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

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

10 Days of Giveaways: Comment to Win MAC Tricolour Lipglass and Dear Cupcake Eyeshadow

by 301 Comments

This giveaway is closed. I’ll be contacting the winner shortly. Thanks for entering!

makeup and beauty blog 10 days of giveaways waikiki walls

Whenever I make it over to see my family in Hawaii, I try to get a shave ice, one of my favorite sweet treats.

Pronounced “shave ice”, it’s a souped up snow cone with finely shaved ice flavored with syrups like Liliko’i (a variety of passion fruit), guava, mango and tangerine. People will sometimes add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or sweet, chewy azuki beans to the bottom of the cone (trust me — it’s good).

My favorite place to get shave ice here on Oahu is Matsumoto Shave Ice on the North Shore. I always get the same thing: a small Liliko’i with ice cream and beans at the bottom and condensed milk on top. YUM!

Sweet Hawaii-style shave ice reminds me of MAC’s Sugarsweet collection, and today’s giveaway features two of its tasty treats!

The prize

mac-tricolour-lipglass

mac-dear-cupcake-eyeshadow

One lucky lady will win two items from MAC’s Sugarsweet collection (a $32 value):

How to enter

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment in the comments section below. It can be about anything at all. Tell me about your pet, your job, what deodorant you’re wearing — seriously, anything at all!

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59PM PST Monday night (tonight).

Suwertehin ka sana!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

This giveaway is closed. I’ll be contacting the winner shortly. Thanks for entering!

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, May 25

by 58 Comments

surfboards-north-shore

  1. Mood:

    2. Torn. Sad because we fly home to Cali today; happy because I can’t wait to see Tabs.

  2. Hobbies other than makeup?

    3. Surfing, reading, gardening and knitting.

  3. Hair:

    4. Side-swept bangs and a low ponytail.

  4. What’s your favorite snack?

    5. Any kind of fruit salad that doesn’t have cantaloupe.

  5. Outfit:

    6. Skinny stretch jeans (oops, I ate too many malasadas on this trip) and a loose yellow and brown top with a hibiscus flower print.

  6. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

    7. I’m in travel mode today, wearing a basic look with Stila Lash Visor Mascara, Cargo Blu Ray High Definition Gloss in Belize on my lips and NARS the Multiple in Portofino on my cheeks.

  7. What’s your preferred method of hair removal?

    8. I wax my upper lip, pluck my brows and shave everywhere else. I’m a hairy beast, and hairy beasts gotta do what hairy beasts gotta do, ya know?

  8. What are your plans this summer?

    9. El Hub and I are hoping to move into a new place, assuming I don’t have a nervous breakdown while we look for it, LOL!

  9. Are you a night or a morning person?

    10. I love the night life. I got to boogie… on the disco ’round, oh yeah.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Get back into the groove of things with my freelance writing, go through all of the e-mail I missed, catch up on my blogging, pay some extra attention to Tabs, and do some push-ups because I feel weak!

Aloha, homies. El Hub and I are getting ready to leave for the airport and to head on home to California. It was great to see our family, but we have to get back to work.

Are you doing anything for Memorial Day? Let me know how you’re doing by copying the following list and pasting it with your answers to the Monday Poll in the comments. 🙂

Le List

Mood:
Hobbies?
Hair:
What’s your favorite snack?
Outfit:
Eyes/lips/cheeks:
What’s your preferred method of hair removal?
Summer plans?
Are you a night or a morning person?
Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays Without Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, May 24

by 19 Comments

Tabs loves his Chanel

Tabs, like his cat mom, loves himself some Chanel. When I called Hotel Cattyfornia earlier today to see how he was doing, his “executive assistant” informed me that he’s been meowing non-stop about the new Chanel Celestial Lights Glossimers ($27 each).

Chanel infused each of the eight new shades with more glitter than Mariah Carey’s bathroom sink!

Tabs’ favorite shade is Venus. What’s yours?

chanel celestial lights levres scintillantes glossimers

chanel celestial lights levres scintillantes glossimer swatches final

Which Chanel Celestial Lights Glossimer is your favorite?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Ever Heard of Le Métier de Beauté?

by 16 Comments

Today Sabrina of The Beauty Look Book tells us about some of her favorite products from the exclusive Le Métier de Beauté cosmetics line.

Le Metier de Beaute

The stunning Le Métier de Beauté cosmetics line, exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman stores and a few select Neiman Marcus, features a wide range of luxurious beauty products with gorgeous packaging, unique colors, and lovely textures.

Here’s an exclusive look at some of the fun, modern, yet classic products Le Métier de Beauté has to offer.

Kaleidoscope Kits

Kaleidoscope Kits — “blending tradition and vision, creativity and innovation,” the kits are comprised of four colors presented in a unique stacking system with a flip-top mirror. They come in varieties available for lips, eyes, and face, each retailing for $95.

I have two — the Persephone Eye Kit and the Galatea Eye Kit.

le-metier-eye-kit-1
Persephone Eye Kit

The Persephone Eye Kit features four medium pigment eyeshadows with textures ranging from matte to satin to shimmer:

  • Rose Champagne: a soft shimmery pale rose-pink
  • Alexandrite: a sparkly eggplant amethyst
  • Canvas: a soft, satin, neutral fawn-cream
  • Sequoia: a matte, cool, dark chocolate brown

le-metier-galatea-3
Galatea Eye Kit

The Galatea Eye Kit features four unnamed shadows not available individually:

  • a soft, satin pale buttercream
  • a rich, shimmery golden brown
  • a matte puppy brown
  • a complex, shimmery nutmeg

Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses

le-metier-sheer-brilliant-lip-glosses-2
Left to right: Marsala (gift with purchase), Cap d’Antibes, Cannes, Dubai, Ibiza, Captiva, Bondi Beach

The Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses are my favorite products in the line — pure luxury in a tube, and I want them all!

They have a sparkly, glossy finish and a non-tacky texture that’s lightweight yet moisturizing. Colors are sheer but substantial enough to show on the lips. They retail for $32 each.

Lip Creme Lip Gloss

le-metier-lip-cremes-2
Left to right: Sunset Boulevard (gift with purchase), Apricot Creme, Peche Creme, Papaye Creme, Sweet Creme, Fraise Creme

Hybrid lipstick/glosses, the Lip Creme Lip Glosses ($36) are super-pigmented, with a lightweight texture, intense color and a shiny finish. A little goes a long way, and they glide on the lips.

Color Core Moisture Stain Lipstick

le-metier-lipsticks-1
Top to bottom: Marrakech, San Tropez

The Color Core Moisture Stain Lipsticks ($32) have a long-lasting stain-like formula with a surprisingly creamy texture.

They do feel more like a stain than the typical lipstick, but once applied, they remain blendable while still staying put.

Where to buy

The Le Métier line is sold online and at just seven stores in the US, making it pretty hard to see in person.

NOTE:Bergdorf periodically holds what are called Beauty and Incircle events at which time they include nice gifts with purchase.

Unfortunately, swatches don’t always capture true colors. I’ve placed orders both online and in person at three of their physical locations. Once you’ve seen them in person, I highly recommend calling a counter to place your orders. The company’s product specialists are very knowledgeable and patient in describing things and making product recommendations. 🙂

In this guest post Sabrina of The Beauty Look Book tells us about some of her favorite products from the exclusive Le Métier de Beauté cosmetics line.

MAC Trip and MAC Travel Exclusives: Order by Phone from DFS Galleria in Hawaii

by 26 Comments

mac-trip-1
The MAC counter at DFS Galleria in Waikiki

Fellow MACaholics, do you remember those drool-worthy MAC Trip palettes we talked about last month? They’ve been notoriously hard to find, right?

Some readers have tracked ’em down at airports and other places, but I never expected to find them a block from Waikiki Beach!

There’s a MAC counter inside the massive DFS Galleria (duty-free store) at 330 Royal Hawaiian Avenue, a Costco-sized makeup Mecca that caters primarily to international travelers from Japan.

But the store is wide open to everyone, and the MAC counter carries most of the current MAC Travel Exclusives, including several of the new spring and summer MAC Trip Palettes.

I saw these from the spring/summer Trip collection…

  • 5 Cool Eyes Palette, $40
  • 5 Warm Eyes Palette, $40
  • Cool Lips Palette, $23
  • Warm Lips Palette, $23

mac-trip-travel-exclusives-display
MAC Travel Exclusives

mac-trip-cool-eyes-palette
MAC Trip 5 Cool Eyes Palette
[Continue reading…]

10 Days of Giveaways: Comment to Win Philosophy Unconditional Love Spray Fragrance

by 185 Comments

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

makeup-and-beauty-blog-10-days-of-giveaways-beach

I was a late blooming water baby…

Large bodies of water terrified me until I hit my mid-20s, before which time I could barely handle the shallow end of a pool!

Things changed on my 26th birthday.

That’s when I treated myself to a week of surf lessons with a couple girlfriends. We found the place online, booked the class and drove down from the Bay Area to San Diego in Southern California. The lessons and accompanying basic swimming instruction helped me get over my fear of the water for good.

By no means am I a great swimmer, but now, when I’m in the water I feel light, free and at peace with everything; all my worries slip away, and I feel loved — pure, unconditional love.

Was that too corny?

Sure it was, but it leads us to the prize in today’s giveaway. 🙂

The prize

philosophy-unconditional-love

One lucky lady will win a bottle of Philosophy’s Unconditional Love Spray Fragrance (a $40 value).

In Philosophy’s own words…

“Wrap yourself in the warmth and comfort of unconditional love, a soulful, passionate, enduring fragrance. Unconditional love was created to make a woman feel loved and cherished and to remind her that to love and be loved unconditionally is the greatest love of all. Wear this heartfelt fragrance and feel surrounded by love and happiness throughout the day.”

I can totally get behind that!

The scent smells like a yummy blend of blackberries, vanilla and musk. It’s one of those food fragrances that tempts me to gnaw off my arm when I’m wearing it, but I’m told that would be unwise. 🙂

How to enter

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. In it, complete the following sentence: I unconditionally love _______.

I unconditionally love my family and my cat.

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59PM PST Sunday night (tonight).

Good luck, beauties!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

Swim Fins and Snorkels: A Quick Hi from HI

by 51 Comments

052309-karen-at-sharks-cove

Hi, ladies. 🙂 Happy Saturday. This was me at Shark’s Cove yesterday. Snorkeling was a lot of fun. When I get back to California in a couple days, I swear I’m going to get a pair of fins and snorkels to use at the community swimming pool. I don’t care if it makes me look crazy.

Right now I’m sitting here in the living room of my in-law’s place listening to the oldie’s radio station (which they listen to constantly) and sipping some coffee.

Let me know what you’re up to this weekend. I hope you’re having a good one.

Trying to look graceful at Shark's Cove
It’s hard to look graceful walking in swim fins…

052309-sharks-cove

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

21 MORE Skin Care Tips

by 18 Comments

21 MORE Skin Care Tips

Here at my in-law’s, *everybody* falls asleep by 9. I’m a night owl by nature, so I’ve been staying up after they’ve all gone to bed, watching MTV shows on my laptop in the dark.

Last night I watched an episode of True Life that featured young people dealing with severe acne. It chronicled their journeys through various acne treatments and the emotional trauma caused by bad acne.

The show got me thinking about how appearance can affect self-esteem.

I remember going through a terrible bout with acne on my cheeks and forehead at age 19. It undermined my confidence and left me so emotionally sensitive that I’d cry whenever my mom or a close friend would even bring it up.

My skin eventually improved (it was Accutane that finally worked), but I’ll never forget the way I felt over that trying time in my life.

Because knowledge is power, I’m always looking for new skin care tips. Here are 21 more tips to go with the ones I posted last week.

I hope you find them as handy as I did. 🙂

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like…

  1. Flawless Looking Skin: In this awesome video, YouTube member kandee describes how she cares for her skin, her favorite tips and product recommendations.

    2. flawless

  2. Aubrey’s Skin Care Routine: YouTube member Aubrey lists the products she uses to get her gorgeous, glowing skin.

    3. skinroutine

  3. What is Laser Skin Resurfacing? Wonder what a laser peel is? This article answers some of the most important questions.

    4. laser

  4. How to Exfoliate the Nose: It’s a tough area to work around, but the tips in this video can help.

    5. nose

  5. Substitute with Soy Milk: Having trouble with acne flareups? A simple switch from dairy to soy milk may help, and here’s why.

    6. soy

  6. What to Eat for Glowing Skin: To steal a quote from 30 Rock, one of my favorite TV shows, “Tracy, science is what we make it.” LOL! Not quite, but this post does have some scientific answers to why certain foods can help to heal and brighten a dull or damaged complexion.

    7. What to eat for glowing skin
    [Continue reading…]

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.