Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Ok, so, I know this is technically a summer release, but I’m getting a strong Halloween vibe from Maybelline’s Color Show Polka Dots Nail Polish in Dotty ($3.99).
All we need now is a jack-o-lantern, a bag of Peanut M&Ms and a boom box looping The Monster Mash in the yard.
Dotty is one of five new Polka Dots Polishes dotting drugstore shelves, Ulta aisles and the Intertubes online.
…I was just starting my trip to La Jolla with Cindy. *big sigh* Do you ever say stuff like that to yourself after you get back from a vacation?
I do…wistfully. “A week ago today I was sitting by the pool,” or “a week ago I had my toes in the sand at the beach.”
Yep, still got a case of the post-vacay blues.
Howdy from Redding, by the way. El Hub and I are up here visiting family for a few days, while Tabs is at home probably having the time of his life with his pet sitter.
I’m pretty sure he doesn’t miss me at all…
Oh, for sure. At the top of the list are opaque pale pink/purple lipsticks like MAC’s Viva Glam Nicki 2.
I mean, when the UPS guy saw me in it he said I looked like Lil’ Kim, and I don’t think he was referring to the Crush on You era.
That pretty much says it all…
I also have a really difficult time with red eyeshadows, in particular reddish browns. They make me look like I’ve been crying, or like I’ve recently risen from the dead.
And then there are certain lighter eyeshadows, like cool pastels and light neutrals, that can look really chalky on my warm skin tone (NC42), and opaque black and dark purple lipsticks.
I think if I were in my teens or 20s, I maybe could have worn the dark lipsticks during one of my artsy-fartsy phases (with a clingy black dress, big-@ss gold hoops and combat boots, YEAH!), but now that I’m in my late 30s, EEK! Not so much. I’m afraid I’d look like Miss Havisham, if Miss Havisham listened to Public Enemy and Morrissey all day long in her house…
I think I do better with rich jewel-toned colors and brights. Basically, if I see something working in a Bollywood music video, I feel like I can probably pull it off.
Break it down for me, love. Are there any makeup colors you feel you can’t/shouldn’t wear? What about them bothers you?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Do you own a shade of eyeshadow, lipstick or nail polish that started you down a long and perhaps expensive makeup collecting path? I sure do, and her name is Chanel Black Satin (available now in the Chanel permanent collection).
I’ve been into nail polish for as long as I can remember, but there have been phases where I didn’t really think about it much for months at a time. I was in one of those slumbering “dry spells” when Chanel Black Satin came out.
When I first saw it in fashion magazines, I liked it, but I wasn’t completely smitten . I was, however, very interested in any black nail polish that had fashion editors and people in general going gaga.
The long-running Unsung Heroes series features much-loved permanent collection products from a variety of bodacious beauty brands.
Previous to Chanel Black Satin, black nail polishes weren’t really ever seen on anyone other than musicians, artsy types and those into various genres of music, like punk rock, heavy metal and goth. Now, all the sudden it was going mainstream. After seeing it over and over, it started this spark within me that grew and grew, and I knew I HAD TO HAVE IT.
I searched high and low but couldn’t find it anywhere in stores. Finally, I resorted to eBay and spent more on it than I had ever spent on any nail polish before. A whopping $35! At the time, that seemed completely outrageous, but now, after many years of collecting, I can say that it’s not the most I’ve ever spent on a nail polish (yikes!).
Black Satin, as the name implies, has a black base with a silver satiny shimmer running throughout. It has a great smooth and creamy formula, and covers perfectly in two coats.
It might not be the most unique black polish out there anymore, but this beauty definitely started bringing dark nail shades back into the spotlight, and for that, I am grateful!
What item in your makeup collection do you have a great fondness for?
– Kelly
Name: Kelly Keeton
Location: The East Bay Area near San Francisco, California, U.S.
Hangouts online: Vampy Varnish, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+
Current favorite product: Too Faced Tinted BB Cream in Vanilla Glow
Beauty inspirations: Music, books, England, the SF Bay Area, tropical islands, flowers
One word that best describes your outlook on beauty: Artistic
The number one thing I can’t live without is an excellent eyeshadow primer, like Too Faced Shadow Insurance or Milani Eyeshadow Primer. I also must have MAC Fast Response Eye Cream (thanks to your rec, Karen!), Simple Light Moisturizer with SPF 15, Nubar Diamont Seal & Shine Topcoat, MAC Russian Red Lipstick and Jack Black Lip Balm, especially in Shea Butter.
I played around with nail polish and lip gloss around 11 or 12 but really started wearing it consistently when I was 13.
A quick-dry topcoat like Nubar Diamont is a must-have item for anyone who loves nail polish. It dries so quickly and shiny, it’s perfect.
Also, if you want to do a mani but are super short on time, try a textured polish or metallic. They usually dry much quicker than other formulas, and with a texture, you don’t need a base or topcoat!
I love the Benefit synthetic angled brush for brows. It’s the perfect size and width for my brows.
Wear SPF on your face every day! I started in my early 20s, and I really think it’s helped me look younger.
In the a.m. I wash my face with a gentle cleanser like Cetaphil in the shower, and twice a week or so I’ll also use a gentle scrub like MAC Volcanic Ash or TheBalm Almond Microdermabrasion Face Scrub.
Then I apply my moisturizer with SPF and usually MAC Fast Response Eye Cream. At night, I usually wash with a Clinique or Soap & Glory cleanser and apply some retinol products on my eye area and face. Then a moisturizer on top. About once every week or two, I’ll do some kind of face mask, like TheBalm Blueberry Face Mask, Origins Charcoal Mask or c.Booth Volcanic Mud Mask.
For some insane reason when I was in my early 20s I dip-dyed the ends of my bleached blond hair black.
So about 4 inches of the bottom were black.
It looked much better on singer Berlin! So, to get rid of it, I dipped the ends in pure bleach for a long time, which only turned it a horrible faded brown.
Then I had to cut all of that off.
I’ve tried many hair colors and styles, but I always wind up going back to an edgy short pixie or bob and platinum blond. It just works the best for me, and it’s the perfect blank palette for any makeup colors!
Oh, yes! I wore acrylic nails (shudder) for many years in the ’90s, and it makes me nauseous to think about now!
I do a lot of shopping online, and some of my favorite places are ModCloth, Sephora, Amazon, Etsy and Zappos. For in-store I like Target, Nordstrom, Sephora and Ulta.
I keep wanting to call this nail polish “Drops of Jupiter,” like the song by Train.
Remember that one? For a while there in the early 2000s it was playing every other second on the radio, LOL!
I still love it, too.
I’m wearing two layers of Drops of Jade here, one of five new Polka Dots Nail Polishes from Maybelline, and I can really see the jade jelly base and the different sized flecks of hexagonal glitter.
The sheer, thick formula dries to matte finish with a base of non-streaky color. I think it’s actually pretty easy to apply as far as glitter polishes go…
Only thing is, if you like crisp edges, they’re kind of a challenge to achieve with the included brush. I usually do my edges freehand, but the fibers splay out, making the polish tough to control. You might need to dip a pointy brush into some nail polish remover and run it along the base of your nails to clean up the edges.
Drops of Jade is available now online and at drugstores and Ulta.
Ok, so I had a ripe avocado that I “needed” to eat before leaving for Redding today, so I whipped up this improv sandwich yesterday for lunch.
I cut it in half, then put one half in the fridge to have with dinner (I just cut away the couple brown spots). The other half, I sliced up and placed on a piece of wheat bread.
Then I added bits of brie cheese, cherry tomatoes cut in halves, and sliced basil, stuck another piece of bread on top, and toasted it in my panini press (LOVE THAT THING).
Oh, so yummy… Quick and easy, too. A simple veggie meal. Highly recommended for Meatless Mondays, Wednesdays or Fundays. 🙂
Some textured nail polishes make me feel a little queasy…
Oh! — especially the flat matte ones that feel extra gritty (eww, my skin just crawled).
But even if textured lumps and bumps aren’t your cup o’ tea, I think the six polishes in Zoya’s new PixieDust fall collection are worth a look/feel.
Why?
Because they glisten with gallons and gallons of glitter and cray-cray pigment!
Yeah, and not just cray pigment, but cray². In fact, four of the six — orange Dhara, magenta Arabella, green Chita and blue sunshine — only need a single coat.
The other two — Golden beige Tomoko and purple Carter (my fave!) — are two-coaters, but that doesn’t make me like them any less. Both still coat my nails completely, covering them in opaque color and buckets of glitter.
The intense jewel tones in the release remind me so much of fall that I almost feel like putting away my flamingo shorts.
