Palettes

Dior Golden Savannah Flirts With Perfection as My Favorite Dior Palette to Date

August 8th, 2012 by Karen 27 Comments

dior golden savannah

Tabs has been a regular crankypants all afternoon. I guess he doesn’t like it when I gush about something other than him, like the new $59 5-Couleurs Designer Couture Colour Eyeshadow Palette in #774 Golden Savannah — or more succinctly, Golden Savannah, “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!!”

But I do have a tendency to exaggerate when I’m smitten. 🙂

Tabs doesn’t care. All he sees is me paying attention to something else, which is a big no-no around here.

“Gah! I just want to play with Golden Savannah all day long,” and, “I’ll never let it leave my side! Golden Savannah is coming with me everywhere.”

dior golden savannah

I think he’s extra ornery because the palette’s name reminds him of a cat he used to know, a sleek Savannah named Goldie. They dated briefly one summer until she suddenly and unexpectedly left him for a blue point Siamese who lived up the street.

Then, of course, when Tabs rocketed to plus-size kitty modeling super-stardom, Goldie started calling again, but Tabs’ heart had already been broken, and he wouldn’t give her the time of day.

It’s a story as old as time itself, but I digress…

So the name! — whenever I say it out loud, I can hear Tabs cursing me under his breath.

Oh, well. I’m willing to risk the wrath of Tabs for this one, because I think it’s one of Dior’s best, most beautiful palettes in years.

Doing the makeup math

The $59 price, while annoyingly high, doesn’t seem exorbitant considering the quantity and quality of the colors this quint contains. Taking everything into account, I think the price, while typical for Dior, is actually a pretty decent deal, or so I’d like to think, and it compares well on price to less expensive department store brands like MAC.

With Golden Savannah, you get five 0.04-ounce pans of product for about $12 each — similar to the $12 MAC charges for their 0.05-ounce refill pans (five MAC refills would cost $60, or $1 more than the cost of the quint).

But there’s no two ways about it — Golden Savannah isn’t cheap. Thankfully, it also delivers a knockout on quality.

A sheen that shines

Starting with the finish, I think it’s absolutely beautiful and unlike anything else I have in my kit.

It’s as if Dior took a typical sheen and cranked it up to something between a sheen and a shimmer. Golden brown Soba Eyeshadow’s soft shine comes to mind, but even it doesn’t rise to Golden Savannah’s level.

When I’m wearing any of the shades in this palette, I feel like my lids just glow!

More than that, they glow without drawing attention to my fine lines, which is more than I can say for many products with similarly shimmery or metallic finishes.

dior golden savannah

dior golden savannah khaki design swatches
5-Couleurs Designer in Golden Savannah #774 (left) and 5-Couleurs Designer in Khaki Design #308 (right)
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It Takes You to Tango With the Make Up For Ever Black Tango Palette for Fall 2012

August 7th, 2012 by Karen 22 Comments

make up for ever black tango

I tangoed this afternoon for the first time in 20 years, and my partner was Make Up For Ever.

No, not tango in the ballroom style (“slow, slow, quick-quick, slow!”), although that always looks like so much fun. This was more just me dancing away the late afternoon with some pieces from MUFE’s new fall 2012 collection.

make up for ever black tango fall 2012

Ironically…my metaphorical dancing today was much more fun than the first time I tried the real tango.

It was the spring of my senior year in high school… My friend Alex and I had taken a ballroom dance class together after seeing the movie Swing Kids (5-second synopsis: a group of teenagers in Nazi Germany band together to dance to forbidden swing music from the United States).

Yup, that’s young Christian Bale in the middle

We started out hell bent on getting good enough to do the cool aerial tricks, tosses and lifts, so every Thursday after dinner Alex would pick me up in his rickety Dodge Dart, and I’d spend the 10-minute drive to the dance studio joshing him and his ride (“Dude, if this thing breaks down, you’re gonna have to flash your hairy leg on the side of the road and pray someone pulls over to help us, ’cause there’s no way I’m pushing this boat in these heels!”).

Then we’d shuffle across the dance floor for 45 minutes, with both of us spending most of the time looking down at our feet, to learn the basics of ballroom dancing with some of Union City’s sassiest seniors.

I don’t know what we were thinking, to be honest, because we were really, really terrible. Like the worst couple in class. Alex was over six-feet tall, and I barely cleared 5 feet, even when I was stepping on his toes, LOL! Seriously, if the class had given an award for crashing into other couples and stepping on feet, that’s the only award we would have won.

As bad as we were, though, the tango was sort of our specialty, and I still remember sailing across the dance floor, repeating “slow, slow, quick-quick, slow” over and over to myself.

“Slow, slow, quick-quick, slow!” I tried to get Tabs to dance with me this afternoon, but he wasn’t in the mood… Thankfully, the new Aqua Rouge Lip Colors ($24 each), Aqua Brow ($20) and new Black Tango Palette ($45) were. 🙂

make up for ever black tango palette closed
Black Tango Palette

make up for ever black tango fall 2012 open
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Escape to a Land of Cute Clutches and Magic Clay With the Tarte Amazon Escape Palette

August 3rd, 2012 by Karen 18 Comments

tarte amazon escape

Time for a game of What If!

What if…you found a palette that satisfied both your appetite for stylish accessories and your appetite for makeup?

And what if said palette were available now, at this very moment (depending on your time zone), and the powder eyeshadows and blushes within it not only helped you get your pretty on, but they also improved your skin?

Blarney! you say? Nope, ’tis not science fiction. Tarte believes that such a thing exists, and it was last seen escaping from the Amazon!

Wait — that’s not right. It’s just called Amazon Escape, as in the Tarte Amazon Escape Amazonian Clay Eye & Cheek Palette, and for $44 it pledges to beautify your eyes and cheeks while improving your skin.

The secret sauce in this palette parolee? A skin-loving trifecta of Amazonian clay (to nourish skin, reduce oil and improve texture), vitamin E (which acts as an anti-inflammatory emollient and protects against damage by free radicals), and soothing mineral pigments shown to soften skin.

tarte amazon eyescape

Just as important as all that…it’s cute! 🙂

And it’s on shelves now.

I have to admit, the packaging is what first caught my attention, but the colors and claimed skin benefits also make a compelling case, not that I can detect any results after testing it for a week.

Based on the colors, at least, I think it definitely deserves more time. The six powder shadows and two blushes in the kit are downright gorgeous!

tarte amazon eyescape 2

tarte amazon eyescape swatches
Swatches from the left: Blushes in Free and Exposed; Eyeshadows in Tame, Rare, Rope, Camo, Canopy and Tribal
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A Dior Golden Jungle Face of the Day (Night?)

July 20th, 2012 by Karen 52 Comments

dior golden jungle

Wow, I can’t believe it’s 11 already. I seriously zoned out playing with makeup this afternoon. Somehow I lost track of about three hours, LOL!

Oh, well. Not like it’s the first time that’s happened. 🙂

What are you up to tonight? No plans for me, obviously. My office is in a room upstairs, and El Hub and Tabs are watching TV downstairs, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, judging by the sound of it. I think I’ll go say hi to the boys.

I wish I had somewhere fun or fancy to go because I’d love to take this eye look out for a spin. I used the new Dior Golden Jungle Palette in Golden Browns #002.

Dior probably could have left out the sheer, nude peach gloss… It doesn’t exactly scream, “I’m worthy of a $70 palette!” especially one that could really benefit from the addition of a blush, but whatcha gonna do?

Love the little hatch over the gloss to protect it from any eyeshadow spillover. Good on ya, Dior. That’s a nice touch.

I think the rest of the palette is pretty fab. The eyeshadows are top-notch (and should be for $70). No fallout, easy to blend, and no creasing, yes!

dior golden jungle

dior golden jungle swatch

dior golden jungle
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The NARS Foreplay Cheek Palette Is Such a Tease

July 17th, 2012 by Karen 34 Comments

NARS Foreplay Cheek Palette

Okay, this blog’s a family show and all, but c’mon! You can’t expect me not to enjoy the perverted wordplay possibilities afforded by the new NARS Foreplay Cheek Palette ($49).

Fore-play? Four blushes, one of them a big ol’ pan of Orgasm? Oh, FranÃ§ois, you so crazy! 🙂

As a fellow diner at le buffet de beaute, you’re probably well aware of NARS Orgasm blush’s wonderful reputation. Makeup lovers have been lavishing praise upon it for years, calling it a universally flattering peachy golden pink that looks great on just about everyone.

I wear it, love it and reach for it often in the NARS Orgasm/Laguna Duo, which I never leave home without.

Seriously. I don’t think I’ve taken a trip without it once over the past three years.

Recognizing the product’s popularity, NARS decided to make Orgasm the main dish in Foreplay, a new limited edition cheek palette available exclusively at Sephora.

nars sephora foreplay

The palette serves up a big pan of Orgasm and three tasty sides — a matte rosy peach that reminds me of a sheerer NARS Amour, a matte hot pink that resembles a sleepy Mata Hari, and a shimmery golden yellow highlighter which, hello! — has glitter for days (starts off on my cheeks, ends up on my chin, weird!).

There’s been some rumbling about the blushes in Foreplay being different than their namesakes in the NARS permanent line, and I have to agree. The Foreplay Orgasm (did I really just type that?), for instance, sure looks more glittery than its permanent collection counterpart does to me, and the golden pearl glitter bits look larger, too, as do the grains within the powder itself.

Heck, I can see the blush sitting on my skin, which is something I’ve never noticed with my older pan of the big O. The overall effect seems more intense and less natural than the effect I get with the Orgasm in the Orgasm/Laguna Duo.

nars foreplay cheek palette swatches

Same goes for the glitter bits in the shimmery golden highlighter. They’re big, and they have a tendency to wander.

I’m definitely diggin’ both of the mattes, though, which remind me of Amour and Mata Hari, two of my favorite NARS blushes of all time.

nars foreplay cheek palette
Wearing the matte pink shade
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To the Chanel 51 Montaigne Ombres MatelassÃ©es Palette I Say, “You’re Golden”

July 11th, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

chanel 51 montiagne

I guess if I were being completely honest with myself, I could probably dupe the gorgeous golden shades in the characteristically expensive new $80 Chanel Ombre MatelassÃ©es Eyeshadow Palette in 51 Montaigne with colors already in my makeup drawer, but that wouldn’t be fair to my eyes.

Few dupes could also duplicate the thrill I feel clutching the black-and-white compact in my claw, its surface catching the light like a polished black pearl, its quilted colors luxuriating in their little slots as I breathe a single word, “Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaanel…”

What kind of witchcraft makes seemingly sane women drop $80 on a palette of five eyeshadows?

Oh, yeah, I remember. The kind from Coco.

Chanel cooked up this limited edition cutie to celebrate the opening of their newest boutique in Paris, not coincidentally named 51 Montaigne, after the street on which it lives. The palette comes with five profoundly smooth powder eyeshadows ranging in pigment from sheer to medium.

Yes, 51 Montaigne is on the pricey side of the street, but once its shadows set up shop on my lids, they absolutely do not move!

When I’m wearing these shades, I almost feel like hot stuff, all smokey and whatnot, like I’m getting ready to go shopping for Choos, as opposed to Fancy Feast and butternut squash.

chanel 51 montaigne

chanel 51 montaigne swatches

chanel 51 montaigne
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The Urban Decay Smoked Palette: Smoked Signals That Urban Decay Is Thinking About Jewels and Neutral Colors This Fall

July 2nd, 2012 by Karen 56 Comments

urban decay smoked palette

Vacations are synonymous with summer in many parts of the world, especially those parts that get downright chilly in winter, but I like to set aside some time for a quick trip or two each fall.

Temps are usually a little cooler, the crowds a little smaller, and, beauty weirdo that I am, I like being able to use the season as my rationale for wearing smokey eyes almost every day, and in all of my vacation pics. 🙂

LOL! I had a feeling you’d understand. Now let’s pinky shake for being makeup nerds 4eva!

Thanks to Urban Decay, I think I may have found a perfect palette to take on my next fall foray. It’s called Smoked, sells for $49, has smokey eyes written all over it, and arrives at Sephora and Ultra stores, Macy’s and the Urban Decay website later this week.

urban decay smoked palette

Comprised of mostly neutral colors with a few smouldering jewel-toned shades, lacking any electric hot pinks or teals, it seems almost subdued for Urban Decay, but not at all in a bad way.

These are colors a rock goddess might wear to a black-tie affair with fishnets beneath her formal gown and heels bristling with chains and spikes.

It’s as if a warlock took Urban Decay’s Naked and Naked2 palettes, dropped them into a boiling cauldron, added the Black and 15-Year Anniversary palettes, let that stew for a few hours, and then poured the mixture into the Midnight Emergency Kit’s packaging.

The sleek zippered case contains 10 Eyeshadows, five of them new and five repromoted, but all of them in Urban Decay’s new eyeshadow formula; one full-size 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (repromote), an inky black the color of a starless sky at midnight; a travel-sized Primer Potion (repromote), and a booklet called the Smoked Get The Look Book, with 12 step-by-step smokey eye tutorials (new).

Truth be told, I’d probably leave out the Primer Potion, as I have a tough time blending shadows on top of it (I don’t think it’s “slippery” enough for me), but I do know many gals who swear by it. If I were going on, say, on a 10-day trip to Italy this fall (hi, El Hub! Hint-hint!), that’s the one piece that come with the palette that I might just leave behind.

Ah… I can see it now — traipsing across the country on a quest to find the perfect pasta, and eating plate after plate of fettuccine, fusilli, spaghetti, ravioli and linguine with clams, perhaps while wearing a look like the smokey cat eyes I’m wearing here.

And I wouldn’t even have to worry about having to reapply after having that second cannoli because these easy-to-blend shadows, which exhibit very little fallout, stay put for at least 12 hours without fading or creasing.

My lower lash and water lines, however, might need a quick touch-up with Perversion pencil after 5-6 hours, but I can live with that.

If I happen to be in a more dramatic mood, because lawd knows that nothing goes with bread, wine and cheese like two smouldering smokey eyes (LOL!), I could even follow one of the tutorials in the Get The Look Book, or line my lash and water lines with Perversion, and then smudge one of the shimmery shadows along the lash lines.

urban decay smoked palette

urban decay smoked palette k4
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Well, Hello Kitty. I’ll Go to Paris With You and the Soft, Pigmented Powders in the Hello Kitty Mon Amour Palette

June 10th, 2012 by Karen 9 Comments

hello kitty mon amour palette

What if Sanrio and Sephora merged, like a Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger, to form a new superstore called Sephrio? And what if the new store carried a much larger selection of Hello Kitty-themed accessories and makeup?

Yeah…that would be cool.

As a 30-something beauty fanatic who still remembers making mix tapes from songs on the radio and blowing all of her birthday money at the Sanrio store at the mall (OMG! The pens with the dangling charms on the end!), I almost dropped my phone when I bumped into the limited edition Hello Kitty Mon Amour Palette ($21) at Sephora the other day.

hello kitty mon amour

Paris? Kitty…? Cute!

The little drawings and the balloons filled with pans of powder shadow (eight) and blush (two)? Nope. No way. That’s just too cute.

Not gonna lie, though, I expected these to be annoyingly sheer and chalky — just not up to snuff compared to brands like MAC and NARS — but wow. That wasn’t the case at all. They felt surprisingly smooth and looked beautiful, I thought, in the swatches.
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