It Cosmetics

A 15-Minute Face With Shimmering Cocoa Brown, Pink and Gold

November 27th, 2020 by Karen 16 Comments

For the record, I absolutely did *not* look this fabulous on Thanksgiving (this was from the day before), and to the ladies who can pull off prepping a full T-day spread while looking fab, I salute you!

I wore the above 15-minute look the day before Thanksgiving when Connor and I dropped off Thanksgiving cookies and cards to our neighbors. Pretty simple, pretty classic and wearable, and done completely with permanent collections products!

As for my look on Thanksgiving day itself? — it was far less fashionable. I cooked all day long, and it was all I could do to run a brush through the mop on my head and change my pajama pants into joggers. 😁

Please excuse my very non-Instagrammable mauve-toned Golden Girls-circa-1992 kitchen. It came with the house, and I make do with it because…eh, it works! #normalizeregularkitchens #itswhatigot

Anyway, the above pic was taken before the hurricane of baking and cooking happened, and waaaaaay before these happened…

These gluten-free cheesy cheddar garlic drop biscuits, which are like mini savory scones, were the last, and by far the best, T-giving thing I made this year. We had maple glazed ham as our main dish (no Turkey this year), and we sliced the biscuits in half and put a slice of ham in the middle. There was also Yukon gold mashed potatoes, a sweet corn casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, GF pumpkin pie and Christina Tossi’s Milk Bar Pumpkin Pie.

MAN. SO GOOD. I’m drooling just thinking about them again… They were so easy to make, too!

If you want the biscuit recipe, let me know, although I do have to warn you… There’s a lot of butter and cheese, so if you’re trying to make healthier food choices…it ain’t exactly health food.

Happy Friday. What are you up to today? Are you doing any Black Friday shopping?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Product Spotlight: It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better Foundation + Skincare

October 13th, 2020 by Karen 17 Comments

it cosmetics your skin but better foundation skin care 1 — Well this is a gem!

This is GREAT stuff! I haven’t been this excited about a base product in eons. If you’re into a natural matte look and want a foundation that covers juuust enough, It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better Foundation + Skincare is so on the money.

OK, I get it. Everyone’s masked up, we’re in a pandemic, hardly anyone’s been wanting to wear makeup, myself included, but I’ve been falling back into my face painting groove lately, and part of the reason is because of this new foundation from It Cosmetics.

It handles basically every lighting and photography situation I’ve throw it. It makes my skin look dayum good, if I do say so myself, AND IT FEELS LIKE NOTHING ON MY FACE!

Here’s Tan Warm 42.5 in natural daytime light, without any powder or primer, with a 10-minute makeup look. The eyeshadow is the Urban Decay Born to Run Palette; the blush is Charlotte Tilbury Ecstasy; and the lipstick is NUDESTIX Mystic, in case you’re wondering.

Your Skin But Better Foundation + Skincare is a medium-coverage liquid foundation with a very natural looking matte finish. If you want enough coverage to even out areas of pigmentation and redness, along with some minor pore blurring, but you don’t need to hide everything and the kitchen sink, it’s perfect.

Lazy ladies who still lurve wearing makeup now, this one’s for you, because there’s no trickery required to get it to look nice. I do one pump, and then use my fingers to rub and work it in. Then I quickly blend with a skunk brush, and that’s it. You don’t need a primer underneath it or a powder to set it, either. Use it all by itself, and it stays put all day long (yup, even with a mask on).

For reference, I have combo skin. It’s dry on my cheeks and around my mouth, and oily on my forehead and my nose, and this foundation handles all of the various areas well.

I think it also looks good where I have “experience lines.”

it cosmetics your skin but better foundation skin care natural light blues — Here it is in indoor natural light.

it cosmetics your skin but better foundation skin care natural light green look — Here’s the foundation in outdoor natural light.

I will say that if you’re extremely oily, you’ll probably want to set it with a light dusting of powder. I wouldn’t go too heavy with it though because this foundation’s ability to look like real skin is its superpower, and using a whole mess of powder will just undermine that magic anyway.

Also, it’s super lightweight, which I probably should’ve said right at the beginning, LOL! The formula is on the thinner side, much like Dior Nudeskin Air, so it’s featherweight and feels like nothing, which is actually the reason I started wearing it. After months of barely wearing any base, I have absolutely no tolerance for face products that feel heavy, and this one feels like nothing at all.

It’s available now at Ulta in 40 colors (hello, Fenty effect) for $39.50 each for a 1-oz. glass bottle with a pump. Oh, and speaking of colors, I wear it in Tan Warm 42.5 (but will switch to Tan Warm 41 once my toasty summer tan disappears in month or two), and this is the first time I’ve ever been able to wear an It Cosmetics foundation without having to mix it with something else. Seems like they FINALLY figured out that not every “tan” or “medium” shade has to have a sh*t-ton of peach undertones, and both Tan Warm 42.5 and 41 are pretty good matches for warm skin with yellow undertones.
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Spring Makeup Ideas: Blue Eye Makeup With a Green Top

March 25th, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

Unsolicited life tip: When you unknowingly grow a Machiavellian mustache on your upper lip, it’s probably time to put some makeup on again.

So here we go!

OK, raise your hand 🙋‍♀️ (which I’m assuming has been vigorously washed with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds) if you tend to go matchy-matchy with your clothes when you wear colorful makeup. BECAUSE I TOTALLY DO. You know that girl wearing orange eyeshadow and orange lipstick and an orange shirt? Yup. So me!

A surprisingly springy combination

I would never think to wear this blue eye makeup with a green shirt (am I the only one?), but when I saw the blue shadow and green outfit on Meghan Markle recently, I was like, “YES. Rock those jewel tones together, Meg!”

I think the blue shadow and green clothing pairing is surprisingly springy, especially if you wear it on a rainy day, which I did. When it’s wet and cold and everything outside is stone cold gray, the blue-green combo stands out even more.

Also, yeah, I know there’s a lot of eyeshadow swatches up in the mix. While I’m usually one for keeping eye makeup streamlined, especially for the past few months with the new job at the bakery and all, this time around I went ham on mixing and blending ALL THE EYESHADOWS. Try your hand at custom mixing your own shades sometime. Mixing and matching is so, so fun.

Key makeup worn in this look

EYES: It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Palette (a mix of cool and warm browns in the crease, and the navy shade on the lid), Kevyn Aucoin ElectroPop Palette (blue/green shades on lid), Maybelline Tattoo Studio Gel Liner in Striking Navy and MAC Coffee liner (waterline and lower waterline), Laura Mercier Caviar Volume Mascara (lashes)

Cheeks: NARS Amour (blush), Hourglass Radiant Bronze Light (bronzer)

Lips: Nudestix Cheek/Lip Pencil in Mystic, MAC Boldly Bare lip liner, MAC Beaux Lipglass

Base: Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Honey Bronze mixed with MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklight, Estée Lauder 24HR Concealer in Medium Deep Warm

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A Fab Friday With Rosy Brown Lids and Lips + Mauve Cheeks

February 28th, 2020 by Karen 11 Comments

I swear, in real life this eye makeup is not as orange as it looks in these pics…

I think the bright top (J. Crew, found at The Rack last fall) is throwing a monkey wrench in the mix.

Hmm… I should probably just be grateful I’m dressed in something that makes me appear to be a real, live grownup. It’s all about the little victories, you know? 😊

I was going for a springy pinkish brown for this look but ended up more summery orange… Oh, well! I like it.

I’m wearing several pieces from the new MAC Loud and Clear, and Glow Play, collections, which I’m still (clearly, ha ha ha) into. If you run across something you love, I’d suggest picking it up sooner rather than later because things are either selling out quickly or have already sold out.

One of my coworkers from the bakery is also a MAC gal, and she barely was able to get her hands on one of the lipsticks (Baroque the Internet), so don’t hesitate, MAC-aholics!

One more item of note about this look: I blended the blush I was wearing on my cheeks into my into my crease, an old trick to tie your lids and cheeks together in a neat little bow!
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Before and After: It Cosmetics Lash Blow Out Mascara

August 23rd, 2019 by Karen 2 Comments

it cosmetics drybar lash blow out top — A blow out for your fringe?

I guess since Drybar caters to hair, and since lashes technically are hair, there’s a correlation between having a stylist blow out your unruly mane, and lengthening your lashes with mascara?

Weird flex but OKURRRR!

Drybar is known for their blow-drying hair services and not for makeup, so I was surprised when they teamed up with It Cosmetics to launch a new mascara.

It Cosmetics Lash Blow Out ($25) is supposed to lift, lengthen and thicken your lashes (my life’s purpose), so I’ll bite…

it cosmetics drybar lash blow out mascara — Cute! The packaging resembles a round brush.

The ends of the bristles on the wand have tiny spheres designed to catch and comb through lashes, while the wand latches onto your lashes to separate each and every hair (so it works!), but I do wish that the tip of the brush was thinner, because it’s hard to get it into the inner and outer corners without leaving a trail of wayward mascara bits and bobs behind.

it cosmetics drybar lash blow out mascara before after — I used two coats.

After two coats, my lashes (which are longer and thicker thanks to Rodan + Fields Lash Boost) are slightly longer and more separated, but the lift at the base only lasts for about an hour before my lash curl starts to droop ever-so-slightly.

As for volume, I need at least three layers of Lash Blow Out to get the results I see from one coat of $32 Dimensions de Chanel Mascara (my current holy grail).

So, the effect is noticeable, but it isn’t life-altering.

Verdict: If you’re all about length and separation, Lash Blow Out delivers. You’ll get both, sans clumps, smears or heaviness; however, if you also crave lift and volume (like I do!), then this stuff will test your patience. It requires at least three coats to reeeeeally thicken that fringe.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!! 🤗