Karen

Hello and happy Caturday! I feel like Smokey the Bear saying “Only you can prevent forest fires” in this picture. I was taking pics of makeup and listening to Taylor Swift and… Well, you can guess how that went. I almost deleted the pics, but eh, life is short. If you can dance and laugh at yourself, you must not be doing *everything* completely wrong, ha ha! ?

On the VIP subject of nails, I finally painted mine yesterday afternoon while Connor was napping. This is two coats of Sally Hansen Mega Strength in She-Ro. Let’s hope it lives up to its name.

Oh, and please excuse the somewhat haphazardly done edges. I was too lazy to remove my contacts or look for my cheaters, so I couldn’t really see what I was doing. (Side note: If you ever want to challenge yourself, try painting your nails when you’re practically blind.)

On that note, now would be a really great time to 1) catch up on your weekly beauty reading, and 2) paint your nails! ?

• If you drive a Subaru ? and wear perfume (or wash your hair with shampoo, use fabric softener, or wear nail polish or makeup), FYI, you may want to take your car in for a checkup, ASAP. Apparently, Subaru is recalling some vehicles because of chemical compounds emitted from common consumer products that are messing with brake light switches and rendering them useless.
• Women who work as flight attendants for Virgin Atlantic airlines are no longer required to wear wear makeup. The airline is joining other major carriers in easing their dress and grooming requirements after complaints about them turning female employees into sex objects. Side note: In the ’70s, Southwest Airlines had their flight attendants wear hot pants.
• These cats have a job to do: “Cats Clocking In” (CCI) matches cats deemed unsuitable for traditional adoption with homeowners and businesses that need “rodent deterrent” services.
• Dexter the cat’s family feared the worst when he went missing months ago in the California Camp Fire, but he’s been reunited with his family.
• Inspired by the designer’s recent engagement, Marc Jacobs Beauty is offering free wedding makeup to three LGBTQ+ couples.
• I can’t believe this actually happened, but a young woman says that her ex dumped her because she duped him by wearing makeup to cover up her acne. Seriously, WHAT?! Honey, you’re better off without this dude.
• The best setting powders for oily skin, according to Women’s Health magazine.
• Ginseng is an O.G. superfood, and you can find it in many Korean skin care products right now.
• Aged to Purr-fection is a social program that brings together senior citizens living in assisted living facilities with friendly feline visitors.
• The FDA has confirmed the presence of asbestos in some Claire’s makeup products, which has sparked calls in and out of the agency to expand their regulatory safeguards of cosmetics.

I’m off to drink a little more coffee now… OK, a lot more coffee. What do you have going on today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

First of all, happy International Women’s Day from me and the Coywolf! Here are a few inspiring stories of women making a difference in our world today.

Much less interestingly, all of the awesome Revlon black hair elastics I started using a while back have disappeared into the mysterious black hole located inside my house, so I went to Target to replace them and found these…

SERIOUSLY! They’re huge. I don’t know if they’ll be able to handle my mane, but we shall see. Side note: I wonder what Jason Momoa thinks of them, ha ha ha!

Lastly, I desperately need to paint my nails! Having my nails done always makes me feel like I’ve got my sh*t together and makes the world around me seem less chaotic. (Am I the only one?) Gonna try out this new brand by Sally Hansen called Mega Strength.

How are you (and your nails) doing on this beautiful Friday? What’s new?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! ?

The Coywolf turned three on Saturday, and I’m still processing the fact that she’s a full-on toddler.

Mind you, I know she’s technically been a toddler for a while, but El Hub and I still call her “Babytime” because… Well, no reason. That’s just what we do.

I was looking at old pictures of her this morning, and every single year those chubby little cheeks and baby features seem to get further and further away…

It’s a joy to watch children get older, but every birthday breaks my heart a little because the older and bigger she gets, the closer she gets to leaving the nest, which, I know, kids eventually do. I did it. Everybody does it. I just don’t know if my heart will ever be strong enough to let her go, you know?

Now that she’s three — man! — she’s so much fun. It’s really cool to see her personality blossoming. She’s generally a very cheerful and sweet little girl (I can’t believe I just called her a little girl), and she can be shy sometimes around new people, but after she warms up, she’ll happily offer hugs and kisses. She also likes to call the shots, HA HA! I’ve definitely seen her bossing around her peers, a.k.a. “practicing her leadership/future CEO skills.”

She also has a really funny sense of humor and an excellent ear for music. When she sings, it’s always on key, and when I’ve seen her in dance class with rhythm sticks, she’s on the beat, which funnily enough made my brother, who’s a musician, cry tears of joy (he was deathly afraid she’d have no rhythm, for some reason). Right now she loves ballet, Taylor Swift, nursery rhymes, playing soccer and drawing. And her favorite book is Madeline.
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Deep thoughts… If you could only use one piece of makeup today, what would it be? (And it has to be something real. Magical fairy dust doesn’t count.)

Once upon a time, I would’ve said “under-eye concealer!” because for years I believed that my dark circle situation rivaled Uncle Fester’s, but they aren’t that big of a deal for me anymore… (Looking back, I think I may have been making a mountain out of a molehill, but that’s a story for a different day.)

Now, I’d go with mascara — Wander Beauty Mile High Mascara to be exact.

A lash curl and length boost is makeup magic for my slightly hooded lids, because when my lashes are lifted and point up instead of down, my eyes look less droopy, and my eye sockets look deeper.

I think mascara even makes more of an impact than eyeliner or even eyeshadow.

And if I couldn’t pick a mascara for any reason (BOO), I’d opt for a pinkish nude matte lipstick that I could also use as a blush (and possibly even an impromptu eyeshadow).

How about you? If you could only use one piece of makeup today, what would it be?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen