Eyes

If You Love Ultra Nude Eyes, the Bobbi Brown Ultra Nude Eye Palette Delivers Exactly That

January 11th, 2012 by Karen 35 Comments

Bobbi Brown Ultra Nude Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Ultra Nude Eye Palette Two words: training wheels.

That’s what comes to mind when I wear the colors in Bobbi Brown’s new Ultra Nude Eye Palette, a $45 limited edition release of neutral eyeshadows from the spring Neons & Nudes collection.

These are shades that I think someone like my friend Jen might really like. She’s deathly afraid of wearing eyeshadow but still very curious nevertheless. This palette’s baby stepping beiges and browns could be a great place for her to start.

Bobbi plucked the six classic, neutral shades that occupy the limited edition packaging (super cute!) from her permanent line, choosing a mix of matte and shimmer finishes.

Like a staple piece in a well-rounded wardrobe, a pair of black heels perhaps, these neutrals are the kinds of colors many gals could wear regularly, either dressed up or down. On my skin, most of them apply moderately opaque, and they seem to walk the line pretty evenly between warm and cool.

A couple of the browns display some gray on my skin, and I often use grayish browns for contouring and creating sculpted looks. Lovelies with lighter hair may also find them handy for filling in blonde or very light brown brows.

Overall, I like the colors Bobbi picked for the palette, but I would have loved to also see a couple of warm orange-based browns…

I’m a total ho for orangey browns. 🙂

You know how much I lurves me some neutrals, but these shades leave me feeling almost naked. I’ll rock a “no makeup” makeup look any day of the week, but wearing these I feel like a cat with a fresh lion cut — exposed to the elements.
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OMG! It’s the FBI, and They’re Working With Urban Decay: The New Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencils Are Just OK With Me

January 10th, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

This year at Urban Decay HQ, spring is a season of covert concealers and secret government agencies — or so it seems, based on the cool code names given to these new 24/7 Concealer Pencils ($18 each).

Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencils CIA, DEA, FBI, NSA, ATF, DOD, KGB and MI6? Those are some heavy hitting acronyms right there.

The first four — CIA, DEA, FBI and NSA — are repromotes of Urban Decay’s existing concealer pencils, with the same formula, but dressed in new packaging, while the other four — ATF, DOD, KGB AND MI6 — are new additions to the line designed for darker damsels/covert spies.

Last weekend I worked with the ATF, DOD and KGB on a very important case involving my dark under-eye circles and skin imperfections on my face. I directed ATF, a mid-toned dark golden beige, to take out my dark circles and dispatched DOD (a warm, dark tan) and KGB (a dark golden caramel) to work on my face.

Was the operation a success? Well, yes and no.

These guys are soft! — and creamy, but I mean that in a good way. 🙂 I like the way they feel and what a cinch they are to apply. The formula sinks right into my skin and doesn’t look like it’s just chilling on top.

urban decay spring 2012 (8)
24/7 Concealer Pencils from the left: CIA (a light creamy ivory); DEA (a light peaches and cream); FBI (a light medium beige) and NSA (a medium beige); $18 each
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Uniform Technakohl Liner

January 10th, 2012 by Karen 28 Comments

MAC Uniform Technakohl Liner

The day’s barely half over, and I’m already on my fifth cup of Pukka Love Tea.

I kid you not, it’s been one of those days… I’m fussy, can’t seem to focus and haven’t showered since last night, so my scalp has enough grease in it to fry a dozen eggs. Plus, I feel like a sausage today (even in my stretchy pants!), and to top everything off, Tabs has been treating me like a pariah.

Yup, one of those days…

I feel like just hitting my head against my desk, but I wonder, “What would Tim Gunn do?”

Ah, of course. That’s right. Tim would “make it work,” so I’ll try to do the same, and I have, hence the five cups of tea.

To make it official, though, I think I should put it in print, so here goes: “By the time I reach the bottom of this mug, I will be filled with lurve.”

LURVE!

On the plus side, at least I’m not possessed by a demon (yay!), I have all of my toes, and I don’t have serial killer eyes. Three very good things, and today I owe that last one to MAC Uniform Technakohl ($15).

A khaki eyeliner with golden shimmer, it fits my mood a lot of the time when other shades don’t. Understated. Not as flashy as black nor as blah as brown, it makes me feel classier when I swipe it along my lash and water lines.

How else could I describe it? Well, if a liner were able to capture Jennifer Aniston’s fashion sense, I think that liner would be Uniform.
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Bobbi Brown Ink Liner in Really Black Is Really Built to Last

January 9th, 2012 by Karen 10 Comments

Bobbi Brown Ink Liner

In the time it takes me to coax thin, smooth lines from Bobbi Brown’s new Ink Liner in Really Black ($24), fashion trends could come and go, and then come back again.

As far as I can tell, ease of use is not this liner’s strongest attribute. Drawing cat eye flicks with its stiff tip are just a tad tougher than training a petulant tabby to speak, and I don’t believe the color quite lives up to its name. I’ve seen darker, glossier liquid liners before, and I’m thinking that a name like “Really Black…But Only After You’ve Applied Three Layers” might have been more apt.

I do gotta give Bobbi big props for one thing, though — Ink Liner in Really Black has the stamina of a thoroughbred.

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Maybelline Illegal Length Mascara Is Just About a Misdemeanor

January 8th, 2012 by Karen 26 Comments

You know how I’m always looking for my next hit of lash crack, right? For a lash lengthening, volumizing velociraptor capable of fast-tracking me to drag queen lash nirvana? Well, when I heard tell of a new “illegal” mascara from Maybelline — that’s actually its name, Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara ($8.95) — I desperately wanted to give it a whirl.

It’s new for spring 2012 and just arrived this month in drugstores. It comes in three non-waterproof shades (Blackest Black, Very Black and Brownish Black) and two waterproof ones (Blackest Black and Very Black). All of them utilize some fancy talk Maybelline calls “fiber-extension technology” to promise longer-looking, extended lashes that aren’t supposed to flake.

Maybelline Illegal Lengths Mascara
Before (top) and after two coats of Illegal Length Mascara (bottom)
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The Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils in Demolition, Perversion and Woodstock Are Giving an Encore

January 7th, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

Wearing UD’s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Woodstock

Pink hair, pink gloss, pink eyeliner… Needless to say, I’m feeling rather pink right now. 🙂 That pink liner, by the way, is Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Woodstock, and it’s one of three new full-size Glide-On Pencils eyeliners just launched for spring 2012.

But this isn’t the first we’ve seen of Woodstock, Demolition (a matte dark brown) and Perversion (a matte black). All three were previously released with Urban Decay gift sets, but they’re back by popular demand, this time available individually.

Demolition and Perversion

I’m thrilled to see Demolition and Perversion giving an encore because both of them apply with dense, saturated color that does not mess around. One layer of either and I’m good all day long, both along my lash and water lines.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Woodstock

Woodstock, however, is a different story, and one with many layers. Like six! That’s how many layers I have to apply to get the shade to look as pigmented as I like. Don’t get me wrong — I do like the color, but it’s one of those I have to be in the mood to apply. Plus, my skin tone doesn’t always play well with pinks like this, and sometimes they can make me look like I’ve been crying. If that’s not an issue for you, and you don’t mind lots of layering, Woodstock’s an awfully pretty pink on the eyes.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Demolition

urban decay spring 2012 (5)
24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils from the left: Woodstock (a bright fuchsia pink shimmer with silver micro glitter), Perversion (a matte carbon black) and Demolition (a matte dark brown), $19 each
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The $59 Dior 5 Couleurs Garden Pastels Eyeshadow Palette Is Quintessentially Dior

January 5th, 2012 by Karen 57 Comments

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Might as well take a chisel to Michelangelo’s David. That’s how I felt about swatching the new Dior 5 Couleurs Garden Pastels Eyeshadow Palette ($59) and why it took me so long to build up the courage.

Every time I’d contemplate taking a brush to the raised roses on the pans, I’d see myself tearing into a beautifully wrapped present, squishing a frosted cupcake or picking apart a delicate hors d’oeuvre.

I don’t want to do it! I don’t want to do it! I don’t want to do it!

But I finally did…

dior garden pastels (1)

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$7 Maybelline Color Tattoo 24HR Eyeshadows: Vibrant Color for Less Than 30 Cents an Hour

January 5th, 2012 by Karen 57 Comments

maybelline color tattoo eyeshadow (2)

Dang, it’s getting so hot in here that I started sweating glitter!

I mean, just look at these colors from the new Maybelline Color Tattoo 24HR Eyeshadow line ($7 each) of what Maybelline calls “gel-cream” shadows.

24HR Eyeshadow by Maybelline The line sure looks promising. Vibrant colors in a crease-resistant formula designed to last a full 24 hours. The 10 shades come in a variety of neutrals and brights and shimmy onto counters this month.

So…I can’t exactly remember the last time I needed or wanted to wear an eyeshadow for a full 24 hours, but you never know, right?

I’m still putting these through their paces but couldn’t wait to show you the colors. The first thing they brought to mind — okay, well, the second thing, after Kiefer’s 24 — was the much more expensive $22 Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams, which I absolutely love.

Here’s a look at the colors. Let me know if you see something you like.

maybelline color tattoo eyeshadow (4)

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