Did you have a rollickin’ Saturday night? I had a good time at that Peruvian restaurant in the city. The food was delish, but I got home late. I still feel a little groggy this morning, but it’s nothing a vat of tea can’t fix!
Got a few things on my plate today… We have company visiting next month from Hawaii (El Hub’s parents), so I need to start tidying up NOW! After that hopefully I can squeeze in a trip to the movies to see Inception.
Whatcha got planned?
Before we bid adieu to the week, here’s one last look back at some of the makeup and beauty we talked about. It was another great week for Urban Decay…and for Urbay Decay dupes (*ahem*, NYX).
Have a faboo Sunday morning! Hopefully I’ll see you a little later today in the open thread.
URBAN DECAY
URBAN LASH
FREEDOM! I will forever remember July 12, 2010 as the day my inner drag queen liberated herself from a life of frumpy fringe and entered the world of big, bad falsies.
Before Urban Decay’s Urban Lash line ($16 each; 18 to choose from), it took me FOREVER to put on a pair of fake lashes (okay, more like 20 minutes).
Thanks to the new line, which just launched for fall, falsies are officially less of my makeup Achilles’ heel. Read more…
BENEFIT SUNDAY FUNDAY
MAKEUP TUTORIAL
Is it wrong to want Sunday brunch on a Wednesday afternoon? — or to get a little dolled up and don colorful makeup in the middle of the week? I hope not, because today the Benefit Sunday Funday palette and I have reservations. We’re doing a daytime/brunch look together featuring eyes in purple and bronze.
To test the versatility of the brushes that come with the kit, I told myself not to use any other brushes for this look, which was tough because I’m really picky about my eye brushes. I usually ditch the ones that come with palettes like this one, but the Sunday Funday brushes actually shine like stars. I wouldn’t toss my best brushes for ’em, but they should be great for trips and purses when you want to travel light.
Despite the palette’s name, I’m guessing these colors are safe to wear any day of the week, ha! Read more…
NYX NUDE ON NUDE
NATURAL LOOK KIT
Let’s strip, shall we? If you’ve been lusting after the hard-to-find Urban Decay Naked palette, NYX has some potentially great news for you and your wallet.
Swatching the NYX Nude on Nude Natural Look Kit ($11) this afternoon, one of three NYX sets released for summer, I was struck by how similar its shades are to some of the ones in UD’s $44 Naked.
Could it be?? A Naked dupe for one fourth the cost?
It’s not a total dupe, of course (see the comparison swatches below); there are some shades between the two that aren’t anything alike, not in how they look OR feel.
Not surprisingly, I think the Urban Decay shadows feel a little smoother and look more intense on my skin, which is not to say the NYX shadows don’t hold their own. In fact, they hella do. Read more…
BOOTS CANDY PINK
AND STAR ANISE
While I was off stuffing my face with free fruit samples at the farmer’s market last night, I road tested a couple of goodies from the Boots makeup line — Natural Blush Cheek Colour in Candy Pink ($9) and Botanics Lip Gloss in Star Anise ($6). ‘Cause, you know, I’m all about beauty bargains. And multi-tasking. And free food!
Have you tried any Boots makeup before? I’m new to their makeup, but I like the few Boots skin products and makeup wipes I’ve tried.
Originally from merry olde England, the Boots line sailed onto Target shelves a few years ago. Their makeup offering looks pretty thorough with lots to choose from (foundation, blush, eyeshadow — basically, the works) in colors galore. Read more…
STILA ROAD
TO RADIANCE
Now HERE’s a makeup trend I can totally get behind: $10 department store makeup palettes!
Who knew that when Urban Decay launched their $14 Face Case earlier this year it would be the first salvo fired in a budget beauty battle for eyes, lips and cheeks?
Um, can I just say that as far as makeup trends are concerned…budget-friendly travel palettes are like a billion times cooler than vibrating mascara wands? They make my inner bargainista want to raise the roof (1998-style)!
The limited edition Stila Road to Radiance Across the USA palette is the first of five new limited edition $10 Stila travel palettes visiting over the coming months, each one inspired by the fashion, people and colors of different Stila girls around the world (the company plans to release one more of them every month through November). Read more…
BURBERRY BEAUTY
CHRISTOPHER BAILEY
Burberry Beauty officially launched last Tuesday at the San Francisco Nordie’s store, and I popped by to check out the new makeup line and to chat with Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief creative director (and quite possibly one of the most polite and well-dressed dudes I’ve ever met).
Here are some images of the new line and product swatches to go with the video above. Read more…
DOLCE & GABBANA
BLOSSOM EYE DUO
The iridescent purple and shimmery reddish copper of the Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Duo in Blossom are so bright that they should have come with shades! Expensive ones ($36 for two shadows, oy vey!).
One of 10 powder eyeshadow duos in the company’s permanent line, Blossom lights up lids like a double rainbow all the way across the sky.
These brights pack pigment worthy of a capital WHOA! But they aren’t just vivid; they manage to look soft at the same time.
With a good base (today I used Urban Decay Eden), Blossom also appears to stand the test of time. Almost 7 hours so far and the colors are still going strong.
Now, if we start a write-in campaign and get Dolce & Gabbana to put these on sale every once in a while, we’ll be set! Read more…
LIPFUSION LIPGLOSS
IN PRINCESS
Before the $29 price of LipFusion Luxe Boudoir Collection lipgloss makes you totally cranky (that’s Chanel territory, yo!), consider this: $1 of that goes to the Seven Bar Foundation, a non-profit group helping to empower underprivileged women to start small businesses through microfinanced loans.
Truth be told, I’d love to see LipFusion contribute more than $1 from every sale (while lowering or keeping the price the same), but I digress…
The limited edition line contains four shades — Vixen (a shimmery mauve), Lolita (a shimmery pinkish beige), Coquette (a shimmery pinkish coral) and Princess (a shimmery purplish hot pink). Today I tipped my hat to the one called Princess. Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Nina says
Rainy afternoon (as well as last night) … were staying in where its dry and sorta warm! 🙂
Hows your weekend been?
Karen says
Pretty good so far, but I’m bummed it’s almost over. El Hub goes back to work tomorrow so we won’t get to hang out as much.
I hope the rain lets up soon. Tabs has his paws crossed that it does!
Nina says
Thank you Karen & Tabs – it worked! We were able to head out for a bit of a walk! 🙂
I did get Star Anise – love it! Its awesome and the price is just right!!!
Karen says
Isn’t it a really good weekend/low maintenance color? What do you think of the texture?
Amber says
How does Sunday get here so quickly?
We went to our favorite Italian place last night. I always leave feeling like a balloon. We started with toasted ravioli and fresh focaccia with pesto. We both had the lasagne, and then I finished with stracciatella gelato. I also had a few glasses of their killer fresh lemonade.
Speaking of a few glasses, we went to our favorite brunch spot today and the waitress knows I always drink 3-4 rosemary sodas, so this time she brought me a carafe! She got a 30% tip for that!
.-= Amber’s last blog post… Dragon boats =-.
Karen says
I know… it’s totally unfair. I need at least two more days to fully recover!
Yum, Italian food is probably my fave. It is my dream to eat my way through Italy!
So I’m very intrigued by this rosemary soda you speak of! Is it actually flavored with rosemary herbs?
Amber says
Yep! It’s soda water, a little lime juice, and rosemary-infused simple syrup. I’m a huge rosemary fan so I love this stuff! Not too hard to make at home but we go to Beaver’s once or twice a week anyway.
.-= Amber’s last blog post… Dragon boats =-.