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

Illamasqua Swatch O’ Rama

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illamasqua reviews all

It’s a British invasion, yea! 🙂

Last week Illamasqua cosmetics became available for purchase on Sephora.com, and I’m guessing I’m not the only Yank who couldn’t wait to grab some goodies from the upstart makeup line.

Hallelujar for NOT having to pay international shipping, right?

I feel like I’ve been waiting for frickin’ Godot to see this day, and when the UPS dude showed up at my doorstep I snatched that package out of his hands with a quickness normally reserved for Nordstrom shoe sales and In N’ Out cheeseburgers.

Let me know what you think from these swatches. Reviews will be coming soon. 🙂

Powder Blusher, $23

illamasqua reviews excite
Excite

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Beg

illamasqua swatches excite powder blusher
Swatch of Excite

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Swatch of Beg
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Urban Decay Ink for Eyes Likes to Move It, Move It…MOVE IT!

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I know that a lot of us have been looking forward to Urban Decay Ink for Eyes, UD’s new fall collection of cream eyeliners, since we first got wind of ’em earlier this year.

Six to choose from

The Ink for Eyes Cream Eyeliners ($22 each) come resting peacefully in narrow, boxy little gray compacts.

The packaging? — interesting and practical, even though I thought they looked like little coffins at first (they’re actually a lot more useful than that). 🙂

I’ve been playing with three of the six shades…

  • Binge: a matte, deep navy blue
  • Loaded: a shimmery forest green
  • Pyrotechnics: a sparkly white with flecks of purple, green, gold and blue glitter

It’s alive!

If you have naturally oily eyelids, Ink for Eyes might pose a challenge. I have semi-oily lids, and these bad boys move around A LOT, dancing up into my crease and creeping down under my eyes when nobody’s watching — and it happens really fast, too, like within 10-15 minutes!

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Starting with a primer like Urban Decay’s Sin Potion beneath the liners makes a huge difference, though, significantly extending wear time.

I tried all three atop Sin, and with help from the primer they stayed put for about four hours before creeping up into my crease.
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Bloggerati Spotlight

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The Beauty Bloggerati

How was your night? Right now I’m watching reruns of The Closer on TNT and getting ready for bed.

Dance class was fun, but for some reason there was a lot of bouncing involved. Lots of bouncy moves…

I hope your week got off to a good start. 🙂 Tabs says hi.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Two Ways to Win a $75 Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick for Body

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The giveaway is now closed to new entries, and the winner is being contacted. 🙂 Good luck!

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I love loveso many things about summer, like beachy waves, glowing skin, and not having to wear oppressive, annoying socks, ha!

As a matter of fact, if I ever won the lottery, I think I’d be a surf bum, chasing waves and summer across hemispheres and around the world.

Oh, well. Until my numbers hit, I’ll just get my kicks in other ways…

How about we start the week with a giveaway? 🙂

The prize

One lucky lady will take home a Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick for Body ($75 value).

It’s an oversized, limited edition compact from Bobbi’s summer release that features three bars of lightweight, shimmery powder in brown, tan and pink.

To give that hawt bod a summery glow, dust it on your shoulders, neck, legs, arms or anyplace you’d like.

How to enter…

Entering is easy. There are two different ways, 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. In it, tell me three things that make you glow. 🙂

Long runs outside, El Hub’s smile and Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Brick Compact in Copper Diamond are all things that make me glow.

Follow meSecond, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to Win a $75 Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick for Body. http://bit.ly/5z1oY

Recap…

  1. Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win.
  2. Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:

    RT @karenmbb: RT to Win a $75 Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick for Body. http://bit.ly/5z1oY

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 PM PST on Wednesday, July 29.

Bonkouun o inorimasu!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The giveaway is now closed to new entries, and the winner is being contacted. 🙂 Good luck!

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Fresque Reminds Me of Peaches and Cream

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chanel venice fall 2009 swatches reviews fresque joues contraste

My BFF Cindy likes to tell the story of the time she caught her grandma watching music videos on BET. Grandma, an older Chinese woman, doesn’t speak a lick of English and looked a little confused by 112’s Peaches and Cream.

Whether it was the gyrating women in booty shorts or the slow-mo scenes of milk pouring over ripe peaches, we’ll never know, but we think she may have thought she was watching a commercial for fruit. 🙂

To this day, whenever I hear the song or see peachy makeup like Chanel’s Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Fresque, I think of grandma…

This morning I spent some time with the blush ($42), released with Chanel’s Venice fall 2009 collection, while bumping some Peaches and Cream.

Is that a duochrome?

At first I thought Fresque looked like a pretty standard peachy blush, but something unusual happened once I got her on my skin.
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, July 27

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  1. Mood:

    2. Good but a little tired… I had a knot in my stomach last week (from house hunting), but I feel better now.

  2. What’s one eye makeup tool or product that you couldn’t live without?

    3. I’ve always *loved* the Shu Uemura lash curler.

  3. What do you want to be when you grow up?

    4. LOL, what didn’t I want to be? I wanted to be an astronomer, an archaeologist a veterinarian — so many things! As much as I love them, my parents kinda discouraged a lot of different career paths. It’s weird, but among Filipino families there are basically only three vocations of which parents approve: doctor, nurse or engineer, LOL!

  4. What are some words you try to live by?

    5. Years ago my friend Dave said to me, “When you fall down, pick yourself up, brush yourself off and keep moving forward.” 🙂

  5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

    6. It’s mostly Urban Decay in the hizz today! Eyes: Sin Eyeshadow Primer Potion, the Ammo Palette shadows in Sin and Smog, Deluxe Eyeshadow in Freakshow, 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Underground, Skyscraper Multi-Benefit Mascara. Lips: Naked Lipstick and 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Wallflower. Cheeks: the Illamasqua Bronzing Duo in Glint & Burnish.

  6. Have you ever had a REALLY BAD perm?

    7. Unfortunately, yes. When Grandma went to beauty school she practiced on me and my mom. Thankfully, I was only six at the time.

  7. What was the highlight of your weekend?

    8. Dinner with El Hub on Saturday night.

  8. What’s your current favorite fragrance?

    9. Benefit My Place Or Yours Gina.

  9. Outfit:

    10. Purple tank top, jeans and a tan blazer.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Record what I eat in my food journal (I’m trying to watch my calorie intake), donate clothes to Goodwill, take Tabs to the vet, try to keep my desk clean, and start doing push-ups.

Hiya, girls. How was your weekend? I hope you got some time to relax. 🙂

I’m never quite ready for Mondays, but I always look forward to hearing from you. Let me know what you’ve been up to by copying the empty list below and pasting it with your answers in the comments.

Have a great week!

Le list

Mood:
What’s one eye makeup tool or product that you couldn’t live without?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What are some words you try to live by?
Eyes/lips/cheeks:
Have you ever had a REALLY BAD perm?
What was the highlight of your weekend?
What’s your current favorite fragrance?
Outfit:
Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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