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
His majesty surveys his domain…
“All this,” he bellows, “as far as the cat eye can see, from the old oak tree to the grassy knoll, belongs to Tabs the Cat Industries LLC.”
Tabs has been a benevolent kitty dictator. Now in his thirteenth (or fourteenth) spring, he doesn’t have to do much battling anymore. There is peace across the land (except for his feud with Harris).
Now, King Tabby can enjoy the fruits of his labor. The gravy, like the wine, flows freely.
Good morning, friend! I hope you’re doing well on this lovely Caturday. 
Short and sweet Saturday Surfing today (and for the squeamish, absolutely no mention of poop…other than this sentence) because it’s sunny ? here right meow, and I need to get some vitamin D.
It’s absolutely necessary for me to function properly — allergies be damned! I’m a little sniffly, but you know what? The sun’s out, so the fun-bun’s coming out as well.
Um…no, my buns aren’t hanging out. ? But my hair bun is!
Now for your weekly dose of reading…
I hope the weather’s nice and you’re doing something fun today. If you’re headed outside, don’t forget your sunscreen!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Because I sure can’t, LOL! And that’s funny to me because I can remember seemingly smaller makeup-related details to a T, like the day I bought my first tube of MAC Paramount Lipstick, but I have absolutely no clue which nail polish or eyeshadow or gloss I wore on my wedding day, or the liner I wore to the prom, or the lipstick I wore to college graduation (although I’m pretty sure I was wearing MAC Paramount).
It’s like I have makeup amnesia for all of the big events of my life!
I’m guessing that I was probably just caught up in the moments on those particular days, since I’m the type of person who likes to get up in the mix and follow everything that’s happening because it lets me exist under the illusion that I have some semblance of control over my life.
It’s so weird to me, though, that I can remember certain minutiae, like chasing down the pastry chef who forgot to put the cake topper on the wedding cake, but I can’t remember the name of the delicate, semi-sheer pink shade of OPI polish I wore on my nails.
Regarding my wedding day, I do remember having a general look in mind and asking the makeup artist to do something smoky with neutral browns, and peachy cheeks and lips (SURPRISE!).
How about you? Can you remember the makeup details for your big life events?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Unsolicited life tip: Do not keep your lipsticks in your pocket unless you want to sentence them to certain death.
I’m wondering if there’s such a thing as “makeup Mercury in retrograde?” Or am I just cursed to never have another tube of Velvet Teddy again? Because this is the second tube of MAC Velvet Teddy I’ve mangled in less than a week!
First there was the tube — which by the way, I’M NOT GOING TO USE — that fell in my toilet. I tossed it out and reordered a tube with the LE packaging from the MAC site. Side note: Breathing an internal sigh of relief *HERE*.
Anyway, yeah, that tube in the top pic was the backup I kept on hand for unforeseen Velvet Teddy emergencies (a legit fear), but it’s not in working order anymore because I put it in the pocket of my high-rise mom jeans last week and forgot about it, only to remember when I found it in the washer, completely soaked, after I’d just finished a load.
On the bright site, thank goodness it didn’t open while it was tumbling amidst the suds, or even worse, make its way into the dryer. And extra special thanks to the laundry goddesses for allowing me to find it, because I was washing, like, 100 pounds of laundry (seriously, #momlife), and I could have just as easily missed it.
Still, though, who destroys two tubes of the same exact lipstick shade in one week? This girl.
I’ve come to realize that the common denominator in both of these situations is that I’ve been putting lipstick in my pants pockets lately, which is something I almost never do.
I usually put lipstick tubes in my purse or my Kate Spade wristlet, but I guess I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off lately, so my pockets have been the (sadly unfortunate) receptacle of choice. Apparently, this has not been one of my greatest of ideas, because I CANNOT KEEP LIPSTICKS ALIVE WHEN I PUT THEM IN THERE.
So, that’s it… I’m no longer allowed to carry lipstick in my pocket. Not now, not ever.
I mean, you could stick them in your pocket if 1) you have a better memory than I do, and 2) have lightning reflexes that would allow you to catch a tube before it falls into the toilet, but I am no longer officially allowed to do that. No more!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
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.
It was 14 hours! We went from San Francisco to the Philippines. I was in my early 20s at the time, and I went there to visit family with my mom. Funny thing is, I don’t remember being uncomfortable on the plane or thinking that it was taking forever. I just remember the plane touching down in Manila and everyone — and I’m talking EVERYONE — clapping uproariously like we’d just finished watching the world’s greatest movie. “Woo-hoo!” That was the first and only time I’ve been on a flight where that’s happened. Apparently, everyone was just so dang happy to be getting off that thing, LOL!
The one from Maybelline with the sponge tip applicator.
GIRL. I wanna say it was a mess, but looking back it was pretty typical of the era. Filled in, pencil-thin brows (MAC Concrete and an angled brush, baby!), frosty eyeshadow from lash line to lid (usually a taupe Clinique duo I discovered in college called “Fawn Satin”), a taupe pencil liner, mascara, concealer, blush and glossy lips (either MAC Nymphette or Spite).
I haven’t, but I think I’d like to, especially if it was still relatively close to neighbors and maybe 10-15 minutes from the suburbs and civilization. I can definitely see myself living on a plot of land with animals, but I couldn’t deal with being too isolated.
Pizza. ?
Totally kidding. ? Can you imagine smelling salty pepperoni all day long?
So…I’m going to say something from Dolce & Gabbana, since they make so many scents I like.
Yup! I’m in the middle of season one of Fixer Upper. Watched a few episodes last weekend and learned this so far: People usually choose the house that needs the most work, and Jo-Jo will almost certainly knock down a few walls, paint everything white, wrap a few ceiling beams with cedar, and add a kitchen island.
Hey, friend! To quote the coywolf, “Good morning! It’s a beautiful day.” And it is, because you and I are here, we’re doing the damn thing, and we’re doing it with a smile on our face. ?
That was SUPER CHEESY, I know, but I can’t help it. Sometimes I like extra cheese in the morning. Part of it is because I like to watch motivational TED Talks when I wake up because, and I’ve only said this *a million times*, but I’m naturally not a morning person, so in order for me to get up and get cracking to where I want to do something other than stay in my bed underneath my warm and toasty covers, I try to get other people to give me the boost I need to attack my to-do list.
Every day, I slowly chip away at wanting to make some kind of mark on the world.
I watched a TED Talk this morning called “Stop Screwing Yourself” (seriously, what a great title), by relationship expert Mel Robbins, and it’s one of my favorites so far.
The crux is that people need something called “activation energy” to get up and do the things they were put on this earth to do.
I know it sounds corny, but when Mel talks about it, it’s totally not. The video also discusses how you overcame incredible odds just to merely exist on this earth, so heck, you might as well do something with it.
Activation energy is that little extra push you need to do the things you want to do, and I feel like one of the things I’m meant to do is help others, in my own way, even if it’s just making someone giggle or think, and in order for me to do that, I usually need some extra help in the morning. Hence this video.
I hope it helps you in some way. Take a little time to listen to it if you can.
On that note, I’m going to imbibe more coffee (one of my prime sources of activation energy!) and hop ? to it. Have a good day, ‘k?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Question time! Here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to you soon.
1. Longest plane ride you’ve ever taken?
2. Your go-to under-eye concealer of the moment?
3. What did your makeup look like in the early 2000s?
4. Have you ever lived on a farm?
5. “If you’re going to be hanging around with someone all day, they might as well smell like _______.”
BONUS QUESTION: Are you currently marathoning any shows?
Katy Perry once sang that California girls are unforgettable. I think she also meant to say that California cats are unforgettable. Yes, Tabs is a Cali boy through and through, and he’s especially proud of his CA roots when the state flower, the California poppy, can be seen everywhere, including his newest favorite collar. He commissioned an award-winning botanist to create this for him, and as you can see, he’s all about authenticity.
I had to do a double take because I thought he was wearing fresh flowers on his collar, which would also be a totally Tabs thing to do, but he told me that he wanted to preserve the collar for generations. He even said that I could wear it on my wrist someday, and that Connor Claire’s future cats could also borrow it.
He’s so thoughtful that way. ?
He does love how the orange pops against his fur, so his motives weren’t entirely altruistic.
If your current favorite lipstick fell into the toilet, would you fish it out and keep using it? ASKING FOR A FRIEND.
Oh, girlfriend. I had MAC Velvet Teddy, a tube in the LE packaging that matches the color inside, which for some reason gives me so much joy… Anyway, I had it in my back pocket yesterday and sorta forgot about it. I was rushing around right before going to go pick up Coywolf from preschool. Went to the bathroom, and right before I was about to leave, pulled down my stretchy mom jeans, and next thing you know I hear a PLOP!
First thing I think is, “Holy sh*t, my phone!” Was not my phone, thank goodness. It was my tube of MAC Velvet Teddy, which I love, love, love, love, love so much.
I fished it out and set it on my desk to dry, and now I don’t know what to do with it!
So, the toilet was um…”not used,” so the water was fresh, and it’s my toilet, so I might use the lipstick again? I don’t know. I’m still very grossed out by this. It would be a totally different story if it had been a public toilet, alright? And if there had been some kind of “action” (ha ha) in it. But it was my toilet, and nothing was in there, and I dunno… I’m still freaked out by this.
Let me also say, though, that I have an irrational fear of things like my toothbrush, my phone and other random things falling in the toilet. I dunno…
Would you still use a lipstick that fell in your toilet? Let me know.
This also makes me think of a story… I can’t remember where I heard it, but it involves poop in soup.
Wait! — let me explain. If there were a massive, wine barrel-sized vat of soup, and you were STARVING, but you also knew there was just a tiny little bit of poop in there (let me clarify — IT’S NOT YOUR POOP. IT’S A STRANGER’S POOP!), would you still eat the soup knowing that there was a minuscule amount of poop in it?
I totally couldn’t. And I feel that way, kind of, about this lipstick now.
Granted, I have a backup on hand because that’s how much I love Velvet Teddy, so I busted it out today, and now that’s what I’m using instead. But it’s not the fancy packaging, ahhh!
On that note, on to today’s reading!
So it’s raining here in NorCal again, and I thought I was gonna take the baby out to go play at a park, but now I have to find some creative ways to wear her out indoors. Good luck to me! I think we may have to get Tabs involved… Maybe Hide and Go Seek. Connor tells him to go hide behind the couch, and he’s like, “WHA?”
I hope you have a great rest of your day. Talk to you soon!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
It was something someone said just the other night. I was at one of the Mothers Club meetings I’ve mentioned before here in town (we were stuffing plastic eggs for the upcoming Easter egg hunt), and one of the other moms kindly said that my makeup was “on point,” which to me was really sweet and surprising, since all I’d done was the usual 10-minute makeup look I do before leaving the house.
I think that talking about and thinking about makeup so much makes me forget sometimes that “wearing makeup” (“air quotes”) doesn’t always refer to blending three colors in the crease and carving out a brow arch and mixing three shades of concealer. Sometimes it’s just the simple, pretty looks one does to get out the door so they can make it to a Mexican restaurant on time to stuff plastic Easter eggs, LOL!
What was the last compliment someone gave you on your makeup? Did they say something nice about your lipstick? Your lashes? Liner? Whatever it was, I hope it made you feel good. ?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Oh…TGIF big time today, babe. BIG time.
