Eyes

Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Concealer

January 12th, 2016 by Karen 29 Comments

Let me tell you what happens when you’re addicted to sugar, and all of a sudden you can’t have it in the morning, and you’re hella pregnant.

You get fixated on things, like eating a plate of beignets and drinking a latte, and that becomes all you want in the world, and you can’t stop thinking about it.

And then there are the hallucinations, which are real and legit, I swear! Everywhere I look, I see sugary delights, even in the nifty tip on this new Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Concealer ($27).

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NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette Swatches and First Impressions

January 4th, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

narsissist lamour toujours lamour palette 1 — New for spring, the NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette ($59, available now at NARS boutiques and the NARS website; coming Feb. 1 to NARS counters)

Today I learned a valuable life lesson from the new $59 NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette ($59), and it was this: ’tis better to drink the blueberry smoothie — the one you made for yourself as a healthy snack — after you’ve taken pictures of yourself wearing a new eyeshadow palette, as opposed to before.

(Lest you end up with pics of yourself with a blue tongue and teeth!)

Just as an FYI, you know, in case you ever find yourself in that particular situation. 🙂

narsissist lamour toujours lamour palette 6 — Wearing the NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette on my lids

So, I took L’amour Toujours, a new NARS palette for spring, for a test drive around the block today (well…more like around my condo after I got back from seeing a nutritionist who assured me that I can have “a very small amount” of sweets here and there! Life is grand!).

The quick and dirty deets…

Limited edition
Available now at NARS boutiques and NARS website and coming Feb. 1 to NARS counters
12 powder shadows, none of which, I believe, have been previously released (but I’ll have to double check that). Four are mattes, and eight are shimmers.
The mattes, and the names are numerical, which is a little tricky, include “I” (which is a sheer cream bisque), “IV” (a semi-sheer black truffle), “VII” (a cool-toned medium brown) and “X” (a regal blue).
Of the shimmers, there’s “II” (a shimmery pink sand), “III” (a neutral medium brown), “V” (a shimmery golden beige), “VI” (a shimmery copper), “VII” (a shimmery pistol gray), “IX” (a shimmery grayish blue), “XI” (a shimmery taupe) and “XII” (a shimmery blackened licorice).

And some quick first impressions…

When I popped the matte cool-toned medium brown (VII) in my crease, the shimmery pink sand (II) on my lids, the matte regal blue (X) in the outer corner, the matte black (IV) on my upper lash lines and the shimmery pistol gray (VIII) on my lower lash lines, I found that the shadows blend together beautifully. I do see a little fallout with the black shade, though…
Um…Roman numerals for eyeshadow names? That’s very confusing for some reason!
So far I like the combination and variety of warm and cool-toned colors. I also like how smooth they feel on my skin. They don’t feel heavy or look powdery either. I also lake how deep and rich most of the shades are, especially VII, VIII and X.
So far, however, I am not crazy about the sheer matte light beige or black, which are sheerer than I’d like, and I have to build them up to see them in swatches. I also feel like I’ve seen a group of colors just like these from NARS before…
Jury’s still out on whether I can recommend this palette with the gusto of a marching band and a ticker-tape parade, but it’s nice enough, I guess, and I can definitely see myself doing a number of neutral looks with it.
I think I’ll have to use it a few more times to get a better sense of its value and gauge its flexibility.

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Ringing in the New Year With the Tarte Tartelette in Bloom Palette

January 1st, 2016 by Karen 37 Comments

Good morning, my wonderful, amazing, glorious, sweet friend, and…

I’m so happy to be spending another year with you, and this is gonna be a good one, too. I can feel it! — and no, this time the feeling isn’t gas, LOL! 🙂

There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, but… Well, no buts. There is. Life is scary sometimes and complicated, but it’s also great.

I wish you health, happiness, fun, laughter, compassion, kindness, sweetness, beauty and love in 2016. That would make me the happiest girl in the world. May the universe bless you with health, happiness and love, my friend, because what else is there, really?

Now…we have swatches. 🙂

OK, seeing as how I pretty much wore Tarte’s $45 Tartelette In Bloom clay palette for, oh, almost the entire month of December, I figure that it’s probably time I give it a quick swatchy-poo.

Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I wore the same palette for almost an entire month, both because I haven’t been wanting to wear a lot of eyeshadow lately, and also because I have a short makeup attention span.

Basically, Tartelette in Bloom is the latest version of the last Tartelette palette (that one was $44, and this year’s is $45), but I think it’s even better.

Like last year’s, it has 12 neutral powder eyeshadows; contains Tarte’s trademark super ingredient, Amazonian Clay; lasts all day long on my lids with very minimal creasing; and it’s cruelty free (like all of Tarte’s products).

This time around, though, the shadows are richer, more pigmented, and I think they’re also more interesting.

“Introducing our tartelette 2 in bloom palette – featuring 12 brand new, never-before-seen shades. With 9 mattes and 3 lusters, these lid liner and crease pairings allow you to create stunning, smoldering looks without the guesswork.”

–tartecosmetics.com

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Blooz Eye Kohl

December 2nd, 2015 by Karen 17 Comments

The long-running Unsung Heroes series here on Makeup and Beauty Blog features some of my all-time favorite permanent collection products.

MAC COSTA RICHE: And there she goes! She’s grabbing Blooz, YET AGAIN.

MAC TEDDY: Seriously!? What’s up with that? She was using us every day, and now it’s like she doesn’t even know we exist. All she cares about is Blooz.

MAC COSTA RICHE: Yeah, and it’s giving me a case of the blues.

MAC TEDDY: Haha.

MAC COSTA RICHE: I’m not kidding! I miss being on her water lines…

MAC TEDDY: Me too. 🙁

MAC COSTA RICHE: You know what I want right now?

MAC TEDDY: What?

MAC COSTA RICHE: Brownies.

MAC TEDDY: Ooh!

MAC COSTA RICHE: Let’s make some brownies.

MAC TEDDY: YASSS! 🙂

If eyeliners could talk… I bet if Costa Riche and Teddy could talk, they’d be talking mad sh*t about MAC Blooz ($16.50). It’s one of MAC’s sassiest, sexiest dark navy liners, and it’s the only MAC Eye Kohl I’ve been wanting to wear lately.

But let’s back up a little… Cue the falling leaves and jingle bells! *jingle, jingle, jingle*

Every December, like clockwork, my eyes freak out, and the only liners I’m able to comfortably wear are the old-school MAC Eye Kohls. The dry, crisp air outside coupled with the dry, warm air inside from the heater, which runs nonstop this time of year, wreaks havoc on my lash and water lines. They practically cry out for moisture and won’t tolerate long-wearing eye products like gel liners that are just too drying.

I wouldn’t say that MAC’s old-school Kohls are moisturizing, but for whatever reason, they don’t bother my eyes in fall and winter when so many other things do. I was all about Teddy and Costa Riche for the past few winters, but now I’ve got the Blooz.

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Neat and New to Me: NARS Mekong Shimmer Eyeshadow

December 1st, 2015 by Karen 32 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

NARS Mekong has been making me smile! 🙂 And rhyme!

That was a rhyme, right? (Mekong making…?)

It has a dark brown espresso matte base with golden micro glitter, and it’s take-your-breath-away gawgeous with warm reddish browns and purply browns on the eyes, and reds, burgundies and plums on the lips.

I recently discovered it, which means that I finally gave it a try, and I feel like such a goofball for waiting so long. Give it a swatch if you can before the end of winter, but I warn you — brace yourself. It’s a total knockout.

nars mekong swatch — NARS Mekong Shimmer Eyeshadow

I’ve been wearing it for smoky eyes, and also as a liner, and when I use it for smoky eyes, I pack it on my lids with a flat eyeshadow brush, and then blend out the edges, drawing just a smidgen up into the crease, before incorporating a couple of matte transition shades.

Then, to offset the heaviness on the top area, I line and smudge a purple or warm reddish brown pencil liner, usually MAC Prunella or MAC Teddy, both of which I think really complement Mekong well, along my lower lash line.

nars mekong — Wearing NARS Mekong on my lids in a smoky eye look with MAC Prunella along my lower lash lines…

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Neat and New to Me: NARS Alhambra Eyeshadow Duo

November 20th, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

I wore the NARS Alhambra Eyeshadow Duo last weekend to shop for maternity jeans, and you know what? You know your eyeshadow is doing something right when you’re shopping for jeans (which is usually traumatic enough as it is) in your sixth month of pregnancy, and you feel extra huge, and you’re in a dressing room with the worst florescent green lighting known to womankind, and you look in the mirror and think, “Dayum! My eye makeup looks good…”

Thank you, NARS Alhambra. 🙂

You can make a woman feel good in gold, EVEN when she’s in sickly greenish lighting.

On one side of this warm-toned powder shadow duo lives a metallic rosy gold; on the other, a golden champagne.

They might look a little scary and frosty in that swatch below, but trust! — they aren’t that shiny or brash on lids once they’ve been blended (which is easy to do because they’re both also incredibly soft).

Like a superhero satin, the finish shines, but it’s about six degrees away from “discotheque,” so you can tell your fine lines to chill. Alhambra’s got this.

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If You Like Neutrals, the Urban Decay UD Gwen Stefani Palette Is B-A-N-A-N-A-S

November 19th, 2015 by Karen 27 Comments

There should be a video in this post, but if you can’t see it, you can click here to watch it on YouTube.

When I open the new UD Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette by Urban Decay and see all of the neutrals, I start getting ideas… My internal makeup monologue kicks in, and looks start running through my head.

They start simple, but that doesn’t last long. “I’ll just do a quick wash of color with one or two matte browns on my lids,” I’ll think, “then black winged liner with a red lip. Just like Gwen!”

But then I’ll think, why stop at just two browns? I should add a third one in the crease.

Ooh! — or why don’t I do a grayish brown smoky eye instead? Maybe with a touch of blue on my lids? Because that’s so Gwen!

BUT then I’ll remember that I almost forget about glitter! How could I forget about the glitter!?

Girl, you know how it goes. 🙂 What starts as a five-minute look spirals into 35.

It’s not me though. It’s not my fault. It’s because of all the inspiring neutrals in this palette.

Yup, this is one of those palettes, and to really feel the magic in the makeup (shout-out to No Doubt’s Return of Saturn!), you have to appreciate the beauty of browns and beiges.

I see this one as almost an extension of the Urban Decay Naked Palette family, except with the addition of a few brights, so if you’re the kind of girl or guy who’d rather wear electric teal shimmer, you might find the neutrals here a bit underwhelming.

Not me though. When I see browns and golds and mattes (and there are so many in this!), I get excited.

In the unlikely event that you were cryogenically frozen in 1993 and are only now asking yourself, “Who’s Gwen Stefani?” she’s a pop singer, fashion designer and current vocal coach/judge on The Voice.

I’ve always admired her casual So Cal punk style and cool girl vibe, and I kid you not, I was hell bent on being her in 1995.

I even designated a section of my closet for my “Gwen Stefani” outfits. My favorite was a pair of baggy navy blue pants with light blue stripes going down the sides, which I’d pair with a baby blue sleeveless crop top and baby blue stick-on bindis.

OH, LAWD!!

urban decay gwen stefani swatches 3 — Pop, Harajuku, Danger, 1987 and Blackout

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: NARS Reykjavik Velvet Shadow Stick

November 18th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

The long-running Unsung Heroes series here on Makeup and Beauty Blog features some of my all-time favorite permanent collection products.

Reykjavik.

OK, that word is hard to spell. For me. It’s like “fuchsia” and “necessary.” In the 10 minutes I’ve been sitting here trying to write about this fantastic Velvet Shadow Stick from NARS, I’ve had to look at the packaging and mentally spell out the word (R-e-y-k-j-a-v-i-c) at least 10 times, LOL!

WHY CAN’T I SPELL THIS WORD?!

I should be able to. I want to be able to, because this velvety $28 matte cream masterpiece of an eyeshadow is SO PRETTY. It’s my NARS November smoky eye BFF, and one should be able to spell the name of their smoky eye BFF, right?

Right?

The word is also the name of the capital and largest city of Iceland.

NARS Velvet Shadow Stick in Rejkavic…

Wait — Reyk-ja-vic — works as a bad-@ss base for smoky eyes. Lots of different colors of smoky eyes.

At a glance, it can look like a dark gunmetal gray, but it completely depends on the lighting and any other colors you layer it with. Sometimes, it leans more toward a bluish gray; other times, a blackened gray. It’s a surprisingly complex cream shadow, and it works with a ton of different color combos. I’ve been wearing it a lot lately as a lid base for smoky brown, black, blue and gray eyes.

Yup, I’m kind of a smoky eye addict, as you’re probably well aware. 🙂
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