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Comment To Win The Chocolate Bar Palette and a Tube of Better Than Sex Mascara by Too Faced Cosmetics [FIVE WINNERS]

June 4th, 2014 by Karen 676 Comments

Win the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette and a Tube of Better Than Sex Mascara — Win it, babe!

Ah, the million-dollar question… Can a chocolate bar be better than “you know what”? Thanks to this giveaway hosted by Too Faced Cosmetics, you can find out for yourself! 🙂

The sweet prize (Get it? Sweet…?) features two of my favorite Too Faced products — Better Than Sex Mascara and the Chocolate Bar Eye Shadow Collection palette.

Both are perfect when I’m in the mood for neutral eyes with a sassy kick. I’m wearing them on my eyes right meow in the top pic.

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara tube — Better Than Sex Mascara

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette — Chocoholic says what now?

As it turns out, I’m not the only person a little obsessed with Too Faced (seriously, though, I knew I wasn’t the only person), Jeannie Mai, host of Style Network’s How Do I Look? (and one of my girl crushes) loves the line, too.

I dare you to watch this video and not laugh…

Don’t lie now. Did you laugh when you watched that video? 🙂 Come on, you can tell me. Did you laugh?? Because I laughed REALLY HARD!

OK, details on the giveaway…

Five (5) lucky ladies and/or gents will win a prize package valued at $72 that includes…

One (1) Chocolate Bar Eye Shadow Collection palette ($49)
One (1) Better Than Sex Mascara ($23)

Entering is almost as easy as saying “Yes!” to a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. Just leave a comment below, and seriously, it can be about anything at all.

You could talk about how obsessed you are with Jeannie Mai’s show, How Do I Look? (um, I may or may not have tried to get one of my fashion-challenged friends on the show), or you could tell me about your eyelash woes.

Heck, you could even wax philosophic on the merits of stinky cheese or the benefits of having a pet dragon.

It’s that easy.

Enter by leaving a comment below. The deadline to enter is Monday, June 9, 2014, at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Entrants must enter using a valid email address to win. Contest is open to residents of the United States who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21). One entry per person. Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select five (5) winners at random from the entries left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post. Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Congrats to the winners of this giveaway, Kelsey Anne, Niki T., Karen, Lizzy and Q!

Kitty Modelin’

June 4th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

That moment when you realize your cat will always look better than you do in that Kate Spade necklace…

MAC Unsung Heroes: Brun Eye Shadow

June 4th, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

INSIDE VOICE: Dude. You should do an Unsung Heroes post for MAC Brun Eye Shadow ($15).

OUTSIDE VOICE: Eh, I dunno. I love it and all, but it’s a dark blackish brown shadow. I mean, that’s not very exciting, ya know?

INSIDE VOICE: True dat. It’s no Club or Impassioned, but I think it’s still worth a shout-out, right? You wear it practically every day.

Plus, remember that trip when you forgot it at home?

OUTSIDE VOICE: Oh, boy.

INSIDE VOICE: You freaked-the-eff out! You had to track down the nearest MAC counter on your iPhone, and then had El Hub drive you there before you would agree to do anything else. That’s dedication, dude.

OUTSIDE VOICE: El Hub was so grumpy! He was like, “Are you kidding me right now!? Come on! We’re on vacation!”

Bless that man. He puts up with a lot of crazy sh*t. 🙂

OK, I guess you do have a point. Brun’s a great brow filler for brunettes. It’s warm-toned, not too reddish, and I’ve always liked that despite it being so dark, it doesn’t look harsh on my skin, and it’s interesting, too, how the satin finish looks almost matte.

INSIDE VOICE: I’ve seen you use it for other things — not just for filling in your brows.

OUTSIDE VOICE: True, true. I also wear it a lot with slightly defined neutral eyes, where I’ll pat a little MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot all over my lids, buff some MAC Mylar on top of that with a 224, then sweep a little Cork or Soft Brown in the crease.

For a little depth, I’ll take Brun, apply it in the outer corner or the outer crease, and do a quickie winged liner. I tell you, that’s the best classic neutral eye combo right there, I swear. It’s so easy! I can do it half asleep, LOL!

Wearing MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot, Mylar Eye Shadow, Cork Eye Shadow and Brun Eye Shadow on my lids, and Maybelline Blackest Black Lasting Drama Eyestudio on my upper lash lines

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A Few False Eyelash Application Tips

June 4th, 2014 by Karen 35 Comments

Here I’m wearing Katy Perry Lashes in Banging Beauty, $6.99

True or false: applying false eyelashes can be very intimidating.

For me? TRUE. The very thought of applying false lashes, especially if I’m tired or not on my game that day, or if I’m using a brand new style of lashes I’ve never used before, can be downright terrifying. Sometimes it’s so daunting that I don’t even want to try.

When I first got into ’em, I was total crap at the application, for real! — but as with most things, if you practice, it gets easier.

When we looked at the awesome $4 Ardell 120s last week (LOVE these), you asked some good questions about false eyelash application in the comments…

Applying false eyelashes: I need halp!

“These look really natural and what a great deal. I only wish I knew how to apply false eyelashes. You should do a tutorial on that!”
—Agata

Hi Agata,

Hey, girl! 🙂 When it comes to easy-to-apply lashes, those Ardell 120s are some of the best I’ve ever used. With those or any pairs, if you practice and be patient, and give yourself a week or two, it’ll get super easy. The best advice I can give is to look down into a mirror while you’re applying them. That really helps me a lot!

Go easy on yourself, too. It takes a few tries, but seriously, you’ll get the hang of it. Here are some other things that can help…

Paint the white band first before you start applying (I just use black gel liner), so you don’t have to paint it after you’re finished and it’s tougher to reach without disturbing your makeup or the lashes.  
Give the glue time to get sticky. I usually wait from 30 seconds to a minute. When it first comes out of the tube, it’s not very sticky.
Use as little of the glue as possible. Seriously! I find that when I use too much, the lashes feel really uncomfortable.

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Better Together: Maybelline Stormy Sahara Colorsensational Lipstick and Neutrogena Healthy Peach MoistureShine Gloss

June 3rd, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

I stumbled on this lip combo last weekend while I was rifling around in my purse looking for something to wear with the warm neutral eye brown look I did with the Smashbox Full Exposure eye palette.

It was kind of like an epiphany. I saw the products together and thought, “Huh. I wonder…”

I love that you can find both Maybelline Stormy Sahara Lipstick and Neutrogena Healthy Peach MoistureShine Gloss at the drugstore (yay for affordable beauty products!).

I think this combo gives just enough nude peachy color to my lips without looking too nude, ya know what I mean?

And to kick it up a notch, you could add a lip liner like MAC Subculture or Staunchly Stylish. I bet either of those would look really pretty.

Ooh! Coincidentally, speaking of really pretty, the Hourglass Sunset/Mood Lighting cheek combo from the other day looks fab with this look.

Maybelline Color Sensation The Buffs in Blushing Bride (left) and Stormy Sahara (right) — Color Sensation The Buffs in Blushing Bride (left) and Stormy Sahara (right)

I’m a Super Fan of the LY20 Super Fan Brush by Louise Young Cosmetics

June 3rd, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

Louise Young LY20 Fan Brush — For the highlighter junkies, the LY20 Fan Brush by Louise Young

Not just a fan, but a super fan! — like, if this brush was my favorite band, I’d wait in a scary back alley for it to come out after the show, in the pouring rain, hungry, just to get it to autograph my left boob with a black Sharpie.

OK, maybe not… I love it to pieces, though, and here’s why: the LY20 Fan Brush is by far the best highlighting brush I’ve ever used, because it is fast!

I’m talking crazy fast, and I think it’s because of how dense, big and fluffy the brush head is. It just picks up and deposits a lot of product — but never too much. Always just the right amount.

It perfectly applies and blends whatever highlighter I’m using at any given the moment. All I do is sweep it back and forth a few times on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose and on my Cupid’s bow, and bada-bing, bada-bang! — done in less than a minute.

Oh, but it’s not only a highlighting brush. I’ve also used it to
apply face powder (both loose and pressed), bronzer and blush. You can even use it to dust off excess powder, contour your cheekbones, or seamlessly blend together bronzer, blush and highlighter on your cheeks.

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Pink Stuff in the Fishing Department

June 3rd, 2014 by Karen 6 Comments

There’s more than you might think.

El Hub keeps dragging me to go look at fishing equipment, and surprisingly (at least for me), a lot of it is pink. There’s a lot of pink “girly” fishing stuff out there, like these tackle boxes and fishing poles I saw at Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Petaluma last week.

LOL! Notice the pole on the left where it says, “Crappie.”

Yes, I am easily amused (but you know this already). 🙂

Gold Glitter on a Tuesday? Why the Hell Not! A Face of the Day With MAC 3D Glitter in Brass Gold, and the Clinique On Safari All About Shadow Quad

June 3rd, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

Wearing Clinique's On Safari Quad with MAC 3D Glitter in 3D Brass Gold — Glitter! Wearing Clinique’s On Safari Quad with MAC 3D Glitter in 3D Brass Gold

Generally I think of rigorous makeup rules and structure as hogwash, hooey and blarney, otherwise known as crazy talk.

Can’t say I’ve ever really believed in hard-and-fast rules for le war paint, but I do have a mantra — a guiding principle, if you will — and this is it: WHY THE HELL NOT!?

Want to rock a blown-out Khal Drogo smokey eye to a formal Sunday brunch?

Why the hell not!?

Want to wear a bright green gloss and gold glitter on your lids to walk your cat around the block?

Why the hell not!?

My point is this: life is short. You might as well wear what moves you.

Today I was in the mood to sparkle because, you know, it’s Tuesday, and that’s as good a reason as any. 🙂 So I did this glittery, brassy, kind of smokey greenish khaki eye.

I like that it has tricks up its sleeve. One minute, when my eyes are wide open, I think it looks almost tame, just a warm brassy golden eye, but then when I blink, BAM! — that’s when the glitter does its thang.

I used MAC 3D Glitter in Brass Gold atop Clinique’s greenish gold All About Eyeshadow Quad in On Safari, and I kept the glitter in the center of the lid so it wouldn’t overpower the whole look.

The Clinique On Safari All About Shadow Quad

I think the loose glitter I’m using here, MAC 3D Glitter, is really cool. The hexagonal multicolored glitter bits may look kind of mellow in these pics, but all about the drama in person.

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