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

What’s the Most Enjoyable Part of Doing Makeup for You?

June 9th, 2017 by Karen 26 Comments

Is it doing your eyes makeup? Putting on your lips? Smoothing your skin? I used to looove ? doing my eyes when I had more time, and I could be extra picky about getting everything symmetrical, which I weirdly like doing, but now that I live my life by the timer on my iPhone and 15-minute blocks, I get my makeup kicks from blush.

I love how you can transform EVERYTHING with one sweep of blush. I’m all about that blush now, man!

How about you? What part of doing makeup is the most enjoyable for you?

Oh, and if you say brows, you’re gonna make me laugh, because only masochists have fun doing brows, LOL! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A “Gilt and Gloss” Makeup Look With Nudestix and Urban Decay

June 9th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

Ya know, this whole “makeup in 30 minutes or less thing” I’ve been doing all week long has been VERY liberating. To think, there was a time when I didn’t want to try anything beyond basic makeup because I thought that any looks worth doing would take at least 45 minutes to an hour (or sometimes two).

This look took 20 minutes and — get this! — only one brush. I used an angled eye brush to take out the edges of the cat eye.

Oh, and a BeautyBlender, if we’re being really picky.

To blend the makeup on my eyes, cheeks and lips, I just used my fingers! I’ve been inspired by a makeup artist a friend of mine named Fieran (hey, Fieran!) introduced me to, violetta_fr on YouTube. She’s this impossibly chic French woman who lives in New York, and she does most of her application with her fingers and a handful of products (only what she can fit in her cross-body Chanel purse).

It’s refreshing to see makeup out there beyond the hyper-glam beat that dominates social media, ya know?

Anywho, I call this look “Gilt and Gloss” because I used a mix of sparkly glitter, golden shimmer, and matte taupe and beige eye gloss on my lids.

I wanted to play with finishes and textures, and I wanted to do it in a messy, grungy way that still looks somewhat “lady like.”

For my eyes, I drew thick cat eye liner with a taupe matte shadow stick (Nudestix Magnetic Matte Eye Color in Slate). Then I used my fingers to smudge the edges on my lids.

Next, I took a shimmery neutral gold shadow stick called Gilt (also by Nudestix) and layered that on top of the taupe (quick! — say “top of the taupe” five times fast) on my lids, blending it with my fingers. I wanted to keep the flicks and my lower lash line dark, so I didn’t layer the gold on those parts.

Then I grabbed a pan of Urban Decay Diamond Dog Eyeshadow, a delicious glittery golden brown, and dabbed it on my lids with a finger, and then loaded my lashes with HELLA mascara (MAC In Extra Dimension Waterproof).

Lastly, I applied highlighter in my inner corners using a shiny beige eye gloss called Milk Makeup Eye Vinyl in Bridge.

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Makeup Packing Adventures: Which Bag to Bring?

June 8th, 2017 by Karen 32 Comments

Allegedly, I’m trying to pack light for this upcoming trip to Hawaii. “Allegedly.” 😉

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Karen.

No, really, it’s gonna happen this time. I’m going to be that girl with the impossibly streamlined makeup bag.

I just have to figure out which makeup bag to bring with me… I realized the other day that if I bring a smaller-than-normal makeup bag, I should be alright, because there just won’t be room to go completely cray-cray overboard. This will take tremendous willpower, though, because if were to do what comes naturally to me, I’d bring something like this behemoth…

I got this awesomely roomy see-through makeup bag from a SpaceNK promo, and no sh*t, it’s big enough to fit body parts.

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Take Me With You, Milk Makeup Blush Oil!

June 8th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

Travel makeup bag, meet the Milk Makeup Blush Oils, otherwise known as “convenience in tube.”

These are so cool! They have the same click-pen packaging as Milk’s Sunshine Tint. There’s a clicker on one side and a roller ball on the other, and inside is a liquid blush oil that looks pigmented in the swatches below (I went a little cray-cray drawing the rose designs, whoopsies), but once it’s blended in, it looks effortless and natural.

milk makeup blush oil flush crave — Swatches of Flush (top) and Crave (bottom)

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Brand Spotlight: Ouai Haircare

June 8th, 2017 by Karen 17 Comments

ouair haircare 1 — I’m saying YES to Ouai Haircare

For the longest time, I had no idea how to pronounce the name of this brand: Ouai Haircare. I was saying, “Oh-ey,” like the Netflix sci-fi
show, The O/A. LOL! The proper pronunciation is “whey,” like the protein powder, and it’s a casual way to say “Yes” in French.

Ouai is a pretty new American line that was started in 2016 by celebrity hair stylist Jen Atkin. She’s worked on Gwen Stefani, Jessica Alba and many other locks of the A-listers. The products are cruelty-free and paraben-free, and they range from $24-32, so they’re in the Bumble and Bumble/R+Co/IGK price range. You can find the brand’s shampoos, conditioners, hair supplements and styling products (and a couple of body products thrown in for fun) at Sephora.

There are about 30-something products, give or take, so it’s a pretty streamlined brand. Jen’s aim was to make products that make it seem like you spent two hours styling your hair, when in reality you spent 15 minutes. And girl, when you’re chasing down a rambunctious toddler who is currently into everything, you don’t EVEN KNOW how much that speaks to my soul!

ouai rose hair body oil — From the left: Ouai Repair Conditioner ($28), Rose Hair & Body Oil ($32) and Finishing Creme ($24)

The line isn’t just about getting sh*t done in minimal time. The tubes and bottles also look lovely perched on a bathroom shelf (you know me and those sans serif fonts, man!), and everything — seriously, every product — smells like perfume from a hard-to-find fragrance boutique in Paris. Like, sometimes I spray the Dry Shampoo, which smells like violets, roses, musk and lemons, into my roots as an improv perfume. All of the products look and smell expensive and indulgent, but they’re also price-wise accessible.

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The Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette, 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils and Vice Lipsticks: Burn, Baby, Burn!

June 7th, 2017 by Karen 31 Comments

urban decay naked heat heat k — I’m feeling the heat! That’s the new Urban Decay Naked Heat palette on my eyes, the UD Alkaline 24/7 Glide-On Pencil on my lash lines, and UD Vice Lipstick in Heat.

I don’t know if there’s an official term to describe the fear of Bunsen burners…like “Bunsenburn-a-phobia,” but if there isn’t one, there totally should be, because whenever I was in the lab back in college and had to stand near a Bunsen burner, I’d always quiver a little…and not in a cute booty shaking way.

OPEN FLAMES —–> SO SCARY!

You’ll be happy to know that there are no intense open flames in/around the new Urban Decay Naked Heat collection. *Whew!*

urban decay naked heat open — Sooo many mattes, YES!

The new $54 Urban Decay Naked Heat palette arrives June 12th, but that’s only for UD Beauty Junkies, members of UD’s online rewards program (which you can sign up to join here). Beauty Junkie members will get exclusive early access to an extremely limited supply of Naked Heat palettes that day. For everyone else, Naked Heat lights up later this month, and it’ll continue to smolder in perpetuity, though, as it and the two eye pencils launching with it are being added to the permanent line.

There are also three lipsticks in the collection, but those are limited edition.

urban decay naked heat swatches final — From the top, the Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette, the 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils and the Vice Lipsticks

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Take Me With You, Maybelline City Mini Palettes!

June 7th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

I think I may have discovered a potentially life-changing beauty packing hack this morning.

And here it is: instead of bringing the biggest makeup bag I own (which is what I usually do, BIG surprise!), I’ll bring a small one and only allow myself whatever will fit into it on the trip.

Yes, I know this is Captain Obvious, but hear me out.

maybelline city min palette open — Six of seven Maybelline City Mini Palettes

Clearly, someone out there has figured this out before, but it never occurred to me. Seriously, OMG! SHRINK THE BAG, KAREN!

maybelline graffiti pop — Graffiti Pop in the palm of my hand

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Punk Rock Pink // Urban Decay

June 7th, 2017 by Karen 17 Comments

urban decay frenemy lipstick — Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Frenemy

Dude, I’m the least punk rock person EVER, but if I were a punk rock-arina, I’d totally wear this monochromatic pink makeup look with a faux-hawk. 🙂

I was inspired to “go there” today by a pic I saw of model Ruby Rose on the Urban Decay website a couple weeks ago.

I’ve mentioned this before, but you know, I’ve been trying to push myself to attempt more colorful looks that don’t take hella years to do, and I’m proud to say that I banged this one out in 30 minutes! It’s mostly Urban Decay on my eyes and lips, with some MAC, Nudestix and Clinique added for good measure.

It took all I had to resist the temptation to blend too many shadows on my lids (BECAUSE THAT’S SO MUCH FUN!) and keep MY foundation and concealer to a minimum.

With something like this, all you have to do is add a “big statement” of some kind, like a pair of OTT lashes and/or a bright lip, and you’re golden.

Oh! — I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention what I think is the most important secrets to doing this look. I think the secret to being happy with it is accepting that it (probably) isn’t going to turn out perfectly, and that’s perfectly fine. If your liner is a little wonky or your eyeshadow isn’t as blended as it could be, just go with it, and keep in mind that it didn’t take forever.

Getting glam in half an hour for me is nothing short of a miracle, because back in the day BTB (before the baby), a look like this could easily have spiraled into two hours!

Basically, here’s the quick rundown…

Starting with my skin, to even out my complexion, I’m wearing MAC Next to Nothing Face Colour in Medium Plus all over my face with MAC Matchmaster Concealer in shade 5 under my eyes and atop my cheeks (side note: have you tried this concealer? IT’S REALLY GOOD!). Then I set everything with a thin layer of MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder in Medium Golden.

For my eyes, I applied a thin layer of Nudstix Magnetic Eye Color in Putty from lashes to brow line, then swept the hot pink shade from the Urban Decay Basquiat brights palette in the crease, before blending out the edges with the lighter pink shadow from the same palette.

I drew thin winged liner with the Clinique Pretty Easy Liquid Eyelining Pen, then put on the craziest lashes known to womankind — a.k.a. the House of Lashes false lashes (the one called Iconic).

And I dusted a little bit of the bronzer and hot pink blush from the UD Basquiat blush/bronzer palette on my cheeks.

Because I couldn’t settle on a single lipstick to wear, I ended up trying on a bunch of pinks from the Urban Decay Vice Lipstick line.

I think my favorite one of these is either Menace or Frenemy…