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Makeup

These Pixi Sheer Cheek Gels Are Perfect for Way-Too-Hot Mascara/Brows/Gloss Days

July 18th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

pixi sheer cheek gel natural flushed rosy
Barely-there cheek color that’s oh-so-hot. From the top: Pixi Sheer Cheek Gel in Natural, Flushed and Rosy ($14 each)

You guys…it is SO FREAKIN’ HOT.

As I’m sitting here, literally not doing anything except existing, I’m covered in sweat, and I feel the sweat running down the valley between my boobs.

Boob sweat. It’s a real thing.

Now, what does that have to do with the Pixi Sheer Cheek Gels? Actually, a lot! LOL! Because when it’s BEYOND hot like this, I don’t like to wear a lot of makeup. I draw the line at mascara (waterproof, of course), a lip tint or gloss, filling in my brows, and using a tiny touch of concealer and blush. That’s all I can handle. (“That’s all,” she said, as if that wasn’t still a lot.)

I like these gel blushes because they’re perfect for those way-too-hot-mascara/brows/gloss days, or, whenever you need to look presentable and fresh-faced but can’t bring yourself to try too hard.

pixi sheer cheek gel swatches natural rosy flushed
Swatches from the top: Natural, Rosy and Flushed

They come in these little 0.45-oz. tubes, and it doesn’t seem like you get a lot for $14, but you don’t need to use very much. I do a little squeeze for each cheek and gently blend the edges.

You don’t get a ton of color — I’ll tell you that right now — and if you’re expecting Insta-glam intensity, you’ll be disappointed. The effect is sheer and natural-looking, and very similar to the effect I get from Clinique Pop Oil Lip & Cheek Glow, except without the oil, as Pixi’s blushes don’t have it (they’re oil-free).

I like to wear gel blushes on bare skin, as opposed to wearing them on top of other products, to keep things easy and minimal. Whenever I layer them on top of foundation or tinted moisturizer, the gel ends up moving stuff around, so I don’t even wanna bother. But you could wear these Sheer Gels on top of face makeup if you wanted to… Just be sure to pat them, instead of sweeping, to protect whatever you may be wearing under them.

pixi sheer cheek gel review rosy
Wearing sheer red Rosy

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There are 6 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face of the Day (FOTD), Makeup, Pixi, Product Reviews

How Much of a Punch Does the Soap & Glory Kick Into Neutral Palette Pack?

July 17th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

soap glory kick into neutrals packaging
I wanna kick it with these Soap & Glory shadows.

There are nine shimmers and a matte in the $20 Kick into Neutral Eyeshadow Palette by Soap & Glory, of which the “kicks” are closer to light instep taps than drag queen chorus line high kicks.

This palette has plenty of things going for it, including a bevvy of everyday cool tones. In fact, the cool tones are why I wanted to try it.

First, though, before we get to that…Soap & Glory makes makeup now? Who knew??

I think it’s a relatively recent development, but yeah, they moved beyond the realm of body products and now have a pretty extensive makeup line, with lots of lip products (so many lipsticks!), a sprinkling of foundation and face powder, highlighters (of course), blushes and even a couple of eyeshadow palettes. Kick into Neutral is one of them.

soap glory kick into neutral swatches
Swatch it to me!

Most of the shadows in the 10-pan palette lean cool, so if you like your neutrals with a kiss of cool gray or taupe, this could be the palette for you. After busting it out a few times, though, overall…I think this palette might actually be TOO cool-toned for me.

I dunno… I’m not sure how I feel about the cool gray tones. Something about ’em isn’t sitting right with me. Normally, I like the contrast of cool shadows on warm skin, but in this case I feel like it’s a little jarring.

Oh, well. I guess you can’t win ’em all, Karen (although the #makeuphoarder in me really wants to!).

soap glory kick into neutral k
I’m wearing Cuddly Bare in my crease, Pink-a-little on my inner lids, Mice-tro in the outer corer and Spookstar on my lash line.

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There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews, Soap & Glory

MAC Lipstick Dreams…

July 14th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

mac lipsticks

mac lipsticks

mac lipsticks

mac lipsticks

Also known as “the best dreams, ever.”

Just a lot of pretty lipsticks I wanted to photograph together. 🙂 Hope you’re having a great afternoon. Are you doing anything fun involving lipstick tonight?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: MAC Makeup, Makeup

The Models Own Barely There Eyeshadow Palette Is a Perfect Way to Dip Your Toe Into the World of Neutral Shadows

July 14th, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

models own barely there eyeshadow palette
The $17.99 Models Own Barely There Eyeshadow Palette

This week in the comments on the Monday Poll, we were talking about advice we’d give to makeup newbies, and Kerrie cleverly mentioned a tip about how when you start your makeup journey, it makes a lot of sense to stock your makeup bag with things that aren’t too expensive. That way, you can afford to take the time to figure what kinds of things you like, and what kinds of products work well for you, without spending a ton of money up front.

So smart, right?

Along those lines, I feel like the $17.99 Barely There Eyeshadow Palette by Models Own is a perfect way to dip your toe into the wide, wild world of neutral shadows.

Models Own is a British brand now (as of recently) available at Ulta. They have a bunch of products for eyes, cheeks, lips and faces all in the Sonia Kashuk price range, so they aren’t as inexpensive as Wet ‘N’ Wild or ELF, but they aren’t as pricey as MAC or Estée Lauder either. Barely There is their take on the nude palette craze.

And guess what? It’s pretty darned good for $17.99! It has 10 powder shadows in it — five mattes and five shimmers — and the mattes, in particular, are the special sauces/keys.

Any time I start with an eyeshadow look that I intend to do with a few colors, I like to begin by deepening my crease with a matte golden brown or taupe-brown, because the cooler/neutral tones sort of simulate the effect of shadows being cast on the face, which I think makes your eyes look like they’re set deeper.

Barely There is perfect for that effect because it comes loaded with workhorse golden shades and taupe-browns, which makes it a rarity these days among the sea of nude palettes that skew warm with their orange browns and reddish browns.

models own barely there eyeshadow palette swatches
Gimme all the browns!

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There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Models Own, Palettes, Product Reviews

Milk Makeup Eye Pigment Cream Eyeshadow Dries With a Quickness!

July 13th, 2017 by Karen 3 Comments

milk makeup eye pigment
The darker shade is called Silent Disco and the lighter one is called Peep Show. Both are Milk Makeup Eye Pigments with the BEST NAMES EVER!

One might conclude that I’m smiling in this pic because…hello, pigment! Hello, glitter! Hello, shine!

So many fun things, right?

But I’m actually smiling here because when I snapped this pic, I was about to remove this eye makeup. Because, gosh…this Eye Pigment from Milk Makeup, which is available in 11 $24 shades in the permanent line, was so hard to work with!

What a bummer, because I thought it looked super cool when I swatched it.

The Eye Pigments are shimmery, concentrated cream eyeshadows that come in a tube, and when you squeeze a little on the back of your hand, then start working them around with a finger or a brush, they dry like BAM! Like, instantly. I’m serious. They’re dry in less than 10 seconds, so you have to move REALLY fast.

Now, I can put on my makeup fairly quickly most of the time, but these are ridiculous! I can’t work that fast. It’s almost impossible for me to blend the edges before they set.

You can see in the top pic that my shadow goes up higher on one lid than it does on the other, because I was trying to do both eyes at the same time…which was a bad idea in hindsight. The shadow dried too fast!

milk makeup eye pigment
When your lids are a mess but you’re still trying to be sassy…

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There are 3 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Milk Makeup

Models Own Sculpt & Glow Can Highlight My Cheekbones Any Time

July 13th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

models own sculpt glow
You are OWNING that glow, Models Own.

I wonder what Models Own was aiming for when they designed these Sculpt & Glow Highlighting Powder pans…because sometimes when I look at them I see the cross section of a tree trunk’s rings. Or a bullseye. Or a nipple (says the woman who just KonMari’d her nursing bras to Goodwill!!!).

British makeup brand Models Own is available in the U.S. now at Ulta. They’re kind of a trendy line and have quite a few product types that are popular in makeup land right now, like a neutrals palette, matte liquid lipsticks and, yes, highlighters.

models own golden sand swatches
Take it from the top! That’s Models Own Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powder in Golden Sand 02, Scultp & Glow Highlighter Powder in Peach Pearl 02, Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Stick in Moonlight 02 and Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Stick in Incandescent 03

The Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powder (looks like nipples in a pan) is available in two $11.99 shades, and theSculpt & Glow Highlighter Sticks are also available in two shades for $11.99 each.

I can totally get behind the Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powders, which are like drugstore versions of the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfectors. They’re aren’t exact dupes, though. The Models Own powders aren’t anywhere near as creamy as the BECCA Skin Perfectors. I remember reading somewhere that BECCA’s highlighters contain a lot of water, which is why they’re so soft, buttery (and fragile). The Models Own Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powders definitely don’t feel as creamy, but they do feel as soft. They also have a similar opalescent finish that you can dial up or down, depending on your mood for pearl. I like them, love the price, and I’m sure they’d be great starter highlighters.

models own sculpt glow highlighter powder golden sand
I’m wearing the powder highlighter in Golden Sand on my cheeks and the cream highlighter in Moonlight down the bridge of my nose and along my brow bones.

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There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face, Makeup, Models Own, Product Reviews

Dear Models Own Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette, Where Did Ya Go?

July 12th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

models own colour chrome swatches
The British are coming! That’s Models Own Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette ($19.99 and available exclusively at Ulta)

Clearly, “someone,” a.k.a. yours truly :), needs to do some deep breathing in child’s pose, because “someone” spent the last five minutes obsessing over the name of this British makeup brand: Models Own.

Models Own. Hmm…

What does it mean?? What does it stand for?? Do models own the company?? Is it a metaphorical reference to models figuratively owning the runway? Does it mean that you have to be a professional model to rock the brand’s products?? GOOD GRIEF, KAREN, CHILL.

Models Own hails from the UK but recently touched down on U.S. shores. They’re available exclusively at Ulta stores and online, with eye, face and lip products.

They’ve got some eye-catching colorful things, like the Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette (which we’ll get to in a sec), and some neutral items, that range from $7.99-$19.99 each, placing them in the higher-end drugstore price echelon, up there with Sonia Kashuk and Pixi.

models own colour chrome swatches
Hey, good lookin’!

The Models and I… Well, we’re off to a rocky start.

My makeup-loving heart wanted to adore the $19.99 Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette, because the cream shadows — oh, gosh — they feel fabulously dense and creamy like the MAC Paint Pots, which I love, but are thinner, which I normally take as a good thing, because it usually implies easy to blend and layer.

I always want to bring my Paint Pots with me wherever I go, but the clunky glass packaging discourages me. I had visions of gleefully scootin’ around town with this palette of 10 cream shadows and basically ruling the land. Since the creams feel similar to MAC’s, I’d hoped they would dry down completely, also like the Paint Pots, but alas… ‘Twas not meant to be. They don’t dry down at all.

models own colour chrome k1
It’s OK if your eyes are open…

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There are 8 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Models Own, Product Reviews

These Too Faced Chocolate Brow-nie Cocoa Powder Brow Pencils Smell Just as Good as They Look

July 12th, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

too faced chocolate brownie deep brown
YOUR BROWS SMELL LIKE WHAT NOW?!

I hope you’ll be able to forgive Ryan Gosling after he announces in Us Weekly that he’s leaving his baby mama (a.k.a. Eva Mendes) for me, because after he gets a whiff of my eyebrows, he’s going to realize that he can’t live without K-Dawg. 🙂

Yes, girl, my eyebrows smell hella good right now! They smell like brownies fresh out the oven! And how could you not fall in love with someone whose brows smelled like brownies?

The Too Faced Chocolate Brow-nie Brow Pencil has been available for a while, but I’ve just tried it, and I tried it because, well…brownies.

It comes in four cocoa powder-infused shades — Taupe, Auburn, Soft Brown and Deep Brown (I wear Deep Brown) — and why Too Faced decided to go next level and give them a chocolatey brownie scent, I do not know… But it’s certainly a nice touch, since brows are usually the most boring part of makeup for me, and the scent gives them a little more pizzazz.

FYI, the fragrance isn’t overwhelming. It’s not like you’re sitting in a closet alone with 10,000 brownies (although I wouldn’t object to that). It’s very faint, and you can only really smell it when you get the pencil tip all up in your nostrils.

too faced chocolate brownie swatches
From the top: Taupe, Auburn, Soft Brown and Deep Brown

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There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Product Reviews, Too Faced

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

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