Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Eyes

The Three New Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof Eye Liners Are Perfect for Pool Parties and All-Day Beach Barbecues

by 27 Comments

Too Faced Perfect Moss
Wearing Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof liner in Perfect Moss

Forthwith, and with great alacrity, please accept the following addendum to my list of weekly goals from yesterday’s Monday Poll:

“Until further notice, I’m only shedding tears of joy.”

So if/when you share some great news with me, I’m totally allowed to get a little misty eyed, but I’m not allowed to shed any more sad tears (at least for now) or showcase runny eyeliner.

But don’t you worry — I’ll be prepared for any and all waterworks, rain storms and sweaty dance sessions with the cast of Magic Mike (80% on rottentomates!) thanks to the three new additions to the already awesome Too Faced family of waterproof pencil liners.

New for fall but available for pool parties and beach barbecues now, Perfect Moss, Perfect Navy and Perfect Espresso ($18 each) have perfect summer-timing and plenty of long-lasting pigment for lash and water lines. When I don’t feel like tugging or having to apply in layers, these no-budge liners really do the trick.

too faced perfect eyes

Like smoother, silkier Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, they also come with a firm yet flexible beveled smudge-er on the back end (reminiscent of a spatula). Mighty convenient for smoking out the edges of my lines.

Perfect Moss, with its shiny finish, revs my motor the most…

too faced perfect eyes
From the left: Perfect Navy, Perfect Moss and Perfect Espresso

too faced perfect eyes swatches
Swatches from the left: Perfect Espresso, Perfect Navy and Perfect Moss
[Continue reading…]

Bright Time Is the Right Time With the New Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams in Acid Green, Yellow, Pastel Blue and Summer

by 33 Comments

make up for ever aqua cream 23
Wearing the new Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in 23 Acid Green

I feel like in summer we should all get passes to go completely buck wild with our eye makeup, no matter what we’re doing or where we are.

I mean, we can do that now — wear whatever we want — but there are social mores, workplace policies and dress codes, and those are what the passes would cover. 🙂

Want/need to run to Trader Joe’s for an emergency box of Mango Bars, but you glance in the mirror and notice that oops! — you’re wearing bright yellow eyeshadow all over your lids? No problem, because you’ve got the pass.

When I started getting into eyeshadow in my 20s, I only wore two colors, brown or beige — unless I was feeling extra adventurous, in which case I’d spice things up with a soft seashell pink, haha.

Hello, change. My name is Karen.

The old 20-something me probably wouldn’t even recognize the 30-something me who groans like a brain-hungry zombie and makes grabby hands in the air when she sees bright products like the four new Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams in 23 Acid Green, 24 Yellow, 25 Pastel Blue and 26 Purple ($23 each).

“Brains! Brains! — No, I mean shimmer! SHIMMER!”

Please tell me you’ve experienced the nirvana that is the mighty Aqua Cream. If you have not, joy awaits.

These potted creams, which first appeared back in 2010, are some of my absolute favorite products in the Make Up For Ever line. They come in a ton of colors and finishes now, too — some for Eyes and Cheeks, others for Lips and Cheeks — and all of them have the same special ability.

Once you get them on your skin, they DO. NOT. MOVE.

Special evaporating oils help the pigments stick to skin, rendering them smudge-proof, waterproof and sob-proof.

make up for ever aqua creams 23 24 25 26
Clockwise from the yellow pot on the lower left: 23 Yellow, 23 Acid Green, 25 Pastel Blue and 26 Purple

Seriously, you could have a nervous breakdown at an ATM machine, not that I’d know anything about that (“Holy crap, did you just eat my card?! A Windows blue screen — are you kidding me? FREAKING MICROSOFT!”), and your shadow would still look as fresh as a daisy.

So yeah. Love these things. 🙂

These four new summer shades, all of them for eyes and cheeks, might look a little cray in their pots, but babe, the second I got that first batch of swatches on my arm, I wanted to smear them all over my body like a technicolor tart (I suppose this is how some folks feel at Burning Man after one too many special brownies in the body painting tent).

To be blunt, they’re beyond bright!

make up for ever aqua cream swatches
Swatches from the left: 23 Yellow, 23 Acid Green, 25 Pastel Blue and 26 Purple

make up for ever aqua cream 26
26 Purple
[Continue reading…]

It’s Prime Time for Bright Eyes With Make Up For Ever Eye Prime

by 28 Comments

make up for ever eye prime

I was lying awake in bed the other night, nestled like the insomnia meat in the middle of an epic El Hub/Tabs snoring sandwich, when I thought, “It’s bad enough that El Hub snores, but when did Tabs start?”

As I lay there, wide awake, I wondered a great many things…like are there Breathe Right strips for cats? And if there are, I bet they look pretty funny.

It occurred to me that maybe that’s what I could do when I grow up, be the inventor of Kitty Breathe Right Strips, because I still don’t know what I want to do with the rest of my life.

Purr right stripsI started ticking off a list of things I know to be true. 1. Tabs loves gravy, 2. Nutella and asparagus taste terrible together, 3. the world really didn’t need a sequel to Honey…

I must have dozed off somewhere around 3-4 in the morning, only to wake up a few hours later, more than a little cranky and with zombie-fied eyes.

Some serious eye-brightening action was in order.

I grabbed my iPhone (“Siri, remind me to research cures for insomnia!”) and peered into my makeup bag…

That’s when I saw it — Make Up For Ever’s new nude brightening Eye Prime ($22), the brand’s very first eye primer.

A magical brew of waxes and fixing polymers that, according to MUFE, creates a smooth, long-lasting base upon which to apply other eye makeup products. The supposedly universally flattering nude shade (for every skin tone) is also supposed to brighten while amplifying eye makeup colors and reducing creasing, and it’s designed to work with everything, from powder eyeshadows, to cream eyeshadows, liners, and basically the whole gamut of eye makeup deliciousness.

Well, hello, bright eyes. 🙂

Turn around, bright eyes… Every now and then I fall apart! And I need you more tonight! And I need you more than evuh!

(Sorry. Spontaneous ’80s sing-a-long moment.)

make up for ever eye prime in hand

make up for ever eye prime swatch
Unblended (left) and blended (right)
[Continue reading…]

Here Comes the Bride! Say “I Do” to Sophisticated Shades and Soft Textures With the Simply Vera Vera Wang Transforming Shadow Duos

by 13 Comments

simply very vera wang transforming shadow duos

Most of the time when I put on my wedding gown to watch Law & Order: SVU reruns in the living room, I’m bare faced with my hair up in a scrunchie.

Now, though, when I’m feeling extra bridal (like “bust out my veil” bridal!), I’ll know where to turn.

“Vera!”

I’ll turn to one of the 14 new and natural-looking Simply Vera Vera Wang Transforming Shadow Duos ($19.50 each).

Do I really like these buttery soft powder eyeshadows?

Ya know, “I do.” 🙂

Each compact contains a matte and a shimmer, and I think they’re very easy to use. A few pats and swipes from my eye brushes, and I’m transformed from curmudgeonly cat-lover in stretchy pants to belle of the ball (or, of my living room).

Vera’s Shadow Duos prove that fallout-free formulas aren’t exclusive to ultra-expensive department store brands; I love that the grains of these finely-milled powders don’t just look like they’re sitting on top of my skin.

At the same time sophisticated and demure, they practically ooze je ne sais quoi. These are eyeshadows I’d wear when I want to highlight my features but don’t want to draw attention to the fact that I’m wearing any makeup at all.

The two shades I’m wearing in these pics just might be neutral enough for most skin tones. The first, 402, reminds me of a sleepy MAC Satin Taupe. It houses a purplish sheer matte beige and a shimmery taupe; the second, 404, reveals a brownish beige and a nutty brown with flecks of golden glitter.

simply very vera wang transforming shadow duos

simply vera vera wang cosmetics eyeshadows
Transforming Shadow Duos in 402 (left) and 404 (right), $19.50 each
[Continue reading…]

Hey, What’s the Big Idea? Oh, It’s the Sephora Collection 12HR Wear Waterpoof Jumbo Liners

by 44 Comments

sephora collection waterproof jumbo eyeliner swatches
Sephora Collection Jumbo Liner swatches from the left: Taupe, Brown, Purple, Khaki, Violet, Turquoise, Green and Black

I wish we were all rewarded more often for the little, everyday things we accomplish, like when we make it through a difficult day, or hit the gym after work (even though we really didn’t want to), or manage to drive all the way home through rush-hour traffic without flipping anyone off (I never experienced road rage until I moved here to Marin), or for being just plain awesome on an average day.

Last night I felt like treating myself to a little something for making it through Wednesday (yes, I’m setting the bar quite low). It came down to a choice between froyo and a trip to Sephora, and this time Sephora won. 🙂

I was just cruising around the store when something HUGE blocked my way — actually, they were jumbo. They were these bright $12 Sephora Collection Jumbo Liner 12HR Wear Waterproof Pencils.

These fatty-bo-batty pencils double as eyeliners and eyeshadows for quickly adding bold, shimmery color to lids and lash lines.

Gotta love the waterproof action this time of year. It’s been hella hot up in my ‘hood lately, well into the 80s and 90s, and that has meant perspiration, glamorously referred to as “glistening.” And lots of it.

On one particularly scorching day last week, I “glistened” all over town, and by the time I got home after running my errands, the teal eyeshadow I’d applied earlier that morning had all but disappeared. (NOTE: I do not recommend standing in the middle of a Trader Joe’s frozen food aisle with rivulets of blue pigment streaming down the sides of your face. It’s not a great look.)

I don’t imagine glistening would be a big problem for these Sephora 12HR Waterproof Pencils; they seem pretty resilient to me. The swatches I did on the back of my hand resisted three vigorous hand washings, which is pretty impressive considering the price.

And I suppressed a squee! when I noticed the Pantone numbers on the display beneath each of the colors…

sephora collection waterproof jumbo eyeliner taupe
[Continue reading…]

Get the Chanel Look for Less With the $18 Charlotte Ronson Starry Eyes Liquid Eyeshadows

by 40 Comments

Charlotte Ronson Starry Eyes Liquid Eyeshadow swatch
Charlotte Ronson Starry Eyes Liquid Eyeshadow swatches from the left: Alison, Sky, Kelly and Shiri

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight…I wish I may, I wish I might, have the Chanel wish I wish tonight…

Any and all liquid-to-powder eyeshadows stamped with the Chanel double C’s on the cap are pretty much rad in my book.

Too bad they always cost 8 million bucks… Or thereabouts. Okay, well $32. But that’s still pretty steep, considering you could snag 32 Taco Bell tacos for the price of a single lovely tube of Chanel Ombres D’Eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow.

Sad panda.

But wait! — have the heavens heeded my call…? Is that a more affordable option, I see?

Yes, I believe it is. Thanks to Sephora and Charlotte Ronson.

The four lightweight liquid-to-powder Starry Eyes Liquid Eyeshadows, available now at Sephora stores and sephora.com, are priced at a much more palatable $18, and from here they look heavily inspired by Chanel.

From their gorgeous glass tubes, to their dainty doe-foot applicators, all the way down to the colors themselves, these crease-resistant eyeshadows glow and shimmer very much like their pricier Chanel counterparts.

“Fashion ‘it’ girl Charlotte Ronson is best known for combining her effortless sense of style with her chic downtown designs. Fun and trendy, though wearable, Charlotte is bringing the same sensibility to her new beauty collection.”

— Sephora.com

Golden beige Kelly reminds me of Chanel Delta, silvery pink Sky resembles Chanel River, golden olive Shiri could stunt double for Chanel Torrent, and bronzy taupe Alison is like Chanel Splash’s kissing cousin.

They’re kinda fun to use. Just shake the bottle to mix the powder and liquid formula, swipe the doe-foot applicator across your lids, and blend with a finger.

Voilà!

For a more intense effect, wait for the product to dry before applying additional layers. Work quickly, though, because these babies dry fast.

Charlotte Ronson Starry Eyes Liquid Eyeshadow
[Continue reading…]

Well, Hello Kitty. I’ll Go to Paris With You and the Soft, Pigmented Powders in the Hello Kitty Mon Amour Palette

by 9 Comments

hello kitty mon amour palette

What if Sanrio and Sephora merged, like a Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger, to form a new superstore called Sephrio? And what if the new store carried a much larger selection of Hello Kitty-themed accessories and makeup?

Yeah…that would be cool.

As a 30-something beauty fanatic who still remembers making mix tapes from songs on the radio and blowing all of her birthday money at the Sanrio store at the mall (OMG! The pens with the dangling charms on the end!), I almost dropped my phone when I bumped into the limited edition Hello Kitty Mon Amour Palette ($21) at Sephora the other day.

hello kitty mon amour

Paris? Kitty…? Cute!

The little drawings and the balloons filled with pans of powder shadow (eight) and blush (two)? Nope. No way. That’s just too cute.

Not gonna lie, though, I expected these to be annoyingly sheer and chalky — just not up to snuff compared to brands like MAC and NARS — but wow. That wasn’t the case at all. They felt surprisingly smooth and looked beautiful, I thought, in the swatches.
[Continue reading…]

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.