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

Murad Transforming Powder Dual-Action Cleanser and Exfoliator

September 23rd, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

Murad Transforming Powder Dual-Action Cleanser and Exfoliator

There’s something so dang satisfying about exfoliating, especially in the morning. I’m all, “Hey, pores! Take that!”

Sometimes I play as if all of the dead skin cells are being Swiffered away…

I wonder if I am alone in this. 🙂

Lately I’ve been using this new exfoliating product with salicylic acid (which my skin lurves) by Murad called Transforming Powder Dual-Action Cleanser & Exfoliator ($30 for a 0.5-oz. bottle). It’s made for acne-prone skin like mine.

You dispense a small amount of the powder (yup, powder) into your palm, add water, work that into a lather, and then massage it all over your face and neck.

The bottle has a special stopper at the top to regulate how much comes out, so no worries about accidentally pouring out half of the bottle at one time (something I would otherwise almost certainly have done).

According to Murad, water activates bio-enzymes in the powder that digest oil, dirt and dead skin cells, while dissolving beads then smooth and soften the skin.

Wait — did she just say that it digests oil, dirt and dead skin cells?

Yes, she did.

Eww…

But it works!

The exfoliation is slightly more aggressive than the AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel I usually use, but I wouldn’t call it scratchy or irritating, by any means. It’s still pretty gentle.

A couple of rand-o pimples popped up near my hairline last week, and Dual-Action Cleanser & Exfoliator seems to be helping.

It’s available now for $30 online, and at Sephora and Ulta.

Tabby of the Catnip Forest

September 23rd, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Tabs loves his catnip plants.

He nibbles on them, pounces in and around them, swats at them and, on occasion, likes to model with them.

Public Nakedness Epidemic Continues With the New $65 Bobbi Brown Nude on Nude Palette

September 23rd, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

NOVATO, California — Police, weary after years of higher than normal public nakedness, are bracing for another surge. Tabs the cat, kitty supermodel and current Makeup and Beauty Blog mascot, feels that it’s Urban Decay’s fault.

“Meow!” says Tabs.

Whatever the cause, all signs point to even more public nudity, and the trend shows no sign of stopping. In fact, a new palette by Bobbi Brown could make things worse.

“Mrow!” says Tabs of the new Nude on Nude Palette.

The $65 palette comes with 12 powder eyeshadows in a mix of neutral mattes, shimmers (metallics) and glitters (sparkles).

The palette contains…

5 x 0.05 oz. matte eyeshadows in Ivory, Naked, Birch, Truffle and Espresso

4 x 0.05 oz. metallic eyeshadows in Golden Pink, Bare, Smoky Topaz and Golden Bronze

3 x 0.06 oz. sparkle eyeshadows in Chiffon, Graphite and Gold

While many makeup lovers still appear hungry for more neutral eye makeup palettes, some are ready for a change. “I love me some practical browns and beiges,” says one woman, speaking on condition of anonymity, “but I wouldn’t mind if something fresh and new came along to blow my high ponytail back, ya know?”

“Meow!” says Tabs, and police agree.
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New From BECCA: The Ombre Nudes Eye Palette and Shimmering Skin Perfector in Rose Gold

September 23rd, 2014 by Karen 33 Comments

BECCA Ombre Nudes Eye Palette — What’s new from BECCA cosmetics?

And a good time was had by all.

Well, all except for El Hub, who hovered outside the Sephora store for half an hour today while I picked up some things I needed/wanted (something from Kate Somerville and a NARS concealer).

“I’ll be quick, I swear!” I told him, and he rolled his eyes. He had his phone, though, so at least he had something with which to occupy himself.

Every once in a while I glanced out the window to check on him. Twice he pointed at an imaginary watch on his wrist to remind me that more than 10 minutes had passed, haha!

Poor guy… 🙂

Seriously, someone needs to invent a comfortable folding chair for significant others that’ll fit in a purse. Then when I need to go to Sephora, I could just whip it out for El Hub. That, plus his phone to play with, and he’d be set for a while.

Oh, well. Until then, the “I’ll be quick, I swear!” routine will have to do.

I really would have been 10 minutes today, but I got distracted by some new things from BECCA, namely a beige and brown matte eyeshadow palette and a rose gold highlighter.

The BECCA Ombre Nudes Eye Palette ($40)

“What’s up, matte?” The BECCA Ombre Nudes Eye Palette ($40) comes with all your basic matte beiges, tans and browns and a formula that feels soft and silky.

The downy powders remind me a little of Urban Decay’s matte eyeshadows, and I like the color temps. None of them are too warm or cool, so I have a feeling they’ll work well for a lot of different skin tones.

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Dastardly Dilemmas: You Can Only Have One Makeup Brush for the Rest of Your Life. Which Brush Is It?

September 23rd, 2014 by Karen 29 Comments

Good grief, this one was hard! I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s bordering on cruel.

I use so many different brushes, and I can think of good reasons to use each and every one of them, too, like, could you even imagine having to do your eye makeup without an angled brush?

Well, I’m sure you can imagine it because you’ve probably done it before, but doesn’t an angled brush make it easier? I use them for so much of my eye makeup heavy lifting, like tightlining, filling in my brows and creating the little flicks at the end of my cat liner.

Straight up, without an angled brush, my makeup life would be a colder, harder, more desolate place. Picture rocky, storm-battered canyons with me huddled on an empty plateau under angry clouds shouting “WHY?!” at the sky as thunder roared and black mascara streaked down my face.

Yeah, bad place.

Buuut, since we’re doing this anyway, let’s see… 🙂

If I were forced to pare down to just one brush (GOOD LORD!), I guess it would be something versatile, like a domed blending brush. Like the MAC 217. I use mine to…

Apply cream shadows on my lids
Buff and blend out any edges
Sweep color into the crease
Dust highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones
Apply and blend under-eye concealer
Pat loose and pressed powders on my face and cheeks

And I’m sure (I’d hope) as time went on I’d discover more ways to use it and more makeup hacks, like maybe bundling a bunch of them together like sticks with a rubber band and using that as a powder or bronzing brush.

OK…I dunno about that one, LOL!

Dastardly dilemmas: You can only have one makeup brush for the rest of your life. Which brush is it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

$9.99 L’Oreal Paris Colour Riche Eyeshadow in Emerald Conquest Could Make an Army of Neutral Eyeshadows Surrender

September 22nd, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Sometimes I feel like I’m being held hostage by practical neutral eyeshadows. I fall into these long-term relationships with wearable browns, beiges and golds and don’t even realize when I’ve been wearing them on the daily for weeks until something, or someone, like my favorite checker at Target who always notices my makeup as she rings up my bottles of Vitamin Water Zero (Glow is my favorite!), points it out.

Life is way too short to wear beige 24×7, so my makeup goal for the week is to wear at least one look with L’Oreal’s Paris Riche Eyeshadow in Emerald Conquest ($9.99), a quad of super creamy, super pigmented powder eyeshadows.

So pretty, right?! I can’t wait to get that teal, deep blue and glitter up in my mix, perhaps with something like this glittery teal eye makeup look on makeup artist Troy Jensen’s Instagram.

Then I’ll go to Target to buy candy corn because, based on the decorations I’ve already seen in the store, Halloween apparently starts in September now (that’s crazypants).

Emerald Conquest and the other Colour Riche Eyeshadow Palettes (there are eight of them in all) are available now at drugstores, Ulta stores and online for $9.99 each.

I’d Like to Make a Toast to Topshop’s $10 Deep Bordeaux Lip Bullet in Wine Gum

September 22nd, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

AAAH! Finally. A matte lipstick that doesn’t leave my lips feeling like I just finished the Iron Man Triathlon. I’ve been looking for an affordable deep bordeaux shade with a matte finish to wear with my button-up plaid shirts and vintage plastic choker necklaces from the ’90s (you know I’m kidding about the necklaces, right?!), and Topshop’s $10 Lip Bullet in Wine Gum is filling my heart-shaped box to the brim.

Three things: one, I like this product’s name. Wine Gum. That’s just neat to me. 🙂

Second, I like the way Wine Gum feels and works. The moisturizing, super pigmented formula (unscented and unflavored) starts off with a hint of shine, then dries down to a flat matte before eventually transitioning into a matte stain.

Third, I like the price. It’s only $10.

Oh, and I also think the crayon packaging is hella cute.

If you aren’t able to find Wine Gum online, check Topshop or Nordstrom, if you’re so inclined. Topshop also has these Lip Bullets in other colors, too, like fun oranges and reds, and I have spotted those shades available online at nordstrom.com for $10.

Comment to Win a $75 Walgreens Gift Card and a Crest Sensi-Stop Strips Prize Package

September 22nd, 2014 by Karen 188 Comments

Congratulations, Celia! 🙂 You’re the winner for your comment, “I think I’m probably the only person in the world who loves those peanut butter taffy candies they give out on halloween. The Necco ones. They’re almost like church lady candies, but I cannot get enough. I mention this because I am addicted to all things sweet and I’m pretty sure my teeth are just gonna peace-out one of these days. I have really good dental hygiene but there’s a tiny voice in my head (maybe my mouth?) pleading for me to take it easy on the sugar- it is unfortunately drowned out by all the happy ‘nom nom’ noises.”

Me-OWCH! The only things more painful than catching a kitty claw in the corner of your cuticles or having to hear about Ryan and Eva’s “alleged” baby (until actual DNA evidence comes to light, I refuse to believe it’s true) are my sensitive teeth.

Sensitive teeth: I haz them. Having anything cold touch my back teeth (particularly the back teeth on my upper left) is about as much fun as losing a beloved brow pencil on vacation.

In other words, not fun at all.

How can Crest Sensi-Stop Strips help?

Because you know I’m not about to give up my Three Twins ice cream, I use a number of accoutrements to keep my cold-sensitive chompers in check, including a toothpaste and mouthwash made for sensitive teeth.

I also started using these new Sensi-Stop Strips by Crest…

They’re thin, flexible strips that you apply directly to your sensitive teeth for a targeted, fast-acting desensitizing treatment. All you do is peel one of the strips, and stick it on the outside of your sensitive teeth, right where the teeth meet your gums, for 10 minutes. (The strips are so thin that you almost can’t even feel them.)

Then, after removing the strip, wait 30 minutes before eating, drinking, rinsing or brushing.

Using a strip like this, versus a toothpaste or a mouthwash for sensitive teeth, keeps the key desensitizing ingredients in contact with the surface of the tooth longer, which builds a lasting barrier and relieves the symptoms of dental sensitivity for up to 30 days.

It also works almost instantly! None of that having to wait days for relief.

Using the strips, which work shockingly fast (I’m talking within 30 minutes, versus the toothpaste, which can take up to a week for me), my teeth don’t freak out as much when I have cold drinks and ice cream.

Good news for my ice cream habit! Bad news for my muffin top…

September 27: The Walgreens Saturdate with Crest Sensi

Speaking of ice cream, Walgreens carries it! 🙂 But seriously, if you have sensitive teeth or know someone who does, stop by your local Walgreens store on Saturday, September 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for Crest coupons and free samples of Crest Sensi toothpaste, and pick up a box of these awesome Crest Sensi-Stop Strips ($17.99) while you’re there.

And now, it’s giveaway time!

Question: Does one have to suffer from sensitive teeth to enter and win this week’s Crest giveaway?

Answer: one does not.

But if one does, they’ll probably be extra stoked about the prize. 🙂

I’ve partnered with Crest and Walgreens on a prize pack worth more than $100. One lucky winner will receive…
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