Lancome Color Design Kissed By Gold, $48. Available now at Lancome counters, stores and also online.
Lancome Color Design Kissed By Gold
Lancome Star Bronzer
Lancome Star Bronzer Natural Matte in 03 Sunbath, $35. Available now at Lancome counters, stores and online.
The New Becca Halcyon Days Nail Colours Are On Like Donkey Kong, Quick Like Mario Kart
Ten weeks. I’ve been salivating over the thought of the Becca Halcyon Days Nail Colours ($15 each) for roughly ten weeks.
From those first PR pics back in March — the warm, summery pink, peach and coral — I couldn’t wait to get these on my claws, and I’ve been drooling like Pavlov’s dog ever since.
As far as I know, this is Becca’s first foray into nails, but it seems like everything the boutique-y Aussie brand does is pretty much on like Donkey Kong, and, in this case, fast!
Manis and pedis with the three creamy shades take almost no time (well, very little) because the polishes apply and dry wicked fast. Not as fast as it takes to get my attention with shirtless pictures of Channing Tatum, but still. Fast. 🙂
The brush is one of the reasons for the speed. It’s wide and covers a large portion of the nail, so it only takes two swipes to thoroughly coat the nail in color; on top of that, each coat dries in a little over two minutes.
The little touches take these up a notch for me. One of them, the square shape and rubbery matte texture of the brush handle, makes the bottles super easy to open. My mom would probably kill me if she know how many times I opened smooth nail polish bottles with my teeth. “Do you know how much I paid for that smile?” she’d surely rail. “Braces aren’t cheap, young lady!” Well, it looks like I won’t ever have to go there with these.
From left to right: Dancing Barefoot, Summerdaze and Tangerine Dream
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Wild Roses Couldn’t Keep Me Away from the New Burberry Beauty Lip Mists
Burberry Beauty is making a move on the must-have category with a line of $30 luxury lipsticks that look almost like bargains in spite of the price.
As soon as I saw Burberry Beauty’s Lip Mists, I wondered if I was witnessing a case of corporate espionage aimed at Chanel. These nine shiny, hydrating lippies share more than a few characteristics in common with the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines ($32).
First, there’s the finish, which has a similar subtle shine — a dewy, creamy sheen that pairs perfectly with a summertime tan. The colors themselves are rich, lightweight, long-lasting and loaded with pigment, and like the Shines don’t look heavy like a matte. Both of these lippies tread a lovely line somewhere between slightly sheer and fully opaque, but Burberry bests Chanel here in a few key areas.
Like wear time. The Lip Mists outlast the Coco Shines by a good, long while, and I wager they contain a little more color. Being slightly thicker than, yet not as slick as, the Coco Shines probably helps them last.
I like these so much that Wild roses couldn’t keep me away. Wild rose extract, which these contain, supposedly increases the amount of moisture they deliver to lips. Burberry also claims the extract stimulates the production of collagen, but I’m not too sure about that.
Yesterday I applied two layers of Feather Pink after lunch. Five hours and two cups of tea later, it was still going strong — and that’s without a layer of lip pencil underneath.
Lip Mist in No. 206 Blueberry (left) and No. 209 Feather Pink (right)
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Beauty, Art and Technology Collide with Digital Eyeshadow
My guess is that you probably won’t see it being sold at Wally World anytime soon, but I still think it’s kinda neat — a digital “eyeshadow” that responds to eyelid movement.
Lulin Ding, an industrial designer, translated the idea of eyeshadow into a digital form using LED lights, creating a piece that merges beauty, technology and art.
A blink of the eye sets off the contraption to automatically light up the inner corner:
I was interested in the way women wear eyeshadow and how most of the time you can only see the details when their eyes are closed. I sought to translate the attributes of eyeshadow into a digital medium. I made the initial decision to use the light to paint the eyelids when you blink and close your eye. To digitize the object even more and I programmed the individual LEDs to vary their brightness. This added feature allows different -patterns to light upon your eyelids.
—Lulin Ding
So very sci-fi, right? I could easily see it as a funky trend worn by the beauty team in The Hunger Games, or maybe even by Sean Young’s character, Rachael, in Bladerunner.
Would you rock it? I totally would for Halloween. Or maybe to my parents house just so I could freak out my mom, haha!
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
How to Remove Excess Mascara from Your Eyelids Without Messing Up Your Makeup
Don’t you hate it when you finish your eye makeup and then go to put on your mascara and accidentally swipe the brush against your lids or your lower lash line?
Shoot!
Maybe it’s just because I’m uncoordinated and always in a hurry, but I do it all the time. To clean up the extra bits and bobs of mascara along my lower lash lines and lids that these mascara mishaps cause, I used to lightly dab a Q-tip moistened with makeup remover on the trouble spot(s), but I was never in love with that method. It was unprecise (like wielding a club in my clumsy hands), and whenever I used it I usually ended up also disrupting my eyeshadow, primer and concealer, too.
Yesterday I tried a new technique, and so far I love the results! Thankfully, it only took, oh, 22 years of wearing makeup to figure this out. Better late than never, I suppose. 🙂
Now, I dampen a thin concealer brush with eye makeup remover (you could even moisten the brush with a makeup remover wipe), and then carefully use the brush to precisely apply makeup remover to the problem areas. Then, using a pointed eyeshadow eye brush like the MAC 219, I lift away any excess product now loosened up by the remover.
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Becca Halcyon Days Collection: Flowerchild Mineral Blush
Becca Halcyon Days Collection for Summer 2011
Becca Mineral Blush in Flowerchild ($32), a peachy pink with golden highlights. One of 10 pieces from the new Becca Halcyon Days collection for summer 2011.
Becca Halcyon Days Collection: Serrana Mineral Bronzer/Illuminator
Becca Halcyon Days Collection for Summer 2011
Becca Mineral Bronzer/Illuminator in Serrana ($43), a matte bronze and a soft pink shimmer. One of 10 pieces from the new Becca Halcyon Days collection for summer 2011.