Makeup

Like a Good Pair of Kicks, Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel Offers Major Arch Support

July 25th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Tarte Amazonian Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe — Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe

Tarte’s new cruelty-free Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel ($21) comes in three shades, and the one we’re looking at today, Taupe, is actually nowhere near my natural brow color. It’s the lightest of the three shades, and the one best suited for blondes.

Buuut, I thought I might be able to use it for the inner part of my brows to do that whole ombre brow thing, or when I just feel like wearing my Lil’ Kim/Nicki Minaj wig to scare the UPS guy.

Good times, my friend… Good times. 🙂

Just to see how it would look, I also pulled the color all the way through my brown to the outer tail, and HOLY WOW MAMA! — this stuff is unbelievably pigmented.

Despite it being way too light for me to use as my primary brow gel, Taupe still completely covers Raul, also known as “the bald spot in my left brow.”

Taupe also keeps my stray hairs from flapping in the wind and has so much pigment that it even lightens the overall color of my dark brunette brows by several shades (only while I wear it, of course).

Kind of shocking, considering that the tiny brush, which doesn’t look like much, has bristles so small that they look like they wouldn’t be able to hold much product at all.

“No frickin’ way,” I thought the first time I saw it, but it works, both the brush and the gel. Together, they fill in all the sparse spots, lay down plenty of color (on the hairs and the skin), and corral those wayward hairs into place.

Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe — Taupe

It’s a firm, yet manageable hold, and I can still run a brush through my brows when the gel dries down if I want to, so the hold isn’t as firm or stiff as, say, Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel, which could hold those hairs down through a category 5 storm, I kid you not.

But it is firm enough to hold the hairs in place when I dance in front of my Beyonce fan. #truestory #dontjudge 🙂

Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe, before (left) and after (right) — Before (left) and after (right) Tarte Amazonian Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe

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The Tarte Colored Clay CC Eye Primer Stick: For Lids So Smooth It’s Criminal

July 24th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

For lids so smooth that people might think you sold your soul AND your cat to a sketchy character in a shady back-alley deal, there’s Tarte’s new cruelty-free Colored Clay CC Eye Primer Stick ($21).

I swear, this primer makes my lids, which are usually a hotbed of fine line action, look 10 years younger.

As it is in several of Tarte’s new fall products, Colored Clay is the star ingredient. It’s supposed to color correct itself on the skin, absorb oil, smooth the skin and, over time, reduce redness.

When I apply eyeshadows on top of it, I get about 8-10 hours of wear with very little creasing, and whatever I layer on top looks great — smooth, elegant, refined, and not heavy at all.

I just draw a bit of the creamy pinkish beige on my lids (twist up the pencil, and swipe directly on your skin), blend it out with a finger from lash line to brow bone, and that’s it. Products layered on top look exceptionally smooth, and I really do think my lids look younger.

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Shedding Some Light on the New Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencils in Cult, Lure, Lush, Minx and Plushie

July 24th, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

Your kitty nephew is shedding like crazy!

This happens every summer. The hair — it’s everywhere! I can’t escape it. It’s on my clothes, on my face, in my nostrils, on my lips, and it may or may not be in my belly button.

Speaking of shedding…these new $20 Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencils shed a lot, too.

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencils from the left: Cult, Lure, Lush, Minx and Plushie — From the left: Cult, Lure, Lush, Minx and Plushie

Within minutes of applying any of these five (there’s also a black shade, Black Velvet, previously released and not shown here) intensely pigmented liners on my lash and/or water lines, once they’ve dried down, little flecks and specks appear under my eyes, on my nose, on my cheeks, chin and upper lip.

That ish is all up in my grill!

New additions to UD’s famous 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil family, these Velvet cousins, which are waterproof and paraben-free, have a soft, powdery texture and a matte finish designed to create smokey, smudged out, super blended eye looks sans drama. #smokeyeyetillidie

You might recall the original smokey 24/7 Velvet shade, Black Velvet, which came out a while back. The five new shades here — Cult (a forest green), Lure (a gunmetal gray), Lush (a coffee brown), Minx (a sapphire blue) and Plushie (a deep eggplant) — are like her sassy sisters. They’re $20 each and new members of the permanent line.

Urban Decay 247 Velvet Glide On Eye Pencil Swatches clockwise from the purple shade in the lower left: Plushie, Cult, Lure, Lush and Minx — Swatches clockwise from the purple shade in the lower left: Plushie, Cult, Lure, Lush and Minx

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How Far Does Tarte Clean Slate Timeless Smoothing Primer Turn Back the Hands of Time?

July 23rd, 2014 by Karen 7 Comments

Tarte Clean Slate Timeless Smoothing Primer (2) — Tarte Clean Slate Timeless Smoothing Primer

If Father Time got his contractor’s license, he might invent something like Tarte’s new Clean Slate Timeless Smoothing Primer ($39). Designed to turn back the hands of time (that’s the idea at least), it works like makeup spackling paste.

A new addition to Tarte’s permanent line of cruelty-free cosmetics, it fills in pores and smoothes out fine lines and wrinkles, so skin looks a little blurred, and a little closer to flawless. It also preps the skin for foundation and other makeup layered on top.

I have to say, I like how lightweight it feels, and I dig the lemony scent, even though, yeah, I don’t feel like ’90s teenage Karen is staring back at me in the mirror when I wear it on my face.

Still, I think my skin does look smoother when I wear it, and my pores aren’t all up in my grill.

I guess in a way, maybe, it does turn back time a bit… Like perhaps six months to a year. 🙂

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Waterproof Wednesday: Tarte Amazonian Clay Dual Liner in Black/Bronze

July 23rd, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

Tarte Amazonian Clay Dual Liner Black Bronze — The new Tarte Amazonian Clay Dual Liner in Black/Bronze ($28), available now exclusively at Sephora

I originally intended to test the waterproof-ness of Tarte’s new limited edition Amazonian Clay Dual Liner ($28) by doing cannonballs at the pool today, but check it — that is not happening.

It’s drizzling and overcast outside and kinda cold actually, which is very unusual for us this time of year.

Weird.

Even so, in the interest of science (goooooo, science!), I did perform an improv waterproof experiment this morning while I exercised instead.

I popped the shimmery bronze shade on one eye and the matte black on the other…and then ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes like I was chasing Ryan Gosling. 🙂

Interestingly, this liner has a cream formula of the kind I’d typically use for softer, more diffused lines, but because of how pigmented and smooth it is, the edges turn out extremely sharp, and about as defined as the crisp lines I’d expect from a liquid liner.

And the velvety finish, while not as shiny as most liquid liners, has more oomph than a flat matte. I like to wear it with a shimmery eyeshadow on my lids because I love the way the two contrast — the velvety finish of the liner and the shiny eyeshadow.

Just adds another interesting visual element to yo’ makeup. 🙂

As Tabs is fond of pointing out, Tarte is a cruelty-free line, and they have mad love for Amazonian clay. It’s often up in the mix with their products, as it is in this liner.

The purpose is twofold. First, they say it makes for richer pigments that are intense enough to draw an opaque line in a single pass. Second, it’s supposed to be good for your skin by absorbing oil and smoothing out the texture.

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Recently Reformulated Rouge Bunny Rouge Witchery Modelling Mascara in Midnight Casts Its Spell on Even the Littlest Lashes

July 22nd, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

I’m always down for makeup magic. (Somebody pass girlfriend some eye of newt.)

Rouge Bunny Rouge Witchery Modelling Mascara ($29) leaves lashes so defined, separated and fanned out — even the tiniest little lashes at the corners — that I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they were made at Hogwarts.

That’s because magic is the idea behind Rouge Bunny Rouge Witchery Modelling Mascara and its new formula, which does not contain bat wings, frog toes, lizard legs, triethanolamine, silicone, fragrance or alcohol.

The creamy formula does, however, contain pure pigments, soft waxes keratin and conditioners to keep the mascara lightweight, flexible and easy to layer.

Seriously, pile that ish on! It does not clump.

I actually never tried the original Witchery formula, so I can’t compare this new version to that, but I can tell you how much I lurve it. 🙂

When it comes to getting those individual lashes separated and pinpoint defined, it’s bad@ss like a 20th-level wizard. The plastic brush works like a fine-toothed comb, drawing out even the littlest lashes from their secret hiding places.

Besides separating and darkening lashes (ooh, blacker than my cold, cold heart), Midnight also turns them into a ballerina — and by that I mean that it grants them excellent extension.

(Picture Ryan Gosling doing hot yoga.)

Wait, what?

I guess the most important question now is this: is Witchery perfect?

Is it the UFC-champion, gold-medal-winning tube of lash crack I’ve been looking for since, like, forever?

No, I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think it’s the world’s greatest mascara for lash curl or lift, or for increasing thickness at the base, although I do think it does some of that, but it’s a wizard when it comes to enchantingly dark, super separated lashes.

Witchery comes in two shades — Midnight, the deep black I’m wearing here on both my upper and lower lashes; and Golden Darkness, a dark auburn. They’re $29 each.

Rouge Bunny Rouge is sometimes still tough to find here in the U.S., but a few stores do carry the line, and they’re also available online at beautyhabit.com.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Witchery Modelling Mascara before (left) and after two coats (right) — Before (left) and after two coats (right)

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The Tarte Rainforest After Dark Colored Clay Eye & Cheek Palette: When This Snake Bites, It’s Good for Your Skin

July 22nd, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette — Wearing the new Tarte Rainforest After Dark Colored Clay Eye & Cheek Palette ($38) on my eyes and cheeks

Snakes.

Freak out, man! SNAKES! They’re all over Tarte’s fall collection, including the Rainforest After Dark Colored Clay Eye & Cheek Palette ($38), which is kind of like the star serpent of the nine-piece release slithering now across Tarte counters and online.

The collection includes both limited edition products and new pieces bound for the permanent line, with the After Dark palette being one of the limited edition items.

The palette houses nine powder products — six eyeshadows, a bronzer, a highlighter and a blush — in colors inspired by the deep orchid hues of a rainforest at dusk, and in true Tarte fashion, the whole enchilada is cruelty-free, and made without parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate or gluten.

Like many of Tarte’s products, this one is designed to deliver skin benefits which, in a way, I’m kind of conflicted about…

I mean, I love that whole idea — the idea of makeup that doubles as a skin care product — but I’m just not sure how well it works.

With serums and moisturizers, I can actually see and feel them being absorbed into my skin, but with makeup, it’s kind of just sitting right there on top, ya know?

Is it doing anything? I don’t know, but I figure it can’t hurt.

The secret ingredient in these is something Tarte calls colored clay, a super absorbent clay able to auto-magically color correct and address your specific skin and complexion concerns, and these powder definitely do absorb oil well.

Might be something to consider if you have very oily lids and/or cheeks.

The colors — plums, tans and golds — are all fairly neutral, and not too cool nor warm, making them good fits for a wide range of skin tones.

It’s hard to really mess up when using the eyeshadows, too, no matter how much I pack on, because they aren’t crazy pigmented (I’d say they’re about a medium). They blend out beautifully without looking too heavy.

I do notice a little fallout, but it’s not a big deal. Just tap off your brush first, or work it into the back of your hand.

In terms of performance, the eyeshadows put up major points. In a perfect world, though, I might darken the darker shades a bit.

As for the blush, wow, so beautiful. That matte plummy tone sure looks natural on the skin, but the Park Ave. Princess bronzer? Eh. I think that one’s just OK. Probably better suited for lighter skin tones than mine.

Oh, about the gold highlighter and gold eyeshadow — holy highlight that, man! We’re talking really, really shimmery.

All and all, I’d say it’s a lovely palette — perfect for gals/guys who like natural looks with a kick.

I usually prefer a little more oomph from my eyeshadows, but I still see a lot here I’m sure I’ll wear this fall.

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New Baked Goods From Chanel: The New Baked Formula Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadows for Fall 2014

July 21st, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

Wearing the new Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadow in Tissé Poésie on my eyes

Darling, you’re so fancy! You’re so fancy with your tweed shift dress and your strand o’ pearls and your Kate Spade purse and your boots with the fur…

Wait — the boots there took it in the wrong direction.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: sometimes drugstore just won’t do.

Although I love it. Don’t get me wrong, drugstore has its time and place, but sometimes it just won’t do, you know? Like when you’re heading to the Hamptons or Napa or a fancy to-do, and you want/need something a little more special or dressy than your usual fare.

Sometimes, you just want to treat yo’ self, and for those occasions, Chanel has new eyeshadow quads. 🙂

Yup, there’s some exciting stuff happening at Chanel this fall. They’re relaunching their famous Les 4 Ombres Quadra eyeshadows in a completely new baked formula.

Unlike the classic quads with the square pans, the pans in these new quads ($61 each and available now), which were inspired by Chanel’s vibrant tweed trappings, have a round shape and a baked formula.

The tweed theme is one Chanel has done before. You might remember the (now discontinued) tweed blushes from back in the day.

So, the theme isn’t a new one for Chanel, but they’ve taken it in a slightly different direction.

Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadows in Tissé Vendôme, Tissé Vénitien, Tissé Poésie, Tissé Rivoli, Tissé Mademoiselle and Tissé Poésie

The threads here are metaphorical, as in the relationship among the colors in each quad. Each quad includes the colors to do an entire eye look from start to finish. You have two medium tones for color and contrast, a deeper shade for contouring and a light shade to highlight and illuminate.

The new baked formula also lasts a very long time (7-8 hours on my combination dry/oily lids), so if you have an all-day affair, you can apply one of these in the morning on top of a primer — I like NARS Pro Prime, which is the one I’ve been using with these — and the shadows won’t crease or smudge.

And you can do a bunch of different looks with each of these quads. You could dress it down using one of the lighter medium shades all over your lids, and then maybe add the darkest shade on your lash lines to keep it really simple. Or, you could go fancy-pants on that @ss with something more complicated.

Each of the quads actually comes with a little booklet to walk you through a few different looks.

Here’s the thing, though — I’ve been using five of the nine new quads, mostly the neutrals and one of the brights (the breathtaking bright green one on the Chanel website right now), and I’ve noticed that finish-wise, you don’t get a lot of matte options. There’s a lot of shimmer here, but I like to have a little bit of matte up in the mix, just because my creases aren’t super deep, so I like to define them with something deep and matte for depth.

You could achieve that depth with the darker shades here, which is the intention, but a lot of the darker shades glisten with shimmer. I just find that I get more depth from a matte in the crease than I do with a shimmer.

These new quads create a very distinct glow — very pretty — but it’s just that, you know, I feel like I need a little more matte up in the mix.

Not a big deal, but you know. Whatever. 🙂

Tissé Vendôme: Copper, peachy beige, intense apricot and grayish brown
Tissé Gabrielle: Soft gray, iridescent white gold, grayish mauve and velvet gray
Tissé Camélia: Grayish lilac, rosy white, lavender pink and eggplant brown
Tissé Cambon: Iridescent mauve, pale pink, bright pink and deep violet
Tissé Mademoiselle: Intense beige, satin gold, luminous beige and khaki brown
Tissé Vénitien: Bluish green, silvery pink, platinum khaki and intense green
Tissé Rivoli: Golden taupe, light rosy beige, rose gold beige and reddish brown
Tissé Riviera: Metallic blue, light pink, shimmery gray and deep navy blue
Tissé Poésie: (Limited Edition) Golden beige, light pinkish beige, bronze taupe and a dark purplish bronze

Chanel Quadra Les 4 Ombres Eyeshadow in Tissé Vénitien — Tissé Vénitien

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