the matte taupe-gray because I wanted to contour my lids. The cooler gray along with the matte finish creates the illusion of a shadow, which I think makes my lids look like they’re more deeply set.

mac cozy grey honest beauty forever
Somebody cut my hair please!

If you’re over 40, or if you have naturally hooded eye, definitely consider adding a matte cool-toned grayish taupe eyeshadow to your collection. I would go with a shade slightly darker than your skin tone — maybe one or two shades — because you want to be able to see the shadow and get that contoured effect, but you don’t want anything too dark; otherwise, you’ll be sitting there blending for days!

duri forever beautiful swatch
Here’s a closer look at my nails. I’m wearing Duri Forever Beautiful, an opaque creamy cool pale pink.

In my outer corners, I buffed a tiny touch of matte gray-brown MAC Brun. This shade… SO GOOD. You can also wear it in your brows to fill ’em out, or you can smoke it out over a dark chocolate brown or black base, or even use it as a simple upper or lower lash liner. It’s a staple I turn to over and over again… I’m never without a pan of Brun, it’s that serious!

One last thing I’d like to point out about the eyes, and it might seem subtle at first, but if you look closely at my lash and water lines, there’s a hint of shimmer, which I think really makes the eyes pop. I’m wearing a pencil liner called MAC Prunella, which is a shimmery warm dark purplish bronze. I happen to like how it contrasts with the cooler tones on the lids.

mac cozy grey honest beauty forever
Same look, different lighting

Makeup in this look

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I hope you’re having a great day so far! 🙂

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