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

Comment to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

April 25th, 2015 by Karen 389 Comments

** THE GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED **
This giveaway is closed, and the winner has been contacted (CONGRATULATIONS, TRACY!!!), but check back next Saturday for another Sephora giveaway.

Rise and shine, morning glory. Happy caturday. 🙂 Thank you for all of your kinds words and encouragement this week and for letting me lean on you for a bit. Maybe someday I can return the favor. I get teary every single time I go into the comments on the Quick Hello post from a few days ago.

I’m feeling a lot better already, partially because I’ve made some headway on cleaning my office. I mean…it still looks like a hornet’s nest, but I have done a lot of purging and a little reorganizing, so one step is better than no steps, I guess.

I hope that you’re having a nice morning so far. What are you up to over there?

I’m just going to continue my office cleaning project and maybe (probably) play with some makeup. I do have to hit up the dollar store and The Container Store a little later, but that’s about it. That’s what I’m doing this weekend.

But right now I’m having breakfast. I made more of those Flourless Thumbprint Oatmeal Cookies (yum!) and some scrambled eggs. And some chai tea, which I’m very excited about. 🙂

Have a great weekend, my friend. Talk to you soon.

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

Enter by leaving a comment below.
Open to U.S. and international readers.
You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws).
Your comment can be about anything at all, but here are some ideas if you’re stuck:
- What’s your favorite museum and why?
- Who’s the coolest person you know?
- Have you ever seen a meteor shower?
- What’s your favorite spice?
- How do you feel about strangers in public who give unsolicited makeup advice?
- When you think “elegant makeup,” what comes to mind?
One entry per person.
You must use a valid email address to win.
The giveaway ends on Monday, April 27, 2015 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time). 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

New Bargain Bling: Loft Necklaces on Serious Sale

April 24th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

Because woman cannot live on chunky statement jewelry alone, I picked up these dainty necklaces from Loft. Better still — I got ’em on sale.

ON SALE!

Those are magic words right there…

I’m actually starting to rue the day I discovered that Loft is kind of the sh*t, because, dude — I kid you not — they always have a sale, and none of those wimpy 10% off sales. These sales are usually 40-60% off, which is, like, two steps away from free. LOL!

At least that’s what I tell El Hub when I come home with a Loft shopping bag. 🙂

The gold necklace is the Delicate Crystal Triangle Necklace, originally $29.50 but currently on sale for $24.88, plus an additional 60% off. The final price? $9.95. I’m wearing it in these pics as a layering necklace. (I can’t remember the designer of the “K” necklace I’m also wearing, though. My bad.)

The silver one is the Delicate Pave Circle Necklace. Same drill. Originally $29.50, but now $9.95 after 60% off.

Another thing I like about these necklaces is that you can wear them in different lengths. See all the loops in the back of the chain? You can use them to take the necklace up or down, depending on your outfit and mood.

Yay for bling on sale! 🙂

The MAC In Extra Dimension Eye Shadows Are Becoming Permanent Fixtures in Spacetime

April 24th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Apologies for just powering my way through this quick look at the new MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadows, babe. I’ve got a hot date with two clear drawers from The Container Store (yup, operation Get My Sh*t Together is currently underway).

First, I’m so happy to see these being added to the MAC permanent line! I’ve loved ’em for years and have long hoped this would happen.

See…? Sometimes makeup dreams really do come true. 🙂

These long-wearing eyeshadows (I get 8-10 hours) have a super soft, almost creamy formula and come in various levels of shimmer, all with negligible (barely any) fallout. I think they’re abso-friggin-lutely heaven, and I’m sure I’ve gushed about them before…

If some of the shades below look familiar, you may be recalling them from past collections like last year’s Alluring Aquatic.

Here are pics and swatches of 16 of the 18 shades (not shown: Smoky Mauve and Silver Sun)…

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10-Minute Makeup With Urban Decay, Clinique, MAC , Make Up For Ever, It Cosmetics and More

April 24th, 2015 by Karen 25 Comments

Question: What girl puts on makeup just to clean her office?

Answer: THIS GIRL. 🙂

I figure what the haaaay! A little eyeshadow will make the act of purging old Post-It notes, product packaging and stacks of magazines that much more “professional.”

At least that’s the idea.

Fast-forward to right meow…

I didn’t want to spend forever and a day putting on mah face this morning, so I gave myself 10 minutes, and here’s what I came up with.

Because it’s a little more colorful than yesterday’s 10-minute makeup, I think it has a little more oomph.

I used cool-toned matte browns on my lids to softly define the eyes, along with a highlight in the inner corners to brighten things up a bit, and a bold fuchsia lip for a flash of extra color.

I think this look would be totally appropriate for most work environments, and you can seriously bang it out in 10 minutes.

Here are a few things I did to save time…

Simplify the primer situation — This won’t apply to you if you already skip primer, but if you’re a fellow primer addict/practitioner (seriously, I use four for most of my makeup looks), try to simplify (just a little!) by limiting yourself to one. For this look, I only used Make Up For Ever’s Nourishing Primer, which I applied all over my face, on my lids and under my eyes.

Then I concealed my under-eye circles with concealer (Maybelline Fit Me Concealer), and since I was already in the area, I took that up to my lids, adding a layer, which I then set with powder. That way I was able to skip my usual routine of NARS Pro Prime.

Same goes for brows (simplify, that is) — Instead of my usual brow rigamarole, which has lately involved filling and setting my brows with Anastasia’s Pencil and then setting them with Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel, I used just one brow product, Bobbi Brown’s Natural Brow Shaper, because it does a little of everything.

Pick a palette (or two!) — For speed makeup, I like having a face palette that contains a blush, a bronzer and a highlighter, and 2) an eye palette stocked with flexible neutral mattes. That way I have everything I need for a basic everyday look in one place, and I don’t have to rummage through different containers and whatnot.

Try a timer — Do you have an egg timer or a watch? I use the little timer thingy in the Clock app on my iPhone. Today I set it for 10 minutes and placed it right in front of me on my desk where I could watch it counting down…

Don’t obsess about blending — I’m a weirdo perfectionist, and I can easily get carried away with blending, but for time-sensitive makeup looks, I have to let it go… Seriously, it’s OK if it looks a little messy. I think the key is picking two shades — like a light brown, and also a slightly darker brown — that aren’t too far from your natural skin tone. That way you won’t have to do a ton of heavy lifting.

Also, if the bright pink lip is a bit too bold for you, you could swap it out with a neutral lipstick. Here’s the same cheeks/eyes with a soft rosy pink matte (Tom Ford’s Pussycat) in place of the fuchsia…

Makeup I’m wearing in this look…

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The MAC Huggable Lipcolours: For When Pigment Needs to Hug It Out

April 23rd, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

OK, so…what the heck is it about wearing lipstick that instantly makes me feel so much better? That little splash of color is like a nap, doughnuts, ice cream and chocolate rolled into one.

I almost want to hug it out with these pretty lippes, the appropriately named MAC Huggable Lipcolours ($20 each, coming to the MAC website May 7, and a week later to MAC counters and stores).

Do you remember this line of medium-coverage lipsticks? (Cue flashback to waaay back in 2013.) Of the 10 slick, moisturizing shades coming out next month, all of them, with the exception of Fashion Force, look new to me (as far as I’m remembering now).

They last from 2-3 hours for me and have that classic MAC vanilla flavor and scent.

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10-Minute Makeup With Make Up For Ever, MAC, Maybelline, Bobbi Brown, RMS Beauty and More

April 23rd, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

Sometimes you feel like a shimmery plum cut crease… Sometimes you don’t. 🙂

Today, I did not.

I barely had the energy to curl my lashes (but I still found the strength to do it, LOL!).

This is a makeup look I’ve been doing lately when I haven’t felt like going to infinity and beyond but still want to look somewhat presentable. It takes about 10 minutes from start to finish, and even though it ain’t flashy or anything, I still feel pretty put together when I wear it.

(Please excuse the hair… I’ve temporarily nicknamed it “The Mop.”)

Makeup I’m wearing in this look…

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A Quick Hello…

April 23rd, 2015 by Karen 201 Comments

Hello, sweet friend. Happy Thursday to ya. I hope things are going well on your end of the keyboard.

I know that I’ve been kind of MIA this week, but it’s just… I’m going through some things.

I wish I could say that I’ve been playing hooky and having exciting adventures, but truth be told, it hasn’t been like that. It’s just that I’m turning 40 in June, and I’m going through… I don’t think it’s a crisis, but it’s definitely something.

I woke up yesterday morning and realized — holy crap! — my 30s are over. Like, totally and officially over.

It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating my thirtieth. (We went to a drag queen karaoke bar! You know how I roll. 🙂 *snaps*). Now it’s 10 years later, just like that. I’m emotionally very tender right now…

It’s a bunch of different things, like not having children, and babe, seriously…I don’t know what’s going on with me. It’s like, I can’t even look at babies right now without getting teary.

For the longest time, I wasn’t sure if I was meant to be a mom, and I didn’t really think about it much. I just kept myself busy working on different projects like people do, but now I really, really, REALLY want to have a child.

But I waited so long…

I feel like such a fool. I let my prime childbearing years pass me by, and now whenever El Hub and I even start to talk about it, I get super emotional. 🙁 It’s deep, intense and real.

Aaaand, that’s just part of it. I’m also tired of living in disarray. My office is a cluttered mess, and my house needs attention.

If you saw my office — and I don’t want to share a picture of it because there’s nothing cute about it — you’d be amazed that I actually manage to get anything done.
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Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour and Highlight: Before and After

April 22nd, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

First of all, Happy Earth Day! 🙂

Speaking of objects with curvy contours…have you seen these new Clinique Chubby Sticks?

To quote Mary J. Blige, “What’s the 411, hon?”

Here’s the scoop: there are two, one for sculpting and contouring, and another one for highlighting, and both are available now at Clinique counters, Neiman Marcus stores and online at neimanmarcus.com.

So…what are they?

No matter how hard you try, guuuurl, right now in the world of makeup, you can’t completely escape highlighting and contouring. They’re both having a moment right now, and these two new creamy chubby pencils from Clinique are in that same highlighting/contouring vein. Dark brown matte Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour in Curvy Contour ($21) adds structure and definition to cheekbones (and wherever else you choose to use it), while satiny beige Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight in Hefty Highlight ($21) helps you draw attention to areas you might want to highlight, like perhaps your upper cheekbones. You can use them together or individually.

How do you use ’em?

All you do is draw a few dot on your face wherever you want to highlight and/or contour, and then blend those dots with your fingers or a brush. I use like to use a synthetic brush with these, because the bristles aren’t as absorbent as most natural fibers, so they tend to work better with creams.

OK, but how well do they work?

Pretty well! — as a highlight/contouring combo. They do the trick. I’m glad the contour shade is a cool-toned matte and not a shimmer (better for creating illusionary shadows). I also like that the highlighter is more satiny than full-on shimmery, because it’s not as visibly harsh.

I do think that the chubby shape of the pencils makes them a little tough to maneuver around certain areas because it’s so darned big, but it’s workable.

Who would probably really like these?

Gals/guys with normal or dry skin who are looking for soft, natural highlights and contouring and aren’t super concerned about precision. Oily skin may not take to the cream formulas as readily.

Also, if you tend to touch your face a lot throughout the day, stop that. 🙂 Because these creams will scoot if you futz with them.