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

How’s it going, beautiful? Happy Fourth of July!

So, yesterday I learned a valuable lesson that our forefathers probably learned as well: getting lost sucks. El Hub and I hit the road at 10 but didn’t actually arrive at the lake until 1. It took 3 hours to go 51 miles…by car. A determined bicyclist could have beaten us there.

We eventually made it, though, and I even got to go swimming, YAY! I’ll post some pictures from the trip soon.

Oh, what have you been using for sunscreen lately? Are you happy with it? Have you ever tried Clinique’s SPF 25 Body Spray or SPF 30 Face Cream sunscreens? I brought them with me yesterday to test. First impressions: great in the water but not as hydrating as I’d hoped.

Anywho, what did you think about the makeup products and collections that were announced this week? Anything stand out? I liked the Burberry Beauty stuff, but NYX and Too Faced were probably my favorite brands of the week.

$11 NYX PURPLE
SMOKEY LOOK KIT

The times, they are a-changin’, edgy eyeshadow lovahs, and ground zero’s at a drugstore near you. Thanks to budget brands like NYX, colorful shadows have gotten a lot more accessible over the past few years. Case in point: NYX’s new NYX Purple Smokey Look Kit for summer, aka one of the best drugstore palettes I’ve seen in a really long time.

It’s a little hard to tell from these pictures, but the case easily fits in the palm of my hand and looks built for easy travel. This particular palette, the Purple Smokey Look Kit, is one of three released from NYX for summer, and like the others it costs just $11! This one comes with nine color coordinated powder shadows and two lipsticks. Read more…

TOO FACED BLUSH
PAPA DON’T PEACH

Some questions and answers reveal more about us than others do, like, do you reach for peach blush BEFORE your first cup of coffee in the morning? Or, does the very thought of a day without peach cheeks make you break out in a cold sweat? If you answered “yes” to either inquiry, hello, friend — my name is Karen, and I’m a fellow peach blush addict enthusiast.

My newest peach blush crush, the cleverly named Papa Don’t Peach ($20), pays homage to Madge while paying attention to cheeks. It’s one of four powder Brightening Blushes from Too Faced. Totally easy to use, it kisses cheeks with a soft and shimmery peachy warmth that looks particularly pretty on cheeks attached to half-awake zombie girls early in the morning…

Too Faced has a knack for balancing pigment and wearability, and Papa Don’t Peach contains enough pigmentation to be visible on the cheeks, but not so much that it takes 10 minutes to blend away harsh edges. Read more…

DOLCE & GABBANA
LIPSTICK IN SHOCKING

Barely a week into summer, and I’m already distracted by fall! The fall makeup releases launching lately (did you catch the new Urban Decay stuff yesterday?) are trying to steal the spotlight from summer, but glittery hot pink Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Shocking aims to put the spotlight back where it belongs.

Yes, the $30 price hurts almost as much as that time Vampire Eric bit your neck in the basement at Fangtasia, but this bit of glittery goodness is like summer sunbeams on lips. It’s one of 32 permanent shades in the Dolce & Gabbana Classic Creams line of lipsticks (they remind me of Chanel Aqualumieres). Read more…

9 THINGS
PEOPLE NEVER TOLD ME

Life is filled with lessons we learn along the way. Some we learn from others, like our friends and family, or the people on Shot at Love with Tila Tequila… And some we find out on our own. Here are nine things I had to find out on my own: 1) Someday, I would love my curly hair. Coming from a family of straight-haired lads and lasses, I felt cursed by my wavy hair as a girl growing up in the ’80s and ’90s.

I spent a good chunk of my youth fighting against my natural hair and did just about everything the curly hair experts warn against. Curly styling product options were more limited back then (I can’t think of anything other than L’Oreal Pumping Curls), but after college, years of experimentation and several bad haircuts, I grew to love my natural hair.

I’m glad I came around, too, because now there are entire haircare lines devoted to wavy/curly hair. AWESOME! Read more…

BURBERRY
BEAUTY

Pip pip, cheerio! Put down the coffee, love, and bring out the tea, because the British are coming! — coming soon (later this month) to Nordstrom, that is.

British fashion biz Burberry is expanding its horizons, adding a line of makeup to its beautiful portfolio. The new Burberry Beauty line is now available for pre-order at nordstrom.com, and from what I’ve seen so far, the packaging is TO DIE!

The company, of course, isn’t new to beauty. They’ve produced beautiful clothing for years, and even in the beauty niche they’ve released perfumes (LOVE Brit Sheer).

The distinctive Burberry check pattern and textured trench coat themes weave their way into the new products for eyes, lips, cheeks and face; to my eye, the gunmetal packaging, embossed lipstick bullets/powder pans and textured boxes feel elegant, luxe and true to the spirit of the brand. Read more…

TUTORIAL: BENEFIT
SCENE QUEEN

Brace yourself, young lady, because someone’s about to make a scene — and it’s you! Do you remember last week’s grayish blue smokey eye from our look at the Benefit Scene Queen The Annie Collection palette? Here’s a quick breakdown of it with pictures and a how-to.

When would I rock a look like this? Well, often! — specifically, whenever I’d want to look dressed up but not overdone, day or night. If it feels a little too dramatic for daytime wear to work/school, maybe give it a try out one night with friends or your boo.

Because it puts so many great products at my fingertips, I love the Benefit Scene Queen palette, but take a look at your existing makeup stash for similar colors… You might already have the right fixin’s to duplicate the look. Read more…

TARTE EMPHASEYES
EYESHADOW AND LINER

Rise and shine, morning glory. Can we talk about clay? — as in Amazonian white clay (not Aiken)? Tarte’s new emphasEyes Shadow/Liners ($22), an entirely new product line released for summer, come in five shades — black, brown, indigo, plum and bronze — each made with something Tarte refers to as micronized Amazonian white clay.

Tarte claims it works wonders by moisturizing the skin while improving elasticity (among other things).

I just started wearing the Indigo one. It’s a deep shimmery blue with a rich, creamy texture (kinda reminds me of my beloved Benefit Creaseless Creams). Read more…

$11 NYX BRONZE
LOOK KIT

Among precious metals, gold always gets the best quips… “You’re golden,” “Go for the gold,” or when something’s said to be “as good as gold.”

Poor under-appreciated bronze just doesn’t get the same love, ya know? Seriously, when was the last time someone told you to “Go for the bronze”?

Well, perhaps the new NYX Bronze Look Kit ($11) will garner bronze the respect it deserves.

The palette, one of three new Look Kits from NYX for summer, bursts with bronzy shades for eyes and lips. Like the Purple Smokey Look Kit we looked at a few days ago, it comes with a mix of nine shimmery and matte shadows and two frosty lipsticks nicely packaged in a two-tier case. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen