Karen

Chanel Holiday 2017: 822 SILVER SCREEN/SATINÉ Cream Eyeshadow From the LIBRE 2017 NUMÉROS ROUGES Holiday Collection

November 8th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

chanel collection libre silver-screen-k2 — Lids: Chanel OMBRE PREMIÈRE
Longwear Cream Eyeshadow in 822 SILVER SCREEN/SATINÉ from the LIBRE 2017 NUMÉROS ROUGES holiday collection

I’m not surprised anymore to see red and gold in a holiday makeup collection, because it’s typical, or, as the cool kids like to say these days, “#basic.”

I mean, how many times have we seen red and gold holiday makeup collections!? I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I lost count. So I think it was pretty unusual, in a welcome way, to see Chanel go with red and platinum for the new LIBRE 2017 NUMÉROS ROUGES collection.

And we’re not talking about a basic platinum either.

chanel collection libre silver-screen — 822 Silver Screen

It’s called 822 Silver Screen, and it’s a warm-toned platinum OMBRE PREMIÈRE, one of Chanel’s Longwear Cream Eyeshadows.

If you look closely, you should see a hint of khaki…

chanel collection libre silver screen swatch — Swatch: 822 SILVER SCREEN/SATINÉ

The khaki took me a little while to see. I had to stare at the swatch on my skin, but as I meditated on it (wait — doesn’t everybody do that with their eyeshadow??), I spotted an essence of khaki green.

Then the mental makeup gears started turning… “Ooh! I’ll do green liner with this eyeshadow. It’ll be magical.”

chanel collection libre silver-screen-k — I’m also wearing Chanel Malice Blush on my cheeks and Hourglass Day Dream on my lips

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#FancyLadyThings: Christian Louboutin Goldissima Gloss

November 8th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

In #FancyLadyThings Land, it’s perfectly acceptable for you — in fact, you’re encouraged — to carry a sheer $85 nude peachy golden gloss in your Goyard Bag.

Christian Louboutin’s limited edition six-piece Metalinudes Loubilaque Lip Lacquer in Goldissima came out with a six-piece shimmery metallic collection last summer that included three $85 Lip Lacquers (also known as “glosses”) and three $50 nail polishes. Even though Goldissima was a summer launch, it’s wearable all year long, ESPECIALLY if you’re heading to Bali for the holidays this year. So YAY FOR THAT. 🙂

Oh, it’s also still available at counters and online.

Every #FancyLady needs at least one luxe lip gloss in her collection, and while a nude $85 golden peachy pink gloss would be cray-cray in the regular word, in #FancyLadyThings Land, this one is pretty fabulous.

It’s comfy, non-sticky and moisturizing, and there isn’t any grit whatsoever in the golden pearl, which is so key at any budget, right?

Even though Goldissima doesn’t feel sticky, the formula is on the thicker side. I’d say it’s even thicker than a MAC Lipglass. It stays practically glued to your lips. I get about three hours if I’m wearing it on its own or four hours on top of a lip liner.

The gloss is indubitably high quality, but you’re clearly also paying for the name — Christian Louboutin, maker of those famously expensive red-soled shoes — and the fancy packaging. Louboutin “presents” Goldissima in a huge black box stamped with the logo and lined in velvet on the inside, and the gloss tube is covered in a pattern reminiscent of mermaid scales…

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Accessorize Me! 13 Playfully Pink Shoes From DSW

November 8th, 2017 by Karen 38 Comments

Accessorize Me! is a new series featuring roundups and single product features of shoes, bags, jewelry and other accessories that catch my eye.

Me: You don’t need another pair of shoes, Karen.
Also Me: OMG, that pale pink suede pair of Nikes is a totally good idea.
Me: Oh, no, those will totally get dirty, you know it, within 2.5 seconds.
Also Me: Who the heck cares?!

Girl… I strolled into DSW yesterday and was floored by all the cute tennis shoes. Yeah, I’ve finally become that person who wears tennis shoes all the time because, well, chasing after a high-energy child while wearing heels is a death wish for your ankles.

So, if you’ve read MBB for any length of time, you probably know that, once upon a time, I lived in heels. I loved them so much that I wore them everywhere, even to the airport, because I was that serious about having an extra three inches of height on me, LOL!

Ah, good times…

But now? Now I’m all about cute tennies. 🙂

It started when Connor (who’s officially a toddler now, wah!) became “that kid” (air quotes) — you know, the child shooting across Costco at the speed of light and screaming like a banshee. I swear, that girl has two speeds. She’s either standing still or sprinting for Olympic gold.

So I started wearing tennis shoes all the time because it’s easier to catch her in flats, but I’ve also realized — OH, SNAP! — that I actually LOVE wearing tennis shoes. My back, shoulders, feet and calves no longer ache as much as they did when I wore heels 24/7 (go figure!). Plus, there are so many cute styles and colors to choose from.

Which leads us here, to these 13 pairs of pink shoes from DSW…

1. Nike Court Royal Suede, $59.99

nike court royale suede — Major shoe lust!

My rational side keeps telling me that I’m cray for wanting a pale pink pair of suede Nikes, because I know they’ll be covered in dirt in less than a day, but I love how the shoe is monochromatic with the pale pink shoelaces and pale pink swoosh.

UGH! SOOOOO CUTE! Maybe if I coat the living heck out of them with a suede fabric protector spray? Or make them my “fancy occasion” tennies?

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Look Book: A MAC Snow Ball Kit Makeup Look With Smokin’ Shimmery Taupe Lids

November 7th, 2017 by Karen 3 Comments

mac snow ball eye bag smoky gold — Wearing the MAC Snow Ball Eye Bag in Smoky Gold from the MAC holiday collection.

Look Book! This is the first in a new series of makeup look posts I’ll be doing that will be kind of like faces of the day, which are like, “Here, look at my makeup,” except not. They’ll be open spaces to try different makeup looks, because I’ve been in a rut for the past two years, and I want to get out of it. Sometimes I’ll get into technique. Sometimes there will be quick commentary on the products. Fun things like that.

I totally went into this look thinking I’d do something outside my comfort zone, and I even gave myself one of those pre-game pep talks, like “Karen, you’re going to push yourself! You’re going to do something cray!” — but I still ended up totally staying in my lane with these smoky taupe lids and glossy nude lips.

LE. SIGH. I don’t even know why I fight it… I end up doing these subtle smoky looks like 99% of the time, all the time now. It’s my wheelhouse, man!

mac snow ball mini lip gloss kit — Glossy nude lips with a sprinkle of sparkle

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Rita Hazan True Color Shampoo, Color Gloss and Hydrating Conditioner

November 7th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

Rita Hazan is arguably the queen of celebrity hair color. She does Beyonce’s hair, J. Lo’s hair, Jessica Simpson’s hair… Need I say more? She’s unarguably the queen of my roots! I’ve bought her Root Touch Up Concealer more times than I’d like to count during more Sephora VIB sales than I’d like to admit. It’s one of my ride-or-dies.

I didn’t know until recently that she also has a small hair care line with shampoo, conditioner, hair glosses (they add shine and temporary color) and a couple of hair treatments, and everything’s focused on retaining and maintaining color in color-treated hair.

Being the scent junkie that I am, I immediately went into horizontal fainting couch mode after I started using her True Color Shampoo ($26), Ultimate Color Gloss in Brown ($26) and True Color Hydrating Conditioner ($26), because everything smells exactly like Estée Lauder’s Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia, also known as “my Hawaiian gardenia floral fantasy come true,” and that scent lingers in my locks for days.

I’ve been using all three products for about a month now, starting immediately after the last time my friend Alis colored my hair, and my mane has remained really dark and shiny. I love it.

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MAC Snow Ball Eye Compact/Gold

November 6th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

I learned two shocking factoids — absolutely shocking! — related to vision and eyes in the last week, and the first is that you’re supposed to replace your contact lens cases every three months in order to avoid getting an eye-borne bacterial infection (I saw it in a random video about contacts that someone posted on Facebook).

Were you already aware of this? Because I had no idea. Apparently, I’m disgusting, because I usually keep my cases until I lose a cap, OMG!

Also mind blowing: the MAC Snow Ball Eye Compacts, ’cause they’re shockingly good.

Unlike the majority of the MAC holiday palettes I’ve seen over the past something-number of years, most of which have been passable, but not really memorable, the two in this year’s Snow Ball holiday collection are downright memorably great.

The first is called Rose Gold, and it’s my favorite of the two, but the other one, Gold, is no slouch either. I just think it’s maybe a smidgen less epic than Rose Gold…but we’ll come back to that in two swishes of a tabby’s tail.

Either way, with both of them, the quality is there, and I’m all for it!

Like the Rose Gold Compact, the Gold one is $29.50 and comes with six powder eyeshadows. Two of the shadows are flashy, glittery Dazzleshadows (there’s a white gold and a yellow gold), and other four are powder shadows in MAC’s regular eyeshadow formula (a satiny nude peach; a mid-tone satiny brown; a matte charcoal; and a sparkly, glittery grayish black that isn’t quite as sparkly as the two Dazzleshadows).

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 500 (Yes, 500!)

November 6th, 2017 by Karen 41 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.

HOLY CRAP! 500 Monday Polls.

This is the 500th one… That is totally blowing my mind right now.

1. Assuming you “went there,” what mascara are you wearing today?

Diorshor Pump’N’Volume, which is, admittedly, kind of gimmicky, and I never really use the pumping aspect, but it’s an overall pretty great mascara for curl and length, notwithstanding said gimmick. I’ve been using it a lot lately, and I’m liking it more and more every time.

I feel like a couple coats perks up my eyes and makes me look like I just had a shot of espresso.

2. When was the last time you hosted a dinner party?

Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday! The last time was, um…never?

Honestly, I haven’t done the dinner party thing because, while I think I’m a decent cook (I mean, I can follow a recipe), I don’t think I’m a good enough at it to have my food be the centerpiece of a shindig or get-together.

Mind you, I have hosted Thanksgivings before at our house (with the help of a pre-made T-day meal from Nugget Market), and I’ve made dinner for my parents and friends, but I’ve never really done a coordinated dinner party.

3. Would you fare better in a dance battle or a rap battle?

Well, right now I would suck at both. 🙂 But when I was getting my sweat on in hip-hop dance classes three times a week back in the day, I would’ve been able to hang in a dance battle… But I’ve lost all my moves, man.

It all started a few years ago… For years I gently poked fun of El Hub’s favorite dance move (he does this one-two-step move), and after years of teasing him about it, that goofing-off move of his must have permeated into my real dancing, and so now all I can do is dance like him…

Serves me right, LOL!

Anyway, if I had to choose…at this point, I’d choose the rap battle.

Not by much, though!

4. Where are you in the world right now?

Like Carmen San Diego?? 🙂 Right now I’m 28.4 miles north of San Francisco in the rural, hilly town of Novato, California, along with about 56,000 other peeps.

5. If you had the chance to go into space as a tourist, would you go?

Ooh, this is tough… I love the idea of space exploration, but I have a minor case of claustrophobia, and I think I’d have a huge issue with being on a space ship for any amount of time.

BONUS QUESTION >> What’s your favorite kind of soup?

Clam chowder! But not the red kind… Ewww. I like the white clam chowder, and I like the clams to already be out of the shell and chopped up.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I just sent you a big hug, BTW, so keep your eyes out for it. Should be there soon. 🙂

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

1. Assuming you “went there,” what mascara are you wearing today?
2. When was the last time you hosted a dinner party?
3. Would you fare better in a dance battle or a rap battle?
4. Where are you in the world right now?
5. If you had the chance to go into space as a tourist, would you go?
BONUS QUESTION >> What’s your favorite kind of soup?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 474

November 5th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

It was a dark and stormy night…

Actually, not really. It was a clear and chilly morning.

You know, we used to — well, not we. Tabs mostly. He used to outsource the first patrol of the day to a freelance security company, but in his semi-retirement, he’s come to realize that he’s an early riser and enjoys getting up before the sun.

This morning’s pre-dawn patrol was uneventful, so Tabs cut it short and caught up on some reading instead.

He’s been doing a lot of reading lately to his little sister/pet assistant intern. Their favorite book is called Big Cats, by National Geographic Kids, although he’s a little offended that he wasn’t hired to model for it. He is, after all, a big cat.

The second patrol occurs at 10 a.m. on the dot, and today’s was also relatively uneventful, so Tabs took the opportunity to lounge in the front yard and absorb nature’s bountiful gifts.

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