Product Reviews

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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Product Shout-Out: Estée Lauder Defiant Nude Is the Neutral Palette You Didn’t Know You Needed

December 6th, 2018 by Karen 19 Comments

estee lauder defiant nude — ***ALERT*** Makeup workhorse! ***ALERT***

All through November, every single time I had to get ready for something — be it Thanksgiving dinner, a Novato Mothers Club meeting or lunch with a friend — I was always strapped for time (partly because I have bad time management skills, but I’m working on it. #keepingitreal).

With this palette, however, I was able to do a put-together makeup look from start to finish in 10 minutes time.

Yup, just when you thought when you’d seen and hoarded every neutral eyeshadow palette that you absolutely “needed” (“air quotes”) to get, along comes one from Estée Lauder to blow your mind.

Estée Lauder Defiant Nude ($54) has five powder eyeshadows — two mid-toned golden browns, a dark matte neutral brown, a neutral matte beige and a slightly darker matte peachy beige.

Do these colors sound pretty basic?

Yes, yes they do…

But let me tell ya, every single time I had to dress up and go out to see people looking respectable in the month of November, I grabbed this palette. Then I grabbed it again. And again. AND AGAIN!

It’s just so wearable, lovely and easy to use, and all of the shadows are long-lasting, with or without an eyeshadow base.

(Yes, sometimes I leave the house without an eyeshadow base… I know! Believe it or not, though, the world does not fall apart.)

estee lauder defiant nude swatches — wear Honey Bronze in Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation (NC42 in MAC)

You know me; I love my golden browns, cooler-toned browns and neutral browns, and this user-friendly palette masterfully sculpts the crease while adding an opalescent, understated glow to your lids. Plus, you can be imprecise with your application AND your blending, and your eye makeup will still look good.

That’s magical.

Estée Lauder gave it just enough pigment to define your eyes and add some color, but not so much that you’ll miss the movie because you’re stuck buffing and correcting and blending at home because you accidentally overdid it during the application.

And they also have such gorgeous finishes! The two golden browns get the most play on my lids because they’re both… Well, you know how when you want your lids to glow, but you don’t want them to be so shiny that they scream “LOOK AT MY FINE LINES”? These two golden browns are it!

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Gloss + Liquid Lipstick + Stain = MAC Versicolour Varnish Cream Lip Stain

December 3rd, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

Not once, but twice over the past week have I wondered aloud, “What is this exactly?”

The first time I was out getting dinner with the family.

Actually, it was during dessert (I got spumoni ice cream, which, who’d a thunk that cherry, pistachio and chocolate would go so well together?).

The second time was the first time I was trying the new MAC Versicolour Cream Varnish Lip Stains.

mac versicolour varnish 2 — I wonder… What’s the plural of doe-foot??

These creamy, shiny glosses are kinda different and cool. They have a non-sticky formula, and they fade over time to a matte lip stain. They come in a whole bunch of colors, too, for $22.

I think one of the reasons I like them so much is because they feel like my favorite MAC glosses…which I can’t recall the name of right now.

Dangit! What are those called again? I’m having a brain fart… They’re the moisturizing ones that feel thinner than a Lipglass? Something-something glasses?

Not Lipglass. Not Dazzleglass…

Wait! — CREMESHEEN GLASS! Aaah!

The Versicolours feel just like them, only thinner.

“Captivate with a lip colour hybrid that’s glossier, higher coverage and harder impact than ever before. Its watery-light formula glides on creamy and comfortable to impart long-wearing, saturated full coverage and an always-fresh wet finish. Find entrancement in its 12-hour, intense staining power – promising to last far into the day and night.”

— maccosmetics.com

When they go on, they’re VERY pigmented and shiny. It’s like, BAM! — color and shine. And that goes for all of them.

Over the next 10 minutes or so they start to feel thicker — almost like a liquid lipstick — and fade into a stain.

Even though I’m more drawn to the dark pinks and reds in the collection, I think the best shade of the whole bunch is rosy nude Bitten Babe because it doesn’t stain my lips unevenly like the other colors do to where I get a dark or bright spot in the middle of my lips, which then fades into a lighter stain toward the edge of my lips.

I guess that’s a high fashion-y lip look, but I’m partial to evenly stained color, a la Bitten Babe, which I’ve been wearing a ton. It starts as a glossy, rosy pink but turns into a nude pink stain by midday, where it lasts for about four hours.

mac bitten babe before — Fresh coat of Bitten Babe

mac bitten babe after — After two hours…

More deets…

They aren’t particularly moisturizing or drying…so they’re somewhere in the middle in terms of moisture.
Unsurprisingly for MAC, they smell like vanilla, and I don’t detect a flavor.
They don’t settle into my lip lines (yay!).
The darker stains last longest — like 6-7 hours.
The reds all kinda look alike on me… Go figure.

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Have You Tried the $7 Trader Joe’s Facial Cleansing Oil With Argan & Coconut Oils?

November 29th, 2018 by Karen 7 Comments

The Trader Joe’s beauty section should have a big-@ss warning sign above the aisle — something akin to “BEWARE! YOU’RE ENTERING SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT SPENDING TERRITORY!”

That would work, or better yet a huge LCD screen with winged dollar bills floating away, since we’re moving toward a world where we will soon be communicating solely through emojis. ? ? ? ? ?

I’ve always had trouble saying “no” to anything having to do with makeup removal, especially face oils, because what goes on, must come off, so grabbing this facial cleansing oil was a no-brainer. Somehow, TJ’s found a way to make it smell like the most heavenly mix of eucalyptus, lemon verbena and roses, although, from a quick scan of the ingredients, it doesn’t appear to have any of those things in it!

And speaking of the ingredient list, it contains different types of oils, too, not just argan and coconut. I also see sunflower, crambe abyssinica seed (which is new to me) and capyrylic/capric triglyceride.

It doesn’t look like this will replace my beloved DHC Deep Cleansing Oil anytime soon. I mean, it’s fine for removing mellower makeup — basically anything non-waterproof is fine — but it can’t handle heavy-duty, long-wearing stuff on its own. It’s $7 for a 4-oz. bottle, though, so the price is right, and it doesn’t break me out or make my combo skin feel dry, so I’m not too crabby about it not being all that effective on long-wearing makeup. But still…I’m not about to go into hoarder mode for it. I’ll save that for when the Rose Hand Cream comes back!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Skin Care Rave! Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil

November 23rd, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

fresh seaberry moisurizing face oil — LOVE IT!

So. Effing. Good.

Last month, while battling a nasty cold, I came to the conclusion that Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil really does live up to the hype (4.5 stars with more than ONE THOUSAND reviews on sephora.com).

You know when you’re blowing your nose so often that the skin around your nostrils gets rubbed raw, and it’s dry, and it hurts? Mine gets so sensitive to the touch that even splashing water on my face hurts.

My usual heavyduty face moisturizers weren’t doing the job done, so, out of desperation (and perhaps loopy from the cold meds), I tracked this down, busted it open, and patted about a half a dropper of the oil on the skin around my nose, nostrils and mouth.

AHHHH! Instant relief. Seaberry Oil BRINGS IT big time in the moisture department.

“Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil is a precious blend of pure oils—seaberry, cranberry seed, camellia seed, grapeseed, and sweet almond—packed with nourishing omegas to preserve a youthful appearance. The lightweight formula absorbs quickly for a boost of vital moisture.”

— sephora.com

Highlighted ingredients:

Seaberry Oil: A powerful antioxidant rich in moisturizing omegas 3, 6, 7, and 9 noted for protecting the skin from aging free radicals.

Cranberry Seed Oil: Maintains the skin’s elasticity and smoothness.

Camellia Seed Oil: Helps to retain moisture and promote smooth, supple skin.

Ingredients:
Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Hippophae Rhamnoides Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, Fragrance, Bht, Linalool, Limonene, Citral, Coumarin, Geraniol

It’s rich in antioxidants and omegas, and made for normal, dry and sensitive skin types, so peeps across the land can use it! — even if you have oily skin. I saw more than a few reviews from people with oily skin raving about it on the Sephora website.

Now it’s an everyday part of my routine. Every morning and night after I wash my face, I work about three big drops using the included dropper onto my skin while it’s damp. Sometimes I’ll also mix one or two drops into my trusty Clarins Hydra-Essentiel Silky Cream as well, which is another great combo IMO.

It’s $52 for a 1.6-oz. bottle, which is a pretty good size. I think it’s enough to last a long while.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen