A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
In Seven Pounds, the great new film (I really enjoyed it!) starring Will Smith and Rosario Dawson, Rosario looks lovely in long hair. Over the years, she hasn’t taken many chances with her hair color, but she does like to mix it up with different styles.
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I really wanted the Cargo Holiday Nights ($25) kit to BRING IT. First, there’s that sexy satin box (love it!); then, there’s the dreamy, deep midnight blue eyeshadow (LOVE IT!).
But, alas, it looks like the products in this seven-piece eye and cheek kit were designed to heat up someone else’s holiday parties (*tears*). The silver, blue, charcoal and pink colors that grace the set are just too cool for my skin tone.
No matter how I combined the four eyeshadow colors (and lawd knows I tried to MAKE IT WORK, Tim Gunn style), the results looked chalky. Beyond the shadows, even the pink blush is too light for my brown skin.
Swatches from left to right: Face and Body Glitter, Boogie Nights Eyeliner in Silver, matte pink blush, shimmery white eyeshadow, shimmery silver eyeshadow, shimmery midnight blue eyeshadow, shimmery charcoal eyeshadow
Still, this set is hot, priced affordably and should really burn brightly on gals with lighter skin tone. All four of the eyeshadows and the blush possess rich color payoffs. Because of the lightness of these particular hues, the kit doesn’t work for every audience, but, irrespective of my inability to pull off some of the colors, the products themselves are top notch.
The Silver Boogie Nights eyeliner and silver Face and Body sparkle dole out fun touches of glitter without looking garish. My cool-toned hotties and pale beauties should be able to rock this set harder than I could!
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Hi, ladies. As 2008 draws to a close, I thought I’d take a look back at some of the most popular posts of the year. These aren’t necessarily my favorite products or posts, but they’re the ones that got the most attention from readers.
Without further ado, here are 20 of the most-read items of 2008! 🙂
“I finally got my paws on MAC Fafi yesterday, and all I have to say is MEOW! Love it. This morning I busted out a few things from the collection — Fafi Eyes 1 Quad, Nice Vice Paint Pot and the Not So Innocent Lipstick — and created this subtle gold and black smokey eye for work.”
“If you love makeup, brand-sponsored classes like these are a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I found out about the MAC Studio Talk class through the Bloomingdale’s website. Ask in the stores, as well (check with the counter staff), because other brands offer similar classes.”
“Every girl deserves a makeover from time to time. My last one was ages ago. I’d been itching to try a new look, so yesterday I made the short trip into San Francisco hoping to find inspiration. I hit my usual haunts — MAC, Dior and Chanel — but I was in the mood for something, well, kinda different, so I kept looking. I was almost ready to throw in the towel when a sign on a building caught my eye: Kryolan Professional Makeup. Curious as ever and not wanting to head home defeated, I decided to check it out.”
“Who loves gold, khaki and coral? I do! I do! How ’bout Dior? Do you love Dior? Because I sure do. I got my paws on a few items from Goldrush, Dior’s new summer collection. It’s a limited edition being delivered to your nearby Dior counter as we speak. Dior has given us some new eyeshadows, lipsticks, lipglosses, a blush, a highlighter and nail polishes in coordinating tan, coral, khaki and gold.”
“In less than three years, the value of gold has more than doubled, now selling for more than $900 an ounce. Chanel must have noticed how much people have been lovin’ on gold lately because both of their upcoming fall and holiday makeup collections go after gold in a mad, crazy way.”
“One of my favorite things about makeup is that there’s always room to step up your game. I love to imagine all the tips and tricks that I’ve yet to learn. I’m always looking to get better at doing smokey eyes. I’ve come across hundreds of smokey eye tutorials, and I think these 10 are some of the most helpful ones. I hope you find them useful, too!”
“I’m not shy about my obsessions — Christian Bale (marry me!), the MAC 266 brush and the Terminator series (more on this later) — but by far the deepest of my frivolous obsessions is for our Madge-esty almighty, Madonna, an obsession I’ve harbored since the tender age of eight.”
“I ain’t no holla back girl, but I’ll follow the legions of Gwen Stefani fans to the Macy’s perfume counter this September to check out Harajuku Lovers, Gwen’s latest line of fragrances. I get fired up for everything Gwen does, so I’m looking forward to this release.”
“Good morning, friends. I hope you’re having a good weekend so far. I’m sitting here at my desk, playing with nail polish and surfing the Net for beauty news. Check out Essie’s fall polish line ($8 each). Keeping in character for fall, the collection features deep plum, berry and cherry shades that look good enough to eat (I’m always hungry, LOL!).”
“Pink, coral, khaki, bronze — Chanel’s summer 2008 color collection has arrived at Nordstrom stores nationwide, so yesterday I hustled my booty on down to my fave Nordstrom Chanel counter to take a look. Behold!”
“Last week’s What’s in Your Purse post was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? I get a kick out of making strange lists, and I take it a lot of other people do too. I was thinking last night about an article I read a few months ago where people talked about what they’d tell their younger selves, so I made a list of the things I’d tell my 22-year-old self (yikes! that was 10 years ago?!) if given the chance.”
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LOL, yeah, so that term’s been out of style since the mid-90s, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to be cheesy! 🙂
Out-of-date slang abuse aside, The Balm Holiday in Balm Springs’ three-piece eye makeup kit ($18) deserves mad props (ha!). The two eyeshadows have great texture and color, and the eyeliner won’t budge for nuthin’.
Overshadow — a shimmery, lemon-gold loose eyeshadow — looks great as a wash over the entire lid thanks to its high pigmentation and finely milled texture.
Shady Lady eyeshadow is a shimmery, warm bronze with a sheer but buildable payoff that totes reminds me of Clinique eyeshadows. I think it’s gorgeous when paired with plum or purple liner.
Pick-Up Liner, a matte, cool-toned brown eyeliner, stays put all day long. It’s long-wearing, and at first touch doesn’t feel soft or malleable, but after prepping the tip by warming it up between my fingers for 30 seconds, it really comes into its own, softening and becoming much easier to apply.
Price: $18
Use: Three great products to accent and color the eyes
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
I like that there isn’t a red herring in this kit. All three of the products are useful and none of them go OTT.
Did you catch The Hills season finale last night? How about the after show on MTV? Cast member Whitney, soon to be starring in her own show (lucky girl!), The City, showed up with a most interesting hair accessory.
What was on homegirl’s head? Was that a pantyhose wreath? WARNING: Craft store project takes tragic turn, LOL!
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Chanel’s Spring 2009 makeup collection has me salivating! Inspired by boho-chic style and gypsy dresses, the new look features plum and beige colors for the eyes, fiery red and nude lip shades and a brown cheek color. I haven’t seen it in person (yet), but the product descriptions and pictures make me think of singer Stevie Nick’s early 80s witchy-boho-gypsy style.
While delving through the house archives, Peter Philips, Global Creative Makeup Director for CHANEL, rediscovered gypsy dresses by Gabrielle Chanel. “The Gypsy is a heroine with very distinctive beauty codes,” he explains. “After looking through the sketches by Mademoiselle Chanel, I also wanted to play with all of these contrasts. The gypsy’s eyes are as dark as her lips are fiery. She has the passion of travel in her veins, that of celebration, dance, and especially that of darkness and mystery.”
Rouge Hydrabase Creme Lipstick, $27
Rose Rebelle: pink
Euphoria: intense pink
Fiesta: apricot
Fuego: coral red
Beige Desire: beige
Gipsy Scarlett: red
Aqualumiere Sheer Colour Lipshine SPF 15, $27
Malta: copper
Positano: beige
Levres Scintillantes Glossimer, $26
Wild Rose: rosewood
Beige Guitare: taupe
Rouge Double Intensite Ultra Wear Lip Colour, $32
Alexandrite: red
Opal Rose: pink
Satin Lip Colour , $60
Five satin lip creme shades ranging from pale pink to deep plum, set in an iconic double C signature in a black lacquered case. [Continue reading…]
Carved statues at the International Market Place, Waikiki 2008
Quiet
MAC Blot Pressed Powder in Medium Dark
Blue Roxy flip flops
YOOOOOU!
Coffee and a few slices of King’s Hawaiian Sweet Bread…YUM!
This weird pain in my chest (I hope it’s just gas), keeping up my writing schedule while I’m away from home, an unruly nest of out-of-control frizzy hair on my head (it’s so humid here)
The gang of tail-less tabby cats that live next to my in-law’s place, Bejeweled 2, Nars Supervixen Lipgloss
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Birthday Suit and MAC Woodwinked
To stay cheerful, eat *hella* papaya (gawd I love that stuff), run in the rain a few times
Please copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments. 🙂
Mood:
Powder:
Shoes:
I can’t live, if living is without _____:
Breakfast:
Stressin’:
Lovin’:
Eyeliner:
Eyeshadow:
Weekly goals:
I can’t wait to hear how you’re doing on this lovely Monday. Let’s make this week a great one!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Put on yo’ thinking cap and try to guess what this mystery product is!
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen