Karen

Non-Makeup-Related Check-In: A New Book, Going to the Dentist, Weird Hair Experiments and Stuff I’ve Cooked

April 14th, 2017 by Karen 25 Comments

I’m having one of those days, babe. It’s been so hard to focus this morning, and I don’t know if it’s because I stayed up a little later than usual…

Well, later for me. 🙂 I was up till about 10:30 (night owl!) reading Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

It’s such a great book! I have the itch to read a chapter now, but I shouldn’t…

It’s about three ladies who live in a beach town in Australia. Their lives intertwine when their kids all start kindergarten together. Then, gasp! — there’s a murder at the school! ?

It’s not fluffy, though. My brain doesn’t feel numb. It’s poignant, intriguing, funny and sad at the same time. The story grabbed me like a lasso and pulled me along.

Anyway, I’ve been staying up late reading, and I think that’s kinda messing with me.

Aaand, I’ve also been browsing the web on my phone more than usual, and I swear, that really does mess with my ability to concentrate. Note to self: quit falling into the Facebook/Instagram black hole before bed and early in the morning.

When I feel out of it like this, I try to have an easy day, but there’s always stuff to do, you know? Just gotta go with it.

We haven’t talked a lot lately about non-makeup things, have we? We should catch up! I’ll go first…

Let’s see… Well, I went to the dentist last week and found out that I have a cavity (yay!). I decided to get it sorted out quickly, because I knew that if I didn’t, I’d obsess over it. So I did. I went back a couple days ago for the filling.

Good fun…

Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Gosh, I can’t even remember the last time I had a cavity. It’s been years and years. I mentioned it on Instagram, and someone said that getting cavities after having a baby or breastfeeding is pretty common because the baby leeches minerals from you (yes, like a parasite).

So, yeah. I went to the dentist, which is not my favorite thing to do, but it wasn’t bad this time. The hardest part was the dental mouth frame thingy they had to use to keep my mouth open during the procedure.

THAT was totally exhausting. My jaw still hurts.

Oh, and the sunglasses weren’t my idea. My dentist gives them to his patients to make the bright headlamp less blinding. I wish I’d taken a side picture of them because they said, “I ❤️ SF Symphony.” Haha!

And those Bose noise-cancelling headphones? OMG! They’re amazing! They don’t completely cancel out every sound, but they dampen the background noise. It’s weird! You can still hear someone talking in front of you, but if there’s music playing or other ambient sounds, it gets filtered out. It’s amazing. I plugged them into my iPhone and listened to music the whole time while they worked on my teeth.

Definitely made the experience less traumatic.

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The New MAC Extra Dimension Blushes in Telling Glow and Faux Sure

April 13th, 2017 by Karen 24 Comments

mac telling glow faux sure — MAC Extra Dimension Blushes in Telling Glow and Faux Sure

UPDATE!

Well, more like a part deux…or an addendum, if you will, to last week’s Extra Dimension post. You might remember that there’s a new line of blushes and highlighters in the exquisitely soft and long-lasting Extra Dimension formula now at MAC counters and online, and these two blushes, Telling Glow and Faux Sure, are the ones I was waiting to swatch.

Ooh! So worth the wait. Aren’t they beautiful?

mac telling glow faux sure swatches — Telling Glow (top) and Faux Sure (bottom)

Bright coral Telling Glow (which also has golden pearl in it) and pinkish mauve Faux Sure (haha, love that name) both have warm, subtle terra cotta undertones, and I think they flatter the heck outta toasty caramel-colored cheeks. My fellow tan babes, you’re gonna want to get these ASAP!

mac telling glow — Telling Glow, a bright coral

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The New MAC Min Liu Pearlmatte Powder…and Thoughts on the Min Liu for MAC Makeup Bag and Brush Bag

April 13th, 2017 by Karen 19 Comments

mac min liu first waves closeup — MAC Min Liu for MAC First Waves Pearlmatte Face Powder ($40)

I’ve been staring at this pan for 10 minutes, and now all I can see is a red crescent moon with a milk mustache…

Clearly, someone here needs more ?? sleep.

This pretty pan is MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder in First Waves from the new MAC Min Liu collection.

mac min liu first waves — MAC Min Liu for MAC First Waves Pearlmatte Face Powder ($40)

You probably know how face powders like this work. You mix all of the colors together, brush the blend on cheeks, and go about way, gleefully taking names and kicking butt.

This pan, though, has an unexpected melange of shades. There’s a pearly red, a pink and a grayish beige.

Wait — did she say “grayish beige”?

Yes, yes she did.

Question for you: would you put a grayish beige on your cheeks?? I tell ya, I didn’t think I would, but then I mixed the shades together, and put it on anyway.

To test.

mac first waves — First Waves (I’m an NC42)

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Tarte Make Believe In Yourself Collection for Spring 2017

April 13th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

tarte make believe in yourself spring 2017 collection — Time to unicorn yourself…with Tarte

Unicorns at Coachella!?

Yes, unicorns. ?

If you and I were wandering around Coachella — and, in this scenario, I would be completely clean and devoid of all mud/dirt, because I ain’t got time for dirty feet — and we happened upon a secret set where Katy Perry was performing acoustic versions of all of her songs for an audience of unicorns, I would hope that we’d be wearing the new Tarte Make Believe in Yourself Spring 2017 Collection.

tarte fairytale — The Tarteist Quick Dry Matte Lip Paint in Fairytale, Make Believe in Yourself Eye & Cheek Palette and Tarteist Pro Glow Liquid Highlighter in Sparkler

Why?

Because it was made for unicorns. And festival life. At least that’s the impression I get based on the preponderance of shimmer, rainbows and glitter. And the bright green matte lip that whispers “fairy forest.”

As I think we’ve touched on before (LOL), unicorns are having a moment in makeup right now. Yes, lots of second grade Lisa Frank dreams are coming true (including mine, haha), and I think it’s unicorn-credibly fun.

Highlighter heavy

This is a highlighter heavy collection, for sure. In terms of highlighting, there are three $29 liquid highlighters (Tartiest Pro Glow Liquid Highlighters in Exposed, Stunner and Sparkler) and a $30 powder highlighter (Spellbound Glow Rainbow Highlighter) with four mixable pastel shades in the same pan (combined they create a cool-toned white gold).

There’s also a duochrome powder highlighter in the $40 Make Believe in Yourself Eye & Cheek Palette that flashes from pink to gold.

These are the kind of highlighters that will make your cheeks beam with more shimmer than color, since all of them are subtle variations of beige or gold.

tarte make believe in yourself eye cheek palette packaging — That’s a big palette

Love the Rose Gold Glitter Liner

Surprisingly, the thing I ? love the most in this entire collection is actually the Rose Gold Glitter Liner ($24). One end has a metallic rose gold liquid liner, and the other has a rose gold liquid glitter liner, and when I swipe either end along my lash lines, my eyes look outrageously open and wide awake. It goes really well with warm matte browns like the matte brown in the Make Believe in Yourself Cheek & Eye Palette, which is super soft and easy to blend.

Wearing the Tarteist Quick Dry Matte Lip Paint in Festival, Rainbow Highlighter in Spellbound, Make Believe in Yourself Eye & Cheek Palette and Tarteist Pro Glow Liquid Highlighter in Sparkler

tarte make believe in yourself swatches 1 — Tarte Make Believe in Yourself Eye & Cheek Palette

tarte make believe in yourself swatches 2 — From the top: the Rainbow Highlighter in Spellbound Glow; Tarteist Pro Glow Liquid Highlighters in Exposed, Sparkler and Stunner; Glitter Liner in Rose Gold; and Tarteist Quick Dry Matte Lip Paint in Festival and Fairytale

Make Believe in Yourself Eye & Cheek Palette, Matte Lip Paints and the Magic Wands Brush Set

I feel that the metallics in the Eye & Cheek Palette are chunky and difficult to feather. The shimmers are easier to blend, but I do have to put on a few layers to build up the color.

It’s a fun palette…but I don’t think it’s as earth-shattering as the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Vol. 2 palette, which, I kid you not, shook me to my core…

The $20 Tarteist Quick Matte Lip Paints are super opaque (yes!), but they make my lips look dry (bah!). And I was surprised by how much I like the green shade, Festival. It’s definitely more fun than I thought it would be.

tarte make believe in yourself quick try matte lip paint — Tarteist Quick Dry Matte Lip Paint in Festival (left) and Fairytale (right)

Lastly, I think the brushes in the $39 Magic Wands Brush Set are so cute AND functional. I like the soft brush heads, but the long unicorn horn handles are a tad tough to maneuver.

Watch your eyes around those pointy ends…

tarte magic wands brush set — Magic Wands Brush Set

tarte make believe in yourself quick try matte lip paint ingredients — Tarteist Quick Dry Lip Paint ingredients

tarte make believe in yourself glitter liner rose gold ingredients — Tarteist Pro Glitter Liner in Rose Gold ingredients

tarte pro glow liquid highlighter ingredients — Tarteist Pro Glow Liquic Highlighter ingredients

tarte spellbound glow rainbow highlighter ingredients — Rainbow Highlighter in Spellbound ingredients

tarte make believe in yourself eye cheek palette ingredients — Make Believe in Yourself Eye & Cheek Palette ingredients

The verdict

What a fun collection! There’s lots of shimmer, though, and light-catching finishes, so you have to be fine with that. If you have an interest at all, definitely don’t miss the Rose Gold Liner, and, if you can, try on that green liquid lipstick. 🙂 I think you might be surprised by how much you like it.

tarte make believe in yourself spring 2017 collection boxes — Packaging fit for a unicorn

The collection is available now on Tarte counters (and wherever ? unicorns are found) for a limited time.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

These NYX Faux Whites White Eyeliners Have a Hint of Exquisite Color

April 12th, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

White eyeliner is not your foe; it’s your friend!

Well…in the case of NYX’s Faux Whites tinted eyeliners, it is your faux, but it’s spelled f-a-u-x, not f-o-e, as in your sworn mortal mean girl enemy.

Semantics. 🙂

These soft $7.99 pencil liners are available now in eight lightly tinted pastel shades made for brightening your eyes. You can line your lids with them, or wear them along your lower water line or in the inner corners (or all three ways if you’re feeling sassy).

nyx faux whites swatches — From the top: Mintcream, Vanilla and Honeydew

The colors aren’t incredibly distinct, and they aren’t immediately easy to tell apart. Like, I can’t even tell if I’m wearing the mint, baby blue or the yellow liner unless I look very closely, but the hint of tint does make them a little little less stark than a pure white liner.

And their primary purpose, after all, is brightening, not adding color.

Ingredients
(Linen)

Isododecane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Polyethylene, Synthetic Wax, Dimethicone, Polybutene, Silica, Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Alumina, Propylene Carbonate, Polyglyceryl-4 Diisostearate / Polyhydroxystearate / Sebacate. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Chromium Oxide Greens (CI 77288), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140)

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What I Wore Wednesday, Vol. 8: Metallic Bronze Lids and Matte Beet Red Lips

April 12th, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

Some might say that metallic bronze lids and beet red matte lips is a little too glam for hanging out with a toddler at home, but I went with it. 🙂

I got the inspiration for this look from one of my favorite makeup artists on Instagram, Katie Jane Hughes.

tom ford cheek eye palette warm kosas electra — Clockwise from the pencil at the upper left: NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Damned, Kosas Cosmetics Lipstick in Electra, Tom Ford Eye & Cheek Palette in Warm, Tom Ford Naked Bronze Cream Shadow, MAC Next to Nothing Foundation in Medium Plus, MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy, NARS Sun Lit Bronzer in Laguna

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ChapStick Total Hydration Makes Leisurely Trips to Target Even More Terrific #sponsored

April 12th, 2017 by Karen 14 Comments

This post is sponsored by ChapStick® Total Hydration, and I received product samples and compensation for my time and effort creating it. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are always my own. #ChapStick #sponsored

Girl, you know I go to Target every two seconds. There’s one about two minutes from my house.

Actually, it’s walking distance, now that I think about it…

Oh, my gosh! If I had to hoof it to Target for something, I could totally get there (MIND BLOWN).

Anyway, I’m there almost every other day. You know, good prices, perfect quantities (I don’t need 400 rolls of toilet paper at one time), and I can basically find all of life’s necessities as soon as I walk through those doors.

target karen front — Another day, another trip to Target! That’s ChapStick Total Hydration Moisture + Tint in Rose Petal on my lips, by the way

Story of my life: I walk into the store for one thing — a bag of cat treats, a new outfit for Connor Claire, scrunchies, a giant tub of peanut butter, coffee or a beauty products for myself — but I never get upset when a pint of pistachio ice cream or a couple of tubes of ChapStick also fall into my cart.

Hey…it happens.

ChapStick Total Hydration Moisture + Tint in Rose Petal

FYI, in case you weren’t aware, Target is like the Valhalla of ChapStick. They have practically every variety of ChapStick under the sun, including my faves, the Total Hydration Moisture + Tint ChapStick shades, which are the newest ChapStick products with a hint of color.

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These Bite Beauty Lip Pencils Have Bite!

April 11th, 2017 by Karen 23 Comments

bite beauty the lip pencil 1 — MWAH! Kisses!

Dang, these Bite Beauty Lip Pencils ($18 each) have serious swag! Shoot, I haven’t been a lip pencil person since on/around ’97, back when I rocked dark purple liner on the daily (unblended, of course), but I guess I’m finally over that trauma, because these pencils? They’re doing things to me! 🙂

Where do I start?? They feel light and glorious, glide across my lips and don’t tug at all. Plus, they last all day long and, unlike so many other lip pencils out there, they don’t dry out my lips. I’d almost call them borderline hydrating.

They just might be the most comfortable lip pencils I’ve ever worn.

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