Face

For Chic Burgundy Cheeks, Try the New NARS 413 BLKR Multiple

February 5th, 2013 by Karen 23 Comments

The question is, would I wear the new sheer burgundy cream stick Mutiple in NARS 413 BLKR on my eyes?

Hmm… Probably not, unless I were planning to attend an apocalypse party or wanted to celebrate the mid-season return of The Walking Dead this Sunday night with an undead chic look.

Burgundy eyeshadow plus Karen’s eyelids equals zombie time! But if burgundy’s your jam, you could wear it on your eyes, because NARS designed their (The?) Multiples to work pretty much everywhere — eyes, cheeks, lips, and even your bod, where you could use it to contour.

Dark, imposing and almost Medieval in stick form, 413 BLKR manifests into a much more approachable sheer matte burgundy on cheeks, where it gives a tint like I just spent an hour outside on a sunny hillside, looking up at the clouds and daydreaming…

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The New Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders Light the Way to a Flawless Face, Casting Their Spell on Complexions This Spring

January 31st, 2013 by Karen 79 Comments

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Dim Light — Wearing the new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light ($45)

I tell El Hub all the time that if we ever win the lottery, I’m hiring Heidi Klum’s Project Runway lighting crew to follow me around wherever I go (ever notice how they light her compared to how they light the other judges and contestants?).

He thinks I’m kidding, but I’m COMPLETELY SERIOUS.

I don’t know, though. Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore, now that I’ve found these Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. 🙂

You know how skin looks so warm and buttery and beautiful at sunset? Or the way it looks by candlelight? You’re having dinner at a nice restaurant, they’ve got the lights turned down low, and you reach into your purse for your compact, check your gloss and think, “Wow! Where did my smile lines go?”

The right lighting makes a big difference. This, Hourglass knows, which is why they designed their six $45 Ambient Lighting Powders to make skin appear as if it’s bathed in flattering light.

No need for a film crew or an expensive studio setup. Just pick your powder by its illuminating effect — Diffused Light, Ethereal Light, Radiant Light, Mood Light, Dim Light or Luminous Light.

The secret, Hourglass says, isn’t lumens or wattage. It’s the transparent, color-correcting particles in the powders that filter and manipulate light.

Never mind that I’m thinking that same answer would probably also apply to other products from other brands. I’m more concerned about one thing: how well does it work?

Here in my own little photo studio, also known as the hallway outside of my office, I’ve been testing three of the six — Dim Light, Luminous Light and Radiant Light — I have to say, I’m impressed. What Hourglass does by varying the finishes, shimmer, sheen and pigment does seem to emulate different kinds of light.

No, I doubt Heidi Klum is going to give up her zillion-dollar studio setup for one or two of these, but still — pretty neat!

I love all three. Both for their fancy finishes, and for the way the almost imperceptible grains of powder disappear on my skin.

Dim light

I’d swear that Dim Light, hands down my favorite of the three, takes 10 years off my face. A neutral, peachy beige, it has a soft sheen and a lovely satin finish. With it on, I feel like my pores and fine lines look a little less obvious, and my skin has this certain quiet radiance to it that I remember being there when I was in my 20s and teens (lately, not so much, LOL!). “Siri, remind me to stockpile this before the zombie apocalypse.”

Luminous Light

With Luminous Light, the champagne pearl, Hourglass turned up the shimmer to re-create a soft, candlelit glow. Think angel halos…or a MAC Shell Pearl Beauty Powder with a softer, finer pearl sheen. This is the one I’d wear when I want to draw attention to my skin. I’d apply it just over the center of my face to highlight and lift my look.

Radiant Light

Radiant Light, a super sheer, semi-matte golden beige/bronze with flecks of golden glitter, is probably the flashiest of these three. Where this one lives, it’s always summer in Las Vegas. Picture the desert sun falling on the faces of Las Vegas Ladies Who Lunch.

Hourglass Ambient Powders closeup — The new Hourglass Ambient Powders ($45 each) and Ambient Powder Brush ($35)

Hourglass Dim Light Ambient Powder — Dim Light, a neutral peach beige ($45)

Hourglass Radiant Light Ambient Powde — Radiant Light, a golden beige ($45)

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Even Though It Doesn’t Scream or Shout, the New Clarins Rouge Ã‰clat Make-Up Collection Face Palette Knows What It’s All About: Soft, Almost Bare Spring Cheeks

January 30th, 2013 by Karen 9 Comments

Getting cheeky with the new Clarins Rouge Ã‰clat Spring Make-Up Collection Face Palette ($35)…

Eyewitnesses report seeing double rainbows all the way across the sky at the Clarins counter this spring, as a new line of “so intense” lipsticks in bright, fun shades arrived, much to the delight of color lovers (and guys/gals who like rainbows).

If you haven’t tried the new Rouge Ã‰clat lipsticks yet, hint-hint, swing by your nearest Clarins counter when you can, and try Tropical Pink, because in a word (a fake word), ah-MAY-zer-ing!

It and the other opaque, smooth, moisturizing colors in the line do for lips what puppies, kittens and rainbows do for my heart (good things).

And perhaps to offset some of that lipstick intensity, Clarins couples the look this spring with soft, almost bare cheeks, courtesy of the new limited edition $35 Rouge Ã‰clat Face & Blush Palette.

Isn’t it cute? At first I thought the design on the pan was a hibiscus, but now I think it’s an iris flower, which would make sense, as irises feature either prominently or thematically throughout the spring collection (have you seen the Iris Blossom Eye Quarted Mineral Palette?).

Um…doesn’t the Face & Blush Palette look a lot like a bronzer?

Ooh, gurl! — you know how I am about bronzer! 🙂

FAKE ANNOUNCEMENT: Meet other like-minded bronzer lovers (feline and human), discuss the pans you’ve hit, and snack on chocolate-chip cookies and lemonade (gravy available) at the MBB Bronzers Anonymous Club. Meetings every Wednesday night at the Tabs the Cat Community Center, 6-10 p.m. Cats and human walk-ins welcome.

You can wear the Face & Blush Palette as a blush, bronzer, highlighter or as an all-over face powder, depending on your skin tone and the effect you’re looking for. Clarins gave it a matte finish and designed the semi-sheer, pinkish tan powder for skin tones from light to dark.

For the most part, I wear it as a blush, buffing one or two layers on my cheeks. I particularly love the way it looks on bare skin, but I’ll also wear it atop a small amount of BB cream or tinted moisturizer, where it creates a great, girl-next-door vibe that I like for minimal makeup looks.

I do feel like my cheeks look brighter and more refreshed with it on, but that’s not even my favorite thing about it.

I love the subtle effect, and how the look is soft, but doesn’t fade into the background. This is a face powder that shakes its fist at the sky and says, “Universe, I might not be the brightest or boldest thing in the solar system, but I’m here, dammit, and I’m effing fabulous!”

Try it as a bronzer (doesn’t appear to have heavy orange tones) or blush if you’re a very fair feline, a blush or face powder if you have medium skin tone, and if you’re a darker damsel, see if you can swatch it first, as I suspect it could go a little ashy on darker skin…

If it does, no sweat. Wear it as a soft, non-shimmery highlighter, ala the MAC Beauty Powders, but with the sheen turned way, way down.

Oh, and the formula melts like butter on hot mashed potatoes…

(Guess who didn’t have enough for lunch.)

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Pink, and a Bit of Everything: Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme Combines Skin Care With a Sheer Pink Tint

January 29th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

BB creams. Or is it cremes?

What are they, whom are they good for, and why is Dior getting in on the act?

BB creams are like the new vibrating mascaras. Remember how everyone was talking about those a few years back (myself included)? “I’ve got a vibrating mascara wand! BAM! Check it out.”

And now, it’s BB creams. They sure are having a moment, and it seems like everyone and their mother and their cat is coming out with a BB cream.

So what are they?

Great question. Take the sheerest tinted moisturizer to ever walk the earth, combine it with a sunscreen, maybe a primer, add a little something to hide fine lines and shrink pores, squirt it in a tube, and voila! — BB cream.

They combine the benefits of skin care with the beauty of makeup, and Dior’s new Diorskin Nude BB Creme wants to join the party. Available now in four lightweight shades — Light #001, Fair #002, Medium #003 and Dark #004 — they feel almost like I’m wearing nothing at all.

And get this: all four of them contain pink. All of them. Which surprised me.

Not that there’s anything wrong with pink. In fact, I love pink. It’s just that I think Dior may have left out girls with yellow skin tones this time around. If your skin has yellow undertones, you’re probably well aware of this: pinkish face products can look a little…weird (because all you see is the pink, and it can look like you’re wearing a mask).

With these, as long as I only use a small amount and apply it with my fingers to my cheeks, nose and my forehead between my brows, that isn’t a problem. Applied this way, I think the effect is very cool.

Dior added the pink on purpose, as these are supposed to give skin a rosy, pinkish glow, and I can see it when I wear my favorite shade, Medium #003.

Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme Swatches — Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme swatches from the left: Light #001, Fair #002, Medium #003 and Dark #004

Dior also included mauve, hibiscus, SPF 10, and green, red and white tea extracts to create a moisturizing, smoothing formula that melts into my skin.

I think these are great if you don’t want to wear a full face of foundation and powder and the whole makeup shebang. If you just want a streamlined routine — or for weekend makeup looks, you know, when you’re out hiking or going to the movies, and you don’t want to get all dolled up — these will make you look like you tried.

It doesn’t cover as well as foundation or concealer — not by a long shot — but that’s the idea. I can still see my freckles and my post-acne dark spots, but I also see a pretty, pinkish glow.

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This Spring, Get the Look of Love at LancÃ´me With Sheer Shades of Pink and Peach: LancÃ´me’s New Blush in Love in Pommettes D’Amour and Baume In Love in Urban Ballet

January 29th, 2013 by Karen 12 Comments

Lancome Blush in Love in Pommettes D'Amour — Lancome’s $49 Blush in Love in Pommettes D’Amour from the new In Love spring 2013 makeup collection

Remember back when you’d ask your friend if she liked a boy, or if she liked the boy? LOL!

Don’t laugh! There was a big difference. 🙂

I get that same idea from LancÃ´me’s two new $49 Blush in Love Powders. Why didn’t they call ’em Blush in Lust, or Blush in Like? Would the products have been different?

Semantics aside, with these, I get the feeling LancÃ´me had hot cheeks in mind — the heat that surges to the surface of your skin when he leans in close, exhaling loudly, and peers into your eyes, flashing that cocky half-smile. Suddenly, you realize that your seemingly innocent drink after work isn’t just brews with a bud.

LancÃ´me created two versions of Blush in Love, a light coral for paler pretties and a bright rose for darker damsels. A floral design and Blush in Love logo blooms on them both, and each one contains two shades designed to caress cheeks with spring color.

I’ve been wearing the bright rose, which is called 20 Pommettes D’Amour. In it, a sheer hot pink with a matte finish encircles a square of matte peach in the center, and while it radiates like a neon sign in its pan, 20 Pommettes D’Amour applies more like a misty morning drizzle…

For a peachy pink cheek flush like I sprinted to my car through a warm spring rain, I swirl my blush brush in the pan, mixing both colors in the pan, and blend 2-3 layers on my cheeks.

Then, in a step I wish I could skip considering the price (almost $50!), to dispense with the larger grains of powder the product leaves behind, I buff them down with a kabuki brush.

Even with that little annoyance, I have to say — I think this stuff looks pretty phenomenal in pics, all luminous and sunny, like an unexpected warm spell in the middle of winter.

Lancome Baume in Love in Urban Ballet small — LancÃ´me Baume in Love in Urban Ballet ($26)

If you happened to wonder what I was wearing on my cheeks in this week’s Laura Mercier Creme Liner review, yup, it was Pommette D’Amour. 🙂

I do wish the limited edition packaging felt sturdier… I mean, I dig the design, and I think the paper gives it a certain Paul & Joe-ish charm, but again, for almost $50? I want champagne in a fancy fluted glass, ya know (versus boxed wine in a clear plastic cup)?

Oh, do you remember that sheer neon pink tinted lip balm we looked at, $26 Baume in Love in Urban Ballet? It hails from the very same collection.

Lancome Baume in Love in Urban Ballet and Blush in Love in Pommettes D'Amour — LancÃ´me’s Baume in Love in Urban Ballet ($26) on the left and Blush in Love in Pommettes D’Amour ($49) on the right

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Benefit’s Fakeup Crease-Control Hydrating Concealer Disguises Dark Circles, Doesn’t Leave a Trace

January 25th, 2013 by Karen 25 Comments

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer 1 — The new Benefit Fakeup Crease-Control Hydrating Concealer ($24), coming this March

The first time I twisted Benefit’s new Fakeup Crease-Control Hydrating Concealer, I came this close to swiping the stick across my lips.

But can you blame me? Doesn’t it look an awful lot like one of those hybrid lipstick/glosses we’ve seen stalking makeup counters over the past couple years?

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer — From the left: Light, Medium and Dark

The Fakeups, which arrive this March, borrow that same lycanthropic idea by combining two different things. Twist up the tube to reveal a stick with a creamy concealer center surrounded by a solid moisturizer containing vitamin E and apple extract.

For a brighter under-eye area, less visible dark circles and a lightweight look, just swipe under your eyes, and blend with a finger. The hydrating formula (decently moisturizing, but I wouldn’t give up eye cream for it) steers clear of my fine lines, too, and I swear it looks like real skin.

Benefit likes to streamline their products, many times releasing things in one or two shades. Sometimes, I think it really works. Keep things simple, right? Like with their famous Benetint Lip and Cheek Stain.

But for certain products, like concealers, a very limited color selection can be a turnoff, particularly for people with extremely light or dark skin.

Guess what…? Fakeup only comes in three shades (Light, Medium and Dark).

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease Control Concealer swatches — From the left: Light, Medium and Dark

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer closed — Travel-ready stick packaging

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Fear Frosty Finishes but Still Love a Little Shimmer? Try MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder in Veronica’s Blush

January 25th, 2013 by Karen 7 Comments

MAC Veronica's Blush Pearlmatte Face Powder — Wearing the new $29 MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder in Veronica’s Blush from the Archie’s Girls collection on my upper cheekbones

Compared to the limelight-loving purples, blues, reds and fuchsia fighting for the spotlight on Veronica’s stage in the MAC Archie’s Girls collection, Veronica’s Pearlmatte Powder Blush seems perfectly content to stay backstage.

I think it’s one of the more Betty-like products in V’s basket of bold brights, seemingly subtle, like a brush from a kitten’s whiskers on your cheek, but look closely, because there’s more to see…

Its soft pink shimmer — not quite a full-on frost — definitely reflects more light than Betty’s Pearlmatte Powder in Flatter Me.

While peachy coral Flatter Me’s soft shine conveys a certain sweet innocence, Veronica’s Blush is stealing kisses behind the bleachers, perspiration tickling her brow, blood rushing to her cheeks as she locks lips with her best friend’s boyfriend (ruh-roh!).

MAC Prom Princess Powder Blush and Veronica's Blush Pearlmatte Face Powder — Prom Princess Powder Blush on the left and Veronica’s Blush Pearlmatte Face Powder on the right

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The Fabulously Flexible MAC Flatter Me Pearlmatte Face Powder Lures Ladies Who Love Coral

January 25th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

MAC Flatter Me Pearlmatte Face Powder Review — Wearing MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder ($29), from the new Archie’s Girls collection, all over my face

Oh, MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flatter Me…the things I’d for love. I’d wear your letterman jacket in 90-degree weather, even though it’s three sizes too big for me. I’d write you love letters, old-school style, and slip ’em in your locker. I’d let you win at Scrabble (most of the time) and always give you the last slice of pizza.

Why?

Because I you, MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flatter Me, and the pretty hearts in your pan, which elicit responses from me normally reserved for kitten videos (“Awwww!”).

A highlighter from the new MAC Archie’s Girls collection, Flatter Me combines a pan of peachy golden Shell Pearl Beauty Powder (which you might remember from the Liberty of London collection) with hearts of golden coral Foolish Me blush.

MAC Flatter Me Pearlmatte Face Powder — Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flatter Me ($29), a golden peachy base (Beauty Powder in Shell Pearl) with coral hearts (Powder Blush in Foolish Me)

It imparts the warm, butterscotch glow of a late summer sunset…even in the middle of winter.

With Flatter Me, I get the sense that MAC sought to lure back the ladies who fell in love with Shell Pearl Beauty Powder from the Liberty of London collection.

I was one of those ladies, and to this day! — Shell Pearl is one of my all-time favorite MAC products (here’s an old video where I talk about it; check out how dark my hair was back then!).

Flatter Me’s cute coral hearts give the combined color a slightly pinkish tone, so it’s not a dead-on dupe for Shell Pearl anymore (think sisters, versus twins). But unless you have preternatural, superhuman cat eyes, chances are that even if you’re the most devoted MAC aficionado this side of the Rockies, you won’t be able to see the difference from an arm’s length away.

I love it.

I love it so much that if I were to get a text from Ryan Gosling right at this very moment — “HEY K. YOU, ME, SOUTH OF FRANCE THIS WEEKEND? YES, NO?” — I’d bring along Flatter Me, on account of the soft, satiny, candlelit glow it gives my skin and its pore- and fine line-diffusing powers. Like the Fountain of Youth in a pan.

And like that slightly annoying girl in yoga class who effortlessly slides from pose to pose like human origami (have I ever mentioned that I suck at yoga?), Flatter Me is oh-so flexible. I can wear it as a highlighter, an eyeshadow or even mixed with foundation or tinted moisturizer.

MAC Cream Soda Powder Blush and Flatter Me Pearlmatte Face Powder Swatches — Cream Soda Powder Blush on the left and Flatter Me Pearlmatte Face Powder on the right

Sometimes I’ll even buff it all over my face like the Bobbi Brown Brightening Finishing Powders from the new Sparkle & Glow collection, which I thought at first would be “too much,” but if I buff it lightly with a powder brush, I swear I see a 27-year-old Karen looking back at me in the mirror.

MAC Flatter Me Pearlmatte Face Powder packaging — Pearlmatte Face Powder ($29)

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