• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To MakeupMakeup 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

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
    • Advertising & Media
  • Categories
    • Product Reviews
    • Makeup
    • Skincare & Fragrance
    • Style & Fashion
    • Hair
    • Nails
    • Tips & Tutorials
    • Just for Fun
  • Brands
  • Store

Product Reviews

Will 6 Get You 12 With Milani’s $6 Shadow Eyez 12 HR Wear Eyeshadow Pencils?

May 7th, 2012 by Karen 27 Comments

milani shadow eyez
Green Safari

I dream of a world where every eyeshadow on the market lasts from dawn till dusk! A world where shadow pencils like Milani’s purposefully misspelled Shadow Eyez 12 HR Wear Eyeshadow Pencils last long enough to make it through three cups of ginger tea (two words: tummy troubles) spaced four hours apart, and Aquatic Style, my favorite of the six shades, glows strong through six spontaneous chair dance sessions spread out across the entire day … because there’s nothing quite like seeing that electric teal flashing back at you in the mirror as you rock out to that part at the end of Wanna Be Starting Something. “Mamma say, mamma saw, mamaco saw!”

And most of all, I dream of a world where these $5.99 pigmented pencils last long enough to endure a full 12 hours of being ignored by the huskiest tabby in Novato, who, yes, is back to hating his gravy chef/admin assistant once again.

A full 12 hours? Do dreams really come true?

Like a powerful pegasus sweeping down from my multi-colored makeup dreams, Milani’s Shadow Eyez Pencils deliver saddlebags filled with pigment and shine, and a texture so smooth and soft that it makes baby bunnies envious.

milani shadow eyez 12 hr wear eyeshadow pencils
Shadow Eyez Pencils from the left: Winter White, Brown Deluxe, Champagne Toast, Green Safari, Aquatic Style and Royal Purple

milani green safari
Green Safari

milani aquatic style
Aquatic Style
[Continue reading…]

There are 27 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Eyes, Makeup, Milani, Product Reviews Keywords: milani

Reflections on Life, Lipgloss and the Smashbox Shades of Fame Reflection High Shine Lip Gloss Set

May 7th, 2012 by Karen 21 Comments

smashbox hibiscus
Smashbox Reflection High Shine Lip Gloss in Hibiscus

Dear Self,

Please keep in mind these notes on lipgloss and life, and hold on to them when you’re feeling sad or yucky.

Remember…

…that you can always change your circumstances. It’s not always as easy as changing your lipgloss, but sometimes it’s the smallest changes that make the biggest impact (see: the Smashbox Shades of Fame Reflection High Shine Lip Gloss Set, $29, which includes five tiny travel-size glosses).

smashbox shades of fame reflection high shine lip gloss set

If you’re lonely, reach out! Put those fingers to work, and email, tweet or text a friend or coworker. Maybe make a lunch date.

When you start feeling like you’re stuck in a rut, shake things up! There are BIG shakes, like planning a trip, so you have something fun to look forward to, and little shakes, like committing to do just one thing differently today, even if it’s just walking down a street in your neighborhood that you’ve never explored before.

Always remember that you’re not alone, even when you feel lonely. The pressure you sometimes feel to be funny, creative and interesting, the doubt, the constant wondering if you’ll be able to think of exciting new ways to call something “neutral” or “nude.”

People understand that you’re only human; no one can be on all the time.

Remember what works for you, and write like a crazy person! Write with reckless abandon. Write as fast as you can! Don’t worry about word counts, deadlines and cutting stuff down, because you can deal with all of that stuff later.

Remember that you have the power to change your point of view. See silver linings, and welcome new challenges with open arms and a positive attitude.

Remember that you can do this. You can write raw, and you can write real.

Remember that everyone sees the same things in different ways. Some might see the five tubes in the Smashbox Shades of Fame Reflection High Shine Lip Gloss Set, and think, “Meh, just another limited edition batch of standard summer glosses…”

They may not get beyond the surface details, like how thick and sticky these feel, how moisturizing they are (very), their light vanilla flavor and scent, sheer-to-medium pigment or their three-hour wear time.

Others might see the same glosses, however, and think, “Wow… Lipgloss is kinda like life.”

smashbox shades of fame reflection high shine lip gloss set

Sometimes, it’s all sparkly and beautiful and everything you ever wanted it to be. Other times, it’s gritty, and not at all what you expected. Sometimes, it disappears too fast, or you get your hair stuck in it, and that really sucks … especially if you’re on a bicycle without brakes (been there, done that).

smashbox papaya
Papaya
[Continue reading…]

There are 21 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Makeup, Product Reviews, Smashbox Keywords: smashbox

The Summertime de Chanel Glossimers May Be Sheer, But They’re Also Chanel

May 6th, 2012 by Karen 28 Comments

chanel calypso glossimer

Sirocco! Calypso! Ah, yes. Gotta love Chanel Glossimers that 1) rhyme and 2) sound like the names of late-’80s pop duos, which reminds me…

…freshman year in high school, I sat next to a girl in algebra class who went to a Milli Vanilli concert one night and then gushed the next day at school about how “They were so amazing live!”

LOL! Live-ish. 🙂

It’s too bad the Glossimers aren’t less expensive. Both of these limited edition shades from the Summertime de Chanel collection are also pretty sheer, and at $29.50 a pop, they aren’t exactly a bargain in terms of pigment per ounce.

Even so, their sheerness is oddly what I like about them.

I can just imagine the summertime adventures I could have with these two. Touring wine country one Sunday with my friends, Jen and Cindy, peachy beige Sirocco on my lips.

The color is a little like MAC C-Thru, only less pigmented and more shimmery. Perfect for an easy nude lip. I’d whip it out for touch-ups between sips of Merlot and the grand revelations that come with being a boozy lightweight/cheap date (“Dude, Madonna’s Bedtime Stories CD was way ahead of its time!”).

Fun facts about “Sirocco”

  • It’s also a North African wind that blasts across the Mediterranean to Southern Europe
  • The title of a movie staring Humphrey Bogart
  • The name of a parrot that once tried to mate with some dude’s hair

The second shade, Calypso, is a reddish coral with golden glitter. More pigmented than Sirocco but less opaque than similar shades like MAC Lychee Luxe, it’s the one I’d wear with friends to Bliss Spa, followed by lunch at the Samovar Tea Lounge (because tea with friends makes everything better).

Sheer and shiny coral lips + spa treatments * tea + good conversation = happiness. Add a bright floral dress, and I’m smiling from ear to ear. 🙂

chanel glossimer sirocco calypso tube
Calypso (bottom) and Sirocco (top)

chanel sirocco calypso swatches
Sirocco (left) and Calpyso (right)
[Continue reading…]

There are 28 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Chanel, Lips, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: chanel

Smashbox Is Showing Shades of Brilliance (and Much Less Fallout) With the Smashbox Shades of Fame Eye Palette

May 5th, 2012 by Karen 18 Comments

smashbox shades of fame eye palette

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be famous? Pretty much, I think it would not be fun. Not being able to run to Target in my jammies for bananas and dental floss, or have lunch at a sidewalk cafe without hearing everyone around you whisper, “It’s that actress from that show with that guy,” or accidentally do something really awkward and ridiculous, like falling on your butt in the rain and cursing, “Dammit all to hell!” without it going viral on YouTube later that night.

No thanks.

The closest I want to get to fame is the new Smashbox Shades of Fame Eye Palette ($48). 🙂 I did a couple of looks with it today following the tutorials from the booklet that come with the kit.

smashbox shades of fame eye palette
The Test Shoot look

smashbox shades of fame eye palette 10
[Continue reading…]

There are 18 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Product Reviews, Smashbox Keywords: smashbox

Face the Day the Kate Somerville Way With Epically Hydrating KateCeuticals Moisture Milk Cleanser

May 4th, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

Things that cross my mind 30,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean…

  1. If the zombie apocalypse went down and all air travel ceased, the only way I’d be able to visit Hawaii would be by boat … and that would pretty much suck.
  2. Man, my skin is sooo dry.
  3. Did I really just pay $7 for a fruit-and-cheese plate filled with tired apple slices, cracked crackers and sketchy cheese?
  4. Man, my skin is sooo dry.
  5. I have to “drop the kids off at school,” but the captain just said we’re in for some turbulence… I think I should wait.
  6. Man, my skin is sooo dry.

The climate control on airplanes sucks! Literally. Whenever I’m on a plane, I can practically hear the moisture being vacuumed out of my face. Mfsuuuuuuuup! By the end of the five-hour flight back from Kauai, my combo dry/oily skin felt like an old leather wallet.

First thing I did when I got home — well, the second thing, after biscuits with Tabs, of course — was wash my face with Kate Somerville’s KateCeuticals Moisture Milk Cleanser ($58), and I swear I heard my cheeks sighing with relief.

“Ever wanted to meet a superstar? Well, you can—with this superstar cleanser! This rich, creamy blend of antioxidants and fruit extracts is designed to clean, hydrate, and brighten the look of the complexion. KateCeuticalsâ„¢ Moisture Milk Cleanser delivers comfort to skin with a soothing blend of powerful Vitamins, Orange Blossom, and Orange Peel Extracts that leave skin feeling moisturized and fresh. This sulfate-free cleanser is so gentle that it can be rinsed or simply tissued off.”

— katesomerville.com

Designed to cleanse, quench, brighten and firm dry skin, Moisture Milk is loaded with kukui nut, macadamia and coconut oils to satiate even the thirstiest faces, and after rinsing, I can feel a moisturizing layer of product protecting my skin.

Now, a lot of cream cleansers will do that, but I think Kate’s goes above and beyond. The layer it leaves behind feels thicker and much more hydrating than other cream cleansers I’ve tried. It really seems to lock in moisture and keep the flakes at bay much longer than most.

kate somerville moisture milk cleanser

kate somerville moisture milk cleanser
[Continue reading…]

There are 15 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Kate Somerville, Product Reviews, Skin Care Keywords: kate somerville

I Have Mixed Emotions About the CK One Color Cream + Powder Blush Duo in Happiness

May 3rd, 2012 by Karen 7 Comments

ck one happiness blush

I will never be able to hear the words, “Calvin Klein,” without immediately picturing Michael J. Fox’s purple underwear in Back to the Future, despite millions of dollars in marketing and hundreds of products released over more than four decades! Now that movie? That movie was happiness. 🙂

But not today — not according to CK One Color. Today, Happiness is a $25 blush duo, one of five in the new CK One Color makeup line.

The CK One Color Cream + Powder Blush Duo in Happiness pairs a hard-packed powder blush together with a softer cream blush. On my NC42 skin, the powder appears matte and peachy pink, while the cream looks like a peachy beige.

I think both are pretty — very pretty, in fact — but I’m still having a hard time falling in love with these colors… Hard, because that’s exactly how these colors have been to use (hard).

I usually like soft powder blushes, but this one here feels very hard. Like bedrock! It’s one of those powders that looks super sheer in swatches, but a little more pigmented when applied with a blush brush. Even using a brush, though, I think it’s still pretty sheer, and I find myself having to apply at least five layers to reach a level of pigment I’m happy with on my cheeks.

As for the cream half of the duo, it has a dry, silky, silicone-like texture that reminds me of solid balm primers like Benefit’s Dr. Feelgood. I like how it scoots across my cheeks, but I wish it stuck around a little longer, especially when I wear it by itself.

Worn alone, the cream side starts looking patchy on my skin after about three hours. Even so, that’s not my biggest concern about the product. That honor goes to the pores on my cheeks, which look BIG when I wear this. We’re talkin’ HUGE, as in super-sized.

Normally, I don’t feel like the pores on my cheeks are particularly large, but they certainly seem larger to me when I wear the cream half of Happiness. Just something to consider.

CK One says you can wear the cream and powder products separately or together, by layering the powder blush on top of the cream.

I get the best results when I layer them together, with the cream blush appearing less patchy, and the powder blush appearing a bit more pigmented and intense.

The wear time also improves. When I wear them together, I get about five hours, tops.

CK One Color Happiness Cream Powder Blush Duo

CK One Color Happiness Cream Powder Blush Duo 1
Powder blush on left and cream blush on right
[Continue reading…]

There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: CK One Color, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: ck one color

This Summer, Tarte Comes Bearing Gifts From the Lipstick Tree

May 2nd, 2012 by Karen 36 Comments

tarte gifts from the lipstick tree
Wearing Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote on my lips

Even though I spent much of the past few days disheveled in some pretty remote places, makeup was never far from my mind.

Like on Monday, while trudging through tall grasses and traversing streams along the banks of the Wailua River, El Hub pointed out some of the fruit trees he recognized from his childhood (he grew up on the neighboring island of Oahu). “There’s a breadfruit tree, mango, papaya, guava…”

I kept hoping I’d also hear him say, “And there’s a lipstick tree,” as in Tarte’s new limited edition Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Color Collection ($42).

Leave it to Tarte to distract me in the middle of the jungle, LOL!

The limited edition set, part of Tarte’s 2012 summer collection, comes with three full-size lip and cheek products in a warm, shimmery golden pink called Achiote, after the name of the small tropical tree from which Tarte obtained the pigment.

The bright red seeds of the achiote tree’s spiny fruit are used to color all kinds of things, from food to body paint and even lipstick. Hence its nickname, “the lipstick tree.”

I’m pretty sure we didn’t pass any achiote trees on our hike, but I did snap this picture of a rare related plant that had Tarte’s Lip Luster, Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush and a Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss hanging from its branches…

Yeah, right! Now that would have been an awesome jungle find. 🙂

On my dry cheeks and lips, the blush lasts about six hours, while both of the lip products (which have a faint peppermint flavor and scent) last about three.

tarte gifts from the lipstick tree
Gifts from the Lipstick Tree Achiote Color Collection from bottom to top: LipSurgence Lip Luster in Achiote, Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote and Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Achiote

tarte summer 2012 swatches
From the left: Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush, LipSurgence Lip Luster in Achiote and Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss in Achiote
[Continue reading…]

There are 36 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Makeup, Product Reviews, Tarte Keywords: tarte

Get Spirited Away This Summer With Tarte’s Latest LipSurgence

April 25th, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

tarte spirited lipsurgence

Red’s not one of the first colors I picture when I think, “summer lip shades.”

Well, it didn’t used to be — but that was before I saw Tarte’s new LipSurgence in Spirited ($24), a shiny, bright poppy red that’s like a beach party in a tube, haaay!

tarte body bronzer spirited lipsurgence
From the left: LipSurgence Lip Tint in Spirited, Clean Slate 360 Creaseless 12-HR Smoothing Primer and Amazon Bronze Amazonian Clay and Annatto Body Bronze
[Continue reading…]

There are 15 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Makeup, Product Reviews, Tarte Keywords: tarte

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 216
  • Go to page 217
  • Go to page 218
  • Go to page 219
  • Go to page 220
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 414
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog

Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

Makeup and Beauty Blog features daily product reviews, makeup tips and beauty news — like an interactive version of a monthly print magazine, except with occasional pictures of my cat.

Recent Posts

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 878

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 894

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 893

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 892

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 891

/* real people should not fill this in and expect good things – do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Featured Posts

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 771

Lady Unicorn

Weird Things I Like to Do

brows fill out beforehand

Before You Pluck or Wax Your Brows, You Must Do This

current bare skin status

What’s One Thing That Drastically Changed Your Skin for the Better?

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.