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Set To Completely Conquer Nordstrom This July: The Limited Edition NARS Domination Cheek Palette

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NARS Domination Cheek Palette
NARS Domination Cheek Palette

Prepare for total domination!

[INSERT SPIRIT FINGERS HERE]

Looking for a reason to visit Nordstrom next month? How about this: July 1. That’s when the NARS Domination Cheek Palette launches, one of three limited edition summer 2014 gift sets (for giving to others…or yourself) coming exclusively to Nordstrom.

The NARS summer 2014 gift sets include…

  • Uninhibited ($52): A trio with Dolce Vita Lipstick, Dolce Vita Lip Gloss and a limited edition Dolce Vita Nail Polish presented in a black lacquered box
  • Climax ($52): A trio with Schiap Lipstick, Lip Gloss and Nail Polish (the Lip Gloss and Polish are limited edition) in a pink lacquered box
  • Domination ($49): A four-pan cheek palette with Orgasm, Laguna and Mistinguette Blush, and Devotee Highlighting Blush

NARS Domination Cheek Palette

NARS Domination Cheek Palette

NARS Domination Cheek Palette

NARS Domination Palette Swatches

About Those Products in My Acrylic Organizer (Also Known As My Box of Everyday Makeup Basics)

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OK, here we go. The makeup basics I keep in my acrylic organizer.

I know it seems like a lot, but I like to change things up all the time, so there’s a lot of variety. I like having options, depending on what I’m doing any given day, and also whether I’ll be taking pics.

Sometimes, I’ll add products to the organizer that I’m currently testing, but there are products in there that always stay the same, like MAC Face & Body, MAC Pro Longwear Concealer, NARS Pro Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, Strobe Cream and the Shu Uemura Lash Curler.

Those are basically permanent members of Team Karen. 🙂

Brows

Lashes

Concealers/Eye Products

Bronzers and Facepowders

Foundations

Primers

That’s it! The contents of my acrylic organizer of makeup basics.

The New Too Faced La Creme Lip Balms Make Perpetually Parched Pouts Go Ahh!

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Too Faced La Creme Lip Gloss in Plum Crazy
Someone’s going Plum Crazy. Wait — I mean, someone’s wearing Plum Crazy, one of six shades in the new Too Faced La Creme Lip Gloss line ($22 each)

Yabba-dabba-doo and zip-a-dee-doo-dah! I’m wearing Plum Crazy from the new Too Faced La Creme Lip Gloss line, and it is the bomb!

LOL!

Sorry, the bomb? Lame ’90s reference. What can I say? It’s Friday afternoon, and all I want to do is sneak out of the office early and go watch a movie (I still haven’t seen Edge of Tomorrow).

Yeah, right. As if Tabs would ever allow me to peace out early (dare to dream). If he did, I’d definitely take one of the brand Too Faced La Creme Lip Balms with me. With their shiny finish and sheer tints, they’re super chill, and the ultra moisturizing formula feels goooood on my lips.

Too Faced La Creme Lip Balms
The brand new Too Faced La Creme Lip Balm line ($22, in the pink tubes), and one new La Creme Lipstick shade called Country Star ($22, in the gold tube)

There are currently six shades in the new line, and they more or less look the same on my perpetually parched and pigmented pout, but that’s OK. It means I only need one.

Or two.

OK, three. You know it is. #lipbalmhoarders 🙂

They feel rich and buttery on my lips and have a light citrus flavor and scent.

“This ultra-nourishing formula is saturated with antioxidant-rich White Lotus Flower Extract, Black Currant Seed Oil and Hyaluronic Filling Spheres, leaving your lips plump and irresistibly kissable.”

— Too Faced Cosmetics

I’d compare them to the $18 Tinted Lip Balms Benefit recently launched, but I wouldn’t exactly call them dupes. The La Creme Lip Balms cost a little more at $22, but you also get more pigment and moisture for that.

The La Cremes also feel slightly thicker to me and last longer on my lips. I’ve been applying Like Buttah, the clear shade, before bed, and I can still feel it there the next morning.

Too Faced La Creme Lip Balms Swatches from the left: Like Buttah (clear), Honey Bunny (a sheer nude), Peachy Keen (a sheer peach), Pink Slip (a sheer pink), Just Kissed (a sheer rose) and Plum Craze (a sheer plum)
Swatches from the left: Like Buttah (clear), Honey Bunny (a sheer nude), Peachy Keen (a sheer peach), Pink Slip (a sheer pink), Just Kissed (a sheer rose) and Plum Craze (a sheer plum)
Too Faced La Creme Lip Gloss in Peachy Keen
Peachy Keen
Too Faced La Creme Lip Gloss in Pink Slip
Pink Slip

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For Fabulous Feline Eyes, There’s the New Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette

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Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette
Wearing the new Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette (ring by Betsey Johnson, Sunglasses by Tory Burch, earrings and dress by Kate Spade)

Ragdoll, Siamese, American shorthair, tortie — whether you’re a sassy alley cat or a purebred princess, there’s something in Too Faced’s new Cat Eyes Palette for you.

Upon this new fall palette, Too Faced bestowed nine new shades, each with a kitty-themed name (aww!). Inside the leopard-print packaging hide six powder eyeshadows and three powder eyeliners, which you can use wet or dry (you can also use the eyeliners as eyeshadows), to create a variety of cat eye looks.

There’s more than enough here to take you from pampered house kitty to prowling jungle cat — phht! phht! — in a few swipes of your paw.

Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette (1)
Meow!

The palette contains some warm and cool shades, with a mix of neutrals (beige, bronze, brown and black), and a catnip sprinkling of purple, pink and metallic blue gray.

Your cat nephew Tabs, also known as my boss, insisted that I wear the palette for a couple days before divulging my thoughts. I asked him this morning what he thought of the wearable daytime cat eye I did with the brown, bronze and black shades (Leopard, Tiger’s Eye and Panther), and he replied, “Mrrow. Meeee-ooow!”

Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette
Cat ring by Betsey Johnson

Sadly, I am not fluent in cat, but I ran the phrase through Google Translate and got: “You look less to’-up than usual. I approve.” 🙂

I like the variety colors in this palette, and in my eyeshadow experiments with it I’ve found that it really lights up my lids. Most of the shades have a metallic, frost or glitter finish, which makes for beautifully glowing eyes.

Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette (2)
Cat lady says what meow?
Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette Swatches from the left: Purr, Tiger's Eye and Leopard
Purr, Tiger’s Eye and Leopard
Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette Swatches from the left: Meow, Pussy Cat, Jungle Love
Meow, Pussy Cat and Jungle Love
Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette Swatches from the left: Kitten, Kitty Glitter, Panther
Kitten, Kitty Glitter and Panther

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Try Urban Decay Perversion Mascara for Lascivious Lash Love With Major Thickness at the Base

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Wearing the new Urban Decay Perversion Mascara on my upper lashes

It would have been oddly poetic had I been wearing Urban Decay Perversion Mascara ($22) on one of the times (yes, it happened more than once) I was flashed on the sidewalks of downtown San Francisco.

It happened, not once, but twice, walking to and from work. Naughty bits and all, and both times within a six-month period.

Ewww…

I’m just saying that I think I would have appreciated the irony, is all. Witnessing an act of perversion while actually wearing a mascara called Perversion.

Or maybe that’s just me and my strange sense of humor. 🙂

The latest lash-loving mascara from Urban Decay, Perversion is supposed to be blacker than black (wait — is that even possible?), with the deepest, darkest pigments imaginable.

Lash roots like WHOA!

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara Before and After
Before (left) and after (right) one coat of Urban Decay Perversion Mascara on my upper lashes

I’ve been using it for a couple weeks so far, and it’s weird — in a way, Perversion makes me feel like a gardener.

Wait — that didn’t come out right.

I mean, this stuff is like Miracle Grow for lash roots. It’s really great at building up thickness around the base.

But that’s not all. It also doesn’t flake or smudge, and it’s easy to remove.

One coat of Perversion, and my lashes look thick and lush, as long as I follow the right procedure…

First, I position the brush at the roots, and then really slowly (like s-l-o-w-l-y) wiggle the wand back and forth as I comb through to the ends, concentrating more of the product at the base.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara Closeup
I’m also wearing Chanel’s new Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadows in Sensation and Hesitation on my eyes

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You CAN See This Aura, Even on Pigmented Lips: Aura and Intime, Two of the Four New Chanel Collection États Poétiques Fall 2014 Rouge Coco Shines

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Chanel Aura Rouge Coco Shine
Can you see my…Aura? Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Aura ($35), from the new États Poétiques fall collection

Once upon a time there lived a $35 lip balm named Aura.

She was beloved by all of the fabulous forest creatures and magical makeup mavens, myself included, because of her devil-may-care, mega-moisturizing formula and her totally low-maintenance point of view.

Like other products in the forest, she had powers, too. She was much more than a mere lip balm. She could summon a smooth texture and enough pigment to allow makeup lovers to skip liner and just apply her directly on their lips from her tube — even without a mirror!

Pretty incredible.

Chanel Collection États Poétiques
That’s Intime, one of the Rouge Coco Shines, in the upper left-hand corner (the pink lipstick) and Aura (the plum), $35 each

For their États Poétiques fall 2014 collection, Chanel added four new Coco Shine shades in soft pink Intime, fuchsia Viva, rosy Confident and plum Aura.

My dry lips kicked it last weekend with two of them — Intime and Aura, woo-hoo! — and a good time was had by all. 🙂

For the ultimate in causal pinks, there’s Intime. Neither too warm, nor too cool, Intime actually shows up on my pigmented lips, which is unusual for pinks like this; I’ve been wearing it a lot.

Chanel Intime Rouge Coco Shine Swatch
Intime

I think Aura is just as beautiful and remarkably easy to wear. It appears really dark in the tube, but applies with less intensity than that — almost like Clinique’s Black Honey Almost Lipstick, but with a plummier reddish tone.

Chanel Aura Rouge Coco Shine Swatch
Aura

Lip colors typically turn toward opaque and matte for fall, so I’m a little surprised to see Chanel go shiny and sheer.

I like it. It’s different and fun, and yes — easy! Plus, I like the idea of sheer, shiny lips to go with more intense fall eye makeup looks.

Chanel Intime Rouge Coco Shine
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Intime

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