Just For Fun

Oh my gawd, horses are huge! Yesterday before we hit the grocery store to stock up for Super Bowl Snack Fest 2011, El Hub and I went for a hike through Indian Valley, and you know that Whodini song, Freaks Come Out At Night? — well, the horses come out on hikes, because it was like the rodeo yesterday, y’all, and I’m not EVEN kidding.

Have you ever ridden a horse? I never have, but it looks like so much fun. Some of the stables around here supposedly let people go for horseback rides, and I think I’m gonna look into it one of these days.

Goooood morning, young lady. 🙂 What’s on your Super Bowl snack menu today? We’re going with veggie and regular hot dogs, organic potato chips with sour cream & onion dip and sides of carrots with hummus, and sweet corn.

In other news, I think it was a pretty good week for makeup and beauty, and we had some great guest posts too.

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

WHAT TO WEAR ON YOUR
WINTER TRIP TO SAN FRANCISCO

Adventure awaits! I think you’re going to love San Francisco, but before I jump into suggestions, please promise me something — that you’ll never, ever refer to San Francisco as “San Fran” (bluh!) or “‘Fricso” (double bluh!) while you’re here. Try “S.F.” or “the City,” and merchants will take you for a local (as opposed to a tourist).

The weather is generally mild in winter — too warm for snow, but too chilly for shorts. It rains a little more than usual, and temps typically range from the low 40s to mid 60s.

In the city itself, the different districts and neighborhoods also have their own micro climates. You can literally go from one end of the city to the other (a distance of just 7 miles) and go through banks of thick fog, patches of sun, and areas of rain, which means it helps to be prepared for anything.

I think you’re wise to leave your heaviest snow coat at home, but you’ll still want to bring a warm coat, especially if you plan to do any walking (a good likelihood considering the poor parking). It also gets colder at night. Not East Coast cold, mind you, but chilly enough. Read more…

CHANEL ROUGE COCO
SHINE LIPSTICK IN BOY

I know there’s probably, like, eight billion degrees of separation between Chanel’s latest lippie — the new Rouge Coco Shine Lipstick in Boy ($32) — and the technicolor troubadour who crooned Karma Chameleon, but my inner ’80s child doesn’t care. When it comes to cheesy pop music makeup connections, I won’t be denied!

No, Chanel didn’t name this Boy after Boy George, but it sure would have been neat if they had.

Turns out the lippie takes its name from one of Coco’s lovahs, Arthur Edward “Boy” Capel, the wealthy English polo player who played a big role in Mademoiselle’s colorful life. It was Boy who gave her the funds to open her first shop, and his clothes that influenced her early designs (their boxy, masculine shapes). Legend has it he asked her to marry him, but she refused, wanting to wait until she became financially independent first. Sadly, Boy was later tragically killed in a car accident. Read more…

HAVE YOU SEEN THE LANCOME ULTRA
LAVANDE COLLECTION?

Mr. White must have liked Mr. Purple.

Mr. White was my middle school music teacher, and one year in band he had us play a medley of Prince songs as an ode to The Purple One (I played the flute). Imagine, if you will, a room filled with 13-year-olds, their instruments out of tune, rocking out to Raspberry Beret and Purple Rain. And while it must have been painful for him, Mr. White sat through the entire thing with a straight face. I only wish I’d had the foresight to tape the ghastly tune; it would have made an awesome ringtone.

This occurred to me today while playing with the purples in Lancome’s spring collection, Ultra Lavande, a limited edition release for eyes, lips, cheeks and nails. The release recently pranced onto shelves and online, and, for the record, it went well with Take Me With You (MY FAVE!) playing in the background.

Butterflies Fever Blush was the piece I was most excited about before the collection came out, and I think it looks just as beautiful in person as it does in pictures. Read more…

A NEW LOOK AT
NARS SPRING 2011

When the NARS spring 2011 makeup collection sprung earlier this month, it didn’t strike with the force of a thousand Easter bunnies. In other words, it didn’t knock me off my feet.

I liked the repromoted Angelika and Super Orgasm Lip Glosses but felt the Soft Touch Pencil in Celebrate, the Lip Gloss in Nana and the Pure Matte Lipstick in Madère were just okay. Seriously, what’s a 35-year-old suburban gal gonna do with a neon green eyeshadow (Celebrate) that lasts all of 5 minutes on her skin?

And then came today.

I tried four more goodies from the collection this afternoon — the Lipstick in Tzigane, Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in Hollywoodland, Eyeshadow Duo in Bateau Ivre and Eyeshadow Duo in Nouveau Monde — and now NARS is singing my tune.

THESE are the kinds of products I was hoping to find in this collection; until today, I just didn’t know they were here. Read more…

HOW DO YOU HANDLE FLAKY FOUNDATION
CAUSED BY DRY WINTER SKIN?

“I have an annoyingly dry forehead and nose area, and no matter how much I moisturize, my foundation still looks flaky!”

Girl, you’re preachin’ to the choir. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. I get patches of dry skin around my nose and at the corners of my mouth (it always seems worse in winter), and it often leads to flaky foundation.

Foundation loves having a smooth surface to adhere to, so let’s talk about skin for a moment.

Wind chill factors outside, heaters cranking inside, dehydration, Benzoyl Peroxide and Retin A — these are just a few of the things that can cause or worsen dry skin (I seriously notice a difference when I’m not drinking enough water throughout the day). Read more…

THE 9 COLORS IN THE TWO FACED
ROMANTIC EYE CLASSIC BEAUTY SHADOW COLLECTION ARE COOL

After making it through my trip to the dentist yesterday without shedding a tear, I decided to reward myself with a quick trip to Sephora. It was all I could do to erase the memory of those silver hooks coming at me in that awful chair (have I ever mentioned that I think my childhood dentist was a sadist?)!

As I was tooling around the store, I bumped into the new Too Faced Romantic Eye Classic Beauty Shadow Collection kit.

“Oh, hai!”

For 35 smackaroos ($35), you get nine cool-toned powder shadows in a range of shimmer and matte finishes, divided into three rows of suggested “looks” — Day, Classic and Fashion. Read more…

HOW TO LOOK GREAT
DURING CHILDBIRTH

When I found out that my due date was May 1st, my first thoughts weren’t of baby blankets and onesies. All I could think about was, how am I going to avoid looking like a wet dish towel in one of those post delivery photos? — the ones that someone always manages to snap at the exact moment when you’re the most sweaty, the most tired, and the least ready to have a remotely flattering picture taken. I’m talking about that moment when after 12 hours of intense labor, the cameras start clicking like crazy!

I never really thought of myself as a particularly vain person, and I know that when the time comes, it’s supposed to be all about the baby, but I was determined to hang on to some shred of my former makeup loving self, and come out of the whole experience glowing, despite the stretch marks and imminent hemorrhoids.

About a month before my due date, I became the lone pregnant lady haunting the aisles of my local Sephora. I rarely took a friend on these occasions, mainly because I could not have any distractions from what I saw as my personal mission. I was determined to put together a look that could withstand whatever curveball Mother Nature decided to throw my way, be it C-section or 24 hours of labor. Whatever happened to be going on below my neck, I was hellbent on keeping what was above it well controlled and looking its best. I needed the makeup equivalent of an Earthquake Prevention Kit. Read more…

THE SEPHORA BY OPI
GLEE COLLECTION NAIL POLISHES

“What does a show about high school choir have to do with nail polish?” I wondered, standing in the middle of Sephora yesterday. Gazing upon the display for the new Sephora by OPI Glee Collection, I tried to connect the dots between Mr. Shue, his band of musical misfits and OPI’s line of limited edition lacquers.

I guess the answer was obvious enough: who cares? 🙂 In a world with Spanx for Men, I suppose anything is possible.

Shoot, if Katy Perry and Justin Bieber can do it, why not the kids from McKinley High?

The lyrical line, which just arrived on shelves, contains 10 new shades ($9.50 each) and three packs of stick-on nail prints ($15 each). If $9.50 sounds like a lot, there’s also a set of six 0.12-oz. mini-bottles for $24. In true Glee fashion, the colors have names like “Slushied” and “Celibacy Club.”

I was hoping to find “The Chronic Lady,” “My Shop Teacher Has No Thumbs” and “The School Nurse Gave Me These Vitamins,” but then again I like to think of the quirky first season as the golden age of Glee.

I briefly considered the polka-dot nail stickers, but I think I was still under the influence of the drugs I got at the dentist… Adhesive beauty products aren’t usually my thing (I blame it on a traumatic experience involving Lee Press-On Nails many years ago). Read more…

HOW TO APPLY
LIQUID FOUNDATION

Liquid foundation is one of the ficklest products to apply. Ever. Not only is its basic application a chore, but even after you feel like you have a routine down, the smallest hiccup — anything from product buildup on your brush to a stray brush stroke — can throw off your entire look for the rest of the day.

But after years (literally, it has been that long) of trying different methods, brushes, and foundations, I think I finally have it down to a handful of simple steps that can make all the difference in the world.

Grab your favorite liquid foundation. Now, I almost always choose a full coverage one, as this method will sheer it down a bit, making it suitable for most skin types and needs. Pour or pump an amount about the size of a nickel or quarter (this will vary depending on the condition of your skin) onto the back of your hand or a palette. Read more…

IS IT TIME TO GET FIT WITH
MAYBELLINE FIT ME FOUNDATION?

When I think of a perfect fit, I picture J Brand skinny jeans or my yellow platform sandals; I don’t usually think of foundation.

But Maybelline hopes to change how we think of “perfect” this spring. Their new line of Fit Me foundations, concealers, powders, blushes and bronzes are designed to make finding your perfect shade that much easier to do.

Today I gave Fit Me Foundation ($8) a try — a liquid foundation designed to even skin tone without feeling heavy or looking like it’s caked on the skin.

After my date with the Fit Me Blushes yesterday afternoon, I thought the foundation would have that same casual makeup vibe.

For starters, it’s available in a whopping 18 shades with SPF 18, and the one I wore around the house today was 320 Honey Beige. The color’s not a great match for my skin tone, but it’s the closest of the ones I have right now. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

This week was hands down one of the funnest weeks I’ve had blogging since 2007. My tiara goes off to MAC for coming up with such a cool creative concept (Wonder Woman) and for going all out with the idea. I can’t wait to see more.

They could have said, “I know! We’ll get a Wonder Woman license, throw the logo on some compacts and jack up the price.” That would have been the Happy Meal approach, but it’s not the approach they took. They decided to focus on an era from Wonder Woman’s comic book past (the more contemporary WW is stylistically completely different), carefully selected the colors for the collection, and put everything together with great products and original promo artwork to form a cohesive creative concept.

I’m not a fan of everything MAC does, and sometimes I think they rush things out the door, but when they do go all out with a clear vision like this, they’re awesome. This is makeup, after all, and it’s rarely revolutionary. It’s about ideas, concepts and stories just as much as it’s about colors, brushes and light. At least for me, it’s the concepts that fill my head with ideas, the stories that fill my heart with desire, and great products that make me want to seal the deal. Yes, that was a little corny… 🙂

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

THE DOLCE & GABBANA SECRET GARDEN
ULTRA SHINE LIPSTICKS AND GLOSSES

As promised, here are those swatches of the two lipsticks and two lipglosses from the new Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden Collection.

What do you think? Ultra shiny, right? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they’re aptly named. Read more…

$59 SMASHBOX STYLE FILES
FOR EYES LIPS AND CHEEKS

The three portable palettes in the Smashbox Style Files ($59) are totally easy to crack. What I mean to say is, there’s no 128-bit encryption or complex p@ssW07ds here. Just a batch of beauty bits (in shimmery neutrals to deep jewel tones) for eyes, lips and cheeks.

For my makeup today, I felt like something fun and fresh, but I didn’t want to think too hard.

Enter the Smashbox Style Files, a new limited edition Sephora exclusive set.

These colors aren’t as pigmented as I’d hoped and suffer from some pretty mean fallout, but I do like how easy they are to blend. In all, you get eight shadows.

Each of the cream liners double as bases for the shadows, so that’s pretty cool. And the pencil liners cling to my lash and water lines like true champs. With this set, you get four Cream Liners and two Limitless Eye Liners.

The lip and cheek palette comes with two Lip Glosses and two Cheek colors (my favorite things about the entire kit!). I LOVE how effortlessly these blushes melt into my skin. The non-sticky lippies, however, I could probably live without. Both unscented, unflavored colors look almost identical on my pigmented pucker. Read more…

ARE YOU A MAC
WONDER WOMAN?

Unless you’ve been holed up in your secluded superhero lair (every hero needs one, yo!), chances are you’ve probably heard rumblings about the new MAC Wonder Woman Collection, which twirls onto shelves February 10 in North America and internationally this March.

MAC teamed up with DC Comics this time to create a limited edition makeup collection inspired by one of the toughest ladies in comic book history. She fights crime in foxy hot pants (and sometimes a skirt) and has a penchant for practical accessories, like bullet-deflecting bracelets, magic lassos and boomerang headpieces, too!

There’s no denying it — this girl is tough AND cute.

Not bad for 2,000 years old (I wonder which face cream she uses).

Just like Diana Prince right before a beam of magic light transformed her into Wonder Woman, I’ve been practically spinning in circles in my knee-high boots ever since I saw the first promo pics for this super-sized 33-piece collection for eyes, lips, face and nails. Read more…

A FEW MAC WONDER WOMAN
LIP COMBINATIONS

What up, fellow Wonder Women? I thought you gals might like to see some potential lip combinations with the Lipsticks and Lipglasses from the soon-to-be-released MAC Wonder Woman Collection.

These are just to spark some ideas, of course. Let’s get those creative juices flowing!

About that, what’s your current favorite lip combo (liner/lipstick/gloss)? Or do you like to wear just one thing at a time? Inquiring minds want to know. Read more…

MY CLARINS NEO PASTELS
MONDAY FACE OF THE DAY

Sooo, guess who’s procrastinating? 🙂 Yeah, I have about a billion things on my to-do list, but none of them are as much fun as makeup.

I put the new Clarins Neo Pastels Collection to work today for this here face of the day.

I loosely based the eye portion of the look on the Neo Pastel makeup tutorial here, and the edgy look of the black liner along the waterline is one of my favorite parts.

The Eye Quartet Mineral Palette’s shiny finish makes these dramatic and fun, but I observed some patchiness from both of the purple shadows (but not as much as the pastel quad in the Dolce & Gabbana Secret Garden Collection). Read more…

THE MAC PACKED TO GO
TRAVEL EXCLUSIVES FOR SPRING 2011

Planning any trips soon? If you are, and they happen to involve a short airport layover, you might be able to MAC 🙂 good use of your wait time with the new MAC Packed to Go travel Exclusives for spring 2011.

Travel exclusives are limited edition sets, and sometimes individual products, special to travel hubs like airports and duty free stores (you won’t find them at regular stores or counters).

A lot of the bigger beauty brands like MAC, Dior, Estee Lauder, Chanel and Guerlain (to name just a few), have them, and they’re a boon to beauty obsessed travelers like us.

MAC Packed to Go is being released in two “phases” for spring.

The first, available now, features three MAC Look In A Box kits, each one designed with a different themed look in mind using products for eyes, cheeks and lips.

The second phase, which launches in March, will encompass 11 MAC Packed to Go sets organized by category, like lipstick, Lipglass, mascara and brush.

I always try to keep an eye out for travel exclusives because some of them contain hard-to-find limited edition pieces from long lost (but not forgotten!) collections, making them great opportunities to snag something you might not have had the chance to get the first time around. Read more…

MEET CLINIQUE’S CONSERVATIVELY
SHARP MILLY PALETTE

Greetings and salutations, mon amie. I wanted to quickly show you the new Clinique Milly Pretty in Prints Palette ($36) in action.

What do ya think? I followed the tutorial that comes with the eye and cheek palette this afternoon, and the whole thing took only about 10 minutes to do.

The palette comes with four shadows and a blush; the shadows contain just the right amount of pigment, and all of them are super easy to blend. Heck, I’d call the palette downright perfect if it wasn’t for the matte brown shade, which left mad fallout on my cheeks when I used it as a liner today (which is what the tutorial suggests). Read more…

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5
MAC MUST HAVES?

I was digging through my MAC favorites this morning when I remembered a question asked by reader Sheila Z in the comments yesterday.

“Karen, I’ll be getting my makeup done this saturday at MAC for my brother-in-law’s engagement party. Part of the process requires that I buy at least 5 items. What are the top 5 you recommend?”

Hey, Sheila. Pardon me for this, but right now I feel Ready For The World! “Oh, oh, oh, oh, Sheila!”

(Please tell me you’re familiar with that song.)

With that out of the way, let’s get back to beauty. 🙂 You’re going to have such a blast at the MAC counter on Saturday. For what it’s worth, here are my five (current) MAC must-haves. Read more…

HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW
ZOYA INTIMATE COLLECTION?

If you’ve yet to get your fill of purple, this spring’s prince of the color-sphere, feast your eyes on the sweet new shades in Zoya’s Intimate Collection ($7 each; available in six colors).

These make me want to play dress-up…like I should be wearing a floral print dress with sky-high pumps as I sport them on my nails.

And for some reason I can seem them going well with the Laura Mercier’s Silk Road Collection…

I only just put these on, so I can’t speak to wear time yet, but the other Zoya polishes I’ve tried resist chips and fading exceptionally well, especially when worn with the Color-Lock System (THE BEST!). Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen