Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Just a few shots of the new MAC Hey, Sailor! collection for ya before I head on out to the dentist (WAH!). The collection arrives at MAC counters and maccosmetics.com on May 24. Reviews/swatches coming in two shakes of a husky tabby tail.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I think I still have sand in my ears and the tropics on my mind, because when I close my eyes, I can hear waves crashing, leaves rustling and chickens cock-a-doodle-doo’ing…
Wait — should I still be hearing chickens? That’s weird, isn’t it?
I guess part of me never left the island… It’s still back at Tunnels Beach on the North Shore of Kauai, lying on my straw beach mat in the shade, and looking up at the sky through a break in the jungle canopy and thinking, “This trip is gonna end way too soon.”
Oh, sure, I’m glad to be sleeping in my own bed again and glad to be back at home with my tubby Tabby/feline employer/plus-size kitty supermodel (right now he’s making county fair-sized biscuits on my tum!), but I haven’t completely let go of the tropics yet. Real or imagined, I can still feel sand sticking to the backs of my thighs and smell saltwater and sunscreen in my hair…
Bobbi Brown’s recently released beachy keen Miami Collection couldn’t have come at a better time. With the 12-piece, sand- and surf-inspired release of limited edition and permanent collection products, Bobbi is shoring up makeup and fragrance counters far and wide.
Shimmery shades of summery copper, pink, nude, gold, bronze and coral bedeck Bobbi’s Long-Wear Cream Shadows ($24 each), Treatment Lip Shines ($23 each) and Shimmery Cheek Glows ($39 each), while the Beach Eau de Parfum ($67.50) and Shimmering Fragrance Oil ($34) fill the air with the scent of liquid sunshine.
Come on over, have a seat here on the towel, and let’s watch the waves crash while we check out eight of the 12 pieces from the release… 🙂
Long-Wear Cream Shadows from the left: Candlelight, Nude Beach and Copper
[Continue reading…]
Ah… Do you feel that light breeze caressing your cheeks? Isn’t it nice? It’s like the wind is giving us a kiss. 🙂
Givenchy went that same easy, breezy route this summer with their new six-piece A Fleur de Peau Collection for Summer 2012 collection. It’s all about barely-there color, dainty shimmer and soft, natural shades.
“Brunch makeup!” — that’s what I thought about these pieces the first time I saw them, and I tested them out on an actual brunch with El Hub last Saturday, when I slipped on four of the six products before doing some damage on a short stack of banana pancakes.
Wow! Look at all that glitter… Oh, hai! These potted cream shadows deposit loads of shimmer and sheer color. Unfortunately, Pearly Nude (a nude peach with silver glitter) and Pearly Rose (a nude pink with silver glitter) start creasing on me in less than an hour. The glitter stays put, though (weird!) and lasts all day long. Despite the colors creasing, I do like how these light up my eyes.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
I like how creamy this matte beige eyeliner feels, and I think it does a stellar job of brightening up my eyes when I wear it along my lower water line, but it gives up the ghost after two hours and straight-up disappears, POOF!
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B-
My favorite 
thing from this launch! Pigmented, lightweight and smooth? Yes, please! This soft rose has a near-blinding mirror shine, but the wear time is only okay (about three hours). I do adore the packaging — so elegant! — and the faint rose flavor and scent.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A-
Wearing Tarte Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection from summer 2012
I’m currently in the throes of fuzzy pre-vacation brain, so I apologize in advance for eny tipos in this post and weird sentences that don’t make sense…
I did two things today instead of the really important things I needed to get done (like packing). 1) I dreaded the fact that I wasn’t doing the things I needed to get done, and 2) I thought about pie.
The Caramel Apple Pecan Pie at The Right Slice
Yes, that’s right: pie (not pi). 🙂 I was looking online for good eats on Kauai and found a highly recommended place called The Right Slice.
They sell pie. Just pie (and things like pie). In a wide variety of yummy-sounding flavors.
They have savory pies (Classic Chicken Pot Pie, Shepherd’s Pie); spicy pies (Chocolate Chile, Spicy Apple), fruit pies (Guava, Lilikoi, Blueberry Piña Colada); and rich, and/or gooey pies (Carmel Apple Pecan, Haupia Purple Sweet Potato, Lilikoi Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut).
Thinking about all of that pie is giving me the sugar shakes!
I wonder if it’s possible to overdose on pie. My, my, my, gonna eat some pie…
LOL!
Sorry, I’m having a hard time concentrating today. I feel like it’s the last day of school before summer…and speaking of summer, have you seen the summer collection from Tarte?
They’re keeping it short and sweet with just six items this year, which is a drop in the bucket compared to their spring 2012 release.
I still see some pretty interesting things…
Primers seem to be playing a big role. There’s a new one for eyes and two new ones for the face — the Clean Slate 360 Creaseless 12-Hr Smoothing Eye Primer ($20), Clean Slate Flawless 12-HR Brightening Primer ($30) and Clean Slate Poreless 12-HR Perfecting Primer ($30).
There’s also a new Body Bronzer ($37), a new LipSurgence Lip Tint shade called Sprited ($24), and a $42 three-piece set with an awkwardly long name — the Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection.
Here are pics and swatches of everything, with the exception of the face primers…
Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection
[Continue reading…]
Oui, ma chère, Givenchy would like to meet you at Sephora this June. Feast your lovely eyes on the new Givenchy A Fleur de Peau Collection for Summer 2012.
Just like summer itself, the release is limited edition. 🙂 Six pieces for eyes, lips and nails, and the theme? — an airy look with sun-kissed skin and barely-there eyes and lips.
Think draped dresses, the light caress of a cool sea breeze, and the first rays of sunlight at dawn.
Here are pics and swatches of four of the six pieces from the release…
Ombre A Fleur de Peau Luminescent Cream Eyeshadows, $34 each
Ombre A Fleur de Peau Luminescent Cream Eyeshadow in Pearly Nude
[Continue reading…]
Good morning and happy Friday, friend. How about we start this particular Friday the 13th with something historically lucky and wonderful? Like a rainbow. 🙂
The six new 3-free polishes (formulated without toluene, formaldehyde and DBP) in the limited edition Thakoon for NARS Nail Collection ($18 each) represent the line’s first collaboration with a fashion designer in the nail category. The bright new shades, all inspired by spices, arrive online at narscosmetics.com May 1.
In these pics I’m wearing one coat of azalea pink Anardana, mandarin red Lal Mirchi and purple orchid Ratin Jot; two coats of cyan Koliary; and three coats of the bright yellow Amchoor and powder blue Kutki.
Such bright and pretty colors… From the look of these swatches and my initial reactions, I’d say NARS hit this one out of the park.
Let me know what you think!
From the left: Anardana, Lal Mirchi and Amchoor
Kutki, Koliary and Ratin Jot
Anardana
[Continue reading…]
No more thunderstorms this afternoon, thank goodness! But Tabs would like me to point out that it did rain, which he described multiple times today as, “bootsy.”
Gurl, if the power had gone out earlier and I hadn’t been able to upload these pics of the new NARS Summer 2012 collection? — whoo! I would’ve gone makeup MacGyver in this house! I’m serious. I would have grabbed my mountain bike and some jewelry wire, a jar of Nutella and some Spanx and turned them into a homemade generator, LOL!
The nine-piece NARS release sails onto NARS counters and into online shopping carts and hearts April 13.
Full reviews coming over the next few days. Until then, enjoy. 🙂
Ramatuelle Trio Eyeshadow (Limited Edition), $45
Marie-Galante Duo Eyeshadow, $34 (SIDE NOTE: the right side of this duo flashes from purple to blue, which is why the color here looks different than it does in the top pic)
Liberté Blush, $28
[Continue reading…]
Wearing Sheer Crème Eye Colour in Aqua Pastel and Long Lash Mascara in Bleu on my eyes and Lip Glacè in Orange Tulip on my lips
Just a few pics of the new Laura Mercier Belle Nouveau collection I snapped before heading out to my hair appointment this afternoon.
I’m actually back home now … with my new hair! 🙂 The new ‘do will make its blogging debut soon. Right now, though, I’m not in any condition for pictures (I’m already in my jammies).
Laura’s new limited edition collection, which arrives on counters and online next month, was inspired by her background as a painter and her love for the Art Nouveau era.
Here are five of the 14 pieces from the release, including Laura’s first-ever tinted mascara, Long Lash Mascara in Bleu.
Clockwise from the burble bottle of polish on the left: Nail Lacquer in Lavender Cloud, Crème Lip Print in Nude Pink, Long Lash Mascara in Bleu, Lip Glacè in Orange Tulip and Sheer Crème Eye Colour in Aqua Pastel
Swatches from the left: Crème Lip Print in Nude Pink, Lip Glacè in Orange Tulip, Sheer Crème Eye Colour in Aqua Pastel (unblended and blended) and Long Lash Mascara in Bleu
Nail Lacquer in Lavender Cloud
[Continue reading…]
