Makeup

Take Me With You, Nudestix Nudies!

June 1st, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

I don’t how this happened, because it feels like I’ve been looking forward to this trip forever, but I’m leaving for Hawaii in less than two weeks! — which means that I probably should start packing RIGHT NOW.

It’s all about portable beauty, and I’m hell-bent on finding multitasking makeup to bring that won’t take up a lot of room, so as to have more room to bring home dashboard hula girls, macadamia nuts and the like.

Let’s make this a series! I’m gonna call it “Take Me With You,” and the first entry is these new Nudestix Nudies. They were recently added to the Nudestix permanent line.

Nudestix is a cruelty-free Canadian brand, and everything in their line comes in a pencil or some kind of stick packaging.

Yes, this makes them great for travel.

The Nudies are multipurpose creams for your cheeks, lids and lips. They’re $30 each and come in five shades. One end has a cream stick, and the other end has a dense, soft brush to apply and blend the product.

I’ve tried two of them — cool pink Bare Back (um…which I’m pretty sure refers to something naughty) and rosy nude Naughty N’ Spice.

nudestix nudies bare back — Bare Back on my cheeks and Naughty N’ Spice on the lower part of the apples of my cheeks. And that’s Kosas Undone Lipstick on my lips.

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Classic Summer Colors and Oversized Blush and Bronzer Palettes Make Me Wanna Swing! (Lancôme Summer Swing)

June 1st, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

lancome summer swing k — That’s the Lancôme Patio Mediterraneen Palette, Lancôme Le Metallique Metallic Liquid Eyeshadow in Or Farniente, and the Lancôme Waterproof Eyeliners in Tempo Mediterraneen and Brun Frivole on my eyes. I’m also wearing the Patio Mediterraneen and Patio D’Une Nuit D’Ete palettes on my lids.

Ah, good play on the “s” sound, Lancôme, with your Summer Swing Collection, ’cause this lady loves a little alliteration. 🙂

“Swing,” in this particular case, does not refer to playground equipment. Or swing states. Or swingers (Oh, boy! What would THAT collection be like?!). It’s a reference to swing rhythms, as in music, and the sounds of summer.

Summer Swing is a limited edition release, and it’s already been out a little while. Lancôme Global Makeup Creative Director and All-Around Super Cool Gal (that’s her official title) Lisa Eldridge designed it.

I love me some Lisa.

lancome summer swing open — Feelin’ summery

This one goes the traditional route with classic summer colors like bronze, gold, teal, coral and hot pink — colors that really sing on tans and warm-toned skin.

lancome patio dune nuit dete — That’s a big pan, yo!

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Urban Decay’s The Velvetizer Instantly Transforms Base Makeup Finishes Into a Velvety Satin

May 31st, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

urban decay velvetizer — The new Velvetizer from Urban Decay is available now exclusively at Sephora ($34 for a 0.28-oz. jar).

At the risk of totally dating myself, one of the old-school makeup tricks we used back in the day was to dust a little loose powder on my lips after applying lipstick. I’d dust it right on top with a finger (or, if I was feeling extra fancy, a brush!) to transform any lipstick finish into a matte.

It’s a similar idea to how the new Urban Decay The Velvetizer works.

Velvetizer is a loose, translucent powder ($34 for a good-sized 0.28-oz. jar, a Sephora-only product). You mix a little with your favorite tinted moisturizer or foundation, and it instantly transforms the finish into a velvety satin without futzing with the color.

The trick is getting the ratio right of powder to liquid, and it can take some practice. I’ve found that if I add too much powder, the mixture will pill up, almost like it’s peeling.

This isn’t a big surprise, considering the fact that the second ingredient is dimethicone, and products with a lot of dimethicone in them do tend to pill up when I use too much on my skin.

It’s not a perfect science. I just kinda eyeball it, but Urban Decay suggests using a dime-sized amount per full pump of foundation or tinted moisturizer, but I rarely use a full pump of my base makeup anymore. So I use more like a half a dime-sized amount.

I shake it into my palm, add a bit of Naked Skin One and Done, mix them together with a finger, then apply that with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush.

urban decay velvetizer ingredients — Ingredients

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More MAC Metallic Lips Coming June 22nd

May 30th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

mac metallic lipstick summer 2017 — The MAC Metallic Lipsticks are back in another LE release coming June 22nd for $17 each.

Dry lips, be gone! I will not have ye! — ’cause, honestly, I don’t want any flakes up in my mix when I’m wearing these new MAC Metallic Lipsticks, because flakes + metallic finishes equal nooo!

Metallic lips are back. In the event that you’ve been taking the longest cat nap ever (in which case, I’m so jelly because: naps!), they’re back in style and 100% Rosie-the-Robot chic.

If these are tickling your memory chips, you might be recalling the Metallic Lipstick launch from earlier this spring (remember the cray-cray green?). That was an LE collection, and so is this one, which will be available at all MAC locations and online from June 22nd to August 3rd.

mac forbidden romance lipstick — Forbidden Romance…

Of the 17 shades, 10 are re-promotes from that earlier launch — deep royal purple Royal Hour, bright bluish pink Foiled Rose, cool reddish burgundy Hades Fire, cool neutral pink Pale Rose, silvery Silver Spoon, warm neutral In Lust, bronzy Jupiter, white frosty Pearly One, deep burgundy red wine Disobedient and blackened blue Anything Once. For swatches of those cuties, click here.

mac ionized iris lipstick — Ionized Iris

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Urban Decay Naked Skin The Illuminizer Translucent Pressed Beauty Powder

May 26th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder packaging — There’s a new face powder from Urban Decay coming soon.

If you’ve ever wanted to decorate your face with gems — no, literally wear gems ? on your face — now’s your chance! Urban Decay has a new face powder coming out called Naked Skin The Illuminizer Translucent Pressed Beauty Powder.

Gosh, that’s a mouthful…

It has white synthetic sapphires in it for a lovely, luminous glow.

Sounds fancy, doesn’t it?

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder — Ooh, sleek packaging…

This is basically like a MAC Beauty Powder. You can wear it all over your face as a setting powder, or use it as a targeted highlighter for specific areas.

It just comes in one shade, but it’s supposed to be universally flattering. I built it up in the swatch below to give you an idea of the hue, which is kind of a peachy beige with little silver sparkles.

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder swatch — Swatch-a-rooooo!

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Drugstore Needs and Nopes, Vol. 2

May 26th, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

I like kickin’ it at the drugstore because I can “ooh” and “ah” over eye palettes and shampoo without my wallet raising hell.

Here are some drugstore gems that caught my fancy this week, along with a few misses.

1. Revlon Kiss Balm Lip Balms ($4.99 each)

If I were eight years old and spotted these Revlon Kiss Balms at CVS, I would BEG my mom to get me one or two or three. (“Pretty please, Mommy!”)

They’re so cute! These moderately moisturizing twist-up balms contain fab fruit oils and SPF 20, but they’re super sheer, so I can’t really tell the difference between them. Juicy Peach and Fresh Strawberry look pretty much the same, but that’s OK, because they’re just TOO CUTE.

They’re just basic balms, but oh, yeah — they taste and smell like gummy ? bears, too.

BOOM. 🙂

VERDICT: Need!

Revlon Kiss Balm Lip Balms ingredients
Avobenzone 2.0%, Octinoxate 7.5%, Oxybenzone 3.0%. Other Ingredients: Polybutene, Diisostearyl Malate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Polyethylene, Ozokerite, Diisopropyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Cera Alba ((Beeswax) Cire D Abeille), Parfum (Fragrance), Flavor, Punica Granatum Seed Oil, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seed Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Cetyl Palmitate, Benzoic Acid, Oxidized Polyethylene, BHT, Silica, Sodium Saccharin, Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Benzyl Alcohol, Citral, Amyl Cinnamal, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Linalool

2. Herbal Essences Bio:Renew Volume Arabica Coffee Fruit Shampoo and Conditioner ($5.99 each)

herbal essences volume arabica coffee fruit — Herbal Essences Bio:Renew Volume Arabica Coffee Fruit Shampoo and Conditioner ($5.99 each)

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Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium Looks Like Unicorn Tears…or a Runnier, Subtler Version of Strobe Cream

May 25th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

No worries! Allow me to allay your fears. No, you do not need to know the color of your aura in order to wear the new Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium.

Incidentally, my aura is bright yellow and orange, but the only reason I know that is because a friendly mystic spontaneously read my aura in a restroom inside the Bellagio Casino in Last Vegas.

Lucky me!

Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium is an opalescent liquid serum that you can mix with your foundation for a dewy, glowing finish.

The color is… Well, it’s… It isn’t easy to describe, but I’m gonna do my best here. It’s a sheer opalescent white with pink pearl particles that are so barely there that you have to squint to see them.

Basically, it looks like unicorn ? tears, or a runnier, subtler version of MAC Strobe Cream.

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Funky Bullets! A Quick Look at a Few Shades From the Estée Lauder Pure Color Love Lipstick Line

May 25th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

estee lauder pure color love lipstick — From the left: four of 30 Estée Lauder Pure Love Lipsticks ($22 each) in Shock & Awe, Blase Buff, Radical Chic and Raw Sugar

I can’t be the only person out there whose first thought when they saw these funky angled bullets was to use them as a whistle…

estee lauder pure color love lipstick k — Wearing and holding Radical Chic

I just can’t be!

For the record, you can apply the Estée Lauder Pure Love Lipsticks ($22 each) straight from the bullets, then rub your lips together to move the lipstick around, but the color concentrates in the middle and feathers out unevenly to where it ends up looking like you were trying to recreate something editorial, chic and Vogue-like but didn’t quite get there…

The angled tip does work well, especially for getting into the corners and around the edges of your lips, but it’s a tad awkward to wield at first.

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