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A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

The Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals Lip and Eye Palette

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Quick update for Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals collection fans! A lip and eye palette joins the lip and cheek products I mentioned earlier, and this one’s available exclusively at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores.

It clocks in at $60, but you do get six eyeshadows, four lippies and two miniature brushes for that price.

Not a bad deal, all told.

First impressions? In my case, I like the lipsticks, but I LOOOVE the eyeshadows. I can see them workin’ overtime through spring and into summer.

What do you think?


From left to right: Lip Color in Cabo Coral, Lip Color in Salmon, Lip Color in Shell, Metallic Lip Color in Coral Reef
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What’s the Biggest Gamble You Ever Took with Your Hair?

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What’s the biggest gamble you ever took with your hair?

I ask this one every so often, but mine was right after a bad breakup. I was half out of my mind with heartbreak and looking for a fresh start with a new look, so I asked my stylist for help.

I had her chop my long black hair, which was down to my elbows, into a chin-length layered style with the ends flipped out.

But that wasn’t enough of a change to purge my emotional demons, so I went back the following week and asked for chunky red highlights, too. 🙂

I remember how liberating it felt to transform my look… Letting go of all that hair was like unloading the baggage of my failed relationship.

Of course, I also remember how much of a pain-in-the-arse it was to grow out that cut, LOL! I hate the way my hair feels when it’s in that mid-length stage, creeping down the back of my neck.

What’s the biggest gamble you ever took with your hair? Let me know in the comments, and try your luck with the Makeup and Beauty Blog slot machine at the top of this post (if you’re reading this in the feed, click here to play).

Happy hump day!


Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Cupid Better Swatch Out for These Shu Uemura Egerie Nail Enamels

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As an English Lit major back in school, I spent A LOT of time reading flowery fiction and pulling symbolism outta my arse. Showers weren’t merely showers; they signified rebirth. 🙂 Missing the bus didn’t simply mean I’d be late for class; it foreshadowed a late dinner, which in turn was my hungry soul’s cry for real life experience! LOLZ…

Perhaps this underlying need I have to find great significance in everyday things is why the two new nail enamels in Shu Uemura’s Egerie collection (Pink and Black, $18 each) remind me of the sweet and sour sides of this crazy thing we call love.

I blame Valentine’s Day. 🙂

Are you and Cupid on good terms this year? If so, consider warm Pink, a salmon with a touch of pearl. It’s a sweet, innocent pink, like the gooey rush of getting to know someone new.


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What Would You Get From MAC’s Spring Colour Forecast?

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It looks like Ms. Bobbi Brown wasn’t the only one with the idea for a spring collection focused on a specific color theme (in her case coral). Today MAC released four of them! Four new collections, each one focussed on a different color theme, and all of them available now online.

Each of the four MAC Spring Colour Forecasts mini-collections highlights one of four colors — Pink, Coral, Plum and Amber.

The MAC crew filled each of the sets with a mix of makeup (including some limited edition items) for eyes, lips and cheeks in tones ranging from demure to bold, and to really spice things up they even threw in some nail polishes and a splash of fragrance, too. 🙂

I’m intrigued by the stackable Crush Metal Pigments ($32.50) that come with four jars filled with sparkly metallic loose eyeshadows… Talk about portable party makeup, hay!

I felt a wave of blush lust the first moment I saw the Blush Ombres ($25 each), four powder blushes with a gentle gradient of color in each pan. MAC says they apply with medium, buildable coverage. Yummy.
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New in Beauty Feb. 2: A New Palette from Chanel and Scented Splashes from Marc Jacobs

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New in Beauty

Rise and shine, morning glories! 🙂 Looks like we got Monday out of the way with nary a scratch (I hope). What’s on your plate for today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Update, 9:45 am: I just checked my inbox and found out the MAC Spring Colour Forecasts are now online. There’s eye, lip and cheek products grouped into Pink, Coral, Plum and Amber shades. Methinks the Coral and Pink products are particularly stunning!

The EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer Brush: A $30 Brush in $12 Clothing

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Bargain hunting brush fanatics, lend me your ear. A $12 brush swept me off my feet today, and they call it the Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush.

Compared to department store brushes costing $20 and up, it’s a bargain superhero — affordable, with dense, super-soft bristles that deposit just the right amount of color on my skin.

Not only that, but it’s quite the multitasker, too, moonlighting as a face powder/blush brush. All told, it’s like getting three brushes for the price of one.

WARNING: The following videos featuring Ecotools brushes (my favorite’s the cat eye tutorial) are like potato chips… You can’t stop after just one. 🙂

If your brushes take a beating like mine do, you’ll appreciate how solid the bamboo handle feels in your hand. Really, the brush feels sturdy from head to handle; even the synthetic taklon bristles feel tough. I’ve washed the brush head several times already, and the bristles haven’t shed one iota.


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