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Makeup

How to Do a Smudgy Liner Daytime Smoky Eye | Tutorial

October 16th, 2015 by Karen 28 Comments

smudgy liner daytime smoky eye

Ah, smoky eyes… How I love, love, LOVE thee.

I love you for your telenovela-style drama, of course, but more than that — I love your gymnastic-caliber flexibility. There are so many ways to creatively interpret smoky eyes, and one of my favorites is this daytime eye look with smudgy liner.

It’s easier than it looks.

No, really! You won’t need a quadrillion brushes or eyeshadows. Just four brushes — a flat eyeshadow brush, a domed blending brush, a tapered blending brush and an angled eyeliner brush — and four eyeshadows, and for the shadows I suggest choosing a progression of colors from darkest to lightest in any finishes that move you from matte, to shimmer, to satin, etc.

smudgy liner daytime smoky eye closeup

For daytime smoky eyes, I do prefer mattes, though, more than shimmers, because the flatter finish says to me, “Let’s set a meeting to work on the fourth-quarter TPS reports,” as opposed to, “Let’s meet at da club to freak on some hot dudes.”

As for your colors, you’ll need a light shade to highlight your brown bone, a slightly darker crease color around your skin tone or one or two shade darker, a color slightly darker than that for the “smoke” on your lids, and then another even darker shade to smudge the eyeliner we’ll be using.

For this look, I went with four shades from the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette, namely light beige Thirteen, which I’m using as my highlight shade; peachy taupe Combust, which I’m using as my crease shade; dark brown Whiskey, which I’m using as my lid shade; and dark gray Password to smudge the liner.

urban decay naked smoky
Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette, $54

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There are 28 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Makeup Tips/How To, Urban Decay

5 Lavish, Lovely Berry Lipsticks to Fall for This Fall

October 15th, 2015 by Karen 27 Comments

5 berry lipsticks for fall

Fall.

They say it’s fall, and it did feel like fall here about a week ago. It was cloudy and chilly, and there were leaves falling everywhere outside, but then summer struck back and said, “CUT! Hold your horses! I’m not ready to go…” We had another string of 80- and 90-degree days.

Sooner or later, though, it’ll get cooler and stay that way. It’s a guarantee. 🙁 And when it happens, I’ll be ready for it with these five fall-friendly berry lipsticks.

1. NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park ($26)

nars hyde park
NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park

I really like Reddish berry Hyde Park with bronze, burgundy and brown looks. And even cranberry smoky eyes (Ooh! — give it try sometime with a warm and shimmery cranberry on your lids and a matte orangey brown in the crease). The pencil shape makes it easy to line and fill in my lips without needing a lip liner, so yay for skipping steps! Hyde Park is available now at NARS counters, stores and online.

2. Tom Ford Lip Color Matte in Plum Lush ($52)

tom ford plum lush
Tom Ford Lip Color Matte in Plum Lush

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There are 27 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, MAC Makeup, Makeup, NARS, Tom Ford Beauty, Urban Decay

MAC Holiday 2015 | Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick

October 14th, 2015 by Karen 7 Comments

mac enchanted eve pink lipstick
The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick ($25; coming Oct. 18 to the MAC website and Oct. 22 to MAC counters and stores), one of two Lip Compacts in the new holiday collection

Ooh! All three of the pinks in the MAC Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick look like good “going out” colors, but if you do go out and bring this compact along, don’t forget to also bring a lip brush — that is, unless you don’t mind applying lipstick with your fingers in the bathroom at the club, and can you ever remember seeing a “clean” bathroom at da club??

Yeah, I didn’t think so…

One of two lip palettes in the new MAC holiday collection (the other one has corals), Pink Lipstick arrives with the rest of the collection Oct. 18 to the MAC website and at counters and stores Oct. 22, and it comes packed with three party-ready pinks — a light pastel pink called Saint Germain, a dark fuchsia called Let’s Rendezvous and a deep pinkish purple called Wined + Dined.

mac enchanted eve pink lipstick st germain
MAC Amplified Cream Lipstick in Saint Germain

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There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, MAC Makeup, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

Try the LORAC Mega Pro Palette 2 for Pigmented, Hyper-Blended Eye Looks

October 13th, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

lorac mega pro 2 palette
Wearing the $59 LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette on my eyes

WARNING: Try not to think too hard about the name of the new LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette, because it could leave your head spinning, as it has mine.

“Mega” usually means significant or major, so does that mean that you have to be a major pro to use it? And what kind of pro are we talking about? Because I’m a major pro at hoarding eyeshadow palettes. I’m also a mega pro when it comes to obsessing over the neighborhood cats. 🙂 And losing socks. I wonder… Do any of those talents apply to LORAC Mega Pro 2?

Feel free to not consider the above; otherwise, we could be here for days, and mama needs her Starbucks.

lorac mega pro 2 palette
The LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette ($59)

Basically, the $59 LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette, which is available now exclusively at Ulta, could very well fool the world into thinking that you’re a world-class, “mega pro” makeup artist, even if your blending skills are mediocre.

If you like pigmented, hyper-blended eye looks, you’ll probably have a great time with it.

But there’s a catch (and it’s a big one). Before we get to it, though, first, some background…

lorac mega pro 2 palette
The LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette ($59)

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There are 11 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: LORAC, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Navy Eyeshadow X 6 Palette

October 12th, 2015 by Karen 40 Comments

mac enchanted eve eyes navy
The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Eyes/Navy Eyeshadow X 6 Palette ($39.50), one of three Enchanted Eve Eyeshadow X6 palettes in the holiday collection

Henceforth, 2015 will be forever etched into my memory as “The Year MAC Did Bladerunner Cell Phone Meets Atari 2600 Packaging for Their Eyeshadow Palettes.”

mac enchanted eve eyes navy 1
Mercury Alpha Corporation (M.A.C.) Digital Transponder or MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Eyes/Navy Palette? You be the judge…

Gotta love the retrofuturistic vibe!

Buuut, as far as the eyeshadows themselves? Well, I was wondering…is it just me, or does it seem like some of the MAC holiday palettes have fallen short over the past few years? Like they just haven’t risen to the same level of quality as the singles in the permanent line?

I wore the Enchanted Eve Navy Eyeshadow X 6 Palette today ($39.50; limited edition and coming to the MAC website Oct. 18 and to MAC stores and counters Oct. 22) and spent what felt like an unusually long time building up the colors. The powders feel harder and rougher than the eyeshadow singles in the permanent line, and it leads to choppier application and just generally more difficulty blending.

mac enchanted eve eyes navy k
Wearing MAC Enchanted Eye Eyes/Navy on my lids and lower lash line; lips are MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Double-Time with MAC Lipstick in Creme D’Nude

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There are 40 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, MAC Makeup, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

The Tarte Light of the Party Holiday 2015 Makeup Case in Action: Smoky Brown Eyes, False Lashes and Fuchsia Lips

October 10th, 2015 by Karen 10 Comments

tarte light of the party

Dude, I wish I’d gone to a party tonight wearing this look I did with the new Tarte Light of the Party set from the holiday 2015 collection, but instead of rocking out, I watched three episodes of 90210 (the original 1990s series; I’m re-watching it on Hulu) and ate cookies with my cat on the couch.

For what it’s worth, I did seriously consider going to the Starbucks down the street to get something warm and sweet (and decaf) and to get my butt out of the house, but I wussed out…

I do have to say, though, that if there is a beverage at Starbucks worthy of this kind of va-va-va-voom makeup, it has to be their Pumpkin Spice Latte, because those things are a party in yo’ mouth. I estimate the number of Pumpkin Spice Lattes I’ve had over the past month to be somewhere between obnoxious and obscene.

tarte light of the party

This was the makeup look I was wearing in the Tarte Holiday 2015 video — smoky brown eyes and matte fuchsia lips.

The eyeshadows are from Light of the Party ($59; it’s available now exclusively at Sephora), and that fun fuchsia lip — it’s called All Fired Up — is from the MAC Magic of the Night holiday color collection, which’ll be available on the MAC website starting October 18, and then a few days later in stores on October 22.

tarte light of the party
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There are 10 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face of the Day (FOTD), Makeup, Tarte

A Look With the MAC Enchanted Eve Eye and Face Palette/Cool: Cool-Toned Gray and Blue Eyes, Rosy Cheeks and Plum Lips

October 9th, 2015 by Karen 7 Comments

mac enchanted eye face palette cool

My skin may have a sunny disposition — i.e., I’m warm toned — but sometimes I like playing it cool with cool-toned grays, browns and blues like the ones I’m wearing here.

I’m wearing the new MAC Enchanted Eve Eye and Face Palette/Cool ($49.50), one of the two eye and face palettes in the MAC holiday 2015 collection.

mac enchanted eye face palette cool
MAC Enchanted Eve Eye and Face Palette/Cool ($49.50)

Despite seeming like a strange combo, cool tones don’t have to clash with warm-toned skin. Sometimes I think they look really cool! 🙂

This look didn’t take long, either. I used my trusty iPhone timer trick. I set it for 25 minutes, and then I committed to mostly sticking to the colors in the palette, because it has eyeshadows, a blush, two lipsticks and a highlighter, so most of what I needed was right there (yay for convenience!).

mac enchanted eye face palette cool
The MAC Enchanted Eve Eye and Face Palette/Cool packaging…

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There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face of the Day (FOTD), MAC Makeup, Makeup

Tarte Holiday 2015 Collection Highlights

October 9th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Zac Posen, my favorite eye-rolling judge on a fashion reality TV show
SUBJECT: These Tarte holiday 2015 collection palettes

My darling, please, when you can fit into your busy schedule, I would LOVE a few matching outfits to go with these new Tarte holiday 2015 collection palettes. I’m talking dresses, and if it’s not too much trouble, could you also make something stylish for my plus-size tabby cat?

Incidentally, do you do maternity wear?? Or fabulous feline fashion?

Never mind. To quote Tim Gunn, your charming coworker, I’m sure you’ll “make it work.”

Love,
Karen (Makeup and Beauty Blog)

I got momentarily lost in a sequin-fueled reverie this afternoon while I ooh’d and ahh’d over these two Tarte palettes from two of the brand’s new holiday 2015 collection sets (which are on counters right meow). I don’t know how many minutes passed before I realized, “Oh, right! I should probably put on my makeup now.” LOL!

Not knowing where to start, I defaulted to my makeup happy place — smoky brown eyes, big lashes and bold lips — but I see a lot of other looks with these in my immediate future.

The two sets here are called Light of the Party ($59) and Greatest Glitz ($49), and they’re both very well balanced, with a good mix of mattes and shimmers, cool and warm tones, and shades for everyday makeup and evenings on the town. If you like traditionally pretty looks of the kind that celebs like to wear on the red carpet, I think you’ll really like them both. They’re two of my favorite things from the Tarte holiday 2015 collection.

Both sets include multiple pieces, and here are pictures, but for the full 411 on both sets, check out the video at the top.

The Tarte Light of the Party set ($59)

tarte holiday 2015 light of the party

tarte holiday 2015 light of the party

tarte holiday 2015 light of the party
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There are 13 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Collections, Makeup, Tarte

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