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bargain

If You Throw Me a Line, Make It Velvet Rope: New NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Velvet Rope

November 11th, 2010 by Karen 42 Comments

karen of makeup and beauty blog wearing the nyx velvet rope palette 2

Oh, my goodness! Look at all that purple. Is this a Prince video or a beauty blog? 🙂

Today I left the thugs to their gangsta’s paradise while I escaped yet again to my purple one. I could go on and on about how much I love purple eyeshadow, but the No. 1 reason why I think every girl (or makeup loving boy, for that matter) should play with purple is because of how great it goes with everything.

Alright, I admit I’m plum biased, but I think purple looks great on almost everyone. Whether brown, green, gray, blue or hazel eyes, the right purple on your lid or lash line can make those peepers

POP! Yeah, I use that word a lot…but you know what I mean.

Now, brace yourself for a plethora of purple, and behold the new NYX Velvet Rope 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette ($9.75)!

nyx velvet rope eyeshadow palette runway collection review swatches photos

It’s one of four newcomers to NYX’s permanent “The Runway Collection” family of slim, trim eye palettes, each of which hold 10 pans of powder eyeshadow in coordinating shades.

You may be thinking, “Did Barney explode in that palette?” Haha! I assure you, he did not.

As you can see, most of the shades are purples, but NYX incorporated a few other colors to spice things up.

For more mulberry mayhem…

  • Plum Curious: How Does Romp Eyeshadow from the Cowboy Junkie Palette Compare to Other Purples from Urban Decay?
  • Bargainistas: Keep an Eye Out for the $11 NYX Purple Smokey Look Kit
  • $5 Wet N Wild Color Icon Kits Were Built with Xmas Shopping in Mind

Despite being a budget brand, NYX does some things very well, one of them being eyeshadows. I think they’re among the best!

Not knowing these were from NYX, I would have never guessed they were less than $10, not being as smooth as they are with this kind of pigment. I’m beginning to think of NYX as the Marshalls of the eye makeup world — proprietors of great value products.
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There are 42 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain, nyx

The $38 Benefit Femme Metale Precious Metals Eye Makeup Kit: An Alchemist’s Delight

September 11th, 2010 by Karen 30 Comments

Benefit Femme Metale
Before the new limited-edition Benefit Femme Metale Precious Metals Eye Makeup Kit entered my life, the closest I’d come to metallic greatness was the time James Hetfield and I shared a sidewalk.

For $38, you get three full-size Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows and three large sample-size pencil liners in the Sephora exclusive kit — a headbang-worthy bargain (insert sign of the beast [HERE]), considering the Creams usually go for $19 a pop.

Femme Metale’s gilded metallic shades, new but limited edition, give the kit an almost steampunk vibe, and all six colors apply with shimmer to spare.
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There are 30 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain, benefit

NYX Studio Effect Liquid Liner and a Tuesday Hello

August 24th, 2010 by Karen 70 Comments

Hey, boo. 🙂 Howzit? Sorry if I’ve seemed a little distracted lately, but I’ve been trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with my in-laws before they head back to Hawaii on Friday. Yup, it’s been an interesting beauty balancing act — trying to be a considerate host while also being biologically incapable of resisting makeup for more than a few hours at a time, ha!

But like any self-respecting member of the Borg collective knows, “resistance IS futile.” Keeping this beauty fiend away from her makeup is like trying to keep Tabs away from gravy (read: hard). Today I even locked myself away in the bathroom for an hour just to be alone with the new NYX Studio Liquid Liners ($4.50 each).


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Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain, eyeliner, nyx

I’m Straight Trippin’ over $5 TRESemme Heat Tamer Spray

July 29th, 2010 by Karen 83 Comments

tresemme heat tamer spray review

Seriously, where would we be without our friends to show us the beauty light? I imagine we’d bumble our way through the beauty-sphere, eventually finding the best stuff on our own, but isn’t it nice when a buddy offers a heads up about something truly great (and cheap!)?

To wit: my pal Marisol recently turned me on to TRESemme Heat Tamer Spray ($5), and HELLO! — talk about bomb-@ss drugstore beauty finds.

I’d been seeing it on shelves for months but wasn’t compelled to give it a try until Marisol’s recommendation.

TRESemme designed the spray mist to protect hair from heat damage, to tame frizz and to add shine.
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Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Hair, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain

Bargainistas: Keep an Eye Out for the $11 NYX Purple Smokey Look Kit

June 28th, 2010 by Karen 64 Comments

nyx purple smokey look kit review swatches photos

The times, they are a-changin’, edgy eyeshadow lovahs, and ground zero’s at a drugstore near you. Thanks to budget brands like NYX, colorful shadows have gotten a lot more accessible over the past few years. Case in point: NYX’s new NYX Purple Smokey Look Kit for summer, aka one of the best drugstore palettes I’ve seen in a really long time.

It’s a little hard to tell from these pictures because I forgot to take one with me holding it, but the case easily fits in the palm of my hand and looks built for easy travel. This particular palette, the Purple Smokey Look Kit, is one of three released from NYX for summer, and like the others it costs just $11! $11! This one comes with nine color coordinated powder shadows and two lipsticks.

If I’d known absolutely nothing about NYX before taking a look at this palette, I would’ve assumed the shadows, which come in various shades of purple, blue and black, were from a department store line like MAC. Like pricier products, they go on with vibrant pigmentation, wet or dry, blend easily and stay put all day long without fading.
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Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain, nyx

Adventures in Drugstore Makeup: NYX Blush Dupes for Two Icons from MAC and NARS

June 22nd, 2010 by Karen 59 Comments

nyx powder blush review

Bargain hunting, blush loving NYX fans, lend me your ears (and cheeks!). Now, for the mere price of two scoops of fancy shmancy gelato, you can dupe (nearly) two more iconic blushes from MAC and NARS.

Meet Red and Pinched, the new summer additions to the NYX Powder Blush line ($6 each).

Pinched, a shimmery golden peachy pink, reminds me of a slightly pinker version of NARS Orgasm, while matte Red could pass for a clone of MAC Frankly Scarlet.

The newcomers are like summer salsa, spicing up NYX’s already wide range of blushes with a price point bound to make beauty bargainistas wanna dance!


This also makes me wanna dance…

The NYX Powder blushes have been around for a while and have gotten mad love on review sites like Makeup Alley. I can see why. Red and Pinched both feel soft to the touch but pack more pigmentation than I expected from them.

Oh, if you’re particular about texture, this may be something to keep in mind:
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There are 59 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain, mac, nars, nyx

Rimmel Glam Eyes Mono Eyeshadow: The $4 Drugstore Blending Queen

May 28th, 2010 by Karen 84 Comments

rimmel glam eyes mono eyeshadow review

Society accepts when one purposefully resembles a rodeo clown (hey, those clowns know how to WORK!), but when it’s accidental, well, that’s another story.

If past encounters with intensely pigmented eyeshadows left you looking more Krusty than cute, then Rimmel Glam Eyes Mono Eyeshadow ($4) might be your new BFF.

Released with the company’s spring collection and available in drugstores now, these six powder eyeshadows in color-rich shades blend so surprisingly well that I’m betting even eyeshadow neophytes could make them work.


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Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain, rimmel

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blendable Powder Blush Deserves a Drugstore Makeup Crown

April 23rd, 2010 by Karen 27 Comments

Dagnabbit, Rimmel! Why you gotta keep drawing me in?

The person in charge of packaging over there sure knows how to grab my attention. They did it a few weeks ago with the font on those tubes of Royal Gloss, and now this??

LOVE the crown on these $5 pans of Lasting Finish Blendable Powder Blushes.

Ahh… it’s the little touches that get me every time, especially when we’re talking about budget beauty products and tempered expectations. Here, for a mere five buckaroos, I STILL feel like I’m getting the royal treatment. 🙂


Winter Glow
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Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Product Reviews Keywords: bargain, rimmel

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

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