Product Reviews

I’m Diggin’ Distortion: The Urban Decay Distortion Eyeshadow Palette

November 24th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

Most of the time when people say that something is shifty…it’s not usually a good thing, but when you’re talking about the new Urban Decay Distortion Eyeshadow Palette ($49), being shifty is great.

Five “shifty” duo chrome shadows

New limited edition Distortion just landed at Urban Decay, and the kicker is that top row of pale pastel-looking eyeshadows — one, two, three, four, five.

They look pale pastel in the pans, but they’re actually duo chromes that change color in the light. They’re designed to be layered on top of the other 10 eyeshadows in the palette, the ones in the middle and bottom rows.

You can definitely also wear them on top of any other eyeshadows in your collection, too, because there’s no exclusive high-tech stuff happening here, LOL! (But wouldn’t it be kinda cool and sci-fi if there were, though?)

If you’re an artsy-fartsy type who likes to get all mad scientist on your eyeshadows, like, by whipping up your own color concoctions on a Tuesday morning just ’cause, this palette should be a lot of fun.

urban decay distortion eyeshadow palette swatches 2 — The shifty shades — Bleach, Shifty, Space, Mind Game and Blur — by themselves, and then layered on top of Territorial, one of the other eyeshadows in the palette.

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Up to 50% Off MAC Cosmetics at Nordstrom Rack

November 22nd, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

mac cosmetics flat lay final — MAC attack at The Rack!

OK, I know. Wandering around “The Rack” (a.k.a Nordstrom Rack, the discounted outlet arm of Nordstrom) can feel like its own form of torture sometimes because… I JUST CAN’T with the clothing and shoe sections. Too overwhelming and disorganized.

But the beauty area is generally easier to navigate than the rest of the store, and sometimes, like RIGHT MEOW, they have amazing deals.

Three letters: M. A. C. Yup! If you live near a Nordstrom Rack, you might wanna pop in sometime soon, especially if you’re a MAC fan, because right now they’ve got some deep discounts on MAC products, with some items as much as half off.

And get this! — there’s lots of really good stuff on sale at the moment. It’s not just rand-o pieces from fly-by-night collections from, like, five years ago. I’m talking workhorse items and unsung heroes from the permanent collection that you can use all the time.

I stopped by the Nordstrom Rack near my house last weekend (Novato Vintage Oaks), and although the MAC shelves looked a little sparse and picked-over, I still found a few choice items, including…

41% off Paint Pots in Rubenesque and Constructivist — On sale for $12.87 (originally $22). Everyday cream shadow bases you can wear alone or layered underneath powder shadows (see Rubenesque and Constructivist on me).

41% off Pearlglide Intense Eye Liners in Lord It Up and Undercurrent — On sale for $9.97 (originally $17). Intense, silky, rich liners with bits of glitter. For use on the lash lines only (see a swatch of Lord It Up).

50% off MAC Pencil Sharpener — On sale for $4.97 (originally $10). If you own any of the MAC Pro Longwear pencils, you’ve gotta have a MAC Pencil Sharpener around. Other sharpeners don’t work as well as the MAC ones for that family of pencils for some reason.

mac rubenesque paint pot packaging — Paint Pot in Rubenesque, $12.87 (originally $22)

mac constructivist paint pot packaging — Paint Pot in Constructivist, $12.87 (originally $22)

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Urban Decay All Nighter Waterproof Full-Coverage Concealer: Available Now in the UD Permanent Line

November 21st, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

Don’t go chasing waterfalls… That’s what I’m telling you, but if you’re going to do it anyway (despite TLC’s multiple warnings!), know that you can stand underneath one wearing Urban Decay’s new concealer, and your makeup would emerge completely intact.

It’s waterproof to the extreme, so keep your fave oil-based makeup remover handy, because you’ll need it to take this concealer off your face.

Extremely matte, extremely waterproof

A new addition to the UD permanent fam, All Nighter is a long-wearing, high-coverage liquid concealer available in 14 shades ($29 each).

They have a… I want to call it an ultra-matte finish, because they’re SO matte that they don’t reflect any light whatsoever on the skin, which makes them easier for me, as a woman in my 40s, to wear on my cheeks, nose, mouth, chin and forehead, but not so easy to wear under my eyes.

For some reason, matte concealers, especially the flat mattes like these, age me. I dunno, but I swear they make my fine lines look more obvious (whereas dewy/reflective concealers like Make Up For Ever’s HD and MAC Matchmaster make my under-eye area look plumper and more youthful).

Awesome for everywhere except under my eyes

If you’re 30+, I wouldn’t recommend All Nighter as an under-eye concealer, but it’s boss for everything else on your face because it covers up everything (it’s also way more pigmented than UD’s Naked Skin concealer).

It hides freckles, discoloration, redness… All Nighter handles it all, and it’ll do it all night long, even if you go for an impromptu swim at midnight (it happens). It’s waterproof and long lasting.

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Chanel Holiday 2017: Rouge Allure and Rouge Allure Velvet Lipsticks From the LIBRE 2017 NUMÉROS ROUGES Holiday Collection

November 15th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

chanel collection libre numeros rouges no-2 — Enrapturing raspberry red! Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick No. 2 from the Chanel Holiday 2017 Collection Libre Numéros Rouges

Girl, if you invited me over to your house to look at your makeup collection (because — hi, isn’t that a normal thing? In my mind it is…), and you opened up a drawer with just, like, red lipsticks, and all of them looked more or less the same, I’d be like, “Hello! Hallelujah! We’re high-fiving a million little angles right now, because you’re doing it right!” OK? Because when you’re a red lipstick lover, none of them are the same, and you appreciate all of the nuances.

That’s the first thing I’d say. The second thing I’d say is “Let’s go to Chanel right now, because you will freak out over the lipsticks in the Chanel holiday collection.”

chanel collection libre 2017 numeros rouges 1 2 3 — Crimson cravings… From the left: No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.

There are four of them, and the swooning starts as soon as you see the packaging. They’re all Rouge Allures, $37 each, with the same signature featherweight formula (couple different finishes, though), and they come in gorgeous gold limited edition tubes with red lacquered caps (yes, they have that classic and very satisfying Rouge Allure *click* when you press them).

chanel collection libre 2017 numeros rouges caps — Click!

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#FancyLadyThings: $165 Fresh Crème Ancienne Supreme Eye Serum

November 14th, 2017 by Karen 19 Comments

fresh creme ancienne supreme — Fresh Crème Ancienne Supreme

European monks toiled over each and every drop of this $165 (!) eye serum to make it by hand.

BY HAND.

I can’t figure out if that’s marketing creativity at its best, or if it’s just craziness. (Side note: why monks and not nuns?)

#FancyLadyThings is a scandalous (not really) new series where we talk about old money, family intrigue and fancy, high-end beauty products… Or, at least the latter.

Fresh’s new Crème Ancienne Supreme Eye Serum is supposed to do a bit of everything — moisturize, lighten dark circles, and make fine lines look less noticeable. All that good stuff. And it’s supposed to do it for all skin types.

The Fresh fam loves using plant products in their skin care, and this has red ginger and silk tree bark, among other botanicals, and most of the plant extracts and oils appear in the top half of the ingredient list, which is always a promising sign.

Ingredients

Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Propanediol, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Alpinia Galanga Leaf Extract, Commiphora Mukul Resin Extract, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Siegesbeckia Orientalis Extract, Tocopherol, Adenosine, Diglycerin, Polyacrylate-13, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Glycerides, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Chlorphenesin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polyisobutene, Poloxamer 407, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum (Fragrance), Disodium EDTA, Sorbitan Isostearate, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Polysorbate 20, Biosaccharide Gum-2, Caramel, Sodium Metabisulfite, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Salicylate

The first thing I noticed when I started using this is how moisturizing it is. It’s a heavy-duty hydrating formula, so it’s not like those eye serums that you put on your eyes and you’re like, “What? Did I just splash water on my face?” I feel confident that I can actually skip eye cream when I use this. It’s that moisturizing.

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Chanel Holiday 2017: Trait de Caractère Eyeshadow Palette

November 14th, 2017 by Karen 25 Comments

chanel trait de caractere k2 — Lids: Chanel Trait de Caractère Eyeshadow Palette ($70)

I keep waiting for that moment, that pang in my gut that so often happens with Chanel LE palettes, especially the holiday ones. It’s that moment when I realize that — OMG — this palette is worthy of worship, and I can’t live without it. I keep waiting for it to kick in with the new $70 Trait de Caractère holiday palette.

And waiting, and waiting, and waiting…

chanel trait de caractere — Trait de Caractère, the new $70 Eyeshadow Palette from the Chanel Holiday Collection (available now)

Trait de Caractère is on counters now, along with the rest of Chanel’s Holiday 2017 Collection, and I’ve worn it several times over the past few weeks, most recently to brunch with my parents (I mixed the matte brown with the shimmery taupe, blended it on my lids, then lined the lash lines with the dark green), and ya know… It’s a’ight.

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Chanel Holiday 2017: 857 LEGENDARY GREEN Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Eyeliner

November 9th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

chanel legendary green — Chanel 857 Legendary Green (LIMITED EDITION)

Can we just make it standard operating procedure from this day forward that every brown-eyed girl — actually, every girl and makeup-loving dude, period — has to wear green eyeliner every day? Because Chanel’s Legendary Green Stylo Yeux liner has me convinced that this should be one of those die-hard makeup rules, and heck…I’m not even one to follow rules (I prefer breaking them).

I’ve been lining my eyes with this deep, rich forest green lately — both my lash and water lines, because it feels just as good and lasts just as long on both — and now every other liner I try falls flat on my brown eyes. This particular green goes buck wild on lash lines.

chanel legendary green closeup — Get a little closer… Don’t be shy.

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Chanel Holiday 2017: 822 SILVER SCREEN/SATINÉ Cream Eyeshadow From the LIBRE 2017 NUMÉROS ROUGES Holiday Collection

November 8th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

chanel collection libre silver-screen-k2 — Lids: Chanel OMBRE PREMIÈRE
Longwear Cream Eyeshadow in 822 SILVER SCREEN/SATINÉ from the LIBRE 2017 NUMÉROS ROUGES holiday collection

I’m not surprised anymore to see red and gold in a holiday makeup collection, because it’s typical, or, as the cool kids like to say these days, “#basic.”

I mean, how many times have we seen red and gold holiday makeup collections!? I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I lost count. So I think it was pretty unusual, in a welcome way, to see Chanel go with red and platinum for the new LIBRE 2017 NUMÉROS ROUGES collection.

And we’re not talking about a basic platinum either.

chanel collection libre silver-screen — 822 Silver Screen

It’s called 822 Silver Screen, and it’s a warm-toned platinum OMBRE PREMIÈRE, one of Chanel’s Longwear Cream Eyeshadows.

If you look closely, you should see a hint of khaki…

chanel collection libre silver screen swatch — Swatch: 822 SILVER SCREEN/SATINÉ

The khaki took me a little while to see. I had to stare at the swatch on my skin, but as I meditated on it (wait — doesn’t everybody do that with their eyeshadow??), I spotted an essence of khaki green.

Then the mental makeup gears started turning… “Ooh! I’ll do green liner with this eyeshadow. It’ll be magical.”

chanel collection libre silver-screen-k — I’m also wearing Chanel Malice Blush on my cheeks and Hourglass Day Dream on my lips

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