I treated myself to a salad from Rustic Bakery. Pretty good! They even make their own bread on site.
A Lunch Treat
At NARS, Lips Play With Purple, Red and Rose for Summer 2012
NARS Never Say Never Velvet Matte Lip Pencil
Man, I’m so tired… (How tired am I?) I’m so tired that I could go to bed right now. In my work clothes. Without removing my makeup.
I actually tried to take a nap this afternoon — which I almost never do because it throws off my sleep schedule — but the phone rang right as I was dozing off.
Rinnng! Rinnng!
“Wha!? Hello? This is Karen.”
“Did I wake you?”
“Oh, hi Mom. No, I was just napping…” 🙂
My mom’s superpower is her ability to call right as I’m about to fall asleep (“Did I wake you?”), or at the exact moment I’m contemplating doing something potentially unwise (“What are you doing?”).
After the call, I considered just blowing off the rest of the afternoon, grabbing some fro-yo, and passing out on the couch, but then I wouldn’t have been able to share the revelations I had about the NARS Summer 2012 collection at the dentist earlier today.
Yes, girl, I thought about makeup at the dentist’s office. It was the only thing I could do to keep from losing my sh*z!
Never Say Never Velvet Matte Lip Pencil ($24), Calabria Soft Touch Shadow Pencil ($24) and Buenos Aires Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil ($24)
A little back story…
When I was a kid, I had a really mean dentist who seemed to derive great joy from making me cry (I’m pretty sure he was a masochist). To this day, I bawl like a baby during cleanings.
But my current dentist, who looks like Steve Martin, he’s an angel. He’s so nice and patient, and he’s great about walking me through the process, which I really like. He even reminds me to relax my shoulders and unclench my fists while I’m sitting in the chair.
But yeah, he looks like Steve Martin, and whenever he’s hovering over me with that little silver hook, I start playing tunes from Little Shop of Horrors in my head…
Moscow Pure Matte Lipstick, $25
Luckily, today’s cleaning went great (no cavities, yay!), but the anxiety of wondering things like, “What if an earthquake strikes while he’s scraping at my molars and he crochets my gums with that hook?” left me physically and mentally drained.
Vendanges Lipstick, $24
Between swishing, spitting and trying not to cry, my mind wandered to the new NARS 2012 collection. I thought about François and how the team at NARS must have had lips on their minds when they created it, since four of the nine pieces in the release are lip products.
Vendanges Lipstick, Moscow Pure Matte Lipstick, Never Say Never Velvet Matte Lip Pencil and Buenos Aires Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
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With NARS Liberté Blush, Tanned Cheeks Have the Freedom to Rock
“Give me Liberté, or give me…!” Forget that, just give me Liberté. 🙂
Its name means “freedom” in French — freedom from cheeks that look blah! Freedom from having to apply layer upon layer of blush! Freedom from that mile-long to-do list! And freedom to embrace lazy days spent lounging in the sun by the pool!
Freedom!!
Yup, NARS Liberté Blush definitely feels like a vacation blush to me, and I sure do like the way it looks with a tan.
I can see it now… The tropics. A beautiful beach. We get up early to catch a few waves before the crowds. A week frolicking in the surf like that, and our cheeks are bronzed and tan.
Liberté would love something like that.
NARS describes the color as a burnished apricot, which leads me to wonder, “How do you burnish an apricot?” But I digress…
LOL! I think it looks more like a matte reddish orange on me — a lighter, slightly peachier matte version of NARS Taos Blush, and it’s the solitary blush in the new nine-piece Summer 2012 collection from NARS.
It’s classic NARS all the way, with a super pigmented, easy-to-blend formula that lasts all day, and wow! I can’t believe it looks so intense in these pics of the pan and the swatch, because as long as I use a light touch when I apply it with something like a fan brush, I think it looks very natural on my cheeks. It reminds me of the way my cheeks look right after a run (when my heart’s still beating a mile a minute).
Something tells me it would look amazing on darker skin tones — heck, on lighter skin tones, too, especially ones that wear warmer colors well. I think it looks pretty fierce on Ginta Lapina, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty featured in the campaign imagery.
From the left: Calabria Soft Touch Shadow Pencil, Ramatuelle Trio Eyeshadow, Marie-Galante Duo Eyeshadow and Liberté Blush
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5 Bridal Beauty Tips: Glow in Your Gown With These Five Body Care Tips
This post is part of a series sponsored by Dove® ClearTone™ Deodorant.
It’s that time of year when knots are being tied, and many brides are slipping into strapless dresses. Yes, it’s wedding season!
I wore a strapless gown when El Hub made an honest woman out of me, which — wow! I can’t believe that was six years ago… It feels like yesterday! And I remember being a little nervous back then about baring so much skin.
If you’re planning a trip down the aisle and have your heart set on a strapless gown, consider these bridal beauty tips to get your arms, shoulders, neck and back in tip-top shape for the big day.
1. Glow on, exfoliate!
A gentle exfoliating scrub sloughs away dead skin cells, leaving you with a gorgeous full-body glow. I always keep a gentle scrub in my shower and use it every couple days. After rinsing, I like to follow it up with a rich moisturizer.
In a pinch, try mixing a small amount of granulated sugar with your shower gel.
No, really! 🙂 It’s a cheap, pretty effective way to get your scrub on.
2. Remember residue removal
Got body acne (it’s no fun)? Removing hair conditioner residue from your shoulders, chest, neck and back may help reduce breakouts.
I used to wash my hair and bod, and then condition and rinse. Now, after conditioning and rinsing my hair, I twist it up into a bun, clip it in place, and wash my bod with a shower gel, taking care to remove any remaining conditioner residue on my skin.
3. Here comes the sun (screen), little darlin’
I’m not gonna nag. I know you’re really good about wearing sunscreen every day on your face, so this is just a gentle reminder to remember your neck, chest and arms.
Even if you don’t plan to spend the day outside, your skin still gets some sun through the windows in the car and at the office.
And if you haven’t looked lately, check the expiration dates on your sunscreens. They become less effective after they’ve expired.
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MAC Fresh Flare
My new favorite green! MAC Pro Longwear Eye Shadow in Fresh Flare, $20. Available now at MAC counters, stores and online.
Doing Laps
Tabs requires a minimum of three 10-minute lap sessions every day. He’s needy like that. Note the hot pink stretchy pants and the grandpa sweater I’m wearing, haha! It hasn’t been exactly style central around these parts lately.
It’s Cool to Be Warm: The NARS Ramatuelle Trio Eyeshadow Is Both Cool and Warm
The new NARS Ramatuelle Trio Eyeshadow ($45) reminds me of the time my neighbor brought jalapeño ice cream to the annual Memorial Day potluck on our street.
At first, all I could say was, “uh…” I mean, spicy and sweet? I pictured those big green peppers…
It just didn’t compute, but then I gave it a try. It was sweet, but it also had a kick that took my breath away. It took a few bites, but I started to like it. Eventually, I even went back for seconds. 🙂
Ramatuelle had a similar effect on me. Like jalapeño ice cream, it features an unexpected combination, except in this case, it’s not a sweet treat and a spicy pepper, but a combination of cool and warm shades.
A limited edition eyeshadow trio released with the new nine-piece NARS Summer 2012 collection, Ramatuelle contains three powder shadows — a warm, matte apricot; a warm, shimmery beige; and a cool, shimmery silver. It’s now the sixth eyeshadow trio available from NARS.
Ready for an Easter Egg? NARS included one to make it easier to keep the color temps straight. If you look closely at the patterns on the pans, the lines in the cool-toned silver shadow run vertically, while the lines in the two warm-toned pans are horizontal.
Isn’t that neat? Just a small touch, but I’m a nerd about details. I love it!
As for the silver shadow, it did seem a little out of place to me at first, but then I remembered the jalapeño ice cream…
One thing I like about NARS is their flair for the unexpected. After I patted a mix of the apricot and beige shadows along my lids and swept the silver along my lower lash lines and at the inner corners of my eyes, the trio made sense! The combination of the cool silver and warmer colors — surprise! — totally works.
From the left: Calabria Soft Touch Shadow Pencil, Ramatuelle Trio Eyeshadow, Marie-Galante Duo Eyeshadow and Liberté Blush
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Prep + Prime Vibrancy Eye Primer
For real though! I could spend hours at the MAC counter if left unchecked. Allegedly, when I went to the mall the other day, it was “just to browse” (yeah, right!), but next thing ya know, I’m chatting with the MAC artists about concealers, and WHOOPS! Would ya look at that? It’s 30 minutes later. 🙂
We talked about our faves, and we each had different ones, but one thing all us agreed on (and gushed about) was the awesomeness of today’s unsung makeup hero, MAC Prep + Prime Vibrancy Eye Primer ($30).
An under-eye makeup primer of heroic proportions, this puff-reducing powerhouse deserves a key to the city. It brightens dark areas with a hint of glowing pink shimmer, and preps the skin for concealer by creating a smooth, perfect surface upon which it can be applied.
Vibrancy unblended (left) and blended (right)
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