Evening, hotties! Just when I thought I couldn’t get any lazier, I did. I had a major makeup revelation this week. A neutral shimmer shadow plus a lil’ bit of matte in the outer V led to my easiest day eye EVER. A whole new world of 10-minute looks has opened up before me, fo’ reals.

The combo I’ve worn for the past few days combines a champagne shimmer shade with a matte black. It feels breezy and work-friendly. To get the look I used makeup from Chanel, Dior, Laura Mercier and Lacome, as well as three just-released products from Clinique.

Clinique Me

• Colour Surge Eye Shadow Stay Matte in Midnight
• Defining Liner for Lips in Pomegranate
• <a href="http://www.clinique.com/templates/products/sp_shaded.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEGORY4894&PRODUCT_ID=PROD13612
  ">Blushwear Cream Stick in Very Blush

All are fun and easy to use. I’ll post detailed reviews soon, but for now let’s just say *me likey*.

The Products

Eyes

• MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer in NW 25
• A shimmery champagne eye shadow from Dior’s Iridescent Leather Palette
• Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Stay Matte in Midnight (a soft black matte)
• MAC Concrete eye shadow (a dark brown-black matte)
• Chanel Exceptionnel De Chanel Mascara in Smokey Noir
• Lancome Le Stylo Waterproof Eye Liner in Black

Lips

• Clinique Liner for Lips in Pomegranate (creamy matte berry)
• Clinique Glosswear lip gloss in Bamboo Pink (light pink with shimmer)

Face

• Chanel Teint Innocence SPF 10 Foundation in 50 Natural
• Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder
• Stila Sun Bronzing Powder in Shade 02
• Clinique Blushwear Cream Stick in Very Blush (violet)

Doing The Eyes

I like to prime my lids before applying eye shadow, so I started by dabbing MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer onto my lids with a concealer brush. Then, I swiped the shimmery champagne shadow from the Dior Iridescent Palette onto the entire lid with a flat eye shadow brush like the MAC 252 to create a neutral canvas upon which to work.

With a fine, pencil-tipped MAC 219 brush, I applied Clinique Midnight eye shadow on the outer third of the lid. In this step, I concentrated more color on the outer eye, which after blending helps with the smokey effect.
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© Karen for Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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It’s gonna be on like Donkey Kong when MAC’s Cult of Cherry collection arrives this fall. I’m gonna be all over those rich chocolates, purples and reds.

I think everything in the collection looks sophisticated and very wearable, and I’m FREAKING OUT over the beautiful color combos possible with each of the three quads.

MAC Cult of Cherry Quads

Spiced Chocolate Quad ($36)

• Nanogold: Sheer yellow pink with pink pearl (frost)
• Brash: Frosty reddish copper (veluxe pearl)
• Spiced Chocolate: Dirty deep reddish brown (matte)
• Sweet Chestnut: Frosted cranberry (frost)

Tempting Quad ($36)

• Next to Nothing: Sheer yellow beige with pink pearl (frost)
• Sharp: Frosty bright yellow gold (satin)
• Dark Edge: Dirty chocolate brown (satin)
• Tempting: Rich coco (lustre)

Shadowy Lady Quad ($36)

• Light Fall: Dirty light pink (satin)
• Smudge Violet: Frosty blackened lavender with multi-dimensional pearl (frost)
• Deep Truth: Very dark blue (frost)
• Shadowy Lady: Darkly veiled plum (matte)

MAC Cult of Cherry Lipsticks

And it doesn’t stop there. Don’t the lipsticks look divine?

• Crème Cerise: Sheer yellow taupe (lustre)
• Lightly Ripe: Sheer mid-tone pink (lustre)
• Russian Red: Intense bluish red (matte)
• “O”: Intense purplish red with metallic gold (frost)
• So Scarlet: Clean grape burgundy (amplified)

MAC rarely does wrong in my book. I love almost everything they release, but I’ve thought that several of their recent collections have been more geared toward a younger, teen audience. While releases like Naughty Nauticals, Fafi and Dazzleglass were colorful and cheeky … hot pinks, glittery glosses and teal blue eye shadows may be a bit too TRL for some.

Don’t get me wrong — I lurve fun makeup colors, but I’ve been eager for MAC to release another collection with a slightly more polished, sophisticated feel.
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Read the rest of Coming Soon: MAC Cult of Cherry (150 words)

© Karen for Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds, 2008. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Nevique(TM), a newly founded skin care company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, is introducing their
revolutionary new Omega 3 skin care technology at the upcoming ECRM/EPPS Skin
and Bath conference in Houston, TX on August 5-8, 2008.  The Nevique(TM) skin
care line initially includes six (6) new patent pending lip balm formulas:  1)
Ultra Moisturizer, 2) Daily Conditioner, 3) Medicated Mint, 4) Wind+Weather,
5) Berry Sport, and 6) Nightime Lip Recovery, all which incorporate Omega 3
fish oil for its enhanced healing properties.  This will be Nevique(TM) LLC’s
first US product launch exposure of their Omega 3 Lip Balm Line, along with a
“sneak” preview of their upcoming Omega 3 sun-care line, Omega 3 acne
treatment line, Omega 3 anti-aging treatment line, and their Omega 3 body
lotion products scheduled for commercial release beginning 2nd Quarter 2009.
Every Nevique(TM) product has been carefully engineered with pharmaceutical
grade Omega 3 fatty acid (O3FA) complexes derived from North Atlantic fish
oil.  These allergen-free, protein-free and heavy-metal-contaminant-free fish
oil formulas have undergone successful customer testing, demonstrating
superior performance for conditions of dry, irritated and inflamed chapped
skin.

In addition, each Nevique lip balm model has been subject to detailed user
market study and consumer opinion follow-up, including interviews and surveys
further guiding each lip balm model’s targeted formulation goals.  These
consumer use follow-up tests have ensured that all of the Nevique formulas
meet and/or exceed the expectations of a broad spectrum of the target market
demographics. Nevique’s 100% all natural O3FA blended formulas derived from
fish oil have been tested effective in promoting visibly healthier and softer
skin, in addition to speeding the rate of healing of dry, irritated and
sensitive chapped lips.  Nevique(TM) exclusive Omega 3 lip balm formulas have
also demonstrated superior UVA and UVB sunscreen protection and moisture
retention during recreational activities, and outstanding customer
satisfaction on a level never experienced with a non-prescription therapeutic
lip balm product.

The Omega 3 Fatty Acids used in Nevique’s pleasant tasting lip balm
products include high levels of Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Omega 3 complexes, which are sourced entirely from
distilled pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Both EPA and DHA essential fatty acid
complexes are the only Omega 3 fatty acids known to provide significant skin
care health benefits in a broad spectrum of topical applications, as well as
soft tissue repair. Nevique(TM), with its patent pending technology, is one of
the first known skin care companies worldwide to employ the all natural
healthcare benefits of distilled pharmaceutical grade fish oil in a full range
of clinically effective skin care products.

At the upcoming EPPS Skin and Bath Conference in Houston, TX, Nevique will
be meeting with many of the largest and most important retailers and
distributors from across the country in the effort to bring their products to
the American Consumer in the months to come. Look for Nevique(TM) products in
a store near you beginning November 1, 2008.

Looks like the UPS guy won’t be the only dude at the office sporting shorts. The New York Times reports that more and more men are wearing shorts to work.

“FIRST came Casual Fridays, that dread episode in the history of fashion, with their invitation for men to trade in suits for Dockers and to swap a proper shirt and tie for an open neck and a daring flash of masculine décolletage.

Then the bare ankle migrated from country-club Saturdays to meeting-room Mondays and suddenly men, whether shod in wingtips or loafers, were widely seen without socks. Now it appears that, after some stops and starts in recent seasons, the men of the white collar work force are marching into the office in shorts.

It was no more than a moment ago, in the sartorial long view, that a guy who came to work wearing short pants would have been shown the door — or anyway, given the address for human resources at U.P.S. All that appears to be changing.”

I’m usually a supporter of workplace fashion freedom (wear what chu want, fool!), but I have only three words to say about this trend: OH. HELL. NO.

Some men have questionable taste when it comes to attire, and I don’t think I want to see my coworker’s hairy legs as he drones on and on about team-building and streamlined best practices. The kinds of guys who can get away with shorts at work are usually basketball stars, Abercrombie and Fitch models or guitarists for AC/DC.
<a href =”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/826911/” >What do you think about men who wear shorts to work?</a> <br/> <span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”> (<a href =”http://www.polldaddy.com”> polls</a>)</span>
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© Karen for Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds, 2008. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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ModiFace Inc., developer of online makeover applications that employ face-recognition technology, announced today that it is releasing embeddable versions of its popular HairMixer application (realistic hair-style simulation), as well as its LiftMagic application (virtual cosmetic surgery). These applications can be very easily integrated into partnering sites with all maintenance, load, and other operational details handled by ModiFace.

“The new widgets are fully-functional and customizable for the partner site,” remarked Lisa Leung, Director of Operations at ModiFace, Inc. “For example, for the hairstyling widget, website administrators and partner companies can upload and modify their own model hairstyles as often as they wish in order to offer whatever combination of hairstyles they desire.”
The hairstyling widget is based on the popular HairMixer application, which simulates what users would look like with virtually any hairstyle they can find on the web. A user can simply upload a high-quality frontal personal photo and choose the hairstyle that they would most like to have replicated. The application employs its unique face-recognition technology to coordinate the new hairstyle with the face represented in the original photo. The resulting simulation is a realistic representation of the photo’s subject wearing the desired hairstyle.

Additionally, ModiFace’s LiftMagic application, which simulates cosmetic surgery, is available in its widget form, the LiftMagic(TM) Facial Aesthetics Simulator (FAS). Similar to the original LiftMagic application, LiftMagic(TM) FAS allows users to visualize what their faces might look like after a face lift, lip augmentation, nose reshaping, weight reduction, or any combination of the four options. ModiFace has also released a Chinese version of the widget.
“LiftMagic(TM) FAS provides a realistic representation of the customer’s face after cosmetic surgery,” mentioned Leung. “For the Chinese version, we’ve also added an option to simulate eyelid surgery, a popular procedure in China.”
Along with the online widget line, ModiFace has developed a line of kiosks that the company will be placing inside clinics, malls, hair salons, fashion stores and other retail spaces across the U.S. and Canada. The kiosks take the customer’s picture directly, allowing the photo to be processed by any of ModiFace’s face-processing applications, including the widgets.

About ModiFace, Inc.
Founded in 2007 by University of Toronto professor Parham Aarabi, ModiFace Inc. utilizes advanced computer vision and image processing algorithms to visualize different facial operations including plastic surgery, facial aesthetic treatments and hairstyle changes. ModiFace’s patent-pending technologies empower consumers to redefine their images by automatically visualizing face enhancements, treatments and modifications. For more information about ModiFace, visit http://www.modiface.com.