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Napoleon Perdis Rebirth of Venus Skin Renewal Cleansing Oil: If It’s Good Enough for a Goddess…

May 28th, 2015 by Karen 10 Comments

This makeup removing cleansing oil has placenta in it…

At first, this really, really freaked me out. I kept thinking of that scene in The Matrix when you see all of the people being farmed in those pods, or like when old-@ss vampires seek out newborns to drain because it gives them extra strength for a clan war or something…

Anywho! Overactive imagination much?

What were we talking about? Cleansing oil??

To use Napoleon Perdis Rebirth of Venus Skin Renewal Cleansing Oil ($39 for a 4.9-oz. bottle), apply a small amount to your face while your skin is dry (don’t dampen your skin first with water — that’s the key), massage it in, and then rinse with water.

As for the whole placenta thing…the kind used here in the ingredients is called Marine Placenta.

And because knowledge is power, I did a quick search on “placenta,” specifically “marine placenta,” and apparently it’s an ingredient often used in beauty products as a humectant (used to keep things from drying out). It’s derived from salmon eggs (source and source).

Who knew?

Just a little random Thursday night food for thought if ingredients interest you…
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Soap & Glory Flake Away Body Scrub Hits the Gentle Exfoliating Spot

May 27th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Alligator legs — I will not have them!

Allow me to regale you of a tale of woe surrounding one Novato woman and her dry skin…

But before we start, I feel like I should warn you. The full tale is much longer than a tabby’s, and we could be here until the freaks come out at night.

(The freaks come out at night…)

So, in the interest of expeditiousness, in the Cliff’s Notes version, I have epically dry skin.

How dry and epic?

Like Star Wars trilogy epic, especially on my lids, but using hella moisturizing body scrubs like Soap & Glory Flake Away ($15) helps keep my reptilian tendencies under wraps.

This gentle body scrub polishes and buffs away my flaky-flakes with peach seed powder, sea salt and sugar, while simultaneously moisturizing with shea butter and sweet almond oil.

It smells great! — like Soap & Glory’s The Righteous Butter body butter (incidentally, the scent also reminds me of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle and the old-school discontinued Dior Miss Cherie).

As for its exfoliating powers, I’d call them moderate. It’s not as scrubby as a scrub with bigger granules (like Fresh Sugar Body Scrub), but it totally hits the spot when I’m in the mood for something gentle. I use it in the shower, and after I step out, my legs feel noticeably smoother and softer.

The big 10.1-oz. Flake Away jar is $15 now at Soap & Glory counters, and also online exclusively at skinstore.com, beauty.com and drugstore.com.

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Zoya Nana Nail Lacquer, a Refreshingly Creamy Bright Pink

May 25th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

zoya nana — Zoya Nail Lacquer in Nana ($9)

My stylish nana, whom I call my lola, which is Tagalog for “grandmother,” would probably love this lacquer, because she’s all about the reds and pinks.

It’s new $9 Zoya Nail Lacquer in Nana, and it’s part of the new Zoya Island Fun & Paradise Sun Summer 2015 Collection available now online and wherever Zoya is sold.

Doesn’t it look refreshing?

Yes, I’m referring to both the smoothie and the lacquer.

And speaking of smoothies, I’m still all about ’em, especially for breakfast, and here’s my current favorite at the moment. It’s the Pink Power Smoothie (here’s the recipe).

I keep trying to get myself to slow my roll and drink them less often, because I don’t want to burn myself out on the power of the pink smoothie, but I cannot. I’m wickedly addicted.

Same goes for Zoya Nana. I’ve already worn Nana twice this month, which is like a world record for me, LOL! I suffer from a severe case of New Nail Polish Compulsive Disorder (NNPCD).

Nana is smooth, non-streaky and highly pigmented, so I can get away with one coat if I’m in a rush.
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The Sisley-Paris Phyto-Lip Twists: These Beautiful Balms May Break the Bank

May 22nd, 2015 by Karen 9 Comments

Hmm…

These Sisley-Paris Phyto-Lip Twists are probably the fanciest, most expensive twist-up tinted lip balms I’ve ever seen!

Why is that?

Well…they’re $50 each.

Yeah, that’s a lot of tacos, son.

Sisley-Paris is a high end skin care and makeup brand (a la Chantecaille), and $50 for these is pretty typical of the line, but it still seems a little ridonkulous, doesn’t it?

Lip crayons with the texture of a balm, these are basically medium-coverage lipsticks with gloss-like shine and a highly moisturizing, plumping formula that’s very easy to wear.

Yup, they also contain plant-based plumping ingredients…although I’ve seen, like, no plumping action from them at all. But really, though, lip plumpers usually don’t do a lot of plumping for me. If I ever find a product that actually transforms my lips from stern piano teacher to billowy pillow, believe me, I will freaking let you know.

They’re available in nine unscented, unflavored shades (five of them pictured here) — 01 Nude, 02 Baby, 03 Peach, 04 Pinky, 05 Berry, 06 Cherry, 07 Coral, 08 Candy and 09 Chestnut.

Overlooking the Everest-caliber price, I think these are almost flawless. The crème de la crème of twist-up tinted lip balms. Extremely moisturizing, smooth, easy to apply and available in a nice range of colors.

Wear time isn’t bad, either, for what they are. I get about two hours.

On top of everything else, the sassy zebra packaging does a lot for my soul (I love me some animal prints! — which I didn’t fully realize until this year).

I think these are a wonderful product, but it’s hard to justify $50 for what’s essentially a medium-coverage tinted lip balm. If they were around $17 instead, like the Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balms (or $9 for the Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Sticks), I could see these belonging in all of my friends’ purses.

This may be crazy (it probably is), but for some reason $50 for an indulgent Tom Ford lipstick seems totally sane to me, but $50 for a moderately pigmented tinted lip balm seems like a stretch.

I dunno… Maybe I’ve just inhaled a little too much texturizing spray.

If you’re interested, the Sisley-Paris Phyto-Lip Twists are available now online and at Neiman Marcus stores.

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Stuff That I Kinda Sorta Cooked: Shrimp Salad Wraps With Trader Joe’s Southwest Salad

May 21st, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

Sometimes I feel like cooking…

And sometimes I don’t.

Lately it’s been more of the latter. I’ve just been too tired at the end of the day, and there’s the couch, and Netflix, and HBONow…

I usually enjoy cooking and find it very relaxing, but lately I’ve just wanted the food to magically appear (POOF!).

Too bad it doesn’t really work like that, huh?

There’s always takeout, I guess, but there aren’t a lot of affordable healthy options around here, so for those times when the last thing I want to do is cook, there’s the Southwest Salad from Trader Joe’s (they’re about $4).

Yup, it’s TJ’s to the rescue.

This is one of my favorite things in the entire store right now because 1) it’s tasty as all get-out, and 2) it’s pretty low in calories (only 200, and that’s with the dressing; without the dressing it’s 160).

And so it’s not like I’m eating the same salad over and over again, I’ll just tweak it, like by turning it into a quick shrimp salad wrap or soft taco.

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Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter: Same Butter, Better Price

May 20th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

You’re doin’ it right, Soap & Glory!

In an era when so many beauty brands are charging more for less product, Soap & Glory bucked the trend by actually reducing a price.

Yup, that’s right! They’re making it more affordable to get your body butter on.

They used to charge $22 for a 10.1-oz. tub of The Righteous Butter body moisturizing lotion, their epically hydrating heavy-hitter, but now it’s $15! — and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

I discovered this stuff last Christmas and literally used my tub all the way down to the last drop.

No, for real. I was in my bathroom one day, just out of the shower and naked as the day I was born, and I ran my fingers around the inside of the tub to get every last drop. This stuff is the real deal if you have alligator skin like moi. It’s super moisturizing and doesn’t leave an annoying residue behind.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who loves this fluffy body butter either. According to Soap & Glory, a tub of The Righteous Butter is sold every 20 seconds worldwide.

That’s a lotta buttah, baby! (4,320 per day)

It contains glycerin, cocoa and shea butters, and cocoanut oil (fancy talk for “coconut”) to lock in moisture, and it smells divine. It’s like a lotion-y version of my favorite Chanel Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, although I’ve heard through the grapevine (also known as the comments here on MBB, LOL!) that it also smells like the discontinued old-school Dior Miss Cherie.

And now it’s $15! I mean, seriously, who does that?? I can’t even remember the last time a beauty brand made one of their top products this much more affordable. Hats off to you, Soap & Glory. I’m your new #1 fan. 🙂

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Make Up For Ever Pro Bronze Fusion Bronzer: Color Without the Cake Face

May 14th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

No, these are not nuclear powered… It’s not that kind of fusion. These are Make Up For Ever’s brand-spankin’-new bronzers.

The Make Up For Ever Pro Bronze Fusion Bronzers

So…if they aren’t nuclear powered, what the heck are they? They’re a new line of six $36 bronzers — three matte and three iridescent — available now in MUFE’s permanent collection, and released in tandem with a new #136 Pro Bronze Kabuki Brush ($30) you can use to apply them. The wave pattern on the pans is there to help the brush pick up the product.

MUFE calls their fancy formula a “waterproof gel-powder,” which is basically an incredibly fine, sheer, luminous powder (the fusion of a gel and a powder, so to speak) designed to bronze and look natural. Even though they aren’t, in fact, gels, they feel almost like it because of how soft they are. Wear time seems also comparable to other bronzers. About six or seven hours.

Are they any good? They remind me of the MAC Studio Sculpt Bronzers from Wash & Dry (but I actually think these MUFE bronzers are better). You can’t even see any of the powder grains being lifted from the pans when you run your finger or a brush across them. The grains are so incredibly fine that they’re almost imperceptible, so you get depth from the bronze color without the familiar look and feel of a traditional powder.

For me, the best way to apply them has been with a dense face brush, like the kabuki brush that launched with the line.

I tried applying them with a fluffy powder brush once, and it just wouldn’t pick up enough product. I was like, “What the what?!”

But then I tried a kabuki brush and it was magical. Lots of toasty bronze color, but without the look of a powder texture that most makeup lovers are used to. It’s a very distinct look that might be almost too natural, depending on your personal taste.

So they’re just…different.
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The MAC Nordstrom Naturals Eyeshadow Palette: I’ve Been Grabbing It All the Time Because It’s Just So Convenient!

May 13th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

Even though the MAC Nordstrom Naturals Eyeshadow Palette has been on counters for a couple months now, I think it’s worth another mention because of the value. For $85 you get 15 full-size MAC bestsellers from the permanent line, which would otherwise cost $150, not including the cost of the package, based just on refill pans purchased separately.

If I were a MAC neophyte, I’d be all over this like gravy on biscuits.

Heck, even after a 20-year MAC obsession, I still think it’s a great value. This palette checks off almost all of the boxes on a good must-have MAC eyeshadow wish list, and it does it in one fell swoop (at a cost breakdown of about $6 per shadow).

It has so many of the classics! — the must-have MAC shades you hear about over and over again. It couples some of the all-time great workhorse shades like Carbon, Brun, Omega and Saddle with flashier, shimmery neutrals like Woodwinked, Honey Lust and Beauty Marked, although to be honest, I’m kind of surprised that Soft Brown and Shroom didn’t make the cut.

But maybe that’s ’cause I’m playing favorites. 😉

Depending on the shadows you already own, this palette, while pricey up front, is a really great deal.

The $85 MAC Nordstrom Naturals Eyeshadow Palette includes…

Vapour — a peachy pink with violet pearl and a Velvet finish
Honey Lust — a bronzed peach with a Lustre finish
All That Glitters — a beige with golden pearl and a Veluxe Pearl finish
Saddle — a golden orange brown with a Matte finish
Mulch — a reddish brown with bronze pearl and a Velvet finish
Ricepaper — a shimmery, peachy gold with a Frost finish
Amber Lights — a shimmery, peachy brown with a Frost finish
Woodwinked — a warm antiqued gold with a Veluxe Pearl finish
Wedge — a soft muted beige-taupe with a Matte finish
Brun — a muted blackish brown with a Satin finish
Omega — a muted beige-taupe with a Matte finish
Satin Taupe — a taupe with silver shimmer and a Frost finish
Embark — an intense reddish brown with a Matte finish
Beauty Marked — a blackish red with pearl and a Velvet finish
Carbon — an intense black with a Matte finish

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