A picture of one of the four wedding parties taking pictures at the Legion of Honor yesterday.
Wedding Party
More Pics of A Coign of Vantage
A few more snapshots of detailing from one of my new favorite paintings, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s A Coign of Vantage (taken at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco).
Nice shoes!
The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed
Hey, good lookin’, whatcha got cookin’? How did you sleep?
It was so quiet this morning — no dogs barking off in the distance, no cars accelerating, no neighbors talking, no trees rustling in the wind — that I almost couldn’t will myself out of bed!
I’m still not totally awake yet. I know I should be (it’s already 8:30 here!), but I’m typing this without any caffeine in my system, so for all I know I’m typing in tongues.
If I accomplish anything today, I hope it involves my butt in a movie theater seat with a big vat of popcorn on my lap. I go through withdrawals if I don’t go to a movie for more than a week. There could be something narcotic in popcorn…
Here’s the plan: I’m going to bribe Tabs with a piece of sliced turkey. I’ll tell him that he can have it if he cleans the kitchen for me. 🙂
So what were your overall opinions on NARS Fall 2010 and MAC In The Groove? Basically, I’m overwhelmed. I think there’s so much amazing makeup between them that I could use more time with them both. Right now if I had to choose something to play with today, it would probably be one of the two Urban Decay palettes, Naked or Vegan. With so much makeup stimulus this week, the palettes are easier concepts to grasp, LOL!
While I dig up something with caffeine in it, here’s a look back at topics we talked about earlier this week:
MAC IN THE GROOVE
EYE SHADOW TRIOS
Sometime today, between shaving my toe hairs and vacuuming the stairs (Tabs is shedding like cray cray!), I had an affair…
It started innocently enough with a crush (as they often do). I’d played with three of the nine new MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow Trios ($19.50 each) from the upcoming In The Groove collection. One thing led to another, yadda yadda yadda and BAM! — I couldn’t stop myself.
We’re supposed to meet again this Thursday when the collection arrives on counters.
Shh! Don’t tell El Hub. Read more…
NARS FALL 2010
PICS AND SWATCHES
True story: I was so starstruck when I briefly met Francois Nars last year that I lost all control of my vocal cords. With my head tilted ever so slightly and my eyes locked on his, I asked, “Did you ever know that you’re my hero?”
Yup, I’d quoted Wind Beneath My Wings… If there was anaward for World’s Biggest Dork, someone should’ve handed it to me right then and there!
I appreciate that Francois Nars didn’t bust out laughing at me that day, but I admire him for something else — how he handles his seasonal color collections.
As cheesy at it sounds, I think his color stories are metaphors for how I want to live my life. He’s always dancing to the beat of his own drum and clearly having a blast while doing it. Read more…
URBAN DECAY
NAKED PALETTE
As an international kitteh model, Tabs 
the feline form.
After years spent striking fierce poses for fashion and beauty, he’s comfortable in his own fur, but sometimes when a shoot calls for him to pose in the buff, he wonders…is it a Sin to want to get Naked in public?
Not according to Urban Decay!
If you like neutral makeup and palettes, you may want to Hustle on down to Sephora this September when the new Naked Palette ($44) disrobes on shelves. Read more…
URBAN DECAY
VEGAN PALETTE
Ladies, I have an awful case of kitten fever (now with makeup complications).
Because I want a second cat — err, I mean, “Tabs needs a coworker” — I’ve been surfing rescue kitty websites and bookmarking prospective kitty candidates, but whenever I run one of them by El Hub, he replies with grumble, grumble, grumble, “just feeding the CCL fire.”
And that’s not all: Tabs hasn’t been very supportive of the idea either. When I showed him the last batch of kitty resumes, he shot me a dirty look!
Whatev… The boys don’t have final say in the matter. I do.
Come hell or high water, a kitten like the one on the new Urban Decay Vegan Palette ($34) will find its way into my arms. Read more…
MAC IN THE GROOVE
SWATCHES
Today zillions of MACaholics (including yours truly) descended like locusts! were drawn to makeup counters like moths to a 
flame.
Question: Why did we do it?
Answer: To get MAC In The Groove. The 35-piece beauty bonanza — with makeup morsels for eyes, lips, cheeks and face — relies heavily on MAC Mineralize products.
With goodies ranging from $14-42, it’s like this year’s version of last summer’s Colour Craft, which I kinda adored. Read more…
GILLETTE FUSION
PROGLIDE RAZOR
I was about to say that I can’t believe I’m sitting down to review a beauty product men’s grooming tool, but I was actually looking forward to this.
When Karen asked me to test some new men’s products a few days ago, the first thing I thought was, “oh, please, no.” I love my girl, but god help me I thought she was going to make me moisturize my cuticles or cut my toenails. And then I saw the package for the Gillette Fusion ProGlide POWER Razor ($12.99 with one cartridge; replacement cartridges cost $33.99 for a package of eight).
WOW! Um, Gillette must have gotten help from someone who knows male psychology when they designed this razor because it has shiny chrome parts (ooh…), black plastic ridges (ahh…) and a big power button on the back — all good things! Read more…
NARS FALL 2010
DAY/NIGHT LOOK
Yeah, my tummy just rumbled, but I can’t tell if I’m hungry for food or hungry for more makeup. Some days I swear I derive more sustenance from NARS and MAC (more In The Groove swatches coming soon) than I do from actual edibles, ha!
This afternoon I invited four tidbits from the nine-piece NARS Fall 2010 collection to play with me and the NARS Orgasm/Laguna Blush and Bronzing Duo (NOTE: all seasonal NARS products are rolled into their permanent collection). At the time I didn’t have dinner date makeup in mind, but El Hub just asked me to Thai…and he suggested I call this look my Dinner Date Face of the Night/Day.
For the eyes, I layered the shimmery gunmetal gray shadow from the Tzarine Duo on top of the Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil and swept the shimmery beige shadow from Tzarine below my brow bone. Then, I lined my lash and waterlines with Coconut Grove Single Eyeshadow. Read more…
MAC MINERALIZE POWDER
BY CANDLELIGHT
If there’s a cure for my addiction to MAC Mineralize Skinfinish powders, I don’t want it! Whenever MAC releases these limited edition shimmery powders for face and cheeks (so fab for highlighting!), I always fall for at least one of the new pans.
My latest MSF obsession? By Candlelight, from the upcoming MAC In The Groove collection (arrived Thursday, July 8).
It may not look like much in the pan (just another blah brown, right?), but don’t be fooled. Introduce it to cheeks, and By Candlelight comes to life! Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Dior Fall 2010, Clinique Fall 2010, Keanu Reeves and Bobbi Brown Chocolate & Navy
Can you spot a friendly neighborhood beauty addict?
Evenin’, ladies. Just wanted to say hola and share a few pics from my adventures this afternoon. After the museum we swung by the mall, and now I desperately need your help. I’m struggling to exercise restraint here at Nordstrom, where I’ve got my eye on a Dior palette that’s taking every ounce of willpower to resist (I told myself I’d only get one thing, and that thing is NOT this)!
Maybe this in-store mobile blogging break will distract me. 🙂
Here are some pics I took with my phone today. Sorry if a few of them aren’t as sharp as usual.
Columns in front of the Legion of Honor
Rockin’ messy, beachy waves
I could have stared at this painting for hours…
WOOO! Double rainbow all the way across the sky!!
Um, doesn’t this guy look EXACTLY like Keanu Reeves?
[Continue reading…]
Saturday Surfing
Double rainbow, y’all
Ah… The sun is out, birds are chirping, and I’m feeling pretty darn good.
Maybe not as good as the double rainbow guy, but good nonetheless. 🙂
What are you up to today? I just finished a slow trot on the treadmill, and now I’m getting ready to head to the city to check out an Impressionists exhibit (my favorite movement!) at the Legion of Honor museum.
I get the feeling we’re in for another hot one today. Care to cool off in the surf with me before I jet?
Random bright spots
- Eyebrow styles, like fashion, change over time. Take a look here at how brow trends have changed. Which are your faves (I dig Iman’s!)? — Bella Sugar
- 8 different day/night looks for different body shapes — College Fashion
- AWESOME: Betty White poses with shirtless hunks to support animal health and welfare — Stylelist
- A comprehensive guide to exfoliation — In My Professional Opinion
- A historical look at
Chanel No. 5 — Older Girl Beauty - The 10 best looks from Hong Kong Fashion Week — The Cut
- De-frizz your hair with…a kabuki brush?!? — The Beauty Couch
- How to: fabulous wedding hair — Hair on the Brain
- Ongoing super savings at
Target — Nouveau Cheap
New in beauty
- DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum ($28) — instantly primes, plumps, and lengthens while simultaneously promoting long-term lash growth
- Burberry Sport for Women Eau de Toilette ($48) — with notes of mandarin orange, sea salt, vetiver, freesia and honeysuckle
- Get perfect ponytails by smoothing and controlling flyaways with HerCut The Ponytail Styling Lotion ($22)
- Stretch marks? Mustela claims their Stretch Marks Double Action ($39) lotion makes existing stretch marks less noticeable and future ones less likely to occur
- Too Face Lashgasm ($21) fakes dramatically longer lashes in black
- Sephora’s Purple Smoky Eyes Tutorial ($36) for (you guessed it!) purple smokey eyes!
- Benefit makeup half off (products as low as $9)!
- The skincare products in the new Origins Zero Oil ($18.50-25) line cut down on oil and shine
- Philosophy’s Beach Party Body Lotion ($30) smells like pineapple and
coconut - Bobbi Brown’s Bahamas Bronze Set ($55) — a golden glow for the fairest of them all
- Laura Mercier’s Mystique Collection ($22-24) sparkles like the city at night
- Cyber sex-ify your lashes with Shu Uemura Neo ($12-65)
And the double rainbow returns (now with a remix)!
Because one can never play enough Super Mario Bros.
NEAT! Here’s a music video made entirely on the new 
iPhone 4
Quick question: Have you ever seen a double rainbow before? Just asking. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. If you’re new here, thank you for visiting. Makeup and Beauty Blog is a makeup blog with daily product reviews, beauty tips, giveaways and the random shenanigans of a crazy cat lady/makeup enthusiast named Karen (that’s me!). 🙂
Have You Ever Had a Bad Sunburn?
When I was 12 years old, my parents sent me down to spend part of the summer in Southern California with my friend Karrie and her family. They’d been our neighbors before they moved, and Karrie and I were best friends.
We didn’t look anything alike; she was blonde with blue eyes, and I was this little brown girl who didn’t know a thing about sunscreen. Her family did a lot of outdoorsy things, too, like camping and going to lakes. Karrie always knew to put on sunscreen, and her mom would always offer some to me, but I never took it because I’d never been burned…until that trip to Lake Perris.
It was a blistering hot day, and we’d spent all of it out in the sun. Of course, I didn’t put on a lick of sunscreen…
I remember riding home in the car and feeling my face get really, really hot. The peeling started the very next day — all over my nose, my shoulders — it was terrible. 🙁
Now I always put on sunscreen, so lesson learned!
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
[Continue reading…]
MAC In the Groove: A Face of the Day with Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish
I was chomping at the bit to try MAC Stereo Rose Mineralize Skinfinish today but told myself I had to finish all of my chores first (gah! laundry). Now that I’ve gotten some quality face time with it, all I can say is WOOT! I can see why MAC mavens have been lusting after this shimmery coral blush.
For this look I paired Stereo Rose with icy blue/peachy pink eyes and a peachy pink pout. I got the idea for the eyes from this face chart (the one for On the Scene), one of six MAC made for In the Groove.
Looking kinda senior portait-y, ha ha!
[Continue reading…]
Christina Hendricks: Her Best Hair?
Obsessed with Anne of Green Gables, a 10-year-old Christina Hendricks (born May 3, 1975), who was very blonde at the time, decided she wanted to go red.
“Let’s just go to the drugstore and get one of those cover-the-gray rinses!” her mother said.
And they did. 🙂
At school the next day, Christina recalls, she felt like herself — and she’s gone back to the same color time and time again ever since.
These days, playing sexy secretarial pit boss and ’60s working woman Joan Holloway on AMC’s Mad Men (new season starts July 25!), Christina’s character can’t help but steal scenes, and yesterday she earned her first Emmy nomination to prove it.
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen