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A NARS Summer 2011 Face of the Day Inspired by Tabs the Cat and His Pretty Green Eyes

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Happy Tuesday, pretty. 🙂 Tabs woke me up early this morning and then insisted that my makeup today pay homage to him (what a diva!).

Refusing his requests usually leads to scratches, so I reached for one of his current collection crushes, NARS Summer 2011, and told him I would “see what I can do.”


NARS Summer 2011 products clockwise from the eyeshadow trio at the bottom: Cap Ferrat Eyeshadow Trio, Exotic Dance Eyeshadow Duo, Carthage Lipstick, Dogo Eyeshadow Duo and New Order Blush

I built the look with two things in mind — 1) Tabs’ pretty green eyes, and 2) the word “Mixey,” one of his many nicknames (a shortened version of Meow Mix).

Green crops up a few times throughout the NARS Summer 2011 collection, and I tried to really incorporate it into this look, mixing some different colors together.

Unlike my look last week using the Stila Stunning in Sayulita palette, the green here isn’t as obvious or BAM! It’s a subtler hint of green.

The look’s built around the Dogon Duo and Cap Ferrat Trio Eyeshadows. Dogon’s duo chrome taupe side has a touch of green shimmer to it, which I mixed with the light and dark greens in the Cap Ferrat Trio, and then applied to my lids.
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Drugstore Lipgloss Nirvana for Less Than $3 with the NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshines

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NYC New York Color Lipshine in Midtown Mulberry

Today El Hub found out about my affair. 🙁

It had been going on since way back in 2006. That’s when I met the Sally Hansen Diamond 12-Hour Lip Treatments while cruising the aisles at Walgreens one afternoon for a pick-me-up after a really tough day.

There they were, non-sticky and pigmented, with a wear time that lasted for hours and hours…

What can I say? It just happened. When I saw they were a mere $6, I was willing to throw everything away. They were the closest thing to drugstore lipgloss nirvana I had ever seen.

But I’m not going to say I would have done it all again. No way. What I should have done is hold out for the NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshines I met last week. 🙂

Like the Sally Lip Treaments, they’re light and non-sticky with lots of rich color, but they’re an even more incredible bargain at $2.49 a pop!

Since the last experience I had with an NYC gloss was less than stellar, I expected Brighton Beach Peach (a shimmery golden peach), Midtown Mulberry (a creamy berry) and Big Apple Spice (a pearly bronze) to let me down. They’re the three Lipshine shades I recently tried (out of the 10 available).

Thankfully, it didn’t work out that way at all.


From top to bottom: Midtown Mulberry, Brighton Beach Peach and Big Apple Spice


Wands from the left: Brighton Beach Peach, Big Apple Spice and Midtown Mulberry


Swatches from the left: Brighton Beach Peach, Big Apple Spice and Midtown Mulberry
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The Long and Short of the New Buxom Amplified Lash Mascara

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When the wands started oscillating, I thought I’d seen it all. After the whole vibrating/spinning mascara brush trend (so 2008!), what else could one possibly do with a basic mascara brush? Wait — I know. They could fashion one into the shape of a medieval flail, hi-ya!

But that wasn’t the end of innovation for the mighty mascara wand. Buxom’s Amplified Lash Mascara ($22), a Sephora exclusive, comes with a new twist (literally).

Available in just a single shade called Loud Black, it’s designed to thicken, lengthen and separate lashes. That’s all well and good, but I think the brush is what really sets it apart. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before. By twisting a little knob on the end of the wand, right where you hold it, you can expand and contract the length of the brush part about a quarter of an inch. The different lengths, says Buxom, create different lash effects.

Buxom Mascara Brush

When fully extended, the brush volumizes lashes up to 600%. When in its compact position the bristles squeeze closer together to expertly comb through each and every lash for maximum length, separation and definition.

—sephora.com

Twisting the knob one way makes the brush longer; the other way makes it shorter. And you can see it expanding and contracting right before your very eyes — like mascara magic, oooh!

I don’t have a lot of experience with the Buxom brand, but the few products of theirs I have tried have stood out more for packaging than actual performance.

Until now. 🙂 I’ve been wearing Amplified Lash for the past few days, and I must say — I like it.

I start by applying one coat with the brush in the elongated position, and then add two more coats using the shorter position. Together that gives me lashes that look dramatically longer and well defined.
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, May 9

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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. 169. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. Peachy keen! I slept 10 hours last night and feel like a whole new girl.

  2. One great thing about getting older?

    3. After you experience a couple of life challenges, you start figuring sh*z out. Eventually, you’re not so green anymore. Like, when I was younger, I had a really hard time handling unexpected things (both in work and life), but now I feel like I can handle the curve balls much better than I could then.

  3. What color do you use most in your eye makeup and why?

    4. Warm orangey browns like MAC Soft Brown, for sure. I wear them practically every day in the crease to create depth and to add contrast.

  4. What’s one thing your mom was right about?

    5. Sometimes, it’s better to just keep it to yourself.

  5. What’s your favorite book series?

    6. The last one I really loved was The Hunger Games, but when I was a kid I was all about Sweet Valley High.

  6. Your last sweet treat?

    7. Yesterday at brunch I had a whole wheat pumpkin bar with cream cheese frosting, and MAN, it was so good!

  7. Do you collect anything?

    8. Besides makeup, shoes and the pounds of tabby cat hair on my clothes, not much. If I had more time and room, I’d like to collect vintage maps (love them) and old books.

  8. Seersucker clothing — yea or nay?

    9. A definite yea!

  9. Your go-to eye cream?

    10. Korres Quercetin & Oak Eye Cream. I’m already on my fourth bottle! It’s hydrating, absorbs quickly and layers well beneath makeup.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. To focus on ONE thing at a time (I’m trying not to multitask so much), eat a salad every day and run at least four times before Saturday.

Hey, cutie. Happy Monday! If you have a moment, will you stop by and let me know what’s going on in your neck of the woods in 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. One great thing about getting older?
3. What color do you use most in your eye makeup and why?
4. What’s one thing your mom was right about?
5. What’s your favorite book series?
6. Your last sweet treat?
7. Do you collect anything?
8. Seersucker clothing — yea or nay?
9. Your go-to eye cream?
10. Weekly goals:

I hope your Monday’s treating you well. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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