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

Can We Just Talk About ’80s Makeup for a Second?

June 29th, 2017 by Karen 22 Comments

glow on netflix — The gorgeous ladies of GLOW. Yes, it is entirely possible to become emotionally invested in a show about women’s wrestling.

Because ’80s makeup is crazy. It’s bananas. But, like…in the best possible way.

I’ve been all about the ’80s makeup inspiration lately. Shout-out to reader Stella for saying on Instagram yesterday that the look I did with the new MAC Chromat collection (it’s out now, BTW) looked ’80s inspired, because that’s what I was going for. Kind of.

mac chromat collection — Secretly wishing I had bigger hair…

Have you seen GLOW yet on Netflix?

It’s about (wait for it) women’s wrestling, but before you roll your eyes and click away from this blog right now, STOP! It’s actually really good! I can honestly say that I was not expecting to get repeatedly emo watching a show about women’s wrestling, but doggonit those ladies are just so plucky and adorable.

The show is about a ragtag group of lady misfits putting together a TV show about women’s wrestling.

I watched the whole first season and may or may not have shed a few tears. *sniffs*

One of the best things about it is the styling. I was a kid in the ’80s, and even though I REALLY wanted to look like Madonna, I wasn’t allowed to do my hair and makeup like her, because, hello! — I was in elementary school. But GLOW totally looks ’80s legit.

Oh, gosh, the outfits, the hair, the bright yellow eyeshadow not only on the lids but also on the temples, the striped magenta contouring (left purposefully un-blended, GASP!)… It’s like 1985 again!

Sometimes I wish I could’ve experienced the ’80s as an adult because it seemed like such a creative, interesting time for beauty.

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Get Glossy With Milk Makeup Eye Vinyl

June 29th, 2017 by Karen 3 Comments

Glossy lids = least appropriate eye makeup look ever for a windstorm and/or for standing in front of Beyoncé-level stage turbines.

Don’t do it, girl!!

I wore one of these glossy Milk Makeup Eye Vinyls on a really windy day when I had my hair in a ponytail and thought I wouldn’t have to deal with the whole hair-sticking-to-my-eye-gloss thing, but those strands… They’ll find a way. Trust me on this.

Buuut, even with the drama that always accompanies glossy lids, gosh, there’s still something about ’em.

Yeah, I know — the stickiness, the creasing, and how they never stay exactly where you want them, but I go ga-ga for gleaming lids. I can’t help it.

milk makeup tunnel eye vinyl — I’m wearing the shade Tunnel on my lids. On my lips, I’m wearing NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment in Give It Up

I’ve been lovin’ Milk’s Eye Vinyls lately. They’re $20 each and come in four colors that start out SUPER shiny and reflective but lose a little of their high-wattage shine over the course of a couple hours. Overall, they stay wearable for about four hours before I feel the need to reapply.

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Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick in Dimitri, My Latest Red Lipstick Love

June 29th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

How many times have I said, “I’ve been going through a … phase”? A minimal makeup phase, a smoky eye phase (since forever), a cat eye phase, what have you.

I’ve been going through a red lips phase since, roughly, birth, give or take a few days, and $37 Chanel Dimitri is my latest red lipstick love.

Dimitri is a permanent color in Chanel’s hydrating Rouge Coco line. It’s a warm, semi-opaque red with a finish that begins as a smooth, luscious, low-level lip shine but starts to look more like a matte after 30 minutes or so, which is the coolest thing about it to me, because Chanel is sooo good at subtle shifts like that.

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The Viseart Neutral Palette Is The Best Nude/Neutral Eye Palette Around

June 28th, 2017 by Karen 13 Comments

If I were forced by some malevolent makeup entity to KonMari Method my makeup collection down to the barest of the bare bones — which, gawd forbid, I can’t even imagine doing because #makeuphoarders — the Viseart Neutral Matte Eyeshadow Palette would survive the brutal final cut, FO’ SHO.

It’s expensive, OK! It’s $80, which is why I put it off getting it for a really long time, but I finally took the plunge on the last Sephora VIB sale, so I got it 20% off, but even then I walked around the store for 30 minutes debating whether or not I should actually “go there.” I’m so glad I did, though, because THIS IS THE BEST NUDE/NEUTRAL PALETTE AROUND.

I’ve combo-ed the hell outta this palette, and hello, makeup voodoo! — somehow it always works out. Neutral Matte has 12 matte shadows, none of which are too cool or warm. These beige, brown, peach, gray, taupe and black shades are basically workhorse colors that work in an endless number of combinations and looks. You can use this palette for smokey eyes, daytime work looks, smoldering date night makeup… So many different things! You can even use some of the shades as eyeliner and to fill in your brows.

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The Summer of Skin Care! Thoughts on Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, Shaba Complex Eye Serum, Lala Retro Whipped Cream and Umbra Tinte Physical Daily Defense

June 28th, 2017 by Karen 14 Comments

drunk elephant skincare review top — This particular elephant is not drunk

The summer of skin care is in full effect! — and I’m currently using and loving the heck out of products from Drunk Elephant.

You’ve probably heard about them already. They’ve been makin’ major waves lately, and it seems like everyone is talking about them (including me!).

For the record, this Drunk Elephant did not have too many Coronas. It’s a cruelty-free brand out of Texas, and I really like their no-nonsense, balanced approach to skin care.

Here’s some cool backstory on their website, but, basically, they see themselves as a “clean” skin care line, rather than a “natural” skin care line, and they incorporate both natural and synthetic ingredients, but the synthetic ingredients are things they believe are effective but aren’t going to disrupt the way your body is designed to work.

And their name, “Drunk Elephant,” comes from an ingredient they use in several of their products called marula oil. Legend has it that when elephants eat the fallen fruit of the marula tree…the fruit ferments in their tummies and gets them completely crunked!

Cheap drunks, those elephants.

drunk elephant k after 2 months — My bare skin

C-Firma Day Serum

The product that lured me into loving the line was their C-Firma Day Serum ($80), which contains 15% l-absorbic acid, ferulic acid and vitamin E.

I heard it was comparable to Skinceuticals CE Ferulic, which I used for years to mellow out my pigmention probs, but I stopped using it when I got pregnant with the Coywolf.

Dude…sh*t is crazy expensive. It works, but dropping $165 on a bottle of CE Ferulic got old real quick.

C-Firma costs half as much ($80), which, I mean, isn’t exactly budget…but it’s A LOT less expensive than Skinceuticals.

Anyway, I’m into it — so much so that I plan to snag a refill when I finish this bottle, whenever that happens…and I have no idea when it will happen because the bottle is opaque to prevent light from breaking down the Vitamin C.

But good luck figuring out how much is left in there, LOL!

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A MAC Chromat Collection Makeup Tutorial With Royal Blue Cat Eyeliner, Deep Orange Lids and Bright Aqua Lips

June 28th, 2017 by Karen 25 Comments

mac chormat the future is meow k ears — The future is meow!

Hmm… What does one do, and where does one go, while wearing shimmery royal blue cat eyes, teal brows and aqua blue lips?

Perhaps waaaaaaay far into the future behind the wheel of a time-traveling DeLorean? To a time in a fantastical future when bad-@ss babes run the show wearing makeup by MAC and clothing by Chromat?

Gigawatts of girl power course through the MAC Chromat collection, which electrifies domestic MAC counters and the MAC website starting June 29th (and internationally this July), and it got me fired up to turn this look into a tutorial.

The MAC Chromat collection: Overview

Blue and gray supercharge the eight-piece limited edition release, while pops of orange and red crackle, and the collection comes complete with bionic-seeming blue LE packaging that looks like something straight out of Tron!

I’m feelin’ the eyeshadow palette, the lipsticks and the mini angled brush, which is a re-promote from the MAC permanent line. The blue mascara, blue gel liner and blue pencil liner, however, aren’t quite as electrifying IMO. I don’t dislike them… I think they’re fine. The only thing is, they require lots of layering to get them to really show up on me. Major patience.

becca chromat — Designer Becca McCharen of Chromat

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A Makeup Math Formula: Taupe Eyeshadow + Matte Red Lips + Bronzer = Easy Elegance

June 27th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

From the left: Chanel Ombre Premiere Eyeshadow in Talpa, NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment in Light My Fire and Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Sheer Colour in N40

There’s this great blog I’ve been reading for the past couple years for…let’s just call them “vertically challenged ladies” like myself, called Extra Petite, and Jean, the gal who runs it, is a big fan of something she calls “outfit formulas” — particularly kick-@ss, easily repeatable combinations of colors or articles of clothing, like a white tee and dark jeans, that always go well together.

Hmm… Could this work with makeup??

I mean, I wouldn’t want to follow a formula all the time, because sometimes I like to meander through my makeup and feel my way through whatever I’m doing (particularly when I have time), but there are moments when I don’t want to think, don’t feel very creative, and just want some easy routine of items that I know work well together.

Basically, a formula.

I do them all the time with certain colors and combos, like the combo I’m wearing here, which is comprised of three things — a shimmery golden taupe eyeshadow, a warm red matte lip and a sheer bronzer, but I don’t always think of them as “formulas.”

One of the main reasons I love the one above is because I can get a good amount of color on my face with it (’cause you know I love wearing color!) without doing too much work.

Here I’m wearing an incredibly user-friendly, gorgeous golden taupe taste of perfection called Chanel Talpa that I talked about a while back when it launched. Basically, it’s super creamy and easy to buff out, so you don’t need a lot of blending skills to pull it off. Plus, it’s long-wearing too.

Anyway, oops! I’m getting off topic. My bad!

I’m combining the shimmery golden taupe on my lids with the matte red statement lip to create two focal points that don’t require a lot of blending or other heavy makeup lifting (especially, if you use a liquid matte lipstick like I do here).

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Even If You Normally Wouldn’t, If You Had to Wear Glittery Brows in Public, What Shade of Glitter Would You Choose?

June 27th, 2017 by Karen 12 Comments

I saw this pic of a girl wearing golden glittery eyebrows in June’s Allure magazine and thought, hmm… Even though I probably wouldn’t spontaneously wear glittery brows in public if left to my own devices, unless it were for Halloween, or unless I was, like, going to a RuPaul-themed party, if I absolutely *had* to wear them, I’d go with something colorful.

I could go with a color close to my natural brows, but that would just be lame, IMO. Might as well go all the way! I’m thinking a teal or purple? Or one teal brow and one purple?

Hmm… What color would you choose?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen