Karen

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers: Like the Best Parts of Spring (Without the Allergies)

February 5th, 2014 by Karen 25 Comments

Spring. Fifth grade. The mid ’80s. You couldn’t miss me as I navigated the hallowed halls of Alvarado Middle School, not because of my terrible hair (I had the same ‘do as all of my Filipino uncles… Ugh, so tragic!), but because I was a walking floral nightmare. Not a floral fantasy, like MAC’s new 34-piece A Fantasy of Flowers collection.

My floral jacket. It. Was. Hideous. It was the jacket I wore with every single outfit, even though it didn’t go with anything, and it just made me look crazy. It had this obnoxious floral print with all sorts of flowers just mushed on top of each other. It was ugly, but I thought I was the sh*t.

This collection isn’t like that jacket at all. It’s colorful, but in a balanced way that makes sense. It’s like wandering through a carefully thought out cottage garden…

There are lots of floral hues, pinks, corals peaches, purples and roses grounded with earthier browns and lush greens. It’s like a garden early on a dewy morning, and everything is fresh, and there’s a sense of newness, and that’s because there are lots of shimmery finishes here that catch the light, just like drops of dew catch sunlight on flower petals.

Most of the shimmer comes from the Mineralize products — Eye Shadows, Blushes and Skinfinishes.

This isn’t the kind of collection where the cheeks and eyes look real and natural, and for me that’s the fantastical part of this floral fantasy. The shimmers are turned up! — and wearing them makes me feel like a more glamorous version of my everyday self. Then, you add the really bright Fluidlines and Pigments in the release, which are like the statement pieces for me, and you get even more fantastical.

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers Mineralize Skinfinish and Blushes — A Fantasy of Flowers Mineralize Skinfinishes ($30 each) and Mineralize Blushes ($25 each)

There’s a lot going on with cheeks and eyes here, and perhaps because of that MAC kept the lips relatively tame. The colors — pink, coral, peach, berry and rose — remind me of misted flower petals and fancy bouquets… All six of the Lipsticks are in MAC’s creamy Lustre finish, and the six glosses are Cremesheen Glasses, so the lippies are pretty much sheer-to-medium coverage. Nothing too heavy or super opaque, and even the darkest and brightest lip shades are sheer enough to allow some of your natural lip color to peek through.

I had some fun with these pics, but I have a lot more planned for this release — looks and more in-depth reviews. The release arrives on counters tomorrow and is available now on maccosmetics.com.

Take a stroll through MAC’s latest garden, and let me know what you think. 🙂

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers Eyeshadows Fluidlines Pigments — A Fantasy of Flowers Mineralize Eye Shadows ($21 each), Fluidlines ($16 each) and Pigments ($21 each)

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers Cremesheen Glasses and Lipsticks — A Fantasy of Flowers Cremesheen Glasses ($20 each) and Lipsticks ($15 each)

MAC A Perfect Topping Skinfinish, a a pale pearly pink — A Perfect Topping Skinfinish, a a pale pearly pink

MAC Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish, a coppery bronze — Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish, a coppery bronze

MAC Pink Sensibilities Mineralize Eye Shadow, a pinkish brown, a chocolate brown, a yellowish pink and an icy bluish pink — Pink Sensibilities Mineralize Eye Shadow, a pinkish brown, a chocolate brown, a yellowish pink and an icy bluish pink

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Do You Still Do Your Makeup When the Weather Outside Is Frightful (Rainy, Snowing, Crazy Humid)?

February 5th, 2014 by Karen 39 Comments

MAC Style Blush on my cheeks — Brr, it’s cold outside…

You get all dolled up, spend a chunk of your morning getting ready to face the day, and then BAM! — you open the door and it’s the storm of the century outside. Maybe it’s a torrential downpour, and the rain is coming in from all directions (even sideways!), or it’s a blizzard, and there’s five feet of snow blocking your front door, or it’s monsoon season in the tropics, and it’s humid enough outside to breath with gills, and melt even the most industrial strength long-wearing makeup in a matter of minutes.

When the weather outside is frightful, do you still do your makeup?

I totally do. We don’t regularly get extreme, extreme weather here, but sometimes we do. Here it’s heavy downpours, usually in the late winter and spring, and when they happen, I bust out my waterproof and long-wearing stuff.

I usually start with a waterproof mascara. Maybelline makes one I love called Full ‘N Soft Waterproof. It handles heavy rain, and it’s super affordable (just $7).

Then I’ll add a tough-as-nails brow filler like Hourglass Arch, which I’m seriously obsessed with (again!).

For my skin, MAC Face and Body, which doesn’t budge for nothin’. Then under-eye concealer to cover up those pesky dark circles, followed by a little powder, blush and bronzer. I’ll usually go with something non-sticky on my lips, like a stain or lipsticks, since getting hair caught in my gloss is never fun…

How about you? Do you still do your makeup when the weather outside is frightful (rainy, snowing, crazy humid)?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Welcome to the hump. 🙂

Good Stuff on Gloss Daily, the Ladies’ Home Journal Beauty Blog

February 4th, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Up Your Eye Makeup Game — 5 tips to up your eye makeup game

Would you like to thwart those dastardly dark circles, take your best driver’s license picture ever, look like you spent $40 on a lipstick when you only spent $4, up your eye makeup game, and add more meow to your cat liner looks? Check out Gloss Daily, the Ladies’ Home Journal beauty blog.

I’ve been contributing articles to them every other week since last winter (it was kind of a dream come true being affiliated with LHJ), and I like everyone I’ve been working with over there.

It’s a pretty good blog, and there are a bunch of blogger contributors. Swing by when you get a chance, and please leave a comment over there if you find something you like (thank you).

Here’s kind of a random sampling of the posts I’ve done…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

NYX Introduces Tempting New Shades of $5 Butter Gloss To Excite Lips and Make Tummies Rumble

February 4th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

I can’t even begin to understand the concept of skipping dessert.

Well, that’s not true… I get it. Sometimes I do it, too. But I hate it whenever I do. Every time.

It’s easy for my friend Cindy, though. Whenever a waiter asks, “Would you like to see the dessert menu?” she can easily say no (she’s more into salty snacks than sweets), but that’s not even an option for me. I have to see the dessert menu because I live for the sweet stuff, man.

A meal doesn’t seem complete unless I’ve had a piece of cake or a scoop of ice cream at the end, and if it were more socially acceptable to completely skip appetizers and the main dish entirely and go straight to dessert, I totally would.

I like to get my sweet on any way I can, which is why I have a soft spot for these NYX Butter Glosses.

Have you taste tested these sheer glosses before (I meant figuratively, but they do have a light brown sugar and vanilla flavor and scent that I like)? They cost $5 each and originally arrived last spring, when they were added to the permanent line.

They have a satiny finish, a lightweight, super comfy, non-sticky formula and delectable names like Peach Cobbler and Cherry Pie.

They tend to apply a little patchy on me at first and only last about an hour, but I like ’em for what they are, and the price seems right.

NYX recently added 10 more shades, including the three yummy-sounding ones here — rosy nude Angel Food Cake, hot pink Cupcake and berry Raspberry Tart.

NYX Butter Gloss in Angel Food Cake — Angel Food Cake

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What’s That Eye See? New Sunglasses By Bobbi Brown

February 3rd, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

Look what I spotted at the mall last week, new sunglasses by Bobbi Brown.

Seems kind of random, but Bobbi is sometimes pictured wearing a pair o’ black specs, so I guess it makes sense.

Some of them are pretty darned cute. Lots of chunky, hip frames that should go with just about everything. Prices are from $139-179, so they’re not inexpensive.

What do you think? I’d totally rock the Stella.

An Easy 5-Minute Hairstyle To Try: The Textured, Braided Bun

February 3rd, 2014 by Karen 22 Comments

You know when your hair reaches that maddening length — that hellacious hair point of no return — when trying to wrangle it into place becomes about as easy as trying to ride a bucking bronco?

I’m at that point.

I probably should’ve gotten a haircut about a month ago, but eh. You know how it goes…

The side braid has been totally saving my butt lately. It’s cute and easy (and I feel like Katniss Everdeen when I rock it), but I still like to switch things up.

Enter the messy braided bun! 🙂 It’s just as easy and only takes five minutes.

I got the idea from L’Oreal Consulting Celebrity Hairstylist Mara Roszak, who works her hair magic on glam red carpet gals like Emma Stone, Olivia Wilde and Mila Kunis, in an online webinar. I asked Mara for an easy, trendy hairstyle I could do in five minutes, and she suggested a textured bun.

Importantly, it’s easy. Just start by putting your hair into a ponytail. Then, braid the pony (haha, I just wanted to write, “braid the pony”), and secure the ends with an elastic.

That’s the Unicorn Sliver Amethyst Necklace by Crystal Cactus…

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Roses de Chloé Eau de Parfum

February 3rd, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

My nose knows! Whenever a gal walks by wearing Chloe, I can always pinpoint the scent. El Hub and my friends make fun of me because of my heightened sense of smell, but whatevs (my olfactory abilities are often compared to those of a Bassett Hound). It’s my one cool parlor trick, I guess. (“That girl who just walked by? She’s wearing Chloe.”)

I love and wear Chloe, myself, in all of its incarnations, but I have a soft spot for the original Chloe and Love, Chloe.

The newest version of the scent, Roses de Chloe Eau de Toilette, though, is jostling for the top spot. I’ve been setting aside the richer scents I wore over the holidays in favor of brighter, more citrusy fragrances, and this one smells so good…

Chloe’s signature rose notes still beat at the heart of the fragrance, but this one’s lighter, with a sparkling bergamot (a citrus fruit) note that freshens it up for spring.

The official fragrance notes are fresh cut roses, bergamot, rose essence, magnolia accord, white musk and amber. Unofficially, I’d call it “sleeping in on a Saturday meets getting a surprise delivery of roses meets the best mimosa you’ve ever had.” 🙂

Care to give Roses de Chloé a sniff? You can find it now at Sephora, Nordstrom and nordstrom.com.

For Lids That Shimmer From Dusk Til Dawn, the NYX Dream Catcher Dusk Til Dawn Eyeshadow Palette

February 3rd, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

NYX Dream Catcher Palette Dusk Til Dawn — Wearing the new NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk Til Dawn ($15) on my eyes

Shocker of all shockers (I’m serious, you may want to sit down for this), I was running late yesterday to go to my parents’ house for Super Bowl Sunday. 🙂

I know! — me, running late? Can you imagine? Haha, but seriously, I was running late, so I just threw some makeup into a bag to get ready in the car on the drive over to their house about an hour away.

NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk Til Dawn — The Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk Til Dawn, one of three NYX limited edition palettes available now

One of the things I put into that bag was NYX’s new Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk ‘Til Dawn, one of three $15 limited edition eyeshadow palettes made to be, so says NYX, the answer to your shimmery dreams (assuming, of course, that there’s a lot of shimmering in your dreams).

Well, as far as any dreams I’ve ever had in which I’m putting on my makeup in the car (and there have been a few)…this palette probably would have helped. It does seem ideal for makeup-in-the-car dreams, particularly for ladies (and lords) who like how they look in warm-toned neutrals.

Ten baked shadows in warm shades of gold, brown and beige, along with a sprinkling of purple and black, reside inside. I ended up doing a shimmery gold and brown smokey eye in the car, and I, despite the bobbing of the car as we crossed the Richmond Bridge, I didn’t have to contend with any fallout or battle with my blending.

NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk Til Dawn swatches — Swatches of Dusk Til Dawn on my NC42 skin…

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