Eyes

NARS Unsung Heroes: Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

June 20th, 2011 by Karen 37 Comments

When I finished my first tube of lightweight, colorless NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base ($24), the thought of not being able to reach for what I’d come to consider the best eye makeup primer currently on the market almost triggered a minor panic attack.

We’d been inseparable since we met last November, thanks to the Troublemaker Gift Set, and I was impressed from the start. Pro-Prime intensifies the color of products applied on top of it and extends wear time, too. It grips cream and powder shadows, eyeliners and brow pencils tighter than teeth on a night guard.

When I start with Pro-Prime in the morning, my eye makeup still looks fresh and crease-free at dinner, even on hot, muggy days.

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Soba Eyeshadow

June 12th, 2011 by Karen 34 Comments

mac soba eyeshadow

It’s easy to see how casual beauty bystanders and makeup window shoppers could mistake MAC as primarily purveyors of bold, bright eyeshadows. The brand does love brights, after all, but that doesn’t mean they skimp on their neutrals.

Take warm golden brown Soba Eyeshadow ($14.50), for instance. With just a hint of golden sheen and very little red or orange in it, Soba is one of my very favorite browns, and I wear it often in the crease.

Like MAC Soft Brown, another one of my favorites, I think of Soba as an “anchor shade” — one of those colors I know I can build entire looks around, and my pan sees plenty of exercise (LOL!), mostly in my crease and, for contouring and to contrast shimmery shades, below my lower lash line. I think it’s a great substitute for Soft Brown, particularly if you’re looking for something either more golden or less orange/red.

At least once a week I’ll wear a look starring Soba on my lids and in my crease, incorporating MAC Feline Eye Kohl on my upper and lower waterlines and black mascara on my lashes. It an easy, clean look that only takes a couple of minutes to do, and because it’s also neutral, it looks great with almost any lip color.

mac soba eyeshadow pan

mac soba eyeshadow swatch
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This MAC Sized To Go Eye Makeup Remover Is a Pro

June 7th, 2011 by Karen 41 Comments

When it comes to skincare products, I have commitment issues, and it’s probably one of the many reasons I like the little bottles and jars in MAC Sized to Go.

By shrinking nine products down to 1-oz. in size and setting their prices (almost) accordingly, MAC made the products easier to travel with and try.

Like the $10 Sized to Go Pro Eye Makeup Remover, one of the gentlest, most soothing (it contains cucumber extract) and hydrating eye makeup removers my eyes have ever seen. Unlike many other removers, it neither stings my peepers nor makes me see clouds. And even when I use it to remove makeup along my waterlines, I don’t shed a single tear (a rare thing).

A few drops on a cotton ball take care of everything from light powders to heavy duty stuff like Fluidline and Prolongwear Concealer, all without leaving an oily residue behind. I don’t even have to rinse if off with water, as if it wasn’t awesome enough, and after using it my skin feels clean, hydrated and fresh.

I have a feeling I’ll be reaching for it often, since it’s small enough to hide in a pocket or a small purse.

But like Achilles, every hero has a weakness.
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What’s the Skinny on Tarte’s EmphasEYES Waterproof Brow Pencil?

May 31st, 2011 by Karen 32 Comments

Tarte EmphasEYES Waterproof Brow Pencil

Even my dextrous little digits have a hard time holding the Tarte EmphasEYES Waterproof Brow Pencil ($19.50). Straight up, it’s probably the daintiest brow pencil I’ve ever used!

Years of piano lessons (mostly against my will, I might add) and flute playing gave me fleet fingers and thumbs, and I can usually draw with even the thinnest pencils. This one, however, feels awkward and uncomfortable in my paws.

Bummer, because if it were a bit bulkier, I’d probably be a bigger fan because it reminds me of Benefit’s Instant Brow ($20), which I’ve been wearing for months.

Like Benefit, Tarte got the pigment just right. It’s available in two shades, and when I blend Medium Brown, the one I’ve been wearing, into my brows, I can barely tell it’s there (doesn’t look fake or obvious). And if I need to go darker, it’s also easy to build.

From left: EmphasEYES Waterproof Brow Pencil in Medium Brown, EmphasEYES Waterproof Brow Pencil in Taupe and MAC Technakohl liner in Graphblack (for comparison)
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Teddy Eye Kohl

May 11th, 2011 by Karen 40 Comments

I firmly believe that life’s too short to waste wearing boring brown eyeliners (or, on an unrelated note, wearing shoes in summer).

Today’s inductee into the hallowed halls of MAC Unsung Heroics is called Teddy, and when it comes to boring, he’s anything but. Teddy is a MAC Eye Kohl ($14.50) pencil, an intensely rich, dark bronzy brown with subtle golden shimmer, and it’s that shimmer that takes Teddy from the bored-room to the ~~bedroom~~ best room (haha! oops, bad pun).

I think I use Teddy almost as often as MAC Powersurge. It’s one of those colors that always seems appropriate, day or night, and it totally hits the spot when I want to draw extra attention to my eyes but don’t feel like wearing basic black.

Its soft, creamy texture glides along my lash and water lines, defining the shape of my eyes. Every so often I’ll even wear it as a base by smudging it onto my lids; other times I might layer it beneath powder shadows, where I think it looks particularly cute with bronzy golds like MAC Woodwinked.