Just For Fun

Hmm… Not often, now that I think about it. Maybe three or four times a month? As much as I like the look, I wear a nude lip much more often.

I’m actually paranoid about uber-dark lip products wandering outside my natural lip lines because I’m constantly rubbing and smacking my lips together (been trying to break the habit for, oh, years).

Here’s something I do a lot: I’ll be at the grocery store or someplace equally unspectacular thinking, “Oooh, everyone’s checking out my super cool dark lips,” when in reality they’re probably wondering who the crazy woman with the black lipstick on her chin is and why she’s fondling the grapefruit.”

So let’s talk dark lips, babe. How often do you wear ’em? Are you all about the drama even for everyday looks? Or are they more of a once-in-a-blue-moon thing? Or do you just simply never wear them in general? Inquiring makeup minds want to know…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. It’s business casual Fridays, babe. 🙂 CFO (Chief Feline Officer) Tabs the Cat would like to wish you a productive day.

He has a busy morning planned. Lots of important corporate matters to attend to, so he went with his favorite tie.

He feels that it conveys a certain gravitas.

As for me, I’m about to jump on the treadmill to get my sweat on because if I don’t do it now, I probably won’t do it at all today. I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the way I became a morning exerciser. I’m just usually too tuckered out to exercise in the evenings.

How are things going over there today? Can I give you a random hug?

(pause for big hug…)

Any exciting plans this weekend? Nothing for me, but I am going to the salon tomorrow to get my hair cut and colored. It’s not really exciting, but I’m looking forward to the meow time.

Before I get to my list, can I just say that I’ve actually been in this exact situation several times before…

Uh…maybe I should clarify. I don’t make a habit of spending random nights away from home, but sometimes when I drive out to my parents’ house, which is about an hour away, and it gets late, I just stay the night out there and drive back the next morning.

So I’ll be making this Rite-Aid or Walgreens run at some ridiculous hour in the middle of the night/early morning, and when I do, without fail, there will be an odd character there wandering about who will invariably stop to ask me if I happen know whether the store carries birdseed…and Redbull, to which I’ll smile awkwardly and reply, “Wha?”

Anywho, tangent… Now for that emergency list.

• Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Hydrating Cleanser — This is a great makeup remover, and it gets my face squeaky clean without stripping every microgram of moisture from my skin or triggering horrible breakouts. I swear, I could go through Breaking Bad-sized industrial chemistry vats of this stuff. I love it that much.
• Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for Combination Skin — Because without mega moisturizing from a product I can trust to get the job done, the perpetually problem dry spots on my cheeks and around my nose go cah-ray-zaaaaay the next morning.
• A toothbrush, toothpaste and floss — I don’t even like to entertain the concept of going to bed without brushing and flossing my teeth. Dude, even back during the height of my clubbing days when I’d get home at obscene o’clock, I’d always brush and floss before bed, because both of my parents have teeth and gum issues, and it made me extra weird about dental hygiene. I don’t know if that’s TMI…but if it is, my bad!
• Gud by Burt’s Bees Red Ruby Groovy Natural Softening Conditioner — This is assuming that my head feels or smells gross. If it does, I like to conditioner wash it with a lightweight, reliable conditioner like this, which always leaves my hair feeling less gross, and smelling like a yummy grapefruit (incidentally, I’m going through a grapefruit phase at the moment).
• Gud by Burt’s Bees Red Ruby Groovy Natural Body Lotion — Yup, dry skin issues again. Always… I’m usually more flexible about my soaps and will just use whatever is around, but then after showering I’ll hydrate the heck out of my bod with something like this. I love the smell (again, grapefruit), it absorbs well, and it moisturizes like WHOA!

Your turn, babe. 🙂 The scenario: you have to make an emergency beauty shopping run at the drugstore for an unexpected overnight stay. What do you pick up?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”

Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past seven years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. Lately, my wardrobe staples have been ______.
   Skinny jeans (ideally, the kind that feel like pajama jeans, like the AG Denim Leggings), a white tee and nude-colored heels. Also, a black long-sleeved mini dress and a black faux-leather jacket.

   You can put together a ton of different looks with just those five things.

2. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
   Creamy, all the way.
3. Do you make your bed every morning?
   I try to. I want to, because it makes me feel better, or rather, it doesn’t pain me every time I catch a glimpse of a messy bed out of the corner of my eye.

   I also get a weird thrill out of seeing the duvet when it’s all fluffy. Unfortunately, that level of fluffiness usually only lasts about five seconds, depending on how long it takes Tabs to notice that the bed, which he sees as his own personal wonderland, has been made.

4. The best things in life take ______.
   Planning, patience, perseverance and…caffeine. (I couldn’t think of a “P” word related to caffeine.)
5. What’s your favorite healthy food/snack?
   Smoothies!

   SMOOTHIES!!

   Yup, I’m still on a smoothie kick. The one I made this morning had frozen bananas, kale, frozen strawberries, almond milk, chia seeds, acai powder, vanilla protein powder and honey.

   I’m salivating right now just thinking about it…

6. Something unexpected?
   That I’d turn into a crazy cat lady.

   For real, though! I just always assumed El Hub and I would have a pack of dogs, but then Tabs strolled into our old apartment one fateful day (he was a stray and literally walked right in one day like he owned the place).

7. What are things you like to do on the weekends?
   Sleeping in, going to brunch (brunch, as opposed to breakfast, because of the sleeping in thing), cleaning the house (ugh…but I always feel so much better once it’s done), and relaxing, usually by watching a movie or reading a good book.
8. What are some things that inspire you?
   Tropical beaches; bustling, vibrant cities; sleep (LOL! It’s true, though. It’s much easier for me to make mental connections when I have enough REM time under my belt.); biographies and interviews of people achieving their goals in the face of great adversity; cheesy quotes about positive thinking.
9. Where do you go when you need to get away someplace quiet?
   Usually, my couch, with a warm blanket and a cup of tea (and away from my phone so I can’t futz with it).
10. Something you’re afraid to do?
    Write that damned young adult novel, already. Oh, and attempt a triathlon.

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

1. Lately, my wardrobe staples have been ______.
2. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
3. Do you make your bed every morning?
4. The best things in life take ______.
5. What’s your favorite healthy food/snack?
6. Something unexpected?
7. What are things you like to do on the weekends?
8. What are some things that inspire you?
9. Where do you go when you need to get away someplace quiet?
10. Something you’re afraid to do?

Hello, bud. Happy Monday. 🙂

Did you watch the big game yesterday? Dude…all I can say is that was we left my parents’ house one minute into the third quarter.

Yeah, Tabs was pretty bummed about his team losing, but there’s always next year.

Best thing about the entire Super Bowl for me was Bruno Mars (and the Kitten Bowl on Hallmark).

Bruno’s performance was so much fun, and his makeup? — totally on point! His cheekbones looked defined, but not overly so, and his skin looked great. Awesome coverage and smoothness. I’m dying to know what primer, foundation and setting powder his makeup artist used.

Anywho, you have a great Monday, ‘kay? And I’ll try to do the same.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Oh, this one’s easy. A few re-doable moments come to mind, like the super skinny brows I rocked during Madonna’s Dita years (I walked around with a perpetually surprised look on my face, haha!), but the one at the top of my list is the day I walked into The Body Shop and walked out with a cah-ray-zaaaay purplish black lip liner and frosty beige lipstick combo.

I remember it like it was yesterday… [CUE FLASHBACK JINGLE AND CAMERA FADE]

I was playing with some shimmery eye shadow when one of the sales gals approached, and we started chatting. “You should try this!” she said, to which I eagerly agreed. 🙂

She did a look on my lips that was very trendy at the time (this was the mid-’90s) — a barely blended in matte purply black lip liner around the edge of the lips topped with a frosty beige lipstick. Then she popped a little clear gloss in the center.

I remember thinking, “I look like a backup dancer in a Missy Elliott video.” Sold! LOL!

Little did I realize just how completely unflattering the look was on me… The dark liner looked stark and harsh, and the frosty lipstick emphasized every lip flake.

Seriously, I don’t know why, but I wore that look for months thinking I was the sh*t!

Um, dated much? Yeah…

Your turn! If you could have a do-over for any single makeup moment in your life, what would it be?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Smoothies!!! Ooh, I made a yummy one this morning, totally on accident. I chugged it before I could take pics (it was that good), but it’s worthy of documenting here. 🙂

First, blender. Add a couple hunks of frozen banana, a cup of frozen sliced peaches, half a ripe avocado (yup, avocado; trust me on this), a tablespoon of chia seeds and a squeeze of honey. Then, in separate glass (because I think it blends better that way), stir one full scoop of this vanilla protein powder into a cup of almond milk, and add that to your blender.

Blend, and when you’re done, you’ll have a delicious avocado peach smoothie, om nom nom!

Next time I have to remember to snap a picture because it was the awesomest shade of guacamole green…

Oh, the construction guys are back and pounding away outside my window. They say “wassup!” by the way.

I like to think of myself as pretty adventurous when it comes to eye makeup…especially when I know I’m only going to be modeling something for Tabs (it’s a different story when I’m out and about).

But seriously, I’ll try anything once, although generally, for regular day wear, I like glam eye looks that don’t go totally over the top.

The gloves come off, though, on Halloween! It’s a license to go all out (crazy cat lady says what??).

Well, all out for me, I guess… Plenty of purple, glitter and, of course, cats (because cats make everything better).

I like this one the most because it was also part of an ensemble.

What’s the craziest eye look you’ve ever worn? Tell me about it in the comments. And do you have any pics?? Please share (link them in your comment or email)! I want to see! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. It’s like Paranormal Activity up in here! I’m serious, my house sounds like a horror movie set right now.

We’re having our siding repaired this week and probably also next, and the noise is deafening. It’s like a cacophony of hammering, guys yelling (“Bring that 2×4 over here!”) and the next door neighbor’s dog barking like Cujo.

I apologize in advance if I sound distracted or type a lot of T699nmk;q5u48pbuiofdj%huibo8u#bg! — nonsense over the next few days. I’ll do my best to make sense, but I can’t guarantee it’s going to work out, LOL!