Tom Ford Beauty

5 Lavish, Lovely Berry Lipsticks to Fall for This Fall

October 15th, 2015 by Karen 27 Comments

Fall.

They say it’s fall, and it did feel like fall here about a week ago. It was cloudy and chilly, and there were leaves falling everywhere outside, but then summer struck back and said, “CUT! Hold your horses! I’m not ready to go…” We had another string of 80- and 90-degree days.

Sooner or later, though, it’ll get cooler and stay that way. It’s a guarantee. 🙁 And when it happens, I’ll be ready for it with these five fall-friendly berry lipsticks.

1. NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park ($26)

nars hyde park — NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park

I really like Reddish berry Hyde Park with bronze, burgundy and brown looks. And even cranberry smoky eyes (Ooh! — give it try sometime with a warm and shimmery cranberry on your lids and a matte orangey brown in the crease). The pencil shape makes it easy to line and fill in my lips without needing a lip liner, so yay for skipping steps! Hyde Park is available now at NARS counters, stores and online.

2. Tom Ford Lip Color Matte in Plum Lush ($52)

tom ford plum lush — Tom Ford Lip Color Matte in Plum Lush

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Fri-Yay Makeup Fun: Glossy Lids and Winged Liner

September 18th, 2015 by Karen 19 Comments

Winged liner.

Sometimes I wanna wear it with eyeshadow; sometimes I wanna wear it with eye gloss.

Yeah, that’s right! Eye gloss — the super shiny stuff, which isn’t known for being eminently wearable, not with that glistening, glossy finish that gleams and beams, but I think it can look super cool when paired with something unexpected like winged liner.

In this look, I love the contrast between the glossy, wet-looking lids and the crisp black liner. It’s like I just got back from charging the waves! Surfer girl meets sassy secretary. 🙂

Make the red lip a matte, and you’ve got an unusual, interesting twist on a classic black winged liner-red lip combo.

The best part of this look is that it’s easy to do, which for me makes it perfect for Fridays when my mind is on other things (like pumpkin spice lattes).

Starting with bare lids, just curl your lashes if you need to (mine are pin straight, so this is a must). Then draw your winged liner, and tight-line your upper water line.

Wait for the liner to dry, and then apply and pat a clear eye gloss on your lids from lash line to brow bone (I don’t go too far into the inner corner with the gloss; otherwise, it starts to look heavy and a little weird).

Finish by loading up your lashes with mascara.

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Neat and New to Me: Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage Quad

August 30th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

The girl crawled along the hot sand as the relentless Novato sun beat down on her. “Water…” she croaked into the dry air, pulling herself forward by her fingertips, “or chocolate… Either one.”

Then she saw it, something in the distance — no, not a shimmering, but something…matte?

What was it, she wondered, sitting up to get a better look.

She squinted and focussed on the distant object. “Is that a…mirage?”

It was!

A Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage. 🙂

–END–
Well, look at you, eagle eye! Yes, this is the same quad I wore in my last couple of makeup tutorials. It’s the Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage Eye Color Quad, and it’s…

Well, it’s redonkulously expensive (it’s $80).

I know! That’s redonkulous to the max, but please don’t start throwing rotten fruit at me, or if you do, please try to avoid my head, because I’m having a decent hair day, and my eyeshadow’s off the chain because, well, Cocoa Mirage.

There are no ifs ands or buts about it. Tom Ford is an expensive brand, and for the price of this quad you could probably buy a gold grill for your cat (shoot, maybe even one with diamonds), but hot damn! — if this isn’t THE BEST neutral matte eyeshadow quad I’ve ever worn, and yes, I’m stating that for the official makeup record.

At first, it seems hella basic and uninspired when you open it. There’s a matte warm beige, a matte neutral golden tan, a matte neutral dark chocolate brown and a warm, mid-toned reddish brown with extremely subtle shimmer. It’s also a very safe bet that you’ve seen these colors in some form or fashion before (I know I have), but the thing is, they’re executed so remarkably well here that I can’t find a single thing I don’t like about them. I think they’re the most perfect mattes to have ever graced my lids.
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End of Summer Shimmery Mermaid Makeup Tutorial

August 27th, 2015 by Karen 40 Comments

There is absolutely no freakin’ way that matte-heavy eyeshadow looks are even remotely acceptable among members of the makeup-loving mermaid community, and I know this for a fact.

Actually, I don’t really know that for a fact, since I haven’t kicked it with any of my mermaid friends lately, but if I had, they would DEFINITELY be rollin’ with shimmer.

So…why am I talking about mermaids??

Excellent question.

Well, because it’s late August, and even though I’m excited about fall, I’m still sad to see summer go. *sad tabby face* 🙁

I was thinking about the beach this morning (I haven’t been once this year!), and that led me to think about mermaids, and about mermaid water babies basking on the rocks with their shimmery tails swishing in the crystal clear waters and their subtle blue and green eye makeup sparkling in the sun…

So that’s what I was going for here.

For the record, this look is also appropriate for landlubbers, so you don’t need to have a mermaid tail to wear it, although that would be pretty rad.

I think this is a good look for late summer parties and barbecues, or maybe a back-to-school party where everyone gets kinda dressed up. Or, if you’re heading someplace fabulous that just so happens to have lively nightlife and be located near a warm body of water. Or, if you just want something shimmery to wear while you walk your cat around your neighborhood.

It’s a good look for multiple occasions. 🙂

Now, honey, if you just scrolled down, I know this look might seem impossible based on the number of steps, but you can do it! — even if you’re a straight-up beginner.

If you’ve never attempted anything like this before, though, cut yourself some slack. It’s OK and perfectly normal if it looks like shimmery poo the first few times, and it probably will, unless you’re a makeup wunderkind. But so what? Rome wasn’t built in a day.

OK, enough gabbing… Let’s do this.

1. Apply foundation, concealer and powder

Get yo’ base on that face, because we’re not about to leave the house without a little something-something. For this shimmery mermaid look, I like a full-coverage base because I think it balances out the bold eyes and false lashes.

Go with your fullest coverage foundation, concealer and powder, if you need to. Doing a goofy face while you do this is completely optional but highly encouraged. 🙂
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5 Magnificent Magenta Lipsticks That’ll Make You Yearn for Fall

August 24th, 2015 by Karen 34 Comments

Maybe it’s all this talk about El Niño, or maybe it’s just my burning desire to bust out the scarves, and boots, but I’m ready to say “peace out!” to bright, summery pinks and “ciao” to corals for the season. Yup, I’m starting to enter fall mode.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been reaching for darker nail polishes (I’ve got Essie’s In the Lobby on my paws today!) and transitioning to deeper lip shades, but I’m not quite ready yet for full-on fall lip colors like dark browns, wines and purples. After all, it’s still only August. 🙂

But I have been into what I like to call my summer-to-fall transition shade, the always lovely magenta.

MAGENTA! I love wearing colors in the magenta family around this time of year because they seem just as comfortable with scarves and boots as they are with daisy dukes and flip-flops.

So here are five of my current magenta lipstick faves that have been in heavy rotation lately…

1. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Janet ($32)

2. Tom Ford Lip Color in Violet Fatale ($52)

tom ford beauty violet fatale — Tom Ford Beauty Violet Fatale

tom ford beauty violet fatale swatch — Tom Ford Beauty Violet Fatale

3. Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Venom ($22)

Urban Decay Venom Revolution Lipstick 2 — Urban Decay Venom

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Tom Ford Cognac Sable Eye Color Quad

July 3rd, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

Ooh, girl. I gotta be straight with you, because I’m not about to have you fall in love with Tom Ford Cognac Sable and then be heartbroken because of the price.

This quad is $79!

ERHMAHGAWD. So painful. It’s enough to make me want to bite my fist or fall face down on the floor. Sometimes both. But that’s Tom Ford for you. It isn’t exactly BOGO, if you know what I mean, but if you’re OK with that issue, then sweet baby tabbies! — this quad is beautiful. Almost always when I bring it with me on trips, it gets a lot of use.

It has four shades — a shimmery golden peachy beige with a hint of pink pearl, a medium-toned satiny golden brown with tiny flecks of gold shimmer, a deeper satiny plum with golden micro-glitter, and a copper glitter. Each one is a workhorse with a little special kick of its own, like the flash of pearly pink in the light golden beige.

Hands down, this is my favorite of the Tom Ford quads I’ve used.

The Tom Ford Cognac Sable Eye Color Quad before I went to town on it, LOL!

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Coral, Bronze and Gold: A Natural, Summery Face of the Day With Tom Ford Summer 2015, NARS Eyelashes, RMS Beauty, Paul & Joe and More

April 21st, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

tom ford naked bronze — A Face of the Day with some products from Tom Ford Summer 2015, NARS Eyelashes, RMS Beauty and more

My father-in-law does this thing where he answers every “when” question with the word, “Tuesday,” like, “When did you guys go to that dinner?”

And he says, “Tuesday.”

Or, “When was that storm you mentioned?”

To which he says, “Tuesday.”

And he giggles every time like it’s the funniest joke in the world.

Big sigh…

Buuut, I’m borrowing the joke today! 🙂 Basically, I was in the mood to wear something natural-ish, summery and spiced up with sparkling garnish because, dude! — as my father-in-law might say, it’s Tuesday, and Tuesdays are the best days to wear glitter.

I used quite a few new products, too (some of them from Tom Ford Summer 2015!), along with some older faves like Diorskin Air Nude Serum for this bronzed brown and gold eye with pink cheeks and coral lips.

A trick for mornings when you wake up with puffy eyes…

I had majorly puffy eyes this morning thanks to my spring allergies, so to offset that puffiness I deepened my crease with a matte brown. Instead of using an eyeshadow, though, I grabbed Tom Ford’s Terra Bronzer.

Yup! I used it as a transition shade, which I like it for, as it isn’t orangey. It’s more of a golden tan warm matte brown, and I think it layers and blends beautifully.

I really didn’t want to accentuate my puffy lids, so I kept all of the shimmers/glitters on my “mobile lid.”

Yup, mobile lid. It’s the part of the lid that moves when you blink. You can see it when you look straight into a mirror and blink. That part that moves is your mobile lid.

Anyway! For this look, I did a matte in the crease and kept the shimmer confined to the mobile lid. The combination of shimmer on the lid and matte in the crease appears to deepen and define the crease.

Or at least that’s the idea.

IMO, the best thing from Tom Ford Summer 2015

For the shimmer, I used Tom Ford’s Cream and Powder Eye Color in Naked Bronze. I dabbed the cream bronze shadow on my lids with a finger, let it dry, then went back in and patted the glitter eyeshadow in the center of my lid to create a focal point.

I really like Naked Bronze, by the way. It’s annoyingly expensive ($60), but it’s so pigmented that I don’t have to use much, and both the cream and the glitter layer and blend sans drama. Even if you did use a ton, it would probably still look effortless.

I think Tom Ford’s cream shadows are among the best products in the line, and if I were to choose one thing from the Summer 2015 Collection, it would be one of the Cream and Powder Eye Colors.

Cream blushes: a makeup tip

For cheeks, I also turned to Tom. I dabbed golden pink Cream Cheek Color in Pink Sand on the apples of my cheeks for a soft, subtle sheen and some natural pink color.

My favorite way to apply cream blush is to do it right after foundation. That way the foundation is still a little wet and the cream blush blends into it more easily. If, on the other hand, I wait until my foundation is dry, the blush seems to sit up on top of my skin where it looks more obvious.

For this look, I stippled the blush with a Real Techniques Multi Task Brush.
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Tom Ford Summer 2015: A Plum and Peach Face of the Day With the New Eye and Cheek Compact in Pink Glow

April 16th, 2015 by Karen 31 Comments

This is probably a little too much glam for the Home Depot trip I had planned to take this afternoon…

Oh, well!

Yeah, I wasn’t thinking about potting mix and tomato plants (gotta get my deck garden situation worked out, ASAP!) when I started this soft plum and peach cut crease with Tom Ford’s new Eye and Cheek Compact in Pink Glow.

I just jumped in with both feet! — and now I’m thinking, “Hmm… Probably not the ideal Home Depot look.” But you know how it is with a cut crease. Once you get past a certain point, there’s no turning back.

The eye and cheek compact I’m wearing today, Pink Glow, is from Tom’s new Summer 2015 Collection.

I still haven’t quite figured out why it’s called Pink Glow…because the overall color palette looks more plum than pink to me, but either way, I like it. It seems very summertime glam, and I like this particular pairing of a shimmery plum eyeshadow with a shimmery plum blush, the subtle golden beige eyeshadow, the bronze glitter, and the peachy pink highlighter. It’s a good combo.

On a mildly educational note, the big lesson I learned today while working with this palette is to “go easy” with it, because the plum and the beige shadows are surprisingly pigmented, and it’s better to build them up slowly and carefully with layers (versus just slapping them on your lids without a care in the world).

Like I usually do, I did my eyes first, thinking that I’d probably have to deal with fallout, but looking back now, I could’ve just as easily started with foundation and concealer, because there was hardly any fallout at all, not even from the glittery eyeshadow.

All I have to say to that is “THANK GOODNESS, YO!” because with a $95 palette, yeah, fallout and other forms of drama should absolutely not be problems. At all.

I also used the peachy face highlighter from the compact on my lids as a shadow, which I think worked well for this (good for a bright, wide-eyed effect), and used Tom Ford’s matte warm brown Terra Bronzer (also from the Summer 2015 Collection) in my crease as a transition shade (yay for multitasking products!).

Because the eyes were so ba-BAM!, I didn’t use the plum blush from the palette (I figured it would REALLY be too much for Home Depot) and went with theBalm’s new Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush for a more subdued bronzy/peach cheek instead.

Um…WOW! This was my first time wearing Balm Desert, and I’m really impressed. I was afraid it would go a little ashy on me because it looks borderline cool-toned in the pan, but some warm peach comes through on the skin. If you’re a fan of Benefit’s Dallas Boxed Blush, you’ll probably also like this. They’re very similar.

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