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

Make Up For Ever Redid The Artist Rouge Lipsticks, AND THEY’RE FABULOUS

July 29th, 2016 by Karen 14 Comments

make up for ever artist rouge lipstick — The Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipsticks are getting a sequel next month

First things first, my friend — happy National Lipstick Day! 🙂

(As if we needed another reason to love lipstick.)

Second, that mint green, though…

We live in extraordinary times. Not only can we roll up to a Sephora and buy a magnificent mint green lipstick like the one in the newly reformulated, repackaged (but still extensive at 45 shades) Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipstick line, but today’s lipsticks just keep getting better and better.

Shout-out to the cosmetics chemists out there doing the damn thing to bring beauty lovers like you and me lipsticks that, not only last longer on our lips, but also pack more pigment into a creamier, more comfortable formula than their predecessors.

That’s the case with the Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Lipstick line, which relaunched online this month (and arrives at Sephora stores in August) with a new formula and a new outfit.

The line of 14 mattes (not including a couple of limited edition shades) and 31 creams encompases a rainbow of colors — 45 shades in all — from reds, pinks, berries and nudes to edgier offerings like blue, lilac, black and, yes, cray-cray green.

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The Tarte Naughty Nudes Blushes Are Taking Me Back to the ’90s

July 28th, 2016 by Karen 20 Comments

Badly behaved blushes, FTW!

Let’s get into some mischief with the new Fall 2016 Tarte Naughty Nudes blushes, shall we? Because, c’mon, if they’d been named the “Well-Behaved Nudes,” it would have sounded like a snooze-fest. Plus, what’s the point of being nude if you can’t also be naughty, hello?!

I swear on my plaid pleated mini skirt, my favorite flannel, my Timbs *and* my hoop earring with the key dangling from it that these four new fall shades of Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush ($28) are channeling so much ’90s realness!

Throughout much of that decade, I wore matte blushes in similar colors to these subtle shades of peach and pink.

tarte naughty nudes amazonian clay — The $28 Tarte Fall 2016 Naughty Nudes Amazonian Clay Blushes (the four shades on the far left), and a new $28 Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Highlighter (far right)

Nude pink Exposed, golden nude Sensual, rosy nude Seduce and peachy nude Risque remind me of the color of bare lips when they don’t have any product on them…except captured and placed in a pan.

I like wearing them with a sheer tinted moisturizer for a no-makeup makeup look, and my favorite one is Seduce because it matches the color of my bare lips.

For some reason, matching bare lips with a nude blush really seems to work…

Anywho, I like that it’s sheer and takes zero effort to blend. I also like that the Amazonian clay formula hangs in there for about 10 hours on my combo skin.

tarte naughty nude blush swatches — Tarte Naughty Nudes from the left in Seduce, Risque, Sensual and Exposed

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My Favorite Face Products From The Estée Edit for Quick, Cute and Casual Makeup

July 28th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

estee edit flash illuminator — Keeping it casual with The Estée Edit Flash Illuminators ($28)

Five-minute makeup with The Estée Edit? Heck, yeah!

I love a carved out cat eye, and ooh! — sparkles. I also love sparkles, but I don’t feel like wearing them every day.

Some days, like today, barely-there five-minute makeup just hits the spot. It’s barely 9 a.m. here, and it’s already above 80. I’m sitting in front of my Beyoncé fan, and I still feel hot.

When it’s hot like this, I’m not gonna wear a ton of makeup, and I won’t spend a lot of time on it either, but I still want to look like I’m trying, you know what I’m saying?

Easy, fast and casual makeup today with products from The Estee Edit — Quick and casual makeup today with products from The Estée Edit

The still fairly new Estée Edit line (available at Sephora) is a good fit for how I’m currently feeling. It has that unfussy, fresh and youthful “just throw on your favorite white tee, jeans shorts and Chucks” vibe to it.

If Connor were of age and wanted to start wearing makeup like this, I could get behind it. It’s sheer and casual — stuff that you can put on with your fingers and don’t have to fuss much with.

Here are four of my favorite cute and casual products from the The Estée Edit line…

The Estée Edit Rescue Balm for Face and Body ($50)

estee edit rescue balm beam team — The Estée Edit Rescue Balm ($50) and Beam Team ($42)

My dry skin loves The Estée Edit Rescue Balm. It’s a super rich (and, unfortunately, also pricey) moisturizing balm — first and foremost, a moisturizer — and I apply it all over my face to prep the skin before applying the Skin Glowing Balm.

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The New Tarte Tartiest Naughty Nudes Creamy Matte Lip Paint Line, and Things I Did in the ’90s While Wearing Brown Lipstick

July 27th, 2016 by Karen 27 Comments

tarte tartiest lip paint naughty nudes — The new Fall 2016 Tarte Tartiest Creamy Matte Lip Paint Naughty Nudes line ($20 each)

Things I seemed to always be doing in the ’90s while wearing brown lipstick…

Running to the bus stop (I was always *that close* to missing the bus).
Standing awkwardly in the corner of the room at house parties with a red cup in my hand.
Checking my pager, which I kept in the front pocket of the jeans I got using my employee discount at Miller’s Outpost (OMG). And I thought I was hot sh*t because my pager was white, LOL!
Falling asleep in the library with my head in an open chemistry book and waking up covered in drool.
Going to Tower Records (but never actually buying anything).

I’m getting all the ’90s feels from the new liquid lippies in the Tarte Tartiest Creamy Matte Lip Paint Naughty Nudes line ($20 each, available in five shades).

These vegan full-coverage mattes glide across lips with an unscented, unflavored, cruelty-free formula, and they feel like soft mousse. Plus, unlike many of the liquid lipsticks out there now, they stay wet and maleable while you wear them, so they don’t dry all the way down.

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The Day in Beauty Vol. 24: The Best Black Liquid Liner and a Makeup Tip for Late Nights

July 27th, 2016 by Karen 40 Comments

essie pre show jitters swatch — Essie Gel Couture in Pre-Show Jitters ($11.50)

I Love the ’90s…

That was the name of the concert I went to last Saturday night — I Love the ’90s — with my friend Marisol, and it was the first time I stayed out late since…

Shoot, I can’t even remember, but it’s been a looong time. I’ve been serving hard time in baby jail for almost five months now, and even before Connor arrived, back when I was still pregnant, I wasn’t going out a lot because I was ginormous, always tired and constantly uncomfortable.

Anywho, like I was saying, I hadn’t been out since forever, and when we were driving back home in the middle of the night from Jackson, California, which is a small town — I’m sorry, Jacksonites — out in the middle of nowhere, I suddenly got the feeling that I was wearing 20 layers of makeup on my face.

I wasn’t wearing a ton, though. Just, like, NARS tinted moisturizer, some powder, a little bit of cat eye makeup, so nothing too cray, but after being out and about in the summer sun for a few hours and perspiring at the concert, that drive home was rough.

I couldn’t wait to get home and wash my face, and Marisol said the same thing.

Has that ever happened to you? — where you get the sudden urge to wash your face in the car on a long drive home in the middle of the night? I mean, Marisol and I can’t be the only two people.

Oh! — I just thought of a genius (if I do say so myself) idea for the next time I’m out and about in the wee hours (whenever that may be). I’ll bring along a pack of makeup wipes to keep in the car! 🙂

That way I can remove my makeup, wipe down my face, and let my skin breathe. Then when I get home, I can just fall right into bed, ah…

By the way, these new Clinique Take the Day Off Micellar Cleansing Towelettes are SO BOMB.

Clinique Take the Day Off Micellar Cleansing Towelettes for Face & Eyes ($14 for 50 wipes) — Clinique Take the Day Off Micellar Cleansing Towelettes for Face & Eyes ($14 for a pack of 50 wipes)

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It’s Just The Barest Blush by The Estée Edit

July 26th, 2016 by Karen 16 Comments

estee edit barest blush coy coral — Wearing The Estée Edit Barest Blush in Coy Coral ($28, one of four shades)

I really hope I don’t drop one of these blushes by The Estée Edit because…

I have a penchant for dropping things. I don’t know why, but when I’m applying makeup, gravity always gets involved, and something usually lands on my foot (P.S., it usually hurts).
And I also have a feeling that if I were to drop one of these compacts, the precious pan inside it would break, triggering a loud WAHHH!

These silver sweethearts are called The Barest Blushes by The Estée Edit. They’re $28 each and available in four shades.

The packaging may look sturdy, but really, it’s not. It’s lightweight plastic and, truth be told, feels fairly flimsy. I fear these won’t be able to handle the rigors of my butterfinger life.

(Seriously, every single piece of makeup I own? — on the floor at least 20 times a day. Totally not kidding.)

Even so, what lives within these delicate darlings is pure gold, and that’s why I keep wearing ’em.

These aptly named blushes came out with the rest of The Estée Edit line earlier this year. The two shades I’ve been wearing the most — Coy Coral and Ember Glow — look completely natural. I’m talking about that heat-rushing-to-your cheeks kind of flush, and they’re totally spot-on if you like a natural cheek look.

Yes, if I were ever in a position where all of my goodies were hanging out and all eyes were on me (also known as “my nightmare”), my cheeks would probably turn a shade similar to Coy Coral. ?

These have a fine shimmery golden overspray on them that disappears after you’ve used them a few times and, not gonna lie, I don’t mind that they disappear, because I’ve been into matte, and low-level shine, cheeks lately.

estee edit barest blush ember glow — The Estée Edit Barest Blush in Ember Glow

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Have You Ever Done Makeup for Cosplay?

July 26th, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

Nope, I haven’t, but it looks like fun. One of these days, if I can ever make it down to San Diego Comic-Con, I’d go as Khaleesi from Game of Thrones…but only if I had a legit wig (she has the best hair) *and* a dragon.

This Star Trek costume with hair and makeup is probably the closest I’ve come, and I’m not even sure if that counts, LOL!

How about you? Have you ever done makeup for yourself or someone else for cosplay before?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

10 Cat Eye Tips to Easily Add Impact To Your Look (Featuring the MAC Star Trek Collection)

July 25th, 2016 by Karen 36 Comments

Cat eyes.

Seems like they should be easy, right?

Like, how hard can it be to draw a line along your upper lash line with a little flick at the end?

Um…yeah. I wish I was that girl — the one who can effortlessly draw flawless cat eye flicks in a single swoop, but that’s sooo not me.

mac star trek packaging — The MAC Star Trek collection is Starfleet approved

Still, I have figured out a few secret space squirrel tricks over the light years that really do help with your cat eye flicks, and here are 10 of them. I’m using a bunch of products, by the way, from the new 25-piece MAC Star Trek collection, because, as you know, I’m a sci-fi nerd. 🙂 The collection arrives this September.

“Star Trek is an iconic pop culture phenomena whose storylines pushed gender and racial boundaries. For its 50th anniversary, we celebrate each of Star Trek’s powerful women in a transcending, transformational makeup collection.”

— MAC Senior Vice President/Group Creative Director James Gager

1. For big, bright eyes, line just a portion of your upper lash line

Nowadays when doing cat eyes, rather than lining my entire lash line, which I think makes my eyes look smaller, I like to start lining from about a centimer in from the side closest to my nose. So I’m lining about three fourths of the entire length of the lash line, and then drawing the cat eye flick out at the end.

There’s just something about lining the entire lash line that makes the eye look a little smaller, so this way keeps the inner quarter of the lash line unlined.

2. Use different liner formulas together in layers

I’m a big fan of layering different liners together and sketching out the shape of my cat eye before committing to it.

I like to draw the basic shape of my cat eye with a pencil liner first, because they’re easiest to control, and if I make a mistake, pencil formulas are usually easy to correct.

First, I tightline my upper lash lines with the pencil. Then I draw a thin line along the upper lash line and build up the product a bit toward the outer end of the line out to where the flick will begin.

Next, using an angled brush (because the angle fits the curve of the lid, and I think they’re easier to use than a pencil brush for this) to create the basic shape of my flick and set the angle, I drag the product out that I built up with the pencil in the outer side of my upper lash line in the previous step.

Then I layer a liquid liner on top of the pencil liner to intensify it.

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