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

Pack Less and Do More With a Multitasking Neutral Eyeshadow Quad You Can Also Use as a Highlighter

September 12th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Wearing the $5.97 Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in Brazen on my eyes, and also used as a highlighter on my face. Available now at Walmart stores and walmart.com

As a participant in the Totally Her program, I’ve received product samples and/or compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

To the millions of makeup lovers trapped in cars for long, grueling hours on trips (I feel your pain!), horror is the very thought of forgetting your makeup bag.

But seriously, whether it’s a 14-day late-summer dream vacation or a quick weekend jaunt, chances are you will not be leaving home without your makeup bag.

I’m always looking for ways to lighten mine, to which end multitasking makeup products like these Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quads definitely help.

Available in a dozen color configurations with sturdy, travel-friendly packaging, they’re just $5.97 each at Walmart.

The two I’m using here, 505 Decadent and 520 Brazen, are both conveniently neutral, which means I can do a lot of different looks with them. Plus, they also double as powder highlighters, which saves a few precious cubic inches in my makeup bag.

Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quads in 505 Decadent (left) and 520 Brazen (right), $5.97 each at Walmart

To use them as highlighters, I’ll swipe a finger across one of the lighter shades (and when my neurons are firing and I feel extra creative, I’ll mix two of the light shades together, ooh-la-la!), and sweep that wherever I want more light to catch, which for me usually means blending down the bridge of my nose…

My Cupid’s bow…

My upper cheekbones…

And just above the highest points on Mt. Eyebrows.

The ColorStay formula gives a soft glow to my skin and lasts all day long.

Without highlighter on the left, and with highlighter on the right

Wearing Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad in Brazen on my eyes and as a face highlighter — Wearing the Revlon ColorStay Eyeshadow Quad in Brazen on my eyes, and also used as a face highlighter

Gotta love multitasking makeup! 🙂

Both Brazen and Decadent (and 10 more quads) are available now at Walmart.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Have You Ever Called To Complain About Someone at a Store or Makeup Counter (Please, No Names)?

September 12th, 2014 by Karen 62 Comments

Nope, I haven’t. Not yet. Although I have come very close…

So close that I had my phone out and my fingers hovering millimeters over the number pad to call a customer service line one time last year.

It was regarding an incident at a particular store (which shall not be named, just because I don’t feel like ganging up on them in public). I was there looking at NARS and took out my phone to check some notes I’d made earlier in the day.

It was my day off (Saturday), and I was happy to just be there playing with makeup. I thought, “Hey, why don’t I do a quick tweet with a pic of some NARS shadows and give a special shout-out to this great store that I love so much?”

Well, one of the gals working there saw me take the pic with my phone and loudly, and not-so-nicely, ordered me to stop, saying that photography in the store wasn’t allowed.

I understand being told to stop. It was their company policy, but after that, the girl hovered over me until I deleted the pic, saying that she didn’t trust me to do it on my own.

Yes, she actually said that to my face.

I get that some places don’t allow pics, but honestly, I was pretty p*ssed. Not about the policy, but about the approach.

Maybe the girl was having a bad day, but I still felt like she could’ve handled it with more finesse.

I was actually at the store to stock up on some skin care and makeup and planned to drop a good chunk of change (I’d been really looking forward to the visit), but I was so turned off by the way I was treated that I just walked out right then and there. Later at home I purchased the products online from somewhere else.

I haven’t purchased anything from that store since, and now, whenever I walk by it at the mall, I curse them under my breath (“A plague on both your houses!”). And when the store ever comes up in casual conversation, I always re-tell that story…

How about you? Have you ever called to complain about someone at a store or makeup counter (please, no names)?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 🙂

Pirate Karen on the New NARSskin Restorative Night Treatment…

September 11th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

“Yaaar!” screeched Pirate Karen. “Avast ye, matey, is that a gel? Shiver me timbers, it looks like a gel. If that thar be a lightweight face moisturizing gel, then make it walk the plank! Because it ain’t gonna do nothin’ for me thirsty skin.

“But blimey! I’m such a curious kitty. I’m thinkin’ I’ll be touchin’ it anyway, just to see how it feels…

“Well blow me down! It’s so rich and silky. It’s lightweight like a gel, but once I work it into me skin, it feels like an oil. My sea-battered pirate skin actually feels plump and moisturized!

“There be a booty of almond, plum and rice bran oils in it to feed me combo dry/oily skin with fatty acids and omegas, and ahoy! There’s seaweed (Alaria extract) in thar too, which is supposed to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles…and ye knows I have me some fine lines and wrinkles, har-har.

“Son of a biscuit eater, I was wrong! This is beauty booty. It’s a treasure in a jar!”

Too bad it costs an actual treasure chest filled with pirate gold. A 0.96-oz. jar of NARSskin Restorative Night Treatment is $85 (yaaaar!). Good thing a small amount goes a long way. This rich gel-to-oil moisturizer is designed to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and boost skin’s moisture levels. It’s also non-comedogenic and alcohol-free. Coming September 20 to NARS Boutiques and online to narscosmetics.com; October 1 to NARS counters at department and specialty stores.

Fare thee well, ye landlubber. 🙂

The Spice Must Flow…Through Covergirl Clean Glow Bronzer in Spices

September 11th, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

Spices: for adding flava to your look.

OK, that was corny…

Like spicy corn salsa. 🙂

Covergirl’s Clean Glow Bronzer in Spices ($7.89) is a matte powder bronzer with a bit o’ kick to it. It may not pack enough heat for darker skin tones, but it’s got a little somethin’-somethin’.

Use the peachy brown, tan and dark taupe-brown separately, or mix them together to contour and warm up the skin.

I actually don’t use this as a bronzer, but rather as an improv matte eyeshadow palette.

Yup, that’s right. I think the medium and dark shades make fantastic crease colors, and the lightest shade does a bang-up job as a brow bone highlighter.

Gotta love those multi-taskers (especially when they cost less than $8).

If you’re interested in spicing up your life with Spices, you can find it now at drugstores, supermarkets and online.

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray Is the Stuff of Hair Helping Legend

September 11th, 2014 by Karen 37 Comments

Oh, fudge!

Oops! There goes another quarter into the beauty product-related swear jar (I don’t actually have one of those, but sometimes I think I should).

Seriously, Oribe, why’d you have to make me fall in love with your Dry Texturizing Spray when you knew the last thing I needed in my life right now was another bank-breaking hairstyling product?

How rude!

Cue Beauty Wayback Machine. Destination: one month ago…

Spinning.

BAM! Bright light, aaaaaand, we’re here. 🙂

It’s mid August, 2014.

I’m just about to haul my cookies out of the salon after getting my roots touched up when I realize that I need (“need,” air quotes) a small travel-size bottle of dry shampoo to bring with me on my upcoming trip to LA (it was still upcoming at the time), so I ask mini Stevie Nicks (which is my inside voice nickname for the gal who works behind the front desk counter, on account of the witchy, floaty outfits she’s always wearing) for a recommendation. She points me to Oribe’s Dry Texturizing spray with the following caveat: “You gotta be down with grit. If you want smooth and silky, you’ll need something else.”

Since I am down with grit (I think), I grab the small 2.2-oz. Purse Size for $21.50.

As I hand mini Stevie Nicks my credit card and the bottle, I hear my penny-pinching mother’s voice in my head. “Hooey, put that down! Let’s go to Rite Aid instead and get an extra large bottle of Aqua Net for $2.”

I do my best to ignore her. “I cannot get addicted to this,” I tell myself, walking out the door. If the little bottle is $21, I don’t even want to think about how much the big bottle costs (side note: it’s $42).

Sadly for my wallet, it’s love at first spray.

Fast forward to today…

Volcanic volume at the roots, tremendous texture, legendary lift, and UV filters

This stuff is kinda magical. It does a little bit of everything, too, and it does it all well.

As a dry shampoo — I use Dry Texturizing spray between washes to absorb oil and refresh my janky-smelling roots. Like the other Oribe products I’ve tried, it smells elegant and expensive, like a light yet complex jasmine floral perfume.
As a finishing spray — Whenever I curl my hair, I spray Dry Texturizing on the middle sections and the ends for shine, hold, bounce and texture.
As a root lifter — When I spray it on my roots, ERMAHGOD! The volume is volcanic. Its lift is the stuff of legends. I’m talking big frickin’ hair, man.

On top of everything else, it also includes UV filters to protect color-treated hair against sun damage.

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Simplify Your Look With the Right Highlighting Palette

September 11th, 2014 by Karen 36 Comments

Revlon Rose Glow 02 Highlighting Palette (1) — Wearing the Revlon Rose Glow 02 Highlighting Palette, available now at Walmart for $9.97

As a participant in the Totally Her program, I’ve received product samples and/or compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Looking for a new full-coverage, layered makeup look to wear during the last days of summer?

Uh…wait.

That’s not right. How ’bout this instead?

Looking to simplify your late-summer/early fall looks with something light and fresh? The Revlon Rose Glow 02 Highlighting Palette ($9.97) can help. It works well as a highlighter, blush and an eyeshadow, all rolled into a single useful palette.

Here’s the simple step-by-step:

After filling in my brows and applying foundation and concealer, I apply the shimmery taupe shade (it’s the one in center of the palette) on my lids with a flat eyeshadow brush.

Next, I load a fluffy tapered eyeshadow brush (because a regular blush brush would be too big, and would also pick up the neighboring colors) with the pink shade, second from the top, and buff that on the apples of my cheeks for a fresh wash of summery color.

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If You Have Eyes for Copper, Plum and Burgundy Shades, Try Covergirl Queen Collection Eye Shadow Pot in Dazzle Q185

September 10th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Covergirl Queen Collection Eye Shadow Pot in Dazzle Q185

Dazzle Q185, meet the Dupe Alert 3000.

Dupe Alert 3000, meet Dazzle Q185.

I had high hopes that Covergirl Queen Collection Eye Shadow Pot in Dazzle Q185 ($4.49) would be a respectable, dramatically less expensive dupe for MAC Mulch, but according the Dupe Alert 3000, “BEEP! Subject is a little too coppery red. BEEP-BOOP! Match negative.”

Oh, well.

That doesn’t stop Dazzle Q185 from being a beautiful shade in its own right. It packs plenty o’ pigment and looks even more intense layered with a reddish copper cream shadow. I really dig it with Laura Mercier Burnished Copper or Chanel’s New Moon.

I think it also goes well with colors that contain plummy and burgundy tones, like MAC Sable, Twinks and Sketch.

So there, stupid Dupe Alert 3000. Take that. 🙂