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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, July 2

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Petite Fashionista
I tower at exactly 5’2″ tall, and when you’re my height, clothing presents certain … challenges. Christa Jean at Petite Fashionista understands the plight of the vertically challenged. Her site gives shorter women everywhere the tools they need to dress in style.
petitefashionista

Nessasarymakeup.com
You can’t help but catch Vanessa’s exuberance for makeup when you pay a visit to her site. She does some really colorful looks, but beyond her skill with makeup she’s the cool cousin you wish you had, the really nice one you could go shopping with any time.
nessasarymakeup

The Daily Monster
Sometimes, inspiration comes in the form of an ink blot. Stefan Bucher creates art by dropping ink on a page and blowing it out with a straw until he sees the shape of a monster. Then, he fleshes out the creature with a pen. I know, it’s weird, but trust me; it’s also beautiful and cool. He records the entire process, too, and posts the videos on his blog.
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About.com: Beauty
Julyne Derrick has run the About.com Beauty Guide since 2005. The site maintains a huge library of how-to articles and general information about makeup and beauty. The easy-to-follow layout makes it a perfect resource for women testing the makeup waters.
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, June 23

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  1. Mood: Groggy but happy

    2.  

  2. Lips: Chanel Astral Glossimer

    3.  

  3. Fragrance: Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia

    4.  

  4. Food craving: Vegetable pad Thai

    5.  

  5. Makeup craving: The NARS Bridal Palette, which I saw on Bella Sugar the other day

    6.  

  6. Theme song: Whatever U Like, by Nicole Scherzinger

    7.  

  7. Nail polish: My fingertips are bare with the exception of the nail on my left pointer finger, which is painted with two layers of Dior Liquorice nail enamel. My toes are still rockin’ It’s Delovely, the coral shade from my visit to the Lippmann nail bar a couple weeks ago.

    8.  

  8. Hair: I’m wearing it down, with loose waves a la Jennifer Aniston.

    9.  

  9. Shoes: Hot pink Havaianas flip flops

    10.  

  10. Goal of the day: To start a new journal, to survive work and to eat a ton of ice cream.

Your turn! Just copy the list, insert your answers and leave ’em for me in the comments. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
Lips:
Fragrance:
Food craving:
Makeup craving:
Theme song:
Nail polish:
Hair:
Shoes:
Goal of the day:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Most Popular Posts of the Week: June 16-22

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Happy Sunday, girls! I hope your day is going well. I’m on my way to a quick brunch (Mmm… French toast).

Brunch.

What is it about that word? — brunch? I love it. Not quite breakfast; not quite lunch.

Most Popular Posts of the Week: June 16-22

  • Chanel Fall 2008: Early Reviews and Swatches
    “The entire gold-themed collection lands at Chanel counters this July, but here are three members of the fall collection. I’ve yet to see the items I’m *really* lusting after — the Gold Fever Highlighter and the Gold Light Glossimer — in person, but these should tide me over for now.”

  • Review: Bumble and Bumble Creme de Coco Masque
    “The texture of Creme de Coco Masque is just slightly thicker than Bumble and Bumble’s Deeep [with three Eees] Conditioner, which is quite thick, but it was still easy to apply from roots to ends. Coconut is either a love it or hate it scent, so be warned: this smells like coconut.”

  • Dior Fall 2008: Impression Cuir Fall Pics and Full Product List
    “Due for release this August, the collection features rich, romantic colors like burgundy, plum and copper and embossed animal-inspired textures — think crocodile and python. The makeup gods say dark lipstick will be big this fall, and I’m looking forward to Fantastic Plum Rouge Dior. I think it’ll look great with my warm winter coat and knee-high boots.”

  • MAC Makeup Fafi Tutorial: A Black and Gold Smokey Eye
    “Begin by blending an even layer of Dior concealer onto the entire surface of your eyelid. This gives the eye products we’re about to use something to latch onto and intensifies the color of the eyeshadows.”

  • MAC Cosmetics Neo Sci Fi Face of the Day
    “I’ve had sun on my mind lately and felt inspired this morning to reach for a few brighter-than-bright items from MAC’s Neo Sci Fi collection. I didn’t really feel like going buck wild with a lot of blending or a wide variety of products with my look today, and I limited myself to just two (!) eyeshadows.”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection 55 for Face and Body: Goodbye Zombie Tan

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shiseido-ulitmate-sun-protection-lotion-for-face-and-body

I’m going to be in travel mode and midair much of the day but still wanted to check in and say hello.

Hello! 🙂

I’m sitting here in the living room of my in-law’s place listening to the neighborhood chickens go nuts (they must be sad to see me go) and hearing mangos regularly drop from tall trees with loud thuds in the backyard jungle.

Even though I won’t be hitting the beach today (or for a long time, for that matter), it’s still sunny outside, so I’ve slathered myself up with Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion SPF 55 PA +++ ($37), the sunscreen I’ve reached for more than any other on this trip.

Containing two active sunblock ingredients — octinoxate (UVB protectant) and zinc oxide (UVA and UVB protectant) — Shiseido 55 blocks both kinds of damaging ultraviolet radiation. My ample “testing” over the past week also showed it to be highly water resistant — hello, a total must for my sweaty self. The product marketing claims Shiseido 55 remains active for up to 80 minutes in water. Based on my experience with it, that estimate seems about right to me.

I’m a sunscreen addict, and most of the other high SPF lotions I’ve tried either don’t absorb well — I’m talking five minutes of vigorous rubbing to sufficiently cover one arm — or they leave a whitish-grey film on my skin, aka zombie tan. Shiseido overcame both issues with this product. It absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave a white or grey cast.

BEAUTY ALERT: MAC Cosmetics Coupon Code

This morning a gal pal at MAC sent this much appreciated coupon for their online friends and family sale. Good today only. Type in MACFF8 at checkout to get free shipping and 15% off your purchase. Cool Heat, anyone?

Many sunscreens, especially high SPF ones, feel thick and greasy like Vaseline. Shiseido 55 doesn’t. It never feels sticky, greasy or uncomfortable at all, not even on my neck, and I totally dig the light, beachy fragrance.

Yes, $37 is a lot to pay for a 3.3 oz bottle of sunscreen when you can buy a bottle of BullFrog Sunblock for $8, but this is our skin we’re talking about. I put the bulk of my skin care budget toward sun protection because of how crucial it is to wrinkle prevention. This product is worth its weight in gold.
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Dior Goldrush Summer 2008 Collection: Swatches and Pics

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Who loves gold, khaki and coral? I do! I do!

How ’bout Dior? Do you love Dior? Because I sure do. I got my paws on a few items from Goldrush, Dior’s new summer collection. It’s a limited edition being delivered to your nearby Dior counter as we speak. Dior has given us some new eyeshadows, lipsticks, lipglosses, a blush, a highlighter and nail polishes in coordinating tan, coral, khaki and gold.

I really like the 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Golds 569 ($52).
dior-goldrush-summer-2008-569-swatch

Pretty, yah? The eyeshadow palette pictured above houses five shades — a beige, bronze, copper, gold and khaki, all wrapped up in a sleek, midnight blue, trademark Dior compact. 
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MAC Fafi and Laura Mercier Gold Digger for a Warm Weather Face of the Day

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makeup and beauty blog fotd

In typical Bay Area fashion, grey, overcast skies quickly replaced the sunny, warm weather we’d had for a few days, but I refuse to let go! I wasn’t up for this uber-red MAC look here, but I still wanted to try something bright and lively. So, this morning I gave this summery bronze and gold eye a try, featuring colors from the MAC Fafi and Laura Mercier Gold Digger collections. I first thought about going for broke with false eyelashes, too, but those will have to wait ’til next time.

Matte coral cheeks and shimmery coral lips complete the look. Now, all I need is a warm beach, a pair of flip flops and a large Jamba Juice (Orange Dream Machine, yum)!

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Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean Breeze Perfume: Fresh, Citrus and Floral

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Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean Breeze

Spring Fragrance Quest continues this weekend with Elizabeth Arden’s new Mediterranean Breeze perfume.

I spent most of last night with my nose buried in my forearm, breathing in its fresh, citrusy, floral scent. I was watching Wesley Snipes slay vampires in the cinematic masterpiece that is Blade II (LOL), periodically sniffing my arm like a crazy person. Seriously, this stuff is fragrance ecstasy and made me lose control of my vocal chords a few times, causing me to scream at the TV: “Oh gawd!” “It’s just too good!” “Soo frickin’ good!” etc., etc.

Mediterranean Breeze is a lighter, more citrusy followup to Elizabeth Arden’s original Mediterranean perfume and evokes a similar beach-y, vacation-in-a-bottle feeling. The scent opens with a burst of white nectarine, bergamot and grapefruit. Then come the floral notes: Corsican violet, wild jasmine petals and sweet almond flower. Finally, it dries down to warmer cedarwood, sandalwood and musk.

The citrus here really takes Mediterranean Breeze to the next level. In general, I’m not the biggest fan of sweet fruit fragrances, but the bergamot and grapefruit add sophistication to Mediterranean Breeze. They’re citrusy, but not overly sweet.

Something about the fragrance reminds me of fresh, clean water (similar to Aqua di Gio Women and Cool Water Woman), like I’m sipping lemonade on the verandah of a fabulous Spanish villa overlooking the sea.

MBB field trip! (I wish!)
elizabeth Arden
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MAC Heatherette’s Sock Hop, Style Minx Lipglasses Live Up to the Hype

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MAC’s highly anticipated Heatherette collection dropped this week, and two of the Lipglasses really caught my eye — Style Minx and Sock Hop.

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Style Minx, a sparkling bright pink fuchsia, appeals to the pink lipgloss lover in me. After applying two coats, my lips turned a bold, can’t-miss-me bright pink. Girl, I looked so ready to hit the club!

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Style Minx

It took some effort with Style Minx to get the results I wanted. In hindsight, I would recommend using it with a lip liner. On my first attempt, I skipped liner and ended up with pink everywhere! The shade is so bright that even the smallest traces of product are apt to stand out like sore, pink thumbs if any color extends beyond the natural lip line.

While playing with Style Minx, I was pleasantly surprised by how very pretty it is when toned down. As a test, I applied a single quick coat to my lips, blotting afterwards with a tissue. What remained was a rosy, deep pink stain perfect for more conservative daytime wear.

With the help of a lip liner and a lip brush (as opposed to the included Lipglass wand), I expect to have better luck on my next attempts with Style Minx. A liner should establish a crisp boundary to reign in some of the pink, and the use of a separate lip brush should provide a lot more control than the wand does. I’m not kidding, ya’ll — this stuff is pink!
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