Face

Take Me With You, Milk Makeup Sunshine Skin Tint SPF 30!

June 5th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

milk makeup sunshine skin tint in honey flat lay — You’re coming on vacay with me, Milk Makeup!

How cool would it be if when you went to Sephora to check out Milk Makeup Sunshine Skin Tint, they handed you a milkshake just for showing up?

I would find that HIGHLY motivating, LOL! As if I need extra motivation to check out makeup…

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this trip I took once. I brought a tube of tinted moisturizer with me, but it exploded all over everything in my bag because the top came loose.

That probably wouldn’t have happened with Milk Makeup Sunshine Skin Tint.

It has a pen clicker at the bottom. When you click it, the foundation comes up through the tube and out the roller ball applicator on the other end.

You use the roller ball to spread the tint all over your face, then blend it in with your fingers.

It’s fun AND cool. Plus, it’s very unlikely to leak foundation all over your stuff.

Milk Makeup is an American cruelty-free brand that’s been on the makeup scene about a year or two. As far as I know, their products don’t contain any actual milk, though. Unless you count coconut milk. The “milk” in the name refers to the fancy Milk photo studios, which they’re affiliated with.

milk makeup sunshine skin tint in honey medium tan — Wearing Honey and Medium Tan mixed together

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Drugstore Needs and Nopes, Vol. 3

June 2nd, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

1. Yes To Liquid Hand Soap ($3.99 each)

I’m the weirdo who washes her hands about, oh, let’s see… 20 times a day? I’m so not kidding, either. And I’m REALLY picky about my hand soaps, but I thoroughly plan to love the dickens out of this bottle of Yes to Liquid Hand Soap because it doesn’t dry out my skin, even when I wash my hands hella times.

Also, the Marula Oil Mango var-eh-TAY smells like marvelous mangoes, but here’s the thing: it doesn’t smell fake, which is important if you wash your hands as much as I do, because, as you know, it’s nice to have a yummy fragrance waft up into yo’ nose.

It removes dirt, oils and all manner of baby goo, and it easily rinses off and doesn’t leave behind an annoying residue.

VERDICT: Need!

Yes To Liquid Hand Soap ingredients
Water (Aqua), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Glycerin, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil, Mangivera Indica (Mango) Fruit Extract, Glyceryl Caprylate, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Sodium Chloride, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Benzoate, Hexyl Cinnamal Linalool

2. E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette ($6)

elf illuminating palette — E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette ($6)

The four-pan E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette is darned-near perfect for the price. The finely milled powders look really expensive and natural.

The highlighters are on the neutral- and cool-toned sides, which is a cool surprise (haha, bad pun) because of how many highlighter palettes skew warm.

The shimmer in these shades is also low-key — which again makes them seem higher end than they are.

Heck, I’d go so far as to call these drugstore Hourglass Ambient powders.

VERDICT: Need!

E.L.F. Cosmetics Illuminating Palette ingredients
Talc, Mica, Magnesium Stearate, Dimethicone, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Boron Nitride, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Tocopheryl Acetate (Ve), Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742)

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Take Me With You, Nudestix Nudies!

June 1st, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

I don’t how this happened, because it feels like I’ve been looking forward to this trip forever, but I’m leaving for Hawaii in less than two weeks! — which means that I probably should start packing RIGHT NOW.

It’s all about portable beauty, and I’m hell-bent on finding multitasking makeup to bring that won’t take up a lot of room, so as to have more room to bring home dashboard hula girls, macadamia nuts and the like.

Let’s make this a series! I’m gonna call it “Take Me With You,” and the first entry is these new Nudestix Nudies. They were recently added to the Nudestix permanent line.

Nudestix is a cruelty-free Canadian brand, and everything in their line comes in a pencil or some kind of stick packaging.

Yes, this makes them great for travel.

The Nudies are multipurpose creams for your cheeks, lids and lips. They’re $30 each and come in five shades. One end has a cream stick, and the other end has a dense, soft brush to apply and blend the product.

I’ve tried two of them — cool pink Bare Back (um…which I’m pretty sure refers to something naughty) and rosy nude Naughty N’ Spice.

nudestix nudies bare back — Bare Back on my cheeks and Naughty N’ Spice on the lower part of the apples of my cheeks. And that’s Kosas Undone Lipstick on my lips.

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Urban Decay’s The Velvetizer Instantly Transforms Base Makeup Finishes Into a Velvety Satin

May 31st, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

urban decay velvetizer — The new Velvetizer from Urban Decay is available now exclusively at Sephora ($34 for a 0.28-oz. jar).

At the risk of totally dating myself, one of the old-school makeup tricks we used back in the day was to dust a little loose powder on my lips after applying lipstick. I’d dust it right on top with a finger (or, if I was feeling extra fancy, a brush!) to transform any lipstick finish into a matte.

It’s a similar idea to how the new Urban Decay The Velvetizer works.

Velvetizer is a loose, translucent powder ($34 for a good-sized 0.28-oz. jar, a Sephora-only product). You mix a little with your favorite tinted moisturizer or foundation, and it instantly transforms the finish into a velvety satin without futzing with the color.

The trick is getting the ratio right of powder to liquid, and it can take some practice. I’ve found that if I add too much powder, the mixture will pill up, almost like it’s peeling.

This isn’t a big surprise, considering the fact that the second ingredient is dimethicone, and products with a lot of dimethicone in them do tend to pill up when I use too much on my skin.

It’s not a perfect science. I just kinda eyeball it, but Urban Decay suggests using a dime-sized amount per full pump of foundation or tinted moisturizer, but I rarely use a full pump of my base makeup anymore. So I use more like a half a dime-sized amount.

I shake it into my palm, add a bit of Naked Skin One and Done, mix them together with a finger, then apply that with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush.

urban decay velvetizer ingredients — Ingredients

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Urban Decay Naked Skin The Illuminizer Translucent Pressed Beauty Powder

May 26th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder packaging — There’s a new face powder from Urban Decay coming soon.

If you’ve ever wanted to decorate your face with gems — no, literally wear gems ? on your face — now’s your chance! Urban Decay has a new face powder coming out called Naked Skin The Illuminizer Translucent Pressed Beauty Powder.

Gosh, that’s a mouthful…

It has white synthetic sapphires in it for a lovely, luminous glow.

Sounds fancy, doesn’t it?

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder — Ooh, sleek packaging…

This is basically like a MAC Beauty Powder. You can wear it all over your face as a setting powder, or use it as a targeted highlighter for specific areas.

It just comes in one shade, but it’s supposed to be universally flattering. I built it up in the swatch below to give you an idea of the hue, which is kind of a peachy beige with little silver sparkles.

urban decay naked skin illuminizer translucent pressed beauty powder swatch — Swatch-a-rooooo!

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Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium Looks Like Unicorn Tears…or a Runnier, Subtler Version of Strobe Cream

May 25th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

No worries! Allow me to allay your fears. No, you do not need to know the color of your aura in order to wear the new Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium.

Incidentally, my aura is bright yellow and orange, but the only reason I know that is because a friendly mystic spontaneously read my aura in a restroom inside the Bellagio Casino in Last Vegas.

Lucky me!

Urban Decay Liquid Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium is an opalescent liquid serum that you can mix with your foundation for a dewy, glowing finish.

The color is… Well, it’s… It isn’t easy to describe, but I’m gonna do my best here. It’s a sheer opalescent white with pink pearl particles that are so barely there that you have to squint to see them.

Basically, it looks like unicorn ? tears, or a runnier, subtler version of MAC Strobe Cream.

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New Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter Travel Contouring and Highlighting Palettes

May 25th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

urban decay naked skin shapeshifter packaging — The new Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter palettes ($45 each), available now online and at Sephora Ulta

Hmm… Would I change my tune about contouring if the new Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter palettes had actual werewolves on the packaging? I dunno, maybe. You know how I get about vampires and werewolves.

Aren’t these pretty? And when you open them up, look at that — even more prettiness! There are four powders on one side, five creams on the others and, in the middle between them, a huge mirror.

urban decay naked skin shapeshifter light medium shift — Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter in Light Medium Shift ($45)

urban decay naked skin shapeshifter medium dark shift — Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter in Medium Dark Shift ($45)

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Two Toasty Twins From the Guerlain Summer 2017 Collection

May 23rd, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

guerlain sun tonic brunettes and orange peps — Wearing Guerlain Terracotta Sun Tonic Bronzing Powder ($53) on my cheeks and Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lipstick in Orange Peps on my lips ($37), both of them limited edition from the summer 2017 collection.

I know it doesn’t officially turn summer until next month, but even unofficially, it doesn’t seem like summer until I get a Guerlain bronzer up in the mix.

There are so many good bronzers out there, but when I think of flawless, natural-looking, old-school, tried-and-true classic summer bronzing, Guerlain is the godmother of them all.

Oh! — speaking of good bronzers, though, the new bronzers from Hourglass are so dang beautiful, as are BECCA’s, and Marc Jacobs did one recently that’s perfection on light skin.

guerlain sun tonic brunettes — Guerlain Terracotta Sun Tonic Bronzing Powder

Every year Guerlain releases limited edition versions of their powder bronzers, and every year I await them with bated breath. This week I tried one from their new summer 2017 collection called Sun Tonic Brunettes.

Ah… Excuse me while I smoosh my nose into the pan. I’m getting a whiff of it right meow, and it smells SO good.

Guerlain usually gives their bronzers a tiare flower scent, but this one smells a little different. I still get strong tiare flower notes, but there’s also some jasmine up in there. I love it.

guerlain sun tonic brunettes and orange peps swatches — Swatches of Guerlain Sun Tonic Brunettes and Orange Peps

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