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
Carrie & Big? You gotta be kitten me! I think Carrie & Aiden would’ve been a far better name for this new $34 Too Faced Soul Mates Blushing Bronzer (it’s one of two), but that’s because I’ll never, ever, EVER get over how Big stood up Carrie at the wedding. I’m all for forgiveness, but if some dude left my BFF hanging in her big white dress, I would kick that man’s booty from here to next Tuesday.
Team Aiden 4 life! 🙂
Now where was I…?
Oh! — these new cuties. So adorbs. I almost can’t take it.
To think that once upon a time, many, many moons ago, gorgeously glowing skin was just something that happened sometimes on one of Mother Nature’s whims.
“Ooh! My cheeks are a little oilier than usual today? Woot! That means my skin will glow like Sheila’s, the cave-girl who lives down the way.”
Well, OK, that’s probably not exactly how it went down back in prehistoric days…but throw a girl a bone here please! I had awful insomnia last night (stayed up too late watching TV), so it’s the best I can do under the circumstances.
I did have a point though…
Now that we’re modern women living in modern times, we have access to a much wider range of illuminators than ever before, from frosty highlighters that leave your cheekbones lookin’ like Rihanna’s in a video (shine bright like a diamond!), to shimmers so soft that you can barely see their candlelit glow on your skin, and everything in between.
Dolce & Gabbana’s new six-piece holiday 2014 collection has a very interesting illuminator named Eva ($51, called The Illuminator in Eva; there’s also a bronzer in the collection called Desert), a creamy beige face powder blended with tiny flecks of gold glitter. It has a soft, sheen-like finish that reminds me of the Hourglass Ambient Powders, only the sparkly flecks seem finer…
They create a slightly different effect that’s flat-out gorgeous.
Available now in a limited edition holiday version with a pretty design on the pan (but also available in the permanent line) online and at Dolce & Gabbana counters.
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The intimidation factor with Make Up For Ever’s Studio Case ($59.50) is high…
If I were unable to tell the difference between a domed brush and a shader brush, or the words “lid” and “crease” made me immediately think of mason jars and those ubiquitous pressed khaki pants worn by tech dudes, I may have just cruised right by the sleek black Studio Case and thought, “That is some scary sh*t.”
But not “scary” as in The Taking of Deborah Logan, which scared the living bejeezus out of me, but scary as in daunting as all hell — as in, you can only be allowed in its presence if you wear a brush belt around your hips at work.
The question is, does one require an advanced certificate from the Tabs the Cat School of Makeup Artistry (est. 2007) to beat major face with this kit?
No, I don’t think so… Not after seeing it up close.
In fact, the products in the case are surprisingly user-friendly, thanks, in part, to the way MUFE organized the 12 shadows (you can also pop the palette out of the case if you want).
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Layers. They’re not just for onions, cakes and Godfather movies anymore. (No kidding! It took me years to figure out what was really going on with the Tattaglias and Barzinis.)
Layers are also for makeup — which are sometimes on your face, and sometimes in the construction of your palettes, like what Le Metier de Beaute does with their signature stacked Kaleidoscope pans.
So fun! I love how they float in and out of their compacts like silent kitty cat paws/covert makeup ninjas…
The brand’s two latest layered limited edition Kaleidoscope holiday palettes are a trip. For warm, smoldering gold, copper, pink and/or blue eyes and shiny pink and red lips, there’s the Obsidian Odyssey Lip and Cheek Kaleidoscope Palette ($125) and Obsidian Odyssey Eye Shadow Kaleidoscope Palette ($95).
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What’s gray, curvy and totally luxurious?
Um…good guess! But not quite. 🙂
Yeah, the new MAC Ultimate Lipsticks ($23) and Tabs definitely have a few things in common; both are gorgeous, and curvaceous, and look like they were sculpted by Michelangelo.
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Even though the pink and glitter in The Nutcracker Suite, Clinique’s new ballet-inspired holiday collection, are totally en pointe, they will not help you pirouette your way to ballet greatness.
But I can see why you might think they should…
After all, it does make a certain kind of sense to think that since your makeup looks like a ballerina’s from The Nutcracker, you should probably be able to dance like one, too, and then you bust out some pliés on your creaky knees and scowl at your ballet teacher when she says something snarky about your butt sticking out too far!
Er, well…maybe that’s just me and my childhood dance trauma.
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Clé de Peau Beauté Perfect Lash Mascara may be the most expensive mascara I’ve ever touched.
It’s $50! — a price that makes Guerlain Cils D’Enfer, Chanel Le Volume and YSL Faux Cils look like castoffs in a discount bin.
Logically, I know that it’s completely insane to even consider a mascara that costs as much as two bags of groceries at Trader Joe’s (that’s a lot of Pretzel Slims), but oh, my gosh, it’s the mutha-truckin’ ish.
I don’t have a lot to work with in the lash department naturally, but when I wear Perfect Lash, I look like I got lash extensions in Beverly Hills. My short, wispy lashes look impeccably long, lifted and defined, and I feel like a 1940s screen siren when she bats her eyes.
One layer works well, but I prefer two.
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Bangs and a British accent are partly responsible for attracting me to Eyeko makeup.
I desperately wanted to believe that lining my eyes, coating my lashes and filling in my brows with Eyeko products would summon the powers of makeup magic, so that suddenly, one misty morning, I’d awaken with fab fringe and a bangin’ British accent like Alexa Chun, the stylish model/TV presenter/writer and face of the Eyeko brand.
Hey, man, you never know… Stranger things have happened. 🙂
If, one day, I’m pimpin’ Lloyd Christmas hair in my pictures and start a post with, “I fancy a pasty this morning and a spot of tea!” you’ll know the deal.
I’ve been using some of Eyeko’s permanent collection products lately — a couple of their liquid liners, a mascara and a brow filler — and here are a few thoughts…
This waterproof liquid liner’s thin, flexible felt tip says “meow!” to the part of me that loves kitten flicks and skinny lines (it’s a BIG part). It’s preternaturally precise, but I have to make quite a few passes with it to get the color fully opaque, and that’s a bit of a bummer.
I’ve been using Mocha, the brown shade, but it’s also available in Ebony and Marine.
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