Face

Which Do You Use More Often — Highlighter or Bronzer?

March 5th, 2014 by Karen 38 Comments

Wearing MAC Antonio Lopez — Highlighter or bronzer, babe?

Ohmigosh! — bronzer, for sure. I feel weird without it.

I love both of them and wear one or the other (or both of them at the same time) practically daily, but I definitely do grab bronzer more often, especially when my foundation is a little intense.

Too Faced Bronzers — “I call this meeting of the Too Faced Cosmetics Bronzers Society to order!”

I used to not take bronzer very seriously because — hello! I’m already pretty tan — but then I started using it for very soft contouring and to slightly warm my skin tone when I wore medium- or full-coverage foundations.

Now I’m hooked!

“Let the record show that I heart Guerlain Crazy 68 Terracotta Bronzer.”

Whenever I wear a medium- or full-coverage foundation, I feel like my skin looks kind of flat, especially in pics, but sweeping a bit of bronzer below my cheekbones, around the edge of my forehead, down the sides of my nose and beneath my chin puts the lifelike contours back where they belong.

It’s just sort of reflex now. Sometimes I think I actually do it in my sleep, LOL!

Jouer Sunswept Mattifying Bronzer, $28 — Jouer Sunswept Mattifying Bronzer

As for highlighter, I wear it year round, but I wear it more often in spring and summer. A little dusted on the tops of my cheekbones after tinted moisturizer, followed by a light sweep of blush, and guurrrrrl…good stuff.

Oh, and I keep meaning to mention this: I just recently re-discovered a couple of highlighter loves in the MAC permanent line — Silver Dusk and Golden Bronze.

MAC Golden Bronze Iridescent Powder/Loose

If you don’t have them already, drop everything immediately, and get thee to a MAC counter ASAP! You need them in your life (well, you don’t need them, but I think they’re great).

Both are very fine, loose shimmery powders that make skin glow, and a little goes a long way. I’ve met some MAC artists who use both of these often on brides.

mac silver dusk — MAC Silver Dusk Iridescent Powder/Loose

I can’t seem to find them on the MAC website right now…and that’s freaking me out a little (I hope they weren’t discontinued!), but if you happen to stumble across a jar in your makeup adventures, grab it.

Looks like they are available now on nordstrom.com, if you’re interested.

How about you? Which one do you use more often — highlighter or bronzer?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Welcome to the hump!

Have a good one today. I have to go to the dentist on my lunch break, and I’m already anxious about it…

Perhaps I should reward myself afterward with makeup. 🙂

Natural-Looking Skin the Easy Way With Benefit’s Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector

February 28th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

The new Benefit Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector, $38

This morning I woke up feeling like this…

…because of this.

Yup, just call me TBK (Two Beer Karen), LOL!

We took that out-of-town friend of El Hub’s who stayed with us last night to a local brewery here in Novato called Moylan’s, where I “sampled” some of their Pomegranate Wheat, and since I hardly ever drink, I did not feel exceptional this morning.

I intended to do a full face o’ warpaint today, but when I sat down in front of my makeup mirror, my arms felt like lead weights… My body was like, “Oh, hell naw, hookah. We’re doing minimalist makeup today.”

So, out came my tube of Big Easy, a new BB cream from Benefit.

Dude! This stuff is boss. I’m not usually a big BB cream fan, either, mostly because I rarely feel like they provide enough coverage for me.

But Big Easy evens out my skin tone and blurs my pores without leaving my skin looking overly “done,” if you know what I mean, and the natural-looking, velvety matte finish is my favorite thing about it.

More quick and dirrrrty deets…

The oil-free liquid-to-powder formula is non-comedogenic.
It’s available in six shades. I wear the darkest one available, which is 06 Deep Beige.
The colors seem to be flexible with regard to working with your skin tone.
Contains broad-spectrum SPF 35.

It has an interesting texture — kind of slippery like many face primers (it does contain silicones), and it glides across my skin easily, buffing and blending with very little resistance.

The matte finish looks very flat on my combination dry/oily skin — no shine whatsoever — and I can even skip setting it with a powder, which is nice. It stays matte, too, as the day wears on, and controls oil like a champ.

Benefit Big Easy Ingredients — Ingredients…

I do find that Big Easy will settle into my pores and get a little streaky on my drier spots (like my cheeks) if I don’t moisturize immediately beforehand, almost like the product skips a bit on those dry patches. Benefit suggests applying it after moisturizer, and I can see why. It glides across my skin more smoothly when it’s thoroughly moisturized.

Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left: 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — on my NC42 skin

02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Biege swatched on NW25 skin — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige on NW25 skin

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Style Blush

February 26th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Wearing a single layer of MAC Powder Blush in Style ($21) on my cheeks

I’ve had to do rapid-fire makeup to get out the door and catch appointments two days this week. From start to finish, I’m talkin’ 10, 15 minutes tops.

This pressure cooker of time has led me to MAC Style, a shimmery golden coral Powder Blush in the MAC permanent line.

I picked it up a while back during a stress shopping session (girl, you do it too!) but set it aside when I became totally infatuated with MAC Cantaloupe.

I guess I was just feeling more like matte cheeks and full-on wintery makeup looks for a while there, and Cantaloupe fit the bill. I had a blast layering different highlighters and shimmer products with it, too, but that was when I had enough time to play…

When my schedule doesn’t allow for that and I have to leave the house in a hurry, extra little makeup touches like highlighter usually get cut.

Which is where MAC Style comes in…

A lovely soft coral powder blush with a delicate golden sheen, I think it’s great for getting out the door in a flash. Its moderately pigmented coral base has just enough color to give a nice flush to my cheeks.

It’s not so intense that I have to spend precious breakfast time buffing and blending everything out if I inadvertently over-apply, and it’s easy to control. No exaggeration, but I can get it on my cheeks and be done with blush in less than a minute.

MAC Style Blush Swatch on NC42 Skin — Style Blush on my NC42 skin

But that’s not my favorite thing about Style. That distinction goes to its fine golden sheen.

Swoon!

While delicate and subtle, it totally takes this blush to the next level for me, transforming it into a hybrid blush/highlighting butterfly, and I smile every time I see a flash of its pearly golden glow.

Not only is Style dynamic, it also shaves a couple steps off my makeup routine.

MAC Style Blush Swatch on NW25 Skin — Style Blush on a good samaritan’s NW25 skin

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Is the New Clarins Opalescence Face & Blush Powder Out of This World?

February 21st, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

Took me a while to say goodbye to this gorgeous design. I didn’t want to mess up the pretty pan.

Is it just me (probably), but doesn’t it look a little astronomical/sci-fi?

Whoa! Did you see that? I thought I saw a satellite fly by… 🙂

I actually don’t think it’s supposed to be interstellar. I think Clarins was going for graphic design.

I like it — the contrasting lines and circles. Very artsy-fartsy, isn’t it?

Clarins Opalescence Face & Blush Powder — Face & Blush Powder is one of 14 products in the new Clarins Opalescence Spring 2014 collection

I must say…kudos to Clarins for being so consistent with their limited edition blushes. I can pretty much always count on them to 1) never leave me looking like a deranged clown, 2) smell great (this one smells like jasmine) and 3) be really easy to use.

Opalescence Face & Blush Powder ($40) is no exception.

Technically, it’s designed to be used as an all-over face powder, a contour powder and a blush. Just dust the matte pinkish beige on your shiny spots, sculpt your cheekbones with the matte tan, and add a little color to the apples of your cheeks with the matte coral. (The shimmery gold, by the way, is an overspray and disappears after the first few swipes.)

Clarins Opalescence Face & Blush Powder Swatch — All three of Opalescence’s shades blended together

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How To Use the New MAC Prep + Prime CC Colour Correct Line: Tips From MAC Senior Artist Victor Cembellin

February 14th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

The new MAC Prep Prime CC Colour Correct collection — The new MAC Prep + Prime CC Colour Correct line, available now

GUUUURL, don’t even get me started about brighting products ’cause we’ll be here for days.

DAYS, I tell ya. Possibly even years.

I’m actually never not looking for something — anything — to give me an extra brightening lift. It’s one of my ongoing personal makeup missions. 🙂

When MAC’s new Prep + Prime CC Colour Correct line came out last week, I was intrigued! — but admittedly confused.

I wasn’t sure where to start… I mean, lavender powder? Yellow face lotion?

What gives? And what are they for?

I asked MAC Senior Artist Victor Cembellin, who I’ve known for a few years, about the new products, what they do, and the best ways to use ’em.

Hi, Victor! What can you tell me about these new Prep + Prime CC Colour Correct products? Should I be intrigued?

OK, so, essentially, what’s kind of awesome about these is that products like this have been on the market for many years, but what I like is that we’ve sort of re-worked them into something entirely new.

MAC Prep + Prime Colour Correcting SPF 30 — Prep + Prime Colour Correcting SPF 30, $30 each

Obviously, these are for adjusting skin tones. The CC is for “color correct,” but what’s exciting about them is that whereas in the past, there was this sort of mentality from the consumer of, like, if I grab this green cream and put it on top my red cheeks, everything’s going to be gone and Photoshopped and all that.

MAC Prep + Prime CC Colour Correcting Products in Adjust — Adjust, a sheer apricot

I think what’s exciting about these particular products is how delicately we used the technology to our advantage to make them really workable, user friendly, and into something that actually does what it claims to do, which is to color correct the actual tones and the idiosyncrasies of the skin.

MAC Prep + Prime CC Colour Correcting Products in Recharge — Recharge, a sheer apricot

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A Chic Cheek Combo: Hourglass Illume Creme-to-Powder Duo in Sunset and Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood

February 11th, 2014 by Karen 33 Comments

Houglass Illume Creme to Powder Duo in Sunset and Ambient Powder in Mood — A lovely cheek combo to try from Hourglass

Back from the hospital! The surgery went well (I had a bump on my elbow that had to be removed). I was in and out of there in about an hour, and everything went smoothly…except for the part where I freaked out a little right before it started. 🙂 So what else is new?

Ah, it’s good to be home…

Now let’s talk awesome cheek combos while my sutures heal, shall we? Here’s one I wish I could take credit for because I love it so very much, but I owe it to someone else. I got it when I visited Hourglass Cosmetics headquarters in Venice Beach last summer.

One of the makeup artists I met while I was there grabbed the company’s Illume Creme-to-Powder Duo in Sunset ($40), defined my cheeks with the bronze shade and blended the rosy shade on the apples of my cheeks for color.

Hourglass Illume Creme to Powder Duo in Sunset, a sheer bronze and a sheer rose

Then she dusted sheer lavender Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood ($45) on my upper cheekbones as a subtle highlighter.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood, a sheer, subtle lavender pink

From the left: Mood Ambient Powder, the rosy shade from the Sunset Duo and the bronze shade from Sunset

I love this combo for “lit from within” cheeks. Here’s a shot of it in action last summer, and yes, I was super tan.

Last summer at the Hourglass offices with the fabulous Stef from We Heart This

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Milani’s New Delizio Pink and Bella Rosa Baked Blushes Arrive Just in Time for Valentine’s Day

February 7th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Wearing the new Milani Baked Blush in Delizio Pink on my cheeks, and MAC Shock Value Pro Longwear Lip Pencil and MAC Cremesheen Glass in Playful Petal on my lips

I hope El Hub doesn’t get jealous of my Valentine’s Day dates this year.

Yes, girl, “dates,” as in the plural. I’ll be painting the town rosy pink next week with these two new matte Baked Blushes from Milani.

Milani Bella Rosa Baked Blush — Bella Rosa Baked Blush

Both are pretty cool cats, not that El Hub isn’t, but ya know… 🙂 The first one, Delizio Pink, is a cool matte bluish pink, and the second one is matte bluish red Bella Rosa.

These two dudes have the moves!

Milani Delizio Pink Baked Blush — Delizio Pink Baked Blush

They’re smooove, like that guy who orders you a slice of raspberry cheesecake AND a scoop of salted caramel ice cream when you head to the ladies’ loo after dinner because he knows you won’t be able to pick between the two…

Sorry, I’m craving something sweet right now.

Anyway, smoooooove…

With the amount of pigment you get and the soft, fine feel of the powders, I feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck with these. Both of them pack a ton of color yet remain really easy to buff and blend. On top of that, they aren’t patchy or streaky at all. I just use a blush brush and a light hand, and that’s it. Flushed, natural-looking cheeks.

Swatches of Milani's Baked Blushes in Bella Rosa (left) and Delizio Pink (right) — Swatches of Milani’s Baked Blushes in Bella Rosa (left) and Delizio Pink (right)

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How ‘Bout Them Apples? Fresh This Season From theBalm, a New Six-Piece Cream Cheek and Lip Palette

January 30th, 2014 by Karen 29 Comments

theBalm How 'Bout Them Apples — Taking a bite out of the newest palette by theBalm

Frrresh fruit! Get your fresh fruit here! Sweeet apples! Crisp and hunky!

Don’t be alarmed if you feel like taking a bite out of theBalm’s new cheek and lip cream palette.

It’s completely understandable. 🙂

And not merely because it houses a bushel of six juicy shades sweet enough to strike fear into the sweetest Honeycrisp…

It’s also because the men of Magic Mike appear inside! WOO HOO!!

OK, not really… Well, maybe.

Seriously, though, I don’t think these dudes have ever grinded to Pony on stage with Channing Tatum, but it looks like they could, judging by the way that cobbler pops that hip. That man clearly two-steps like a pro.

I have to admit that the inclusion of so many abdominal muscles probably heightened my enthusiasm for this palette. I mean, I think I would have liked it anyway, but I’m just sayin’. It’s true. 🙂

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