Search Results for: chanel

Laura Mercier Haulin’, and Info on Gold Digger

March 15th, 2008 by Karen 41 Comments

Your girl did a lil’ hauling today at the Macy’s Union Square Laura Mercier counter. I picked up some cream shadows from the Dreamy Collection, along with a navy blue cake eyeliner and a flat eyeliner brush.

Here’s a pic of the haul sans camera flash:

I know I’ve moaned and groaned about my one bad incident with a Laura Mercier cream blush brush, but when Frank, a cool makeup artist at the Union Square counter, showed me how to use a flat eyeliner brush to apply Bleu Marine Eye Liner on my waterline (to make my eyes look bigger), I had a moment. [Continue reading…]

Face of the Day: A Smokey Eye with MAC Club

March 11th, 2008 by Karen 70 Comments

I had a lot of fun with MAC Club eyeshadow today. Its versatility makes it great for creating quick, daytime smokey eyes. I had about three seconds to put on my makeup this morning, and I owe this look to MAC Club. Paired with a few new products from Fafi and the N Collections, MAC Club helped me finish this look in 10 minutes.

Believe it or not, but there is a completely rational explanation (as soon as I think of it) for why my nails are different colors in this picture.

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Not Your 80s Hairspray: Bumble and Bumble’s Spray de Mode Makes Me Want to Use Hairspray Again

March 9th, 2008 by Karen 45 Comments

Bumble and Bumble enlisted the help of French hairdresser Laurent Philippon to test and fine tune the formula of their Spray de Mode hairspray over several seasons of professional use backstage at the Paris shows (aka in the trenches), and the hard work shows.

Let me just come out and say it: Spray de Mode is nothing like 1980’s hairsprays. I can’t even begin to estimate the obscene amount of stinky, flaky, crunchy aerosol hairspray I used when high hair was the fashion du jour.

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Face of the Day: A Pink and Blue Pastel Eye

March 5th, 2008 by Karen 79 Comments

Girfriend, I’m busy frolicking today, but you know I couldn’t leave you hangin’! Pastels aren’t usually my style, but today the makeup gods chose to bestow enough courage upon me to attempt this pink and blue eye, inspired by Shiseido’s spring makeup look.

Here’s the Shiseido version:

And here’s my attempt:

Excuse the big hair. It’s looking very ’80s Jersey shore, I know, but when I wear it wavy it has a mind of its own!

To get this look I used…

Lid and crease
– MAC Rollicking Paint Pot
– MAC Parrot eyeshadow

Brow bone and in the crease
– MAC Girl Friendly Paint Pot
– MAC Frisco eyeshadow
– MAC Fafi Quad 1 – Pink Venus eyeshadow

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My Sunday Manicure: Nail News

March 2nd, 2008 by Karen 34 Comments

What’s up, everyone! Happy Sunday! I chilled out today and did a whole lot of nothing. I ran, watched a few movies, fed the neighbor’s cat, did some laundry and painted my nails for the first time since December.

Are you good about getting your nails done? I usually am not, but for the heck of it I put on two lovely coats of Shu Uemura Nail Enamel Supplement Mineral (um, say that fast five times) in Chocolate Brown ($16) while watching The Darjeeling Limited on DVD. Even without a base coat, the formula applies easily and dries quickly to a shiny finish. It’s great for clumsy gals like yours truly and makes doing a home manicure easy. Love ya, Shu!

Speaking of manicures, I caught up on my beauty reading today and read this interesting piece in the New York Times by Camille Sweeny about a growing trend in the beauty world. Manicure and makeover parties are all the rage — for young elementary school girls, holy crap!

One recent rainy afternoon, Eleanor LaFauci, 7, sat with her feet in open-toed foam slippers, admiring her toenails, freshly painted watermelon pink.

Eleanor was in the bubble-gum-colored pedicure lounge of Dashing Diva, the Upper West Side franchise of the international nail spa, with her 3 Â½-year-old sister and a half-dozen or so friends. The girls were celebrating her birthday with mani’s, pedi’s and mini-makeovers with light makeup and body art â€” glitter-applied stars, lightning bolts and, of course, hearts.

Traditionally, young girls have played with unattended M.A.C. eye shadow or Chanel foundation, hoping to capture a whiff of sophistication. In the recent past, young girls have also tagged along on beauty expeditions by their mothers and teenage sisters.

But today, cosmetic companies and retailers increasingly aim their sophisticated products and service packages squarely at 6- to 9-year-olds, who are being transformed into savvy beauty consumers before they’re out of elementary school.

Reality programming like “America’s Next Top Model” often hinges on the segment devoted to a hair and beauty transformation for the contestants, Ms. Skey said. On social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, members’ intense self-focus and their attention to how they present themselves also affect 6- to 9-year-olds, even though technically, they aren’t allowed to set up profiles on the sites, she added. “We live in a culture of insta-celebrity,” Ms. Skey said. “Our little girls now grow up thinking they need to be ready for their close-up, lest the paparazzi arrive.”

Register with the New York Times (it’s free) to finish the story.

Back in my elementary school days, a party with your friends involved cake, ice cream and several rounds of pin the tail on the donkey — not cuticle removal! If you were lucky, perhaps a pinata or mini pony would be up in the mix.

What say you about this beauty trend? Do you think these makeover parties for young girls are harmless and fun? Or does it alarm you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Spring Fragrance Quest, Part I: Bath and Body Works Enchanted Orchid

February 29th, 2008 by Karen 42 Comments

I am flat-out hooked on Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle perfume, but I’m afraid it might be too heavy for warmer spring weather, so I’ve been sniffing around for a lighter, fresher spring fragrance. I call my search Spring Fragrance Quest. I’m on a mission to find something either citrusy or floral, or maybe even a combo of both, and this morning I headed over to the mall to check out Enchanted Orchid, the new fragrance by Bath & Body Works.

Enchanted Orchid’s pretty purple-pink packaging immediately caught my eye (those are Phalaenopsis orchids on the labels!). For some reason, the words Enchanted Orchid make me think of a magical plant creature with the power to hypnotize passers by. I guess I’m just weird like that…

Bath & Body Works Body Lotions ($10) and Eau de Toilettes ($19) are usually my faves, so I gave the Enchanted Orchid versions of both of them a good sniff. Right off the bat, I caught the whiffs of violets and gardenias. Enchanted Orchid’s fragrance notes include:

Top: Pink grapefruit, wet greens, waterlily and crisp apple
Mid: Calypso orchid, gardenia, delicate iris and violet petals
Base: Vanilla orchid, heliotrope, creamy amber and skin musk

I would characterize it as a combo citrus-floral blend. I slathered lotion on my left arm and sprayed the Eau de Toilette on my right. Then I wandered around the store to let the Enchanted Orchid creature work its magic on my body chemistry. After 10 minutes, I gave both arms another strong sniff… First thing that came to mind: Play-Doh! None of the initial fruit and floral notes came through. No more violets, apples, nothing — all I smelled was vanilla, which inevitably reminded me of good ole’ fashioned Play-Doh.

Now, I can appreciate a good can of Play-Doh as much as the next toddler or tyke, but I don’t exactly want to cruise around smelling like a kindergarten art class, so I’m going to have to pass on Enchanted Orchid.

Spring Fragrance Quest continues!

Next up — the fragrance counter at Nordstrom! Do you have any spring fragrance recommendations for me? What should I check out next?

Purchase Enchanted Orchid body products online at Bath & Body Works nationwide.

It’s Friday, ya’ll! To top it off it’s an extra day (Leap Year), which for some reason makes today seem even better, like a special bonus prize. I got home late last night from dancing and am totally exhausted. The DJ played old school hip hop from the ’80s and ’90s, and I danced my booty off on the dance floor!

At some point the DJ transitioned into playing Barry White. I was too into my dancing zone to really notice at the time, but when I finally figured out what had happened, it was like a disco fantasy. All that was missing were my roller skates and feathered hairdo. ‘Twas awesome.

Face it: Barry White couldn’t get enough of your luuurve, baby.

There’s a price to pay for all my boogie-ing down last night: today I’ve got dark circles from hell, LOL.

Happy Leap Year, cuties, and happy, happy Friday! What do you have lined up for this weekend?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Stowaway!

February 27th, 2008 by Karen 48 Comments

Hooray, spring is right around the corner! The weather was warm yesterday so I drove to work bumping my new favorite song, Usher’s Love in this Club, with all my windows down and the sunroof open. I’m guilty of dancing in my car and pretending it’s a club on wheels, ha! But if you roll with me I won’t charge you cover, promise. 😉

Anyway, yesterday I might’ve gotten a little too into car dancing because when I got to the parking lot and parked my car, I forgot to roll up the back windows…whoops. It was really no big deal, because the parking lot is safe so nothing got stolen, but a shady character managed to sneak into my back seat:

I opened the door and waited for him to crawl out, but homie sat there and just chilled for five more minutes. He gave me dirty looks the entire time, like I interrupted his afternoon meditation session. I lured him out by taking out a Chanel Glossimer lipgloss (in the shade Galactic, holla) and waving it around. He eventually sauntered away and wouldn’t even let me pet him. Sigh. At least he has good taste in lipgloss…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Makeup Fafi Tutorial: A Black and Gold Smokey Eye

February 19th, 2008 by Karen 75 Comments

MAC Makeup Fafi Tutorial: A Black and Gold Smokey Eye

I finally got my paws on MAC Fafi yesterday, and all I have to say is MEOW! Love it. This morning I busted out a few things from the collection — Fafi Eyes 1 Quad, Nice Vice Paint Pot and the Not So Innocent Lipstick — and created this subtle gold and black smokey eye for work.

mac-cosmetics-fafi-16

A few days ago, after the super-spy MAC Fafi swatch mission, I fell in love with Fafi’s Paint Pots (love Nice Vice!) and lipsticks but wasn’t floored by the eyeshadow quads. I changed my tune after playing with the Fafi Eyes 1 Quad ($36) this mornin’. The colors work with my skin tone (so far the shades “Hey” and “Vanilla” are my faves), and the textures apply like butter. If you love neutral eyeshadows, I think you’ll dig this quad.

Now, on to the look! New to semi-complicated makeup? Don’t despair. If you’ve ever worn at least two eyeshadow colors at a time, then you can certainly handle this. Yes! You! Can!

Products I used to create the look…

Dior Long-Wearing Moisturizing Concealer in shade 430
MAC Fafi Eyes 1 Quad – Vanilla eyeshadow
MAC Paint Pot – Nice Vice
MAC Fafi Eyes 1 Quad – Howzat eyeshadow
MAC Fafi Eyes 1 Quad – Hey
MAC Fluidline Eyeliner – Blacktrack
MAC Eyeshadow – Concrete
MAC Zoom Lash mascara – Zoomblack
MAC Barbie Beauty Powder – Pearl Blossom
MAC Cremestick Lip Liner – Sublime Culture
MAC Glaze Lipstick – Not So Innocent
MAC Lipglass – Clear

mac-cosmetics-fafi-1

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