Hey, ghouls! I’m on my way to a pet costume Halloween parade (insert collective “Awww…”) before dinner but wanted to say another quick hi. Here’s my look for tonight. I didn’t feel up to one of those deluxe MAC Halloween looks, and, since we’re just going out to dinner, opted instead for this moderately scary smokey eye with false lashes and pink lips.

I used MAC false lashes and a bunch of pigments to get this eye look, including Dark Soul, Smoke Signal and Your Ladyship from last year’s Smoke Signals collection.

Send me some pictures (karen_at_makeupandbeautyblog.com) of your Halloween look, okay? Be safe and sane tonight!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Trick or treat!

With whom would you have the most fun trick or treating with: Paris Hilton, Tina Fey or Mariah Carey (when she was going through her crazy phase)?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

2. Pumpkin dilemma

Would you rather spend the day wearing a huge, human-sized pumpkin shell (it’s heavy, hot and slimy with pumpkin guts — ewwwww…) or be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic after having eaten three pumpkin-bran muffins for breakfast?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

3. Your horror film debut…

A rich Hollywood producer offers you $100,000 to star in a remake of one of the following horror films: The Blair Witch Project, The Shining or Scream. Which movie do you grace with your screen presence?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

4. Dress up time

Seal and Heidi Klum invite you and a friend to their big Halloween party! What will your costumes be?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

5. Face your fears

What’s scarier: Alec Baldwin doing a strip tease dance for you and your parents (Oh, snap! He’s getting buck nekkid!) or being chased by a gang of toothless vampires?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

Happy Halloween, girls! Are you ready to play? Just copy the list below and paste it with your answers in the comments.

1. Paris, Tina or crazy Mariah?
2. Wear the pumpkin or eat the pumpkin-bran muffins?
3. Star in The Shining, The Blair Witch Project or Scream?
4. Costumes for Heidi and Seal’s Halloween party?
5. Alec Baldwin getting buck nekkid or toothless vampire gang?

Have fun tonight!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Shu know me so well…

To simply say that I love Shu Uemura would be an understatement of mammoth proportions — mammoth as in gigantic, dramatically unforgettable false eyelashes!

The brand’s one of my favorites of all time. First, I fell in love with their fabulawesome eyelash curler, but then I tried their makeup, their brushes and eventually their false eyelashes, too. It just kept getting better!

Here are some of my favorite Shu posts and products…

Now, Shu! Go have a happy Halloween!

Accessible Luxury: Shu Uemura Knows Lashes Inside and Out

“Genetics bestowed upon me wimpy, ho-hum lashes… and then made me so clumsy that I couldn’t apply false ones to save my life. Oh, the sweet eyelash irony! Enter the Shu Uemura lash bar, aka false eyelash nirvana, where the lashes are affordable and the appointment booking process couldn’t be easier.”

Glow in Style with Shu Uemura Glow On Blush

“I was vegetating on the couch the other day, watching my upmteenth hour of the America’s Next Top Model marathon on MTV, when El Hub walked by and said, ‘Did you do something different today? Your face looks so bright and glowy.’”

Shu Uemura Fall 2008 Limited Edition Instinct Collection

“Aren’t the textures and shades interesting and sexy? I’m in love with the packaging. If you’re on a strict makeup budget and need to triage, take a close look at the eye shadow duos. I think they’re the real stars of the show!”

Get Long, Dramatic Lashes with Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara

“I’m the type of girl who doesn’t care for drama, but I’ll take dramatic lashes any day! If you crave long, can’t-miss-me lashes like I do, get thee a tube of Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara ($23)! Using it lately I’ve achieved some of the longest, most defined lashes I’ve seen on myself in a while.”

Shu Uemura Phyto-Black Lift, Anti-aging Skin Care Collection

“I believe exfoliating toners do help to clear my skin, but they’re often too drying for long-term use. Radiance Boosting Lotion, with fruit extracts and alpha hydroxy acids, exfoliates without leaving my skin feeling tight and dry. And after two weeks of testing, my skin seems clearer and less pimply. This is my favorite product from the collection.”

7 Ways to Wear Shu Uemura’s Fleur de Rose Palette

“Emancipate yourself from the land of bland, chalky eyeshadows with Shu Uemura’s Fleur de Rose Palette! With soft, velvety textures and rich, intense colors, the seven pink, purple and neutral shades combine easily to create several different looks. The palette’s great for makeup neophytes as well as eyeshadow experts…”

Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Crystal Shine Lipstick Swatches and Pics

“Lovely ladies, I’d like to introduce you to my latest lipstick obsession: Shu Uemura’s Rouge Unlimited Crystal Shine lipstick! Falling in love with these $23 lippies was easy. They make my lips shine brighter than a glazed doughnut (mmm… doughnut) yet still feel feather-light on my lips. They pack tons of color, and there are a bunch of shades to choose from — 17 in all!”

Midnight Manicure with Shu Uemura Nail Polish

“I’m on a Shu Uemura nail polish kick, and last night’s midnight manicure in Gold Beige may not have been the best use of time. Eh, who am I kidding?? Of course it was! I officially love these polishes and can’t wait to get more. Gold Beige dries fast, applies easily and looks great.”

Lip Look: Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited in RD 165N

“I’m still crushing big time on red lipgloss (sorry, pink), and yesterday I got my fix with Shu Uemura’s Gloss Unlimited in RD 165N ($22). Hot, yah? The color makes me look like I just ate a whole bag of red Jolly Rancher candies…”

Plans Tonight?

Do you have Halloween plans tonight? It’s raining out here in Marin, but a friend of mine is driving up from the city to deliver my bridesmaid dress for Jen’s wedding next month. No big plans for me, but I’m going to try to talk her into doing one of the MAC Halloween makeup looks with me and hitting Cheesecake Factory for dinner. When the waiter comments we’ll just play nonchalant like, “Um, yes, I think I’d like the fish tacos please… Oh, this? This is my usual makeup. Why do you ask?” LOL!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

When I’m feeling great, I think of myself as a strong and tough girl, but my inner warrior’s been MIA for weeks. I’ve felt kinda beaten down. This morning I wanted — correction — I needed a pick-me-up, and I turned to Clinique Party Red. Every time I looked at myself in the mirror today, this red lip reminded me of the fighter I know I can be.

To get the look, a classic red lip and neutral eye, I used a few items from the Clinique Party Red holiday makeup collection (available soon).

Butter Shine Lipstick in Parisian Red, $14 (limited edition)

A warm and creamy brick red, Parisian Red belongs to Clinique’s line of Butter Shine Lipsticks. Its soft, buttery texture feels moisturizing, and it’s easy to apply (even straight from the tube).

With a glossy finish, this shade of red has visible pizazz but isn’t “too sexy” for work (although it might be too sexy for church, LOL!). Makeup and Beauty Blot Rating: A

Quick Eyes Cream Shadow in Sparkling Nude and Lucky Penny, $14.50 each

From top to bottom: Sparkling Nude, Lucky Penny

Sparkling Nude

Lucky Penny

For my look today I wore Lucky Penny (a shimmery light tan) on the lid and Sparkling Nude (a shimmery beige) on the brow bone.

Both shades applied without a hitch, blended easily and lasting all day long without noticeable creasing or fading. If you haven’t tried any of the Quick Eyes Cream Shadows, try to find one of these neutral shades, stat, because not only are they cute and long lasting, but they even work well as a base for powder eyeshadows. Makeup and Beauty Blot Rating: A+

Continue Reading…

Um, WOW! The Shu Uemura Mika Holiday Collection is in the mutha truckin’ hizzouse. I was so stoked when I first saw the three new palettes and limited edition Mika lipsticks on the Shu Uemura website, but now that I’ve seen them in person … I LOVE THEM EVEN MORE!

Each of the eyeshadow palettes comes with pressed shadows and a cream liner shade with the same wonderfully high color pigmentation and fine textures we’ve come to expect from Shu Uemura’s eye products.

I think Shu’s among the top brands when it comes to quality and their attention to detail, and one thing I lurve about these particular palettes is how varied the color combinations are — they’re visually interesting yet highly wearable at the same time.

Shu Uemura joined forces with Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa to conceptualize Mika Holiday. I love the clean, floral aesthetic of the eye, lip and face products and makeup storage cases. Check out the entire collection on the Shu Uemura website and let me know what you think.

Midnight Winter Sakura (limited edition, $65)

A palette with strong, rich colors for bold, glamorous looks. I think the blues in this are *amazing* and the coloring vivid and highly pigmented, like deep blue tropical seas.

From left to right:

• Eyeshadow: a warm and shimmery gold
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery taupe-gold
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery bronze
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery khaki
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery teal-blue
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery royal blue
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery rose-gold
• Cream liner: a black with hints of shimmery rose and purple

Adorned Marguerite (limited edition, $65)

The vivid shades in this cool-toned palette made me go “OoOOooOOO!” — in particular Adorned Marguerite, which may turn out to be the palette that erases my fear of bold daytime eyeshadow colors forever.

The included sparkly white cream liner isn’t as spreadable as the black liner that comes with the Winter Sakura palette, but I’m excited about layering it beneath a few of the other brighter shades in the palette.

Oh, and what do you think of the psychedelic packaging? It makes me kinda want to stop the world and melt with you.

From left to right:

• Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool gray-black with flecks of silver
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool lemon yellow
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool pinkish rose
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery turquoise-blue
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery, cool pastel purple
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery moss green
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery bronze
• Cream liner: a cool white with flecks of white and silver glitter

Secret Luscious Rose (limited edition, $65)

OMG! This one has my favorite packaging of the three. According to the Shu Uemura website, the palette contains a collection of dusty rose shades to express “elegance and mystery” (LOL!).

Beyond their mystery and elegance, these shades are pretty and practical, but they’re also a lot like several shades I already have. Still, I like this palette and plan to combine the brighter shades with the two neutral shades on the far left.

From left to right:

• Eyeshadow: a shimmery cool brown (this reminds me of an amped up version of MAC Soba)
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery golden beige
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery red-bronze
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery rose
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery violet
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery royal blue
• Eyeshadow: a shimmery khaki gold
• Cream liner: a shimmery, warm brown with flecks of golden glitter

Mika Collection Rouge Unlimited Lipsticks

With their limited edition pink-petal inspired packaging, the three Rouge Unlimited lipsticks in the Mika Collection are certainly pretty on the outside. As for the lipsticks themselves, all three shades revolve around beige: Petal Pink Beige, Petal Orange Beige and Petal Brown Beige.

I really wanted these shades to work for me, but, unfortch, beige is not my best lip color, and these shades didn’t really pop on my lips like I wanted them to. My favorite one was Petal Brown Beige, mostly because Petal Pink and Petal Orange looked so much alike to me. I’d suggest that unless you really lurve beige, save your pennies and splurge instead on the eye palettes.

Petal Brown Beige Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, $23

Petal Orange Beige Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, $23

Petal Pink Beige Rouge Unlimited Lipstick, $23

Happy Thursday, ladies! Just have to make it through today at work, and then I’m in the clear for a few days, yea! My week hasn’t been all puppies, flowers and rainbows, but things are starting to look up.

Hope you’re having a wonderful day.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen