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Makeup

COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara’s Curved Brush Conquers Clumps While Lengthening Lashes

February 20th, 2013 by Karen 52 Comments

COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara
Wearing COVERGIRL’s Clump Crusher Mascara ($6.99) in Very Black

In every single picture I’ve taken today, I look like a grumpy piano teacher (see above).

Yes, I know this for a fact! When I was a kid, I took piano lessons (mostly against my will), and every week, my teacher, Mrs. L, would sit there with pursed, tight lips as I pounded away at the keys like a gorilla in a Hello Kitty T-shirt.

Sometimes I’d see Mrs. L frowning out of the corner of my eye, so I’d bang out all the wrong notes on purpose, look up at her, and smile ever-so-sweetly…

Hahaha! Sorry, Mrs. L. 🙂

I’d be cranky, too, if I had to teach a surly, disinterested student clearly counting down the seconds to freedom, but maybe I’d look a little less tense (perhaps cheerful, even) if I were wearing a few coats of COVERGIRL’s Clump Crusher Mascara ($6.99).

COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara Brush
Curved brush!

It landed on drugstore shelves a couple months ago in four “shades” (Black Brown, Brown, Very Black and Black).

The hook/special sauce? The curved brush. COVERGIRL says the little plastic stubs and the shape of the brush help it separate lashes while coating them from root to tip and dodging lumps and bumps.

And when it comes to length and separation, ala long, fanned-out lashes for interested, perky looks, I think Clump Crusher’s great. It doesn’t come with a bunch of bells or whistles, like lash conditioners and vibrating brush wands, but it lengthens, separates and holds curls like a champ. Plus, it’s only $6.99, which isn’t bad at all, especially beside an increasing number of drugstore mascaras in the $10-13 range.

COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara

COVERGIRL Clump Crusher Mascara
Wearing two coats of Clump Crusher Mascara on the eye to the left of the screen and no mascara on the eye to the right of the screen

[Continue reading…]

There are 52 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: COVERGIRL, Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Product Reviews

Unsung Heroes: BECCA Papaya Beach Tint

February 20th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

BECCA Papaya Beach Tint
Wearing BECCA Papaya Beach Tint ($25) on my cheeks and lips, available now at BECCA counters, Sephora stores and online

Just added to my list of “Things I’d Like to Do Someday”: eat a papaya (one of my favorite fruits) at the beach (one of my favorite places).

I got the idea from BECCA’s $25 Beach Tint in Papaya, which of course I’ll be wearing when I eat said papaya at said beach. 🙂

This water-resistant lip and cheek tint is one of the newer batch of Beach Tints launched last fall. Described as a “hot red” by BECCA, I call it a “hot reddish, orangey/coral.” With bad-@ss pigment. Can’t forget that.

I’ve been loving it lately, and not just because of the pigment. It’s also a cinch to apply on cheeks and lips, and all it takes are fingers.

With spring approaching, I’ve been crushing harder than usual on corals in general, and I think Papaya worn as a blush on cheeks pairs purrfectly with bold coral lip colors like Tom Ford’s True Coral and Hourglass Muse.

BECCA Papaya Beach Tint Picture

BECCA Papaya Beach Tint Swatch
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There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Becca, Face, Lips, Makeup, Unsung Heroes

The Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk Face Palette: Sunset in a Garden of Gorgeous, Subtle Colors

February 20th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk
A closeup of the new Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk Face Palette ($70), available now at Bergdorf Goodman also online

Botany enthusiasts/luxury makeup lovers who like late afternoon gardening and subtle colors will love Aerin Beauty’s new A Garden at Dusk Face Palette.

Um…yeah, that’s a very targeted market. 🙂

The second of two $70 limited edition eye and cheek palettes in Aerin Beauty’s spring line (A Garden in Bloom is the first) shares many traits in common with its equally expensive sibling, like pretty packaging; subtle, cool-toned, sheer shades; and easy-to-blend powders.

Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk Face Palette

Aerin Beauty A Garden at Dusk Palette Swatches
Blush on the far left, eye shadow on the right

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom photos pictures packaging
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There are 20 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Aerin Beauty, Eyes, Face, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

New Easy, Everyday NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Puts Purple Circles Out to Pasture

February 19th, 2013 by Karen 41 Comments

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer
The new $28 NARS Radiant Creamy Concealers (available in 10 shades), coming February 20 to NARS counters, boutiques and also online

Remember when dark circles were something that only happened to other people? Back when you had no clue that you yourself would someday be visited by those evil purple half-moon monsters at the crack of dawn?

Yup. Good times…

If you get as nostalgic as I do for those days of yore, let me get straight to the point. Dark circles are a serious business, and we have no time to waste. The new NARS Radiant Cream Concealers ($28) will cover those bad boys brilliantly.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Pictures

Like a knight’s vorpal sword, they’re designed to vanquish! — only in their case, they vanquish the darkest of dark circles, as opposed to more traditional enemies. 🙂

The new line of under-eye concealers has a thick mousse formula that dries to a satin finish, and NARS says these will disguise imperfections all day long, without creasing, by diffusing light and applying a soft focus filter to fine lines.

The shades from lightest to darkest, according to the official PR:

  • Chantilly: A true ivory for the fairest complexions
  • Vanilla: A slight pink cast for fair complexions
  • Honey: A warm peach tone for light and medium complexions
  • Ginger: A golden undertone for medium complexions
  • Biscuit: A medium dark shade with a natural balance of pink and yellow undertones
  • Caramel: A medium dark yellow with golden undertones
  • Amande: A medium dark shade with golden undertones
  • Cafe: A dark shade with warm red undertones
  • Cacao: A dark shade with deep golden brown undertones

One swipe — just one, because a little goes a long way — of Ginger with the doe-foot applicator, followed by some brief blending with a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush, and my under-eye area appears noticeably brighter, which in turn makes me feel considerably better/less grumpy.

Sh*t covers EVERYTHING! — yet still looks like real skin. Not heavy or cakey, even with multiple layers. Plus, it stays put and photographs well.

You can use it anywhere on your face, too, like for blemishes and skin discolorations, but it really excels under eyes.

Um…I think it’s kind of amazing, really, and when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror with it on, I’m like, “Who’s that!?” That girl looks almost like the 23-year-old Karen who stayed up all night before graduation and took pics the following day without any under-eye concealer.

Ah, those were the days…

Of course, there is one catch (isn’t there always?).

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Pictures Small
From the left: Chantilly, Vanilla, Honey, Custard, Ginger, Biscuit, Caramel, Amande, Cafe and Cacao

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Pictures Wands
From the left: Chantilly, Vanilla, Honey, Custard, Ginger, Biscuit, Caramel, Amande, Cafe and Cacao

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There are 41 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews

Unzipped, Aerin Beauty’s A Garden in Bloom Face Palette Calls to Upscale Makeup Lovers Longing for Watercolor Washes on Eyes and Cheeks

February 19th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom
Wearing the new Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom Face Palette ($70) on my eyes and cheeks

I think there’s something very cool, very “power to the people!” about products able to work well for a wide range of beauty lovers — different skin types and tones, young people and older folks — especially when those products aren’t too expensive.

At the same time, I also like products designed with a very specific girl (or guy) in mind, like Aerin Beauty’s new $70 A Garden in Bloom Palette, which focuses like a laser on beauty lovers with some extra spending money.

There’s a good chance A Garden in Bloom girl already carries a Chanel bag, and all of the sales associates at Neimans and Saks know her by her first name. One of her inspirations? Audrey Hepburn, and the classic eye look she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 🙂

She likes a very specific makeup look, too, with her eyes and cheeks defined by light washes of color, and only rarely ventures into bolder, brighter territory. Luckily, this limited edition spring palette, with its three cool-toned, moderately pigmented powder eye shadows — a pinkish beige with a satin finish, a matte taupe and a purplish gray — and matte rosy pink powder blush, offers exactly that.

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom photos pictures packaging
The cloth-covered, zippered packaging looks pretty to me, but it sure isn’t easy to keep clean…

Aerin Beauty Garden Bloom Face Palette

Aerin Beauty Garden Bloom Face Palette

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom Face Palette swatches
Blush on the far left; eyeshadows on the right

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There are 26 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Aerin Beauty, Eyes, Face, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

These $24 Kate Spade Supercalifragilipsticks Look Cute, but the Ongoing In-Store Sale Is Expialidocious

February 19th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Kate Spade Supercalifragilipstick Photos, Pictures and Swatches
The Kate Spade Supercalifragilipsticks from the left ($24 each): Pop Art Pink, Bashful Blush, Red and Fuchsia Fete, available now at Kate Spade stores, counters and online

It’s the shoes!

It’s gotta be the shoes…

These Kate Spade Supercalifragilipsticks have been brightening KS counters for a while now, but every time I walk into the store to browse around, I get distracted by the shoes (I know)…

Yesterday, though, when I stopped by the store, a friendly sales associate broke me out of my shoe reverie/pattern when she mentioned an ongoing 20% off promotion on any one full-priced Kate Spade product (in store only) — actually all KS stores, according to the sales associate.

Kate Spade. 20% off. Sweet. 🙂

(To be safe, you might want to call ahead to your local store to confirm its participation.)

With the discount, these regularly priced $24 tubes cost $19.

Kate Spade Supercalifragilipstick Photos, Pictures and Swatches
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There are 22 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Makeup

Unsung Heroes: Hourglass Visionaire Duo in Exhibition

February 18th, 2013 by Karen 47 Comments

Hourgless Visionaire Duo in Exhibition
Wearing the Hourglass Visionaire Duo in Exhibition ($38) on my eyes; available now online, and at Hourglass counters and Sephora

I’m beginning to realize that despite falling in love with a new purple eye shadow single/duo/quad/palette approximately every 6.14 seconds (a side effect of undiagnosed makeup deficit disorder), I could probably function for days, weeks or maybe even months wearing the Hourglass Visionaire Duo in Exhibition.

It’s easily one of my favorite purple duos of all time, and I always feel at least a little better when I get it on my lids.

One side is a shimmery mauve, like a lighter, shinier MAC Shale; the other, a shimmery eggplant with subtle magenta undertones (I notice them more when I apply with a wet brush), which I think give the shade more depth.

Both sides are packed with pigment — enough to please even the most discriminating mulberry mavens, and perhaps hard-core MAC-aholics, too.

The silky, almost creamy rose petal formula makes it easy to build beautiful gradients, and best of the all, the powders completely refuse fallout, creasing and fading.

Wondering how close Exhibition comes to the NARS 413 BLKR duo?

Hmm… I’d say close, but they’re not exactly dupes. The Exhibition shades appear a little brighter and shinier to me, with a corresponding chipper effect on my mood.

I still heart 413 to bits, but I think of it as having a harder edge and more tough-girl zeal.

Hourglass Exhibition Visionaire Duo Picture NARS 213 BLKR
Hourglass Exhibition on the left and NARS 413 BLKR on the right

Hourglass Exhibition Visionaire Duo Swatch
Hourglass Exhibition

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There are 47 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Hourglass, Makeup, Unsung Heroes

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick in 39

February 15th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense 39 1
Here I’m wearing orangey coral Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick in 39, an Unsung Makeup Hero

I’m thinking about having the words, “It’s Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick in 39,” printed on a t-shirt, and I’ll tell you why.

Because whenever I wear it, I must get asked 10 times a day what I’m wearing on my lips.

It’s almost as flattering as the lipstick itself. 🙂

If I had that shirt, I could just smile, open my jacket and BAM! — point at the shirt.

Once you start wearing this satiny, orangey coral ($19, available now at Make Up For Ever Boutiques and counters, Sephora stores and also online), you’ll see what I mean.

It’s one of those colors you can’t miss when it walks into a room, so be prepared to answer questions about it as you go about your day.

I think it has something to do with the opacity, for one. The bright block of solid color really showcases your lips. That, and the orangey tones, which are just so…bright.

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense in 39

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense 39 swatch
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There are 22 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Make Up For Ever, Makeup, Unsung Heroes

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

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