Collections

Hanging With the Chanel Les Fleurs de Chanel Spring-Summer 2021 Collection

December 30th, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

Maaan, I gotta hand it to Chanel. They have a knack for releasing righteous reds that are preternaturally easy to apply.

How do they do it?!

I didn’t even need a lip liner or lip brush for Pivoine Noire, the matte berry red I’m wearing in this look. It’s an LE shade in the new Les Fleurs de Chanel Spring-Summer 2021 collection, and yes, I can’t get over the fact that we’re talking about a spring/summer release.

I applied it freehand without much thought, straight from the tube.

chanel pivoine noire — Rouge Allure Velvet Extreme in 136 Pivoine Noire, a dusty berry red

Now I’m wondering if I could apply it while driving a car like Jessica Chastaine’s character does in Ava in the opening scene. She’s a soldier-turned-assassin, and with one hand she opens a tube of what I’m pretty sure is a Chanel lipstick and proceeds to flawlessly apply a layer of dark burgundy while racing down the freeway.

It’s impressive!

chanel movie lipstick — A novel way of opening a Chanel lipstick while prepping for a nefarious deed…

I wonder if I could do that… Survey says, “probably not!” LOL!

This new collection is inspired by spring blooms and warm pink, red, rose and coppery brown hues, and it lands on counters and the Chanel website next month (which starts this week!). There are lots of finishes — matte, metallic and satin — in various levels of coverage.

Here are some notes on the items I’m wearing…

The powder blush/highlighter duo

The coral-pink blush lays down a sheer flush of luminous color, so if you like blushes that don’t scream “Look at me! I’m obvious!” you might like it. I also love the finish on the peach highlighter. It’s a soft eggshell shine similar to the Hourglass Ambients. No bling-bling highlighter here.

The matte red lipstick

On the opposite end of the coverage spectrum is this gorgeously opaque matte berry red. Chanel’s Velvet Extreme formula applies flawlessly and glides along the skin without tugging, but it’s not too slick to easily control. Basically, it’s suuuper smooth, and it smells and tastes like rose hard candy.

The metallic mascara

The coppery bronze color actually shows up on dark lashes, which is super cool (colorful mascaras rarely show up on my lashes), and the Le Volume de Chanel formula delivers the thick, dramatic lash look the line is famous for. If you’ve got lighter lashes, the effect will probably be more dramatic and flattering than it is on me. On me, I think the color tends to make my eyes look smaller and more hooded than a standard-issue black mascara…

chanel metal terracotta mascara — My black lashes actually look terra cotta!

The Chanel Les Fleurs de Chanel Spring-Summer 2021 collection includes…

FLEURS DE PRINTEMPS Blush and Highlighter Duo
An Exclusive Creation powder duo with a satiny peach highlighter and luminous pink coral blush. Embossed
with a floral motif. Use the included brush to sweep the blush onto cheeks and the highlighter onto center of
forehead, tops of cheekbones, brow bones and Cupid’s bow. Limited edition. $70.00

LE VOLUME DE CHANEL Mascara
Now in a limited-edition rose-copper shade, the innovative mascara adds a colourful touch to lashes. The
CHANEL-exclusive brush and volumizing formula help achieve greater length and thickness in a single stroke.
$32.00

ROUGE ALLURE VELVET EXTRÊME Intense Matte Lip Colour
Introducing limited-edition berry red and warm coral shades of the extreme matte lipstick. The intense
longwearing formula glides on smoothly and doesn’t dry out lips. $40.00

ROUGE ALLURE LAQUE Ultrawear Shine Liquid Lip Colour
The new ultra-intense, ultra-longwearing satin shine liquid lipstick in a limited-edition metallic aubergine shade.
The creamy, fluid texture applies easily and wears comfortably, while the special doe-foot applicator ensures precise,
even results. $40.00

LE VERNIS Longwear Nail Colour
The high-shine nail colour features carefully selected pigments for even application and lasting wear. Available in 3
new shades: a soft peach, a light raspberry red and a metallic red. $28.00

AVAILABLE ON CHANEL.COM AND AT CHANEL BOUTIQUES: JANUARY 2021

AVAILABLE AT DEPARTMENT AND SPECIALTY STORES: FEBRUARY 2021

Adventures in bread making

So, I made my first 1-1/2 pound loaf of French bread in my new Cuisinart bread maker yesterday!

Isn’t the loaf cute? It was a test loaf. It’s pretty small, enough for about four sandwiches.
[Continue reading…]

A 10-Minute Glittery Neutral Makeup Look With the MAC Frosted Firework Holiday Collection, Swatches on NC42 Skin, AND HORSES!

December 1st, 2020 by Karen 15 Comments

My new motto for the next few weeks, months and possibly years is to “wear glitter, and wear it everywhere, because you never know when the world will unexpectedly grind to a halt because of a pandemic.”

(Hmm, that probably won’t translate well onto a bumper sticker…)

One of the coolest things about the new MAC Frosted Firework holiday collection IMO is the oh-so-sparkly Extra Dimension Foil Eye Shadows ($21).

I’m wearing a few things from the LE launch in this — peachy nude glimmer Sparktacular, along with a highlighter used as a crease color, a dual-ended pencil liner, and a lipstick and lipgloss.

I think you’ll like it if you’re into the shiny stuff. Sparktacular and the other Foils have a soft powder base that feels almost like a cream, and they’re packed with small- and medium-sized pieces of glitter. I think the easiest and best way to apply them is to load a clean finger, then pat or gently swipe it across your lids (this minimizes the fallout, and the pressure from your figure intensifies the glossiness). The result is the wet, shiny, glossy effect I have here on my eyes.

Some might say it’s a tad too dramatic for dropping off and picking up a four-year-old from preschool, but heck, it’s 2020. If we can wear pajamas everywhere, we can do whatever we want with glitter.

Crazy for horses

Ever since Connor rode a horse for the first time last month, we’ve all been a little horse crazy ’round here.

Over the holiday break, we went hiking at the Indian Valley Preserve, one of our favorite spots in town, in the hopes that we’d spot a horse on a trail, and we did!

Say hi to Jiminy…

We also said hello to a few of the horses who live at the stable down the street.

The gold horse was a little obsessed with CoyCoy and kept staring at her like he knew her! My guess is that he knows a special little girl, and Connor reminded him of her.
[Continue reading…]

MAC Bronzer Collection Swatches on NC42 Skin!

July 8th, 2020 by Karen 3 Comments

mac bronzer collection summer 2020 top pic — Bronzed and beautiful 😍

Things that say, “Summer has officially arrived…”

The sun setting at 9 p.m.
Barbecuing on a random Wednesday night just because you can
Challenging someone to a sword fight with a pool noodle
Sweating buckets every time you walk from any air conditioning building to your car
The MAC summer makeup collection (of course!)

This summer’s MAC Bronzer Face and Body collection is all about bronzed shades for tanned skin, but there’s also a twist… It includes a plethora of shades designed for warm *and* cool skin tones.

Hot and cool

Sure, MAC stocked it with the kind of warm summery coral, gold, bronze and peach tones you might expect from a MAC summer launch, but this year’s collection also sports some surprising cooler-toned shades of taupe, pink and pale lavender in the Foiled Shadows (apply with a wet brush for a slick, foiled finish) and the Strobe Face Glazes (*very cool* gel-like highlighters you can wear over foundation or bare skin).

mac bronzer collection summer 2020 — Love the limited edition packaging!

mac bronzer collection summer 2020 foiled shadow — MAC Bronzer Foiled Shadows, $26 each

Silky, satiny bronzers

As for the bronzing powders in the Bronzer collection — be careful! — the velvety Radiant Matte Bronzing Powders will shock your fingertip if you swatch them (ME: “Why is this powder SO SOFT?!”), and there are absolutely no orange undertones in sight.

Totally Taupe, the darker of the two options, is brown with yellow undertones, and Beige-ing Beauty is a light yellowish brown (I’m an NC42, and I could probably wear it as a face powder).

Technically, they’re matte with a slight sheen, which keeps them from looking too flat on your face.

mac bronzer collection summer 2020 strobe face glze — 143SES Medium Face Face Brush ($38.50), Strobe Face Glaze ($28 each), Prep+Prime Fix+ in Bronzelite ($30) Strobe Body Lotion ($35)

mac bronzer collection summer 2020 radiant matte bronzing powder — Radiant Matte Bronzing Powder, $32

A refreshing take on highlights

If you’re totally over the trend of shimmery, frosty highlighters that are visible from space, then the dewy, shiny Strobe Face Glazes might be worth checking out. They’re dewy and shiny but not blindingly glossy. There’s just a little something-something there… I think it’s super cool.

They feel slightly sticky, like a typical face gloss, but don’t worry — your high pony won’t stick to your cheekbones once you pat and blend them in because they aren’t thick. On minimal makeup days, I’ll do a swipe of Bronzejour on my lids with waterproof mascara (waterproof is a must, since whatever the Glazes touch will break down and smudge eventually) and use Let’s Make Waves as an upper cheekbone highlighter.

Like most face glosses, Face Glaze isn’t built for longevity, so expect it to move a bit when it’s on your skin, and anticipate having to touch up every four hours or so.

mac bronzer collection summer 2020 lipsticks — MAC Bronzer Lipsticks, $20 each

mac bronzer collection summer 2020 lipglasses — Lipglass, $18.50 each

mac bronzer collection swatches lipglasses — Lipglasses

mac bronzer collection swatches foiled shadow lipsticks — Lipsticks

[Continue reading…]

MAC Selena La Reina Collection Swatches (NC42 Skin)

April 21st, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

Your first Selena fun fact of the day: One rainy spring day during my senior year in college, I sat, bawling my eyes out, while parked in my red Honda Civic listening to Selena sing I Could Fall in Love on the radio. LIKE, FULL-ON EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN IN MY VEHICLE.

Don’t mind me! I’m just crying in my car! 😭

Your second Selena fun fact of the day: The new MAC Selena La Reina collection is available now on the MAC website, and it’s a follow-up to the MAC Selena collection released in 2016. (Wow, it’s been four years already?)

The new collection is BIGGER! — and unlike the 2016 release, it leans toward lip products, with three liquid lipsticks, four lipsticks, three glosses and two lip pencils. (There is also an eyeshadow palette, a very Chanel-esque highlighter and a bejeweled bag.)

Plenty to make your heart sing. 💖👩🏾‍🎤

mac selena la reina paletta — The highlighter and eye palette both come with this pic inside of Selena wearing a cute jeweled bra (which I would wear in a hot second!).

mac selena la reina packaging — The design on the outer packaging of the highlighter and palette look like Selena’s jeweled bra top.

mac selena la reina highlighter — Yup, that red is eye-safe.

mac selena la reina lipsticks — Love the rose detail on the lipstick bullets.

mac selena la reina liquid lipsticks — The Retro Matte Lip Colours

mac selena la reina lipglass — Lipglasses

[Continue reading…]

MAC Loud and Clear Lipsticks: Yash, Baroque the Internet, Fleur D’Coral, Sugar Sweet Cameo and Sugar Dada

February 18th, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

mac sugar sweet cameo — Matte Lipstick in Sugar Sweet Cameo, a midtone coral pink

I keep vacillating over which of the five lipsticks in the new MAC Loud and Clear collection is the most “noteworthy.” One the one hand, there’s warm nude pink Baroque the Internet, and mid-toned coral-pink Sugar Sweet Cameo, both of which have more than enough oomph and color to compliment smokey eyes, wings and just about every eyeshadow look imaginable.

mac baroque the internet — Matte Lipstick in Baroque the Internet, a warm nude pink

But then there’s also deep natural matte Yash, which is nowhere near as flashy, but you can throw it on with almost anything, so it’s also super flexible.

mac yash — Matte Lipstick in Yash, a deep neutral

Four of the five lipsticks are in MAC’s classic Matte formula, so expect soaring pigment, a nearly flat finish, and longevity for days (OK, more like 4-5 hours).

The odd woman out is Fleur D’Coral, a sheer light peach MAC Lustre with the faintest hint of a sheen.

mac fleur d coral — Lustre Lipstick in Fleur D’Coral, a light peach

And oh: If you like your makeup early-’90s style (I’m guilty of this from time to time), you’ll be sweet on Sugar Dada, a warm brownish orange matte. I, along with half the population of my former high school, rocked a similar shade circa 1992.