
So…what is the Monday Poll?
Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts?
Roasted chestnuts. No doubt!
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencils?
Ooh! — this one’s brutal. I would say that both are important to me (LOL) and necessary for me to feel like a real live girl…but if you’re making me pick one…then mascara all the way. When, like me, you don’t have a deep crease, mascara works wonders to open up the eyes.
3. Last holiday movie you watched?
I watched a HILARIOUS movie on Disney+ called Godmothered last weekend! It’s about an inexperienced rookie fairy godmother who’s determined to become the best godmother she can be, so she goes rogue to help a Boston mom and her family find their “happily ever after” over the holidays.
4. Concealer or blush?
I’ll take all the blush please.
5. Foundation or lipstick?
TOUGH! I’d go with lipstick, I guess, even though we’re all sheltered in place until January, and nobody but my immediate fam-bam will see it.
Hey, at least I can wear it around the house. That makes me happy.
6. Straight or wavy hair?
Although I love how tidy straight hair looks, it’s such a chore to get my hair to look that way. Seriously, it involves, like, three days of advance planning! So I’ll go with wavy hair, since mine already has lots of natural waves, and it’s easier to deal with.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake?
BLAH to either, but I guess I could do holiday fruitcake if I had a big cup of coffee or hot chocolate to wash it down…
8. Last series you marathoned?
Virgin River season 2 on Netflix is where it’s at, babe!
9. What color are you socks today?
I’m wearing light gray ’80s aerobics instructor-style thick socks (it’s cold here today). They’re all scrunched up around my ankles!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts?
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil?
3. Last holiday movie you watched?
4. Concealer or blush?
5. Foundation or lipstick?
6. Straight or wavy hair?
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake?
8. Last series you marathoned?
9. What color are you socks today?
P.P.S. Hello and happy Monday, my dear friend! ? I hope you’re feeling calm and centered today. I’m trying my best to wrap up everything I need to do for Christmas (no waiting till the last minute here… NOPE!). Sending you a big hug and joyful vibes today.

I was ridiculously early with everything this year. Fine by me, I think we could use the holiday cheer sooner rather than later! Also, seeing Christmas decorations up BEFORE HALLOWEEN kind of inspired me.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts?
Roasted chestnuts.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil?
Mascara.
3. Last holiday movie you watched?
I cannot remember! I tend to avoid.
4. Concealer or blush?
Concealer.
5. Foundation or lipstick?
Lipstick.
6. Straight or wavy hair?
Wavy.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake?
OOF…. hard pass!
8. Last series you marathoned?
Truthseekers. Any Nick Frost/Simon Pegg collab and I’m there!
9. What color are you socks today?
Wore slippahs to work today so no socks! If I did, though, they would be unmatching bright colors.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Candy canes
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Brow pencil
3. Last holiday movie you watched? Meet me in St Louis
4. Concealer or blush? Both, but concealer if I had to pick one.
5. Foundation or lipstick? Foundation
6. Straight or wavy hair? Straight, though mine is wavy and I straighten it.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Neither!
8. Last series you marathoned? The Crown
9. What color are you socks today? Black
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Never had roasted chestnuts, but I would like to try them.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? mascara – my bangs hide most of my brows.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? last night I watched Love, Actually for the millionth time – Hugh Grant & Colin Firth? Please!
4. Concealer or blush? need concealer, but love blush, so blush
5. Foundation or lipstick? foundation
6. Straight or wavy hair? wavy air-dryed hair
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? eggnog ( fun fact, the fruitcake capital of the world is here in Georgia – it is called Claxton, but still, just no)
8. Last series you marathoned? The Crown
9. What color are you socks today? not wearing socks, just bedroom slippers (working from home)
I’ve worn bangs in one form or another all my life and they’re usually quite long. One day while walking in the wind, my bangs blew back and my husband exclaimed, “My God! You’ve got eyebrows!” ?
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts?
Chestnuts! So delicious!
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil?
I love both, my eyebrows have developed a little bald spots as I’ve gotten older so I guess I would go with the brow pencil. I recently got the Glossier brow flick which allows me to just fill in the thinner spots with little stokes. It has great lasting power, stayed put through rain on the beach the other day!
3. Last holiday movie you watched?
Happiest Season, it was cute.
4. Concealer or blush?
Def blush, cream or liquid!
5. Foundation or lipstick?
Normally lipstick, but haven’t worn it much bc of masks, so I’ll go with foundation spot applied to even out skin tone.
6. Straight or wavy hair?
My hair is curly, I’m a big proponent of natural texture, whatever that may be!
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake?
I actually like both. Non dairy nog in my coffee or a really good fruitcake with organic fruit and nuts, preferably soaked with rum or brandy.
8. Last series you marathoned?
Vera. British mystery about slightly eccentric female detective, based on Ann Cleeves books.
9. What color are you socks today?
They’re light gray ankle socks from madewell.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Candy canes. I like sharing them with the horses.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Mascara.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? Haven’t watched one since last year, but it was “Die Hard”. We watch it every year.
4. Concealer or blush? Blush. I’m rarely up for fussing with concealer.
5. Foundation or lipstick? Lipstick!
6. Straight or wavy hair? Either. My hair has the slightest wave if I don’t dry it or mess with it and I like it.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Depends on how you define fruitcake. If we’re talking Italian Panettone or Panforte, then definitely fruitcake.
8. Last series you marathoned? On Netflix, “Giri/Haji or Duty/Shame”. Second time we’ve watched it. So good. About a Japanese detective who ends up going to London at the urging of the Tokyo Police Chief Inspector and his family and more.
9. What color are you socks today? Blue, black and gray. Still wearing the socks I put on for my workout this morning.
While the rain was welcome this past weekend, it did make my house feel colder. Now I want wool socks.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Candy canes (although I haven’t had roasted chestnuts in years, my uncle used to make them)
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Neither, eyeliner
3. Last holiday movie you watched? Miracle on 34th Street (classic!)
4. Concealer or blush? concealer because of my bags
5. Foundation or lipstick? lipstick
6. Straight or wavy hair? Wavy
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Egg nog, fruitcake is gross.
8. Last series you marathoned? Little House on the Prairie or Army Wives
9. What color are you socks today? white
1. Hot, roasted chestnuts. yummy.
2. Mascara for sure!
3. I haven’t started yet this year!
4. Concealer — I need it for my under eyes.
5. Lipstick and definitely red.
6. Wavy hair all the way. Embracing my natural waves for a year now.
7. I’ve never had either ?
8. Girlfriends Season 1 on Netflix.
9. My socks are white with stormtrooper faces on them.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Candy canes unless I can eat the chestnuts in Rome which is the only time I’ve ever had them
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Mascara – I’m a mascara junkie
3. Last holiday movie you watched? I avoid holiday movies – do thanksgiving episodes of Friends count?
4. Concealer or blush? Blush. I’ve given up on concealer since this whole covid mess
5. Foundation or lipstick? Don’t really use either but probably foundation as long as it is a tinted moisturizer
6. Straight or wavy hair? My hair is short and super straight so waves are not an option
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Fruitcake – I’ve actually had a good one and egg nog is just eww
8. Last series you marathoned? The Good Place
9. What color are you socks today? Pale grey
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts?
Neither, really! But if I must choose, roasted chestnuts. Hard candy is usually not super appealing to me.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil?
Brow pencil.
3. Last holiday movie you watched?
Charlie Brown Christmas.
4. Concealer or blush?
Blush! For sure.
5. Foundation or lipstick?
Lipstick! For sure. But I second your lament about not being able to wear it out yet!
6. Straight or wavy hair?
My hair is naturally stick-straight, so to embrace my natural self, I’ll say straight.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake?
I could drink gallons, and gallons, and gallons of egg nog. I don’t, because every cup is the equivalent of six meals, with six desserts. But I’ve always really loved it (without booze, plain old eggnog!). I know the egg thing kind of grosses some people out! But it’s all blended up in there, and I just kind of adore it.
8. Last series you marathoned?
Kim’s Convenience. Sooooooo funny. Also sweet and touching. My whole family loves it. We laugh! We cry! We stayed up all weekend watching it!
9. What color are you socks today?
No socks! Can’t stand socks. I wear them only when utterly necessary.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? I love roasted chestnuts in stuffing, but I love candy canes as swizzlers for hot chocolate—decisions, decisions, decisions.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Mascara. I very seldom use eyebrow pencil.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? “Last Christmas” with Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding—a sweet and funny holiday film.
4. Concealer or blush? Blush. At my age, I can use a bit of color.
5. Foundation or lipstick? Foundation—preferably light to medium coverage with a satin finish. My lips are quite pigmented so I can cheat. Just a bit of balm and it looks like I’m wearing lipstick.
6. Straight or wavy hair? My hair is straight and refuses to hold a curl. I’ve learned to live with it.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? I abhor eggs and anything eggy so I’ll take fruitcake. Besides, when baked with a variety of dried fruits (not that horrid candied stuff) and roasted nuts, a well spiced fruit cake can be a delight.
8. Last series you marathoned? Breaking Bad
9. What color are you socks today? Navy
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? The nuts, I might try to chop them into a salad!
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Brow pencil, without it there are none.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? Krampus, we watched it yesterday, scary Christmas!
4. Concealer or blush? Blush, cream blush.
5. Foundation or lipstick? Foundation, Kosas oil based.
6. Straight or wavy hair? Mmm wavy
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Fruitcake! I feel like they are much tastier than 30 years ago.
8. Last series you marathoned? DEVS
9. What color are you socks today? Grey and light blue.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Never had roasted chestnuts, so I’d have to say candy canes.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Mascara. It’s too easy to overdo eyebrows, and my skin is so fair that almost anything I do to my eyebrows looks like too much.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? “It’s a Wonderful Life,” I suppose. I’ve seen every classic Christmas movie, and I am not particularly impressed by any of them.
4. Concealer or blush? Concealer.
5. Foundation or lipstick? Foundation with sunscreen if I’m outside much.
6. Straight or wavy hair? My hair was naturally wavy prior to chemo hair loss. It’s considerably straighter and thinner now. I miss the thick wavy hair I used to have.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Fruitcake, if it’s the famous Collin Street Bakery pecan-based cake. It’s really the only fruitcake worth eating.
8. Last series you marathoned? “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
9. What color are your socks today? Not wearing any, but when I do, they are always black.
Happy Tuesday!!
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Hard pass on both. 🙂 If someone’s life depended on it, then candy cane.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? That’s a tough one, is right! But I also have to go with mascara.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? All the way through, probably Scrooged. But I did catch some Elf recently.
4. Concealer or blush? Blush.
5. Foundation or lipstick? Foundation.
6. Straight or wavy hair? Wavy.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Pass on these as well but, if forced, egg nog. The boozier the better, though. HAHA!
8. Last series you marathoned? Does the Undoing count? Not really a series. For series, Letterkenny.
9. What color are you socks today? Wait for it. Black. 😉
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? I’ve never had a roasted chestnut, so I’ll go with Candy Canes.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Brow pencil. I don’t really wear mascara, I love it, but I don’t wear it often because it’s a pain to remove.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? Some Christmas rom com on Netflix, I don’t remember the name, but I love them all!
4. Concealer or blush? Blush!
5. Foundation or lipstick? Lipstick, I don’t wear foundation, ever. I have nice skin, I don’t need it.
6. Straight or wavy hair? Wavy, my hair is naturally pretty wavy and I don’t feel like myself with straight hair.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Egg nog, if it’s 98% rum and 2% nog.
8. Last series you marathoned? I tried to watch “Dester” but I hated it. Not one decent character in the whole show. It wasn’t for me.
9. What color are you socks today? I have one black sock and one grey sock. My kids told me that matching socks are for squares, so I never wear matching socks.
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts?
I dont remember what roasted chestnuts taste like so i a going to chose candy canes
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil?
brow pencil
3. Last holiday movie you watched?
Holidate
4. Concealer or blush?
concealor
5. Foundation or lipstick?
lipstick
6. Straight or wavy hair?
straight
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake?
holiday fruitcake
8. Last series you marathoned?
the queen
9. What color are you socks today?
not wearing any
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Candy canes.
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Mascarea
3. Last holiday movie you watched? I can’t remember – maybe 15 years ago
4. Concealer or blush? Concealer
5. Foundation or lipstick? Lipstick
6. Straight or wavy hair? wavy
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Fruitcake. I don’t even like egg nog
8. Last series you marathoned? Currently watching the Tudors on DVD. A current world leader reminds me a lot of Henry VIII
9. What color are you socks today?
1-Candy Canes or Roasted Chestnuts? Candy Canes
2-What’s more important to you, mascara or brow pencil? Mascara
3-Last Holiday movie you watched? Miracle on 34th Street
4-Concealer or blush? Blush
5-Foundation or Lipstick? Lipstick
6-Straight or wavy hair? I have very curly hair – with a lot of work I can get it wavy.
7-Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Eggnog! (can I have bourbon with it?)
8-Last series you marathoned? I am loving Virgin River as well.
9-What color are your socks today? I live in South Florida – Flip Flops all the time!
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts? Candy canes ?
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Mascara
3. Last holiday movie you watched? Home alone
4. Concealer or blush? Blush
5. Foundation or lipstick? Lipstick ?
6. Straight or wavy hair? Wavy
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Egg nog with alcohol
8. Last series you marathoned? Dirty John series on Netflix
9. What color are you socks today? Brown stripes
1. Candy canes or roasted chestnuts?
2. What’s more important to you — mascara or brow pencil? Mascara.
3. Last holiday movie you watched? It was last year, but I liked it-Illumination’s CGI version of The Grinch.
4. Concealer or blush? I need concealer, but love blush.
5. Foundation or lipstick? I need foundation, but feel more like myself with both.
6. Straight or wavy hair? Wavy.
7. Egg nog or holiday fruitcake? Neither-they’re both gross!
8. Last series you marathoned? I watched Good Omens last week-2 episodes Wednesday night, 2 Thursday night, and the last 2 Friday night.
9. What color are your socks today? Lilac, with a stylized, almost anime-eyed drawing of Princess Jasmine on them.
Forgot to answer candy canes vs. roasted chestnuts. Candy canes, especially unusual flavors like cherry or blue raspberry. There’s also Oreo-flavored candy canes this year that I’d like to try!