Eyes

The Make Up For Ever Artist Palette Vol. 1 Nudes You Need: Especially if You’re a Beauty Beginner, These ARE Nudes You Need

May 6th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

Eyeshadow… It’s what’s for dinner.

LOL! Not really, but my stomach just rumbled, and that’s what popped into my head because I’m looking at this new eyeshadow palette. 🙂

It’s the $42 Artist Palette Vol. 1 Nudes You Need by Make Up For Ever.

But enough about rumbly tummies! — if you frequently forget the difference between a tapered blending brush and a domed eyeshadow brush, read on…

Heck, even if you do know the difference, keep reading, because this palette could end up saving you precious moments, as in time, when you put on le war paint.

So, what are we looking at here? An eye palette with nine neutral MUFE Artist Shadows in what are billed as universally flattering shades, the Artist Palette Vol. 1 is one of two $42 collectible Artist Palettes released this month by Make Up For Ever (the other one has bold shades). They’re available now online and at Make Up For Ever counters and Sephora.

OK, but what can this palette do for you/me? Well, if you consider yourself utterly and completely hopeless when it comes to blending, this eyeshadow palette will help you look like you know what you’re doing. You’ll have to practice, of course, but it’s easy to get the hang of blending with the help of these eyeshadows.

MUFE’s Artist Shadows have a super soft, almost gel-like powder formula packed with ultra-fine pigment particles. Creating gradients and doing layering with them takes very little effort because the powders feather out with just a few flicks of a brush.

In these pics here, I’m wearing a taupe-ish brown daytime eye look incorporating diffused cat liner, and it didn’t take much time to do, thanks to these Urban Decay-caliber blend-able shadows. I didn’t have to spend forever and a day swiping back and forth with my blending brush, and I noticed very little fallout, too.

My kind of look, yo! 🙂

Does anything set this palette apart from the pack of neutral eye palettes on the market? “Another day, another neutral palette…”

What is this, the one hundredth one!? There are a ton of them out there, but this one’s ridonkulously easy to use because of the colors (they’re true neutrals in terms of color temps) and the formula. Basically, it has no learning curve at all, so I think it’s one of the better ones for beginners.

If this is going to be your first neutral palette, I suggest also grabbing a pair of matte single eyeshadows in brown, one lighter than your skin tone, and one slightly darker, since most of the shades in this MUFE palette have some level of shimmer or sheen. You’ll be able to use the other mattes as transition shades, to blend out the edges of your shimmers, and to deepen your crease. It’s those finishing touches that take your eye looks to the next level.

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The MAC Wash and Dry Collection Brushes, Makeup Bag, Bronzers and Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Sets

May 5th, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

Hmm… Just five quarters left!

That should be enough for this last load of MAC Wash and Dry collection products. We have two brushes, a makeup bag, four bronzers and some bits for brows.

Beginning with the brushes and bag…

MAC Wash and Dry Collection: Brushes and Bag

THE BRUSHES

How many are there in the release? There are two brushes in the collection — the 125 Split Fibre Dense Face Brush ($38.50) and 126 Split Fibre Large Face Brush ($46)
Uh…what’s a Split Fibre Brush? Good question. The brush heads are like two sides of a coin and have natural fibers on one side, and synthetic fibers on the other, so it’s designed to work with both cream (the synthetic fibers) and powder products (the natural fibers).
They’re surprisingly handy. Mostly, I’ve been using these for applying products and blending them out, and I’ll apply whatever I’m working with — bronzer or blush, for instance — with one side of one of the brushes, and then I’ll flip the brush over and blend out the edges with the other side. It’s akin to having two different brushes in one.

Both sides feel soft, with the synthetic bristles being slightly stiffer, which makes them ideal for picking up lots of product (like with the Studio Sculpt Bronzing Powders).
How well do they work overall? I think the 126 Split Fibre Large Face Brush ($46) is probably the better value. I like the size of the brush head. It’s big, so it covers a lot of surface area and is good for quickly erasing and diffusing edges. I’ve used it with bronzer, powder and blush, and it works well for them all. It’s a true multitasking tool — yes, on the expensive side, as it’s almost $50 (!), but it’s well-made and versatile.
As for the 125 Split Fibre Dense Face Brush ($38.50), it’s an adequate contouring brush, and it looks cool…but unless you plan to contour every day, you may not get as much use out of it as the Face Brush.
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The MAC Wash and Dry Collection Technakohl Liners: This Time Around, Practice Made a Perfect Blue

May 4th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

So. Much. Yes!

Rarely does a liner sweep me off my feet.

I think the last one was MAC Costa Riche. Or was it was BECCA Cabrera…? I’m pretty sure it was one of those two.

Whenever it happens, since it doesn’t happen very often, I almost immediately panic a little. One of my first thoughts is usually along the lines of, “How am I going to function when I wear this down to a nub, which I’ll most certainly do?” Or, how much am I going to freak-the-eff out when I can’t find one of my backups? Because let’s be real — if it’s that good, I’m probably getting a backup. Or two. OK, three.

Seriously, though, I think MAC’s new Technakohl Liner in Practice Makes Perfect is…well, perfect. They should have just called it Perfect and cut out any confusion. I think it’s just about perfect in every single way.

It’s a deep, rich, intensely pigmented bluish green pencil liner with a twist-up tip. Fab for lash lines, of course, but I love, love, LOVE it on my water lines (especially the lower water lines). I think it does wonders for browns eyes, in particular, and I swear mine look more milk chocolatey when I wear it.

It’s fairly no-fuss, too. Compared to some blue liners, where I feel like I have to apply four or five layers to ramp up the intensity to a decent level, I just use two layers of this and I’m good.

On top of that, it’s incredibly smooth and doesn’t migrate or make my sensitive eyes water. I usually reapply after about five hours to freshen it up, which isn’t bad, and even then I’m only adding a little.

Ooh! — the color goes really well with blue, green and khaki clothing (and accessories), and I bet it would also complement gold shadows and golden brown shadows nicely, too.

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The MAC Wash and Dry Collection Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow Trios Promise to Make Laundry Days and Lids Lovelier

April 30th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

Hey, bubbles. 🙂 Just in case you were looking for makeup to wear to the laundromat…

BOOM! MAC Wash and Dry.

Yes, domestic divas, a freaking laundromat serves as the backdrop for MAC’s new summer collection, Wash and Dry.

As a woman who has probably spent approximately one third of her adult life hanging out in laundromats (I didn’t have a washer/dryer until I moved into this condo), I feel qualified to say that this is by far the schmexy-est laundromat of them all.

First, you don’t have worry about running out of quarters, or about somebody stealing your cat t-shirts and stretchy pants out of the dryer, or about that creepy dude lurking in the corner who you suspect intends to flash you. None of those are issues at this facility. In fact, the odds of that man offering to touch up your eye makeup are far greater than the odds of him exposing his manly bits.

This collection is so much more fun than washing and folding clothes. 🙂

It’s a pretty substantial one, too, with four steamy lipsticks (one word: BRIGHTS), four glosses, a couple of blushes, two nail polishes and a bad-@ss highlighting powder (stay tuned for that review) — oh, and bronzers, of course, because it’s not a legitimate MAC summer launch without a guest appearance by Refined Golden, obvs.

For eyes, there are a massive number of brow products, a few liners, a waterproof mascara and three eyeshadow trios, which leads me to this…

I’m wearing Permanent Press, one of the $27.50 Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow Trios from the collection, in this toasty brown, smokey cat eye today, and I had absolutely no trouble blending it, thanks to the silky — almost creamy — Veluxe Pearlfusion formula. It’s super lightweight, so melding the colors into each other doesn’t require a lot of effort with a blending brush.

You can wear them dry, like I’ve done here, for a dreamy metallic shine, or apply them with a wet brush for more of a goddess-emerging-from-the-surf (or the laundry soap suds, in this case) foil-like shine. Either way, they last from 7-8 hours on my combination lids when applied atop primer.
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The MAC In Extra Dimension Eye Shadows Are Becoming Permanent Fixtures in Spacetime

April 24th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Apologies for just powering my way through this quick look at the new MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadows, babe. I’ve got a hot date with two clear drawers from The Container Store (yup, operation Get My Sh*t Together is currently underway).

First, I’m so happy to see these being added to the MAC permanent line! I’ve loved ’em for years and have long hoped this would happen.

See…? Sometimes makeup dreams really do come true. 🙂

These long-wearing eyeshadows (I get 8-10 hours) have a super soft, almost creamy formula and come in various levels of shimmer, all with negligible (barely any) fallout. I think they’re abso-friggin-lutely heaven, and I’m sure I’ve gushed about them before…

If some of the shades below look familiar, you may be recalling them from past collections like last year’s Alluring Aquatic.

Here are pics and swatches of 16 of the 18 shades (not shown: Smoky Mauve and Silver Sun)…

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NARS Enters the False Eyelash Fray With the New NARS Eyelashes False Eyelash Collection

April 17th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

We should totally make False Lash Fridays a thing.

You know, like how people do Flashback Fridays on social media? Like that, but we’ll all wear false lashes, and then go about our regular business.

We could posslby even start with these new NARS Eyelashes ($20 each, and being added to the permanent collection).

Wait — say whaaaat!?

Yup, NARS is jumping into the false eyelash fray with a new line of reusable, natural-looking, natural-fiber lashes coming out next month (available in eight styles). How very Shu Uemura of them, right?

They’re all supposed to look reasonably natural, or natural-ish, so there are no insane glitter styles with rainbow gems at the tips.

They also don’t come with lash glue, just as a heads-up, so you’ll need to already have/procure some. A lot of the department store brands (MAC and Shu come to mind) don’t include lash glue with their falsies, so it’s not uncommon…but sometimes it’s still a little inconvenient.

The new NARS Eyelashes ($20 each)

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Urban Decay Summer 2015: The Eyeshadow Primer Potions Get New Outfits

April 8th, 2015 by Karen 43 Comments

Shakin’ my head, man, because…repackaging. In theory, I don’t mind it, as long as the product itself, assuming I like it, which I do in this case, doesn’t change, and the new packaging improves upon something or makes the whole experience better, as in NOT harder to use.

What I’m not crazy about is new packaging, when the new package contains less product, especially when the price stays the same, OR actually goes up.

It’s been happening a lot over the past few years, like with the Tarte LipSurgences and Tarte Cheek Stains, or the Benefit Boxed Blushes…and now it’s happening at Urban Decay.

Their newly repackaged Eyeshadow Primer Potion tubes, which are being released with the new Summer 2015 Collection, are slightly smaller than the previous versions (0.33-ounce tubes now, versus what had been 0.37 ounces).

It’s a very, very small difference in size, and the prices remain the same, thankfully — $20 for the Original, Eden, Minor Sin and Enigma Primer Potions, and $24 for the Anti-Aging one — but still.

I’m all for streamlining and lightening one’s load, but seriously, what’s up with that?

Anywho. #rantover 🙂

urban decay eyeshadow primer — The Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potions, $20-24 each

UD’s eyeshadow primers are designed to be worn under powder and cream shadows for more vibrant color and longer wear time, and that hasn’t changed. Neither have the formulas, really, but we do get a new one, Enigma (available now), and a slightly reworked Sin (now called Minor Sin), while the others — Original, Eden and Anti-Aging — are carryovers updated with the new packaging. Original formula dries down invisibly, while Eden, Minor Sin and Greed are shades that can also be worn as shadows or highlighters.

Regarding the packaging, UD kept the squeeze tube but removed the needlepoint applicator, replacing it with a doe-foot bedazzled with a bejeweled cap.

Ooh, fancy…

urban decay eyeshadow primer swatches — From the left: Original, Eden, Minor Sin and Anti-Aging

I like the new doe-foot. I actually prefer it to the old needlepoint because I can cover a lot of space with it on my lids quickly, not that it took a ton of time with the needlepoint tip. I think the doe-foot’s just a little faster. Minor thing though.
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Urban Decay Summer 2015: New Eyeshadow Shades

April 8th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

Well, now I know what to wear in the unlikely event that Charli XCX invites me to be a backup dancer in one of her videos. This: the new Urban Decay Summer 2015 Eyeshadow shades (arriving April 15 at Urban Decay counters and online for $18 each).

The “shifts,” as they’re called, have a cool 20-something party girl vibe. It’s very “big hair don’t care/let’s get drunk on the mini-bar.”

But I’m getting ahead of myself! — so lemme back up a little.

[INSERT SOUND OF AN OLD-SCHOOL CASSETTE TAPE REWINDING *HERE*]

The eight new shades join UD’s existing Eyeshadow permanent line. Six of them are “shifts” — duo-chromes that appear to change color in the light, like that holographic thing. The other two are matte browns, about which I have to say, “YAY!” Transition colors. 🙂 LOL! Leave it to me to get all cheerleader-y about the matte browns…

Whatever, I can always use another matte brown. Hand on my heart and hair to the sky, it’s the truth!

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