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

A Day of Firsts

September 15th, 2016 by Karen 23 Comments

OK, grumpy goat, if the thought of drinking a Starbucks #PSL in summer (fall doesn’t officially start ’til the 22nd) makes you grit your diamond grill, please look away, I say. LOOK AWAY!

Because I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season the other day, and it was glorious.

It was one of those cool, crisp sunny days that feels like fall — when it’s still nice enough to sit outside but cool enough to wear long sleeves and pants.

Connor hung out with me as I enjoyed my drink outside, but I think she was missing her daddy…

lipstick love lattes — “HALP! Send reinforcements!”

The trip was our first official mommy-daughter outing together…

I know, it only took six months! That’s how long it took me to build up the courage to take her out by myself.

Yes, when I see that in print, it does seem pretty lame… Heck, I jumped out of a plane once! I should be able to take a baby out of the house by myself, LOL! But seriously, I was nervous about not having anyone around to help, like to hold the doors open for the stroller, or to help carry the massive baby bag that I feel the need to stuff with everything and the kitchen sink, or to call 911 if Connor gets stung by a bee and I freak-the-eff out, or whatever.

But we did fine.

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The MAC Selena Matte Eyeshadows and Lipsticks Take Center Stage

September 15th, 2016 by Karen 20 Comments

¡Finalmente! The MAC Selena collection!

Fans of beloved Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, whose life was tragically cut short in 1995 at 23 years old, made this collection happen, and MAC heeded the call.

While I was testing and reviewing, I learned a lot of things I didn’t know about Selena, like how her favorite colors were purple and black and her favorite flower was a white rose.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t know much about her before this release, but I did know that she rocked bold red lips and sang a couple of songs that were very popular when I was in college.

Her artistic legacy and spirit inspired the 13-piece MAC Selena collection, which Selena’s sister Suzette helped create. It includes three new shades of lipstick ($18 each), including a dupe for a red taken from the makeup case Selena took with her when she went on the road; five new eyeshadows ($17 each); a new blush duo ($29); a new gloss ($17); and three re-promoted items from the MAC permanent line ($18 Opulash Mascara, $21 Boot Black Liquid Eye Liner and the $35 129SH Powder/Blush Brush).

MAC Select Obsessed & Devoted Members (MAC’s version of Sephora VIB) get early access to the collection in an exclusive pre-sale September 28. For everyone else, it arrives October 1 on the MAC website and in stores October 6 through November 17, 2016.

mac selena eyeshadows — The MAC Selena collection Eye Shadows ($17 each)

mac selena collection techno cumbia — MAC Selena Techno Cumbia ($29)

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CONGRATULATIONS, MIMI & SHERLOCK! You Won a $50 Connor Claire Gift Card and a Palette Kitty Tote!

September 14th, 2016 by Karen 6 Comments

Hey, friends! Please join me in congratulating the winners of the Sassy September connorclaire.com giveaway — Mimi and her cat Sherlock!

Mimi, if Sherlock asks you to carry his cat treats in your tote, well, it’s probably a good idea. Don’t worry, you’ll still have plenty of room for all your other stuff!

Enjoy your bag and your gift card. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Falling Tokyo Leaves, Cat Lady #lifegoals and the Essie Fall 2016 Collection

September 14th, 2016 by Karen 19 Comments

essie kimono over — Creamy plum Essie Kimono Over ($9, one of six shades in the limited edition Essie fall 2016 collection)

This is going to sound terribly cat lady of me (really, what did you expect?), but how’s this for a plan? — you, me, the Essie fall 2016 collection and Toyko in the fall. We could traipse down Icho Namiki Avenue with our manis and pedis and see how many cute maneki-nekos we can find.

Of course, we’d also have to stuff our pockets with cat treats just in case any real city kitties cross our path…

OK, that may have been the most CCL thing I’ve ever written.

Well…probably not. 🙂

Anyway, Tokyo! In the fall! It was the inspiration for the Essie fall 2016 collection.

I’ve never been to Japan before, but I just googled “tokyo in the fall,” and it looks AMAZING.

Now one of my #lifegoals is to visit Tokyo in the fall to see the autumn leaves changing.

I don’t know much about Tokyo, but I always picture a bustling city (I blame this on watching Lost in Translation a few hundred times… It’s one of my favorite movies.), so I was surprised to find out that Essie was inspired by the colors of Tokyo’s fall foliage.

Essie fall 2016 is a six-piece limited edition collection, available right meow, and the polishes are $9 each.

Easy-peasy

This has to one of my favorite Essie collections of all time because there are usually one or two colors in their collections that I end up having to baby a little, like by having to use several layers because of how super sheer they are (I prefer full opacity) or by having to remove my polish and practice a few times with one of them that ends up being streakier than the others, but all six of these shades are a breeze to use…

essie maki me happy — Essie Maki Me Happy

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New Favorite Thing in the Whole Wide World: Urban Decay Naked Skin One and Done

September 14th, 2016 by Karen 39 Comments

My girl Jessica raved about Naked Skin One and Done by Urban Decay ($34) back when it came out last spring, and I just needed to say that, yeah, for me too, it really is all that.

I FREAKIN’ LOVE THIS STUFF!

It has the thin texture of a tinted moisturizer but the coverage of a sheer foundation, so if you’re into fast 15-minute looks or face makeup that you can apply from start to finish with your fingers, One and Done gets it done.

urban-decay naked skin one and done before and after — On the left: before Urban Decay One and Done; on the right: after 15-minute makeup and Urban Decay One and Done in Medium Dark

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These Benefit Sets Turn Heads: Part 2 of the Benefit Holiday 2016 Sets

September 13th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

benefit dolly darling girls gone wow — Two of the six Benefit Holiday 2016 sets (which are joined by the sets in this post here)

These girls turn heads!

Get it…? Turn heads?

Oh, staaaaap! It was low-hanging cheesy pun fruit. You know I had to go there. 🙂

It’s amazing how accurately these tins capture that perfectly pouty and disinterested Instagram face. I mean, it’s not easy to do that face. Every time I try it, I end up looking like I ate a lemon…

Haha!

Girls Gone Wow, Dolly Darling and Girl-O-Clock Rock are the remaining three of the six sets Benefit is releasing for the holidays this year (here are the other three), and purr usual, they contain a combo of full-sized and miniature versions of products from the permanent line.

If you decide to keep the collectable tins to repurpose them, I suggest NOT setting them on the dresser directly across from your bed…because if you wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and see a floating head staring at you in the dark, that would be utterly terrifying.

The $46 Benefit Girls Gone Wow set ($99 value)

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My Hair Wants to Run Wild and Free! — and I’m Cool With That

September 13th, 2016 by Karen 19 Comments

bumble and bumble surf infusion — Gonna let this hair run wild and free!

Sleek and structured is fun sometimes, especially when you get a new set of bangs, but I’ve realized that my hair wants to figuratively go where the wild things are, so if it wants to naturally go wavy and run free, I’m totally down.

For the wavy, “wild thing” look in these pics, I used two beachy wave products from Bumble and Bumble.

I started by washing my hair and drying it with my trusty Aquis Hair Towel.

Then I sprayed Bumble and Bumble Surf Infusion ($29) on it from mid-shaft to the ends before letting my hair air dry.

Surf Infusion has been around a while. It’s similar to the O.G. Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray for beachy waves, but instead of giving your hair a matte finish with waves that have a slightly crunchy texture, it leaves a sheen and coaxes your hair into waves that are soft to the touch.

To use it, spray it on damp hair, and let it air dry to do its thang.

For this look, after my hair completely “air dried,” I created the loose waves on the top layers with a ghd Classic Curl Iron. Then I sprayed Bumble and Bumble Surf Foam Spray Blow Dry on top for texture and used my fingers to softly scrunch the product through the top layers.

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Say Cheese! The Pur Love Your Selfie 2 Palette Is Camera Ready

September 12th, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

Aw, man! Why doesn’t the Pur Cosmetics Love Your Selfie 2 Palette come with a selfie stick? — a white one covered in silver glitter to match the packaging? That would be CUTE (if not altogether unnecessary), because if there’s anything I learned from watching all 12,543 cycles of America’s Next Top Model (it was a phase), it’s that when you’re taking a selfie, girl, get that camera up as high as possible, find your light source, and work those angles. #themoreyouknow

pur love your selfie 2 packaging — The $42 Pur Love Your Selfie 2 Palette

And should you need to whip out a quick makeup look, you’ll find almost errrthing you’d need in Pur Love Selfie 2 (which is the chapter 2 of the series of Pur palettes that started with the first Pur Love Your Selfie Palette).

It comes with eight eyeshadows, three face powders (a highlighter, a bronzer and a baking powder to set face makeup), a matte lip pencil, gloss and mascara.

Just add cattitude. 🙂

pur love your selfie 2 eyeshadows — First row of eyeshadows…

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