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You Have the Right to Glow Quietly with NARS Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush

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Wearing NARS Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush on my cheeks and drinking a pumpkin chai latte!

Let’s band together, fellow makeup revolutionaries, and declare our freedom from big chunks of glitter! — because we, the blush lovers of the world, have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of a subtle glow.

And this year, victory is ours! Demure, shimmery cheeks are just a NARS Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush ($27) away. After you don a few layers of this sheer, shimmery peach, don’t be surprised if you suddenly feel the urge to raise your fist, power-to-the-people style. I did (and then quickly lowered it when I remembered how long it’s been since I shaved my pits, whoops!). 🙂

Miss Liberty, a member of the NARS holiday collection corps, calls attention to cheeks without shouting. A warm peach speckled with tiny pieces of silver glitter, it beautifully balances both color and shimmer.

nars miss liberty blush
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I Pine for More Time and NARS Ponderosa Cream Eyeshadow

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I can’t even remember the last time I finished everything on my daily to-do list. Let’s see — when was that again? Maybe six months ago?

But no matter how poop-tacular it is to be as busy as we are, I try not to let it get my inner optimist down. Being busy, after all, is a good excuse to streamline your makeup routine, which can be a lot of fun, especially when it leads to products like the new NARS Podorosa Cream Eyeshadow ($23; from the Holiday 2011 collection).

After moseying through last weekend wearing this glossy, glittery golden brown shadow, I can safely say that it’s almost everything I’d want from a creamy brown.

Ponderosa gets its name from the tall timber pines indigenous to North America. For a sheer eye look, apply it to lids with a fingertip, and blend well. Or, for more saturated color, build it up in layers.

Pigmented, yet lightweight and thin, Ponderosa’s non-greasy texture blends easily into my skin. With it, I barely have to exert any effort (or whip out brushes, for that matter) to apply.

For a fast, fresh and sexy look, I’ll prime my lids first with the unstoppable NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, pat Ponderosa on top with my fingers, and then smooth out the edges.

Yeah, baby! 🙂

Now, brown shadows aren’t necessarily the first shadows that come to mind when I think “sexy,” but this one definitely revs my engine. Not in a tight red dress and sky-high heels way, though, but more of a button-down plaid shirt, worn jeans, Chucks and cherry Chapstick kinda way.

The glossy finish gives the color an informal ease that keeps it from appearing too formal, and when I wear it with some of the quieter shades from NARS Holiday, like Albatross Lip Gloss and Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush, I feel so California cool…

nars pondorosa cream eyeshadow
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A Few Fab Foundations for Flawless Skin This Fall

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Foundations for a Fab Fall

This post is part of a series sponsored by Walgreens.

As much as I love easy, breezy makeup and tinted moisturizers in summer, I always look forward to fuller coverage products, darker colors and matte textures each fall.

There’s a season for everything, and for me, fall means dressy, dramatic, and oh so much fun — like moody lipsticks, darker nail polishes, cozy fragrances and seductive smokey eyes.

Here are a few drugstore foundations to go with your fabulous formal makeup looks this fall.

1. L’Oréal Visible Lift Smooth Absolute Instant Age-Reversing Foundation SPF 17

Because it gets hotter here in summer than Ryan Gosling’s rippled abs, I usually wear sheer, lightweight makeup like tinted moisturizers and face tints, but when fall rolls around and the temperature drops, I like to switch to liquid, cream and powder foundations (and sometimes stick) for coverage from medium to full.

L’Oréal Visible Lift Smooth Absolute Instant Age-Reversing Foundation SPF 17 ($15.99; available in seven shades), one of my favorite drugstore liquid foundations, offers long-lasting, medium-to-full coverage that doesn’t look like cake, and I also think it photographs really well.

TIP: Because you can’t always test foundations at the drugstore, pale pretties might want to look for colors labeled beige or buff; gals with medium skin tones should opt for warm, medium or golden shades; and darker damsels should seek out colors labeled tan, sable or chestnut.


Sand Beige (left) and Sun Beige (right)


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China Glaze Thinks We Should Let It Snow

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china glaze let it snow

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but China Glaze is so delightful. And since we’ve no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 🙂

You’ll have to set down that Halloween candy corn for a minute, though, but don’t worry. I have a holiday candy cane and a cup of eggnog for you instead. Yes, it’s time for another holiday collection, and this one’s from China Glaze.

Even though winter is still months away, I say Let It Snow — as in the new 12-piece collection of festive polishes coming soon from China Glaze (about $6 each).

I’m wearing two layers in each of the swatches below. Have a quick look, and let me know if any of the colors ring your bell.

The China Glaze Let It Snow Collection

  • Poinsettia — A creamy ruby red
  • Ring In The Red — The holidays wouldn’t be complete without at least one glittering red polish
  • Winter Berry — A creamy cranberry red (perfect for sipping hot cocoa by the fire)
  • Velvet Bow — A rich, creamy red inspired by red wine
  • Glittering Garland — A dazzling glittery green the color of pine trees and mistletoe
  • Holly-Day — A rich hunter green sans sparkle
  • Champagne Bubbles — A sophisticated metallic gold with golden shimmer
  • Twinkle Lights — A mix of glittery shades that twinkle like tree lights
  • Snow Globe — A frosty white with flecks of snow
  • Icicle — A shimmery silver with a flash of ice
  • Tinsel Town — A metallic silver glitter perfect for a night on the town
  • Blue Year’s Eve — A lustrous, shimmering blue to ring in the new year

china glaze let it snow
From the left: Poinsettia, Ring in the Red, Champagne Bubbles, Twinkle Lights, Snow Globe and Icicle

china glaze let it snow
Holly-Day, Blue Year’s Eve, Velvet Bow, Tinsel Tow, Winter Berry and Glittering Garland
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Creme in Your Coffee Lipstick

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mac creme in your coffee

So maybe you’re tempted to try darker MAC lippies like Dubonnet and Paramount but haven’t worked up the courage? No worries. I totally get it. If you’re not accustomed to seeing yourself in dramatic lip colors, a bout with “transitional shades” could help. Somewhere between the bolder colors you eventually want to wear and the colors you’re already comfortable in, transitional shades can help you push your limits while easing you into something bold.

Say your game plan is to work your way up to fall’s darker browns, reds and plums. Crème in Your Coffee ($14.50) lipstick, today’s Unsung Hero, could be a great place to start.

MAC describes the color, which is part of the company’s Cremesheen lipstick line, as a mid-tone pinkish brown, and I think it’s that touch of pink that elevates it from a run-of-the-mill nude lipstick to something else (something more). The brown within it gives it a degree of intensity, but one that doesn’t cross the line into melodramatic, and the combined shade sits comfortably at the halfway point between barely-there and look-at-me lips.

mac creme in your coffee

mac creme in your coffee swatch
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Oct. 17

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  • 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 three years, which I guess makes this somewhere around Vol. 190. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. Pretty great, and not just for a Monday.

  2. What were some of your favorite albums growing up?

    3. Madonna’s Like a Virgin, Janet Jackson’s Control, Debbie Gibson’s Out of the Blue, RUN-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell… Ah, the soundtrack of my youth.

  3. A bad habit you’re trying to break?

    4. Grinding my teeth in my sleep. I’m tired of wearing a night guard (so not sexy).

  4. If you could read minds for a day, would you want to?

    5. Absolutely not. There’s a reason it’s called our “inside voice.” No thank you.

  5. Have you ever had a recurring dream?

    6. Oh, sure. In one of them, I’m back in high school on graduation day. My gown is a wrinkled mess, and I’m running late, so I have to iron it in the principal’s office before heading to the ceremony.

    In the dream, I’m stressed out and worried that I won’t be able to finish before they call my name, so I’m ironing like a crazy person. Weirdly, for reasons I’ve never figured out, heading to the ceremony with a wrinkly gown just isn’t an option, and I always wake up before I find out if I make it to the ceremony on time.

  6. How many languages do you speak?

    7. There’s English, of course, and I understand Tagalog, but I don’t really speak it well; I know just enough to order food and cuss someone out.

    I also know a smidgen of high school French — miraculously, enough to help me board the right trains on a trip to France a few years ago.

  7. An unusual food pairing that you were surprised to like?

    8. Bagels and cream cheese topped with french fries (don’t knock it ’til you try it).

  8. Something you have no patience for?

    9. Bullsh*t. And bad manners.

  9. One of your favorite sounds?

    10. The sound of water gently lapping against a surfboard. What I wouldn’t give for a few minutes in a warm ocean right now…

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Stick to my workout schedule, stay positive, and find Tabs the perfect Halloween costume.

Mornin’, bud. 🙂 Another Monday for us. How are things coming along so far? I actually feel good today, perhaps because I watched The Walking Dead last night, and by comparison to flesh-eating zombies, how bad could your average Monday be?

While I make a second cup of green tea (would you care for one?), let me know what you’re up to this week by filling out today’s Monday Poll.

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



1. Mood:
2. What were some of your favorite albums growing up?
3. A bad habit you’re trying to break?
4. If you could read minds for a day, would you want to?
5. Have you ever had a recurring dream?
6. How many languages do you speak?
7. An unusual food pairing that you were surprised to like?
8. Something you have no patience for?
9. One of your favorite sounds?
10. Weekly goals:

I foresee fabulous things for us this week, babe. Keep that chin up!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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