• 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

MAC Unsung Heroes: Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base

October 24th, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

mac prep prime 24 hour extend eye base
It keeps going and going and going and going…

You guys know that for the past few years (it feels like the past FOREVER) I’ve been a hardcore devotee of NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base. I’ve gone through countless tubes since I started using it in 2011, and I haven’t found anything better…until now.

MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base is just as good IMO, if not better in some ways. Yes, I still think Pro-Prime is exceptional when it comes to extending the longevity of your eyeshadow, enriching the colors and making everything on your lids look flat-out better, but MAC Prep + Primer 24-Hour does those same things, too, and it hangs onto glitters and creams even better than NARS Pro-Prime.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

If you’re looking for an all-around primer that you can use for everyday looks (say, using your favorite workweek palette) AND for evenings out (say, when you want to do it up friends and some loose pigments, glitters or creams), MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base is the way to go.

The colorless formula doesn’t settle into creases or fine lines, and it immediately mattes down your lids when you apply a layer. Use the thinnest layer you can, BTW. The less I use, the better off I am. Thank goodness, because a 0.40-oz. bottle is $23, and it even looks small when you hold it in your hand.

But really, you only need a little dab for both lids.

[Continue reading…]

There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, MAC Makeup, Makeup, Product Reviews, Unsung Heroes

MAC Unsung Heroes: Swiss Chocolate Eyeshadow

October 23rd, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

mac swiss chocolate eyeshadow
Got a sweet tooth?

I was at the gym last week when we started talking about desserts (These are the things you do when you hang out with a bunch of people who do HIIT together. You talk about desserts!), and the teacher, Nicol, said that if you put anything chocolaty in front of her, she’s basically toast.

I’m the same way with chocolate desserts AND eyeshadow, and especially MAC Swiss Chocolate Eyeshadow.

mac swiss chocolate swatch
Chocolaty delicious

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Oh, my goodness, I’ve been wearing this shades for eons! — and I start busting it out more often in the fall because I love the way it looks with vampy fall berry, burgundy, purple and wine lip shades. A little MAC Swiss Chocolate added to your eyeshadow mix ties everything together in a DEEEEE-luscious chocolate bow.

mac swiss chocolate heroine 1
MAC Swiss Chocolate in my crease and MAC Heroine Lipstick

[Continue reading…]

There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, MAC Makeup, Makeup, Product Reviews, Unsung Heroes

Introducing 6 New Shades of Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner for Holiday 2017

October 20th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

urban decay heavy metal glitter eyeliner
New ways to glitter

Wait! Stop! Hold up… Please don’t walk away just ’cause these are glittery. I’m serious, you can totally wear the Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners.

I’ve been a fan of these for years because the glitter bits are so small and…classy? — for lack of a better word? This is classy glitter.

If you run a little along your lash lines, or even just your lower lash line, you get the most lovely (yet understated, by glitter standards) sparkle. I’ve been doing it for years with one of the shades, gold Midnight Cowboy, for lazy person’s party makeup.

UD just added these six new shades to the existing Heavy Metal Glitter permanent line, and of these, I’m all about Punk Rock, the dark purple one with multicolored sparkle, because it looks gorgeous along the lash lines with a black, brown or purple smoky eye (especially if you tightline your water lines with black liner).

[Continue reading…]

There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Product Reviews, Urban Decay

BECCA Après Ski Glow Face Palette for Holiday 2017

October 20th, 2017 by Karen 2 Comments

becca apres ski glow face palette k
BECCA Eye Lights Palette on my eyes and NARS Vibeke Lipstick

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — I am not a snow person.

I mean, I like hanging out in the lodge by the fire with a glass of wine on a bearskin rug after snowboarding… You get back to the cabin after a day on the slopes, have some hot cocoa and snacks. That’s cool, right? And then, like, your skin looks all glowy, like you’re wearing the BECCA Après Ski Glow Collection Face Palette ($45), because you’ve been exerting yourself on the slopes.

becca apres ski glow face palette open
Ready to glow?
becca apres ski glow-face palette swatches final
From the top: Rose Quartz, Icicle, Winter Berry, Blushed Copper, Opal, Bronzed Bondi

BECCA sure knows how to handle seamless integrations, ya know? When I wear their products, I can’t tell where my bronzer stops and my blush begins, and that also goes for their highlighters. Their products melt into each other without leaving any harsh lines. Their Shimmering Skin Perfectors basically blend like you’re frosting a cake.

Enter the BECCA Après Ski Glow Face Palette for Holiday 2017.

[Continue reading…]

There are 2 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Becca, Face, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

BECCA Après Ski Glow Collection Eye Lights Palette for Holiday 2017

October 19th, 2017 by Karen 1 Comment

becca eye lights palette k
BECCA Après Ski Glow Face Palette on my cheeks and NARS Vibeke Lipstick

If the thought of wearing a face product on your eyes freaks you out (apparently, it does not freak me out, ha!), don’t worry. The new $45 BECCA Après Ski Glow Collection Eye Lights Palette is officially an eye product…even though the “shadows” in it have almost the same formula as the actual BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Powders. 🙂

(Side note: am I the only one who already uses the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfecting Powders and Bronzers as eyeshadows? Just curious…)

becca eye lights palette open
Let’s talk about brown shadow, baby!

This is a gorgeous palette. It has seven neutral shades — two of them new (bodaciously buttery brown Toasted Marshmallow and Hot Cocoa) and five of them based on existing highlighters in the BECCA permanent line.

All of them feel just as soft and buttery, and blend just as easily, as BECCA’s full-fledged, official highlighters.

I like using the browns (big surprise) as quickie crease colors, because they aren’t very pigmented, so you can almost instantly define your eyes by swishing a few swipes on your lids.

Golden brown Toasted Marshmallow is basically rocking my world right now. It looks a little like MAC Soba to me, but with, like, amplified golden pearl. And reddish brown Hot Cocoa looks like a satiny version of MAC Swiss Chocolate. It’s red, but it isn’t too red, if you know what I mean.

The only big catch with this palette, and it is kind of a big catch, is that most of the shades — the lighter ones, especially — all (with the exception of Topaz) look pretty much the same on my NC 42 skin, so if you’re my shade or darker…it’s kinda repetitive.

I’m just sayin’.

[Continue reading…]

There's 1 comment on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Becca, Eyes, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

Urban Decay Heavy Metals Metallic Eyeshadow Palette for Holiday 2017

October 19th, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette open
Heavy metals, mama!

Where the heck is the fallout? RIGHT? If you’re an Urban Decay fan, you expect a little fallout — OK, a ton of fallout — when you’re working with their eyeshadows. You just learn to live with it…

At least I have. At least most people I know who love and use the brand have in the past. I mean, it’s no big whoop if you do your eyes first and cleanup later, but wouldn’t it be a nice option to just, like, be able to do your eyes and not have to worry about dealing with massive amounts of stray eyeshadow? The $55 Urban Decay Heavy Metals Metallic Eyeshadow Palette, which is part of the brand’s holiday collection and houses a bevvy of shimmery metallics, gives you that option.

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette packaging
Purple power

I don’t know what happened over at UD, but a few of their recent eyeshadow palettes have exhibited very little fallout, including this one, and it’s been awesome. They’ve totally “leveled up” their eyeshadow game.

The eyeshadows in this palette have a completely new formula, and it’s exclusive to this palette. (I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if they eventually added it to the permanent line.)

There are 20 shadows, with brights on one side, neutrals on the other, and they’re all completely new colors. New formula. New, new, new, new, new!

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette right
The right side of the palette
urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette left
The left side of the palette

The shadows have a foiled effect, meaning that when you pat them on with a finger or brush, they’re super shiny — not glossy, as in a wet way, but shiny like chrome or tinfoil.

Most of the time to get that intensely shiny, foiled effect with shadows you have to apply them wet. This palette removes that step. You can do a dry application, and it’s just as shiny as a wet one.

urban decay heavy metals metallic eyeshadow palette swatches neutrals
From the top: Bass, Glory, Demo, Starfire, Afterparty, Angel fire, Roadie, Maiden, Scream, Acoustic

[Continue reading…]

There are 16 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews, Urban Decay

Urban Decay Vice Metal Meets Matte Lipstick Palette for Holiday 2017

October 18th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

urban decay vice meets metal lip palette
That’s a whole lotta Vices…

Is it just me, or is something usually a little off about the lipsticks that come in LE lipstick palettes? Like they feel and work different than they would if they came in a tube? I dunno… Maybe something changes when they pour them into a pan instead of a bullet.

I know that a lot of makeup artists say that applying lipstick with a brush makes your lipstick last longer and look better, and OK, I see a little of that happening, but it’s not enough for me to want to whip out a lip brush every time I put on lipstick.

Except with this one! 🙂 I’ll do it for Urban Decay’s new Vice Metal Meets Matte Lipstick Palette.

urban decay vice meets metal lip palette
Come closer, my pretty…

It’s $35, REALLY GOOD and available now with the 2017 holiday collection.

urban decay meets metal lipstick palette swatches
Banger, Amulet, CSB, Tame

[Continue reading…]

There are 10 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews, Urban Decay

NARS Man Ray for NARS Holiday Collection: The Kiss Has It in the Bag

October 12th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

nars man ray the kiss
MMWAH!

So, I know it’s like totes cliché to be a makeup lover obsessed with lip prints, but I am. It is what it is. And the bag in the new NARS The Kiss Velvet Matte Lip Pencil Set ($49) has the cutest lip print.

It’s from the new NARS Man Ray Holiday collection (available now), which has lips all over the place! — on the packaging, the pans, and even gracing this shiny gold makeup bag.

And these lips here are speaking to my soul. I love that they’re a little uneven and fussy looking, like they’re p*ssed about someone parking in their designated spot, haha!

(OK…leave it to the accessories hoarder to go off on the bag five minutes!)

To their credit, the NARS LE holiday bags are some of the best holiday bags around. I have a black one with blue lips on it from a few years back, and it’s still going strong.

nars man ray the kiss top
Big kiss!

[Continue reading…]

There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 53
  • Go to page 54
  • Go to page 55
  • Go to page 56
  • Go to page 57
  • 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.