Product Reviews

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Revlon Colorstay Crème Eyeshadow in 715 Chocolate

December 13th, 2018 by Karen Leave a Comment

revlon colorstay creme shadow 715 espresso — Crazy for Chocolate

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.

What’s that Christmas carol that goes, “‘Tis the season for creams, fa la la la laaaa, la la la laaaa!”? Creams are a “go-to” for gaggles of makeup lovers when it’s cold outside, but Revlon Chocolate is an “all-year” obsession for me.

Formally known as Colorstay 175 Crème Eyeshadow in Chocolate, it’s a drugstore secret treasure at just $6.99, and if you don’t have excess time to spend on your makeup but still like to wear a little somethin’, it will be your 🍓 jam.

I’ve been wearing it a lot since I started growing out my grays, because the way my grays are growing out now, they don’t look purposeful yet because they don’t go from root to tip. It just looks like I missed my last two coloring appointments and can’t get my life together, so if I don’t wear at least a little eye makeup, I look disheveled. So Chocolate has been coming to my rescue.

Chocolate’s from Revlon’s long-wearing Crème Eyeshadow line, and if you haven’t tried these potted shadows before, you gotta get on that. They’re like the MAC Paint Pots, but cheaper, and slightly creamier.

Granted, they’re less pigmented than the Paint Pots, but I think that’s one of their selling points because that sheerness makes it easier to blend out the edges.

Perfect for “I’m already late! Gotta get this makeup on LIKE NOW!” looks.

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The Misery of Makeup Pencil Sharpeners…

December 13th, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

Say “hello” to the destroyer of every single decent makeup bag I’ve ever owned, and the poltergeist that haunts the inner pocket of my current mom purse, which, once upon a time, housed six pristine lipstick tubes and an asthma inhaler.

*waves hi* 👋

Since this makeup pencil sharpener exploded, everything — and I mean everything — all of the lipsticks, the inhaler and the lining of that inner pocket — is now smeared with chunks of black eyeliner, glitter and nude lip crayon, and everything else I ever sharpened in this sharpener since the dawn of time.

This particular makeup pencil sharpener happens to be from Make Up For Ever, but ya know…it doesn’t appear to matter what brand they are, because if I’m carrying around a makeup sharpener, rest assured! — it’ll explode in my purse.

You might think that after all the years pencil sharpeners have existed, some intrepid makeup-loving inventor out there would have discovered a way to improve upon the seemingly simple technology, or at least figured out a way to keep sharpeners from opening unexpectedly in your makeup bag.

Why, makeup gods, why!? Why hasn’t someone built a better mousetrap?

Oh, sure, I’ve tried workarounds — wrapping them with rubber bands, placing them in a clear plastic bag BEFORE sticking that bag into my makeup bag. Inevitably, however, those little bits of liner and crayon end up on everything and everywhere.

I saw in one of her videos that Sam from Pixiwoo keeps her Urban Decay sharpener (the purple one, which I have, and which is very good, but it still opens…) in the box it came in to prevent it from bursting open, which is GENIUS. But even she said the method isn’t foolproof, because hers still opens.

Shoot, even while I’ve been sitting here typing at my desk with my pencil sharpener beside me, little pencil shavings have fallen out over the last few minutes.

HOW? WHY?

Oh, and does anybody actually clean these things? They always get so dirty, but even when I try to clean the brown or black eyeliner bits from the blade before, say, sharpening a pink lip liner, I still get dark bits of liner on everything.

The misery of makeup pencil sharpeners is one reason I’m all about “the twist-up life” these days… You know why I love the Chanel Stylo Yeuxs so much? Yup, because I don’t ever have to sharpen the tip with a sharpener!

I need to know if anyone out there has ever found the mother of all makeup pencil sharpeners, because if you have, PLEASE do us all a solid and let us know.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Easiest Way to Wear Red Lipstick

December 12th, 2018 by Karen 11 Comments

urban decay tryst lipstick — —-> I’ve found your new favorite way to wear red lipstick. 😉

Nine times out of 10, I’d rather wear a nude lip than a red, because I just don’t like having to deal with the precision, man. I don’t want to spend the time loading a lip brush or dealing with red lip liner, or correcting any wonkiness with concealer. I just wanna put on some lipstick, quickly, and get on to living my cat’s best life, ha ha ha!

Be that as it may, this doesn’t mean I don’t ❤️ wearing red lips because I totally do! — especially during the holidays. ‘Tis the season for red, after all, so I have a workaround way to wear red that I’ve been loving lately, and I think you will too.

Note: It’s SUPER easy.

I’ve been doing it a lot lately with Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Tryst ($18), a charming creamy reddish fuchsia.

Here it is straight from the tube. No liner, no lip brush.

urban decay tryst lip swatch — Crazy for crimson (but not the time it takes to apply it)

I like this red full-on by itself, but it does take some elbow grease to get everything all even, and to do it semi-decently in a moving car, which is where I usually put on my lip color these days, because I’m always cutting it this close to getting somewhere on time.

So lately I’ll start with a layer of nude lipstick (Honest Beauty Blossom is my current fave, but any nude should work) instead. Then, after I get a layer down, I apply a thin layer of red lipstick on top, directly from the tube. Then I rub my lips together to mix everything, and feather the edges with a finger.

urban decay tryst on top of honest beauty blossom — You can totally do this in a moving vehicle, I swear.

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Going for the Glitter? Get Thee a Fluffy Brush, ASAP!

December 12th, 2018 by Karen 15 Comments

nars ignited palette k — Glitter during the daytime hours? WHY NOT!

Friends, please raise your coffee mugs and join me in congratulating my dayum self!

Now, you might be asking, “Um…Karen, what the heck are we toasting to?” And if so, fair enough. 😊 See, I’ve come to the life-changing conclusion that using a fluffy brush to apply glitter changes lives.

Why a fluffy brush?

Correction: It has to be a specific type of fluffy brush. What you want is a fluffy flat or angled eyeshadow brush — something like the MAC 275S or my fave, the Sephora Pro Angled Shadow Brush #13, which, sadly, is discontinued.

Basically, though, a fluffy flat (or angled) brush deposits the perfect amount of glitter onto lids while simultaneously minimizing fallout.

I’ve only just started doing this because I normally just use a finger to press the glitter on my lids to pack that ish in place, but the thing is, when I wanna wear glitter during the daytime, BECAUSE WHY NOT, this approach can be a little too disco.

nars ignited palette k2 — Pretty subtle as far as glitter goes. I’m wearing the NARS Ignited Palette, by the way. It has lots of pink and purple and warm reddish browns, and methinks it looks ***good*** with rose-colored tops and dresses.

Sheer, but precise

Fluffy brush, though? Yes, life-changing! The key is the low density of the brush head. The fluffiness sheers out the glitter just enough to leave you with a dusting of elegant sparkle on your eyes, as opposed to full-on rave glitter (err, do people still call those parties raves? #datingmyself). The shape of the brush head is also a may-jah player. Since flat or angled eye brushes are precise, and much more precise than, say, domed or tapered eye blending brushes like the MAC 217 or 224, so you can put your glitter exactly where you want it.

I mean, of course you’ll have to tap off your brush first, and then pat, rather than sweep, the glitter on your lids to reduce as much fallout as you can (obvi), but using a fluffy brush results in a sheerer, more elegant and subtle application that *totally* works for daytime makeup.

Fix that fallout

And if you do end up with fallout, no worries. Just use a little Scotch tape or the sticky part on the back of a Post-it, and gently press it onto any wayward glitter flecks to lift them away!

What I’m wearing in these pics

I used the Sephora #13 brush to apply some glitter from the new NARS Ignited palette ($59, limited edition, available at Sephora) that I wore last week, and it was a look I also happened to be wearing when I picked up Connor Claire at preschool.

nars ignited palette packaging — I like the packaging, too.

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Product Spotlight: Honest Beauty Demi-Matte Lip Crayons

December 11th, 2018 by Karen 13 Comments

Why aren’t more people obsessed with these lip crayons from Honest Beauty?? They’re so good! They’re the $12.99 Demi-Matte Lip Crayons, and they’re available at Target (and you can also get them online through the Honest Beauty website).

They come in a bunch of colors, but the two I wear are nudes. Or rather, nude-ish. Easy-to-wear Blossom is a warm-toned pinkish beige — completely opaque with just one swipe (no settling into vertical lip lines, either!) — with a demi matte finish that’s ever-so-slightly shiny and creamy, like someone mixed a morsel of matte lipstick into a MAC Cremesheen Lipstick.

And note: Unlike many pinkish beige nudes that are SO DIFFICULT to wear, it’s neither super skippy, nor will it make your lips look like a cat’s butt. If you like MAC Creme Cup, you’ll probably love Blossom.

Rosy brown Marsala is the other shade I’ve been all about, and like Blossom, it’s smooth, opaque and easy to wear. I have very pigmented lips, and it’s slightly deeper than my natural lip color, so on me it works as a nude shade, but it may look like a more standard ’90s-style brown lip, depending on your skin tone.

Neither of these has a noticeable flavor, but if I get my nose all up in there — seriously, I gotta get one of them up into my nostril — I can smell a little rosy waxiness, but it’s far from overwhelming.

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