Just For Fun

YES! Friday, at last. 🙂 What a challenging week, ladies, but it’s winding down.

Did you do anything fun last night? I can’t remember what I did… I think there was some chasing involved — Tabs chasing. My new thing is walking around the house, saying “Gravy,” which is his new nickname. He’s a fiend for gravy — tuna in gravy, seafood feast in gravy, salmon in gravy.

To start our Friday, here’s a quick look back at some of the things we were talking about on the blog this time last year. 🙂

• How to Cover Up Dark Circles for a Wedding, Prom or Party with MAC Cosmetics Studio Finish Concealer: I suffered through a really bad bought of insomnia a few weeks ago, and my dark circles were extra terrible. My regular concealer, MAC Select Moisturecover, just wasn’t gettin’ it done. My friend Jen’s wedding was right around the corner, and I didn’t want to show up looking like death warmed over. I needed serious coverage, and I needed it fast.
• MAC Makeup for Work: Club and Woodwinked Eyeshadows: I’m sporting two of my very first MAC eyeshadow purchases, Club and Woodwinked (both part of the permanent collection). I could write sonnets on both of these colors, as they’ve seen me through a lot over the past few years. Club, a shimmery duochorome, flashes from green to brown, and Woodwinked is a warm, shimmery gold. Today I paired ‘em for this easy, breezy, work-friendly daytime eye.
• 5 Plum Posts: An Ode to Purple Makeup: Stila Convertible Eye Color in Violet made quick work of this smokey purple eye. The Violet shade’s pencil is a shimmery, dark plum; the coordinating shadow is a shimmery lavender.
• A Smokey Eye Tutorial with MAC Cosmetics Metal Urge Gilded Ash Cream Shadow and Cocomotion Pigment: I don’t know if I’ll ever tire of doing smokey eyes. There are just so many different ways to work the look, like this spin on a daytime eye for work. It’s a method I learned from my favorite MAC artist, Jen, using products from the MAC Metal Urge and Red She Said collections.
• Japanese Beauty Product or After-School Snack? Put on yo’ thinking cap and try to guess what this mystery product is!
• With Pop Beauty Cat Eyes Liners It’s Good to Be Catty: OBSESSION ALERT! Pop Beauty Cat Eyes Liners ($16) make applying eyeliner easy and, well, kinda fun.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Mood:

I’m having a hard time concentrating, but otherwise I’m peachy. The response so far to the Clarisonic giveaway has been amazing! Don’t forget to enter if you haven’t already. It takes less than a minute. 🙂

2. Three things that bring you joy:

Programmable coffee makers (nothing like waking up to a fresh brewed cup), Tabs when he sleeps beside me in bed, the sound of marimbas (don’t ask).

3. How’d ya sleep last night?

Pretty darn well! It helps that I went to bed early. I planned to continue the book I’ve been reading, Her Fearful Symmetry, but conked out after a few pages. ‘Twas heaven!

4. Something you’d like to improve about yourself in 2010?

I want to work on becoming a better photographer and a better cook. 🙂

5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

I’m MAC Colour Crafting it today — Assemblage Mineralize Eyeshadow Quad on my eyes, Madly Creative Lipstick on my lips and Cheeky Bronze on my cheeks.

6. What’s one skincare product you find yourself buying over and over again?

Shiseido 55+ sunscreen.

7. One type of holiday food that you absolutely REFUSE to eat:

Fruit cake! I especially can’t stand it when they’re hard and chock full of weird red and green mystery fruit.

8. How do you feel about ’90s fashion?

I like those plaid button-up shirts and the floral dresses with the clips in back, but I don’t miss the little black backpacks and spaghetti strap dresses with white baby-ts worn underneath.

9. Outfit:

Dark jeans, a green T and a black sweater.

10. Weekly goals:

I have a mountain of work to get done before we leave early next week to see our family in Hawaii. If I can just keep from catching the cold that sidetracked El Hub last weekend and hold myself together, things will work out fine.

Good afternoon, ladies, and Happy Monday. 🙂

The sun finally decided to come out and play today, and I’m feeling pretty good.

How are things on your end? I’d love to hear how you’re doing. I know this is later in the day than usual to touch base on a Monday, but take a moment to let me know what’s shaking in your neck of the woods.

You know how we do it. Just copy the list below, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le list

1. Mood:
2. Three things that bring you joy:
3. How’d ya sleep last night?
4. Something you’d like to improve about yourself in 2010?
5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:
6. What’s one skincare product you find yourself buying over and over again?
7. One type of holiday food that you refuse to eat:
8. How do you feel about ’90s fashion?
9. Outfit:
10. Weekly goals:

We can do this, girls! Hang in there, and have a great week. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

• UPDATE: Dec. 19, 2009. The giveaway is now closed, and the winners will be contacted soon. Good luck! 🙂
• UPDATE: Dec. 14, 2009. I just heard back from the folks at Clarisonic, and they have kindly offered to open the giveaway to international readers. To the MBB babes living overseas, that means you can participate too. Hooray, hooray!

Rise and shine, ladies! 🙂 Are you ready to rock and/or oscillate?

Before I get to the purpose of this post, let me share something I haven’t really told anyone — not El Hub, my parents or Tabs (even though he’s a great listener).

Over the past year my skin has dramatically changed, and, well, it’s freaking me out. I suppose it’s just the marching of time (sigh…) and the stress of our recent move, but sometimes when I look at myself in the mirror I wonder, “What the eff happened?”

I see deepening lines around my eyes and mouth (where the skin used to be smooth), and now, more than ever, I get pimples in the same oily/dry/confused patch on my forehead, over and over again.

That’s why I’m really looking forward to spending the rest of the winter with the Clarisonic brush.

I’ll be testing one over the next month and hoping for the best. I’ve heard LOTS of good things about ’em…

“The tight, soft bristles, sonic waves and oscillating motion of this daily face-cleansing brush help it reach uneven surfaces to dislodge dirt and makeup and clean pores deeply, minimizing problems like acne and dermatitis. “It smooths out the skin tremendously. I had a patient with bumps on her forehead for five years, and now they’re gone,” says N.Y.C. dermatologist Debra Jailman. She recommends using the brush every day with a mild cleanser and once a week with an exfoliant. Dermatologist David Bank of Mount Kisco, N.Y., says cleansing with a sonic brush — which removes dead skin — can help treatment ingredients penetrate better.”
— In Style

“We heard a dermatologist’s lecture about blackheads and whiteheads, and we thought, ‘What if we found a frequency that would flex the skin and work with skin’s elasticity?'” says Robb Akridge, cofounder and vice president of clinical research at Clarisonic. “So we set about figuring out a way to loosen dirt inside pores.” Clarisonic uses the same technology as Sonicare, but because skin is more sensitive than teeth, moves more slowly — 300 vibrations per second versus 520. And according to Akridge, Clarisonic is different from other skin-cleansing devices — such as at-home microdermabrasian gadgets — in that “other technologies address the skin in only one direction, which generates friction.” Clarisonic, he says, flexes skin back and forth, clearing pores without excess exfoliation, so it’s gentle enough to use every day.”
— W

“But is there any benefit to using a gadget instead of a washcloth to take off makeup? The Good Housekeeping Research Institute looked at three power facial brushes… the Clarisonic Skin Care System came out tops in the lab and consumer tests.”
— Good Housekeeping

This year I feel really lucky to be able to offer you guys a chance to give the Clarisonic a try. The company has pledged 10 Clarisonic brushes as prizes for MBB readers.

Thrilled much? 🙂

The prize

TEN lucky ladies will win their choice of Clarisonic Sonic Skin Cleansing Systems:

The Classic ($195), the OG of Clarisonic brushes, thoroughly but gently cleanses and exfoliates skin using ultrasonic technology, aka the same technology used by Sonicare toothbrushes. Heralded by beauty mags, dermatologists and bloggers as the second coming in skin care technology (Glamour called it “the Bentley of exfoliators”), it’s said to help with a number of skin issues — blemishes, dry patches and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles — and impart a healthy glow without irritating the skin. The Classic has two speeds and comes in white, pink or graphite gray.

The Clarisonic Mia ($149) offers all of the benefits of the Classic Clarisonic in a new, smaller size. Available in two colors (pink and white), this one-button, one-speed brush fits most gym bags, overnight bags or other small bags for spur-o-the-moment weekend getaways.

The Clarisonic Plus ($225) takes cleansing a step further by offering three speeds for the face *plus* an additional “Body” mode. The PLUS (available in white only) specializes in treating dry patches and improving the texture and firmness of skin; all this, and they say it’s also great for prepping skin before the application of self-tanners.

How to enter…

To enter, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. In it, nominate someone from your life, and if you win (winners chosen at random from the comments), they will too. 🙂 You’ll EACH win a Clarisonic brush of your choice.

I nominate my friend Jen. We grew up down the street from each other in our hometown, and her family just got some really bad news. She deserves a little Christmas cheer.

Right now the Clarisonic giveaway is open to US residents only. I’m trying my best (working with the company) to see if I can open it up internationally, so keep your fingers crossed. I’ll update this post and let you know once I get final word from the peeps over at Clarisonic, so please check back soon if you live overseas.

UPDATE 10:04 a.m. Monday: I just heard back from the folks at Clarisonic, and they have kindly offered to open the giveaway to international readers. To the MBB babes living overseas, that means you can participate too. Hooray, hooray!

Recap…

I’ll pick five winners (with their five nominees) at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, Dec. 18. And be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so I can reach you if you win. 🙂

Good luck!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Once more, the deadline to enter (all it takes is a comment on this post!) is 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Friday, Dec. 18.

• UPDATE: Dec. 19, 2009. The giveaway is now closed, and the winners will be contacted soon. Good luck! 🙂

MY BEST:

Finding my long lost and forgotten tube of DuWop’s Foundation of Youth (at the bottom of my miscellaneous makeup drawer) and remembering why I liked it in the first place. It covers thoroughly yet still looks natural (great for hiding uneven patches of skin and pimples) and doesn’t settle into my fine lines. Even better, it feels whisper light on my skin, just like I’m not wearing any makeup at all.

MY WORST:

I think I’m fighting a cold, so I browsed online for home remedies cold-fighting tips. I read that eating raw garlic can help (it might be wishful thinking), and I’ve is supposed to be really good for keeping colds/flu at bay, so I’ve been chopping, dicing and mincing garlic cloves all day long. Seriously, my breath is KICKIN’, and my tongue feels like a garlic shag carpet, ha! The silver lining, I guess, is that I haven’t gotten sick yet (knock on wood).

Your turn! 🙂 What were your best and worst beauty experiences of the week? I hope there wasn’t garlic involved!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. How was your night? Right now I’m re-watching Dawn of the Dead on Hulu, LOL! Remember that one? It takes place in a mall… I didn’t see a Sephora, though.