Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Weee are the cham-pions…my frrriend.
And weee’ll keep on bronnnzing…till the ennnnd.
Weee are the cham-pions. WEEE are the cham-pions!!
SWWWIPE on some Hooola…’cause weee are the cham-pions……OF THE BRONNNZE!!
— “We Are the Champions” (1977), by Queen, lost recording
If you decide to add one of Benefit’s new World Famous Neutrals kits to your holiday wish list, there’s a good chance (at least 93.5%) that your sis, mom, BFF or Secret Santa will find it hard to resist keeping it for herself.
(Because that’s totally what I’d be tempted to do.)
These three new $30 Sephora exclusive kits are some of the most exciting neutrals I’ve seen since Naked2, and I’m going bananas (B-A-N-A-N-A-S) over the colors, almost all of which are new.
Just when I thought the whole neutral palette craze was completely played out, along comes Benefit to put their signature spin on it.
First, they created “Eyenessa,” the magical, mystical makeup maven/character who graces the covers of all three World Famous Neutral kits, and judging by her giant hoop earrings and affinity for gold jewelry, she’s a girl after my own accessories-lovin’ heart. 🙂
Second, there’s the Creaseless Creams! — which are my favorite things about these. Each kit comes with two of them in tiny pots, along with four Longwear Powder Shadows.
Now, it seems like every brand has a nude/neutral palette of powder eyeshadows, but not many of them come with cream shadows. By including two Creaseless Creams with each of these, Benefit takes these kits to the next level. I think the Creams give Bene-babes much more power to layer and create their own custom combos.
What do ya say we take a closer look now at each of the kits? 🙂
Abracadabra! This spellbinding kit’s combination of rich, warm neutrals is prompting me to put my obsession with Skinny Jeans on pause (BTW, have you tried Skinny Jeans yet?? It’s one of my favorite cream eyeshadow colors of all time!). The kit features two enchanting Creaseless Creams of its own, the shimmery champagne Birthday Suit and My Two Cents, a shimmery warm golden copper.
The kit also comes with Longwear Powder Shadows in Call My Buff (a pearly, peachy beige), Kiss Me I’m Tipsy (a warm reddish brown with a hint of plum), It’s Complicated (a shimmery pinkish gold) and Gilt-y Pleasure (a shimmery peachy gold) to add even more glow to your eye looks.
While it’s true that quick escapes from the zombies — especially those fresh ones that can run — are a little easier if you aren’t toting around 24 different tubes of red lipstick, the makeup code of conduct is clear on the topic of red lipsticks. No tube gets left behind.
I’m always looking for a new excuse to grow my red lipstick collection/arsenal, and if you are too, don’t miss Laura Mercier’s new $26 Creme Smooth Lip Colour in Deco Rouge ($26) from the Art Deco Muse collection.
Before I’d even touched the tube, I had a feeling it might be special when I saw it worn down to the nub at a counter…
And then it was love at first swipe. The stuff of pin-up girl dreams, it’s a warm, blazingly bright tomato red unemcumbered by scents or flavors.
Because we’re friends, I’m going to tell you the real reason I’m head over heels in love with Bobbi Brown’s $18 Black Pearl Nail Polish without you thinking that I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
Okay, here goes…
It’s the color of Darth Vader’s helmet.
I spent years scouring the universe (and nail polish displays) for a nail polish the color of Vader’s helmet, and finally, after all these years, success! Mwahahahahaaa!
Emperor Palpatine will be pleased…
($18; available now at Bobbi Brown counters and bobbibrowncosmetics.com)
Sure, Vader’s a really bad guy, but you have to admit — that helmet holds a certain allure.
It’s shiny, which I like, and the color’s quite complex (like Vader himself). Sometimes, it looks more gray than black, and when the light hits it right, I see dark, gloomy purple undertones…
If I ever bump into George Lucas again at the movies, I’m telling him about Bobbi’s Black Pearl Polish because I think Darth would totally love it, especially on his toes, where he could probably get away with a single pigmented coat.
I can see it now… Vader, at the end of a long day hunting down rebels on the Death Star, takes off his boots for a few minutes of “me time” while painting his nails.
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Why settle for a shimmery golden eyeshadow that merely illuminates your lids when you could wear a shimmery golden eyeshadow that also caters to your inner lazy girl?
With a few quick pats and swipes to blend out the edges, Laura Mercier’s intensely pigmented warm golden $24 Illuminating Eye Colour in Gilded Moonlight will take you from bare lids to bold shimmer in 3.9 seconds!
Wait — let me try that again…
With a few quick pats and swipes to blend out the edges, Laura Mercier’s intensely pigmented warm golden $24 Illuminating Eye Colour in Gilded Moonlight will take you from bare lids to bold shimmer in less time than it takes to say, “The only reason I’m watching Jersey Shore is because I don’t want to look for the remote…” Not that I’ve ever said anything like that to El Hub while sprawled out on the couch with a bag of Baked Cheetos.
Nope.
Laura, if your master plan was to get me to book a reservation at Château de Lazy Girls, it worked. Like your equally easy Gilded Bronze, Gilded Moonlight takes but a minute to use. Just pat, blend and go.
NOTE: Gilded Moonlight isn’t light on pigment at all. In fact, it’s loaded with it! — which also means it can be easy to over-apply.
Even though it’s a holiday release, I can see myself wanting to wear it when the weather warms up again next year. For a bronzed beach babe look, I’d just swap the red lipstick and black liner for a sheer, coral gloss and a liner in green, purple or teal.
Racing to get out the door but you still want to look polished? Perhaps soft, silky Gilded Moonlight can help.
PRICE: $24
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Laura Mercier counters and lauramercier.com
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Catch ya later, Wednesday! See you again next week.
I hope your day went well. No complaints out here, other than the rain, which keeps trying to bring me down.
Tonight I’m just massaging my brain in front of the TV (re-watching Battlestar Galactica). I wanted to go to a Cat Behavior Clinic at the Novato Humane Society, but the timing didn’t work out. Maybe next time…
Not that Tabs really needs behavioral help. Despite his diva propensities, he’s actually a pretty awesome cat (most of the time). I just think the clinic sounds interesting.
Whatever you’re up to, enjoy the rest of your night, and sleep well. I’ll talk to you soon.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
If I were a pirate…my makeup collection would be my pirate’s booty, yargh!
And like most swashbuckling sailors of the seven seas (at least the ones in Hollywood movies), I’d wear a lot of looks featuring dark black eyeliner (hello, have you seen Jack Sparrow’s water line?? FIERCE!).
I’d also want a steady supply of sheer glosses to balance out those heavy eyeliner looks.
Ahoy, matey! Bobbi Brown has yer solution, and it’s not just for buccaneers and marauders. If you have a soft spot for sheer gloss, you just might like the five new $23 Lip Glosses from the Caviar & Oyster Collection.
Like a hunk of driftwood or a bottle with a message inside (“Please send gravy!”), the eight-piece release recently washed up on Bobbi Brown counters, delighting makeup treasure hunters with a palette, a nail polish, a dual-ended mascara and the five new glosses in predominantly cool-toned neutral shades.
The hook? — no, not the one replacing Blackbeard’s hand. With the collection, Bobbi aimed to offer her fans the option of going strong and smokey or soft and pretty.
But here’s the thing about the glosses: even the darker shades, like Moonlight Pearl and Black Pearl, seem pretty tame to me, so you might want to blank them out first with a layer of concealer.
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What if my eyelids naturally shimmered, and all I had to do was be awake? I’d probably stumble out of bed as usual, with my crazy-@ss hair and (sometimes) crusty drool around the corners of my mouth, and shamble to the bathroom.
But then! — then I’d gaze upon my reflection in the mirror and be almost blinded by my shimmery eyes. Wham, glam, thank you, ma’am!
Of course, that’s just a fantasy… Real people don’t have eyelids that naturally shimmer (le sigh), but I think I may have found the next best thing, Laura Mercier’s $24 Illuminating Eye Colour in Gilded Bronze, one of four shades in the new Art Deco Muse collection.
These eyeshadows have a luminous, pearlescent finish and a soft, almost bouncy texture similar to the MAC Extra Dimensions (which I love!), and they shower eyelids with shimmer and pigment.
Gilded Bronze, an easy-to-use neutral bronze with taupe tendencies, is my favorite of the bunch. I have a feeling it’ll get along swimmingly with skin tones on both ends of the color temperature spectrum.
For the kind of shine I can comfortably wear to daytime events, I just pat a miniscule amount directly on my lids (I think you can get away with using less on darker skin) with a firm, flat eyeshadow brush like Laura’s All Over Eye Colour Brush, and buff out the edges with a tapered blending brush like Laura’s Pony Tail.
Then, I curl my lashes, treat them to Chanel Le Volume Mascara, swipe a smidgen of Laura’s stunning Lip Lacquer in Laque Rouge gloss on my lips, and “Why, yes, I am ready for my closeup, Mr. Deville.” 🙂
Alternately, for a bolder, high-shine metallic shimmer, I’ll simply add a second layer.
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Gather ’round the campfire, girls, and lend me your ears. The tale you’re about to hear is no meager yarn or fable, no children’s fairytale. No, it’s one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern era and antiquity. Why? Because it’s true! — as true as the North Star!
Sit close, steel your nerves, and open your mind. Behold! Now begins the Legend of Zella and the Quest for the Gathered Tote…
Once upon a time (around 2007), in a place far, far away, there lived a pint-sized beauty lover named Karen.
Despite her best intentions, every time Karen left the house, she brought along everything but the kitchen sink.
Along with her regular cat lady accoutrements — her wallet, phone, keys, snacks, cat treats, 12 tubes of gloss, a pair of backup shoes, a spare bra (because you never know…) and extra socks — she also brought her cameras, lenses and laptop with her a lot of the time.
The villagers in her small town didn’t understand. “Dude,” they’d whisper to one another and point as she passed, “what’s that chick’s deal? Why does she need three bags? Who carries that much stuff?”
“I don’t know,” another would say. “I heard that she keeps a cat in one of them and a fully cooked turkey in the other!”
Then, one day, everything changed. Karen discovered the $68 Zella Gathered Tote at a local merchant’s shoppe, also known as Nordstrom (it’s also online at nordstrom.com).
Right away, Karen saw its potential. “Hmm…” she wondered. “Although technically a gym bag, this thing will serve me well. It’s slim-fitting and deep, yet still lightweight. It’s also big enough for a laptop, two cameras, a medium-sized travel makeup bag and my gym clothes. Or, I could just use it as a casual tote, or maybe even a diaper bag someday.
“I don’t think El Hub would mind carrying it, either, because it’s black and not too girly at all.”
Karen slung the main strap across her body and happily skipped all the way home; she also delighted in the knowledge that she could have carried it by the padded, comfy double handles as well.
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