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

MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande

January 5th, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

There’s a video review in this post, but if it’s not appearing, you can click here to watch it on YouTube.

Turn up the music! — and perhaps hide that doughnut you’re planning to eat for your afternoon snack, because it might get licked… WHOA! That ended up sounding a lot naughtier than it did in my head.

Anyways! MAC Viva Glam’s newest ambassador is none other than pop star and infamous doughnut licker Ariana Grande, and [insert ridiculously impossible vocal run here] her new Viva Glam Lipstick and Lipglass hits all the right notes. I’m feelin’ it (especially the lipstick).

The quick deets on the two-piece MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande collection:

MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick — a deep, dark plum ($17)
MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipglass — a light, shimmery pink ($15)
Available on the MAC website starting January 13 and in stores at all MAC locations January 21

As always, thank you for watching. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

5 Things I Love About Hotel Rooms

January 5th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

Man, I love to travel. I love getting out of dodge and seeing new things. I wish I could do it more often, too, and by “more often,” I mean every month! I’d love to be able to go someplace new one weekend a month…

Do you hear that, future eccentric billionaire who’s going to fund my life of leisurely travel? I would very much appreciate one all-expenses-paid weekend trip per month. I mean…if you don’t mind. It sure would be nice. 🙂

Thanks to El Hub and frequent flyer miles, last weekend in Monterey we stayed at the Portola Hotel & Spa right down by Fisherman’s Wharf.

Naturally, this calls for a list of five things I love about hotel rooms. Things like…

My room at the Portola Hotel — A standard room at the Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey, California

1. Trying new beauty products

GIRL, you know it’s true: first thing I do after I put down my luggage and open the curtains is make a beeline for the bathroom to check out the complimentary beauty products. The Portola had products from a brand I’d never heard of before, Olive Branch Botanicals? They had all the essentials — bar soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

My fave was the body wash, which smelled a little like orange flowers, and it was good stuff, too. My skin felt nice and soft and moisturized. I’ll have to keep an eye out for more products by Olive Branch Botanicals…

2. Robes

OH! — the robes! Can’t forget about the robes. You gotta rock the robe if there’s one in the room. I like to wear them after I take a shower, while I’m getting ready for the day, or while I’m just lounging around the room.

I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about wearing a robe in a hotel room… Just makes it all feel a little more indulgent, like yeah, you know it! I’m really treating myself! 🙂

3. Trying different teas, coffees and coffee machines

So, at home I have a boring old drip coffeemaker… It serves me just fine, but on trips I always take full advantage of any fancy schmancy hotel room coffeemakers, especially when they come with a selection of different teas and coffee flavors, and on this trip the room had a Keurig!

I was all about the Decaf Breakfast Blend…
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NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint SPF 30 Makes Makeup Life Easier With Sheer, Natural Coverage

January 5th, 2016 by Karen 31 Comments

nars velvet matte skin tint spf 30 review — The new NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tints ($44 for a 1.7-oz. tube), coming in 12 shades January 15 to NARS boutiques and the NARS website, and February 1 to NARS counters

It’s a bold statement to say that I love a foundation after only using it three or four days, but that’s all the time it took for me to see how NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint SPF 30 rocks.

I put it through its paces last weekend on my three-day trip to Monterey and Carmel, and I can’t remember the last time I thought my skin looked better, whether in real life or pics. I think when you’re on vacation — and, assuming that you’re wearing makeup on that vacation because, let’s face it, on some vacations, like beach vacations or long walking tours, you don’t always want to wear makeup, especially a full face of makeup — that’s a good time to really test a new foundation, because you’re out and about for long stretches of time and probably taking hundreds of pictures along the way.

Also, and maybe this is just me, but I don’t like to spend a ton of time on my makeup when I’m on vacation, especially first thing in the morning. I can usually tolerate spending about 15 minutes (ideally less), but then I want to be out the door because adventure awaits!

I can say with absolute certainty that new NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint — which is really just a fancy name for a tinted moisturizer with an almost fabric-like matte finish — is the sh*t. Based on the crucial vacation/low-patience-for-makeup test, it totally checks off all the right boxes.

In some ways, NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint is a lot like that superstar of the NARS foundation line, Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, of which I’ve gone through bottles, and on which I’ve gotten many friends hooked. And, mind you, these friends don’t even wear makeup on the regular, but they still love Pure Radiant.

Yup, it’s that good, and this new one, Velvet Matte, is just as great, if not better.

Like Pure Radiant’s finish, this one looks like real skin, but it still evens out your skin tone. Also, again like Pure Radiant, Velvet Matte Skin Tint contains broad-spectrum SPF 30, along with extra skincare bells and whistles like vitamins C and E.

“This oil-free formula delivers NARS’ signature natural-looking finish and shine control with the skincare benefits of an all-in-one treatment. NARS’ innovative Velvet Illusion Complex Technology creates a soft-focus effect with a soft-touch feel. Transparent Blurring Powders instantly enhance the look of skin by helping to blur imperfections and even tone — naturally dimensional skin that doesn’t look flat, masked, or chalky.”

–NARS PR

The coverage is sheer but build-able up to medium, by the way, so don’t expect it to cover every single freckle or imperfection. My freckles and moles peek through, but I’m totally fine with that right now. I’ve been loving a more natural look lately, but I think you really have to like that whole, “What, me? Am I wearing makeup?” look to appreciate the finish.

nars velvet matte skin tint spf 30 swatches — NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint swatches from the left: Terre-Neuve, Finland, Alaska and Groenland

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Skin Survey Says: What Are the 3 Biggest No-Nos for Your Skin?

January 5th, 2016 by Karen 20 Comments

Oh hai, bare skin! — Oh, hai, bare skin!

Mine are 1) not drinking enough water, 2) not getting enough sleep, and 3) eating too much junk food, and the two that really do me in are not drinking enough water or getting enough sleep.

When I forget to drink water throughout the day, or when I just don’t have a taste for it, my lips definitely pay the price. They get all flaky and dry, and my skin feels tight and doesn’t look as…plump as usual (I can really see it around my mouth, especially around the smile line area).

Sleep is the other big one for me. My dark circles look darker (UGH!), and I can see a general look of dull tiredness around my eyes.

I didn’t start putting these things together and realizing the consequences of my actions on my skin until I reached my 30s, where I also started to realize how food played a part. Like, when I’ve been eating a lot of salty foods, my face will look puffy the next day, or if I haven’t been eating my leafy greens and fruit, my skin starts to look duller and more…congested? For lack of a better word.

Nowadays, garbage in, garbage out. When I eat too much junk food, whether it’s too much fried food or not enough veg, I definitely see it in my skin, but it wasn’t always that way! I can’t lie, I kinda miss the days when I could have a huge mound of French fries with a vanilla shake at 3 o’clock in the morning after a night out clubbing and not even notice any difference at all in my skin.

Enjoy it while you can, kids!

How about you? What are your three biggest skin no-nos?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A Magical Monterey Getaway (With a Stop in Carmel)

January 4th, 2016 by Karen 20 Comments

I hadn’t been to Monterey or the Monterey Bay Aquarium in…well, suffice it to say, it was a long time, so the trip I took with El Hub last weekend was a big treat. We saw it as what will probably be our last vacation-y hurrah before Baby Girl arrives in March, so we made the drive south on Friday.

The drive took about three hours. Last time we went, we didn’t have Yelp to help us find places to eat, and we didn’t have GPS on our phones, which really helps when it comes to finding restaurants (and your hotel), so this time I think we discovered a whole bunch of neat places, nooks and crannies that we didn’t even know existed! There’s so much more to see and do in and around Monterey and nearby Carmel (including a seemingly endless number of cute shops) than I thought. If you live in California, or if you’ll be visiting, I really hope you check it out. It was one of the funnest, most interesting and tasty trips I’ve taken in years.

The food? The seafood!? HOLY MACKEREL! (Haha, bad pun intended.) Talk about good eats, and it generally seemed to be more affordable than the fresh seafood I find up here near San Francisco.

And then there’s the incredible aquarium! In another life, I think I was a marine biologist/veterinarian. Those dang sea otters are some of the cutest critters in the world, the way they play with each other and roll around? I CAN’T EVEN TAKE HOW CUTE THEY ARE! I mean, they have SERIOUS four-legged modeling potential. Tabs should be advised.

Here are some pics from the trip, which was just a couple days from Friday to Sunday. On our last day, we also stopped by Carmel (Clint Eastwood used to be the mayor), which is another small town right next to Monterey.

They just thought they'd get a little dressed up for their walk — They just thought they’d get a little dressed up for their walk

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NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette Swatches and First Impressions

January 4th, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

narsissist lamour toujours lamour palette 1 — New for spring, the NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette ($59, available now at NARS boutiques and the NARS website; coming Feb. 1 to NARS counters)

Today I learned a valuable life lesson from the new $59 NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette ($59), and it was this: ’tis better to drink the blueberry smoothie — the one you made for yourself as a healthy snack — after you’ve taken pictures of yourself wearing a new eyeshadow palette, as opposed to before.

(Lest you end up with pics of yourself with a blue tongue and teeth!)

Just as an FYI, you know, in case you ever find yourself in that particular situation. 🙂

narsissist lamour toujours lamour palette 6 — Wearing the NARSissist L’amour Toujours Eyeshadow Palette on my lids

So, I took L’amour Toujours, a new NARS palette for spring, for a test drive around the block today (well…more like around my condo after I got back from seeing a nutritionist who assured me that I can have “a very small amount” of sweets here and there! Life is grand!).

The quick and dirty deets…

Limited edition
Available now at NARS boutiques and NARS website and coming Feb. 1 to NARS counters
12 powder shadows, none of which, I believe, have been previously released (but I’ll have to double check that). Four are mattes, and eight are shimmers.
The mattes, and the names are numerical, which is a little tricky, include “I” (which is a sheer cream bisque), “IV” (a semi-sheer black truffle), “VII” (a cool-toned medium brown) and “X” (a regal blue).
Of the shimmers, there’s “II” (a shimmery pink sand), “III” (a neutral medium brown), “V” (a shimmery golden beige), “VI” (a shimmery copper), “VII” (a shimmery pistol gray), “IX” (a shimmery grayish blue), “XI” (a shimmery taupe) and “XII” (a shimmery blackened licorice).

And some quick first impressions…

When I popped the matte cool-toned medium brown (VII) in my crease, the shimmery pink sand (II) on my lids, the matte regal blue (X) in the outer corner, the matte black (IV) on my upper lash lines and the shimmery pistol gray (VIII) on my lower lash lines, I found that the shadows blend together beautifully. I do see a little fallout with the black shade, though…
Um…Roman numerals for eyeshadow names? That’s very confusing for some reason!
So far I like the combination and variety of warm and cool-toned colors. I also like how smooth they feel on my skin. They don’t feel heavy or look powdery either. I also lake how deep and rich most of the shades are, especially VII, VIII and X.
So far, however, I am not crazy about the sheer matte light beige or black, which are sheerer than I’d like, and I have to build them up to see them in swatches. I also feel like I’ve seen a group of colors just like these from NARS before…
Jury’s still out on whether I can recommend this palette with the gusto of a marching band and a ticker-tape parade, but it’s nice enough, I guess, and I can definitely see myself doing a number of neutral looks with it.
I think I’ll have to use it a few more times to get a better sense of its value and gauge its flexibility.

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 355

January 4th, 2016 by Karen 48 Comments

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

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 seven 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.

When your energy is low, what gives you a quick boost?
Coffee…which I can’t have right now, and cat naps.

Hoh! Cat naps. And I don’t actually have to be in a horizontal position to partake of a cat nap either because I’m like Tabs in that I can nap pretty much anywhere, any time (once I fell asleep standing up on MUNI, SF’s metro line, which is like the crown jewel of napping).

Even if I can just sneak in a five-minute nap, I’m right as rain, but if a nap is out of the question, then a brisk walk outside often also does the trick.

Mini dress or shrunken jacket?
For the record, this question is hard to answer when you’re massively pregnant because either choice would look extra teeny tiny juxtaposed with le tum.

But, uh…I guess I’d go with the mini dress, but only if it’s black, stretchy and has long sleeves, because it’s cold right meow, and I’d wear it with tights, booties and my BlankNYC faux leather jacket, which I haven’t been able to zip up since September. LOL!

Are you wearing your hair up today or down?
Mine’s up in a messy bun because it’s raining today, and when it’s raining, I don’t even want to bother…

What’s one of the most memorable makeup looks you’ve done?
I always remember one I did with the MAC Maleficent collection. I was really out of my comfort zone because of all the highlighting and contouring and the cut crease and the brows for days.

Do you wear makeup daily?
Nope, not really, but I used to! Heck, I’d put on concealer just to go get the mail, but now I’m cool going bare faced to run errands or go for a walk or, yes, even get the mail. 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, I still love, love, LOVE wearing makeup, and I wear it at least five or six days a week…but sometimes I think it’s also nice to not have to fuss with it.

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. When your energy is low, what gives you a quick boost?
2. Mini dress or shrunken jacket?
3. Are you wearing your hair up today or down?
4. What’s one of the most memorable looks you’ve done?
5. Do you wear makeup daily?

I was just about to type, “This is the first Monday Poll of the New Year, so you better get up in the mix!” when I felt something sticking to my lipgloss, and then I looked down at my white tee and realized that Tabs, who was hardcore loving on me (he says hi, BTW), left a half a pound of cat hair in his wake…

I guess that’s one thing that hasn’t changed in 2016! I’m still sitting here in front of my computer with a shag carpet of cat hair on me, haha!

I’m in a great mood today, my friend, and I hope you are, too, but if you’re dragging — and I can totally understand that, seeing as how it’s the first Monday back after the holidays — here’s a dose of good energy to help you get through your morning…

ZZZAP!

I hope you felt that. 🙂 Because I don’t mind sharing. Good vibes all around, man.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 379

January 3rd, 2016 by Karen 10 Comments

Workin' on my fitness with kitty pull-ups... — Workin’ on my fitness with kitty pull-ups

My darlings,

The new year is upon us, and, with that, many new year’s resolutions. I was talking to a few kitty friends of mine, and one resolution that always pops up is getting fit.

Believe it or not, despite my statuesque frame, fitness is something I actually have to work hard to achieve. This body doesn’t come naturally.

Well…most of it does, but I do have to put in the work, and I believe in putting in the work, especially in the pursuit of purr-fection.

Because you’re my favorite fans, here are my top tips to get in tip-top shape in 2016.

Walking works!

Don’t believe the hype: it’s not always about high-impact exercise. Sure, all of that exciting stuff is great — running, CrossFit, aerobicising — but I prefer good, old-fashioned walking. You don’t need a fancy gym membership or lots of gear; just you, the open road (or the treadmill) and the desire to sweat.

I Apple TV

The great thing about the new Apple TV ($149) is the apps. It’s just like the iPhone and iPad now, except for the TV. There’s an app store with all kinds of apps, including the usuals — Netflix, Hulu, YouTube — but also a bunch of games, cooking apps and apps for art, fashion and fitness.

So many apps!

One of my favorites is called Sing. There’s an iPhone version where people sing along karaoke-style to different songs while they record themselves with the camera, and then you can watch them on your TV.

It’s a blast! Some people really get into it. I’m gonna have my assistant install the mobile version on my iPhone so I can practice my singing.

There are also some great kitty (and human) fitness Apple TV apps like Zova, with new apps coming out every day.

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