Just For Fun

I’ve seen a bunch of “My boyfriend does my makeup” videos on YouTube and, honestly, I think El Hub would do a decent job…

Granted, he’s been listening to me prattle on about makeup for yeeeeeears, and I’ve heard him say random things like, “Those brows, tho,” so I think he understands the basics.

Like, I know that he knows the difference between concealer and foundation and the order to apply things. Sure, he’d struggle with the blending, but don’t we all? I think that if he stuck to a neutral look, used just one eyeshadow and didn’t go crazytown on my cheeks, he’d do alright.

He’s kind of a joker, though, so I don’t know if he’d take it seriously… He’s liable to tell me that he’s doing a no-makeup makeup look, but I’d end up looking like Robert Smith after a rough night.

How well do you think your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/partner would fare if they did your makeup? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Good morning!!!! Happy almost Friday, so allow me to wish you an early TGIF. 🙂

Today I have to run the grocery store at some point because I’m making the meat sauce for Connor’s birthday lasagna this weekend. I still don’t have an official recipe, BTW, ‎so I guess I’m gonna wing it.

Our little coywolf isn’t so little anymore. Today, March 2nd, is officially her birthday. Here she was on her very first day on earth, exactly one year ago…

And here she is now! 🙂

And here’s the song that’s been making me super emo lately.

Warning: don’t listen to this unless you’re wearing waterproof mascara.

One of the things I loooove about magazines is the editorial, edgy makeup — basically, all of the stuff that you almost never see amidst the vast land of khaki pants, sensible shoes and cubicles. Like glossy lids (my favorite!), graphic cat eye shades, cray-cray glitter on lips, that kind of thing.

I still love the idea of makeup as art, even though I don’t go too cray on a daily basis anymore. I will still bust out a glossy lid here and there, but not in my everyday life when I’m going to the gym or the store to get stuff to make a birthday lasagna. Most of the time, I’m hella basic.

I will still do something edgy every once in a while, though, especially when I’m testing/playing with new products, but most of the outside-the-house time, you’ll find me in mascara, neutrals and nude lips.

Which reminds me…I should really make more of an effort to go outside wearing crazy makeup, LOL! 🙂

How about you? How often do you wear edgy makeup looks? And what does edgy mean to you?

Girl, if you say “every day,” you are my hero!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. WE MADE IT TO THE HUMP!!! In my spare time, I’m desperately trying to finish my Cinderella chores and get the house ready before my family comes over this weekend for Connor’s birthday. I wish there was a Roomba for, like, everything — the bathroom, the kitchen, the cooking, the walls. Wouldn’t that be great? 🙂

1. What possessed me to do this!? Why did I ever think that bangs would be a good idea? I’m never, EVER doing this ever again. (Side note: If I had a dime for every time I said that during this process I’d be a rich woman, LOL!)
2. What the hell!? My leg hair, the hair on my big toe, my mustache, even MY CHIN — why does the hair grow so fast everywhere else EXCEPT for where I actually want it to grow??
3. I should invest in a company that makes bobby pins, seeing as how I’m probably keeping the entire bobby pin industry in business. I walk around leaving a trail of bobby pins in my wake! I find them in the shower, the corners, the kitchen counter, my nightstand, and I may or may not have found a bunch around my feet in HIIT class at the gym.

   I also may or may not have seriously considered picking one of them up and using it to put my bangs back.

4. This freakin’ cowlick! How many cans of super extra hold hairspray will this take!?
5. If I put on this cray-cray pair of false lashes, it’ll distract people from looking at my cowlick. Yeah, that seems perfectly logical…
6. Good grief. I’ve only been growing out these bangs for five days, but it feels like FIVE YEARS.
7. I feel like a shaggy sheep dog…
8. I am starting to feel personally offended by my baby hairs, because they absolutely refuse to listen to me. RUDE.
9. What should I do today to get these out of my face? Braid them? Twist them? Slick them back? Wear a headband? A hat? F*ck it. Maybe I’ll just wear that itchy blue wig I got from Party City, since that would be easier than dealing with these bangs.
10. I’m never, ever, EVER getting bangs ever again.

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 10 (!) 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. So, your makeup routine — what’s the easiest part?

Of my regular routine? My brows, for sure.

But they used to give me so much grief. Now, though? Ever since I grew them out? All I do is I fill them in with a brow pencil, which is usually the amaze-balls MAC Brow Sculpt. Then I comb through them with spoolie on the back end, and end with a little bit of Benefit Ready, Set, Brow Gel.

That’s it, and it all takes less than a minute.

Granted, I’m not obsessed anymore about getting my brows to look perfectly symmetrical. I used to be a few years ago, but I don’t mind now when they look a little messy and more more naturally bushy and unkempt.

2. And what’s the hardest part?

Skin. My foundation, concealer and powder. It’s because I’m admittedly obsessed with getting my skin to look as natural as possible, and the microsecond that I start to feel like my coverage looks heavy, I just can’t take it. I’ll remove everything and start all over again.

As I’ve gotten older, my tolerance for full-coverage foundation has decreased, even though I still think it looks amazing in pics. I still wear full-coverage sometimes, but now I generally spend a lot of time blending and layering to end up with something that looks like I’m not wearing anything at all… It’s sort of a catch 22. I spend a lot of time figuring out what formulas are going to work for mu skin on any given day.

So, yeah. Skin. By far, it’s the most complex and time consuming part of my rigmarole.

3. How well do you think you’d handle super stardom/being a famous celebrity?

If we’re talking about Katy Perry-level famous, I don’t think I’d handle it well. I can’t imagine not being able to leave my house without dodging photographers in my front yard.

On the other hand, if I were indie film star famous, where I could still get a cup of coffee down the street and maybe only be recognized by a handful of people, I think I could handle that gracefully.

But anything more than that would push my ability to be polite.

4. How often do your nails break?

Almost never (knocks on wood)! That said, I have other beauty struggles. Like, my hair is hard to manage, I have a bald spot in my brow that just won’t go away (I’m talking to YOU, Raul), and I dealt with acne when I was younger, but I’ve never really had to worry about my nails breaking.

Here’s a funny thing, though: I realized that I might be pregnant when my nails started breaking! Several fingernails and one of my toenails broke over a short period of time, which had never happened before. So I knew something was up.

5. Metallic lips: yes or no?

Yes-ish. I like ’em, but I’m more of a light opalescent metallic kind of girl.

I can’t deal with full-on melted metal lips.

6. Can you share a piece of life/beauty advice?

Uh…beauty-wise, don’t hang out on Instagram too much or it’ll give you a complex.

Life-wise, here’s something that my friend Erika said to me the other day, and it really resonated. She said that some days you have to be comfortable lowering the bar for yourself — lowering your expectations, LIKE REALLY LOW. In other words, sometimes giving your best has to mean just allowing your house to be a complete mess or accepting that the baby is still in her pajamas at 3 p.m. or and making cereal for dinner. And you have to allow yourself that sometimes and be fine with it.

Happy Monday, my friend

My brushes are washed, my desk is devoid of piles of paper, and I’m excited because… Connor turns one this week!!! Yup, officially, she won’t be an infant anymore. She’ll be a toddler. Her birthday is this Thursday, but we’re going to have a little party for her with just us and the grandparents on Saturday.

I’m also starting to get spring fever, and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about that. I can’t wait to wear dresses and sandals again…

Oh, sandals! You know, at this point, after the winter we’ve been having, I’d even be happy with open-toed ankle booties. I’m that desperate.

Did you watch the Oscars last night?

I hope your week gets off to a brilliant start and that you feel clear-headed and strong. I also hope that whenever you need to find something in your house, office or purse, it’s right there at your fingertips when you need it, because that’s such a great feeling, isn’t it?

Have a good great one! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the poll questions to copy/paste:

1. So, your makeup routine — what’s the easiest part?
2. And what’s the hardest part?
3. How well do you think you’d handle super stardom/being a famous celebrity?
4. How often do your nails break?
5. Metallic lips: yes or no?
6. Can you share a piece of life/beauty advice?

P.P.S. Did you watch the Oscars last night?

Good mornin’ and happy Caturday! ?

How cute are these flowers?? Aren’t they sweet? See the kitties? My friend Marisol sent them to me for the blog’s 10th birthday, and they’ve been brightening my days all week. 🙂

I hope your coffee is hot and breakfast is on. Just out of culinary curiosity…are there any delicious pancakes involved? I could really go for some pancakes right now… Maybe I’ll make some.

Please tell that me your to-do list is mercifully short today. It’s Saturday, after all. You deserve a day of rest!

My list is relatively short…for now. I’m embarking upon a very daunting eight-week spring cleaning project, so I got some large plastic bins from The Container Store for camera doo-dads and beauty products in my office.

They aren’t fancy, but hopefully they help.

As for choosing to do it for eight weeks — where did I get that number? Well, I started this thing back in January where I try to focus on one personal project at a time for eight weeks. In January, I decided to eat healthy for eight weeks, and I did it! So that’s the rationale.

Sure, I fell off the wagon a few times and had, like, a cupcake or a bite of ice cream, but I managed to meet my goal.

Doing the eight-week-blocks thing just seem to make big projects easier for me to handle.

In other news…

• Sir John (makeup artist to Beyoncé, Naomi Campbell and Joan Small, among others) is my makeup spirit animal. He’s worked with both Pat McGrath and Charlotte Tilbury and spills the beans about them in this in-depth piece.

  He also talks about his favorite makeup and why he wishes that the baking and contouring makeup trends would just stop already.

• Remember that scene from The Craft where Robin Tunney’s character instantly changes her hair color? That witchy magic was the inspiration behind this color-changing semi-permanent hair dye invented by chemist/fashion designer Lauren Bowker. SIGN ME UP.
• Speaking of hair, if you’re having a bad hair day, no worries! Just wear a Lego Hair Bike Helmet!
• I’ve always felt like I do my best creative work alone, but according to some experts, the most groundbreaking creative works are collaborative efforts.
• No more metallic robot face! ? Here’s a technique for strobing that yields natural-looking results, and it’s easy.
• Is that a mint green mascara in the new Givenchy Gypsophila Summer 2017 Collection??
• Hello, shower oils, and buh-bye, dry skin.
• Um, not that I need another bluish green lacquer, but that shade from the new batch of Chanel spring 2017 nail polishes needs to get on my nails ASAP.
• Makeup tips for the bronzer-challenged!
• What’s the difference between NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer and NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer? Sabrina from The Beauty Look Book breaks it down.
• Long-wearing, creamy and pigmented? The NYX Pin Up Pout Lipsticks look absolutely delicious!
• And in case you missed it, here are the deets on the new MAC Work It Out Crystal Glaze Glosses and Mascaras, the new Hourglass Voyeur Liquid Liner and body care goodies from Yuni.

[Continue reading…]

GIRL. Here’s one: I don’t know why I keep doing this, but I should probably stop putting on my makeup before I’ve had any coffee.

I say this because of the many times I’ve unintentionally applied mascara to my brows, and “many times” is an understatement. I’ve done it at least 10 times over the past few months, and it’s not like my Benefit Ready Set Brow Gel looks just like the NARS Audacious Mascara I keep in my makeup bag.

They don’t look anything alike! The Benefit tube is silver, and the NARS tube is black. Jeez, Karen!

It’s mostly just me not paying attention, but not having any caffeine in my system certainly doesn’t help.

FYI, if you do accidentally put mascara in your brows, grab a Q-tip. Because if you soak a Q-tip in some eye makeup remover, you can do some quick cleanup. Then just let your brow dry (haha), fill it back in again, and you’ll be on your merry way. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen