Makeup 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

Be Catwalk Ready Right Meow With Paul & Joe Spring 2012

by 84 Comments

paul & joe kitten collection sparkles spring 2012

Cat lady problems! I spent the better part of my nine lives today hemming and hawing (and caterwauling even) over whether I could bear to ruin the pretty designs and patterns on the lipsticks, blushes and powder pans in Paul & Joe’s new feline fabulous cat-themed collection for spring 2012.

Every single piece in the limited edition launch, which marks Paul & Joe’s 10-year anniversary in cosmetics and skincare, is like catnip for CCLs! — a purrfect little piece of kitty cat art.

The release is divided into two parts. Part One: Kitten Collection. Part Two: Collection Sparkles.

The eight-piece Kitten Collection hums (or is that a purr?) with a matte pressed face powder, three stick blushes, three nail polishes and a waterproof gel liner while the six-piece Collection Sparkles pounces! — despite its awkward name — onto lips, eyes and faces with three lipsticks and three powders for faces and eyes. And the whole shebang is available now on Paul & Joe counters and also online.

Hmm… I don’t know how Tabs feels about waiting, but I think I need one more night with these pretty kitties before I take my brushes to ’em.

paul & joe kitten collection sparkles spring 2012

paul & joe collection sparkles face & eye color
From the left: Face & Eye Colors in Purr-Fect, Kittycat and Siamese Please, $36 each

paul & joe collection sparkles face & eye color
From bottom to top: Purr-Fect, Siamese Please and Kittycat

paul & joe collection sparkles face & eye color
From the left: Purr-Fect, Siamese Please and Kittycat
[Continue reading…]

I’m Matte About Make Up For Ever La Bohème Aqua Eyes in Gypsy

by 28 Comments

Why, yes. The silky smooth texture and all-day wear time (both on my lash and water lines) of Make Up For Ever’s new $18 Aqua Eyes in Gypsy are rocking my hot pink argyle socks off, but that’s not what I love most about this limited edition liner.

The fresh brewed coffee color of this rich matte brown makes it neutral enough to work with the cool and warm colors in my shadow stash, and I think that’s pretty sweet. Greens, blues, golds, bronzes, beiges and even purples — Gypsy digs ’em all — and it even works well as a base for smokey eye looks with black and/or gray.

make up for ever la boheme (3)
Aqua Eye Pencil in Gypsy and the La Bohème palette
[Continue reading…]

Make Up For Ever’s La Bohème Collection for Spring 2012 Lets Lips Take Baby Steps With Two New Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks

by 35 Comments

Hard to believe now after 20-some-odd years of wearing lipstick that there was a time when I was actually kind of afraid of the stuff.

Before walking home after the spring dance in junior high, I was one of those girls frantically removing forbidden eyeliner and Lip Smackers in the bathroom, but by freshman year, I’d gotten the OK from Mom to start wearing makeup legitimately.

My first fully authorized lipstick was a tube of Clinique Raspberry Glacè, and while I was thrilled to have my very own tube of “fancy” lipstick, I couldn’t just apply it straight from the tube… No, I thought that made it look too opaque and heavy, which drew too much attention to my braces, so I was forever dabbing and blotting Raspberry Glacè to get that lightly stained lip look I liked so much.

Now, if the two new limited edition Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks from the La Bohème Spring collection ($19 each) had been around back then, I probably would have tucked Raspberry Glacè away into the recesses of my Liz Claiborne purse and opted instead for either reddish coral Folk or peachy beige Bohème for touch-ups at my locker between classes.

Both of these sheer, slick and hydrating lipsticks apply with a gossamer veil of color and shine and have a classic powdery rose flavor and scent that I like. For gals who fear the look of heavy, thick lipsticks (like I did at one time), I fancy them in a way as lipstick training wheels.

make up for ever la boheme (4)
Limited edition packaging!
[Continue reading…]

Light Up Your Eyes and World With Make Up For Ever’s New La Bohème Eye Shadow Palette

by 37 Comments

make up for ever la boheme (2)

High up on my list of things to do this week: dreaming big dreams — no matter how silly or far-fetched they might seem.

Because you never know. Casting those crazy ideas out into the ether could be the spark that sets in motion a chain of events that leads to one or more of them coming true.

Of course, a few of my big dreams would have to be related to makeup, right? — like traveling around the world while wearing the colors in the new limited edition Make Up For Ever La Bohème Eye Shadow Palette ($39).

And since we’re talking about BIG dreams, I’d want to wear each of the six baked shadows in this free-spirited palette while exploring a different far-flung corner of the world, and I’d start in Costa Rica with Lagoon Green.

This shimmery teal would be the perfect color to wear out to dinner with my BFF Cindy after a day spent playing in the surf.

From there, we’d zip out across the Pacific to the Garden Isle with mossy Vegetal Green, which I’d love to wear while searching for secret waterfalls on Kauai.

Then, and this one would require passing through quite a few time zones, I’d wear Beige on my lids while hiking the hills around Provence with my favorite wide-angle lens, and silvery violet Parma Purple while El Hub and I ate our way through Rome.

Next, silvery peach Coral and I would tour the Taj Mahal (always wanted to go), and then head back home to hopefully wear shimmery reddish bronze Brown out with you to lunch.

Afterward, maybe we could even do some window shopping, and you could take us to some of your favorite places to play with makeup in your town. 🙂

I know, I know. Such a crazy dream, but even if it never happens, at least I can still mimic the same sparkle in my eyes that I get when I’m traveling, since MUFE added high amounts of pearl to these baked shadows (which have a new formula just added to the line) to give skin a luminous, almost metallic finish.

make up for ever la boheme (3)
The La Bohème Eye Shadow Palette and Aqua Eyes in Gypsy (also from the La Bohème collection)
[Continue reading…]

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 206

by 72 Comments


Keep looking up…

  • You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
    Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. Well, I’m on the cusp between fussy and glad. I’ve been fighting a cold since yesterday and still feel a little run down, so I’m gonna try to take it easy today.

  2. How do you feel about teal eyeliner?

    3. I feel great about it. 🙂 Not so much now in the middle of winter, but definitely in the spring and summer, especially paired with orange lips.

  3. The name of a perfume you own but never wear?

    4. Chanel No. 5. I received a bottle as a gift some years back, and I’ve always liked the scent, but I still don’t quite feel like it fits me yet. I keep it, though, because I seem to like it more and more every year.

  4. Have you ever noticed…

    5. …all of the ads catering to cat ladies in Real Simple magazine? Seriously, it’s almost like every other page has something to do with kitty litter, wet food or removing cat hair from the couch.

    I guess their readership includes a high percentage of cat ladies (myself included, haha!).

  5. A scent that reminds you of your teenage years?

    6. Bath & Body Works Juniper Breeze… I must have gone through 50 gallons of that stuff.

  6. Where’s your favorite place to nap?

    7. Either downstairs on the couch or upstairs on the floor in my office (next to Tabs, of course).

    Funny, but I just realized that I never actually nap in my bed.

  7. What’s the best thing about Mondays?

    8. I like the idea of Mondays as a fresh start.

  8. How’s your hair today?

    9. Not bad. I straightened it yesterday and haven’t washed it yet, so it isn’t frizzy, which is good, and my bangs are behaving (I’m thinking about growing them out).

  9. What’s the most important thing you look for in a lipgloss besides color?

    10. Moisture. I need a ton of it because my lips get very dry.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. I’m tempering my ambitions this week, so I just want to take it easy, get plenty of rest, and keep this cold at bay, if possible.

How about you? How are you doing this morning? Did you have a good weekend? I hope you were able to carve out some “me” time for yourself (it’s important).

Tabs is sitting here next to my desk watching the birds in the oak tree outside the window and purr-chirping up a storm!

I wish I felt a little better right now and we could all hang out today and do something fun (like a museum, a makeup counter or a movie), but since technology hasn’t quite gotten us there yet, for now at least, the Monday Poll will have to do. 🙂

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. How do you feel about teal eyeliner?
3. The name of a perfume you own but never wear?
4. Have you ever noticed…
5. A scent that reminds you of your teenage years?
6. Where’s your favorite place to nap?
7. What’s the best thing about Mondays?
8. How’s your hair today?
9. What’s the most important thing you look for in a lipgloss besides color?
10. Weekly goals:

Let’s take a couple of deep, cleansing breaths together, babe. In and out. In and out. Ah…

All together now, “Today is the start of a great week.” 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.