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News

Would You Slather Your Face with Snail Gel in the Name of Beauty?

July 28th, 2010 by Karen 51 Comments

Gross and ewww! Add this to the weird beauty product files — De Tuinen Snail Gel, a skincare product made from the slime of Chilean snails (!), supposedly softens, smooths and supports skin elasticity for a more youthful-looking you.

Apparently, these snails ooze a slime high in allantoin, a compound found naturally in most mammals (but not in humans). It’s an active ingredient in many over-the-counter beauty products for its purported moisturizing and exfoliating properties (it’s said to help loosen and shed the outer layers of skin).

Chilean snail farmers (now there’s a phrase you don’t hear often) first discovered the moisturizing power of the slime, and clinical tests have shown that snail secretions high in allantoin can, in fact, plump the skin.

For a mere £20.45 (about $32 US dollars), Britain’s Holland and Barrett, specialists in natural supplements and herbs, will send you your very own jar of snail goo. 🙂

Sorry, US babes — at least for the now, the company only ships to countries in Europe.

For the record, I am totally grossed out by snails, slugs and other slimy things, but I’d probably try almost anything in the name of beauty science.

Well, I don’t know about that. I keep picturing snail butts…

Would you slather your face with snail gel in the name of beauty?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 51 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Just For Fun, News, Skin Care

Subscribe to Makeup and Beauty Blog

July 20th, 2010 by Karen 19 Comments

Subscribe to Makeup and Beauty Blog

Each morning at 11 a.m. my time (Pacific Standard), the veil between our world and the world of magic lifts for the briefest of moments, and in that moment — no longer than the blink of a fairy’s eye — an email goes out to Makeup and Beauty Blog subscribers everywhere.

Okay…maybe it doesn’t work exactly like that, but an email does get sent, and it includes my latest posts in ready-to-read format. You’ll get peeks at upcoming makeup collections, alerts about product giveaways and ideas for makeup looks to try at home — all washed down with a spoonful of crazy cat lady (sorry… I can’t help myself when it comes to Tabs).

Subscribe now to let Tabs and I lift your spirits every day (we’ll keep doing our best!), and never miss another post. Thanks for visiting. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Follow Makeup and Beauty Blog on TwitterP.S. Remember chat when chat was fun? Twitter’s kinda like that. Follow me on Twitter @karenmbb for up-to-the-second makeup news, Nutella cravings and cat sightings.

There are 19 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: News

Saturday Surfing

July 17th, 2010 by Karen 23 Comments

Ah…good run, but it wasn’t exactly a run, per se. More like a slow, sweaty trot. 🙂

While I’m “running,” I like to sing and groove to my iPod (today I was BUMPING Biggie!), and periodically I’ll throw in a Jersey Shore-inspired fist pump for effect. I’m pretty sure I look completely redonkulous, but in my mind I’m sprinting like a gazelle down the beach in Chariots of Fire, ha!

Care to cool down with me and some Saturday Surfing?

Random bright spots

  • Why it might be a bad idea to travel with nail polish remover — Bella Sugar
  • Um, I hate to admit it, but I totally need this under-arm stain remover — Refinery 29
  • NO CLUE where I’d wear these wedge/sneaker hybrids, but I sure do love ’em! — Blog de Betty
  • This fall Lancome celebrates flappers — Stylelist
  • MAC’s donating a portion of Rodarte Collection proceeds to charity — The Cut Blog
  • Crank up the volume of fine hair with Sebastian’s Volupt Spray — The ART and Science of [beauty]
  • Are you a hat girl? Me too! Check out these hot summer hats for under $50 — True Birds
  • BRILLIANT! I adore this bright and shimmery teal eye — Phyrra
  • 3 top drugstore gems for under $5 — Confessions of a Beauty Guru
  • What do you think of the OPI Summer Flutter collection? — Magic Maid
  • J. Crew’s Chanel-inspired jacket — Bay Area Style File
  • How to improve your guy’s summer wardrobe — College Fashion

New in beauty

  • Mirror, mirror on the wall, is Tokidoki’s Vanita Mirror ($25) cutest of them all?
  • Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Eyeshadow Palettes in Blue Dahlia and Surreal Violet ($42 each) just made me squeal
  • Laura’s Secrets Volume 1 (Laura Mercier, $59): a kit for flawless lips
  • I’d like to have a Private Affair with LORAC’s new smokey palette ($38) this fall
  • Do the antioxidants in the Illumin8 With Youthful Synergy Complex Eye Shadow Palette ($40) really lift, hydrate and soothe?
  • Tokidoki’s always killing me with cuteness: the Pittura Brush Set ($35)
  • Tarina Tarantino’s Starchild Odyssey Palette ($39) looks totally astronomical!
  • Fossil’s Key-Per Frame Cosmetic Case ($25) draws on retro prints
  • Laura Mercier says her Full Blown Volume Mascara ($24) uses hair care technology to coat lashes with a glazing gel for an ultra thick curl
  • The Stila One Step Correct Triple Swirl Helix Primer brightens AND covers imperfections ($36)
  • If you like brights, head for The Backstage Eyeshadow Palette ($28) from Stila
  • Physicians Formula Shimer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow & Liner ($9) colors, contours and lines eyes with high-impact color
  • For the nudist of discerning taste: LORAC Nude Scene Collection comes with soft shades for eyes, lips and cheeks ($25)
  • Create your own color scheme with the Sephora Refillable Lipstick Palette ($15)
  • My dark circles are telling me to try Garnier’s new Anti-Dark-Circle Eye Roller ($12)

In other news, have you seen Inception yet with Leo? I’m dying to know if it’s any good (but no spoilers, please)!

What’s the game plan for tonight? I’m supposed to be meeting some friends for Peruvian food (viva la carbs!) in the city. I’m already hungry, of course.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you’re new here, thank you for visiting. Makeup and Beauty Blog is a makeup blog with daily product reviews, beauty tips, giveaways and the random shenanigans of a crazy cat lady/makeup enthusiast named Karen (that’s me!). 🙂

There are 23 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun, News

Burberry Beauty: An Interview with Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Director

July 16th, 2010 by Karen 32 Comments

Burberry Beauty officially launched last Tuesday at the San Francisco Nordie’s store, and I popped by to check out the new makeup line and to chat with Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief creative director (and quite possibly one of the most polite and well-dressed dudes I’ve ever met).

Here are some images of the new line and product swatches to go with the video above.


Burberry Sheer Eyeshadows, $29 each
[Continue reading…]

There are 32 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, News, Video Keywords: burberry

Dior Fall 2010, Clinique Fall 2010, Keanu Reeves and Bobbi Brown Chocolate & Navy

July 10th, 2010 by Karen 49 Comments


Can you spot a friendly neighborhood beauty addict?

Evenin’, ladies. Just wanted to say hola and share a few pics from my adventures this afternoon. After the museum we swung by the mall, and now I desperately need your help. I’m struggling to exercise restraint here at Nordstrom, where I’ve got my eye on a Dior palette that’s taking every ounce of willpower to resist (I told myself I’d only get one thing, and that thing is NOT this)!

Maybe this in-store mobile blogging break will distract me. 🙂

Here are some pics I took with my phone today. Sorry if a few of them aren’t as sharp as usual.


Columns in front of the Legion of Honor


Rockin’ messy, beachy waves


I could have stared at this painting for hours…


WOOO! Double rainbow all the way across the sky!!


Um, doesn’t this guy look EXACTLY like Keanu Reeves?
[Continue reading…]

There are 49 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, News Keywords: bobbi brown, dior

Saturday Surfing

July 10th, 2010 by Karen 8 Comments


Double rainbow, y’all

Ah… The sun is out, birds are chirping, and I’m feeling pretty darn good.

Maybe not as good as the double rainbow guy, but good nonetheless. 🙂

What are you up to today? I just finished a slow trot on the treadmill, and now I’m getting ready to head to the city to check out an Impressionists exhibit (my favorite movement!) at the Legion of Honor museum.

I get the feeling we’re in for another hot one today. Care to cool off in the surf with me before I jet?

Random bright spots

  • Eyebrow styles, like fashion, change over time. Take a look here at how brow trends have changed. Which are your faves (I dig Iman’s!)? — Bella Sugar
  • 8 different day/night looks for different body shapes — College Fashion
  • AWESOME: Betty White poses with shirtless hunks to support animal health and welfare — Stylelist
  • A comprehensive guide to exfoliation — In My Professional Opinion
  • A historical look at Chanel No. 5 — Older Girl Beauty
  • The 10 best looks from Hong Kong Fashion Week — The Cut
  • De-frizz your hair with…a kabuki brush?!? — The Beauty Couch
  • How to: fabulous wedding hair — Hair on the Brain
  • Ongoing super savings at Target — Nouveau Cheap

New in beauty

  • DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum ($28) — instantly primes, plumps, and lengthens while simultaneously promoting long-term lash growth
  • Burberry Sport for Women Eau de Toilette ($48) — with notes of mandarin orange, sea salt, vetiver, freesia and honeysuckle
  • Get perfect ponytails by smoothing and controlling flyaways with HerCut The Ponytail Styling Lotion ($22)
  • Stretch marks? Mustela claims their Stretch Marks Double Action ($39) lotion makes existing stretch marks less noticeable and future ones less likely to occur
  • Too Face Lashgasm ($21) fakes dramatically longer lashes in black
  • Sephora’s Purple Smoky Eyes Tutorial ($36) for (you guessed it!) purple smokey eyes!
  • Benefit makeup half off (products as low as $9)!
  • The skincare products in the new Origins Zero Oil ($18.50-25) line cut down on oil and shine
  • Philosophy’s Beach Party Body Lotion ($30) smells like pineapple and coconut
  • Bobbi Brown’s Bahamas Bronze Set ($55) — a golden glow for the fairest of them all
  • Laura Mercier’s Mystique Collection ($22-24) sparkles like the city at night
  • Cyber sex-ify your lashes with Shu Uemura Neo ($12-65)

And the double rainbow returns (now with a remix)!

Because one can never play enough Super Mario Bros.

NEAT! Here’s a music video made entirely on the new iPhone 4

Quick question: Have you ever seen a double rainbow before? Just asking. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you’re new here, thank you for visiting. Makeup and Beauty Blog is a makeup blog with daily product reviews, beauty tips, giveaways and the random shenanigans of a crazy cat lady/makeup enthusiast named Karen (that’s me!). 🙂

There are 8 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun, News

Brazil’s Beauty Industry Ranks Third Among 193 Countries Worldwide

June 26th, 2010 by Karen 57 Comments

Beauty is big business for Brazil

Beauty isn’t just big business in Brazil — it’s HUGE! With a value of $28 billion by sales volume, Brazil’s beauty market is now the third largest on the planet (behind the U.S. and Japan), and despite a sluggish global economy it’s also one of the world’s fastest growing, at a 14% compounded rate from 2004-2009.

When Rio beat out a long list of famous cities to host the 2016 Olympic Games, it came as a shock to many, but Brazil, a country of 192 million, has been making strides for decades, capitalizing on vast natural resources and one of the world’s most favorable climates for agribusiness.

Map of BrazilBrazil’s beauty industry isn’t just big because of the country’s size, either. It’s a multi-faceted industry, both internally with sales to Brazilians (their deodorants sector is the largest in the world; also top 5 in hair care products, toiletries and oral care) and externally through beauty industry exports, which now exceed $600 million per year. Demand for natural products and exotic plants (Brazil is home to 250,000 native botanical species) have led most of the world’s largest cosmetics companies to Brazil for ingredients like maracujá (passion fruit), açaí, acerola, mango and castanha do pará (Brazil Nut).
[Continue reading…]

There are 57 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: News, Top Posts

Benefit Crescent Row Second Story: Three New Fragrances Coming Soon

June 4th, 2010 by Karen 39 Comments

benefit crescent row the second story

Have you heard? Next month we’re getting three new neighbors on Benefit’s Crescent Row. Yup, you remember their cousins, right? — those spunky gals from last year?

Girls of the original Benefit Crescent Row…

  • Laugh With Me Lee Lee
  • My Place or Yours Gina
  • Something About Sofia

Like those first three fragrances, the new ones were also named after different imaginary girls, complete with colorful backstory poems replete with style and charm.

There’s Garden of Good and Eva, Lookin’ to Rock Rita and Hooked on Carmella, each of them eau de toilettes ($36 apiece).

They flutter onto Benefit counters, stores and Sephora next month. Here are some details from Benefit…

benefit crescent row the second story garden of good and eva

Garden of Good and Eva

Eva’s a crisp and citrusy floral with a full-time free spirit, and she’s the kind of friend you can never refuse, even when she’s asking you to ditch work for a day at the beach!

Official fragrance notes: Eva opens with notes of pear, watermelon, ozone accords (an accord is when three or four notes blend together to create a new scent) and muguet (Lily of the Valley), sauntering from there into a heart of rosebud, jasmine petals, green violet leaves and freesia. Finally, she mellows into a mix of sandalwood, musk and cedarwood.

Come away with Eva
Breeze down a lush lane
She’s the fresh rush of splendor
You can’t quite explain
So vividly vibrant
With a carefree deameanor
She whirls off to a place
Where grasses are greener

Sounds like Eva might make a perfect companion for a summer road trip down the coast.

benefit crescent row the second lookin to rock rita

Lookin’ to Rock Rita

Exhilarating Rita, all green and fruity, hums along in high heels and high fashion. You can bet she’ll be ready for adventure at the drop of a hat!

Official fragrance notes: Opening with a blend of lemon, coconut and freesia, Rita boogies into a heart of juicy fig, hyacinth and violet before clearing the dance floor for bottom notes of sandalwood, Brazilian rosewood and vanilla, YUM!

Rita’s ready to rock
And dressed to thrill
With a flavor for risks
Brilliant dreams to fulfill
Juiced up on extras
And dazzling fashions
A modern-day paradise
Of shake-it-up passions

Doesn’t Rita sound like the one to go clubbing with? I just hope she doesn’t ditch me for a cute boy!

benefit crescent row the second story so hooked on carmella

So Hooked on Carmella

She’s the girl at dinner who captures every single heart!

Official fragrance notes: Carmella starts her seduction with yummy lemon, grapefruit and rhubarb before melting into cyclamen (a flower), peony and tiare flower. She ends the evening (with company, of course) by drying down into a warm finish of vanilla, sandalwood and amber.

When it comes to Carmella
Don’t ask and don’t tell
A light touch has admirers
Under her spell
Her sweet sensuality
No one would guess
So exquisite, enticing…
An intimate caress

Carmella could make date nights more special than the rest!

So tell me — which of the new Crescent Row Second Story girls do you resemble most? I think I might be an Eva. 🙂

CCL salad bar

WARNING: Crazy cat lady moment. I’ve started doing some gardening out front, and what do you suppose I planted? Rows of beautiful flowers? Vegetables galore?
[Continue reading…]

There are 39 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Fragrance, News Keywords: benefit

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