The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

Ah, sweet sleep, most hallowed of activities, how I love thee! Good morning, girl. 🙂 Happy Sunday. How’s it going this morning?

I’ve been a little busier than usual the past couple of days, trying to spend some quality time hanging out with my in-laws, but yesterday they left Tabs and I home for a few hours to play with MAC Venomous Villains (YAY!) while they went to visit the towns of Mill Valley (where I used to live), Sausalito and San Rafael.

Sausalito is nestled up against the northern coastline of the Golden Gate, at the base of Marin County. It’s a beautiful town, especially on sunny summer days, with a quaint shopping district and panoramic views of San Francisco off in the distance across the Bay.

So pretty…

View of San Francisco from Sausalito, California

What’s on your agenda today? Are there any new movies out? I’m in the mood for a good movie…

Before you go, did you have a favorite new beauty product or collection this week? What do you think of Venomous Villains? I’ve been such a huge lifelong fan of Disney art and animation that I think I was predisposed to it, ha!

NARS BEAUTIFUL LIFE
LIP AND CHEEK PALETTE

The universe is filled with things I do not understand, things like Justin Bieber fever, Crocs, and why NARS chose not to include a lip brush in the Beautiful Life Lip and Cheek Palette ($55).

At first blush, it looks like a traveler’s makeup dream come true — compact, cute, with a convenient zippered case. The included mirror works well for on-the-go touchups, and by leaving out powder products (it comes with four lipsticks and two cream blushes), NARS eliminated annoying product cross pollination (when your powders spill all over your cream products). So smart!

They thought of everything — almost. I know NARS doesn’t usually include brushes with their palettes, but I wish they would have found room in this one for a lip brush. Beautiful Life is just so obviously designed for travel; a brush would have been a great addition. Of course, I’m a stickler when it comes to packaging. Read more…

WET N WILD
COLOR ICON TRIO EYESHADOWS

Wet n Wild’s been setting drugstore aisles on fire lately! If you liked their Icon Eyeshadow Singles (I thought they were the bee’s knees), take a look at these $3 Color Icon Eyeshadow Trios.

They’re available in six palettes of three matching shadows each — enough to use a different shade on the eyelid, in the crease and along your brow bone.

Because Wet n Wild did the color matching for us, these should help make tough mornings a little easier to bear.

I’ve been using two of the trios lately — Cool as a Cucumber and On Cloud Nine — and despite their diminutive size, I’m still finding a lot to love.

I think these shadows are great, but Wet n Wild could take ‘em next level with a minor tweak. They’re not quite as easy to blend as the Icon Singles are (as far as I can tell), and I had to work my brushes back and forth a wee bit more than I would have liked to achieve seamless color. It’s a relatively minor quibble and one I’ll happily overlook on account of the price — basically a dollar per pan. Read more…

STOP COMPARING
YOURSELF TO OTHERS

Your best friend just bought an expensive new luxury car; all of a sudden, your ride looks kinda clunky by comparison.

One of your roommates just got into an Ivy League grad school program; now your day job feels like a total dead end.

Do you ever feel like you’re just standing still while everyone else in your life is hurtling toward a phenomenal and fantastic future?

Welcome to the land of comparing yourself to others.

It can be a dreadful place, and I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been a resident a multitude of times. Read more…

DOLCE & GABBANA
CARAMEL LIPGLOSS

Calling all nudists! Before you strip off your Gap baby T, please note that I’m talking about nudists, as in nude lips, not, um…actual nudists. 🙂

If you love a nude lip look, let Dolce & Gabbana’s new Caramel Ultra Shine Lipgloss ($30), released with the Sicilian Lace Collection for fall, whet your appetite. This creamy, medium-weight warm beige feels slightly sticky on my lips (but not as sticky as a MAC Lipglass) and has a light rose scent (it is unflavored, though).

I get about two and a half hours of color from Caramel when I wear her all by her lonesome. I bet she’d also look divine layered on top of a favorite nude lip liner, too… Can you imagine? — with sooty black smokey eyes? Read more…

BUTTER LONDON
FALL/WINTER 2010

You know, it’s true what they say — butter makes everything better. Even tips and toes!

Like colorful little versions of butter on toast, these new Butter London Fall/Winter 2010 polishes ($14 each) are mighty satisfying.

Known for sassy packaging and their “three free” nail polish formula (no formaldehyde, toluene or phthalate), Butter London cooked up four new filling shades for fall/winter.

For the color story, Creative Director Nonie Creme drew from a mix of modern and classic British influences, combining a dash of the old with a splash of the new. Her goal: fashion forward colors with an edge.

Holographic All Hail McQueen, a shimmery ode to fashion legend Alexander McQueen (*pours forty*), and Bumster, a creamy ochre yellow, pay homage to the designer’s low-slung, booty-crack exposing pants, which shocked sidewalks (and the entire fashion world) back in 1996. Read more…

DOLCE & GABBANA
NAIL LACQUER IN PERFECTION

First nude lips, now nude nails? — there’s a lot of nekkidness going on at Dolce & Gabbana makeup counters this fall.

Do you ever wear nude nails? If you do, what’s your favorite product/color?

Most nude nail parties feature hues based on pinks or peach, but Nail Lacquer in Perfection ($20), the lone lacquer in D&G’s six-piece Sicilian Lace collection for fall, is all about the beige.

Warm and creamy, it applies thick and dries to a high-shine finish…in about 90 minutes (!). Yep, this Perfection takes time, but that’s what hot tea (for me) and quick dry nail drops (for nails) are for.

I bet Perfection would be, um, perfect for elegantly understated nail looks, but $20 seems like a lot for something this subtle. Read more…

BECCA CREAM
BLUSH

You know how there’s always that ONE ANNOYING PERSON who gets to the bus stop a few seconds late? The one who yells, “Wait! Wait!” as the bus pulls away from the curb? Yeah, that person would be me.

There aren’t a lot of positives to being perpetually late for public transpo, but there is at least one: blushed cheeks.

Sadly, it’s the kind of blush that only lasts a few minutes, but Becca may have a longer term solution. Too bad their Becca Creme Blush wasn’t available back when I was regularly missing riding the bus to school.

Of course, all 11 natural-looking shades aren’t exactly built with student budgets in mind ($30), but I probably would have eaten ramen noodles every day for a week (been there, done that) to be able to splurge on one of these pans. Read more…

GIVENCHY LE PRISME
EYESHADOW IN EGERIE

After I finished freaking out over the cost of the new Givenchy Le Prisme Eyeshadow Quartet in Khaki Egerie ($56), I stepped back from the mirror and thought, “Now THAT’s what I’m talking about.”

I swear these colors make my eyes glow!

Givenchy just added it and five other quads to their permanent line, each promising highly pigmented, enduring colors, and if Khaki Egerie’s any indication of what the other quads have to offer, all of them probably warrant closer inspection.

The major selling point for me — besides the rich pigmentation and sumptuous shimmer — has to be the near absence of fallout. It’s minimal (just a tiny spec or two beneath my lower lash line and cheeks)… The soft, finely milled powders adhere to my lids without creasing or settling into my wrinkles fine lines, and they blend CRAZY good, too. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen