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

Deborah Lippmann Nail Color in Stronger, Created With Kelly Clarkson

October 25th, 2013 by Karen 11 Comments

Ever since I saw Kelly Clarkson perform live last year (it was at this weird free concert for the grand opening of a Microsoft store) I’ve been a not-so-secret superfan.

She was so good live. Seriously, girl can sang!

Stronger isn’t my favorite one of her songs (that would be Don’t Rush), but it’s in my top five. It’s one of my exercise anchor songs because it gets me through the last five minutes on the treadmill.

Whatever it takes!

Kelly helped Deborah create this tenacious, vivacious violet with colorful pieces of hexagonal glitter, and Kelly even wore it to the 2013 Grammy Awards.

It’s super sparkly…! I used two coats for these swatches, but one looks good, too (just has less glitter).

It’s available now for $19 online and at Deborah Lippmann counters.

Deborah Lippmann Stronger Swatch — Two coats…

Are You Dressing Up for Halloween?

October 25th, 2013 by Karen 30 Comments

I think the fall fairy has potential, especially if I can make that blasted elf ear work, but truth be told, it’s not as comfy as last year’s crazy cat lady look. I mean…it’s hard to beat pajamas and a robe. And you know I’m all about the comfort. 🙂

crazy cat lady costume — Portrait of a Crazy Cat Lady, Oct. 2012

katy perry costume — Katy Perry, Oct. 2012

Wonder Woman's alter ego, a MAC makeup artist, Oct. 2011 — Wonder Woman’s alter ego, a MAC makeup artist, Oct. 2011

Marge Simpson's quirky, makeup-loving sister-in-law, Oct. 2010 — Marge Simpson’s quirky, makeup-loving sister-in-law, Oct. 2010

Back to the '80s, Oct. 2011 — Back to the ’80s, Oct. 2011

Hmm… I wonder what I could do to really freak out my neighbors. That’s the end game, really. 🙂

The fall fairy has the big hair and the leaves and the muddy skin — that’s pretty freaky. I’m trying to picture myself like that handing out candy.

OMG, that frickin’ elf ear… First, it was too light toned, and then I couldn’t get it to stay put, and then I couldn’t keep it out of my hair, and then…gah! I gave up.

Right now it’s a tossup between fall fairy and crazy cat lady.

How about you? Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? Maybe we can brainstorm ideas. Lemme know what you’re thinking in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

More Pumpkin Madness! Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Body Butter

October 25th, 2013 by Karen 32 Comments

Of course I had to try it. 🙂

Ever since my friend Heidi (hey, Heids!) mentioned Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Body Butter to me a few weeks ago at lunch, I’d been wanting to get my paws on a jar. I actually went shopping once and they were all gone. Stuff’s in pretty high demand, apparently (the pumpkin hoarders must have cleaned them out).

But on my last TJ’s trip yesterday, I scored and brought one home.

It’s cruelty-free, vegan and smells just like pumpkin pie (the smell makes my tummy rumble). I slathered it all over myself after my shower.

Texture-wise, it’s dense, thick and moisturizing, so it does take a spell to work it in, but when you’re done, it doesn’t feel heavy or sticky at all.

Love that.

As you can probably imagine, it’s limited edition, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it all but disappeared in stores before Thanksgiving.

I’m thinking about getting a second jar. It’s only $4.99.

The Four Lippies in This New NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Gift Set Fling Giant Kisses

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 36 Comments

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set — Big kiss!

MMMWWAH!

I dunno… Do you think it’s too much to walk around with these red lips from the NARS Guy Bourdin Fling holiday gift set like this?

Too much?

It might be the closest I ever come to looking like one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (go team Vanderpump!).

The set’s called Fling, but I suspect a great many girls will want to go steady with it.

It features four lippies — pastel pink Roman Holiday Lipstick, dusty rose Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, sheer grape Damage Lipstick and raspberry Baroque Velvet Gloss Pencil — in transitional colors that sort of skirt the line between traditional winter and spring shades (or perhaps summer and fall).

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set lipsticks from the left: Lipstick in Roman Holiday, Lipstick in Damage, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita and Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Baroque — Lipstick in Roman Holiday, Lipstick in Damage, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita and Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Baroque

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set swatches from the left: Roman Holiday, Damage, Dolce Vita and Baroque — Swatches from the left: Roman Holiday, Damage, Dolce Vita and Baroque

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Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: A Fall Fairy Using the MAC Rick Baker and Divine Night Collections

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 30 Comments

My inspiration for this Halloween look was a fall fairy prancing home through a damp, leaf-covered forest floor early in the morning after an all-night dance party with her fairy friends.

To really sell the fairy angle better, I even got some elfin ears, but, uh, getting those suckers to peek through when your hair is teased out “to here” and there are leaves and berries all over the place is really hard!

Hey, man. I tried.

My goals for this look were to…

Make my skin look both muddy and shimmery, like I’d been prancing around in wet leaves. I figured that fairies partying all night long in the forest would tend to get a little dirty, but being magical creatures, they’d still retain their elfin glow.
Wear fall leaves in some big-@ss hair
Wear autumnal colors on my eyes
Freak out my neighbors — because that’s how I roll 🙂

It’s weird, but I think that even with the dirty skin, the look still ended up kind of bridal/Victoria’s Secret.

Too bad about the elf ears, because I think they would have taken the look to the next level.

If you’re on the market for Halloween makeup-based ideas, this one was actually pretty easy to achieve, as far as the makeup goes.

The (muddy) skin

Even though I wanted my skin to look dirty, I still started with my regular foundation, MAC Face and Body, to smooth everything out.

Next, for the muddy/glowy effect, I mixed MAC Monster FX Tinted Mixing Medium in Dirt from the Rick Baker collection ($22) with shimmery MAC Old Gold Pigment ($21), and then stippled that randomly around my face, neck, shoulders and arms with a MAC 159 Duo Fibre Brush (although any skunk brush should do).

When it was dry, to create sort of an earthy feel, I contoured my face with MAC Give Me Sun Bronzer.

Then, because I really wanted a noticeable glow, I highlighted my cheeks, nose and cupid’s bow with a bronze highlighter, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Perfectly Poised ($33), from the new Divine Night holiday collection.

The big-@ss hair

Today marked three days since my last shampoo/conditioner session, which I did because I wanted my mop to actually look a little dirty and “lived in.” I think that made it easier to go bigger with the hair.

I also used hot rollers yesterday, so I had some leftover curls.

To lift my roots and boost volume, I applied a dry shampoo to the roots and teased the top layers, then sprayed hairspray all over everything to keep it big.

Next, the leaves and berries, which I snipped from a couple of plastic garland strands I got from Joann (on sale for $4!), and tied them into pieces of my hair with some brown paper jewelry cord ($3), also from Joann.

The autumnal eyes and lips

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Stila’s $34 Color Outside the Lines Holiday Smudge Stick Set Encourages Artistic Rule-Breaking

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

Whoa! Art class flashback…

I’m tempted to draw pictures of fruit bowls with Stila’s new twist-tip Color Outside the Lines Smudge Stick Set ($34), but the sticks aren’t designed for notebooks. The creamy pencils are designed to smudge, line and shade lids all day long.

Stila definitely didn’t skimp on the pigment with these, and they’re also waterproof and long lasting.

The limited edition holiday set is available now at Ulta stores and online.

Giving Lips the Royale Treatment: Dior’s Diorific Lipstick in Royale, From the New Golden Winter Holiday Collection

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 31 Comments

Dior Diorific Lipstick in Royale from the new Golden Winter Collection — Dior Diorific Lipstick in Royale, from the new Golden Winter Collection

Never you mind that I’m 3,678 degrees of separation away from royalty. Even in glasses, my tow-up jeans with the hole in the left butt cheek, and my over-sized cat lady leopard sweater (yo, I’m stylin’ and profilin’ every day of my life!), I feel hella regal wearing Dior’s new $36 Diorific Lipstick in Royale. 🙂

Royale, a member of the House of Dior’s new Golden Winter holiday collection, pulls up to Dior counters in its royal carriage next month. A creamy neutral pink with little bits of golden glitter (visible to anyone who gets up in your grill, but not so much from an arm’s length away), it shimmers with secret lipstick sparkle.

Somebody hand me my scepter, and CHOP-CHOP! — make it snappy. I don’t remember where I left it, but it looks like this lipstick’s limited edition packaging. I know it’s around here somewhere… Like the lipstick, it’s gold, curvy and aristocratic.

Dior Royale Lipstick Golden Winter Collection — If I had a scepter, it would look like this…only longer

By proclamation, as the ruler of the Empire of Messyofficia, I name Royale the Official Pink Lipstick of the Royal Court for the following three reasons…

The lovely light rose flavor and scent, which linger as long as I wear it
The lightweight, yet full-coverage formula
The potent moisturizing power and wear time of 3-4 hours

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A 30-Minute MAC Divine Night Look, and Another Note to My Perpetually Late Self

October 23rd, 2013 by Karen 54 Comments

Dear Perpetually Late Self (yep, that’s you, Karen),

Duuuuuuude. Sometimes you really surprise me.

I used to think your best idea was dumping that guy you met dancing in that cage at the club, because really now, what kind of future can you have with a cage-dancing, club-hopping, Kangol-hat wearing player?

But this? Using your iPhone’s timer to track how much time you’re spending on your makeup? That’s brilliant. Your best idea yet.

I don’t know how you came up with it (perhaps you got tired of being late for, like, everything?), but in just a couple months it’s already saved you about a zillion hours.

And setting the phone’s Auto-Lock feature to “Never” was a pretty good idea. That way the phone didn’t even go to sleep. All you had to do was set the timer for 30 minutes and click “Start.”

Earlier this week I tried a 15-minute MAC Divine Night look. Today I gave myself a little more time…

Today you gave yourself 30 minutes to get your face on using the new MAC Divine Night collection and — “WOOP! WOOP!” — you actually did it.

Kudos. 🙂

Minutes 30:00-20:00 — Face

I like that you started with the basics — primer, foundation, concealer, powder and brows. You got your skin finished first, so if something unexpected had come up, at least you were done with that.

20:00-5:00 — Eyes

MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow in Past Midnight

For your eyes, you went with a shadow duo — purple and pink Mineralize Eye Shadow in Past Midnight — which seems wise because you were in a hurry. I remember you mentioning the duo before and how it had very little fallout and was easy to blend. Those things always save time. And when I saw that you decided to do a simple smokey eye, I thought, “Good call.”

Using MAC Feline Kohl all over your lids as a base made sense. The super creamy, easy-to-blend formula makes quick work of smokey eyes.

Oh, and patting the purple shade from Past Midnight directly on top? I couldn’t figure out why you did that at first, but then it hit me — the black base intensified the purple, and because Past Midnight’s finely blended powder was so easy to blend, you weren’t spending forever and a day buffing out the edges with your tapered 224.

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