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Barbie Loves Stila: What Would You Get?

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Dag nabbit! The new limited edition Barbie Loves Stila Decades of Beauty cans, which launched today on Sephora’s website, are already sold the eff out. *tears*

Instead of pulling the trigger this morning and hitting the check out button, I took my sweet ole’ time. I watched a Tivo’d episode of last night’s The Mentalist (so good) while I gnawed on some garlic naan, thinking that I had all day to make a decision. LOL, I was sooo wrong!

Am I the only one who missed out? Perhaps a round of WHAT WOULD YOU GET? will help ease our pain.

The four Decades of Beauty cans ($40 each) include:

  • #1 Ponytail Doll (1959): Ponytail lip color (red), Liquid Eye Liner, 3-pan compact with two eye shadows and a cheek color, Look Book
  • Malibu Doll (1971): Malibu Lip Glaze (pale pink), Lash Visor Mascara, 3-pan compact with two eye shadows and a bronzer, Look Book
  • Foxy Doll (1980): Foxy Lip Glaze, Lash Visor Mascara, a 3-pan compact with two eye shadows and a cheek color, Look Book
  • Jewel Doll (2000): Jewel Lip Glaze (bright pink), Multi-Effect Mascara, 3-pan compact with two eye shadows and a cheek color, Look Book

Your mission: choose one of the four Barbie Loves Stila Decades of Beauty cans to take home with your virtual cash!

How often do you go to bed without removing your makeup?

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I guess I’ll just have to wait for February, which is when the collection (which also includes a talking palette) arrives at Sephora stores.

Until then, I’ll take one can of virtual Foxy, please. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Urban Decay Sin Potion Primer Face of the Day

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Sephora’s got Urban Decay Sin Primer Potion for sale online, yea!

I think Sin’s shimmery champagne looks sinfully good paired with bright eyeliners…

Color for the color shy

To line my eyes in this look I tried the four new 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil shades from Urban Decay’s Spring 2009 collection: Graffiti, Flipside, Rasom and Underground.

Their colors are rich and vibrant and took me a little out of my conservative color comfort zone. I decided to go with a very thin, tri-colored line on the top lash line because it seemed to keep the look in check but still gave me a lil’ somethin’-somethin’.

Champagne eye with bright green, teal and purple liner

Sin Potion Primer (1) gets this look going. I start by swiping a layer directly onto my lid with the doe-foot applicator and then use a finger to spread the gel evenly over the whole eye.

With the liner, my goal is to merge from green to teal to purple seamlessly. I grab Flipside (2), a shimmery green, and line the inner third of my lash line (the side closest to my nose).

Then, with Graffiti (3), a shimmery teal, I place the pencil tip close to the line of Flipside. The colors will overlap a tad at the start of the line, but that’s cool. I just drag Graffiti along along the inner third of the lash line, transitioning from green to teal.

Next, I do the overlapping thing again, only this time placing the tip of Ransom (4), a shimmery purple, over Graffiti to transition from teal to purple. I finish the line by dragging Ransom toward the side of the lash line closest to my ear.

I don’t want the lower lash line to compete with the brights on top, so I use shimmery bronze-brown Underground (5) on the lower waterline and lash line.

Of course, I couldn’t — shouldn’t? — finish the look without filling in my brows, curling my lashes, adding mascara and covering up my dreaded dark circles, ha! It’s kinda like makeover housekeeping.
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Budget Beauty Booty: 5 Drugstore Bargains Worth Checking Out

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1. Hairy Beast Be Gone! Neutrogena Rainbath Shower and Shave Body Wash

“I was cruising around my ‘hood the other day when I saw the above poster in front of a salon. It conveys how I’ve felt practically *every day* since puberty. Seriously, where does all the hair come from??? It’s like I’m a Play-Doh Mop Top Hair Shop!

The only good thing about being a hairy beast is that it always gives me a valid excuse to try new hair removal accouterments.”

2. Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover

Being called cheap and easy are compliments if you’re a bottle of Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover, $7. It removes all of my eye makeup quicker than you can say ‘fierce,’ and it does it without stinging my pocketbook or my sensitive peepers.

3. Kashuk Tools: 3 Bargain Makeup Brushes that Rock

sonia-kashuk-tools-power-brush-3

Bargain brush goddess Sonia Kashuk’s gone and done it again. Her Synthetic Flat Top Blusher Brush won me over a few weeks ago, and now I can’t live without several of the brushes from her Kashuk Tools line. I’ve been reaching for the Powder Brush ($19.99), Large Eye Shadow Brush ($12.99) and Angeled Eye Shadow Brush ($9.99) so often that I might as well have all three surgically attached to my hand. Here’s why I love ’em, and why you might, too.

4. Get Green with L’Oreal, Maybelline and Lancome Eyeshadows

maybelline-lancome-loreal-green-shadows.jpg

“Ever since MAC Parrot eyeshadow entered my life I’ve been a little obsessed with greens, and I’m not talking collards or peas, girl. Behold my current green shadow crushes.”

5. Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturizer: No More Sticky Neck

“Lotions tend to make my neck feel sticky (I can’t stand that feeling!), but I don’t want to end up with wrinkled turkey neck. I’ve tested different moisturizers over the years and finally found one that doesn’t cause sticky neck: Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturizer ($29).”

Happy Hump Day! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Urban Decay Spring 2009: A Recessionista’s Guide

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The economy’s got a lot of us rethinking our beauty spending habits. If you’re looking to save dough but still want in on the spring collection action, Urban Decay’s Eric Jimenez suggests looking for makeup that multitasks.

“In this economy-friendly environment,” suggests Eric, international makeup artist and Urban Decay worldwide retail director, “you want products with multiple functions.” Budget beauties are looking for lipsticks that double as blushes and lip colors that also work around the eyes. “Every woman wants something that she can do more than one thing with in her handbag.”

Urban Decay cosmetics, a line known for highly pigmented and colorful makeup, offers a few interesting multitaskers for spring.

Fellow members of Club Recessionista, here are Eric’s suggestions on how to get the most bang for your buck with items from the spring collection (in stores next month).


Strike a pose, Eric!

New Sin Potion Primer, a multitasking monster!

One of the most flexible items in the spring line is the new Sin Eyeshadow Primer Potion ($17), a shimmery, champagne version of Urban Decay’s cult classic, Primer Potion.

While intended as an eyeshadow base, Sin works well as a highlighter, too. Apply it along the bridge of the nose, under the brow bone and along the inner corner of the eyes to brighten and glow.

Eric even uses Sin on the lips. “Use it on the lips with a transparent or a see-through gloss over it,” he suggests, where it adds a frosty, fawn color and extends the wear time of lipsticks and glosses.

Oh, and if you’re running late (or just plain lazy, haaaaay), swipe Sin on your eyelids and blend with a finger. Voila! — instant eyeshadow.

Double duty with Cream Shadows and 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencils


From top to bottom:Whipped, Weeds, Delinquent and Moonshine

The new Cream Shadows ($17 each; available in 12 colors) and the four 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil spring shades ($16) multitask like mo’ fo’s.

Cream Shadows work as both eyeshadows and liners. When Eric uses Asphalt, a shimmery black, as a liner, he sweeps the doe-foot applicator along the lower lash line and blends away harsh lines with a finger.

Have any black eyeshadows at home that you haven’t used in years? Bring ’em back to life atop a base layer of shimmery Asphalt.

Packed with moisturizing ingredients like Jojoba oil and Vitamin E, the four new 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils — Graffiti, Flipside, Rasom and Underground — double as liners and eyeshadows.


From left to right: Graffiti, Flipside, Rasom and Underground

The 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils are great as shadows when you want a quick pop of color. Just line the top lash line with one of them, and blend the color up into the crease with a finger.

Midnight Cowboy lipstick for nude cheeks and lips

Midnight Cowboy lipstick ($22), a shimmery fawn with flecks of gold glitter, might turn out to be Urban Decay’s next cult classic. According to Eric, “Midnight Cowboy is beautiful on everybody.” He’s used it on women of all shades and calls it universally flattering.

To really stretch out those dolla-dolla-bills-ya’ll, Eric advises against just slathering on Midnight Cowboy and other lipsticks and blotting away the excess with a tissue.

Instead, waste less lipstick by lightly tapping the tube against the lips and patting with a finger to blend.

Then, take the leftover lipstick on your fingertip, and work it into your cheeks. 🙂
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Nars Cosmetics Spring 2009: What Would You Get?

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Brick red and berry are bursting at the seams of NARS’ spring 2009 collection.

I’m thinking NARS took a risk with the fall-ish shades in this collection, but you know what they say about risk: it’s the spice of life! Shoot, brick red eyeshadow? That’s all I need to hear. 🙂

“My inspiration for spring was a very sexy woman,” explains Francois Nars, Founder and Creative Director of NARS Cosmetics. “I wanted a bit of a ’70s feeling, somewhere between Guy Bourdin and Chris Von Wangenheim’s photographs — aggressive, but very sensual and fragile at the same time.”

It’s a provocative collection, isn’t it? And heavy on face and eye products…

I think it’s time for another installment of WHAT WOULD YOU GET!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to spend $150 of virtual moolah (or thereabouts) on any combination of products from the NARS spring 2009 collection, and then share your virtual haul in the comments. 🙂

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Going Peach and Purple with MAC Brunette Blonde Redhead

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I know I look totally spaced out in the picture above, but I’m having one of those days. I feel like every picture I take ends up looking unintentionally comical.

I guess all I can do is smile and keep on trucking, right? Anyhooty, the look above features a few products from last week’s MAC Brunette Blonde Redhead release. I’m adding this peach-brown-purple combo to my “neutral looks for school” file. 🙂

Eyes


The look starts with the mighty MAC Nice Vice Paint Pot (1), a shimmery purple, patted onto the lid and into the crease with a MAC 249 Large Shader Brush. If the 249 leaves any harsh lines, I smooth them away with a finger.

You may recall Nice Vice from last year’s MAC Fafi collection. It was limited edition, but I really think Artifact Paint Pot, a shimmery burgundy from MAC’s permanent collection, would work just as well.

Next, I apply peachy pink MAC French Cuff eyeshadow (2) over the whole eyelid with a MAC 252 Large Shader Brush and sweep MAC Folie eyeshadow (3), a reddish brown plum, into the outer third of the crease with a MAC 217 Blending Brush.

I want this to look a little smokey, so I pat something dark like the matte chocolate brown MAC Handwritten eyeshadow (4) into the outer corner of the eye using a MAC 239 Eye Shading Brush.

Then, I line the upper lash line with MAC Fluidline in Graphic Brown (5), a shimmery brown, using Laura Mericer’s Flat Eye Liner brush.

I was all aboard the insomnia train last night! — which means I have all-star deluxe super fantastic dark circles right now! When my dark circles are bad I won’t use a dark liner or shadow on the lower lash line.

Instead, I’ll line my lower waterline instead with something like MAC’s Eye Kohl in Powersurge (6), a shimmery bronze-gold. It makes the lower lash line more prominent without making my dark circles take center stage.

To finish the eyes, I curl my lashes with the Shu Uemura lash curler, add two coats of Chanel Exceptionnel mascara and fill in my brows.


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