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

How Did Your Last Makeup Purchase Turn Out?

January 22nd, 2015 by Karen 51 Comments

Loreal True Match Lumi — YASSSS, gurl! Magic in a bottle, otherwise known as L’Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous foundation ($12.99)

Fluffy baby kittens and pink cotton candy and glittery sprinkles and unicorns and a nap on Ryan Gosling’s abs. Otherwise, great. 🙂

My last makeup purchase went great. It was at Ulta a couple weeks ago, where I found a few gems…

Like truly moving makeup gems!

One of them was something I’ve been hoping to find for years — decades even — a drugstore foundation I could love with every fiber of my being, and I finally have. I cannot stop raving about L’Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous foundation ($12.99).

I went on a 10-minute sermon about its wonderfulness to a stranger sitting next to me at the dentist’s office yesterday, and I didn’t even care when her eyes started to glaze over. I think the poor woman was wondering if I’d ever stop to take a breath (I did).

It’s not just one of the best drugstore foundations I’ve ever found, but one of the best foundations of any kind, ever. Super affordable ($12.99), available in a wide shade range, and best of all, effortlessly natural coverage, like, “What, me? Wear makeup? Naw, I just woke up like this…”

And I don’t even have to resort to special blending methods or doohickeys to make it work. No primers or fancy tools. Just a bit applied with fingers. That’s all.

Right now I’m not using it with powder because my skin’s been incredibly dry, and powder makes it look even drier, but for more coverage I’ll just top it with either MAC Mineralize Skinfinish or Chanel Loose powder.

Holy grail.

How did your last makeup purchase turn out?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

10 Things I Love About Hourglass Cosmetics

January 21st, 2015 by Karen 27 Comments

Lips by Hourglass Velvet Creme Lipstick in Fever ($30)…

It’s like when I come across something special in a store, like that Peter Som cat dress from Anthropologie, and it feels like the world will crash around me if it doesn’t get in my closet. For me, that’s Hourglass makeup.

Yes, they’re expensive — pretty much the same prices as Chanel and Dior — but there’s something about Hourglass. The simplicity. They don’t have 30 different browns or 20 different red lipsticks, but I’m still always able to find exactly what I’m in the mood to wear. When you wear it, you feel super cool, and your makeup looks good.

I love their textures and the way they elevate basic colors like gold and peach and make them seem so much more elegant and refined, but still accessible at the same time. Sometimes, their new launches are so exciting that they break the Internet (almost).

A lot of the products in my “everyday basics” makeup bag are Hourglass, and here are 10 of the ones I reach for the most…

1. Velvet Creme Lipstick in Fever

Otherwise known as “the lipstick that generates 20 emails to my inbox whenever I wear it on the blog,” and the emails usually say the same thing: “What is that color, BECAUSE I HAVE TO HAVE IT NOW!”

The emails are also often tinged with quiet desperation. Once someone even offered to trade their child’s pony for a tube!

Super creamy, vibrant fuchsia Fever has looked gorgeous on every person I’ve ever seen wear it.

Hourglass Fever Swatch — I’ve got the Fever!!!

2. The Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette blushes from the left: Luminous Flush, Incandescent Electra and Mood Exposure — Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

These are the blushes I reach for when I know I don’t have enough time to really get ready in the morning. They’re like a combination natural-looking blush and subtle highlighter in one.

I’m actually wearing Incandescent Electra, the middle shade, right now because I barely had 60 seconds before I had to leave the house for a dentist’s appointment this afternoon.

Oh, and random info, but today I found out at the dentist that I have thick enamel.

Yeah, apparently it’s something I should be proud of. 🙂

3. Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat

Hourglass Diffused Heat Ambient Lighting Blush — Diffused Heat

So pretty… A coral with a subtle golden sheen, Diffused Heat is one of my summertime go-to blush shades. If you have warm skin or a bit of a tan, it looks gorgeous paired with coral lipstick or gloss.

4. Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in Muse

Speaking of coral glosses, have you seen Hourglass Extreme High Shine Lipgloss in Muse!? L-to-the-O-to-the-V-to-the-E.

It’s super moisturizing, shiny and comfy like a Cremesheen Glass. I wear this one year round.

5. Ambient Lighting Powder in Radiant Light

Hourglass Radiant Light Ambient Powde — Golden beige Radiant Light ($45)

This golden beige is another one of my errrday faves. I use it as a highlighter a lot when I’m out cruising the town/about to lay a smack down. Yes, you can call me MC K-Dawg.

Despite the delicate, nuanced shimmer and light color, I can still see it, ya know? Otherwise why bother? I want to see that ish, at least a little!

For pics, it may be a tad too subtle for some gals/guys, especially those who like their highlights bold and brash, but if you like a subtle highlight, GO THERE.
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The NARS Eye-Opening Act Spring 2015 Collection: There’s Smoke in the Eye of This Storm

January 21st, 2015 by Karen 29 Comments

Wearing new limited edition spring 2015 items from NARS: Matte Velvet Shadow Stick in Flibuste, Eyeshadow Palette in Yeux Irresistible and Illuminating Multiple in St. Lucia — From the new NARS Eye-Opening Act collection, I’m wearing the Matte Velvet Shadow Stick in Flibuste, the Eyeshadow Palette in Yeux Irresistible, and the Illuminating Multiple in St. Lucia, all available now at Nordstrom stores and online.

Lo! What manner of marvelousness do I see before me? ‘Tis a smokey eye lover’s dream!

New from NARS, the new Eye-Opening Act spring collection is freakin’. Gorgeous.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to push myself out of my smokey eye comfort zone, but dayum, girl! — this launch is not making that easy.

With a focus on eyes…

Did you get that? “…a focus on eyes”? Ha! You know what they say — a bad pun a day keeps the dentist away. 🙂

NARS Spring 2015 — Seven of eight pieces in the new NARS Eye-Opening Act collection

The eight-piece limited edition release is, for the time being, available now exclusively at Nordstrom (as if I needed another excuse to shop there!), but it also arrives at NARS boutiques and the NARS website March 15.

If the thought of waiting till two days before St. Patrick’s Day pains your makeup-loving heart and you want to jump on these products meow, here’s the gist: two powder eyeshadow palettes (one warm, one cool), a brand-spankin’ new line of creamy stick shadows with a velvety matte finish, and a new shade of Illuminating Multiple.

NARS Yeux Irresistible Eyeshadow Palette and Filbuste Velvet Shadow Stick on my eyes, St. Lucia Illuminating Multiple on my cheeks and lips — From the Yeux Irresistible Eyeshadow Palette, I’m wearing All About Eve (my brow bone and inner corner), Jezebel (lids), Brousse mixed with Coconut Grove (crease and lower lash line), Colombo (center of the lid); I’m also wearing the Velvet Shadow Stick in Filibuste in the outer corners.

Yesterday I wore the $48 warm palette, cutely named Yeux Irresistible, and here’s a testament to how bomb NARS powder eyeshadows are: I was already wearing my foundation and concealer when I started the smokey cat eye portion of the look I’m wearing in these pics…

As you can tell, dark shades are in the house, like the warm brown in my crease, the shimmery sable/coppery red on my lid, and the dark black in the outer corner.

Forty-five minutes into the eye look, I realized something…

There was hardly any fallout. Like, almost none at all. And these are fairly intense colors — the kind that almost always leave at least a little fallout under my eyes — but I hardly had to do any cleanup at all, so two big paws up to NARS for that.

NARS Eyeshadow Palette in Yeux Irresistible ($48), aka “the warm palette”

NARS Eyeshadow Palette in Inoubliable Coup D'Oeil ($48) — NARS Eyeshadow Palette in Inoubliable Coup D’Oeil ($48), aka “the cool palette”

The two palettes in the release aren’t just gorgeous. They’re also easy to blend. Plus, they leave behind almost zero fallout, which adds up to a NARS dream come true if you frequently have a hard time figuring out which shades are warm and which shades are cool.

The collection also marks the launch of an exciting new line of matte cream shadow sticks. You can use the new Velvet Shadow Sticks ($28 each) in a variety of ways, including as a base on your lids, upon which you apply other shadows, or use them as straight-up eyeshadows, which is what I did in this look. I’m using Flibuste, the black shade, in a cat eye shape in the outer corners.

NARS Velvet Shadow Sticks clockwise from the far left: Reykjavick, Glenan, Flibuste and Nunavut — Velvet Shadow Sticks clockwise from the far left in Reykjavick, Glenan, Flibuste and Nunavut ($28 each; four of five are shown)

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MAC Unsung Heroes: The Studio Chromagraphic Pencils

January 21st, 2015 by Karen 35 Comments

MAC Chromagraphic Pencil — The MAC Studio Chromagraphic Pencils ($16 each)

Chances are good that if you’ve rolled up to your favorite MAC counter lately (shout-out to the Corte Madera counter at Nordies, woo-hoo!), you probably passed the Studio Chromagraphic Pencils without bringing one home.

MAC Studio Finish Chromagraphic Pencils from the left: NC15/NW20, NW25/NC30, NC42/NW35 — The MAC Studio Finish Chromagraphic Pencils (they aren’t duos) from the left in NC15/NW20, NW25/NC30, NC42/NW35

Honestly, I don’t blame you, because if I didn’t know about them, I’d probably skip ’em too. On paper, they appear quite boring.

Only they’re not. At all. They’re actually really handy. In a nutshell, they’re creamy, flesh-colored eyeliners…which does sound pretty lame, right?

But I keep one of these $16 wonders in my makeup bag at all times and always bring one with me on trips. I use them all the time, really, in so many different ways.

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Get a Lisa Perry Tote and Estée Lauder Goodness With This Gift-With-Purchase at Neiman Marcus Now

January 20th, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

Wouldn’t ya know it? The one time this decade that I actually wanted to wear my white vinyl go-go boots (otherwise known as my favorite shoes to wear to da club back in the day), of course I can’t find them.

OF COURSE.

They’d go so well with this tote by Lisa Perry…

This shiny vinyl vixen is part of the Estée Lauder + Lisa Perry gift-with-purchase deal going on now at EL counters inside Neiman Marcus stores and online.

The deal comes with some other goodies too, like a nice-sized eyeshadow and lipstick palette, a separate creamy nude lipstick, a small jar of Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lift Age-Correcting Creme, another small bottle of Advanced Night Repair, a tiny tube of Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara, and my favorite thing — a sample of Aerin Lilac Path Perfume.

I started crushin’ on Lilac Path with the first spritz.

Picture yourself sleeping in and getting up late on a crisp spring morning. You open your favorite window and take a deep breath, ah… That smell of spring flowers and clean, fresh air? — that’s Aerin Lilac Path Perfume.

Granted, this is imaginary time, because when I open my windows right now, I mostly smell semi-dead rosemary bushes.

The gift-with-purchase deal is available now with your $75 EL purchase, while supplies last, at Estée Lauder counters and online.

Just an FYI in case you had any EL products you needed to stock up on…

The Accent Nail Files: Find Common Ground to Create Unexpected Pairings Like Purple and Burgundy

January 20th, 2015 by Karen 24 Comments

Smith & Cult Check the Rhyme paired with Lo-Fi — Smith & Cult Check the Rhyme nail polish teamed up with Lo-Fi lacquer

ME: “Oh, Magic 8 ball, will my attempt at nail art today turn out to be epically flawless and fabulous and absolutely everything I’ve ever dreamed nail art could be?”

MAGIC 8 BALL: “All signs point to hell naaaaw!”

That particular accent nail combo up top was the result of an epic nail art fail last Sunday.

I’d started out trying to do something involving negative space and jerry-rigged Band-Aid cutouts and… Anyway, it didn’t work out, but it led me to the purple and burgundy combo here, ’cause you know I’m all about that accent nail life. 🙂

After the Band-Aid cutout disaster (long, sad story), I started thinking about creamy purple nails and got this picture in my head of a hand with bright violet nails wrapped around a glass of red wine.

So I dug through my stash and pulled out this vibrant violet shade by Smith & Cult called Check the Rhyme, which I paired with a burgundy called Lo-Fi, also from Smith & Cult.

By the founders of Hard Candy, Smith & Cult is a new line with some really cool colors, packaging and names. They only came out a few months ago. Wear time is OK, like 4-5 days with a base and top coat, so not as sturdy as OPI, but good enough if you like to swap out your polish every few days. The bottles are kind of expensive though at $18 each, but I like a lot of their colors.

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What a Difference a Nude Lip Makes…

January 19th, 2015 by Karen 35 Comments

From the left: Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick in Melted Sugar ($21), Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tint in Glitzy ($24), MAC Toledo Lipglass in Oxblood ($16.50), Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Ethereal Pink ($16) and Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick in Melted Frosting ($21)

Wearable purple eyeshadow.

Wait, what…?

Hear me out. I think it’s entirely possible to make purple eyeshadow wearable, even bold purple eyeshadow, if you keep everything else in your look toned down.

Here I’m wearing the same purple eye look I wore earlier, but this time paired with different nude lips.

I’m also not wearing a lot of color on my cheeks, which I think makes the whole effect less fashion-y.

There are countless varieties of nude lippies out there, and many of them are not boring.

To make a bold eye look like this one more wearable, you could pair it with a sheer pinkish peach nude lipstick or gloss…

Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Ethereal Pink

Or, you could do a deeper sort of brownish nude with a little sparkle…

Or, if you’re feeling wildly adventurous (or, in my case, out of your mind, because it’s the end of the day and you’re tired), you could do a pale opaque nude…

Too Faced Melted Liquidfied Liquid Lipstick in Melted Sugar

Too Faced Melted Liquidfied Liquid Lipstick in Melted Frosting

Nude lips can really make a bold eye look more wearable, and with so many gorgeous nudes out there, the possibilities are endless. 🙂

Incidentally, all of these shades are new for spring and listed here…

Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick in Melted Sugar ($21)
Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tint in Glitzy ($24)
MAC Toledo Lipglass in Oxblood ($16.50; coming soon)
Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Ethereal Pink ($16)
Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick in Melted Frosting ($21)

A Look With Vivacious Violet Eyes and Righteous Red, Glossy Lips Using the New MAC Toledo Collection

January 19th, 2015 by Karen 74 Comments

Wearing the MAC Toledo Violetwink Palette on my eyes, Blush Ombre in Ripe Peach on my cheeks and the Lipstick and Lipglass in Opera on my lips — Wearing the MAC Toledo collection Violetwink Palette on my eyes, Blush Ombre in Ripe Peach on my cheeks and the Lipstick and Lipglass in Opera on my lips

Vivacious violet eyes and righteous red, glossy lips today because, ya know, it’s Monday. Why not? 🙂

This is the flashiest look I’ve flaunted in a while! I’ve been kind of stuck in a neutral eye/nude lip rut, so this is my makeup version of Stella getting her groove back, except instead of me working it out on a tropical island with a hot, young thang, I’m working purple eyeshadow, red gloss and red lipstick…

I’m wearing stuff from the new MAC Toledo collection.

Toledo as in the fashion designers, Isabel and Ruben — not “holy Toledo!” or Toledo, Ohio, in case you were wondering.

MAC is so educational!

Honestly, I hadn’t heard of them before…but I’m also not hip at all, so there’s that.

The eye-catching 31-piece collection comes out next month with limited edition white, black and red packaging.

Wearing the MAC Toledo Violetwink Palette on my eyes, Blush Ombre in Ripe Peach on my cheeks and Lipstick and Lipglass in Opera on my Lips — That’s Pearlglide Intense in Designer Purple along my lower lash lines, also from the collection

I’m most interested in the three six-pan palettes, like the purple one I’m wearing here (there’s also one with green and olive shades, complete with baby-poo green eyeshadow, and I’m so not kidding about that; and another palette that’s blue).

Oh! — and there’s also a lot of red for lips. When I was looking at the packaging this morning, I thought, “Yeah, let’s do red. And purple. Why the heck not?”

The thing is, with bold eye and lip looks like these, I’m trying to strike a delicate balance between dramatic and cra-za-zy. To that end, I follow some basic guidelines…

The first is to chillax on the brows, son, because with a bright purple eye and glossy red lips, there’s already a lot going on, and full, bushy or blocky brows would just be one more thing competing for attention.

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