Makeup

Judging by These New Rouge Bunny Rouge Glassy Gloss Shades, Some Bunny Loves Smokey Eyes

August 22nd, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

Rouge Bunny Rouge Sweet Excesses Glassy Gloss in 078 Rhubarb Custard

You know what always cheers me up?

Hugs. And dessert. 🙂

And makeup. Most of the time. Right now, though, I’d really like a hug…

Can Tabs and I get a hug?

Thank you, and thank you for your nice words in the comments earlier today. You’re the Blanche, Rose and Dorothy to my Sophia (Golden Girls 4 life!).

Okay, lock it down, K. No more tears today…

So, I mentioned dessert (and my mouth is watering, of course) — you know what would really hit the spot right now? Something sweet, like these new sweet treat-themed Rouge Glassy Glosses from Rouge Bunny Rouge.

rouge bunny rouge sweet excesses glassy gloss
From the left: 078 Rhubarb Custard, 079 Rahat Lokum, 080 Raspberry Meringue, 081 Cherry Clafoutis and 082 Mousse Fandango

The five sheer, new shades are part of RBR’s Summer 2012 Mistral Collection. If you like super sheer (almost transparent), non-sticky, lightly tinted glosses with a mirror-like shine, you might get a kick out of these.

While technically part of a summer release, they’re destined to be worn with a pair of smokey eyes this fall.

Looking at them and seeing their names, I keep craving pink hard candies…but maybe that’s just me.

The new Rouge Bunny Rouge Glassy Gloss shades

078 Rhubarb Custard: a semi-sheer, milky nude rosewood
079 Rahat Lokum: a pale, shimmery, milky pink with a moderately pearly finish
080 Raspberry Meringue: a pale pink with soft mother of pearl micro-shimmer (Rouge Bunny Rouge says this shade doesn’t have a strong color but makes lips look naturally pretty)
81 Cherry Clafoutis: a sheer, blue-based, cool pink with warm golden opalescence
082 Mousse Fandango: a dark, milky pink with a whisper of grayish mauve, and a touch of silver micro pearl

rouge bunny rouge sweet excesses glassy gloss 2

rouge bunny rouge sweet excesses glassy gloss swatches
From the left: 078 Rhubarb Custard, 079 Rahat Lokum, 080 Raspberry Meringue, 081 Cherry Clafoutis and 082 Mousse Fandango
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The New LORAC Pro Powder Cheek Stains and Wednesday Greetings

August 22nd, 2012 by Karen 87 Comments

LORAC PRO Powder Cheek Stain closed
The new LORAC Pro Blushes, $20 each; available now at Sephora

I sat down this morning intending to dish about the new LORAC Pro Powder Cheek Stains (5-second overview: fan-frickin’-tastic! Super pigmented, and yet easy to blend and surprisingly natural looking for something with an 8-hour wear time), but I just haven’t been able to concentrate…

LORAC PRO Powder Cheek Stain open
All five of the new LORAC Pro Powder Cheek Stains clockwise from the lower left: Coral Crush, Petal Pink, Plum Passion, Rosy Glow and Ruby Rouge

LORAC PRO Powder Cheek Stain swatches
Coral Crush, Petal Pink, Plum Passion, Rosy Glow and Ruby Rouge

My mind keeps wandering thousands of miles away…to my mom. She and my dad are visiting family in the Philippines right now, and I haven’t seen them in more than two months.

I’ve always lived within driving distance of them, so it’s weird being this far away for so long.

Me and my mom on Mother’s Day last May

Late last night Mom emailed to tell me that her mom, my grandmother, passed away over the weekend…

I posted a picture of her earlier this year. She was one of my glam grannies, the one who went to fashion school.

I didn’t know her very well because I was still a baby when my parents and I left the Philippines.

There were some letters and cards over the years, but my only clear memory of her was from the one time we met as adults. It was on a trip that my mom and I took to the Philippines in 2000.

Wow…I can’t believe that was 12 years ago.

I remember us driving out to the countryside, or “the province,” as my mom would say, and spending the afternoon with her family.

They prepared a huge lunch for us, and while we ate and chatted as best we could, with me not understanding the dialect spoken by my mom’s side of the family very well, my grandmother told us stories about my mom as a kid.

My granny was a tiny woman, small but tough, with a smile that lit up the room. When I met her, even though her face was lined with wrinkles, she was such a beauty.

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Laura Mercier’s Lightly Luminous CrÃ¨me Smooth Lip Colours Will Last Through Lunch

August 21st, 2012 by Karen 17 Comments

laura mercier spiced rose
Laura Mercier CrÃ¨me Smooth Lip Colour in Spiced Rose

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Laura Mercier CrÃ¨me Smooth Lip Colour Okay, so it wasn’t that long ago. More like last year. But nevertheless, last year at this place I’m talking about there lived a lipstick lover who, despite her best efforts, couldn’t find a long-wearing, moisturizing lipstick to save her life.

Every time she came close, she would fall into despair, with the contender leaving her parched pout just as dry and cracked as before.

Not one to give up easily, our lipstick lover looked and looked for the elusive creature, only to come up empty handed. Disappointed, she began to doubt that such a creature existed at all, and then one fall (this fall, actually), a field of moisturizing lip products sprouted up on shelves!

She saw Make Up For Ever’s glossy new Aqua Rouge Liquid Lip Colors and the Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipsticks from Hourglass, which covered her matte bases, but she still needed something in between…

Her heart longed for a shiny, long-wearing lipstick — but not too shiny — packed with pigment and comfortable to wear.

Just then, something caught her eye over at the Laura Mercier counter…

laura mercier creme smooth lip colour
From the left: CrÃ¨me Coral (a tawny peach), Rosewood (a warm dusty rose) and Spiced Rose (a rose beige)

It was Laura’s new $26 CrÃ¨me Smooth Lip Colours, available in 18 shades.

I’ve been getting to know a few of them this week — tawny peach CrÃ¨me Coral, warm Rosewood and rosy beige Spiced Rose — and they make a pretty good first impression.

Effortlessly lightweight, natural-looking and oh-so-moisturizing, they also have a semi-luminous finish with a light shine.

One rich layer of the unscented, unflavored formula, which Laura loaded with olive oil and vitamin E, completely covers my lips with color and eradicates any flakes.

laura mercier creme smooth lip colour swatches
From the left: CrÃ¨me Coral (a tawny peach), Rosewood (a warm dusty rose) and Spiced Rose (a rosy beige)

laura mercier coral crush
CrÃ¨me Coral
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For Statement Lips That Last (and Last): The Make Up For Ever Aqua Rouge Liquid Lip Colors

August 20th, 2012 by Karen 51 Comments

make up for ever aqua rouge review

In a way, Make Up For Ever’s 12 new Aqua Rouge liquid lip colors are like Terminators.

Perhaps Kyle Reese said it best: “It [the lip colors] can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop…”

But unlike those metal monsters from the future, these $24 lip colors just want to hang out with you…for a really, really long time.

make up for ever aqua rouge product shot
From the left: #1 Nude Beige, #8 Red, #7 Pink Brown, #10 Raspberry and #15 Pink

make up for ever aqua rouge swatches
Swatches from the left: #1 Nude Beige, #15 Pink, #10 Raspberry, #8 Red, #7 Pink Brown and the clear gloss

They have a creamy liquid lip color with a doe-foot applicator on one end and a clear, non-sticky gloss with a brush on the other. Layered beneath the glosses, the lip colors, which pack full-tilt pigment, maximum opacity and a mirror-like shine, last on me from 4-6 hours, assuming I sip or nibble on something during that time, and a whopping 6-7 hours if I don’t.

make up for ever aqua rouge 8 red
#8 Red
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Decisions, Decisions… Summer in Malibu or the Hamptons? Jouer’s Sheer and Shiny Moisturizing Lip Glosses in Malibu and Hamptons

August 17th, 2012 by Karen 12 Comments

jouer hamptons gloss

Only a couple weekends left until the end of August, and by virtue of that, the unofficial end of summer.

NOOOOOOO!!!

Oh, cruel, cool fall, how darest thou impinge upon my summer fun?!

Back! Back, I say! Away with you!

Oh, what’s the use? Fall is coming; there’s no stopping it. The very thought of being cold again gives me chills, and not in a good way.

What we need is an app for that… If you happen to be an iPhone developer, please invent an app with a summer pause button so we can extend the last weeks of the season and play with products like these two juicy, summery lipglosses from Jouer while it’s still summer.

The Moisturizing Lip Glosses in hot pink Malibu and shimmery golden coral Hamptons ($20 each) strutted onto Jouer counters and the Jouer Cosmetics website earlier this season, joining the ranks of the company’s permanent collection.

Both unscented, unflavored glosses feel thin and non-sticky on my lips, and they last about 2-3 hours.

jouer malibu hamptons gloss product shot
Lipgloss in Malibu (left) and Hamptons (right)

Swatches of Hamptons (left) and Malibu (right)

jouer malibu gloss
Lipgloss in Malibu
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Not Even Michael Phelps Handles Water As Well As New Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow

August 14th, 2012 by Karen 34 Comments

make up for ever aqua brow

Where’s home base? For my eyebrows, most of the time it’s at the corner of MAC Concrete Eyeshadow and the 266 Small Angle Brush, but over the past couple of weeks, the new Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow ($20 and available in seven shades) and I have stamped some pretty impressive locations in our makeup passport, from a series of treadmill sessions in a sweltering room, to a blisteringly hot blacktop parking lot where a pack of food trucks roam, to a humid East Bay afternoon.

No matter how hot, sticky or overheated I got, Aqua Brow didn’t budge, even when I was bathed in sweat from head to toe after ~~daydreaming about Jeremy Renner~~ a rough 6-mile run.

make up for ever aqua brow product shot
From the left: #25 Ash, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black

Make Up For Ever made this brow-filling gel for makeup artists, but you and I can use it, too. 🙂 Designed to fill, define and intensify brows with a concentrated waterproof formula able withstand hot summer days and sudden thunderstorms, it comes in a tube and dries to a powder with a satiny finish.

A tip for the three dudes who read MBB (bless your hearts!), you can use Aqua Brow to fill in mustaches and sideburns, too.

MUFE claims the essential oils and carnauba wax (palm wax) they used render Aqua Brow virtually melt-proof.

All seven shades join MUFE’s permanent line next month, with #10 Light Blonde, #15 Blonde and #25 Ash heading to Sephora stores (but they’re available now online) and Make Up For Ever Boutiques; and #20 Light Brown, #30 Dark Brown, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black coming exclusively to Make Up For Ever Boutiques.

So far my brows and I have tried #25 Ash, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black. I think that Ash, while a tad lighter than my natural brow color, matches my dyed hair pretty well, and if you’re a brunette, it should work well for you, too.

make up for ever aqua brow swatches
From the left: #25 Ash, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black

make up for ever aqua brow before and after
Before (left) and after application of #25 Ash (right)
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A Fall Trend to Try: Matching Tips and Lips

August 14th, 2012 by Karen 51 Comments

Butter London Toff
Butter London Lippy and Nail Polish in Toff on my lips and nails

Looks like matchy-matchy is in this fall. Quite a few lines have been releasing matching lip and nail products lately, like MAC, Sonia Kashuk and Butter London for fall 2012 (shown below), and can I just say? — I love this trend! 🙂

It reminds me of the sirens of the silver screen — so classic, elegant and pulled together — and with so many colors out there to choose from, it’s one of those rare trends in which everyone can find something to wear.

As some food for thought, here are three combinations featuring Butter London’s new Lippy Butter ($17 each) and 3-Free Lacquer ($14 each) shades, available online now at butterlondon.com.

butter london toff la moss queen vic
From the left: Lacquer and Lippy Butters in Toff, La Moss and Queen Vic

If you prefer more neutral/natural-looking colors, you could try a creamy rose like Toff.

Butter London Toff…I use hands a lot when I talk, so I think it’s kinda cool to have nails that play off the the color on my lips!

But if you want more drama-for-your-mama, then how about something vampy, like dark wine La Moss?

butter london la moss
Butter London Lippy and Nail Polish La Moss
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The Givenchy Le Prisme Eye Quad Color & Shine for Metallic Eyes in Acoustic Harmony #80, and Conversations With My Inner Drag Queen About Glitter

August 10th, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

givenchy acoustic harmony

Between the hypnotic packaging sparkling like a shimmery pair of black snakeskin and patent leather heels, the glittery catchlights and the sheer, high-shine finish of its four powder shadows, Givenchy’s Le Prisme Eye Quad Color & Shine for Metallic Eyes in Acoustic Harmony #80 ($58) is like a makeup oasis glistening in a desert flush with fall smokey eyes.

givenchy acoustic harmony product shot
Outside of the packaging

No. 80 is the new quad in Givenchy’s Acoustic Colors collection for autumn/winter 2012, and man! — it’s sparkly.

So sparkly that it even gave my inner drag queen reason to pause…

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “Baby, I dunno if we can do this.”

KAREN: “Yeah, that is a lot of glitter, but check out how sheer the shadows are. They’re really only lightly tinted but have a shiny finish and gobs of glitter.

“I bet if we apply one all over our lids with a flat eyeshadow brush like the MAC 239, it would look really cool. We’d get a wash of sheer pigment, a shiny finish and sparkle from the glitter on top.

“Trust me — we can make it look classy.”

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “Classy with a ‘c’ or klassy with a ‘k’?”

KAREN: “Dude, classy with a ‘c’! It’ll look like twinkling lights, and because the flecks of glitter are pretty big, I bet we’ll be able to see ’em from a few feet away.

“We’ll just have to make sure we don’t go overboard with the rest of our eye look, which we can do by keeping the liner simple and skipping the false lashes.”

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “B*tch, you know the last time I toned anything down was never. Does not compute!”

KAREN: “Okay, well, to turn it up instead, we can press the shadow directly on our lids. That should intensify the pigment even more, KAPOW! We’ll have to start with a layer of primer to get more of that glitter to latch on to our skin… Hey, I thought you were nervous about wearing so much glitter?”

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “Last time I checked I was the one who held the diva card in this relationship, which means I can change my mind whenever I want. 🙂

[Snaps three times in a Z.]

“Now go about your business so I can practice lip-synching It’s Raining Men.”