Makeup Tools

Buff Your Way to a Flawless Finish With Urban Decay’s Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush

July 3rd, 2012 by Karen 33 Comments

urban decay optical blurring brush

Urban Decay’s new foundation brush promises to blur the lines. Borrowing a page out of Hollywood’s Golden Age powder-puff playbook, where actors and actresses were often blurred in their closeups, the Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush ($24) buffs away lines to create seamless, smooth skin.

It reminds me of my own experiences with a different kind of optical blurring…

When my BFF Jen and I were younger and looking for love in all the wrong places (Club X and 1015 Folsom come to mind), the following conversation would go down at least once or twice every night we went out on the town…

ME: I think I see a potentially cute boy.

JEN: Where?!

urban decay optical blurring brush ME: Standing over there at the bar, in the striped button-down shirt and dark pants.

JEN: (…) Every guy in here is wearing that outfit.

ME: No, really! I think he’s looking this way. Over your shoulder, six ‘o clock.

JEN: Oh, no baby. Did you forget your glasses again? We have to get you some contacts, like soon. That boy is kinda scary. Trust me on this.

Haha! Nothing like poor eyesight to mess up your game. 🙂

Luckily, the Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush is designed to improve it.

I met it through Urban Decay’s new fall collection, and it quickly became one of those little lifesavers that I never thought I needed before, but now can’t function without.

The soft, dense brush head feels almost as good as favorite husky tabby’s fur. Mrrow!

UD says they designed the brush to be used with their new line of Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup, but there’s nothing stopping us from using it with foundations or tinted moisturizers from other brands.

I can’t hang with streaky foundation, and the Optical Blurring Brush’s densely-packed, soft synthetic bristles and rounded tip definitely take care of streaks. Lately I’ve been using it apply Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer by NARS, and seriously, I think the application looks flawless.

I’ve also heard that synthetic bristles, being less porous than natural fibers, are less conducive to the growth of bacteria, potentially leading to fewer breakouts.

urban decay optical blurring brush
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Shu Know What LancÃ´me Le Curler Reminds Me Of?

May 27th, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

lancome le curler

I use my arsenal of naturally curly lashes to great effect. They’re my pride and joy. 🙂

Okay, so I can’t fairly call them “natural,” unless you consider the transformative powers of the mighty lash curler, aka the beauty god’s gift to linear lashed lasses everywhere, natural.

When it comes to my Shu Uemura lash curler, I’m ride or die! I rarely stray away from it for long. It’s just so great, perfectly curling lashes in a single swoop, but when I came across LancÃ´me’s new $23 Le Curler I couldn’t resist giving it a little squeeze.

The curling surface, a silicone pad to buffer lashes and safeguard them from breaking, is pretty wide and should suit most eye shapes and lash lengths without crimping or pinching.

Even the hinge (“inspired by Japanese technology,” LOL!) is supposed to help it create an effortless lash look.
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Dirty Makeup Brushes Are Bristling Over Sonia Kashuk’s Brush & Sponge Cleanser

March 27th, 2012 by Karen 22 Comments

sonia kashuk brush sponge cleanser

Another Target run, another spur-of-the moment beauty purchase from Sonia Kashuk. Allegedly, I swung by the store for detergent (I’m a Gain girl. How about you?). It’s not my fault I always end up in the beauty section.

Heck, though, since I was already there, I figured I’d look for a full-size bottle of Sonia’s Making Waves Nail Colour, and bring one or two or five home, LOL!

(Remember it, the bright sea green, from her new A Powerful Punch Set? Yep, I like it that much.)

But while I was searching for it, something else got my attention: this bottle of Sonia’s Brush & Sponge Cleanser ($7). It was hidden behind some makeup bags, as if someone had squirreled it away back there for safekeeping (I’m totally guilty of doing this many times).

Now, I’m still happily engaged to Burt’s Bees Mango & Orange Energizing Body Bar as my de facto brush cleanser, but I’m also curious like a cat.

A single word in the directions on the back of the bottle sealed the deal for me.

To use the cleanser, you’re supposed to wet your brushes or sponges by spraying them with some of the product, which you then work into a lather (weird!). Then, rinse until the water runs clean.

Most of the liquid brush cleansers I’ve used before, like the one from MAC, don’t usually work up a lather, which makes this one kind of unusual.

Color me intrigued…

sonia kashuk brush sponge cleanser
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Light Up Your Eyes and World With Make Up For Ever’s New La BohÃ¨me Eye Shadow Palette

February 6th, 2012 by Karen 37 Comments

make up for ever la boheme (2)

High up on my list of things to do this week: dreaming big dreams — no matter how silly or far-fetched they might seem.

Because you never know. Casting those crazy ideas out into the ether could be the spark that sets in motion a chain of events that leads to one or more of them coming true.

Of course, a few of my big dreams would have to be related to makeup, right? — like traveling around the world while wearing the colors in the new limited edition Make Up For Ever La BohÃ¨me Eye Shadow Palette ($39).

And since we’re talking about BIG dreams, I’d want to wear each of the six baked shadows in this free-spirited palette while exploring a different far-flung corner of the world, and I’d start in Costa Rica with Lagoon Green.

This shimmery teal would be the perfect color to wear out to dinner with my BFF Cindy after a day spent playing in the surf.

From there, we’d zip out across the Pacific to the Garden Isle with mossy Vegetal Green, which I’d love to wear while searching for secret waterfalls on Kauai.

Then, and this one would require passing through quite a few time zones, I’d wear Beige on my lids while hiking the hills around Provence with my favorite wide-angle lens, and silvery violet Parma Purple while El Hub and I ate our way through Rome.

Next, silvery peach Coral and I would tour the Taj Mahal (always wanted to go), and then head back home to hopefully wear shimmery reddish bronze Brown out with you to lunch.

Afterward, maybe we could even do some window shopping, and you could take us to some of your favorite places to play with makeup in your town. 🙂

I know, I know. Such a crazy dream, but even if it never happens, at least I can still mimic the same sparkle in my eyes that I get when I’m traveling, since MUFE added high amounts of pearl to these baked shadows (which have a new formula just added to the line) to give skin a luminous, almost metallic finish.

make up for ever la boheme (3)
The La BohÃ¨me Eye Shadow Palette and Aqua Eyes in Gypsy (also from the La BohÃ¨me collection)
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Brushes and Bodies Are Buzzing Over Burt’s Bees $5 Mango & Orange Energizing Bar

February 5th, 2012 by Karen 50 Comments

Burts Bees Energizing Body Bar

Initially, I brought home this $5 Burt’s Bees Mango & Orange Energizing Body Bar from Target 1) because I can always use a little extra energy, and 2) because I thought it kinda looked like food, ha!

Burts Bees Energizing Body Bar I ended up liking the invigorating citrusy scent so much that I started using it to clean more than mah bod.

When I used up the last little slivers of my bar of Becca Brush Soap, I grabbed Burt’s Mango & Orange bar on a whim, using it to clean a couple of skunk brushes that I’d used with a bright blush and a MAC 239 brush crusted over with concealer.

As luck would have it, Burt’s invigorating body bar worked wonders on the brushes, removing all of the funk from their stinky ferules and the gunk from the handles and brush heads themselves.

I’d like to shake the little hand of the bee who developed this bar and thank him/her for doing such a great job. Not only do I think it’s one heck of an energizing, moisturizing body bar, it’s also one of the better brush cleansers I’ve used in a while.

And fast, too. It cuts through hard-to-remove products like dried foundation just as quickly as Becca’s Brush Soap does and rinses without putting up a fight. After air drying, my brush bristles feel soft, clean and malleable, not crunchy or stiff.
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A Fan Brush to Apply Liquid Foundation? Sure, and Here Are 62 Reasons Why It Works

January 1st, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

Trish McEvoy 62 Fan Brush

What do you usually use to apply foundation? Sometimes I get the best results when I use my fingers, but I go through phases. One week I’ll use fingers, the next week a skunk brush, and then maybe even a kabuki brush the week after that.

I guess I’m a bit of a wild child when it comes to tools. It really just depends. 🙂

Lately I have been rather enamored with fan brushes, though, like the lovely Trish McEvoy 62 ($36), which I’ve been using to apply MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation.

That’s right — a fan brush to apply a liquid foundation.

Weird, I know, but hear me out. I actually got the idea from MAC Senior Artist Keri Blair, who uses it in this video to apply MAC Mineralize Foundation. Her results just looked so flawless and natural that I figured, heck, why not give it a try?

The first fan brush I thought to try it with was the Shu Uemura 7.5EX, a brush I’ve loved for years (as a side, I think it paints scary pigmented blushes like MAC Frankly Scarlet with aplomb).

With Studio Sculpt, I thought it was just a’ight. I liked the thin, light level of coverage, but I also got some streaks.

Hmm…

Not yet ready to give up on the idea, I tried a few other fan brushes, all of them with mediocre results until I came to Trish’s 62.

It was love!

The 62 was designed to deliver thin layers of powder products for faces and cheeks, but I think it does a bang up job with liquid foundations, too. The dense, wide brush head lays down just the right amount of product to cover what I’m trying to cover without leaving a bunch of annoying streaks behind.
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Agent Beauty Bourne Reporting for Duty with the Sonia Kashuk Luxe Agent Provocateur Train Case

December 23rd, 2011 by Karen 31 Comments

sonia kashuk agent provocateur (1)

Hotness!

When I spotted it online, I had a feeling the Sonia Kashuk Luxe Agent Provocateur Train Case ($34.99) would be all that and a bag of chips…

It is! But it’s even more than that.

It takes the bag of chips and adds a dozen cupcakes on the side.

Despite its slim profile, it holds a ton of stuff! We’re talking mountains of makeup and a tidy sum of tools. By changing the arrangement of the interior dividers, you’re able to adjust the size of the different compartments to fit your needs.

There’s also a large pocket and pouch under the lid for brushes and, perhaps, cans of Fancy Feast.

sonia kashuk agent provocateur (6)

sonia kashuk agent provocateur (5)
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The Laura Mercier Travel Brush Kit Successfully Tries to Sweep Sticker Shock Under the Rug

December 22nd, 2011 by Karen 11 Comments

Okay, now I want you to brace yourself, and take a deep breath.

Good? Okay, now when you’re ready, slowly read the following line…

$85.

Now that feeling there? — that split second when you felt the air forced out your lungs and could barely draw a breath? That’s called sticker shock, and the $85 Laura Mercier Travel Brush Set causes it a lot.

Thankfully, it subsides (somewhat) after a bit of number crunching and quality play time with these super soft brushes.

The kit, one of several of Laura’s holiday 2011 offerings, includes four travel size dual-ended eye brushes, a full size skunk brush and a faux snakeskin pouch with a removable insert.

Now, if this were just an $85 kit containing four travel eye brushes, a face brush and a cute, zippered pouch, I’d probably feel disappointed and a little upset, but the dual-tipped brushes serve to justify the price. With brush heads on both ends of four of the brushes, it’s like getting nine brushes for $9.44 each — practically a steal for Laura Mercier brushes, which usually sell for $30 a pop.

As for the quality of these travel brushes, color me impressed. I haven’t observed any shedding, loose ferrules or construction mistakes, and their performance seems to be on par with Laura’s more expensive full-size eye brushes.

Better yet, and why I really like this set, it covers all of the most important bases for my eye looks, with brushes for brows, concealer, liner, and for applying and blending eyeshadow.

And the full-size skunk brush? Amazing! I can’t believe I went without it for so long. It buffs powders, blushes and bronzers with a very light, natural touch. Great for getting that flawless, airbrushed look.
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