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

Urban Decay Summer 2015: New Eyeshadow Shades

April 8th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

Well, now I know what to wear in the unlikely event that Charli XCX invites me to be a backup dancer in one of her videos. This: the new Urban Decay Summer 2015 Eyeshadow shades (arriving April 15 at Urban Decay counters and online for $18 each).

The “shifts,” as they’re called, have a cool 20-something party girl vibe. It’s very “big hair don’t care/let’s get drunk on the mini-bar.”

But I’m getting ahead of myself! — so lemme back up a little.

[INSERT SOUND OF AN OLD-SCHOOL CASSETTE TAPE REWINDING *HERE*]

The eight new shades join UD’s existing Eyeshadow permanent line. Six of them are “shifts” — duo-chromes that appear to change color in the light, like that holographic thing. The other two are matte browns, about which I have to say, “YAY!” Transition colors. 🙂 LOL! Leave it to me to get all cheerleader-y about the matte browns…

Whatever, I can always use another matte brown. Hand on my heart and hair to the sky, it’s the truth!

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Currently Reading…

April 8th, 2015 by Karen 43 Comments

How does this sound?

Huge pile of magazines
Big comfy bed
Sunshine streaming through large windows

Yeah, that’s going to be my self-imposed reward this afternoon. Quality meow time with myself, perhaps a husky tabby companion and magazines!

Honestly, how do these things pile up so quickly? I subscribe when I see a really good deal, usually after I buy an overpriced $4 issue at the bookstore and then 20 of those postcard subscribe thingies fall out. “Get 12 monthly issues for $12!”

OK, Mr. Marketing Guru, I will. 🙂

I think I’m up to seven subscriptions now…

Entertainment Weekly — I LOVE their movie, TV show and book reviews. Plus the writing’s really good. I also like their graphic design style. I get a lot of ideas from them for my posts and pictures on the blog, like the way they style their titles for articles and use colorful shapes. This is probably one of the longest subscriptions I’ve held. Must be 4-5 years already.
Nylon — Just really cool style. I like the sassy writing, and they have an extensive beauty section.
Allure — A good in-depth beauty mag.
Glamour — Got a little of everything. The traditional glossy.
Popular Photography — Gotta get the gear!
Better Homes and Gardens — Good source of inspiration for interiors and recipes.
Real Simple — Just everyday life things.

Whenever a new one comes in, I set it on a stack in the corner of my room, and before I know it the stack is 12 feet tall and about to fall over!

This month I’m loving on that coppery red blown-out eyeshadow Julianne Hough is sporting on the cover of Allure.

Dude, if I had her eyes, I’d be rockin’ that makeup every single day. I love the contrast of the coppery tones and her blue peepers.

I’m also digging the graphic design on this cover of Nylon…

And try to peel your eyes away from hottie Mr. 50 Shades of Grey for a second to appreciate Dakota Johnson’s bangs on the current cover of Glamour. It just may be my next hair style. 🙂

How about you? Do you subscribe to any magazines? Which ones are your faves?

Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection: Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush Has Boomchickawawa Written All Over It

April 7th, 2015 by Karen 41 Comments

Afterglow.

Like boomchickawawa!

In a pan.

But without the sweat and potentially awkward conversation.

And/or nakedness. 🙂

Yes! — Urban Decay’s new line of powder blush singles joins the permanent line on April 15 with the rest of the Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection. The brand does already have a line of blush trios (which are called Naked Flushed), but these represent their first foray into The Land of Blush Singles in a while.

They’re $26 each and available in 12 shades, with the idea being that you put one of them on, and boom! — you look like you’ve been boomchickawawa-ing all day long, which would certainly burn a lot of calories, but I digress…

There are some neutrals here, as well as some crazy colors, but I think they’ll all be fairly wearable by beginners and full-on makeup divas with a capital “D.” And even the brighter colors, like bright purple Bittersweet and reddish orange Bang, are easy to blend out on my cheeks.

Unfortunately, there is a catch… They kick up a lot of powder, because the formula is super soft and airy, and very light. When I run a brush across one of the pan, the brush picks up and scoots around a lot of powder — more than when I use denser blushes by MAC or NARS.

So, on the one hand, you might make a little mess with these while you’re applying ’em, but on the other hand, they’re easy to blend. There are some things you can do to minimize the messiness factor, too, like, after swirling my brush in the pan, I’ll tap, tap, tap it firmly against the edge of the compact to unload every ounce of excess, and if that still isn’t enough, I’ll lightly blow on the brush head before bringing it to my cheeks.

urban decay afterglow blush — Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush ($26 each)

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Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection: It’s a Revolution of Lipglosses!

April 7th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

NOVATO, CA — This is Karen from UD News reporting live from my makeup bag…

It’s chaos! There are Savage creatures running all over the place, Big Bangs left and right, and somebody’s walking through the street? I don’t know… They appear to be Punch Drunk. There’s only one word to describe the scene unfolding before me now: revolution!

An Urban Decay Lipgloss Revolution. 🙂

Yes, this is the Urban Decay that many of us know and love. Over the past few years, they’ve gotten a little naked happy, which is also cool, but this new line of 14 pigmented lipglosses (coming April 15 to counters and online) swings the pigment pendulum all the way to the other side, with liters of rich color and shades that your grandma might see and be like, “Young lady, do you wear that outside?? I’m not sure if a respectable young girl should wear that outside…”

Yup, these are those kinds of colors. To put it a different way, if UD’s Naked glosses are Sunday brunch, these are Friday night.

Of course, there are also a few less harrowing shades, but we’ll get to those in a minute…

So, Urban Decay has done lipgloss lines before, and you might remember a couple years ago when they did the flat ones with the half-naked dudes? Well, those were shaped very much like these — flat, so that you can put them in your back pocket, and they won’t bulge. In this case, the clear plastic tubes are also textured, and they look almost wavy…like you’re about to dive into an ocean and swim through a school of gloss.

These are also unlike another other UD lipglosses I can recall in that they’re unflavored and unscented, which should open the door to some people who didn’t like the flavor of UD’s other glosses.

As for coverage, you won’t need to put a lot on your lips to see these colors. I’d classify them as just shy of full coverage — like teetering on the edge on kitty tippy-toes.

Interestingly, the medium-weight formula starts non-sticky, but seems to get stickier over time as they’re worn and you smack your lips together. They get stickier and slightly tacky, which I think helps them hang on longer than UD’s non-sticky glosses. For me, these last between three and four hours.

urban decay revolution lipgloss — Urban Decay Revolution Lipglosses, $22 each

Most of the colors are creams, with a sprinkling of glittery shades. The glittery ones, though, are still comfortable. I have to point that out, because they aren’t gritty or obnoxious at all.

The only one I haven’t seen up close is Kinky, which looks like a creamy tan nude.

For everyday colors, my favorites are medium creamy pinkish nude Liar and light neutral pink Failbait, but you know…those are the kinds of colors you stick in your purse and eventually forget about…

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Beauty Improv: Last Time You Used a Beauty Product for Something Other Than Its Intended Purpose?

April 7th, 2015 by Karen 34 Comments

I think everybody does it sometimes when they’re either feeling creative, or frazzled, or they’re running out of a certain product.

Let me set the stage for you: two days ago. Easter Sunday. 9:45 a.m. I’d just finished a run on the treadmill and was putting the finishing touches on a quiche (yes, I made a quiche, and it wasn’t terrible) when I bumped into El Hub in the kitchen, who said, “You know we have to leave here at 11, right?” And I said, “Yeah.” And he was like, “That means you should probably aim for 10:30.” And I said, “Yeah, whatever. I’ll be done by 10:30. Don’t even worry about it, la-la-la-la-la…”

Then I went about my business, until I looked up at the clock and thought, “Hmm… I have to take a shower, I have to put on makeup, I want to do my hair. How am I going to do everything by 11?” So I stopped taking my sweet time and started hustling my butt.

While I was doing my makeup, after I’d applied Diorskin Nude Air Serum foundation, I looked at what was left on the back of my hand and thought, “I really like how this stuff looks on my skin, how it blurs my pores and doesn’t sit in my fine lines and wrinkles…”

EUREKA!

“Why don’t I just use this as my under-eye concealer!?”

So I mixed it with some YSL Touche Éclat highlighter and patted the combo under my eyes with a finger, and I really like how it turned out. They made a great improv concealer that didn’t settle into my fine lines, and didn’t look cakey or heavy. 🙂

I also happened to have some lipstick left on the back of my hand, so I mixed it with the Diorskin Nude foundation, too, and applied that as my blush.

When was the last time you used a beauty product for something other than its intended purpose?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy Tuesday, by the way. How’s it going this morning?

Urban Decay Summer 2015 Collection Overview and First Impressions [VIDEO]

April 6th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Well slather me in sunscreen, and fan my face! I think I might overheat from all the blazing hotness that is Urban Decay’s Summer 2015 Collection.

Homegirl, brace yourself for a brand new line of pigmented glosses (Revolution High-Color Lipgloss), new Primer Potion packaging, new eyeshadow shades in holographic-like shifting colors and a DOPE new line of powder blushes that will make you wish it was more socially acceptable to wear blush on your forehead, nose and ears (I WANT TO WEAR ALL THE COLORS).

Here’s a video overview (with some swatches) of the release, which arrives on UD counters April 15. I’ll be posting looks and more detailed reviews over the next few days.

Thank you as always for watching!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

NARS Summer 2015: Christopher Kane for NARS Collection [VIDEO]

April 6th, 2015 by Karen 6 Comments

Alien astronomers scanning our solar system with their interstellar radio telescopes from their galaxy far, far away will see the Earth glimmering like a pulsar when the new NARS Summer 2015 Christopher Kane for NARS collection materializes on counters April 15.

Because the release is hella glitter-ful, and yes, I just made up that word.

But this is good glitter we’re talking about — captivating, sparkly and complex. Sandwich it between the neon brights and soft nudes in the collection, and you get the new Christopher Kane for NARS.

To followup on last week’s pre-release review, here’s a video in which I ~~ramble on nonsensically~~ talk a little bit more about the collection and the pieces I like best.

The collection arrives April 15 (also known as tax day), at NARS boutiques and narscosmetics.com, and May 1 at department stores, specialty stores and Sephora.

As always, thank you for watching! I hope you’re having a great Monday.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 367

April 6th, 2015 by Karen 30 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.

What are three pieces of advice you would give to a younger woman?
1. Definitely drink a ton of water, she said holding up her Bkr. When I don’t drink enough water, everything is a little more difficult. My skin gives me a hard time, my brain doesn’t work as quickly…
  See, it’s not firing right now because I haven’t had enough water.
2. Choose the people around you carefully (that’s one of those things I learned the hard way). Positive people with a good outlook will lift you up, and every spirit needs lifting sometimes.
3. You don’t have to do everything yourself (again, another lesson learned the hard way). For many, many years I felt like I was the only one in the proverbial boat, like everything was entirely up to me to figure out and do, but it’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK to need help (everyone does), and everything doesn’t have to be hard.
Nail charms (dangly or otherwise) — yes or no?
Oh, hell no. Tabs would go insane. He’d never leave my nails alone.

Plus, I don’t keep my claws long enough to have cute little charms. They’d always be rattling all over the place, and even if I did keep my nails long enough, the charms would click and clack on my keyboard.

I can’t even think about it… It would drive me nuts!

Are you looking forward to anything this week?
I’m looking forward to going out on another mid-week movie date. El Hub and I did that last week. We went to see a new horror movie called It Follows, and it was kind of nice (the date, not the movie; THE MOVIE WAS SCARY!).

I think it was last Tuesday or Wednesday night. It was just us, and three other dudes on a bromance date, in the entire movie theater. It was cool.

Ripped jeans or boyfriend jeans?
Ripped jeans.

What do your sunglasses look like?
Mine are a beige pair of oversized cat eye sunglasses by Tory Burch.

Got them last year on sale, and I love ’em, but I’m thinking about switching to a pair of super cute Kate Spade aviators that I tried on at Nordstrom last week.

Yup, major life dilemmas…

Last weird dream you had?
It was this past weekend. I dreamed that El Hub and I broke up! — and then I married Prince.

And he was so weird!

It was really weird being married to Prince…and I was completely heartbroken. I just wanted to go back to El Hub.

Dang, it was the weirdest dream…

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

1. What are three pieces of advice you would give to a younger woman?
2. Nail charms (dangly or otherwise) — yes or no?
3. Are you looking forward to anything this week?
4. Ripped jeans or boyfriend jeans?
5. What do your sunglasses look like?
6. Last weird dream you had?

I’ve been trying to think of a few words of wisdom this morning, but I have no wisdom at all, LOL!

OK, I might have something here… Here’s a tidbit that may or may not help you this week (probably not), but if you slice potatoes for a scalloped potato dish and plan on storing the slices in your refrigerator overnight, you gotta stick those freaking potato slices in a bowl of water, because they’ll turn brown if you don’t. This I learned last weekend when I made scalloped potatoes for Easter.

Happy Monday, my friend! I hope that your jeans make your butt look great and that you have a wonderful, stress-free week. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen