Face of the Day (FOTD)

15-Minute Makeup: Feline Meow With L’Oréal Voluminous Liner Noir, MAC Tabby, NARS Bengali, Bite Beauty Multistick in Papaya, Hourglass Vanish and Lilah B.

October 5th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

loreal voluminous liner noir — Is black liquid winged liner ever a good idea when you’ve only got 15 minutes to put on your makeup?

I think I was going for “crazy cat lady in the suburbs” with this ensemble, which I wore yesterday. You know how I mentioned that I’ve been trying to wear more makeup lately? I just wasn’t really into it after having the baby. Well, I’m still out of practice, but I’m trying to push myself a little by wearing makeup every day, and sometimes it turns OK, but sometimes it looks like this.

There are a few things going on with this look. First, there’s, like, a patch here on my chin where I sort of didn’t blend the foundation, but that’s because I spent most of the 15 minutes I spent on the liner — just drawing it and correcting it, and redrawing it.

I thought that I could just use this liner from L’Oréal and some tape for the wings, and that once I did those things, the look would basically be done, but the takeaway lesson here is that if you’re going to attempt a 15-minute makeup look…don’t do black liquid liner…unless you want to be really stressed out, because I was REALLY stressed out the entire time.

Fifteen minutes just wasn’t enough time to do a great job on this.

One side of the liner looked a little thick, while the other side looked a little wonky, so I had to bust out a Q-tip to try and fix it.

It was a mess.

I’m also wearing Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation, and despite the big glob on the side on my cheek that I didn’t blend, it turned out OK.

That’s Bite Beauty Multistick in Papaya on my cheeks and lips and some eyeshadows from NARS.

Honestly, the eyeshadow here was basically an afterthought. I did the liner first, and then the shadow on my lids afterward (MAC Tabby cream shadow). And just used neutrals for the rest.

EYES: MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick in Tabby, NARS Bengali and Madrague II eyeshadows, MAC Carbon Eyeshadow, L’Oréal Voluminous Liner Noir Eyeliner, L’Oréal Voluminous Feline Noir Mascara and Chanel Stylo Yeux in Agape

FACE: Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Concealers in R40 and Y33, Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation in Beige, Lilah B. Flawless Finish Foundation in b. classic

LIPS AND CHEEKS: Bite Beauty Multistick in Papaya

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

15-Minute Makeup: Channeling Debbie Harry With Shimmery Eyes and Shiny Red Lips Using the LORAC Mega Pro Palette 3, Hourglass Radiant Magenta and Estée Lauder Controversial

October 3rd, 2016 by Karen 15 Comments

estee lauder vinyl controversial — Inspired by Debbie Harry from the Heart of Glass video

Believe it or not, this was 15-minute makeup. Ain’t got time for anything else, girl.

I think it was a few weeks ago, Pat McGrath posted a picture of Debbie Harry from the Heart of Glass video, and in the picture Debbie has these super shiny red lips, this shimmery eye makeup and a bright pink cheek with highlighter like whoa! — and I just couldn’t get that picture out of my head, so I did my best to channel it.

I don’t know if I was successful… It’s always kind of questionable when it comes to 15-minute makeup, but I did my best. I figured that as long as I get the lips, obviously; the super bright cheek with the highlight; and, well, the shimmery lid and liner, it would somewhat resemble Debbie’s look, and I kinda cheated on everything else.

But you have to make compromises with 15-minute makeup… You know how it is.

The lip is the secret. As long as you’ve got the shiny lip, you’re cool. Then you can power through the skin, brows and mascara.

I didn’t even use primer. I just used Urban Decay Naked Skin One and Done all over, and then Sephora’s Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer on the spots where I wanted more coverage. I placed it right on top of the One and Done and buffed that all together with an Hourglass foundation brush.

lorac mega pro palette 3 cava olive — Wearing the All The Cats Tee from connorclaire.com

Products I’m wearing…

EYES: MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Bare Study, LORAC Mega Pro Palette 3 (Cava mixed with Snow, Olive, and DK Navy mixed with Jet Black), Clinique Quickliner in Intense Ebony, theBalm Mad Lash Mascara

FACE: Urban Decay Naked Skin One and Done in Medium Dark, Sephora Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden, Hourglass Radiant Magenta Blush, NARS Albatross Blush

LIPS: Estée Lauder Vinyl LipColor in Controversial

In other news

It actually rained here today! Fall is in full effect now. I don’t know if this is related to the weather…but I have a strong urge to fire up my oven and bake something.

Weird.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

15-Minute Makeup: ’90s Fall Vibes With the LORAC Mega Pro Palette 3, Urban Decay Loaded, Tarte Brownie and Tarte Seduce

September 30th, 2016 by Karen 26 Comments

Seriously, I did this makeup in 15 minutes, ’cause I just can’t handle much more than that right now. I just can’t.

I was feeling kinda ’90s today, hence the matte cheeks and lips. And all the brown.

ALL THE BROWN!

But I needed to have a little bit of color up in the mix, so I also threw some green liner on my lash lines.

I used some of the matte browns from the LORAC Mega Pro Palette 3 and did the matte cheeks and lips with Tarte.

I was going for a tonal thing. Brown on the eyes, cheeks and lips, and also matte everything. That way the green liner, which has a little shimmer, would stand out.

At least that’s what I was going for…

I mean, whatever. It’s 15-minute makeup. Not all of it’s gonna be perfect, but I figure, unless someone is staring at me intensely from across a room, no one is really going to notice that perhaps this line is thicker than that line, or maybe my shadows aren’t blended perfectly. I’m cool with it. 🙂

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15-Minute Makeup: MAC Lilacked/MAC Woodwinked/MAC Wedge/MAC Post Modern/Hourglass Incandescent Electra

September 27th, 2016 by Karen 7 Comments

Honestly, because most days, 15 minutes is about all the time I get to put on makeup.

Oh, and I may or may not be wearing a sports bra as my top in this pic. ?

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Teal Liner Gives Me Wings! A MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Face of the Day

July 12th, 2016 by Karen 30 Comments

mac bangin brilliant fotd — Wearing some MAC Bangin’ Brilliant today!

Can I just say, it took all of my strength to NOT wear nude lips with this look today, but I dug deep and busted out a glossy, orangey red instead. Thank you, babe, for giving me strength!

You know, it’s funny…but this is basically the same look I’ve been rocking for the last five months or so — winged liner, lashes and lipstick — but with slight adjustments, and it’s kind of amazing (and I forget this sometimes) how a few simple tweaks can turn something routine and basic into something new and different.

mac bangin brilliant fotd k1 — Hey, girl, haaaay!

When I did my winged liner this morning, instead of doing a teeny, tiny kitten flick in basic black, I used a teal eyeshadow (worn as an eyeliner) and exaggerated the flick a little more than usual.

Then for my lashes, instead of using mascara, I grabbed my good ol’ trusty Ardell Demi-Wispies (which I’m able to put on in my sleep now, for reals).

And for my lips, instead of going the nude route, I reached for a glossy reddish orange gloss.

mac bangin brilliant fotd swatches — Summery teals and oranges, yum!

Most of the key products I used for the look are from MAC, with a couple of items from the new MAC Bangin’ Brilliant collection.

Remember Teal Appeal, that teal I was drooling over yesterday?

Yeah! I managed to get it on my lids sooner than later (small victories!), and that’s what I’m wearing on my lash lines. I’m also wearing MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Blush in Bright Response on my cheeks.

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The Day in Beauty Vol. 22: The MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadows and Baby Steps

July 11th, 2016 by Karen 29 Comments

mac bangin brilliant eyeshadows 1 — MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadows in Up At Dawn, Suspiciously Sweet, Fashion’s Field Day, I’m Into It, Oh My Mocha! and Ruddy

Can I just raise my crazy cat lady coffee cup to you for your great advice in the comments on this post the other day? Thank you!

I read every single comment, and I’ve just been thinking about them and taking everything you said to heart.

Honestly, sweets, what would I do without you? For all of these years… I don’t even know. From makeup advice to baby advice to keeping my head above water. Thank you! You’re wonderful. 🙂

mac banging brilliant eyeshadows 2 — MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadows in Shock Factor, New Crop, Teal Appeal, In The Shadows, Zinc Blue and How Royal

So like I said, I’ve been taking everything you said to heart, and last weekend I just did what I could handle, which was 20 minutes using some non-neutral shadows.

I used two from the new MAC Bangin’ Brilliant collection — which, yeah, you may have noticed that bright teal and that neon yellow waving at you from across the room up there, LOL! — and gave myself 20 minutes.

I told myself, “You know what? If it turns out sloppy, fine. I haven’t done any fancy blending in a while, so whatever happens, happens. No pressure.”

And this is what happened! I ended up with a lightly smoky, sort of purplish, coralish shimmery look. And even though I could’ve done it better, and the perfectionist in me is kind of poking me in the ribs, at least I did it, ya know? At least I tried something a little ambitious this time, and I’m happy about that.

mac banging brilliant — Wearing MAC Fashion’s Field Day Eyeshadow on my inner lid and Oh My Mocha! Eyeshadow on my outer lid; on my lips I’m wearing NARS Lodhi

So, the shadows here — part of MAC Bangin’ Brilliant — they launched last month at select MAC locations and online. The release was called a “collection” (airquotes), but really, it was mostly just an introduction to some bright new Eyeshadows, Dazzleshadows, Powder Blushes and Lipsticks that were added to the MAC permanent line.

Here are pictures of 12 of the 14 eyeshadows, which are $16 each.

The underlying (albeit in your face) theme here is brights, and one of these days, hopefully soon, I’ll get that shimmery teal shadow, Teal Appeal, on my lids. 🙂

mac bangin brilliant eyeshadow swatches — MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadow swatches from the left in Up At Dawn, Suspiciously Sweet, Fashion’s Filed Day, I’m Into It, Oh My Mocha! and Ruddy

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A Quick Modern Pin-Up Look With Glo Minerals

July 7th, 2016 by Adia Goss 12 Comments

I gotta say that this Glo Minerals neutral eyeshadow palette and cream blush are sooo good! I mean, the blush is crazy pigmented, and the eyeshadows are smooth and silky.

After trying the Glo Minerals lip crayons a couple of months ago, I’d been dying to try more from the brand. So I did!

This neutral eyeshadow palette and vibrant lipstick made me think of a modern-day pin-up look, so for this makeup look I kept the eyes pretty neutral and added some punch with the coral blush (Go Minerals Guava) and red/orange lip (Glo Minerals Crush).

The Glo Minerals Elemental Eye Collection palette ($44) is the second neutral eyeshadow palette I’ve used and recently reviewed (my thoughts on the other one, this palette by Buxom, are here), and I really like it!

The darker shades mean that you can totally do a super smokey eye with it, but the shimmery eyeshadows are easy to apply for quick washes of color, and there are four warm-toned shades and four cool-toned shades, so it’s very versatile.

All of the shades are mattes, except for two of them, which are shimmery, so I think there’s a little something for everyone.

Here are swatches of the shadows:

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This One-Trick Pony Broke Away From Browns Today and Swapped Them for Mauve #FOTD

June 30th, 2016 by Jen Clark 8 Comments

I have a horrible habit of only wearing browny/goldy/bronzey eyeshadow.

I’m kind of a one-trick pony when it comes to that.

But it’s good to break out of your routine every now and then, so I decided to try using some mauve and taupe shades, and I loved it!

Obviously, I’ve used mauve and taupe before, but I just forgot how pretty they can look! I was super happy with how this look turned out, so I thought I would document it and share the products I used.

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation has crawled its way back into my heart. I always do this — I rediscover things and wonder why on earth I ever stopped using them! Sheer Glow gives such a flawless look to the skin without looking like heavy makeup.

Nars Sheer Glow in Monte Blanc — NARS Sheer Glow in Monte Blanc

Under my eyes, I used Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer, of course, because it’s the only concealer I ever use these days. It’s literally the best concealer I’ve ever used.

I’m pretty sure I’ve blabbed about it a lot before, so I’ll keep it short today. It’s lightweight, lovely and covers everything I need it to without going cakey. I use it to conceal under my eyes and to highlight my cheekbones, nose, chin and center of my forehead.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer in Light Neutral

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