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

For an Untamed Fringe, Try These Eyelure Texture No. 117 False Lashes

December 3rd, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Eyelure Texure 117 — The Eyelure Texture No. 117 false eyelashes

The mac dad will make ya jump, jump!
The daddy mac will make ya jump, jump!
Kris Kross will make ya jump, jump!

Now you’ve got that song stuck in your head, haha!

My work here is done. 🙂

OK, not really… First we have to talk about lashes. False lashes, to be specific.

I like the messy criss-cross action of Eyelure’s Texture No. 117s ($3.99 a pair). The lashes are bundled up into little…bundles (?) that sort of overlap each other to create a wild, untamed criss-cross pattern, for an informal lash look with lots of bulk and a gentle lift at the outer corners.

They come with their own pre-made (heavy, uncomfortable) glue strips, but I skip them and use plain ol’ lash glue instead.

Regularly $4.99 a pair, they’re on sale now at Ulta for $3.99, which I think is a dang good deal for lashes this good.

Eyelures also tend to hold up pretty well. I can usually reuse them at least a few times, as long as I’m careful when I peel them off.

Can I haz this tee??

El Hub makes fun of me all the time for that saying, “I can’t.” I use it when I hit my limit and need a break from something, like when I’m marathoning a show on TV. I’ll say, “I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t. I can’t.” It’s one of my catchphrases. 🙂

So I may have to break my “no more shopping in the juniors section” rule for this shirt by Ten Sixty Sherman ($24) at Nordstrom.

Gah! And I might also need that plaid scarf (the BP Heritage Plaid Square, $24).

I’m a sucker for a cute plaid print.

Oh, Hello, Cutie! The Hello Kitty “The Red Bow Beauty Diaries” Holiday Set Is a Hello Kitty Fangirl’s Dream

December 3rd, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

Dear Diary,

I have a confession to make…

I don’t know if the limited edition $25 Hello Kitty “Red Bow Beauty Diaries” holiday kit was made for kids or grownups.

But, uh, I don’t really care.

Is that wrong…?

I love this damned thing! And I don’t give a crap if I’m wearing the same makeup that little Susie is rocking to Brianna’s ninth birthday sleepover because — and here’s the kicker — there’s a bonafide letter from Hello Kitty inside the set!

Yeah, the actual kitty HERSELF.

For real though, I get the feels every time I read it, and I actually think it was written directly to me — Karen from Union City, California.

Or not.

Diary, I think this set was made special for people who grew up loving Hello Kitty, because, truth be told, the makeup isn’t great. I’d say it’s just a step up from the pieces in a little girl’s toy makeup set.

While pigmented, the glitter liners rub off easily, and the lipsticks, gloss and cream eyeshadows are woefully sheer.

As for the pink hair mascara, it feels smooth when I put it on but turns crusty when it dries.

Weird.

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Matte Madness: MAC Matte Lipstick in Fashion Revival

December 2nd, 2014 by Karen 30 Comments

Items on my Recently Revived Pieces of ’90s Fashion list that make me kind of cranky…

Clunky Timberland boots (to their credit, I remember them being quite warm and good at keeping my feet dry on rainy days)
Plastic choker necklaces (no explanation needed)
Floral slip dresses (when worn with white baby tees)
Overalls (when worn with one strap up and one strap down)

As you’ll notice, matte lips are not on the list. 🙂

That’s because I’m so feelin’ ’em, dawg!

But the flakes on my lips aren’t…which is why I’ve been rolling with Hourglass No. 28 Lip Treatment Oil lately (note to self: this hella hydrating lip balm totally deserves to be an unsung hero).

So, MAC Fashion Revival Lipstick — is there anything it doesn’t go with? I honestly don’t know.

I love pairing this deep, rich matte raspberry (it’s $16) with warm golds and coppers on my eyes, but it really seems to work with just about everything.

It’s only available for a couple more days until December 4 here in North America, so if you’re interested, better jump!

Available through December 4 at MAC counters, stores and also online.

MAC Matte Lipstick in Fashion Revival — Wearing Fashion Revival on my lips

On a wholly unrelated topic…

Monogrammed Christmas Stockings from Target, $13 each — These monogrammed Christmas stockings from Target ($13 each)

Tabs insisted on helping with the Christmas decorating this year, but in exchange for his listless, halfhearted help, he demanded that I get him a monogrammed stocking.

It’s Pottery Barn’s fault… He paws through their catalogue at night and dog-ears the pages with holiday looks and room arrangements he wants to recreate in “his” living space (also known as the house).

Anywho, I’ve been looking for ways to get similar holiday looks for less and found these cute monogrammed stockings at Target. They’re $13 each, and I think they’re available in every letter of the alphabet, including “T” for Tabs.

Conveniently, the green for “T” also matches his eyes. 🙂

Um…yeah, that was a very crazy cat lady thing to say, but since I went there already, does your pet have a stocking? Inquiring minds want to know.

The Matte Madness series features some of my favorite matte products as of late

The Clinique Nutcracker Suite Act I Three-Piece Holiday Collection Is Totally En Pointe

December 2nd, 2014 by Karen 33 Comments

Even though the pink and glitter in The Nutcracker Suite, Clinique’s new ballet-inspired holiday collection, are totally en pointe, they will not help you pirouette your way to ballet greatness.

Clinique Nutcracker Act 1 — Wearing the Eye and Cheek Compact, Chubby Stick Baby Tint and Blended Face Powder from the Clinique Nutcracker Act I, part of The Nutcracker Suite holiday collection

But I can see why you might think they should…

After all, it does make a certain kind of sense to think that since your makeup looks like a ballerina’s from The Nutcracker, you should probably be able to dance like one, too, and then you bust out some pliés on your creaky knees and scowl at your ballet teacher when she says something snarky about your butt sticking out too far!

Er, well…maybe that’s just me and my childhood dance trauma.

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Topshop Highlighter in Horizon: Available Now at Topshop Stores, Online, and Wherever the Curvature of the Earth Makes Distant Objects Appear to Fall Out of Sight…

December 2nd, 2014 by Karen 35 Comments

Say hello to the dawn of an epic glow as far as the eye can see! — a glow that spans the great expanse of non-glowing-ness from here to eternity. Or the horizon, whichever comes first.

Topshop’s shimmery, bronzy powder highlighter in Horizon ($16) has a mirror-like shine that likes to belt bold tunes in the spotlight, not whisper quietly in the wings… It’s like Celine Dion, except instead of wanting to command the stage, it wants to out-diva whatever else you might be wearing on your cheeks.

And you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to find it (Get it? Horizon? Sorry…), because it’s available now at Topshop stores and online. 🙂

P.S. Happy Tuesday! It hasn’t stopped raining here in two days… And that’s actually not a terrible thing, although Tabs is none too pleased about it.

Matte Madness: MAC Nouvelle Vogue Matte Lipstick

December 1st, 2014 by Karen 34 Comments

Wearing MAC Nouvelle Vogue Matte Lipstick ($16)

There’s something so playful and happy about MAC’s bluish pink Nouvelle Vogue Matte Lipstick. 🙂

It’s one of those pinks that doesn’t take itself too seriously, ya know? Not like those other pinks that are all, “We are sooo fancy. Look at how fancy we are.”

If you’re a MAC Satin Taupe eyeshadow fan, get Nouvelle Vogue in yo’ life ASAP! The two of them make lovely music together.

Don’t expect Nouvelle Vogue to stick around much longer. It’s set to bid adieu December 4. Until then, it’s available at MAC counters, stores and online.

The Matte Madness series features some of my favorite matte products as of late

So Sweet, You’ll Want to Keep These Treats for Yourself: The Fresh Sugar Holiday Sets

December 1st, 2014 by Karen 31 Comments

“Sugar, above all else!”

If I were to leave my mark and carve my mantra above a doorway with a blunt object and my bare hands, that would be it, because as far as I’m concerned, sugar dominates — sugar kills it, bro! — over the salty, the sour and everything else.

Since I’m a girl who can devour a pecan pie all by herself in less that 48 hours (hey, at least when I ate those two slices for breakfast, I had the “restraint” to skip the whipped cream), I’m all about the sweet stuff, and that includes these sugar-themed holiday sets by Fresh, a brand I’ve been kind of obsessed with lately (I totally blame it all on their Black Tea Toner and Fresh Life fragrance, which will forever be my Fresh gateway items).

This year the brand has several sugar-themed holiday sets for the pecan pie-eating, doughnut-print-loving sweet tooth in yo’ life.

Fresh Sugar Legends set ($55, a $79 value)

The tints in this seven-piece set are sheer enough to quality as “easy to wear” but colorful enough to stand on their own, which should make them a good gift option for just about anyone with a pronounced sweet tooth…because they’re also sugary scented and flavored. One taste and you’ll be smackin’ your lips for more…MORE!

Fresh Sugar Legends Set — One for every day of the week

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 349

December 1st, 2014 by Karen 43 Comments

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll for December 1, 2014

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’s one keepsake you absolutely treasure?
I have this groovy dress that my mom used to wear back in the ’70s. It’s an a-line mini in a beige lace material with an oversized ’70s-style collar, pearl buttons and sheer sleeves.

She gave it to me when I was in high school, and I’ve kept it with me all these years, through 10+ moves.

I’m not normally very sentimental about my clothes, like it’s easy for me to say goodbye to clothes and pass them along to others to love, but I love this dress. My mom designed it for herself and took the design to a seamstress to have it made when she still lived in the Philippines.

I can see her now, my mom, a newly married young woman in the ’70s, tooling about town in her groovy mini dress. Maybe in some wedge heels! 🙂

Who’s the most generous person you know?
El Hub. That man would give you the shirt off his back, even if it meant he would freeze to death.

We’re having PB&J sandwiches for lunch! What kind of jelly would you like?
Raspberry for me! — or strawberry, if we’re out of raspberry, and if we don’t have either one, marmalade will do.

Just please, no grape jelly. I’m NOT feelin’ that with my PB&J.

Which would you rather do — spend an afternoon putting together a complicated piece of Ikea furniture with 500 screws, or spend an afternoon cleaning out boxes in a dirty, dusty garage filled with cobwebs, spiders and lizards?
Uh…both sound pretty miserable to me, but I guess cleaning out the garage? It would be dirtier, yes, but less mentally taxing.

Something you feel passionate about?
Writing about makeup (obvs), and talking about it, and wearing it, and shopping for it, and taking pictures of it. After almost eight years of talking about makeup on a daily basis, I still enjoy it.

I’m also passionate about adopting strays and shelter animals. Every one of the animals I’ve been lucky enough to assist over the years has been a former stray.

There are so many great cats and dogs out there waiting to be loved!

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

1. What’s one keepsake you absolutely treasure?
2. Who’s the most generous person you know?
3. We’re having PB&J sandwiches for lunch. What kind of jelly would you like?
4. Which would you rather do — spend an afternoon putting together a piece of complicated Ikea furniture with 500 screws, or spend an afternoon cleaning out boxes in a dirty, dusty garage filled with cobwebs, spiders and lizards?
5. Something you’re passionate about?

December…

I KNOW! It’s like it silently moonwalked into the room when I was looking the other way.

Have you put your tree up yet? I did go to Target last weekend and got some new ornaments, stockings and lights, but no tree yet. Hopefully, tonight or tomorrow. That’s what we’ve been talking about.

The new Christmas tree balls I got are allegedly shatter-resistant, but we’ll see about that… Tabs is the ultimate durability test.

He always swats at the ornaments and also LOVES to drink water from the tree stand, even though he knows it’s strictly forbidden.

Cats…

Have a good one today, whatever you’re up to. Try to stay warm out there!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen