Karen, Author at Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup - Page 194 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. 603

by 3 Comments

It’s planting time this year! We didn’t really feel like growing a garden last year, because planting season was around the time Tabs passed, but we’ve always enjoyed building our little deck gardens, and Tabs did too. He had quite a green thumb.

He just loved hanging out around the garden and the world of plants we built every year on the deck. It’s a small area back there, but we’ve managed to do a lot with it.

There was catnip galore, peppers, a cat grass nibbling and napping area, a zinnia snack bar, a parsley appetizer area, and a gerbera daisy all-you-can-eat buffet.


[Continue reading…]

Saturday Surfing, April 18, 2020

by 10 Comments

Hey there, friend. Happy Saturday! Rosie girl sends sweet greetings…

This is her happy face, I swear. ? Her body language says she loves me, but her RBF says otherwise, ha ha ha!

Connor and I talked about it at length yesterday when we were hunting for wildflowers in our neighborhood (“Mama, Rosie likes you, but she loves me the most because she chose *me* as her special person.”)

If you’re in Northern California in the spring, you’ll see these purple flowers everywhere — blooming all over the hills, along roads, and even in the middle of parking lots! I think they’re called lupine (?), and there’s huge patches of them where we live.

I noticed yesterday that some of the flowers have pods on the stems that look like mini peas. I grabbed a few pods hoping to grow some in our front yard someday. Ya never know!

When we got back from our walk, we put our wildflower bouquet in a jar of water on the kitchen windowsill, and then Connor helped me bake a funky-lookin’ gluten-free blueberry lemon loaf.

It’s rustic looking, a.k.a. “photogenically challenged,” so while it’s not the prettiest, it’s melt-in-your-mouth perfection with a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Hmm… Now that I think about it, a slice sounds good for breakfast, so while I get my yum on, please enjoy your reading for the week.


A tutorial with, not one, but two different eye looks! And it’s with one of my favorite UD palettes, Born to Run.


Please note the presence of the diva fan.


Another one, BECAUSE I LOVE HER!


So much big hair. I kinda want to do this just for fun.


Probably not a great idea to watch this while my tummy’s rumbling, but what the haaaaay.


My favorite was “cookie”.


Current isolation theme song


I wish I was hanging out with the background singers.

Whatcha got planned for today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What’s a Typical Shelter-in-Place Covid-19 Day Like for You?

by 16 Comments

whats your day like

These are strange times… We should probably document it. ?

I bet many of us are doing a lot of the same things (Movie rentals? Zoom meetings? Taking walks outside? Going for drives? Waiting in long lines at Target and Trader Joe’s?). I’m curious, how do you spend your weekdays? Do you have any new family routines? What do you do on the weekends? What’s a typical shelter-in-place day like for you? Let me know in the comments.

Perhaps one day we’ll be able to look back at our answers and laugh about it… Hopefully. ?

toilet paper target shelter in place
Spotted this goldmine at Target just before the world shut down…

Here’s what it’s like at Casa de MBB on a typical weekday. I’ve been sheltering with El Hub, Connor and PGR (Pretty Girl Rosie), who, collectively, are known as “the coworkers.”

coworkers shelter in place
A few of my coworkers

We maintain a strict schedule. It starts at 5:15 when El Hub gets up for work. His commute only takes a minute, because all he does is go downstairs to his computer in the dining room.

I get up a few minutes later and go downstairs to get my coffee, make a bite to eat, and then I go back upstairs to my desk, where I check my email, glance at the news (yuck), fill out any paperwork or pay any bills (bluh), before I do my makeup or write a new blog post.

We’ve tried to keep Connor’s regular preschool schedule through all this to retain some sense of normalcy for her, and that’s been great (but keeping a schedule also helps us too). Her day starts around 7:45 with breakfast (like an Eggo waffle with sliced strawberries, blackberries or blueberries, and maple syrup) and some quiet relaxing music (Spotify is great for this).

Connor’s (home) school starts promptly at 9 on the dot.

Structure helps my sanity, because without it my day devolves into meandering casually from a workout into a long walk around the neighborhood into baking cookies into the next thing into the next thing… Before I know it, it’s dinner, and I haven’t gotten anything done, so structure is good for both me and Connor.

With our schedule, we all know what’s coming next, so there’s a rhythm to our day.

It also eases the load of watching Connor and trying to get work done. El Hub and I each have set hours where we watch Connor, and we pass her back and forth (kinda like a basketball, ha!), so that the other person can have blocks of uninterrupted time for work and to concentrate.

El Hub usually has her first in the morning, so he feeds breakfast, gets her dressed and does her hair…which has resulted in some CRAZY daddy hairstyles, ha ha ha! We’ve learned to just go with it. ?

I can usually get a workout in during this time, which is a relatively new thing for me, but those early morning sweat sessions are, no joke, completely necessary for my mood, and if I don’t exercise, I’m crabby for the rest of the day (El Hub would attest to this).

cat yoga mat burrito
Why are cats so obsessed with yoga mats?

Heading off the crankiness has become more challenging every day we’ve been cooped up, so I absolutely NEED help, and the workouts help.

I have until 9am to finish, clean up, eat and complete any writing or other tasks, and then I take over on Connor duty.

At 9, we start homeschool preschool, which I should be technically calling “crisis schooling,” because that’s what the preschool administrators call it. For a couple hours, we stay busy indoors. I help her with an art project or with a simple lesson (like numbers, colors, letters or shapes), and then we read books. Then, we’ll do some kind of tactile activity — usually making lunch, but sometimes it’s baking or engineering (Play-Doh).

baking brownies shelter in place
#stressbaking

Before lunch, we’ll go outside for an hour or so for some outdoor play. She’ll ride her bike, water the plants or do sidewalk chalk, and sometimes we’ll take a walk. We try to emphasize the daily school theme during our time outside, so if the theme is spring flowers, we point out all of the flowers we find.

Outdoor art class

At noon, we all break for lunch in the living room, which is when El Hub takes over again. He’ll help her with her lunch and get her ready for rest time (otherwise known as “the golden hour!”), which is from 1 to 3, during which time Connor quietly reads, naps or plays in her room.

After rest time, the school day is mostly over. One or both of us will take Connor outside to play again, and then I’ll usually start dinner around 4. If I wait much later than that, I tend to get hungry and maybe more than a little cranky…

Side note: I am SO SICK OF MY OWN COOKING. I don’t mind making a meal, but we’ve basically been existing on the same three dishes for so long that I’m over it, and I miss how much better food tastes when someone else makes it for you!

A few nights ago, El Hub and I fell asleep listing all of the takeout food we wanted to eat (“honey walnut shrimp with vegetable chow mein; carnitas burritos with extra guac, sour cream and cheese; pad thai and yellow chicken curry…).

First thing I’m gonna do is get some ramen that somebody else made.

Anywho! After everyone’s fed, I’ll sneak in a few household chores, then take a shower, then prep for the next day.

After Connor goes to bed at 8, I’ll watch a little TV, then pass out between 9 and 10.

And then we get up the next day and do it over again!

The days are definitely blending into each other…although Saturdays and Sundays are a bit looser, since there’s no “school” on those days.

It’s weird to not have something to “do” or to drive to on the weekends, right? We would usually treat ourselves to a movie or a dinner or a trip to the bookstore or window shopping at a mall, but now that we don’t have those, we end up doing things like sewing homemade masks or taking stock of the food in the pantry… Whee!

What has sheltering-in-place been like for you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Peachy Golden Brown Cheeks and Eyes With a ’90s-Style Lip #throwbackthursday

by 7 Comments

mac amber lights
#throwbackthursday to this ’90s lip look

A pic popped up in my feed a few days ago of a friend wearing a classic ’90s lip with an unblended dark outer edge, a light lipstick, and lots and lots of gloss in the center.

I was moved!

I wore the heck out of this lip look when I was in college, and apparently you can trust muscle memory to kick in when you attempt to do old favorite makeup looks, because it all came back to me like *that*.

mac amber lights

What you’ll need

To do this type of ’90s lip look, grab the following…

  • A dark matte lip liner (I’m wearing two shades of brown).
  • An opaque matte lipstick significantly lighter than your lip liner, because you’re going for contrast here. I chose a matte beige.
  • A very shiny gloss, either clear, or in a shade that compliments your lipstick.

Step-by-step: the ’90s girl unblended lip look!

  1. Apply a layer or two of your lipstick first. I just did it directly from the tube.
  2. Line the outermost portion of your lips with the liner. Be sure to sharpen the tip beforehand for a crisp edge.
  3. Dot the gloss on the center of your bottom lip. I like to swipe a little first on the back of my hand, and then I dab the gloss on with a finger to avoid touching the doe-foot applicator directly to the lipstick. That way I can keep the lipstick from mixing into the gloss and changing the color.
  4. DO NOT rub your lips together or blend the liner with a lip brush, or do anything that will reduce the definition of the edge. This is totes key!

mac amber lights

If you do a beige-brown lip like the one I’m wearing here, peachy golden brown colors work well on the cheeks and eyes.

mac amber lights

Makeup worn in this look

Social media is weird, man.

Have you seen the thing going ’round social media where people post their senior high school pic to support the seniors graduating in 2020? Now, how is posting one’s own senior portrait supposed to cheer up a senior in high school who’s missing prom and graduation? I dunno. That said, I’ve been enjoying seeing everyone’s throwbacks, especially all the makeup and hair. It’s great for inspiration!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Double the Nail Polish!

by 10 Comments

essie beauty nap take me to thread
When you just can’t decide…

Double nail polish! I think we should make this a Spring thing.

Last night I was trying to decide between light green Essie Beauty Nap and mauve Essie Take Me to Thread, and then I was like, “Screw it. If there’s a good time to wear mismatched nails, this is that time.”

So now I’ve got green nails on one hand and mauve nails on the other. ?‍♀️

essie beauty nap take me to thread
Essie Take Me to Thread (mauve) and Beauty Nap (green)

Maybe this way I’ll actually get around to wearing all of the nail polishes I’ve hoarded collected, ha ha!

Who’s with me?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Warm Browns With a Matte Bright Blue and Shimmery Teal

by 8 Comments

urban decay chaos electric eyeliner

Banged out these bright eyes during the golden hour, otherwise known as “afternoon rest time,” otherwise known as “the two hour break when Connor takes a nap and I get to put on a li’l makeup.”

Lower lash line surprise

I’m wearing warm brown eyeshadows with a bright matte blue on the upper lash line and a shimmery, glittery teal on the lower lash line…but look closely! You’ll also see a thin line of the same matte bright blue I’m wearing on my upper lash line hugging the roots of my lower lash line for an unexpected makeup surprise.

Sharpen those weapons

You could totally do this look with other accent combos. For the bright accent here (in this case blue), I think the key is to combine a darker matte finish with a lighter shimmer. I think that’s what makes it work.

urban decay chaos electric swatch

Whichever colors you choose, have your favorite eye pencil sharpener handy, because the sharper your liner, the more control you have over the width of your lines. I used to overlook this and would line my lash lines with dull tips until I found an eyeliner tutorial by The Goddess Her Makeup Majesty Charlotte Tilbury (GOODNESS GRACIOUS, I LOVE HER). She emphasized, over and over, the importance of a sharp tip whenever you’re working with pencil. Lo and behold, when I started religiously sharpening, lining got much easier and less messy.

Big ups to Char for forever changing my life. ?

Spirit makeup animal shout-out

I also gotta give it up to another one of my favorite makeup artists, Brittany Sullivan, for inspiring this look and for temporarily lifting me out of my bronze/brown/neutrals rut routine. Follow her if you aren’t already because her hair and makeup style (how she perfects the base without it looking overdone = AMAZING) is the stuff of effortlessly casual dreams. Serious #foundationgoals.

urban decay chaos electric eyeliner

urban decay chaos electric eyeliner

urban decay chaos electric eyeliner

Makeup worn in this look

Base: Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream (to prep skin), MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Foundation Stick in NC42 (cheeks, nose, around mouth) and Estée Lauder 24HR Concealer in Medium Warm Deep (just a single dot underneath each eye)

Eyes: MAC Soft Brown and Saddle (lids and crease), Urban Decay Chaos liner (upper lash line, and very thinly along lower lash line), Urban Decay Electric (lower lash line), MAC Hush (inner corner and brow bone), Hourglass Arch Brow Gel in Dark Brunette, Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara

Cheeks: Nudestix Lip & Cheek Pencils in Blush and Purity (cheeks) and MAC Hush (upper cheekbones)

Lips: Nudestix Lip & Cheek Pencils in Purity (lip liner) and Blush (lipstick)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Coral, Bronze and Plum Makeup With a Natural-Looking Base for Outdoor Adventures

by 23 Comments

mac sable eyeshadow

This is what “fancy dress” is for me these days: a semi-wrinkled striped sweater, pants with paint spots on them (I wore them to paint Connor’s room a few months ago, and dagnabbit if they aren’t my most comfortable jeans I own!), and my “good” pair of Nike Winflos.

Oh, and a little makeup of course! ?

mac sable eyeshadow

Targeted coverage

To chase PGR around the house and the Coywolf around the block yesterday, I wore bronze and plum on my eyes and cheeks with a sheer coral lip. And I paired it with what I like to call “a semi-sheer base,” which is all-over barely-there coverage with a tinted moisturizer, as well as a few targeted areas with slightly more opaque coverage. I did this by blending a sheer layer of stick foundation on my cheeks and around my mouth, and then buffing a tiny amount of liquid concealer underneath my eyes.

mac sable eyeshadow

I didn’t set it with a powder because I wanted my skin to look as skin-like as possible, but you totally could… Just be sure to not go too heavy with it if you want to maintain the skin-like effect.

I really like this type of targeted coverage, especially how it looks in outdoor light, which can be notoriously unforgiving. Highly recommended. Try it on your next picnic.

Unearthed MAC gems

In other news…I’m weeding my way through my makeup collection right now, and I keep unearthing old gems. I wore two of my recent finds yesterday — Cheeky Bronze Mineralize Skinfinish and MAC Liquidlast Liner in Coco Bar.

Cheeky Bronze is a soft, shimmery golden coral face powder. Technically, it’s a highlighter, but you can also use it all over your cheeks as an all-in-one bronzer/blush/highlighter, which is what I have on my cheeks in these pics.

If you’re feeling creative, you can also use it as an eyeshadow. I wet a MAC 217 brush, flicked it across the pan a few times to load it up, then buffed it onto the inner part of my lids to go with the bronzed plum shadow I was wearing on the outer half (MAC Sable, in case you’re curious).

Coco Bar is a dark neutral brown MAC Liquidlast liner, and it will not move for nothing! It’s like a liquid version of MAC Coffee pencil liner, which is why I love it. I drew a line directly along my upper and lower lash lines, then smudged the edge with a flat eyeshadow brush. If you’re looking for a soft, diffused chocolate liner that stays put, you gotta give it a go, ASAP.

mac sable eyeshadow

Makeup worn in this look

Base: MAC Peachlite Strobe Cream (to prep skin), First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Tinted Moisturizer in Tan (all over face), MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Foundation in NC42 (cheeks, around base of nostrils and mouth), Estée Lauder 24H Concealer in Medium Warm

Eyes: MAC Teddy eyeliner (buffed all over lids as an eyeshadow base, then applied as liner on waterlines), MAC Sable eyeshadow (outer half of lids), MAC Cheeky Bronze (inner half, applied wet), MAC Hush (inner corner), MAC Liquidlast in Coco Bar (smudged along upper and lower lash lines), Laura Mercier Caviar Volume Mascara

Cheeks: MAC Cheeky Bronze

Lips: MAC Ravishing Lipglass (a sheer coral that appears to be, sadly, discontinued. BOO!)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 622

by 30 Comments

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. ?

    1. Favorite skin care brands?

    Kate Somerville, Skinceuticals, Neutrogena and Aveeno.

    2. Favorite pair of shoes?

    My black, white and pink Nike running shoes.

    3. Favorite candy?

    See’s Milk Chocolate Butterscotch Squares, which I’m missing something FIERCE right now.

    4. Favorite ice cream?

    It’s a tossup between Baskin-Robbins Pistachio Almond and Häagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche…

    5. Your car?

    A silver Mazda 3, which I haven’t driven in three weeks.

    6. Favorite holiday?

    Halloween, because you get to dress up and eat candy. Plus, I don’t have to cook or host, HA HA HA!

    7. Night owl or early bird?

    I’m a night owl by nature, but I play an early bird on TV (a.k.a. I wake up early out of necessity).

    8. Favorite day of the week?

    Caturday! ?

    9. Tattoos?

    Just fake temporary tats of cats.

    10. Do you like vegetables?

    I love me some veggies! ??? And I love how I feel after eating them. Side note: I just recently learned that bitter melon (which I don’t care for) is a fruit, not a vegetable. *mind blown*

    11. Do you wear glasses?

    Yup, for distance. ?

    12. Favorite season?

    Fall in the Bay Area.

    The adventure continues! How many weeks of quarantine is this? I’ve lost track. Is this the fourth or the fifth week?

    How was your Easter? ? Ours was nice and low key. We kept it simple. After an Easter egg hunt, we packed into the car and went looking for a good place to have a picnic.

    El Hub grabbed his fishing gear, and we drove out to Marin French Cheese, which we like going to normally (pre-covid), and the last time we went a few weeks ago the deli was closed, but the pond and picnic tables were still accessible. Not this time though. The whole place was closed and off limits.

    After that we tried Nicasio Reservoir, but that was also closed. There were orange traffic cones and Health Department warning signs at every turnout…

    Not ready to give up, we drove back into town and found a perfect grass-covered area of landscaping in the middle of an empty parking lot! SCORE. Necessity is the mother of invention. ?

    Happy Monday, friend. Have a wonderful week. ❤️

    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. Favorite skin card brands?
    2. Favorite pair of shoes?
    3. Favorite candy?
    4. Favorite ice cream?
    5. Your car?
    6. Favorite holiday?
    7. Night owl or early bird?
    8. Favorite day of the week?
    9. Tattoos?
    10. Do you like vegetables?
    11. Do you wear glasses?
    12. Favorite season?

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