A little sleepy so far this morning, but I’m trying to get myself in gear. I have a warm mug of green tea beside me, and it sounds like the toaster just dinged with my toast, so that should help.
How are you doing this morning? Did you get enough sleep? I think I stayed up a little too late, and I’m paying for it now. I probably shouldn’t have started watching HBO’s Game of Thrones at 10. Bad idea. At midnight I still wasn’t tired at all.
Have you seen the show? I was fairly lost through the first episode (what’s a White Walker?), but I love the political dynamics and horror movie/sword & sorcery feel — like Legend of the Seeker if it mated with HBO’s Rome. 🙂
Did you have a good week? What was your favorite part?
The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed
DRUGSTORE LIPGLOSS NIRVANA FOR LESS THAN $3 WITH THE
NYC NEW YORK COLOR LIQUID LIPSHINES
Today El Hub found out about my affair.
It had been going on since way back in 2006. That’s when I met the Sally Hansen Diamond 12-Hour Lip Treatments while cruising the aisles at Walgreens one afternoon for a pick-me-up after a really tough day.
There they were, non-sticky and pigmented, with a wear time that lasted for hours and hours…
What can I say? It just happened. When I saw they were a mere $6, I was willing to throw everything away. They were the closest thing to drugstore lipgloss nirvana I had ever seen.
But I’m not going to say I would have done it all again. No way. What I should have done is hold out for the NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshines I met last week. Read more…
EOS SHAVE CREAM IN VANILLA BLISS
SHAVES HAIR AND A FEW MINUTES EVERY TIME
My BFF Cindy is a practical girl, and lawd she knows me well. Fed up with me arriving late to our homegirl dates, she gave me an ultimatem after the last time, threatening to take away my lipgloss if I ever did it again.
Got. My. Attention.
With horror like that hanging over my head, I was extra careful to set aside enough time to get ready last Friday before our ballet date.
I was ahead of schedule when I finished my hair and makeup, so I pulled up Google Images on my computer to take a really quick break. “shirtless channing tatum” [ENTER]
When I bolted back to consciousness 15 minutes later, I was, as usual, running late. “No problem,” I told myself in a soothing voice. “Lots of time.” And then I glanced down at my legs and noticed — WHOA! — a thicket of fur on my shins (enough to make a full-length coat). Read more…
MAC UNSUNG HEROES
TEDDY EYE KOHL
I firmly believe that life’s too short to waste it wearing boring brown eyeliners (or, on an unrelated note, wearing shoes in summertime).
Today’s inductee in the hallowed halls of MAC Unsung Heroics is called Teddy, and when it comes to boring, he’s anything but. Teddy’s a MAC Eye Kohl ($14.50) pencil, an intensely rich, dark bronzy brown with subtle golden shimmer, and it’s that shimmer that takes Teddy from the bored-room to the bedroom best room (haha! oops, bad pun).
I think I use Teddy almost as often as MAC Powersurge. It’s one of those colors that always seems appropriate, day or night, and it totally hits the spot when I want to draw extra attention to my eyes, but don’t feel like wearing basic black. Read more…
A NARS SUMMER 2011 FACE OF THE DAY
INSPIRED BY TABS THE CAT AND HIS PRETTY GREEN EYES
Tabs woke me up early this morning and then insisted that my makeup today pay homage to him (what a diva!). Refusing his requests usually leads to scratches, so I reached for one of his current collection crushes, NARS Summer 2011, and told him I would “see what I can do.”
I built the look with two things in mind — 1) Tabs’ pretty green eyes, and 2) the word “Mixey,” one of his many nicknames (a shortened version of Meow Mix).
Green crops up a few times throughout the NARS Summer 2011 collection, and I tried to really incorporate it into this look, mixing some different colors together.
Unlike my look last week using the Stila Stunning in Sayulita palette, the green here isn’t as obvious or BAM! It’s a subtler hint of green. Read more…
MAC SURF BABY COLLECTION
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
You asked some great questions in the comments on last week’s first MAC Surf Baby pictures post, and I thought it might be helpful to try and answer them here.
The collection breaks onto beaches makeup counters May 26 in North America (internationally, this month).
Q: How are the Skin Sheen Bronzer Sticks used?
A: Are you familiar with the NARS Multiples? These Skin Sheens are kinda like thicker, stickier versions of those (basically, like a cream bronzer). They’re more pigmented, though, so a little goes a really long way.
I generally use the non-shimmery shades, Billionaire Bronze and Tan-Tint, for contouring and to add a bit of color to my forehead and cheeks, which are parts of my face that tend to really darken when I tan. As for the shimmery color, Gilty Bronze, I like to use it as a highlighter, wearing it on my upper cheek bones, brow bones and down the bridge of my nose.
To apply the Skin Sheens, I usually swipe a synthetic skunk brush like the MAC 188 across the top of the stick and then apply the product to bare skin or atop a liquid foundation/tinted moisturizer. Fingers work great, too, but I find that a skunk brush deposits a great amount of color — neither too little nor too much — and blends the product well, so it doesn’t look obvious or streaky. Read more…
WELCOME TO THE OFFICES OF URBAN DECAY COSMETICS
WHERE WONDERLAND MEETS NEWPORT BEACH
At one point on my quick trip to Southern California this week, I must have taken my eyes off the sidewalk in front of me for a moment (oops!), because before I knew it, I’d fallen into a rabbit hole…
And this wasn’t just any rabbit hole. Nope, it was a magic one that transported me to Newport Beach and the offices of the largest independently owned color cosmetics company in the United States.
Despite appearances, this quiet, unassuming gray building nestled on a side street in Newport Beach isn’t an accountant’s office or a place that makes frames. It’s actually the offices of Urban Decay.
Sweet carnival of chroma, batgirl! The outside belies the pageantry of purple taking place inside these walls. The interior is a cornucopia of color (I never would have guessed it from the building’s facade). Read more…
MAC UNSUNG HEROES
MAC CLEAR LIPGLASS
Kissed by the same shining light that blessed that pair of Manolo Blahnik patent-leather Mary Jane heels you’ve been coveting since forever, MAC Clear Lipglass ($14.50) makes other clear glosses question their line of work.
With wear time I can only characterize as supernatural, MAC Clear Lipglass outlasts them all. I applied it once before a marathon shopping day at a four-level mall (I was looking for a new bikini… Lipgloss always seems to ease the pain of seeing myself jiggling from all angles in the fitting room), and six hours later it was still going strong. When it comes to longevity, this is one lipgloss that does not mess around.
It even feels serious on my lips (even through MAC’s trademark light vanilla taste and scent), like it came to throw down. The thick, sticky texture gives it great wear time, but it’s a turnoff for some (I kinda love it though).
MAC Clear Lipglass is my favorite clear gloss, and just like a pair of black patent-leather pumps, it works in so many ways. Read more…
THE LONG AND SHORT OF THE NEW BUXOM
AMPLIFIED LASH MASCARA
When the wands started oscillating, I thought I’d seen it all. After the whole vibrating/spinning mascara brush trend (so 2008!), what else could one possibly do with a basic mascara brush? Wait — I know. They could fashion one into the shape of a medieval flail, hi-ya!
But that wasn’t the end of innovation for the mighty mascara wand. Buxom’s Amplified Lash Mascara ($22), a Sephora exclusive, comes with a new twist (literally).
Available in just a single shade called Loud Black, it’s designed to thicken, lengthen and separate lashes. That’s all well and good, but I think the brush is what really sets it apart. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before. By twisting a little knob on the end of the wand, right where you hold it, you can expand and contract the length of the brush part about a quarter of an inch. The different lengths, says Buxom, create different lash effects. Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Oh, I’ve really missed a lot this week! Need to go and catch up on everything)
Antonia at Swedish Love Affair recently posted … To relax and do nothing
Hi Antonia,
Hope you’ve been having a nice weekend. What’s new with you?
I wish I had HBO. That series is based straight from George RR Martin’s books, the first being Game of Thrones. Excellent reading. I was a good girl and walked out of Sephora with ONLY the stuff I went in to get. (pats self on back) I really want to try the new Urban Decay Cannonball waterproof mascara, but I’m going to wait for some reviews…..
Hi Betty,
Happy Sunday! What did you end up getting from Sephora?
Speaking of Cannonball mascara, I’ve been wearing it all weekend. It’s great at holding the curl.
Urban Decay shadow pencil in Wasteland and my staple, UD eyeliner in Rockstar. My husband said, “that’s all?” I could have used that as a prompt to go ahead and get something else, but I was a good girl and stuck with my meager pickings. I am tempted to try some products from Korres; my skin is very sensitive and I am hoping the more natural products will help.
LOVE Rockstar (totally makes brown eyes pop). And good for you for staying on task at Sephora. That’s something I’m working on…
I’ve tried a couple of things from Korres and while some of them have been misses, I have found a few really great things — the Milk Proteins Cleanser and the Quercitin and Oak Eye Cream are great. I’ve probably gone through four bottles of the eye cream. It absorbs quickly, doesn’t sting my eyes, delivers lots of moisture and layers well beneath makeup. 🙂
i re-read the Urban Decay visit … i really love how their office looks from the inside. perfect counterpoint to the outside!
I love that the furkids can come to work, too. Can you imagine? Mojo would have a grand ol’ time!
in my office, we used to take care of a couple of strays that became office kitties.
my co worker ended up taking them home so they can keep his wife company. i miss them! <3
Oooh, I love Game of Thrones. But I agree, the first episode was difficult to get in to. I think because they had to introduce all these characters and story lines. But now I’m hooked. I even bought the books and so far everything in the show is pretty much EXACTLY the same as the books.
Today the boy and I are going to his Dad’s for Sunday dinner. He’s making ribs (which I love), but they bake them, not grill them. C’mon, BAKING ribs?! I live in Texas for goodness sake- ribs are MEANT to be grilled! 😛 I hope the rest of your Sunday is great Karen!
Jessi recently posted … Week 6- Shopping my Stash for Untried Polish- Sally Hansen Mystic Lilac
I am enjoying Game of Thrones. I don’t have HBO at home so I just watch it from the internet shortly after the broadcast anyway. They actually showed who the White Walkers were in the opening sequence of the show. The white walker they showed was a human looking girl that has very pale skin and pale blue eyes. Very vampire like, but without fangs. A very similar vibe to the vampire girl in the Swedish movie Let the Right One In. The White Walker is very quiet, stealth and violent. It sneak up on some of the Night Walkers killed and decapitated them. From my understanding the Night Watchers of the Wall are supposed to protect the North from these creatures and etc beyond the wall. That is all I got from the first episode because the show didn’t mention any other details about their origins. I also really enjoy The Borgias on Bravo. Do you follow that as well?
amy recently posted … A Shocking Summer- American Apparel Neon Nail Lacquers Summer 2011
I love George R. R. Martin’s books! A Game of Thrones is one of my fave book of all time (I’ve read it at least 6 times…)! I’m currently commuting to a friend’s house every week to watch the series, it’s quite good! If you have the time to invest (and love epic fantasy), the books are really worth reading! The next one is scheduled to come out on July 12! (!!!) Heh. I’m such a fangirl!