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A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Karen

Two Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora!

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  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Hana! Congratulations, Hana! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Win a $50 Sephora eGift card from Makeup and Beauty Blog
Christmas is coming fast, gah! This weekend is go-time for me; no question about it. On my list today: to get a tree, put up some lights, and catch up on the Christmas shopping I promised myself I’d be finished with by now.

Yup, don’t ya just love the holiday crunch? — that pressure to get into the spirit before it’s too late to really enjoy? It’s yet another strange facet of life, having to hurry up to relax, LOL!

I am really looking forward to getting a tree, though, a small one just a few feet tall, and filling the house with that wonderful pine scent. And then Tabs and I can decorate it this afternoon with some ornaments that have been in our family for years.

Now, my friend, it’s time for me to power up with something warm and caffeinated, and get under way. I hope your weekend gets off to a great start. Speaking of that, perhaps today’s giveaway can help. 🙂

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

Win a $50 eGift card from Sephora

  • One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

  • There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, what are your favorite holiday traditions (Christmas or otherwise)? What are five things you find yourself doing a lot this time of year? When was the last time you did something dramatic with your makeup or hair? Do you have any New Year’s resolutions? What are you wearing on your nails? — you get the idea.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora! http://bit.ly/tMn6S3

  • The deadline to enter is Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 11:59PM (PT).
  • Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
  • A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
  • Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
  • Sephora eGift Certificates can only be redeemed online and are not valid in stores or available for purchase or redemption in Canada. International winners may opt to substitute the Sephora eGift card prize for $50 sent directly to their email address by PayPal instead.
  • Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
  • The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
  • Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Hana! Congratulations, Hana! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Sonia Kashuk’s Keeping It Cool for the Holidays with the Prepping for the Party Lip & Eye Palette

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sonia kashuk prepping for the party holiday

Lovers of taupe, mauve and gray, let it be a Sonia holiday. The makeup maven’s keeping it cool this year with her new Prepping for the Party Lip & Eye Palette ($19.99), with its six powder shadows and six lip products in cool-toned shades.

I’m really digging the shadows, which pack enough shimmer and pigment to spare — in particular the shimmery grayish pan at the far right of the first row, because it reminds me of Pistol from Urban Decay Naked2, and the shimmery purplish mauve at the far left of the second row, which looks to me like a slightly lighter version of MAC’s Satin Taupe.

sonia kashuk prepping for the party lip eye palette holiday 2011

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Prepping for the Party Lip & Eye Palette, $19.99
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The New Burberry Beauty Holiday 2011 Lip Glow Glosses Lavish Lips in Luxury

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burberry holiday 2011

As payback for dragging him to watch Breaking Dawn: Part I last month, an experience he describes as “beyond painful,” El Hub has asked me to accompany him to the annual holiday party at work. I’m down with that, but he also says that I can only bring a maximum of one extra pair of shoes.

Ouch.

Yeah… I might not be able to do that. 🙂 See, I’m fickle about my footwear, so whenever we go someplace, I always have to bring along one or two a few extra pairs of shoes, just in case I change my mind (which happens all the time).

It wouldn’t be an issue if I also remembered to bring the extra pairs back in the house, but I don’t, and so at any given time the inside of the car looks like a DSW Store. Passengers in the back seat risk being stabbed in a butt cheek by 4-inch stiletto heels. It’s actually a miracle El Hub has put up with it for so long.

If I do end up just bringing one extra pair of shoes to the party next week, I’ll have to find other ways to satisfy my compulsive need for options. These new holiday 2011 Burberry Beauty Lip Glow Glosses ($27 each) should do the trick.

I’ve been alternating between two of the three new shades this week, vibrant and creamy Bright Plum and shimmery golden beige Nude Gold. With flawless packaging that feels like it has some heft to it; a doe-foot applicator for precise application; a non-sticky, comfortable texture; a yummy violet flavor and scent (fades after about 10 minutes) and enough pigment and shine to last for days, these Lip Glows are everything a gloss should be for $27.

Not that a gloss should ever be $27.

burberry lip glow holiday 2011
Both Bright Plum (top) and Nude Gold (bottom) are two of three new shades in the Lip Glow line; the third shade, Ruby (not pictured), is a bright red

burberry lip glow bright plum swatches
Swatches of Nude Glow (left) and Bright Plum (right)

burberry lip glow bright plum closeup
Bright Plum
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NARS Unsung Heroes: Mata Hari Blush

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nars mata hari (3)

I’m supercalifragilisticexpialidociously stoked that you decided to take the plunge and try red lips for the holidays. Just you wait! Before you know it, you’ll be raring to rock neon hot pink, sassy coral and heck, maybe even that crazy shade of purple on your Christmas list…

LOL! Sorry, I’m jumping ahead of myself again. I just get excited when my friends try something new. 🙂 As for those red lips you’ve been eyeing, whether you opt for a sheer balm or leap in with a full-tilt matte, you’re gonna need a blush to go with ’em, and I’d like to introduce you to one of my go-to gals, the incomparably agreeable NARS Mata Hari ($27).

NARS infused Mata Hari with a dash of crimson, which is why I think it plays so well with many of the red lip colors I like to wear. Despite its cool tones and how bold it looks in the pan, it’s not nearly as scary vivid on cheeks.

Mata Hari is anything but a run-of-the-mill matte pink blush. It’s enchanting…like RyGos, and able to draw almost everyone who sees it — cool- and warm-toned girls alike — under its spell.

nars mata hari (4)

nars mata hari (1)
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