• 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

Dueling Naked Strangers, Exposed! The Illamasqua Naked Strangers Collection Is Thunderdome Approved

May 24th, 2012 by Karen 40 Comments

illamasqua naked strangers collection

Preparing for the Thunderdome is a pain in the @ss.

There, I said it.

So many things to consider! First, there’s the whole post-apocalyptic desert thing, with the lack of potable water and modern dentistry, and the roving mutant gangs. Then, as if the mutants weren’t bad enough, I spend half my time collecting enough pig poop to fuel my ride!

Ridiculous…

Oh, and on top of everything else, I have to stay fit and makeup ready at all times, because I never know when I’m going to be called up to fight in the Thunderdome.

Seriously, who wants to go toe-to-toe with a giant mutant wearing black studded-leather chaps without at least looking the part?

Right?

Needless to say, I’m pretty stoked about the new seven-piece Illamasqua Naked Strangers collection for cheeks, lips and nails…

Illamasqua Naked Strangers Collection

The futuristic warrior princess modeling makeup for the Naked Strangers campaign looks all kinds of fierce! — like she’d be all, “Thunderdome? Sure, sign me up.” Her makeup mixes nude, pink, gold and beige shades for cheeks, lips and nails with a pair of seriously smoldering smokey eyes.

Illamasqua Naked Strangers Collection

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to this whole Thunderdome thing…and I’ve mapped out a plan that utilizes tactics that usually worked for the girls who got into fights back in middle school.

  1. Remove any dangling jewelry, like hoop earrings and necklaces, to maximize combat efficiency
  2. Grease up with Vaseline, so that my opponent’s claws can’t get any purchase on my arms/cheeks
  3. Trash talk, trash talk, trash talk
  4. Apply Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy (a nude pinkish brown) and Cream Blusher in Zygomatic (also a nude pinkish brown) from the Naked Strangers collection before, during and after the fight

Generally, one never wants to look too overdone for a Thunderdome duel (it’s just not professional), and both of these two neutrals should be perfect for that.

illamasqua zygomatic intimacy
Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy and Cream Blusher in Zygomatic

Cream Blusher in Zygomatic

See those dots of gold on the top? Purely for decoration. I dug into the pan to see if there were more pieces hiding beneath the surface, and as far as I could tell, there weren’t.

As much I like seeing them on the blusher itself, I ended up flicking them off… I just couldn’t get used to seeing myself with one random piece of gold on my left cheek.

I really like this pinkish brown because, unlike death matches, it’s pleasantly easy. The slick, thin texture melts into my skin, lasts between 6-7 hours, and I think it looks natural on both a bare face or atop foundation.

The finish also has a hint of shine to it that gives it some extra dimension, which I love
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy

Tame by Illamasqua standards (remember Human Fundamentalism’s teal and purple lips?), this sheer pinkish brown gloss, which has a sprinkling of shimmer and comes with a brush applicator, has everyday color written all over it.

Thick and sticky, the consistency reminds me a lot of MAC Lipglasses; I clock the wear time at between 4-5 hours.

I’m not crazy about the fruit punch flavor and scent…but both are faint and fade within about a minute. They definitely don’t ruin the color for me, and I fully expect to finish this tube.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+

illamasqua zygomatic
Cream Blusher in Zygomatic
[Continue reading…]

There are 40 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Collections, Illamasqua, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: illamasqua

Illamasqua Naked Strangers Collection: Zygomatic Cream Blusher

May 24th, 2012 by Karen 4 Comments


Illamasqua Cream Blusher in Zygomatic, one of seven pieces in the new Illamasqua Naked Strangers collection.

There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Beauty Keywords: illamasqua

Enter the Makeup and Beauty Blog Buxom Photo Contest to Win a Prize Worth More Than $600

May 24th, 2012 by Karen 42 Comments


Ciao, vuoi un gelato?

This series is brought to you by Buxom Color Choreography Eyeshadow. Buxom wants to inspire you to live life vividly.

Got some beauty staples that need restocking?

A collection you’ve been coveting?

A vacation you’ve been wanting to book?


A girl with purple cat ears waits for something, somewhere in the middle of Montana…

Why not do all three? 🙂 Enter the Makeup and Beauty Blog Buxom Photo Contest for a chance to win a $500 Visa gift card.

But wait, there’s more (I always wanted to say that). Because we’re big on beauty ’round these parts, the prize also includes more than $100 in Buxom cosmetics. On top of the gift card, that’s a total prize package worth more than half a grand.

Entering is easy, and the full details are down below, but here’s the gist of it: all you need is a picture of yourself taken at a time when you felt great.

Maybe a travel picture from an exciting trip…


Parisian fountains make everything better

Or something closer to home.


Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

Or, how about a fun time you had with friends?


With my buddy Cindy on our way to Maui

NOTE: Cheesy pics that show you goofing off are totally welcome, too. 🙂
[Continue reading…]

There are 42 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Buxom, Giveaways, Just For Fun Keywords: buxom, sponsored post

Kitty Claws

May 23rd, 2012 by Karen 6 Comments


Tabs on my lap this morning.

There are 6 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Photo Keywords: tabs

Still Sailing! More MAC Hey, Sailor! Lipglasses: Blessedly Rich and Cut Loose

May 23rd, 2012 by Karen 25 Comments

MAC blessedly rich
MAC Hey, Sailor! Lipglass in Blessedly Rich

Man, if I were Blessedly Rich, I’d Cut Loose, yo! Fo’ reals! I would go buck wild. 🙂

LOL! Here’s a look at the last two Lipglasses from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection, in case you were curious about the two we didn’t talk about with Ryan Gosling last week.

Like their three seafaring siblings, these are also $15.50 each.

mac blessedly rich cut loose

Blessedly Rich

Question: What happens when you hit the lottery or start a social networking site in your dorm room at Harvard?
Answer: You become Blessedly Rich.

Every once in a while this shimmery pinkish coral flashes gold, cha-ching! Such a pretty shade (and no lip liner required!), but I wish it was a tad brighter…

Pigmented enough to wear on its own, Blessedly Rich also plays well with others (both neutrals and brights, like Hey, Sailor’s blues and greens)
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

Cut Loose

I’m sure there’s some lucky lad or lass out there who can rock this white gold with pearl on its own, but that someone is not me.

By itself, Cut Loose isn’t the easiest Lipglass to wear. A tad too much, and it appears milky and uneven, emphasizing my lip creases and lines (bluh!).

It’s better applied in small doses, methinks, like to highlight your pout with a dab in the center of your lower lip, which is something I’ve been doing with many of the lip color from the Hey, Sailor! collection — even the bright oranges and reds.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B


Cut Loose on the left and Blessedly Rich on the right
[Continue reading…]

There are 25 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, MAC Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: mac

The MAC Hey, Sailor! Pro Longwear Lip Pencils: Set Sail to the Land of Long-Lasting Color

May 23rd, 2012 by Karen 17 Comments

mac shore leave
Wearing MAC Hey, Sailor! Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Shore Leave with Lipglass in Evolution Revolution

When the long-lasting MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils came out last fall, I was floored. Seriously. Blown clear out of my socks! Unconscious! Zonked out on the floor! That’s how good I thought they were.

I even started having relationship problems…which is to say that I’d had a number of long-standing relationships with several MAC lip pencils at the time, but when the Pro Longwears appeared, I starting comparing all of them to the Longwears and clamoring for MAC to “hurry up and convert Subculture and [INSERT YOUR FAVORITE MAC LIP PENCILS HERE] to the Pro Longwear Lip Pencil formulation already!”

I’m still committed to my dependable MAC Lip Pencil colors (shoot, Spice, Chestnut and I have been together longer than I’ve known El Hub!), but the Pro Longwears? — just as fab. Give one of them a try before your next secret smooch-fest with that cutie who works in IT (shh, your secret is safe with me). I tell ya — it will not budge! Or dry out your lips, for that matter.

mac hey sailor pro longwear lip pencils
The MAC Hey, Sailor! Pro Longwear Lip Pencils from the left: Throw Me a Line, Shore Leave and Saunter

I love the Longwear Lip Pencils to pieces, so when MAC included three shades in the new Hey, Sailor! collection, I thought, “Ahoy, matey!” Sign me up.

Shore Leave

Of these three, hands down, coral Shore Leave excites me the most. I think it’s just so…uncharacteristically electric for a coral pencil shade and brighter than they usually are (think South Beach in the summertime — all flowing caftans, bronzed bods, Ray Bans and wet, slicked-back hair).

The color borrows a page from to MAC Costa Chic but cranks up the brightness and changes the finish from a frost to a cream.

I love wearing it with coral glosses (like two of my faves, Evolution Revolution Lipglass and Confetti Plushglass).
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

Throw Me a Line

If the MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Kiss Me Quick is already a staple color in your makeup bag, you might be wondering, “Do I really need Throw Me a Line?”

Well, that depends. How committed are you to your reds, and do you notice even the slightest differences between shades? Throw Me a Line seems warmer, brighter and a little more orange to me than Kiss Me Quick.

If you’re not the type to fuss over fine differences or just want to keep your collection compact and streamlined, Kiss Me Quick should do you just fine.

But wait — before you decide, picture Kiss Me Quick with Hey, Sailor! Send Me Sailing Lipglass and/or Red Racer Lipstick.

Might help you decide. 🙂
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

Saunter

Truth be told, the third shade here, pale nude beige Saunter, scares me silly. Before I tried it on, I thought I might be able to pull it off, thinking it would look a lot like In Sync Lip Pencil (which I LOVE!), but it might be just a touch too light for me and my NC42 skin.

Pale princesses who like the way they look in warm, pale beige shades should have better luck (oh! — try a layer beneath Orange Tempera, by the way).
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

mac hey sailor swatches pro longwear lip pencil
Swatches from the left: Throw Me a Line, Kiss Me Quick, Shore Leave, Costa Chic, Saunter, In Synch

mac saunter
Saunter with Orange Tempera
[Continue reading…]

There are 17 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, MAC Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: mac

What Makeup Reminds You of High School?

May 23rd, 2012 by Karen 63 Comments

what makeup reminds you of high school?
ZOMG, brows! And no concealer!

My high school years were a mix of a handful Clinique (my gateway makeup drug, LOL!) along with lots of drugstore stuff. I mostly wore eye and lip makeup, and some powder. I hadn’t discovered the powers of brow products yet, or mascara. In no particular order:

  • Revlon Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow
  • Wet & Wild Eyeshadow Palettes (I had this bronze, gold and khaki one I wore all the time)
  • Wet & Wild 666 Lip Liner
  • Covergirl Lipslicks
  • Cornsilk Pressed Powder
  • Coty Airspun Loose Power
  • Clinique Blush (My only blush! I think the color was Clover), Eyeshadow and Lipstick

What makeup reminds you of high school?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 63 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Deborah Lippmann Snow White & The Huntsman Nail Lacquer Set

May 23rd, 2012 by Karen 2 Comments




Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s nails are the fairest of them all? 🙂

Deborah Lippmann Snow White & The Huntsman Nail Lacquer Set, $25. Includes two full size bottles of Prelude to a Kiss, a sheer pale pink, and Dark Side of the Moon, a deep eggplant. Available now at Nordstrom and nordstrom.com.

deborah lippmann snow white huntsman nail lacquer set

There are 2 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Beauty Keywords: lippmann

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 1085
  • Go to page 1086
  • Go to page 1087
  • Go to page 1088
  • Go to page 1089
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 1912
  • 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.