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Make Up For Ever Aqua Smoky Lash Waterproof Mascara Is Coming with Me to that Deserted Island

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Sejal

Friend me on FacebookWritten by Sejal

Freelance makeup artist and blogger Sejal believes she’s found your next mascara addiction. Get ready to feed your need in today’s guest post.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? I’m the gal who’d want one of her things to be a reliable tube o’ mascara.

Yes, it’s true. It’s because I’m addicted to mascara. Even when I find one I like, I can’t stay with it for long. I still have to try the next new one that comes along cuz….well, just cuz!!!

It’s what lead me to my recent purchase of Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Aqua Smoky Lash waterproof mascara ($22) in Extra Black.

I love the MUFE Aqua Eyes and Aqua Creams, so I figured Aqua Smoky Lash had to be great too, right?

See for yourself: 🙂

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara: Bare Eyes
Bare Eyes

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Smoky Lash Mascara: One Coat
One Coat of Aqua Smoky Lash
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NARS Spring 2011: Super Orgasm and Angelika Lip Glosses Usher in the Season Early

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nars spring 2011 angelika
NARS Angelika Lip Gloss

They say that patience is a virtue…but I don’t have patience for proverbs, LOL! Not when it comes to makeup. When it comes to putting on le war paint, I’m all about instant gratification. 🙂

And today I satisfied the urge to splurge with two glosses from NARS, specifically the collection for spring 2011.

But NARS spring 2011 isn’t out yet, is it? Nope, it’s not (it rolls onto NARS counters soon); lucky for us, two of the upcoming lip glosses are. They’re repromoted colors, and both are available now at Sephora, NARS counters and NARS online.

Have you met Angelika and Super Orgasm ($24 each)?

nars super orgasm angelika
Angelika (left) and Super Orgasm (right)

These girls are the lip gloss versions of two famed NARS blushes, which themselves go by the names Angelika and Super Orgasm.
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At Smashbox, Neutrals Are In Bloom for Spring 2011

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smashbox in bloom

Delicate like flower petals, the tender spring tones blossoming right now at Smashbox headquarters are much quieter than last year’s technicolor Heartbreaker release, but I can still hear them whispering sweet nothings to my soul.

Goodies in the new eight-piece In Bloom collection for eyes, lips, cheeks and face (products $20-$48 each) are available now at Ulta, Sephora and smashbox.com.

If Heartbreaker was like cage dancing, then In Bloom is like a Moleskin notebook filled with poetry. 🙂 The release reminds me of the spring release from NARS, with its predilection toward neutrals. Here, too, there’s a lot of super wearable beige, brown, gold and gray going on, but in place of the bright blue, green and purple accents NARS injected into his spring release, Smashbox sprinkled subdued shades of mossy green, violet, pink, peach and coral onto theirs.

smashbox in bloom

In Bloom Eye Shadow Palette, $48
Smashbox arranged the two rows of colors (five each) in this palette so that the each vertical pair makes a color coordinated duo. They’re only suggestions, of course, and the colors are also designed to mix and match. The palette — ballet pink, lavender grey, golden pink, warm taupe, bone, soft violet, marine blue, copper, moss green and nude — includes both shimmer and matte eyeshadows, too.

Cream Cheek Duo in Blushing/Peony, $26
The two cream blushes, one in soft pink and the other in coral pink, in this flexible duo have a matte finish and can be worn on both the cheeks and lips.

Soft Focus Powder Eye Liner in Heather Grey and Dark Brown, $22 each
These powder liners (which look a little like elongated bottles of nail polish, don’t they?) have a sponge tip that makes them a cinch to create soft matte looks in a flash. TIP: Shake the bottles before applying to load the sponge, and then tap off any excess powder from the tip before bringing it up to your lash lines.

Limitless Long Wear Lip Gloss SPF 15 in Timeless and Endless Kiss, $21 each
I’m REALLY excited about these and cannot wait to try shimmery soft pink Timeless and coral pink Endless Kiss. I just love this gloss formula. Not only is it long lasting on the lips, but it feels so smooth!
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EmphasEYES Those Brown Eyes with Tarte Aqua Gel Eyeliner in Shimmering Indigo

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This may sound a little selfish, but I sure hope Tarte adds their new emphasEYES Aqua Gel Eyeliner in Shimmering Indigo to their permanent line, because I love the way it looks with brown eyes.

The pigmented purplish blue gel liner, a QVC exclusive shade (you get not one, but TWO for $25), comes in a twist-up pencil, making it more convenient than most gel liners.

According to Tarte, half of the product consists of water — with minerals, as well as vitamin E, cucumber and aloe suspended within it — and judging by how creamy and moist the liner feels along my lash line, I believe it.

It also shimmers on my eyes in a way that makes it look to me like late afternoon light reflecting on the surface of a pond, ah…


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35 Ways to Shine: The New Make Up For Ever Lab Shine Lip Glosses

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make up for ever lab shine on karen of makeup and beauty blog

Make Up For Ever hopes to woo a lotta lips this spring with their glitzy new line of glosses, but these luminescent lippies might be a little too much like young love (meaning they fade all too soon).

For their shiniest lip gloss yet, Make Up For Ever loaded each tube of Lab Shine with highly reflective pearl pigments. The entire line encompasses three different finishes (Diamond, Star and Metal) spanning a whopping 35 colors.

The Diamond CollectionThe Diamond Collection’s 12 shimmery shades are formulated with Make Up For Ever Diamond Powder for transparent, natural looking color and glittery shine.

The Star CollectionThe Star Collection boasts 14 shades blended with Make Up For Ever Star Powder to give lips glamorous shine with an iridescent mother-of-pearl finish.

The Metal CollectionThe Metal Collection features nine shades made with Make Up For Ever Metal Powder, giving lips an intense mirror-like finish.

My lips love how these glosses feel, smell and taste — or rather how they don’t taste like much at all. I like the faint fragrance, which reminds me of hibiscus.

Smooth and hydrating, containing camelina oil (which is rich in vitamin E) and beeswax, they have a medium-weight texture that’s not sticky, so they scoot onto my lips with ease.

make up for ever lab shine
Make Up For Ever Lab Shines from left: S10, S16, S24, S26, D6, D22, M14 and M10
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When NARS Springs for 2011, He Won’t Be Blushing

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NARS spring 2011

Since I have a weak spot for NARS blushes that’s right up there with my weak spot for Häagen-Dazs dulce de leche ice cream, I was shocked, and a wee bit disappointed, to hear that Francois left the blushes out of his collection for fall.

But I wiped away my tears today when I saw these pics for the small 11-piece collection for eyes, lips and nails. The shimmery earth tones with metallic finishes; the sheer, sparkly cool purples and pinks; and even a couple of unexpected greens and blues? NARS started with safe neutrals but sprinkled them with just enough brights to keep a girl on her toes, and what he came up with looks to be a lot of fun.

Plus, almost all of the colors are new (two of the lip glosses are repromotes).

NARS SPRING 2011

Trio Eyeshadow in Calanque (new), $45 — This earthy trio can do the splits, meaning it’s flexible, yo. It contains a shimmery gold-infused platinum with silver glitter, a light matte caramel and a shimmery antique-ish golden bronze. Wear the products individually, using one as a base, one as a highlighter and one as a liner, or mix and match them with the other eye products from the release (or something else entirely). Neat, right? I can already see this trio getting a permanent place in my makeup bag.

Eyeshadow Duo in Bateau Ivre (new), $32 — I feel blue 🙁 but in a totally good way. I’m eager to try Bateau Ivre’s rich sky blue and deep denim. FUN FACT: This duo took its moniker from the Arthur Rimbaud poem of the same name.

An excerpt from Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat)

“As I was floating down unconcerned Rivers
I no longer felt myself steered by the haulers:
Gaudy Redskins had taken them for targets
Nailing them naked to coloured stakes.

I cared nothing for all my crews,
Carrying Flemish wheat or English cottons.
When, along with my haulers those uproars were done with
The Rivers let me sail downstream where I pleased.”
— Arthur Rimbaud, Le Bateau Ivre

Eyeshadow Duo in Nouveau Monde (new), $32 — One word: WANT! Nouveau Monde, French for “New World”, NARS poetically pairs a silvery metallic lilac with a rich olive gold.

Soft Touch Shadows Pencils in Celebrate (new) and Hollywoodland (new), $24 each — Both Celebrate (a festive parrot green) and Hollywoodland (a pale gold) can be worn as bases upon which to layer powder shadows, or alone for a dash of pigmented shimmer.

NARS SPRING 2011

Lip Glosses in Nana (new), Super Orgasm (repromote) and Angelika (repromote), $24 each — There they (NARS) go again. They can’t sincerely expect me to be able to resist shiny pink and purple glosses, right? I mean come on.
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Can I Read Your Hourglass Aura? The Hourglass Aura Collection for Spring 2011

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hourglass aura collection spring 2011

Once upon a time, I had my aura read in a Las Vegas bathroom. I know it sounds a little pervy in a George Michael kinda way, but it was all good, clean (if not totally random) fun.

I was in town for a wedding and went to the restroom to wash my hands before the reception dinner. There was a woman at the sink next to me, and she was intensely staring at my reflection in the mirror.

I smiled at her while preparing to jet, ’cause, you know, in the movies, nothing good ever happens when strangers stare at you in public bathrooms. And that’s when she said, “Your aura’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Um…thank you?

Some people believe that each of us has an aura, a field of radiant, luminous color that surrounds us. These fields, which are invisible to all but a few gifted individuals who are able to perceive them, are unique combinations of colors, like pigmented fingerprints, and I can only imagine how beautiful they must look.

I got to chatting with the woman in the restroom, who as luck would have it turned out not to be a serial killer (BIG relief). She was a kind of mystic and insisted on giving me a quick reading right there at the sink. She described my aura as an unusually bright mix of beautiful yellow and orange.

How intriguing! Perhaps almost as intriguing as the Hourglass Aura Collection for lips and cheeks. 🙂
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Got $10? Stock Up at the Benefit Online Saleabration

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Hey, babe. Just a quick heads up. Benefit’s hosting an online “Saleabration” right now with select makeup and skincare products on sale for up to 70% off.

Several of the makeup items are beautiful, wearable neutrals from limited collections that have come out over the last couple of years, with many priced at $10 or less.

A few bargain highlights:

Eyes

Lips

Not sure what to get? Check out my swatches and reviews of the sale products mentioned above:

Happy shopping, bargain hunters!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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