Just For Fun

5 Things That Happen to You After You Get “Serious” About Makeup

January 23rd, 2017 by Karen 26 Comments

I can’t find my pan of MAC Soba. YES, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!

1. You get caught up in the limited edition chase

Symptoms of this particular malady can last for months — in some cases (ahem!), years. Once stricken, you may find yourself doing things like going to a MAC counter at the crack of dawn (even before they’ve put out the collection for display) to snag a nude peachy pink lipstick, which you’ll eventually take home to comparison swatch against the other 20 LE nude peachy pink lipsticks in your stash.

Chances are, all of them will look more or less alike. (For what it’s worth, this is rarely a permanent affliction.)

2. You stare at brows

When you’re out and about, you’ll find yourself staring at other people’s brows and, if you’re next level, you’ll mentally file them away into one of several categories, like Instagram brows, Cara Delevingne brows, ombre brows, skinny brows and microbladed brows (among others).

There’s a whole language dedicated to describing brows, and you’ll know all of the terms. 🙂

3. You frequently ask yourself the hard questions like, “Do you reeeeeeeally need another neutral palette/coral lipstick/off-black liner?”

And even if you don’t, you can still easily justify adding another one to your collection.

4. You start coveting every shade of brown eyeshadow known to womankind

And if you happen to misplace a particular shade of satiny neutral golden brown (or whatever else it may be) that you need for your makeup on a given day, you’ll have a meltdown if you can’t find an exact dupe.

Seriously, forget about replacing it with another brown, because those other ones JUST WON’T WORK.

5. You get misty-eyed when you think of the one that got away…

You know — that one limited edition product that you wanted so badly but ended up not buying for whatever reason. Why didn’t you pick it up when you had the chance?? Were you out of your mind!?

This will haunt you for years…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I hope you had a great Monday, babe. Mine was pretty uneventful, which was fine with me. I needed a mellow day! The most exciting thing I did was make these two-ingredient pancakes for lunch (with two eggs and one ripe banana), and all I have to say is ewwwww.

I think I did something wrong because it tasted like a banana omelet.

Yeah, not doing that ever again. 🙂

How was your day?

January #mbbinstachallenge Look 3 (Week of Jan. 23-30): Smoky Taupe

January 23rd, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

nars madly blush — Smoky taupe for this week’s #mbbinstachallenge

It’s week three of the #mbbinstachallenge! I was really excited about this one because it’s totally in my wheelhouse. The theme: smoky taupe.

Funny… When I was digging through my makeup drawers looking for makeup to use for this look, I grabbed a whole bunch of golden taupe powder eyeshadows that I thought might work with it, like Urban Decay Dark Horse and Secret Service. And Mushroom, in particular, was one I thought would totally work.

Oh, and I also tried this old MAC Starflash shadow called Smoke & Diamonds from 2009’s Love That Look collection, which is golden taupe perfection incarnate.

I tried all of them in various combos, but they just didn’t read quite like the inspiration picture below…

satiny taupe gray smoke — My inspiration for this week’s look

The gal in the picture has a hint of glossiness on her eyes, and I couldn’t get that same effect with those shimmery powder shadows I grabbed, so I ended up going with some cream shadows, like this one from Tom Ford called “Spring 2015” (yes, that’s its actual name, and I love it so much that I stocked up on it). It’s a fan-friggin-tastic dark golden taupe. And another TF shade called Platinum.

I used the dark golden taupe all over my lids, hit the outer V with dark matte brown MAC Brun (a powder eyeshadow), and then I smoked out the lower lash line and the edges with satiny golden brown MAC Soba.

So I did end up using some powder shadows for depth and to transition, but the glossy effect was thanks to the cream shadows.

hourglass peacemaker lip stylo — Wearing the Tom Ford Cream Colors in Spring 2015 and Platinum, MAC Eye Shadows in Soba and Brun, Chanel Stylo Yeux in Ardoise and Urban Decay Cannonball Waterproof Mascara

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 459

January 23rd, 2017 by Karen 28 Comments

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 NINE (!) 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. What’s the earliest you can get up in the morning and still be functional?

Fully functional? Probably 6 a.m. Anything on or before the 5:30 range is still technically doable…but I’ll be really, really out of it, so even though I could do simple tasks like make coffee or feed the cat, I can’t do (not well, at least) more complicated things like drive or, I dunno, chop carrots with a sharp knife.

2. What are you currently wearing on your nails?

I just painted them last night! I’m wearing two coats of Chanel Beige Beige from the spring 2017 collection.

Monday mani: Chanel 556 Beige Beige. @chanelofficial #chanel #nailpolish

A video posted by Karen | Makeup and Beauty Blog (@karenmbb) on Jan 23, 2017 at 9:50am PST

They look like responsible interview nails, LOL! I’ve been defaulting to blues and greens lately, but I felt like trying something different…

3. What are you looking forward to this spring?

So many things! Sunshine, warmer weather (I’m such a California weather wimp), my neighbor’s freesia plants blooming (I look forward to them every year), being able to go jogging and walking outside, dresses and sandals, visiting the Japanese Tea Gardens in SF when the cherry blossoms are in bloom…

4. Three things you’d like to do today?

Catch up on my emails, because I am so behind on them
Do another load of laundry, and I’m not going to say “finish the laundry,” because it never ends, especially with the baby’s stuff. I’m ALWAYS doing laundry.
Attend a mini dance party with Connor Claire

5. What’s a makeup or beauty product you’ve been extra into lately, and why do you love it?

Hourglass Peacemaker Girl Lip Stylo, because it’s a perfect peachy nude, and I can just throw it on without stressin’.

We meet again!

You know what I was thinking this morning? Isn’t it funny how we can learn life lessons, but then forget that we’ve learned them, and then re-learn them later again?

Why do we do that?? Why did we ever forget it in the first place?

This applies to so many things for me, but right now I’m talking about hair. LOL! I usually deal with mine in the mornings, but I had some extra time last night after I put the baby down, so I decided to blow dry and curl it so I wouldn’t have to style it this morning. And it saved so much time!

Anyway, just some food for thought…

Have a good day and a wonderful week, my friend. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…

1. What’s the earliest you can get up in the morning and still be functional?
2. What are you currently wearing on your nails?
3. What are you looking forward to this spring?
4. Three things you’d like to do today?
5. What’s a makeup or beauty product you’ve been extra into lately, and why do you love it?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 433

January 22nd, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

Tabs is definitely a cat of the people, but he can’t deny that he has a taste for the finer things.

When I think of Tabs, I think “luxury personified.” Like, he wears head-to-toe Tiffany jewelry just to walk downstairs and have gravy on a Tuesday.

Sometimes on Sundays he likes to just sit around and quietly celebrate his fabulous fanciness, so he’ll ask me to light his favorite Tom Ford candle so that he may enjoy his jewels by candlelight.

It’s much more romantic that way. 🙂

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Would You Ever Consider Flying (or Driving Hours) to See Your Favorite Hair Stylist?

January 18th, 2017 by Karen 37 Comments

I’m asking because of a very sad turn of events… 🙁 My hair soulmate Alis, who’s been doing my hair for years, just moved to Las Vegas (SAD ? PANDA!), and it crossed my mind (I even looked up airfares) to schedule a trip out there just so that she can cut and color my hair.

The rational part of my brain realizes how crazy pants this sounds, because 1) the money, and 2) I live 30 minutes from San Francisco, so I should be able to find someone within driving distance who can trim and color my mop and do it well, but it’s SO SCARY to go to someone new, especially when you have wavy hair that’s been hacked and butchered by strangers before.

A trip to Las Vegas almost seems rational… Almost?

No, I don’t think I’ll do it. I should just suck it up and find someone new, but if my California Lottery dreams ever come true, I’m heading to Vegas that afternoon!

Has this ever occurred to you? — either flying or driving a loooong distance to get your hair done?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

January #mbbinstachallenge Look 2 (Week of Jan. 16-22): Kitten Flicks and Glitter Lips

January 17th, 2017 by Karen 17 Comments

Just an FYI: If you ever want to take yourself seriously, don’t combine a headband with cat ears and pink glitter lips.

It’s just too hard. You’ll just be laughing at yourself all day long! 🙂

The cat headband is from Etude House, and it’s $5.20. Mine was a gift from a friend, but I love it so much that I’m ordering a backup (side note: Do you want me to review it? LOL!).

Without further ado, it’s #mbbinstachallenge time!

It’s week two, and this week’s theme is kitten flicks and glitter lips.

kitten flick liner rose gold glitter lips — Here was my inspiration for this week’s look…

I chose to stick closely to the O.G. inspiration pic this time, so I drew sharp black kitten liner all the way into the inner corners but kept that center area on my lower lash line bare, for negative space.

I suppose I could have done something like a bronze or a gold liner in that area instead…

Ooh! That could be super cool. I might try that next.

I used Tom Ford’s absurdly expensive liquid liner, which is SO bomb (despite being absurdly expensive. I was reminded why I love it so much as I was trying to place it into the inner corners and needed to be super duper precise. It’s amazeballs.

And for my glittery pink lips, I used sticky pink MAC Big Baby Plushglass, then patted a multicolored pink glitter on top, concentrating it in the center of my lips.

I wanted big, chunky, flashy glitter, so I went with MAC 3D Pink Glitter.

Here’s something I learned while doing this look: If you pop glitter on top of gloss, don’t rub your lips together right afterward, because the gloss will mix with the glitter and bring down the sparkle and shine several notches.

As a bonafide lip rubber…I struggled with this.

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Warm Vs. Cool Colors: Do You Ever Wear Makeup That Contradicts Your Undertones?

January 17th, 2017 by Karen 27 Comments

Wearing one of the best cool-toned eyeshadow products I’ve ever used, the Hourglass Prism Duo (sadly, it’s discontinued!)

GIRL, I do it all the time, but mostly with eye and lip products…and occasionally also with blush and bronzer.

I never do it with foundation, concealer or powder, though. So, basically, no for the big skin products, because they cover such large areas, so mismatches are more obvious. But a green eyeshadow isn’t meant to match your skin color at all. It’s supposed to be different.

I have warm-toned skin, and I love a good cool-toned grey or icy silver eyeshadow. And I’ll wear a blue-based pink lip in a hot second.

I know that some folks won’t ever do it. They avoid colors that contradict their natural color temp or undertones, but I like things that purposefully “clash” sometimes. I think you can use that like a trick to make things stand out more. Plus, I just like the way it looks. 🙂

How about you? Do you ever wear colors that technically (according to “the makeup rules”) aren’t suited for your skin tone?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Ugh, I’m getting over a cold, and it hasn’t been the most awesome-est thing in the entire world.

I think I know where I caught it, too. It was at Target (I always seem to get colds at Target) last week. I was walking around getting stuff, and I remember thinking, jeez, we’re deep into cold season, and I haven’t caught a cold yet. I think I’m gonna make it without getting sick!

Of course, the moment you think that, you catch a cold…

I have two words for you: Cold-Eeze. It works.

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 458

January 16th, 2017 by Karen 25 Comments

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 NINE (!) 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. How often do you wear mascara on your lower lashes?

Most of the time. I’d say 80% of the time when I wear mascara, and when I don’t do it, it’s usually because I ran out of time or was feeling lazy.

My lashes are uninspiring by default and fairly sparse (seriously, you can barely see them at all), so it helps when I wear mascara on the top and bottom.

I’m also pretty picky when it comes to my lower lash mascara, though, particularly the brush. I prefer super skinny brushes like the one that comes with It Cosmetics Tightline Mascara to get way down there at the base/roots.

2. Backpacks or cross-body bags?

Cross-body all day, son! I’m always reaching into my bag for something, like my phone, lip balm, baby toys, etc., and it’s just easier for me to grab things out of a cross-body bag than a backpack (because I don’t have to take it off).

3. What are three things you’d like to accomplish over the next two weeks?

Clean my bathroom (it has reached the event horizon between “not quite gross” and “pretty disgusting”)
Walk or run a combined 20 miles, at least
Hang at least one of my framed pictures in the hallway (P.S. Can you tell that I’m into this whole short-term goals thing?)

4. Where do you go when you need a quiet place to think?

If I’m away from the house, I’ll go sit in my car. It’s quiet with the windows up, and it’s a good place to think. And at home, my “thinking space” is the bathroom, LOL!

It’s quiet, especially with the fan on, and nobody bothers me in there…but I suspect that that will change once Connor Claire figures out door knobs!

5. What’s something you need to let go of?

Connor Claire’s little baby clothes that don’t fit her anymore. 🙁 I’m about to go full-on hoarders status in about two seconds if I don’t.

Thing is, it’s hard saying goodbye to the things that I remember her wearing when she was a teeny, tiny peanut. I tried to set aside a box filled with things for donation last weekend, but I just couldn’t do it. I got very emotional. I ended up shoving the box in my closet…

I figure, I’ll let go of it when I’m good and ready.

Oh, deer…

Look who visited last weekend! A family of four stopped by to chill on our hill for a bit.

I swear, seeing animals outside never gets old.

Speaking of chilling, I hope it isn’t too cold there, and I hope you’re able to do some relaxing today. Today is a national holiday here in the U.S., Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Take good care of yourself, my friend. 🙂 If you can, maybe paint your nails, take a nap or read a magazine — something to recharge your batteries a little. It’s important.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…

1. How often do you wear mascara on your lower lashes?
2. Backpacks or cross-body bags?
3. What are three things you’d like to accomplish over the next two weeks?
4. Where do you go when you need a quiet place to think?
5. What’s something you need to let go of?