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Face

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Volume 3

September 20th, 2017 by Karen 18 Comments

hourglass ambient lighting edit vol 3 top pic
Inspiring wannabe rappers everywhere: the new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Vol. 3 ($80)
Hourglass, Hourglass,
Your makeup kicks @ss.
Hourglass, Hourglass,
Face powders lit with all the sass.
Hourglass, Hourglass,
Prepare to drop some major cash!

They say that you should never give up on your dreams…but I don’t think they were referring to me and my dream of becoming M.C. Makeup, because I’m a sh*tty rapper! I might know all the words to most of Lil’ Kim’s songs, but that doesn’t mean they come out in the right order, haha.

This palette, though? — the new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Volume 3? It IS coming out in the right order, because this is the third year in a row that Hourglass has done a palm-sized travel kit o’ powders for the holidays, and it’s numero three.

I love the first one, Vol. 1, and still use it all the time. The second one, however, I bought but soon returned because, even though I thought it was beautiful, it wasn’t right for my skin tone. It was too light.

Like the first one, Vol. 3 has six pans of face powder that I think will suit more skin tones than ever. It also looks pretty chic in that gorgeous rose gold packaging, but it should…because it’s $80.

hourglass ambient lighting edit vol 3 overhead
Top row, from the left: Finishing Powder in Diffused Light, Strobe Powder in Hypnotic Strobe Light (NEW) and Finishing Powder in Dim Light; Bottom row from the left: Bronzer in Luminous Bronze Light, Blush in Surreal Halo (NEW) and Blush in Pure Effect (NEW)

Of the six pans, three are re-promotes — Dim Light, Diffused Light and Luminous Bronze Light — and three are NEW! — Surreal Halo and Surreal Halo (which are blushes), and Hypnotic Strobe (a highlighter).

Both Surreal Halo and Pure Effect are darker and more intense than the colors in last year’s palette, which is potentially fantastic news for marvelous medium-toned mavens and darker damsels.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Volume 3: the six shades

  • Dim Light — This subtly luminous peachy beige can set your makeup, and it doubles as a highlighter. It creates that trademark Hourglass Ambient Powder sheen.

    I dig this one. I’ve been using it as an all-over face powder and to set concealer.

  • Diffused Light — This warm pale yellow can set, highlight and conceal redness, but I can’t really work it now because I still have a tan from summer. For now at least, it’s borderline chalky on me.

    Lighter lovelies are in luck, and I suspect that it’ll also work better for me as we get closer to winter.

  • Luminous Bronze Light — This medium tan has golden undertones and creates a subtle golden sheen. I think it works better as a bronzer than a contouring powder, but watch out — if I apply too much of it over large areas on my face, it looks muddy and kinda dirty (especially on my cheeks).

    I much prefer Hourglass Radiant Bronze Light, which is warmer and more golden, but this one’s also very pretty if you get the amount right.

  • Surreal Halo Blush (NEW, exclusive to this palette) — This bright berry is absolutely GORGEOUS and creates a very natural flush. I don’t have anything else quite like it in my Hourglass collection.

    I like applying it by doing big sweeps with a large fluffy brush because, for some reason, it looks REALLY good when you cover a lot of skin with it.

  • Pure Effect Blush (NEW, exclusive to palette) — This bright petal pink is brighter and more intense than the other pink Hourglass blushes out there.

    I like layering it on top of Surreal Halo, where I’ll do a small pop of color on the apples of my cheeks. 🙂

  • Hypnotic Strobe Highlighter (NEW, exclusive to palette) — This shimmering champagne gold is great for subtle highlights.
hourglass ambient lighting edit vol 3 swatches
Swatch out! From the top: Finishing Powder in Diffused Light, Strobe Powder in Hypnotic Strobe Light (NEW), Finishing Powder in Dim Light, Bronzer in Luminous Bronze Light, Blush in Surreal Halo (NEW) and Blush in Pure Effect (NEW)

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There are 18 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face, Hourglass, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Shiseido Facial Cotton

September 19th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

shiseido facial cotton
Softer than delicate kitten paws

The Unsung Heroes series highlights some of my ALL-TIME favorite permanent collection products from all sorts of brands.

Dang, I had my heart set on being crabby about these Shiseido Facial Cotton pads, because girl, they’re $10, and you only get 165 of them, which is craziness to me because you could roll up to Target right now and get a massive pack of 300 up & up brand cotton pads for $5.

But ugh, these Shiseido ones are so good!

I didn’t expect to be bougie about cotton pads, but I’m there, man. The Shiseido ones are the softest, most velvety facial pads I’ve ever used, and once you’ve felt their caress (it was unmistakable when they touched my delicate water lines), other cotton pads will feel like rough metal scouring pads. NO JOKE. Even Q-tips.

OK, that was a joke…but you know hear I mean’. The Shiseido Facial Cotton pads feel SOFT. Q-tips used to feel like tabby tum fur to me before I got spoiled by these.

I mostly use them to remove eye makeup, but you can use them like any other cotton ball or cotton pad. They’ll apply toners or liquid essences after cleansing, remove face makeup, and they’ll soften the edges of your blush, eyeshadow or your bronzer perfectly well.

I guess you could also use them to remove nail polish, but I won’t be using them for that. My fingers and toes just wouldn’t appreciate how soft (or pricey) they are.

A single pad can remove all of my eye makeup and face makeup, then STILL have enough oomph left to apply toner.

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There are 20 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Face, Makeup, Makeup Tools, Product Reviews, Shiseido, Skin Care

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter

September 14th, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

fenty beauty killawatt highlighter review
Just the highlights, please.

Is the spelling of Fenty Beauty’s Killawatt (with an “a” instead of an “o”) Freestyle Highlighter giving you lyfe? Yes, that’s lyfe with a “y,” as in Yacht Lyfe, one of the cream hylighters highlighters in the line.

I’m an absolutely terrible speller, but I love all the creative spelling liberties being taken.

Side note: imagine a Fenty Beauty spelling bee. Iytte whud bhee krai!

The Killawatt Highlighters are $34 each and available now in six shades at Sephora, along with the rest of the cruelty-free Fenty Beauty by Rihanna line, and if you have semi-functional eyes, you can probably tell that they’re gorgeous. They’re shiny, glittery and va-va-va-voom! — reflect light to the max, which is trés trendy at the moment, so if you want highlights so bold that you could send an SOS across the universe, you’ll probably be into them.

I think they’re a lot like the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfectors, except flashier, more pigmented and generally more OTT.

They’re a little too frosty for me, though, so I’ve decided to skip them.

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There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face, Fenty Beauty By Rihanna, Makeup, Product Reviews

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Invisimatte Blotting Powder

September 13th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

fenty beauty invisimatte blotting powder
Peach fuzz says what now?

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Invisimatte Blotting Powder gets awesome reviews on the Sephora website, but it was the only product from my recent Fenty Beauty purchase that I didn’t love…so I’ll keep this short and sweet.

It’s a 0.3-oz. plastic pan of non-refillable $32 pressed translucent powder (comes with a puff) for setting your foundation and/or concealer (you can also use it on bare skin to vanquish shine), and while it’s supposed to be completely undetectable on skin, unfortunately, I can totally see it.

OK, I’ll admit that I’m weird about face powder… I absolutely do not want to see it on my skin. At all. That’s why I hold MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in such high regard, because it’s the most non-powdery powder out there, IMO, regardless of how closely I peer into my mirror at it, and regardless of the lighting situation.

Sadly, I can totally see Invisimatte when I look at myself in bright sunlight, especially when I turn my head. BAM! It drives me absolutely batty. There they are, grains of powder hanging out on the little hairs on the sides of my cheeks, and don’t even pretend like you don’t also have them. 🙂 Don’t we all have a little fur there?

Bottom line, I think this is a great powder for eliminating shine and controlling oil — even better than MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural — but I REALLY wish it didn’t cling so obviously to le fuzz de peach.

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Categories: Face, Fenty Beauty By Rihanna, Makeup, Product Reviews

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Match Stix Matte Skinsticks

September 13th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

fenty beauty match stix matte skinstick review
Let’s talk concealer, yea?

Like every face product I’ve tried from Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty makeup line so far, the Match Stix Matte Skinsticks, which are $25 cream-to-powder concealers (available in 20 shades), create a lightweight skin-perfecting makeup look.

When I use it, I think my face just looks…better. Like I’ve been drinking LOTS of water, eating spinach salads for lunch, getting enough sleep, doing burpies and forgoing all brainless TV. So, basically, clean livin’ all around. Even if someone is close enough to count your nose hairs, it still looks great. It’s as close to perfect skin as I think my skin can get.

fenty beauty wheat
Wheat

You can see a little light bouncing off your skin when you wear this concealer. The finish looks natural, whether I wear this on its own or layer it on top of the Fenty primer or foundation.

When I set it with powder and apply it on top of primer and foundation, it sticks around for about eight hours (or five hours by itself).

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Categories: Face, Fenty Beauty By Rihanna, Makeup, Product Reviews

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation

September 12th, 2017 by Karen 24 Comments

fenty foundation review
A little more than obsessed with this.

Normally, I would advise caution when hugging complete strangers, but if I ever run into Rihanna at the gym (I can totes see Riri doing squats) or TJ’s, I’m going to walk up to that lady and give her the tightest freaking bear hug. I don’t even care if her people jujitsu me and take my @ss to the floor. I’ll take that risk! Because I want to personally thank her for releasing her new Fenty foundation. I think it’s life changing. It’s really, really, REALLY good.

When I heard it would be available in 40 shades (OMG!), I was like, “OK, Riri, I’m not sure if I completely buy into the whole celebrity makeup line thing, but I SEE YOU, GURL.” And I appreciate what you did. 🙂 I mean, who releases a foundation in 40 shades? You know as well as I do how hard it is to find a perfect undertone match, especially for ladies and gents at the extreme ends of the light/dark spectrum.

fenty beauty foundation
So many shades…

Then I took it for a test run and officially leveled up to R.S.S. (Rihanna Stalker Status).

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation is a $34 medium-to-full coverage liquid foundation that comes in a 1.08-oz. glass bottle with a pump.

Now, can I vent about my new pet peeve? I can’t stand it when foundation leaks out of a pump applicator after I use it. It happens with a lot of foundation pumps, including this one, I’m sad to say, and I’m a grumpy-grump about it because I don’t like wasting product. NOT EVEN A DROP.

Seriously, why can’t companies figure out how to stop foundation pumps from leaking?? Someone needs to solve this pressing problem and build a better mousetrap. Then, give me a fat cut of the proceeds, because y’all gonna make millions. I’m just saying.

fenty beauty foundation
And so many undertones! (Please note the pump with the foundation oozing out of it.)

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There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face, Fenty Beauty By Rihanna, Makeup, Product Reviews

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Match Stix Shimmer Skinsticks

September 12th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

fenty beauty yacht lyfe rum wheat
Have cream sticks, will travel

It’s the little things, ya know?

Like the fact that I can stick these Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Match Stix, which have magnets in them, on my fridge.

fenty on my fridge
“Fenty on my fridge,” 2017, by Karen

Officially, the magnets, which are embedded in the little tubes, are there so that the sticks cluster together when you have more than one of them in your makeup bag, thereby making them easier to find at the bottom. The fridge-sticking component is just a bonus!

Why I love this as much as I do, I have NO idea, but maybe it’s because I like having easy access to cream highlighter while I have my coffee in the morning.

Technically, these are cream-to-powder sticks, and they’re split among two different families in the line — the matte family for concealing and contouring, and the shimmers for highlighting and adding color to your cheeks, eyes and even your lips, if ya want.

fenty beauty yacht lyfe rum wheat 2 final
I’m testing three — Wheat (a matte, which I’ll be reviewing soon), Rum and Yacht Lyfe

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There are 15 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Face, Fenty Beauty By Rihanna, Makeup, Product Reviews

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer

September 11th, 2017 by Karen 23 Comments

fenty beauty primer
Rihanna’s new makeup line is kind of fabulous.

Rihanna’s no stranger to the makeup world. She’s collaborated on collections with MAC and was a spokesperson for CoverGirl, among other makeup endeavors, so it’s not a big surprise that she decided to bust a move and create her own makeup line.

And surprise! — it’s really good. Not to say that I didn’t expect great things from Badgal Riri (a.k.a Robin Rihanna Fenty), because I did. I just didn’t expect such an extensive line, or a line this wonderfully focused on skin. I mean, there are 40 foundation shades (!). FORTY! And they have these subtle undertone shifts, which are kind of incredible, but we’ll get to that later because I gotta stay on task…

The entire line is available right now at Sephora.

OK, let’s talk about the primer first. 🙂 It’s called Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch, and it’s $32 for a 1.08-oz. glass tube with a pump.

I saw a video of Rihanna talking about her vision for the line, and she said that she wanted to make makeup that would look like perfect skin, but not like skin that looks like it’s wearing a ton of makeup, which I can totally relate to because that’s what I’d want to do too, and that’s what I think my skin looks like when I wear this cruelty-free liquid primer (everything in the line is cruelty-free, BTW).

First, I think it smells fab (like Stella perfume). Second, the soft matte finish completely cuts down on shine without being obsessive about it, which is to say that it leaves behind a lovely, subtle radiance on my combo 40-somethin’-somethin’ skin. No pearl. Just a hint of light reflecting back at ya to keep the finish from looking flat.

fenty beauty primer swatch final
Pretty in pale pink

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There are 23 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Face, Fenty Beauty By Rihanna, Makeup, Product Reviews

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