Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 523

May 7th, 2018 by Karen 36 Comments

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Good question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll. 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 gazillion years (more than 10!). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a great start. ?

1. The three lip colors you wear most often?

Ooh! — this one’s easy. Pink, coral and blue…

(Yes, j/k about that last one, LOL. It’s not blue. It’s brown.)

2. Have you ever had a lemonade stand?

Not formally, no, but I vaguely recollect lining up Dixie cups on the sidewalk outside my house, filling them with water from the hose, and selling pretend lemonade to my friend Karrie who lived next door for the low, low price of three leaves. ?

3. What’s one thing you’re looking forward to this summer?

The long days. I love that it stays light so long and late into the evening. I swear, I get a lot more done (the only problem is trying to go to bed early sometimes when it’s still broad daylight at 9).

It’s already staying light later than it was. Like tonight I know it’ll still be light when I get home from HIIT class, so I plan to plant the herbs I got for the Lady Sanctuary (dill, cilantro and thyme)!

4. Your signature dish?

Hmm… That’s a good question! I don’t really have one. I wish I did, because who doesn’t love taking special requests for something you’re famous for?

I do get requests sometimes for my brownies, and I make a mean frozen waffle with peanut butter and raisins…

5. Your signature makeup look?

Bronzed/plummy lids with coral cheeks and lips.

Soft glam all day, every day, my friend.

Missing May entirely!

Is it just me, or does May feel like it’s moving faster than usual? This first week went by in the blink of an eye! Everyone used to tell me that time passes faster when you get older, and I’ll be damned if they weren’t right. Why is that? Spring is zipping by at breakneck speed.

I hope that happens to our Monday, and it passes in the blink of an eye…except for the good parts. To whom it may concern, please slow it down for the good parts, like lunch! 🙂

See ya later.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you’re game, here are the questions to copy and paste into a comment with your answers:

1. The three lip colors you wear most often?
2. Have you ever had a lemonade stand?
3. What’s one thing you’re looking forward to this summer?
4. Your signature dish?
5. Your signature makeup look?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 500!!!

May 6th, 2018 by Karen 31 Comments

I approach today’s 500th installment of Sundays with Tabs with a sense of pride coupled with bittersweet melancholy. Tabs and I have spent an average of 2-3 hours working together on these posts each week for more than 10 years. That’s literally more than 1,000 hours!

As silly as these posts are, I’ll cherish the time I’ve spent creating them with Tabs for the rest of my life, because why not? Life is serious, and there’s always going to be something important going on. All of us face important decisions and challenges every single day — lost jobs, car repairs, breakups, work conflicts, overdue bills, taxes, health scares, financial difficulties, emergency room visits, sudden illnesses…

Nothing lasts forever. Everything is temporary. Change is the only constant, but I believe that it’s the little things that keep us going, like spending time with your cat and sharing pictures of him wearing a leather collar with a pink bow, a glittery “500” and a flower on it with people on the Internet.

Thank you for coming along with me on this marvelous ride so far.

Here’s a look at what Tabs wore on this morning’s patrol around the neighborhood, followed by a brief kitty modeling career retrospective. 🙂

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Saturday Surfing, May 5th, 2018

May 5th, 2018 by Karen 26 Comments

¡Y feliz Cinco de Mayo! ??

I love to travel and “get outta Dodge,” so to speak, even if it’s just to head out of town for a couple days to visit my in-laws, like we did last weekend. It’s good for a change of scenery and to break your routines for a bit. And then it also makes the return to those comfy routines all the sweeter when you get back home, ya know?

So, this weekend… Oh, good morning, by the way! 🙂 I’m just rattling on, LOL! I had my coffee early and it’s kicking in.

Anyway, what was I saying…?

Oh, yeah, TRAVEL. I would love to be chilling in Punta de Mita today, maybe catch a few waves at Sayulita, but the furthest I intend to go this weekend is to the gardening store down the street to see if they have any herbs to plant in the pots I grabbed from HomeGoods the other day.

Which takes me to other thing I have planned today — good ol’-fashioned spring cleaning. I don’t want to do it, but it has to be done.

plant holders — Hopefully these will soon house herbs for some yummy dishes this summer.

Speaking of HomeGoods, doesn’t that measuring cup with the blue kitty in the top pic look like something Anthropolgie would sell for $45?

Guess who found it at HomeGoods for $7.99. 🙂 Yup, this girl.

According to Sir John (my spirit animal, and Beyoncé’s makeup artist), this is what you need to do so your cream blush looks like skin.
This writer accidentally ripped out her lashes, and I totally feel her pain. Here’s how she grew them back.
When you’re thinking about what to get mom for Mother’s Day, would you consider a $1,400 Gucci sweatshirt? $86 drinking glasses? A $310 one-piece swimsuit?! If so, then check out this over-the-top Mom’s Day gift guide — by The Wall Street Journal, so random!
Ooh, I see a few cream blushes I want to try on this list of celebrity favorite drugstore blushes.

I need that Revlon stick blush in my life, STAT.
According to New York City dermatologist Dr. Rachel Nazarian, there are basically only two types of acne, inflammatory (red, painful cysts) and non-inflammatory (whiteheads and blackheads), and here’s how she develops a patient’s treatment plan.

Oh, and speaking of acne treatments, people used to do lots of sketchy things back in the day, including using mercury, cyanide and cow poop applied to one’s face.
Apparently, these iconic ’80s beauty products have withstood the test of time and are still beloved today.
I spent about 30 minutes doing my own makeup for my senior portrait (which was a long time for me back in the day), so props to this 18-year-old high school senior, who spent four hours painting his face for his senior pics. Kevin Kodra, who also works as a makeup artist on the side, used lots of creams to create his bronzed, glowing look.
The artistry in this took my breath away. I could never pull off these extra-long nails (figuratively) and bejeweled embellishments because I can barely type if my nails are a millimeter too long, so I’m wondering how the ladies who wear extra OTT styles get anything done! — but hey, if you can function with talons, more power to ya!
Perfumes eventually expire after exposure to oxygen, light and bacteria, but there’s a small but growing niche of perfume retailers who sell vintage perfumes as if they’re fine wines.

If I play my cards right and get my errands done, I’d also like to stop by the library to grab a new book, because reading is fundamental! Are you reading anything good right meow?

Happy Cinco de Mayo, babe. Talk to you soon. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Does Your Skin Change With the Seasons?

May 4th, 2018 by Karen 9 Comments

Girl, yes. So. Much. Yes.

The funny thing is, or at least the cruelly ironic thing is, that it didn’t change much at all that I can remember when I was in my teens and 20s. I used to have much oilier skin then and got frequent breakouts all year round. That was the status quo for about the first half of my life.

Sh*t got real in my mid-30s, and now I feel the seasons in my pores, LOL!

I’m probably also hyper aware of my skin now, whereas I didn’t think about it much back in the day, but as the temperature and the humidity changes, and yes, even in California we do have seasons. 🙂 But yeah, when the seasons change, my skin freaks out.

My skin is definitely feeling the effects of spring right now. First, I’m taking allergy meds, which are making my skin even drier than usual, and I’ve also been getting hives that pop up at the most inopportune moments, like right when I have to meet somebody for the first time, and I’ve got a big-@ss red bump on my left cheek the size of my fist.

Second, because it gets really windy here in spring, I get windburn, and my skin physically hurts. It feels tight and kind of taught. It’s like a sunburn. 🙁
Yeah, my hives are no joke.

So, long story short, yes, my skin changes with the seasons, and I have to adjust my skin care and my makeup (mainly my base makeup, like primers, foundations and powders) accordingly.

How about you? Does your skin change with the seasons?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint

May 4th, 2018 by Karen 15 Comments

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

ANNOYING FACTOID OF THE DAY: Ya know…I bought a $50 YSL face tint at the Sephora VIB sale, and I don’t like it anywhere near as much as Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint.

Grrr…

Hydro Boost is so, SO good. I started using it when it came out about a year ago, and I’ve been wearing it off and on ever since.

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned (a zillion times), I have combo skin. Some parts are dry, others are oily, and even though I’m a little irked that Neutrogena raised the price from $14.99 to $16.99 in that time, whenever I wear this stuff I remember why it’s one of the best drugstore foundations out there (right up there with L’Oreal True Match Lumi).

It feels like nothing at all, keeps your skin looking like actual, you know, human skin, and it looks just as amazing in pics as it does in real life, even outside on a sunny day!

As a tint, it starts off sheer, but you can build it up to medium. You can’t really push it further than that, though, unless you mix in a concealer (and, if you do that, I recommend Make Up For Ever Ultra HD because they blend very well together).

Hydro Tint has a natural demi-matte finish, so it reflects light ever so slightly, and it also has a slight pore-blurring effect. Very similar to the awesome (and more expensive) NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tints, but with a touch less coverage and a more moisturizing formula.

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Subtle Spring Sparkle: Golden Bronze Halo Eyes for HomeGoods With the Urban Decay Beached Summer Collection

May 3rd, 2018 by Karen 21 Comments

urban decay beached eyeshadow k — Subtle spring sparkle for a trip to HomeGoods

Most of the times when I go to HomeGoods, I’m dressed caj with minimal (or negligible) makeup, but sometimes I like to go gladiator style and do my hair and makeup and get a little more dressed up so I can enter the store like I’m entering an arena.

YES, HOMEGOODS IS A MOTHER-TRUCKIN’ ARENA.

Granted, there are no predatory animals, javelins, swords or armored warhorses galloping at you while you admire a delicately painted lemon bowl (handmade in Italy!), but if I see you pushing your cart toward the last farmhouse-inspired botanical print, trust that I will body check your @ss into the stratosphere. 🙂

I don’t play around at HomeGoods!

The Coywolf and I were there today to look for herb pots for the Lady Sanctuary, and I wore this golden bronze halo eye.

urban decay beached paletted hg1 — I would LOVE a $5,000 shopping spree to this store.

This was a toned-down halo eye, and the highlight in the center of my lids wasn’t as strong as it is in a classic halo.

This was the middle of the day, so I took it down a notch by keeping the golden highlight relatively close in tone to the surrounding bronze shadow, but I didn’t want it to be too subtle, so I layered it on top of a shimmery gold pencil liner and did a swish of teal on the lower lash line.

urban decay beached paletted hg2 — Still looks shimmery from a few feet away! Side note: iPhone case is the Attention Lipsticks iPhone Case from my store, connorclaire.com.

Urban Decay Beached Summer Collection

To keep the focus on my lids, I kept my skin, lips and brows super chill, but I did wear some things from the new Urban Decay Beached Summer Collection, namely the palette, a bronzer and a gold eyeliner.

urban decay beached palette — New for summer

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The Neutrogena Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette Is on the Cusp of Greatness

May 3rd, 2018 by Karen 9 Comments

neutrogena kerry washington essential eye palette k2 — Lids by Neutrogena and Kerry Washington. I’m wearing the new Essential Eye Palette, which is only $12.99!

It’s not exactly a scandal… Get it? Haha… But I’m definitely getting Olivia Pope vibes from the poised, polished browns in Kerry’s chic new Neutrogena eye palette.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve only seen a few episodes from the first season of Scandal (tried but didn’t really get into it), but I remember loving the clothes, like the all-white ensembles! The stiletto pumps! The bags!

Oh, THE BAGS. Olivia Pope’s character dresses like she eats nails for breakfast, and I LIKE IT. No matter what she wears, though, her makeup always looks sophisticated, so yeah, definitely see her wearing this palette.

It has five powder eyeshadows, all in surprisingly cool neutral tones, which is so refreshing betwixt all of the orange and reddish neutral palettes all over the place these days.

neutrogena kerry washington essential eye palette swatches — Swatches of the Neutrogena Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette

I mean, I like fun warm tones, too, but when you have a slightly hooded lid situation like I do, cool-toned browns are just so handy. They’re perfect for contouring a crease that isn’t very deep, but that really only works with shadows that have a semi-matte or matte finish, because when you’re using them this way, you don’t want them to reflect a lot of light.

I thought Kerry’s palette would focus on semi-matte or satin finishes, but it does not. On my skin, the shadows are shiny… Actually, borderline frosty, even. And they seem to get progressively shinier as I blend.

All of them are moderately pigmented, which I like because I’m not apt to over-apply, and they’re relatively easy to blend (compared to intensely pigmented shadows), but once I get a brush up in the mix and start buffing away, the color diffuses pretty quickly, leaving behind a shiny opalescent finish that highlights every mother-lovin’ line on my lids…

The only one that doesn’t do this is the dark bronzed brown on the far right, and that one is EPIC.

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The Lady Sanctuary Is Back in Business

May 2nd, 2018 by Karen 36 Comments

dirt or freckles — Every day I look more and more like a mean piano teacher, I swear…

Makeup/life tip: if you’re into faux freckles but don’t want to spend the time painstakingly drawing them on your face, may I suggest gardening on your deck on a windy afternoon?

After I posted this pic on Instagram stories I got several nice compliments on my amazing freckles.

Homegirls…THAT’S DIRT.

LOL!

The Lady Sanctuary (also known as the deck garden off my upstairs bedroom) is back in business!

I went with things I’ve planted before because I know they should do well on my deck — snapdragons, salvia, cosmos, fuchsia, daisies, and these gigantic marigolds that are as big as my face.

Tabs isn’t allowed on this particular deck. He hangs out on the deck off the living room downstairs because that’s where his Tabby Command Center and the household catnip forest are, but since he also spends a lot of time sleeping on ze bed, I thought that a couple of plants up there would attract hummingbirds.

They seem to love the salvia and fuchsia.

This way Tabs has something ? to look at while he’s relaxing.

lady sanctuary 2018 — And after… For ladies only!

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