Ask (contact me) and ye shall receive, homies.

The other day reader Styleezta asked for help applying Benefit’s liquid highlighters, High Beam ($24, a shimmery light pink) and Moon Beam ($24, a shimmery apricot).

Here’s how I use ‘em to create my own shimmery, J. Lo-inspired glow.

But first, a little background. Both High Beam and Moon Beam have been around for years… Back in the day (uh, 1999), High Beam was my gateway highlighter drug. As soon as I saw that sexy, shimmery glow on my skin, I was hooked.

Ever since then I’ve had mad love for these liquid highlighters. They’re effortless to apply and to blend — totally fabulous for highlighting virgins.

A money-saving bonus? — There’s no need to throw down for an extra brush because these cuties come with a convenient applicator.

High Beam Brush

Doesn’t it look like a nail polish brush?

Used to apply the highlighters directly on the skin, the semi-firm brush head draws lines and dots with ease.

Swatches from left to right: High Beam, Moon Beam

Ready, set, draw!

It turns out these lines, dots and stripes are totes key to good application.

To start, I place some dots on my left temple, right temple and chin. Then, I swipe a stripe down the bridge of my nose. Next, on each cheekbone, I draw two short, parallel lines.

I usually do all of this on top of foundation and powder because I don’t have flawless skin. If you do, (jealous!) you can probably get away with applying to bare skin.

Where I place my dots and stripes

I end up looking a lil’ something like this:

Seriously, why are my nails so TRAGIC?

To finish, all I do is blend with my fingers until it’s completely absorbed into my skin, taking care to diffuse any visible edges.

Bingo! — an improv J. Lo glow in less than a minute.

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Believe it or not, there are a few positives to accidentally hacking off your left eyebrow.

Besides discovering the psychological healing power of long bangs, Raul’s provided the opportunity to solve interesting new problems, like figuring out how to hide a partially bald brow while sweating like a pig (no offense, Miss P!).

Yesterday at hip-hop class, aka sweaty Karen central, I discovered a great trick to keeping filled-in brows put with the help of Too Faced Shadow Insurance ($17).

Normally, I use this invisible primer to lock eyeshadow down. Before heading to class last night, on a whim I patted some primer directly onto the sparse patch before filling it in with the Clarins Eyebrow Kit Pro Palette.

I figured the worst that could happen would be beads of black sweat streaming down my cheeks (ewww). Fingers crossed and hoping for the best, I went about getting my booty shake on.

You know what? It totally worked. As I Cabbaged Patched and Robo Copped my way through yet another old school routine, the filled-in spot miraculously refused to budge. And even though I was drenched at the end of the 90-minute class, Raul totally stayed on the ‘low. Yes!

While I lurves me some Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I’m guessing any invisible eyeshadow primer could work. A few to consider: Urban Decay Potion Primer ($17), Tarte Lifted Natural Eye Primer ($20) and Benefit F. Y. Eye ($22).

MAC attack!

In two shakes I’m heading over to MAC to check out the new Nail Trend F/W ‘09 By Jin Soon collection.

I’ve been testing the polish for durability over the past week, and so far it’s held up really well. Here’s an updated photo of Dance All Night (a creamy brick red):

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Hey, ladies. Did you catch this article in the New York Times the other day on women in the military?

“The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the first in which tens of thousands of American military women have lived, worked and fought with men for prolonged periods. Wars without front lines, they have done more than just muddle the rules meant to keep women out of direct enemy contact.

They have changed the way the United States military goes to war. They have reshaped life on bases across Iraq and Afghanistan. They have cultivated a new generation of women with a warrior’s ethos — and combat experience — that for millennia was almost exclusively the preserve of men.”

-NYTimes.com

It got me thinking about reader Sandra. She heads overseas later this year.

Hi Karen,

I need some advice! I am getting deployed to the Middle East this winter for a year and want to know what heavy duty sweat-proof, high-SPF sunscreen you can recommend for everyday use on my face. I would like to have something that feels light, offers moisture, and stays put with a ton of sweating. I would be wearing my tinted moisturizer over this product.

Thanks!

Hi Sandra,

I REALLY love Shiseido 55+, aka better than sliced bread.

It’s sweat-proof, moisturizing, comes in a high SPF and feels light — neither greasy nor sticky — on the skin. On top of all that, it doesn’t have an overwhelmingly sunscreeny scent.

At $38, it’s more expensive than drugstore sunscreens, but I think it’s the best basic sunscreen I’ve ever used.

As for less costly drugstore alternatives, I love Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch SPF 30 ($12). Like Shiseido 55, it’s sweat-proof, light and non-greasy/sticky, but I don’t think it’s quite as moisturizing. A layer of moisturizer worn beneath it should help.

Neutrogena makes versions of it in higher SPFs (70-100). I’ve tried them, too, but didn’t care for them as much; the higher SPFs were noticeably thicker and harder (took longer) to massage into my skin. Personally, I’ve never noticed a difference in sun protection between products containing SPF 30 and 70, but I haven’t skin tested with a control to see if that’s true.

Safe travels, Sandra! I hope this helps. Drop by the blog whenever you can while you’re over there to let us know how you’re doing.

Ladies, let’s give our girl Sandra a hand. Can you recommend any suncreens that stand up to sweat?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

My brain was farting up a storm today. It took me forever to figure out what lip gloss I wanted to wear.

It was like rocket science or trying to build a better mousetrap or something. I dunno…

Finally, out of desperation, I reached for a tube that just so happened to match the earrings I had on (!).

If you’re ever at a loss for lip gloss and can’t decide on a color to wear, try a shade that matches a pair of colorful earrings.

In my case the color was Make Up For Ever Glossy Full Couleur Gloss in #3, a creamy coral with a ton o’ shine.

Check out the teeny sample tube (the full-size .33-oz tube costs $19).

Isn’t it cute?

Right now Sephora has a set of three Glossy Full Couleur Glosses on sale for $35 (a $57 value) that comes with full-size tubes in #3 (coral), #1 (cherry) and #4 (fuchsia).

I’m not exactly sure why the matching lip gloss/earrings combo trick works, but I’m guessing that the pops of similar color in such close proximity reinforce the presence of the primary shade — HA! Listen to me sounding like I have any idea what I’m talking about.

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Summer stopped by this week, and my apartment’s been hotter than Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

It was so hot last night that I couldn’t even bear to cook a real meal for dinner, so I cooked with some Benefit makeup instead

Say hello to Benefit That Gal Brightening Face Primer ($28).

It’s a shimmery, light pink liquid face primer used to prep skin for foundation and to add a subtle glow.

But apparently that’s not all it does. A friend of mine at Benefit suggested using That Gal to turn powder blushes into creams.

Between bites of microwaved Lean Cuisine shrimp linguine, I gave it a try, mixing That Gal with Coralista and Dallas, two of my favorite Benefit boxed powder blushes.

It works!

That Gal + powder blush = pretty cream blush

First, I dabbed a dollop of That Gal on the back of my hand.

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