Just For Fun

Mine is watching cheesy Lifetime movies on TV (click here for a gigantic database!).

Every time I do it, I know I’ve lost two hours I’ll never get back, but it’s relaxing and strangely recharges my batteries. One of my favorite things in the world is chilling out on the couch in front of a movie like Co-ed Call Girl (starring Tori Spelling!). For those two hours, my cares and responsibilities just float away. Forget cleaning the bathroom or bettering myself; sometimes my brain craves happy endings and pureed mush (the woman-in-peril ones are my faves!). 🙂

What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Please share in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

• How to fight frizzy hair when it’s hella humid outside — Bella Sugar
• Viva la Hogwarts! Check out these beautiful Harry Potter-inspired cakes — Cake Wrecks
• Warning: you may find yourself desperate for a laser photo background after perusing this site — We Have Lasers!!!
• Get those creative juices flowing with these easy tips — Zen Habits
• 4 makeup looks to channel your inner Gossip Girl — Ladies Beauty
• I want these New Balance kicks! — Sicka Than Average
• Top 10 tricks for making your playlists rock — Life Hacker
• Got insomnia? Try lowering the thermostat –NY Times
• Beware the ninja kitteh! — I Can Has Cheezburger
• How to wear fall’s new over-the-knee boots — Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Hola, chicas. I managed to finish most of my laundry this afternoon (it’s a Christmas miracle!).

What’s the plan for tonight? 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Today marks the end of my first month as a Tweet-head/Twitterer, and I think I’m beginning to get a picture of the service’s big strengths and weaknesses (and how to work around them).

Twitter’s strengths?

1. Keeping up with news — Find out about stuff fast. By the time something appears on the front page of Yahoo or Google News it’s probably already been tweeted about 1 million times.
2. Taking advantage of e-bargains — There’s an ecosystem on Twitter between companies and their prospective customers where the companies feed out these little tweets to their followers with ways to take advantage of discounts and giveaways, many lasting just a few minutes or hours. A lot of beauty companies are getting in on the action, and I’m seeing new spins on Twitter-only giveaways every day.
3. Networking — Both personally and professionally. Twitter is like texting, only the texts go out to all of your Twitter followers. People use Twitter to get instant feedback, but you don’t have to be at the computer every second of the day. Replies are saved to your Twitter page, so you check them whenever you want.

bellasugar — How-To: Christina Hendricks’s Shimmery, Smoky Eye Makeup
http://bellasu.gr/3749897

4. Sense of camaraderie — It helps me feel connected to the outside world. If you’re homebound or sick, it gives you a way to reach out to people. Even if you’re just shy and have trouble connecting with people, it gives you another means to practice your social skills.

TIP: After creating an account, follow 10-20 people, and fill out your Settings page. Choose a colorful design for your page, and upload a picture (if you have one) to appear beside all of your tweets.

Twitter’s weaknesses?

1. Starting with 0 followers — The one big weakness I see is for people just starting out. There really isn’t a clear path to take, and I see a lot of new Twitterers start out with 0 followers and then never use the service again. It can feel like an echo chamber at first, with people tweeting things into cyberspace like, “Is this thing on?” or “Hello?? Anyone out there?”
   
   Right after making an account, I think it helps to immediately follow 10-20 people (even ask your friends to join with you), and it almost doesn’t matter who they are (not at first), as long as a few of them follow you back.
   
   Twitter’s Direct Messaging feature (DM) comes in handy, too, particularly when you’re just starting out. To send a DM, you have to be following the person you’re trying to reach, but with it you may be able to get their attention even if they aren’t following you yet. — CORRECTION: The person has to be following you (obviously, I’m still getting the hang of this feature — Thanks, PumpsAndGloss!).
2. Filtering out the noise — Ironically, while it can be lonely just starting out with Twitter when you have 0 followers, things can change literally overnight. You pick up some followers and suddenly find yourself trying to carry on multiple conversations at once!
   
   Programs like Tweetdeck can help. It’s easy to download and install (I use it), connects to Twitter.com and makes it easy to group followers into categories. I have categories for the beauty companies I follow, my friends and my freelancing contacts.
3. It can be addictive — Just like instant messaging, Twitter can take up a lot of time, but the same thing goes for anything fun and useful. Everything in moderation.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you follow me at karenmbb, brace yourself for more than makeup and beauty. I must confess to posting the occasional embarrassing picture of Tabs.

• Treat your color-treated hair to a rad giveaway (enter through Friday, Aug. 7) — Hair Thursday
• Don’t be shy, violet; summer’s made for bright makeup — A Mom in Red High Heels
• Check out this professional matchmaker’s top 3 beauty products — Beauty Blogging Junkie
• Clever cream and lotion tips for new moms — Makeover Momma
• Some people have Hissyfits; others give them away (enter through Tuesday, Aug. 11) — Spoiled Pretty
• Do you do tinted moisturizer? — Makeup Bag
• Add summer color to your wardrobe with these 5 fashion tips — Beyond Beauty Basics

I’m being a regular multitasking monster right now… Not only am I browsing the web, but I’m doing it while watching the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance?

And they just showed a preview for the new Fame movie (I’m gonna live forever!).

“You gotta sweat, honey. You want fame, it costs. Right here is where you start paying, honey, in sweat.”

– Debbie Allen, actress/choreographer

I hope you’re having a spiffy evening. Onward to Friday! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Christian Bale may never ask to make out with me (still lovin’ ya, you potty mouth!), but it never hurts to be prepared. 🙂

I do my best to keep my tube Philosophy Kiss Me Lip Balm ($12) close, just in case.

If you haven’t tried Kiss Me yet, you gotta get on that, girl! It’s one of my favorite lip balms around, and I’ve been obsessed for years.

When my lips become cracked or dry, it’s the only thing that gets ’em soft and smooth again.

Philosophy packed Kiss Me with enough Vitamin E and sweet almond oil to call it high-density, and it turns out the company has even more Kiss Me awesomeness available now — Kiss Me SPF 20 ($14) and Kiss Me Tonight ($20).

Kiss Me SPF 20

Kiss Me SPF 20
It delivers the same hydrating richness as the original Kiss Me formula but with the added bonus of SPF 20. I’ve been wanting to try it before jogging to protect my lips from sun and wind burn.

Kiss Me Tonight

Kiss Me Tonight
A night treatment that Philosophy says also reduces fine lines on the lips, Kiss Me Tonight is thicker and creamier than the original Kiss Me.

If you’ve been wanting to try Philosophy’s Kiss Me products, enter to win today’s smooch-worthy giveaway.

The prize

One lucky lady will take home two Philosophy Kiss Me lip products: Kiss Me SPF 20 and Kiss Me Tonight Intense Lip Therapy (a $34 value).

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. In it, reveal the identity of the last person you kissed. 🙂

Do kittehs count? I just gave Tabs a smooch on his tummy. If we’re talking humans, though, then it’s obvs El Hub.

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

RT @karenmbb: RT to Win Philosophy’s Kiss Me Lip Treatments. http://bit.ly/15tOGN

Recap…

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:
   
   RT @karenmbb: RT to Win Philosophy’s Kiss Me Lip Treatments. http://bit.ly/15tOGN

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 PM PST on Tuesday, August 4.

Bun cletg!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen