A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Welcome to October! 🙂 Well, it’s fall. No turning back now. Here’s a pic of the hills and the gray sky behind our place just after dawn this morning (and some security camera snapshots of a prowler who was sneaking around in the garden…)
Do you like Tabs in pink?
Like the gift that keeps on givin’, the summertime sun’s 
effects can be felt long after the autumnal equinox. Knowing about some of the most common kinds of skin repair products can make it easier to choose the right ones for you.
Le sigh… It’s all but inevitable. Last summer, whether you limited your sun exposure to leisurely strolls along sun-dappled sidewalks or spent oodles of hours in direct sunlight by the pool, your skin probably received at least some UV damage (even if you wore SPF 24/7 every day).
Sun protection should be part of every gal’s daily beauty ritual (here’s an old but hopefully helpful MBB post on sunscreen), regardless of the time of year (snowboarding sunburns anyone?), but those sunny summer days and warm water usually lure more of us outside.
Of course, when it comes to the sun, an ounce of prevention is worth 100,000,000 pounds of cure, even in the middle of winter. Religiously applying and reapplying sunscreen and, better yet, reducing your time in the sun are always going to trump trying to repair sun damage after the fact, but if you are concerned about soothing an inflamed sunburn, or about reducing or preventing sun spots, wrinkles or fine lines, post-sun repair products can help.
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EOS Evolution of Smooth Everyday Hand Lotion in Nourish (left) and Refresh (right)
In a short story writing class I took for fun a few years ago the instructor said that inspiration sometimes hides in the unlikeliest of places. Dagnabbit if homegirl wasn’t totally right, because today I found inspiration in two tiny tubes of hand lotion.
These new Evolution of Smooth Everyday Hand Lotions by EOS ($3.99 each and available in two scents, Nourish and Refresh) could very well have the coolest hand lotion packaging I’ve ever squeezed.
I think it’s so cool when people re-imagine something that could have been mundane, like the packaging for a tube of hand lotion, and turn it into an object of beauty. Now THAT’s inspiring. 🙂
These little discs feel oddly soothing in my paws when I hold them, and I keep wanting to sling one across a glassy pond to see if it’ll skip…
As a semi-professional power napper able to sleep standing up, I appreciate the idea behind the new Pixi Fake Awake Kit in No. 1 PowerNap ($28), with its products designed to fake a wide awake look “without getting caught.” The cutie-pie kit comes with eight products — two of Pixi’s Correcting Concealers, two Brightening Concealers, one Cheek & Eye Awakening Powder, an Eye Area Setting Powder, one Lip & Cheek Tint and a Lip Gloss — and features lots of pink and peach.
Because sheer pastels are the prevailing pigments here, the overall effect seems better suited to lighter lovelies than darker damsels, but most of the pieces, with the exception of the concealers, which are probably better for pale pretties, should complement skin tones from light to medium.
The MAC Smoke Signals collection, le sigh. One of my favorite fall releases, evah!
Smoking Eyes: 4
Gentle Fume Eyes: 4
Pigments clockwise from the lower left: Silver Fog, Dark Soul and Smoke Signals
Blushes in Ablaze (left) and Emote (right)
Lipsticks from the left: Barely Lit, Brew, Mellow Flame, Sparks Can Fly and Burnin’
Lipglasses from the left: Illicit, Soft & Slow, Bazaarish and Bare Truth
Oh, for sure, and I love when it happens. I never thought anything could steal my heart away from the Shu Uemura Lash Curler, but Sonia Kashuk’s excellent Curl Up Eyelash Curler ($12.99) came pretty darn close.
Then there’s the $29 MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush. After feeling just so-so about it for years as an eyeshadow brush, I used it to apply my under-eye concealer one day and was totally blown away. Now it’s my favorite brush to use with my current favorite concealer, MAC Pro Longwear.
And earlier this month, Urban Decay’s Stardust Sparkling Lip Glosses ($19 each) threw me for a loop. With so much glitter, I was sure they’d feel gritty, but they turned out to be downright comfy on my lips. Plus, they last a lot longer than I expected from a gloss.
How about you? Are there any makeup or beauty products you were surprised to like?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. We’re almost to the Friday finish line, YAY! Hope you had a good one today. Doing anything fun tonight? Right now I’m watching the Terra Nova pilot on TV, and so far, so good. Always helps to have dinosaurs…
