Estee Lauder

Summer Glam on the Go! Coral Lips and Peachy Bronzed Lids

July 15th, 2020 by Karen 10 Comments

honest beauty happiness lipstick glam on the go coral lips 2 — Today’s summery glam on the go!

The other day, when I was wearing this makeup, I ran into my neighbor, and she asked if I was going anywhere special, to which I replied, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, “I’M GOING TO SPORTS BASEMENT!”

You know the bar for your entertainment is set reeeeeeeally low when you dress up like you’re going to fancy brunch on vacation, but in reality you’re going to a sporting goods store to look for weights…

Oh, the pandemic stories we’ll have to tell! 😂

honest beauty happiness lipstick glam on the go coral lips 4 — A summery color palette

This summery look has a few of my favorite warm-weather shades — coral and bronze! — and looks fancy, but it’s very easy to do. It also feels light and weightless, which are must-haves when the temperature’s rising.

This look has three distinguishing features — long, lifted, lush lashes; warm, peachy bronze lids; and luminous skin.

honest beauty happiness lipstick glam on the go coral lips 5 — Streamlined and summery makeup

1. Primer on the outer lashes

To make your lashes look longer and more dramatique, coat your outer lashes with a lengthening lash primer before loading them up with mascara. This creates a lush lash effect without the time and effort of falsies.

2. Bronzer is your buddy for glam-on-the-go eyes

Bronzed eyes are a summer staple, and while you could always search your makeup collection for that perfect shade, why not save yourself a little time and swish your favorite bronzer on your lids instead?

Here, I layered a warm golden tan bronzer atop a satiny peach cream shadow…

3. Define your lash line with brown and black eyeliner

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: gradients are your friend.

This brown-into-black eyeliner gradient on the upper lash line is subtle, but I think that’s the beauty of it.

Start by lining your upper and lower waterlines with a matte brown pencil. Then, draw a thin line on your upper lash line, and smudge the outer edge of that ever so slightly.

Add depth to the gradient by etching a very thin line of black liquid liner along the top lash line.

Added bonus: the black liner also creates the illusion of a thicker lash base!

Flexible face oil

You probably already know I’m a fan of customizing foundation — mixing in a few drops of concealer for added coverage, or adding a few drops of liquid highlighter for a luminous effect. Well, here’s another one to try: blend a drop or two of face oil into your foundation to dial down the opacity of your base. This trick is handy for applying base to sections of the face where you want more of your natural skin to peek through, and it’s what I did here for my forehead and the outer edges.

Fastest updo

If your hair is crazy from quarantine, and you’re tired of rockin’ your fun bun, gather it into a high pony, and secure it into small sections with tiny hair ties (I like these. Three bucks at Ulta!). You can keep the hair ties bare, like I did here (I think the shiny effect looks like jewelry), but if you want to boost the sophistication factor, cover up the ties by wrapping a small piece of hair around each one and securing it with a bobby pin.

honest beauty happiness lipstick glam on the go coral lips 1 — See the shine from the hair ties?

Makeup worn in this look

I listed everything on my visage below, so please feel free to ask about any of these products in the comments. 😊
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FOTD: Khaki and Copper Tones for a Zoom Call

June 24th, 2020 by Karen 21 Comments

Wore this look on a Zoom call with a beauty brand yesterday (it was Urban Decay to talk about their latest Naked palette, for the nosey noodles who were wondering!), and in classic K-dawg fashion I banged it out in 15 minutes before it started because that’s how I roll.

And, um…Connor also had a social distancing playdate at the park shortly before the call was scheduled to start, and we made it back home by the skin of our teeth, ha ha ha! Whenever I’m pressed for time but want to look gussied up, I always fall back on smokey eyes and nude lips. This khaki and copper version relies on just two products.

I paired the eyes with peach lips and cheeks because EASY. PEASY.

I’m also wearing a little more base makeup than I have been lately because I knew that “makeup people” (air quotes) were going to be present, so if there were ever a time to load up on a little more concealer, this was it.

Since we’re on the topic of quick looks, what’s your default medium-impact makeup look when you’re pressed for time?

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Warm Browns With a Matte Bright Blue and Shimmery Teal

April 15th, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

Banged out these bright eyes during the golden hour, otherwise known as “afternoon rest time,” otherwise known as “the two hour break when Connor takes a nap and I get to put on a li’l makeup.”

Lower lash line surprise

I’m wearing warm brown eyeshadows with a bright matte blue on the upper lash line and a shimmery, glittery teal on the lower lash line…but look closely! You’ll also see a thin line of the same matte bright blue I’m wearing on my upper lash line hugging the roots of my lower lash line for an unexpected makeup surprise.

Sharpen those weapons

You could totally do this look with other accent combos. For the bright accent here (in this case blue), I think the key is to combine a darker matte finish with a lighter shimmer. I think that’s what makes it work.

Whichever colors you choose, have your favorite eye pencil sharpener handy, because the sharper your liner, the more control you have over the width of your lines. I used to overlook this and would line my lash lines with dull tips until I found an eyeliner tutorial by The Goddess Her Makeup Majesty Charlotte Tilbury (GOODNESS GRACIOUS, I LOVE HER). She emphasized, over and over, the importance of a sharp tip whenever you’re working with pencil. Lo and behold, when I started religiously sharpening, lining got much easier and less messy.

Big ups to Char for forever changing my life. 🤗

Spirit makeup animal shout-out

I also gotta give it up to another one of my favorite makeup artists, Brittany Sullivan, for inspiring this look and for temporarily lifting me out of my bronze/brown/neutrals ~~rut~~ routine. Follow her if you aren’t already because her hair and makeup style (how she perfects the base without it looking overdone = AMAZING) is the stuff of effortlessly casual dreams. Serious #foundationgoals.

Makeup worn in this look

Base: Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream (to prep skin), MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Foundation Stick in NC42 (cheeks, nose, around mouth) and Estée Lauder 24HR Concealer in Medium Warm Deep (just a single dot underneath each eye)

Eyes: MAC Soft Brown and Saddle (lids and crease), Urban Decay Chaos liner (upper lash line, and very thinly along lower lash line), Urban Decay Electric (lower lash line), MAC Hush (inner corner and brow bone), Hourglass Arch Brow Gel in Dark Brunette, Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara

Cheeks: Nudestix Lip & Cheek Pencils in Blush and Purity (cheeks) and MAC Hush (upper cheekbones)

Lips: Nudestix Lip & Cheek Pencils in Purity (lip liner) and Blush (lipstick)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Coral, Bronze and Plum Makeup With a Natural-Looking Base for Outdoor Adventures

April 14th, 2020 by Karen 23 Comments

This is what “fancy dress” is for me these days: a semi-wrinkled striped sweater, pants with paint spots on them (I wore them to paint Connor’s room a few months ago, and dagnabbit if they aren’t my most comfortable jeans I own!), and my “good” pair of Nike Winflos.

Oh, and a little makeup of course! 😁

Targeted coverage

To chase PGR around the house and the Coywolf around the block yesterday, I wore bronze and plum on my eyes and cheeks with a sheer coral lip. And I paired it with what I like to call “a semi-sheer base,” which is all-over barely-there coverage with a tinted moisturizer, as well as a few targeted areas with slightly more opaque coverage. I did this by blending a sheer layer of stick foundation on my cheeks and around my mouth, and then buffing a tiny amount of liquid concealer underneath my eyes.

I didn’t set it with a powder because I wanted my skin to look as skin-like as possible, but you totally could… Just be sure to not go too heavy with it if you want to maintain the skin-like effect.

I really like this type of targeted coverage, especially how it looks in outdoor light, which can be notoriously unforgiving. Highly recommended. Try it on your next picnic.

Unearthed MAC gems

In other news…I’m weeding my way through my makeup collection right now, and I keep unearthing old gems. I wore two of my recent finds yesterday — Cheeky Bronze Mineralize Skinfinish and MAC Liquidlast Liner in Coco Bar.

Cheeky Bronze is a soft, shimmery golden coral face powder. Technically, it’s a highlighter, but you can also use it all over your cheeks as an all-in-one bronzer/blush/highlighter, which is what I have on my cheeks in these pics.

If you’re feeling creative, you can also use it as an eyeshadow. I wet a MAC 217 brush, flicked it across the pan a few times to load it up, then buffed it onto the inner part of my lids to go with the bronzed plum shadow I was wearing on the outer half (MAC Sable, in case you’re curious).

Coco Bar is a dark neutral brown MAC Liquidlast liner, and it will not move for nothing! It’s like a liquid version of MAC Coffee pencil liner, which is why I love it. I drew a line directly along my upper and lower lash lines, then smudged the edge with a flat eyeshadow brush. If you’re looking for a soft, diffused chocolate liner that stays put, you gotta give it a go, ASAP.

Makeup worn in this look

Base: MAC Peachlite Strobe Cream (to prep skin), First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Tinted Moisturizer in Tan (all over face), MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Foundation in NC42 (cheeks, around base of nostrils and mouth), Estée Lauder 24H Concealer in Medium Warm

Eyes: MAC Teddy eyeliner (buffed all over lids as an eyeshadow base, then applied as liner on waterlines), MAC Sable eyeshadow (outer half of lids), MAC Cheeky Bronze (inner half, applied wet), MAC Hush (inner corner), MAC Liquidlast in Coco Bar (smudged along upper and lower lash lines), Laura Mercier Caviar Volume Mascara

Cheeks: MAC Cheeky Bronze

Lips: MAC Ravishing Lipglass (a sheer coral that appears to be, sadly, discontinued. BOO!)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Shelter-In-Place Face of the Day: Soft Peach, Rose and Buttery Brown Tones

April 7th, 2020 by Karen 11 Comments

Ya know, seeing as how I spend every waking moment right now at home or somewhere within close proximity outside, and I can technically wear any kind of makeup I want, since my boss (the coywolf) is easygoing regarding the corporate dress code, you’d think I’d be all over runway-ready glossy red lids and lips and ’80s-style striped blush on my cheekbones…

My makeup situation is nowhere near this exciting at the moment…

But, alas, absolutely nothing exciting has been happening ’round these parts.

To be honest, I haven’t felt like wearing much makeup, and when I have worn makeup, I’ve only been able to muster enough to energy to do the yooj barely-there base and watercolor neutrals — a.k.a. my makeup safe place.

For now, I’m not gonna fight it. I’m just going to go with the shelter-in-place flow, and keep wearing what makes me feel good until I feel like pushing the envelope. So, today I wore peach and rose tones on my lids, lips and cheeks, with a Duchess of Sussex-caliber barely there base.