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

Is Rosy Beige Nude Milani Lipstick in Enchanted Topaz a Gem?

September 18th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

I am captivated by the thought of an enchanted topaz — this Enchanted Topaz, Milani’s new $6.49 matte nude lipstick for fall because, hello, I’m the girl with five or six nude lippies in her purse at any given time. 🙂

I like how this rosy beige nude looks on my lips, especially when I wear it with a dramatic smokey eye, but I have a hard time with the texture… A dry, powdery matte, it’s unforgiving on any flaky areas of my lips (not a problem if I apply a layer of moisturizing gloss on top).

Topaz is one of three matte lipsticks in the new Milani fall Bedazzled collection. There’s also a purple shade called Enchanted Amethyst and a deep wine called Enchanted Ruby, and all of them are available now for a limited time at CVS and Walgreens stores.

Play Up Your Cheekbones With Topshop Glow Stick in Play Up

September 18th, 2014 by Karen 6 Comments

There’s a delicate quality to Topshop’s Glow Stick in Play Up ($15) that speaks to the part of me that loves a soft, subtle highlight.

Then there’s another part of me that instantly pictures a sea of sweaty people with glow sticks bouncing up and down in rhythm to a heavy bass beat in a secluded warehouse, but I digress…

Play Up might be too nuanced for you if you like your shimmer to shout from the rooftops (if that’s the case, might I suggest Aura over at Urban Decay?), but I’m digging its golden champagne sheen, which reminds me a little of Hourglass Ambient Powder in Luminous Light.

If you’d like to play up your upper cheekbones with Play Up, make a play date to visit your nearby Topshop store, Nordstrom, or check it out online.

For Long, Lush, Lifted Lashes, Try the Funky Brush: New Lancome Grandiose Mascara

September 18th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Yo, is Cyberdyne Systems engineering mascaras now? Because everything about Lancome’s new Grandiose Mascara ($32, available in one shade, Noir) says, “BEHOLD! I am from the future, primitive bipedal creature, and I am here to rewrite mascara history as we know it! I mean…as you know it, because I already know it, of course, so I’m referring to you. As YOU know it… That’s what I meant to say. Oh, never mind!”

The wonderfully weird curved neck and tapered tube, the black rose silhouetted on the side — it’s as if an advanced artificial intelligence developed what we humans were too daft to figure out.

It’s all very sci-fi, if you ask me. 🙂

The purpose of this mascara’s programming is pretty obvs. The funky brush. Lancome says they spent three years developing a brush that could grab every last lash — even the hard-to-reach buggers that hide in the inner and outer corners — and coupling it with a formula for a dramatic, fanned lash look with lots of length, volume and curl.

Inside the box, there’s even a fairly detailed schematic demonstrating wand positions and brush flips, which may or may not leave you feeling as though you’re about to attempt brain surgery (or build a cabinet from Ikea).

Lancome Grandiose Mascara instructions — Umm…

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These L’Oreal Glossy Balms Are Ideal for Lazy Sunday Afternoons Filled With French Fries and Vanilla Shakes

September 18th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Dear Karl Lagerfeld,

Look, I get it. I do. I totally understand why you feel so strongly about sweatpants. I feel the same way about wearing pajamas in public.

When I grew up, pajamas were strictly for use at home, and I still hold on to that belief. No one should have to see a grown man wearing red plaid pajamas on a Tuesday afternoon at the mall. I mean, really? You couldn’t spare 10 seconds to put on jeans? Please…

Sweatpants, however, I don’t know… I really love some of mine, and they’re not all bad, Karl. I have a killer pair by Zella that does great things for my bum. Makes me look like I spend all day doing squats with J. Lo and cutting carbs.

Plus, I wouldn’t know what else I’d wear with my L’Oreal Colour Riche Glossy Balms.

Loreal Gloss Balm from the left: Pink Me Up, My Babydoll, Lovely Mocha and Petite Plum — From the left: Pink Me Up, My Babydoll, Lovely Mocha and Petite Plum

Come on, Karl, don’t act like you’re too good for the drugstore. *Snaps in a Z formation.* I’m telling you, I really think you’d like these balms. They have as much pigment as any of the other lippies in my makeup bag and an elegant, soft shine worthy of the House of Chanel.

Loreal Gloss Balm packaging — Cute type!

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What Are Your Favorite Everyday Accessories?

September 18th, 2014 by Karen 20 Comments

Kate Spade One in a Million Initial Pendant Necklace (1) — Kate Spade One in a Million Initial Pendant Necklace

The everyday accessories — the necklaces, bracelets, shoes, rings, purses, hair pins, glasses, hats or what have you — that you wear on the daily.

My shoes and purse situations are ever-changing, and to a large degree it depends on what I’m doing on any given day, but for jewelry, there are a few particular pieces I wear all the time.

Those are my wedding and engagement rings, a pair of square gumdrop studs by Kate Spade (Only $38! I love the heck out of these.) and the Kate Spade One in a Million Initial Pendant Necklace in the pic at the top.

There’s also an Anne Klein watch that my brother and his sweetheart got me for my last birthday that sees a lot of action…

All together, these are the things that regularly satisfy my bling monster. 🙂

How about you? What are your favorite everyday accessories?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Of course there’s also my iPhone (in a basic black, boring case that gives me some extra battery life), which I’m never without for long.

Never Forget You Are Loved

September 17th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

Just a gentle reminder in case you needed one. 🙂

I saw this piece of canvas wall art for $14.99 at TJ Maxx last weekend and couldn’t resist. I’m going to hang it in my kitchen so El Hub and Tabs (and any other poor soul who’s subject to my questionable cooking) can see it when they pass through.

I feel like the kitchen is the center, the heart of our house, so it belongs there.

Flower Beauty’s Double Take Eye Marker and Creme Eyeshadows in Poolside Kiss and Lovely Lilac

September 17th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

Flower Beauty Double Take Eye Marker and Creme Eyeshadows in Poolside Kiss and Lovely Lilac

Is it makeup or a marker?

Or a little bit of both?

[INSERT CARTOONY DOUBLE TAKE HERE]

These Double Take Eye Marker and Creme Eyeshadows ($9.98 each) by cruelty-free drugstore brand Flower Beauty are dual-ended eyeshadow/liner pens, and since I have a thing for makeup that looks like something you’d find in a steno store, I wanted to give ’em a try.

They’re $9.99 each and have a cream shadow with a doe-foot applicator on one side and a liquid liner with a chunky-monkey felt tip on the other.

I’ve started using these for hurry-up-and-go eye makeup. I swipe a small amount of the cream shadow on bare lids with the doe foot, and mellow out the edges with a finger. Then I line my upper lash lines with the marker.

Since the shadows are super sheer, they don’t require much blending.

Oh, and FYI — the shadows seem to dry out quickly, so don’t forget to close them good and tight (might also want to keep your receipt, just in case).

Poolside Kiss has a sheer mossy green eyeshadow on one end and a jet black liner on the other. Lovely Lilac has the same black liner, but pairs it with a purply taupe shadow on the other end.

There’s also an additional shade not shown here called Steel a Kiss (love that name), a dark purple, which you can check out at Walmart stores and online.

The Urban Decay Black Magic 24/7 Glide-On Double Ended Eye Pencil Set: Urban Decay Sacrificed Newness To Create This Magical Binding

September 17th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

Of the many valuable lessons I’ve learned watching Game of Thrones, including 1) that dragons can’t really be tamed, 2) always bring a weapon to a wedding, and 3) stay away from places called King’s Landing, the most valuable lesson by far has been this: just say no to blood magic.

Because it never turns out right! I just think as a general policy, it’s wise to avoid it.

Thanks for the sage advice, George R.R. Martin. 🙂

While we’re at it, it’s probably also a good idea to avoid black magic. I mean, I may have been expelled from Hogwarts after one semester (my parents were so bummed!), but even I know that.

Urban Decay Black Magic Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set Packaging with a MAC Lipglass for scale — Beside a MAC Lipglass for scale…

Of course, black magic as it pertains to makeup? — that’s a different story. By all means, feel free to allow Urban Decay’s new pigmented, silky smooth Black Magic 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set ($39) to cast its spell on yo’ lash lines.

This captivating kit comes with four dual-ended pencil liners. Each one comes with one of UD’s signature black liners (black cream Zero, smokey black Black Velvet, charcoal satiny black Black Market or blackest black matte Perversion) on one end and a different intense, colorful shade (deep brown matte Demolition, deep gray matte Smoke, dark eggplant Tornado or bright turquoise LSD) on the other.

This time, there are no new shades up in the mix. Zero, Black Velvet, Perversion, Demolition, Smoke and LSD are re-promotes from the permanent line, while Black Market and Tornado are re-promotes that previously appeared in other sets.

Urban Decay Black Magic swatches from the left: Zero, Black Velvet, Black Market and Perversion — Swatches from the left: Zero, Black Velvet, Black Market and Perversion

Urban Decay Black Magic swatches from the left: Demolition, Smoke, Tornado and LSD — Demolition, Smoke, Tornado and LSD

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