Product Reviews

Bay Area Beauty Love: E.L.F.

February 22nd, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

Yay for the Bay! In this series, for the month of February 2019, I’ll be featuring products from and around my stomping grounds, the San Francisco Bay Area.

A trifle of trivia for my friends who marvel at makeup minutia: Drugstore brand E.L.F. was founded in Oakland, California, in 2004. Contrary to popular myth, their name stands for “Eyes Lips Face,” and not for the classic Christmas film starring Will Farrell (which I’ve seen about a million times!).

WOW! That’s a lot of fun facts, I know! 😉 You’re soooooo welcome.

E.L.F. is low-key famous for doing a full range of super affordable drugstore makeup — color, tools, skincare, the whole nine yards — with plenty of products to choose from under $10. Whenever I have a beauty itch that needs scratching but don’t want to start a raging bonfire in my wallet, I’ll go to Ulta or Target and grab a few $2 doohickeys in the E.L.F. section for some instant gratification.

Granted, it doesn’t always work out for me, because I’m pickier about textures and finishes now that I’m in my 40s than I was in my 20s and 30s (a.k.a. the age when I could throw any shimmery shadow with the consistency of almond meal on my lids and be just fine), but sometimes I’ll find something great! Sure, it might not be the most perfect product in the history of the world, but it also won’t require me to take out a loan.

What happens when you “smize” and pop your hip in front of your garage… BTW, I’m wearing the E.L.F. Shadow Brow and Liner Palette and the No Budge Retractable Liner on my eyes.

Like their $12 matte powder eye palette with cool-toned mattes (YES!), which you can use to fill in your brows, shade your lids AND line your eyes.

Let me say that again: COOL-TONED MATTES. As in *no* orange or red shades. What a gem! I can do pretty much an entire eye look from start to finish with this palette (just add a tightline and mascara), and it works with practically every blush/lip combo around.

The caveat? Nil wear time…so I absolutely have to use it with an eye primer. If I don’t, the shadow vanishes in less than two hours.

Even with primer, it fades more and faster than higher-end shadows. But still…it’s $12! For that price, I’ll take it. I’m happy enough with the colors, the blending and the texture of the powders (similar to Urban Decay).

I made an E.L.F. run last week because I needed a pick-me-up after going to the dentist, so I got…

A $3 No Budge Retractable Eyeliner in Black: Long-wearing and decently pigmented (although not as pigmented as the Maybelline twist-up, so I have to use two or three layers). It’s stiff, but it’s good enough for tightlining.
A $2 pack of Line & Define Tape: This stuff is juuuust sticky enough. You can even cut them in half to make a pack last longer.
A $4 Solid Brush & Sponge Cleanser: Pretty great.

An entire haul for less than $10!? How is that even possible!?

What are your E.L.F. faves?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!!

Eight New Shades of MAC Powder Kiss Moisture Matte Lipstick Join the MAC Permanent Line

February 21st, 2019 by Karen 8 Comments

Ain’t no party like a lip flake party ’cause a lip flake party don’t stop!

Whoa, Nelly! So I tried the new MAC Powder Kiss Lipstick colors today. They join the 16 shades that are already in the permanent line, and despite the crossing of many fingers and toes that my lip flakes wouldn’t crash this swatch soiree, alas…they did.

Lip flakes —> Party crashers!

It’s entirely my fault, to be fair, because I haven’t been drinking enough water, and whenever that happens, I can pretty much kiss (ha ha) any chance of smooth lip swatches g’bye.

The MAC Powder Kisses, which are a relatively new formula in the MAC fam, feel lighter than air. The Powder Kisses themselves were added to the permanent line in the fall of 2018, and if your lips are in perfect shape (as in no flakes), they’re kind of amaze-balls. They’re super comfy and ever-so-slightly moisturizing, and it’s easy to forget I’m wearing them.

And the velvet matte finish? Gorgeous! — a la hottie 1940’s pin-up girl.

From this new batch of colors, I’d steer clear of the pinks (Reverence and Sexy But Sweet), because they’re patchy right out of the gate, and I end up having to do a lot of patting and layering and babying to get them to look smooth…

Instead, go for one of brighter or deeper colors, which are less likely to settle into fine lines or draw attention to any flakes. I like Sultry Move (the bright rosy brown); Werk, Werk, Werk (the cool toned red); and Velvet Punch (a bright, cool fuchsia) the best as they’re the most pigmented of the bunch.

One layer, and I’m good.

mac powder kiss new shades february 2019 — Which one do you like best?

mac sexy but sweet — Yellow-toned pink MAC Sexy, But Sweet

mac ripened — MAC Ripened, a grayish lavender

mac p for potent — MAC P for Potent, a mid-toned purple

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Buying Beauty Backups: Do I Really Need to Have Extras Sitting Around?

February 21st, 2019 by Karen 24 Comments

trader joes rose oil ultra moisturizing hand cream backups — I know they’re around here somewhere…

OK, now…I’m going to start doing something that may sound kinda cray to my fellow lovers of lotions and other beauty products, a.k.a. MY PEOPLE, but I don’t think I’m going to keep beauty backups around anymore.

Wait, wait! — I mean, I’ll have to make a few exceptions, like for the skin care I’ve used daily since the last Ice Age, like Kate Somerville Anti-Bac and my Clarins cream, but I don’t really think I need to keep that many other extras in the house. Most of them just sit around taking up wasted space and money.

Granted, it feels good to always be prepared in the event of a skin care or makeup emergency (they happen), especially for products I trust and love, but one thing I’ve learned about beauty products is that there’s ~~always~~ usually something comparable out there that’s probably as good as if not better. Newer technology, new colors, new formulas — there’s almost always an alternative out there somewhere, and I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me sooner (it probably did, but I forgot), but my preferences are also constantly changing. What I love today, I might not love (or need) tomorrow.

My skin is also changing, my style is changing, my life is changing, my budget is changing, and some of the things I used to swear by a few years ago just don’t suit me anymore.

BTW, this revelation happened on a recent trip to Trader Joe’s.

Freakin’ TJ’s, man! I noticed that their rose hand cream is back in stock.

trader joes rose cream 2019 — It’s baaaaaack.

You may remember this, but when it launched last year, I lost my damn mind for it and bought five tubes, no joke!

Standing in the store this week and looking at that shelf filled with more boxes of the same hand cream, I thought — holy crap! — I still have most of the spare tubes I got last year, and they’re still unopened. I’ve only used two of them, and that’s because TJ’s released a ginger-scented hand cream a few months later, which I consequently fell in love with as well, so I got distracted. Then, of course, there were other hand creams and lotions from other brands that I wanted to try…

Basically, I didn’t have to hoard five tubes last year.

makeup backups — Backups I found in just one drawer…

When I got home from the store, I checked the drawer where I keep my makeup and beauty product backups, and for the first time in years I really took stock of what was in there. I found three tubes of Make Up For Ever HD Concealer, which I used to love but no longer use because I rarely wear full-coverage these days. I also found an old Smashbox Photofinish Primer, BECCA Backlight Primer and an Hourglass Veil Primer.

Like, no kidding, there were so many things in there that have been there for years and haven’t been touched. I’ve wasted a lot of money on backups of things I no longer use that are now probably expired, and I’m not going to do that anymore.

My makeup style has changed so much over the past decade (I’ve been wearing less makeup because I’m tired and have time constraints), and I’m also at the point where I know that if something I love is going to get discontinued or changed in any meaningful way, life will go on, and I will be able to find something else to replace it.

Karen five years ago would be shocked, I’m sure, but I don’t want to keep backups around anymore unless I’m sure it’s for something I’ll use before too long. That’s my plan and I’m stickin’ to it!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Bay Area Beauty Love: H2O+ Beauty

February 20th, 2019 by Karen 15 Comments

Yay for the Bay! In this series, for the month of February 2019, I’ll be featuring products from and around my stomping grounds, the San Francisco Bay Area.

Why, yes, it amuses me to no end that whenever I need a tropical 🌴🍍 scent fix, the brand I usually turn to (H2O Plus) isn’t located someplace tropical. Instead, it’s based in San Francisco.

I have no idea why this is so funny to me. 😂 I’m way too easily amused!

H2O+ Beauty has been a fave of mine for ages. I actually started using them back when I lived in SF in the early Aughts (back when I was all about the Milk lotion). Now I turn to them mainly for body products, like shower gels and lotions, but they also have a few really great skin care products too, like their $20 hydrating gel Elements Keep It Fresh Face Cleanser for normal to dry skin. I love using it after I work out because it totally takes care of the sedimentary layers of sweat without drying out my cheeks, which is no easy feat!

But my “go-to” items from the brand, by far, are the Coconut Verbena Body Wash ($18) and Body Butter ($22). I get them whenever I see them on BOGO at Ulta (which is often, and right now there’s a buy-one-get-one at 40% online). The scent is my favorite tropical scent whenever I’m going through Hawaii withdrawals like I am now.

It’s beachy without the standard sunscreen, piña colada or sweet pineapple notes. It has a strong bright lemon verbena tone that lifts it up and gives it a citrus-y vibe that’s very refreshing, but there’s also a plumeria note, so you aren’t walking around just smelling like lemons, LOL! The coconut is perfection, too, because it smells like freshly cracked coconut as opposed to that artificially sweet coconut candy.

Between the pair of them, my alligator limbs stand absolutely no chance. I am mois-tur-ized!

Chunky braid saves the day

I’m back from the party! I ended up going with a messy, chunky braid, and it turns out that it was the perfect thing for making the grays look purposeful. I did a deep side part to show off my silver highlights. 😊
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Product Spotlight: It Cosmetics Superhero Mascara

February 20th, 2019 by Karen 8 Comments

There’s a new superheroine in town (THIS girl) thanks to this mascara’s crazy insane curl hold. I’ve been wearing It Cosmetics Superhero Mascara for the better part of the past two months because the curl hold is simply out of this world, and even though the formula isn’t technically waterproof, it might as well be in at least one way because the hold is just as good as any waterproof mascara I’ve tried.

I’m talking long, luscious black lashes with wide-eyed, locked-down CURLS. FOR. DAYS. Boom! — instantaneously dramatic lashes.

I wore it to coffee with a girlfriend a couple weeks ago (hey, Fern!) and cried about, oh…five times during the conversation. (It was one of those emo visits. You know how it goes sometimes.) When I looked in a mirror afterward, I expected to see something completely different, but this mascara hadn’t budged or smudged at all.

In Hawaii I also wore it to the pool and beach a few times, and it lasted surprisingly well there, too, despite it not being classified as waterproof, which is something I’ve been trying to avoid lately, because I’m convinced that wearing full-on waterproof makes my lashes fall out more easily.

Here’s where things get a little complicated, though: To get this mascara to do the wonderful things it can do, you’ll have to work with it a while, because the already-thick-to-start formula thickens up even more over time, and once it has, you won’t be able to just swipe two coats on your lashes and ride off into the sunset with Keanu Reeves.

Now, after having used mine for about two months, whenever I draw the wand out of the tube, the brush loads up with an obscene amount of mascara. Like, I’m not kidding, enough mascara to coat five sets of lashes!

So you gotta take the time to remove the excess if you want to unlock this mascara’s riches. I’ll either run the brush across a paper towel, or I’ll unload the excess on the edge of the tube. If you don’t, brace yourself for a clumpy mess.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen