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

Natural-Looking Skin the Easy Way With Benefit’s Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector

February 28th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

The new Benefit Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector, $38

This morning I woke up feeling like this…

…because of this.

Yup, just call me TBK (Two Beer Karen), LOL!

We took that out-of-town friend of El Hub’s who stayed with us last night to a local brewery here in Novato called Moylan’s, where I “sampled” some of their Pomegranate Wheat, and since I hardly ever drink, I did not feel exceptional this morning.

I intended to do a full face o’ warpaint today, but when I sat down in front of my makeup mirror, my arms felt like lead weights… My body was like, “Oh, hell naw, hookah. We’re doing minimalist makeup today.”

So, out came my tube of Big Easy, a new BB cream from Benefit.

Dude! This stuff is boss. I’m not usually a big BB cream fan, either, mostly because I rarely feel like they provide enough coverage for me.

But Big Easy evens out my skin tone and blurs my pores without leaving my skin looking overly “done,” if you know what I mean, and the natural-looking, velvety matte finish is my favorite thing about it.

More quick and dirrrrty deets…

The oil-free liquid-to-powder formula is non-comedogenic.
It’s available in six shades. I wear the darkest one available, which is 06 Deep Beige.
The colors seem to be flexible with regard to working with your skin tone.
Contains broad-spectrum SPF 35.

It has an interesting texture — kind of slippery like many face primers (it does contain silicones), and it glides across my skin easily, buffing and blending with very little resistance.

The matte finish looks very flat on my combination dry/oily skin — no shine whatsoever — and I can even skip setting it with a powder, which is nice. It stays matte, too, as the day wears on, and controls oil like a champ.

Benefit Big Easy Ingredients — Ingredients…

I do find that Big Easy will settle into my pores and get a little streaky on my drier spots (like my cheeks) if I don’t moisturize immediately beforehand, almost like the product skips a bit on those dry patches. Benefit suggests applying it after moisturizer, and I can see why. It glides across my skin more smoothly when it’s thoroughly moisturized.

Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left: 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — on my NC42 skin

02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Biege swatched on NW25 skin — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige on NW25 skin

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The Tree at the End of the Rainbow

February 28th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Another one to cross off the bucket list.

They say you can’t find the end of a rainbow, but I did! This one ended in a tree on a hill outside my living room window.

I wonder how they got the pot of gold up there…

Also, if you look closely, you can see the faint outline of a second rainbow, making this one a double rainbow, all the way. All the way across the sky. 🙂

P.S. TGIF!

A Quick Look at In the Buff, Paradisco and Pink Dune, Three of Tom Ford Beauty’s New Lip Color Sheers

February 27th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Tom Ford Beauty spring 2014 Lip Color Sheer — Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color Sheers ($49 each)

Kind of a funny story… One of El Hub’s childhood friends is visiting from out of town tonight, and we only had about 2.5 seconds to clean the house (OK, more like 20 minutes) before his flight landed this afternoon.

You know you’re doing an improv cleaning job of your condo when your idea of tidying things up is hiding the telltale indicators that you’re a crazy cat lady (“Don’t forget to hide his outfits.”) and spraying Nest Birchwood Pine Room Spray in every room and hallway. LOL!

I probably should tear myself away from makeup temporarily to socialize… While I do that, here are pics of a few of the new Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color Sheers that came out for spring.

Yeah, these are crazy expensive at $49 each, but it’s T.F., so that price point is business as usual. But if you love sheer, luxurious lipsticks, these might be your dream come true.

Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color Sheers from the left: In the Buff, Paradisco and Pink Dune

Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color Sheer in Paradisco — Paradisco

Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color Sheer in Pink Dune — Pink Dune

Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color Sheer in In the Buff — In the Buff

Keep an eye out for these shades, along with the rest of the Lip Color Sheers collection, at Tom Ford counters and online.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A Glammed Up Face of the Day With Lancôme’s Color Design Shadow & Liner Palette in Dancing Rose

February 27th, 2014 by Karen 26 Comments

First thing this morning I told myself, “Karen, take note of the little things today,” and I’ve taken note of some wonderful little tidbits throughout the course of my day (a hot cup tea, seeing a rainbow, catching Tabs looking extra cute), but I have to say…

Even though I didn’t really plan to go anywhere fancy today, I thought it might be fun to glam it up a little — ya know, for Tabs, and because it’s Thursday.

Lancome Dancing Rose Color Design Palette — Lancôme Dancing Rose Color Design Palette

It all started with the Lancôme Color Design Shadow & Liner Palette in Dancing Rose ($50) from the French Ballerine spring collection. One glance at that deep, plummy reddish purple in the middle, and I just had to get it on my lids, ASAP!

I used the sparkly light purple as a base all over my eyes, patted the pink shade on my lids, swept the plummy shade in my crease (creases?), and then highlighted underneath my brow bones with the light opalescent pinkish beige.

Then, I added a fatty-bo-batty wing on my upper lash line with the deep blackish plum, woo hoo!

Katy Perry Eylure Lashes in Banging Beauty

Glam eyeshadow deserves glam lashes, so I brought out the big guns, Katy Perry Lashes in Banging Beauty ($6.99). These falsies are cray, yo! I could barely lift my eyes because they were so big and so over the top. Definitely not for the faint o’ heart.

Since the eyes were so shimmery, so purple, so BAM! — I tried to keep my cheeks and lips soft to balance things out.

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Biiig Kiss!

February 27th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

Why scribble notes to yourself (“Don’t forget the gravy!”) on boring yellow Post-its when you could transcribe your awesome ideas on these!?

They’re a steno-loving beauty nerd’s dream come true. 🙂

I spotted them at Staples last weekend, where I was shopping for a big metal filing cabinet (don’t ask).

They’re only $3.40 for two packs of 50 3×3-inch sheets.

Also available in Ring, Shoe and Purse…

5 Uses for Your Recently Used But As-Yet-Unwashed Foundation Brush

February 27th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Hourglass No. 2 Brush — One of my favorite foundation brushes, the No. 2 by Hourglass

Before you relegate that recently used foundation brush to the pile of brushes you plan to wash later this week (or today), believe it or not, it’s still a useful tool, even after you’ve used it to apply whichever face product you’re wearing on any given day and the brush has leftover product in the bristles.

I mean, of course we are going to wash it eventually (I wash my brushes every day), but before that, while we’re still doing our makeup, we can use it to…

1. Tone down bold brows

Oops! Uh, oh. We’ve accidentally applied too much brow filler and crossed the fine line between bold brows and Groucho Marx.

What to do?

Well, we can run our recently used foundation brush across our brows a few times to break up our brow powder or gel and lighten them up.

2. The definition of cheeky

We can also use our used foundation brush to give our cheeks a boost! After applying our blush and/or bronzer, we can sweep our used foundation brush right below the apples of our cheeks to define and sculpt their shape.

3. Lift that look!

I think you’ll really like this tip because it’s easy but makes a big difference. After we finish applying eyeshadow, let’s grab that used foundation brush, and swipe it from the outer corner of our lower lash line to the outer tip of our eyebrow to clean up the edges a bit and give a little lift to our look.

4. A blank canvas for nude lips

Let’s make nude lips look even nuder (nuder?). Working with your favorite nude lipstick or gloss, swipe however much product remains on your recently used foundation brush across your lips. Now, this trick works better if your lips are in good shape. In my experience, if we see any flakes at all, our foundation will only draw attention to them.

I only do this one every once in a while, as it tends to dry out my lips…

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Custom Couture for My New Bottle of MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

February 26th, 2014 by Karen 36 Comments

Why, yes, there is a reason why this bottle of MAC Pro Longwear Concealer looks like it’s wearing a straightjacket.

Earlier this week I accidentally dropped my previously brand-spakin’-new bottle of Pro Longwear on the floor and it, along with my heart, broke into a million little pieces.

I picked up a new one yesterday to replace it, but I figured that I should do something extra to protect it because, seriously, if I break another bottle (which is entirely possible), I will LOSE MY SH*T.

So I wrapped the new bottle with rubber bands to cushion any falls. 🙂

I feel so very MacGyver right now!

Uh…does anyone else remember MacGyver?

New Clarins Smoky Plum Ombre Minérale Mono Eye Shadow Ignites Hotter Smokey Eyes

February 26th, 2014 by Karen 29 Comments

Critics are calling Smoky Plum “The sleeper hit of spring shadows!”

Well, not really… I have no idea what they’re calling it, but I’m calling it ohmygoshLURVE! 🙂

Watch out! — or this shadow will steal your heart (like it stole mine).

I mean, I love Clarins and all, but when I think of sultry, pulse-quickening smokey shadows, Clarins doesn’t usually spring to mind. Most of the time I head over to NARS, MAC, Chanel or Tom Ford for that.

Clarins Smoky Plum Ombre Minérale Mono Eye Shadow, $21

But Smoky Plum, one of 14 pieces in the new Opalescence spring collection, could confidently hold its own with the smokiest of the smokey. Surprisingly complex, I think it’s definitely worth considering if you’re on the prowl for your next great smokey shadow.

A shimmery bronzed purple with taupe tendencies, it’s designed to be worn wet or dry, which just means that applying it with a wet brush head coaxes out more of the pigment and enhances the metallic finish.

Clarins Smoky Plum swatches on NC42 skin dry (left) and wet (right) — Smoky Plum swatches on NC42 skin dry (left) and wet (right)

Either way, applied wet or dry, I think Smoky Plum is pretty damned hot, and I used a combination of wet and dry applications for my makeup in these pics to get those light-to-dark gradients I love when I wear smokey eyes (incidentally, I like to spell smokey with an ‘e’ before the ‘y,’ while Clarins spells it without one).

A swatch of Smoky Plum swatch on NW25 skin — Swatches of Smoky Plum swatch on NW25 skin dry (left) and wet (right)

Wait ’til you get this purple puppy on your lids. Smoky Plum swatches beautifully on the back of a hand, but I think it’s infinitely prettier on eyes.

The first time I applied it, I remember looking in the mirror with the finished look and blinking incredulously a few times. Suddenly, tiny little flecks of silvery glitter appeared out of nowhere!

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