R+Co

November 2018 Favorites

December 10th, 2018 by Karen 19 Comments

Because it’s cold, I’m already getting nostalgic for November! Here are some things I loved the heck out of last month…

1. Onomie Boosting Lip + Cheek Sticks ($30 each)

These are super sheer compared to some other creams products out there, like the MAC Cream Colour Bases, but don’t walk away just yet. I don’t really use them when I’m gonna be taking pics for MBB, because they’re too subtle for photography, but for regular life, like when I’m wearing the most minimal of minimal makeup (a recurring theme when you live with a demanding tabby and a toddler), they’re B-O-M-B. They add just enough color to cheeks and lips to liven things up so I don’t look totally dead, ha ha.

I blend concealer under my eyes and skip the tinted moisturizer/foundation completely, then plop on a coat of mascara, and dab and blend one of these tints on my cheeks and lips.

It’s a very Megan Markle makeup look, and I’m into it.

Comes in six shades. I wear the Berry the most.

2. Juno & Co Microfiber Velvet Sponge ($6 each, or four for $20)

You can use this soft and squishy makeup blending sponge wet or dry to apply or set foundation, powder and/or concealer. The surface of the sponge feels velvety, similar to velvet fabric, which makes a big difference in the finished look. It’s a more airbrushed and polished look than you get with the beautyblender-y makeup sponges out there.

3. R+Co Television Perfect Hair Shampoo and Conditioner ($30 each)

You know when your hair feels coated, weighed down and heavy? UGH, I hate that feeling. It’s like living with a family of filthy forest animals on your head 24/7. Anyway, with this shampoo and conditioner, you can completely avoid that issue. They’re for smoothing, moisturizing *and* volume, and they’re made for all hair types, from fine to thick and wavy like mine, and everything in between. When I use this set, my hair is what I call, “light and fluffy.” My only wish is that they came in bigger bottles!

The scent is lovely, too. I detect lavender, pineapple, tangerines and warm, white musk.

4. R+Co Waterfall Moisture + Shine Lotion ($29)

Again for the girls and guys who like hair that isn’t coated with a thick layer of goo. (R+Co is good at that.) This intense leave-in conditioner and frizz-fighter is just as moisturizing as their High Dive Moisture + Shine Cream (don’t even ask me how many bottles of that I’ve gone through), but it retains more volume in your strands, so it flattens the hair less than High Dive.

Both are brilliant, but if you have long or medium-length hair, and you’re all about floofy marshmallow volume, this is the one you’ll want, especially if you like violets, oranges and caramel, which is how it smells.

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REVIEW! MAC Mirage Noir Slow As You Go Eye Shadow and Mother o’ Pearl Pearlmatte Face Powder

May 15th, 2018 by Karen 19 Comments

I went for ’80s today… Don’t know if I quite got there, but it’s all good. 🙂 I still like how this look turned out.

So, plums and purples today. And I found this top that I’ve had forever. It’s by Halogen, and I got it at Nordstrom a zillion years ago.

I wanted my makeup to complement the top, which is something I don’t do very often — coordinate my makeup with my clothes — especially lately. Lately my clothes have basically been an afterthought (although I’m working diligently to change that), but today I thought I’d coordinate. Plus, big hair. I was going for ’80s hair…or a modified version, but I’ll get to that in a sec.

First, the two key ingredients in this look… LOL! Ingredients. 🙂 What, are we making brownies? OK, the two key “elements” are a purple eyeshadow called Slow As You Go, and a plummy golden bronzed cheek/face powder called Mother o’ Pearl.

Both are from the new MAC Mirage Noir summer collection available now.

MAC Slow as You Go Eye Shadow ($17)

You’re gonna dig this if you’re a fan of MAC Trax. Slow as You Go is similar, but I actually think I like it more than Trax because it’s shinier (in a good way) and more richer. Like Trax two point oh. It’s also silky soft and blends like a dream. And — this is important — it doesn’t make my eyes water like so many other purples do.

❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4 out of 5 hearts.

Did you know? Golden purples like Slow as You Go pair very well with MAC Powersurge and MAC Prunella eyeliners. 😉

mac mirage noir mother o pearl slow as you go — Makin’ mah heart flutter!

MAC Mother o’ Pearl Pearlmatte Powder ($34)

This plummy gold has a slightly warm bronze undercurrent. It’s like a combo bronzer, blush and highlighter. Normally I just mix it all together and sweep that on my cheeks and blend.

Technically, it’s a powder, but it feels almost like a cream, and the opalescent finish is pure purr-fection.

It’s like a bronzier MAC Plum Foolery, but not as shiny.

❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4 out of 5 hearts.

Did you know? You can also use Mother o’ Pearl as an eyeshadow. Yup, it’s also approved for lids.

mac mirage noir other o pearl k — CHEEKS!

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R+Co Control Flexible Paste for Styles That Hold Tight But Never Feel Stiff

September 22nd, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

r and co control review — R+Co CONTROL Flexible Paste, taming unruly baby hairs one strand at a time

Why are those tiny little hairs along the edge of your hairline called baby hairs? Is it because they’re cute and cuddly and adorable? Naaaaaw, girl. I think they’re called baby hairs because they’re unruly. OK? You can’t control them, they’re unpredictable, and, at any given moment, riiight when you think you have the situation under control, BAM! — they go bananas. HAHA! At least my baby hairs (and my baby) do.

I have a mega crop of baby hairs where my bangs part in the front, and I don’t know about yours, but mine are all uneven and at weird lengths, and — yay, lucky me! — they stick up and out at jarring angles, so I walk around lookin’ like I’ve just been electrocuted.

Girl, if there’s no product in them, I look CRAY, but this new hair styling product by R+Co called Control ($27) really helps. I’ve been using it for a week, and now I’m like ROUGE BABY NO LONGER RUN SH*T HERE.

Control is a soft, waxy styling paste with a semi-matte finish, and it grabs, holds and keeps flyaway hairs in place. It’s strong, but it’s not ’80s-style hairbear stiff, so my bangs can still move and don’t look heavy and greasy.

These days, my numero uno #hairgoal is for my mop to look casual, like IDGAF. Sure, I might’ve fussed over this hair, but nobody needs to know, LOL! In other words, I want the antithesis of prom/beauty pageant hair. Nothing overly lacquered or styled.

r and control before — Baby hairs say WASSSSSUP

r and control after — What baby hairs? Um, please excuse the rand-o white hairs… I’m between coloring appointments and apparently couldn’t be bothered to use Rita Hazan Root Concealer.

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Bumble and Bumble Prêt-à-Powder Très Invisible Dry Shampoo: Another Great Dry Shampoo to Add to Your List

September 21st, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

bumble and bumble pret a powder tres invisible dry shampoo — I may or may not have just sprayed half a pound of this new dry shampoo on my roots…

Man, this stuff smells good! It’s all powdery and musky…and naughty, with just a hint of sweet jasmine.

Can a fragrance smell like you’re purposefully trying to get in trouble? Because that’s how this dry shampoo smells to me. 🙂

There are actually two versions, both of them new from Bumble and Bumble, and both of them with darned-near impossible-to-pronounce (for me) French names, seeing as how I butcher everything en français.

I think I’ll just call them “the new Bumble dry shampoos.” They’re available now in pretty blush pink packaging for $29 each, which gets you a 3.1-oz. bottle.

One of them, Très Invisible, is for normal-to-oily hair, and the other one, Très Invisible Nourishing, is the more moisturizing version for dry, damaged or coarse hair.

They’re called “invisible” because that’s how they’re supposed to look in your hair, even if your hair is dark.

The directions say to spray them from 10-12 inches away from your hair, and to concentrate on your roots, which is pretty is standard for dry shampoo. I can’t see the product at all unless I get carried away and use a ridiculous amount, and even then, I can’t see it anymore after I brush the powder through my hair, which is a step you’re supposed to follow with these.

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Empties

September 14th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

I stepped into my bathroom to take a shower the other day — because, apparently, I shower three times a day now because I’m so freaking sweaty — and discovered that a bunch of products I used all summer long have all gone empty at the same time.

Thing is, I use things items practically every day, so you’d think I would have noticed sooner that my industrial-sized bottle of honey mango shower gel was running low, but nooOOOOooo. As if out of nowhere, it’s empty.

I’m curious — what are some of your recent empties/things you’ve run out of lately? I’m kind of a voyeur who loves hearing about things people have finished to the last drop.

Here are mine…

1. Alba Botanica Very Emollient Bath & Shower Gel in Honey Mango Replenishing Moisture for Extra Dry Skin ($12.99)

When I got this 32-oz. bottle for $12.99 at Target, it was for both me AND El Hub. So it wasn’t just for me! It doesn’t contain parabens or pthalates, and the light mango scent smells divine when I’m lathering up, but it doesn’t linger on the skin, which my husband likes (I guess he doesn’t want to smell like mangoes at work). I always feel squeaky clean after using it.

Now it’s empty.

2. Caudalie Nourishing Body Lotion ($30)

An old fave from years ago that I rediscovered earlier this summer. It’s so good that I seriously considered cutting open the bottle with a knife to extract the last drops, but I decided that that was probably a bad idea… I didn’t want to accidentally cut off my pinky.