Just For Fun

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 267

October 27th, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

Who is Tabs the Cat? About six years ago I befriended a stray, flea-bitten tabby cat with a bad case of worms. I could see he’d fallen on hard times, but his profound knowledge of high fashion and department store cosmetics led me to believe that he was more than meets the eye. We became fast friends, and now he’s actually my boss (and a successful kitty model). 🙂

Who the heck invites a bobcat to a Halloween party? That’s what I want to know.

Yeah, Tabs went to Karl Lagerfeld’s big Halloween bash last night, and there was this bobcat there — huge cat — apparently he does a lot of print ads and covers for cat romance novels. Anyway, I guess he had a little too much catnip because he went batsh*t crazy at one point, smashed a sliding glass window and fell in the pool.

Yes, it was that kind of party.

Tabs said it was OK, but if you’ve been to one kitty supermodel Halloween party, you’ve been to ’em all. Same thing, different day. Choupette, Lagerfeld’s cat, went as a dominatrix…

Yeah, bo-ring.

I mean, you work with Karl Lagerfeld, for crying out loud. Do something original.

Tabs went as a mummy cat, but only because he was still dressed up after shooting an ad campaign yesterday for Illamasqua.

All things considered, it sounds like it was a good party. Tabs said the catnip hard candies were great.

Tabs actually did do some work this weekend, so it wasn’t all fun and games. If you’re interested, here are the highlights from his kitty modeling campaigns…

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7 Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

October 26th, 2013 by Karen 398 Comments

Rise and shine, morning glory! It’s going to be a beautiful day. I can feel it in my bones…

I hope you did something fun last night. After finishing the NARS Promiscuous Lip Pencil post, I just made a quick fish dinner (pretty much just steamed tilapia filets and served on white rice with a little soy sauce, green onions and ginger), and then proceeded to watch Parenthood on Netflix from about 8 p.m. to 11.

It was glorious!

I love that show…

But enough about that. We’ve got a giveaway to start, so let’s get to it. Full deets in the Rafflecopter widget below, and the prize is a $50 Sephora gift card.

Maybe we’ll bump into each other on Twitter or Facebook today and can chat about how much we love Adam Braverman. 🙂

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Open to U.S. and international readers.
You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws).
Your comment can be about anything at all, but here are some ideas if you’re stuck:
- Best Halloween costume you’ve ever seen?
- How are you about doing smokey eyes? What’s the hardest thing about them for you?
- Do you ever use hot rollers in your hair?
- What’s your favorite musical?
- Do you ever put yourself on nail polish/makeup bans?
- Do you have naturally rosy cheeks?
- Are there any brands you wish they carried in your country?
You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.
The giveaway ends on Monday, October 28, 2013 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time).
Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Are You Dressing Up for Halloween?

October 25th, 2013 by Karen 30 Comments

I think the fall fairy has potential, especially if I can make that blasted elf ear work, but truth be told, it’s not as comfy as last year’s crazy cat lady look. I mean…it’s hard to beat pajamas and a robe. And you know I’m all about the comfort. 🙂

crazy cat lady costume — Portrait of a Crazy Cat Lady, Oct. 2012

katy perry costume — Katy Perry, Oct. 2012

Wonder Woman's alter ego, a MAC makeup artist, Oct. 2011 — Wonder Woman’s alter ego, a MAC makeup artist, Oct. 2011

Marge Simpson's quirky, makeup-loving sister-in-law, Oct. 2010 — Marge Simpson’s quirky, makeup-loving sister-in-law, Oct. 2010

Back to the '80s, Oct. 2011 — Back to the ’80s, Oct. 2011

Hmm… I wonder what I could do to really freak out my neighbors. That’s the end game, really. 🙂

The fall fairy has the big hair and the leaves and the muddy skin — that’s pretty freaky. I’m trying to picture myself like that handing out candy.

OMG, that frickin’ elf ear… First, it was too light toned, and then I couldn’t get it to stay put, and then I couldn’t keep it out of my hair, and then…gah! I gave up.

Right now it’s a tossup between fall fairy and crazy cat lady.

How about you? Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? Maybe we can brainstorm ideas. Lemme know what you’re thinking in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: A Fall Fairy Using the MAC Rick Baker and Divine Night Collections

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 30 Comments

My inspiration for this Halloween look was a fall fairy prancing home through a damp, leaf-covered forest floor early in the morning after an all-night dance party with her fairy friends.

To really sell the fairy angle better, I even got some elfin ears, but, uh, getting those suckers to peek through when your hair is teased out “to here” and there are leaves and berries all over the place is really hard!

Hey, man. I tried.

My goals for this look were to…

Make my skin look both muddy and shimmery, like I’d been prancing around in wet leaves. I figured that fairies partying all night long in the forest would tend to get a little dirty, but being magical creatures, they’d still retain their elfin glow.
Wear fall leaves in some big-@ss hair
Wear autumnal colors on my eyes
Freak out my neighbors — because that’s how I roll 🙂

It’s weird, but I think that even with the dirty skin, the look still ended up kind of bridal/Victoria’s Secret.

Too bad about the elf ears, because I think they would have taken the look to the next level.

If you’re on the market for Halloween makeup-based ideas, this one was actually pretty easy to achieve, as far as the makeup goes.

The (muddy) skin

Even though I wanted my skin to look dirty, I still started with my regular foundation, MAC Face and Body, to smooth everything out.

Next, for the muddy/glowy effect, I mixed MAC Monster FX Tinted Mixing Medium in Dirt from the Rick Baker collection ($22) with shimmery MAC Old Gold Pigment ($21), and then stippled that randomly around my face, neck, shoulders and arms with a MAC 159 Duo Fibre Brush (although any skunk brush should do).

When it was dry, to create sort of an earthy feel, I contoured my face with MAC Give Me Sun Bronzer.

Then, because I really wanted a noticeable glow, I highlighted my cheeks, nose and cupid’s bow with a bronze highlighter, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Perfectly Poised ($33), from the new Divine Night holiday collection.

The big-@ss hair

Today marked three days since my last shampoo/conditioner session, which I did because I wanted my mop to actually look a little dirty and “lived in.” I think that made it easier to go bigger with the hair.

I also used hot rollers yesterday, so I had some leftover curls.

To lift my roots and boost volume, I applied a dry shampoo to the roots and teased the top layers, then sprayed hairspray all over everything to keep it big.

Next, the leaves and berries, which I snipped from a couple of plastic garland strands I got from Joann (on sale for $4!), and tied them into pieces of my hair with some brown paper jewelry cord ($3), also from Joann.

The autumnal eyes and lips

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Do You Have Any Hair-Styling Shortcuts or Time-Saving Tricks?

October 22nd, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

I’m sure you have a few of ’em in your hair-styling bag. 🙂

I’ve always struggled with my mop, but I’ve learned a few time-saving tricks and shortcuts over the years (mostly the hard way) to lessen the pain.

Like, when I used to have blunt bangs across my forehead, I’d squeeze one extra day out of my blowouts by putting the back and sides of my hair up in a towel but leaving my bangs uncovered. Then I’d just wash the bangs…which took a lot less time than washing a whole head of hair.

Lately I’ve been rocking mid-length side-swept bangs, and to reduce heat styling damage (and shave a few minutes off my getting-ready time), I’ll usually just blow my bangs straight but leave the rest of my hair to air dry.

Oh, and if I have to look responsible for something (ptooey!) but don’t have enough time to do my hair the way I’d like, I’ll run a dollop of styling product, like a soft hold gel, through the top layers and the ends, and gather everything up in a low ponytail on the back of my neck.

Then, I’ll spray some hairspray all over, and use a boar’s hair brush to smooth and control the strays.

Sometimes I’ll also wash my hair at night and go to sleep with it slightly damp (as long as it isn’t cold in the house) because something magical happens overnight…

Lying flat like that for hours really boosts my volume and waves, and I wake up looking a little like the Bride of Frankenstein, LOL! But I take advantage of it by playing up the volume and curls. Using a large barrel curling iron or hot rollers, I’ll curl the top layers and ends.

The result smacks of big pageant hair at first, but when it mellows out it looks less cray.

And of course, when all else fails, there are always hats. 🙂

How about you? Do you have any hair-styling shortcuts or time-saving tricks? I’d love to hair about them.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 294

October 21st, 2013 by Karen 33 Comments

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll for October 21, 2013

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 six years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Do you have a diary?
GURL, I do, and now that I think about it, I kindasorta wish that my ramblings were more profound, because I use my diary mostly to vent, and the venting gets repetitive…

If my memoirs are ever published (ha!), it’ll have large sections about lame boys I dated, about how I’m always exhausted, about the many times I’ve felt sad or overwhelmed and frustrated with my job.

Best makeup lighting in your house?
From dawn till about 2, it’s in my office, where the windows face east, so the light streams in and I get lovely, buttery morning sunlight.

In the afternoon, it’s the rooms on the other side of the house, like my bedroom and the living room downstairs, so I’ll haul my brushes, cameras and other makeup stuff over there every afternoon.

Which do you wear more often, lipstick or gloss?
Gloss, fo’ sho! I almost always have at least 5-6 tubes of nude gloss in my purse, like some kind of makeup nomad, haha!

I prefer nude glosses because they go with everything, and I can put them on in the car without having to think too hard.

With whom do you talk the most about makeup offline?
Um…whoever happens to be standing next to me at a makeup counter? LOL! I bumped into a gal at the EstÃ©e Lauder counter last week, and no joke, we talked about blushes for 15 minutes.

Whatever, I’m chatty. 🙂

Does the color of a room affect your mood?
Oh, for sure. I can’t function in rooms with crazy-@ss colors on the walls. I mean, I love the idea of bold wall paints, like deep blues and reds for dining rooms, but for me it’s so distracting in practice.

I don’t know… I think I need soothing, peaceful wall colors at home.

Do you have any plants around you at work?
Catnip! — and tons of it. As you can probably imagine, it’s part of the corporate culture here at Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC. 🙂

Are there any shadows you love except for the fallout?
Oh, my gosh. So many. But you know, just tap to remove the excess from your brush. Most of the time that does the trick.

Off the top of my head, I can think of some glittery Urban Decay and Too Faced colors, and a handful of colors from MAC.

How do you feel about nude nail polish?
I think they can look super cool with glitter on top; otherwise, meh. I figure, if I’m going to wear nail polish, it might as well be something I can see.

Gimme jewel tones any day of the week!

If you could be invisible for 2 hours, what would you do?
I’d sneak into the MAC or Chanel offices and do some investigating, heh. Or maybe I’d sneak into RyGos home and peek in all of his medicine cabinets. Or I’d take a long uninterrupted nap. Hard to decide.

What’s your current favorite face product?
Kate Somerville’s Anti-Bac Clearing Lotion has been a godsend. The active ingredient, benzoyl peroxide, isn’t new by any means, but it has completely changed my skin. Ever since I started using it along with Skinceuticals CE Ferulic, no more painful pimples around my chin.

I just love the stuff and can’t live without it.

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. Do you have a diary?
2. Best makeup lighting in your house?
3. Which do you wear more often, lipstick or gloss?
4. With whom do you talk the most about makeup offline?
5. Does the color of a room affect your mood?
6. Do you have any plants around you at work?
7. Are there any shadows you love except for the fallout?
8. How do you feel about nude nail polish?
9. If you could be invisible for 2 hours, what would you do?
10. What’s your current favorite face product?

Ugh, I already feel like I’m getting off to a late start. I kind of hate it when that happens…

Oh, well. Nothing to it but to do it! 🙂 Let me know how you’re doing today.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 266

October 20th, 2013 by Karen 13 Comments

Who is Tabs the Cat? About six years ago I befriended a stray, flea-bitten tabby cat with a bad case of worms. I could see he’d fallen on hard times, but his profound knowledge of high fashion and department store cosmetics led me to believe that he was more than meets the eye. We became fast friends, and now he’s actually my boss (and a successful kitty model). 🙂

Guess what plump tabby cat rocked the modeling world this week.

That’s right — Tabs. He starred in five major ad campaigns for MAC, Maybelline and Wet n Wild (among other brands), and he did have to travel, but it was just an overnight trip to New York for the Maybelline shoot, and then a quick hop up to Toronto for MAC.

He’s back home now and resting in his cat tower.

Um, I don’t want to jinx anything, but I’ve got some potentially big news…

Tabs is in negotiations with the Tyra Banks Company to do a cat version of America’s Next Top Model.

Can you believe it!? It’s really exciting, but don’t tell anyone you heard it from me. It’s strictly hush-hush for now. I think People magazine has an exclusive on the story, but since we’re family, I can tell you (off the record).

Tabs and Tyra go way back, so we’re pretty sure it’s gonna happen. Fingers crossed.

Without further ado, here are this week’s kitty modeling jobs starring Tabs.

BTW, he loves hearing your feedback and/or adoration, so please let him know what you think in the comments. 🙂

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7 Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

October 19th, 2013 by Karen 506 Comments

The most beautiful thing I saw this week wasn’t a lipstick or gloss, or all of these lovely Urban Decay palettes I set up for this shot (although that was a close second).

It was something I saw at the salon the other day. As soon as I walked in, I saw a dad with his teenage daughter — well, she looked more like a tween, actually. Awkwardly sweet, around 11 or 12. She was carrying a sequined purse and an Archie book, and her wavy hair was wiry and poofed out to here, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t on purpose.

She was all smiles and seemed quietly excited to be getting her hair cut.

The way she and her dad talked to each other was just adorable. There were some necklaces on display by the front counter, and while she was waiting for her appointment, she pointed them out to her dad, and they chatted sweetly about the bird designs, creating a nice memory of an afternoon spent with her dad at the salon.

It made me smile. 🙂

Going to get my hair cut when I was that age was never fun for me (seriously, people didn’t know what to do with wavy hair back then).

Hopefully you created some nice memories this week, too. Maybe we can create another one with this weekend’s Sephora giveaway.

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Open to U.S. and international readers.
You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws).
Your comment can be about anything at all, but here are some ideas if you’re stuck:
- When and where were you born?
- What was the funniest thing that ever happened at work?
- Write a haiku about makeup.
- Was there a teacher who had a particularly strong influence on your life?
- Do you spend more time on your hair or makeup?
- Are there any popular makeup products you wish you could wear but feel like you can’t?
- On a scale of 1-10, what’s your patience for blending (10 being super patient)?
You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.
The giveaway ends on Monday, October 21, 2013 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time).
Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen