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

5 Botanically Based Bodacious Skin Care Products Worth Trying at Space NK

August 2nd, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

sunday riley kat burki malin goetz — Plant-powered skin care!

There’s a bounty of botanical-based skin care products at Space NK meow, and here are five of my favorites at the moment.

1. Sunday Riley C.E.O. C + E antiOxidant Protect + Repair Moisturizer ($65)

This rich, mega-moisturizing anti-aging moisturizer has an oil-soluble version of vitamin C called tetrahexydecyl ascorbate (or THD ascorbate) that some researchers believe can penetrate skin better than old-fashioned vitamin C.

Vitamin C is notoriously fickle/unstable, but tetrahexydecyl ascorbate is stable and less irritating than other forms of vitamin C, making it suitable for peeps with sensitive skin, too.

sunday riley ceo moisturizer — Hurry, get the C.E.O.!

I just started using this, and my skin, which has been drier than usual, laps it up. Along with THD ascorbate, it contains an exfoliating botanical extract called lime seed pearl, commonly known as “finger lime.” It’s a plant, native to Australia, and it contain hundreds of tiny capsules of lime juice. They look like caviar.

2. Sunday Riley C.E.O. C + E Micro-Dissolve Cleansing Oil ($38)

This cleansing oil also has lime pearl, as well as THD ascorbate, white willow bark, turmeric and evening primrose. It makes quick work of my foundation, concealer, lipstick and blush, but it makes me tear up when it touches my water lines, so I have to grab something else to remove my eyeshadow, mascara and liner.

sunday riley ceo cleansing oil — White willow bark contains salicin, which is the precursor to aspirin.

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A Pony Tale About the Mia Beauty Tony Ties…

August 2nd, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

If we had the technology to locate all of the black hair elastics that disappear into the ether, we’d be running missions to Mars already and basically winning at LIFE.

Where do they go?!

The last of mine disappeared recently (How? Why?), so I bought a pack of Goody Ouchless Elastics for Thick Hair, and girl…ugh. Don’t do it. They break easily, slip right off my ponytail, and essentially drive me nuts every time I wear one.

But, on the glass-half-full side, they led me to rediscover my love for the Mia Beauty Tony Ties, which are SO GREAT! 🙂

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Meet the MAC Power Hungry Palette From the New MAC Girls Collection

August 2nd, 2017 by Karen 19 Comments

I keep telling myself, “Karen, let it go, girl. LET IT GOOOOOOO.” But I just can’t! So this one’s for my fellow word nerds who also noticed an absence of alliteration in the name of the new MAC Power Hungry Palette and can’t let that sh*t go (oh, gawd, please tell me I’m not the only one!).

13 Alternate Alliterative Appellations for the MAC Power Hungry Palette

Power Perfectionist
Power Professional
Power Player (thanks, Kim, for mentioning this one in the comments!)
Power Performer
Power Participant
Power Producer
Power Provider
Power Protagonist (my personal pick)
Power Partner
Power Principal
Power Person
Power Professor
Power Patrician

I mean…a little alliteration never hurt anyone. 🙂

Power Hungry is the second palette I’ve played with from the MAC Girls collection (I really liked the first one, Rockin’ Rebel), and it’s the neutral palette in the girl gang.

mac power hungry swatches — I’m an NC42 for reference.

It’s sort of like MAC’s take on a UD Naked palette, except without a black or gray shadow, and with an additional big pan of highlighter.

Lots of layering

I have mixed feelings about it… Browns are my jam — you know this — and I like how soft these feel when I touch them, but I need to do A LOT of layering for them to show up.

mac power hungry palette k closeup — Check the highlight, though!

Even for this natural-ish eye makeup look I’m wearing, I must’ve put on six or seven layers of Bling Mistress, Bossing It and Something’s Fishy. I actually lost count!

It was a lot… Let’s just say that.

Frowsy Foils

Even then, I wasn’t very happy, because the powders, which are in MAC’s Foil formula, aren’t as finely milled as the Foils in Rockin’ Rebel. The grains are larger this time, and they reeeeeeally like to drop from my lids and my brush onto my cheekbones.

The highlight is the highlighter

I do love the highlighter, though! It’s more blinged-out than my preferred soft and glowing highlight style, but I like the soft opalescent effect I get from using a tiny touch on my skin.

You can also reach spotlight status easily, too, if brighter, bolder boss-lady bling is more your thing (the look is similar to what you get from the MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinishes).

mac power hungry palette k — That’s Power Hungry on my lids, my upper cheekbones and down the bridge of my nose.

I really love the colors themselves, but you might have to bust out a base like the Paint Pots if you’re an NC42 or darker to get them to translate truthfully on your skin. Maybe something beige…like Painterly or Bare Study. Soft Ochre would work, too.

Power Hungry arrives with the rest of the MAC Girls collection August 3rd at select MAC locations and online. Like the other palettes, it’s $39.50 and will only be available for a limited time.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Beautiful San Francisco: The Marina Green

August 1st, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

The Marina Green is one of my favorite parts of San Francisco, because over a short walking distance, you get expansive views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Tiburon, Sausalito, the Bay, Angel Island and Alcatraz, all right there across the way.

It’s a gorgeous place to walk, bike or jog, but not just for the views along the water. The huge houses on the other side of the street look like mini mansions!

They have — and this might sound kinda strange to say — AMAZING windows. I’m not an architecture buff by any means, but I love looking at window shapes for some reason… And there are lots of them to look at!

On the weekends it’s kinda hard to park in that area, though. That’s one thing. There’s a huge parking lot next to the big green lawn, but unless you have enough patience to circle for 20 minutes, it’s not the easiest place to find a spot.

I’ve had pretty OK luck finding parking in the residential cross-streets, and then just walking back to the Marina Green, but you never can tell in San Francisco… Parking is always an adventure.

If you go, bring an extra layer or two (like a sweatshirt and a light jacket), because it can get windy and cold by the water.

Take a walk or a bike ride along the Marina Green

I’ll take the mini mansion on the right, thanks

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3 Ways to Make the Most of Your Next Beauty Convention Experience

August 1st, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

gen beauty sf — Makeup conventions can either be really fun or really exhausting.

Beauty expos and conventions like Generation Beauty, IMATS and Beautycon can be a blast, because not only can you score fab freebies, but you can find out what your favorite lines have in the hopper and discover brand new brands you haven’t heard of before.

But they can also be overwhelming…

inside gen beauty sf — No, seriously, does it go on forever?

There are just so many people, so many booths and SO MANY LINES to stand in (LOL!)… Oh, the humanity! You really gotta be in the right mindset, and I think it also helps to be prepared. Next time you go to a big beauty conference, try these three things to make the most of your beauty expo extravaganza experience.

1. Arrive early

A lot of makeup enthusiasts like to go to these beauty conventions for a chance to grab some free swag and snag snazzy products at a discount, but the thing is, if you want to do some of the funnest stuff, you have to wait in a line…and the lines at Gen Beauty last weekend, especially the lines to the big brand booths, were almost Disneyland-caliber. Easily 30-45 minutes. And they got longer as the day went on (so get there early).

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3 Up-and-Coming Beauty Brands to Watch: Eva NYC, Soo AE and NOTE Cosmetics

July 31st, 2017 by Karen 12 Comments

3 beauty brands to watch — Keep an eye out for ’em!

Yesterday I went to something called Generation Beauty San Francisco, a.k.a. #GenBeauty SF, a beauty/makeup/skin care convention for product pros and part-time makeup luvuhs. It was sponsored by Ipsy, Michelle Phan’s subscription box company.

There were booths staffed by the bigger brands, like MAC and Benefit, but there were also some cool up-and-coming lines, and here are three — one hair care, one skin care and a makeup line — to keep on your radar.

Eva NYC

Who they are: Eva NYC is an affordable, cruelty-free hair care and hair styling tool brand from Brooklyn, New Yorrrrrk! They’ve been around since 2012, but they’re expanding, and they’re all about good prices on professional-caliber products with pizzazz.

There’s lots of pink in their packaging to target all the girly girls out there (like moi!).

You know I’m a sucker for cute pink bottles. 🙂 These remind me a little of Soap & Glory…but less cheeky.

Where to find them: Ulta, Costco, CVS, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, although I haven’t seem them at some of those places lately, so I think they may only be carried at select locations for now.

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 486

July 31st, 2017 by Karen 38 Comments

chanel rouge coco lipsticks — Happy a happy, bright, joy-filled Monday!

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past 10 (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. How many times did it take to pass your driving test?

It only took me once, barely, but I got hella lucky. I barely passed the driving part by the skin of my teeth. I got through the written test fine, but the actual driving ? part on the road? It was touch and go. I think I got in the low-70s. I passed, though! Mind you, I’m not gonna win the Indy 500 or any drag races any time soon, but I think I’m a decent driver.

2. Have you ever lived with strangers?

Oh, my gosh, yes, and I wouldn’t recommend it at all. In almost every housing situation I had in college, I lived with people that I didn’t know beforehand, and, except for one person, I haven’t kept in touch with any of them.

If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I’d tell her that meeting people and talking to them for half an hour won’t give you enough info to tell if you can get along with them day in, day out.

Oh! — and then when I moved to San Francisco after school ended, I lived with a bunch of strangers again, and sh*t was always getting stolen from my room.

I know that it works out for some people…but it didn’t for me.

3. What blush/bronzer are you wearing today?

I’m still on a Chanel cream blush kick, so I’m wearing No. 24 today on my cheeks.

I haven’t been wearing bronzer lately, though, and it’s been like a month. I think it’s because I’m darker than usual from taking the Coywolf to the pool a few times, so I don’t feel the urge to bronze.

4. What are some things that instantly boost your mood?

A scrumptious iced coffee drink
The sound of the Coywolf laughing
A quick 5-minute walk outside
Listening to whatever song I’m crushing on at the moment
Putting on lipstick (of course)

5. Did you hang with a certain clique in high school?

Band geeks for life, yo! ? And when I wasn’t hanging out with the band geeks, I was usually with some of the AP students from my classes. So nerdy, man!

Also, I briefly hung out with some drama kids in my senior year, but to be honest they were a little too much for me… I couldn’t hang.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Have a great one, girl! Here are the questions to copy/paste.

1. How many times did it take to pass your driving test?
2. Have you ever lived with strangers?
3. What blush/bronzer are you wearing today?
4. What are some things that instantly boost your mood?
5. Did you hang with a certain clique in high school?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 460

July 30th, 2017 by Karen 14 Comments

Our tabby was on fire this morning! I think something must have transpired overnight…either an alley cat jamboree, or perhaps a raging party with the local wildlife. I don’t know, but Tabs was in full-on poofy-tail mode, which was surprising because, you know, he’s kind of the king of the circle. He really doesn’t have anything to prove, so when we’re inspecting the neighborhood during our early morning rounds, it’s more of a maintenance thing. Sniff this corner, check out that corner. OK, everything’s copacetic, but today he was full-on orange alert tabby — tail poofed, big jumps off curbs, lots of intense wall sniffing.

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