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A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

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Product Reviews

The EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer Brush: A $30 Brush in $12 Clothing

February 1st, 2010 by Karen 47 Comments

Bargain hunting brush fanatics, lend me your ear. A $12 brush swept me off my feet today, and they call it the Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush.

Compared to department store brushes costing $20 and up, it’s a bargain superhero — affordable, with dense, super-soft bristles that deposit just the right amount of color on my skin.

Not only that, but it’s quite the multitasker, too, moonlighting as a face powder/blush brush. All told, it’s like getting three brushes for the price of one.

WARNING: The following videos featuring Ecotools brushes (my favorite’s the cat eye tutorial) are like potato chips… You can’t stop after just one. 🙂

  • Create a cunning cat eye
  • Flawless face tips
  • Get sultry smoky eyes
  • Day-to-night makeup 101

If your brushes take a beating like mine do, you’ll appreciate how solid the bamboo handle feels in your hand. Really, the brush feels sturdy from head to handle; even the synthetic taklon bristles feel tough. I’ve washed the brush head several times already, and the bristles haven’t shed one iota.


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There are 47 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Product Reviews

Clinique High Lengths Mascara: Take Me To Your Leader

January 28th, 2010 by Karen 43 Comments

Have you noticed anything weird about mascara brushes lately? It’s like they’re getting all funky cold medina! Last year it was motorized brush heads; before that, spiked medieval flails (Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes).

Now even Clinique is throwing their hat into the ring with a different spin on the standard brush design. High Lengths Mascara ($14) flaunts a minimalist, almost alien bow.

Maybe I’ve been watching too much sci-fi lately (a VERY safe bet), but those rows of short, stubby teeth aren’t giving me warm and fuzzy feelings — that’s for sure.

When I touched the brush for the first time (expecting certain doom!), it flexed and bent like Gumby’s yoga master, LOL! I really had no idea how it would perform on human lashes. 🙂


Buck nekkid lashes!
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There are 43 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: clinique

Time Balm Concealer Blows Dark Circles Away

January 26th, 2010 by Karen 110 Comments

After using The Balm’s Time Balm Concealer for about a month, I gotta say — this stuff is totally legit (too legit to quit, even!).

It’s already replaced Dior Sculpt as my Numero Uno concealer love, making it worthy of a celebratory head bang (insert flying hair, rocking head and sign of the beast [HERE]).

Oh, Time Balm, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

First, price, which at $18 is $13 less than a tube of Dior Sculpt. Sure, neither one is drugstore-level affordable, but $18 sounds a lot better than $31 (and that extra $13 could go toward a tube of something wonderful like MAC Nymphette… I’m just sayin’.)


Time Balm Concealer in Medium

Yet price isn’t even the main reason I heart this tamer of dark circles so much. Quality is. In just about every way, I give Time Balm the edge over Dior Sculpt.

Time Balm: The Deets

Available in six shades from light to medium-dark (find them at Sephora), this cream concealer comes in a wee pot with a screw-on top and an applicator sponge. SIDE NOTE: I actually ditched the sponge, finding it a little too small for me and difficult to use. I prefer to apply and buff it with a foundation brush.

One issue I often have with concealers is how many will settle into my fine lines and look obvious after a few hours of wear. I’ve struggled to find ones that appear to blend into my skin, as opposed to sitting directly on top of it.
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There are 110 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews

Spring into Action with Josie Maran’s Natural Wonder Powder Palette

January 20th, 2010 by Karen 31 Comments

DANG that Josie Maran! Whoever handles the packaging of this eco-friendly line deserves a Prius, a wheatgrass shot and a pat on the back.

A quick glance today at the Monarch flutterbyes on her new Natural Wonder Powder Palette ($35) was all it took to put a spring in my step.

Talk about practical, environmentally conscious design (also friendly and feminine) that *hella* works!

It gets even better when you open the palette. 🙂 BOOM! It holds five eyeshadows, two blushes and a bronzer in a mix of neutrals and brights. I’ve seen a few spring makeup releases so far, and this one’s been one of the most exciting to me so far.

The eyeshadows, blushes and bronzer in the Natural Wonder palette are infused with Argan oil, an antioxidant-rich oil from Morocco known to calm and soothe troubled skin. And, like all Josie Maran makeup, the palette’s free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and phthalates.

First, there’s the variety. The shades feel fresh and youthful, and I can easily see myself doing looks with them from subtle/sweet to bold/bright.

Then, there’s the shadows, about which I noted a few things (DROOL!)…
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There are 31 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: josie maran

The Benefits of Benefit’s Confessions of a Concealaholic Kit

January 19th, 2010 by Karen 51 Comments

Are you a practitioner in the ancient Art of Concealing? Are your hands considered concealed weapons? If so, you may be interested in Confessions of a Concealaholic, a new concealing kit from Benefit ($38, arriving in February).

The nine-piece kit’s a prime example of something Benefit does well — putting together perfectly packaged, affordable makeup kits that feature all-star products from their permanent line.

It comes with generous mini-versions of Benefit concealers, brighteners and brushes, as well as a primer and how-to booklet.

That Gal: I adore the subtle glow I get when I wear this shimmery pink makeup primer beneath foundation or powder.


That Gal

Erase Paste in No. 2 Medium: A light-coverage, peachy pink concealer to cover and brighten the area under your eyes. NOTE: If your dark circles are more purple than Prince, Erase Paste may not pack enough punch to cover ’em up. You may have to use a second concealer on top.


Erase Paste in No. 2 Medium
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There are 51 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: benefit

DiorShow Extase Mascara Haiku Review

January 14th, 2010 by Karen 40 Comments

diorshow extase review top

New Mascara from
Dior — I don’t know how to
Pronounce your name, oy.

diorshow extase review brush

Ex-tazz? Ex-tazz-ay?
Charge that to my credit card.
Twenty-eight bucks, please.

diorshow extase review none-final

Lengthening — oh, yes.
The curl hold? Most excellent.
Volume is just … eh.

diorshow extase review one-final

Smudges just a tad;
Swipe the brush against tissue
And then it’s gone, yay!
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There are 40 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: dior

Do Josie Maran’s Bear Naked Wipes Take It All Off?

January 7th, 2010 by Karen 18 Comments

josie-maran-bear-naked-wipes-review-1

Oh, the pink packaging, the adorable photo of the polar bears, and the slick title font… THE FONT! — is that Helvetica Neue Ultra Light?!

Reacting to this perfect storm of marketing cuteness, I just impulse purchased these $12 Bear Naked Makeup Wipes by Josie Maran.

I tried to resist — honest, I did — but part of the proceeds go to the Polar Bear SOS Initiative. How cool is that?

josie-maran-bear-naked-wipes-review-closeup

With 30 wipes per package, the cost breaks down to about 40 cents a wipe — a little on the expensive side, but you’re mostly paying for what you don’t get…

That is to say, these wipes come without parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, petro-chemicals and phthalates. 🙂 They’re biodegradable and feel oh-so-gentle on my skin, too, thanks to a soothing blend of aloe vera, chamomile, cucumber and vitamin E.

And Tabs likes that they’re 100% cruelty free.
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There are 18 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Product Reviews, Skin Care Keywords: josie maran

Benefit Sugarbomb: The Zero-Calorie, Super Sheer Blush

January 4th, 2010 by Karen 61 Comments

benefit-sugarbomb-review
Holmes, Benefit just blasted your last reason to fear blush. Their newest boxed beauty, Sugarbomb ($28), is so sheer, so subtle, that even the most ‘fraidy cat blush newbie can safely climb aboard.

When swirled together, the four shimmery powders — two shades of peach, a plum and a rose — blend to create a sweetly subtle flush for cheeks.

Before and after

Like the sheerer lovechild of Benefit’s Coralista (a bright, shimmery, cool coral) and Dallas (a warm, matte peachy brown) but with touches of plum and golden shimmer, Sugarbomb scores.

sugarbomb-before-1
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There are 61 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: benefit

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

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