Makeup

BECCA Après Ski Glow Collection Eye Lights Palette for Holiday 2017

October 19th, 2017 by Karen 1 Comment

becca eye lights palette k — BECCA Après Ski Glow Face Palette on my cheeks and NARS Vibeke Lipstick

If the thought of wearing a face product on your eyes freaks you out (apparently, it does not freak me out, ha!), don’t worry. The new $45 BECCA Après Ski Glow Collection Eye Lights Palette is officially an eye product…even though the “shadows” in it have almost the same formula as the actual BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Powders. 🙂

(Side note: am I the only one who already uses the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfecting Powders and Bronzers as eyeshadows? Just curious…)

becca eye lights palette open — Let’s talk about brown shadow, baby!

This is a gorgeous palette. It has seven neutral shades — two of them new (bodaciously buttery brown Toasted Marshmallow and Hot Cocoa) and five of them based on existing highlighters in the BECCA permanent line.

All of them feel just as soft and buttery, and blend just as easily, as BECCA’s full-fledged, official highlighters.

I like using the browns (big surprise) as quickie crease colors, because they aren’t very pigmented, so you can almost instantly define your eyes by swishing a few swipes on your lids.

Golden brown Toasted Marshmallow is basically rocking my world right now. It looks a little like MAC Soba to me, but with, like, amplified golden pearl. And reddish brown Hot Cocoa looks like a satiny version of MAC Swiss Chocolate. It’s red, but it isn’t too red, if you know what I mean.

The only big catch with this palette, and it is kind of a big catch, is that most of the shades — the lighter ones, especially — all (with the exception of Topaz) look pretty much the same on my NC 42 skin, so if you’re my shade or darker…it’s kinda repetitive.

I’m just sayin’.

[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Heavy Metals Metallic Eyeshadow Palette for Holiday 2017

October 19th, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette open — Heavy metals, mama!

Where the heck is the fallout? RIGHT? If you’re an Urban Decay fan, you expect a little fallout — OK, a ton of fallout — when you’re working with their eyeshadows. You just learn to live with it…

At least I have. At least most people I know who love and use the brand have in the past. I mean, it’s no big whoop if you do your eyes first and cleanup later, but wouldn’t it be a nice option to just, like, be able to do your eyes and not have to worry about dealing with massive amounts of stray eyeshadow? The $55 Urban Decay Heavy Metals Metallic Eyeshadow Palette, which is part of the brand’s holiday collection and houses a bevvy of shimmery metallics, gives you that option.

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette packaging — Purple power

I don’t know what happened over at UD, but a few of their recent eyeshadow palettes have exhibited very little fallout, including this one, and it’s been awesome. They’ve totally “leveled up” their eyeshadow game.

The eyeshadows in this palette have a completely new formula, and it’s exclusive to this palette. (I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if they eventually added it to the permanent line.)

There are 20 shadows, with brights on one side, neutrals on the other, and they’re all completely new colors. New formula. New, new, new, new, new!

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette right — The right side of the palette

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette left — The left side of the palette

The shadows have a foiled effect, meaning that when you pat them on with a finger or brush, they’re super shiny — not glossy, as in a wet way, but shiny like chrome or tinfoil.

Most of the time to get that intensely shiny, foiled effect with shadows you have to apply them wet. This palette removes that step. You can do a dry application, and it’s just as shiny as a wet one.

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette swatches neutrals — From the top: Bass, Glory, Demo, Starfire, Afterparty, Angel fire, Roadie, Maiden, Scream, Acoustic

[Continue reading…]

Urban Decay Vice Metal Meets Matte Lipstick Palette for Holiday 2017

October 18th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

urban decay vice meets metal lip palette — That’s a whole lotta Vices…

Is it just me, or is something usually a little off about the lipsticks that come in LE lipstick palettes? Like they feel and work different than they would if they came in a tube? I dunno… Maybe something changes when they pour them into a pan instead of a bullet.

I know that a lot of makeup artists say that applying lipstick with a brush makes your lipstick last longer and look better, and OK, I see a little of that happening, but it’s not enough for me to want to whip out a lip brush every time I put on lipstick.

Except with this one! 🙂 I’ll do it for Urban Decay’s new Vice Metal Meets Matte Lipstick Palette.

It’s $35, REALLY GOOD and available now with the 2017 holiday collection.

urban decay meets metal lipstick palette swatches — Banger, Amulet, CSB, Tame

[Continue reading…]

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay Rehab Makeup Prep Lip Love

October 18th, 2017 by Karen 2 Comments

urban decay lip love — The best lip balm!

I realize that I keep talking about this lip balm, but it’s THAT. GOOD. I’ve gotten to the point where I have tubes everywhere. I have one on my nightstand. I have one in my Kate Spade wristlet… I’m thinking now that I also need to keep one in my car.

It’s Urban Decay Rehab Makeup Prep Lip Love, and it’s $15, which, you know, is more expensive than something you can get from the drugstore for less than five bucks, but it’s really, really, really comfy and moisturizing.

Oh, my goodness! I barely even feel it. It’s a little slippery, but it’s not thick or heavy or sticky. And because it isn’t too thick, the balm also lays well underneath lipsticks and lipglosses, so it’s great for prepping your lips before color.

I realized just how much I truly love it after I swatched a whole bunch of lipsticks last week, and my lips felt like I’d been making out with a bag of broken glass afterward. Lip Love basically rescued my lips from flaky oblivion and restored them to their previously smooooove state.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

I’ve read that some folks find the flavor to be a turnoff. I don’t mind it so much… I actually kind like it. It’s a little bit coconut and shea butter, which is good because it has both shea butter and coconut oil in it, and for the most part I think it’s nondescript.

[Continue reading…]

MAC Unsung Heroes: Saddle Eyeshadow

October 17th, 2017 by Karen 12 Comments

I know that a few of you gals and dudes who visit MBB also ride horses, so I need to know — does MAC Saddle Eye Shadow in any way remind you of actual saddles? Is this what color saddles are? Because I’ve never ridden a horse, so I have no clue.

All I know is I love this color, man, and I’ve been wearing it for years! It’s a — now please don’t run away when I say this — matte orange brown.

Yep, I said orange…but it’s more brown than orange. It’s not obnoxiously orange. The little bit of orange just gives it some warmth.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

mac saddle swatch — Howdy, pardner. I reckon I’m about a MAC NC42 for refrence, if’n yer inclined to know…

Sometimes I use Saddle to deepen my crease and make my eyes look like they’re set back further in my sockets…

OK, that sounded weirder than it did in my head…but anyway, mattes are useful when you want to make something look more recessed.

You could start with a light brown matte like MAC Soft Brown, Soba or Wedge in the crease first, then add Saddle on top on the part of your crease that you want to look deepest and furthest back.

Feathering it up into the lighter brown you started with also creates a gradient and gives the look a little somethin’-something, a.k.a. complexity.

I’m wearing Saddle and Wedge on my lids and in the crease, Brun and Mulch in the outer corners, Ricepaper to highlight the inner corners and my brows, and Feline Kohl on my water lines.

[Continue reading…]

Swatches of the MAC Liptensity Lip Pencils, Available Now in the MAC Permanent Line

October 16th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

mac liptensity lip liner swatches — The new MAC Liptensity Lip Liners

You’d think that I, as a Greek mythology enthusiast, would already know the correct pronunciation of the word “Dionysus,” which is one of the shades in the new (and now available in the MAC permanent line) MAC Liptensity Lip Pencils.

Is it dee-oh-NIGH-sus or dee-AHHH-nah-sees?

I’ve heard it both ways.

One day I’ll figure it out! (Or, maybe one of you guys will tell me, ha! 🙂 That’s why I love the Internet.)

Fun fact: I actually thought about naming Connor Claire “Artemis,” after Artemis of the Wildland/Mistress of Animals/Goddess of the Hunt.

Ooh! Or “Nike,” after the Goddess of Victory (and not the massive international mega brand).

Like the MAC Liptensity Lipsticks, these lip pencils are new additions to the MAC permanent line, and they’re like soft, creamy, super skinny lipsticks.

mac liptensity lipstick swatches october 2017 — See the angled tip?

Incidentally, several of these have matching partners in the complementary Liptensity Lipstick line, like Stallion, Galaxy Grey, Marsala, Dionysus, Habanero, Double Fudge, and Toast and Butter.

Even though, technically, these are liners, I like using the brighter ones, like Cut Ruby (SO GORGEOUS), as lipsticks, because they’re so easy to maneuver around my natural lip line.

Generally, the darker shades work well as lipsticks, too, except for Hellebore, which is quite patchy.

Speaking of patchiness…I also have trouble with Art District, which is one of the nudes. It takes a lot of layering and patting to even it out when I use it to fill in my lips, but it gets the job done as a straight-up liner (as does Hellebore).

mac liptensity lip pencil swatches 4 — Habanero, All Dressed Up, Marsala, Royally Flushed

[Continue reading…]

Swatches of All 22 MAC Liptensity Lipsticks, and a Quick NorCal Fire Update

October 13th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

mac liptensity swatches — The 22 MAC Liptensity Lipsticks, swatched.

The fires are still raging in Sonoma and Napa. It’s still bad up there, and it’s pretty smoky here, but it isn’t terribly windy right now, which is one small blessing. Hopefully it stays that way for another day or two, and then maybe some of the fires can be contained. We just keep checking the county fire alerts, being ready, and trying to stay positive.

Speaking of staying positive…Liptensity! 🙂 After swatching all 22 of the MAC Liptensity Lipsticks, which, by the way, are now available in the MAC permanent line, my lips were stained a magnificent magenta color that lasted — no joke! — a day and a half.

The pigment is that serious.

More importantly (at least to me), I’m pretty sure that one of the colors, Clouds in My Coffee, is a shout-out to Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain.

“I had some dreams. They were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee, and…you’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you…”

I guess 2016’s limited edition Liptensity collection did pretty well, because the Liptensities are permanent now. Nine of the shades are new, and 13 are re-promotes.

The MAC Liptensity Lipsticks (now permanent)

The re-promotes: Driftwood, Smoked Almond, Toast and Butter, Dionysus, Habanero, Fireworks, Marsala, Mulling Spices, Cordovan, Galaxy Grey, Double Fudge, Ambrosial and Stallion

And the new shades: Clouds in My Coffee, Well Bred Brown, Ginger Rose, Brick Dust, Bite O’ Georgia, King Salmon, Fire Roasted, Beetroot and Noblesse

It’s been a minute since the last time I wore any of these, and this swatch sesh reignited my affection for them again. Not only are they preternaturally pigmented, but they don’t settle into my lip lines. At all.

The thing is, though, they’re so intense that you have basically zero room for error when you use them. Applying one of the dark or bright shades straight from the tube is kinda tough because they don’t have a pointed tip like regular MAC lipsticks do, and that makes it difficult to follow your lip contours, especially in the outer corners.

For what it’s worth, a few of the shades have matching Liptensity Lip Pencils (I’ll post swatches of the pencils on Monday).

I applied a single layer straight from the tube for each of these, which is how I usually apply lipstick, and one layer of Liptensity lasts me about three hours, or until I have something to nibble or drink.

mac liptensity lipstick-swatches-3-final — Clockwise from the upper left: Bite o’ Georgia, King Salmon, Habanero, Fireworks

[Continue reading…]

NARS Man Ray for NARS Holiday Collection: The Kiss Has It in the Bag

October 12th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

So, I know it’s like totes cliché to be a makeup lover obsessed with lip prints, but I am. It is what it is. And the bag in the new NARS The Kiss Velvet Matte Lip Pencil Set ($49) has the cutest lip print.

It’s from the new NARS Man Ray Holiday collection (available now), which has lips all over the place! — on the packaging, the pans, and even gracing this shiny gold makeup bag.

And these lips here are speaking to my soul. I love that they’re a little uneven and fussy looking, like they’re p*ssed about someone parking in their designated spot, haha!

(OK…leave it to the accessories hoarder to go off on the bag five minutes!)

To their credit, the NARS LE holiday bags are some of the best holiday bags around. I have a black one with blue lips on it from a few years back, and it’s still going strong.

[Continue reading…]