Just For Fun

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?

Hi, my friend. As I’m sure you’re aware, because you’re probably living it and seeing it like I am, there’s a great deal of uncertainty and unrest around us in the world right now. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, angry, saddened, off-kilter and/or concerned about the future, you are not alone.

Every day, I try to do something to brighten the world around me a little. Sometimes it’s nothing. Maybe one extra smile or a compliment to a neighbor, but I feel like every gesture gives a little nudge in a positive direction.

I’ve always liked to think that the silly questions in the Monday Poll spread some positive energy, and I hope they brighten your day a little. This is installment #630, which is incredible!

Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Please remember, you’re doing great. Hang in there, OK?

1. Hot rollers or a curling iron?

Curling iron — large barrel, preferably by GHD (they’re $$$ but so good).

2. Scrunchie or hand cream?

Hand cream. Hands down.

3. Would you rather wear crop tops for the rest of your life, or wear capri pants for the rest of your life?

Crop tops, because capri pants and I don’t mix (lesson learned the hard way).

4. Have you ever clogged the shower drain with your hair?

HECK YEAH. The worst was in the last apartment I lived in. It took forever for the poor maintenance guy to get through the pipe, and when he was finally able to, he pulled out a massive ball of hair.

I was strongly encouraged to purchase a hair trap after that…

5. Low, middle or high bun?

High bun. The messier, the better.

6. When you get your hair cut next (whenever that is!), what style are you going to do?

It’s been over a year… I need to serious choppity-chop-chop! I’ll probably end up with a lob, and I know I’ll regret it immediately afterward and start growing my hair again, ha ha ha!

7. Colorful brows or green lipstick?

Colorful brows.

8. High pony or sleek french twist?

High pony! (Fewer hair pins.)

9. Would you rather have free lipstick or free nail polish for the rest of your life?

THIS IS TOUGH… Lipstick.

10. Bronzer or eyeshadow?

Eyeshadow

11. Lip stain or eyeliner?

Eyeliner

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Hot rollers or a curling iron?
2. Scrunchie or hand cream?
3. Would you rather wear crop tops for the rest of your life, or wear capri pants for the rest of your life?
4. Have you ever clogged the shower drain with your hair?
5. Low, middle or high bun?
6. When you get your hair cut next (whenever that is!), what style are you going to do?
7. Colorful brows or green lipstick?
8. High pony or sleek french twist?
9. Would you rather have free lipstick or free nail polish for the rest of your life?
10. Bronzer or eyeshadow?
11. Lip stain or eyeliner?

P.P.S. Hope you’re having a nice day so far. ?

Hi, friend! Happy Caturday. To get your weekend started right, here’s a shot of my torbie girl’s toebeans:

I’ve made it my mission in life to accurately capture the colors of her toebeans in pics, because, quite frankly, they’re pawsome. The bottom of her feet are calico! How cute is that!?

Speaking of my girls, this week Connor Claire had one last “hurrah” with her former classmates from the honeybee class at preschool.

They held a social distance graduation for the four-year-old class in the parking lot, and gosh…it’s amazing how fast kids grow at this age. They all look so different than they did a few months ago! The girls who had long hair have even longer hair now, and everyone looks taller.

Preschools and summer camps are starting to reopen here now, but El Hub and I still aren’t sure what to do or how to handle it. Like so many families across the country, we’re weighing the risks and our own family circumstances. It’s hard to plan when there are so many things out of your control.

Sigh… Just taking things one day at a time.

On a lighter note…I tried a new dinner recipe for sheet pan baked sweet and sour meatballs, and the fam LOVED it. 🙂 Connor kindly offered her sous chef expertise by mixing the sweet-and-sour sauce and rolling the meatballs! If you’re looking for an easy dinner you can make with a little one, this one’s perfect. VERY KID FRIENDLY!

The dish was so good that I forgot to take a snapshot beforehand, LOL! I ate my meatballs with Trader Joe’s Riced Cauliflower Stir Fry, and El Hub and Connor had it with white rice. I’m going to make some more today and double the recipe so I can freeze some for later.

• Puig, the Spanish company behind Paco Rabanne perfumes, just spent $1.5 billion dollars to acquire a majority stake in Charlotte Tilbury makeup. I wonder how this will effect the line, which is one of my faves!
• A brief history of the makeup looks that defined rock and metal music. (Insert head bang right *here*.)
• Never thought I’d ever type this sentence: How to adjust your makeup routine when wearing a face mask.
• After I read this article — “A Scented Diary of a Lockdown” — in The New York Times, I walked into my bathroom, grabbed EL Hub’s Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, and doused myself with it. LOL! Then I planned my perfumes for the rest of the week.
• Should you keep perfume in the fridge?
• If you’re looking to do a little shopping in the near future, may I suggest putting one of these 68 black-owned fashion and beauty brands on your radar? Or, perhaps one of the businesses on this list of 25 black-owned beauty and fashion brands?
• Don’t forget to bookmark this list of 10 black-owned nail polish brands while you’re at it (note to self).
• Speaking of nail polish, these brands are supposed to be some of the sturdiest around.
• Skin care products to avoid if you’re going to attend a protest.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my friend. I hope you’re able to recharge your batteries.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Printed leggings

I recently got these snake print leggings from Athleta on sale , and they’ve convinced me that, if one is committed to living life in stretchy pants, prints are the way to go!

Why? Because if you actually work out in ’em, prints hide sweat stains better than solid color leggings do. I’ve also recently discovered that prints do a better job of 1) hiding any wayward food stains and 2) underwear lines. If you’re as committed to wearing granny panties as I am, then you understand the significance of the latter.

2. THIS SANDWICH!

I am deeply enamored with this cheese, veggie and hummus sandwich.

So yummy, so satisfying, and so easy to make. You can have a meal on your plate in five minutes!

The beauty of this sammie is that you can tweak it. If you want to add a protein, add a few slices of turkey, or bacon, or turkey bacon, or both kinds of bacon. If you don’t like hummus? Substitute it for smashed avocado or spinach dip.

It’s just two slices of your favorite bread, cucumber slices (sliced lengthwise and cut thin), tomato slices, two tablespoons or more of hummus, a slice or two of sharp or medium cheddar cheese and a handful of greens.

Also, to make this sandwich all it can be, you need to do three things:

1. Dress your greens! If you skip this step, then your sammie will taste like depressing rabbit food. Whatever greens and salad dressing you have on hand are good, just as long as you like it. I do a handful of spinach tossed with a teaspoon or two of Trader Joe’s Pear and Gorgonzola Dressing.
2. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the sliced cucumber and tomato. Yup, this adds more flavor. I just stack the veggies, then sprinkle a little on top. If you’re trying to cut down on salt, then a salt-free spice mix works, too.
3. Choose a flavored hummus. Plain hummus totally works, but if you can find a flavored one, that’s even better. My fave is roasted red pepper.

My body also feels really good after I eat veggies, ya know?

3. Sweet Magnolias

I marathoned this entire Neflix series in three days, and once I finished the last episode, I immediately started re-watching it again. It’s like Gilmore Girls meets Virgin River, and it’s so good! The main characters are three lifelong friends who live in a small town called Serenity, and the show takes you through the ups and downs they experience while starting their own spa in town.

The show seems kinda old-fashioned in that the dialogue’s slower-paced than most modern dramas. The plots also focus on people actually trying to do the right thing and making choices that, you know, help themselves and the people around them, rather than celebrating cattiness and backstabbing. Sure, it’s a little cheesy…but it’s also refreshing. Who’d a thunk it? — a show that isn’t all about destructive friendships and relationships.

4. First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

It’s thick and rich but doesn’t leave my face or neck feeling greasy, and it layers beautifully with serums and makeup. A big-ol’ 6-oz. tub of this super hydrating face cream is $34! It’s made for all skin types, even kids and babies.

5. Making a meal for the freezer

Lately, whenever I cook dinner, I try to make enough for an extra meal I can freeze and defrost at a later date. This works especially great with meals where you pour a sauce on top of pasta or rice!

Last week I made spaghetti sauce, and when I was done, I took an empty gallon-sized freezer bag, put it inside a bowl for stability, and filled it with the sauce. Once it was full, I removed as much air as I could from the bag, sealed it up, and placed it on a baking sheet, which I then stuck in my freezer. Doing this freezes the bag flat, making it easier to store.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 🙂

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?

1. Would you rather wear the same eye makeup every day for the rest of your life or the same lipstick?

Yeegh… I gotta change my eye makeup, so I’d go with same lipstick. Of course, neither choice seems particularly appetizing… It would definitely have to be a nude shade like MAC Velvet Teddy, and even though I wear nude lippies a lot, I’m pretty sure I’d be over it after about a month, HA HA HA!

2. Pick one for your brows: threading, waxing or tweezing?

Tweezing.

3. Messy bun or Chapstick?

Messy bun, please.

4. Fake lashes or contour?

Sigh… Neither? But if I HAD to pick one, then I’ll take the fake lashes, but they’d have to look natural.

5. Nail file, face mask or tweezers?

My pirate mustache and I will take the tweezers please!

6. I like to put on my makeup with…brushes, sponges or fingers?

Brushes and fingers, because brushes are easier to wash than sponges, and fingers are just straight-up convenient! I rarely use sponges these days.

7. Would you rather fill in your brows or do winged liner?

Tough choice, but I’ll go with winged liner. As long as my brows are plucked and trimmed, I can get away with not filling them in.

8. How often do you wash your hair?

Every day when I exercise, because I don’t like feeling like my scalp is greasy when I go to sleep. Also, I have pretty bad allergies, so I like to wash all of the pollen out of my hair before I hit the haaaaaay!

9. Are you good at braiding other people’s hair?

I’m acceptable if I’m just doing a simple three-strand braid or a fish tail, but anything more complicated than that, like french braids, dutch braids or braid crowns, then nope.

10. Have you been productive during the shelter-in-place?

I haven’t completed any big projects lately, and I’m in awe of people who’ve done things like learn another language, organize their garage, and Kon Mari their closets, because all I’ve been able to do is keep the ship from sinking. The day-to-day stuff has kept me busy, so in that way I think I’ve been productive… I juggle being Connor’s preschool teacher, with being our family’s full-time cook, part-time blogger, and I also provide janitorial services. I’m definitely not bored! It’s all I can do to keep the ship afloat.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Would you rather wear the same eye makeup everyday for the rest of your life or the same lipstick?
2. Pick one for your brows: threading, waxing or tweezing?
3. Messy bun or Chapstick?
4. Fake lashes or contour?
5. Nail file, face mask or tweezers?
6. I like to put on my makeup with…brushes, sponges or fingers?
7. Would you rather fill in your brows or do winged liner?
8. How often do you wash your hair?
9. Are you good at braiding other people’s hair?
10.Have you been productive during the shelter-in-place?

P.P.S. Hope you’re having a nice day so far. ?

Please let it be known that if you choose to flaunt your oversized inflatable unicorn in your front yard, I will make it my mission in life to become your best friend.

I walked by this majestic rainbow-maned wonder the other day and thought, “Darn, I should’ve thought of that!” My second thought was, “THESE ARE MY PEOPLE.”

Drop a ? in the comments if they’re your people, too.

Onto today’s reading!

• If you’ve got monolids or hooded lids and are feeling adventurous with your eyeshadow, Teen Vogue has eight different ways to work your eye makeup, and yes, there’s glitter and gloss up in the mix!
• Sheer, breathable base products? YES, PLEASE!
• Makeup apps have evolved to the point where you can now virtually try on swatches.
• An inventor engineered a tool to protect your clothes from getting makeup on them, and now I kinda want one!
• I read a startling article this week about deepfake artificial intelligence, and all I can do is shake my head (and finalize my plan for living off the grid in a secluded cliff cave once Skynet finally wrestles control away from human beings). “In the months and years ahead, deepfakes threaten to grow from an Internet oddity to a widely destructive political and social force. Society needs to act now to prepare itself.”
• Speaking of AI, do robotic cats make purrfect pets for isolated seniors during the pandemic?
• Byredo unveiled a new scent called “Lil Fleur” with notes of cassis, tangerine, damascena rose, saffron, blonde woods, amber and vanilla.
• A peek inside the home (which is really more like a compound) of reclusive and eccentric genius Serge Lutens.
• This one’s for my cat ladies: 18 products that actually remove pet hair.
• Looking for a new hairstyle? How about tie-dye hair?
• Behind the psychology of cutting your own hair at home.

What are you up to today? I have some cleaning to do around the house, which I’m not overly excited about…but I’m the weirdo who always feels better after the floors are vacuumed and things are tidied up. It’s also good for my general mood.

Have a wonderful weekend. ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen