Karen, Author at Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup - Page 1512 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

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 83

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Is Tabs just a cat?

Well, that’s like asking, “Is the Mona Lisa just a painting?”

Like anything, it depends on who you ask. The haters would say he’s a hack — a copycat, if you will — whose best days are behind him. I, however, call him The Next Big Thing, a cross between Tyra Banks and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.

Few among us truly have what it takes to succeed in this business (the business of being fabulous) — the discipline, the determination, the willpower and slimming stripes (not to mention the massive quantities of tuna in gravy) it takes day in and day out to be a top kitteh model.

Tabs: cat or beauty icon?

Is Tabs too sexy for this blog?

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Put Your Feet Up in the Open Thread

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Wait — the weekend’s almost over? How the heck did that happen!? After breakfast this morning (Trader Joe’s mini bagels with low-fat cream cheese), I settled down on the couch to do some reading. I wish I could say I was challenging myself with something deeply cerebral like War and Peace, but I opted for mind candy instead. 🙂 Enter Lauren Conrad’s L.A. Candy (yes, I went there!), and issues of Women’s Health, Cooking Light and Make-Up Artist magazine.

There was also supposed to be a cup of Kona coffee in this shot, but I finished it before picking up the camera up, oops!

It’s days like today that I wish we were neighbors… Then you could come over; I could make another pot (or two) of coffee, and we could read magazines, talk makeup and watch bad reality TV together — in other words, recharge!

Don’t get me wrong, Tabs and El Hub are great, but I miss my girlfriends, ya know? Seriously, when it comes to beauty and bad television, they have very little of interest to add to the conversations, LOL!

I guess that’s why I like these open threads. You might be a computer screen away, but it’s almost like we’re meeting for coffee and shooting the shizz.

If you’re new to the open thread, basically we just chat in the comments. Any topic you like, from your new favorite drugstore beauty find (Rimmel makes mine!), to the kitten you’re thinking of adopting, a problem at school/work, your new favorite TV show, or just drop in to say hola.

See you in a few! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

This Week’s Top Posts

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[big yawn…]

Howzit, ladies? Good (belated) morning to ya. 🙂 I slept in again with a little help from Tabs. He makes it easy to lose track of time. Simply put, sleeping late with a cat beside me on the bed is one of the greatest pleasures in life.

What did you do last night? My plans changed at the last minute because El Hub ended up not going on his bromance, so we went out to dinner and a movie instead. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Have you seen it? Swiss or Swedish, I think… I can’t remember which, but I thought it was great.

A pair of investigators, one a girl computer hacker and the other a reporter dude for an underground newspaper, get mixed up in a wealthy family’s twisted conspiracy surrounding the disappearance of a young girl in 1966.

LOTS of awful, sadistic men in the story, but the hacker girl character flat-out rules!

Back to beauty then — what was your favorite product this past week? Was it an old standby or something new?

Physicans Formula Healthy Wear Bronzer: A Trifecta of Skin Lurving Benefits?

“Now here I go being all wrong about bronzers… I always thought they were for adding a warm, almost-tanned look to skin. Not true, says Physicians Formula, or rather, that’s not all they can do. New Healthy Wear Bronzer gives a sun-kissed glow but couples it with healthful skin benefits.”

MAC Unsung Heroes: Lychee Luxe Lipglass

“Lychee Luxe is the coral lipgloss Goldilocks would have worn because it bears (ha!) a perfect amount of golden pinkish coral… And, oooh! — the flexibility. It goes great with so many different eye makeup looks, like all of the seasonal golds, bronzes, coppers, teals and greens of summer.”

Rimmel Glam Eyes Lash Flirt Mascara, A Haiku Review

For mad length and lift, $7 Rimmel Glam Eyes Mascara delivers. It’s perfect for those midnight runs to Rite Aid or CVS, and it lasts from dusk till dawn.

MBBTV #11: Philosophy Coloring Book Gets a Bad … Rap

Have you played with any of the makeup palettes Philosophy has been coming out with these lately? This one — called The Color of Grace — gets a bad rap. Well, that’s a little misleading, 🙂 but you be the judge.

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Just Checking In…

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What is it with cats and laundry baskets?

I’m proud of myself, ladies. I stuck to my plan to be totally unproductive today, and DAMN it felt good.

How’s your weekend coming along? Anything exciting happen yet? I can safely say that nothing exciting has happened to me in days, not since the food drama last Thursday (I had some Japanese that didn’t sit quite well).

Speaking of unfortunate edibles and other randomness, have you ever had bacon on a stick? There’s a huge candy store here in Novato that has it on the counter… I’m curious, but I don’t think I’m ready “to go there” yet with bacon.

I guess if I combined it with these weird fried egg gummy candies, I’d have a full breakfast, ha! 🙂

Wait — I almost forgot. Something exciting DID happen today. My Sephora order arrived (used my VIB coupon for 15% off)! I restocked a few must-haves (got a HUMUNGO bottle of PMS, aka Philosophy Purity Made Simple) like…
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Saturday Surfing

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Good mawnin’, home skillets. How was your night? 🙂 I can’t even begin to describe how happy I am right now because I actually have nothing I have to do today. That’s because my to-do list is blank, yay! It rarely works out this way, but somehow I managed to finish all of my weekend chores early, as in last week, which means there will be no cleaning of toilets, folding of clothes or brushing of tabby cats (a chore indeed) today, huzzah!

And THAT means I can just chill here with y’all, which makes everything, even the taste of this hot tea, so much better.

Oh, here’s something completely random that I know some of the other journalists and writers out there might appreciate. The AP finally caved!

Now, because I like to share the Web sites websites I surf early on Saturday mornings…

Random bright spots

New in beauty

A girl can never have enough shoes…

Tetris and Pac Man invade New York!

Been listening to this song 24/7 for days…

What are you doing right now? I mean at this very instant! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MBBTV #10: Even Eyebrows Need Love, or The Case of the Sasquatch Brows

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Wow, brows have come a long way, baby. Back when I was in high school, no one ever tweezed, waxed or filled in. We just walked around with naturally big, bushy eyebrows and never gave it a second thought. Oh, gawd, my senior pictures…

Today we have more doodads and products to make ’em look better, which is cool because my untamed brows should never again see the light of day. 🙂

Products mentioned in the video…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

From Notting Hill to La-La Land: The Story of Royal Apothic’s 2010 Summer Scents

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Long, long ago — 10 years, I should say — on an island far, far away — Great Britain, if you really must know — our hero, young Sean O’Mara, was on holiday in the bustling village of London when something wondrous happened. 🙂

Sean, now the creative director for Los Angeles-based Royal Apothic, was browsing a Notting Hill antique stall when he saw the most amazing thing. It was squirreled up high upon a shelf, an Eighteenth Century apothecary manual filled with recipes for scents and other concoctions, many of which had long ago been made for great monarchs of Europe.

“Jackpot!” he must have thought.

Seriously? Dude, the only things I ever get on vacay are tchotchkes and food poisoning.

When Sean returned home to the US, he set to work conjuring the long lost recipes. Et voilà, Royal Apothic was born.
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