Urban Decay

What I Wore this Week: 3 Looks With the Urban Decay Naked Honey Eyeshadow Palette

September 20th, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

urban decay naked honey swatches — Playtime with this Queen Bee

Herald the trumpets, because I actually wore eyeshadow this week…repeatedly. 😂

I KNOW.

I wore the new Urban Decay Naked Honey Eye Palette a few times and was surprised by the variety of eye looks I was able to do with it. Before I tried to test its limits, I didn’t expect it to be as versatile as it turned out to be because there isn’t a ton of variation among the shades, but you can actually do a lot of different things with it!

Like…

Look 1: “Tropical vibes”

Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Naked Honey Eyeshadows in Sweet (lightly buffed all over the lid as a base), Hive and Drip (crease), Honey (lash line to crease)

Eyeliner: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Loaded (upper lash and water line), Heartless (inner corner), Ether (lower water line), Psychedelic Sister (lower lash line)

Mascara: It Cosmetics Lash Blow Out

Brows: NARS Brow Perfector in Komo, MAC Brow Set in Clear

Blush: Kosas Papaya 1972 High Intensity, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Give Me Sun

Foundation: MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Foundation Stick (as an all over base), Zoeva Authentic Skin in 200W Genuine (cheeks), Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation (around mouth)

Face Powder: Nada

Lipstick: MAC Love Me Lipstick in Let Them Eat Cake (purple lips); MAC Love Me Lipstick in French Silk (neutral lips)

Look 2: “Crimson and chocolate”

Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Naked Honey Eyeshadows in Swarm (lightly buffed all over lid as a base), Hive and Drip (crease), Sting (outer crease), HBIC (lash line to crease)

Eyeliner: MAC Teddy

Mascara: Chanel Dimensions de Chanel

Brows: NARS Brow Perfector in Komo, MAC Brow Set in Clear

Blush: MAC Fleur Power Blush buffed out with MAC Sun-Soaked Strip Bronzer

Foundation: MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Foundation Stick (as an all over base), Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation (cheeks and around mouth)

Face Powder: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden

Lipstick: MAC Love Me Lipstick in My Little Secret, MAC Lip Liner in Cherry

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The New Urban Decay Loose Powder Has a Brush With Convenience, What to Eat With Your Veggies, and Distracted Waxing

September 17th, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

urban decay ultimate brush off — A new way to get loose with Urban Decay

Do you ever skip loose powder because you don’t want to lug around an extra brush for touch-ups?

If so, I feel you… Also, Urban Decay’s new $34 Ultimate Brush Off Setting Powder might be of interest.

Bring your brush with ya

It comes with a synthetic flat-top kabuki brush attached to the lid, which makes it easy to dust a little on whenever and wherever you want.

It’s a demi-matte loose powder to set your makeup, blur pores and absorb oil and shine, and it’s available now at UD counters and online in five cruelty-free shades — Universal Translucent, Fair, Medium, Deep and Dark.

Speaking of new things… Well, new to me and my tummy!

Bolthouse Salsa Ranch Dressing is MAGIC. I picked it up at Target, and now I’m addicted.

bolthouse farm salsa ranch — A yummy, healthy snack

It’s funny to me that this is named “Salsa Ranch” because it isn’t spicy. It tastes like a blend of the best thousand island and ranch — a little tangy, a little sweet, and VERY tasty!

I like the Bolthouse dressings because they’re made from yogurt, and are consequently less calorically dense than most creamy dressings, so consequently I eat TONS of it, which I do with whatever vegetable I’m crushing on at any given moment. (It’s delish with snap peas!)

If you could use some extra motivation to eat your veggies, then you need what Connor calls “the pink ranch dressing” in your life.

OK, so I had a major upper-lip wax fail…

Please note that waxing your ‘stach while plumbers work on an underground water leak in your front yard is inadvisable. There’s a significant chance you’ll have low-grade anxiety because you don’t know if the plumbers will have to break open the concrete to access the leaky pipe, thereby causing the budget to skyrocket, and you could also end up with a sinkhole underneath your garage…
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The New Urban Decay Naked Honey Is a Sweet New Golden Eyeshadow Palette

September 6th, 2019 by Karen 23 Comments

urban decay naked honey open — Feelin’ the buzz

Oh, sugary golden brown nectar of the eyeshadow gods… I SEE YOU, URBAN DECAY. The hive’s buzzing 🐝 over Naked Honey, the brand’s newest Naked palette, a festoon of gilded golds, tantalizing tans and burnished bronzes, with none of those challenging-to-wear reds or orange reddish brown eyeshadows from the past few years in sight.

*Breathes sigh of relief*

Finally, a neutral palette that actually looks…kinda neutral. 🤷‍♀️

The $49 powdered shadow palette flies into Sephora stores and arrives online September 13th, and then a little later on September 23rd to ulta.com, macys.com, nordstrom.com and belk.com; and to Ulta, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Belk stores a few days later on September 26th.

Queen bees who crave toasty tones will probably like that it hums with warm shades, and I’m buzzing over all those golden browns!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Props if you can remember when MAC did Naked Honey first. 😉

P.P.S.

Adventures in Long-Lasting, Sweat-Proof Makeup (and a Shout-Out to Urban Decay)

August 13th, 2019 by Karen 13 Comments

long lasting makeup top — Anatomy of an (easy) long-wearing makeup look!

I wore makeup to the gym for the first time in forever yesterday (There was a reason… More on this in a sec.), and guess what? It led me to develop a list of go-to sweat-proof long-lasting makeup products that I know won’t budge an inch, even after an intense 60-minute HIIT class!

Not that I ever wear a full face when I exercise, but it never hurts to be prepared, right? At least now I know what to grab if Sydney Cummings ever asks me to do a workout video with her.

long lasting makeup products — The go-to gang

I think having a number of sweat-proof, water-proof products on hand is a good idea for people who do performances (dude, those stage lights are HOT), or if you’re going to be a guest at a destination wedding in a tropical locale, or if you’re going to Vegas to sit by the pool — basically, any situation where you know you’ll be sweating and you don’t want your brows/lashes/lips to melt off.

long lasting makeup before — The before pic: Let’s get sweaty!

Anyway, the reason this particular makeup challenge came about was because my HIIT teacher asked me to be the “member of the month” at the gym for September 2019.

Being member of the month entails having your picture taken, which will appear on a big ol’ poster in the middle of the gym (EEK), and answering some exercise-related interview questions.

long lasting makeup after — The after pic: Makeup after a 60-minute HIIT workout

We did the picture part during Monday night’s class, and that included some action shots of me sweating (and hopefully) looking somewhat cute with makeup on, even in that terrible overhead florescent lighting.

I used the least amount of product I could get away with because I didn’t want to be wearing layers and layers of heavy makeup. Also, most of the items I used were from Urban Decay, a line with a solid reputation for long-wearing makeup.

BROWS

I’ve noticed that filled-in brows make all the difference in pics, so I used Urban Decay Brow Blade Waterproof Pencil and Ink Stain in Dark Drapes to fill them in (pencil first, then the ink).

By the end of the workout, the drawn-in tail on my right brow had faded ever-so-slightly, which wasn’t surprising, really, with the amount of sweat that was pouring out of me, but both brows remained more or less intact.
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4 Ways to Work Your Favorite Colorful Eyeliner

August 8th, 2019 by Karen 22 Comments

Most days, I will gleefully wear neutrals on my lids (NEUTRALS 4 LIFE!), but there are still days when I just gotta get some color in the mix.

Will I frequently carve out 30 minutes for cray-cray eyeshadow gradients and intense layering and blending? Nah, but when I am pressed for time (which is daily, it seems), and I still need a color fix, I’ll grab a colorful eyeliner.

Purple, blue, green, gold, pink… Seriously, I feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I see those bright sticks, and one of the best things about colorful liner IMO (besides the endless choices!) is that you can go subtle OR bold with them.

Here are four ways to work colorful liner into your day, starting with two options that are more wearable, and ending with two that have more OOMPH.

In all of these pics, the colorful eyeliner I’m wearing is Urban Decay Mainline, a deep bluish green with a matte finish!

Look #1 (wearable): Liner layered beneath a neutral eyeshadow

This is a fab, facile way to work some color into your eye makeup. First, start by lining your bare lids with your eyeliner of choice, then blend a neutral eyeshadow (or eyeshadows) directly on top.

The result? A super subtle wash of color peeking through your upper lash line.

Look #2 (wearable): Layered liner with a tightline for a subtle gradient

For sightly more verve, tightline your upper lash line after layering your liner. Do it, and you’ll end up with a wink of color and a subtle gradient. 😉
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