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Makeup

NARS Precision Lip Liner Is Marvelously Melty

August 31st, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

nars precision lip liner
$24 NARS Precision Lip Liner is available now.

GIRL. In the ’90s, the lip liner situation wasn’t cute.

I wore lip liner just about every other day from approximately 1993 to 1999, and I spent between 10-60 minutes on each of those days tugging liner across my lips.

That works out to between 182.5 and 1,095 total hours of my life, because skipping liner was NOT AN OPTION. There was an unwritten rule among our crew that if you wore lipstick, you also had to do the liner. Don’t know why, but this was regarded as the truth.

Now, due to modern advancements in makeup technology (ooh!), we have ultra smooth liners now, like the NARS Precision Lip Liners, which can line and fill in lips with absolutely no tugging.

nars precision lip liner
Time to draw…

These are cool. They’re new to NARS and available now for $24 each in 26 shades.

All kinds of colors, from nudes to brights to some crazy shades, like this deep, dark black shade called Nasty Girl, which I would’ve LIVED for in 1994, because that’s when I was lining and filling in my lips with black eyeliner (!).

The thing about this pencil? It glides, slips and slides along the skin, so when you trace your lips with it, it doesn’t tug or skip.

There are other liners out there that move as easily as this. I like to call them “melty” lip liners. Urban Decay’s Glide-On pencils are similar, as are the MAC Pro-Longwear Lip Pencils, but I’ve noticed a tipping point when it comes to applying those. After a certain amount gets on my lips, they starts to look thick and heavy, especially when you layer something on top of them.

nars precision lip liner

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There are 6 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews

5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately: Senita Athletics, Tarte Rose Gold Blush & Glow, It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under-Eye Concealer, The Good Place, and an Epic Egg Salad Sandwich

August 30th, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

senita athletics
Note the tabby in the sink…

1. Senita Athletics workout wear

I took this pic last night from “That ’70s Bathroom,” which is my nickname for our guest bathroom, because everything in it is straight outta the ’70s.

Note the adorable sports bra and shorts.

Well…at least I think they’re cute.

They’re from Senita Athletics, which I found out about from Abbey, who suggested that I look into them in the comments on a post where I mentioned that I was looking for a new pair of workout shorts for my HIIT class.

I’m wearing them here. They’re the Swift Shorts 2 in the Bahamas print. I’m also wearing the matching Sarah Sports Bra and the Boyfriend Muscle Tee.

I love, LOVE Senita’s clothes and their prices, which are way better than Lululemon and Zella.

I’ve washed these items a bunch of times (mind you, I’ve only had them about a month), put them in the dryer on low, and they haven’t faded, unraveled or stretched out. I think they’ll hold up well.

And, best thing ever, they have pockets everywhere. There’s a pocket on the back of the bra, hidden pockets in the shorts — seriously, there are SO MANY POCKETS. It’s glorious.

2. Tarte Blush and Glow Blush & Highlighter in Rose Gold

tarte rose gold blush glow
Tarte Blush and Glow in Rose Gold ($30)

One side of this split pan blush/highlighter combo from Tarte’s fall collection is a sheer matte rosy brown, and the other side is a rose gold shimmer. The powders aren’t as pigmented as the powders in the Amazonian Clay Blushes, but I’m totally fine with that, because there are days when I just want a little bit of cheek color.

Also, the highlighter is seductively subtle.

tarte rose gold blush glow swatches
Tarte Blush and Glow in Rose Gold: swatches

It goes with any and all nude pinkish brown lippies I’ve tried. Check it out with Hourglass Girl Lip Stylo in Believer.

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There are 16 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: It Cosmetics, Just For Fun, Makeup, Product Reviews, Tarte

It Cosmetics Bye Bye Lines Foundation: Using It, Loving It, Living for It

August 30th, 2017 by Karen 13 Comments

it cosmetics bye bye lines foundation
It Cosmetics Bye Bye Lines Foundation is BAWSE. It’s $38 and comes in seven shades available meow at Ulta.

Fun fact: a person can sing the chorus to NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye — and don’t even play like you don’t know it! — over and over to the name of this new foundation from It Cosmetics for an obnoxious amount of time, annoying both themselves and those around them to no end.

“Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye lines!”

I think that video also had some puppet-like dance moves in it. Oh, the ’90s and its boy bands…

Basically, I think I just found your, and by “your,” I mean my, new favorite foundation. 🙂

it cosmetics bye bye lines foundation swatches
From the top: Fair, Light, Medium, Medium Tan, Tan, Rich and Deep

It’s a flexible, full-coverage skin-smoothing liquid foundation with a luminous finish, and it just came out for fall. A 1-oz. plastic bottle is $38 and has a pump, which is a little touchy. I somehow always squeeze out a little more than I need when I put it on the back of my hand (I have to mix two shades to get a perfect match for me).

That’s kind of annoying, but other than that little design flaw, and the fact that none of the shades is a perfect match for me, I think the foundation itself is almost perfect.

it cosmetics bye bye lines foundation before and after
Bare skin on one side, and a mix of Tan and Rich on the other

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There are 13 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: It Cosmetics, Makeup, Product Reviews

The $32 Tarte Make Magic Happen Eyeshadow Palette

August 29th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

tarte make magic happen palette 1
Current palette crush: the Tarte Make Magic Happen Eyeshadow Palette, $32 and available meow!

This new Tarte eye palette is called Make Magic Happen…but I keep calling it Make Magic Mike 3 Happen, haha!

tarte make magic happen palette packaging
The limited-edition Tarte Make Magic (Mike) Happen Eye Palette, $32

“Amazonian clay eyeshadow palette featuring a magical, plush powder formula in 9 pigmented mattes & metallics to make you sparkle & shine EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.” –tarte.com

  • imagine (ivory)
  • abracadabra (copper)
  • charm (pink shimmer)
  • twinkle twinkle (gold)
  • enchantment (pale pink)
  • believe it (greige)
  • impress (slate)
  • fantasy (rose gold)
  • miracles (plum)

This palette must have powers, because every time I post a picture of it here or Instagram, I get lots of questions, like who makes that!? Why is it so effing gorgeous!? If I wear that, will Magic Mike/non-husky Channing Tatum show up in a leather thong!?

I totally get the attraction. I’m low-key obsessed with it too, which is why I keep taking pictures of it…

tarte make magic happen palette closeup
Hello, my pretty!

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There are 6 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews, Tarte

It’s Weirdly Satisfying…

August 28th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

Taking flat lay pictures of the makeup you are currently wearing, or that you plan to wear, on any given day is weirdly satisfying. And yes, I just figured this out.

I don’t know why… It must tap into some part of the primitive makeup-loving brain. The part that likes to see a bunch of coordinated colors together in one place?

Sometimes flat lay pics are a good way to tell if products won’t go together, too. I’m pretty sure that if I had flat layed (?) the makeup I was wearing on those days when I just grabbed whatever rando blush I grabbed because it was the closest thing within striking distance, which I’ve done sooo many times, the color palette would’ve looked totally off.

Anywho…as you can tell, someone likes wearing neutrals, haha! 🙂

I like the idea of photographing the makeup I wear on any given day all together like this, but I don’t know if I’ll do them as flat lays all the time because, for real, flat lays are RUINING MY LIFE. If you have perfectionist tendencies, they’re a freakin’ nightmare. I keep seeing angles I want to correct…

Ahhh, Karen, let it go. LET IT GO!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 8 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun, Makeup

Chanel Highway and Lost, the Two Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Liquid Lipsticks From the Fall 2017 Travel Diary Collection

August 25th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

chanel highway lost
Highway and Lost, the two Chanel Rouge Allure Ink liquid lipsticks from the fall 2017 Travel Diary collection

I wish these Chanel Rouge Allure Inks came with a calligraphy pen…because once upon a time (seventh grade), I took a calligraphy class, and I kicked B+ butt in it!

Don’t mess with my swash capital letters, homie!

These two $37 shades are from the fall Chanel Travel Diary collection. Lost is a pink beige that also lives in the permanent collection, and Highway is an LE mid-toned coral. Both of them are two of the quieter, mellower lip colors in the collection (if you want bright, go with Daylight).

Luxuriously lightweight

The Rouge Allure Inks are Chanel’s line of matte liquid lipsticks, and girl, they are cute — like, collectible cute! They come in fancy little frosted glass tubes, so they look like sample bottles of colorful Chanel perfume.

They’re unflavored and unscented, which is unusual for Chanel, and feel like a whisper across my lips… They’re also luxuriously lightweight and silky, with a thin, liquid-like consistency, as opposed to a mousse-like feel, which is popular in liquid lipstick land nowadays. If you’re a fan of thin liquid lippies like the NARS Powermatte Pigments, you’ll probably like how light they feel.

chanel highway rouge allure ink
That’s Chanel Rouge Ink in Highway on my lips.

Super sheer

If you like sheer shades, you’re also in luck, because these are sheer. Shockingly sheer to me, especially compared to other liquid lipsticks.

When I wear Pinkish beige Lost, I can still see the freckle on my bottom lip peeking through, and same goes for coral Highway, which has a little more kick. That one’s maybe a pinky fingernail tip away from medium coverage.

chanel lost rouge allure ink
Wearing Chanel Rouge Allure Ink in Lost on my lips.

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There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Chanel, Eyes, Makeup, Product Reviews

MAC Viva Glam Taraji P. Henson 2 Lipstick and Lipglass

August 24th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

mac taraji p henson viva glam 2 lipstick
She’s baaaack! MAC Taraji P. Henson is back with a second Viva Glam Lipstick and Lipglass (coming soon)

I read somewhere that it took Taraji P. Henson of Empire and Hidden Figures — who’s back, by the way, with a second MAC Viva Glam — a long time to get her big break as an actress.

That’s cool. She never gave up. She persisted, and she got there.

It gives me hope! Like, I still wanna write a young adult novel, and I’m no spring chicken (I’m 42). But it’s never too late, right?

Taraji’s new MAC Viva Glam comes out next month (September 7th to counters and the MAC website). Viva Glam Taraji P. Henson 2 Lipstick and Lipglass are $17 each, and I think they’re just as rad as her VG Lipstick and Lipglass last year.

Viva Glam Taraji P. Henson 2 Lipstick and Lipglass

mac taraji p henson viva glam 2 lipglass
MAC Taraji P. Henson Lipglass
mac taraji p henson viva glam 2 lipglass
Details, details
mac taraji p henson viva glam 2 lipglass
Love me some tiny glitter…

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There are 8 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Collections, Lips, MAC Makeup, Makeup, Product Reviews

Kevyn Aucoin The Etherealist Super Natural Concealer

August 24th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

kevyn aucoin the etherealist super natural concealer
New from Kevyn Aucoin: The Etherealist Super Natural Concealer ($30 each, available in 10 shades)

I’m having NARS déjà vu left and right! — first with Urban Decay Troublemaker mascara (which is just like NARS Audacious) and now with the new Kevyn Aucoin The Etherealist Super Natural Concealer.

It’s a new permanent collection line available in 10 shades for $30 each. One of the 10 shades is a peachy apricot color corrector for dark circles, and the other nine range from having peach to gold to beige undertones.

kevyn aucoin etherealist super natural concealer swatches
Swatches, babe!

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There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Face, Kevyn Aucoin, Makeup, Product Reviews

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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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