Karen

The Fab 5, Vol. 3: NARS Cosmetics

January 17th, 2014 by Karen 24 Comments

Wow, this was hard…narrowing it down to just 5.

I should have called this one the Fab 15, LOL! I’m almost certainly going to have to do a part 2 version to dig into the eyeshadows, blushes and lip products. Let me know if you think I should.

Um…as for the video, sorry about the awkward pauses that last a couple beats too long. I had planned to edit them out, but then I was stricken by a bout of fatigue and laziness.

Oh, well. Big sigh…

Products mentioned in the video:

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 ($42)
NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base ($24)
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer ($28)
NARS Amour Blush ($29)
NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Lodhi ($25)

Thank you, as always, for watching, my friend. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Watch Out, Pores! The New NARS Pro-Prime Instant Line & Pore Perfector Has It In for You

January 17th, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

Took me a hot second to get around to trying NARS Pro-Prime Instant Line & Pore Perfector, NARS’ newest face product, because, let’s be real, I get REALLY easily distracted by pretty colors (see: High Seize, Final Cut, the NARSissist Eye Palette), and Instant Line & Pore Perfector is un-remarkably colorless.

But, I finally took it out for a spin this week, and I’m glad I did.

The name pretty much says it all: Pro-Prime Instant Line & Pore Perfector. A colorless primer in stick form, you use it target specific areas of the face where you want to smooth out fine lines and pores.

According to NARS, “line and pore-filling microspheres” in the formula, along with hyaluronic acid, smooth skin and gently plump fine lines. The stuff also has something called “spherical line smoothing powder,” which makes wrinkles less visible by a trick of light. They evenly reflect it and brighten up the dark areas within the wrinkles themselves.

The formula feels like a lightweight, non-sticky, non-greasy balm. Just glide the stick on top of wherever you want some smoothing, and then pop your face products on top.

I’ve been using it as a spot “perfector” this week on top of my usual primer, MAC Natural Radiance. After I work a dollop of Natural Radiance into my skin, I swipe Instant Line & Pore Perfector on my cheeks, under my eyes and around my mouth — the places where my pores and fine lines need serious mellowing. Then, I blend it in with my fingers.

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Do You Ever Give Unsolicited Advice to People You Bump Into at a Beauty Counter?

January 17th, 2014 by Karen 50 Comments

GURRRRL, you don’t even know. I try to keep my mouth shut — I really do — because, seriously, who wants advice from a rand-o stranger covered in cat hair wearing a scrunchie? I look like a crazy person standing there with a big smile on my face. 🙂

But sometimes I can’t help it, especially when I eavesdrop on a conversation and hear the word, “concealer.” That’s usually when I interrupt.

Sometimes I end up making friends with the people I have these conversations with. Usually (sometimes I think they think I’m just weird).

One time I helped a very nice guy and his boyfriend choose a tinted moisturizer at a MAC counter. “Try both shades,” I suggested, “one on each cheek, and then go outside with a mirror to see them in daylight. Then, choose the color you like best.” Afterward, they took me to coffee (I had a soy latte) and we chatted for a couple hours at Starbucks.

Sometimes, because I get excited when I’m talking about makeup, people assume I work at the counter. We’ll get to talking, having a good time, and then suddenly they’ll say, “Great! Well, that settles it,” and they’ll hand me a credit card.

Ummm…I don’t work here. I’m sorry. I was just passing by… This has actually happened quite a few times at Nordstrom and a Sephora.

Ah, makeup. It brings people together. 🙂

Do you ever give unsolicited advice to people you bump into at a beauty counter?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

I’ve Never Been This Excited to Eat an Orange, Ever!

January 17th, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

SERIOUSLY. This is the current state of my potted dwarf orange tree. Look at those bad boys! The tree is just about three years old, and last April it bloomed for the first time.

Here’s what it looked like back then…

And now it looks like this!

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten an orange I plucked from a tree myself, so I’m very excited about these.

I might have my first one this weekend. 🙂

Do you have any fruit trees where you live? El Hub always talks about growing up in Hawaii and eating fruit from trees all the time. When he and his friends would be out playing, they’d snack on mangoes, guava, mandarin oranges and other fruit straight from the trees. I bet it was really neat.

Spring Is a Time of Renewal and a Time for Fresh Life Eau de Parfum

January 16th, 2014 by Karen 8 Comments

#truth: Instead of calling this perfume “Fresh Life,” I like calling it “Thug Life.” No particular reason. It just makes me laugh. 🙂

I’ve been wanting a break from heavier scents after last month, and Fresh Life (“THUG LIFE!!!”) is light, airy and refreshing — kinda like a more citrusy version of Chloe.

According to the two bronze kitty bookends (they whisper to me), the official fragrance notes are sweet cucumber, sparkling moss, morning dew, grapefruit, lilac leaves, transparent magnolia, velvet bergamot, vanilla grass and dreamy cypress.

Fresh Life Eau de Parfum is a fragrance that captures the ultimate Fresh moment, conjuring the freshness of a clear blue sky, sweet morning air, a sparkling sun, and velvety water.
–neimanmarcus.com

A couple spritzes on my wrists and neck lasts all day long.

If it sounds sniff-worthy, it’s available now at Neiman Marcus and neimanmarcus.com.

Ever Since I Started Wearing These Milani Gold Label Nail Lacquers, Spring Fever Has Been Spreading From My Fingers to My Toes

January 16th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

The new $4.69 Milani Gold Label spring 2014 nail polishes

Currently…

I am wearing a tabby t-shirt covered in cat hair (without a sweater for the first time in months)
I have glitter all over my hands
My hair is up in a scrunchie
The windows are open, and there’s a nice breeze blowing through my office

There’s only one thing that could make this moment better… Oh, look at that! There it is. 🙂 The 12 new Milani Gold Label nail polishes.

This all seems too good to be true…

Wait — maybe I’m dreaming. Karen, wake up! Get up, get up, get up!

Nope, I guess not. I guess this is real, and look — it’s even 70-something degrees outside.

Weird…

It’s gotta be these new $4.69 Gold Label polishes (part of a new Milani line). The springy, cheerful colors — six creams and six glitters in playful pinks, purples, greens, blues and corals — must be contagious. Seeing them on my paws, I almost forget it’s still winter and that tomorrow isn’t the day of the big Easter egg hunt.

Like the polishes in Milani’s regular Nail Lacquer line, these new USA-made Gold Label lacquers are DBP-, toluene- and formaldehyde-free.

They also have a mightier brush, or rather, a flatter brush that I think makes them a little easier to use. Maybe that’s why they cost a tad more ($4.69 each versus $4.49).

I’m not sure yet about the formula — if it’s different than Milani’s regular polish formula — because I haven’t had enough time with them yet, but I’ll know more by tomorrow. I’ll let you know what I find out.

They definitely do seem thick (think Essie) and smooth, and the flat brush is great. Makes it easy to paint nice, crisp edges along the bottom of my nails.

I do notice that I have to be careful about unloading the brush before applying to make sure I don’t lay down too much polish. They are quite thick.

Here’s a quick look at the 12 shades coming next month. Oh! In each of these pics, I’m wearing two layers.

Milani Showy Sea-Green 01 — Showy Sea-Green

Milani Splendid Strawberry 03 — Splendid Strawberry

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The New Four-Piece Essie Resort 2014 Collection Offers Languid, Beachside Luxury for $8.50 a Bottle

January 16th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

I’ve been trying to put my finger (Get it? Ba-dum-tss!) on what it is I find so intriguing about the new Essie 2014 Resort collection.

I mean, it’s not the symphony of eye-catching brights Resort 2013 was. That one still makes my heart flutter (The mint green! The turquoise!), and yet I’m drawn to 2014 like a sailor to a mermaid’s song.

Yes, sweet siren, sweep me away…

Essie Resort 214 from the left: Resort Fling, Under the Twilight, Find Me an Oasis and Resort Fling — From the left: Resort Fling, Under the Twilight, Find Me an Oasis and Resort Fling

It’s gotta be something. Maybe it’s a combination of the way the mellow shades — the shimmery beige (It has silver sparkles swimming in it. SO CUTE!) and icy blue both contrast and coordinate with the brighter coral and deep plum.

The colors tell a tale of hills and dales, highs and lows, and I love that! This Resort is definitely not a one-note collection.

Typing away today, reading that word over and over again — resort — I find it difficult to stay in the moment. My thoughts keep wandering to other places, never mind that I’m sitting in front of a keyboard consuming large quantities of coffee and gnawing on a hunk of day-old sourdough bread. And forget that I’m wearing a crumb-covered wrinkled pink t-shirt with a picture of a tabby cat wearing glasses.

Resort… 🙂

I’d much rather be sipping cocktails by candlelight at a Ritz Carlton or dipping a painted toe into the salt water lagoon at the Kauai Grand Hyatt (I’ve always wanted to stay there).

No, those images are much better than the real life picture of grubby Karen currently sitting at her computer…

OK, I think I’ve got it! — what makes me like this collection so much. These understated shades are just so true to that resort lifestyle. Their beachside elegance would look right at home peeking out from under a cashmere blanket around a fun bonfire, or with tiny diamond-studded earrings and a bikini next to the hotel pool.

I’m crushing hard on icy blue Find Me An Oasis. It reminds me of the opaque white manicures I was seeing all over the place last summer, only more refreshing and resort-y. I love how smooth it is, too. Zero streaking. I’m wearing two coats in this pic.

Essie Resort Fling — Resort Fling (three coats)

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What’s More Important to You — Groomed Brows or Lush Lashes?

January 16th, 2014 by Karen 37 Comments

Ouch! Tough question.

I went back and forth on this one for a while, but my answer: groomed brows. That’s my final answer.

My whole natural lash situation isn’t particularly exciting. I have naturally straight, middling lashes — they’re not particularly exciting at all — so I do like to curl them and use mascara. I think I look brighter and more chipper when they’re done.

Buuut…if push comes to shove, I’m still choosing groomed brows.

Mine are the fullest they’ve been in years! — and when they’re filled in nicely, I think they draw more attention to my eyes. More than lush lashes do, anyway.

So, yeah. Team Groomed Brows. 🙂

How about you? What’s more important to you — groomed brows or lush lashes? (For the purposes of discussion, let’s pretend you can’t have both.)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen