Jeans by Current/Elliott, shoes by Michael Kors and nail polish by NARS (Kutki, from the Thakoon for NARS Nail Collection).
Crazy Pants!
It’s Good to Get It Twisted With the MAC Beth Ditto Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liners
Wearing MAC Beth Ditto Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liner in “Drag, Strip”
Dual-ended eye makeup brushes, cream shadows that double as primers, twist-up eyeliners that never, ever need sharpening — what’s the key word here?
That would be convenience. 🙂
If it makes my life easier, I’m generally a fan. Like, if it’s something I can apply in the back of a cab on the way to meet the cast of Magic Mike for drinks at the Tonga Room, I’ll probably say, “Yes, please!”
Speaking of that, “Siri, remind me to Fandango tickets to see Magic Mike…”
Oops! — back to convenience. If we also happen to be talking about convenient eye makeup, my resistance is futile. Anything that saves space in my makeup bag and shaves a few steps off my eye makeup routine, like the new dual-ended Beth Ditto Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liners ($22 each), can be characterized as one of my weak spots.
On one end, a slanted eyeliner; on the other, a creamy, intensely pigmented coordinating eyeshadow with a rounded tip. And both ends laugh in the face of sharpeners! With their twist-up tips, they just don’t need ’em.
When you get the urge to go bigger with your eye look or just feel like skipping your brushes, just twist up the eyeshadow tip, apply the product directly to your lids, and smooth out the edges with a finger. Then, follow up with the liner, but only if you feel like it (I usually do).
The four limited edition pencils include Little Miss Moffett, which pairs a true black shadow with a true white liner; “Drag, Strip,” which pairs a smokey navy shadow with a pale blue liner; Beth Mask, which pairs a reddish brown bronze shadow with a golden peachy pink liner; and Beth or Glory, which puts a deep brown shadow together with a bright blue liner.
Application tips from MAC Senior Artist Keri Blair
“The tapered end is the ‘liner,’ so it’s better for more detailing and defining (I don’t recommend it for the water line). The slanted tip makes it easy to apply to eyelids or the inner corners of the eyes. Use it to pop the lid, and with a flick of your wrist, you can use the rounded side to smoke out the outer and inner corners of the eyes.
The rounded side is great for smudging and ‘smoking’ out the eye. You can blend with your finger or a brush, but work quickly because the long-wearing, water-resistant formula dries fast! My best advice is to work one eye at a time to achieve a perfectly smokey, smudgy look.”
Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liner
From bottom to top: Little Miss Moffet, Beth or Glory, Beth Mask and Drag, Strip
Swatches from the left, Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liners in #1 Beth Mask, #2 Beth or Glory, #3 “Drag, Strip” and #4 Little Miss Moffett; Zoom Lash Mascara in #5 Plum Reserve, #6 Blue Charge and #7 New Hue; Pro Longwear Lipcremes in #8 BOOYAH!!, Dear Diary and Heart Hangover
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Bobbi’s Eye Wardrobe Is a Trip! The New Cool-Toned Bobbi Brown Travel Exclusive Palette
It’s hard to believe there was a time in my life when the only wardrobe I needed was the fictional one I found nestled between the pages of a C.S. Lewis book.
But then I found makeup. 🙂
I soon discovered that lip products, perfumes, powders and palettes opened similar doorways to distant worlds, and it was quite a rush.
In The Chronicles of Narnia books (some of my faves!), that doorway is an old wooden wardrobe. With Bobbi Brown’s new Eye Wardrobe palette, it’s a small rectangular box.
When I pop open this palette, I think, “Ah, the looks I’ll do… The places I’ll go!”
The new limited edition travel exclusive (price TBA, but based on Bobbi’s other eye palettes, expect around $45) contains six mostly cool-toned powder shadows in White (a sheer white matte), Star (sheer glittery beige), Iced Blue (a metallic pale blue), Opal (a pearly off white), Lavender (a metallic pale purple) and Black Cocoa (a shimmery blackish brown with golden glitter), as well as four tiny tools — miniature versions of Bobbi’s eyeshadow, angle, smudge and liner brushes.
I’m not often impressed by travel brushes, but the four here have been surprisingly useful, even with their itty-bitty brush heads. The soft bristles deposit a considerable amount of color and make quick work of blending.
The whole kit should be great for jet-setters looking to lighten their makeup load, or for anyone just trying to streamline.
Swatches from the left: White, Star, Iced Blue, Opal, Lavender and Black Cocoa
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Bobbi’s Eye Wardrobe
Bobbi’s Eye Wardrobe by Bobbi Brown, a travel exclusive available now internationally at select airports and duty-free stores.
Enter the Makeup and Beauty Blog Buxom Photo Contest to Win a Prize Worth More Than $600
One very happy girl and her banana frosty on the North Shore of Kauai
This series is brought to you by Buxom Color Choreography Eyeshadow. Buxom wants to inspire you to live life vividly.
So. Much. Beauty.
If your beauty wishlist is anything like mine, it just keeps getting longer every single day.
What’s up with that? 🙂
A blush here, a mascara there — and before you know it, your wishlist reads like a novella.
If you’re ready to start crossing a few of those things off your beauty wishlist, don’t forget to enter the Makeup and Beauty Blog Buxom Photo Contest if you haven’t already.
You could take home a $500 Visa gift card and a selection of beautiful Buxom makeup worth an additional $109.
All told, it’s a prize package worth $609.
And entering couldn’t be a whole lot easier. Full details are down below, but here’s the gist of it: submit a picture of yourself in which you’re “living life vividly.”
Maybe something from a recent vacation, or a shot of yourself just having fun.
NOTE: Goofy face shots totally count…
This is how we do it!
…as do happy faces and big smiles. 🙂
The beach makes everything better (even cold beaches like this one here!)
You might even have a perfect picture already, like how about that pic you took of yourself in that bright makeup look you did for Halloween?
Next stop: the grocery store!
Or how about a pic of yourself sporting a pair of bright, glossy lips?
Can you spot the husky tabby in this picture?
Highlights and life-changing hairdos also work!
Whatever you choose, your entries (remember, you can enter up to three pics) just have to show you “living life vividly,” like the pictures in this post.
For even more entry ideas, here’s a look at all of the entries so far.
Here’s how to enter
- Visit www.flickr.com and upload a photo that displays you “living life vividly,” as well as a short caption (200 characters or less) that explains the photo.
- Mark the photo as “public” (so I’m able to view it).
- Tag it with the following tag:
- BuxomPhotoContestMakeupandBeautyBlog
- Simply post a link to your Flickr photo in a comment at the bottom of this post (yup, this post here)
How will the winner be picked?
Tabs and I will choose the winner based on the following criteria…
- Creativity/originality (33%)
- The overall quality of your submission (33%)
- How well it displays you “living life vividly” (34%)
What’s the prize?
A $500 Visa® gift card and an assortment of Buxom® cosmetics, including two (2) Buxom Color Choreography eye shadow palettes, one (1) Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish, and one (1) Buxom Lash (volumizing mascara).
Approximate retail value: $609!
What about the small print?
- The contest is open to adults 18+ in the US only (sorry, international babes!)
- The last date to enter is June 12, 2012 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time
- Up to 3 entries per person (yup, you read that correctly: 3 entries per person)
Click here for the official rules, terms and conditions.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Do you ever take pictures of yourself with your phone (hello, I do)? If you do, you may already have the perfect picture just waiting to be entered. 🙂
Tabs et Karen, June 2012
I love how extra annoyed he looks in the pic on the lower right, hahaha!
Kick Back and Relax, Because It’s Time for MAC Casual Colour
MAC Casual Colour in Keep in Casual
Casual Fridays? Pish-tosh! I vote we do Casual Mondays and Tuesdays instead. 🙂
Excuse me while I put my feet up before we chat, and feel free to let down your hair. This is an informal makeup event — a very casual affair hosted by the eight new limited edition MAC Casual Colours ($20 each).
Like stretchy pants, and conversations with friends you’ve known for years, these multi-purpose lip and cheek creams are verrry comfy.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that some of them are also a little lazy when it comes to color. The differences between a few of them — Have a Lovely Day, Keep It Loose, Lazy Sunday and Relaxation — are somewhat lost on my pigmented lips and NC42 skin. With those few, lighter lasses should have better luck discerning the subtle differences between the colors.
MAC Casual Colour clockwise from the purple pot on the lower left: Evening Stroll, Have a Lovely Day!, Keep It Casual, Keep It Loose, Lazy Sunday, Out for fun, Relaxation and Weekend Getaway
MAC Casual Colour swatches from the left: Evening Stroll, Have a Lovely Day!, Keep It Casual, Keep It Loose, Lazy Sunday, Out for fun, Relaxation and Weekend Getaway
Evening Stroll
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The MAC Beth Ditto Zoom Lash Mascaras Take Lashes from Basic Black to Lightly Tinted in 1-2 Coats
MAC Beth Ditto Zoom Lash Mascara from the left: New Hue, Plum Reserve and Blue Charge
During the week, I usually reach for reliable, basic (boring?) mascaras in brown or black, but even reliable standbys can seem a little uninspiring after a while.
Now, whenever I feel like I’ve “hit the wall” on basic black and brown and need a change, I can turn to one of the new MAC Beth Ditto Zoom Lash Mascaras ($15 each), three new limited edition tinted mascaras in Plum Reserve (a light violet-ish purple), New Hue (a blackened burgundy) and Blue Charge (a deep navy blue).
If Yves Saint Laurent Majorelle Blue Volume is your party shade, then the Beth Ditto Zoom Lash mascaras want to be what you wear to work.
For comparison, the formula feels a little thicker than MAC Extended Play, another mascara I’ve been wearing lately.
From about an arm’s length away, all three of these could pass for basic black. But get a little closer (don’t be shy!), and they reveal their true colors.
When I wear ’em, I like to start by swiping the brush against the mouth of the tube or a clean tissue to remove any excess, which seems to reduce their tendency to clump and deposit stray mascara on my lids.
Then, I apply one coat on freshly-curled lashes before using a lash comb to further separate my fringe, and after that first layer dries, I repeat the process with a second layer to intensify the color.
Two layers is probably my sweet spot for lashes that look noticeably longer, thicker and lightly tinted, with just a slight relaxing of the curl.
No mascara!
Two coats of Blue Charge
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