Lips

For Makeup and a Light Meal, Try Gerard Cosmetics Color Your Smile Lighted Lip Gloss

October 2nd, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Wearing Gerard Cosmetics Color Your Smile Lighted Lip Gloss in Butter Cream, $24

If I’m ever invited to one of those restaurants where you dine in the dark, I’m bringing Cocoa Bean or Butter Cream with me, two of the 24 Color Your Smile Lighted Lip Glosses ($24 each) from cruelty-free indie line Gerard Cosmetics.

Gerard Cosmetics Color Your Smile Lighted Lip Gloss in Butter Cream and Cocoa Bean — Let there be light!

And not just because they double as a light source. They’re also intensely pigmented, highly moisturizing and comfy. Plus, the lightweight, non-sticky formula should easily last through the dinner (wear time: 4-5 hours).

While my tum is plumping during the meal, my lips will be, too — just slightly — because these also contain lip-plumping collagen peptides, for less visible lip wrinkles without one of those painful plumping stings.

But with these, really, it’s all about the flashlight. That’s the hook right there — the two bright LED lights in the cap.

And they are BRIGHT! Borderline blinding. One thing’s for sure, they aren’t dim.

Gerard Cosmetics Color Your Smile Lighted Lip Gloss in Cocoa Bean — Cocoa Bean

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Best for Big Kissing Scenes and Luxe Leading Ladies: New $50 Lipstick Queen Screen Siren Lipstick

October 1st, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

The new Lipstick Queen Screen Siren Lipsticks, $50 each, available now in six shades

Sometimes, all a sister wants is to sit on the couch all damned day long eating crunchy things out of bags… Potato chips, Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, maybe a few chocolate-chip macadamia nut cookies if they’re readily available.

And sometimes she doesn’t.

Sometimes, a sister wants to tower over the pyramids in leading lady leather high heels and femme fatale false lashes and big hair visible from space! 🙂

It’s the latter times when these new Lipstick Queen Silver Screen Lipsticks are extra nice.

Lipstick Queen Silver Screen Lipsticks in See Me (a peach) and Play It (a hot pink) — See Me (a peach) and Play It (a hot pink)

Glossy, glamorous shades inspired by the sirens of the silver screen, these pricey pretties are a shock-inducing $50 a tube, but at least they satisfy like a Snickers bar. The creamy formula slips onto lips like a silk dress, leaving behind a finish so shiny that even the haughtiest, naughtiest vixen would purr.

Lipstick Queen Silver Screen Lipsticks in See Me (left) and Play It (right) — See Me (left) and Play It (right)

Super fans of the Guerlain Rouge G Lipstick line may also love these. They’re around the same price, with similarly high levels of pigment (so high they could touch the sky!) and a preternaturally smooth, moisturizing formula. Depending on the shade, they also last on my lips around the same 3-5 hours.

Lipstick Queen Silver Screen Lipstick in See Me — See Me

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The $28 Too Faced Under the Mistletoe Set: Three Bestselling La Creme Lipstick Shades to Make Lips Shimmer for the Holidays

September 26th, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Other than El Hub getting his share, I’ll be saving my mistletoe kisses for the three La Creme Lipsticks in the new Under the Mistletoe set by cruelty-free carolers Too Faced Cosmetics.

The $28 limited edition set comes with three full-size, shimmery versions of a few La Creme Lipstick bestsellers, including my favorite, Spice Spice Baby, and to keep them safe and sound, tuck them in at night in the included glittery pink lip bag.

Note to self: Ask Santa for a glittery pink sleeping bag. 🙂

Too Faced Under the Mistletoe La Cremes from the left: Shimmering Marshmallow Bunny, Shimmering Spice Spice Baby and Shimmering Naked Dolly

Too Faced Under the Mistletoe Shimmering Marshmallow Bunny — Shimmering Marshmallow Bunny

Too Faced Under the Mistletoe Shimmering Spice Spice Baby — Shimmering Spice Spice Baby

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When Lips Are Thirsty, Pop Hits the Spot: L’Oreal Balm Pop Lip Balm

September 24th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

L'Oreal Balm Pops — The new Balm Pop line by L’Oreal

L’Oreal’s been dropping balms, baby!

They recently unleashed three new lines of lip balms, each offering a different level of coverage. There are the Balm Nudes for sheer color, the high coverage Glossy Balm Crayons — your tickets to full-on pigment paradise — and the Balm Pops (four of the six available shades shown here) for medium coverage.

Four of the six L'Oreal Balms Pops, $7.99 each — Four of the six L’Oreal Balm Pop lip balms, $7.99 each

First, that’s a lot of lip balm…

Unless you spice them up with lip liner, lipstick or gloss, at some point, some of the shades start to look the same.

At least they do on my pigmented lips, but since my frequently dry, flaky pout can use all the moisture it can get, I can’t help but make crazy Jan Brady eyes whenever I spot a new lip balm on a store shelf.

L’Oreal’s new Balm Pops ($7.99) are pretty cool… Smooth and non-sticky, with a faint brown sugar flavor and scent, they feel a lot like Benefit’s $18 Tinted Lip Balms.

L'Oreal Balms Pop from the left to the right: Wild Lily, Bold Blush, Fiery Red and Electric Pink — From left to right: Wild Lily, Bold Blush, Fiery Red and Electric Pink

L'Oreal Balm Pop in 410 Wild Lily — Wild Lily

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These L’Oreal Glossy Balms Are Ideal for Lazy Sunday Afternoons Filled With French Fries and Vanilla Shakes

September 18th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Dear Karl Lagerfeld,

Look, I get it. I do. I totally understand why you feel so strongly about sweatpants. I feel the same way about wearing pajamas in public.

When I grew up, pajamas were strictly for use at home, and I still hold on to that belief. No one should have to see a grown man wearing red plaid pajamas on a Tuesday afternoon at the mall. I mean, really? You couldn’t spare 10 seconds to put on jeans? Please…

Sweatpants, however, I don’t know… I really love some of mine, and they’re not all bad, Karl. I have a killer pair by Zella that does great things for my bum. Makes me look like I spend all day doing squats with J. Lo and cutting carbs.

Plus, I wouldn’t know what else I’d wear with my L’Oreal Colour Riche Glossy Balms.

Loreal Gloss Balm from the left: Pink Me Up, My Babydoll, Lovely Mocha and Petite Plum — From the left: Pink Me Up, My Babydoll, Lovely Mocha and Petite Plum

Come on, Karl, don’t act like you’re too good for the drugstore. *Snaps in a Z formation.* I’m telling you, I really think you’d like these balms. They have as much pigment as any of the other lippies in my makeup bag and an elegant, soft shine worthy of the House of Chanel.

Loreal Gloss Balm packaging — Cute type!

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The Smashbox Be Legendary Lip Lacquers: Some Legends Last, and Some Don’t

September 9th, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquer, $24 each (available in 20 shades)

“Gather round, young’ns,” said granny Karen, “and let me tell you the story of a long-wearing lip lacquer so shiny, so smooth, so long-lasting and revered that it was legendary!”

I can see it now…the spunky granny version of myself telling the story of Smashbox’s Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquers ($24 each and available in 20 shades) to a group of gum-smacking, eye-rolling tweens, although, really, there’s no way I’m going to make it past 75 with my sanity intact.

I can see myself handing down vintage tubes of my go-to colors to my favorite granddaughter — let’s call her Jem because she has pink hair and sings lead in a punk rock band — while telling her tales of my legendary adventures with my legendary cat.

Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquer from the top to bottom: Beet It, Pink Social, Rosewater and Legendary — From top to bottom, Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquers in Beet It, Pink Social, Rosewater and Legendary

But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. My dearest Jem will not be acquiring her feisty granny’s beloved and precious tubes of Be Legendary Lip Lacquer. She will, instead, get amusing anecdotes meant to teach her life lessons, as well as a few pieces of stale butterscotch hard candy. 🙂

Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquer in Pink Social — Pink Social, a warm pink

Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquer in Beet It — Beet It, a deep purple

Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquer in Legendary — Legendary, a blueish red

Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquer in Rosewater, a warm light pink — Rosewater, a cool light pink

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Metallic Mauve in the Machine! MAC Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipstick and Lipglass Through the Ocular Sensors of Robot Karen (BEEP!)

September 4th, 2014 by Karen 31 Comments

BEEP! BOOP! Identity: Robot Karen. BEEP! Program start. Execute command of beauty blog. BEEP! Temporarily commandeer MBB for afternoon. BOOP!

All rogue programs will be deleted from memory. BEEP! Escape is prohibited.

According to my programming — BEEP-BOOP-BOOP-BEE-BOOP! — there is a revival of ’90s makeup underway.

Should you require assistance in finding a new frosty, pigmented lipstick and/or lip gloss — BOOP! — focus your ocular sensors on the nearest MAC counter to your proximity. BEEP!

The new MAC Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipstick ($16 U.S./$19 CDN) and Lipglass ($15 U.S./$18 CDN) are approved for use by robots and humans seeking bold metallic looks. BEEP!

My lipstick-o-meter detects a strong ’90s vibe from warm mauve Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipstick and its silvery frost. BEEP! BOOP!

MAC Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipstick closeup — Lipstick closeup

And my internal lipgloss spectrometer spikes when it analyzes the high glitter content in the cooler mauve Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipglass, with its reddish frost. BEEP!

MAC Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipglass closeup — Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipglass

MAC Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipglass — Another view of MAC Viva Glam Rihanna II

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For Comfort and Eye-Catching Color, Try Sonia Kashuk’s $8.99 Lustrous Shine Lip Crayons

September 1st, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Lustrous Shine Lip Crayon in Peony — Wearing Sonia Kashuk’s new Lustrous Shine Lip Crayon in Peony ($8.99), one of four shades available now at Target

Yet one more reason to go fan-girl over Sonia Kashuk: the unfathomably high levels of pigment in her new Lustrous Shine Lip Crayons.

Sonia Kashuk Lustrous Shine Lip Crayons Orchid (left) and Peony (right) — Orchid (left) and Peony (right)

I can’t believe these $8.99 retractable crayons aren’t more expensive. Smooth, silky and lightweight like a lip balm, they remind me a lot of pricier products from Too Faced and Benefit.

Sonia Kashuk Lustrous Shine Lip Crayon swatches in Peony (left) and Orchid (right) — Peony (left) and Orchid (right)

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