Karen, Author at Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup - Page 1368 of 1879

Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Dec. 27

by 60 Comments

  • You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
    Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past three years, which I guess makes this somewhere around Vol. 150. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. Absolutely spiffy. El Hub has some time off before the new year, so Tabs and I are thrilled to have him around today.

  2. Best thing that happened to you in 2010?

    3. Going to Milan to cover the Dolce & Gabbana show last October, for sure.

  3. Worst thing?

    4. 2010 was pretty good to me (knock on wood), so I don’t really have a specific thing, but I do think I have to get better about balancing blogging and my offline life. Time flies when I’m at the computer, and I didn’t spend nearly enough time with my family this year. Over Christmas, I realized how much I miss them. You know what they say — time waits for no one.

  4. Your biggest beauty revelation of 2010?

    5. That chin and eyebrow hairs suck, but white chin and eyebrow hairs suck even more!

  5. Your biggest personal revelation?

    6. I’m my own best cheerleader. 🙂

  6. Something you’d like to cross off your bucket list in 2011?

    7. Make it over to Europe. I’d love to spend a holiday swimming and relaxing somewhere along the Mediterranean coast. Got any suggestions?

  7. Your plans for New Year’s Eve?

    8. Nothing yet (I know, so last minute!), but later today I’m going to look for something to do, maybe one of those restaurants that hosts big NYE dinners.

  8. Write yourself a New Year’s love note…

    9. Dear, Karen. Remember to be kinder and gentler to yourself in 2011, because you’re doing just fine. And if you’re meant to be a mother, don’t worry. It will happen.

  9. And now write a love note for anyone who’s reading this right now.

    10. I wish you an ocean of good luck, love and happiness in 2011. If worry is weighing on you, know that 1) you’re stronger than you think, and 2) turn to the people you know you can trust to lift you up when you need it.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Finish entering info into my Nike + iPod (a gift from El Hub). It has a pedometer and tracks workouts online. I also want to clean the house from top to bottom before the new year, and touch base with my family and some friends by e-mail or phone at least once this week.

Can you believe we made it through another year together? Because he’s so in the moment, Tabs doesn’t really think about what tomorrow brings, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately — about what I would like to accomplish in 2011. If you’re in the mood to reflect with me, or you just feel like popping by to say hi, please take a moment to fill out the Monday Poll. I’d love to hear from ya. 🙂

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. Best thing that happened to you in 2010?
3. Worst thing?
4. Your biggest beauty revelation of 2010?
5. Your biggest personal revelation?
6. Something you’d like to cross off your bucket list in 2011?
7. Plans for New Year’s Eve?
8. Write yourself a New Year’s love note…
9. …and now write a love note for anyone who’s reading this right now.
10. Weekly goals:

Here’s to our last Monday Poll of 2010 and to all our future Mondays together in 2011 (*raises chai latte*).

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 119

by 37 Comments

Dear Diary,

Before I get into the drama-dy that was Christmas 2010, can I just take a moment to bask in the glory of my modeling skills? Observe the evidence: the centerfold pic from my last photo shoot, which I took for the cover of People magazine when they named me “World’s Sexiest Tabby of 2010.”

See how I skillfully raise my paws? The nonchalant look of disinterest and the artful placement of my whiskers? It takes a lot of work to look this hot.

People just don’t seem to get that my life isn’t all jet setting and cat walking; I have to make critical decisions EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Take, for instance, my holiday plans (or lack thereof).

JF (that’s James Franco to you) asked me to hang with him and his buddies in Aspen this Christmas. I really wanted to break in my new snowboard and those Louis Vuitton boots (ya know, the ones with the fur?) I picked up in Paris a few months ago, but due to my assistant’s usual incompetence, I was stuck here in the Bay Area. She couldn’t find a first class flight out of SFO in time, and, you know, I soooo don’t do coach.

It was royally annoying, but one thing that perked me up was this awesome present from my grandparents:

I call them Lolo and Lola, which means “grandfather” and “grandmother” in Tagalog, their native tongue (for the record, I’m half Filipino).


[Continue reading…]

Check Out the Spread in the Open Thread

by 76 Comments

This morning I awoke to a rumbly tummy, which is nothing new, but this time I had a jar of special Christmas Nutella — see, they DO have hazelnuts in the North Pole! — around to alleviate it. Yup, Santa actually brought me a jar of Nutella. Oh, and a pedometer… Gotta love that guy’s sense of irony.

Did you get any odd gifts this year? My parents are so sweet, and I love ’em to pieces, but creative gift givers they’re not. This was the third consecutive year we received a two-pack of smoked salmon and a box of chocolate truffles from Costco. Third. Consecutive. Year. 🙂

But I don’t mind one bit. I feel blessed and lucky to have family around. They’re the real gifts; the presents are just the salmon and chocolate icing on the cake.

Tabs, of course, made off like a bandit, even though Santa didn’t bring him the kitty Tron outfit he wanted. Instead he scored a huge box of Fancy Feast (in gravy) from his grandparents.

Watcha up to? The couch doesn’t think I should go to a movie today. It thinks I should spend the afternoon sitting, eating and watching movies on TV. Yesterday I watched three: Outsourced (LOVED IT! A touching indie comedy about an American guy who goes to India to train a group of call center workers), Bobby Z (stars Paul Walker, so that’s a BIG plus, but the story bites) and Brick (stars a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt; interesting premise, with 1940’s noir-ish dialogue set in a modern high school, but I slept through most of it).

If you’re gonna be around today, we should hang out for a spell in the open thread.

Makeup and Beauty Blog Open ThreadIf you’re new to the open thread, here it is in a nutshell:

It’s just a post where we leave comments for each other and talk about whatever’s on our minds — holiday hijinks, food, beauty (of course!), books, TV shows, pets, whatever! Stop by if/when you can.

See you soon!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

by 5 Comments

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Weekly Roundup

Can you believe Christmas has passed? For the last two months I’ve been thinking Christmas, Christmas, Christmas every day, and then BAM! Welcome to December 26.

It’s enough to give a girl holiday whiplash. 🙂

How are you doing? Tabs, El Hub and I are just enjoying a slow day… I think we might try to catch a movie this afternoon. That sounds like fun.

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

Chanel Mat Lumiere Soft Matte Makeup with SPF 15CHANEL MAT LUMIERE
SOFT MATTE MAKEUP WITH SPF 15

Who among us hasn’t crossed paths with her share of craptacular liquid foundations? — the runny ones that leave streaks, the heavy pore-suffocating ones, and, oh, how about the ones with the open-mouth bottle…like the one you accidentally spilled on your buddy’s white shag carpet back in school (so sorry, Shell!).

I know it’s asking for a lot, but I would love a great, preferably inexpensive medium-coverage liquid foundation that I can wear every day (something I can throw on before I run out for a chai latte). That said, it’s with great joy, and a little pain, that I type these words: Chanel’s $54 Mat Lumiere Long-Lasting Soft Matte Makeup SPF 15 just might be the best liquid foundation I’ve used in years.

But…it’s $54. Read more…

The Chanel Quadra Eye Shadow Quad in Regard PerleTHE CHANEL QUADRA
EYE SHADOW QUAD IN REGARD PERLE

Every girl remembers her first…Chanel eyeshadow quad. 🙂

Mine was Garden Party. Ah, Garden Party… Just saying the name brings back memories (and a warm, fuzzy feeling) of the first time I laid eyes on that mix of green, peach and pink.

I still love that quad so much that it’s the first thing I thought of when I saw promo pics of the new Chanel Quadra Eye Shadow quad in Regard Perle ($56). I was kindasorta hoping Perle would look more like it in person.

It’s not a Garden Party dupe, but I think it’s very pretty in its own right, particularly if you have a thing for glowy skin.

Each of its four soft powder shadows shine with a mirror-like finish that lights up eyelids when when they’re applied. Chanel channeled pearls this season — or rather the way skin glows when you’re wearing pearls — and here they got it spot on. The chai latte I had last night right before dinner screwed with my sleep, and it was evident all over my face this morning. But a few swipes of Regard Perle today, and my eyes looked visibly brighter and more awake. Read more…

Lush Sugar Plum Fairy ScrubTHE LUSH SUGAR
PLUM FAIRY SCRUB

Look, over there — do you see it? The limited edition Sugar Plum Fairy Scrub ($4.95)? Isn’t it cute?

This heavenly creature is mostly made of sugar and spice and everything nice…like sodium bicarbonate (that’s baking soda, babe). It’s an exfoliating scrub scented with ylang-ylang (like a deep custard) and jasmine, and it leaves a light floral fragrance on my skin.

I took it into the shower with me last night, hoping it would smooth my bod — specifically the rough patches on my knees, heels and elbows.

The bar melts on contact with water, foaming into a lather with moderately rough scrubbing grains. I was hoping to get away with using half, or maybe a quarter of the bar, but it wasn’t in the mood for that once it got wet. Perhaps I could/should have broken it in half before the shower, just to be able to use it a second time. Read more…

The NYX Soho Glam CollectionTHE NYX SOHO
GLAM COLLECTION

I was sitting in bed reading Stephen King’s Under the Dome the other night when it hit me. No, not the book, silly. 🙂 It occurred to me that I should get a tattoo of Tabs.

Don’t ask me why, because the book doesn’t have anything to do with cats, tattoos or cat tattoos, but since Tabs is my kitty BFF, and he comforts me whenever I get scared (like when I’m reading a Stephen King book), it makes a kind of weird sense.

I don’t have any tattoos right now, but most of my friends have ‘em. My brother’s covered in tats, but I haven’t gotten any mostly because 1) I’m not into pain, and 2) I’ve never really liked anything enough to permanently inscribe it on my body.

Except for Tabs (and maybe El Hub, but that’s just too cliche, LOL!).

I’m still mulling over the idea, and it’s not official yet. Knowing me I’ll probably chicken out. El Hub’s totally against it. He’s afraid a cat tattoo would only serve as a gateway tat, but not necessarily into more tattoos; he’s afraid my level of crazy cat lady-ness would escalate, and I can’t argue with that logic. Read more…

The MAC Cham Pale CollectionTHE MAC CHAM
PALE COLLECTION

I would like to propose a toast, friends — my very first serious toast ever — and I think there’s something fitting about it being dedicated to makeup. If you’ll bear with me for a moment, please raise your glass, be it filled with bubbly, wine, water, chai latte or anything else, to the MAC Cham Pale collection, one of the most inspiring neutral releases this lass has seen this year.

Launching right after Christmas (Dec. 26), the limited edition collection is a relatively small one for MAC, with just 26 pieces for the face, eyes, cheeks, lips, nails and skin in prices ranging from $14-36.

As much as I love neutral colors like gray, beige and and peach, collections dominated by them run the risk of venturing into snooze territory, especially when the finishes are mostly matte. They may be practical as all getout, but matte beige and gray don’t exactly set the world on fire, ya know? Read more…

The MAC Stylishly Yours CollectionTHE MAC STYLISHLY
YOURS COLLECTION

You don’t have to be a crazy cat lady (or a rotund tabby cat with a low-hanging belly) to appreciate a strong cat eye liner look with bold lips. It’s an enduring, timeless combination that looks great on almost everyone.

The new 19-piece MAC Stylishly Yours collection, a limited edition release for eyes, lips and face (pieces $14-22 each), embodies this tried-and-true classic in a modernized, 21st century way.

The collection purrs onto MAC counters, stores and maccosmetics.com on December 26 and stays put through January 11, 2011. Tabs, being the ho for brights that he is, can’t wait.

With Stylishly Yours, MAC offers fans fun, fast ways to give makeup looks a shot of dramatic color (without having to think too hard). Eyes in the look are kept simple, clean, and simultaneously dramatic with matte black and burgundy gel liner and mascara. Bright coral, pink, magenta, red and violet leap onto lips and cheeks in lipsticks, cream blushes (they double as lip colors, too!) and loose pigments with creamy and shimmery finishes. But that’s not all — two pink pressed highlighting powders imbue faces with a lovely soft sheen. Read more…

Chanel Black Pearl, Pearl Drop and Peche Nacree Nail PolishCHANEL BLACK PEARL
PEARL DROP AND PECHE NACREE NAIL POLISHES

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve! Christmas came early! I braved the mall today to peep the new Les Perles de Chanel spring collection up close and personal. Yup, to say “the mall was crowded” would be like saying “I like Chanel.” Duh.

I think the last time I was at a mall two days before Christmas was when my friend Jen and I both worked together at The Limited in 1994 (I hawked a lot of ugly purse wallets, yo). Ah, memories…

I couldn’t wait to see the three new limited edition Le Vernis Nail Colours — Black Pearl, Pearl Drop and Peche Nacree ($23 each). There’s been some serious brouhaha about ‘em, especially Black Pearl (is that Jack Sparrow?!), which has been hyped as Chanel’s next big thing.

Take a look, and let me know if you think they’re worthy of the buzz. 🙂 Read more…

Chanel Extrait de Gloss in GenieCHANEL EXTRAIT DE
GLOSS IN GENIE

A few days ago I made a wish, and this week it came true. I wished for a new purse gloss, and it appears a genie was listening.

What’s a purse gloss, you ask? It’s a gloss that’s worthy of permanent residence in your purse. You keep it close for touch-ups and other beauty emergencies…like when you randomly run into your ex and his new lady love at the mall (she’s cute, but you’re cuter), or when a TV crew asks you for an impromptu sidewalk interview about hot dog street vendors (yep, that really happened).

With a tube of Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Genie ($32) in your purse, you’ll be tough to catch off guard. One of two Rouge Allure glosses in Chanel’s limited edition Le Perles de Chanel collection for spring 2011, it’s a shiny but wearable coral with golden micro glitter and comes in Chanel’s trademark Extrait de Gloss formula. Non-sticky, luscious, hydrating, and lacking any potentially bothersome scents or flavors, it’s ready for drama AND flexibility. With a four-hour wear time, it’s also designed to laaaast. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Two Ways to Win 2 Pieces of MAC Peacocky Makeup

by 440 Comments

  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Scientific Housewife! Congratulations, Scientific Housewife! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Heya, ladies. Do you ever wonder what Christmas is like in Australia? If you live there, please leave a comment and let me know, because I often wonder about it. I mean, this is the middle of your summertime, right? Do you guys decorate Christmas trees? 🙂

In Hawaii, some folks decorate the coconut trees in their front yards, but most people either decorate fake trees, or they buy regular pine trees that come shipped over from the mainland (and consequently cost about twice as much as ours do here).

I remember one December when we were visiting my in-laws in Hawaii we woke up on Christmas morning to find a peacock chilling in the back of my father-in-law’s pickup truck. Now that’s something you don’t see every Christmas. Tabs would have thought, “WOW! Is that for ME?!”

Speaking of peacocks, the brand spankin’ new MAC Peacocky collection of 15 Mega Metal Eyeshadows and 12 Kissable Lipcolours will strut onto counters, eyes and lips on January 6, but here’s a sneak peek: two eye-popping brights from the release — the bold, shimmery teal Odalisque Mega Metal Shadow and the creamy blueish pink Vanity Fair Kissable Lipcolour.

Gorgeous, right?

You know what time it is. 🙂

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

Win a MAC Brush Collection Set

  • One (1) tube of MAC Peacocky Kissable Lipcolour in Vanity Fair and (1) pan of MAC Peacocky Mega Metal Shadow in Odalisque (a $38 value).

  • There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all. Tell me about one of your holiday traditions, how you feel about pajamas, what yummy treats you’ve been enjoying this week, or describe what you felt was the best gift you gave this year.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win 2 Pieces of MAC Peacocky Makeup (a $38 Value) http://bit.ly/fXNxHQ

  • The deadline to enter is Monday, December 27, 2010 at 11:59PM (PT).
  • Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
  • A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
  • Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
  • Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
  • The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
  • Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Scientific Housewife! Congratulations, Scientific Housewife! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Viva la Revolucion: 11 More Makeup and Beauty Tips to Revolutionize Your Routine

by 14 Comments

Sam

Written by Sam

Beauty can be as brutal as the holidays are hectic. Freelance makeup artist and blogger Sam wants you to be ready for anything in today’s guest post.

Viva la Beauty Revolucion: Part 2

So you’ve planted the documents in the dictator’s secretary’s desk, throwing suspicion off your rebel group. Now, onto phase two of the revolution. Take these tips to help arm yourself for the coming coup!

  1. To achieve the perfect cat-eye: take a note card, and use it to form a line from the outside of the nostril straight through the outer corner of the eye on the same side. Wing your eyeliner out along this line; the note card will “catch” any extraneous liner, and the line it creates will give you the most flattering angle for your face.
  2. Don’t like runny and goopy glosses? Grab a shimmery eyeshadow instead (gold, silver, and champagne are relatively safe choices). Apply your lipstick as normal, blot, then tap some of the eyeshadow onto the center of your bottom lip. Reapply another thin layer of lipstick, and blot again. You can continue this pattern as many times as you wish to achieve the desired effect. This method gives your lips a multidimensionality and shimmer without the runny mess that many glosses can produce, and will last all day without reapplication. Try using different shades of eyeshadow in combination with different shades of lipstick for fun effects.
  3. Common acne myths: Toothpaste or excessive tanning will dry up pimples. The truth: Although both will initially make acne disappear, fluoride and UV rays actually encourage the growth of P. acnes (the bacteria that causes many forms of acne) and will only lead to larger breakouts later. Non-prescription remedies that do work: Pepto-Bismol, a paste made of crushed uncoated aspirin and water, or Hydrocortisone (only use in a pinch; as a steroid, this can cause thinning of the skin if used too often) applied to acne will dry them up, but not treat the cause permanently.
  4. Want to give your hair incredible shine, remove product build up, and protect your color all at once? Look no further than your pantry. If you can stand the smell (it’s an acquired taste…), dilute pure Apple Cider Vinegar with water, 3:1. After using shampoo and rinsing, pour the mixture over your hair, and massage it in. Let it sit for two minutes, and rinse out with cold water. Use about half as much conditioner as you normally would after this. Blot dry with a towel, and let air dry the rest of the way.

    There’s a lot more where this came from. See how the beauty revolution began in Viva la Revolución! 20 Makeup and Beauty Tips to Revolutionize Your Routine.

  5. Tired of that bright red pimple screaming “look at me!” from the middle of your face? Douse one end of a Q-tip with redness reducing eyedrop solution (make sure it’s not the stuff that’s tinted blue; hello, Smurf-zit!), and hold it firmly against the blemish for thirty seconds to a minute.
  6. To get a perfectly straight and even line across your lids, first draw eight or so dots, relatively evenly spaced, across your lashline, as close into the roots of the lashes as possible. Now, just connect each dot, rather than trying to draw a single line across the entire thing. This way, you can also control the thickness as you go along!
  7. Stubborn liquid or cream products sticking in your brushes? Fill a small Ziploc bag with corn starch and toss in your brush. Seal the bag, and shake vigorously for 30 seconds or so. Remove the brush, dust off the starch, and run your fingers through the bristles a few times to remove the remainder of the powder, and the product build-up along with it.
  8. To prevent your powder from caking, blot over your foundation with a tissue before putting that puff on your skin. This removes excess moisture and product, and allows your powder to cling firmly and evenly.
  9. Ditch that expensive eye cream and grab your tub of Vaseline. Apply a thin layer of this under your eyes before going to bed, avoiding other parts of your face, and wake up with plump, hydrated peepers.
  10. Really want your lipstick to be bold, graphic, and true to the tube color? Dab a thin layer of concealer over your lips before application.
  11. Need some pumped-up moisture for a dry head of hair? Apply a deep conditioning masque as usual, then get out of the shower (I know, I hate this feeling too) without rinsing. Hit you hair with a blowdryer on high for a minute or two, and wrap it up in a warm towel or some plastic wrap, and aim the heat at it again. Let the masque sit in your hair for 15-20 minutes (great time to get some work done! Aren’t you the little multitasker…), and rinse out with cold water. The heat allows the masque to more easily permeate the hair strands, while the cold water shocks the cuticle, forcing it to close, and trapping all of that lovely moisture inside.

This battle is going to be won with maquillage, not subterfuge, so prepare yourself.

Happy holidays!

Sam

Written by Sam

Sam is a 17-year-old, oddly tall guy whose love of all things skincare, makeup, and fashion started when he entered the modeling world at 14. Since then, he’s established himself as a freelance makeup artist in the theatre and fashion worlds, and started his own blog to preach the wonders of orange eyeshadow, Asian skincare, and designer fragrances to the masses.

Merry Christmas from Makeup and Beauty Blog

by 35 Comments

Merry Christmas from Makeup and Beauty Blog

Good morning, young lady (and you too, young man). It’s Christmas! Rise and shine. Tabs will be down in a minute; he’s just freshening up. In the meantime, can I get you a cup of coffee? Or perhaps a chai latte?

How did you sleep? Good, I hope.

Oh, here comes Tabs! Hi, Tabs. How did you sleep?

“Mrow.”

Yeah, me too. In fact, I feel super powerful today! It must be that Christmas spirit.

“Mrrrew.”

Hahaha! Exactly. 🙂

“Meow?”

Oh, that’s a great idea. I’ll tell them right now.

Tabs would like me to tell you how much we love you. We wish you and yours a very merry Christmas, and a totally @ss-kicking, awesome new year. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Seriously, I wish everyone in the world could have a wonderful day today… It should just be a rule.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addicts,

Karen and Tabs

The Chanel Ombres Perlees de Chanel Eyeshadow Palette, Kitty Tron and Chai Tea

by 24 Comments

chanel ombres perlees de chanel on karen

Christmas came early this year! Granted it’s only a couple of hours away, but it really did come early, in the form of these three very cool things.

1. Big Train Spiced Chai

Reader Bunny Masseuse recommended this powdered chai mix in the comments a couple weeks ago, and HOT DAYUM! I actually raised the roof in my kitchen this morning when I made a cup (to quote El Hub from the other room: “What the hell are you doing?”). If you like chai, you gotta give it a try (ha! I made a rhyme!).

2. This kitty Tron outfit

I don’t have the words to convey how totally awesome this is. Someone tweeted it today, and the first thing I thought was, does it come in kitty XXL?? Um…Tabby got a big ol’ booty.


[Continue reading…]

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.