Face of the Day (FOTD)

Face of the Day with Laura Mercier Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic

April 13th, 2009 by Karen 51 Comments

laura-mercier-mediterranea-sea-mosaic-fotd-final

After seeing Laura Mercier’s Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic eyeshadow palette ($35) in the Daily Beauty picture today, some of you gals suggested I try her in my face of the day.

That was all the prodding I needed… Here she is in all her shimmery turquoise, royal blue and golden bronze glory!

laura mercier mediterranean sea eye mosaic fotd eye

For the eyes in this look, I added MAC Rollickin’ Paint Pot ($16.50; limited edition, but a good dupe would be Estee Lauder’s Sea Mist for $17.50), Chanel Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow in Delta ($32), Cargo Plant Love Eyeliner in Midnight Blue ($16) and MAC Mascara X in Black X ($12.50).

The Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic quad is probably my favorite eyeshadow palette so far this summer. The shadows virtually melt into the skin, pack intense color and blend with ease.

Don’t these shades look bangin’?

Laura Mercier Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic

If the makeup gods forced me to choose between this quad or coffee for a week, I’d give up the java — OUCH! I’d be totally cranky, but at least my eyes would look smokin’ hot. 🙂
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Dior Electric Lights Palette Face of the Day

March 31st, 2009 by Karen 28 Comments

dior electric lights eye

Can I get an AMEN from all the makeup procrastinators out there? Oh, you *know* who you are, LOL! When you should be finishing that assignment or organizing those files you bust out the makeup and brushes and do a two-hour eye look instead. I’m right there with ya, girlfriend.

I’ve got a paper due tomorrow, but instead of getting down to business, I spent half the morning playing with the new Dior Electric Lights Palette, AHHH!

dior electric lights palette

Eyes

So far, I’m really liking Dior Electric Lights. The light blues don’t apply as frosty as I thought they might. That’s what I expected when I first swatched the colors on the back of my hand.

Another surprise: the light baby blue shade in the lower left hand corner applies surprisingly sheer, and it has a duo-chrome quality to it that totally reminds me of a blue MAC Stars N’ Rockets.
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Face of the Day: Blues and Greens from MAC, DuWop, Dior and Cargo

March 27th, 2009 by Karen 50 Comments

cargo tahiti palette fotd

What’s up, ladies? TGIF! I hope it was a good week for you. Mine felt like it flew by quicker than Ralph Tresvant’s solo career. Exciting new spring makeup from DuWop, MAC and Dior helped to pass the time. 🙂

dior cristal collection coral riviera blush product shot

Yesterday I played with some of the new products and put my camera to the test. Stay tuned for full reviews of Fountain of Youth Foundation, Circle Block Concealer, Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Powder and Coral Riviera Blush over the coming days. 🙂

Face and cheeks

DuWop Fountain of Youth Foundation: I’m really liking the dewy finish of this light-medium coverage foundation. It looks natural, without looking oily, in both pictures and real life, but I’m still on the fence as far as the brush applicator, which seems to handle distribution better than it handles blending.
DuWop Circle Block Concealer: I feel just so-so about this concealer/ corrector combo. The peachy color corrector does a decent job covering up dark circles, but finding the ideal ratio of corrector to concealer has been a little tricky. The first time I tried it I guessed wrong and applied way too much of the corrector, which left my under eye area looking orange and kinda gross. This one’s gonna take some practice to figure out.
MAC Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Powder: WOW! Color me blown away. This powder has game. It adds a natural glow to my skin and appears to soften the look of fine lines and pores. I also dig that it doesn’t look chalky or heavy in pictures. I’m in love…
Dior Coral Riviera Blush: Um, hello hotness? This blush delivers a warm bronze, with a coral hue and shimmery golden glow all in one fell swoop. From the swatches, I expected more of a straight coral blush with golden shimmer, but a surprising amount of bronze showed up on my cheeks. And it’s the bronze tint that makes me think Coral Riviera’s gonna look smokin’ hot with a summertime tan.

cargo tahiti palette eye closeup

The eyes and lips

Since I was in the mood for some color in the look, I went with a green and blue eye using Cargo Tahiti Palette and Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner, finishing with a shimmery coral lip using Dior Addict Gloss in Coral Lame. Side note: Coral Lame was a limited edition gloss, but if you’re looking for something similar, try Laura Mercier Lip Glace Lipgloss in Bellini. 🙂
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MAC Sugarsweet Face of the Day

March 19th, 2009 by Karen 33 Comments

mac sugarsweet fotd 2

Hey, sweet thangs! Did you satisfy your sweet tooth with any bits of the MAC Sugarsweet collection today?

Though I still have to get my mitts on Aquavert Eyeshadow and Cakeshop Shadestick, I couldn’t wait to do a Sugarsweet face of the day.

I did a shimmery green and gray eye, peach cheek and coral lip with Club Eyeshadow and Lollipop Loving Lipstick — two colors from Sugarsweet which I already had in my MAC stash.

mac sugarsweet eye

Since I’m still waiting to adopt Aquavert, I substituted it with MAC Warm Chill, a shimmery green eyeshadow from last summer’s Cool Heat collection. I patted Warm Chill on the lid, swept Club in the crease and then lined my eyes with MAC Eye Pencil in Coffee. For the lips I layered MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Gentle Coral beneath Lollipop Loving Lipstick (ooh girl, this combo is the shizz!). To finish the look I swept MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Eversun, a shimmery peach, on my cheeks.
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MAC Amber Lights Eyeshadow Face of the Day: Version 1

March 7th, 2009 by Karen 35 Comments

mac cosmetics amber lights eyeshadow fotd

Ladies, thanks to your recommendations I’m now officially obsessed with MAC Amber Lights eyeshadow, aka the ultimate pan of peachy bronze goodness. 🙂

Yesterday, I borrowed a few of your color combination suggestions for this plummy bronze eye.

mac cosmetics amber lights eyeshadow fotd eye

I know spring is right around the corner and all, but the colors remind me of autumn leaves.

mac cosmetics amber lights eyeshadow fotd eye map

I used six MAC products for the look.

MAC Indianwood Paint Pot cream shadow: shimmery bronze
MAC Amber Lights eyeshadow: shimmery peachy brown
MAC Saddle eyeshadow: matte orangey brown
MAC Star Violet eyeshadow: shimmery plummy brown
MAC Shadowy Lady eyeshadow: matte plummy black
MAC Honey Lust eyeshadow: shimmery bronzy peach

It starts out with a thin layer of Indianwood Paint Pot patted over the entire lid. It’s a cream base that adds staying power to the powder eyeshadows and turns up the color intensity.

After Indianwood, I go straight for Amber Lights, aka my new eyeshadow crush, applying it on the lid with a MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush.

For added color and contrast in the crease, I follow Amber Lights with a sweeping of Saddle eyeshadow on the inner half of the crease using a MAC 217 Blending Brush. After that, I sweep Star Violet eyeshadow on the outer half with a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush.

I’m shooting for a little more of a smokey look, so I grab my trusty pan of MAC Shadowy Lady eyeshadow (remember her from the MAC Cult of Cherry Collection?) and pat her in the outer corner with the MAC 239.

After lining both the upper and lower lash lines with a MAC 209 Eyeliner Brush, I sweep some Honey Lust eyeshadow onto the brow bone and into the inner corner of the eye with a MAC 217 Blending Brush.

A few coats of mascara and concealer under the eyes, and then I move on to the lips and cheeks…

mac cosmetics amber lights eyeshadow fotd eye 2

For the rest of the look, I decided to go with a strong lip and nearly-nude cheeks. I apply a single of layer of MAC O lipstick (a plummy red) on the lips and MAC Emote blush on the cheeks.
mac cosmetics amber lights eyeshadow fotd 2

I think I’ll wear this look with my plum dress (or maybe a white top and chunky gold jewelry) out to dinner tonight…

Weird urges

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Freida Pinto 2009 SAG Awards Look, Version 2.0

February 27th, 2009 by Karen 24 Comments

freida pinto sag 2009 makeup look fotd version 2a

The mission: to duplicate Freida Pinto’s SAG 2009 makeup look!

This time around (check out my previous attempt), I added a drugstore makeup twist.

Version 2.0 relies on some Neutrogena products, like the Nourishing Eye Duo in Starry Night ($9), an eyeshadow duo with two shimmery shades of blue.

freida pinto sag 2009 makeup look fotd version 2 eyes in frame

The first time I tried this look, I ended up with a bright teal eye with a crisp black eyeliner. For Version 2.0, I decided to aim for a shimmery grayish blue on the lid. I think it’s a little closer to Freida’s original look than my last try.
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Freida Pinto’s Blue and Brown SAG Eye Look, Version 1

February 6th, 2009 by Karen 49 Comments

Good morning, girls! Happy Friday. 🙂

It’s raining cats and dogs this morning! I’m just sitting here twiddling my thumbs while the coffee brews… I need it desperately this morning because Tabs went totally apesh*t last night, jumping on top of furniture, pawing at the walls and meowing at himself in the dark. I dunno. He gets like this when it rains. First, he meows to go out; then meows to come back in. Over and over, all through the night, ack!

Despite only getting two seconds of sleep, I’m in a pretty good mood. Not only is it Friday, but my attempt to re-create the blue and brown eye Freida Pinto wore to the SAG awards didn’t turn out half bad.

In the picture up top, Freida’s wearing a warm brown in the crease and a bluish gray shadow on the lid. I don’t know the exact products used for her look, but for my version I layered L’Oreal HiP Duo in Magnetic Fields on top of MAC Jadeye Fluidline.

It’s a little more teal than I wanted, but I like how it turned out.

For the rest of the eye, I used MAC Painterly Paint Pot as a base, MAC Soft Brown and MAC Brown Script in the crease and MAC Brule on the brow bone.

To line the eyes, I added MAC Blacktrack on the upper lash line, and to finish, layered Blacktrack and Magnetic on the lower.

I’m going to keep trying this look with other blue cream and powder shadows until I match the same smokey gray blue shade in Freida’s look.

Christian F#$@ Bale… The drama continues

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Givenchy Sari Spring 2009 Face of the Day: Orange You Glad It’s Almost Spring?

January 31st, 2009 by Karen 39 Comments

Givenchy’s new Sari collection takes bold Bollywood glamor and blends it with sheer shades for spring.

Yesterday, I wore some of Sari’s apricots and oranges, daydreaming about spring. I went for a look with bright lips and sheer eyes, and now I can’t wait for warmer weather to wear these colors with a white cotton dress, gold baubles and dark brown strappy sandals, ooh! 🙂

Here’s a breakdown of the steps I took with my look…

A subtle brown and orange eye with black eyeliner

I start with Precious Sari Glittering Eyeshadow in Maharani Gold, a liquid eyeshadow with small flecks of gold glitter suspended in a clear gel. It gives the eyes a shimmery gold base.

To apply, I sweep Maharani Gold onto the eyelid with the included doe-foot applicator, and then use my finger to spread it around evenly. It dries fast, so I make sure to bust a move and do this quickly!

Next, I add a subtle smokiness to the eyes by drawing a thick black line on the upper lash line with Magic Kajal Liner in Magic Black.

Magic Kajal Liner is an emollient and highly pigmented pencil liner. It’s easy to smudge and ideal for layering beneath power eyeshadows for smokey looks.

I then line both the upper and lower water lines with Magic Kajal. It smudges like crazy and tends to migrate onto the skin beneath the lower lashes after I apply it on the waterline. Because I want to keep the liner on the lower lash line looking sharp and crisp, I grab a Q-Tip soaked in Lancome Bi-Facil, and then clean up any smudged liner before moving onto the next step.

Almost done! Now for a few colors from the Prismissime Compact Powder in Maharani Apricots.

Using a MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush, I pat the center color (a shimmery golden brown) from Maharani Apricots directly on top of Magic Kajal on the upper lash line, drawing the color up into the crease.

Prismissime Compact Powder in Maharani Apricots contains nine mini-pans of sheer orange, brown and beige powders. Swirl a blush brush over the entire pan to mix the powders if you want to apply it combined color as a blush or highlighter. Or, use an eye brush to apply the colors separately.

To finish the eyes, I add some color into the crease by sweeping a matte orange brown shade (the color in the lower right-hand corner of the Maharani Apricots palette) into the crease with a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush.

That completes the eyes. 🙂

Glowy, orange cheeks and bold coral lips

The cheeks and lips are just as easy.
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