Makeup

Drawing the Human Body, Literally, With the New Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic Pencils

May 29th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

I think I’m going to start calling makeup shopping “art supply shopping.” That way, when I get something new and sneak it into the house in my XXL purse (NOTE: this is a good way to avoid the, “Do you really need another pink gloss?” convo with El Hub), I won’t exactly be fibbing, since pencil-shaped makeup really is a thing these days. 🙂

Case in point: the new Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic twist-up eyeshadow pencils ($21 each), which look equally at home on a makeup vanity or an easel.

And if El Hub asks what I’m doing, I’ll just say that I’ve taken up drawing (…on my face, haha!).

These long-wearing creamy shadows can be used as eyeshadows or as eyeshadow bases, and they’re supposed to be smudge-proof, waterproof, creamy and creaseless and stay that way all day long without fading.

“This eye shadow pencil glides on and stays put. The unbelievably blendable texture includes silica, so it applies effortlessly onto the eyelid and won’t transfer. This highly-pigmented, waterproof, smudge-free shadow delivers immediate, intense color payoff. A retractable twist-up mechanism allows for quick and mistake-free application, and a sharpener makes it convenient to take this product to go for touchups.”

— sephora.com

Currently there are 10 shades…

Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic swatches from the left: Diamond Black D-10, Satiny Warm Brown S-60, Diamond Golden Grey D-12, Iridescent Pop Purple I-90 and Iridescent Electric Blue I-22 — Swatches from the left: Diamond Black D-10, Satiny Warm Brown S-60, Diamond Golden Grey D-12, Iridescent Pop Purple I-90 and Iridescent Electric Blue I-22

Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic swatches from the left: Iridescent Turquoise I-20, Iridescent Lime Green I-30, Metallic Golden Taupe ME-50, Metallic Pinkish Beige ME-54 and Satiny Flesh-Colored PInk S-52 — Iridescent Turquoise I-20, Iridescent Lime Green I-30, Metallic Golden Taupe ME-50, Metallic Pinkish Beige ME-54 and Satiny Flesh-Colored Pink S-52

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Playing Fill the Online Shopping Cart at Beccacosmetics.com and Swatching Souffles

May 29th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Souffle in Lychee/Opal

You ever play “Fill the Online Shopping Cart”?

It’s one of my favorite games. 🙂 I’ve been playing it over at the BECCA website this afternoon. They’re running a Friends & Family sale. Just started this morning. Get 20% off any $50 purchase at beccacosmetics.com/us using promo code SPRINGFF14.

The sale ends next Tuesday (June 3, at midnight PST), so you still have time to play “Fill the Online Shopping Cart” if you’re interested.

I haven’t pulled the trigger yet on anything, but I have filled, emptied, and then filled my cart again with staples like Ever-Matte Shine Proof Foundation, while I do a little more research on some things, like the new BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Souffles ($27 each).

I ran over to Sephora to have a look at them and swatch a couple things.

The six new BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Souffles

GURL, these look really cute. The marbled pattern on the pots totally reminds me of the Hourglass Ambient Blushes. Instead of a powder, though, the Shimmer Souffles have a cream formula.

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Souffle in Guava/Moonstone

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The NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Golden Horizons Hopes To Broaden Your Horizons on Baked Neutral Eyeshadow

May 28th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Technically, Mercury doesn’t enter retrograde until June 7 (I know this because I’m all over Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone like sweat on Daryl Dixon’s biceps), but man, oh man! — it feels like Mercury is already retrograding all over mah face!

I don’t know why, but for the past couple days, Murphy’s Law has ruled my makeup life with an iron fist. Anything that can go wrong with my eye makeup has gone wrong with my eye makeup. Uneven liner, botched blending, cray-cray clumpy lashes — you name it. It’s been a hot mess, so I’ve decided to stick to nudes and neutrals until whatever this is passes.

Until then, I’ll just chill with neutral palettes like the NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Golden Horizons.

This $15 cutie is one of three limited edition NYX Dream Catcher palettes released earlier this year. Each one comes with 10 baked eyeshadows and its own personal outlook on neutrals.

Compared to Dusk Til Dawn, the other Dream Catcher palette in my collection, Golden Horizons is heavier in the matte and satin departments, as opposed to shimmer.

I think it’s a little tamer because its shadows aren’t as pigmented as the ones in Dusk Til Dawn, but that could be a good thing if you don’t want to deal with blending drama, and/or have a legitimate fear of your lids looking like an unfinished painting from Picasso’s Cubism period (#thestruggleisreal).

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The New Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Tarred + Feathered Lip Balm Duo Gives Your Lip Products Wings

May 28th, 2014 by Karen 20 Comments

Wearing multiple layers of Feathered, the white shade from the new OCC Tarred + Feathered Lip Balm Duo ($18)

That moment when you realize you want to wear a lip product solely because you think it might match your nails…

Your opaque white nails.

Priceless. 🙂

OCC Tarred + Feathered — That’s Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt on my nails…

Yeah, I think I crossed over into uncharted makeup territory this week — uncharted for me, at least, since I can’t recall ever wanting to wear white lipstick before.

Like, ever.

Sure, I realize that it’s not exactly a super wearable look (RIGHT?!), but I got it into my head a few days ago, and whenever that happens… You know me! 🙂

Say hello to the new $18 Tarred + Feathered Lip Balm Duo by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. Weird and wonderful at the same time, it comes with two lip balms in white and black.

In calling it “new,” I should put the “new” in air quotes because this duo actually first appeared 10 years ago. It was the very first product OCC ever released. They’re reissuing it meow for their 10th anniversary.

So, what’s the deal? Well, both moisturizing halves of the balm contain hemp seed, pomegranate and avocado oils, and they’re made to moisturize AND function as color correctors to either brighten or darken any lip colors you layer on top.

Feathered, the white balm, works to cancel out your natural lip color, making any colors you wear on top of it appear truer.

LOL! No, it normally doesn’t look quite as scary as it does in the first two face pics because I built it up with a lip brush for those shots to see how close I could get to making my white lips + nail tips fantasy come true (pretty close, but not really, since the balm ends up looking patchy when I build it up in layers).

If I just apply a thin layer instead, like I would with most any other lip balm, I think Feathered actually looks fairly wearable.

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Benefit’s New Tinted Lip Balms in Lollibalm, Chachabalm, Posiebalm and Benebalm Go Easy on the Tint, Heavy on the Moisture

May 27th, 2014 by Karen 25 Comments

Benefit Lollibalm Tinted Lip Balm — Lollibalm, one of four new Benefit Tinted Lip Balms available now

Granted, there’s not a dramatic, in-your-face difference among the four shades in Benefit’s new collection of Tinted Lip Balms ($18 each) when I wear them on my lips, but ooh! — they just look so darn cute chillin’ in my makeup bag.

Benefit Tinted Lip Balms — They each have their own personal outfit…

And every. Single. Time. I’ve taken out Chachabalm, Lollibalm, Posiebalm or Benebalm for a touch-up (which I have to do about every hour or so when I wear them) within sight of a gal, I’ve been asked something along the lines of, “Where did ya get that?! It’s adorable!”

So, yeah, fellow packaging suckers, that’s the sign of an eye-catching product. 🙂

Benefit introduced these hydrating lip balms earlier this spring in colors to match their liquid blushes in Cha Cha Tint, Lollitint, Posie Tint and Benetint.

They feel a lot like the Revlon Lip Butters and Dior’s Addict Lip Balms to me — smooth, non-sticky, and firmly on the thicker formula side, as far as lip balms go. My nose and taste buds also detect a mild violet hard candy flavor and scent.

Thumbs up for mega moisture, too, as these are loaded with the stuff, and my dry, flaky lips lap it up.

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Space NK, Future Home of the New NUDESTIX Makeup Line, Coming This June

May 27th, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

All black errrrthing!

So, yeah. I mostly wanted to try the new NUDESTIX makeup line because of the black pencil packaging.

I mean, come on. Black is sleek, chic and never goes out of style. Plus, what’s not to like about easy-to-use pencil packaging? Anything with the potential to free up my schedule for more REM sleep gets automatic cool points just for that.

Coming exclusively to Space NK stores and spacenk.com this June, the new NUDESTIX makeup brand of neutral-toned makeup for eyes, lips, cheeks and skin already has my makeup-loving heart’s attention.

The brainchild (I’ve always wanted to use that word in a sentence, “brainchild,” LOL!) of CoverFX co-creator and former MAC product developer Jenny Frankel, who left Cover FX in 2011 to start the new brand, NUDESTIX is debuting with a 30-piece collection…

The entire (as of now) NUDESTIX collection

Lash Lengthening Mascara, $24
Eye Pencils in Cream, Shimmer, Stardust, Golden, Bronze, Burnish, Pewter and Smoke, $24 each
Magnetic Eye Color Pencils in Night, Angel, Twilight and Moon, $24 each
Skin Concealer Pencils in Light 1, Light 2, Light 3, Medium 4, Medium 5, Medium 6, Deep 7 and Deep 8, $24 each
Lip & Cheek Pencils in Whisper, Love, Blush, Mystic, Ripe, Soul, Sin and Flesh, $24 each
Pencil Cap Sharpener, $5

Jenny worked with her two daughters, both aspiring models, to create the new line of natural-looking, easy-to-apply products — products designed to be easy enough to apply without separate brushes.

After giving all five product families a try over the long holiday weekend, here are some thoughts…

The Eye Pencil Crayons in Stardust and Burnish

Burnish and Stardust burnish some serious multitasking muscle. These Eye Pencil Crayons do werk!

What kind of work, you ask? Well, you can line your eyes with them, use them on your lids as eyeshadows, and/or use them as highlighters, applying them on the high points of the face, which, by the way, is my favorite way to use them.

I’ll swipe either one, shimmery golden peach Stardust or bronzy golden Burnish, on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, and a little on my Cupid’s bow, and then blend.

Great for glow on the go without having to fuss with a brush.

As for using them in other ways, like as shadows and liners, I don’t do that as much. When I use them as liners, my super sensitive water lines freak out a little, and both colors crease (a lot) on my lids when I use them as shadows.

Like, a lot. Within 10-15 minutes of applying.

And I’ve tried them with and without primer at different levels of coverage.

Maybe they just don’t particularly like my combination oily/dry lids.

That said, though, the finish on these is absolutely gorgeous. When I wear them as shadow, my lids look totally rockstar chick — all glowing, shiny and distinct. If you like rebellious, undone eye looks, give these a try when you can.

Magnetic Eye Color Pencil in Night

Super dark and black as night, matte black Night Magnetic Eye Color Pencil works as a liner, an eyeshadow and/or an eyeshadow primer.

Supposedly designed for oily lids, I dunno…this one also tends to start creasing on my lids within 15 minutes of applying. My water lines do seem to prefer the Magnetic Eye Color formula over the Eye Pencil Crayons, though, where it last 4-5 hours.

The Lip & Cheek Pencil in Blush

This creamy peachy rose has a satin finish and doubles as a blush and lipstick.

As a lip pencil, this one’s got it goin’ on. I think it tastes a little waxy at first, but it subsides within about 10 minutes, and the semi-sheer, lip flake-friendly coverage looks gloriously natural.

Now, as a blush, we’re talking super sheer — barely there — and, you know, when I wear blush, I kind of like to see it on my cheeks, but if you’re a lighter lass looking for the ultimate no-makeup makeup look, check it out.

Skin Concealer Pencil in Deep 7

This shade is probably closer to my skin tone around the end of summer, after I’ve picked up a shade or two, but I’ve tried it both on my face and under my eyes.

Definitely easy to blend, it also starts scooting around after about an hour.

NUDESTIX Swatches from the left: Magnetic Eye Color Pencil in Night, Eye Pencil Crayon in Burnish, Eye Pencil Crayon in Stardust, Skin Concealer Pencil in Deep 7, and the Lip and Cheek Pencil in Blush — From the left: Magnetic Eye Color Pencil in Night, Eye Pencil Crayon in Burnish, Eye Pencil Crayon in Stardust, Skin Concealer Pencil in Deep 7 and Lip and Cheek Pencil in Blush

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$9 Maybelline Color Elixir By Color Sensational Lip Gloss Beams Brightly on Lips

May 23rd, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Ooh! So shiny…

Something primitive kicks in whenever I see the mirror-like shine of Maybelline’s Color Elixir by Color Sensational lip gloss ($8.99) on my lips.

I wonder if I have leftover genes from a cave girl who was more interested in collecting shiny rocks and staring into sparkly rivers than gathering dried sticks for the community fire (BO-RING).

Perhaps.

These have been out since fall 2013, but this is my favorite time of year for this kind of shine. The non-sticky medium-weight formula lasts about two hours on my lips and shines like a lacquer.

Um…the flavor and scent? I think they’re a tad unusual, like jasmine and earl gray tea perfume, if that makes any sense. I don’t mind it. It’s just a little…strange.

Maybelline Color Elixir By Color Sensational in 015 Mandarin Rapture, 02 Signature Scarlet and 095 Blush Essence — From the left: 015 Mandarin Rapture, 02 Signature Scarlet and 095 Blush Essence

“Experience saturated lip color, sensuous balm care and polished lip shine from Maybelline New York Color Elixir by Color Sensational. The exclusive smoothing angora brush delivers a polished, even application and smoothing sensation to lips. The balm infused formula, with pure color pigments, leaves lips feeling cushiony soft.”
– ulta.com

Maybelline Color Elixir By Color Sensational in 020 Signature-Scarlet — 020 Signature-Scarlet

Maybelline Color Elixir By Color Sensational 095 Blush Essence — 095 Blush Essence

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Maybelline’s $7.49 Color Sensational The Buffs Lipsticks in Blushing Beige and Stormy Sahara Promote Acts of Pigmented Public Nudity

May 23rd, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Maybelline Color Sensation The Buffs in Stormy Sahara — Wearing Maybelline Color Sensational The Buffs in Stormy Sahara

When we met at the drugstore, they were full-on nude. None of that halfway bullsh*t.

Maybelline Color Sensation The Buffs in Blushing Bride (left) and Stormy Sahara (right) — Color Sensational The Buffs Lipstick in Blushing Beige (left) and Stormy Sahara (right)

Stormy Nude, the bolder of the two, was the first to start talking. “$7.49. For each. One layer. Full coverage. Satin finish.”

“How about wear time?” I asked.

“Three to four hours,” replied Stormy. “With a moisturizing formula.”

I considered the terms. The faint scent of vanilla and — plastic? — floated in the air.

“Is that…?” I started to ask.

“Vanilla, yes,” answered Stormy, guessing at my question. “Taste like it, too.”

I let the plasticky part go. The other terms were agreeable.

I took a step forward and put out my hand. Stormy grabbed it and we shook. Then, right there in the middle of the store, we all got totally and completely nude.

It was glorious. 🙂

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