Tabs’ internet kitty friend Sonja passed away yesterday.
Please give extra love to your kitties today.
by Karen 29 Comments

Tabs’ internet kitty friend Sonja passed away yesterday.
Please give extra love to your kitties today.
by Karen 17 Comments

One chilly afternoon, three BFFs came up with a plan to survive the cloudy skies and biting cold of winter.
The three of them — Jacquelyn (pronounced Zhack-LEEN), Celeste and Lana — had known each other for years, having met at a crowded Chanel Master Class in the city.
The classes soon became a yearly ritual. This year, they went hoping to play with the lovely Aqualumiere Glosses.
Surrounded by Chanel, their minds wandered to warmer weather…
“I know!” said Lana, a pile of Glossimers on the desk beside her, “Let’s go to Kauai!” 🙂
So, the three friends booked a week-long tropical getaway together, pledging to leave their cares (and the cold) behind.
They left right away, boarding a plane dressed for success — strappy sandals, bikinis, bright sundresses and, tucked away inside their luggage, the latest Aqualumiere Glosses from Chanel (Holiday 2009, $27 each).
All three shiny and sheer, non-sticky glosses are just the things for a tropical getaway.
Jacquelyn, the outgoing flirt, loved shimmery coral Canari. With it on, she knew no man could resist her charms (or her Brazilian-cut bikini).

Glossimer in Canari, ($27)
Celeste, the shy bookworm with a wild streak, fell for shimmery pink Hirondelle.

Glossimer in Hirondelle ($27)
Quick-witted Lana’s penchant for sarcasm often landed her in trouble at bars and baseball games — the only two places she loved more than Disneyland. A fanatic for smokey eyes and nude lips, she opted for sheer beige Colibri.
[Continue reading…]
by Karen 10 Comments
Good morning! It looks like it’s going to be a sunny day out here at the edge of the earth, aka the land where wild turkeys run free.
Even though the new place is farther away from San Francisco (where my heart permanently resides), the sunrise here has the city beat.
When the sun stretches over the horizon, hundreds of red, orange and gold shades stream through the windows and dance against the walls. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
Early this morning Tabs and I gazed out the living room window and watched the colors drench the sleepy hills in the distance. Well, I admired the hills. He stared the neighbor’s Siamese down, thuggish-ruggish style.
Speaking of The Hills, did anybody watch it last night? We still haven’t set up our TV and I’m missing all my trashy reality shows.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
by Karen 18 Comments

There’s nothing like lipstick to lift a girl’s spirit and help her climb out of a mental funk.
Today the four Chanel Aqualumieres ($29 each) from the Holiday 2009 collection were my little rescue workers.
I’m a little surprised that Chanel chose to release these for fall/winter on account of how sheer and shiny they are; seems like pinks and nudes are more typical spring/summer fare, but Coco and Co. always like to shake things up.




I think my favorite’s Maldives… It’s hard to go wrong with a name like that (I hear there’s good surfing in Maldives), and I dig the rosy pink.
I like all four of the names, but it doesn’t look like there’s a huge degree of difference among the shades…
It’s time for this tired girl to hit the haaaaaay…
Sorry about not keeping up with your comments. I have been reading them all, even during the move, but I haven’t had time to reply. I’ll get back on track soon.
Hope you had a nice day. 🙂
Zzzzzzz…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
by Karen 29 Comments

One girl. 24 hours. Three random acts of beauty.
7:00 a.m. — I’m jolted awake by bongo drums from my iPhone’s alarm, but instead of feeling refreshed, I feel fussy, foggy-headed and confused.
The past 72 hours have been exhausting — scrubbing, lifting, driving, packing and moving until the wee hours every night. Making matters worse (at least emotionally), I haven’t eaten well, haven’t showered enough and have a lethal case of PMS. 🙂
I slink from bed and lumber to the bathroom, wiping the sleep from my eyes.
What I see before me in the mirror frightens me… It’s a creature akin to a zombie, but with worse skin, and dark half moons beneath its eyes. They mock me and I wonder, “Will I be able to keep it together today?”
I want to be funny and interesting and friendly, but that’s not how I feel.
Brushing the fuzz from my teeth, I notice the Urban Decay Rocks kit ($18, new for Holiday 2009) sitting beside me on the bathroom sink. I don’t remember setting it there… Perhaps it was left by an angel.
The kit contains little gold, silver and iridescent glue-on crystals, along with a tube of glue. Despite my appearance, I glue three of them onto the side of my left eye.

Wow… *BLING*

“Girl,” I say to the bedazzled zombie before me, “you ain’t no Hemingway, but you WORK those crystals and ratty pajamas. WORK!”
12:37 p.m. — I’m weeping on my knees in the kitchen.
[Continue reading…]
The giveaway is closed, and the winner has been contacted. Please check the home page for current giveaways.

BEEP! BEEP! More MAC Style Black coming atcha. 🙂
Today’s giveaway features Seriously Hip, another one of the Nail Lacquers from the collection.
One lucky lady will receive a bottle of MAC Nail Lacquer in Seriously Hip (a $12 value), a shimmery black with flecks of golden glitter.
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, tell me something that always makes you feel hip.
This one’s easy! 🙂 Ain’t nothin’ out there makes me feel hip like a cute pair of high heels.

Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:
RT @karenmbb: RT to MAC Style Black Seriously Hip Nail Lacquer http://bit.ly/QT4tB
I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Wednesday, October 7.
Maika’i Pomaika’i!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
The giveaway is closed, and the winner has been contacted. Please check the home page for current giveaways.
by Karen 19 Comments

You know you’ve moved out to the cut when you look out your living room window and see a gang of wild turkeys guarding the hillside.
Previous to yesterday the last (and only time) I ran into some Wild Turkey was during a really long night at the Red Room in San Francisco (RIP!) circa 1998.
The times are a changing …
Anyhoo, I’m starting to feel less guilty about keeping Tabs inside, because these birds were 1.) huge (I’m guessing at least three times the size of an overweight tabby cat with a low-hanging tummy) and 2.) looked like they meant business — like they’d chase you down and eff up your shins if you got in their mix.
by Karen 9 Comments
Keeps the doctor away.
Or so they say …
(Chanel Bird of Paradise Quad from the holiday 2009 collection)
Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.
