Just For Fun Reviews, Swatches and Pictures on Makeup and Beauty Blog

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Just For Fun

Saturday Surfing

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Tabs is Saturday Surfing

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Which Skin Care Products Go with You When You Travel?

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Travel skincare

We made it to Friday, WOOT!

I wish we could ditch everything and take a trip together. I’ve got an itch for adventure, and I think it has something to do with this note from Lizz:

Hi Karen!

Since I’m going to Vietnam and Cambodia for three weeks, I would like a few tips to keep my skin in perfect shape.

I normally use Clinique’s 3-step action plan along with an eye cream, a moisturizer and night cream, but since we’ll be traveling every day (we’re going on an adventurous tour), I don’t want to take a lot of stuff in my backpack.

Any tips? I do want to take a good cleanser and a moisturizer with me…

Thanks a lot!

Hi Lizz,

How exciting! Have yourself a great trip. I’m totally jealous!

For me, traveling light means paring down my usual skin care routine from six products (cleanser, toner, eye cream, moisturizer, acne treatment and sunscreen) to three.

  1. Cleanser: On trips I like gentle cleansers that can also double as makeup removers, like Philosophy Purity Made Simple ($10 for a 3-oz travel bottle). It removes everything and doesn’t sting my eyes.
  2. Moisturizer: I’ll ditch my eye cream and moisturize both my face and eye area with a basic face moisturizer (right now I like both the $6 Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for Sensitive Skin and $42 Kiehl’s Abyssine Cream+) to conserve space and lighten my load. Side note: I’ve read some beauty experts who recommend *always* using a separate eye cream, but I don’t see a problem with using a regular face moisturizer around the eyes while traveling. I’ve used ’em and have always been fine. I figure it’s only for a few days, right?
  3. Sunscreen: Gotta protect that skin from the sun! Two of my favorite products are Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion 55 ($38) and Clinique Sun SPF 30 Face Cream ($18).

Since you’re a Clinique girl, here’s a cool tip I learned from reader Megan (thanks, girl!). If you have any of those lil’ samples of Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion that they give away in their gift with purchase sets, bring one along on your trip because it doubles as eye makeup remover. Apply a small amount to a Q-Tip or cotton pad, and gently wipe away any eye makeup that didn’t come off with your regular cleanser. 🙂

Have fun and be safe!

Chicas, when you want to pare down and pack light, which skin care products do you bring?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What’s Your Favorite Highlighter?

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G’morning, cuties!

The sunlight filling my apartment today got me thinking about face highlighters and this note in my email from Imelda:

Dear Karen,

I just wanted to ask you what your favorite face highlighter/luminizer is. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Imelda

Hi Imelda, 🙂

I tend to switch products/brands every so often, but right now I’m really loving Illamasqua Bronzing Duo in Glint & Burnish ($30), MAC Cheeky Bronze Mineralize Skinfinish ($27), Benefit High Beam ($24) and the NARS Multiple Duo in Orgasm/South Beach ($45).

Ladies, is there a highlighter you can’t live without? Please list your favorite along with a quick description of your skin tone (I’m a MAC NC35: medium brown with slightly warm but mostly neutral undertones). Let’s make this post a great recommendation resource for peeps of all skin colors!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics Fall 2009: What Would You Get?

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Art by Richard Phillips

I love it when cosmetics companies embrace the contemporary art scene like MAC has with fall’s Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection (arriving Aug. 20).

It’s something MAC has done before — hitching their thematic wagon to an established or up-and-coming artist — and it always seems like such a brilliant concept to me. Isn’t makeup, after all, just one of many forms of art?

For past MAC fall collections like Cult of Cherry and Smoke Signals, smokey eyes and dark lips took center stage. The color palettes differed, but both collections still fell along what I consider traditional fall makeup lines, with the addition of MAC’s much-loved theatrical flair! 🙂

With the massive Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection, however, MAC created three completely different sets of products (as far as I can tell), each set designed by a different artist.

mac make up art cosmetics fall 2009 mm
Art by Marilyn Minter

Painter Richard Phillips, illustrator Maira Kalman and photographer Marilyn Minter each created an interpretation of their artwork through MAC makeup.

mac make up art cosmetics fall 2009 mk
Art by Maira Kalman

The concept excites me, but I’m not sure what to make of the colors…
[Continue reading…]

Lady Gaga: Her Best Hair?

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Pop singer Lady Gaga (aka Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, born March 28, 1986) rules when it comes to wacky hairstyles, recently stepping out in a purple/pink/blonde ‘do.

Even though I don’t always understand what she’s trying to do with her looks, I give her snaps for originality and risk taking.

Truth be told, this hair poll was the first to leave me at a loss for words (there’s no easy way to describe hairstyle numero uno). She’s not exactly a “long with loose waves” kinda gal, but I like that about her.

Which of Lady Gaga's hairstyles do you like best?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Bloggerati Spotlight

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The Beauty Bloggerati

Good mornin’, ladies. How was your night?

Yours truly finally caught the premier of America’s Best Dance Crew. I’m still blinking the sleep from my eyes this morning, but I had to ask — which crew do you like more: Rhythm City or Vogue Evolution? 🙂

What’s your Tuesday looking like? I have a couple of reviews to finish (Givenchy’s shiny new lip gloss sure is … shiny) and then some paperwork to do.

I think Tabs wants Starbucks. Maybe I can ask him to get something for me while he’s there, ha!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Aug. 10

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  1. Mood:

    2. Chipper but not quite awake yet.

  2. At what age were you allowed to date?

    3. I was 14. Looking back, I was probably too young, but I remember at the time feeling like I was the last kid in school to start dating. I knew 11-year-old girls signing “Mrs. Joe Shmoe” in their yearbooks, yikes.

  3. Which lip gloss do you wear the most?

    4. Right now I’m all about Smashbox Limitless Lip in Boundless.

  4. Dark, milk, semi-sweet or white chocolate?

    5. Semi-sweet… or milk.

  5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

    6. I’m only wearing minimal makeup for now — Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara, Yes to Carrots C Lip Tint in Sunset Pink and naked cheeks.

  6. What’s your favorite store at the mall?

    7. It’s a tie between Sephora and H&M (love their cheap and funky accessories).

  7. Are you hungry right now?

    8. Ha, yes! I need a sticky bun and coffee.

  8. Which supernatural being would you rather be: vampire, werewolf, shapeshifter or telepath?

    9. Telepath, but only if I could turn it on/off.

  9. Outfit:

    10. Lavender tank top and my favorite pair of Lucky jeans (the ones with the hole in the thigh, LOL!)

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Try to stay focused on one task at a time (does anybody else feel like the Net’s giving ’em ADD?), remember to take small breaks throughout each day, and sort through the ginormous piles of paper on my desk (never ends).

Good morning, my candy girls. 🙂 I was having my first ever Twitter-related dream when the alarm went off this morning. Kim Kardashian and I were chatting about eyeliner and cats.

Weird…

Are you ready and willing to tackle this week with me (we can do it!)?

Before you go, let me know how you’re doing. Just copy the empty list below, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Have a good one.

Le list

1. Mood:
2. At what age were you allowed to date?
3. Which lip gloss do you wear the most?
4. Dark, milk, semi-sweet or white chocolate?
5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:
6. What’s your favorite store at the mall?
7. Are you hungry right now?
8. Vampire, werewolf, shapeshifter or telepath?
9. Outfit:
10. Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Aug. 9

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Find the faux fall makeup collection

Inspector Tabs is at it again. Britain’s High Kitty Court commissioned him to crack down on cosmetics crime, particularly the increasing number of imposter makeup collections, but he needs your help.

Can you lend him a helping paw? 🙂

Which of these is not a real fall makeup collection?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I hope you had a good weekend. Right now I’m watching a Lifetime movie called Maneater — no, seriously.

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