Lips

Driver, Take Me to NARS 413BLKR Street for the New Duo Eyeshadow and Velvet Matte Lip Pencil

September 14th, 2012 by Karen 46 Comments

nars 413blkr

Sure, you’ve got your beauty bases covered for life’s big events — cocktail parties, baby showers, weddings, the zombie apocalypse — but what about those once-in-a-while mornings when you wake up feeling “meh”?

Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep the night before. Maybe you woke up with hella greasy hair that smelled like Ritz Crackers. Maybe you just wanted — no, needed a jolt of color to summon your inner foxiness forward.

It’s mornings like those that were made for 413BLKR. 🙂

NARS recently released 413BLKR Duo Eyeshadow ($34) and 413BLKR Velvet Matte Lip Pencil ($24), the two newest numerically-named members of Team 413BLKR (a collection named after the company’s flagship NY store), to celebrate Fashion’s Night Out, a big New York Fashion Week festivity.

You know…I never would have thought to pair these two products together, and that’s one of the reasons why I love NARS. They have a knack for introducing unexpected pairings that just plain work.

Wearing these pieces, I feel like shouting “halleluja!” up to the heavens. “Mama’s still got it!” They make me want to blast Bad Girls by Donna Summer and twirl around in my living room with my arms raised up!

nars 413blkr

nars 413blkr swatches

nars 413blkr
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This Bargain Holiday Kit Will Have You Singing Songs of Savings: The New Anastasia Kisses on My List Volume 2 Hydrafull Gloss Set

September 13th, 2012 by Karen 31 Comments

anastasia kisses on my list sharona — Wearing the New Anastasia Kisses on My List Volume 2 Hydrafull Gloss in Sharona

Um…like I really needed another excuse to randomly bust out in song today.

Sun’s up? That’s a good reason. Cup of coffee? That’s a good reason. Tabs hasn’t scratched my ankles yet? That’s a good reason. Waiting in line at Trader Joe’s, taking Tabs for a walk, indoor plumbing, having ice cream for dinner, sitting in front of the computer like I am right now? All good enough reasons.

But lately, I’ve been singing aloud with even more gusto than usual, like I’m stuck in an a very special episode of Glee (guest starring Tabs the Cat and Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog), and I MUST EMOTE! 🙂

I wonder if it has something to do with Anastasia…

I’ve been wearing the new glosses in her latest set a lot this week, and not just because they shine like my tubby tabby’s eyes.

Most of the glosses in the limited edition $30 holiday Kisses on My List Volume 2 Hydrafull Gloss Set of six full-size tubes are named after a different old-school jam.

There’s Lola, a shimmery, cool pink that changes to a deeper hue after a few minutes on the lips (Anastasia calls these Hypercolor glosses); Maggie May, a sheer and creamy nude; Jolene, a shimmery rose (another one of the Hypercolors); Roxanne, a shimmery gold (also a Hypercolor); and Sharona, a sheer and shimmery peach.

The only one I don’t recognize from a song is Moi, a sheer and creamy pink (got any ideas about the name?).

The other day I took out Roxanne and applied a single layer.

No, it did not sting. 🙂 Nor did the police arrive (ba-dum bum!).

But I did feel inspired to pretend the tube was a microphone and belted out, “Rrrrrox-anne! You don’t have to put on the red light!” in the middle of my living room.

anastasia kisses on my list — From the left: Moi, Maggie May, Sharona, Lola, Jolene and Roxanne

anastasia kisses on my list swatches — Swatches from the left: Jolene, Lola, Maggie May, Moi, Roxanne and Sharona

You might be thinking, “K, you so crazy! I love good glosses too, but there’s no way one would make me sing in public or my living room.”

You never know, my friend. Even if you’re the silent type, this set is one heck of a deal. In the set, the glosses work out to just $5 per tube, versus the $18 they usually sell for individually.

anastasia kisses on my list jolene — Jolene

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Rappers Delight in a Plum From the 212: The New MAC Yung Rapunxel Lipstick by Azealia Banks

September 7th, 2012 by Karen 37 Comments

mac yung rapunxel

I can’t rap to save my life, but you already knew this, right? 🙂

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be able to spit bars on the fly…

Because if I had to battle someone on a street corner, I’d be so screwed!

A rap attack

But hey, I guess if I’m ever overwhelmed with the urge to drop some beats, I could just wear the new MAC Lipstick in Yung Rapunxel ($15) instead.

This creamy deep plum is the product of MAC’s new collaboration with rising New York rapper/singer/lyricist Azealia Banks.

Azealia Banks, 1991

The name, Yung Rapunxel, is also her alter ego.

I’d never heard of her before the lipstick, but I gotta say — I’m diggin’ her style. It kinda has a ’90s house music vibe to it…if Lil’ Kim lived in the house. Or something like that.

As for the lipstick, I like. It’s definitely dramatic, and I think the semi-matte finish goes well with it.

I get the sense that Yung is one of those colors that would look really fab on gals with very light or very dark skin tones.

mac yung rapunxel

mac yung rapunxel swatch
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You Can’t Deny The Attraction to Illamasqua Magnetism Lipstick

September 6th, 2012 by Karen 17 Comments

Illamasqua Magnetism Lipstick

Like a moth to a flame… I could see that’s how it was for you when you saw me standing there all dressed in black.

There was something in the air between us, a force bringing us together, something invisible. I know you felt it, too.

It drew you to me, coaxed you forward. I watched as you looked down at your feet, intoxicated by my beauty, and took a step toward me. First your right foot, and then your left. But it wasn’t you who moved them, was it? They moved of their own accord, powerless against me.

When your arms slowly drifted upward and away from your body, reaching for me as if on strings, and I saw that the hairs on your arms were also standing, I knew that you were mine.

“Try me,” I whispered, as you held me in your warm embrace. And you did as you were told.

You opened my cap slowly and then —

Gasp! You saw what I was wearing underneath…

A creamy raspberry pink, and the curves! Such beautiful curves!

You tried to look away, knew that you had to look away, but it was no use. You were caught like a fish on a hook. Illamasqua’s new Lipstick in Magnetism ($24.50) had secured her prey.

Illamasqua Magnetism Lipstick

You covered the distance between us in less than a second, drawing me along your lips. “Where should we go?” you whispered into my cap.

“This way…” I replied, my voice little more than a sigh.

Gently, you placed me into your snakeskin clutch, and I felt my temperature rise.
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In a Land of Giants, the NARS Andy Warhol Larger Than Life Lip Glosses Take Me to My Safe Place

September 5th, 2012 by Karen 28 Comments

nars international velvet
Wearing NARS Larger Than Life Lip Gloss in International Velvet

Look out for shorty!

I gotta get that printed on a t-shirt…

No, seriously. Have I ever told you about my weird knack for crossing paths with swarms of really, really tall people?

I’m like a giant magnet! — and by that I mean a magnet for giants.

Happens all the time. Pretty much every time I’m out walking in a crowded place, and it doesn’t matter if I spot the giants coming from a mile away. Some how, some way, I always end up in their path, darting back and forth between their long legs like a cat in a giraffe stampede!

It’s the weirdest thing…

Happened last Friday in Tahoe, as a matter of fact. There I was, making my way across the casino toward ~~the Kitty Glitter machine~~ the restroom when a pack of really tall dudes suddenly appeared!

Gah! I tried to cut left but was blocked by a line of craps tables, then right but was blocked by a slow-moving couple.

By then, it was too late…

The giants descended upon me like…giants! Instinctively, I brought my hands up to protect my face, as I was carried along the casino floor like a tiny leaf in a rushing river of striped shirts and strong cologne. The creatures barked, too, shouting “Yo, bro!” at each other and slapping high-fives.

I told myself, “stay calm,” and retreated to my mental safe place. For strength, I tried to think of something larger than life…

…like the five new NARS Larger Than Life Lip Glosses from the Andy Warhol Pop Holiday 2012 collection ($26 each). 🙂

nars andy warhol larger than life lip gloss all
From the left: International Velvet, Viva, Candy Says, Penny Arcade and Hollywoodlawn

nars andy warhol larger than life lip gloss all closeup

nars andy warhol larger than life lip gloss swatches
Swatches from the left: International Velvet, Viva, Candy Says, Penny Arcade and Hollywoodlawn
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Legions of Lip Liner Lovers Look to Laura Mercier Lip Pencils for Smooth, Creamy Color

August 29th, 2012 by Karen 18 Comments

laura mercier coffee bean
Wearing Laura Mercier Lip Pencil in Coffee Bean

Freaks. Crazies. Zealots.

Those who don’t understand often refer to us by those terms…

No matter. At some point — and it’s usually when you find yourself laughing hysterically while clutching two handfuls of lip liners and foaming at the mouth — you realize THIS IS WHO I AM! laura mercier lip pencil shades

I am the lipstick lovin’ girl who finds the prospect of a fresh crop of fall lip liners to wear with rich reds, plums and browns even more thrilling than watching Ryan Gosling bust out the Dirty Dancing moves.

Yes, strangers accuse me of radical lip liner love. Do they have a point? Absolutely. But I don’t think it’s fair to call me an addict, per se.

More like a devoted practioner. A lip liner champion. A fighter for lined lips everywhere!

The latest ~~addiction~~ addition to my list of loves? — these two new members of the Laura Mercier Lip Liner permanent line ($20 each).

The shades I’ve been switching back and forth between — True Red and Coffee Bean — are two of seven new pencils in the line. The others are Carnation, Crushed Berry, Deep Wine, Praline and Warm Poppy.

I love the way warm True Red works with NARS Heatwave lipstick and MAC Lady Danger, and Coffee Berry, a rich brown, pairs perfectly with MAC Paramount.

laura mercier lip pencil

laura mercier lip pencil swatches
Coffee Bean on the left and True Red on the right
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Ample Pink Plushglass

August 27th, 2012 by Karen 29 Comments

mac ample pink plushglass

Wait. Stop! Before we drive out to Modesto to roam the streets looking for Jeremy Renner’s family home — and hell yes, gurl! I totally agree that this is a perfectly sane idea — I need to check my purse.

Keys? Check.

Phone?

Phone…?

Okay, where’s my phone? It has to be here somewhere… I need it just in case the boss calls me.

Yes! There it is.

Now, where’s that tingly, creamy pink gloss I like to keep in my purse? MAC Plushglass in Ample Pink ($19.50)?

Hmm… I think I may have left it in my other bag. Hold up. Let me go check. I’ll be right back.

What’s that? Yes, I am aware that there are no fewer than 10 other glosses in my purse, but none of them are Ample Pink. And hello, we’re talking about Jeremy Renner here.

mac ample pink plushglass

A semi-sheer pinkish mauve, Ample Pink is like a cross between a subdued MAC Spite and a tube of MAC Viva Glam V without the glitter, and I can’t believe we haven’t talked about it before.

I feel like I’m always pimping it out to friends who love my-lips-but-better looks, especially the ones who prefer cooler-toned pinks without a ton of shimmer.

I love the way it looks with smokey eyes… Not overpowering at all.

mac ample pink plushglass swatch
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BLL Cases Rising, Authorities Suspect LORAC Couture Shine in Sheer Luxe to Blame

August 24th, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

lorac sheer luxe couture shine

There’s no known cure. That’s what we know so far.

The CDC confirms that the rate of infection has climbed recently, as it usually does this time of year.

The clinical term is labium lignum unum labium adjectio, but it’s commonly known as BLL, or Bold Lip Lust, and it’s spreading like wildfire, especially among members of the makeup community.

People at highest risk of infection often 1) spend too much time at Sephora under the guise of “research” or 2) have been exposed to LORAC’s Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick in Sheer Luxe ($22, and part of LORAC’s permanent line).

Spreadable without a lip liner or lip brush, symptoms of this moisturizing burgundy wine include…