Makeup

Be Sleek, Be Modern and b. unique With the lilah b. Holiday Set

November 1st, 2016 by Karen 10 Comments

lilah b unique holiday set — It’s like a choose your own beauty adventure!

Can you remember the last time you loved every single item in a holiday makeup set?

I can’t. There’s always that one wonky eyeshadow I’ll never wear or a gloss I’m just not into. There’s always that one thing, right?

Over at lilah b., they’re doing things a little differently. It’s kind of like those fast food restaurant menus where you pick two items, or in this case, where you pick three…

OK, hear me out. 🙂

You hop onto their website, and pick three items from their permanent line. The kit istself is limited edition, but the products are perm.

You pick your first item, then your second, then your third, and if you want to get two eyeshadow quads and a powder foundation, that’s cool. Or, if you wanna get three brushes or three lip and cheek duos, that’s cool, too. The price adjusts accordingly.

Speaking of that, lilah b. is a luxury line. That’s how they brand themselves, and everything is on the more expensive side. The eyeshadow quads, for example, are $58 each, while the lip and cheek duos are $46.

But with the b. unique Holiday Set, you also get this really cute vegan clutch that makes me wish I had a fancy party to go to, just so I could carry it around with me and worry about people spilling red wine on it.

The kit seems very true to lilah b.’s aesthetic to me. Their tagline is “With less, you are more,” which means…you know, they aren’t all about piling on the makeup. They’re more about enhancing your natural beauty by adding a little color here and there.

Then, with your three items and your purse, you’re off to the ball, Cinderella! 🙂 If you’re a Bobbi girl, take a look at the line.

[Continue reading…]

Laura Mercier Double Impact Eye Colour Collection | Cool Gray Smoky Eyes and Smoky Pants!

October 28th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

laura mercier double impact eye colour collection swatches — Smoky eyes and smoky pants!

Who wouldn’t want to wear eye makeup that matches their smoky pants??

The first thing I saw when I opened this $58 Laura Mercier Double Impact Eye Colour Collection palette was that bottom row of cool-toned greys. Some of ’em looked a little blue, and I thought, “These totally look like the crazy pants my mom got me from Costco.”

Girl, these pants are everywhere! I am not kidding. Shortly after my mom got them for me, El Hub and I were driving through China Town in the city, and I saw this cute older Chinese lady walking through the crowd with a big bag of vegetables. “Look!” I said to El Hub. “She’s wearing my smoky pants!”

And then last month at our hotel in Tahoe while we were waiting in the lobby to check in, I saw a lady walking away from me with her roller bag and her cute little butt clad in these smoky pants.

I whispered, “She’s wearing my smoky pants…”

They’re freaking everywhere.

They’re grey with a sort of a blue tinge, but I don’t know. I can’t always tell with my eyes. Note to self: Make an appointment with the optometrist.

So I think I see a little blue in the pants, and I was hoping that the bottom row of colors in this palette would have a bluish tint, too, because I love bluish greys.

But when I got the shadows on my lids, they looked straight-up cool-toned grey, which is also fine…’cause I also love cool-toned greys, especially in smoky looks.

So…I think I might be spoiled for life by the super pigmented Victoria Beckham X Estée Lauder palette because a layer or two with it and I’m done, but these shadows are sheerer than that.

I have to pat some on, buff it out, then pat some more, then buff that out, then pat even more, and then buff that out again.

I admit that I’m out of practice with slightly complicated, moderately intense looks, but it still seem like I’m piling a lot of this makeup on. Just an FYI.

And the fallout is fairly intense. I had a lot under my eyes when I did this look, especially when I used that dark navy blue shade. If you do your eyes first, then clean up, you’ll be fine.

Laura Mercier Double Impact Eye Colour Collection
$58, limited edition from the holiday 2016 collection, available now
12 shades

“The mirrored palette features 9 matte and 3 sateen-shimmer eye shadow shades in a range from light to dark. The versatile palette can take eyes from neutral day to sultry night. Universally flattering, light reflecting sateen-shimmer shades add dimension and enhance brightness. A value of $96.”

— lauramercier.com

Shades:

9 Matte (1g / 0.03 oz each) — Dune, Wind, Earth, Bone, Love Potion, Venemous, Poison, Hypnotic, Voodoo

True Matte shades (Classic Matte) that are best applied with Eye Colour Brush: Dune, Wind, Earth, Bone

NEW Sateen Matte shades (Matte with hidden pearl) that are best applied with Eye Colour Brush: Love Potion, Venomous, Poison, Hypnotic,Voodoo

1 Crushed Pearl (all pearl, creamy to the touch that is best applied with both fingers and Eye Colour Brush) (1g / 0.03 oz): Spirit

2 Discrete Pearl (refined shimmer, creamy to the touch that is best applied with both fingers and Eye Colour Brush) (0.8g / 0.028 oz each): Rock (to use for boost of smoke), Dust (to blend finishing lines or highlight)

ADDITIONAL MAKEUP WORN IN THIS LOOK
CHEEKS: Cheeks MAC Studio Quicktriks Stick in Ginger Spiked/Counterpoint ($32)

LIPS: theBalm Pickup Liners in Acute One ($17.50), MAC Big Baby Plushglass ($21), Victoria Beckham X Estee Lauder Moroccan Heat Lip Gloss ($36)

FACE: Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick in Beige ($46), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden ($33)

The Laura Mecier Double Impact Colour Collection Palette packaging — Inside the palette

[Continue reading…]

The Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette | Color Blocked Rainbow Eyes

October 27th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

I’m staring out a window right now, a.k.a. writing, and it’s really dark outside! It’s the late afternoon, it’s cloudy, and it looks like it’s gonna rain. I don’t see any rainbows…yet.

I’m thinking that when I go out to go run some errands, I should probably wear layers, because when you live in California, that’s what you do. You wear layers. You kind of expect it. But with some things, like Urban Decay eyeshadows, I don’t expect to have to wear layers. Their shadows are usually super pigmented. Yeah, there’s a lot of fallout, too, and I expect that. But I also expect potent pigments and a formula that’s easy to blend.

That’s why I like them, and that’s also why I didn’t expect to have to do a lot of layering with the new $55 Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette.

Alas, that was not the case.

I ended up doing lots of layers with this color blocked rainbow eye look — many more than I expected to. Sometimes it took me four or five layers to get really punchy color. With the bright orange spotlight on that one lid, I even ended up having to wet my brush to intensify it.

I got the idea for this look from the bejeweled, sparkly UD logo on the front of the palette, with the colors moving into each other like a gradient. I thought, “Oh, that’s some neat color blocking. Why don’t I try that on my eyes?”

Plus, it’s a rainbow eyeshadow palette. I mean, come on. My first inclination was to use a shimmery olive and put some browns in the crease, but that would have been a missed opportunity, right? I had to taste the rainbow.

Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette
$55, limited edition and available now
21 shades (18 new shades, three exclusives from past palettes)
Includes a dual-ended eyeshadow brush
It’s a followup to 2015’s Urban Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette.

“We organized the shadows by color family, creating a rainbow of ombré trios: pinks, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, and even a wildcard row that goes from white to black. The end result? A palette that not only looks stunning, but also delivers tons of options. Create dimensional ombré looks by working within the color-coordinated trios or experiment with multiple shade groups at once. With 18 NEW shades, three exclusives from past palettes, and a wide range of finishes, you’ll never run out of options.”

— urbandecay.com

Shades:

Alchemy (deep fuchsia satin)
Gossip (bright metallic pink w/subtle floating pearl)
Paranoia (soft metallic blue-pink)
Warning (deep metallic copper)
Seize (bright metallic coral w/subtle floating pearl)
Jones (metallic orange w/subtle floating pearl)
Midnight Blaze (black matte w/yellow-gold pearl)
Calavera (bright yellow matte w/subtle floating pearl)
Goldmine (metallic yellow-gold)
Hundred (deep metallic forest green)
Hatter (vibrant green w/tonal micro-sparkle)
Mean (bright metallic lime green)
Minx (deep navy matte w/floating tonal pearl)
Blindsided (bright teal blue matte w/floating pearl)
Metamorphosis (vibrant periwinkle blue w/micro-sparkle)
Delirious (deep plum matte w/subtle floating pearl)
Sketch (metallic medium purple)
Faded (lavender w/gold shimmer)
Platonic (black matte w/iridescent glitter)
Iced (oyster silver w/shimmer)
Bump (white matte)

Fill Weight: 21 x 1.2 g POIDS NET/NET WT. 21 x 0.04 oz

[Continue reading…]

ChapStick Total Hydration Moisture + Tint Is Giving Me ChapStick Nostalgia

October 26th, 2016 by Karen 20 Comments

When I was in elementary school, I wasn’t one of the cool girls. I didn’t have Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers or anything fancy like that. I had a tube of ChapStick, but believe me, for a while, that ChapStick was my most coveted possession in the whole wide world. I loved it to bits because it was as close as I was allowed to get to wearing makeup, and these new $4.99 ChapStick Total Hydration Moisture + Tints kinda make me feel the same way.

I mean, they’re totally different, but eight-year-old me probably would have passed out if I’d been given one of these, feeling like, “Oh, forbidden lipstick!”

There are three shades — Merlot, Coral Blush and Rose Petal — and they’re billed as 100% natural. I see lots of oils and butters in the ingredient list, like sunflower oil and jojoba, and I like that they’re all the way up at the top.

I wear these to work out, which is nothing compared to the glamorous ladies who go to my exercise class. They wear full-on jewelry with a full face of makeup and their hair done. I just put on a little bit of ChapStick, but it’s enough to make me not feel like death warmed over when I see myself in the mirror. 🙂

They’re very similar to Burt’s Bees, so if you like Burt’s, you might like these too.

[Continue reading…]

The It Cosmetics Holiday 2016 Collection

October 25th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

it cosmetics holiday 2016 city chic top — The It Cosmetics Holiday 2016 Collection

I’m wearing the It Cosmetics Je Ne Sais Quoi Complexion Perfection Palette this afternoon, and when I opened the palette earlier today, I thought, “Ooh! Look at all the warm tones…”

I got super excited. Then I got even MORE excited when I saw that one of the pans, the warm-looking bronzer, is called Sunshine in a Compact.

Ah… I was all mentally prepared for a warm-toned experience, like the makeup equivalent of a week on Kauai — you know, coconut in one hand, camera in the other, because, seriously, who goes to the beach lugging around a massive camera?

This girl. 🙂

Anywho, when I actually put on the bronzer, I quickly realized that it isn’t as warm as I thought. It’s actually pretty cool-toned and sheer, so I think that lighter lasses who are cool-toned will appreciate it more.

I mean, I know that I talk about wearing cool-toned colors all the time, like the other day, when I was talking about cool-toned red lipsticks and how I like to wear them even though I’m warm-toned. I do like the contrast of a cool-toned lip on warm skin, and sometimes I like wearing cool-toned eyeshadows for the same reason. I think that because of the contrast, my lips look more…structured, and the colors don’t get lost as easily on my skin.

But I feel like some cool-toned blushes and highlighters look jarring on my skin tone, especially on large patches of skin, like my cheeks and upper cheekbones.

Something about it doesn’t look quite right to my eye.

There are some other things in the collection as well, like a couple of ornaments and two cute brush kits.

(Side note: How cool would that be? A Christmas tree covered in makeup ornaments?)

One of the brush sets has elegant rosy gold handles, while the other one’s handles are sparkly silver. All of the brushes in both sets are full size.

If I were a Mariah Carey drag queen, I would totally want the sparkly brushes on my makeup vanité.

Yes, I just said “vanité.”

By the way, the glitter on the handles doesn’t come off, which is nice to know, because if it did that would be a bummer.

City Chic 5-Piece Ultra Luxe Skin-Loving Brush Set + Exclusive Case ($68) — New, limited edition

All That Glitters 5-Piece Brush Set + Exclusive Shimmering Case ($58) — New, limited edition (Ulta exclusive)

Je Ne Sais Quoi Complexion Perfection Palette ($42) — New, permanent

Confidence in a Cream Transforming Moisturizing Super Cream Ornament ($16) — New, limited edition

Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara Ornament ($12) — New, limited edition

it cosmetics holiday 2016 je ne sais quoi complexion perfection — Je Ne Sais Quoi Complexion Perfection Palette

[Continue reading…]

A Bronzed Brown Victoria Beckham-Inspired Look With the Victoria Beckham X Estée Lauder Collection

October 20th, 2016 by Karen 19 Comments

estee lauder victoria beckham collection — The Eye Palette, Bronzer, Lip Gloss and one of the Lipsticks from the Victoria Beckham X Estée Lauder collection

The right thing to do… No — the only thing to do when you’re trying to channel Victoria Beckham’s makeup on any given day is to not smile when you take your pics, because when does V.B. ever smile when she’s posing for a shoot?

Posh! The last time was, like, never. She’s always serving so much face at the camera. She looks like she’s about to kick your @ss, but at the same time she’d do it in 5-inch heels wearing Versace.

The girl, she works it.

If the Victoria Beckham X Estée Lauder collection looks expensive, that’s because it is. The products (and prices) are easily Tom Ford comparable.

I hope you’re sitting down for this…but there’s a $95 eye palette.

(!)

I used it and a few other pieces from the collection for this look, which was my attempt to channel Victoria Beckham today, even though I know that I don’t look anything like her.

Unlike her, I don’t have cheekbones for days, but I tried to do some V.B.-inspired stuff. Like, her lids usually look a little glossy and smoky, and she has that signature black liner look, but what really distinguishes her makeup for me is that it always looks a little imperfect…but in the most perfect way. It’s a little messy, always a little undone, but always on purpose.

So, yeah, the Eye Palette? Epic. Granted, you can find jewel tones in other lines, but these are perfect.

When I did this look, I did my eyes first thinking that I’d have to clean up and do a lot of layering, because I thought, Estée Lauder, so I didn’t expect a lot of pigment, but that first layer of bronze… So. Much. Pigment.

I started with the reddish bronze and the medium brown, and both smoked out beautifully. I barely had to move my brush across my lids. But then I reminded myself, “This is $95. Don’t fall in love.”

So, so good, and all of the shadows are like that — pigmented, and they blend perfectly.

Victoria Beckham X Estée Lauder
Limited edition 12-piece collection
Available now at select Estée Lauder counters and net-a-porter.com
#VBxEsteeLauder

Eye Palette ($95)

Java Sun Bronzer ($65)

Moroccan Heat Lip Gloss ($36)

Brazilian Nude Lipstick ($45)

estee lauder victoria beckham — I’m wearing the Victoria Beckham X Estée Lauder Eye Palette, Java Sun Bronzer and Moroccan Heat Lip Gloss

[Continue reading…]

NARS Sarah Moon Glass Metropolis Mini Audacious Lipstick Coffret Set for Holiday 2016

October 20th, 2016 by Karen 18 Comments

nars glass metropolis sarah — Wearing NARS Audacious Lipstick in Sarah from the Glass Metropolis Mini Audacious Lipstick Coffret ($125)

You could do curls with this set or have a JLo Enough moment! Man, it’s heavy. I think the top might actually be made of glass.

Give me these mini lipsticks like the eight in the NARS Sarah Moon Glass Metropolois Mini Audacious Lipstick Coffret Set any day over a lipstick palette. They’re pocket-sized and convenient, so you can bring one of them with you. You don’t even need a lip brush.

You might recognize some of them from the permanent line. All of them are re-promotes except for Sarah, one of the nudes.

The minis are about half the size of a full-size NARS Audacious Lipstick (0.08 ounces vs. 0.14), and the set is $125. That isn’t cheap but, you know…eight of them at one time, and a regular full-size Audacious is $32.

I wear the Audacious Lipsticks all the time, but I mostly wear the nudes. The bulk of the colors in this set, however, lean toward reds and darker purply maroons.

The reason I don’t wear the darker shades as much is because they tend to grab all of my little lip flakes, and the nudes just look smoother to me. I don’t know why… Maybe I have freakish lips.

Many of these eight are dark, so unless you have flawless, fantastically smooth lips — and if you do, you have to give me your secret because I need to know — they might be hard to pull off.

Some of them also look pretty similar to me…

nars glass metropolis full size — With a full-size Audacious Lipstick for scale

nars glass metropolis — With an iPhone 6S Plus for scale (case is the Lipstick Love Lattes)

[Continue reading…]

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: Plum Eye Bag and Smoky Eye Bag

October 18th, 2016 by Karen 8 Comments

mac nutcracker sweet plum eye bag — Wearing from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Plum Eye Bag, Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Stormy Pink, Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Smoky Mauve, False Lashes Mascara, and the Technakohl Liner in Purple Dash. Also wearing NARS Blush in Unwritten on my cheeks and MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Kingdom of Sweets.

These products suffer from an unfortunate name…

Eye Bags.

I keep thinking of my under-eye bags and, like, are these going to make my eye bags looks worse?? Why would I want something called an “eye bag”?

Haha!

OK, I think they meant to say that they’re bags that contain products for your eyes, and not that they’re designed to give you eye bags.

I get it.

There are two of ’em in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet collection — one Smoky, one Plum — and each one comes with a Paint Pot, a Technakohl Liner, an Extra Dimension Eye Shadow and a False Lashe Mascara, and surprise! — they’re all full size. So you get all that stuff and a bag for your eye bag products for $42.50, which is a pretty good price, seeing as how a Paint Pot is normally $22 and an Eye Shadow is $20.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

From reading about these before getting my hands on them, I thought I was gonna be all about the Smoky Bag because I love smoky looks, but nuh-uh. The Smoky one? Just OK. Plum is where it’s at.

Turns out the Smoky one is just too frosty for me — the combination of the frosty Paint Pot, and then when you put the frosty Extra Dimension Eye Shadow on top of that, and then the black liner, Graphblack (old-school fave), it’s just too much frost. For me, it’s just too shiny, but if you like super shiny, you may like the Smoky one more.

I like the Plum one’s mix of finishes. Like, you get the matte base, so you get a little of the matte peeking through when you pop the shinier Eye Shadow on top, so it seems more complex and elegant. It doesn’t just look like a frost fest, vis-à-vis the Smoky Eye Bag.

I keep laughing… Smoky Eye Bag. 🙂

The Plum Eye Bag ($42.50)
Stormy Pink Pro Longwear Paint Pot permanent)
Smoky Mauve Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Smoky Mauve (permanent)
Technakohl Liner in Purple Dash (permanent)
False Lashes Mascara (permanent)
All are full size

The Smoky Eye Bag ($42.50)
Dream Scene Pro Longwear Paint Pot (not sure if it’s a re-promote, but I can’t remember seeing it before)
Fathoms Deep Extra Dimension Eye Shadow (permanent)
Technakohl Liner in Graphblack (permanent)
False Lashes Mascara (permanent)
All are full size

mac nutcracker sweet eye bags — The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Eye Bags with an iPhone 6S Plus for scale

[Continue reading…]