Just For Fun

GURL, when it comes to primer, I’m a believer — like hands in the air, testifying with my eyes closed and my head up to the sky, hollering “PRRRRRRIMERRRRRR!” as tears run down my cheeks and a children’s choir sings in the background.

A day rarely passes when I skip it. Primer is as integral to my makeup routine as a lash curler and brow filler.

Face primers

The main reason I love face primer so much is, quite frankly, my damned pores! Primer makes the texture of my cheeks, forehead and nose look smoother, and it’s a pretty noticeable difference in real life and pics.

For face primers, I use two (sounds like overkill, I know, but it works for me). I start by prepping my skin for foundation using MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance ($41) all over my face, which makes whichever foundation I layer on top of it “sit” better and last longer.

After giving Prep + Prime a minute or two to sink in, I go back in with Smashbox Pore Minimizing Photo Finish ($39), which I spot apply on the apples of my cheeks, my nose and around my mouth.

Essentially, Photo Finish works like spackling paste or putty, filling any uneven dips and pores on the skin to make foundation, powder and blush appear more smooth and silky.

Eye primers

I’ve got MAD love for eye primers, too, but if we get into the nitty-gritty details of which ones and why, we’ll seriously be here till Tuesday.

So, for my eyes, the short answer is that I usually use some combination of the following: NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base by itself, or with MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre or Painterly buffed on top.
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In no particular order…

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Malice ($45)

Malice, with her barely-there golden shimmer, is my idea of a purrfect peachy pink blush. If glittery golden wild child NARS Orgasm were sent to finishing school for a year, she’d come back wearing pearls instead of a leather jacket and call herself Chanel Malice.

MAC Extra Dimension Bronzer in Delphic ($27.50)

Delphic bronzer was in last year’s limited edition Alluring Aquatic collection, and I will cry a raging river of black mascara-streaked tears when I finish it.

I feel like it makes me look like I just spent an afternoon soaking up the sun with friends. Ahh…

MAC Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul ($27)

I mean, really, how many times can I gush about this golden beige blush!?

Apparently, at least one more. 🙂

It’s just so effortlessly awesome.

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. Have you ever traveled out of the country for work?
   A couple times, I have. Occasionally I’ll travel for blog-related things, but they’re always super fast turnarounds, like you know, literally fly in and fly out, so I don’t get to spend a lot of time doing vacation-y things, but it’s always exciting.

   Like a few years ago I went to Milan for fashion week and covered the Dolce & Gabbana show. I was the shortest person in the room backstage with Pat McGrath!

   I also went to Toronto to visit the Estée Lauder can’t-remember-the-name research labs, and that was super cool.



2. Capes: a do or a don’t?
   Maybe I just haven’t found the right cape…but for me, I feel like they’re a don’t, because I’m barely 5’1″ tall, and capes make me look like I’m drowning in material.

   But if I ever found “the right cape,” I’d consider it.

3. Who’s the person you text the most?
   Strangely enough, it’s my old work friend Neiman, and it’s always nonsensical stuff, usually pictures of food. Like yesterday I sent him a picture of a broccoli and potato frittata that I made.

   I guess it’s because we used to be food/diet buddies when we worked together in San Francisco, and we’d talk about exercising and eating salads, so now we just send each other pictures of food.

4. How is your skin doing so far this winter?
   It’s been super fussy, but it was fine until Christmas, when we left the Bay Area for a few days and went north to Redding near the Oregon border. It’s freakishly dry there, so I started breaking out.

   I think it’s also because I’ve been eating stuff I don’t usually eat, like a lot more fried food and sugary foods.

   So now my skin’s hella dry, and I’ve got a little breakout, but it’ll be fine in a month or so if I’m good about watching what I eat and start exercising again.

5. What’s the most surprising thing you learned about makeup last year?
   Probably that I don’t have to put a ton of stuff in my brows to make them look as lush and big and bushy as I like.

   I look back on my brows and how I used to do them a year ago, when I would pack a lot of powder in them because I felt like I had to, but now I just use two things: a brow pencil and a brow gel, and that’s it for the same lush look.

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

1. Have you ever traveled out of the country for work?
2. Capes: a do or a don’t?
3. Who’s the person you text the most?
4. How is your skin doing so far this winter?
5. What’s the most surprising thing you learned about makeup last year?

How’s it going, my friend? I hope your week got off to a good start. I went out at the crack of dawn this morning for a quick cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich from Panera, and there was lots of traffic again, so it looks like the holidays are officially over…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. My eyes aren’t symmetrical; i.e., they’re completely different from each other.

I mean, it’s not like I have a reptilian eye or anything, so they aren’t THAT different on the scale of things that are “completely different.”

It’s probably not as noticeable to most people, but it’s noticeable to me. My right eye is a smidgen bigger than my left, and it sits slightly higher. My right eyebrow is also a bit shorter than the left.

Also, my left eye has a more pronounced hood, which is a relatively recent development that didn’t exist prior to my late 30s, but I’m not gonna get too stressed out about it. On the scale of things to worry about in life…it’s pretty low on the list.

2. I used to be the kind of person who’d apply concealer just to get the mail.

But I’m starting to embrace more of #thatbarefaced life. Now I’m much more likely to go to the grocery store without filling in my brows, which I never would have even thought of doing a few years ago.

I dunno… I still love makeup, and I still wear it daily, almost all the time, but I also like to just throw my hair up in a bun sometimes. I mean, it’s not like the paparazzi are stalking me or anything. I can leave the house without a stitch of makeup on, and the world will not fall apart. EVERYTHING WILL BE OK.

3. Sometimes I reuse my false lashes an OBSCENE number of times.

Seriously, it’s almost criminal. I’m very careful to keep them clean, though, so they’re not completely disgusting.

4. I prefer to take pictures with my right side facing the camera.

I’ve watched more hours of America’s Next Top Model than I care to admit. Too bad I wasn’t paying attention to Tyra’s advice on how to work your angles.

For the longest time I took a willy-nilly approach to my portrait pictures. I didn’t think about holding my head a certain way, or elongating my neck or any of that jazz.

But then I did, and I started to see how big of a difference those little things could make.

When I stand with my ride side facing the camera, oh! — much more forgiving. With my left side facing the camera, however, I look like a retired linebacker.

5. Sometimes I think I have a hard time doing winged liner in the morning because I drink too much coffee…

Coffee definitely helps me get going in the morning, and it makes the writing easier, for sure, but when I’m fully caffeinated and try to do winged liner, I can’t draw a straight cat eye flick to save my life. I get the shakes!

That’s when the Nexcare Gentle Paper Tape comes out. 🙂

So, babe! The Cosmetic Lover Confession lines are open. What are some makeup/beauty-related things your fellow beauty lovers may find unusual or surprising about you? What are your cosmetics confessions?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

Ooh! So I was rutting around in my makeup stash the other day, aka “organizing it,” (ah, the eternal struggle!) when I spotted what is hands down one of the best things (or at least my favorite things) available at the drugstore right now, a lovely pot of black gel liner by Maybelline.

A true black liner without any green or blue undertones, Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black is soft, smooth and easy to work with, and while I’ve never tried to wear it for 24 hours straight, I do believe it would be up to the task, because I have worn it for 12 hours at a time, and it has. Not. Moved.

The pot comes with a brush…but I’d just ditch it. Or give it another task (nail art perhaps?), because it’s kinda hard to control and pretty much useless. Instead, I like to use my favorite angled eyeliner brush in the world, the NARS #47, to apply it.

And have I mentioned that Blackest Black is only $10??

HOLLA. If you’re interested, you can find it at drugstores, Ulta stores and ulta.com.

How about you, babe? What’s a drugstore darling product you currently adore?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Guess who shook her groove thang with The Purple Ones last night! I’ll give you one guess. Here’s a hint: she’s currently making toast for breakfast and singing Let’s Go Crazy. 🙂 I hope you’re having a kick-@ss year so far!