Lips

Tom Ford Lips and Boys, 25 New Fall 2016 Shades: The Creams

November 15th, 2016 by Karen 21 Comments

tom ford lips boys 2016 cream — The five new Tom Ford Lips & Boys Fall 2016 Cream finish lipstick shades from the left: Alexander, Bradley, Jack, Ashton and Mitchell

One of these shades is called Bradley, and that makes me think of Bradley Cooper, so now I’m wondering if Bradley Cooper could actually wear this shade…

I don’t know. I think it might wash him out… He might need something warmer. 🙂

On that note, Bradley Cooper should probably wear more lipstick. I mean, I would if I had a lipstick named after me.

Tom Ford Lips & Boys
$36 each, 50 shades, 25 of them new for Fall 2016 (10 matte, 10 metallic, 5 cream)
Coming soon to select Sephora stores and Sephora.com #TFLIPSANDBOYS @SEPHORA

These five little lippies, like the 20 other new lipsticks being added to the Tom Ford Lips & Boys collection, are all named after different dudes that Tom admires. These are the five new creams (and here are the mattes and metallics).

tom ford lips and boys 2016 — Tom Ford Lips and Boys 2016

Tom Ford Lips & Boys 50-Piece Set — The complete collection housed in an exclusive black lacquered Tom Ford case: $1,950 (side note: holy sh*t!).

Tom Ford Lips & Boys Three-Piece Container — A custom set of any three clutch-size lipsticks displayed in a luxe carrying case: $108 for your choice of any three shades.

“Tom Ford presents Lips & Boys, the third adaptation of the originative Lip Color collection named for the men he finds admirable and inspiring. The 50-piece lipstick lineup unleashes 25 new boys including 10 modern matte finishes.

“From nuanced nudes like Bradley and Alexander to the unabashed bold reds of Nicholas and Dominic, each transformative shade amplifies a woman’s individuality while inciting an insatiable desire to suit her every mood.

“Showcased in sleek mahogany and gold cases, each tube is compact enough to slip inside the smallest of clutches.

“The clutch-size lipsticks of this decadent wardrobe contain rich, specially-treated pigments blended to deliver pure color payoff in three ultra-kissable finishes: matte, cream, and metallic.”

— Tom Ford PR

The 10 new creams

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Tom Ford Lips and Boys, 25 New Fall 2016 Shades: The Mattes and Metallics

November 15th, 2016 by Karen 15 Comments

Something tells me that these little dudes would not be down for a Taco Bell date. They’d want you to take them to Ruth’s Chris Steak House or some other expensive restaurant.

Dang, Tom Ford, you sure know how to make a girl feel self-conscious about her $10 jeans that she got from Old Navy!

Please pause the rational part of your brain for a moment and consider that each of these 25 new Lips & Boys Lipsticks is $36 each (!). And they’re minis! They’re all new shades — 10 mattes, 10 metallics and 5 creams — and they’re being added to the existing 25 Lips & Boys, thereby bringing the new total up to 50.

Tom Ford Lips & Boys
$36 each, 50 shades, 25 of them new for Fall 2016 (10 matte, 10 metallic, 5 cream).
Coming soon to select Sephora stores and online #TFLIPSANDBOYS @SEPHORA

First up, the mattes and metallics, all of which have boy names.

There are lots of browns, plums and neutrals present, but the bangin’ mattes were the first to catch my eye.

The shiny metallics are also cool. They have varying levels of metallic-ness. Some are full-on sexy robot with lots of shiny pearl and glitter, while others are more suggestive and reserved…like an illicit kiss behind a closed door.

Tom Ford Lips & Boys 50-Piece Set — The complete collection housed in an exclusive black lacquered Tom Ford case: $1,950 (side note: holy sh*t!).

Tom Ford Lips & Boys Three-Piece Container — A custom set of any three clutch-size lipsticks displayed in a luxe carrying case: $108 for your choice of any three shades.

“Tom Ford presents Lips & Boys, the third adaptation of the originative Lip Color collection named for the men he finds admirable and inspiring. The 50-piece lipstick lineup unleashes 25 new boys including 10 modern matte finishes.

“From nuanced nudes like Bradley and Alexander to the unabashed bold reds of Nicholas and Dominic, each transformative shade amplifies a woman’s individuality while inciting an insatiable desire to suit her every mood.

“Showcased in sleek mahogany and gold cases, each tube is compact enough to slip inside the smallest of clutches.

“The clutch-size lipsticks of this decadent wardrobe contain rich, specially-treated pigments blended to deliver pure color payoff in three ultra-kissable finishes: matte, cream, and metallic.”

— Tom Ford PR

The 10 new mattes

tom ford lips boys 2016 matte — The new Tom Ford Lips & Boys Matte finish shades from the left: Anderson, Thomas, Jared, Cristiano, Dylan, Dominic, Evan, Nicholas, Be and Christopher

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I’m Nuts About the Bite Beauty Cashew Multistick

November 14th, 2016 by Karen 7 Comments

Girl, this is the best color…although I don’t know what it has to do with cashews.

It did give me an excuse to eat some shortly after I took this picture…

You might remember the $24 Bite Beauty Multisticks from earlier this fall when they came out in a bunch of colors. You can use them on your lids, your cheeks and/or your lips, and this particular shade, Cashew, is a warm rosy mauve.

I like to use it as an eyeshadow base for cooler-toned purple and gray eyeshadows — especially shimmery purples and grays — but I think it also looks really pretty on its own.

Sometimes on minimal makeup days, I’ll just stick this on my lids directly with the stick and kind of draw on my lids, which is weird and fun at the same time. Then I’ll use either a finger or a tapered brush to buff out the edges.

After that, I’ll curl my lashes and tightline my upper lash line with black liner, and that’s it. Easy and it looks natural.

If you want to do more than that, you could take whatever shimmery purplish gray shadow is rocking your world at the moment, and the one I love right now is MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Fathoms Deep (it’s what I’m wearing with Cashew in the second pic — the one where I’m wearing a bit more makeup), and just pop that right on top. Then blend them together.

bite beauty cashew swatch — A Cashew swatch…with actual cashews

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The Mini Lip Gloss and Lipstick Kits

October 19th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

mac nutcracker sweet lip gloss kits red pink nude — The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Lip Gloss Kits in Red, Pink and Nude

My mom is no joke when it comes to saving money. She is hardcore. She would walk three blocks up a steep, practically vertical hill to pick up a single penny, and Mom would totally give her stamp of approval to these MAC Mini Lip Gloss and Lipstick Kits.

There are six of them in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, each one with four products, and the kits are $35 each.

The items aren’t full size, though. They’re minis, but that’s cool because, value-wise, the kits are a great deal.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

Each of the three Mini Lip Gloss Kits comes with three Cremesheen Glasses and a Dazzleglass. Normally, a full-size Cremesheen Glass would cost you $21 and a Dazzleglass would cost you $20, so all four, if you bought them together, would set you back $83, so $35 for four, even if they’re minis, is a pretty good deal.

Plus, most of the glosses aren’t colors you see everyday. I mean, I’ve seen some of them before. Like, I have vague recollections of loving Galaxy Rose, and I’ve definitely worn Phiff! in the past, but for the most part, you can’t just hop over to a MAC counter and grab these. So that’s one cool thing the Lip Gloss Kits have going for them.

I also love the Cremesheen Glass formula. MAC has a bunch of different lipglosses, but the Cremesheens are some of my favorites. They aren’t sticky like the Lipglasses, and they’re less pigmented overall, which means they’re easy to apply without a mirror.

And I think the Dazzleglasses look super cool (SHINY! SPARKLY!), but, to be honest, they aren’t my favorite formula. They’re very sticky, and I think they’re kind of uncomfortable. I mean, I’ll wear them to a party but not around the house.

RED LIP GLOSS KIT ($35) — Galaxy Rose Cremesheen, Gumdrop Cremesheen, Courting Chic Cremesheen, Phiff! Dazzleglass

NUDE LIP GLOSS KIT ($35) — Fashion Whim Cremesheen, Nutty & Naughty Cremesheen, Pure Delight Cremesheen, Prancin’ Dancin’ Dazzleglass

PINK LIP GLOSS KIT ($35, an online exclusive) — Fashion Scoop Cremesheen, Charm Cremesheen, Twirling Cremesheen, Rags to Riches Dazzleglass

mac nutcracker sweet lip gloss kits scale — The Packaging for the three Lip Gloss Kits along with an iPhone 6S Plus and a full-size Cremesheen for scale

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Nude Lip Gloss Kit swatches from the left: Fashion Whim, Nutty & Naughty, Pure Delight and Prancin' Dancin' — MAC Nutcracker Sweet Nude Lip Gloss Kit swatches from the left: Fashion Whim, Nutty & Naughty, Pure Delight and Prancin’ Dancin’

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Lip Bags

October 18th, 2016 by Karen 11 Comments

mac candy cane — Wearing Candy Cane Lipstick from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Red Lip Bag

It’s hard to talk about something that’s isn’t quite inspiring, but also isn’t junk.

I mean, I’ve been sitting here for gosh knows how long trying to say that I like the Red Lip Bag more than the Nude Lip Bag, but I think they’re both good deals.

These two bags are from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, and in the plus column, they come with three full-size MAC products — a Vamplify gloss (LOVE the Vamplifies), a Pro Longwear Lip Pencil and a Lipstick — for $39.50, but I wish they also came with a MAC sharpener, because I have a bunch of Pro Longwear Lip Pencils, and I’ve tried sharpening them with other pencil sharpeners, like the Chanel one and the Urban Decay one, but the only sharpeners that work well with them (for me) are from MAC.

When I sharpen the Pro Longwears with other sharpeners, the tips get stubby and easily break. And the actual pencil part doesn’t sharpen correctly either. It’s weird. I ended up getting a MAC sharpener specifically to sharpen my Pro Longwears, so if you do get one of these bags (or one of the MAC Pro Longwears), seriously, get yourself a sharpener too. It’ll help.

As for the two bags themselves, honestly, maybe a little snooze-worthy…but it all depends on whether you already have the goodies. For $39.50, you get items worth $58, which could be a great deal.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

Both bags come with a Vamplify lipgloss, which is a major selling point, because I think the MAC Vamplifies are fantastic. Intensely pigmented like a lipstick, they feel good like a Cremesheen, and they’re easy to use because of the angled doe-foot. You can get really into the corners with it.

The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Red Lip Bag ($39.50)
Vamplify in Suggestive, an intense bluish red (permanent collection, regularly $20)
Lipstick in Candy Cane, an intense blue-red (LE, $17 value)
Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Trust In Red, a bright cool reddish cream (permanent collection, $21 value)
All three are full size

The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Nude Lip Bag ($39.50)
Vamplify in Tuned In, a mid-tone rosy nude (permanent collection, $20 value)
Lipstick in Magic Spell (LE, $17 value)
Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in In Control, a brown mauve (permanent collection, $21 value)
All three are full size

mac nutcracker sweet red lip bag — From the Red Lip Bag: Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Trust in Red, Lipstick in Candy Cane and Vamplify in Suggestive

mac nutcracker sweet nude lip bag — From the Nude Lip Bag: Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in In Control, Lipstick in Magic Spell and Vamplify in Tuned In

mac nutcracker sweet lip bag scale — The Lip Bag and the box that it comes in with an iPhone 6S Plus for scale

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: Patentpolish Pink and Nude Kits

October 17th, 2016 by Karen 14 Comments

mac fearless — Wearing MAC Fearless Patentpolish from the Nutcracker Sweet Pink Patentpolish Kit ($35)

Excuse me while I touch up my lips…

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I had one of these cute MAC Patentpolish minis in my hand, and I had to do it. You just can’t not do it.

These are so tiny! I swear, all we need now are a bunch of cute kittens. That would be heaven. 🙂

These are two more of the gift sets from the new MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, and I know we’ve been talking a lot about MAC Nutcracker Sweet lately, but it’s a big collection!

Each of these two $35 kits — Nude and Pink — has four mini MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils, which are normally $21 each for the full-size versions in the permanent collection.

So, I had a major MacGyver moment the first time I tried to open one of these. They open like little drawers, and for the life of me, I could not get the pencils out. They were really wedged in there.

I ended up using a bobby pin that I’d been using to pin my bangs back and sort of jimmied it into the side to pop them out one at a time.

Just FYI.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

All of these shades are re-promotes from the permanent line, so if you’ve been collecting MAC for a while and already have some of the Patentpolishes, you may already have some of them. If you don’t, though, this might be a chance to get a good deal on a bunch of them at the same time.

Quality-wise, I think these are just as good as the full-size Patentpolishes in the permanent collection. They look and feel exactly the same — same non-sticky, lightweight, moderately moisturizing formula and lip balm-like consistency.

One thing that makes the Patentpolishes so great is that you can build up the coverage in layers from medium to full, but because they feel like a lip balm, their wear time is limited. I have to reapply them every two or three hours, but it’s not a big deal because they’re so easy to have around. You just twist them up and apply. You don’t even need a mirror.

Nude Patentpolish Kit ($35)
Pleasure’s All Mine, a pale warm nude (perm)
It’s Really Me, a warm nude (perm)
Revved Up, a creamy peach (perm)
French Kiss, a warm Caramel (perm)

Pink Patentpolish Kit ($35)
Patentpink, a washed out lilac (perm)
Fearless, a deep bluish pink (perm)
Hopelessly Devoted, a bright clean fuchsia (perm)
Ruby, a mid-tone rose (perm)

mac nutcracker sweet patentpolish kits — MAC Nutcracker Sweet Patentpolish Kits in Pink and Nude

mac nutcracker sweet pink patentpolish swatches — Pink Kit swatches from the left: Patentpink, Fearless, Hopelessly Devoted and Ruby

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When a Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, or How I Really Feel About Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Vinyl LipColor in Controversial

October 4th, 2016 by Karen 10 Comments

estee lauder controversial — Praising the heavens above for Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Vinyl LipColor in Controversial (and praying that I don’t have food in my teeth, OMG!)

Believe it or not, but this color I’m wearing on my lips is from Estée Lauder.

Yeah! Who knew? I didn’t know they could do video chick cool like this, but this one is from a new line of glosses called the Pure Color Envy Vinyl LipColors, which are a little like lipsticks and a little like gloss.

There are only a few shades ($32 each), and all of them are bright, so no nudes. This one’s called Controversial.

I dunno… Maybe it’s controversial because it’s Estée Lauder? Because whenever I think of the brand, I think of pretty reserved makeup, but over the past couple years, though, they’ve done some hip stuff, and they’ve done it really well. They have some edgy, cool stuff if you kind of dig in.

Dang, this color reminds me of patent-leather shoes, which might be why I like it, because I used to have a pair of patent-leather shoes that were the same color.

I wish I knew what happened to them…

The formula’s pretty thick and sticky, but not annoyingly sticky. It’s comfortable, and just sticky enough to stay on your lips, although I wouldn’t wear it if I were going to be on Connor duty — like, there’s no way if I was wearing her in her baby carrier in front and kissing her forehead, because it would be a mess and get all over her hair and her skin and her clothes.

But if I were going to a Who Loves the ’90s concert with a friend? — then it would be totally wearable.

And don’t even go there! Of course you can wear brights. Don’t be crazy like that. Everyone can wear brights. 🙂 This one doesn’t even need a lip pencil. I just use the doe-foot applicator, and it’s not even hard. I would tell you if it were hard. The formula’s thick, which is key.

PRICE: $32
AVAILABILITY: Available now from Estée Lauder (I’m not sure if it’s LE or permanent)
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

SO HAWT! Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy Juicy Color Plumping Lip Gloss

September 9th, 2016 by Karen 8 Comments

Holy habaneros, girl! Somebody grab a fire extinguisher because my lips are on FIYAHHH! — and I’m not talking jalapeños. I’m talking next-level ghost pepper to the Nth degree flames rising up from the depths of the earth’s primordial molten core HOT! ?? That’s how my lips feel when I wear these new Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy Juicy Color Plumping Lip Glosses.

These bees sting like battling rivals on the dance floor!

Thankfully, it does subside after a few minutes…

So, yeah…on one hand, I feel like I’m making out with a ghost pepper when I wear these, but on the other hand, I like how they shine (like the twinkle in Nick Jonas’ eye when he sings about lost love).

I also like how long they last and how thick they feel, so they stick to my lips for 3-4 hours.

too faced lets flamingle — Let’s Flamingle, a watermelon pink

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