Karen

A MAC Jade Jagger Face of the Day With Golden Shine Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4

December 11th, 2017 by Karen 27 Comments

mac jade jagger golden shine — When Target is your runway…

I vote that we all wear soft glam makeup for Target runs from this day forward.

It has been decided!

If nothing else, I think it would make the world a more interesting place, LOL!

But seriously, I’m usually barefaced when I go to Target because #momlife, unless I’m feeling ambitious, in which case I might curl my lashes — might — but I just had to go there with MAC Jade Jagger. It’s so beautiful! I haven’t been this excited about a MAC collection in a long time.

Gimme easy glam any day of the week.

mac jade jagger collection all — I’m wearing the blush in the upper right, the red lipstick right next it, the quad on the left, and the bronzer in the lower left.

The collection is LE and coming to select MAC counters and the MAC website December 14th.

This was actually my face of the day last Friday, but I just got around to posting the pics. It’s a warm, satiny bronzed brown smoky eye with pink cheeks and soft red lip.

mac jade jagger golden shine k2 — I used the rose gold shimmer in Satin Shimmer Mineralize Skinfinish to highlight my cheekbones and my nose.

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#FancyLadyThings: Tom Ford FullScreen Lash Mascara

December 11th, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

At the intersection of Fancy Lady Lane and Tom Ford Beauty Boulevard, you’ll find me — hello! — standing at the crossroads waving a tube of the new FullScreen Lash Mascara, which is — clutch your pearls — $45.

Fullscreen is one of three new mascaras in the eyes-only Eyes of Tom Ford makeup collection (the others are Spike and Shutter), and when you say that, you have to whisper it all sexy-time because it’s the right thing to do.

And FullScreen is the one you want if you want natural-looking drama…which, admittedly, seems like a contradiction in terms, but picture your favorite set of natural-looking falsies that noticeably thicken and lengthen your lashes, and even hold a kick-@ss curl for a night-and-day difference, but still manage to look like lashes that a real human being could have been born with.

That’s FullScreen, except without the glue and cries of “Mother trucker! I just smudged my winged liner! Now I need to start over AGAIN!”

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 504

December 11th, 2017 by Karen 81 Comments

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past 10 (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. Do you prefer matte or shiny liquid liners?

With liquid liners, I like a little bit of shine. I leave the mattes to the gels.

2. Do you swear in front of your parents?

Only when I’m surprised or really angry. And it’s always a little embarrassing, but they don’t even acknowledge it.

3. What’s a movie you quote from?

Oh, The Godfather. “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.”

4. Have you ever felt like the odd person out?

All the time, and lately it seems to be happening a lot. It happens whenever I go to mom group events, but I keep going in the hope that I’ll make it into one of the cliques.

5. What would you shout from the rooftops today?

I’M NOT DONE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING, BUT I’D REALLY LIKE TO BE DONE VERY SOON!!!

Happy Monday

It’s well documented that I’m a grumpy grump in the morning, but I’ve been doing this thing lately where I force myself to smile, even if I’m not feeling 100% and it seems forced and fake, because you know that old saying, “Fake it till you make it”? In some ways that’s very true.

So, I’ll see somebody walking toward me or a stranger or Tabs, because Tabs smiles too, and I’ll flash this big, classic smile, and most of the time I’ll get a great big genuine smile in return.

It’s weird, but I swear it actually works. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste:

1. Do you prefer matte or shiny liquid liners?
2. Do you swear in front of your parents?
3. What’s a movie you quote from?
4. Have you ever felt like the odd person out?
5. What would you shout from the rooftops today?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 479

December 10th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

Every time I don’t give Tabs a taste of whatever I’m eating, he takes it as a personal slight, but in weird cat psychology, he thinks that his most coercive tool to woo me is by forcing lurvies upon me, so when he wants a taste of my croissant or my scrambled eggs or whatever, he won’t take no for an answer. He HAS to climb up on my lap or place a possessive paw on my shoulder, and then stare deeply into my eyes and telepathically transmit his desire. “Let me have some. Let me have some. Let me have some. Let me have some.”

It’s kinda annoying!

Tabs really got into his patrol this morning. We went out a little later than usual, so it was sunny, but it was still chilly and wet, which I actually think he likes.

Weirdly, fall is one of his favorite times of year. He loves it when the leaves are on the ground, because there’s more stuff to investigate, and he also likes keeping tabs on the local wild turkeys, which are at their most plump right now.

Plus, the grass is green and extra tasty.

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Saturday Surfing: December 9th, 2017

December 9th, 2017 by Karen 14 Comments

When Pantone declares that Ultra Violet is the new color of the year for 2018, the only thing to do is rush out and buy a Prince shirt from Target.

RIGHT?!

Between the Pantone announcement and Raspberry Beret, I took this as a sign from the universe that it was time for me to own a Purple Rain tee.

The shirts run small, so I got a large, assuming it would shrink a little. I wanted a slightly baggy fit. (They’re also available online!)

So the Target here in Novato is usually empty early on Friday afternoon, but with the holidays coming, everyone and their poodle was there…

On my official list was boring stuff I needed for the house (sponges, rubber gloves, laundry detergent), but ya know, it’s easy to get sidetracked in the beauty section, ‘specially when there’s a sale.

Ruchita, one of the gals who visits the blog (Say hi to her in the comments sometime! She’s super nice and assists many, many cute kittehs.), mentioned that I really need to try Espresso cream shadow by Revlon, which just so happens to be on sale…

A drugstore dupe for the MAC Paint Pots. Of course I bought the two matte browns, ha!

I tried a few of the Revlon shimmer cream shadows a while back. They’re a lot like the MAC Paint Pots, but I haven’t tried any of the mattes, so I grabbed Espresso and Swiss Chocolate.

Also, not that I need another mascara (she said for the one zillionth time), but my makeup artist friend Vanessa Haro raves about $9 L’Oréal Voluminous Lash Paradise, so I grabbed a tube…

FYI, one can easily spend an obnoxious amount of time debating with herself whether to get Black Noir or Blackest Black mascara.

I seriously stood here considering the pros and cons for 10 minutes…

In the end, Blackest Black won the debate.

Fun fact: did you know that losing hair ties to the Black Hole of Things Never to Be Found Again is not just a grown lady thing?! Toddlers are afflicted by this condition as well.

Seriously, we’re in this aisle every other week.

I got Connor a pack of colorful Goody Hair ties for her ponytails not too long ago, and they’ve all disappeared.

Sometimes I find one in the car, on the bathroom floor or under a cushion on the couch, but there were A LOT in that package when it started… I picked up a replacement pack.

Connor also picked out some new bows and tried on some cat ears for fun.

Before we left the beauty aisles, we got a wonderful surprise. We bumped into an MBB reader named Sharaz! She was doing a bit of beauty shopping for herself and was nice enough to say hi. 🙂 Thank you, Sharaz. It was great meeting you!

I’m so excited about my beauty loot! I can’t wait to wear Revlon Espresso this weekend.

But before that, let’s do some Saturday surfing. 🙂

Here are the stories that caught my eye this week…

I thought this piece in the New York Times by author Ashton Applewhite was very thought-provoking:

“Appearance matters. Adornment pleases. But society’s obsession with the way women look is less about beauty than about obedience to a punishing external standard — and power. When women compete to ‘stay young,’ we collude in our own dis-empowerment. When we rank other women by age, we reinforce ageism, sexism, lookism and patriarchy. What else we can we all agree on? This is one bad bargain. It sets us up to fail.”
How makeup is currently an integral part of the performance aspect of women’s wrestling.
If you’re a woman working in science, the L’Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program annually awards $60,000 grants to five postdoctoral scientists for their contributions each year to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and for their commitment to serving as role models for younger generations.
The application period is open now and runs through February 2nd, 2018.
Tabs and I would love to attend this cat party and see you there, so bring your cat and something to share!
Vantablack is the truest, darkest black in the world. Now, if someone could only figure out a way to replicate it in a Chanel Stylo Yeux liner…
Soon you might be able to try on all of the lipsticks at your favorite beauty store by tapping the screen on your phone.
Another big beauty brand just bought an independent line. Unilever purchased Sundial Brands (they make Nubian Heritage, Shea Moisture, and Madam C. J. Walker), the largest black-owned beauty business in the United States.
Just in case you were looking for a $10,000 hair dryer…
The best under-eye color correctors and how to use them

I can’t get enough of Alissa Ashley’s videos. She’s REALLY GOOD at describing the “why” behind her techniques, and it’s very helpful. I learned a few new tricks from this tutorial for brown smoky hooded eyes.

Cassey is one of my favorite fitness instructors. She thoroughly explains everything, and her upbeat personality really helps get me through those last reps.

This stretching video isn’t super intense, but I’ve been trying to work on my flexibility (I can’t stretch for sh*t, man!), and it’s been helpful. I do it once a day, usually early in the morning.

Take me back to 1992! I heard this on 102.1 (the Bay Area’s throwback hip-hop station!) yesterday, and I’m FEELING IT.

OK, friend, now that I’ve show you mine, you have to show me yours. 🙂 Tell me about your most recent beauty run. Did you find anything good this week?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The BECCA Light Waves Highlighter Palette

December 8th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

BECCA’s been surfing this — what feels like a long, continuous wave of limited edition highlighter palettes — for what, months? Years? It seems like there’s a new one every couple months.

Surprise! The latest one is called Light Waves ($34, available now), and it has three shades of their iconic Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Powder. Two are shades you might already be familiar with — good ol’ golden Moonstone, which has been around for years, and shimmering light purple Prismatic Amethyst, which is newer.

Side note: I shied away from purple highlighter for years thinking that it was only for lighter lasses, and that, as a tan-skinned babe, I couldn’t wear it… Boy, was I wrong! It’s actually really flattering on darker skin tones, too.

The new, new shade is smack dab in the middle of the palette. It’s called Pink Sapphire, and it’s a really pretty duo chrome golden pink that flashes to peach.

I’m wearing it on my cheeks here, although, ya know, I had to build it up, because it isn’t as pigmented as Moonstone and Prismatic Amethyst.

Not a big deal, though, because it’s not like I had to put on tons of it. I did two layers for these glowing, opalescent cheeks.

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MAC Jade Jagger Collection: A First Look

December 8th, 2017 by Karen 22 Comments

If your name is Jade and you become a jewelry designer, it’s kind of like destiny telling you, “HA! I told you so!”

British jewelry designer Jade Jagger, daughter of Bianca and Mick Jagger, a.k.a. daughter of rock royalty, has a limited edition MAC collaboration launching December 14th, and you guys…IT’S GORGEOUS.

mac jade jagger collection — Everything in the collection is from the MAC Mineralize family.

MAC Mineralize eyeshadows, face powder, blushes and lipsticks

There are three Mineralize Rich Lipsticks ($25 each), two Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4 quads ($46 each), a Mineralize Skinfinish powder ($33) and two Mineralize Blushes ($28 each), all with something called “Multi-Mineral Complex,” which is MAC-speak for “something that adds color to the face without looking heavy or powdery.”

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Keep Calm and Centered With the Relaxing, Redolent Aveda Shampure Line

December 7th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

There are so many redolent reasons to wander into Aveda, like the teas…

Oh, my gosh! — every time I walk in there and someone’s like, “Would you care for some tea?” I’m like Billy the Kid with how fast my had whips out for that cup. YUM!

But one of the best reasons to visit Aveda is their Shampure line. If you like lavender, peppermint and basically anything that smells herbal and earthly, I think you’ll love it. I know I do.

It’s a line of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body oil, and they also have a body mist now, all in the same scent, which is a potion of 25 pure plant and flower essences to soothe your senses.

The strongest notes to me are lavender, peppermint and ylang-ylang, which is a white, tropical flower from the Philippines (woo!), and they smell so cozy, calming and wintry together.

This is a great time of year for it. I love it.

aveda shampure composition oil — I really like this real-deal body oil for uber-dry legs.

The Shampure Shampoo and Conditioner ($14 each for decent-sized 8.5-oz. bottles) are my favorite things in the line. I use them once every other week as a clarifying set for my roots and my strands because they completely — like, I’m not kidding — get my hair squeaky clean.

Shampoo Ingredients:

Aqueous (Water\Aqua\Eau) Extracts\Extraits Aqueux:Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract , Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate , Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate , Lauramidopropyl Betaine , PEG-6 Cocamide , Dimethicone PEG-7 Isostearate , Babassuamidopropyl Betaine , Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein , Hydrolyzed Brazil Nut Protein , Wheat Amino Acids , Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil , Glycerin , Tocopheryl Acetate , Ascorbyl Palmitate , Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride , PEG-30 Castor Oil , Polyquaternium-7 , Sodium Sulfate , Fragrance (Parfum) , Geraniol , Linalool , Citronellol , Limonene , Sodium Chloride , Polysorbate 80 , Sodium Gluconate , Maltodextrin , Potassium Sorbate , Sodium Benzoate , Phenoxyethanol , Annatto (CI 75120)

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