Just For Fun

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 413

March 7th, 2016 by Karen 39 Comments

monday-poll-march-7-2016

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

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 seven 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.

Stripes, polka dots or florals?
I like ’em all, but right now I mostly like stripes. Stripes are classic. I really want a black and white striped shirt, but they have to be the right kind of stripes. I like them a certain width, and I prefer horizontal stripes. I really want a black and white… Well, what I really want is a shower, but a nice black and white horizontally striped top would also do. 🙂

And polka dots for Connor Claire.

What’s your favorite cheesecake?
I’m a fan of the classic — regular ol’ plain cheesecake. I also like it when they come with fruit, because I’ve been going to town on fruit lately.

But then I also like the fancy cheesecakes you get at, like, The Cheesecake Factory, that you get with caramel or pumpkin. Lemon’s another favorite.

I’m an equal opportunity cheesecake lover.

What spring flowers do you look forward to?
Freesia the most. I also look forward to tulips.

Have you ever made homemade waffles?
No, but I’m on a mission to do it soon. I ate hundreds of frozen waffles while I was pregnant, and now I wanna learn how to make homemade waffles myself, so if you have a waffle iron you can recommend, let me know.

If you could only have three pieces of makeup (only three) to do your makeup today, what would they be?
Today, I think I would really like to just hide my dark circles and any unevenness on my skin.

Actually, I just mostly want to hide the dark circles, so I’ll go with concealer, which I’d wear under my eyes, and then let the rest of the skin look very skin-like.

Then I’d use a dark brown eyeshadow like MAC Brun to fill in my brows. Then I’d wet Brun and use it to line my upper lash line. Then I’d apply mascara — probably a waterproof mascara — because waterproof holds a curl well, and I’ve been crying spontaneously (I think it’s just part of the process).

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. Stripes, polka dots or florals?
2. What’s your favorite cheesecake?
3. What spring flowers do you look forward to?
4. Have you ever made homemade waffles?
5. What three pieces of makeup (only three) would you like to have with you to do your makeup today?

Hi, my friend. Day two at home. I’m still processing the transition to becoming a mom and everything that happened last week… It hasn’t been easy, but every time I feel overwhelmed, I just remind myself who I am. I’m the sky, and what I’m feeling right now is just a temporary storm. It’ll pass.

Talk to you soon. Have a great day.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 388

March 6th, 2016 by Karen 56 Comments

Dear Diary,

Whoa! I only have time for a quick entry this week because I’ve been très busy, but I still wanted to update you on the big news in my life.

Finally, after nine long months of waiting on the HR Department, I met my new protégé, Ms. Connor Claire (please don’t call her CC).

I have to admit — we got off to a rocky start. When I introduced myself, the first thing she did was cry, so, obviously, I’m going to have to teach her business etiquette.

I’m very excited about taking her paw under my wing and showing her the ways of the kitty modeling world.

First item on the agenda: build her a wardrobe of stylish fashion basics. Everything will be covered in tabby cats, of course.

Affectionately,

Tabs

Connor Claire, Model in Training

March 4th, 2016 by Karen 137 Comments

That, my friend, did not exactly go according to plan.

Hello from rainy San Francisco. I’m here with El Hub and Ms. Connor Claire in our hospital recovery room after a few challenging days.

Everything is A-OK now, and Connor and I are trading makeup secrets and talking nail polish, but for a while there, it was a bit of an ordeal.

I went into labor at 4 p.m. on Monday, and it took 37 hours of labor, three hours of pushing and an emergency cesarean section that the head surgeon called the hardest cesarean she’s ever done.

I can’t lie, it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, but it’s over now. Now we’re all just resting and recovering.

We should be leaving the hospital tomorrow, and TGIF! I can’t wait to get home to Novato.

I’ve been reading the posts by the interns (haven’t they been great?) and following all of your comments (thank you for all of your well-wishes and concern). Looks like Tabs has been doing a great job holding down the MBB fort. What a well-organized, professional tabby. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A Brief Essay on Seeing Eye to Eye With My Bare Skin

March 3rd, 2016 by Marcella Yakalis 34 Comments

I catch my reflection in the window of the downtown D train. In my bathroom mirror, as I pass by a shop. While I still struggle everyday to live comfortably in my body (I am a size 22, 5 foot 6), I often find it even harder to live in my skin.

Around six months short of 25, I noticed the blemishes forming on my chin and forehead were not just the occasional stress related zit. They were cyclical, they scarred even when I didn’t pick them, they were incredibly painful. Through my late teens and early twenties, I never had more than the occasional flareup, and never ones that gave me so much shame. I went off my hormonal birth control, thinking that was the issue, but it still persisted. I stopped wearing makeup entirely, afraid to agitate my skin.

Like so many other women, I was struck with sudden adult acne as a result of PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and didn’t know it. It wasn’t until I actually went to a dermatologist, who suggested, from my acne patterns, that I might have the condition. I made a mental note to check on it and asked what could be done about my skin. I was prescribed Aczone Gel, 5%, as well as a retinoid (Adapalene) and a tretinoin (Atralin)

These medications greatly improved my skin over a short period of time. The combination of all three settled the horrifying red bumps that littered my chin, cheeks, and my forehead. As my face cleared up, I became excited at the prospect of being able to wear makeup without feeling like I was just covering up a disaster. I didn’t realize at the time how badly the marks had scarred me, in more than just a physical sense.

When I looked in the mirror, this is what I saw: sunken eyes and horrible skin, broken capillaries around my nose, bags under my eyes that I’ve had since I was four, that weird chicken pox scar above my right brow. When my skin began to clear up, I saw my face, my bare face, and I didn’t like what I was seeing. When I was wrapped up in the acne covering my face, I didn’t have to deal with the fact that I didn’t particularly like my face.

Despite the myriad of treatments I now use, I am still reluctant to wear makeup and try new products. I’m afraid that my skin will react poorly or that it will burn. This fear, however, has made me more comfortable in showing my bare face. When I used to go out with a bare face (and I mean bare, not even concealer) I was ashamed to look in the mirror. I still had the allergy eyes and the scars, but as I learned to deal with my bare face as it was, I realized that while I had been ashamed of the acne, I had often used it as a blanket for my insecurities when it came to my natural looks. Now that my skin was on the road to recovery, I had nothing to hide behind.

Living with my acne, and learning to actually like my own face again, is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I always used to think scars were really cool until I started seeing them on my face…and feeling them far deeper.
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Hello World

March 2nd, 2016 by Karen 327 Comments

Connor Claire Monterichard, 3/2/16, 6 pounds, 4.8 ounces.

We’re tired (such a long story) but doing well.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addicts,

Karen and Connor Claire

An Insider’s Guide to Makeup Shopping in Italy

March 1st, 2016 by Carolina Braina 80 Comments

I don’t know about you, but being the beauty lover that I am, whenever I travel to a foreign country I’m always on the hunt for makeup products I can’t find back home. No fridge magnets for me; lipsticks are my favorite souvenirs! 😉

Follow me today on a little virtual shopping spree of Bologna, so that the next time you visit Italy, you’ll be perfectly capable of finding your way through the Italian beauty jungle on your own.

Let’s go to the old town then, shall we? Since there’s a lot of variety in terms of stores, it’s definitely the best place for shopping, and we can do a bit of sightseeing too… I’ll see you by the Neptune Fountain, Bologna’s most popular meeting point.

Neptune Fountain Bologna Italy — Neptune Fountain and Piazza Maggiore, the main square, in the background

If you’re interested in high-end cosmetics, we should go to a profumeria (beauty store). Most profumerie belong to big retail chains, like Sephora, Limoni or Douglas, but quite a few independent stores still survive. Some of these are called bioprofumerie and only carry natural and organic products. Would you like to check one out?

Limoni Beauty Store Bologna Italy — This Limoni beauty store used to be a church, and it was built in the 18th century. Can you see the décor inside? Pretty cool, eh?

Tortellini Pasta Bologna Italy — Tortellini on display, one of Bologna’s many specialties

Oh, you’re saying you’d rather go to a makeup counter? Well, actually, here we don’t really have makeup counters. Our department stores are usually smaller than those in the US, and most of the time their beauty departments only have self-service aisles instead of counters.

If you’re looking for what you’d call ‘drugstore makeup’, we can’t go to a drugstore.

Why, you ask me? Well, because our drugstores (farmacie) are very different from American ones and don’t sell much else other than medicines. The only beauty products you can find there are French pharmacy skincare (Bioderma, La Roche Posay, Avène, and the like), so if you’re interested in Maybelline or similar Italian brands, we should go to a supermarket instead.

Here, all supermarkets have a beauty corner where you can find products in the drugstore price range. The same types of products can also be found at Acqua & Sapone or Tigotà, two retail chains that specialize in cleaning supplies and personal care items.

I don’t know if you have something similar in the US, but they kinda remind me of drugstores, minus the drugs!

Italian Drugstore Bologna — A farmacia (drugstore) on a pedestrian street in Bologna’s old town

KIKO Store Bologna Italy — In the old town there are nearly 25 miles of porticoes, which will keep us sheltered from any kind of weather

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(12 hours later) IT’S STILL HAPPENING!

March 1st, 2016 by Karen 99 Comments

Zzz… Sleepy sheepy over here. Time for a quick nap. Labor is still underway, but it slowed down in the night, so BG leaped right over leap day without making her appearance.

All is still well, though. Mom is tired but hanging in there… Eye on the prize.

Whatever you’re doing today, I hope it involves unicorns, kittens, makeup and/or rainbows. Have a terrific Tuesday, my friend. Talk to you soon.

Your friendly (but tired) neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen