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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 218

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makeup and beauty blog monday poll

The clock on my laptop screen says Mon 8:58 AM, which is the time back home in Novato, but here in Hawaii, it’s three hours earlier, 5:58 AM, and the sun has yet to rise above the horizon.

Super quick Monday Poll this morning, friend, because El Hub has instructed me to “step away from the computer, NOW!” Today is the last full day of my vacation, and tomorrow I head back to the Bay.

  • 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 four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:
    Happy and sad. Happy because I’ve had a great time here on Kauai; sad because I can’t bring the island back home with me to California.
  2. One thing you’d like to accomplish today?
    Does getting pruny skin count as an accomplishment? Because today I’d like to stay in the water long enough to be able to say, “I’m getting pruny.”

    Oh, and I’d like a mai tai… I mean, later today. I’d prefer breakfast first.

  3. Do you like salsa or hot sauce with your eggs?
    Mild salsa, yes.
  4. What’s one beauty product you’ve been using a lot lately?
    Becca Beach Lip and Cheek Tint in Watermelon. First, it smells like watermelon, which I love. Second, you can wear it as a blush or a lip stain (or both), and it applies just fine with fingers. Third, a little bit goes a long way. I barely have to use any to get a nice cheek flush.
  5. Did you take any lessons when you were a kid?
    I took piano lessons for … a long time, LOL! Years and years. It was kind of forced upon me, though, and I didn’t really enjoy it at the time. I think I was too young to really appreciate it.

    Ah, but one unintended side effect of those lessons was that my typing speed shot through the roof!

  6. Weekly goals:
    I don’t want to think about the rest of the week right now. Today, I only want to think about today, and about enjoying my last day here.

    And then later, when I’m back at home, I would like to start planning another trip for late summer/fall, even if it’s just a one-day road trip or a long weekend. Having something to look forward to makes everything better.

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. One thing you’d like to get done today?
3. Salsa with your eggs: yay or nay?
4. One beauty product you’ve been using a lot lately?
5. Did you take any lessons when you were a kid?
6. Weekly goals:

I hope your week gets off to a good start. Talk to you soon. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Not a lot to report about my day here yesterday (Kauai, Day 4). Just a lot of nothing, which was fine by me.

We did drive out to the south shore of the island to a town called Poipu and a place called Shipwreck Beach, which I’d heard has great snorkeling, but the water was a little too choppy, so we drove back and spent the afternoon reading and eating playing by the hotel pool.

Sundays Without Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 189

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Dear Tabs,

Hello from The Garden Isle. I trust you’re doing well and enjoying your time away from me at home with your pet sitter.

I hope you’re having fun, but please remember to keep the noise down when you invite your friends over for catnip cocktails. I really don’t need another nasty letter from the homeowner’s association.

Per your instructions regarding the new kitty modeling agency, I’ve been scouting for up-and-coming talent here on Kauai…

To be frank, the talent pool here is huge! — but not in the literal sense. I know you’d had your heart set on filling spots in our plus-size category, but the kitties here would probably be better suited to our petite kitty modeling division.

In fact, I’ve already interviewed three potentials models on the island — a tortie, a tabby and a tuxedo. All three of them are currently employed as entertainers here at the hotel and share a place next to the barbeque pit.


Employees of the hotel…

I was walking back to my room from the fitness center the other morning when the tabby stopped me to introduce himself.

At that very moment, a guest here at the hotel walked up to us holding a box of Friskies. The tabby’s eyes widened with anticipation. “Mrow,” he said.

The woman, a vet tech visiting from the mainland, said that she’d been feeding the hotel strays during her vacation over the past week, but that she was just about to fly home. She handed me the box of Friskies, looked deeply into my eyes, and said, “It’s up to you now.” A cat lady had passed her the box when she first arrived, and now it was up to me. I told her that I was a certified pet assistant/crazy cat lady, and I pledged to take my duties seriously.

So I’ve been feeding the kitties every morning right after I work out. The tortie girl is my favorite of the three. She’s always the friendliest and flashes her tum to show trust. She even lets me pet her cheeks! (Please don’t be jealous.)
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Kauai, Day 3: Bumble and Bumble and a Boat Called Sea Breeze

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The boat day.

Kauai’s majestic Nā Pali Coast beckoned El Hub and I, so we embarked upon a 4-hour tour!

Since I knew the trip called for high winds, I didn’t bring along my new hat (by the way, I found it at Target for $12!), but I still wanted something to protect my new highlights.

Enter the new Bumble and Bumble Color Minded Line. All three pieces here are TSA friendly (2 ounces apiece). You get a shampoo, conditioner and a UV Protective Styling Balm for $28. The products have a light floral scent that I like, and the shampoo and conditioner keep my knotty hair under control.

But most importantly, they’re keeping my highlights from getting brassy.

I’ve been bringing the UV Protective Styling Balm with me everywhere, including on the boat yesterday, and reapplying after each dip in the water.

Also picked up a bottle of Ocean Potion Aloe Gel to help soothe El Hub’s sunburned skin (NOTE: He’s not crazy about the Neutrogena spray sunscreen I mentioned the other day).

Ocean Potion is one of the few topical drugstore aloe gels I’ve found that doesn’t list alcohol, which can be quite drying, high up on the list of ingredients. Aloe is the third ingredient on the list; the first two are water and glycerin.

I discovered it a few trips back and just love the stuff.

Onward to the Nā Pali Coast!

Our trusty ocean steed: the Sea Breeze.

Just look at those cliffs… Some are more than a thousand feet high, straight down to the ocean.

During the winter months, huge swells buffet the Hawaiian islands, and waves as high as 70 feet crash against those cliffs.
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Kauai, Day 2: Snorkeling, Sweet Treats and a Savory Pie

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Greetings, fellow beauty lover. Happy Saturday! I hope your weekend got off to a good start. I just wanted to say a quick hi before I try to burn off some of yesterday’s indulgences (and my, have I indulged). It was a day filled with food, fun and Friskies (more on that later)!

To take care of my beauty business yesterday, I used the mighty MAC 266 brush to fill in my brows with MAC Concrete Eye Shadow.

Shh… Don’t tell anyone, because this probably sounds a little makeup obsessive, but I preloaded it with Concrete and brought it along for the day to touch up after getting out of the water. Ya know, just in case we decided to do something else. 🙂

Next to the 266, we have Hourglass Superficial Mirage Waterproof Bronzer.

I can’t really remember how waterproof it actually was/is…but I used it en lieu of actual powder. I still wanted to wear something with a bit of a matting effect, and I love the little brush that comes with it. It’s wide, with dense bristles, and the shape fits the contours of my face just right.

As a lip/cheek option, I brought Becca Beach Tint in Watermelon, because I like the color, it’s water resistant, and you can use it as a blush and/or lip tint (versatility win!).

MAC Zoom Waterfast Lash took care of my mascara needs. It’s a basic black waterproof mascara, good for lengthening, and it gets the job done (helped along by my beloved Shu Uemura Lash Curler).

The sunshine, humidity, chlorine, salty air and water are all tough on my skin, and so I also brought three MAC Studiofinish Concealers with SPF35 as well. Three because I use the one in NW25 to slightly brighten my under-eye area, the NC42 one on blemishes (it’s my color match) and the darker NC45 one for when I tan. I like these because I can apply and blend them with my fingers and only have to use a dab to even out my skin.

On my lips, I went with the same Neutrogena MoistureShine Lip Soother Cooling Hydragel SPF20, except I chose shade Sheen 50.

And then to clean up after the beach — a necessity because I look to’ up when I get out of the water — I used Olay’s Wet Cleansing Cloths in Sensitive.

With the car gassed and ready for the day’s adventures, El Hub and I fueled up with breakfast at Tutu’s Soup Hale on the makai side (ocean side) of Kuhio Highway, just past the Wailua River as you drive north from the Lihue airport.

It’s cute, quaint, clean and a great breakfast spot. Lots of parking, friendly staff, a creative menu, all-day breakfast and yummy food? What more could you ask for?

Oh, yeah. They serve more than just soup. 🙂


El Hub had (and finished!) The Kahuna — with scrambled eggs, tomatoes and avocado on multigrain bread; served with a papaya slice on the side, YUM!
[Continue reading…]

Come on, Don’t Be (Color) Shy: A Beginner’s Guide to the World of Color

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SunnyAbout the Author
The following guest post was written by Sunny of Mostly Sunny blog. You can also find Sunny on Twitter and Facebook.

A Beginner's Guide to Color

Do you remember your first pieces of makeup? I do. I remember one of them. It was a Maybelline trio with three matte neutral shades in it, and I got it when I was a freshman at university.

That’s really when I started venturing into makeup, and my friends had some very good advice: “Just use something that doesn’t scream ‘color’ but gives your eyes some dimension.”

If I remember it right, that trio was roughly the equivalent of Urban Decay Foxy, Naked, and Buck.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Even professional makeup artists would tell you not to underestimate the power of good neutrals, and I remain a fan of them to this day, but what if you’ve been dabbling in the neutral waters for a while and feel like making a colorful change?

You may not feel comfortable leaping from Naked palettes to peacock colors and mermaid eyes right away. So what can you do to make the transition a little easier?

Below are a few tips to help beginners ease their way into the fantastic world of color! 🙂


Products mentioned today

Tip 1: Try a colorful eyeliner on your lower lash line

A Beginner's Guide to Color
Products: MAC Macroviolet, UD Rockstar, UD Ransom, UD Mildew, UD Stash, Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Emerald Green

A Beginner's Guide to Color
From left to right: MAC Macroviolet, UD Rockstar, UD Ransom, UD Mildew, UD Stash, Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Emerald Green

If you feel like keeping most of your eyes neutral, a pop of color along your lower lash line is one easy way to spice things up. You can even go over the eyeliner with a neutral eyeshadow to bring the intensity down a notch.


[Continue reading…]

Kauai, Day 1: Purple Potatoes, Potstickers and Pruny Swimming Pool Skin

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Aloha, and happy Friday. It’s a few minutes after sunrise, and I’m off to get in a quick run before it gets hot. Today we’re thinking about driving up to the North Shore to do some snorkeling. It’s a little early in the year for it up there (winter and early spring are the big wave months), but I’m hoping the water’s nice.


Pool products of the day: Neutrogena Wet Skin Sunblock Spray in SPF30, Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream for Face in SPF 55 PA+++, Neutrogena Moisture Shine Lip Soother Cooling Hydragel SPF20 in Glaze 60

I’ve never tried this particular spray sunscreen before, but I do like sprays. This one? You can spray on wet skin. I haven’t been using it long enough to gauge how well it works, but I like the consistency and the light floral scent (smells just a little bit like sunscreen, but not bad).

Shiseido’s Ultimate Sun Protection Cream for Face is an oldie but a goodie. It’s VERY water resistant, just like it says on the tube, haha! No, really, it is. And it never gives me breakouts. It’s great for dry/oily combo skin like mine.

And the only color product I’ve been wearing so far has been Neutrogena’s super moisturizing Soother Cooling Hydragel SPF20 in Glaze 60. It’s a lightly tinted berry with a light minty flavor that really does feel cooling on my lips.

It’s just a little splash of color for when I pop out of the water.


Cafe Coco on Kauai

“May I show you to your table, miss?”
[Continue reading…]

And We’re Off!

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Wake up, buttercup! It’s bright and early here on the West Coast.

Well, it’s actually still dark here…so I hope you’re asleep. 🙂

Yours truly sure could use a hot cup of tea, or two. I need to caffeinate before heading to the airport. I had to get up with the chickens this morning to catch my 7:20 flight to Kauai, but I wanted to say a quick hi and wish you good morning.

Good morning!

I plan to eat plenty of pie and do lots of sightseeing while I’m on the island, but you know me. I can’t stay away from MBB for long. I haven’t been away from it for more than a few days since 2007, and that’s no joke!

I’m sure I’ll be checking in often.

Before I go, here are a few fun facts about the Garden Isle (could come in handy on Final Jeopardy)…

Fun Facts About Kauai

  • Kauai is the fourth largest, and northernmost, island in the Hawaiian archipelago.
  • Kauai is also the oldest of the Hawaiian islands (the Big Island to the south is the youngest), at more than six million years old!
  • The wettest spot on earth is located in the middle of the island of Kauai atop Mount Wai’ale’ale (“rippling waters”). The spot receives an average of 432 inches of rainfall per year. To put that in perspective, Seattle, Washington, only gets 36.49!
  • The state’s only navigable rivers are on Kauai (ya know, on account of all that rain).
  • Kauai has a miniature Grand Canyon! Waimea Canyon is about one mile wide, 3,600 feet deep and 10 miles long.
  • Over 60 movies have been filmed on Kauai, including Jurassic Park, Outbreak, 6 Days 7 Nights and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Okay, I really gotta go now! Tabs is insisting on one more deep-tissue massage before I leave… Per usual, his pet sitter will be around to cater to his every whim (DIVA!), but he says that I have “the magic touch.” If I don’t do as I’m told, he’ll be hella grumpy when I get home. You know cats. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict (with lots of love),

Karen

P.S. Aloha!

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 216

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the makeup and beauty blog monday poll

  • 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 four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:
    A little tired because I haven’t slept well in a couple days (pre-trip jitters), but other than that, I feel great.

    I’m so excited about Kauai! Hiking, snorkeling, surfing, swimming. Maybe we’ll get in a little kayaking, too.

  2. Breakfast for dinner: yay or nay?
    Yay! Sometimes I get weird cravings for scrambled eggs or french toast , and I just never know when they’re gonna strike.
  3. Can you salsa dance?
    Nope, but I can fake it if my partner knows what they’re doing. I went to a salsa club meeting years ago with my girlfriends and ended up dancing with some dude who knew how to do all those turns and lifts. What a blast!
  4. One of your favorite places for a makeup/beauty break?
    Sephora and Target are my usual haunts (because they’re both about 5 minutes away).
  5. Have you ever written/composed a piece of music?
    Once in high school band, and it was really hard for me. We had to write and then perform our own instrumentals in front of the class.

    Mine was on the piano, which I played for years, and I guess I did okay. After hearing the piece, my teacher (who was also very kind) suggested I look into doing movie scores, LOL!

    Yeah, okay.

  6. Do you play video games?
    Puzzle ones, absolutely, but I’m not a hardcore gamer like a couple of my friends are. I’ve played a lot of Bejeweled at long, boring family functions (seriously, how did people survive those things before smart phones?).
  7. A silly movie you love?
    Night at the Roxbury! So dumb. But that’s one I can (and have) watched dozens of times. “Roxbury. Roxbury. ROXBURY!” Haha! I’m way too easily amused…

    OOH! The The Wedding Singer is also right up there.

  8. If you could wear a t-shirt right now with the phrase of your choice printed on it, what would the phrase be?
    “Hold on for one more day!”

    (Guess who’s been listening to a lot of Wilson Phillips lately.)

  9. What’s one thing in your makeup bag right now?
    MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC42. Love it! I use it to cover dark spots from old blemishes along my chin. Stuff covers everything, and it’s so easy to apply.
  10. Weekly goals:
    To pack and get everything ready for the trip by tomorrow, so I won’t be scrambling at the last minute; to squeeze in a couple more runs; to load up on echinacea tea and Emergen-C (I always do it before and while I travel); lavish extra lurvies on Tabs before we leave (he’ll be holding down the fort here with a substitute assistant).

Hello and happy Monday, friend. 🙂 I hope you slept well last night, but if not, well, don’t worry! A little time spent doing something fun — like maybe today’s Monday Poll? — and you’ll be right as rain.

Grab your mug of tea, and let those fingers do the talking.

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. Breakfast for dinner: yay or nay?
3. Can you salsa dance?
4. One of your favorite places for a makeup/beauty break?
5. Have you ever written/composed a piece of music?
6. Do you play video games?
7. A silly movie you love?
8. If you could wear a t-shirt right now with the phrase of your choice printed on it, what would the phrase be?
9. What’s one thing in your makeup bag right now?
10. Weekly goals:

Don’t forget to treat yourself to something nice this week, even if it’s just a quick mid-day latte from the coffee shop around the corner. It’s important!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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