Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Things are lookin’ up, friend. I put on makeup two days in a row!
It’s a rainy one here in Nor Cal – another puuuur-fect excuse to wear Chanel.
I’m really into a pared-down makeup aesthetic right now, as you can see.
What looks are you into these days?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
My new favorite makeup philosophy is the following: “When in doubt, Chanel it out.”
I haven’t worn any face paint in weeks (!), but this morning, I promised myself that I would give it a try. When I’m feeling like everything is too hard, Chanel was the *only* answer, ya know?
I’m wearing a handful of Chanel favorites in this look!
One thing I’ve relearned recently is that subtle makeup in real life doesn’t translate as well when you’re dealing with the camera. Apparently this is a lesson that I have to learn over and over again, LOL!
Hope your Tuesday has been terrific. It’s a rainy and cold one here in Nor Cal, but I’m focusing on all the blessings.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
This is Connor’s birthday Caboodle, and it’s filled with jewelry and makeup. 🙂
Can somebody please explain the hold that Caboodles have on us? Well, at least the hold Caboodles have on me, ha ha ha!
I know technically it’s just a cute plastic box to hold makeup and miscellaneous doo-dads, but for some reason I feel a strong emotional grip whenever one is around. Maybe it’s because my Caboodle was such a big part of my formative years.
Ahh, makeup. I put some on today because I had a video meeting to present a big marketing deck (yup, I wrote it!), and nothing seems to soothe my nerves like a little bit of face paint.
I’m wearing taupe, brown, bronze and peach shades from the Sunkissed Getaway Eye and Face Palette by Wander Beauty. It has a bunch of eyeshadows and cheek powders for breezy bronze looks. If you’re the type of person who likes shadows that don’t make you work too hard, you might like it.
Please note the chocolate brown liner on my water lines, which is Cave gel liner by Hourglass. Pretty, yeah? I like the richness of the pigment, and how it’s not too red. Stays on all day, too. I think I found a new staple!
I have a number of deadlines on Friday, so I gotta get back to it. Before I head out though, these are the cupcakes I made for Connor’s cat-themed birthday party at the Marin Humane society.
The girls kept asking of the cats were edible, LOL! (They totally were, by the way.)
I debated long and hard between frosting them the night before or the morning of the party, which by the way, started at 10:30. Side note, if you have to plan a two hour party for a child, and they give you a choice between a morning or afternoon slot, morning is the way to go IMHO. I prefer taking Connor to morning parties because that way we still have the rest of the day to do other things, and if she’s still hungry after the party, we can go directly to lunch.
Where was I? Oh, frosting. I wasn’t sure when to frost because the frosting was buttercream which I made from scratch, and it contained heavy whipping cream and butter, so I wasn’t sure if I could leave them out overnight.
I asked my buddy Allison from my bakery days what to do, and she suggested frosting them the night before, popping them into the fridge, and then taking them out in the morning first thing so they could come to room temperature before serving, which is what I ended up doing.
Just some cupcake FYI for ya from a professional baker!
Happy Wednesday to you, and I hope the rest of the week treats you kindly.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Happy Valentine’s Day, my beautiful friend.
I decided to say “I love you” to myself today by sitting down in front of the mirror to joyfully put on makeup! 🙂
The Do It For The Graham eyeshadow palette is from a new-to-me brand called Beauty Bakerie, and it includes 12 powder shadows in foil, matte and duo-chrome finishes.
I’m wearing the tan, beige and dark reddish brown matte shades on my lids. Even though I’m out of practice with blending, the soft, smooth powders made it easy to weave one color into the next. Very nice!
You might recognize the red lip, because it’s one of my MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour favorites, Quite the Standout, which is a bright orangey red. If you like warm-toned reds, this shade is gonna be your jam! It’s temporarily out of stock on the MAC website (boo), but check your local counter to see if they have it around.
Last but certainly not least, MAC Glow Play Blush in That’s Peachy. It’s a light peach blush that goes on sheer, which I like because then I can really control the color intensity on my cheeks. It pairs especially well with warm red and peachy-pink lip colors.
Sending you so much love. Treat yourself with extra kindness today, OK?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Oh, and let me know if you also did a red lip, too!
You know it’s going to be a great Friday when you’re having a good makeup day!
The hair is another story, LOL! I swear it doesn’t look this wild in real life.
If you’ve got a cream blush you like around, you’ve got to try this technique I’ve been doing lately for the most natural looking cheeks.
After you do your base, blend a cream blush on your cheeks, and then pat your favorite powder on top to set.
Your blush will peek through the powder for a hint of flush, and the overall look is so natural!
I’ve been doing this all week with Urban Decay Hydromaniac for the base, Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Blush in Coastline for the blush and MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural for the powder, and I love how it looks both in real life and in pictures.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful week and that something good happened to you. Yesterday I was feeling really tired and exhausted, so I actually listened to my body (!) and let myself rest. It’s amazing how much good a little quiet time will do for ya. I highly recommend it!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I jokingly texted a friend to tell her that I finally put on a full face of makeup because I no longer wanted to look like I just crawled out of a pit of doom! LOL. And even though I’m 100% comfortable now rollin’ around town bare faced with just sunscreen, there’s still something really nice about going to the grocery store to buy cara cara oranges and have the checker call me “miss” instead of “ma’am.”
I’ve been inspired by simple, layered eye makeup lately. In this one, I layered a glittery champagne cream shadow (Hourglass Ray) on top of a shimmery forest green liner (Urban Decay Mildew). It’s easy, peasy, lemon squeeze-y, and I feel like I get a lot of look for very little effort.
What I also really like about this look is how the glitter isn’t too flashy. It sparkles in the light, but it’s not, like, too much for a weekday midday run to Tar-ghay.
Here’s what I used for eyes, cheeks and lips. If you want to know more about the base or brows, let me know in the comments. 🙂
Connor joined the junior dance team at her studio this year, and last weekend was her first official performance. I think she was more excited to wear the clip-on earrings, LOL!
I’ve had my ears pierced since the day I was born; no really, back in the day in the Philippines, you could get your baby’s ears pierced at the hospital!
Anywho, all this to say we found out that clip-on earrings are a whole different beast. Connor was so looking forward to wearing them, but when she tried them on for the first time, one of the earrings was too tight and hurt her little ear.
I did a little googling and found a trick to loosening them. All you have to do is move the part of the clip-on that looks like a “U” around. You need widen it to relieve the pressure on your ears! It really helps. Just goes to show you, you learn something new every day.
Have a peaceful and joyful Tuesday.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I’m not a fan of Red Hot candies (too spicy), but I do love me some matte red lipstick!
Yesterday’s Monday Poll question about matte red lipstick inspired this makeup look with glowing skin, softly defined brows, lush lashes, pearly lids and a matte orangey red lip.
It’s amazing how much heavy lifting a red lip can do, and equally amazing how I seem to forget this lesson time and time again, LOL! When I put this red lipstick on yesterday (it’s MAC Quite the Standout, by the way), once again I realized how red lips can carry most of the makeup since it’s such a strong focal point. One really doesn’t need much to round out the look.
To contrast with the opaque matte lip, I went with a sheer, glowing base with low-level pearl (Rose Inc Skin Enhance in 80), with just a touch of concealer (Hourglass Retouching Fluid in Sand) on the parts where I wanted more coverage — underneath my eyes and on my upper lip, and oh, side note, damn that pigment mustache.
I set the areas with concealer with a tiny touch of powder by loading a small face brush with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden. I tapped most of the powder off before lightly dabbing the brush head on my face.
I also wanted to play with texture, so I blended a cream blush (Chanel Les Beiges No. 25) on my cheeks, and dabbed a pearly liquid highlighter (MAC Strobe Cream) on my cheekbones and lids.
To round out the look, I went with softly filled in brows and separated, long, lush lashes to keep it fresh and summary.
I think this look could also be lovely with a glossy coral lipgloss or lip tint, too!
Do you have a red lipstick that you adore? Drop your go-to shade in the comments; I want to hear all about it.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Hi, friend! I had to put on makeup today because I had a short video presentation to give to everyone at work today. Was I a little nervous? Yeah. Makeup always helps me feel more confident, though. 🙂
I’m really on a non-powdery makeup kick, so I picked up some new-to-me things from Rose Inc and Laura Mercier.
Rose Inc Skin Enhancer Luminous Tinted Serum is a sheer, lightweight skin tint with a glowing finish. You pump a little bit on the back of your hand, mix the pigment spheres into the serum with a finger or a brush, and then blend the product onto your face. Kinda fun! A 1-ounce bottle is $49 at Sephora, however if you don’t mind waiting for shipping, Rose Inc currently is hosting a 25% off site-wide sale on everything, including this skin tint.
By the way, it’s available in 14 shades, and mine is 80, in case you’re wondering.
If this formula looks similar to something you’ve seen before — good eye! Chanel makes something similar both in the form of Les Beiges Water Fresh Complexion Touch ($65) and Les Beiges Water Fresh Tint (also $65). I’ve worn the Chanel Water Fresh Tint before, and the Rose Inc version seems to have less pearl.
Anywho, this is my first time taking it for a spin, and so far I like it! I need to wear it for a few more days to figure out if it’s something I can enthusiastically recommend, so I’ll get back to ya.
Also new to me in this look are the Tinted Moisturizer Blushes by Laura Mercier ($28 each). I picked up Corsica, a sparkling peach, and Coastline, a warm bronzy brown. I’m wearing Corisca in the pic at the top.
It temperature hit the low 90s today and Corsica has so far managed to stay on my cheeks! In a magnifying mirror, I can see a little bit of patchiness (I have to look *really close*), but considering how sweaty I’ve been all day and the mask that I wore at Trader Joe’s, I think it still held up well.
I’m going to try it next on bare skin to see how it holds up!
What makeup did you wear today?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen