Just For Fun

Yay, spring! ? It’s almost here, and the signs are showing. ?? Granted, it really didn’t feel like spring at all this week because I had to mummify myself in multiple layers every time I stepped outside, but the world is starting to wake up after its slumber.

Buds are starting to bloom, and the cherry blossoms ? are gearing up for their spring debut. Pretty soon their branches will be lush, bold and bright.

I hope the weather is nice enough to spend a little time outside there today. I’d love to go for a walk with you. I love going for walks on the weekends. Or maybe we could just sit on a park bench in the sun for a few minutes and read.

Which reminds me…

• Girl, if you haven’t seen Black Panther yet, go see it. Hands down, my favorite comic book movie ever, but I don’t just think it’s good for a comic book movie. If you like action-packed stories and strong women, stunning sets and costumes, complex character arcs and authentic dialogue and villains that don’t just hate everything because “they’re evil,” go see it (and I’m usually not even a fan of Marvel movies). I spent half the movie marveling (haha) over the makeup, and this in-depth look at the lighting and makeup on the set was my favorite article this week.

  “Over the past decade, post-production CGI technology has given editors seemingly unlimited power to tweak scenes that have already been shot. No such luck for lighting and makeup: if a scene is dark when it goes into post-production, or someone’s makeup isn’t perfectly suited to their skin tone, software can only do so much. Even worse, because today’s cameras are so insanely accurate, even the tiniest makeup slip shows up on screen. ‘Some of this stuff you wouldn’t see with the naked eye can be spotted by the camera,’ says Siân Richards, who was Chadwick Boseman’s personal makeup artist on the film.”

• While we’re on the topic of Black Panther, this is how Oscar-winning makeup designer Joel Harlow (he won for 2009’s Star Trek) created the scars on big baddie Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan.

  It started with a body cast and good old-fashioned red pencil!

• (Last Black Panther story, I promise.) Michael B. Jordan’s hairstyle in the movie is currently trending.
• Speaking of hair, does it really keep growing after you die? Is it healthier to skip shampooing? This hair scientist tackles six common hair myths.
• Someone found some of George Washington’s hair in an 18th century almanac. Yup, we have some of the fab Founding Father’s luxurious mane. Which leads me to wonder, “Um, why?!”

  Apparently, keeping a lock of hair from someone you admired, like a president, wasn’t creepy back in the day. It was cool. In the 18th and 19th centuries, locks of hair were kept as keepsakes to give to friends, romantic partners and the relatives in charge of your family’s hair wreath (yes, this was also a thing).

• It’s happening… A matte version of MAC Fix+ will be hitting shelves soon. Boom.
• These 11 mascaras get mad love from reviewers on Amazon. I wanna try the one called “It’s So Big.” (Side note: get your mind out of the gutter.)

OK, I’m off to go get a drink of water now because I’ve turned into a person who sets alarms on her phone to remind herself to chug H2O every hour.

Basically, the air’s been crisper and drier than usual lately, and it’s kicking my skin’s butt.

On that note, don’t forget to hydrate! And don’t forget to smile. ? It’s Caturday, after all.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past 11 (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. White nail polish or black nail polish?

Contrary to my all-black errrything philosophy and my inevitable future as a Sith Lord (Star Wars moment, sorry not sorry), I gotta go with the white nails.

I love wearing opaque white nail polish, but the finish has to be absolutely devoid of shimmer, and I also have to use a super shiny gel coat.

And my nails also have to be extremely short.

2. What are you striving for today?

A bunch of things, but most importantly, whatever I do, I want to go about my business with a joyful heart. I also want to kick some mutha’ trucking butt in HIIT class tonight.

3. Have you ever shouted at a stranger?

Uh…not lately. 🙂

I’m not normally a “She shouts at strangers” person, but when I was pregnant and hormonal and bat-sh*t cray, I got really, really great at cursing. It was like I was blessed with the temporary gift of creative profanity!

I remember being six months pregnant and waddling across an intersection in front of Target when a car almost bumped into me, and I went OFF at the lady behind the wheel. I may or may not have pointed at my stomach and yelled a long string of colorful phrases.

There was also another parking lot incident at the mall over Christmas when I went off on someone who cut me and El Hub off while we were waiting in a traffic jam. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but there were some creative hand gestures involved when the lady in the other car said, “calm down.”

I’m like “What the $@&%*! did you just say to me?”

4. Coffee or wine?

Considering my last answer, you might suggest some wine in an IV drip, LOL! Chill, Karen. 🙂

I usually prefer coffee.

5. What’s one thing that dramatically improved the state of your hair?

Quitting daily blow drying before my hair turned into straw. Back when I was in my 20s, I used to straighten my naturally wavy hair every day with a blow dryer and a round brush, and it fried my hair.

When I hit my early 30s and decided to embrace my natural hair texture and got into the habit of air drying, my strands stopped looking and feeling rough and coarse. It took a while and a bunch of haircuts to trim away the damaged parts, but that made a big positive impact on my hair.

Streamers

Yesterday we were at Party City looking for decorations for Connor’s upcoming bday party, and we were going down the different aisles, and El Hub was just being a dude and looking at Halloween costumes and putting on fake mustaches — and doing everything except the task at hand, which was looking for party decorations.

The tipping point was when I asked him to go find streamers, and he said, “What are streamers? I don’t know what streamers look like,” at which point I said, “You should probably just go wait in the car…”

I mean, what are streamers?? They come in rolls, they’re round, they look like crepe paper — they’re streamers. They look like streamers!

Note to self: don’t let El Hub decorate any of Connor’s future parties…

Why do small things like streamers make a day feel so special? It’s the little things that count, you know? I hope you find a way to make your day, and this week, feel special.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste with your answers in a comment:

1. White nail polish or black nail polish?
2. What are you striving for today?
3. Have you ever shouted at a stranger?
4. Coffee or wine?
5. What’s one thing that dramatically improved the state of your hair?

Happy Caturday, sweets! Please excuse me while I slam this cup of coffee that my body desperately needs…

Ah… Now can we talk about shoes for a second?

Yes, “OF COURSE WE CAN” is the only acceptable answer here. You know this, right? 🙂

Damn, these Chinese Laundry sequined flats? Freakin’ DSW taunting me and playing games with my ? heart…

You know, I’ve owned two or three pairs of Chinese Laundry shoes over the years, and all of them were terribly uncomfortable. And I don’t even think one of them lasted more than a year. So why — WHY?! — am I having lusty thoughts about these sequined rainbow flats?

In my mind I’m like, “Karen, they’re flats. Flats are usually pretty comfy… You could also stick some arch supports in ’em, and and they’re rainbow, so they’ll go with everything. Even your black stretchy pants! And look at the toe — it’s pointy, but not witchy pointy. You could TOTALLY wear these shoes…”

This is the power of persuasion that sequins hold over me!

I might have to pop in and try them on…

Yeah, I’ll just try them on, and if they happen to be comfortable (*crossing fingers*), maybe they’ll come home with me.

Wow, my bad. That was a lot of rambling about ? shoes.

How about some light reading now? Here are some articles I liked this week…

• One awesomely ironic thing about makeup is when the technical skills are so remarkable that you can’t even tell there’s any makeup being used, like in movies sometimes. Basically, I get distracted easily, dude, and if there’s anything “off” about a character’s face or hair, poor El Hub ends up hearing about it through the ENTIRE film (“OMG, that guy’s brows! They’re so uneven. I can’t take it, babe!”).

  In the films nominated for this year’s Best Makeup and Hairstyling Academy Award — Victoria & Abdul, Darkest Hour and Wonder — NONE of which I’ve had a chance to see yet, a wide range of skills are repped, from prosthetic to old-school color, light and shading.

• Makeup is literally freezing on the faces of reporters at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang .

  As a California girl, THIS BLOWS MY MIND. Apparently, if you don’t want your war paint to freeze, avoid water-based creams and foundations. Opt for oil-based products instead.

• I’ve never even read the comic, but I really want to see Black Panther because of the hair, makeup and costumes! According to this Fashionista piece, which goes behind the scenes with Camille Friend, Black Panther Hair Department Head, Emmy-nominee and Marvel vet, and Joel Harlow, Makeup Designer, Oscar winner and Buffy alum, “…creating the supersuits is a team effort, starting with the talented illustrators at Marvel Visual Studios, including Ryan Meinerding, Head of Visual Development and Anthony Francisco, Senior Visual Development Illustrator. They designed the costume concept art for the hero (and villain) suits, which were then given to Oscar-nominated costume designer Ruth Carter to bring to life — along with upwards of 1000 costumes for the royals, warriors and citizens of Wakanda, plus additional baddies, bystanders and background players.”
• I love snooping looking inside houses. I mean, it’s not like I go around peering into my neighbor’s windows on my tiptoes or anything (often, haha!), but when famous people put their places up for sale online, I’m like, “Lemme see those bathroom fixtures, girl. 🙂 You got hardwood in the hallway? Coo’.”

  On that note, Jerrod Blandino, founder of Too Faced Cosmetics, is selling his LA home for $3 million buckaroos. It’s a 1930s English traditional-style home with lots of marble, stylish wallpaper, and, well…less kitchen counter space than I’d expect for that price.

  Still a cute house, though!

• Lipstick fortune telling. It’s totally a thing. Beth Bongar says that she gains karmic insight by analyzing your facial features and reading the pattern of your lipstick kiss.

  Here’s how it works: 1) You put on lipstick. 2) You kiss a piece of paper. 3) Beth tells you wassup.

  I would go for the future details myself, as I don’t need someone to tell me that I’m an exhausted crazy cat lady… That much I already know!

In other news, I’m going to a yoga retreat/class this afternoon with the local mom’s group, so I hope to be ohm-ing and ooh-ing at some point today, which I’m very excited about because I haven’t been to a yoga class in ages.

What are you up to. Hope you have a good one, OK? Talk to you soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Personal palette challenges

I’m the first to admit it — I get stuck in makeup ruts sometimes. I’ll get comfy and do the same look over and over and over again. And over again. And again. (*cough* soft bronze glam *cough*)

But I’ve been trying to not do that as much lately by challenging myself to take old palettes (and new ones, too) and doing anything other than my usual brown/bronze look with them. And I’ll give myself no more than 20 minutes each time.

Granted, this doesn’t always work out, and sometimes I end up looking CRAY and have to take everything off and start all over again (*shrugs shoulders*), but I’m trying. 🙂

2. These astrology mugs from Target

My cupboard already runneth over with mugs, but if I had extra room, I’d get one of these astrology mugs from Target for every important person in my life.

3. Bistro Santa Fe Style Salads

Bless you, Costco! These salads are super tasty, and they’re only $10 for a pack of four! The ingredients: romaine, roasted corn, chicken, crunchy tortilla strips, cheese and a dressing that tastes like thousand island.

So I don’t get sick of them, I’ll add different things all the time, like I’ll add avocado, bacon or cherry tomatoes. Sometimes I’ll also crumble a few extra tortilla chips on top for an enhanced crunch version.

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So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past 11 (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. Pick one: microbladed brows or lash extensions?

Lash extensions, for sure, and I’d go with the most conservative option available. Nothing too long or voluminous, so, basically, the most natural-looking option.

I’ve never had lash extensions done, but I know that when I wear falsies, I get headaches when the lashes feel too heavy (I also hate when I can see the lashes out of the corner of my eye), so I couldn’t deal with cray-cray long or curly extensions.

2. How would you do if you tried to paint your nails with 100 layers of nail polish?

I’d give it an earnest try and would probably get through four or five layers before quitting to go eat some string cheese instead!

3. Speaking of nail polish, what are you wearing on your nails?

Smith & Cult Dark Like Me on my fingers and Kulandini Hustle on my toes.

Oh! — back to #2 for a sec. I’m also 100% sure that one of the little animals I live with would need something at some point during the 100-layer challenge, and I’d have to stop early anyway. Tabs would demand a slice of turkey or cheek scritches, or Connor would need someone to share a pretend slice of blueberry cake with.

You know, the usual!

4. Think back to your early 20s… Where would you have normally been on a Friday night?

Chances are I would have been doing antiquated things that kids today will never experience, like wandering around a Tower Records for CDs (and only buying something once in a blue moon!), or searching for a movie to rent at Blockbuster.

Once in a while, I’d go clubbing in SF with a friend.

5. Biscotti or scones?

Biscotti, ideally with a ☕ latte.

Scones do nothing for me… Too dry.

Happy Monday

If you’re having a case of the Mondays right now, so am I, friend. 🙁 It’s been one of those “I feel overwhelmed” days so far, but I’ll do my best, and I hope you do, too.

In other news, guess who got a wreath at HomeGoods yesterday. Yup, that was the highlight of my Sunday… It’s a springy green wreath with what I believe are dried eucalyptus leaves on it, and I like that it doesn’t look fake or plastic.

Sigh… I wish I could just live in HomeGoods today. Doesn’t that sound like a nice little vacation? LOL.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste with your answers in a comment:

1. Pick one: microbladed brows or lash extensions?
2. How would you do if you tried painting your nails with 100 layers of nail polish?
3. Speaking of nail polish what are you wearing on your nails?
4. Think back to your early 20s. Where would you usually be on a Friday night?
5. Biscotti or scones?