Clinique

Sweet Scrubs: Clinique Sweet Pots and the Pixi Nourishing Lip Polish

March 30th, 2016 by Anna Oh 17 Comments

anna oh illustration beauty clinique pixi — A beauty illustration of a pamper session, by Anna Oh

Pixi Nourishing Lip Polish Clinique Sweet Pots — Pamper time with Pixi Nourishing Lip Polish and the Clinique Sweet Pots

Hi everyone!

This has been a crazy month, and I haven’t really taken care of myself (there is such a thing as too much pizza) or addressed that pile of laundry that somehow doubles in size every night.

Whenever I feel like this, like I’m always behind, I look forward to treating myself with an extra-long nighttime beauty routine, and one product I’ve recently added to my regimen is a moisturizing lip scrub.

In fact, here’s a look at two new lip scrubs I’ve recently tried.

Pixi Nourishing Lip Polish ($12)

The first new one I tried was Pixi Nourishing Lip Polish ($12, available at Pixi and Target stores), which is new for spring.

OK…this one is great, and I’ve never really tried anything like it! The plastic tip, which feels like a firm-but-squishy silicone, feels AMAZING when I scrub my lips with it, and since I’m able to control the pressure and placement, I feel like I’m massaging areas of my lips that I’ve never massaged before!

The moisturizing oils feel luxurious, too, although I do wipe them off after I’m done exfoliating. The instructions recommend keeping the formula on after the scrub, but it feels really weird with dead skin sitting there… I love how mess-free this product is as an exfoliator, but only as an exfoliator.

Ingredients
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Shorea Robusta Resin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Silica, Octyldodecanol, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Yellow Beeswax, Apricot (Prunus Armeniaca) Kernel Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Xylitol, Caprylyl Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Seed Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil, Camellia Japonica Seed oil, Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Tocopherol.

Clinique Sweet Pots Sugar Scrub & Lip Balm ($19.50)

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Clinique Lid Pop Long-Wearing Eyeshadow: Clinique’s Latest “Pop” Sensation

March 25th, 2016 by Anna Oh 16 Comments

clinique spring 2016 lid pops — The Clinique Lid Pop long-wearing eyeshadows for spring 2016 ($17 each, available now)

Hi everyone!

Clinique is back for spring with eyeshadows based on their uber-popular long-wearing, buildable Cheek Pop line.

Also known as “the prettiest eyeshadows ever!” the new Clinique Lid Pops ($17 each) come in eight satiny and shimmery shades, and here’s a look at four of them.

This powder gelee formula is downright PRETTY on the skin. Petal Pop and Cream Pop reflect nicely on the lids, and the matte color — Cocoa Pop — has a beautiful satin sheen.

Unfortunately, Surf Pop doesn’t fare so well in swatches or on the lids. Blue is an unforgiving color to start with, and this one needs better pigmentation to prevent patchy application.

I wonder what Clinique plans to release next into their “Pop” product line!

The Clinique Lid Pops

Vanilla Pop
Cream Pop
Petal Pop
Grape Pop
Surf Pop
Aqua Pop
Willow Pop (I really want to get this one!)
Cocoa Pop

Clinique Lid Pops (L-R) Petal Pop, Surf Pop, Cocoa Pop, Cream Pop

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Here Are My Makeup Bag Essentials! What Are Yours?

March 24th, 2016 by Adia Goss 34 Comments

I’m sort of a makeup bag hoarder.

The easiest way to get me to buy something is to offer a free makeup bag. Then I’m sold (Clinique, I’m looking at you).

My excuse is that they always come in handy, whether for travel, organization, gift-giving… In fact, I always keep a makeup bag in my desk at work and another one in my gym bag. But I also like to have one that I just leave on my vanity, because it takes the guesswork out of doing my makeup in the morning, and I’ll also throw things in there that I’ve been meaning to try, so that I don’t forget about them.

I’ll also bring another makeup bag with me if I’m going somewhere after work, and I know I’ll want to freshen up my makeup.

See? So many makeup bags!

Here are what I currently consider my makeup bag essentials:

Face products

I’m not really one for powdering my nose on the go, so I have these Palladio Rice Paper Sheets instead. They soak up excess oil and don’t disturb the rest of my makeup. They’re very affordable, too (available at Ulta for $3.99).

If my base has worn off, or if I just want to add some coverage, I’ve been loving this Clinique Chubby in the Nude Foundation Stick. I use the shade called Gargantuan Golden. This one pictured is actually a free one that I got at Sephora, but I purchased the full size about a month ago (at Sephora for $24). I love how easy it is to blend on the skin with just my fingers, so it’s perfect for on-the-go. It’s build-able up to medium coverage and has a satin finish, so it looks very natural. If you’ve found other stick foundations to be too heavy or too creamy, look into this because it has a less slick feel than others that I’ve tried.

For added glow on the go, I absolutely LOVE Butterfly Beach by ColourPop Cosmetics. It’s a cool-toned champagne highlighter that instantly wakes up my face. I think it’s very flattering and so easy to just apply with my fingers, so this is one of my all-time favorite highlighters.

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Lessons Learned From Doing 15-Minute Makeup for the Past Three Weeks…

December 21st, 2015 by Karen 32 Comments

Maybe it’s because I’m subconsciously preparing myself for when Baby Girl arrives and I don’t have any time whatsoever to do my makeup, but for the past few weeks, I’ve had NO energy or patience whatsoever to do any makeup look that takes more than 15 minutes. And that’s a totally weird thing for me because I usually love sitting in front of the mirror with all of my colors and my brushes and just going to town for freaking hours.

I’m assuming it’s just a phase, but it’s also been a rapid-response 15-minute learning experience, and knowledge is power, right? 🙂

Here’s what I’ve learned so far…

It helps to let go of the idea of “perfect makeup”

Clinique Pretty Easy Eye Palette, Pretty Easy Liquid Eyelining Pen and Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara

For this 15-minute makeup look I used a few products from Clinique, namely their Pretty Easy Eye Palette ($44.50), Pretty Easy Liquid Eyelining Pen ($19.50) and Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara ($17), and even though I think it’s a fully functional look, now that I look closely at the pictures, I see things I could have fixed, like, I could’ve blended out the shadow in the outer corner a little better and perhaps thickened the liner on that end.

I also could’ve spent more time on my brows and used a lash primer before my mascara to make my lashes look longer and thicker, but ya know what? I had a schedule. After my 15 minutes was up, I just let it go…

And that’s the big thing I’ve learned about 15-minute makeup looks so far — to give up on the idea of perfect makeup, which, I know, sounds blasphemous. 🙂

But seriously, sometimes good enough is good enough, and a lot of the time, the little imperfections are only noticeable by hardcore makeup people, and only if they’re studying your face intensely.
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Neat and New to Me: Clinique Chubby Sticks in Bountiful Beige, Ample Amber and Fuller Fudge

September 25th, 2015 by Karen 19 Comments

clinique chubby sticks bountiful beige ample amber fuller fudge — Clinique Chubby Sticks from the left: Bountiful Beige, Ample Amber and Fuller Fudge

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

You know when you’re driving along and you see someone on the corner waving and spinning one of those huge signs for the discounted furniture warehouse or the Little Caesar’s $2 Tuesday Pizza Special? I feel like I should be doing the same thing next to a Clinique counter, except my sign would read, “EYE MAKEUP LOVERS, IF YOU’RE HELLA TIRED, GO HERE!”

You don’t even know how much their Chubby Sticks have been rocking my world lately. They’re perfect for makeup minimalist mode, or if you haven’t been sleeping well lately (seriously, I go to the bathroom at least four times a night), or if you just want to wear eye makeup but don’t want to spend half your morning blending sh*t out on your lids.

My favorite three shades are Bountiful Beige, Ample Amber and Fuller Fudge, and if you’ve been visiting the blog this week, you may have already seen them in action in this quick blush tip post or when I talked about those Sephora Beauty Classes.

Lightweight, semi-sheer cream shadows in a twist-up stick, they’re $17 each and not too heavily pigmented or shimmery, which I really, REALLY like when I don’t want to deal with intense blending.

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Clinique Travel Boxes: Fall 2015

August 12th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris!

Yes, please. 🙂 I can be ready to go by tomorrow, whee!

Each of these four Clinique travel sets, which are available now at select airports worldwide (prices vary and depend on location, but they’re usually around $45-60 in the U.S.), has a different color theme with coordinating makeup for eyes, cheeks and lips.

All of the individual products are full sized, so you get a lot in each box. They’re also re-promotes from the current line, so the main advantage of these boxes and other travel exclusive sets is that you should get a bit of a price break. They should be slightly cheaper than regular price. And also, if you don’t have a knack for putting colors together, you get everything you need to do each themed look all encapsulated in each box.

I like the New York one the best because, well, there’s a lot of neutrals in it…

Obviously, that’s the one I’d like.

It has a blush called Ginger Pop, which is one of my favorite Clinique blushes of all time. It’s from the Cheek Pop Blush family, and I think they’re among the best things Clinique makes. Just very natural and easy to use. In Ginger Pop’s case, the color lays down easily and doesn’t catch onto any dry/flaky bits.

Its edges are also easy to sheer out, so it doesn’t look like you have two little circles of dolly bright blush on your cheeks.

Oh! — my purple eyes in this video are from the graphic cat eye I did last week with the Buxom Eyeshadow Bar.

clinique travel boxes new york — Clinique Travel Box New York

clinique travel boxes london — Clinique Travel Box London

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5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately

August 11th, 2015 by Karen 35 Comments

1. Lime-flavored ANYTHING

Forget about lemons. Limes are where it’s at, man.

So sour… So good! I was into key lime pie a few weeks ago (haha, I know, I shift gears often), but now I’m all about lime candies and — OOH! — limeade!

It’s like lemonade but made with limes (obvs). There’s a place in town called Rustic Bakery that makes a GREAT limeade that’s nice and tart with a good bite to it, and sometimes I’ll get one there with lunch.

In fact, I’m drinking one right now. 🙂

Well…I was drinking one, but I just finished it! *slurp*

2. Clinique Cheek Pop in Ginger Pop

Current favorite blush right hurr. This pop is a real gem. It’s a $22 peachy brown nude in Clinique’s permanent line, and it buffs out beautifully on cheeks.

Lasts all day, too.

I guess I forgot about it for a while, but I recently re-discovered it while “shopping” in a drawer.

3. Hourglass Femme Rouge Lipstick in Vintage

Another beauty I hadn’t worn in a hot minute, but I’m making up for that now!

Doesn’t this pinkish brown have kind of a ’90s vibe to it? (I wore it in yesterday’s winged liner tutorial). I love how this neutral/nude works with darker skin tones, especially (if you’re a lighter lass, check out Hourglass Grace).
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Clinique’s New Wear Everywhere Neutrals All About Shadow 8-Pan Palettes, and the Perpetual Pursuit of Purple

December 12th, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Clinique Wear Everywhere Pinks and Greys — The new $36 Clinique Wear Everywhere Neutrals All About Shadow 8-Pan Palettes in Pinks (on the left) and Greys (on the right)

Since discovering that Clinique’s purple eyeshadow pigments, unlike so many other purple shadows I’ve tried, don’t make my eyes freak out (thank you, Act II palette, for that), I have yet another reason to lurk around the Clinique counter like the creepy makeup stalker that I am. 🙂

MOAR PURPLE!!

Have you seen the purples in these two palettes from the Wear Everywhere Neutrals line?

Clinique Wear Everywhere Neutral Greys — Wear Everywhere Neutral Greys

Clinique Wear Everywhere Neutral Pinks — Wear Everywhere Neutral Pinks

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