Milk Makeup

Milk Makeup Eye Pigment Cream Eyeshadow Dries With a Quickness!

July 13th, 2017 by Karen 3 Comments

One might conclude that I’m smiling in this pic because…hello, pigment! Hello, glitter! Hello, shine!

So many fun things, right?

But I’m actually smiling here because when I snapped this pic, I was about to remove this eye makeup. Because, gosh…this Eye Pigment from Milk Makeup, which is available in 11 $24 shades in the permanent line, was so hard to work with!

What a bummer, because I thought it looked super cool when I swatched it.

The Eye Pigments are shimmery, concentrated cream eyeshadows that come in a tube, and when you squeeze a little on the back of your hand, then start working them around with a finger or a brush, they dry like BAM! Like, instantly. I’m serious. They’re dry in less than 10 seconds, so you have to move REALLY fast.

Now, I can put on my makeup fairly quickly most of the time, but these are ridiculous! I can’t work that fast. It’s almost impossible for me to blend the edges before they set.

You can see in the top pic that my shadow goes up higher on one lid than it does on the other, because I was trying to do both eyes at the same time…which was a bad idea in hindsight. The shadow dried too fast!

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Milk Makeup Lip + Cheek in Perk and (Mis)Adventures in No-Makeup Makeup

July 6th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

milk makeup lip cheek perk — The face I make when I get my hands on an iced green tea latte…

There are days when I wake up looking like I just climbed out of my crypt after 24 mummified years…

Yesterday was one of those days, so I took Milk Makeup Lip + Cheek in Perk out to play, and put a little on before my Starbucks’ run.

For testing.

I swiped it on bare cheeks, blended out the edges and headed out the door, excited about the prospect of caffeine in my near future. 🙂

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Get Glossy With Milk Makeup Eye Vinyl

June 29th, 2017 by Karen 3 Comments

Glossy lids = least appropriate eye makeup look ever for a windstorm and/or for standing in front of Beyoncé-level stage turbines.

Don’t do it, girl!!

I wore one of these glossy Milk Makeup Eye Vinyls on a really windy day when I had my hair in a ponytail and thought I wouldn’t have to deal with the whole hair-sticking-to-my-eye-gloss thing, but those strands… They’ll find a way. Trust me on this.

Buuut, even with the drama that always accompanies glossy lids, gosh, there’s still something about ’em.

Yeah, I know — the stickiness, the creasing, and how they never stay exactly where you want them, but I go ga-ga for gleaming lids. I can’t help it.

milk makeup tunnel eye vinyl — I’m wearing the shade Tunnel on my lids. On my lips, I’m wearing NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment in Give It Up

I’ve been lovin’ Milk’s Eye Vinyls lately. They’re $20 each and come in four colors that start out SUPER shiny and reflective but lose a little of their high-wattage shine over the course of a couple hours. Overall, they stay wearable for about four hours before I feel the need to reapply.

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Milk Makeup Highlighter Is Lit

June 22nd, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

milk makeup lit highlighter k1 — That glow, tho! It’s from Milk Makeup Highlighter in Lit ($24), which I’m wearing on my upper cheekbones, in the inner corners of my eyes and along my brow bones.

Once upon a time, super early in the morning, I almost took a stick of Milk Makeup Highlighter and put it under my arms. Like deodorant! I caught myself at the last minute, so I didn’t actually do it, but if it had, my underarms would’ve been the most perfectly highlighted underarms in armpit history.

This sounds less crazy when you see Milk Makeup Highlighter next to my favorite deodorant. Check it:

Right? That’s what I get for fumbling around in the dark…

Milk Makeup is constantly surprising me. Their vibe, the marketing and their packaging cater to teens, methinks, and being a crabby 40-something-year-old lady (Just kidding! I’m not crabby…except on Tuesdays!), I didn’t think the brand would appeal to me, but that’s been sooooo far from the truth. I’ve loved their Blush Oil and Sunshine Skin Tint and have now entered into a serious relationship with Lit, their stick highlighter.

And it truly is lit.

Lit is a sheer, shimmery, peachy champagne highlighter from the Milk Makeup permanent line that you can wear sheer for a natural look, or layer for a striking, visible highlight, and while cream highlighters aren’t particularly innovative, Milk has perfected this one’s shine.

Or, rather, its dewy glow. That’s a more apt description.

milk makeup lit highlighter — When subtle peachy champagne highlight dreams come true…

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Milk Makeup Lip Color Loves the Lived-In Look

June 21st, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

milk makeup gnarly lip color — Feeling Gnarly, dude, ’cause I’m wearing Milk Makeup Lip Color in Gnarly ($22, one of 10 shades)

Special shout-out to MBB reader Tatiana for reminding me in the comments yesterday that sometimes all you need is mascara, a bright lipstick and a smile.

So right, Tatiana. 🙂

Bright lips are a good idea any time of year, but I think they’re a great idea in summer, especially if you’re into the makeup minimalist thing. You can throw on a bold, bright lip and skip the extra steps, because the lips can carry the whole look and make anything else you happen to include — mascara, brows, BB cream, highlighter, what have you — gravy.

milk makeup lip color swatches — From the top: C.R.E.A.M, Name Drop, Freshhh and Gnarly

These long-wearing matte Milk Makeup Lip Colors (I know I’ve been on the Milk Makeup train lately, but I hope you can bear with me. I love ’em!) are all in the permanent line and $22 each. And they totally work for this type of look because, dude…they’re intense! I can picture someone on the Milk Product Development Team saying, “Man, let’s load these up with as much pigment as humanly possible. I don’t want to layer!”

And that’s just what they did. One layer is all ya need.

I’ve tried four of them — hot pink Freshhh, orange-red Name Drop, fuchsia Gnarly and peachy nude C.R.E.A.M. The unscented, unflavored formula lasts about four hours, depending on what you’re doing with your lips (like whether you’re eating, drinking, smooching or just chillin’).

The matte lipstick category is SO crowded right now, but these look instantly “worn in,” and I think it makes them stand out. They almost look like matte stains, and it’s super cool and kind of unusual for a lipstick.

milk makeup cream lip color — C.R.E.A.M.

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A “Gilt and Gloss” Makeup Look With Nudestix and Urban Decay

June 9th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

Ya know, this whole “makeup in 30 minutes or less thing” I’ve been doing all week long has been VERY liberating. To think, there was a time when I didn’t want to try anything beyond basic makeup because I thought that any looks worth doing would take at least 45 minutes to an hour (or sometimes two).

This look took 20 minutes and — get this! — only one brush. I used an angled eye brush to take out the edges of the cat eye.

Oh, and a BeautyBlender, if we’re being really picky.

To blend the makeup on my eyes, cheeks and lips, I just used my fingers! I’ve been inspired by a makeup artist a friend of mine named Fieran (hey, Fieran!) introduced me to, violetta_fr on YouTube. She’s this impossibly chic French woman who lives in New York, and she does most of her application with her fingers and a handful of products (only what she can fit in her cross-body Chanel purse).

It’s refreshing to see makeup out there beyond the hyper-glam beat that dominates social media, ya know?

Anywho, I call this look “Gilt and Gloss” because I used a mix of sparkly glitter, golden shimmer, and matte taupe and beige eye gloss on my lids.

I wanted to play with finishes and textures, and I wanted to do it in a messy, grungy way that still looks somewhat “lady like.”

For my eyes, I drew thick cat eye liner with a taupe matte shadow stick (Nudestix Magnetic Matte Eye Color in Slate). Then I used my fingers to smudge the edges on my lids.

Next, I took a shimmery neutral gold shadow stick called Gilt (also by Nudestix) and layered that on top of the taupe (quick! — say “top of the taupe” five times fast) on my lids, blending it with my fingers. I wanted to keep the flicks and my lower lash line dark, so I didn’t layer the gold on those parts.

Then I grabbed a pan of Urban Decay Diamond Dog Eyeshadow, a delicious glittery golden brown, and dabbed it on my lids with a finger, and then loaded my lashes with HELLA mascara (MAC In Extra Dimension Waterproof).

Lastly, I applied highlighter in my inner corners using a shiny beige eye gloss called Milk Makeup Eye Vinyl in Bridge.

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Take Me With You, Milk Makeup Blush Oil!

June 8th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

Travel makeup bag, meet the Milk Makeup Blush Oils, otherwise known as “convenience in tube.”

These are so cool! They have the same click-pen packaging as Milk’s Sunshine Tint. There’s a clicker on one side and a roller ball on the other, and inside is a liquid blush oil that looks pigmented in the swatches below (I went a little cray-cray drawing the rose designs, whoopsies), but once it’s blended in, it looks effortless and natural.

milk makeup blush oil flush crave — Swatches of Flush (top) and Crave (bottom)

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The Lust List, Vol. 12: Stuff I Kinda Want

June 6th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

I realize that there’s absolutely NOTHING lust-inducing about makeup remover. Nothing. But sometimes you just gotta take a break from all the schmexy makeup dreams (I’m talking to you, Charlotte Tilbury), and put stuff on your lust list that, ya know, you actually need.

On that note…

R+Co Analog Cleansing Foam Conditioner ($29) — La, la, la! Don’t mind me as I fall deeper into the hole that is my current R+Co obsession! Analog is the brand’s approach to conditioner washing. Technically, it’s called a cleansing foam conditioner, so I’m assuming that it’s light, fluffy and mousse-y. And if it’s anything like the other R+Co products I’ve tried and have fallen head over heels for, it’s probably all sorts of amazing and smells divine.
Diorskin Nude Air Luminizer Powder in Golden Glow ($56) — Even though I don’t need another highlighter AT ALL, this one by Dior looks like perfection.
SEPHORA COLLECTION Lavender Foot Mask ($5) — Why? Because I looked down the other day and saw Fred Flintstone’s feet. 🙁
Bioderma Sensibio Make-up Removing Micelle Solution ($14.50) and H2O Wipes ($9.90) — Completely not sexy at all, but I’m running dangerously low on liquid eye makeup remover and makeup wipes. It’s time to restock. I went through a huge bottle of Bioderma a few months ago and used every last drop because it removes everything, including long-wearing mascara and liner. But I’ve never tried the makeup wipes… I hope they’re just as good as the liquid. Have you tried ’em before?
Milk Makeup Flex Concealer ($28) — I’ve been using and loving Sunshine Skin Tint by Milk Makeup, and now I want to try some of their other face products, like their Flex Concealer, which is supposed to be full-coverage and fab.
Fresh Fresh Life Body Oil ($48) — I’ve obviously been living far away from society in a secluded cave somewhere because I had NO idea that Fresh made a Body Oil version of Fresh Life, my favorite scent in the line. Based on the ingredient list, it looks promising. The first five things on the list are oils (sweet almond, sunflower, apricot kernel, jojoba and purple passionflower). Waaaaaant!
Leahlani Champagne Serum ($32) — I’m going to try to track down this face serum while I’m in Hawaii next week. It’s a local brand from Kauai, and their Champagne Serum (“Happy hour for your face”) is loaded with antioxidants to make your skin happy…and I really want to make my skin happy. 🙂
Kate Spade Kasie Sunglasses ($180) — I’m still kicking myself for not buying that pair of black Kate Spade sunnies at Nordstrom Rack a couple weeks ago… The more I think about them, the deeper I slip into the hole of retail regret. Damn! I hope the store restocks them soon. Until then, I’ll just obsess over Kate’s Kasie sunnies.

Got any restocks on your lust list this week? If you do, I’m sure they can’t be as boring as makeup remover, LOL!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I started packing for my trip last night, and so far…I’m not doing very well with the whole “packing light” thing.

Is there some biological leftover from ye olde cavewoman days that fuels the need to bring everything in my suitcase?? I’m trying to be rational about it, but what’s the deal? Why do I have the unrelenting urge to over pack.