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

What Are You Wearing on Your Nails?

November 20th, 2014 by Karen 29 Comments

Smith & Cult Tenderoni — Smith & Cult Nail Lacquer in Tenderoni ($18)

I’m almost ashamed to admit this (but apparently not ashamed enough to keep it to myself): when I was 15, I was obsessed with Bobby Brown.

Not the makeup maven (Bobbi), but the R&B one (Bobby), as in the former member of New Edition/ex-husband of Whitney (RIP, Whit).

I knew all the choreography in the Every Little Step video, had a picture of him on the front of my geometry folder (he was wearing a shiny gold and purple suit, wha?!) and, on more than one occasion, slow danced to Roni, Bobby’s ode to cute girls looking for love in all the wrong places.

I also may or may not have thought of myself as a Tenderoni.

Um, barf!

I do have a point with all this, and here it is: when I saw that this creamy taupe nail lacquer by Smith & Cult was called Tenderoni, something in me clicked. I had to get it on my paws!

Smith & Cult is a new nail line by Dineh Mohajer, the founder of Hard Candy, and they get my vote for “Most Clever Nail Polish Names, Ever” (like Dirty Baby, Cut the Mullet, Bitter Buddhist, and Feed the Rich). Each of the 30 shades in the line is inspired by different key life moments…and apparently this one relates to when I was 15 and had designs on marrying Bobby Brown, LOL! Ew…

Well, at least I can look back at that clueless but lovable Karen and laugh my @ss off now. Yup, nothing but mad love for that girl. 🙂

Smith & Cult Check the Rhyme — Check the Rhyme ($18)

So, of course, with this mani I had to do an accent nail. The creamy purple is Check the Rhyme, also by Smith & Cult.

With both shades, I’m wearing two layers and a base coat.

Smith & Cult Nail Lacquers are $18 each, and if you’re curious (and how could you not be? That packaging is killer!), you can check out the full collection online now.

Let those fingers do the typing, and let me know what you’re currently wearing on your nails. Bonus points if you also happen to have an embarrassing story from your teenage years. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Just Add a Festive Ribbon or Bow to These Topshop 2014 Holiday Kits, and You Have a Perfect Gift

November 19th, 2014 by Karen 8 Comments

Topshop Holiday 2014 — It’s a Topshop holiday party, *haaay!*

OK, so maybe orange and black aren’t the first two colors that pop into my mind when I think of the holidays (with the exception of that scary one with all the candy)…

But so what? These new Topshop holiday kits are bringin’ the cute! 🙂

Slap a Christmassy ribbon on one of these bad boys, and boom! — hello, stylish present.

Topshop is one of those makeup lines that flies under my radar a lot of the time, but they have some very cute things, and some of those are in these kits.

The Blush and Lip Duo in Innocent and Illicit ($24)

Topshop Blush Lip Duo Set with Lipstick in Innocent and Blush in Illicit — The Topshop Blush Lip Duo Set with Lipstick in Innocent, and Blush in Illicit

Topshop’s blushes are DOPE. They last like Italian marble and look totally natural on cheeks. They’re also why this set caught my eye.

It comes with Illicit, a nude, cool-toned rose cream blush with a dash of micro shimmer. Coincidentally, it was the shade I was wearing today when I went looking for an illicit encounter with my side-cat, Elsa (but I didn’t see her, boo!).

The set also comes with a creamy cool-toned pink lipstick called Innocent, which is super pretty and looks great with black smokey eyes. Sadly, it also seems to like hanging out in my lip lines…

The Mascara and Kohl Kit ($24)

Topshop Mascara and Kohl Kit, $24 — Mascara and Kohl Kit ($24)

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The Sonia Kashuk Holiday 2014 Collection Proves It’s the Golden Age of Luxurious, Affordable Makeup

November 19th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Sonia Kashuk’s Art Deco-inspired holiday 2014 collection might give you ideas…

…ideas like, “Whee! Look at me! I’m a flapper in The Great Gatsby, and I’m doing the Charleston!” Then you start dancing around your office, but you pull an inner thigh muscle when you kick a little higher than you should have, and from that day forward, you rue the day you danced the Charleston in your office without properly stretching beforehand.

The Sonia Kashuk Eye Palette in Deco Starlet ($19.99)

Just an FYI! 🙂

Sonia’s latest limited edition collection does make me want to kick up my heels, it’s true. The seven pieces look totally expensive, but all but one of them are less than $20 each.

Sonia Kashuk Nude Lip Palette in Jazzed Up Nudes — The Nude Lip Palette in Jazzed Up Nudes ($19.99)

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What Are Your 5 Favorite Face Makeup Products Right Now?

November 19th, 2014 by Karen 62 Comments

I really enjoyed seeing your favorite five in yesterday’s eye products post. I saw a ton of great products that have slipped off my radar screen (but need to go back on). Now let’s talk face products today.

For the formal transcript of the official makeup record, I have acne-prone (especially around my chin area, boo) combination dry/oily skin, and these are the top five face products currently rockin’ my boat…

Laura Mercier Flawless Fluide Foundation ($48) — I must sound like a broken record with the way I’m always singing Flawless Fluide’s praises, but dangit I love the stuff! I think it’s one of the best liquid foundations out there meow.
MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance Base Visage ($41) — Currently addicted to this primer: me. I’ve been using it daily.
Smashbox Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Primer ($39) — I like this so much that I bought a backup during the Sephora VIB sale…even though I’m not even halfway finished with my current bottle. 🙂
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette ($58) — When I’m not testing other blushes and can use whatever my heart desires, I grab this palette.
Guerlain Perles d’Etoiles Illuminating Pearls ($60) — Super obsessed with this (said in a singsongy voice)! It gives me that magical holiday Guerlain glow.

Your turn, babe. What are your five favorite face makeup products right now?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day.

Is Kat Von D’s Star Studded Eyeshadow Book a Beauty Bestseller?

November 18th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book — Wearing colors from Kat Von D’s new limited edition Star Studded Eyeshadow Book ($55) on my eyes

The first time I saw Kat Von D’s new $55 Star Studded Eyeshadow Book, all cloaked in black with that star pattern on the outside, I thought, “Ooh! It looks like something Slash would wear on his wedding day.”

Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found 24 uber-organized eyeshadows grouped into efficient color-coordinated quads.

I dunno… Chaos just strikes me as more rock ‘n’ roll, ya know?

Each of the four-color subsections includes a base, lid, crease and accent shade, like something you might find over at a more formal, buttoned-up line like Trish McEvoy, but don’t let that fool you — these shadows still have major rawr.

There’s also a helluva lot more glitter. 🙂

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Step Right Up to the bareMinerals Kissing Booth 6-Piece Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss Collection: A Carnival of Glassy, Sheer Color

November 18th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

bareMinerals Kissing Booth marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Jezebel — bareMinerals Kissing Booth Collection Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Jezebel

Thanks, bareMinerals, for inspiring my latest list with your new $26 Kissing Booth Lipgloss Collection.

I’m calling it “Carnival Attractions That I Absolutely Never Want to Operate.”

At the top of the list, the kissing booth, which, yeah, probably isn’t a good fit for the girl who freaked-the-eff-out when she found out that her (now ex) boyfriend was using her toothbrush (EWWWWWWW!).

Can you imagine the germs exchanged during one afternoon at a kissing booth? Um…no thank you.

Carnival Attractions That I Absolutely Never Want to Operate

The kissing booth — Yuck! I don’t know where those lips have been!

The Ferris wheel — People freaking out in buckets a hundred feet off the ground? I can’t… I just can’t.

The milk bottle baseball game — Oh, hell to the no. How much do you want to bet someone would hit me with a ball?

The carousel/merry-go-round — Make it stop! The music is driving me nuts…

Now, if I could insist that there were only two customers at my kissing booth, El Hub and Tabs (who would get nose kisses, of course), then cool. 🙂 And I’d also want these Kissing Booth Collection glosses around, because their sheer pigments wouldn’t leave bright smooch marks behind.

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What Are Your 5 Favorite Eye Products Right Now?

November 18th, 2014 by Karen 37 Comments

Rise and shine, pal o’ mine! Let’s talk top eye products on this terrific Tuesday…

Here are my five favorite eye products right now. Mind you, the list changes all the time…so this is just a current snapshot.

BECCA Ombre Nudes Eyeshadow Palette ($40) — Really great for easy, blown-out matte neutral eye looks.
Rouge Bunny Rouge Satin Eyeliner in Blue Roan ($28) — Kind of obsessed with this blue liquid liner…
Tom Ford Brow Sculptor in Espresso ($44) — It’s crazy stupid expensive, but I swear, Tom makes the best brow pencil out there now (also available in Blonde, Taupe and Chestnut). Life changing.
MAC Eye Shadow in Woodwinked ($16) — This warm golden oldie is a goodie.
Cle de Peau Perfect Lash Mascara ($50) — So waterproof that it laughed at the perspiration that poured off my face in the 13.1-mile half-marathon, as if to say, “Is that all you got?!” Too expensive, but it’s so, so good…

How about you, sweets? What are your five favorite eye products right now?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

For Acts of Impromptu Eye, Lip and Cheek Nudity: The $54 Urban Decay Naked On the Run Palette

November 17th, 2014 by Karen 58 Comments

I’ve seen naked runners before…although I kind of wish I hadn’t, because one of the guys had the word “slut” tattooed on his butt in American Typewriter, and now I’ll never be able to see American Typewriter the same way, but that’s what happens when you run the Bay to Breakers…

This is only marginally related to the new Naked On the Run palette by Urban Decay. 🙂

UD pretty much covers everything here with the exception of your base makeup and brows. There’s something for eyes, lips, cheeks and lashes, and most of the colors are brand new.

This look here actually didn’t take long at all, and I used five of the six shadows. I’d already put on foundation and filled in my brows, but I sprinted through the eyes, cheeks, lips and lashes.

Wearing Eyeshadows in 5050, Fix, Resist, Dare and Stun; Glide-On Eye Pencil in Stag and Perversion Mascara on my eyes; the Blush and Bronzer on my cheeks; and Naked Lipgloss in Sesson on my lips — Wearing Eyeshadows in 5050, Fix, Resist, Dare and Stun; Glide-On Eye Pencil in Stag and Perversion Mascara on my eyes; the Blush and Bronzer on my cheeks; and Naked Lipgloss in Sesso on my lips

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