Unsung Heroes

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Dr. Bronner’s All-One Hemp Lavender Magic Soap

May 27th, 2013 by Karen 23 Comments

Uh oh, it’s magic…

That Dr. Bronner’s All-One Magic Soap. It’s magic. It has the power of mind control. It magically makes every single checker at Target stop mid scan to read the label, inquisitively raise an eyebrow, and sniff the bar no matter how long the line is.

This always happens. I’m not sure why, but it does.

The last time the checker was a 20-something-year-old dude who seemed totally at home talking shop about beauty, and it went a little something like this…

ME: It’s lavender. Doesn’t it smell good?

CHECKER DUDE: Yeah, but I can’t use soap because it dries out my skin. I use shower gels instead. Kiehl’s, usually.

ME: Well aren’t you in-the-know! I’m still trying to break my husband of his habit of using shampoo for body wash, and it’s been 10 years. I bet you use lotion and sunscreen, too. How about conditioner?

CHECKER DUDE: Yup, I do. So is this soap any good?

ME: I like it. It gets all the gunk off.

CHECKER DUDE: Um…what exactly are you doing to get all gunked up?

ME: Well, I mainly use it for washing makeup brushes, but it’s also good for, you know, when you’re all gross and sweaty and covered in dirt, like after a workout or cleaning the house, and you just want to feel really, really clean. It’s good for that.

CHECKER DUDE: And it doesn’t dry out your skin?

ME: Nope, not at all.

Ah, yes. Talking beauty with random people at Target. These are the days of my life… 🙂

I was using Burt’s Bees bar soaps to clean my brushes for a while, and I was happy with them, but the bars had been getting harder to find out here for some reason.

Then up in Redding a few weeks ago I wanted to clean the couple brushes I had with me. I didn’t have the Burt’s Bees bar or anything else, so I used a bar of Dr. Bronner’s All-One that my mom-in-law had, and it worked great.

The lather breaks up all manner of makeup and rinses clean. It’s quick and takes care of all the gunk from even hard-to-clean, dried up concealer, foundation, cream shadow and gel liners.

Oh, and if you have a skunk brush stained by a bright pink or red blush, Dr. Bronner’s will have the white parts sparkling again in no time.

The bars are also easy to find out here. I always see them on the shelves at Target, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, which is another reason I like it. The availability, and the fact that the bars are only $5 each.

I like it as a regular body soap, too — smells great and it’s not drying — but I think it’s an epic overachiever as a makeup brush cleanser.

The list of ingredients is short and sweet. It’s a vegan product, too.

I’m curious about one of the ingredients on the label… Please help me out if you know what unscented baby-mild is? 🙂
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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Bobbi Brown Peach Corrector

May 20th, 2013 by Karen 25 Comments

I’ve been having one of those Mondays where everything’s been going…great!

Don’t you just love those?

They’re few and far between, let me tell ya, but I’ll take it. Some Mondays I don’t feel ready for the weekend to end or for the workweek to start, but I’ve been in in a pretty good groove so far today.

I don’t know, maybe it’s the heat… It’s almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Novato right now!

Seriously, I think it’s making me loopy because I’m smiling from ear to ear… 🙂

I was watching a mama bird feed one of her little ones in the oak tree by my window this morning as I applied under-eye concealer and randomly started singing, “The hills are aliiiiive, with the sound of musiiiiiic!”

The concealer was Bobbi Brown’s bad@ss Peach Corrector. My dark under-eye situation has been triple-rainbow intense lately. I’m officially in my (gulp) late thirties now, and the purplish, bluish dark circles under my eyes have become something of a mainstay of my looks, haha.

Shoot, last night I even got 10 hours of sleep — 10 GLORIOUS HOURS! — and I still woke up with dark circles.

Thank goodness for Bobbi’s $23 miracle working Peach Corrector…

A creamy, opaque color-correcting concealer designed to be layered beneath your go-to under-eye concealer, it’s great if you get those real deal, Uncle Fester-caliber dark circles like moi. I use Peach, one of 16 shades in the line.

SHAZAM! It’s like waving a magic wand over my face. When I add it to my mix, I think I definitely look refreshed and considerably less tired, and that whole under-eye sitch looks brighter.

Most of the time I just wear it on its own with powder dusted on top (versus underneath another concealer), and it neutralizes the purple action. Heck, when I use it I think I even look a little younger (says the girl turning 38 in a few weeks, le sigh!).

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Smog

May 13th, 2013 by Karen 39 Comments

Sometime in the not-so-distant future…

“Remember smog?”

“Smog! Of course I remember smog. It was one of my favorite things about the early twenty-first century.”

“Mine too!”

Years from now as you and I share a cheesecake in the middle of the night at our Miami home with the other Golden Girls — dibs on being the Sophia of the group! She’s short, cranky and carries her purse around everywhere, so I feel like I’d be a good fit — we’ll look back on this time as the era of Smog.

No, not the kind that hovers over the San Fernando Valley… I’m referring to Urban Decay’s $19 shimmery masterpiece of golden khaki bronze, the 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Smog.

“Gosh, we wore it with everything!” we’ll say. “We didn’t even touch black liners there for a while.”

It looked so good with summery golds, khakis, bronzes and browns. Even corals, purples and teals.

“Dang,” we’ll say, “that was one flexible liquid liner…”

You’ll roll your eyes as I retell the story (FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME) of how I was wearing waterproof Smog along my lash lines when I bumped into Ryan Gosling that time in Hawaii.

It was early in the morning just after dawn, hardly anyone else in the water, and I was sitting back on my surfboard waiting for the next wave. Smog’s shimmery, shiny finish caught the sunlight, which caught Ryan’s eye and prompted him to paddle over and say, “Hey girl.”

“We surfed, laughed and shared a shave ice that day,” I’ll say, “and Smog lasted from 10-12 hours.”

At some point you’ll remind me of my penchant for telling tall tales, and I’ll tap my plate with my fork, contemplating another slice of cheesecake. 🙂

What else can I say about Smog, babe? I just love it.

It’s waterproof and long-lasting enough to spend the day surfing and complements just about every eye color I’ve ever seen.

I love the way its golden khaki bronze color works with the kinds of colors I like to wear in summer.

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick

April 22nd, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick Review — Dear Bobbi Brown, your Foundation Stick totally rocks. Heart you! -Karen

A girl’s gotta have options, ya know?

Well, I do. I like having ’em — that’s for sure.

I’m the gal who shows up for a flight at the airport with a suitcase dedicated to black shoes (and yet when it comes to purses, why do I try to fit everything into one?).

Guess I like being prepared…

And when I find single products that provide me with options, they’re like beauty gold! — or beauty pirate treasure, as in the case of Bobbi Brown’s Foundation Sticks.

When it comes to foundation, I also like options. The more the merrier. Options for different occasions, like tinted moisturizer for casual days, medium-coverage liquid foundations for weekdays, full-coverage stuff for pictures — and don’t even get me started about finishes and textures; we’ll be here ’til the next season of The Walking Dead.

Since I found Bobbi Brown’s $43 Foundation Stick in Honey (my shade, and one of 20 available now in Bobbi’s permanent line on counters and online), I haven’t wanted to use anything else.

I’ve worn it every day this month because, in a nutshell, it rocks. 🙂

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Honey (a good equivalent to MAC NC42)

One of Bobbi’s top makeup artists, Marc Reagan, introduced me to it at the Saks Fifth Avenue Bobbi Brown Master class a few weeks back, referring to it as “one thing every woman needs in her makeup bag.”

Homeboy was SO RIGHT! I’m this close to sending him a fruit basket with a note that reads, “Thank you for changing my life!”

First of all, it’s like Mr. Fantastic (read: flexible). Because it’s able to go from sheer to full coverage in the blink of an eye, it’s basically like getting a bunch of different face products in a single creamy stick.

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Honey, $42

Say I want a sheer look like a tinted moisturizer — very light coverage. I’ll just load a fan brush with product directly from the stick. And when I want a more polished look for pics or events — medium to full coverage — I’ll use a flat foundation brush instead.

Oh, and it even doubles as concealer! To disguise the little darkened, post-acne spots I have on my chin, I swipe a synthetic sponge across the tip, which I then pat wherever I need extra coverage. If I need a touch-up later in the day, I just reapply on top of whatever else I happen to be wearing, since it layers like a boss on top of cream and powder products.

I almost can’t trick the stuff. No matter how I wear it, I think it looks like real, skin because it has one of those matte finishes with a bit life to it. It’s not completely flat.

It also never, ever feels heavy or like it’s suffocating my pores, and it doesn’t oxidize. It lasts on my combination dry/oily skin all day long, but I’m not sure how it would fare on super oily skin types… I have a feeling the creamy formula might scoot away.

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick Honey Swatch — Swatch out! It’s Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Honey…

Seriously, I have no idea how I made it through my days without this (well, I do, but you know what I mean). I love it.

Cat lady things, part 3,623

Thought you might appreciate this book my cat lady friend Heidi gave me as a gift last week.

(I started reading it to Tabs, but he wasn’t amused…) 🙂

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay Baked and Midnight Cowboy Glitter Eyeliners

March 29th, 2013 by Karen 25 Comments

Urban Decay's Baked and Urban Cowboy Glitter Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners — Glitter lover says what? That’s Urban Decay’s Baked and Urban Cowboy Glitter Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners ($18 each) along my upper and lower lash lines

Happy, HAPPY Friday, my friend.

Right before I opened my eyes this morning, when I was still lying in bed, the mental fog started to clear, and I smiled. 🙂

It’s Friday! We made it through another week.

Sorry about not being around much the past couple of days. This week kind of kicked my butt. Nothing huge, but it seemed like every day one new, unexpected thing came up to throw me off my regular routine.

I’m a creature of habit, and sometimes all it takes is one extra hour I have to spend on something I didn’t plan for, and I’m a mess after that. It’s hard to get back on track.

Oh! Remember the Bobbi Brown Master Class I mentioned a couple weeks back? It was yesterday in SF, and I went. I’m putting together a post with the tips I picked up, but it’s not quite ready yet. For now, though, here’s a sneaky peaky…

Observe my terrified expression, haha! I was asked to be the class model, and it was…an experience. Really fun, but I completely underestimated how hard it would be to NOT make any funny faces for two hours.

In other news, Urban Decay’s 24/7 Heavy Metal Glitter Liners in Baked and Urban Cowboy.

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners picture packaging — That’s Baked on the right and Urban Cowboy on the left

You might be thinking, “Um…but I thought the only people who could get away with glitter were gymnasts and figure skaters? And I’m neither.”

Wait now! Come back here. Don’t run away just yet. Contrary to popular belief, gymnasts, figure skaters and Honey Boo Boo are not the only people who can pull off glitter. We can do it, too, and with Urban Decay’s gold and bronze glitter liners, we can look sassy and age-appropriate.

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners picture closeup — Baked (left) and Urban Cowboy (right)

These long-lasting, clear liquid liners are filled with flecks of glitter so small that a Smurf could wear ’em.

What I’ll usually do with these is draw a thin line along my upper or lower lash lines with the skinny brush (although for these pics, I’ve lined both my upper and lowers for emphasis), curl my lashes, and then coat them with mascara.

When I look in the mirror, it’s hard to even discern this glitter from more than a few feet away. All I see is a pair of bright, sparkling eyes!

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners picture brush — The thin brush draws perfectly precise lines

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray

March 25th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray — That’s my jam!

Yes, using Urban Decay’s $29 All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray involves adding another step to my makeup routine, and no, it’s probably not as essential as under-eye concealer.

Buuut, that doesn’t make me like it any less. 🙂

If I were going on a big trip (say, lattes and macarons in Paris with RyGos, seeing as he’s on hiatus from acting) and accidentally forgot it at home, would I be crushed?

No, I think not.

Probably not. Okay maybe a little…

With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, I have been whipping out this makeup-saving spray mist more and more often. A few spritzes postpone fading and keep my makeup on my mug longer.

And it’s just so refreshing! — like standing in the mist beside a tropical waterfall…except without the mosquito swarms, frizzy hair and bikini muffin top, of course.

Stuff locks my look down all day long. Like, say it was the morning of the zombie apocalypse…

I’m just staying, for instance. 🙂

If it were that day, and I remembered to spray this on first thing in the morning, I’m confident that my foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow and bronzer would still be going strong when the biters finally took me down that night. (Side note: last night’s Walking Dead? Merle?? Daryl? We need to talk.)

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Sun Rush Lustre Drops

March 21st, 2013 by Karen 12 Comments

Why wait for summer to wear MAC’s $21 Sun Rush Lustre Drops? The petite 0.60-ounce bottle, which fits in the palm of my hand and snugly into my teeniest makeup bag, is ready to go places NOW (spring break girls’ trip, anyone?).

And with the sun beaming down on the Bay Area today on this, the first official day of spring (See ya, winter! It’s been real!), I was in the mood for warm-weather makeup — tinted moisturizer, lots o’ lashes, lip gloss and Sun Rush’s peachy golden bronze shimmer.

Sometimes referred to as a water-based liquid bronzer, other times as a pearly highlighter, I call Sun Rush a reason to fall to my knees and humbly pay tribute to the Makeup Goddess of Faux Tans…whom you may refer to in whispers as Bronzeta.

Whenever I dot a couple drops of Sun Rush on my upper cheekbones and swirl them in with a MAC 224 or 217 brush, usually on top of whatever tinted moisturizer or light foundation I may be wearing (and possibly blush tint if I’m feeling extra ambitious), I’m transformed into one of those impossibly chic beach gals who wears Pucci print caftans, calls strangers dahhling and resort hops between the poshest places in the South of France.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, Duuuuude, I look relaxed.
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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Hourglass Muse Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick

February 21st, 2013 by Karen 38 Comments

Wearing Hourglass Muse Opaque Liquid Lipstick ($28) on my lips

Ever dig into your makeup bag and rediscover something you absolutely love but kindasorta just forgot about for a month or two or 12?

I feel ya, dawg. I do it all the time.

This week I made a point of rutting around through my makeup stash to look for buried treasure, and woo-hoo! — I’ve been finding quite a few things, like Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Muse. Or “Musey” as I like to call her. 🙂

A vibrant matte coral red — one of those “stop you in the street” shades like Make Up For Ever’s Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick in 39 — Muse glows brighter than a neon sign.

You might remember its launch last fall as part of the long-wearing Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick line.

With Muse, absolutely, I love the wow factor, but I also like the wear. Seriously, this shade DOES WORK! It decorates my pout for up to 10 hours (!) without weighing down or drying out my lips — traits not easy to find in such a long-wearing lipstick.

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