Lips

A New Shocking Development: Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Shock Me Pink

May 12th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Because a girl can never have too many hot pink lipsticks!

Well, she probably could, but…naw. I don’t think so. 🙂

This is another one of the new shades recently added to the Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick line. Shock Me Pink is a bright blue-based neon pink with a creamy finish. Like the other Be Legendaries, it’s unflavored, unscented and smooove, with a 4-hour wear time.

I like to wear this one with shiny black liquid liner when I’m feeling feisty and want to stomp-walk into rooms.

It’s available now online and at Smashbox counters, Nordstrom stores and Ulta for $20.

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For Textured-Lipped Ladies, Smashbox Be Legendary Matte Lipstick in Paris Pink Is a Little Easier to Wear Than Your Average Pale Pastel Pink

May 12th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

smashbox be legendary matte lipsticks — I’m wearing Smashbox Be Legendary Matte Lipstick in Paris Pink ($20), one of eight new Be Legendary Matte Lipsticks available now at Smashbox counters and online

I think from now on I’m going to refer to my lips as “textured…” It’ll be code for “So dang flaky that it looks like I made out with a cheese grater.” Then I won’t have to say “I’ve got dry lips” about every 15 minutes of every single day.

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Tarte Summer 2015 Poppy Picnic Collection LipSurgence Lip Crèmes: Chubby Pencils With Powerful Pen Names

May 8th, 2015 by Karen 9 Comments

With the new Tarte LipSurgence Lip Crèmes on my lips today, I’m feeling Empowered…

And Serene…
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Lustrous Lips Are a Lipglass Away With the MAC Wash and Dry Collection

May 1st, 2015 by Karen 18 Comments

Boy howdy! These new MAC Wash and Dry Lipglasses will make you tumble dry into some seriously high heat!

Honestly…what does that even mean? I think I might be scraping the bottom of the barrel for new laundromat references. I mean, one can only make so many before they’re tapped.

Laundromats and makeup — leave it to MAC to come up with something crazy like that.

mac wash and dry collection lipglass — The four MAC Wash and Dry Lipglasses from the left: Girl on Board, Laundry List, Hot/Cold and Domestic Diva

There are four $16.50 Lipglasses in the new MAC Wash and Dry collection, and all I have to say about them is this: “Hello, brights!” I would happily roll in the haaay with the three vivid shades. Bronzed beauties, in particular, will probably like bright creamy orange Laundry List (like a glossy version MAC Morange Lipstick), creamy true red Hot/Cold and shimmery pink Domestic Diva. Spreadable like butter, they apply easily and evenly on my lips, but I do feel like the red and orange shades benefit from the help of a lip brush, because they’re hella pigmented.

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Chanel Summer 2015 Collection Méditerranée: The Climate Calls for Elegantly Understated Lips With This Summer’s Rouge Coco Shines

April 28th, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

chanel summer 2015 rouge coco — Three of the four Chanel Summer 2015 Rouge Coco Shine Hydrating Sheer Lipshines ($36 each)

According to my well-worn copy of the Makeup Handbook for Fancy and Expensive Yacht Vacations, the Chanel Summer 2015 Collection Rouge Coco Shines are all 100% approved for traipsing around the Mediterranean.

It’s mentioned right there on page 212 in the chapter on Chanel. These sheer, shiny lipsticks are in the “Do” column.

Um…you know that’s not actually a real book, right? — although I wish it was, because where else am I going to find out what to wear when Bey finally asks me to babysit? 🙂

In the Chanel Summer 2015 Collection, otherwise known as Collection Méditerranée, lips are slick, shiny and sheer thanks to four Rouge Coco Shine Hydrating Sheer Lipshines ($36).

The three shown here are re-promotes from the permanent line — golden pink Réveuse, shimmering violet Intrépide and pinkish coral Insoumise — while the fourth shade, coppery brown Amorosa, is limited edition.

If you’re new to the Rouge Coco Shines, they sure live up to their name, being hydrating, sheer and shiny at the same time. For me they last from 3-4 hours on my lips, depending on the particular shade, and have a barely-there rosy flavor and scent.

These three start out glossy (just shy of a mirror-like lipgloss shine), but fade to a soft satin over the course of about a half an hour.

How sheer each one is depends on the intensity of the color, with the mellower shades — Réveuse and Intrépide — being closer to traditional sheer lipsticks, where I can still see plenty of my natural lip color peeking through, while the deeper pinkish coral Insoumise is closer to medium coverage.

chanel summer 2015 insoumise — Rouge Coco Shine in Insoumise, a pinkish coral

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The MAC Huggable Lipcolours: For When Pigment Needs to Hug It Out

April 23rd, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

OK, so…what the heck is it about wearing lipstick that instantly makes me feel so much better? That little splash of color is like a nap, doughnuts, ice cream and chocolate rolled into one.

I almost want to hug it out with these pretty lippes, the appropriately named MAC Huggable Lipcolours ($20 each, coming to the MAC website May 7, and a week later to MAC counters and stores).

Do you remember this line of medium-coverage lipsticks? (Cue flashback to waaay back in 2013.) Of the 10 slick, moisturizing shades coming out next month, all of them, with the exception of Fashion Force, look new to me (as far as I’m remembering now).

They last from 2-3 hours for me and have that classic MAC vanilla flavor and scent.

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With the Urban Decay Summer 2015 Ultimate Ozone Multipurpose Primer Pencil, Ozone Bulks Up

April 9th, 2015 by Karen 23 Comments

One thing’s clear about Urban Decay’s $20 Ultimate Ozone Multipurpose Primer Pencil — this handy husky wonder multitasks, and it handles some of its tasks better than others.

This here is basically a larger version of UD’s existing clear Ozone Lip Pencil, which many makeup lovers use for multiple purposes. It’s a clear-colored, unscented, unflavored multipurpose pencil with a silicone-like texture.

Have you ever tried Benefit’s dr. feelgood? It feels a lot like that — slippery and velvety — and did I mention it multitasks?

For instance, you can use it as a lip primer, where it helps keep your lipstick or gloss from wandering beyond your natural lip line, anchoring them down for extended wear time. Just trace and fill in your lips with Ozone first, and then layer your gloss and/or lipstick on top.

You can also use it as a makeup remover, by dabbing Ozone lightly over any mascara, eyeshadow or liquid liner boo-boos/mistakes, and then lifting any wayward flecks and bits away with a Q-tip.

Or, use it as a blurring face primer, by blending it all over and around fine lines and wrinkles.

First, I think it rocks as a lip primer. It makes my lipgloss last and stay put much longer than when I’m just left to my own devices without it (I’m a lip smacker/rubber, as you may already know if you’ve watched my YouTube videos… I know, I know. I’m trying to break the habit, but it’s so hard!).
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Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection: It’s a Revolution of Lipglosses!

April 7th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

NOVATO, CA — This is Karen from UD News reporting live from my makeup bag…

It’s chaos! There are Savage creatures running all over the place, Big Bangs left and right, and somebody’s walking through the street? I don’t know… They appear to be Punch Drunk. There’s only one word to describe the scene unfolding before me now: revolution!

An Urban Decay Lipgloss Revolution. 🙂

Yes, this is the Urban Decay that many of us know and love. Over the past few years, they’ve gotten a little naked happy, which is also cool, but this new line of 14 pigmented lipglosses (coming April 15 to counters and online) swings the pigment pendulum all the way to the other side, with liters of rich color and shades that your grandma might see and be like, “Young lady, do you wear that outside?? I’m not sure if a respectable young girl should wear that outside…”

Yup, these are those kinds of colors. To put it a different way, if UD’s Naked glosses are Sunday brunch, these are Friday night.

Of course, there are also a few less harrowing shades, but we’ll get to those in a minute…

So, Urban Decay has done lipgloss lines before, and you might remember a couple years ago when they did the flat ones with the half-naked dudes? Well, those were shaped very much like these — flat, so that you can put them in your back pocket, and they won’t bulge. In this case, the clear plastic tubes are also textured, and they look almost wavy…like you’re about to dive into an ocean and swim through a school of gloss.

These are also unlike another other UD lipglosses I can recall in that they’re unflavored and unscented, which should open the door to some people who didn’t like the flavor of UD’s other glosses.

As for coverage, you won’t need to put a lot on your lips to see these colors. I’d classify them as just shy of full coverage — like teetering on the edge on kitty tippy-toes.

Interestingly, the medium-weight formula starts non-sticky, but seems to get stickier over time as they’re worn and you smack your lips together. They get stickier and slightly tacky, which I think helps them hang on longer than UD’s non-sticky glosses. For me, these last between three and four hours.

urban decay revolution lipgloss — Urban Decay Revolution Lipglosses, $22 each

Most of the colors are creams, with a sprinkling of glittery shades. The glittery ones, though, are still comfortable. I have to point that out, because they aren’t gritty or obnoxious at all.

The only one I haven’t seen up close is Kinky, which looks like a creamy tan nude.

For everyday colors, my favorites are medium creamy pinkish nude Liar and light neutral pink Failbait, but you know…those are the kinds of colors you stick in your purse and eventually forget about…

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