Makeup

New Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara: For Lashes So Glossy, Full and Pitch Black You’ll Be Able To See Them in a Mirror From Across the Room

July 17th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

If you and I were cubicle buddies on break and only had five minutes to catch up, grab Starbucks (soy chai latte for me, no foam, please) AND talk makeup shop, I would probably 1) ask you what you were wearing on your lips, because I’m always looking for cool new combos to try, and 2) mention how much I’m digging the new $24 Make Up For Ever Smokey Extravagant Mascara, because whenever I wear it, my lashes enter a room before I do.

Two coats of this volume-growing, curl-maximizing mascara make my naturally uninspiring lashes so glossy, full and pitch black that I can see them in a mirror from across the room.

Yeah, me and Smoky Extravagant? We coo’.

All about performance and precision, it launched earlier this month with a lofty gaol at Sephora stores and Make Up For Ever Boutiques.

According to MUFE, Make Up For Ever Creator and Artistic Director Dany Sanz was trying to create the darkest, most dramatic black mascara she could for stage, backstage and real life.

What sets Smoky Extravagant Mascara apart?

MUFE used the darkest pigments they could find. They formulating them to envelop each eyelash in an opaque cocoon of light-absorbing product, making the inky blackness even more intense.
They used a smooth base of wax and Abyssinian Oil (often used in hair products) to help the formula glide on and off lashes, making it a snap to remove and apply.
They included a cone-shaped brush head with 580 bristles (!). The tapered tip latches onto even the daintiest lashes while the fuller end pumps up the volume.

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Oil Hides Around Urban Decay Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder

July 17th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Simply beautiful, but not life changing. That’s how I feel about these new Urban Decay’s Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powders ($24 each) and their gorgeous packaging.

New additions to UD’s permanent line, the powders join UD’s Naked Foundation and Beauty Balm as products designed to produce flawless-looking skin that still appears natural.

Optical blurring pigments (which sound like something a sorceress might pull from her robes) create a soft-focus effect while mellowing out imperfections and controlling oil. The powders are oil-, paraben-, alcohol- and fragrance-free and come in five shades — Naked (works well with shades 0.5-3.0), Naked Medium Light (for shades 2.0-4.0), Naked Medium (4.5-6.5), Naked Medium Dark (6.0-8.0) and Naked Dark (8.0-12.0).

Lots of good stuff here, but by far my favorite thing about these is their ability to control oil. The shade closest to my skin tone, Naked Dark, keeps my oily forehead matte and shine-free for 6-8 hours. I barely even need to touch up when I wear it. Plus, it really does look like natural skin (versus heavy spackle).

Urban Decay Naked Light Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder — Naked Light

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My Lips Would Stage a Coup for These New $22 Urban Decay Revolution Lipsticks

July 16th, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

Urban Decay Streak Revolution Lipstick — Wearing Urban Decay’s coral pink Revolution Lipstick in Streak, one of 22 shades in UD’s new Revolution Lipstick line

A couple weeks ago Urban Decay started a revolution. They unleashed a new line of lipsticks unto the world and their permanent collection — the Revolution Lipsticks — and I kid you not, I’ve been wearing them almost every day since.

Renowned for their iconic palettes (hello, Naked!) and eyeshadow singles, UD decided to show some love to lips, and mine certainly love what they’ve done here. This new line of 22 lipsticks keeps the brand firmly near the front of the pack.

Costing $22 each but looking and feeling more extravagant than that, they seem like a bargain next to lippies from Tom Ford and Dolce & Gabbana.

With their concentrated pigments and creamy, smooth formula, even colors that can normally be tricky and uneven, like beiges and pale neutral pinks, apply without a hitch. A single swipe is all it takes.

I find myself having to reapply them after meals, but they easily handle tea. Between meals, I get at least 4-5 hours from them.

Thicker and creamier than Urban Decay’s old lipsticks — the ones with the swirls on the packaging and the silver dagger — they feel more significant (and better) on my lips, but aren’t what I’d call heavy. Not like a ton of product plastered on my pout. I think of them as lipsticks for lipsticks lovers, but if you gravitate toward featherweight glosses and lip colors that look barely there, these are probably not what you need.

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick ($22 each)

Urban Decay Shame Revolution Lipstick 1 — Shame, a deep berry

Urban Decay Venom Revolution Lipstick 2 — Venom, a bright plum

Urban Decay Jilted Revolution Lipstick 3 — Jilted, a deep fuchsia shimmer with blue shift

Urban Decay Anarchy Revolution Lipstick 4 — Anarchy, a bright fuchsia

Urban Decay Turn On Revolution Lipstick 5 — Turn on, a rosy pink

Urban Decay F-Bomb Revolution Lipstick 6 — F-Bomb, a classic red

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The New Urban Decay Brow Box and an Open Letter to Raul

July 11th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

Urban Decay Brow Box in Brown Sugar — Wearing Urban Decay’s Brow Box in Brown Sugar

Raul. You @sshole. You just don’t get it, do you? This isn’t working out.

I mean, what else is there to say? I’ve been putting up with your nonsense for six years. The taunting in the mirror every morning — “Ooh, look at me!” — the following me to work.

I kept telling myself, “Come on, Karen, he’s just a bald spot in the arch of your left eyebrow. Give him another chance.”

But that’s just it. You’re always IN MY FACE!

And I’m sick of it.

You need to move on. Go find someone else’s eyebrows to torment.

I don’t want to see you anymore when I look in the mirror. I don’t want to see that bald spot there in my left brow.

Just leave. I’ve taken care of everything. You won’t even have to lift a brow.

I’ve actually been seeing someone new…Urban Decay’s recently revamped $29 Brow Box (available in two shades, Brown Sugar and Honey Pot), and he takes care of my brows.

He’s a two-tiered box containing everything I need to fill in sparse spots like you and fatten skinny brows — two powder shadows (which can be mixed to customize a color); a soft, colorless wax to herd stray hairs and set them in place; as well as two brushes and a tiny tweezers.

Urban Decay Honey Pot Brow Box — Honey Pot Brow Box

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Just in Time for the Hottest Days of Summer, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Cranks Out Six New Shades of Their Multitasking Creme Colour Concentrate Line

July 11th, 2013 by Karen 10 Comments

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Creme Colour Concentrate — The new $20 Creme Colour Concentrates from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics

G’morning, friend. I hope you had a nice night. Things are just OK on my end…but I’m hangin’ in.

Yesterday Tabs let me bail early because I was bummed and little use to him in the afternoon, so I sat on the couch, cried, ate ice cream and watched chick flicks on TV — What to Expect When You’re Expecting (not great, but better than I expected) and Playing for Keeps (sooo unbearable that I couldn’t even finish it).

It was a very Liz Lemon-y afternoon. Muy therapeutic.

Despite his reputation as the Naomi Campbell of the plus-size kitty modeling world, Tabs can actually be pretty understanding sometimes. Your nephew took good care of his heartbroken human. He even slept next to me the entire night, which he never does.

Thanks again for the hugs yesterday. I really needed ’em.

SO! Today is a new day, and if I suddenly burst into tears and go off on tangents in my posts, I apologize. I’ll do my best to stay positive and focus on happy thoughts, like all of the good memories I have of my pretty puppy girl, but no guarantees. I think that’s how these things work.

Now, makeup, because like good medicine, it usually helps me feel better. 🙂

I’ll be doing some traveling over the next few months, and these six new multipurpose creams from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics couldn’t have come at a better time.

These new shades in OCC’s 100% vegan and cruelty-free Creme Colour Concentrate line, a collection of long-wearing, satiny creams for eyes, lips, cheeks and basically wherever you want long-lasting, intense color (I just put a little on my ankle for fun, woo-hoo!), have a thin, lightweight formula and a smooth texture that reminds me a lot of Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Creams.

OCC loaded them with moisturizing vitamin E, aloe leaf and cocoa extracts, something my dry lips enthusiastically support.

Choose from opalescent pink Pleasure Model, pale peachy Newt, golden Icarius, silver Mercury, teal Beholder and dark greenish gray Dark Matter.

OCC Mercury Swatch — Mercury, a true silver

OCC Pleasure Model Swatch — Pleasure Model, a pearlescent pink

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Two New Fall Liners From NARS, and Getting Sidetracked by a Broken Heart

July 10th, 2013 by Karen 142 Comments

shauna puppy love — Rest in peace, my sweet, sweet pup

This was supposed to be a post about the two new NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliners in Las Ramblas and Via De’ Martelli, and it still is…kind of.

What began as a regular review took a sharp detour before noon.

I planned to mention that reddish brown Via De Martelli pulls red on my warm skin tone and makes me look like I’ve been crying… I thought it deserved a respectable B.

And then I planned to talk about how yellow gold Las Ramblas, a solid B+ in my book, reflects light like the surface of a glassy pond, making it perfect for brightening up the eyes.

Both it and Martelli last about eight hours on my lash lines and four on my water lines, and neither one seems very adept at smudging. Both cost $24 and arrive on counters, in stores and online with the rest of the NARS Fall 2013 collection July 15.

NARS Via De Martelli Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner, a chocolate ($24) — Via De Martelli Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner, a chocolate ($24)

NARS Las Ramblas Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner, a yellow gold ($24, limited edition) — Las Ramblas Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner, a yellow gold ($24, limited edition)

NARS Fall 2013 Swatches from the left: Kamchatka Eyeshadow, Namibia Eyeshadow, Yamal Eyeshadow, Bavaria Eyeshadow, Las Ramblas Larger Than life Long-Wear Eyeliner, Via De'Martelli Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner — From the left: Kamchatka Eyeshadow, Namibia Eyeshadow, Yamal Eyeshadow, Bavaria Eyeshadow, Las Ramblas Larger Than life Long-Wear Eyeliner, Via De’Martelli Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner

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With Its Glitter All Grown Up, Navy Blue NARS Kamchatka Eyeshadow Ships Out This Fall Carrying a Smokey, Shimmery Surprise

July 9th, 2013 by Karen 10 Comments

Can I get a “hells, yeah” for bomb-@ss smokey shadows you can wear along your lash lines?

I realize that’s a very specific shout-out, but duuuude, you know how many times I’ve tried to smoke out a shadow along my lash lines only to end up looking like a reject from the Thunderdome? — with my lids all dark, contrasty and totally and completely unblended, even though I practically broke my wrist trying to smooth out the edges?

Picture the most questionable makeup look you’ve ever seen on Toddlers and Tiaras, but applied in the dark, upside down, without any brushes.

Now, push that disturbing image out of your mind, because there’s none of that nonsense with new navy blue NARS Kamchatka ($24). This bad boy totally gets it right! 🙂

(Well, at least along lash lines.)

NARS Kamchatka Single Eyeshadow, a navy smoke ($24) — Kamchatka Single Eyeshadow, a navy smoke ($24)

Yes, NARS had some fun with this color. It’s one of those secretly shimmery shadows — a Clark Kent Kamchatka, perhaps? — that looks like a run-of-the-mill matte navy in the pan, but it turns into a Kryptonian superhero when it touches skin, as flecks of silver glitter within the formula flex their tiny makeup muscles.

I think it’s a gorgeous, grownup take on the sparkly stuff.

NARS Kamchatka Swatch — See the super tiny silver sparkles? You have to look pretty closely…

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Powder Surge! Retro Lips Go to the Matte With the NARS Fall 2013 Velvet Matte Lip Pencils

July 9th, 2013 by Karen 32 Comments

This morning I had a Channing Tatum revelation.

In 1990, Chan-Tate — master of abdominal gyrations and star of many of my favorite daydreams — was 10 years old.

That same year, I was 15, and my younger brother was 11. So, technically, Channing could have been my lil’ brother’s homeboy, which by default means I could have been Channing Tatum’s babysitter.

Cue sad unicorn face!

Hmm… There’s something very weird about that. At approximately the same time I discovered the wonders of matte lipsticks (more on this in a sec), I could also have been preparing Channing Tatum a Hot Pocket for lunch, reading him a story, or scolding him for jumping on the couch.

Yup, matte, powdery-lookin’ lips were all the rage back then. For a period of about 10 years, while young Channing Tatum was probably pretending to be a Thundercat in the backyard, the world faced a severe shortage of glossed and glittery lips.

But, as they say, what’s old is new again. 🙂 It’s time for us to talk about lips and NARS Fall 2013.

Take my hand, friend, as the waves of ’90s nostalgia crash over us…

In a collection heavy on matte eyes and lips, with the Velvet Matte Lip Pencils, there isn’t a single sparkle to be found between pale pink Paimpol and brick-like Mysterious Red.

Mysterious Red

Of the two, Mysterious Red is the showstopper for me, albeit one that isn’t entirely unique. While striking and bold, I’ve seen the color and shades like it before (NARS Forbidden Red, MAC RiRi Woo and MAC Red come to mind).

Beautiful and classic, this warmish opaque brick red is the exact lip color I longed for in the summer of 1990, when I desperately wanted to look like Madonna in her Express Yourself video, yet despite its stark, flat matte finish, it feels surprisingly smooth on my lips.

For comparison, you know that dramatic, powdery effect you get with MAC RiRi Woo? Well, Mysterious Red has it, too, but without the tugging or skipping.

And being a pencil, it’s a cinch to use. Just line and fill in your lips.

From the left, for comparison: NARS Mysterious Red, NARS Forbidden Red, MAC Red, MAC RiRi Woo and MAC Dubonnet — From the left for comparison: NARS Mysterious Red, NARS Forbidden Red, MAC Red, MAC RiRi Woo and MAC Dubonnet

If you compulsively collect reds and want to freshen your collection for fall, Mysterious Red would be a solid choice. It may not be the most groundbreaking shade, but at least you know it won’t go out of style before you’ve worn it down to a stub.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-

Paimpol

Under close examination, I do see some sparkles on pink chiffon Paimpol’s tip, but there isn’t a twinkle in sight when it’s on my lips, where it’s more of a straight-up flat matte.

NARS Fall 2013 Swatches from the left: La Paz Pure Matte Lipstick, Peloponnese Pure Matte Lipstick, Paimpol Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Mysterious Red Velvet Matte Lip Pencil — From the left: La Paz Pure Matte Lipstick, Peloponnese Pure Matte Lipstick, Paimpol Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Mysterious Red Velvet Matte Lip Pencil

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