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

7 Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

July 26th, 2014 by Karen 324 Comments

You know when you’re too tired to cook and just want good food to magically appear in front of you? Yeah…that’s exactly how it was last night.

Good morning, glory! I hope you had a good week. Mine wasn’t bad at all, and any week that ends with pizza and a movie ends on a high note (unless either of those is terrible).

That’s what we did. We grabbed slices for dinner and then went to see Lucy, that new sci-fi flick with ScarJo and Morgan Freeman. She plays someone exposed to a new drug who starts being able to use more of her brain power, but it comes with a big catch 22.

Not great, but not bad either. There were some cool parts, and she does kick some @ss.

Today, now, I’m just hanging out. I don’t really have any big plans. Tabs is sleeping in the other room, I just finished watering the plants (TONS of tomatoes ready to pick), and now I’m saying hello to you.

Hello.

What are you up to today? Is it hot out there? It’s, uh, like Death Valley out here… It was about 95 degrees yesterday, and it’s supposed to be almost that hot again today.

Yeah…we don’t have a working air conditioner, and it usually doesn’t matter because it rarely gets that hot here, but this is one of those weeks. Late in the day my office has been like a sauna, and even Tabs leaves the room.

It’s kind of funny, actually. If you could see the shenanigans and hoops I hop through to take face pics without my makeup melting off, you’d laugh. Let’s just say that I get pretty creative with fan placement, cross ventilation, towels and ice…

In other news, you know what time it is, right?

(Here’s a hint: it’s giveaway time.)

I hope you enter. Good luck. 🙂

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Open to U.S. and international readers.
You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws).
Your comment can be about anything at all, but here are some ideas if you’re stuck:
- If your pet had a catchphrase or slogan, what would it be?
- Invent a cake you’d like to try. Tell me about it.
- How many cups of coffee and/or tea do you have on a typical day?
- Telekinesis or clairvoyance?
- What are your five current favorite makeup brands?
- Favorite Asian makeup/beauty brand?
You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.
The giveaway ends on Monday, July 28, 2014 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time). 🙂
Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Meet My New Neighbor, Charlotte

July 25th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

She’s a good listener, and you know how some neighbors make a lot of noise? Well, Charlotte’s really quiet. 🙂

She lives on the deck between a cherry tomato plant and a bell pepper. Next time you swing by, I’ll introduce you.

Speaking of bell peppers, I have a question for the green thumbs out there.

Uh…how do you tell when green bell peppers are ripe?

Mine look plump, and green, but they’re still kind of small (the biggest one fits in the palm of my hand), so I can’t tell. A lot of the veggies I grow on the deck are in planters and don’t usually get huge like grocery store size.

I’m wondering, though, should I pick it now or wait?

Urban Decay’s Fast Easy Sexy Partial False Lashes Are Exactly What Their Name Implies

July 25th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Urban Decay Instaflare — Wearing Urban Decay’s new Fast Easy Sexy Partial False Lashes in Instalure ($15) on the outer corners of my upper lash line

I’m keeping Urban Decay’s new Fast Easy Sexy Partial False Lashes ($15) on metaphorical makeup speed dial for the next Monday morning when I’m feeling blah and need an easy pick-me-up. These will definitely hit the spot, since they’re so quick to use and easy to apply.

When you and/or your lashes need a lift, and you either don’t have, or don’t want to spend, the time dealing with the drama that often accompanies false lashes, partials like Fast Easy Sexy are great.

I’m a big fan. 🙂

I call them starter falsies, since the shorter band makes them much easier to manipulate and control.

Perfect for fledgling false lash aficionados, or anyone who wants an easier fancy fringe.

These three new styles from Urban Decay are like lightning in a bottle. I can apply any one of them in less than a minute.

Because they’re not as wide as full-size false lashes, I don’t have to trim them at all to fit, and ’cause they already have a blackened band, I can also skip the extra step of having to darken the band with liner.

Urban Decay Instalure Falsies — Instalure

And I think they just dramatic enough to get the job done.

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Like a Good Pair of Kicks, Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel Offers Major Arch Support

July 25th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Tarte Amazonian Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe — Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe

Tarte’s new cruelty-free Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel ($21) comes in three shades, and the one we’re looking at today, Taupe, is actually nowhere near my natural brow color. It’s the lightest of the three shades, and the one best suited for blondes.

Buuut, I thought I might be able to use it for the inner part of my brows to do that whole ombre brow thing, or when I just feel like wearing my Lil’ Kim/Nicki Minaj wig to scare the UPS guy.

Good times, my friend… Good times. 🙂

Just to see how it would look, I also pulled the color all the way through my brown to the outer tail, and HOLY WOW MAMA! — this stuff is unbelievably pigmented.

Despite it being way too light for me to use as my primary brow gel, Taupe still completely covers Raul, also known as “the bald spot in my left brow.”

Taupe also keeps my stray hairs from flapping in the wind and has so much pigment that it even lightens the overall color of my dark brunette brows by several shades (only while I wear it, of course).

Kind of shocking, considering that the tiny brush, which doesn’t look like much, has bristles so small that they look like they wouldn’t be able to hold much product at all.

“No frickin’ way,” I thought the first time I saw it, but it works, both the brush and the gel. Together, they fill in all the sparse spots, lay down plenty of color (on the hairs and the skin), and corral those wayward hairs into place.

Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe — Taupe

It’s a firm, yet manageable hold, and I can still run a brush through my brows when the gel dries down if I want to, so the hold isn’t as firm or stiff as, say, Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel, which could hold those hairs down through a category 5 storm, I kid you not.

But it is firm enough to hold the hairs in place when I dance in front of my Beyonce fan. #truestory #dontjudge 🙂

Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe, before (left) and after (right) — Before (left) and after (right) Tarte Amazonian Clay Tinted Brow Gel in Taupe

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Rouge Bunny Rouge When Birds Are Singing Long-Lasting Eye Shadow in Rufous-Tailed Weaver Serenades My Makeup-Loving Soul

July 25th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Rouge Bunny Rouge Long Lasting Eye Shadow When Birds Are Singing in RufoRouge Bunny Rouge Long Lasting Eye Shadow When Birds Are Singing in Rufous-Tailed Weaver

Rouge Bunny Rouge Long Lasting Eye Shadow When Birds Are Singing in Rufous-Tailed Weaver — Rouge Bunny Rouge When Birds Are Singing Long-Lasting Eye Shadow in Rufous-Tailed Weaver

*Cue birds chirping!*

I think I may have literally heard a symphony of birds singing outside my window the first time I opened Rouge Bunny Rouge When Birds Are Singing Long-Lasting Eye Shadow in Rufous-Tailed Weaver ($25).

It’s like powder eyeshadow makeup LOVE in a pan.

I almost can’t describe it… One minute, I see a beautiful bronzy brown. Next minute, a gorgeous golden tan taupe and oh! — it’s also freakishly smooth.

You know those products that make you fall in love with makeup all over again?

Yeah, this is one of those for me.

What’s Something You Recently Asked a Makeup Artist or Sales Associate About?

July 25th, 2014 by Karen 32 Comments

I rolled up to Sephora about a month ago and asked one of the sales associates if she could help me find the best dang under-eye concealer in the universe.

(That’s how I put it too. “…best dang under-eye concealer in the universe.”)

Then I regaled her with my recent woes related to my under-eye area (you know about all this), and she directed me to a few things I’d unfortunately tried before, like Bobbi Brown’s Peach Corrector, which I’ve liked, but they just haven’t been working well for me lately, on account of the whole dry skin situation.

Then she suggested Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Concealer ($29).

It’s kind of neat. She said it was full coverage, and it has a silicone tip applicator I’ve never seen on a concealer before, so I brought it home and gave it a try.

Well, I like that it’s easy to blend, but I’m not so sure about the full coverage part, because I think I still look very tired.

I dunno… It might be the color I picked, 345 Dark Beige, which has a lot of yellow. I usually wear peachier toned concealers because they cancel out more of the darkness in the inner corners of my eyes, but I wanted to try something new.

Unfortunately, this one doesn’t really seem to be doing a lot for me.

The quest continues, le sigh…

How about you? What’s something you recently asked a makeup artist or sales associate about?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

I Love the Look of These Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Color Quads

July 24th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Color Quad in 211

Don’t mind me. I’ll just be in the corner over there rocking back and forth slowly.

See, I need time to deal with the inevitable heartbreak that will strike when I disrupt the gorgeous pattern on these Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Color Quads.

The quads themselves are refill pans that don’t come with a case, and they’re a staggering $55 each. On top of that, the case, which is sold separately, is another $25.

Wow.

The brand is pretty new to me (it’s Japanese, not French, BTW… Who knew?), and I’m looking forward to testing their eyeshadows. Here’s to hoping they lead to luxury makeup nirvana.

For that price…they better.

Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Color Quads in 208 (left) and 211 (right) — Eye Color Quads in 208 (left) and 211 (right)

Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Color Quad in 208

The Tarte Colored Clay CC Eye Primer Stick: For Lids So Smooth It’s Criminal

July 24th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

For lids so smooth that people might think you sold your soul AND your cat to a sketchy character in a shady back-alley deal, there’s Tarte’s new cruelty-free Colored Clay CC Eye Primer Stick ($21).

I swear, this primer makes my lids, which are usually a hotbed of fine line action, look 10 years younger.

As it is in several of Tarte’s new fall products, Colored Clay is the star ingredient. It’s supposed to color correct itself on the skin, absorb oil, smooth the skin and, over time, reduce redness.

When I apply eyeshadows on top of it, I get about 8-10 hours of wear with very little creasing, and whatever I layer on top looks great — smooth, elegant, refined, and not heavy at all.

I just draw a bit of the creamy pinkish beige on my lids (twist up the pencil, and swipe directly on your skin), blend it out with a finger from lash line to brow bone, and that’s it. Products layered on top look exceptionally smooth, and I really do think my lids look younger.

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