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

Does L’Oreal Bare Naturale Mascara Thicken, Lengthen AND Separate Lashes?

by 30 Comments

Have you seen that commercial for L’Oreal’s new Bare Naturale Mascara ($9) in which Penelope Cruz looks into the camera, bats her eyelashes and then BAM! — they morph into super lashes, all thick, lush and magnificent?

I want those lashes, but after years of mascara disappointment, I have a question for the cosmetics companies of the world: is it too much to ask for a single mascara able to thicken, lengthen AND separate?

Bare Naturale’s tortoise shell tube is a nice departure from all the solid color tubes on the market, and the application brush feels soft against my fingertips.

So, does this mascara bring it?

I applied three coats of Brown-Black and peered into the mirror hoping for some P. Cruz eyelash magic…


[Continue reading…]

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Oct. 20

by 109 Comments

  1. Mood:

    2. Cognizant… but just barely!

  2. Eyeshadow:

    3. Stila Front Cover Look No. 2 (the next palette up to bat for my Wedding Palette Auditions).

  3. Fragrance:

    4. Very Irresistible Givenchy.

  4. Anxious about…:

    5. Getting through the workweek. It will be another hectic one ’cause I’m training somebody new. And I still haven’t thought of a Halloween costume!

  5. Happy about…:

    6. The sun (it’s bright and crisp outside on this lovely fall day), my Strawberry Frosted Pop Tart, the boots I’m going to wear today — It’s all about the small things… 😉

  6. Blush:

    7. Stila powder blush in Tint.

  7. Nails:

    8. Sephora’s OPI Metro Chic on my toes. Bare fingertips (for now).

  8. Morning drink:

    9. A steaming hot mug of mango white tea… YUM!

  9. Song of the day:

    10. Pink’s So What. Sidenote: Dang, Pink is cool! Who puts their ex-husband in a video for a song about their breakup? I’d love to meet her.

  10. Goals for the week:

    11. To remember to *breathe* and to find Tabs a kitty Halloween costume.

Let’s get Monday off to a good start. If you’re just sitting in that cube/class/hella boring meeting right now… copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
Eyeshadow:
Fragrance:
Anxious about…:
Happy about…:
Blush:
Nails:
Morning drink:
Song of the day:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What’s Your Favorite Place to Buy Makeup?

by 41 Comments

Do you have a favorite store or website for makeup? Are you a Nordstrom or Sephora gal, or do you prefer beautycrunch.com?

I like Nordstrom and Sephora for in-store browsing because they have great return policies, but I like beautycrunch for bargain basement deals.

What Is Your Favorite Place to Buy Makeup?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Subscribe to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Email:





Makeup and Beauty Blog Saturday Steals

by 33 Comments

I took my near-sighted self out to Costco today for some new contact lenses and scanned the beauty aisles for deals.

What do you think of Lancome Bi-Facil eye makeup remover, on sale for $19.99 (that’s 25% off the regular retail price of $26)? This stuff removes even the most stubborn eye makeup and has been a favorite of mine for years.

Costco also had Guerlain Le 2 De Guerlain Mascara in black for $19.99. The boxy, clear plastic packaging Costco uses isn’t flattering for cosmetics, but with this same mascara selling for $35 at Sephora (45% more), I’m going to cut Costco some slack.

And how about this cute three piece body care gift set by J.R. Watkins? In old-fashioned packaging, the set comes in two fragrances — mango and lemon cream — and includes a hand and body lotion, shea butter body cream and a hand and cuticle salve.

I thought this was so cool: each box has a scratch and sniff sticker! Cute, yah?

After Costco, I dragged poor El Hub to Sephora and parked him on a bench in front of the store while I got my makeup swerve on. 🙂

What do you think of the Too Faced The Quickie Chronicles Mini Collection ($59.10)? It features eight mini-palettes with coordinating eyeshadows and cheek and lip shades. These are just too cute!

My favorites were Temptress and Cupcake…

I wanted to leave Sephora empty handed because the contact lenses from Costco had already put a big dent in my wallet, but I couldn’t resist this Cat Eyes Liner in Black Onyx ($16; a shimmery deep black with subtle blue flecks) by Pop Beauty and a bottle of Sephora by OPI nail polish in Metro Chic ($9; a plum-gray creme).

One of the counter girls at Sephora showed me how to use the liner. I’m gonna try a tutorial with it in the next couple days. That should be fun.

How was your Saturday? Do you know of any good makeup/beauty sales out there right now?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Subscribe to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Email:





Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, October 18

by 9 Comments

My Halloween Costume (I wish)

  • I saw this haunting skull-and-rose print dress in a store window this week. It’s by Bay Area independent designer Catherine Jane. At $335, it’s not in my costume budget, but maybe they’ll mark it down on the day after Halloween… Stuffed crow sold separately!

Zombies 101

  • Speaking of Halloween, I found this helpful book the other day, the Ultimate Zombie Survival Guide. Did you know that zombies can’t climb stairs? Good to know, right? If you don’t have time to read the guide, there’s also Zombies in Plain English, a three-minute video guide. Don’t wait; be prepared, and survive the next large-scale zombie attack.

What Lies Within Us Bracelet

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Wear those words of wisdom with this thoughtful engraved sterling silver bracelet from Target, $70.

Goodbye, Grumpy-saurus

  • You know those morning folks who wake up running on all cylinders the minute they get out of bed? Yeah, I am *so not* one of them. I was royally grumpy all morning long until I heard Love at First Sight by Kylie Minogue.

Late Night Drunk Dialing E-mailing: Step Away From the Keyboard!

  • These days, after a night of partying, don’t drunk dial your ex. No, try drunk e-mailing him/her instead, but be smart. Use Mail Goggles, Google’s new “sobriety checkpoint” feature in Gmail, to prevent you from making a complete ass of yourself the next time you’ve overloaded on pina coladas. Once you’ve enabled the feature, you’re prompted to perform five simple math problems within a 60-second window before you’re able to send e-mails between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am on weekends, ha! No kidding. Think of all the potential mortification this could thwart. I *so* wish I’d thought of this. Still loving you, Larry and Sergey!

Budget Back Massage

  • You don’t have to spend $100/hour to get a decent massage. Work out those kinks with a little help from Babyassface. All you need is a tennis ball. Now, help me think of some way to get Andy Roddick involved…

How Well Do You Know Your Mullet?

Welcome to the Neighborhood

  • Marin County photographer Mindy Pines has an interesting way of framing casual moments and turning them into art. Her photo blog, F-StopMarin.com, features everyday people, scenes and landmarks out here in my neck of the woods.

Evolution of Style

  • I still have way too many Banana Republic tops from 2005, so I devoted mucho time this week to surfing the web for cute clothes. My favorites were these 40s-style dresses by Stop Staring, an indy clothing line out of Los Angeles. The Ashley, Raileen, Vogue Rosalyn and Vogue Glamour Blush dresses totally spoke to me. I added them to my shopping cart but didn’t pull the trigger (maybe next time).

Hope you’re having a lovely day so far! I’m off to grab some lunch. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Subscribe to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Email:





11 Great Makeup Wipes and Cleansers

by 26 Comments

A few days ago I reviewed L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes with BHA. A few of you gals then offered up your fave makeup removing wipes and cleansers in the comments. Here’s a list featuring your recommendations and why you love ’em!

1. MAC Wipes

$24.50 for 100 wipes
Super duper. They’re a great cleanser and come in a resealable bag (that actually works) to keep them moist and fresh until you need ’em.

2. Korres Wipes

$12 for 25 wipes
Sticker trubs. Great wipes, but the package closes with a sticker instead of a Ziplock and doesn’t always form a tight seal. If you’re not careful, the wipes can dry out soon after the package has been opened.

3. EveryDayMinerals Cleansing Wipes

$3.75; I don’t know the package size
Great scent. People seem to really like the mild lavender and grapefruit fragrance. These wipes are all-natural, but aren’t considered among the softest wipes on the market.

4. Garnier Nutritioniste Nutri-Pure Wet Cleansing Towelettes

$6 for 25 wipes
Soft and clean. These are said to be softer than most other moist cleansing towelettes and remove makeup well. They have a fresh scent, don’t leave behind a sticky residue, but the pack tends to dry out if you’re not careful.

5. Olay Daily Facials Express: Sensitive Skin

$6 for 30 wipes
Velvety soft. These wet cleansing cloths contain aloe and vitamin E, making them extremely soft and moisturizing. They great makeup cleansers, too, even removing waterproof mascara with ease.

6. Boots No7 Quick-Thinking 4-in-1 Wipes

$7 for 30 wipes
Handy dandy. With Boots now carried in Target stores nationwide, these are easy to find (and sometimes on sale). They remove makeup well, even mascara, but they can be a little bit drying.

7. L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes

$8 for 25 wipes
Acne fighter. These extremely soft wipes have a nice honeysuckle/rose scent and contain BHA (beta hydroxy acid) to help treat mild acne.

8. Comodynes Dermatological Cleansing Towelettes for Acne and Problem Skin

$4 for 20 wipes
Bargain Basement. I’ve never tried ’em before, but if rumors that Trader Joe’s carries them are true, sign me up. I love Trader Joe’s!

9. MAC Cleanse Off Oil

$21 per bottle
Fan favorite. A gentle, cleanser for oil-based makeup; 100% mineral-oil free, even removes waterproof mascara.

10. Shu Uemura Skin Purifier High Performance Cleansing Oil

$28 per bottle
Super moisture. Similar to MAC’s Cleanse Off Oil but doesn’t smell as good; said to be more moisturizing, though, and ya gotta love Shu.

11. L’Oreal Skin Genesis Pore Minimizing Gel Cleanser

$8 per bottle
Deep cleaner. Also contains BHA, like the Skin Genesis cleansing towelettes, and considered a good cleanser, able to even remove eye makeup.

So tell me… How do you remove your makeup? Do you use a liquid cleanser, a wipe or a combination of both?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Wedding Palette Auditions: Stila Front Cover Look No. 4

by 17 Comments

Traveling Light

My good friend Jen gets hitched in Florida next month, and I can’t wait! I’m looking forward to the wedding, but I’m not looking forward to packing.

Why? Because I overpack (hey, I like options) — always have — but not this time. This time, come hell or high water, I’m going to streamline. 🙂

To manage my makeup better than I usually do, I thought I’d bring along some palettes — just two (or three or four!). Today, I interviewed the first applicant for the job: Stila Front Cover Look No. 4.

I’m Jen’s matron of honor (I’m still not sure what matrons do). Both my bridesmaid dress and shoes are gold, so I’d like my makeup to complement them. As far as how bold a look I can get away with, it’s an afternoon church ceremony, which means nothing too disco or drag queen (oh, well).

There Are 4 Stila Front Cover Look Palettes

Look No. 4 is one of four limited edition Front Cover Look palettes by Stila. They’ve been out for a while (not exactly sure when they came out), and I had to get a little creative to find this one. Each includes three eyeshadows, a blush and one lipgloss, all packaged in a slim case with magazine motif.

Gotta Love Beautycrunch.com

Looks No. 2 and 3 are still available on the Stila website for $40 each. I decided to check beautycrunch.com for the No. 4 and BINGO! There it was, for $14!

The Front Cover Look No. 3 palette makes an appearance in this Face of the Day.

I love No. 4’s neutral peachy pink and brown…

Stila Front Cover Look No. 4

  • Nude eyeshadow: a matte peach-beige with large flecks of silver glitter
  • Icon eyeshadow: a shimmery pink peach
  • Twig eyeshadow: a shimmery rich chocolate
  • Heat blush: a peachy tan matte
  • Inviting lipgloss: a shimmery peach gloss with gold and silver glitter


[Continue reading…]

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