Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

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

Two Ways to Win the China Glaze Capitol Colours Collection and the Electropop Brights Kit (a $126 Value)

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  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winners are Ruchita and Sienna! Congratulations, gals! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Girl on fire, it is time! — time to liberate your nails from oppressively boring, bland shades with a giveaway that strikes at the heart of the Capitol. The rebellion against boring nail colors starts now with a China Glaze giveaway featuring the entire Capitol Colours collection and the Electropop Brights Kit.

Raise your bow, steady your aim, and let your arrow fly! 🙂

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

Two (2) lucky ladies will win…

  • One (1) full set of all 12 polishes from the China Glaze Capitol Colours collection (Dress Me Up, Foie Gras, Fast Track, Hook and Line, Stone Cold, Smoke and Ashes, Agro, Mahogany Magic, Luxe and Lush, Harvest Moon, Electrify and Riveting) and
  • One (1) China Glaze Electropop Brights Kit with six shades from the Electropop collection (Techno, Aquadelic, Sunshine Pop, Gaga for Green, Make Some Noise and Wicked Style)

China Glaze Capitol Colours

China Glaze Capitol Colours Lineup

  • There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, the name your favorite sci-fi heroine, the title of the last great book you read, your favorite China Glaze color of all time, your favorite kind of bread — you get the idea.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win the China Glaze Capitol Colours Collection and the Electropop Brights Kit (a $126 Value) http://bit.ly/GASXBY

  • The deadline to enter is Friday, March 23 at 11:59PM (PT).
  • Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
  • A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
  • Contest is open to U.S. residents (sorry, international babes; I’ll have a giveaway that includes you very soon) who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
  • Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select two (2) winners at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
  • The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
  • Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winners are Ruchita and Sienna! Congratulations, gals! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss: When Literature and Lipgloss Collide

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bareminerals marvelous moxie lipgloss spark plug
Wearing bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Spark Plug

Please note that if The Hunger Games movie ends up being a dud, you will find me holding a pitchfork and torch and leading an angry mob in the movie theater parking lot.

(I just got tickets for Friday’s midnight show!)

I can still remember when the only people talking about this series were 12 years old. Wait — except for me. 🙂 Young adult science fiction with a bad@ss heroine? Totally my thing.

I’ll be rocking the China Glaze Capitol Colours to the show, of course, but I haven’t decided on the rest of my makeup for the night. Maybe just a simple, Cinna-inspired gold liner along my upper lash line (LOVE YOU, CINNA!).


Photo credit: seattlepi.com

For my lips? Hmm… I’d love to make a statement, but for this, the purple pout I wore for the Sex and the City midnight show doesn’t feel quite right.

And I see myself having more in common with the residents of the Seam than the green-skinned, gold-tattooed girls of the Capitol. Purple lips don’t exactly scream “District 12.”

No. I should go bare, or almost bare. Maybe with something sheer and shiny, like one of the 10 new Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipglosses ($18 each).

I like how the colors in this line of lightly mint-flavored and scented long-wearing glosses have such powerful names. They remind me of many of my favorite Hunger Games characters, like Risk Taker (a chocolate shimmer), Trail Blazer (a nude gold) and Maverick (a rosewood shimmer) to describe Katniss. Smooth Talker (a golden pink) — now that could describe Peeta; and Rebel (a pink mauve) — perhaps Gale?

Gotta love any collision of literature and lipgloss, even when they’re (probably) unintentional.

Here’s a closer look at four of the 10 shades, all of which lightly tingle and are supposed to have a subtle plumping effect. Per usual, I don’t really see a difference in the size of my lips with ’em on, but I rarely do with products that allegedly plump.

At least I know these glosses will shine through the movie. I’ve been getting about four hours from them, and they should withstand a big bucket of popcorn (I know this because I wore Spark Plug to see 21 Jump Street last Friday).


From the left: Risk Taker, Party Starter, Spark Plug and Show Off

bareminerals marvelous moxie lipgloss party starter
Risk Taker
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Bamboo Eyeshadow

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mac bamboo

What do we want? BAM-BOO!

When do we want it? NOW!

What do we want? BAM-BOO!

When do we want it? NOW!

Weirdo that I am, I’ve been chanting this to the windows and walls all morning long. FYI: This is what happens when you’re a stay-at-home professional pet assistant starved for human contact (no offense, Tabs).

I’ve also been marching up and down the halls, one fist raised in defiance, the other clutching a pan of MAC Eye Shadow in Bamboo ($14.50), to protest against the lack of love this often overlooked warm brown matte receives. RAGE AGAINST THE MAKEUP MACHINE, YOU UNSUNG MAKEUP HERO!

LOL! Seriously, though, MAC rock star browns like Soft Brown and Soba always get a lot of love, while Bamboo scoots under the radar.

I know it might sound strange to refer to matte browns as flashy, but for me, as far as staple shadows go, Soft Brown is a rock star. A lot of people, and I’m one of ’em, love it for contouring and as an anchor shade for more complicated eye looks.

Basically, Bamboo is like the light rock version of Soft Brown. Instead of those intense orange tones, I get more of a subdued apricot on my NC42 skin, which I think is just as pretty in its own quiet way.

And Bamboo fits a niche that Soft Brown sometimes fails to fill. On some skin tones, Soft Brown can look really…orange. If you feel too much like an Oompa Loompa in Soft Brown, take a swipe at Bamboo on your next trip to a MAC counter.

I love it in the crease for subtle contouring, and all over the lid when I want a really simple neutral eye; I think it looks great patted on the brow bone, too.

mac bamboo swatch

mac bamboo eyeshadow
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 212

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  • You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
    Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. Steady, and surprisingly calm, which is a welcome change from last week, which was unusually rough for me. I’d been feeling a little run down and mentally drained, but I was able to squeeze in a whole lot of nothing last weekend, and it really helped. I slept in, did some reading, worked out a couple times, stared out the window…

    Sure, the house is a mess because I didn’t do any cleaning, but today, in the greater scheme of things, I’ll take that.

  2. Pastel eye makeup: your thoughts?

    3. Ya know, I like it. Sometimes I’ll do a swish of pastel liner along my lash lines or a slice of pastel eyeshadow on my lids — usually something more like that than an uninterrupted block of pastel color from lid to lash line, which, I don’t know, can seem a little bit much, especially if all I’ve got going on is a trip to Petco.

  3. When was the last time you played on a trampoline?

    4. Um…never? But I’ve heard it’s fun.

  4. Your favorite cereal?

    5. Does oatmeal count? I think it does. 🙂

  5. Tell me something about your morning:

    6. Tabs somehow shut himself in the hallway closet downstairs and must have been in there for gawd knows how long.

    I hadn’t seen him in a while and just assumed he was ignoring me. I was upstairs listening to music in my office, so I couldn’t hear the meows he was undoubtedly making until I went downstairs to freshen my tea.

    That’s when I heard a very upset tabby cat. “MROWWW! MEEEOW! MROWWW! DAMNIT!”

    He must have zipped in there when El Hub opened the door to grab his jacket before leaving for work. Knowing Tabs, he probably assumed he’d have in-and-out closet privileges.

  6. Okay, this one’s a little weird…but if you had to pick up and leave tomorrow to spend a year living in a different country, which country would it be?

    7. With no time to plan, I’d pick a place where the language would be less of a hurdle for me, like Australia, Canada or England. I’m all for adventure and learning new things, but a year is a long time. I’d want to be able to do things like buy car insurance and talk to a doctor without too much hassle.

    Now, instead of leaving tomorrow, if I had a few months to prepare, I’d choose France or Spain (the food!).

  7. Peter Pan shirt collars: yay or nay?

    8. Well…they looked good on Peter, and I like them on other people, but nay on me.

  8. Last time you washed your makeup brushes?

    9. About an hour ago with Burt’s Bees soap (try it; it’s life changing!).

  9. A beauty trend that freaks you out?

    10. I saw some press-on French manicure toenails at the drugstore the other day and felt a little queasy.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Just to be kinder to myself than I was last week, and to try to have a little fun each and every day.

Missed you last weekend, on account of my head, which was buried in Hunger Games books. 🙂 If you have a moment and feel like checking in this morning, please do. I could use a friendly hello in today’s Monday Poll.

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. Pastel eye makeup: your thoughts?
3. When was the last time you played on a trampoline?
4. Your favorite cereal?
5. Tell me something about your morning:
6. You’re leaving tomorrow to spend a year in which country?
7. Peter Pan shirt collars: yay or nay?
8. Last time you washed your makeup brushes?
9. A beauty trend that freaks you out?
10. Weekly goals:

How about we make a deal? Let’s both promise to be extra kind to ourselves this week. Doesn’t that sound good? 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Filed Under Things I Never Expected to Find in the Frozen Foods Section

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I saw this box of vegetarian lumpia (Filipino-style egg rolls) in the frozen foods section at Whole Foods last night. It’s rare to find Filipino food in a mainstream grocery; it’s even rarer to find a vegetarian dish because so many of the dishes are meat-based.

The first thought that went through my mind, of course, was my mom’s “vegetarian” lumpia, which always has chicken, haha! I think this one might actually be real deal vegetarian, though.

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