BSB: Beauty news, makeup swatches and pictures, nail polish articles, makeup tutorials, product reviews, and how-to's from a MAC-trained makeup artist.

Spring '10: Bobbi Brown - Color Strips

So, first let's ask why blogs in places like The Netherlands (Lushious Beauty) and Sweden (Bjooti) get the scoop about so many beauty collections before anyone else does. I mean... I guess that was a weird comment to make, but I'd expect early info to fly out of NY or London first, right? But these blogs consistently scoop all of the other blogs out there. Kudos! (but seriously--- what's your secret, girls!?)

At any rate, Lushious Beauty proves that The Netherlands has it's finger on the pulse of the cosmetics world yet again when it breaks news of a new collection coming to us from Bobbi Brown this Spring.

It's called:

Color Strips

And here's the premise...

For those of you not familiar with the line, the Pot Rouges are fabulous multi-taskers, working well on both cheeks and lips. Bobbi's eyeshadows are almost without exception a well-milled, silky product that sleeks onto the skin and wears well.

The gimmick

You get a free palette when you buy one eyeshadow strip (5 shadows) and one Pot Rouge strip (3 products) from the collection. The top of the palette houses said shadows and the bottom (you guessed it!) is where you tuck the Pot Rouge trio.

You can choose one of 4 pre-made shadow strips and get to pick from 2 Pot Rouge strips (also premade). So, essentially you're not really customizing your own palette; you're buying a 5-pan shadow palette and a 3-pan Pot Rouge palette and Bobbi gives you a way to carry them around together.

The colors

I don't have the names of each shade yet, but here are the strip choices:

Eyes

Aquamarine:

Bonfire:

Orchid:

Petal:

Lips

Fresh Coral:

 

Fresh Pink:

Traditionally, Bobbi repromotes a few shadows and gives us a few new shades when she makes palettes. I'm not familiar enough with her line to know by looking at the pics above what's what. As for the Pot Rouges, the Fresh Coral shades are all new I think, or at least they don't resemble anything in the permanent line-up from what I can see.

Price

It seems you can break down a lot of the Bobbi Brown palettes to approximately $10 a pot, so let's figure the Pot Rouge strip for $30 or $35? And let's guess this strip of shadows will be about $40 - $50? That means you'll sink $70 or $80 bucks into this new system. Not bad if you're a Bobbi collector (since you're already immune to the prices already!) but pretty hefty for someone who hasn't used the line before.

Thoughts

I am not going to spend this (assumed price) for a palette, not because these shadows aren't stellar. They are! I'll pass mostly because I have so many shadows in my stash already. The real pisser is that I want those coral Pot Rouges! I'll be interested to see if they come in a stand-alone package that is semi-durable (so I can just buy the strip) or if we'll be obligated to buy one shadow strip and one rouge strip. If it's the former - you can bet you'll see a review coming of those corals. If it's the latter, you can bet I'll link you to some bloggers with better cash flow than I have so you can see their reviews! lol

What do you think about this sneak peek!?
Are you a Bobbi fan? Are you excited to see this?
Are you absolutely not impressed? Share with the class!

source

Nicole Ritchie goes even darker...

I'm not sure when this happened, and I'll be honest with you: I'm a little pissed she did this without telling me...

It's not like we're going to stop being friends or anything, but I mean how am I supposed to keep this blog up-to-date if she doesn't tell me when she changes her hair? She knows I write about this stuff! In fact, I already speculated that she was transitioning back to brunette, so a little validation would have been nice.

I thought we were tight.

source for images

Despite my ire, I quite like the look. I think the dark chocolate tone suits her. Do you?

Shoes I want.

source for these Jasper Conran-designed Doc Martens

Others I like...

By Levi Strauss. Love the grommets!

  By Warren Noronha (look close -the tiny little pastel pics are actually porn!)

See more here.

When did Barbie get so freakin' fierce!?

Note: Not all of the dolls pictured below are technically "Barbie dolls" but are similar... The Barbie^TM dolls are shown first.

Louboutin "Jewel Thief" Barbie:

(the 1st in a series of 3 Louboutin-inspired Barbies)

source

Harley mama and her Big Daddy...

____________________________________

Barbies don the fashion staple "LBD" in the Basics collection:

Add an accessory pack to personalize your own!

source

The freakin' Heidi Klum Barbie! LMAO...

source

source

____________________________________

More badass dolls...

source

 

source

source

source

source

source

source

________________________________

____________________________

I don't just want this doll...
I want to BE this doll!

And check this! She has hands you can swap-out depending on her look:



as do these:

source

If you haven't seen it yet: Proof that Victoria's Secret is photoshop!

Pretty cool breakdown of the Victoria's Secret image below and how much Photoshopping has gone on: here.

How natural is your makeup? Would you do THIS!?

Featured here:
Internet phenomenon Stevie Ryan (Twitter / YouTube as TheRealParis, StevieRyan, Ooolala),
GLOW cosmetics, and RAW Natural Beauty.

Who says boys don't wear polish?

You know The Ninja loves her some Adam Lambert,
but how could you not love a dude who so happily shows off his mani!?

source

Alice in Wonderland seen through OPI's eyes... and through the eyes of Michelle Mismas!

At the end of October, The Ninja (and the rest of the blogosphere) reported that OPI would be creating a collection to revel in the hullabaloo that is Tim Burton's Disney bonanza, Alice in Wonderland. Well, the time to purchase said collection is drawing neigh, and we've seen some swatches (!) and even some frankens* inspired by the Alice in Wonderland story.

*frankens = a homemade polish created by mixing other nail polishes and/or added ingredients like glitter or loose pigments; as in "frankenstein".

Let's review with our pictures of the collection, which includes a red creme, a red shimmer, and two glitters (one a blue, and the other a black-based multi-hued glitter):

Off with Her Red! – A glowing, empowering hot red
The Red Queen: Cruel ruler of Underland, she cuts off the heads of those who disagree with her. She would rather be feared than loved.

Absolutely Alice - An absolutely amazing blue glitter
Alice Kingsley: Beautiful but slightly off-kilter, sees the world differently than most. In the Rabbit Hole, she seeks to write her own destiny.

Mad as a Hatter – A madly marvelous black-multi glitter
The Mad Hatter: Formerly the White Queen’s hatter. Now, he is part of the Underland Resistance and driven to madness by guilt.

Thanks So Muchness! - For this ”much-have” red shimmer
And lastly…; As if the tale was not adventurous enough, one more shade to color your own Underland over and over.

Those pics looked tempting enough, but then The Ninja spotted these swatches by Michelle Mismas, of All Lacquered Up:

Images are property of and courtesy of All Lacquered Up.
Please visit her site for more swatches and her review!

As The Ninja is currently obsessed with two things (black glitter and white shimmer/glitter), clearly she will be snapping up Mad as a Hatter, which is basically hella sparkly and gorgeous! Like Michelle, The Ninja was completely underwhelmed with Absolutely Alice when viewing the promos, but the swatches make this polish another must-have! As for the reds, while pretty, The Ninja is gonna skip 'em, due to the sheer number of reds in her stash that don't get worn!

But swatching these isn't all that Michelle has been doing lately. She's a busy little beaver and was so inspired by the Alice idea that she thought to create a polish based on the Cheshire Cat! Take a little lookie:

Images are property of and courtesy of All Lacquered Up.
See more and learn how to create this polish yourself here!

Monday Musings | 12.27.09

Do you ask for and/or give
beauty products for holidays and birthdays?

Did you give / receive any this holiday season?

Giving

I don't really give too many beauty products for holidays and birthdays, mostly because I'm the only one I know with an Extreme Addiction. I have been known to buy a replacement perfume for someone from time to time, but I would never be so bold as to pick a new scent for someone! If I find one I think someone would like, I'd get a sample first. I do like the idea of Sephora's fragrance samplers (you buy a set of sample sizes "for her" or "for him" and after the recipient picks a favorite, he or she can take the included fragrance voucher to Sephora and trade it in for a full-sized version!

I always have spill-over products from the blog and I dole those out to people over the year, but I wouldn't usually buy someone a blush. Actually, scratch that! I did buy my best friend a bunch of cosmetics one Christmas. How rude! lol

Getting

I sure as heck ask for beauty products for Christmas and my birthday.  You betcha! I am really picky about clothes, and unless there's a particular item I can point my mom to, I tend to stay away for asking for wardrobe items. Ditto, shoes and music.

While I'm definitely persnickety about what makeup I use (I'm an admitted brand snob), I think it's easier to give to people on a list than clothes. In fact, my family and best friend use the blog as an ongoing shopping list for me, I think. ;)

It's (usually*) easy for people to pick up beauty items if you hand them the name of the product and describe which counter sells it, or point them to a website. I honestly prefer getting gift cards for MAC, Saks, Nordstrom, Macy's or Sephora, to be quite frank, but a fistful of gift cards is deemed un-fun by some people (with good reason, I suppose, but it is what I want!).

*see below

Holiday '09

I asked for quite a few things this year (nail polishes ranking pretty high on the list!), and also begged for a gift certificate to get a pedicure! YES! My dear daughters (via my hubby) fulfilled that last request and my hurtin' toes are thankful!

As for the rest of my requests, it was a comedy of errors! My mom tried to order me some nail polishes but got blown off by the vendor. Then, MAC Pro hassled her (SHAME ON THEM!) and she thought BPAL swallowed her order an spit it out, but the oils did show up. Funnily, my husband ordered the same 2 scents for me, so YAY: auto-back-ups of Spooky and Hod! The rest remains to be seen... I'm celebrating another Christmas on Tuesday.

So how 'bout you?

Jump down the rabbit hole and check this out, ya'll!

Happy Birthday to me!

Alice and Wonderland + Tim Burton + Johnny Depp + Disney
March 5th, 2010

watch the official trailer here.

But I don't have to wait. Oh no, I do not! The beauty world is helping me get ready by pitching in some goodies...

Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows

What!? I fell over when I heard about this. Urban Decay are gods, and the Book of Shadows is a stunning palette. I skipped BOS II this holiday season, and maybe that was a great decision because I can justify picking this one up! 

Let's let the pictures talk, first:

thank you to BritishBeautyBlogger for the images

Now take a look at those shadow colors.
New names for sure.  New shades, though!?
Curiouser and curiouser!

Debuts in March, from what I have heard,
though some sources said the end of December--- they seem to be wrong.

________________________________

OPI Alice in Wonderland collection

Off with Her Red! – A glowing, empowering hot red
The Red Queen: Cruel ruler of Underland, she cuts off the heads of those who disagree with her. She would rather be feared than loved.

Absolutely Alice - An absolutely amazing blue glitter
Alice Kingsley: Beautiful but slightly off-kilter, sees the world differently than most. In the Rabbit Hole, she seeks to write her own destiny.

Mad as a Hatter – A madly marvelous black-multi glitter
The Mad Hatter: Formerly the White Queen’s hatter. Now, he is part of the Underland Resistance and driven to madness by guilt.

Thanks So Muchness! - For this ”much-have” red shimmer
And lastly…; As if the tale was not adventurous enough, one more shade to color your own Underland over and over.

I'll need to check out Mad as a Hatter, since I'm completely obsessed with black glitter polishes at the moment!

Katy Perry has a new 'do?

Have I been snoozing, or is this a new (longer) hairstyle for singer/songwriter/Russell Brandaholic Katy Perry? I call extensions, but maybe I haven't seen it down in awhile? Whatever the case may be, I like her best with hair that's about shoulder-length...

What do you think?

source

Collections The Ninja is eyeing-up...

Barielle's Spring '10 collection: Wildflower

Darling Dahlia, Blossom, Myrza's Meadow, Snap Dragon, A Bouquet For Ava and June Bug

image and info courtesy of Scrangie

NOTE: The avocado green and the robin's egg blue are glitters!!

Visit Scrangie's site for close-up bottle shots
and see Michelle's swatch of Junebug (the blue glitter) at All Lacquered Up.

The Ninja wants the glitter shades!

___________________________________________

The Nubar Spring collection is called Prisms
and they're holos!

WoOt!

Images are courtesy of LacquerLaine

The first 4 are glitters, and the second set of 4 are shimmers.

Glitters: Prize, Essence, Gem, Jewel
Shimmers: Spark, Brilliant, Treasure, Absolute 

Polish or Perish has swatches here and here.
LacquerLaine has swatches here.

___________________________________________

Merry Christmas from Beauty School Blog!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for being here.

I hope you have a great day
and a great New Year!

xoxo

*jen

• The evolution of Elves
• Angry Santa Kitties
• Evil Santa generator
• Christmas decorations for your chain link fence!

 

 

knitted Christmas tree!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas, from The Nail Ninja!

WOW:

source

source above and below

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

 

source

source

source

source

Your mani is boring (Christmas edition)

source

Alyssa Milano gets Shore'd

I'm a huge fan of Alyssa Milano, but she can't say the same for MTV's Jersey Shore, the controversial show featuring self-titled "guidos" and "guidettes" from New Jersey.

However opposed she is to their portrayal of Italian Americans, she still pitched into the frenzy by participating in a Guidette Makeover...

Alyssa Milano's Evolution: Jersey Shore from Alyssa Milano

source

Cute and funny...

But I want to know: Is this ok? If you really object to this portrayal of Italian American's, then why would you "support" it by mimicking it? What do you think?

Kelly Osbourne is...

... adorable!

source

Aromaleigh - A neutral butterfly?

If you thought all butterflies are brightly colored show-offs, think again! I used neutrals from Aromaleigh's Les Papillons ("The Butterflies") collection to do my LOTD, and chose some not-so-brights to do so.

By the way:

TODAY (Dec. 21, 2009) ONLY, THIS COLLECTION IS 50% OFF!

Shop Les Papillons here. Now!

I found the butterfly at the top of this post after doing my makeup! Oddly, I found a picture that has most of the colors I used, but I was just putting together shades I liked rather than trying to match a pic.

Kinda boring looking from afar - and in pictures - but really it's quite dimensional and pretty! Still very work-friendly and wouldn't scare your grandma at your holiday dinner!

Face

Super easy!

1. Prep skin with moisturizer and primer.
2. Correct undereye circles with a peach or pink product, as per your skintone (an old MAC product that has been discontinued and didn't really do the trick anyway!).
3. Apply foundation (Armani LSF).
4. Apply concealer to any blemishes / flaws not covered by foundation.
5. A soft-bright blue-pink blush goes on the apples of the cheeks today (MAC Dame).

 

Eyes

1. Prep with primer of your choice (MAC Paint Pot in Painterly).
2. Dampen an eyeshadow brush and press a silver-taupe onto the lid.
   In this case I used the most beautiful nude I have seen in forever (and that's saying a lot!): Aromaleigh's Earthly Delights.
3. Using the same brush, re-dampened, press a bronzey brown into the crease, then sweep back and forth while pulling the brush up towards the brow to diffuse and soften the color.
   I used Aromaleigh's Thalia's Return, a oh-so pretty dimensional bronze.
4. Pops of color are needed! Pat a melon / orange shade into the inner 1/3 of the crease and then sweep upwards and towards the center of the eye area a bit, blending it into the bronze. Be careful not to get it on the lid!
   Monarch butterfly orange did the trick, courtesy of Aromaleigh's Spread Your Wings.
5. Why use a boring liner when you can use GOLD!? I dampened an eyeliner brush before pulling gold pigment across the lower lashline and up around the tear duct (only a bit!).
   Color of choice: Aromaleigh's Golden Chrysalis.
6. I used concealer to highlight the brow bone.
7. I applied a black gel liner to the top and bottom waterlines.
   Bobbi Brown's black gel liner via her stellar eye liner brush!
8. Mascara on the lashes, of course.
   Chanel Inimitable.
9. Filled in the brows.
   Some Chanel thingy.

 

 

Lips

I busted out of the lipgloss-only rut! 

1. Lip pencil.
   MAC Plum (of course!).
2. Lipstick - plum.
   Smashbox PhotoFinish Lipstick in Glamourous. (review coming soon!)
3. Lipgloss - deep berry-pink with pink and silver shimmer.
   Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Spark. (review coming soon!)

Get Tara Reid's Playboy look!

 

Here's how to get the look:

1. 
   
   
   

   order here.

Think you're Dita's #1 Fan? Think again...

How cute is this!?

source