Karen

Why Wait for Summer? Prepare for Poolside Afternoons Now With Benefit Cabana Glama

March 2nd, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

benefit cabana glama

Pretty soon it’ll be spring, and then summer soon after. Before you know it, our conversations will turn more to topics like swimming pools, beaches and other things, like how…

…getting ready to chill at the pool with Ryan Gosling can be sooo stressful (or so I’ve heard). 🙂

Do I go the glamazon route, curling my hair into beachy waves and shimmying into a string bikini, a cute coverup and a pair of nude wedges? Or do I go the rough-and-tumble surfer girl route, and scoop my mop into a messy bun, slip on a practical two-piece (the one with the top that looks like an industrial-strength sports bra) and my favorite pair of ratty Reef flip-flops?

It’s a big decision — but until I make it, one thing’s for sure: the new Benefit Cabana Glama ($26) kit will have my back.

benefit cabana glama

This latest kit from the boys and babes at Benefit comes with brightening and bronzing makeup for eyes, lips and cheeks.

If posing on your beach chair beside a fru-fru umbrella drink and a stack of glossy magazines ranks up high on your agenda (I could get into something like that, hello!), do it in style with a sun-kissed glow. Just sweep Cabana Glama’s Hoola Bronzer and Some Kind-A Gorgeous in Medium on your face, followed by one (or two or three) of the kit’s Eyeshadows on your lids.

And when you’re ready to cool off with a quick dip — and maybe do a few underwater handstands or dive from the high board (you so crazy!) — Cabana Glama can also help you keep it simple, by just blending soft pink Posietint on your cheeks and lips.

Benefit Cabana Glama Your DesTANation Makeup Kit
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Do You Wear Makeup to the Gym or to Exercise Classes?

March 2nd, 2012 by Karen 47 Comments

To the home gym, otherwise known as my tabby cat’s break room, I don’t, but to places with people and/or mirrors, I do. I’ll usually fill in my brows, pat a little concealer beneath my eyes, and curl my lashes.

And when I’m feeling extra ambitious, I’ll treat my lashes to a few coats of waterproof mascara and slick a gloss on my lips. 🙂

How about you? What’s your take on gym makeup? Do you or don’t you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

Benefit Cabana Glama: Your DesTANation Makeup Kit

March 2nd, 2012 by Karen 3 Comments

The new Benefit Cabana Glama kit for face, eyes, cheeks and lips, $36.

It includes: Hoola Bronzing Powder (MY FAVE!), Poisetint, Some Kind-A Gorgeous in Medium, an Eyeshadow Palette with three shades (Peach Fuzz, Bronze Buzz and Cocoa Pizzazz), a bronzing brush, a double-ended sponge applicator and a step-by-step lesson with tips and tricks.

Benefit Cabana Glama Your DesTANation Makeup Kit

Find it at Benefit counters, stores and online now.

Review and swatches in two shakes of a tabby tail!

New from Roberto Cavalli: Roberto Cavalli Eau de Parfum

March 1st, 2012 by Karen 5 Comments

A quick peek at the new Roberto Cavalli Eau de Parfum ($85), an ambery floral that purrs onto department store fragrance counters this month.

With top notes of pink peppercorn, middle notes of orange flower absolute and base notes of roasted tonka beans, this is one sultry scent. I wore it today for the first time and MEOW! Out came the my sky high, animal print Sam Edelman heels. It just seemed *right* to pair the two together. 🙂

These Bronze Sands Are Limited Edition in Capri: The New Estée Lauder Five Color Gelée Powder EyeShadow Palette in Bronze Sands

March 1st, 2012 by Karen 43 Comments

estee lauder bronze sands (3)

Earlier today on my walk outside with Tabs, I felt a chill in my bones. It was a little breezy and crisp today, but you wouldn’t have known it looking at Tabs. He just slinked along in his built-in fur coat, pulling me behind him on his leash.

When he felt he’d adequately secured the perimeter of the front yard and noticed me shivering, he reluctantly agreed to accompany me back inside the house.

As soon as we shut the door, I made a beeline for my makeup, thinking that a summery, beachy look would warm my cold bones. I grabbed the new Estée Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelée Powder EyeShadow Palette in Bronze Sands ($45).

estee lauder bronze goddess capri bronze sands

Like a ray of late afternoon sunlight in the sunshine-stocked Bronze Goddess Capri Collection, Bronze Sands shelters five metallic powder eyeshadows in shades of gold, bronze, beige, brown and teal. A few swipes of these soft, smooth powders, which feel almost like a cream to me, and my lids glow with rich, shiny color.

Nice. 🙂

estee lauder bronze sands (1)

Other than a few flecks of teal and brown shadow showing up on my cheeks and beneath my lower lash lines, I don’t notice much fallout from these at all.

estee lauder bronze sands (2)
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I Had a Date Last Saturday With the Bobbi Brown Brightening Nudes Collection

March 1st, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

Wearing Bobbi Brown Brightening Nudes collection Sparkle Eye Shadow in Sunlight on my eyes, Brightening Finishing Powder on my cheeks and Brightening Lip Gloss in Pink Opal on my lips

Girl meets glitter. Girl wears glitter. Girl leaves a trail of glitter in her wake! — on her husband and her cat — and then slicks a moisturizing lip balm on her lips. 🙂

That’s the Cliff’s Notes version of the Saturday I spent last weekend with the Bobbi Brown Brightening Nudes collection, a new nine-piece limited edition release of shimmery makeup for eyes, faces and lips, available now on counters and bobbibrowncosmetics.com.

Bobbi Brown Brightening Nudes Collection

With Brightening Nudes, Bobbi wants skin to glow, eyes to sparkle and lips to practically leap from the face, and since the pieces look like the kind of sheer, luminous, lit-from-within makeup I like to wear on weekends, I decided to take it for a spin.

Brightening Lip Gloss
The first thing I did was introduce it to yoga! As I twisted into an awkward triangle pose, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. What a pretty pearly glow, I thought, seeing Brightening Lipgloss in Lilac Pearl.

It momentarily distracted me from the burning in my hamstrings (so not stretchy)…

Lilac Pearl’s sticky, thick formula clung to my lips throughout the 90-minute class and the trip to Trader Joe’s I made afterward, but by then my lips felt so dry and tight that I had to pause to apply a layer of moisturizing gloss in the parking lot before driving home.

NOTE: If you have pigmented lips like I do, Lilac Pearl, Pink Opal and Pink Lilac may look very much alike. To my eye, all three of them could be triplets! — or at least close first cousins. $23 each.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

Sparkle Eye Shadow
Later, after yoga, the grocery store, and then a shower, lunch and laundry at home, I plopped down on the couch next to El Hub and Tabs for a break.

I started re-watching a few episodes of Downton Abbey, and just as O’Brien committed her dastardly deed with the soap, I spied some sparkle on Tabs’ coat and El Hub’s cheek.

What the what!? Oh, yeah… I’d patted Sparkle Eyes Shadow in Mica on my eyes after my shower, and since Bobbi loaded it with glitter, some of the sparkle must have made its way on to the boys.

For what it’s worth, Mica does seem to adhere better to my skin and transfer less product than most of the other glittery eyeshadows I’ve worn.

As with the Brightening Lip Glosses, sheer is the name of this game. All four of these shadow shades (Silver Moon, Mica, Ballet and Sunlight) deposit very little pigment, so brace yourself for sheer. $28 each.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-

By the end of the Downton season finale, my tummy was rumbling for carbs, so El Hub and I hit up a local Italian restaurant for pasta.

Before leaving, I touched up my makeup with a layer of Crystal Glitter Lipgloss on my lips and some Brightening Powder on my cheeks.

Bobbi Brown Brightening Lip Gloss Pink Lilac Pink Opal Lilac Pearl
From the left: Brightening Lip Gloss in Pink Lilac, Pink Opal and Lilac Pearl ($23 each)

Bobbi Brown Brightening Finishing Powder
Brightening Finishing Powder ($50)
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What’s Your Most Treasured Makeup Possession?

March 1st, 2012 by Karen 60 Comments

Your most treasured makeup possession

Yargh! I don’t think I can narrow it down to just one… It’s probably a tossup between my lucky bottle of Chanel Jade Nail Polish and the pieces I’ve held on to from the Barbie Loves MAC release back in 2007, the subjects of my very first post on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

OH! And then there’s that first tube of MAC Evolution Revolution Lipglass, since it represents one of the happiest moments of my life. 🙂

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