Eyes

Now There’s a Smooth Cat: The Paul & Joe Face & Eye Color Palette in Siamese Please

February 9th, 2012 by Karen 25 Comments

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Renowned for their affectionate, social nature and intelligence, Paul & Joe Face & Eye Color palettes in Siamese Please ($36) enjoy being with people.

Often they bond strongly to a single person and are sometimes described as “extroverts.” These palettes, like the cats from whence they get their name, are typically active and playful, even on adults, and are often found playing on the eyes and face. 🙂

One of three new Paul & Joe Face & Eye Color palettes in the limited edition Collection Sparkles release for spring 2012, Siamese Please contains three seal-point inspired shades — a pigmented shimmery bronze, a brownish taupe with silver glitter and a sheer matte beige.

In this look, I’m wearing all three shades on my eyes (the bronze on my lids, the beige along my brow bone and the brownish taupe along my upper and lower lash lines), but I’d also like to try wearing the bronze as a blush and the matte beige as a highlighter for my cheeks.

Siamese Please is one of three new Face & Eye Color palettes in the new limited edition Paul & Joe Collection Sparkles release for spring 2012.

Like the powders in the Kittycat Face & Eye Color palette, these vary in intensity, with the shimmery bronze and brown colors applying with the most pigment, and the matte beige with the least.

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Siamese Please

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This Kittycat Sparkles in Purple, Pink and Beige: The Paul & Joe Face & Eye Color Palette in Kittycat

February 9th, 2012 by Karen 31 Comments

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I swear on my husky tabby’s orange tum that my cat lady heart broke a little when I finally took my brushes to Paul & Joe’s new Face & Eye Color palette in Kittycat ($36).

Kittycat is one of three new Face & Eye Color palettes in the new limited edition Paul & Joe Collection Sparkles release for spring 2012.

And I suppose this may be a little too much information…but while I did my eyes this morning with Laverne’s — yes, I’ve taken to calling her Laverne — shimmery reddish purple and matte pinkish beige shades, I pretended to pet her chest, back and tail with my brush, speaking to her in the same high-pitched voice normally reserved for Tabs.

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Kittycat

“Look at you, Laverne!” I said with my inside voice out loud. “Look at your pretty purple tail! I’m petting your sides now and your little paw…” 🙂

A few quick observations about Laverne, also known as the Paul & Joe Face & Eye Color palette in Kittycat

The three shades vary in intensity, with the shimmery reddish purple packing the most pigment, the peachy pink shade (which has just the slightest sheen) depositing a little bit less, and the matte pinkish beige delivering the least.
The purple’s prominent flecks of silver glitter exhibit some fallout, especially when I’m working quickly and rushing through a look. I don’t think it’s bad, though.
I still really like the matte pinkish beige, despite it applying rather sheer. Smooth and buttery, it blends seamlessly into the other shades and still looks very elegant on its own. For a simple, fresh look, I’ve been applying it all over my lids, curling my lashes and then adding lots of mascara.
If you plan to wear the peachy pink shade as a cheek color, try it with a small, pointed blush brush for greater control. A larger blush brush might pick up the darker purple of Laverne’s “fur.”
The words “Paul & Joe” in the upper right corner are an overspray. Now, after taking my brush to it, my pan just says “Pau.” LOL! Yes, I’m too easily amused.
All three shadows blend without fuss or muss.
The powder has a light floral fragrance, which to my nose smells a little like carnations.

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Dolce & Gabbana’s New Brood of Bold Eyeliners Look Pretty Khol to Me: The Dolce & Gabbana Khol Collection

February 8th, 2012 by Karen 45 Comments

Is it just me, or is it getting khol in here? 🙂

Must be the new 11-piece Dolce & Gabbana Khol Collection for eyes and nails, available now at Saks Fifth Avenue stores and saksfifthavenue.com.

Five brand new eyeliners headline the launch. Promising potent pigments and a soft texture, the five $29 Intense Khol Eye Crayons are designed to handle fancier effects like flicks and wings just as well as they tackle clean lines and smudging.

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Nail Lacquers from the left: Wild Green, Peacock, Chocolate, Dahlia and True White, $20 each

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Khol Pencils in True White, Chocolate, True Black, Peacock and Dahlia, $29 each

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Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Femme Fatale, $59
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I’m Matte About Make Up For Ever La BohÃ¨me Aqua Eyes in Gypsy

February 7th, 2012 by Karen 28 Comments

Why, yes. The silky smooth texture and all-day wear time (both on my lash and water lines) of Make Up For Ever’s new $18 Aqua Eyes in Gypsy are rocking my hot pink argyle socks off, but that’s not what I love most about this limited edition liner.

The fresh brewed coffee color of this rich matte brown makes it neutral enough to work with the cool and warm colors in my shadow stash, and I think that’s pretty sweet. Greens, blues, golds, bronzes, beiges and even purples — Gypsy digs ’em all — and it even works well as a base for smokey eye looks with black and/or gray.

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Aqua Eye Pencil in Gypsy and the La BohÃ¨me palette
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Light Up Your Eyes and World With Make Up For Ever’s New La BohÃ¨me Eye Shadow Palette

February 6th, 2012 by Karen 37 Comments

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High up on my list of things to do this week: dreaming big dreams — no matter how silly or far-fetched they might seem.

Because you never know. Casting those crazy ideas out into the ether could be the spark that sets in motion a chain of events that leads to one or more of them coming true.

Of course, a few of my big dreams would have to be related to makeup, right? — like traveling around the world while wearing the colors in the new limited edition Make Up For Ever La BohÃ¨me Eye Shadow Palette ($39).

And since we’re talking about BIG dreams, I’d want to wear each of the six baked shadows in this free-spirited palette while exploring a different far-flung corner of the world, and I’d start in Costa Rica with Lagoon Green.

This shimmery teal would be the perfect color to wear out to dinner with my BFF Cindy after a day spent playing in the surf.

From there, we’d zip out across the Pacific to the Garden Isle with mossy Vegetal Green, which I’d love to wear while searching for secret waterfalls on Kauai.

Then, and this one would require passing through quite a few time zones, I’d wear Beige on my lids while hiking the hills around Provence with my favorite wide-angle lens, and silvery violet Parma Purple while El Hub and I ate our way through Rome.

Next, silvery peach Coral and I would tour the Taj Mahal (always wanted to go), and then head back home to hopefully wear shimmery reddish bronze Brown out with you to lunch.

Afterward, maybe we could even do some window shopping, and you could take us to some of your favorite places to play with makeup in your town. 🙂

I know, I know. Such a crazy dream, but even if it never happens, at least I can still mimic the same sparkle in my eyes that I get when I’m traveling, since MUFE added high amounts of pearl to these baked shadows (which have a new formula just added to the line) to give skin a luminous, almost metallic finish.

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The La BohÃ¨me Eye Shadow Palette and Aqua Eyes in Gypsy (also from the La BohÃ¨me collection)
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A Quick Look at the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liners in Casual, Smoky and Fashionista

February 4th, 2012 by Karen 13 Comments

Making a drugstore run today? If you are, can I come? 🙂 If you’re planning to check out the four new $10.95 Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liners palettes while you’re there, these pics and swatches may help.

Casual, Smoky and Fashion will be chillin’ in the beauty aisle with Nude, the fourth palette in the line (here’s a look at Nude from earlier this week).

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For Minimal Coverage in This Universe and Others: Hourglass Hidden Corrective Concealer

January 31st, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

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I like to think that right now in an alternate universe “Alternate Universe Karen” is sitting and typing at her desk with a cup of Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies next to her keyboard.

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And, also on that parallel plane, Alternate Universe Karen is having a kick-@ss hair day, and she does NOT have a chocolate stain on the left thigh of her stretchy pants. While we’re at it, let’s dial down the intensity of her dark circles a few notches, ya know? Just because we can. 🙂

Here in this universe, however, earlier today, I did have a cup of Annie’s bunnies next to my keyboard. In fact, I planned to eat them after finishing this post, but then a cat (let’s call him Tabs) covertly consumed most of them before I could intervene.

Here in this universe today, my hair is also frizzy, and I do have a chocolate stain on my stretchy pants. Thankfully, it’s from See’s, and not some nasty, two-bit, bottom-of-the-barrel chocolate, because if I’m gonna be walking around the house with chocolate on my pants, at the very least it should be good.

Oh, and per usual, my dark under-eye circles are the deep hue of a ripe eggplant.

Alternate Universe Karen has had it much better today…

She eats her cup of Cheddar Bunnies and whips her Victoria’s Secret hair while her well-behaved cat marvels at her pristine, chocolate-free pants.

And since her dark circles only require minimal coverage, she uses Hourglass Hidden Corrective Concealer ($32) and sees spectacular results.

Previously only available in three shades, Hourglass recently added three more for spring (in Fair, Natural and Tan).

Alternate Universe Karen wears the one called Sand.

Swatch of Sand
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Club Eyeshadow

January 31st, 2012 by Karen 21 Comments

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Hmm… Clubbing used to be a lot less complicated.

The last time I went clubbing, let alone wore MAC Club Eyeshadow ($15) out to a club, was at least a year ago. And it’s funny — I used to be able to just roll out of the house around 10, get to the club by 11, and then dance until the wee hours in 4-inch heels, no problem. Sometimes, we’d even go out for fries afterward.

Now, though? Whole different story.

mac club eyeshadow (3) It seems like right around the time I hit 30, the prep work involved in staying out past 10 doubled.

Now, on those rare occasions when I do go out dancing, I try to carbo load the night before, take a power nap in the afternoon, slip some inserts into my heels (so my arches won’t hurt), and throw a Lara bar into my purse to eat on the way home (since my tum can’t handle late-night greasy food like it used to).

See what I mean? Complicated. 🙂

But one thing that hasn’t changed is my mad love for MAC Club…although nowadays I’m wearing it to the movies and grocery stores, and not out to clubs to go dancing (at least not often).

Club was one of the first colors I fell in love with at MAC, and I’m so glad we met. If I’d judged this nondescript reddish gray-brown book by its cover — by the way it looks in its pan — I might have never given it a chance.

And that would have been a shame.

On skin, I think MAC Club looks downright multidimensional, as if someone had pressed all of the colors of a peacock’s feather into a single eyeshadow. One minute, it’s a gunmetal gray with teal highlights; the next, a bluish chocolate brown with an iridescent green glow.

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And beyond Club’s dynamic personality, it also loves layers. I like that I can coax different things out of it, like green, by wearing it atop green pencils or cream shadows, and teal, by wearing it with — you guessed it! — teal.

Easy to dress up or down, sometimes I’ll layer it on top of black liner for a quick smokey eye, or, for a twist on a traditional cat eye, I’ll wet an angled brush like the MAC 266 with some Fix+, sweep it across the pan, and apply Club wet along my upper lash lines.
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