Daily Beauty

When I locked eyes on these caged high-heel sandals from across the room, it was like instant shoe missile lock.

You know how they show that targeting circle thingamabobber in movies with submarines and fighter jets?

That’s how it went down in my mind. Beep-boop-beep! ** TARGET ACQUIRED! **

It even got better when I actually tried on these INC International Concepts Rammee High Heel Sandals in Blush at Macy’s today ($109, on sale now online for $98!).

For a 4-inch heel, it’s relatively comfortable and feels very stable, although I wouldn’t go playing basketball in them or anything. But for date night, they’d totally work.

I think I’ll be able to dress them up with a pencil skirt, or dress them down with jeans. Yay for versatility!

Just in case you need some today.

Yesterday I had to make an emergency vegetable run (yes, that’s a real thing), and I saw these pretty flowers at Trader Joe’s.

Spring is not far away, my friend. I’m just sayin’. Hang in there. 🙂

You know, I swear, if it weren’t for Trader Joe’s, all I’d ever eat are those mini Babybel cheeses and microwave popcorn…

In other news, what did you do for your makeup today? I went with purply brown cat eyes, mrow! 🙂

Have a great day today. Talk to you soon.

** HIDDEN GEM ALERT **

Sephora’s $21 MicroSmooth Sculpting Contour Trio in Sublime is a genius move if you’ve been lusting after the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders but can’t bear the thought of dropping 45 large on a single pan.

Sublime, one of six $21 Baked Sculpting Contour Trios in the newish Sephora Collection, consists of one pan with three shades — a luminizer for highlighting, a matte-satin bronzer for defining and contouring, and a matte-satin blush for cheek color.

At least, that’s how it’s designed, with those three functions in mind, and I’m sure lighter skinned lasses can probably use it that way, but I think of this trio as primarily a highlighting palette, which is where the Hourglass Ambients come into play.

Two of the three shades in Sublime are nearly identical twins of two amazing Hourglass Ambient shades. Specifically, Sublime’s lightest shade (the one designed for highlighting) is the spitting image of the champagne pearl Ambient Powder in Luminous Light, while Sublime’s darkest shade, the sun-kissed golden beige, could headline a show in Vegas as a Radiant Light impersonator.

And Sublime’s pink middle shade also reminds me of a warmer version of sheer lavender pink Hourglass Ambient Powder in Mood Light.

The special sauce is Sublime’s finish. All three of its powders impart the same soft candlelit glow (more of a soft glow than a frosty shimmer, so it plays well with my pores) that I love the Hourglass Ambients for, and it’s something I haven’t seen at many other brands.

I think this pan is a STEAL at $21, and worthy of jumping in your hot tub time machine and going back to yesterday to get, so that you could already have it on your cheeks right meow. 🙂

If Sublime sounds…sublime, it’s available now at Sephora stores and online.

Ever since I discovered the wonder and glory that is the Progressive Wedge & Pop Apple Slicer, I’ve learned that I’ve become that person.

You know — that person who probably doesn’t need weird kitchen doohickeys but still wants them anyway. 🙂

The other night I discovered that the Pini Ace Hardware in Novato contains a plethora of rand-o kitchen utensils, doodads and culinary accoutrements.

Who knew?

I’ve actually been spending a lot of time there lately because of Tabs. El Hub and I are building that enclosure/private tower/playpen for him, which has resulted in us taking a lot of trips to the hardware store, usually after dinner at night (we go at least three times a week).

What typically begins as a trip to get gloves or screws usually ends with me marveling at something interesting but altogether unnecessary in the kitchen aisle, like the Fox Run Banana Slicer ($1.95) at the top, which perfectly portions your bananas into convenient slices (great for cereal!).

Or, there’s the Chop2Pot Plus…

Don’t you hate it when you’ve chopped a few carrots or tomatoes on your cutting board, and then when you go to carry them over to the pot — whoops! — the cats trips you up and you accidentally spill them all over the floor?

Yeah, me too.

Enter the Chop2Pot Plus ($16), a cutting board that folds up along the edges.

Hello, convenience. 🙂

And where, exactly, have these Tovolo Silicone Ladle Clips ($3.95 each) been all my life? I’m not much of a cook, but when I do bust out ye olde pots and pans, it seems like I’m always looking for a place to put down my ladle.

Keep your stovetop clean by holding the ladle over the pot. Genius!

Speaking of pots, these three sheepish Tovolo Pot Lid Lifters ($10.95 for the set) are not just cute; they’re also helpful. Use them to keep pot lids lifted and prevent food from bubbling over.

So, I’ve never actually made an ice cream sandwich, but if I did, I could make them look cute with these Tovolo Ice Cream Sandwich Molds ($11.99).

I call first dibs on the heart-shaped one!

What does one do when both she and her husband prefer their toast slices scorched to varying levels, and they’re both really, REALLY hungry for toast?

Toast FOUR slices simultaneously, to varying levels of toast-ness, with the Cuisinart Classic 4-Slice Toaster in Metallic Red ($74.99).

And for when you need an onion holder shaped like an actual onion, there’s the Hutzler Onion Saver ($7).

Why I see poetry in this, I do not know…

Lastly, these Tovolo Whale & Octopus Sandwich Shapers ($7), because I may not be able to eat actual octopus (it’s a texture thing), but at least I can eat a sandwich SHAPED LIKE AN OCTOPUS, if I want to.

Guess what’s happening right meow??

(It’s the Neiman Marcus Spring Beauty Event.)

Just a heads up in case you find yourself near a Neiman Marcus store…or watching Lifetime on the couch while browsing the Neiman website on your phone. There are a bunch of gift with purchases deals from brands including Laura Mercier, La Mer, Bobbi Brown and Le Metier de Beaute.

Also, if your purchases add up to $125 or more, which I know is a lot, they’ll throw in a tote made special for the event by designer Eddie Borgo filled with the following goodies…

• Kiehl’s Since 1851 Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum
• Oribe Beautiful Color Shampoo and Conditioner (I’ve used both and they’re fabulous!)
• Molton Brown Ylang-Ylang Body Wash (I love this stuff too)
• Amore Pacific Time Response Eye Renewal Creme (another thumbs upl)
• Fresh Black Tea Firming Overnight Mask
• Yves Saint Laurent Beaute Faux Cils Mascara. (Good ol’ Faux Cils… It’s the Old Faithful of mascaras.)
• Lancer The Method: Polish, Cleanse, and Nourish

If you’re a baller and hit the $500 level…1) can I come over to your house and play? 🙂 And 2) you’ll also receive a matching Eddie Borgo wristlet and samples of Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask, Chantecaille Rose de Mai Face Oil and Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair, in addition to all the stuff you get for hitting the $125 level.

The promotion works both in stores and on the Neiman Marcus website, and it runs through March 1, 2015.

Happy shopping! — and if you discover anything that changes yo’ life, please let me know.

You know how when people say that they feel like a big kid at heart, even though they’re technically adults? Yeah, I think that’s a real thing, because I felt like a kid masquerading as an adult all the way up through my early 30s.

There wasn’t one moment where I woke up and said, “Oh, gee! Would ya look at that?? How cool! I’m an adult now!” like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.

It happened slowly over the course of a few years…

Even before I started thinking of myself as a grownup, I still went to work and paid my bills and did the regular adult jazz, but I never quite felt like an honest-to-goodness adult.

Then a couple of big life things happened. The first was my friend Jen’s parents passing away, and the second was El Hub’s mom getting cancer.

The kid in my heart didn’t disappear…but she had to let grownup Karen take over for a while.

Every once in a while, kid Karen lets me know she’s still kicking around, though, like when I met this stuffed blue pegasus with her rainbow mane.

Yeah, this was a Valentine’s Day present from El Hub.

Seriously, my friend, if you can, marry a man who knows that you will derive great joy from a blue pegasus because SHE HAS A RAINBOW LIGHTNING BOLT ON HER BUTT.

This toy brings me joy (just made a rhyme!). I’ve named her Charlie, and here she’s posing for you with flowers. 🙂

P.S. TGIF!

P.P.S. Today — actually this very day — marks the official eight-year anniversary of Makeup and Beauty Blog.

Yup, eight years ago today I typed up my very first post.

10,223 posts later…WE’RE STILL TALKING ABOUT MAKEUP AND PLUSH RAINBOW TOYS WITH LIGHTNING BOLTS ON THEIR BUTTS, LOL!

And I’m still typing “LOL” and using ellipses…

Holy sh*t, right!? I’ve written more than 10,200 posts over 2,900 days. I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or proud!

Probably a bit of both…

You know what, though? I’ve had fun. 🙂 I hope you have too.