Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Beauty Tips

Bushy Brows and Soft Matte Lips: Drugstore Beauty Strikes Again!

by 18 Comments

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k closeup
Bushy brows, babe!

If you’ve ever experimented with the bushy brow look you probably already know this: there’s a fine line between “full and lush” and “full-on cray.” Sometimes ya unintentionally cross that line (whoops!), and sometimes you don’t… The latter happened to me today when I stumbled onto this bangin’ bushy brow combo.

Budget beauty brows

Both products are from the drugstore, and to that I say, “Huzzah!” (Sorry, I’ve been binge-watching The Great on Hulu for the past few days.)


HUZZAH!

The two things: Covergirl Easy Breezy Brow in the shade Medium ($9.49) and Maybelline Tattoo Studio Brown Pen in Soft Brown ($7.59).

Easy Breezy Brow Gel is an intensely tinted gel loaded with color, and it dries to a super stiff hold. If you’re a fan of the awesome Hourglass Arch Brow Gel, this Covergirl product is practically a drugstore dupe.

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k tee
I’m a makeup nerd and I’m proud of it! Makeup Nerd Tee from connorclaire.com (Yup, that’s my store. Named it after my boss, hahaha.)

It deposits tons of color and pushes brow hairs upwards and outwards (especially those on the inside/closer to the nose), so if you’re going for fluffy, full brows with defined hairs, it’s perfect. Just be sure to remove any and all excess gel from the brush before you use it, because this stuff is intense!

After running the brow gel through my brows, I fill the sparse spots with the Tattoo Studio Pen, which like because it has juuust enough pigment, so it doesn’t make your brows look “blocky” or overly filled.

Oh, and if you’re feeling adventurous, it also doubles as a pen for drawing fake freckles. 😊

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k front closeup
Wherever you are, and whatever you’re doing today, I hope you’re having a good one!

A lip oil hack for soft matte lips

Speaking of products you can use in different ways…if you have a good lip oil sitting around, try mixing a little into your favorite matte liquid lipstick for a custom lip color with a soft matte finish.

Just dab a bit of both the liquid lipstick and lip oil on the back of your hand, mix them together with a finger or a brush, and pat that blended beauty combo on your lips.

I did it for this look with Pixi liquid lipsticks and a Covergirl lip oil for a finish just shy of matte. I also dabbed a tiny bit of highlighter on my Cupid’s bow to add contrast to the soft matte finish.
[Continue reading…]

A Drugstore Makeup Look: Mostly Faux Freckles, Winged Liner and Bright Magenta Matte Lipstick

by 14 Comments

maybelline master precise liquid liner
Some of these freckles are real, and others…not so much!

The faux freckle trend has been around for a while, and I’m giving it a try. Have you tried it yet?

Today I wore a smattering of freckles for fun, and ya know…it’s a little weird to touch up your real freckles to make them blend in and look as “freckle-y” as your fake ones, but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do in the pursuit of makeup experimentation!

How to fake freckles

This sprinkling of speckles comes courtesy of a drugstore brow pen in a warm brown shade.

physicians formula magentle

Here’s what I did:

  1. After finishing my makeup (base, blush, eyes, everything), I lightly dabbed the pen on top of any existing freckles to darken them, since they were hidden under tinted moisturizer and concealer.
  2. Next, I stippled a few extra faux spots for funsies.
  3. Then, I waited a couple minutes for the freckles to dry.
  4. When they were completely dry, I diffused the spots a tad by gently dabbing a skunk brush that I’d used earlier to blend my base… It just took the edge off so they wouldn’t look as obviously fake.

And that was it! If you don’t have a brow pen, a brow pencil works too — either option creates a lovely semi-transparency, so your freckles don’t just look like dots drawn on your face, and has a longer wear time than, say, a creamy pencil liner would.

If you don’t have a brow pen or pencil around, you can also regular pencil eyeliner; however, if you’re going to go the liner route, you’ll want one that 1) has a matte finish and 2) is long-lasting and/or waterproof to prevent your spots from smearing all over your face.

No winged liner woes here

Also up in the mix of this look? Winged liner! I haven’t done wings in a minute, so I’m very rusty. So I cheated a little and used surgical tape on the outer corners to set the angles.

You can use regular tape too, but I prefer the surgical tape because it doesn’t pull my skin as hard.

maybelline city bronzer
Hello, winged liner.

Whatever tape you use, wait until your liner is completely dry before lifting it off; otherwise, the tape might remove product where it’s still wet and leave your dots with fuzzy edges.

This is particularly important if you’re using runny or runny-ish liquid liner.

Oh! — and to make sure the tape doesn’t remove any of your base, do your eyes before your foundation, concealer, etc.

One last thing — everything in this look is drugstore.
[Continue reading…]

A Warm Neutral Drugstore Makeup Look for Zoom Calls

by 16 Comments

drugstore neutrals
All the makeup I’m wearing in this look is from the drugstore.

I seriously thought about wearing this makeup look for a Zoom call I had with my bakery coworkers a few days ago (we still keep in touch) but decided to wear it with warm neutrals instead.

drugstore neutrals

All drugstore today because I’m on a budget beauty kick! I’m wearing a mix of old faves (a nude Revlon cream eyeshadow palette and Fig eye kajal, Almay eyeshadow and Covergirl Trublend foundation) and some new things I recently found.

drugstore neutrals

Latest drugstore loves

Honest Beauty Tinted Balm in Dragon Fruit: THIS IS SO GOOD! It’s a bright, moisturizing sheer fuchsia balm that doesn’t settle into lip lines (so smooth!). Two-hour wear time, and it’s unflavored and unscented. It’s similar to the very sheer Clinique lipsticks, but at a fraction the price. $8.99 each and comes in bunch of colors.

Covergirl Trulbend Base Business Illuminating: This is a pearly golden pink skin primer you can wear on its own underneath foundation/concealer, or mixed into other base products to sheer them out and give them an opalescent finish, which is what I do. It’s like a more sparkly version of BECCA Backlight. You *will* see the tiniest flecks of golden glitter reflecting off your skin when you wear it, so be prepared for disco fabulousness while you frolic in full sunlight. If you’re indoors, however, it isn’t visible at all from more than a few feet away. $11.49 for a 1-oz. tube.

Covergirl Easy Breezy Brow: I used Clear on the inner part of my brow (which has a good amount of hair) and Medium on the outer part (not so much hair). Both are on the stiffer side of brow gels so your brow hairs won’t move. Medium, a gray brown, is *very* pigmented and not the easiest to control, so use it sparingly. I loooove the Clear, though. It’s comparable to Benefit’s clear brow gel. $9.49 for a 0.16-oz. tube.

Makeup worn in this look

Base: Covergirl Trublend Base Business Skin Primer Illuminated mixed wtih Covergirl Trulend Matte Made in M50 and Covergirl Trublend Undercover Concealer in Golden Honey

Eyes: Covergirl Easy Breezy Brow in Clear (inner part of brow) and Medium (outer part of Brow), Revlon Illuminance Cream Shadow in Not Just Nudes, Almay Eyeshadow in Pure Gold Baby, Revlon 2 in 1 Angled Kajal in Fig, Maybelline the Falsies Mascara

Cheeks: Covergirl Clean Fresh Cream Blush in Butterflies, Maybelline City Bronzer in 300

Lips: Honest Beauty Tinted Balm in Dragon Fruit

What are your drugstore go-to’s at the moment? I’m playing “put all the makeup in my cart” on the Ulta site right now. 🙂

Nail “painting” is easy and fun.

One of Connor’s preschool teachers sent this fun art idea for painting nails! Grab some nail polish (I used quick-drying ones by Sally Hansen), a black marker and a piece of cardboard. Draw hands with nails on cardboard, and then have your “coworker” help you paint them. Or do it yourself. This kept me and CoyCoy entertained a long time.

Some of my hand drawings ended up looking like weird lizard fingers…but she didn’t seem to mind.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

10-Minute Makeup With the Clinique Chubby Sticks

by 22 Comments

clinique portly plum ample amber eyes
When your messy bun just isn’t messy enough! The shirt is from connorclaire.com. 🙂

I’m currently not picky about precision placement (I JUST WANNA GET ANY PLACEMENT, TBH!), so hooray for these Clinique Chubby Sticks.

See the rounded tip? They’re not exactly the tool you’d grab to surgically insert a pocket of precise color in the outer third of the crease, you know what I’m saying? This, my dear, is pandemic makeup at its finest. Le sigh… I never thought I’d ever type those words.

clinique portly plum ample amber eyes products
Yay for the Clinique Chubby Sticks!

If you haven’t tried the Clinique Chubby Sticks, get on it! They’re semi-sheer creams, so you don’t have to fuss too much with blending. I mainly use the eyeshadows and blush because I like the finishes. They’re super-forgiving and blur pores beautifully.

So ya want more color? No worries, just add layers and blend a little more ’til you get where you want to go. I find that I can really pack the eyeshadows and blushes on before they look heavy on my lids or cheeks, and before they break up into chunky patches on my skin.

I have combination skin — some oiliness — but it’s mostly dry on my cheeks and lids, and the blush fades faster than the eyeshadow, but they both last long enough to make it through a day without touching up.

clinique portly plum ample amber eyes down
I like big hoops and I cannot lie!

I’ve done this same exact look three or four times in the past couple weeks. Last time you saw it was a couple Saturday Surfings ago. It’s the same thing, different day, and I’m not mad about it. Because sometimes I think you’ve gotta lean into the predictability, especially when everything else feels crazy.

clinique portly plum ample amber eyes 1
Same makeup, different day, but I’m OK with it.

I made myself put on makeup this morning (even though I didn’t want to at first), and I almost feel semi-normal today, which is a good thing, because if you ask my coworkers, I’ve been very crabby lately. But today, not so much. I may have already smiled a bunch of times. 😊😄🙂

Key products in this look

A social distance date

Remember Milo the cat? He’s an orange and white kitty who lives in our neighborhood, and back in the pre-Rosie days he’d pop by our house and hang out in our kitchen. Anyway, Connor and I had an accidental social distance date with him yesterday afternoon. We were playing “zoo” in a grove of trees in our neighborhood, and when we looked up into the branches, there he was, just chillin’ like he was waiting for his cat ladies to show up.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A “TGIF” 10 Minutes With MAC Selena La Reina | Fun With Glitter | *Not* Dancing With Myself

by 16 Comments

mac selena la reina fotd bronze glitter liner closed eyes
Peep the bronze on my upper lash lines (it’s glitter eyeshadow!)

I can’t even… I am SO HAPPY it’s Friday, my friend. I don’t know, but this week was draining. Even though it was just more of the same, really, the whole sameness of it all is wearing on me. I know you’re probably in a similar boat, or you’re an essential worker out there doing your best, or you’re unemployed because of this. Whatever the case may be, I’m sorry this is happening to you. To all of us. These are strange, unsettling days indeed. 🙁

But what can we do, other than our best every day to get through it? And none of us knows the “best” or the “right” way to deal with something like this. We all have different needs and responsibilities, different situations. I want you to know I’m with you, and I support you. You’re doing your best, just like I am too. 😊👍

With that, here’s a little something makeup-related, because why not right? For this look I used a glitter eyeshadow as my liner (the bronze glitter from the MAC Selena La Reina palette).

Such a handy hack!

mac selena la reina fotd bronze glitter liner crazy face
Another day, another 10 minute makeup look

You just load an angled eyeliner brush (I like the NARS #47) with your glitter shadow of choice, spray the brush head with setting spray, and, because fallout isn’t fun, tap it to unload any excess powder bits, and then run the brush along your lash lines.

The result?

The same shiny effect you get from a shimmery liquid eyeliner, except that’s it’s easier to do because you don’t have to deal with wet liner spreading all over your lids or getting up into your crease.

And you know I like easy, especially lately.

Makeup worn in this look

  • BASE: MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance and MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Stick in NC42
  • EYES: MAC Selena La Reina eyeshadow palette (matte medium brown in crease, glittery bronze on the upper lash line), Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara (lashes), MAC Cool Jazz Technakohl Liner (upper water line)
  • CHEEKS: MAC Pinch Me Blush
  • LIPS: MAC Selena La Reina Lip Pencil in Entre a Mi Mundo, MAC Love Nectar Lipglass

By the way, there are many setting sprays that work well with this trick. I’ve used MAC Fix+, Urban Decay All Nighter; the ones by Make Up For Ever and Shiseido are also great. In a pinch, even water will do.

If you plan to do this to a pan of glitter, I suggest designating one area of your pan to be the place where you *always* dip the wet brush head; otherwise, if you’re grabbing from all over the place, you can turn the top layer of your shadow into a hard, clumpy mess.

For the life of me, I haven’t been able to take a normal pic today, because my coworkers have been ALL UP IN MY BUSINESS.

mac selena la reina fotd bronze glitter liner coycoyhand 1
Never alone

Did you notice the mystery hand in the lower corner?

mac selena la reina fotd bronze glitter liner coycoyhand 2
Not for one second!

I’ve been making a self-quarantine playlist and have been playing Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself like nobody’s business, but I’m very thankful that, throughout this period of isolation, I haven’t really been by myself. Thank you for stopping by and keeping in touch.


When I was a kid and this played on MTV, I’d change the channel because it scared me.

You’re welcome to join The Girl’s Club! So far, it’s just me, Rosie and the CoyCoy. Lifetime membership!

girls club
Wanna join The Girls Club?

If you’re going to join us, just know that you’ll be required to either play hopscotch, ride bikes or jump rope. Standard Girls Club stuff, ya know.

Last weekend, I jumped rope for the first time in…I don’t even know how long, and OH, MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS, I’m still recovering. My body hella hurts, dude!

I’ve been teaching Connor how to jump rope (this is what she gets in her classes at “mom home school,” ha ha), and for some demented reason, I thought it might be kinda fun to take up jumping rope as my new form of cardio…

Wow, that was a questionable idea.

bob the jump rope
I’ve named my jump rope “Bob.”

I jumped for three minutes straight (well, I tried to, at least), rested for a minute, then repeated the cycle. I did this seven times. I figured, hey, I’m not in terrible shape. I can jump rope for a total of 24 minutes, right? Piece. Of. Cake.

Nope! Apparently, one doesn’t need much rope jumping to hobble themselves for an entire week. The next day, I could barely walk. Who knew?!

Can you remember the last time you jumped rope? If you can, did you do a double under?! (Yes, it’s a thing.)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 😃❤️

Copyright © 2020 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.