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
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there — the moms to human children, the cat moms and dog moms and rabbit moms and moms to all the fur kids. And we all know that our kids can be biological and non-biological. Sometimes, our kids choose us, and I was lucky enough that Tabs chose me. He will always be my oldest boy.
It’s funny, but even though I was technically his lackey/assistant/underling, I still felt like he was my 20-pound furry baby.
Hi, friend! Happy Mother’s Day Eve. ? Short and sweet intro today, as my services are required in the front yard. We’re in the midst of a front yard makeover, and I am the team’s official “remover of all the randomly placed rocks.” Sometimes I also serve as the unofficial “dead leaf scraper.”
It’s a hoot.
So, while I go do my best to avoid crossing paths with giant earthworms (it’s a weird, irrational fear), here are some articles and videos that caught my eye this week…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I don’t know if squeezing this mop on the top of my head into a bun and loosely securing it with a scrunchie qualifies as a hair “style,” but that’s as good as it gets at the moment. ? I figure, as along as most of the hairs are in the bun, I’m doing OK!
Soon enough, the time will come when I’ll be able to get a trim. Until then, I’m going to refer to my mussed mane as “editorial” and tell everyone that it’s messy on purpose, ha ha ha! ?
How about you? What’s your go-to shelter-in-place hairstyle?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. TGIF! OMG, TGIFx10!
This mug by Kate Spade succinctly expresses how I feel about this gluten-free glazed lemon blueberry loaf. ?
But really, you could have it for tea, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, snack time, and it totally works for dessert, too! (So basically all teh meals.)
The sweet blueberries beautifully balance with the tartness of the lemon, and the powdered sugar glaze is juuust enough. It’s an irresistible, ideal partnership of sharp and sweet.
Oh, and the texture?! A lot of gluten-free cakes and loaves have a dense, tough crumb, but this one’s light and fluffy.
What’s the secret?
It’s the sour cream! It makes each bite so silky that it yearns to melt in your mouth.
This cake is divine, but I have to warn you… There is a strong chance you’ll be bombarded with requests to bake it again and again and again. And again. I know this because when I first served it to El Hub and Connor Claire, they took a few bites and, with cake still stuffed in their cherub cheeks, asked me to make it again!
DESCRIPTION
Topped with a powdered sugar glaze, this loaf’s plump blueberries and tangy lemon notes create a perfect balance of sharp and sweet. It’s especially lovely as an afternoon treat with tea, but it works extremely well for breakfast too (I can attest to this!). If you don’t have any gluten-free 1-to-1 flour around, no worries. It’s just as delicious with full-gluten all-purpose flour.
- Prep time: 25 minutes
- Bake time: 50-65 minutes
- Total-ish time: 2 hours (including cooling time and glaze prep)
- Yield: 1 loaf (makes 8-10 nice slices)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE LOAF
INGREDIENTS FOR THE GLAZE
INSTRUCTIONS
[Continue reading…]
Tunes currently on my pandemic playlist, inspired by The ‘Rona…
Posting the squeaky clean version here, but believe me, next time I roll up to Target I’ll be blasting the unedited version in my Mazda.
Never in a million years did I expect Ludacris to create so many songs appropriate for social distancing.
What you sing to the person who’s been standing in front of the baby carrots for five minutes and refuses to acknowledge that you’re politely waiting six feet away.
Me when I’m in Target.
Me when I’m leaving Target.
Isolation lyrics at their finest.
The song that plays in my head when I see all the cats I want to pet.
Please enjoy the unblended contour while you sing along to the catchy chorus (“Only the lonely can play!”).
Girl, you know I had to do it. ?
This song is all of us.
Well, I walk around the neighborhood. That’s about it.
I give it two years.
Hang in there, and remember it’s not gonna last forever (even if it feels like it).
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. ?
Me: What the heck are pants?
Thunderdome. It would easier to deal with than Target. HA HA HA!
Chocolate chip cookies, please!
Well, it’s been a while, so I’ll take the mutant spider for $100, Alex. 🙂
I left the house today without a real bra or my mind, but I wish I’d left with a cat in a baby stroller instead!
Popcorn — specifically kettle corn by Orville Redenbacher!
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. Pick on: Let me put on some pants, let me take off these pants, what the heck are pants?
2. Target, Thunderdome, or neither?
3. During a global pandemic, I will most likely be baking: lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies, or sh*t pies to serve to all my enemies?
4. When I put false lashes on myself it looks: pretty darn great, or like a mutant spider is about to bite my face.
5. I left the house today: without a bra, without my purse, without my mind, or with a cat in a baby stroller.
6. Item most likely to be found in my bra: popcorn, M&MS, cookie crumbs.
P.P.S. Good morning! ?
May Day (May 1st) is also known as Lei Day in Hawaii, and it’s a statewide celebration of the aloha spirit and the giving of the flower lei. No matter which day of the week May 1st falls on, the Lei Day Celebration takes place at Queen Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. The annual event features live music, a stunning lei contest exhibit, hula performances, demonstrations, craft and food vendors, and so much more!
Tabs LOVED Lei Day (obvs), and he was a huge horticulturalist. Straight up, he was a fiend for flowers, especially of the edible variety.
No matter what he was doing or where he was, Tabs wore a lei every May 1st. He loved holidays that allowed him to flex his creative muscles.
Kitty toe beans before breakfast? YES, PLEASE. It’s Caturday, after all, and Rosie’s pretty pink torbie toe beans are putting some spring ??? in my step.
I’m about to load up on allergy meds because El Hub and I are going to attempt to do some yard work. We’re in the beginning stages of a DIY front yard makeover, and I know this much about it: there will be no planting of yummy and delicious foliage, because the last time El Hub attempted a yard makeover, he planted pansies, and the neighborhood deer family treated our front yard like it was a drive-through buffet!
Which leads me to this question for the gardeners out there: what do you think about hydrangeas? Are there are any cat-safe and deer-resistant varieties?
I really like how they look, but I don’t have any experience growing them. Any info you can share is much appreciated!
Well, I better go don my grubby gardening clothes now. Time to get my hands into some dirt! Here’s your Saturday Surfing reading for the week. ???
Anyway, here’s a deep dive into one of my favorite fragrance lines with Maison Francis Kurkdjian…and when we finally all go back to our new version of Back to Real Life 2.0, try to hunt down Maison Francis Kurkdijian Femin Pluriel and give it a sniff. It’s my favorite.
Got any socially distanced plans for today?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
