Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

These Dolce & Gabbana Summer 2011 Crayon Intense Eyeliners Prefer Lash Lines to Water

July 23rd, 2011 by Karen 24 Comments

Gosh, I sure do love the color of Dolce & Gabbana’s two new limited edition Summer 2011 Crayon Intense Eyeliners…

They’re from the new Italian Summertime Collection (here are some of the lipsticks from the release). First, there’s Agave, a shimmery khaki green with a hint of gold, and also Bronzo, a bronzy taupe.

I think both look faboo along my lash line, with Agave seeming to emphasize my brown eyes while Bronzo has more of a brightening effect, sort of like Chanel’s Rose Platine.

Agave (left) and Bronzo (right)
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Crazy Cat Lady Kryptonite

July 23rd, 2011 by Karen 21 Comments

There were kittens to adopt at the local Petco today.

How adorable is this black and white baby cat? 🙂

How Effective Is Parian Spirit Professional Makeup Brush Cleaner as an Eco-Friendly Option?

July 23rd, 2011 by Karen 8 Comments

Written by Sam

I can’t say that cleaning makeup brushes is one of my favorite things to do, but it’s a necessary evil. Today makeup artist/blogger Sam puts a possible eco-friendly (and affordable) brush cleaner option through its paces and shares his results with us.

Parian Spirit Professional Makeup Brush Cleaner

If there’s one thing I hate about my job as a makeup artist, it’s cleaning (not that I much enjoy it in my more pedestrian life, either). Seriously, we’re always cleaning something. From wiping up spilled powder to disinfecting shared products to scraping off the top layer of pressed powders. And brushes are some of the worst, too, because they have to be cleaned between every client, every color, and every product.

It’s not just a matter of preventing contamination, either, but also of making sure the forest green I just used doesn’t mix with the snowy white I’m about to use. That’s why I’m constantly searching for brush cleansers able to remove all traces of color and pigment — ideally, ones that are kind to the clock (don’t take forever to dry), kind to my wallet, kind to my nose in that they don’t smell like pure isopropyl alcohol, and kind to my brushes.

Now, before I continue, let me just clarify that there are two types of professional brush cleaners.

Type 1: Fast change brush cleaners

These you literally dip brushes into, swirl them around a few times, wipe across a paper towel, and you’re good to go. They leave brushes completely dry, and devoid of color and bacteria. Most makeup artists use this variety of brush cleanser on jobs so that they’re able to transition brushes quickly between clients on the fly, without wasting an extra minute.

Type 2: Deep cleansing brush cleaners

These are designed to more thoroughly deep clean brushes, but usually require at least a few hours to dry. They’re typically easier on brush fibers than the swirl-and-go variety and occasionally contain ingredients to condition brush bristles as well.

What is Parian Spirit?

A while ago, I stumbled upon a brand called Parian Spirit. Their only widely available product is a brush cleaner of the same name, marketed as being environmentally safe and professional grade. Although it never explicitly stated whether it was a fast change or a deep cleaner, I assumed it was the latter due to it having a base of citrus spirits (which is a solvent) rather than alcohol (which is what most quick change cleaners contain, as the alcohol evaporates extremely quickly, allowing the brush to be ready for use in minutes). It was cheap (only $12 for 8 fl. oz.), so I decided to give it a whirl.

I wash the brushes I use on myself on a daily basis about once every five days. Mostly, I work with translucent powders and brow powders with these, so I figured that these rather weak products would be a good initial test of the cleaner’s ability.

How does it work?

For the most part, the directions sound pretty familiar. They say to pour enough of the liquid into a glass jar to cover the bristles of a brush to be cleaned. Then, dip the brush in and agitate it in the glass for about 15 seconds before removing it, drying with a paper towel or terry cloth, and then letting the brush air dry the rest of the way.

Interestingly, the directions also say that you can leave brushes immersed in the solution for up to a minute to completely disinfect. That’s a claim I don’t see many deep cleaners make.

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Two Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora!

July 23rd, 2011 by Karen 605 Comments

WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is @the_rainebeaux! Congratulations, @the_rainebeaux! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Win a $50 Sephora eGift card from Makeup and Beauty Blog
Good morning, young lady. 🙂 It’s the weekend, and wouldn’t ya know it? I feel a little out of it today, so please bear with me if you can. I’m not sure why, but it’s like everything’s moving in slow motion for me. I didn’t sleep poorly last night, so I don’t think that’s why. I just…don’t know, feel…slower…than…usual. And Tabs is really bothered about it, too, as you can tell from this very revealing pic:

I believe it accurately conveys how he feels about my mental struggles this morning: “Talk to the butt.”

See, when Tabs is having “one of those mornings,” he just flees to the safety of his cat tower and sleeps it off.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do that sometimes? — flee to our cat towers.

I’m serious. I wish I had a giant cat tower built to human scale. It would have to be about 42 feet tall, though, with better carpeting, and would probably require an elevator because I ain’t climbing up the side of no 42-foot-tall cat tower. I’m not THAT crazy, LOL!

While I research construction costs, why don’t we have a little fun this morning and get this weekend off to a good start? 🙂 I think you know what that means. It’s…

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, what do you do when you have “one of those mornings?” Have you ever worked on a ranch or a farm? — wait, I just asked that one last week. Seriously, how do I come up with these questions, LOL?! Have you ever worked on a farm? I mean come on, am I completely out of my mind? 🙂 I think you know how we do this by now. A comment about anything at all, but today, the wackier the better.
Second, you can enter by following me on Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora! http://bit.ly/p3QSYA

The deadline to enter is Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 11:59PM (PT).
Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
Sephora eGift Certificates can only be redeemed online and are not valid in stores or available for purchase or redemption in Canada. International winners may opt to substitute the Sephora eGift card prize for $50 sent directly to their email address by PayPal instead.
Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is @the_rainebeaux! Congratulations, @the_rainebeaux! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Need a Lipstick in this Color

July 22nd, 2011 by Karen 9 Comments

With a MAC Amplified Creme finish! Hotness.

Olivia Wilde: Her Best Hair?

July 22nd, 2011 by Karen 32 Comments

Olivia Wilde: Her Best Hair?

Olivia’s been Wilde about acting since the age of two. That’s how old Olivia Wilde was when she caught the acting bug.

The poor girl didn’t stand a chance. The bug spread, eventually turning Olivia into the butt-kicking artificially intelligent life form known as Quorra in 2010’s Tron: Legacy (in which she starred opposite Tabs).

Born Olivia Jane Cockburn on March 10, 1984 in New York City, she took Wilde as her stage name while in high school, borrowing it, she’s said, from Irish author Oscar Wilde to honor the many writers in her family. Journalists, really. Her mother, Leslie Cockburn, is a 60 Minutes producer and journalist. Her father, Andrew Cockburn, who was born in London, England, and raised in Ireland, is also a journalist, as are two of her uncles. From them, she’s said, she inherited a “strong journalistic streak” which made her “really critical and analytical.”

She landed her first major recurring acting role playing Alex Kelly on The O.C. from 2004-2005, and now has a recurring role on House as Dr. Remy “Thirteen” Hadley. Wilde told Star magazine how she sometimes takes cues from her character even when she’s not working, saying, “I’m now convinced that I’m a doctor. I mean, if someone says they have a pain, I’m like, ‘Well, that’s your spleen.'”

When she isn’t busy taking the No. 1 spot on Maxim magazine’s Hot 100, she’s busy acting. Very busy. She has four movies coming out this year — Cowboys & Aliens (YES!), The Change-Up (starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman), In Time (sounds pretty neat, sci-fi, starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried) and Butter.

Even though she’s seen sporting dark hair most of the time, Olivia’s actually a natural blonde. “I’m a natural blonde,” she’s said, “but I feel like a brunette.”

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Got any plans this weekend? I just found out that the baby shower I was supposed to go to tomorrow got postponed to a later date, so I’m probably just gonna do some cleaning, go grocery shopping and then head to the pool for a while to veg with some magazines. Whatever you’ve got going on, I hope you have some fun. 🙂

MAC Unsung Heroes: Soft Ochre Paint Pot

July 22nd, 2011 by Karen 50 Comments

mac soft ochre paint pot

Welcome to the Age of the Eyeshadow Primer, young lady. Right now there are loads of them out there to choose from, many of them un-tinted, like Urban Decay Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and my current go-to girl, NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, to name just a few.

But there’s another great way to prime your lids, and all it takes is the right long-wearing cream eyeshadow.

Since they’re pigmented, some of them (especially the neutral ones) can also be used as color correctors, and they’re a great way to give depth to your other favorite eyeshadows. MAC calls their line of cream shadows Paint Pots, and one of my absolute faves of all time (okay, at least the past four years) is also my Unsung Hero today, Soft Ochre ($16.50).

Why Soft Ochre?

MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot ($16.50) touched down a few years ago with the MAC N Collection of neutrals and nudes, and shortly after that it was added to the company’s permanent line. It’s a neutral yellowish beige with a matte finish, and many gals consider it one of the line’s primo primers.

I think it looks great worn all by itself on my lids with some liner and mascara, but I also use it to extend the wear time of other shadows and to intensify shadows that contain yellow or gold tones.

Dang if it doesn’t brighten my eyes as well as anything. It also evens out the skin tone on my lids — mighty convenient when I’m chronically sleep deprived, as I’ve been this week.

mac soft ochre paint pot