Karen

1. The purples in the new Urban Decay Ultraviolet Palette!

I shall embark upon wearing each and every one of the purples in this $49 palette, which is out now with 12 powder eyeshadows, as smoky liners along my upper lash line, coupled with one of the matte neutrals on my lids. ?

2. Maxi dresses

Stay cool and fashionable! Plus, there’s something freeing about your legs and booty enjoying the occasional light breeze. *shrugs* ?‍♀️

I have become so committed to maxi dresses lately that I got two of these Loveappella V-Neck maxis (the coral and navy) with the Nordstrom gift card I had squirreled away forever. Added bonuses: they’re currently on sale and available in petite sizes.

3. Hall and Oates

I have a (conspiracy) theory that Hall and Oates were secretly dating… Anywho! I’ve been listening to their older stuff a lot lately while I cook dinner.

Here are some classic jams to get you started, in case you haven’t heard of them before, and if that’s the case…BLASPHEMY!

You Make My Dreams

Out of Touch

She’s Gone

Rich Girl

4. Honest Beauty Liquid Lipstick in BFF

What can I say? Old habits die hard, so while I wear a mask, I still 1) smile ? at strangers, and 2) wear ? lipstick. One I love is BFF by Honest Beauty. It’s a nude matte that doesn’t move, so when I have my mask on, it doesn’t transfer. Plus, the nude color is super pretty.

5. The Titan Games

This show pits fitness enthusiasts/everyday people against professional athletes in a crazy hard obstacle course race, and it’s hosted by Maui from Moana, a.k.a. the Rock, a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson.

It may sound cheesy, but it’s shockingly engrossing! Highly recommended! Every time our family watches it, we cheer (scream, really!) for the regular guys and gals.

***Warning: don’t be surprised if you formulate a plan to improve your wimpy grip strength after the first episode.***

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. What have you been loving lately? ?

Why, yes, it really is *that easy* to pick (and eat!) four pounds of big ol’ blueberries, just in case you were wondering!

We went blueberry picking last weekend at Duckworth Family Farm in Sebastapol. It’s about an hour and a half north of San Francisco, and you can pick your own organic blueberries right off the plants. Every time I’d look over at Connor, I’d see her daintily lifting up her mask and sneaking a blueberry into her mouth. I think she ate more blueberries than she actually picked, ha ha ha!

I can’t blame her, since eating fresh-off-the-vine blueberries is absolutely divine. So sweet, so juicy, and it’s especially satisfying when you find a really BIG one the size of your thumb, and you pop it into your mouth right then and there.

We spent Saturday morning there last weekend, picking blueberries, eating homemade blueberry ice cream and watching the sheep circumnavigate the grounds. They periodically stampede around the farm! It’s the coolest thing. You don’t see them at first, but you hear their hooves thundering, and then, suddenly! — they come out of nowhere, running and jumping in a huge (and very cute) herd.

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So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?

The Skin Care Edition!

1. What’s your skin type?

Combo. Dry on my cheeks and around my mouth, and oily on my nose and forehead. Acne prone errrrrrrywhere (UGH), but especially around my mouth and chin, and on my forehead.

2. Your latest skin care love?

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. It’s moisturizing, layers beautifully on top of other products and underneath makeup. SO GOOD!

3. Something skin care related that’s currently on your wish list?

A bottle of Biologique Recherche P50 1970 Toner. I used it a while back, and when I look at pics of my skin from that time, I think it was more even-toned. Anywho, I have a pigmentation blob on my cheek that I think is getting darker, so I’m saving up for a big ol’ bottle.

4. When did you have the best skin of your life?

Hmm… Honestly, when I was a kid! Sh*t hit the fan when I hit 10, and I started breaking out.

5. What skin care products have you been using the longest?

Wow, I just did the math, and I realized that I’ve been using Kate Somerville Anti-Bac Clearing Lotion for nearly seven years!

6. What’s your skin tone?

I’m a medium tan, and my undertones lean warm, although they’re *not* overly warm, if that makes any sense. I’m definitely not neutral or cool, but I’ve noticed in some instances warm shades look jarring and cooler tones look better. I think it also depends on what season it is. During the fall and winter my skin seems to be less warm.

7. What brings out the worst in your skin?

When my skin starts acting fussy it’s usually one, or a combo, of the following: lack of sleep, not drinking enough water, or stress. Also, I’ve definitely noticed that there’s a sweet spot with the Kate Somerville Anti Bac. If I use anything less than two pumps, my skin breaks out.

8. What things bring out the best in your skin?

Obvs, lots of sleep and drinking enough water, lower stress levels, and benzoyl peroxide, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve also noticed that what I eat plays a big role, too. When I eat more vegetables and unprocessed foods, I swear my pores look less intense, my overall skin texture is smoother, and it it just seems overall more glowy and healthy. I do try to eat as much healthy stuff as I can, but ya know…I’m not crazy strict about it or anything. Sometimes you just really gotta have a chocolate chip cookie!

9. An expensive skin care procedure you’d be willing to try if you didn’t have to pay for it?

Soooo, I currently don’t do fillers or anything (as evidenced by my deepening smile lines!), but I haven’t ruled it out for the future. If someone offered the future version of me a way to do filler that wasn’t overly obvious, I *might* give it a go.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. What’s your skin type?
2. Your latest skin care love?
3. Something skin care related that’s currently on your wish list?
4. When did you have the best skin of your life?
5. What skin care products have you been using the longest?
6. What’s your skin tone?
7. What brings out the worst in your skin?
8. What things bring out the best in your skin?
9. An expensive skin care procedure you’d be willing to try if you didn’t have to pay for it?

P.P.S. Hope you’re having a nice day so far. ?

Happy Saturday, my friend! If you need me, I’ll be here in my corner greedily scarfing down lychees before anyone else gets their paws on ’em.

Kidding! I’m always happy to share. 🙂 You’ll have to peel your own, though.

If Cookie Monster gets to be the monster of all cookies, I would like to be the monster of all lychees. Consequently, henceforth, from this day forward, you may refer to me by my Sesame name…”Lychee Monster,” since I can and will eat an obscene amount of lychees.

Question for you — how do you pronounce “lychee”? Do you say “LEE-chee” or “LIE-chee”? Inquiring minds want to know.

Anywho, lychees aren’t common in this part of Northern California, so whenever I see them in a store I grab as many as I can.

A buddy of mine on Instagram mentioned that when she was a kid, her mom would buy lychees in season and freeze them for later, which I think is GENIUS. I think I’ll freeze a few, but our fire season is just around the corner, which means that our power company (PG&E) will probably shut off the power in our county for a few days (possibly weeks) as part of wildfire prevention efforts, and we might lose the food in our freezer and fridge…so I think I should eat as many fresh lychees as humanly possible right now while I can. LOL.

On that note, lychees for EVERYONE!

• Pandemic isolation’s got beauty girls saying things like “I haven’t worn makeup in months, and I don’t see myself wanting to again.”
• Career advice from Burberry’s Global Beauty Director, Isamaya Ffrench: “Don’t expect anyone to call you up and be like, ‘We’re ready for you now.’ Just do it yourself.”
• Here are the products that skin care guru Caroline Hirons says you *don’t* need on your skin care shelf.
• ALL KINDS OF TONERS!
• How to do your makeup so it doesn’t rub off on your face mask.
• On why people are wearing perfumes even though nobody’s around to smell them: “A scent’s power to evoke the aura of beloved people, places, and things that we can’t interact with while sequestered at home may also explain why fragrance sales have held steady despite widespread job loss and financial insecurity amid a global pandemic.”
• Saving this list for the day I can casually walk into Bath & Body Works and leisurely smell all the candles.
• Retro niche perfumes are coming back into fashion.
• These are the bestselling skin care items at Whole Paycheck Foods.
• 5 types of hair damage and what you can do about it.

Perfect air-dried hair? YES, PLEASE.

I’m very curious about this brand out of Australia, Ere Perez.

Note to self…

What’s on deck for this weekend? What are you up to? Sending you virtual hugs.

Feels like we’re all needing a little (OK, a lot) of TLC these days.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Because it’s so easy to fire up a video makeup tutorial, sometimes I forget about good ol’-fashioned makeup books. I have quite a few and look through them often (but not as much as I used to before YouTube was a thing).

A couple that I think are super helpful are by makeup artist Robert Jones.

• Makeup Makeovers in 5, 10, 15, and 20 Minutes: Expert Secrets for Stunning Transformations: The step-by-step tutorials in this book are easy to follow, and the looks are classic, timeless and totally wearable. I like that the makeup is shown on different skin tones and face shapes, too.
• Makeup Masterclass: A Complete Course in Makeup For All Levels, Beginner to Advanced: Although very advanced makeup peeps might find this book basic, I still think it’s useful for beauty lovers of all levels since Robert does a great job of breaking down the “why” behind his techniques. The chapter that covers shadow placement for various eye shapes (hello, hooded eyes!), is especially helpful.

How about you? Do you read makeup books? What are your favorites?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Hiya! How’s your week been so far? This is probably TMI (so of course I’m going to go there, hahaha), but I’m at that point “in the month” where I’m in currently experiencing varying states of HALT throughout the day. HALT, by the way, stands for “Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.” I can usually tell when I’m about to HALT, so when I feel it coming on, I try my best to manage my mood, and one thing I’ve noticed *really* helps is varying my usual routine in some small way.

Yesterday that was with a quick picnic lunch in a park with the fam-bam.

El Hub, Coywolf and I headed to a nearby park for some mellow midday fun in the sun underneath a big, shady tree.

By the way, this is how I roll now. In addition to all of the other “mom preparedness items” I usually lug around (snacks, hand sanitizer, face wipes, small trash bags for impromptu projectile barf — you know, the usual), I never leave home without 1) a bottle of Dial hand soap, and 2) toilet paper.

Because you never know when you’ll have to use the loo while you’re out of the house, and there’s absolutely NO WAY I’m going to enthusiastically touch anything in a public bathroom right now unless it’s a last, last resort. Honestly, my first choice would be to pop a squat behind a tree because 1) you’re not in a building, and 2) you don’t have to touch any surfaces, but if there are no girth-y pines or redwoods around…that’s when carrying your own personal array of bathroom supplies truly comes in handy.

Talk about TMI, LOL!

This little black backpack IS THE STUFF. It’s the Recruit by Timbuk 2, an SF-based bag brand, and it’s the replacement for the little black backpack from Target that was my go-to for a while (I had to retire it after the zipper, which was problematic from the get-go, broke).

Even though this new bag is a touch bigger, it’s still small enough to not feel like a full-sized camping bag or student backpack. The padded straps rest comfortably on my shoulders (and don’t cut into my skin), and the copious pockets ensure that I always have places to store my keys, phone and sunglasses. There’s ample room for all of the “just in case” things, too.

The regular price of the bag is $119, but it’s currently on sale for $59 (!) on the Timbuk 2 website. I’ve got the black one, but that khaki one sure is cute, too!

Speaking of things that are *the stuff*, I’m low-key addicted to this hella stupid show on Netflix called Floor Is Lava.

It’s a game show where teams of three compete for a $10,000 prize by climbing, catapulting and creeping their way across an obstacle course surrounded by bubbling, bursting (wait for it) lava!

(Fake lava, of course.)

THIS SHOW IS MY LIFE. Do you know how many times I hear “Don’t fall in the lava, mama!” throughout the day? Coy-Coy and I pretend that the floor is lava all day, everyday, inside the house and outside.

I really feel like I could do the damn thing! Anybody want to start a team with me? I’m totally serious.
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