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A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

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Are You Particular When It Comes to Hair Brushes?

October 15th, 2015 by Karen 24 Comments

karen singing brush
Because good hair brushes should also double as microphones…

Ya know…for someone who can be surprisingly picky about the shape of a nail polish brush or the density of makeup brush bristles, I’m not super picky when it comes to hair brushes.

I do keep different ones for different tasks, though, like paddle brushes with wide-set teeth for detangling (like the Sam Villa Paddle Brush in the pic at the top) and boar’s hair brushes for those rare occasions when I feel like doing a blowout, but I’m not about to hunt down “The World’s Best Brush” if it costs an arm and a leg. Generally, as long as I can rake it through my mop without it getting tangled, it’s all good, whether it’s a drugstore brush or something fancier from a salon.

Except for the time I was gifted a $205 (!) Mason Pearson Brush, because as far as brushes go, that thing is pretty dang good. It’s like the bristles aren’t even there! They glide through my hair like Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory, and when I’m done using it, my hair looks considerably less unruly.

I don’t think I’d ever actually throw down that much moolah for any brush, though, because even the Mason Pearson isn’t that much better than the $10 brushes at Target. Well…

So, yeah. I guess you could say that I’m mildly particular about my hair brushes. 🙂

How about you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Hair, Just For Fun

MAC Holiday 2015 | Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Coral Lipstick

October 15th, 2015 by Karen 17 Comments

mac enchanted eve lips coral
The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Coral Lipstick ($25; coming Oct. 18 to the MAC website and Oct. 22 to MAC counters and stores), one of two Lip Compacts in the new holiday collection

When you and I finally get around to starting our secret society of makeup lovers who meet and train to become international super spies, I call dibs on codename “Lady Danger!”

The place will be like Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, except there won’t be an upper age limit…and you won’t need mutant powers.

The coursework will couple intensive training in makeup blending with more practical subterfuge skills like ninja acrobatics. I tell you right now, it’ll be amaze-balls. 🙂

I called dibs on Lady Danger because it’s one of my favorite MAC lipsticks of all time, and it just so happens to be one of the three lippies in the new MAC Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Coral Lipstick ($25), one of two Lip Compacts in the new MAC holiday collection (the other one is Pink Lipstick).

mac enchanted eve coral lady danger
Matte Lipstick in Lady Danger

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There are 17 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, MAC Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

MAC Holiday 2015 | Enchanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 Palette

October 14th, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

mac enchanted eve eyes warm k
Wearing the MAC Enchanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 Palette ($39.50) on my eyes

Have you ever heard the sound of makeup heartbreak? It sounds like broken pieces of eyeshadow sliding around in a MAC holiday palette… 🙁

mac enchanted eve eyes warm
MAC Enhanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 ($39.50)

Yes, this happened.

But I didn’t let it stop me! To paraphrase the great Celine Dion, “My heart will go on…using these shadows with my makeup brushes.”

I finally took the new MAC Enchanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 Palette ($39.50) from the MAC holiday 2015 collection (coming to the MAC website Oct. 18 and MAC counters and stores Oct. 22) out for a spin this week in the hopes that it would perform a better than the Navy version, and the verdit?
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There are 11 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, MAC Makeup, Palettes

Chanel Holiday 2015 | Collection Vamp Attitude

October 14th, 2015 by Karen 32 Comments

chanel holiday 2015 vamp attitude
Chanel Holiday 2015 Collection Vamp Attitude

Chanel VampTwenty years later, and we’re still talking about Chanel Vamp!

Who knew that a blackened red nail polish could ignite such a frenzy? — but it did, from the moment it arrived in the mid ‘90s.

Maybe I missed my calling as a makeup fortune teller (what if that were a real job?!), but I kindasorta suspected that Vamp would stand the test of time. I remember going absolutely b-a-n-a-n-a-s for it way back when, and I still get amped about Vamp.

I guess other lacquer lovers do, too, because it’s making waves again with Chanel Holiday 2015 Collection Vamp Attitude, which is all about Vamp.

Chanel used Vamp as their inspiration for the collection’s eyeshadows, liners, mascara, lipsticks and gloss, and they maintained Vamp’s runway-ready wow factor bite. Still, the colors are also everyday wearable, meaning that you won’t have to wear them with a scowl while listening to sad songs by The Cure.

chanel holiday 2015 les 4 ombres signe particulier
Chanel Holiday 2015 Les 4 Ombres Multi-Effect Quadra Eyeshadow in Signe Particulier ($61)

chanel holiday 2015 rouge noir illusion dombre
Chanel Holiday 2015 Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow in Rouge Noir ($36)

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There are 32 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Chanel, Collections, Product Reviews

How Active Are You on Social Media?

October 14th, 2015 by Karen 23 Comments

k-with-phone-instagram

I could easily spend all day on Instagram, for real! I dunno… I just like seeing what people are up to, what noms they’re eating, and what has the whole Instagram cat community buzzing. It’s my favorite social network right meow partly because it’s so dang easy to use from my phone, and I love it for inspiration. Food, makeup, photography, travel, home decor — you can pretty much find inspiration for anything on Instagram.

And TEH KITTEHS!? There are SO many Instagram cats!

Buuut, since Tabs keeps me on a pretty short leash throughout the workday, I don’t get to check it as much as I want.

After Instagram, there’s Facebook, but I’ve never been totally crazy about the layout (it’s always seemed cluttered to my eye). I do like keeping up with people in the Facebook comments, though, because it’s easy to follow a conversation. Plus, everyone I chat with on Facebook is super nice.

I also try to jump on Pinterest (which is also a great source of cat inspiration when you need it) and Twitter a couple times a day to skim for news and funny tweets.

All in all, I guess you could say that I’m moderately active on social media. I wonder what the next big one will be like. 🙂

How about you? How active are you on social media?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 23 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

MAC Holiday 2015 | Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick

October 14th, 2015 by Karen 7 Comments

mac enchanted eve pink lipstick
The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick ($25; coming Oct. 18 to the MAC website and Oct. 22 to MAC counters and stores), one of two Lip Compacts in the new holiday collection

Ooh! All three of the pinks in the MAC Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick look like good “going out” colors, but if you do go out and bring this compact along, don’t forget to also bring a lip brush — that is, unless you don’t mind applying lipstick with your fingers in the bathroom at the club, and can you ever remember seeing a “clean” bathroom at da club??

Yeah, I didn’t think so…

One of two lip palettes in the new MAC holiday collection (the other one has corals), Pink Lipstick arrives with the rest of the collection Oct. 18 to the MAC website and at counters and stores Oct. 22, and it comes packed with three party-ready pinks — a light pastel pink called Saint Germain, a dark fuchsia called Let’s Rendezvous and a deep pinkish purple called Wined + Dined.

mac enchanted eve pink lipstick st germain
MAC Amplified Cream Lipstick in Saint Germain

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There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Lips, MAC Makeup, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

Try the LORAC Mega Pro Palette 2 for Pigmented, Hyper-Blended Eye Looks

October 13th, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

lorac mega pro 2 palette
Wearing the $59 LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette on my eyes

WARNING: Try not to think too hard about the name of the new LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette, because it could leave your head spinning, as it has mine.

“Mega” usually means significant or major, so does that mean that you have to be a major pro to use it? And what kind of pro are we talking about? Because I’m a major pro at hoarding eyeshadow palettes. I’m also a mega pro when it comes to obsessing over the neighborhood cats. 🙂 And losing socks. I wonder… Do any of those talents apply to LORAC Mega Pro 2?

Feel free to not consider the above; otherwise, we could be here for days, and mama needs her Starbucks.

lorac mega pro 2 palette
The LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette ($59)

Basically, the $59 LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette, which is available now exclusively at Ulta, could very well fool the world into thinking that you’re a world-class, “mega pro” makeup artist, even if your blending skills are mediocre.

If you like pigmented, hyper-blended eye looks, you’ll probably have a great time with it.

But there’s a catch (and it’s a big one). Before we get to it, though, first, some background…

lorac mega pro 2 palette
The LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette ($59)

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There are 11 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: LORAC, Makeup, Palettes, Product Reviews

Current Obsession! Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo

October 13th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments


You know a hair product is holy grail when 1) you talk about it nonstop, 2) you’re already making plans to hoard more bottles of it during the next Sephora VIB sale, and 3) you’re having perfect hair days left, right and upside-down.

I WILL NOT STOP until everyone on earth (or at least a majority of us) understands just how bomb .dot com Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo is! It’s the relatively new dry shampoo that’s been rocking my world lately, and it’s available now at Sephora, $22 for a 4-oz. bottle (I also gushed about it in last week’s 5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately).

Hence this video.

And then I also learned a new foundation application technique about which I have to tell you. 🙂 I got it from Butter London makeup artist and manicurist Katie Jane Hughes. She recently did a Falling for Fall makeup tutorial on her YouTube channel in which she does a cool foundation application technique. Give it a look-see if you get a moment.
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There are 13 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Hair, Living Proof, Product Reviews, Video

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

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