Wearing Dolce & Gabbana Bouquet Collection Lipgloss in Raspberry on my lips

I have a confession to make… I had a blast wearing that crazy blue lipstick around the house yesterday, but I didn’t have the guts to wear it out in public.

I know! Me — the gal who’s always bugging you to try new colors and break out of your comfort zone. Well, I tried to take my own advice, but I only made it as far as the garage.

Yep, there I was, sitting in the car with the engine warming up, and me in my blue lips, when I succumbed to the urge to check myself in the rear-view mirror.

“Holy crap, Karen!” I said to my cerulean self. “You look bat sh*t cray.”

It was bad enough that the errand I intended to run already involved me having to do something of potential embarrassment in rush-hour traffic (stay tuned for tonight’s post!), but the blue lips just took it to a whole new level.

I mean, I’m all for trying new things when it comes to makeup — why not, right? It washes off — but sometimes the desire to feel pretty trumps my cosmetics curiosity.

Good thing I always keep makeup wipes in the car (you never know when you’ll get the urge to swatch).

After I wiped my blue lips clean, I went rutting around in my purse for something else to wear, and the new Dolce & Gabbana Bouquet Lipglosses were the first things to catch my eye.

I’ve been wearing these sheer, softly shiny glosses ($29 each) a lot lately to balance out looks with bold/smokey eyes.

Lipglosses from the top to bottom: Acqua (repromote), Raspberry (new), Innocence (repromote), Shimmer (repromote) and Pink Diamond (repromote), $29 each

Swatches from the left: Innocence, Raspberry, Shimmer, Pink Diamond and Acqua

Pink Diamond

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There’s something very soothing about these six new Dolce & Gabbana Nail Lacquers from the limited edition Bouquet Collection, isn’t there? How they look all pastel and springy, like a row of Jordan Almonds, Easter eggs or frosted mini-cupcakes…

Yum.

I’m wearing three coats in the swatches below (because they looked a little streaky after two).

Rose Petal

Lemon

Mint

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Wearing Dolce & Gabbana Eyeliner in Acqua

Happy vernal equinox, fellow weather watcher! It’s official. Spring is in the air. Bring on the flowers, the pollen, the unbidden allergies. Zyrtec, my trusty steed, come hither! Winter hath ended, and it’s time to…

…update my makeup and wardrobe for spring. It being that time and all, I’ve been contemplating ways to incorporate different springy themes into the mix, and this outfit in Nordstrom’s February catalog got me thinking about florals:

HEART! The pants, especially. The muted tones say to me, “Yes, Karen, I’m dressing for spring, but I’m also a grownup.” They’re flowery, but not in a bunny rabbits and Cadbury Creme Eggs kind of way, ya know? And I think the denim jacket and white top give the outfit a vintage feel.

I bet it’ll look lovely with makeup from the new Dolce & Gabbana Bouquet collection, which, by the way, makes me feel like this:

Sophia Loren = the hotness!

Have you seen this spring/summer launch yet? It’s still pretty new (just recently arrived at Saks), and has some eyeliners, a quad, some lipglosses and six rainbow polishes.

Since I started playing with it last week, I’ve grown quite attached; it could be one of my favorite Dolce & Gabbana launches to date.

The collection combines floral, Italian and 1950s themes for a retro vibe that’s flirty and fun. The color palette picks from lilacs, roses, some vivid shades of fruit, and the concept of summers in Southern Italy.

Yeah, that’s some pretty great sources of inspiration right there.

I can really see the different themes play out among the six Eyeliners ($29 each) in the collection as I’ve worn them over the past few days.

Man, talk about soft! When Dolce & Gabanna first launched their liners, the pencils felt stiff to me, but these? — these feel great! I don’t know if they changed the formula, but these sure seem to glide better than the earlier versions.

Crayon Intense Eyeliners in Shimmer (repromote), Lilac (repromote), Agave (repromote), Lemon (new), Acqua (new) and Mint (new), $29 each

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Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, and that means two things: 1) that today is St. Patrick’s Day Eve, and 2) that I get to be Irish tomorrow, thanks to El Hub and the Irish Proximity Effect. He says that because he’s one quarter Irish, I get to be part Irish by proximity for 24 hours.

And I plan to put that time to good use.

For some folks, St. Patty’s Day means beer, and lots of it. Me? I use my Irish By Association card as a free pass to eat as much fried food as I can.

Like fish and chips.

Oh, I love fish and chips… The precious little basket they come in, dousing them with vinegar and salt, and that first crunchy bite of melt-in-your-mouth batter and flaky fish…

I’m sorry, where was I?

Oh, yeah! St. Patrick’s Day. Almost as much as the food, I also like to see folks getting green in the spirit of the day (please leave me a link to your look!), and I usually try to add a little something green to my beauty routine. This year, it’s with a multi-colored manicure in different shades of green.

I actually didn’t start out planning to do something with more than one shade, but when I sat down with a few polishes, thinking I’d pick one right then, I couldn’t decide.

So I used all three — Dolce & Gabbana’s Mint ($20), Sonia Kashuk’s Making Waves ($9.99) and China Glaze Ray-Diant ($8).

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Someone’s a very sleepy sheepy out here (that would be me)…

I’m actually so beat right now that these pieces from the new Dolce & Gabbana Bouquet collection are barely speeding up my heartbeat at all.

And that’s freaky weird because I’m all over these rainbow shades and the mix of shimmers and creams.

The 18-piece release for spring/summer has some fun, flirty bits for eyes, lips and nails. The theme: 1950s Italian summers.

Okay, I’m down. I like the ’50s, Italy and summers, so it sounds like a win to me.

What do ya think? And how about those pastel nail lacquers? Even exhausted, I think my heart just skipped a beat.

Smooth Eye Color Quad in Bouquet 152 (new), $59

Crayon Intense Eyeliners in Shimmer (repromote), Lilac (repromote), Agave (repromote), Lemon (new), Acqua (new) and Mint (new), $29 each

Lipglosses from the top to bottom: Acqua (repromote), Raspberry (new), Innocence (repromote), Shimmer (repromote) and Pink Diamond (repromote), $29 each

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