Archive for the 'Product Reviews' Category

Being called cheap and easy are compliments if you’re a bottle of Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover, $7. It removes all of my eye makeup quicker than you can say “fierce,” and it does it without stinging my pocketbook or my sensitive peepers.

Removes Makeup Without Leaving an Oily Residue

It proved its star budget beauty status last night when I got home from that bridal shower. It was late, and I was completely exhausted. All I wanted to do was crash in bed.

I was tempted to go to sleep without removing my makeup, but I mustered up the energy to give Gentle Eye Make Up Remover a try. I soaked a cotton ball in the unscented, oil-free solution. A few quick swipes later, and my eye makeup was gone. As tired as I was, I figured what the hey and tried it on the rest of my face and lips. It worked just as well there, too, removing everything. It doesn’t even have to be rinsed off with water. My skin felt clean and refreshed, with barely any effort at all. There I’d gone making such a huge deal about having to remove my makeup, grumbling to myself when all I’d wanted to do was crash, but the whole process took less than two minutes.

Removes Waterproof Makeup Too

I did have to bust into the cotton balls a second time to remove my waterproof mascara. Gentle Eye Make Up Remover didn’t struggle a bit with the waterproof liner I was wearing, but it did have some trubs with the waterproof mascara. It may not be as effective on waterproof mascara as oil-based removers like Lancome’s Bi-Facil (but it works well enough in a pinch).

Product: Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover

Price: $7
Use: An inexpensive no-rinse eye makeup remover
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Bridal Shower Hijinks

The bridal shower was a lot of fun. The closest I came to winning a game was 3rd place out of 30 in the “Make a Bridal Gown Out of Toilet Paper” game. Eat your heart out, Vera Wang.

I swear to gawd nothing pervy happened in this picture; it was one of the other games!

Even though the shower was billed as a tea party, there was more than enough fried food to go around. No karaoke, though.

After the shower I paid my parents a visit, and Shauna the dog greeted me with one of her trademark tummy flashes.

I hung out with my folks for a few hours and saw from the full bottles of products in the bathroom that my mom hadn’t used any of the stuff I gave her at the start of the summer.

Maybe she wasn’t using the products I’d gotten because she’d found something she liked even more…

I like the prancing horses on the back of the bottle! And it’s multi-tasking… It works on both your mane AND your tail, LOLOL!

How was your day today? I didn’t do anything, really, just chilled at home.

Hope you had a great Sunday!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. From the lovely ladies of the Splendicity network comes last week’s best in beauty, fashion and shopping blogging.
Read the rest of this entry »

Look out Kate Moss! The phone’s been ringing off the hook with job offers for Tabs. That Dior thing last week put him on the map. He signed with Ford Modeling on Tuesday and spent two days shooting a spread for Shu; then, on Thursday he flew to Paris for Chanel.

He’s been so busy lately… I hope he still has time for me.

Here are pics of his recent work. Click to view the gallery.

Afternoon, cuties! I stepped away from my friend Jen’s bridal shower for a minute to say hi. I started this post before I left the house this morning. With Wordpress it’s easy to finish blog posts from a mobile phone, which is kinda cool.

Anywho, the gift bags were a big hit. Although it’s a tea party theme, and we’re having different teas and dainty finger sandwiches, the party was organized by Filipinos, which also means fried food and perhaps even some karaoke, LOL! I practiced in my living room this morning with a few Jordin Sparks songs.

I wanted to share some lip looks with ya. These three cuties pictured above are from the Candy Paint lipgloss line ($13.50 each) by Carol’s Daughter. The company is well known for fragrances, body and hair products. These glosses mark their first foray into cosmetics.

Bronze Goddess: a sheer brown with shimmery gold

Grown and Sexy: A sheer pink with shimmery gold

Hot Mocha: A creamy brown

The shades look darker in the tube than they do once they’ve been applied. The formula reminds me of MAC Lipglasses but is a touch thinner and not quite as sticky. These give off a strong minty fragrance that lasts for a few minutes (it may still be there; could be I just got used to it) and a slight mint flavor. I’m not crazy about the sensory overload, but if you like mint these will be like Christmas candy to you.

The product contains all natural ingredients, notably grapeseed oil, shea butter, aloe vera extract and vitamin E, and the whole recipe adds up to some quality hydration and lip conditioning. Carol’s Daughter managed to do this all without mineral oil, artificial colors and parabens, too.
Read the rest of this entry »

Let me take this moment to apologize to winged creatures everywhere, because since I started using the latest additions to Bumble & Bumble’s Curl Conscious line of shampoos, conditioners and styling treatments, the bird’s nest on my head has been closed for renovations.

The Curl Conscious line has been around for years, but Bumble & Bumble gave it a face lift, adding a few new products and changing the packaging while maintaining the overall focus on products for curly and wavy hair.

Three New Curl Conscious Products

• Nourishing Masque ($25 for a 5-fl oz. tube), a conditioning treatment usable as a hydrating mask or a regular conditioner (the way I preferred), moisturizes the heck out of my hair. With a lovely orange scent, it softens hair without weighing it down. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
• Holding Foam ($27 for 3.5 oz. bottle), a gel-to-foam styling product, delivers exceptional hold and structure for wavy hair, while keeping it touchably soft. I use it on damp hair after conditioning and then air dry. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+
• Reactivating Mist ($22 8.5-fl oz. for a spray bottle), a spray for either wet or dry hair, re-activates styling product and revives limp curls. I spritz it from roots to ends after applying the Holding Foam. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

If you’re curious about the changes to the Curl Conscious line, surf over to the Curl Conscious section of Bumble & Bumble’s website. It features how-to videos as well as a snazzy “recipe card” with product recommendations for different hairstyles.

How’s your hair doin’ these days? Is it misbehaving or being nice?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC’s new Gold Fever collection, exclusive to Nordstrom stores, joins a couple other big MAC releases today (Suite Array and Cremesheen).

As the name implies, Gold Fever is all about peaches and cream…

Just kidding. It’s gold, girls — and silver — and a whole lotta disco glitter, yes!

The complete product list:

Slimshines ($14.50)

• Voile: Canary yellow with gold pearl (Frost)
• Missy: Creamy pastel coral (Cream)

Shadesticks ($16.50)

• Penny: Light pinky copper
• Sharkskin: Shimmering grayed black

Liquidlast Liners ($16.50)

• Classic Cream: White gold
• Auto Orange: Rusted copper with pearl

Fluidline ($15)

• Blacktrack: Solid flat black

Pigments ($17.50)

• Golden Lemon: Bright Lemon gold with shimmer (Frost)
• Silver Fog: Platinum silver (Pearl)

Glitter ($17.50)

• Gold: Sparkling chunky gold
• 3D Silver: Holographic multi-coloured effects on a silver base

Brushes ($17-$23)

• 209 Eyeliner Brush ($17)




• #242 Shader Brush ($23)

Lashes ($12)

• #3 Lashes
• #34 Lashes

If you eat glitter for breakfast and love flashy club makeup, you’ll probably love the glitter and sparkle Gold Fever has to offer. The big glitter and flashy metallic colors aren’t really my regular style, so I may not pounce on Gold Fever right away, but I don’t know… How frickin’ awesome is that outfit the model’s wearing in the Gold Fever promo pic?

I lurve the poofy gold dress and those wicked forehead jewels (I bet they shoot lasers!). Imagine how fierce your shoes would have to be to go with that get up. LE SIGH!

If I could pull it off, I’d totally roll around looking like that 24-7, LOL!

More product shots and swatches…

Voile Slimshine

Missy Slimshine

Auto Orange Liquidlast Liner

Read the rest of this entry »

A new kid’s in town, and her name is Cremesheen — MAC Cremesheen. The collection joins two other major MAC releases that arrived on counters nationwide today: Suite Array, and Gold Fever (exclusive to Nordstrom stores).

Say hello to Cremesheen’s 14 new lipstick colors.

“Hi! Hello!”

They’re accompanied by a single nail polish, Seasonal Peach (kinda random, right?). With the Cremesheen collection, MAC introduces a brand new lipstick formulation. Is it any good?

Let’s find out.

On the lipstick scale, I think these feel creamier and thicker than MAC Lustre lipsticks do. I love lippies, and the Cremesheen lipsticks feel surprisingly light and slick for how thick they are. MAC played it safe, too, as far as flavor, making them both taste- and fragrance- free. They’re easy to apply, deliver full color coverage, and just one coat makes my pucker shine like fine china.

Sadly, Seasonal Peach, the lone nail polish in the Cremesheen collection, was mysteriously MIA at my local MAC counter today, but all 14 of the lipsticks were in the hizz.

Of the 14 Cremesheen colors, On Hold, Party Line and Stay in Touch were my early faves. A couple of the colors looked pretty in the tube but didn’t work well for me (Creme d’Nude and Hot Gossip).

Cremesheen Lipsticks ($14)

• Creme d’Nude: Pale muted peach beige
• Ravishing: Clean, lightly peachy coral
• Speed Dial: Light blue pink
• Fanfare: Mid-tone yellow pink
• On Hold: Mid-tone yellow raspberry
• Speak Louder: Clean poppy blue pink
• Modesty: Muted neutral pink
• Hot Gossip: Mid-tone pinky plum
• Crosswires: Clean pinky orange
• Stay in Touch: Lightly yellow brown
• Brave Red: Bright yellow red
• Dare You: Deep brown red
• Party Line: Red-tone plum
• Hang-Up: Deep berry

Nail Lacquer ($10)

• Seasonal Peach:Creamy pale peachy pink

Brave Red: Bright yellow red

Creme d’Nude: Pale muted peach beige

Crosswires: Clean pinky orange

Dare You: Deep brown red

Fanfare: Mid-tone yellow pink

Hang-Up: Deep berry

Read the rest of this entry »

Hiya! I raced to the MAC counter before work, whee! I wanted to catch a glimpse of today’s new releases. Here are product shots and swatches of Suite Array. Let me know what you think. I will also post shots and first impressions of the Cremesheen and Gold Fever collections later in the day.

Eye Shadow Suite ($16)

Blue Zone

• Small Pan: Deep grey/green with silver pearl
• Big Pan: Light ice blue with silver pearl

Counterparts

• Small Pan: Deep forest with gold pearl
• Big Pan: Mid-tone orange with gold pearl

Ocean 2

• Small Pan: Mid-tone blue with silver pearl
• Big Pan: Light blue with silver pearl

Rose Suites

• Small Pan: Intense blue pink
• Big Pan: Light yellow pink with silver pearl

Shallow V. Deep

• Small Pan: Bluish green with gold pearl
• Big Pan: Mint with silver pearl

Smoke & Ash

• Small Pan: Black with silver pearl
• Big Pan: Mid-tone grey silver pearl

Read the rest of this entry »