Saturday Surfing, February 24th, 2018

Yay, spring! ? It’s almost here, and the signs are showing. ?? Granted, it really didn’t feel like spring at all this week because I had to mummify myself in multiple layers every time I stepped outside, but the world is starting to wake up after its slumber.

Buds are starting to bloom, and the cherry blossoms ? are gearing up for their spring debut. Pretty soon their branches will be lush, bold and bright.

I hope the weather is nice enough to spend a little time outside there today. I’d love to go for a walk with you. I love going for walks on the weekends. Or maybe we could just sit on a park bench in the sun for a few minutes and read.

Which reminds me…

• Girl, if you haven’t seen Black Panther yet, go see it. Hands down, my favorite comic book movie ever, but I don’t just think it’s good for a comic book movie. If you like action-packed stories and strong women, stunning sets and costumes, complex character arcs and authentic dialogue and villains that don’t just hate everything because “they’re evil,” go see it (and I’m usually not even a fan of Marvel movies). I spent half the movie marveling (haha) over the makeup, and this in-depth look at the lighting and makeup on the set was my favorite article this week.

  “Over the past decade, post-production CGI technology has given editors seemingly unlimited power to tweak scenes that have already been shot. No such luck for lighting and makeup: if a scene is dark when it goes into post-production, or someone’s makeup isn’t perfectly suited to their skin tone, software can only do so much. Even worse, because today’s cameras are so insanely accurate, even the tiniest makeup slip shows up on screen. ‘Some of this stuff you wouldn’t see with the naked eye can be spotted by the camera,’ says Siân Richards, who was Chadwick Boseman’s personal makeup artist on the film.”

• While we’re on the topic of Black Panther, this is how Oscar-winning makeup designer Joel Harlow (he won for 2009’s Star Trek) created the scars on big baddie Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan.

  It started with a body cast and good old-fashioned red pencil!

• (Last Black Panther story, I promise.) Michael B. Jordan’s hairstyle in the movie is currently trending.
• Speaking of hair, does it really keep growing after you die? Is it healthier to skip shampooing? This hair scientist tackles six common hair myths.
• Someone found some of George Washington’s hair in an 18th century almanac. Yup, we have some of the fab Founding Father’s luxurious mane. Which leads me to wonder, “Um, why?!”

  Apparently, keeping a lock of hair from someone you admired, like a president, wasn’t creepy back in the day. It was cool. In the 18th and 19th centuries, locks of hair were kept as keepsakes to give to friends, romantic partners and the relatives in charge of your family’s hair wreath (yes, this was also a thing).

• It’s happening… A matte version of MAC Fix+ will be hitting shelves soon. Boom.
• These 11 mascaras get mad love from reviewers on Amazon. I wanna try the one called “It’s So Big.” (Side note: get your mind out of the gutter.)

OK, I’m off to go get a drink of water now because I’ve turned into a person who sets alarms on her phone to remind herself to chug H2O every hour.

Basically, the air’s been crisper and drier than usual lately, and it’s kicking my skin’s butt.

On that note, don’t forget to hydrate! And don’t forget to smile. ? It’s Caturday, after all.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen