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

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

April 26th, 2014 by Karen 334 Comments

Hey, boo! Good morning. How are you? How’s everything out there?

“Out there…” Sounds like I’m talking to an astronaut. 🙂

I hope you had a good week. I hope you experienced something new, got some nice weather, and had someone pay you a compliment, because that always feels good.

If not, then let’s do it now: “You’re sweet and kind and creative and have impeccably good taste, and I love you.”

Looks like the sun came out here this morning. It’s not as overcast as it was yesterday.

We actualy got more rain this week, which is starting to approach unusual weather territory, because here in this part of Northern California our last real rains of the season usually happen right around early April…

Most of the time. If I’m remembering correctly.

I don’t mind though. It makes my allergies a little worse, but it’s better for Mother Nature overall.

Keeps the flowers around and everything green longer.

Do you have any plans this weekend? All I really have is my dad’s bday dinner in the East Bay tonight and maybe a breakfast sammy and coffee at Panera Bread with El Hub in a few. Beyond that, I’m just sort of wingin’ it.

Best of luck in this week’s giveaway. I wish — WISH! — I was able to hold a giveaway where every single person could win. That would be a dream come true. I actually fantasize a lot about what kinds of things I could do for us here on the blog if I ever won the lottery. One of the ideas is to take a group of 10 readers off to Paris for an all-expenses-paid two-week adventure (because one week wouldn’t be enough). We could visit Chanel headquarters and spend one entire day in the Louvre.

Le sigh…

Have a great day today, babe. My tummy is rumbly, so I’ll talk to you soon. Panera is calling my name! 🙂

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:
- Where’s your favorite place to go for breakfast?
- Do you own any clothes handed down from your grandma or mom?
- What are your three favorite apps on your phone?
- What has been the highlight of your April so far?
- When I say “cats are” you say ________.
- What are you wearing on your nails?
You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.
The giveaway ends on Monday, April 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

30 Days of NARS: Risky Business Lip Gloss, Day 14

April 25th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

I want to believe that this shimmery warm raspberry gloss takes its name from the movie where Tom Cruise dances around in his underwear.

I find that a more appealing theme than the idea of a corporate bigwig who makes rash multimillion-dollar decisions. 🙂

Which reminds me…I’ve never actually seen Risky Business.

I know! When it came out in the ’80s, my parents wouldn’t let me watch it, probably because of the Tom Cruise-underwear-dancing thing.

I keep meaning to cross it off my “Movies To Watch Eventually Someday” list but haven’t gotten around to it.

I mean, the list is hella long. That’s the problem. In fact, I just got around to watching Thelma and Louise yesterday.

It was on Netflix… I should check if Risky Business is, too.

You can find Risky Business Lip Gloss ($26) rocking out with the rest of the new NARS Lip Gloss line right now. It’s one of the more pigmented glosses in the line, and it’s a blast, especially if you like your glosses with a dose o’ dainty glitter.

The 30 Days of NARS series features a different NARS Lip Gloss every day

Have You Read The Little Black Book of Bronzers, by Too Faced Cosmetics?

April 25th, 2014 by Karen 30 Comments

The new Too Faced The Little Black Book of Bronzers ($139)

OOH! I love coffee table books…

Wait — what’s that? It’s not a coffee table book, you say? It’s actually a limited edition $139 collectible palette with eight beststelling Too Faced powder bronzers inside?

Well I’ll be darned… From the outside it looks like a giant coffee table book, which is actually kind of ironic, because it’s called The Little Black Book of Bronzers.

Little, it is not.

IT’S HUGE!

If for some unknown reason I were forced to suddenly go incognito, I could just hide behind it because the thing is literally bigger than my head.

Too Faced The Little Black Book of Bronzers Open — In the event you need to hide…

Yeah, this is probably not the kind of thing you take on a weekend jaunt, but if you did, you’d have all of your Too Faced bronzers with you in a single place, all nicely marked and arranged. You wouldn’t have to rut around in your makeup bag, which is what I usually end up doing.

Like any good book, this one has a compelling story…

A story of bronzers and adventure starring you. 🙂

In one chapter, it’s Friday, and you’re wearing Beach Bunny and playing hooky from work. In another, you’re wearing Chocolate Soleil on the day you give your career-changing presentation in front of the board.

Later that night, you wear Bronzed & Poreless on your date with that certain boy (or girl).

** SPOILER ALERT** This book is an online exclusive, so you won’t find it on bookshelves or stores. Expect a very limited supply at toofaced.com, sephora.com and ulta.com in May.

As pricey as it sounds, the book actually represents a significant savings, as Too Faced bronzers are normally $30 a pop, so if you were to buy all eight of these individually (they’re all from the permanent line), you’d be looking at $240, versus the $139 the book costs.

That’s a savings of $101, and all of the pans in it are full size.

There’s a good mix of mattes and shimmers here, and all eight bronzers seem to have the same texture, finish and wear time I’m used to from the brand.

The bronzers in the book…

Endless Summer 16-Hour Long-Wear Bronzer: A universal bronze with a subtle shimmer that lasts all day
Sun Bunny: A split pan with a warm silky gold on one side and a pinkish bronze on the other; when you mix the two together you get a natural glow without any orange undertones.
Milk Chocolate Soleil: Totally smells like chocolate, yum! A matte light brown bronzer suited for pale to medium skin tones.
Chocolate Soleil: Another yummy chocolate scented bronzer. A matte bronzer for medium to deep skin tones.
Sun Bunny: Mix the four shades in this bronzer — which has a golden bronze, delicate pink, white and fawn shimmer — for a healthy glow. I use this as a highlighter.
Bronzed & Poreless: A matte medium bronze that minimizes the look of pores.
Pink Leopard: A bronze with golden pink shimmer. Works great as either a blush or highlighter.
Beach Bunny: Like a warmer, more golden version of Snow Bunny, this bronzer has four illuminating shades — a bronze, a soft peach, golden ivory and golden tan

The size definitely makes this un-travel-friendly, but that’s not really the point. If you’ve been waiting for something BIG — literally HUGE — to make the jump to using bronzers on a regular basis, and you want a lot to choose from, check out the book.

Also…it’s cute! I like how when you open it, there are descriptions with little drawings of different places and scenarios where you could wear each of the bronzers.

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The New Tarte LipSurgence Lip Glosses in Exposed, Blushing Bride and Park Ave Princess

April 25th, 2014 by Karen 6 Comments

Wearing the new Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Exposed

For the lip-lovin’ lady who has everything as it pertains to pigmented lip products, say hi to the new Tarte LipSurgence Lip Glosses in Exposed, Blushing Bride and Park Ave Princess — the sheerest of the new LipSurgence Lip Gloss line.

These three — nude rose Exposed, mauve pink Blusing Bride and shimmering golden nude Park Ave Princes — are joined by the six slightly more pigmented shades we looked at earlier this week (Tipsy, Blissful and Fearless; and Flush, Natural Beauty and True Love).

The question of the day: will you be able to see a difference among these three shades?

Hmm… Maybe. Up close. If you have a good eye. I think up close I can see a difference among them in the swatches, but I have to look very closely.

Nude rose Exposed looks slightly warmer and more pigmented than mauve pink Blushing Bride does to me, while Park Ave Princess looks like the sheerest cupcake in the batch. That one is basically just a barely-there nude tint with lots of golden glitter.

From across a room, I don’t think I’d be able to tell any of these three apart, at least not on my pigmented lips. The differences among them may be more apparent on less pigmented puckers than mine.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m not knocking them at all for being sheer, because they were purposefully designed that way — for natural-looking lips and high shine, which they do deliver. Like the Urban Decay Naked Glosses, they aren’t made for full-coverage color.

Of course, there’s a catch 22 there. Being as sheer as they are, they’re also pretty dupable in terms of color (Tarte gets extra credit, though, for being cruelty-free and for using so many veggie-based ingredients). Exposed resembles UD’s Beso, Blushing Bride looks like Rule 34, and Park Ave Princess reminds me of an uber-sheer NARS Orgasm gloss.

Similar to Chanel’s Glossimers, when I wear these, with their thick, non-sticky formula, it definitely feels like I have something on my lips. They aren’t so lightweight that I completely forget when I have them on.

As for finish and wear time, it’s a two-part saga. They begin with a patent-leather shine that slowly softens down to a subtle satin over about an hour, and then hang on for another 2-3 hours from there.

I like how easy these are to wear (I’m kind of a nude gloss enthusiast, it’s true!), and if you like your glosses super sheer and shiny like I do, you might like ’em, too. 🙂

As a side, you can also layer these on top of nude lipsticks or lip pencils — ya know, for an added twist and a little extra value.

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True or False: Any Time You’re Using Bright Colors on the Eyes, You Need To Ground Them With Neutrals

April 25th, 2014 by Karen 28 Comments

I’d say, “true-ish,” or mostly true, with the caveat of, “Rules are meant to be broken.”

When I wear brights like blues or greens or purples, I do tend to stick to things like matte browns and bronzes in my crease and along the lower lash line because I feel like they make the look more everyday wearable, but it’s not something I strictly adhere to.

Sometimes, I just feel like swingin’ for the fences, ya know? Because I figure, if you’re already going to wear something eye-catching — maybe a bright orange, a hot pink or a neon green — might as well go all out.

I like seeing gals/guys gutsy enough to wear brights on their eyes and really go all the way and express themselves. It keeps the world interesting.

If it makes you happy, more power to you, my friend! 🙂

True or false: any time you’re using bright colors on the eyes, you need to ground them with neutrals.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

What the world needs now is more cat shoes (obviously)

30 Days of NARS: Dolce Vita Lip Gloss, Day 13

April 24th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

This sheer dusty rose is livin’ the sweet life.

No, I mean, that’s what it’s called… La Dolce Vita. Italian for “the sweet life.”

It’s an oldie but a goodie, and it’s one of the 30 recently reformulated NARS Lip Glosses ($26 each) available now.

I keep wanting to sing it like Ricky Martin: “Living la dolce vita!”

Yeah, I know I’m weird. 🙂

The 30 Days of NARS series features a different NARS Lip Gloss every day

Purple Reigns

April 24th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

Purple flowers in the house, y’all!

Well, technically not inside the house, but near it.

In the neighborhood, at least.

I saw these on my walk earlier today… Don’t the ones up there look like crinkly paper?

I’m so glad I had my phone with me because the wildflowers are going crazy right now! All of the trees, flowers and grasses are pretty happy about the heavy rain we got earlier this month.

I always love this time of year when everything’s still green… There are so many beautiful things to see. You just have to look for them. 🙂

The New Tarte LipSurgence Lip Glosses in Tipsy, Blissful and Fearless

April 24th, 2014 by Karen 8 Comments

Wearing the new Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Tipsy

Here’s batch two of the new Tarte LipSurgence Lip Glosses in Tipsy, Blissful and Fearless. I think these could be of interest to all card-carrying members of the CAPLGLN (Coral and Peach Lip Gloss Love Nation).

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Glosses in Tipsy, Blissful and Fearless

Tipsy: a sheer coral
Blissful: a warm peach
Fearless: a shimmery pinkish coral

What’s with the funky doe-foot?

It’s curved to fit the contours of your lips, and the pointy tip makes it precise.

Is the doe-foot hard to use?

Not at all. It’s very precise, actually, particularly around the Cupid’s bow — very, very handy when I’m in the mood to wear an overdrawn lip look (where you apply your lip products outside your natural lip line to make your lips look fuller).

Tipsy and Blissful look kind of similar, yeah?

Sheer coral Tipsy and warm peach Blissful do look somewhat similar, yes. On my pigmented lips, they’re tough to tell apart. I do see a slight difference between them, though, if we’re going to split hairs… I think Blissful is a tad more pigmented.

Any dupes?

Off the top of my head, both Tipsy and Blissful look similar to Urban Decay Naked Lip Gloss in Streak.

Tell me all about Fearless, ma!

I love the name and the golden glitter. 🙂 It’s the most distinct shade in this batch — like a sheerer version of NARS Super Orgasm Lip Gloss with larger pieces of gold glitter.

What’s the glitter sitch on that?

Surprisingly, the glitter flecks in Fearless aren’t gritty, considering the size of the pieces (see them in the full-face shot?). This is classy glitter; not “klassy.”

Formula, flavor and finish

The thick, non-sticky formula starts super shiny but wears down to a slight shine over about an hour, and then will last another 2-3 hours after that. In other words, they’ll last through a glass of Two Buck Chuck (it’s 5 o’clock somewhere), but won’t make it through a tuna fish sandwich. As for flavors, yup, it’s a vanilla buttercream flavor and scent.

Meow or hiss?

Meow, although these three shades here may not be flashy enough to really stand out at a big event like your wedding or prom, but for everyday natural — sure.

Where can I find ’em?

At Sephora stores and online for $19 each.

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Glosses in Tipsy, Blissful and Fearless

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss Swatches in Tipsy, Blissful and Fearless — Swatches in Tipsy, Blissful and Fearless

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Tipsy Lip Swatch — Tipsy Lip Swatch

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Blissful Lip Swatch — Blissful Lip Swatch

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