Just For Fun

Ooh! OPI Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops, for sure! If you ever go to get your mani-pedis at a salon, you may have seen them before, but if you’re more of a DIY, at-home nail polish gal like I am… Well, let me rephrase that: like I USUALLY am, since I can’t reach my toes right now, so the only way I can get them painted is if I go to the nail salon, LOL!

But if you haven’t heard about this stuff before, GIRL, you need to know!

You apply the clear liquid to your nails right after applying your top coat, just one or two drops per nail, and five minutes later, voila! — your nails are dry, even if you aren’t using a quick-dry nail polish formula.

Now, I wouldn’t rush out and do dishes or chop firewood or charge the waves after exactly five minutes… I’d still wait 20 or 30 minutes before doing any rigorous work like that, but after five minutes or so, my nails are basically safe to touch.

Oh, and the drops also moisturize your cuticles because they contain jojoba oil and vitamin E.

I love these dang drops so much that I bring a bottle with me to the salon! Yup, whenever I go to the nail salon to get my toes done, I always bring my own products, and that includes my bottle of Drip Dry.

So, friend, what’s an under-the-radar beauty product that you think people NEED to hear about? Spread the word!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! Ya know…I didn’t realize that we’d reached the end of the week until late last night in bed when I said to El Hub, “Babe, it’s Wednesday, isn’t it?” and he said, “Nope, Thursday night. It’s almost Friday.”

Whoops! Team Pregnancy Brain scores again. The days are starting to swirl together… I wish I could slow things down so I’d have more time get things ready before BG arrives, but I’m starting to get the hint that nobody ever really feels ready for a baby coming.

I’m so glad we all made it to the end of the week in one piece! What are you up to this weekend?

For me? Oh, so completely necessary! Rarely (um, like, never) do I skip primer. Even when I’m running ridiculously behind, frantically grabbing products, leaving a mess in my wake and rushing to do five-minute makeup, I still leave a little room for primer.

At times like that, it comes down to priorities, like, what do I need the most? It’s usually a face primer to blur mah pores and fine lines, and to smooth the surface of my skin a little before I apply foundation or tinted moisturizer. I call it “taking the edge off.” LOL! It’s so true though…

And when I’m not running ragged and have enough time to put on a full face, I’ll even “go there” sometimes with multiple primers. I might use one (or two!) different face primers that specialize on doing different jobs, like a color correcting peach primer under my eyes and around my mouth, or for spot treating places where I feel my pores need the extra help (usually, my cheeks and nose). Then, I’ll whack some eye primer on my lids to help my eye makeup last longer.

I’m practically married to NARS Pro-Prime for this; I’ll occasionally also work a little into my brows and lower lash lines, too (try it sometime!).

One type of primer I never wear is lip primer. I’ve tried it before, though, a few different brands, but it never seems to make much of a difference. When I used it, I didn’t really notice smoother lips or my lip products lasting longer. I’m still open to the idea, though, so if you know of a lip primer that’s, like, change-yo-life worthy, please let me know. My only prerequisite is that I’m able to hear angels singing when I use it. 😉

How about you, friend? Is primer an absolute necessity for you, or do you think it’s unnecessary?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Sooo, somehow I’ve gotten it into my head that BG is coming early. This is partly because Susan Miller of Astrology Zone mentioned in my horoscope (Insert eye roll here…but seriously, Susan does not mess around! Her horoscopes for me have been crazy accurate in the past.) that a new baby could be arriving on February 22, and also partly because I’ve heard quite a few birth stories from friends whose babies came early at around 37 weeks…

I just hope that BG decides to stay put a while longer because I’m absolutely and completely not ready. I feel like I still have so much stuff to do and prepare before she comes. I’m trying to stay calm, but it’s been a challenge. *Takes deep breath*

It’s all going to be fine, right?? I gotta keep telling myself that…

I hope things are going well on your end. What have you been up to?

And by “beauty snob,” I mean, with what products and services do you insist on only going high end?

I like to think I’m pretty open to finding and loving beauty products, regardless of whether they’re drugstore or high end (and you gotta try everything once), but I dunno… I think I might be a beauty snob in a few ways.

But one thing I’m definitely not snobby about, although I kind of used to be back in the day, is foundation.

DUDE. There was a time when I’d only use department store/high-end foundations and concealers, mostly because of how hard it was to find budget products with a wide range of shades in my skin tone vicinity, but that’s changed over the past few years. Some of the big drugstore foundations lines have really stepped up their game, and now there are lots of great options and shade choices at the drugstore level that are just as good, if not better, than the pricier products on counters.

L’Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous Makeup comes to mind. It’s only $13, and in terms of coverage, texture and shade range, it’s SO GOOD. If I didn’t know it was drugstore, I’d guess it was in the $30 range.

Oh, and perfumes? I definitely have beauty snobbery tendencies in that area. I love wearing Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Tocca and quite a few other high-end scents.

Not as a general rule, but I dunno… I’ve sniffed a lot of drugstore scents, and I always try to keep an open mind, but most of them are too sweet for my taste, or they just don’t play well with my body chemistry. Plus, sometimes fragrances are just one of those things on which I like to splurge. A gorgeous bottle of a great perfume is such a nice treat.

Aaand I think I’m also a little snobby about my shampoos and conditioners, but that’s partly because of a traumatic incident in the ’90s when I was a college student. I went through a phase when I only bought very cheap shampoos and conditioners to save a few bucks, but after a few months, that, coupled with aggressive blow drying, darned near destroyed my hair. It was dry and stripped so badly that it looked like fried noodles.

No, really, it looked like crispy fried noodles. 🙁

A hairstylist who worked at the campus hair salon (yes, we had one on campus) cut off the fried bits and lectured me about the difference between good and bad products. Little did she know when she handed me a few samples of Biolage shampoo and conditioner that she’d just created a monster…

I do have to say, though, that like drugstore foundations and other face makeup, drugstore shampoos and conditioners have come a long way. Now there are lots of good ones out there in silicone-free and sulfate-free formulas, which is great! I’ve found some that I really like (Clairol Herbel Essences, Yes To, L’Oreal…)

What about you? In what ways are you a beauty snob?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Hello, my friend, and good morning to you! How’s it going over there? Things are going OK here in preggers-ville (I’m 36 weeks now), but I can’t lie — it’s getting difficult. I feel like a stuffed sausage.

I probably won’t be posting very often over the next few days this week as I take care of some things (and because I don’t have as much energy as usual), but I’ll be around.

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.

1. What’s the key to getting “brows on fleek”?
   Brow gel, because it does a little of everything! I use it to wrangle brow hairs into place, plump up the sparse spots and to map out the places I need to fill. And, depending on what color the brow gel is, you can use it for different things. Like, I’ll use a tinted brow gel to quickly add volume, color and shape to my brows, or I’ll use an untinted one to soften how things look after I use a pencil or brow powder — you know, to help everything up there look more natural.
2. My career advice is to…
   Follow your passion, because if you have to spend the bulk of your waking hours doing something to pay the bills, it might as well be something you actually enjoy and believe in.

   That’s not to say, “Never take a job just for the paycheck!” because you gotta do what you gotta do. I’ve had many jobs that bored me to tears, that I absolutely didn’t enjoy and wasn’t invested in, but I do think that if you’re unhappy in your career, you owe it to yourself to keep looking.

3. My favorite album is __________ because _________.
   Madonna’s Immaculate Collection, because I can listen to it over and over again; I never get tired of that album… Plus, I know all the words to every song!

   Also, it’s good road trip music.

4. What goes into making “The Ultimate Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich”?
   For me, it’s Jiff or Skippy brand creamy peanut butter (because I ain’t got time for that crunchy business), marmalade (or, alternately, raspberry jam) and two pieces of soft, fresh honey whole wheat bread from Rustic Bakery in Novato.
5. What makeup do you have in your purse right now?
   Let’s see… Dumping out my purse to check…

   Apparently, I feel compelled to carry 10 nude lipsticks and glosses with me. WHY?!

   I see NARS Lipgloss in Instant Crash, Buxom Lipgloss in Ava, Urban Decay Naked Lipgloss in Liar, NARS Lipgloss in Chihuahua, Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer in Medium Dark, Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lipstick in Pinky Groove, MAC Eli Goulding Lipstick in Only You, Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Lip Pencil in Ex-Girlfriend and Urban Decay Brow Pencil in Neutral Brown.

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

1. What’s the key to getting “brows on fleek”?
2. My career advice is to…
3. My favorite album is __________ because _________.
4. What goes into making “The Ultimate Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich”?
5. What makeup do you have in your purse right now?

In other news, THE SUPER BOWL! Did you watch? Understandably, because of the kitty connection, Tabs was pulling for the Panthers, but he was also happy to see Denver and Mr. Peyton Manning win.

He and Peyton train together sometimes during the off season. As one of the game’s all-time best tabby tight ends, Tabs has very good paws. He can catch just about anything thrown his way… 🙂

How ’bout the Kitten Bowl? I recorded it on Tivo, and I’m gonna watch it at lunch. No spoilers please! Don’t tell me who wins.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen