Just For Fun

Whenever I’m out galavanting with my camera I always check out what’s going on overhead. I must look kinda kooky staring up at the sky or the ceiling sometimes, but there’s a whole world out there above eye level just waiting to be explored. It’s yet another reason to keep lookingup.

Looking up revealed this chandelier at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco…

Isn’t it neat how the perspective at which something is seen from completely changes how it appears?

And that goes for a lot more than sculpture.

Has your perspective on anything — makeup or otherwise — changed this week? Do you like something that you disliked before or dislike something you liked? Big or small, tell me about it in this week’s open thread. 🙂

If you’re new to the open thread, here it is in a nutshell:

Anything goes! It’s a chat fest where we get together in the comments at the bottom of this post to talk about whatever’s on our minds — makeup, pets, relationships, whatever. For instance, last Sunday some of us shared ideas for fast weeknight meals (thanks, Amber!), among other things. Feel free to reach out to me or to anyone else.

It goes on all day (and night), so stop by if/when you can, and as often as you’d like.

See you there!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

When I was 12 years old, my parents sent me down to spend part of the summer in Southern California with my friend Karrie and her family. They’d been our neighbors before they moved, and Karrie and I were best friends.

We didn’t look anything alike; she was blonde with blue eyes, and I was this little brown girl who didn’t know a thing about sunscreen. Her family did a lot of outdoorsy things, too, like camping and going to lakes. Karrie always knew to put on sunscreen, and her mom would always offer some to me, but I never took it because I’d never been burned…until that trip to Lake Perris.

It was a blistering hot day, and we’d spent all of it out in the sun. Of course, I didn’t put on a lick of sunscreen…

I remember riding home in the car and feeling my face get really, really hot. The peeling started the very next day — all over my nose, my shoulders — it was terrible. 🙁

Now I always put on sunscreen, so lesson learned!

 Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen
[Continue reading…]

• The giveaway is now closed, and the winner is being contacted. Before you go, check the home page for ongoing giveaways.

Welcome to the weekend, young lady. 🙂 It’s almost quittin’ time! Are you going out tonight with your crush or your girls? If you are, do you have your clothes picked out yet?

If all else fails, reach for that little black dress (do you have one?). That’s what LORAC had in mind when they created their latest neutral eye palette. It features four shadows and a primer designed to go with practically everything.

Dressed to the nines in a chic patent leather case, the Little Black Palette ($32) makes quick work of neutral eyes.

Its four shimmery shadows in beige, peach, copper and chocolate brown (along with a clear eye primer) have made it one of my go-to girls for evening looks this summer. The sparkling, easily blendable shadows are packed with pigment, and whether I do a quick swipe of a single shade, or do a more involved smokey eye with several colors, this Little Black Palette makes “going out” makeup a lot easier for me.

Care to take your very own Little Black Palette out for a night on the town?

The Prize

Thanks to LORAC and A.B.S., one lucky lady will win a prize package worth $596, with LORAC’s Little Black Palette and a super cute little black dress from designer A.B.S.

Doesn’t the dress just beg to be taken out to cocktails? Modern yet feminine, it has an asymmetrical silhouette (LOVE the detailing on the sleeve!) with just enough sass to take the Little Black Palette, a pair of killer heels and your favorite clutch to the next level! All together, they’re a recipe for hotness, mamma!

The middle swatch above shows NC35 skin; bottom swatch shows NW20

How To Enter…

Entering is easy. There are two different ways, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all! You could share something random, describe your favorite little black dress, write a limerick, or type the first word you think of when you hear the word, “love.”

My favorite black dress is a little scoop-neck from H&M. It hits just above the knee and has a high-waisted belt and short sleeves. Stretchy, so it fits all my junk, it never needs ironing. It’s respectable enough to wear to work but just dressy enough to take out to drinks.

• Sorry, international babes. LORAC wants to limit this giveaway to US readers only, but I’ve got something else lined up that includes you gals early next week.

Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $596 Prize Package from LORAC and ABS Clothing http://bit.ly/9c9Q5O

Recap…

The are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

1. Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win.
2. Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:
   
   Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $596 Prize Package from LORAC and ABS Clothing http://bit.ly/9c9Q5O

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, July 11.

Res secundae!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

• The giveaway is now closed, and the winner is being contacted. Before you go, check the home page for ongoing giveaways.

Have you ever had any “Aha!” makeup moments? Ones where you felt like you were the last person in the world to figure something out?

I’ve had my share.

One came a couple of years ago while I was filling in my eyebrows. You wouldn’t think it could take someone more than 30 years to figure this out but SURPRISE! — it can. 🙂

I’ve been using the MAC 266 brush and Concrete eyeshadow to fill in my brows for as long as I can remember. One day I was doing them in front of a mirror and happened to tilt my chin up to check my work from a different angle.

BAM! Filled in, my left eyebrow looked considerably shorter than my right. Because of how I’d been doing it all these years, holding the brush with my right hand, I’d always made my left brow look shorter by not filling in the inner part (the side closest to my nose) as fully as the inner part of my right.

At least it only took a few decades to figure it out…

Makeup-wise, what have you suddenly discovered you were doing wrong?

Thanks to Lifehacker for coming up with the idea for this question!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen