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Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara: Super Size Me!

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Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara ($7) lured me with its bold claim to boost lash volume by 400%.

400%!

I expected some beasty Snuffleupagus lashes and drooled all over myself daydreaming about ’em.

Super Size Me

According to the product marketing (when is that not a red flag?), Neutrogena’s patent-pending formula contains a touch of olive oil to penetrate and plump each lash core. When used with the included uber brush, the company claims it takes lashes from normal to super-sized.

Exaggerate Much?

I was achin’ for some of that 400%, let me tell you, so I applied three layers of Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara and pulled out my measuring tape, LOL!
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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, October 9

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The Coolest Sticky Notes, Ever

  • If I don’t write stuff down then I don’t remember, so I’ve got Post-It/sticky notes all over the place. These cheeky sticky notes from Knock Knock can keep my boring, yellow Post-Its company. My faves are the You Rock and Or Else pads.

Name that Makeup Compact

  • I live in the ‘burbs now, but I’m a city girl at heart. Last night I spent a good half an hour cruising through photographer Amin Torres’ photo blog featuring pics depicting everyday life in New York City. I couldn’t help but stop at this shot of a woman applying mascara on the subway (been there, done that). Can you guess what compact she’s holding? — ’cause I’m stumped.

Do You Really Need That Extra Oxygen?

Sex and the City: The Font

  • I’m a total font geek, so my eyes lit up when I found this neat slideshow on BBC News featuring fonts from famous movie posters. The Sex and the City movie posters use a font called Trajan, Franklin Gothic was featured in the poster for Dark Knight and Neutraface is the font gracing the new James Bond movie posters for Quantum of Solace. Now I’m soOOoo ready for final Jeopardy’s Font Geek category!

Merging Beauty and Science

  • The New York Times reports that a new “beautification engine” computer program uses a mathematical formula to virtualize more attractive versions of human faces. The Times ran pics of several people’s faces through this “beautification engine.” Can I just say I was not surprised to find that actor James Defranco’s cutie pie mug remained virtually unchanged? Hit me up, James!

125 Foods to Help You Not Look Like a Sausage in Your Bridesmaid Dress

  • I gotta squeeze into a bridesmaid dress for my friend Jen’s wedding next month. Needless to say, my eating habits haven’t been great (chocolate cake, anyone?) lately. I’ve been busy and just shove whatever I can find into my gullet. I have to get back on track, and to help me on my way I’m using this handy dandy article featuring 125 of the best Packaged Foods by Women’s Health magazine. It includes printable lists of healthy drinks, breads and soups to look for at the grocery store. Now I have one less excuse to head to In-n-Out for dinner.

Work that Cape(let)

  • I’ll use any excuse to wear a cape in public. Here’s a really cute knitted capelet I found on Esty. I’d wear this over a white turtleneck in winter or a tank top in the spring.

Hey, ya’ll! Happy, happy, Thursday! I feel genuinely, certifiably NUTS because I woke up at 5:30 this morning. Hello, fourth cup of coffee. 🙂 Anyway, I’m about to put on some makeup… yay! It’s looking like a Beiges de Chanel quad kinda day. What makeup did you reach for this morning?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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A Copper, Tan and Blue Eye with Cargo Color Palette in Vienna

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Hi, girlies! Today was one of those days where things were just non-stop craziness at work. I was training a new hire and trying to do 20 other things at the same time — not the best conditions to be training someone in — and everything had to be done like five minutes ago. I’m really glad to be home. 🙂

Before I kick back with my veggie burrito in front of the Tivo (I haven’t watched Monday night’s Heroes yet; still lovin’ ya, Peter Petrelli!), here’s the look I wore to work today. I knew today would be a rough day and wanted to wear something colorful (while still safe for the office) and upbeat. It’s a shimmery copper and tan eye with blue accents and features a few different holiday and fall products, including the new Cargo Color Palette in Vienna ($28).

One of eight Cargo eye shadow palettes released specifically for Sephora this fall, Vienna contains four huge pans of uber-blendable, shimmery shadow in copper, beige, tan and slate blue.

Step by Step: The Eyes

  1. First, I primed my lids with Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer (makes the shadows last longer).
  2. Next, I applied Vienna’s beige shade on my brow bone with a Sonia Kashuk Large Eye Shadow Brush.
  3. Then, I swept Vienna’s tan shade into the crease with a MAC 217 blending brush.
  4. I patted Vienna’s copper shade onto my lids and just barely into the crease with the same Sonia Kashuk Large Eye Shadow Brush from step 2.
  5. Next, I wet a Sonia Kashuk Angled Eye Shadow Brush with a spritz of MAC Fix+ and swept the wet brush head across the pan of slate blue eye shadow to pick up the color. I applied the wet shadow to my upper lash line, thickening the line as it moved closer to the outer corner of the eye.
  6. With the same Sonia brush, I applied the blue shade again, this time on the lower water line.

To finish the eyes, I curled my lashes and added one coat of Chanel Exceptionnel mascara in Noir.


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Bath and Body Works Shea Cashmere Shower Cream: See Ya Later, Ashy Alligator Skin

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Where my dry skinned girls at??

If your skin is like mine and enters ashy overdrive in fall, you probably need all the moisturizing help you can get. When Mother Nature chills out, and your skin dries out, grab a tube of Bath and Body Works’ new True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere Shower Cream ($15), stat!

New to Bath and Body Works

Part of the new True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere body care line, Shea Cashmere Shower Cream softens and soothes through a combination of moisture-rich shea butter, cashmere extract (think goat hair), and other ingredients. The six-piece collection includes the Shower Cream ($15), as well as a Body Cream ($17.50), Body Lotion ($16.50), Bubble Bath ($18), Hand Cream ($14.50) and Foot Cream ($15).

Weird Consistency but Smells Fab!

The cream’s consistency freaked me out when I first squeezed the tube because it looks just like curdled milk. Eeeew… Good thing it smells better than it looks. In fact, the warm caramel scent reminds me of dulce de leche ice cream.

Immediate Results

Shea Shower Cream forms a very fine foam in the shower rather than lots of big bubbles. It feels kind of like washing your skin with lotion. Immediately after rinsing I felt a difference in the softness of my skin. I toweled off and, after letting my skin dry out for a bit, saw that my skin didn’t look as ashy as before.

Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere Shower Cream

Price: $15
Use: A body shower cream to clean, soften and moisturize skin
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

I’m not abandoning my go-to body wash, Neutrogena Rainbath Shower and Shave, but for the time being Shea Shower Cream rules my shower roost (it’s actually a small ledge above the tub, lol!).

Puppy Love

I’ve been missing Shauna a lot lately. She’s the family’s dog and lives with my folks in the East Bay, so I don’t get to see her very often. I guess that missing her is why I’ve been compelled to snap pictures of every random dog in my ‘hood.

I ran into these two cuties in front of the Safeway across the street as they waited for their person. I love how the one in front looks so serious, like he’s thinking about calculus.

It looks like it’s going to be a crisp and sunny fall day today. I’m going to see if I can squeeze in a quick run before I head to work. Gotta take advantage of the clear weather before it disappears for a while.

Have a fab Wednesday! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Chanel Les Tissages Blushes: When Shimmer Meets Matte

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One of my secret goals in life is to go grocery shopping wearing a seriously fabulous Chanel Tweed suit. I want to be that crazy Chanel lady standing in the 15-items-or-less express checkout line with her box of chocolate Powerbars. Sadly, I don’t expect to be getting the suit any time soon (damn!), but at least I can still get my Chanel tweed fix courtesy of Les Tissages de Chanel, the company’s latest collection of blushes ($45 each).

Slivers of silver and gold thread through these mixes of matte and shimmer. Inspired by classic Coco tweed, each of the four Les Tissages blushes (also referred to as the Chanel Tweed blushes) look like little works of art set in classic black Chanel compacts.

  • Tweed Pink: pale pink with shimmery silver
  • Tweed Rose: rose with shimmery gold and silver
  • Tweed Corail (French for coral): peach with shimmery gold
  • Tweed Ambre (French for amber): red brown with shimmer

I tested two of the four new shades, Tweed Corail and Tweed Rose, and only have two words: ME LIKEY!

Tweed Corail

Tweed Rose


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Chanel Holiday 2008!

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It looks like nothing can stop the gold fever train that roared through the makeup world earlier this year, and now it’s chugging all the way to the holidays! Remember Chanel’s Gold Fever Collection? Well, Holiday 2008 is here, and — you guessed it! — gold (with touches of red, bronze and beige) still plays a starring role.

Some might say Chanel was too tame in the color department, but I’m liking the browns, beiges and golds. The look features neutral beige and brown eyes paired with either pink-gold or red lips. The face and cheeks glow with touches of gold with shimmery pink highlights. Mmm… I lurve Chanel.

Lips

Le Crayon Levres Precision Lip Definer, $28

  • Rouge: true red

Rouge Allure Luminous Satin Lip Colour lipstick, $30

  • Nude: pale nude
  • Exaltation: coral red (limited edition)

Aqualumiere Sheer Colour Lipshine SPF 15, $26

  • Cancun: soft beige

Creme Gloss Lumiere Brush-On Creme Lip Colour, $32

  • Praline Rose: pink bronze (limited edition)
  • Canelé: warm bronze

Levres Scintillantes Glossimer, $26

  • Red Shine: red with shimmer
  • Gold Shine: pink-gold with shimmer (limited edition)

Eyes

Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow, $56

  • Beiges de CHANEL: matte cream, shimmery taupe, shimmery gold and shimmery brown (limited edition)

Ombre D’Eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow, $32

  • Riviera: pale gold (limited edition)

Le Crayon Yeux Precision Eye Definer, $27.50

  • Noir Scintillant: soft black with gold shimmer (limited edition)

La Ligne De Chanel Professional Eyeliner Duo, $45

  • Brun-Lamé: dark brown and soft brown sparkle (limited edition)

Nails

Le Vernis Nail Colour, $20

  • Perle Rosée: warm beige-pink (limited edition)
  • Haute Chocolat: chic chocolate gold (limited edition)

Face

Eclat Lumiere Highlighter Face Pen, $38

  • Beige Rosé: highlighter with pink undertone

Gold Highlighting Powder, $75

  • A golden, loose powder for the face and body (limited edition)

I haven’t fully explored the products in this release, but here are a few pictures, swatches and some first impressions from a handful of items from the collection.

Beiges de CHANEL LES 4 OMBRES Quadra Eye Shadow

Every girl should have a few go-to browns and neutrals in her eye shadow stash, and the Beiges de Chanel quad fits the bill. If you’re new to makeup, consider starting your collection with this.

The shades in the quad run on the cool side. I’m partial to the shimmery, deep dark chocolate shade (has subtle gold flecks), with the shimmery taupe and shimmery gold shades a close tie for second. The matte beige is probably my least fave of the four as it looks a bit too cool for my skin tone (and feels a touch chalkier than the other three shades). Overall, this bad boy should rock as an everyday work palette.

Red Shine and Gold Shine Glossimers

Like Chanel’s fall release, the holiday collection includes a lovely gold limited edition Glossimer, this one called Gold Shine.
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Redken Real Control Overnight Hair Conditioner: Sleep Well

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If your permed, damaged or color-treated hair hates hard work and refuses to behave, mark your calendar for next month’s release of Real Control Overnight Treat ($20), a new nighttime conditioning hair treatment from Redken.

Redken wants to help you to be as efficient as a Swiss watch, so they made Real Control work while you sleep, absorbing fast (limiting the amount of product that transfers to pillows and sheets) to condition and repair dry, chemically treated hair. Since I’m a fiend for multi-tasking, I had to give it a try. If I can get my beauty sleep on and condition my dry crow’s nest o’ hair while dreams of C. Bale flutter through my head, I am *so there.*

Why Overnight?

Overnight Treat contains Shea butter to smooth and control frizz along with proteins and ceramides to moisturize and repair. Redken claims that leaving it in while you sleep gives the product time to work and amplifies its conditioning powers by cutting down on exposure to environmental pollutants.

How to Use It

I’ve been a regular user of leave-in conditioners for years and often use them before bed, but this was the first of the products I’ve used that was specifically billed as an overnight treatment.

The bottle states that it should be applied to damp or dry hair before settling down to sleep and may be left in or rinsed out the following morning.

Texture and Scent

I’ve been applying it right after showers. In my hand, the product feels more like Lubriderm lotion than leave-in conditioner.

An amount the size of a silver dollar thoroughly coats my long-ish (past my shoulders), thick hair. The company claims it absorbs quickly, and I have to agree with them there. I only had to spend a minute or two to massage it into my hair.

Despite how thick the product feels in the palm of my hand, it doesn’t feel heavy once it has been worked into my hair, and I like the fragrance, too — like a light version of Bath and Body Works’ Sweet Pea lotion.

Visible Results

In the mornings after using Real Control my hair feels softer, looks smoother and seems more alive than the day before, and my hair does not look weighed down at all. Untreated, my hair tends to look and feel dry and rough, not smooth at all, and I tend to get split ends, but using Overnight Treat for a little more than a week has improved the condition of my hair in each of those areas.

Long Hair? Make a Bottle Last Three Months

To get as much bang for my buck from the product, I’ve been using it just once or twice a week, even though Redken says it’s safe to use every night. A couple treatments per week still keeps my hair soft without burning through the small 3.4 oz bottle too quickly. If your hair is shorter than mine, you can make your bottle last even longer.

Redken Real Control Overnight Treat

Price: $20
Use: Overnight conditioning and repair for dry, chemically treated hair
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

These Boots Were Made For Walking

My late night BOOT LUST has kicked in to coincide with the end of summer, and I found these brown cuties by Gabriella Rocha on Zappos last night!

Yeah, they’re a bit Robin Hood, but I like the round toe and criss cross design. I didn’t get them, but I was hella tempted.

Whatcha wearing on your feet today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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Bobbi Brown Holiday 2008 Limited Edition Palettes

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I know it’s early October, and you probably haven’t even picked out a pumpkin to carve, but all the makeup lines are unveiling their new palettes and sets for the holidays. They want you festive, dammit, whether you’re ready or not! 🙂

Yup, Bobbi Brown is starting early this year, releasing a string of limited edition palettes this month.

Last weekend I played with the Tube Tints Set, Night Sky Long-Wear Eye Palette and Velvet Plum Eye Palette. I think each would make a nice gift for any makeup lovin’ ladies in your life.

Velvet Plum Eye Palette

A few years ago, when I worked a 9-to-5 gig in downtown San Francisco, I’d bring my makeup and brushes with me to work and apply makeup in the bathroom on my breaks. I’ve always had issues packing light, even for work, so streamlined I was not. I’d walk around looking like I had a turkey stuffed in my bag. If I could turn back time, I’d totally give myself this palette along with a note that read, “Streamline, girl!”


From left to right: Bone, Naked, Velvet Plum, Espresso

This gorgeous palette contains four versatile powder eye shadows suitable for business meetings or drinks after work.

    Bone Eye Shadow: off white
    Naked Eye Shadow: medium neutral pink
    Velvet Plum Eye Shadow: shimmery black plum
    Espresso Eye Shadow: dark chocolate brown

Neutral work eye:
Apply Bone all over the lid and Naked into the crease. Wet an angled brush and then line the upper and lower lash lines with Espresso.

Plum night eye:
Wet a shadow brush, and apply Velvet Plum onto the lid and just barely into the crease. Then, with an angled eye brush, line the bottom lash line with Espresso.

Brown-plum smokey eye:
Line upper and lower lashlines with a creamy eye liner like MAC Smolder. Smudge Espresso on top of the liner on both lash lines. Then, apply Plum on the lid and just into the crease.

Out of the three palettes I tried, this one is my favorite. It’s just so flexible, and the colors pop without taking things too far. Gotta give Bobbi much lurve for this one. Go girl!

Tube Tints Set


From left to right: Brown Sugar Shimmer, Posey Shimmer, Bare Shimmer and Tea Rose

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