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

Tarte Fall 2015 Energy Noir

September 10th, 2015 by Karen 33 Comments

tarte energy noir palette — Tarte Energy Noir Clay Palette ($38)

“Energy Noir” = “Energy Night” or “Night Energy.” That’s the name of Tarte’s fall 2015 collection, which has been out for a while now. Thank you, high school French. Or, rather, merci beaucoup, high school French.

Geez…I could have sworn that “noir” meant “night.” Well, someone clearly wasn’t paying attention during vocab in high school French class… Guess who that someone was. 🙂

Energy Noir! You may have strolled by Tarte’s fall 2015 Energy Noir collection recently at Sephora. If it aroused your curiosity, but you’re wondering if it’s worth your time, here’s a closer look at three of the 12 pieces, including the $38 Energy Noir Clay Palette (thumbs up!). I’d even go so far as to call this eyeshadow and cheek palette one of my fall faves.

tarte fall 2015 park ave princess — Tarte Park Ave Princes Contour Palette Vol II ($38)

tarte fall 2015 lash primer — Tarte Opening Act Lash Primer ($22)

It’s kind of funny that I’m wearing something in this video review called Energy Noir, because when I filmed it — this was a couple weeks ago at the height of Baby Girl’s first trimester antics — I had absolutely NO energy at all, and as for energy at night? Forget about it. My mom called me one night at 7:15, and I was like, “I gotta go to bed now!”

Haha! It’s so true though.

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What’s the Most Substantial Part of Your Beauty Collection (Eyeshadow Singles, Palettes, Lipsticks, Nail Polishes, Blushes, Etc.)?

September 10th, 2015 by Karen 51 Comments

I feel like if I fess up to this, the makers of that Hoarders show will come and get me, but what the heck! — I love eyeshadow palettes.

Who doesn’t, right? But I think I might possibly love them a little more than usual…because I hold on to them FOREVER, and I tell myself that this is OK because powders last such a long time (even though I know that the experts say you’re supposed to throw them out after a certain period of time), so even when I hold on to a palette forever for “archival” purposes or nostalgia, it’s totally fine.

I just really like the idea of opening a compact and having everything right there (I think I even like them more than singles). And when they have special limited edition colors, too, like if it’s an eye palette from December 2005, and it has this one color with the purple sparkles that you just can’t find anywhere else — that brings me great joy. 🙂

Off the top of my head, and I know this is so cliché, but I love the O.G. Naked palette — the very first one — and Chanel Kaska Beige (OMG! Why’d they discontinue it!?).
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Beauty Basics: 3 Essential Things To Do When You’re Applying Powder Eyeshadow…

September 10th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

1. Start with an eye primer

Aye, primer! And ahoy, matey! As any self-respectin’, makeup-lovin’ pirate be knowin’, ye should always start yer eye looks with a bit o’ eye primer fer the best eye looks, yargh!

OK, that was wackadoo. Sorry! But it’s about 93 degrees in my house right now, and I feel loopy.

No joke, though, eye primer is such a crucial step, and one I never skip, barring extenuating circumstances (like 10-minute makeup looks because I’m feeling lazy or I’m running way behind), when I wear powder eyeshadow.

Just like the kind of primer painters use, eye primer fills the little gaps on the surface of the skin, making lids nice and smooth, which in turn makes products layered on top of them last longer without settling into fine lines or applying unevenly on dry patches. Eye primers also keep your eye makeup from shifting around while intensifying powder shadow colors, which are all great things!

Most (but not all) eye primers have a creamy consistency similar to eye creams, and they come in lots of different kinds of packaging. Some come in a tube that looks like mascara and have a doe-foot applicator. Others come in squeeze tubes, and others come in pots.

They usually come in different shades, too, although some are un-tinted — with the idea for those being that they won’t interfere with any other colors you layer on top. Some lightly tinted varieties can also color correct discoloration on the lids, and those tinted ones aren’t supposed to interfere with whatever shadows you pop on top of them, but I find that they usually do tweak them a little.

I think un-tinted colorless primers are good choices for beginners because they can be used with a wide variety of looks, and my favorite, favorite, FAVORITE one of all time is NARS Pro-Prime Smudge-Proof (not just for beginners, but for anyone), which I know I mention every 10 or 15 minutes. 🙂 But I totally stand behind it. I try new primers all the time, and I have yet to find anything I like better.

A tube will last me about half a year. Your mileage may vary, but for what it’s worth, I wear a LOT of eye makeup.

2. Invest in some quality brushes

From the left: MAC 239, MAC 224 and MAC 217 brushes

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Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette

September 9th, 2015 by Karen 37 Comments

Geez, it’s September already!? Wow, we better get a move on. It’s time for another bad-@ss holiday palette from Hourglass.

Yup, Hourglass has released a new holiday palette in each of the past couple of years, and they’re doing it again. The new one arrives next month — well, technically, there are a whole bunch of complicated release date machinations, but I’ll get into that in the video.

The latest palette is also Strunk & White-approved!

Har-dee-har-har, kidding. 🙂 Sort of. It’s called Edit. It’s the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, and it’s the biggest one so far (it’s also $80, which isn’t a bad deal at all considering the quality and price level of Hourglass products). It has six pans, one of which is a brand new shade called Iridescent Strobe Light.

Three of the six pans are Hourglass’s awesome Ambient Lighting Powders (including the one brand new shade). The other three pans house two blushes and a bronzer.

All but one of the colors are re-promotes, so if you’ve been hoarding (LOL!) Hourglass for a while — hey, nobody can blame you — you probably already have them in your collection.

The Ambients are gorgeous, though, particularly if you like that “glowy” look, and I mean, who doesn’t?
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5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately

September 9th, 2015 by Karen 39 Comments

Pink lemonade and chocolate-chip cookies

Pink lemonade and chocolate-chip cookies! Hello, my new favorite snack. 🙂

El Hub thinks I’m a little nuts to love this combo as much as I do because for him, it’s all about milk and cookies (for dunking), but the pink lemonade combo is totally working for me.

Not to dunk though. I don’t dunk the cookies in the lemonade. I just like to have them together. I like the contrasting taste of the tart lemonade (ha! I almost wrote “Tarte lemonade”) with the sweetness of the cookies.

Oh! — and lemonade has to be cold and pink. Don’t ask me why; it just does.

I really like Trader Joe’s Low-Calorie Pink Lemonade Made With Organic Lemon Juice… As usual, TJ’s gets it right.

Kerastase Spray Fluidissime…for unruly bangs!

So I’ve had this bottle of Kerastase Spray Fluidissime ($42 for a 5.1 fl-oz. bottle) for a while, and it’s basically an anti-frizz, thermal-protecting, shine-boosting spray that you spray on wet hair, and then either air or blow dry.

I mostly just used it on long sections of my hair from about mid-length down to the ends, where it does a great job, but for reasons unknown, it never occurred to me to try it on my bangs…

Until the other day.

Wow, it works great! It tames my mischievous, frizzy side-swept bangs, which have gotten long and rebellious lately because I’m way overdue for a trim.

This spray totally tames their inner beast. I just spray a few spritzes on my bangs while they’re wet, then dry with a brush and a hair dryer.

It makes my hair smooth, silky and well-behaved, and it holds the side-swept shape perfectly.

I liked this spray before…BUT NOW I LURVE IT.

This “K” mug from HomeGoods

First things first, I need to stop going to HomeGoods…

Because every time I walk in there, I walk out with another mug, and I am the LAST person in the world who needs another mug.

Let me put it this way: there are only two sad glasses in my kitchen cupboard (because El Hub, who works part time as a bull in a china shop, broke the rest) and about 20 mugs.

This one is my new favorite. 🙂 I got it to replace the Anthropologie mug I used to have that had the letter “K” on it because, surprise! — El Hub broke it.

This one is by Signature Housewares, and it was just $4. It’s big and deep, and I like that it doesn’t get molten hot when I warm something up in the microwave.

I will enjoy the time we have together until El Hub breaks it…which should happen some time within the next few weeks.
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Is Nail Art Over?

September 9th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

Is nail art over?

What!? NO WAY, MAN! It’s still going strong, and I hope it doesn’t go anywhere anytime soon.

Painted paws are a quintessential part of makeup and fashion, and not just on catwalks, but on sidewalks too. I LOVE nail art…even though I’m absolute and total crap when it comes to actually doing it on myself. I’m serious, the complexity of my paw painting capabilities involves barely being able to handle an accent nail on my index finger! (And I can barely do that these days.) Or sometimes nail stickers.

I think that if I had more time I could get better at it. I’ve always had decently steady hands, so I think I could handle some pretty meticulous designs.

*big sigh* One of these days…

Of course, I would love to have Tabs’s face on my claws. You know that, right? 🙂

Ooh! Or what about plaid nails? Or, even though I’m probably way too old for this, Hello Kitty nails, or nails that give a shout-out to famous artists like Matisse or Picasso? All of those sound cool.

What do you think? Is nail art over, or is it still going strong?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

5 Best Highlighters

September 9th, 2015 by Karen 40 Comments

The Tragedy of Tabby, Prince of Novato
Act III, Scene I

Enter Prince Tabby, Queen Karen, Left Turn the Black Cat, Thug the Russian Blue and Lords.

TABS: To highlight or not to highlight — that is the question.

Whether ’tis nobler in the condo to suffer the humiliating pets and chin scratches of outrageous fortune, or to raise paws against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them. To eat, to nap — perchance to dream; ay, there’s the tummy rub.

Wait, what the heck is Prince Tabby talking about!? I don’t know about him, but speaking for myself, there is absolutely NO question about it. I am always, ALWAYS down for highlighting, and here are my five top picks for “Best Highlighter.” These are the ones I wear the most. 🙂

Best Everyday Highlighter: Hourglass Ambient Powder in Luminous Light ($45)

It’s amazing to me how this champagne pearl pressed powder barely looks like I’ve made a dent in it, when I’ve been wearing it pretty consistently — sometimes for weeks on end — for the past few years.

That’s a pretty good thing to know, that a single pan of anything could last until forever, or until Skynet eventually takes over (whichever comes first).

What I love about Luminous Light — I mean, other than the name, because don’t most gals like the idea of being bathed in luminous light? — is the finish. On the skin it looks like expensive, plush velvet bathed in the light of a buttery late summer afternoon.

Ah…

The sheen is unlike anything else I’ve seen before. Soft and subtle, yet still noticeable, and it’s oh, so forgiving of large pores and fine lines (hallelujah!).

All told, this one’s my favorite everyday, all-occasion highlighter in the world!

$45; available now at Hourglass counters and online.

Best Highlighter for a Dewy Finish: MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush ($22)

Hush!

No, you can talk. I was referring to MAC Hush, which I love for its flexibility. It’s a soft peach with subtle shimmer, and I like it just about any which way/any how — on bare skin, on top of tinted moisturizer, foundation, even on top of powder. Whenever I’m aiming for more of a dewy, wet look, out comes Hush.

All I do is use my fingers to apply and blend it, usually on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose and on my Cupid’s bow, and it takes all but a minute to use.

I also think it looks amazer-ing in pics.

Oh! — and you can also use it as an eyeshadow base. Score! 🙂

$22; available now at MAC counters and online.

Best Highlighter for Dramatic Looks: BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal ($38)

Good ol’ Opal. How many pans of it have I gone through over the years?

Three? Four…? I’ve lost count.

BECCA has many marvelous Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed options, but Opal is the one I wear most, by far. It’s a super shiny golden opal pearl, and for dramatic highlights, it’s unbeatable. Unlike standard-issue high-shine highlighters, of which there are many, it’s the very definition of luminous, and the complete antithesis of harsh and metallic, so skin glows seemingly from within with magical eldritch power without appearing oily.

It’s so friggin’ good that when I had to pick a single highlighter to wear on the red carpet to the Emmy’s last year, I went with Opal. There was no question about it.

Fun tip: to open up the eyes and make them look as big, bright and wide as possible, lightly apply Opal in the inner corners of the eyes, and just above and below the highest point in the arch of your brows.

$38; available now at Ulta, BECCA counters and online.
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