
Hay boo, haaay! More Urban Decay summer 2013 to start your day. Pics and swatches below; reviews coming soon.















by Karen 17 Comments


















Hay boo, haaay! More Urban Decay summer 2013 to start your day. Pics and swatches below; reviews coming soon.















by Karen 11 Comments




Oh hai, sparkle motion!
The Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows, new for summer 2013 ($20 each). Coming soon to Sephora and Ulta stores, and online.

by Karen 25 Comments

Happy, HAPPY Friday, my friend.
Right before I opened my eyes this morning, when I was still lying in bed, the mental fog started to clear, and I smiled. 🙂
It’s Friday! We made it through another week.
Sorry about not being around much the past couple of days. This week kind of kicked my butt. Nothing huge, but it seemed like every day one new, unexpected thing came up to throw me off my regular routine.
I’m a creature of habit, and sometimes all it takes is one extra hour I have to spend on something I didn’t plan for, and I’m a mess after that. It’s hard to get back on track.
Oh! Remember the Bobbi Brown Master Class I mentioned a couple weeks back? It was yesterday in SF, and I went. I’m putting together a post with the tips I picked up, but it’s not quite ready yet. For now, though, here’s a sneaky peaky…

Observe my terrified expression, haha! I was asked to be the class model, and it was…an experience. Really fun, but I completely underestimated how hard it would be to NOT make any funny faces for two hours.
In other news, Urban Decay’s 24/7 Heavy Metal Glitter Liners in Baked and Urban Cowboy.

You might be thinking, “Um…but I thought the only people who could get away with glitter were gymnasts and figure skaters? And I’m neither.”
Wait now! Come back here. Don’t run away just yet. Contrary to popular belief, gymnasts, figure skaters and Honey Boo Boo are not the only people who can pull off glitter. We can do it, too, and with Urban Decay’s gold and bronze glitter liners, we can look sassy and age-appropriate.

These long-lasting, clear liquid liners are filled with flecks of glitter so small that a Smurf could wear ’em.
What I’ll usually do with these is draw a thin line along my upper or lower lash lines with the skinny brush (although for these pics, I’ve lined both my upper and lowers for emphasis), curl my lashes, and then coat them with mascara.
When I look in the mirror, it’s hard to even discern this glitter from more than a few feet away. All I see is a pair of bright, sparkling eyes!

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by Karen 24 Comments

— WARNING —
You may want to avert your eyes.
— WARNING —
Urban Decay’s recently relaunched collection of long-wearing, waterproof 24/7 Glide-On Pencils has been known to drive makeup lovers bat-sh*t crazy (in the best possible way).
The brand recently added 13 new shades and 14 previously released limited edition colors to their permanent line, bumping up the total number of available shades to 40.
40!
Heck, on most days I’m lucky if I can decide between Perversion and Bourbon. Forget being able to decide among 40 shades.

And the rainbow of colors comes in a range of finishes, too, like matte, shimmer, sparkle and satin.
Here are pics and swatches of the new and previously released shades… Let me know if any of these pencils draws you in. (Haha, draws? Get it? Okay, I’ll stop.)

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by Karen 26 Comments

Yes, using Urban Decay’s $29 All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray involves adding another step to my makeup routine, and no, it’s probably not as essential as under-eye concealer.
Buuut, that doesn’t make me like it any less. 🙂
If I were going on a big trip (say, lattes and macarons in Paris with RyGos, seeing as he’s on hiatus from acting) and accidentally forgot it at home, would I be crushed?
No, I think not.
Probably not. Okay maybe a little…
With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, I have been whipping out this makeup-saving spray mist more and more often. A few spritzes postpone fading and keep my makeup on my mug longer.
And it’s just so refreshing! — like standing in the mist beside a tropical waterfall…except without the mosquito swarms, frizzy hair and bikini muffin top, of course.
Stuff locks my look down all day long. Like, say it was the morning of the zombie apocalypse…
I’m just staying, for instance. 🙂
If it were that day, and I remembered to spray this on first thing in the morning, I’m confident that my foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow and bronzer would still be going strong when the biters finally took me down that night. (Side note: last night’s Walking Dead? Merle?? Daryl? We need to talk.)
by Karen 40 Comments

If you’re wearing one of Urban Decay’s two new limited edition $49 palettes inspired by the upcoming Disney flick, Oz the Great and Powerful, and someone shouts, “Witch!” DO NOT bust out your Tae Bo moves.
I repeat: no Tae Bo, Jiu-jitsu or Aikido moves, and absolutely DO NOT remove your hoop earrings.
Throw no blows! — because they’re just complimenting you on your makeup. 🙂
The two colorful palettes, Glinda and Theodora, recently materialized online — POOF! — just like witchcraft, tying in with the new Oz film with makeup to recreate the looks worn by the witches played by Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams.
And this time, Urban Decay went all out!
These aren’t just some of their existing products in fancy packaging (not that I don’t like some of those palettes too). They created all-new colors here, and even included tutorials.
Nothing half-@ssed or cheesy. I feel like UD put a lot of thought into both products.
Each one comes with eight completely new eyeshadow shades…even though there are only six pans (two of the pans in each palette are duos), and the pans contain 0.05 ounces of product, making them the same size as Urban Decay’s interchangeable full-size shadow pans.
Urban Decay also included a gloss and liner with each palette, considerately completing the look.
First, Theodora — the richer, moodier magician who excels at conjuring up fab looks for brown smokey eyes.

by Karen 26 Comments

If you choose to wear one of the three new $19 Urban Decay Lip Junkie Glosses in Flushed, Obsessed or Trashed, you’ll probably still want to brush your teeth in the morning (and your tongue…to get rid of that fuzzy feeling), but if you do happen to forget, at least your breath will smell great! 🙂
Or rather, your lips will taste minty fresh, because all three of these are mint flavored and fragranced to the extreme! — and it’s a good mint, refreshingly like toothpaste.
For the record, Urban Decay thinks they taste and smell like “wedding mints,” and okay, sure, I get that (but they also remind me of my tube of Sensodyne).
New for spring, and newly added to the Lip Junkie Lipgloss line, these triplets are all cool-toned shades of pink with varying degrees of pigment from sheer to medium.
The Lip Junkies are Urban Decay’s cooling, plumping glosses that last a surprisingly long time. With them, I get anywhere from 4-5 hours, which is pretty good for a lipgloss, and yet despite lasting as they do, they don’t suck all of the moisture from my lips.
They’re billed as non-sticky, but I dunno about that. When I whip my hair back and forth (I whip my hair back and forth), stray strands do get stuck in the gloss, which is kinda thick and heavy.
It doesn’t bother me, but I guess it is something to think about. For a truly non-sticky UD gloss, though, you might want to try one of the Lip Loves instead.


If you’re cool with the slightly thick, sticky texture, I think any of these three would go great with the rest of Urban Decay’s new spring releases, like the new Naked Basics Palette, especially if you’re going for a primarily neutral, natural look, because they’re all rather quiet pinks, not at all bright or obnoxious (not that I don’t think there’s a time and place for that).
If you’re interested in low-key, natural makeup looks, these should be great for that.
And more, like the Ammo palette. You could do a bold eye look with the brights, and then balance it out with a sheer pink on your lips.
Definitely Obsessed definitely has me obsessed. It’s my favorite of these three. It’s darker than Flushed, so I can really see it on my lips, and warmer than Trashed, so I think it suits my warmer NC42 skin tone well.

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by Karen 18 Comments

Absolutely not! The new Urban Decay Naked Flushed face palette ($30) has nothing to do with the loo…or with sitting naked on the toilet and flushing, although dirtier minds than mine would probably put those things together. 🙂
Now that I think about it, in Naked Flushed, Urban Decay might have been trying to evoke that whole afterglow effect…ya know, where you’re… Nevermind.
Gees, I hope my mom isn’t reading this.
Just released, the new Naked Flushed face palette combines three products — a sheer, matte golden brown bronzer; a dark reddish pink blush with a matte finish (so super, SUPER dark that it takes some buffing to appear natural); and a shimmery, peachy beige highlighter (this one’s a tad grainy).


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