Archive for the ‘Makeup’ Category

I still haven’t recovered from last week’s beyond beyond beyond episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and the super-scary psychic lady with the electronic ciggie and fishbowl-sized martinis. But I have to give props where props are due. And that would be to Kyle for her lightning-fast (but expert!) pre-party smokey eye.

Unlike my immediate love for Lisa of the Louboutins, and my visceral gag-reflex response to Camille, I’m on the fence about Kyle as a person. But Kyle as a DIY makeup artist? Brava!

Though my own eyes are no great shakes, apart from applying a ring of black liner – and grooming that irksome bald patch with my precious Tarte Brow Mousse – I don’t use much war paint on them on a daily basis. Not even mascara, unless I’m going somewhere fairly schmancy. And it’s not like I don’t need mascara, because I kinda do. Like my brows, my lashes are slowly going AWOL, and could desperately use a little TLC.

(But no Rx fix for me; prescription lash-growth products sound like quite the dodgy proposition, thank you very much…)

So, if I have virtually no brows and no lashes left to speak of – I’m exaggerating, but not wildly – I think it behooves me to get with the eyeshadow program again, yes? To that end, I just went hunting in my (in)famous Beauty Armoire for one of the eight-million eyeshadow kits I’ve been hoarding over the years. I must have known I’d need them at some point…

Within seconds of searching, I unearthed a really good one: Big Beautiful Eyes from Benefit. Granted, it’s not cheap. But it is practical, because it’s got a fat pan of the company’s super-popular Boi-ing concealer along with three shadows (base, contour and liner) and two teensy-weensy brushes.

The best part: A paint-by-numbers-y application chart that even I, a Real Housewife of Jersey City, can wrap my feeble mind around.

Though it pains me to admit it, given how many candles blazed like a forest fire on my last birthday cake, I’m not exactly the target audience for mark makeup. Still, I’ve always really liked it, even if it’s a club with a “Keep Out, Old Lady” sign tacked to the front door. For starters, the prices are terrific. And those “hook ups,” which allow you to customize your lip and eye products and streamline your makeup bag, are pretty genius.

Thus, after attending a beauty event last week, I was happy to find a few mark items in my goody bag, including a highlighter dubbed touch & glow Shimmer Cream Cubes All-Over Face Palette. It features nine gorge colors in teensy weensy blocks, which you’re supposed to apply with a “kabuki” brush. (If you’re wondering what the hell that is, it’s basically just a short, squat version of a big fluffy powder brush, and it’s great for depositing color in a controlled fashion. I love the retractable one by Eco Tools.)

In theory, I heart highlighters, because I think a dash of shimmer is really sexy. But I have a tendency to go a bit crazy, sweeping it all over my mug until I look like the pre-fab Christmas tree section of the Frontgate catalog. (Can we just “sidebar” for one sec, and discuss how swoony the Frontgate catalog is? Every time it arrives, I want to move right into those imaginary living rooms and never leave…)

But back to highlighters. I just consulted one of my all-time favorite beauty bibles – The Power of Makeup by Trish McEvoy — about the optimal use of these advanced beautifiers. And I quote: “A shimmer or luminizer gives the skin a translucent sheen. It can be applied with blush or mixed with foundation for a dewy, radiant finish. Again, apply a shimmer only where you’re naturally shiny, such as on upper cheekbones and under the brow bones.”

Take it from Trish. She knows what she’s talking about.