Karen

A Look With the MAC Enchanted Eve Eye and Face Palette/Cool: Cool-Toned Gray and Blue Eyes, Rosy Cheeks and Plum Lips

October 9th, 2015 by Karen 7 Comments

My skin may have a sunny disposition — i.e., I’m warm toned — but sometimes I like playing it cool with cool-toned grays, browns and blues like the ones I’m wearing here.

I’m wearing the new MAC Enchanted Eve Eye and Face Palette/Cool ($49.50), one of the two eye and face palettes in the MAC holiday 2015 collection.

mac enchanted eye face palette cool — MAC Enchanted Eve Eye and Face Palette/Cool ($49.50)

Despite seeming like a strange combo, cool tones don’t have to clash with warm-toned skin. Sometimes I think they look really cool! 🙂

This look didn’t take long, either. I used my trusty iPhone timer trick. I set it for 25 minutes, and then I committed to mostly sticking to the colors in the palette, because it has eyeshadows, a blush, two lipsticks and a highlighter, so most of what I needed was right there (yay for convenience!).

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Tarte Holiday 2015 Collection Highlights

October 9th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Zac Posen, my favorite eye-rolling judge on a fashion reality TV show
SUBJECT: These Tarte holiday 2015 collection palettes

My darling, please, when you can fit into your busy schedule, I would LOVE a few matching outfits to go with these new Tarte holiday 2015 collection palettes. I’m talking dresses, and if it’s not too much trouble, could you also make something stylish for my plus-size tabby cat?

Incidentally, do you do maternity wear?? Or fabulous feline fashion?

Never mind. To quote Tim Gunn, your charming coworker, I’m sure you’ll “make it work.”

Love,
Karen (Makeup and Beauty Blog)

I got momentarily lost in a sequin-fueled reverie this afternoon while I ooh’d and ahh’d over these two Tarte palettes from two of the brand’s new holiday 2015 collection sets (which are on counters right meow). I don’t know how many minutes passed before I realized, “Oh, right! I should probably put on my makeup now.” LOL!

Not knowing where to start, I defaulted to my makeup happy place — smoky brown eyes, big lashes and bold lips — but I see a lot of other looks with these in my immediate future.

The two sets here are called Light of the Party ($59) and Greatest Glitz ($49), and they’re both very well balanced, with a good mix of mattes and shimmers, cool and warm tones, and shades for everyday makeup and evenings on the town. If you like traditionally pretty looks of the kind that celebs like to wear on the red carpet, I think you’ll really like them both. They’re two of my favorite things from the Tarte holiday 2015 collection.

Both sets include multiple pieces, and here are pictures, but for the full 411 on both sets, check out the video at the top.

The Tarte Light of the Party set ($59)

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Assuming You Don’t Already, Do You Think You Could Do Someone Else’s Makeup?

October 9th, 2015 by Karen 35 Comments

Tabs contouring with his new Real Techniques Contour Brush — When your cat asks you to contour his cheeks, of course you say yes…

I’ve done event makeup for family members, and they seemed pretty happy with the results, so yeah, I think I could do it, especially if the makeup wasn’t too involved. I can handle smoky eyes, or winged liner and red lips, or a soft neutral bridal look, but a cray-cray cut crease with intense drag queen-caliber contouring? Probably not.

Well, maybe…if I had an entire day to work on it.

Eyeliner, though, is one of those things that’s always hard for me to do on other people because I’m terrified of poking someone’s eye out! Also, lash curling, again, for the same reason…

If you do makeup on other people and have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments! I think it’s definitely a different skill than doing makeup on yourself.

So, today’s million-dollar question? Assuming you don’t already, do you think you could do someone else’s makeup? And if you have done it before, how did it go?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

Bejeweled and Fabulous!

October 9th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Bejeweled and fabulous! — because Tabs wouldn’t have it any other way.

Please note the sassy front paw action. It’s his new signature move.

The bling is the Kristin Perry Audrey Necklace.

It’s actually made for people, but as you can see, it also looks quite fetching on cats. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately

October 8th, 2015 by Karen 39 Comments

1. Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill

I read a very interesting story the other day in this week’s Entertainment Weekly about Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. The album turns 20 years old this year (GULP!). Can you believe that…? It seems like I was just listening to it yesterday in my college dorm while doing o-chem and pondering the meaning of life… LOL!

So the article had some interviews with people who were involved in making the album, like Alanis, of course, who was 20 at the time, and her writing partner Glen Ballard. They had a very organic writing style, apparently. At times they’d write an entire song a day, and they finished with the whole album in weeks.

I hadn’t listened to the album in years, so I put it on the other day, and ya know what? It holds up really well! My favorite song used to be One Hand in My Pocket, and it still is…

I’ve been singing it to Baby Girl a lot this week. 🙂

2. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo ($22)

At the risk of sounding totally and completely gross, I haven’t washed my hair since Sunday night.

It’s Thursday afternoon now, sooo… Yeah. I’m trying to see if I can make it to Saturday. Which will be five days.

Why am I so excited about this?

Well, Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo. Stuff is pretty great.

My long hair is a pain in the booty to style, so I’ll usually wash it on something like a Sunday night, then curl it the following morning. Then I’ll try to see how long I can go before washing it again, because I just dewnt like to deal with the drama.

Dry shampoo really help. With a good one like this one from Living Proof, my roots don’t get too oily or stinky throughout the week.

The one I’d been using is from Klorane, and I still think it’s very good, but I think Perfect hair is even better. Like, “change your life” better!

So, about dry shampoos, after I’ve used one for a few days in a row, the powder, which is what they’re made of, starts to build up at the roots, and I can feel it piling up and sitting there… Usually after three days or so, I’ll get to the point where I just can’t stand it anymore.

Living Proof is supposed to have some newfangled dry shampoo technology, and the way I understand it, you’re supposed to brush the fine powder spray through your hair, and when you do this, it sort of whisks away the oil, dirt and funk, to “clean” (air quotes) your hair. 🙂 There’s also a fresh, light time-release fragrance that I like.

I bought it on a whim at Sephora a few weeks ago and have been using it a lot since. It works great! Straight up, this is the cleanest and freshest my hair has ever felt while using a dry shampoo, so homegirl is already making plans, yo! When the next VIB sale hits, I’m gonna stockpile.
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5 Gnarly Nail Products for Lacquer Lovers

October 8th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

It’s always good to have some “good to have around” products, like these five nail products for lacquer lovers. I love them all!

1. Nail Tek Crystal File ($16.50)

I’m not kidding; I’ve had this same Crystal File by Nail Tek ($16.50) since, oh…it to be at least 2002.

This SAME ONE.

I bought it eons ago at a Pure Beauty store at the Embarcadero Center in SF… I still remember the day because I walked in and asked a sales associate to recommend the “best damned nail file” they had, and she recommended this one. And even though it practically killed me at the time to pay however much I paid for it (can’t remember how much it was), I got it anyway because she said it would last forever.

And you know what? She may have been right, because 13 years later, it’s still doin’ fine.

Come Z-Day/zombie apocalypse time, this is the nail file I’m bringing with me on the road, and not just to file my nails — although seriously, what else am I going to do with my downtime?? We won’t have the Internet — but also because it would make a fabulous zombie-fighting emergency shiv.

Some crystal nail files wear down, but the Nail Tek stays gritty. It really smooths the edges of my nails and doesn’t leave them jagged. LOVE. IT.

It’s available now online and at Ulta stores and salons for about $16.50.

2. CND Solar Oil Nail & Cuticle Conditioner ($11.50)

I’m so dedicated to CND Solar Oil ($11.50) that I keep one bottle on my work desk and another bottle on my nightstand by my bed.

‘Tis my jam.

A conditioner for nails and cuticles, it contains sweet almond oil, jojoba oil and rice oil. I swipe it on my cuticles, and then massage it in, a few times throughout the day and then again at night.

It keeps my nails nice and soft and generally less raggedy.

It’s available now online and at salons, drugstores and Ulta for about $11.50.
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Try This Nifty NARS Neutral Combo With NARS Abyssinia, Sophia and Bengali

October 8th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

nars abyssinia sophia bengali — NARS Pro-Palette Single Eyeshadow Refill pans from the left in Abyssinia, Sophia and Bengali ($18 each)

I’ve been lovin’ this NARS brown-based neutral combo lately with Abyssnia all over my lids from lash line to brow bone, Sophia in the crease and Bengali in the outer corners.

It’s been giving my mainstay brown MAC combos a break…

It’s a good one! You should totes give it a try.

nars abyssinia sophia bengali swatches — Swatches from the left of NARS Abyssinia, Sophia and Bengali

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MAC Magic of the Night: Jewel-Toned Smoky Eyes, Glowing Skin and Matte Pink Lips

October 8th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Here’s the makeup I wore to wizardry class today! Huh, I’m tellin’ ya… Sorcery is hard work. 🙂 This is my first look with the new MAC Holiday 2015 Magic of the Night collection, and seriously, I would wear this makeup pretty much every day if I thought I could pull it off.

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