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

Eyeko Nail Polishes for Fall 2010: Will Limited Availability of These Saucy Shades Rain on Your Parade?

July 31st, 2010 by Karen 20 Comments

eyeko rain polish eyeko saucy polish swatches review photos

It’s typography time! If you can name the font on this bottle of British brand Eyeko’s new Saucy Polish, not only will you receive mad props from your fellow font nerds, but you’ll also earn an honorary degree from the University of Makeup and Beauty Blog in Font Detect-ology. 😀

New limited edition Saucy Polish (“for naughty nails”) and Rain Polish (“for city nails”) apply with smooth, non-streaky color and reach full opacity in just two coats. Both shades, released for fall, dry to a blinding shine. They’re not the easiest products to get out here on this end of the pond, a major drawback for gals ’round these parts, but prices before shipping start at $5.50 each.

While neither color strikes me as particularly groundbreaking, I like the overall presentation (LOVE the packaging).

eyeko rain polish swatches eyeko saucy polish swatches review photos
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Butter London Fall/Winter 2010: Marrow

July 31st, 2010 by Karen 5 Comments

Butter London Marrow nail lacquer from the fall/winter 2010 collection, $14.

Do you do purple polish?

Butter London Fall/Winter 2010: Victoriana

July 31st, 2010 by Karen 5 Comments

Butter London Victoriana nail lacquer from the Fall/Winter 2010 collection ($14).

Would you rock this? Yay or nay?

Saturday Surfing

July 31st, 2010 by Karen 4 Comments

Praise ye makeup gods! It’s the weekend, at last. 🙂

How’s it going today? As you can tell I got off to a pretty late start this morning, but I felt like I just needed to chill, ya know? El Hub and I went out for coffee and breakfast burritos to this cafe up here called Dr. Insomnia’s. The place has a cool biker feel to it and lots of big, beefy dudes ordering turbo charged coffees with multiple espresso shots (I just got a latte). Of course, then when we got home Tabs insisted on taking advantage of my caffeine buzz with some high-intensity playtime. Next thing I knew, it was noon!

Eh, I guess that’s the kind of stuff Saturday mornings are for, right?

That and e-surfing.

Random bright spots

Mixing tips for bright clothes — College Fashion
5 tips to look hot in photos — Daily Beauty Reporter Blog
No matter how much he begs, Tabs is NOT getting one of these $500 cat outfits — The Cut
5 easy summer hairstyles — Refinery 29
Lippman goes GIGANTIC with nail glitter for fall — Vampy Varnish
What a great list of drugstore beauty gems! — Lovely Android
MAC Naughty Lash and the case of the pretty purple eye… — MissChievous
Get beautiful brows while giving to a good cause — Product Girl
LORAC for $9? Yes, please! — Makeup Bag
You know me and neutrals, right? Check out the Guerlain 93 Rue de Passy palette — The Non-Blonde
WOW! How pigmented is this NYX Super Fat Marker? — Cosmetic Candy
Get a handle on frizzy hair with help from these tips — Life of a Ladybug
I’m on the lookout for the Mad Men nail polish line — The Frisky
I’m REALLY looking forward to some of these fall fashion trends — Who What Wear

New in beauty

Each time Josie Maran sells a tube of their new GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara ($22), the company will donate one mascara to a cancer patient/survivor
Also from Josie Maran — the Argan Eye Love You Eye Shadow Palette ($42) comes with eight velvety soft shadows infused with pure argan oil
Make Up For Ever says they packed 50% more pigment into their Rouge Artist Intense lipsticks ($19) for richer colors with a single stroke
Smashbox Photo Finish Luminizing Foundation Primer ($38) delivers luminous skin while filling in fine lines and pores
LUST! Doesn’t Givenchy’s Le Prisme Blush in Blooming ($49) look like a work of art?
Also from Givenchy — the Le Prisme Eyeshadow Quartets ($56) and Le Prisme Visage Blooming face powders ($49)
YSL’s Teint Radiance foundation ($48) with SPF 20 and light diffusers, for skin that glows, but doesn’t burn
Be like a rhinestone cowgirl with Make Up For Ever’s new Strass crystals ($20)
COOL! These Make Up For Ever Aquarelles ($20) look incredibly pigmented and have a water-based formula for face and body
Stila’s Pretty in Paris Travel Palette ($10), the second in a five-part series of collectibles, is on sale now at Sephora
Also from Stila — their Custom Color Blush is the “first-ever pH-based powder.” The company says it takes the guesswork out of picking your perfect shade ($20)
Still more from Stila — Long Wear Liquid Lip Color ($22), Long Wear Lip Liner ($18) and Glamoureyes Mascara ($22)
The limited edition Korres Vitamin E 10-Color Eye Pencil Kit ($33) looks like a lot of fun
Tarina Tarantino now has nail polishes! Say hi to the Supernova Nail Lacquers ($12)
Philosophy Eternal Grace ($40) combines delicate floral notes with bright citrus, yum!
Perfect Formula says their new nail products ($24-29) will strengthen and treat damaged nails
Murad launches Clean Scene ($16-24) for a new approach to skincare
Laura Mercier introduces two new scents that star amber: Amber Passion Velvet Eau de Parfum ($75) and Ambre Passion Elixer ($125)
Philosophy’s The Supernatural Windows to the Soul Eyeshadow Palette ($30) features three mineral powder eyesadows and a long-wearing wet-to-dry powder liner
Clarins Magic Colour Instant Blush ($26) enhances cheekbones by instantly boosting their natural color and glow
OOH! I really like the packaging for these new Clarins Rouge Prodige Lipsticks ($24)

Missy Elliott’s one of my hip-hop heroes

For the water babies…

What your cats are *really* saying

Have a great Saturday!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia Nail Lacquer: A Midsummer Night’s Blue

July 30th, 2010 by Karen 34 Comments

estee lauder blue dahlia swatches pure color nail lacquer

An inky blackish blue with a whisper of deep purple, Blue Dahlia Pure Color Nail Lacquer ($18) looks like a midnight summer sky on tips and toes. One of two polishes in EL’s fall 2010 collection, (the other’s called Surreal Violet), it makes me long for late-night adventures and broken curfews, and it’s yet another reason I’ve joined the Blue Dahlia bandwagon.

The shine? Otherworldly. If I were a super heroine, I’d deflect laser beams with Blue Dahlia’s luminous shine.

estee lauder blue dahlia swatches pure color nail lacquer
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Insomniacs Should Have a Ball with the Smashbox Masquerade Palette

July 30th, 2010 by Karen 52 Comments

smashbox masquerade eye palette swatches review
Here I’m wearing makeup from the Smashbox Masquerade Collection for fall 2010: The Eye Palette in Masquerade on my eyes, Creamy Cheek Color & Brush in Intrigue on my Cheeks and Masquerade Lip Enhancing Gloss in Reveal on my lips.

Friends, citizens, insomniacs, lend me your eyes; I come to bury complicated eye looks, not to praise them. 🙂 Put down that Sleepytime Tea for a second, Caesar, and take a look at the new Smashbox Masquerade Eye Palette ($35) — enemy of complicated eye looks everywhere!

You don’t have to be an aeronautical engineer to put together fly looks with this palette of nine powder shadows in neutral and jewel-toned shades. In it, Smashbox cleverly placed complementary colors in three horizontal rows, basically taking the guesswork out of color matching. It’s a breakthrough of epic proportions, yo! — particularly for lazy chicks and insomniacs (oh, hai!) like me.

After three consecutive nights of absolutely no sleep, I really, REALLY appreciate how easy it is to get ready with this palette.

Of course, if you’re the kind of girl who gets plenty of sleep and prefers to match her own colors, no problem. I think all nine of these shades work together well, and nothing says we have to use them in any specific order.
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Vintage Beauty: What It Was Like for Beauty Addicts Back Then

July 30th, 2010 by Karen 26 Comments

Vintage beauty

Chanel, indoor plumbing, the Internet and allergy meds are just a handful of the many reasons I’m glad we live in these modern times, and here’s another: old school beauty was kinda rough!

Back in the 1800s and early 1900s, you couldn’t just walk into a Walgreens (well, Walgreens was around then but not like today) and buy a tube of gloss or a bottle of polish and call it a day. Many women made their own cosmetics at home, and some of the ingredients they used were downright naaaasty.

Pale skin was all the rage; to get the look, women would dust their visages with lead-based face powders (we now know how harmful lead can be). As if that wasn’t bad enough, they would darken their hair with shampoos made from iron rust, and for soft, supple smackers, they made lip salves from spermaceti, a waxy substance collected from the heads of sperm whales (classy).
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