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

The OPI Brazil Beach Sandies Mini Kit Says Bye-Bye to Boring With Four Vivid Textured Polishes

February 13th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

The new four-piece OPI Brazil Beach Sandies Mini Kit, $12.95

Very clever, OPI. Very clever. 🙂

The part of me that lives to over-think the symbolic significance of everything loves the juxtaposition of gritty sand, neutrals and bright pigments in the OPI Brazil collection.

On one end, there are the sandy-colored neutral polishes in the overarching 12-piece OPI Brazil collection, which all have a smooth, creamy finish.

On the other, there are the four vivacious mini polishes here in the accompanying Brazil Beach Sandies Kit ($12.95), all of which have OPI’s pebbled, textured Liquid Sand finish in bright, eye-catching shades, also known as psychedelic party sand for your paws.

Even if you aren’t a big fan of textured polishes, I think these vivid shades are still worth a try if you like playful, cheerful colors. They’re seriously smile-inducing, and the names — You’re So Flippy Floppy, What’s a Little Rain Forest, Samba-dy Loves Purple and I’m Brazil Nuts Over You — are catchy, too.

In each of the swatches below, I’m wearing two coats…

OPI You're So Flippy Floppy — You’re So Flippy Floppy

OPI What's A Little Rain Forest — What’s A Little Rain Forest

OPI Samba-dy Loves Purple — Samba-dy Loves Purple

OPI I'm Brazil Nuts Over You — I’m Brazil Nuts Over You

OPI Brazil Beach Sandies Mini Kit — The front of the box

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It’s a Carnival of Color as Vivid Brights Samba on Tips and Toes in OPI’s New Brazil Collection

February 13th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Next time I enjoy a plate of feijoada while beautiful women in colorful bejeweled thongs and feathered headdresses dance around my table, you better believe I’ll be wearing one or two (or 12!) of the shades in OPI’s new Brazil collection on my nails!

The OPI Brazil collection, available now

Where am I going with this?

One word: Brazil (by way of San Francisco).

One of my favorite places to eat in the city is a Brazilian restaurant called Canto do Brazil, and dining there is a total experience. First, the food — beyond yummy, and not overpriced (the plantains, beans and rice, OMG!).

But that’s not all. There’s also the show. 🙂 While you eat, gorgeous Brazilian showgirls in Carnival regalia dance around the tables and try to coax diners to dance with them.

Last time I was there, I was too focused on the mountain of carb-tacular goodness in front of me to shake my groove thang, but next time, it’s ON! Because I’ll have an extra reason — the beautiful brights in OPI’s new 12-piece collection ($9 each), which I love, love, LOVE.

OK, sure, I think the neutrals in the collection are pretty, too. I mean, I appreciate elegant neutral nails as much as the next girl, especially when worn with a bright lipstick, and I think the muted pewter, taupe, mocha, nude and chocolate shades here play off bolder colors nicely.

But the brights! Oh, the brights… Inspired by rainforest flowers, the creamy yellow, coral, orange, pink, red and deep jungle green, are just so blasted rich and vivid that you may feel the urge to hop on a flight to Rio right meow. 🙂

OPI I Just Can't Cope-Acabana, a creamy sunshine yellow — Just Can’t Cope-Acabana, a creamy sunshine yellow

OPI AmazON...AmazOFF, a creamy deep jungle green — AmazON…AmazOFF, a creamy deep jungle green

OPI Where Did Suzi's Man-Go?, a creamy mango orange — Where Did Suzi’s Man-Go?, a creamy mango orange

OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian, a creamy warm pink — Kiss Me I’m Brazilian, a creamy warm pink

OPI Toucan Do It If You Try, a creamy confidant orange — Toucan Do It If You Try, a creamy confidant orange

OPI Live.Love.Carnaval, a vibrant coral — Live.Love.Carnaval, a vibrant coral

OPI Red Hot Rio, a ruby red — Red Hot Rio, a ruby red

OPI Scores a Goal, a creamy rich chocolate

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2 Minutes of Under-Eye Concealer Chit-Chat, and Call Me a Beautyblender Believer

February 13th, 2014 by Karen 28 Comments

Can we talk under-eye concealer for a second?

Of course we can. That’s why we’re buds. 😀 You understand my obsession with the whole dark circle thang, and that’s one of the many reasons I heart ya.

So, I usually blend under-eye concealer with my fingers because I feel like my body temp warms up the product a tad, making it a little easier to work into my skin. Plus, I figure, why use another brush if I don’t have to and be left with yet another brush to clean?

Then I came across the Beautyblender…

Man, this thing is cool! Basically, it’s a non-latex sponge, so it’s not exactly a brush, that you can use to apply and blend concealer, foundation or any cream products you wear on your face or body.

Just wet it with water, and watch it magically expand (ooh!). Then use the dampened sponge to apply your makeup.

Ever since I started using it to blend my under-eye concealer, I’ve seen a huge difference in the final look.

All I do is mix a little MAC Pro Longwear Concealer with MAC Careblends Essential Oils on the back of my hand (a trick I learned from MAC Pro Artist Louise Z), dot the mix under my eyes, and blend it all in with a damp Beautyblender.

When I’m done, I swear the skin under my eyes looks smoother than it does when I just use my fingers. Call me a Beautyblender believer!

Have you tried them yet, and if so, what do you think? They’re available at Sephora stores and sephora.com for $20.

They also sell a Beautyblender cleanser for $18, but I’m not exactly sold on that yet… I’m still using my good ol’ Dr. Bronner’s Lavender Soap, and it seems to work fine.

What Was Your Typical Makeup Look in High School/College?

February 13th, 2014 by Karen 46 Comments

Goodness, I don’t even know where to start! Uh…let’s just say that I’m glad there were no camera phones back then, because despite perhaps thinking I was hot sh*t, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t.

Yeah, it would’ve been nice to have beauty blogs and YouTube back then… I’m just sayin’. 🙂

Let’s see… High school for me was the early ’90s, and I liked to wear bold lips back then with black liner on my upper lash lines, foundation when I was in the mood for it, pressed powder, blush, but NO mascara (I know! But my mom wouldn’t allow me to wear it for some reason.).

Oh, those brows…

Freshman year of high school, I wore Clinique Raspberry Glace almost daily. It was my first “big girl” lipstick, and it was my jam! Eventually, other colors worked their way into my high school life, like coppers, wines and reds, usually from drugstore lines like Covergirl, Wet ‘N Wild and Revlon.

I distinctly remember wearing Revlon Cherries in the Snow all throughout junior year, mostly because almost everyone in the flute section that year (BAND GEEKS!) wore it during marching season.

Nerd alert! With my BFF Jen

College was a few years later in the mid-to-late ’90s, and I remember wearing a lot of matte textures and browns…

Now that I think about it, though, I should have worn more glitter back then, because if there’s ever a time to get away with wearing the sparkly stuff on a daily basis, it would have been then.

I was a total lip product junkie all throughout those years and wore A LOT of bold lips, often MAC Paramount Lipstick.

Then, on my eyes, Clinique eyeshadow, liner and mascara (FINALLY!), which was partly out of convenience, as there was a Clinique counter inside the campus bookstore (I KNOW!).

Other than that counter, the closest mall was a 30-minute drive up the highway (this was Davis, California), where they had a MAC counter, and really, I was too busy trying to memorize the Krebs Cycle to make that trip often.

How about you? What was your typical makeup look in high school/college?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

“Be Pretty!” Said Bobbi Brown’s Pinkish Bronze Antigua Illuminating Bronzing Powder

February 12th, 2014 by Karen 22 Comments

Bobbi Brown Antigua Illuminating Bronzing Powder

BIG smile. 🙂

I get one every time I open Bobbi Brown’s Antigua Illuminating Bronzing Powder.

This particular pinkish bronze issues its orders (“Be pretty!”) from the Uber Pink collection.

I’m partial to wearing it as a blush on my cheeks.

It’s available now for $38 at Bobbi Brown counters and bobbibrowncosmetics.com.

Bobbi Brown Antigua Illuminating Bronzing Powder swatch — Antigua on my NC42 skin

Be Your Own Admirer With Illamasqua’s Red Hot I’m the One Collection

February 12th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

Illamasqua's Feisty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Intense Lipgloss — Wearing Illamasqua’s Feisty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Intense Lipgloss

Be your own admirer.

That’s the message behind Illamasqua’s I’m the One collection, a small but eye-catching release with just one lip pencil, a lipstick, one gloss and a nail polish — but man, oh, man, are they bold! And red. Two things I can really get behind. 🙂

Here are pics and swatches of three of the four pieces from the collection…

Illamasqua I'm the One Collection lip products in Feisty, Touch and Maneater — I’m red-y for ya! Three of four pieces from the Illamasqua I’m the One collection…

Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Touch — Touch Intense Lipgloss, $24

Illamasqua Feisty Coloring Pencil — Feisty Coloring Pencil, $20

Illamasqua Maneater Lipstick — Maneater Lipstick, $26

Illamasqua Swatches from the left: Coloring Pencil in Fiesty, Lipstick in Maneater and Intense Lipgloss in Touch — Swatches from the left: Coloring Pencil in Feisty, Lipstick in Maneater and Intense Lipgloss in Touch

Illamasqua Fiesty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Lipgloss — A closeup of Feisty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Lipgloss

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The $7.50 NYX Adorable Shadow Palette Is Darling, Dahhhling

February 12th, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Cray-cray adorbs! The new NYX Adorable Palette.

“This palette is just darling, dahhhhling.”

Why, yes, I have been watching too much Bravo.

What gave it away? Was it the way I said “dahhhling” like Lisa Vanderpump from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? Because that’s how this new spring eyeshadow palette makes me feel.

With its cute crop of neutral browns, beiges and a dreamy pinkish peach, this palette has adorable written all over it.

No, really, it does. Right there on the front of the packaging. “Adorable.” Says it right there. 🙂

Anywho, don’t these six powder shadows look great together? I can see them working in a bunch of neutral looks.

Like this here pinkish brown smokey eye I’m sporting today…

That’s Bobbi Brown’s Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Antigua on the apples of my cheeks and Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood Light on my upper cheekbones.

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Treat Yourself to a Little Everyday Luxury With the Tocca Love Yourself Luxury Spa Set

February 12th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

No shower for me today (and possibly tomorrow) because of the sutures on my boo-boo arm. This makes me sad. 🙁

You don’t understand — it’s like Anakin Skywalker with the Force. The drive to clean is strong in this one…

Doesn’t matter how tired I am at the end of the day. I will always (well, 98% of the time) find the energy to take a shower. I just can’t sleep with sticky skin.

So imagine my shock yesterday when the surgeon told me that I shouldn’t shower for a while. He said that I should give the sutures a couple days to heal before getting them wet.

My first thought was, “No. Huh-uh. Not gonna happen,” which was quickly followed by a more reasonable, “Well, if I’m stuck taking sponge baths for a while, you better believe those sponge baths are going to be epic.”

I gotta get my beauty thrills wherever I can, and today I’m getting mine with Tocca’s $78 Love Yourself Luxury Spa Set.

The luxurious three-piece set will get you squeaky clean, and when you’re done, you’ll float out of your bathroom like an elven angel smelling lightly of gardenias… 🙂

This morning I lit the mini Florence candle that comes with the set and used my imagination to pretend I was at a spa. One sponge bath with the Bubble Bath and a few spritzes of Eau de Parfum later, and my day was off to a great start.

If you need to treat yourself to a little luxury, you can find the $78 (a $110 value) Love Yourself Luxury Spa Set now exclusively at Sephora stores and sephora.com.

The set includes…

1.7 oz Eau de Parfum
2 oz Mini Candelina
6.8 oz Bubble Bath