Just For Fun

1. For three months, would you rather live with unwashed hair or uncut toe nails (and you can’t file or sand them down at all)?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

2. Destiny brings you together with your high school or college crush (the one who got away, le sigh). Unfortunately, the two of you are forced to catch up either locked for 24 hours in a Twilight Zone version of an Abercrombie & Fitch store (with music blasting and stinky cologne hanging in the air) or a haunted Ferris wheel that never stops spinning (not even to let you use the ladies room!).
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

3. If you could take home *any* fall makeup collection in its entirety, which one would it be?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

4. Would you rather have unnaturally fast hair growth in your ears or your nose?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

5. You’re shipwrecked on a deserted island with either R. Kelly or the most annoying person you know.
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

6. During a solar eclipse, a booming voice from above (sounds like Cher) orders you to use one single mascara ALL YEAR LONG. Which mascara would it be?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

It’s Friday, yea! Come on, let’s play! Just copy the following list and paste it along with your answers in the comments. 🙂

1. Unwashed hair or uncut toe nails?
2. Abercrombie store or the haunted Ferris wheel?
3. Which fall makeup collection?
4. Crazy hair in your ears or your nose?
5. R. Kelly, or the most annoying person you know?
6. Mascara for the year?

Today is my day off (wheee!), which doesn’t actually mean I don’t have any work to do. It just means I don’t have to go to work at the literary agency. I’m headed to the city in a few for a quick coffee with a friend and may do a little window shopping if time permits. I should be back home soon.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog 1.0, April 2007

Happy Thursday, girls! I’m prepping posts on Shu Uemura’s Fall 2008 collection and MAC’s Cult of Cherry (on counters today!), but first I wanted to get your opinion on something I’ve been thinking about for a while: a redesign of Makeup and Beauty Blog.

I’m not a good web designer at all, but I feel like the blog could use a redesign. I don’t know… Maybe I just get a little tired of looking at the same thing.

The current design has been up since April of 2007, when I changed my web hosting from the free wordpress.com setup (similar to blogger) to a paid godaddy.com account (about $5/month) and migrated to wordpress.org using a free theme. That’s also when I got the www.makeupandbeautyblog.com domain name. Then, I got a copy of Photoshop Elements for Mac ($59) and a book on how to use it, found a cursive font I liked (Mariette) and put together the banner. If you’re curious about any of the early steps I took with the blog, leave me a comment and I’ll go into more detail.

Before that April the blog looked like the picture above (no banner, fewer categories, but overall the same idea). Sixteen months is a lifetime in blog years, and so I think it might be time for a change, like painting a room, buying new drapes, cleaning the carpets, etc.

Time for Makeup and Beauty Blog 3.0?

Is there anything you would like to see changed in Makeup and Beauty Blog 3.0? Or should the blog remain exactly the same? Any changes to the layout or colors? Is the pink too pink? Would you like to see a new banner up at the top? Do you like the current three columns, or would you prefer two? Is the font too small?

A Menu at the Top?

What about a drop-down menu up at the top of the page for the categories, which could replace the list of categories over in the right sidebar? Would that be easier to see?

An Image Gallery?

An image gallery to more easily browse through all the pictures on the blog? There are a lot of them, and a gallery might be a neat way to quickly zip around.

Games, Contests, Twitter?

Would you like to see me build more games and hold more contests? Does anyone use Twitter? I don’t know the first thing about it, but people tell me it’s fun.

Advertisements?

How about the ads? Are they well placed? Do they get in the way? Do you think they’re better than the Google text link ads I was using before? I know most people don’t like ads at all … but they do help pay the blog rent and help keep me motivated to write. That doesn’t mean they have to be obnoxious, though.

Share Your Thoughts

I know how busy you are, but I could sure use your help in the comments.

If you could change anything about the design of Makeup and Beauty Blog, what would you change? Please take a minute to throw some links or ideas at me in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

WHOWHATWEAR
Who What Wear takes the traditional fashion print magazine concept and injects it with molten hot internet flava! The site covers looks and accessories worn by trendy, fashion-forward celebs. It’s well written and fun.

BussBuss – The Online Shopping Bible
Depending on how you look at it, BussBuss.com will either save you money or cost you your savings. They publish a daily email newsletter, gift, trend and shopping guides, and what they call their Haute Shops — listings of hot fashion, beauty, home and gift shopping sites. Expect to find a new obsession within these walls, with lots of attention paid to up-and-coming, independent designers and access to exclusive deals.

The Pink Train Case
A search for “beauty blog” on Google returns 20 million results! Where to start? How about The Pink Train Case? Tanya writes thoughtful, engaging product reviews, and she’s a sucker for taupe eye shadow and puppies. Girl after my own heart. 🙂

Independent Fashion Bloggers
Sort of a trade journal for fashion bloggers, but I think it’s chock full o’ helpful tips for bloggers of all kinds. If you run a fashion or beauty blog (or any other kind of blog, for that matter), or think you might like to start one, click the pic.

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1. Mood:

Sleepy yet cheerful

2. Eye makeup colors:

I’m still deciding, maybe purples and golds today!

3. Gotta get it done:

Clean off my desk, go for a run and resist eating too much junk food

4. Breakfast beverage:

Chocolate flavored Kona coffee (yum!)

5. Crushing on:

El Hub, Tabs and MAC Turquatic fragrance (sniffed a sample the other day)

6. Outfit:

Skinny jeans, white button-up shirt and black strappy heels

7. Today’s fragrance:

Clean Shower Fresh Perfume

8. Blush:

MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Secret Blush

9. Highlight of the day:

It’s still pretty early, so right now it’s this cup of coffee.

10. Goals for the week:

To be patient with myself and others, to eat healthy and to trust the creative process!

Want to play? Just copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le list

Mood:
Eye makeup colors:
Gotta get it done:
Breakfast beverage:
Crushing on:
Outfit:
Today’s fragrance:
Blush:
Highlight of the day:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

With next week an exciting one for MAC lovers (like me!), I got a little nostalgic for one of my other favorite brands: Chanel. When it comes to elegant colors, finely milled eye shadows and sophisticated packaging, my heart longs for Chanel. MAC brings out my fun side, but Chanel is like the little black dress of my makeup world.

So, in celebration of next month’s Lifetime television movie (airs Sept. 13, 2008) on the life of Chanel founder Coco Chanel, let’s take a look back at 10 reasons to love Chanel.

10 Reasons to Love Chanel

• Chanel Fall, Holiday 2008 Makeup Collections by Chanel’s New Golden Boy
  “In less than three years, the value of gold has more than doubled, now selling for more than $900 an ounce. Chanel must have noticed how much people have been lovin’ on gold lately because both of their upcoming fall and holiday makeup collections go after gold in a mad, crazy way.”




• The #1 Best-Selling Chanel Lip Liner
  “When it came time in the class to apply my lip color, one of the makeup artists ceremoniously presented me with a Nude lip liner dual-ended pencil, gazing intensely into my eyes with the seriousness of an initiate in a cult.”




• How to Attend a Free Chanel Master Makeup Class
  “Did you know Chanel provides free makeup classes for customers? The sessions are called Chanel Master Classes, and I went to my very first one last Saturday at my neighborhood Macy’s store.”




• Chanel Makeup Studios Make Going International as Easy as Placing a Call
  “…nirvana is just a phone call (and a credit card) away. US residents may order Chanel’s international products by calling any of the three US Chanel Makeup Studios. Reach the Honolulu studio at (808) 953-6100. Ask for Sheila, the studio’s fabulous Chanel makeup artist, and tell her “Hi!” for me.”

• Gaga for Gold with Chanel Fall 2008
  “…the collection just arrived at Chanel counters nationwide. I fell in love with five of the products in this release — two of the Glossimers (Delight and Gold Light), Facettes D’Or Highlighter in Gold Fever and two of the lipsticks (Pepeete and Formentera).”




• Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Perfume, How I Love Thee
  “Even though Coco Mademoiselle is in the oriental fragrance family, it doesn’t smell stuffy or old-lady at all. It’s youthful and sophisticated. You won’t smell like an old lady who lunches and totes small terrier dogs in Burberry outfits. You will smell like a confident young woman strutting down the street in a classic black suit.”




• Face of the Day: Chanel Oasis Quad and Leopard Lipstick
  “Today felt like a bold lip kinda day for me, so I decided to take Chanel Leopard Hydrabase Lipstick out for a spin. I didn’t want Leopard to be lonely, so I paired her with her new best friend, the Chanel Oasis Quad (from this year’s summer collection)!”

• Lip Look: Chanel Papeete and Gold Light
  “Here’s the lip look I’m wearing this morning, done with Chanel Papeete Aqualumiere lipstick and Gold Light Glossimer from the Fall 2008 collection. What do you think — fun and sparkly?”




• Chanel Glossimer Lip Gloss, A Makeup Addiction in the Making
  “The sparkle factor is high on these glosses. It’s very grown-up glitter though! I love looking at the color and seeing the different flecks of gold, silver, pink and green. Glossimers are thick but aren’t as sticky as MAC Lipglass. You can still feel them on your lip, unlike thin lipglosses.”




• Face of the Day: Simple Smokey Eye with Chanel Winter Nights Quad
  “As far as complete looks are concerned, this one is quick and easy to do. I used shades from the Chanel Winter Nights Quad, a versatile set with four basic, but pretty shades of pink, peachy gold, green and light brown. The look works well for the office or for things like family functions or semi-formals.”

How do you feel about Chanel?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sparkle*Shelf — Beauty and Fashion Addicts Unite
Say hi to Sparkle*Shelf, a new online community focused on beauty and fashion, featuring original editorial content and user generated product reviews, Q&A, photos and more. So, what sets Sparkle*Shelf apart from other be-everything beauty sites out there today? For me it’s the design. I like it when posts read like magazine articles.

Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos
Can I just say WOW!? I can appreciate a touching lyric tattooed on a wrist, but 12 sentences from Fight Club plastering someone’s back might be taking the quotable tattoo trend a little too far, LOL!

Grooveeffect — Urban Style, Streetwear, Music, and Events
Grooveeffect is an urban culture e-zine dedicated to curating the best in emerging style, music and events. Sadly, my break dancing days are behind me (bum knee, yo), but I still like to see what the sneaker heads, clubbers and hardcore hip-hop heads are up to.

Stuff On My Cat: Stuff + Cats = Awesome
Seriously, the name says it all. 🙂 The person who came up with the idea for this site is an unadulterated genius. GENIUS! Click the link; you won’t regret it.

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