Eyes

Unsung Heroes: The $6 Sephora Collection Eco Biodegradable Sharpener

August 20th, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

makeup pencil sharpener — All that and a bag of chips!

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Y’all…with the 15% off VIB sale happening now, I know you’re busy playing chicken with your Sephora cart, but please take a moment to consider one of the most underrated (and best!) tools the mother ship has to offer — the $6 Biodegradable Pencil Sharpener, otherwise known as “the pencil sharpener that elevated my winged liner and saved me from a lifetime of makeup misery.”

It’s the only makeup pencil sharpener I’ve ever owned that I haven’t wanted to hurl across the room.

From sephora.com:

What it is:
A professional-grade, two-in-one pencil sharpener made of an innovative, biodegradable, and sustainable bio-polymer.

What it does:
The Eco Biodegradable Sharpener is a perfect accessory to your cosmetic collection. This sharpener not only accomodates a multitude of pencil sizes, but you can feel confident knowing that you are also helping the environment when you dispose of it. The corn-based PLA body of this sharpener is biologically degradable, while the blade is recyclable. Made in Germany, the carbon steel blades give your pencils the perfect pointed tips for flawless application.

What else you need to know:
This sharpener can be used with a multitude of pencils, sized from 8mm to 12mm. It includes a removable pick tucked neatly into the body to help dislodge the toughest pieces of shavings and lead from the blade.

Sharpest tips EVRRRR

Every successful kitten flick I wore this summer, I totally owe to this sharpener. You know how sometimes you’ll sharpen a pencil, and the end will get nice and pointy but then immediately when you run it across your skin the tip breaks off? That happens to me all the time…but never with this sharpener. The blades whittle dull tips into sharp points with just a few twists and turns, yet they still hold back juuuuuust enough from going past the point of no return.
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The Sonia Kashuk Demi Lash Curler, and the Quest for Lifted Outer Lashes

August 16th, 2019 by Karen 8 Comments

First thing I’m going to do after I return this to Target and get my $9 bucks back is go to In-n-Out for a vanilla shake… Then, I’m going to pour a little out on the ground to mourn my lost homies (otherwise known as “the lashes that unexpectedly fell out when I tried using it”).

I’m also going to order a bucket of fries and a cheeseburger to comfort myself, since I can’t get back the minutes I lost this week trying to actually curl my lashes with the thing.

Why was it so hard to figure out how to properly angle the black rubber pad along the outer corner so it nestles the base of my lashes…? And why did it pinch my skin every time I clamped down on the curler?

OUCH!

I eventually figured out that if I squint my eyes and lift my lid with a finger, I can get down to the base and give the curler a good squeeze, but even then, the curler only bends the base of the lashes ever so slightly, and those few curled hairs relax back into their natural straight state within minutes.

Y’all…this thing just doesn’t work.

But I’m not about to let it rob me of my curled lash dreams. My desire to find that elusive tool that’s able to lift that outer fringe, coupled with the spark of hope (and perhaps another double cheeseburger?), will continue to fuel me on this beauty quest.

We will prevail, people!

Until then, extra fries and ketchup for everyone. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

4 Ways to Work Your Favorite Colorful Eyeliner

August 8th, 2019 by Karen 22 Comments

Most days, I will gleefully wear neutrals on my lids (NEUTRALS 4 LIFE!), but there are still days when I just gotta get some color in the mix.

Will I frequently carve out 30 minutes for cray-cray eyeshadow gradients and intense layering and blending? Nah, but when I am pressed for time (which is daily, it seems), and I still need a color fix, I’ll grab a colorful eyeliner.

Purple, blue, green, gold, pink… Seriously, I feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I see those bright sticks, and one of the best things about colorful liner IMO (besides the endless choices!) is that you can go subtle OR bold with them.

Here are four ways to work colorful liner into your day, starting with two options that are more wearable, and ending with two that have more OOMPH.

In all of these pics, the colorful eyeliner I’m wearing is Urban Decay Mainline, a deep bluish green with a matte finish!

Look #1 (wearable): Liner layered beneath a neutral eyeshadow

This is a fab, facile way to work some color into your eye makeup. First, start by lining your bare lids with your eyeliner of choice, then blend a neutral eyeshadow (or eyeshadows) directly on top.

The result? A super subtle wash of color peeking through your upper lash line.

Look #2 (wearable): Layered liner with a tightline for a subtle gradient

For sightly more verve, tightline your upper lash line after layering your liner. Do it, and you’ll end up with a wink of color and a subtle gradient. 😉
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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay Chaos Eyeliner

August 5th, 2019 by Karen 3 Comments

urban decay chaos swatch — When a little Chaos in your life is a good thing

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

I can’t keep track of all of Urban Eyeliners. I mean, what do I look like, man? — a walking Guinness Book of World Records for makeup!? LOL! Anyway, there’s just so many of them, especially in the blue category. SO. MANY. BLUES.

But *this* shade is, by far, the one I wear the most, and it’s my favorite. It’s called Chaos, and it’s a gorgeous, pigment-rich cobalt blue that looks like it has a glossy finish from some angles and a matte finish from others. I don’t know how it does this whole quick-change-finish thing, but I suspect it has to do with “ze’ magic,” otherwise known as “the secret shimmer.”

If you buff right into it, tiny silver pieces of glitter appear. It’s the most beautiful (and surprisingly subtle) effect, and when you’re nerding-out over makeup, those little details are the ish.

Oh, and I also wear this liner because — you know I wear a lot of neutrals, right? — it works with both cooler-toned true neutrals like the Clinique Teddy Bear Palette (which I’m all about these days! It’s what wearing in these pics), and warmer orange and reddish neutrals as well. It goes with errrrthing, and you gotta love flexibility (and not having to think too deeply when it comes to your blue liner, ha!).

Chaos pencil is one of UD’s 24/7 Glide-Ons, so once it’s on, it doesn’t budge. I like to wear it full-tilt, but you can also buff it down to a pretty whisper of blue and silver sparkles. Yeah, you can do subtle with Urban Decay, too! It’s awesome.

Chaos is part of their permanent collection (yay!), and it’s $22.

urban decay chaos close up 2 — The lippie, in case you’re wondering, is Honest Beauty Liquid Lipstick in BFF.

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Clinique All About Shadow Quad in Teddy Bear

August 2nd, 2019 by Karen 9 Comments

clinique teddy bear — “Yeah, don’t even TRY to take my palette. I’m warning you!”

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

One of these Teddy Bears is not like the other (and it’s more comfy to hug).

But right now, I’m talking about the makeup one, and it’s a quad of all-matte eyeshadows from Clinique. If I were a betting gal…I’d wager that the Clinique All About Shadow Quad in Teddy Bear is probably better than the other neutral palette in your makeup bag, and it’s the most “neutral” of the neutral palettes I wear. The shadows are neither too warm nor too cool (they’re in the coveted Goldilocks Zone), and there’s very little burnt orange, brick red, gray or pink undertones in sight.

clinique teddy bear swatches — Yup, still an NC42 in MAC

The powder shadows in Teddy Bear are just as soft as the bear at the top of this post, and Clinique stuffed it with all of the basics to contour lids and add depth to eyes, including a matte beige bone, a matte golden brown, a peachy golden tan and a dark chocolate brown. In MAC-speak, I’d call these the matte (so, neither warm nor cool) equivalents of Brule, Soba, Soft Brown and Brown Down.

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