Urban Decay

Bada-Bing! The Urban Decay Naked Cherry Collection Is Out Now

October 9th, 2018 by Karen 21 Comments

urban decay naked cherry palette — The new $49 Urban Decay Naked Cherry collection eyeshadow palette

Clearly, UD has a thing for Bing…cherries. Based on the packaging for new Naked Cherry collection, Bing is bomb, and I can appreciate that. I mean, I get it. I see the connection. A deep, dark, purplish Bing makes sense for a makeup collection, but I still like Rainiers more. They’re sweeter, man! And I love that red and yellow ombre action #importantfruitopinions.

(Quick makeup query: Years ago MAC also released a cherry-inspired collection. Can you remember what it was called?)

No reds, but plenty of pink and plum

Surprise! — there’s not a lot of red in UD’s new Naked Cherry collection.

LIKE NONE.

Red eyeshadow is on trend right now, but if you were hoping for seductive scarlets, vampy vermilions and ruby reds in this release, sorry.

The collection, which has been out about a week now, includes an eyeshadow palette ($49), a blush/highlighting trio ($34), two eyeliners ($21), three lipsticks ($34), and a cherry-scented setting spray ($15).

Judging by the name — Naked Cherry — you may have quite naturally expected there to be copious quantities of crimson in this collection, but these pretties are predominantly pink, rose, purple and mauve. Even more shockingly, no orange-y browns in the eye palette!

I know; am I still in the normal reality?? When was the last time UD released a palette without an orange-brown?

Quick take: shockingly wearable

If you’re craving something kind of different that isn’t filled with typical browns, AND you like wearing purples, AND you can see yourself venturing into the Land of Mauve and Rosy Tones, the Naked Cherry palette is worth a look. I like it.

The Naked palettes are Urban’s take on neutrals, and Naked Cherry still seems, well…neutral. I thought I would have a hard time with it because whenever I wear red, or reddish eyeshadows, I look sick and/or tired, but that’s not a problem for this palette, since these shades do not have red undertones. There are just plenty of wearable purples, plums, burgundies, roses and mauves.

Oh, and kisses of copper, beige and peach to break things up a little.

urban decay naked cherry k — Wearing the eye palette, cheek palette and Devilish Lipstick

The palette appears to be similar to Backtalk (which caused a minor uproar among people who were expecting a straight-up red eye palette when it was recently launched), but… Anyway, you could stick the eyeshadows from Naked Cherry into the the Balktalk palette, and they’d appear to fit right in, but they are quite different (see the swatches below). These colors are more than different enough to stand on their own.

urban decay naked cherry collection swatches — From the top: the eyeshadows, the blush and highlighter, lipsticks and the liners

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Pumpkin Spice Everything! A Warm Red, Pink and Bronze Eye Look Using the Urban Decay Elements Palette, MAC Studio Fix Sculpt and Shape, MAC The Blonds Lipstick in Davidblond and The Blonds Magic Dust Powder

September 24th, 2018 by Karen 21 Comments

urban decay elements palette k front — Shout-out to Pumpkin Spice!

How do I feel about Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes? Hmm… Well, you know how much I like pink drinks, right? They’re delish! — but I don’t pump my fist in the air and say YAAASSS when I get one.

But I do when I get a PSL.

Also, even though I went through an intense green tea latte phase last year, ultimately, I could take or leave ’em. But the Pumpkin Spice Latte. THE PSL! It’s my most favorite drink at Starbucks, and it always has been, from even before I started wearing this tank top 24/7.

urban decay elements palette k side 1 — So Karen, tell me how you REALLY feel.

Despite the forecast calling for 80-degree temps here, I’m bubbling over with PSL excitement! I got the fever bad, so I channeled it into this PSL-inspired makeup look. 😊 Then, I went to Starbucks and ordered a special version of the PSL based on this recipe from The Macrobarista on Instagram.

He’s a Starbucks barista who makes healthy-ish versions of Starbucks drinks.

He calls this refreshing version the Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte, and it has all the spicy sweetness of the standard PSL, but (according to The Macrobarista) it’s only 90 calories with about 11 grams of sugar.

To make my life easier, I took a screenshot of his “recipe” on my phone and held it up to the cashier at Starbucks so he could type it in. 😉

Now, about the makeup, my friend, this was the first “LEWK” I’ve done in a minute (been doing a lot of one shade of taupe on my lids with mascara, NARS Orgasm lip balm, and nothing on my skin). Needless to say, I felt like I was wearing everything and the kitchen sink.

But it was fun, and in the process I found some new things to love.

urban decay elements palette k looking down — When you feel overdone but then you just go with it…

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The Urban Decay Aphrodisiac Collection (Swatches and First Look)

August 3rd, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

urban decay aphrodisiac collection k — Wearing the Urban Decay Aphrodisiac collection

Like any good love 💜 potion, the new Urban Decay Aphrodisiac collection is mysterious and hard to find…

No, literally. It is. The collection doesn’t appear to have officially launched yet, and details are scarce, but what I do know is this: it’s new for fall 2018, and the palette and three glosses are new (the two liners, Rockstar and Zero, are re-promotes).

Urban Decay Aphrodisiac

Release date: TBD

Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette (estimated price, $29, since it’s the same size/shape as Naked Petite Heat)

Hi Fi-Shine Ultra Cushion Lipglosses in Aphrodisiac, Ghosted and Tongue Tied ($20 each)

24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils in Zero and Rockstar ($21 each)

urban decay aphrodisiac collection 2 — New for fall 2018: Urban Decay Aphrodisiac

urban decay aphrodisiac eyeshadow palette — Aphrodisiac Eyeshadow Palette

urban decay aphrodisiac collection lipgloss — Hi Fi-Shine Ultra Cushion Lipglosses in Aphrodisiac, Ghosted and Tongue Tied

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Urban Decay Lo-Fi Lip Mousse Is Hella High-Five Worthy

July 19th, 2018 by Karen 11 Comments

Ya know, I’ve been reviewing makeup and waxing philosophic about makeup and photographing makeup (and cats!) for more than a decade now (started in 2007, yo!), and when you write about any topic for that long, you really, REALLY gotta love it (and I do!); otherwise, you risk falling into a fugue state akin to Breaking Bad.

But here’s the deal: although I still relish discovering new coral lipsticks and love the thrill of finding a fab new cream blush, sometimes it feels like every “new” highlighter/palette/liquid lipstick/etc. that crosses my desk is something we’ve all seen before…except with a different cheeky name and outfit.

These days, it takes something seriously funky or outrageous to grab my attention and make me wanna shoop, shoop-eh-doop, if you know what I mean, so when Urban Decay’s new Lo-Fi Lip Mousse showed up, I was like, “I cannot bear to hot tub time machine back to 2012 right now. Let’s just eat some brownies, fire up season four of Sex and the City and take a cat nap, but HOLD ON, WAIT A MINUTE, LET ME PUT SOME BOOTY IN IT — you’re telling me this isn’t a blush?? It’s a matte lipstick instead!? Alright, Urban Decay, tell me more.”

Urban Decay Lo-Fi Lip Mousse ($22 each)

These are mousse matte lipsticks in a compact, and they’re wacky in the best possible way (as opposed to being strange for the sake of being weird). They actually work really well.

urban decay lo fi boxes — The color-coordinated boxes are a nice touch!

Urban Decay must’ve poached some NASA rocket scientists to formulate these because not only do they look smooth, avoid my lip lines and feel feather light, they couldn’t be a lot easier to apply.

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The Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils: A Love Letter

July 13th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

urban decay stash — Urban Decay Stash on my lash lines

Dear Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils,

I love you.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I don’t tell you that enough, so…I LOVE YOU.

I apologize if I hurt your feelings sometimes. When I haphazardly toss you into my makeup bag, it’s not because I don’t care. It’s not because I don’t want to spend more time with you. It’s because I’m so excited for us to get on about our day. I love spending entire days with you, which I know we’ll be able to do, since your luscious long-wearing formula hugs my lash lines and doesn’t let go.

The other day, shortly before I rimmed my lids with Mushroom, my favorite metallic taupe on account of the way it illuminates my brown eyes without hardly even trying (and that flash of blue from certain angles? GORGEOUS!), I was haphazardly grinding the tip in a pencil sharpener and zoning out like I’m apt to do while I’m putting on makeup that I know I can depend on, I thought, “Easy, Karen. Take it easy. Just because this is a quickie look doesn’t mean you have to hack away like a lumberjack without any muscle control.”

Oh, my gorgeous Glide-Ons, you’re always there for me, even when I treat you like 💩 poop. You deserve to be handled with kid gloves.

urban decay glide on eye pencil swatches — Current crushes

So, let me tell you why I ❤️ you so…

First, just when I’m ready to go all sad panda because I glance at the clock and realize that I don’t have any time left in my morning for eye makeup, your colors dance across my lids and lash lines like beams of light across the sky. These days, your neutral colors are my go-tos — basically, anything taupe, olive, gunmetal gold or bronze.

When I draw a swish on my upper and lower lash lines, followed by plenty of mascara, I actually don’t mind skipping eyeshadow. Ever since my semi-hooded lids situation started evolving into a full-on hooded lid sitch (such is life), complicated eyeshadow looks have become something of a pain, and it’s refreshing to not have to deal with precise placement and blending and making sure that everything looks even so I don’t walk outta the house with lids that look like garage doors…

Thanks to you, I just do a little liner, then peace out.

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