Makeup

The Urban Decay X Kristen Leanne Collection Beauty Beam Palette

January 18th, 2018 by Karen 7 Comments

urban decay kristen leanne beauty beam — Stay gold

Every time I open the $34 UD X Kristen Leanne Beauty Beam Highlight Palette and see the words “STAY GOLD” there in the corner, I think back to a phase I went through in high school when I would sign all of my letters — this was back before email and text, when we actually had to write things down on paper like animals — with the phrase, “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” hearkening to the book, The Outsiders…

I’m sure a lot of other people also did that… Right? LOL!

From what I understand, one of Kristen’s catchphrases is “Stay Gold,” and now those words are here, immortalized forever in this trio of face highlighters from her new LE UD collection.

All three of these powder highlighters are different shades of shimmery gold. There’s a rose gold on the left, which looks a little like BECCA Rose Gold highlighter from the Chrissy Teigan palette — a palette which, to this day, makes me clutch my pearls. I still love it so much.

And then there’s the highlighter in the middle, a white golden pearl with a BECCA Opal vibe, and the one on the right, a warm golden pearl similar to Now’s the Time highlighter from the UD Jean-Michel Basquiat collection.

urban decay kristen leanne beauty beam swatches — Urban Decay X Kristen Leanne Collection Beauty Beam Palette

Assuming you like to wear gold (I do!), caution is still advised with these colors because they seem to apply, at least on my skin, much lighter than they look in the pans.

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Sephora Beauty Insider Collectible Pin Set

January 18th, 2018 by Karen 23 Comments

Throughout the entire history of “Karen going to Sephora,” which is a long history, I’ve never gotten as excited about a Sephora Beauty Insider points exchange as I got for this Collectible Pin Set.

How cute is this!? It’s sooo cute, right? I had to (“had to,” air quotes) go to Sephora last week… Was it last week? Yeah, it was just before I got sick.

Anywho… I had to pick up another bottle of Kate Somerville Anti Bac Clearing Lotion because I was down to the last drop, and without it my face totally breaks out. So, I ran to Sephora, grabbed it, grabbed an $8 lipstick too (we’ll talk about that in a second), and when I was at the front counter, I saw this cute little set of four enamel pins.

sephora beauty insider collectible pin set — I couldn’t say no.

When the sales associate asked me if I wanted to redeem any points, I didn’t use my standard answer, which is almost always “no” because I’m hardly ever really moved by any of the chintzy samples they give away for like 500 points, but I saw these pins and was like, “YES, GIRL. HOOK A CAT LADY UP.”

OK, there are four pins… There’s a peace sign with painted nails. That one’s very sassy.

sephora beauty insider collectible pins peace — Nail art lives!

There’s this unicorn, whom I’ve named “Treasure.”

sephora beauty insider collectible pins unicorn — Say hi to Treasure.

This trio of cute little hearts…

sephora beauty insider collectible pins hearts — Hearts are my thing, man.

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9 Things to Know About the MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics

January 17th, 2018 by Karen 14 Comments

mac retro matte liquid lipcolour metallics 1 — The new $21 MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics, available now

The other day someone on Facebook asked what I thought was an incredibly philosophical question. “When will liquid lipstick go out of style?”

As of right now, from where I’m standing in my black stretchy pants, I would have to say that the answer to that query is “never.” They’ve come and gone out of style over the years, but they’ve been running the school this time FOREVER. They’ve been in longer than the longest wear times. It’s been, what, two or three years now? At least.

And now, with MAC’s new line of Metallic Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics, an opalescent twist on their O.G. 2015 Retro Mattes, there’s even less reason to expect them to go out of style anytime soon.

These 15 LE shades (yes, they’re limited edition) are matte-ish. They slightly vary in terms of subtle shimmer, but it is always subtle. Some are almost completely flat (In Retrograde), and others, like hot pink Buzzed Out, have a pearly finish so “barely there” that you can’t really see it unless you’re all the way up in someone’s grill.

9 things to know about the MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics

They’re $21 each, LE and available now on counters and online.

There are 15 shades with varying levels of metallic pearl.

The formula feels more like a mousse than a viscous, runny liquid.

They have that classic MAC vanilla scent and flavor.

Less is best with these. The more I layer, the thicker, heavier and drier they look.

The formula is slightly drying and seeks out lip flakes, so prep with lip balm first because you want to apply these to a smooth canvas.

They last me about 5-6 hours, so the wear time is pretty good.

You can probably skip liner with most of the shades (the lighter ones), because the pointed doe foot makes it easy to draw smooth lines, but I would use matching liners for the darker colors, because freehand outlining those with the doe foot is hard.

My favorite favorites are Pearl Punk, In Retrograde and Buzzed Out.

Here are lip swatches of my overall faves (Note: one of them is not the corpse-y gray). BIG surprise! — I’m all about the wearable nudes and the brights. These are the ones I can see myself wearing, but lemme know if there’s another color you’d like me to try on.

mac retromatte liquid lipcolour swatches 2 — Buzzed Out, In Retrograde, Love Weapon, Crowned, Atomized, Moon Landing, Silver Spoon

mac retromatte liquid lipcolour swatches 1 — Coral Plated, Foiled, Metrochrome, Quartzette, Pearl Punk, Softly Rockin’ Gemz & Roses, Metallic Rose

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The Urban Decay X Kristen Leanne Collection Daydream Palette

January 17th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

urban decay kristen leanne daydream 3 — I vote cake frosting.

So what do you think that is there on the front of the $26 Urban Decay X Kristen Leanne Daydream Palette?

Is it…

A. Cake frosting (*nods enthusiastically*)
B. Body lotion
C. Shaving cream

Because it looks like all three to me.

But if I can only choose one (Monday Poll flashbacks), I’ll go with cake frosting because — hi! — I’ve been watching The Great British Baking Show for five days straight.

Incidentally, that show is like chicken soup (with baked homemade crackers) for the soul. It’s almost a cure for the common cold, but I digress…

urban decay kristen leanne daydream — Got a Daydream on my lids and lash lines…

Isn’t this palette cute? When you open it up, there are five warm neutral powder eyeshadows inside.

Daydream is part of the new Urban Decay X Kristen Leanne collection, which is available now. It’s a collab between UD and spunky, cruelty-free makeup-loving YouTuber Kristen Leanne. In a nutshell, she has colorful hair, she loves rainbow looks, she’s got tattoos, and she owns a hair color company called Arctic Fox that’s all about mermaid and unicorn colors…so she’s all about color.

There are two eye palettes in the collection — a colorful one and a neutral one. The latter, of course, is the one I wanted to try first.

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10 Ways to Work MAC Fix+

January 16th, 2018 by Karen 23 Comments

There are so many ways to use Fix+ (officially, MAC Prep + Prime Fix+) beyond the standard makeup setting spray procedure.

I love Fix+ and use it daily to prep my skin, and I’m so into it that I even bring a mini bottle with me when I travel.

MAC recently added three new Fix+ “flavors”…

OK, they aren’t really flavors. Just different scents with the same Fix+ formula as the original, which is still my favorite, BTW (has a white floral/green tea scent). Now there’s also Coconut, Lavender and Rose.

Spraying Coconut ? on my face right now…

Ah… I love it.

I don’t know if you’ve ever used Fix+ before, but if you haven’t, give it a try. It’s weirdly much better than water, and it doesn’t leave splotches. You can use it as a setting spray or as a moisturizing skin prep spray to wet your skin before doing your skin care, but those aren’t even half the things it’s good for.

Here are 10 more ways to work MAC Fix+…

1. You can spray it on your hair!

Yes, that’s right. You can spray it on wet hair to loosen tight knots. Or, if you have naturally curly hair, spray it on your hair while it’s wet or dry to kick up your curls.

2. As a body moisturizer/refreshing body spray

You can also use Fix+ on your bod. Store it in the fridge, then spray it all over your arms, torso and legs for a cool, light, refreshing layer of moisture.

3. Intensify your brows

For an intense brow look, load an angled brush with your favorite brow powder, and then spray it with Fix+. Apply that directly to your brows and watch out!

4. Conversely, use Fix+ to mellow out an overly intense brow application

If you accidentally apply too much brow pencil and make your brows too dark, dampen a spoolie with Fix+, and run it through your brows to take down the intensity a few notches.

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10-Minute Work or Weekend Makeup With Red Blush, Red Lipstick and Smudgy Bronze-Black Cat Eyeliner

January 13th, 2018 by Karen 24 Comments

10 minute makeup — Today’s 10-minute makeup

A few things:

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m wearing the same pajamas I put on Thursday night.
My head feels like it’s being squished in a vice (yes, I’m still a walking germ factory).
I haven’t washed my hair in three (four?) days.

But thanks to the healing power of makeup, I can pretend I briefly look like I’m a somewhat functioning adult, LOL!

This 10-minute makeup look was 1) to help myself feel better, and 2) for Sheena (yay for the Bay, girl, woo-hoo!), who liked the NUDESTIX Intense Lip + Cheek Pencil in Purity post earlier this week but wanted to see me use a darker color from the line.

This time I used warm red Stiletto, and I used it as both a blush and a sheer lip color. And then I also did a smudgy, bronze-y black cat eye.

Everything I used is listed below, and if you have any questions, you know where to find me (hints: it involves Netflix, a laptop and my couch).

nudestix stiletto — When you’re trying to not look like you’re a walking germ factory…

One note about the skin. I used a very sheer liquid skin tint to even everything out just a touch, then boosted the coverage on my cheeks with a loose foundation. This is a very cool shortcut I like to do when I’m pressed for time/have very little patience.

Also, because I went into this look planning to only spend 10 minutes on it, and because the pencil was an opaque bright red, I opted for the sheer lip stain because I figured I’d be able to fudge the edge of the lip line (which I did).

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Antonym Cosmetics Organic Certified Highlighting Blush in Cheek Crush

January 12th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

antonym highlighting blush cheek crush — Grown lady disco shimmer

Whoa, disco lady! This is way shiny… Almost too shiny for me. Antonym Cosmetics Organic Certified Highlighting Blush in Cheek Crush ($42) is a two-for-one combo. You get a baked blush and a highlighter in one alluring pan, and, seeing as how it was made in Italy and all (the land where the best baked powders come to life), I hoped it would romance my cheeks…but alas, I just can’t hang with the intense shimmer and the limited pigment.

antonym highlighting blush cheek crush k — Cheek Crush on the apples of my cheeks and my upper cheekbones

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Antonym Cosmetics Certified Organic Eyeshadow Quattro in Noisette

January 11th, 2018 by Karen 15 Comments

antonym cosmetics quattro eyeshadow noisette — Living life on the edge…purr usual

For some people, living on the edge means base jumping from a skyscraper, surfing 50-foot waves, or getting hitched in Vegas to the lifeguard they just met at the hotel pool five minutes ago (granted, he was hot).

My idea of life in the fast lane is trying to use a matte eyeshadow that I’ve never used before in a 10-minute makeup look…

What can I say? I GO HARD.

Sometimes this gamble doesn’t pay off, and I end up with a choppy, patchy mess. Sometimes, however, it does, like it did with Organic Eyeshadow Quattro in Noisette ($39) by Antonym Cosmetics.

If you have lined lids and/or otherwise refuse to get drawn into eye makeup drama, I think you’re gonna love this. It’s from Antonym Cosmetics, a cruelty-free, organic line from Miami that I just started wearing and loving.

(Side note: Why aren’t more makeup peeps talking bout this line? It’s still flying under the radar for now, but they recently launched on the Sephora website (that’s how I found them). I’m convinced they’re going to blow up soon because every one of their products I’ve tried so far has been profesh-caliber — like Hourglass meets NARS.)

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