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Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 649

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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. Can you keep a secret?

    Girlfriend, it’s like Fort Knox up in here! You can tell me what ya need to get off your chest. I won’t tell a soul (well, unless it’s hella illegal; then truth be told we will have an issue.)

    2. What’s inspiring you right now?

    ’80s fashion, particularly the costuming in Desperately Seeking Susan. ’90s makeup, for sure! OH, and pies. ALL THE PIES.

    3. What time did your alarm go off this morning?

    Six o’clock on the dot. But I didn’t roll outta bed until 6:10.

    4. What does your alarm currently sound like?

    It’s got chimes in it. I use my phone, although I really want to start using a regular alarm clock so I don’t have to keep my phone by my bed. Anyway, it sounds kinda xylaphone-y. “Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!”

    5. What’s the least used condiment in your pantry?

    UGH. We always have a big-@ss bottle of Tabasco, and I never touch the stuff. El Hub loves it, but I had a traumatic experience when I was in elementary school involving a dare at the babysitter’s house, Tabasco and some canned peaches… Yeah, it was gross.

    6. Favorite country to visit?

    I’m halfway tempted to say Hawaii because when you go to Hawaii it feels like a different country, for real. But it’s not! Sooo, right now I’m going to say the last country I remember visiting and liking, which is Canada, eh.

    7. Describe your brows in three words.

    A little problematic. HAHAHA!

    8. The most overused phrase right now?

    Literally, people (including me) need to stop prefacing sentences with the word “literally.” STTAHHHHHHHP!

    9. Write a nice note to the other people reading the poll right now!

    I think you’re beautiful and you’re tougher than you think you are, and you’re doing great!

    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. Can you keep a secret?
    2. What’s inspiring you right now?
    3. What time did your alarm go off this morning?
    4. What does your alarm currently sound like?
    5. What’s the least used condiment in your pantry?
    6. Favorite country to visit?
    7. Describe your brows in three words.
    8. The most overused phrase right now?
    9. Write a nice note to the other people reading the poll right now!

    P.P.S. Hello, sweet friend. Sending you a big hug from across the keyboard, and good thoughts for the week. I’ve decided that from this point on the holiday season, I’m going to focus on the future. No looking back at the past. Just eyes ahead at all the opportunities and good things on the horizon. Wanna come with me? I would love the company. ?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 630

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Crab cakes, tuna tacos and sweet turkey crisps, cat intrigue and politicking, tons of tail twitching and furtive glances — I tell ya, there’s nothing quite like a Tabs the Cat Halloween Masquerade Ball. 🙂

They were always one of the hottest parties of the year. As you might recall, one year’s gala was the scene of a foiled plot to push Vladimir Puss ‘N’ Mau off the banister directly on top of Tabs, and the culprit cat was never caught. He fled the scene wearing a teddy bear mask and disappeared into the night…

But that wasn’t the only shocking development. We also found some vandalism in Tabs’ study, the words “CL was here” scratched into an antique desk.

After that, we really beefed up security to prevent anything nefarious from happening. It would have been such a shame to have anything overshadow the costumes.

Speaking of that, here’s a Halloween cat makeup tutorial Tabs was very proud of… Hope you like. 🙂

TOOLS:

  • Primer — Go with one that suits your fur type; I went with an anti-aging formula for dry or combination fur.
  • Full-coverage black cream stick foundation — Matte, velvet or shimmer. The finish is entirely up to you, but I prefer a sheen finish, which has a hint of glossy shine.
  • Black liquid nose and cheek tint — Liquid nose and cheek tints are easy to blend and layer, which is why I like working with them. Like the cream stick foundation, you have a lot of room to play in terms of finish. I ended up sticking with the same sheen finish for the sake of continuity.
  • Black kohl pencil — Black liner instantly intensifies your look.
  • Golden yellow contacts — A fun extra touch.
  • Kabuki brush
  • Beauty Blender

STEPS:

  1. Pour a dollop of primer into your paw. Blend the primer by going in the direction of your fur, not against it. Wait a few minutes for your primer to completely dry before moving on to the next step.
  2. Gently massage a full-coverage black cream stick foundation into your fur with your paws, swirling and tapping until the foundation covers most of your natural fur color and markings. Buff away any heavy areas with a kabuki brush, and repeat the process until you reach the level of coverage you want. Also take care to smooth out any patchy areas.
  3. Dot a multi-purpose black liquid nose and cheek tint on your nose and whisker pads, then stipple and blend using a Beauty Blender sponge to thoroughly blend the product.
  4. Rim your water lines and lash lines with a black kohl pencil to enhance your illusion of black cat-ness.
  5. Optional: if you want to go the extra mile, apply golden yellow contacts.

(NOTE: No cats received actual makeovers in the preparation of this tutorial…even though I’m sure you already knew that. But still, please don’t put makeup on your kitty cat.)

Have a happy Halloween week from Tabs!

Rosie’s also in the Halloween spirit

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing, Oct. 24, 2020

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Hey there, pumpkin. ? Happy Saturday to ya. Two (not-so-pressing) pumpkin-related things on this glorious weekend morning:

First, it occurred to me *just now* that despite the fact that the season o’ pumpkins is in full swing, I’ve yet to have a pumpkin spice drink. ?

AND THAT MUST BE REMEDIED ASAP.

We’re taking CoyCoy to a socially distanced Halloween dance party/pumpkin patch at her dance studio today, and to ensure that I have plenty of energy to do the Monster Mash (it was a graveyard smash!), I plan to drink a massive pumpkin spice drink with all the fixings.

Oh, and you know you’ve crossed a certain bridge when your Halloween party plans involve slamming a pumpkin spice latte in the early afternoon so you can dance to Baby Shark — with feeling! — at a children’s party.

Second pumpkin related item: I need a reliable pumpkin pie recipe ASAP because I’m still in the thick of Pie Quest 2020, and last Saturday, I made, not one, but TWO absolutely terrible gluten-free pumpkin pies.

Seriously, totally gross and inedible. The filling was terribly bland, and the pre-made gluten-free pie crust was so overcooked that it turned into a crispy cracker.

Pies are kicking my baking butt, man!

Anywho, if you have a pumpkin pie recipe that doesn’t let you down, please drop it for me in the comments. Either gluten-full or gluten-free would be cool. Thank you in advance.


On an ’80s kick.


Still one of my favorites.


Just introduced Connor Claire to this gem.


I’m really enjoying Robert’s videos.


You still count.

Got any Halloween plans on your to-do list?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately

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1. Vanilla notes (and Lancôme La Vie Est Belle and Idôle)

Isn’t the smell of vanilla so comforting and cozy? I’ve been feelin’ vanilla lately but haven’t wanted to wear anything that smells too much like vanilla. I just want something a little bit vanilla. Like, as much as I love baking, I don’t necessarily want to walk around smelling like cake batter or Play-Doh. You know what I’m sayin’?

Lancôme La Vie Est Belle and Idôle recently caught my nose eye because both have notes of vanilla.

lancome la vie est belle idole
LOVE

La Vie Est Belle is a warm gourmand scent (a.k.a. a foodie fragrance!) with vanilla, iris (YES), patchouli and praline notes, and Idôle is a floral with notes of citrus, rose, jasmine and white musk layered over a vanilla base.

I hadn’t smelled them in person before they arrived at my doorstep, and I don’t know if it was just dumb perfume luck, but I love them! The vanilla is there, but it’s subtle, and both scents are so feminine and long-lasting, too.

I’ve been telling everyone I know who loves perfume about them!

2. Casabella Waterblock Gloves

casabella waterblock gloves
Your paws (and your manicure) will thank you.

You know you’ve crossed into the land of “Adulting Really Hard” when you have a favorite pair of cleaning gloves…but hey, I’ve tried every single brand under the sun, so let me just save you from a lifetime of cleaning glove misery — the Casabellas are THE BEST.

They’re the thickest ones I’ve found, so they’re sturdy and don’t fall apart quickly. I hand wash my dishes in very hot water, and a pair of this will last a good six months, whereas the other cheaper, thinner gloves might last three months, tops.

The Casabellas are also longer up the sleeve than most cleaning gloves, so less water and soap drips into your gloves, which is NOT my favorite thing. These keep my hands and arms dry, dry, dry!

They also have a handy lip at the end of the glove, which also stops water from sneaking in as well.

I bought this pair at a local hardware and gardening store called Friedman’s up in Petaluma, but they’re also available online.

3. The chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of Trader Joe’s

trader joes pumpkin chalk drawings
Chalk art!

It’s all about the little things, right? When I’m standing outside in line, waiting to shop at Trader Joe’s in the socially distanced line — which is never really that long; five minutes at the most — they have these chalk drawings on the sidewalk to tell people where to stand. The drawings are either a cheerful play on words or some sort of seasonally-related scribble like these pumpkins. I appreciate that little touch because it gives me something to look at while I’m waiting. Always brings a smile to my face. 🙂

So thank you to whoever does these drawings every single week… You’re such a treasure!

4. Colorful bowls from Costco

I bought this set of super shiny bowls on a whim last weekend, and I loooove them. The brand is Laurie Gates, and you get six stoneware ceramic bowls for $21.
We’ve been using them for soup, pasta, cereal — seriously, everything. You could probably even use them as serving bowls.

The outside of the bowls are all the same beautiful beige color, but when you look inside, each bowl has a different color and pattern. Everyone in our family has already picked out their favorite. Connor loves the red one, I love the green one, and El Hub loves the blue one… They’re all super cute and fit nicely in my hand.

Oh! — and they’re also deep, but not obnoxiously deep, so when I’m eating cereal or soup, liquid is less likely to splash over the edge.

5. Cleaning tips from Vanesa at Amaros Cleaning on Instagram

MIND BLOWN! Vanesa and her husband run their own housekeeping company in Texas, and she shares very helpful tips and shortcuts on how professionals clean appliances, surfaces and areas of a home. I’ve learned so much from her feed, and yes, I used the vacuum tip to clean my stove the other day and it totally worked! ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! ?

Recipes for a Tropical-Inspired Plate Lunch: Hawaiian Chicken, Hawaiian Mac Salad, Coconut Rice, and Cucumber and Carrot Salad

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hawaiian chicken plate top

Hi, friend! If you’ve been hanging with me here at MBB for a while, you might already know that my husband (the infamous El Hub!) is from Oahu in Hawaii, and we try to visit when we can to see our family.

We had trips planned for this year to celebrate some big birthdays for the grandparents, but, as you know, “The ‘Rona” was like “HAHAHAAAAAA,” so we haven’t been able to make it back in a while. Hopefully, sooner than later though (fingers and toes crossed).

We’ve been missing Hawaii a great deal lately, so I’ve been making this Hawaiian lunch plate-inspired meal to help us feel a little more connected to the islands.

hawaiian chicken plate side

A Hawaiian lunch plate typically has a scoop of rice, a scoop of sweet and tangy macaroni salad, a protein of some kind (like spam or teriyaki chicken) and a side of veggies. El Hub grew up eating them, and I’m all about ’em now too.

Granted, the plate lunches that I, an SF Bay Area girl, make here probably won’t be considered “authentic” (air quotes) by Hawaiian lunch plate culinary die-hard standards, my family really likes them. Babygirl says this one has “the yummiest chicken ever,” and El Hub has put in more than a few requests for this dish over the last month.

hawaiian chicken with sauce
A little sweet, a little salty, and all kinds of yum!

The protein in this meal is a pineapple and soy sauce marinated Hawaiian chicken, which I cooked in my Instant Pot!

I like using the Instant Pot because I can set it and forget it, and the results are consistently fan-frickin’-tastic. The chicken is always tender and bursting with flavor.

If you are culinarily-inclined, you could probably adapt it to a stovetop or a grill, but I haven’t tried either of those yet. But seriously, the Instant Pot is a foolproof tool for me, so that’s what I use for this meal.

instant pot hawaiian chicken
My much-loved Instant Pot!

I serve the chicken with coconut rice, a creamy Hawaiian mac salad (usually with whatever pasta shape I can find!) and a Thai-inspired cucumber and carrot salad, and when I posted a pic of it a while back here, there were quite a few requests for the recipes…

So, here they are below! Enjoy.

INSTANT POT HAWAIIAN CHICKEN

DESCRIPTION
Tender, juicy chicken cooked in an Instant Pot! Sweet pineapple perfectly balances with the soy sauce sauce, ginger and garlic in this easy, kid-friendly dish.

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 45 minutes
  • Total-ish time: 4-8 hours, depending on how long you marinade the chicken
  • Yield: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 2-3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or tenders (I use a mix of 1 pound thighs and 1 pound tenders)
  • 1 cup pineapple juice
  • 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce (I used gluten-free Tarmari)
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 6 cloves finely minced garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 1/2 cup of low-sodium chicken broth or water

DIRECTIONS

Marinate the chicken:

  1. Place the chicken thighs and/or tenders in a shallow dish or in a gallon-size plastic bag.
  2. Whisk together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic until the brown sugar is dissolved (or mostly dissolved); then divide it in half.
  3. Pour half the marinade over the chicken in the bag so the chicken is evenly coated. Seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to 24 hours.
  4. Refrigerate the remaining marinade until the chicken is ready to be cooked.

Cook the chicken in the Instant Pot:

  1. When you’re ready to cook the chicken, place the trivet into the bottom of the Instant Pot, and layer the chicken on top evenly. Pour in one cup of the marinade from the bag, and then a 1/2 cup of broth or water. Cook on Manual at high pressure for 12-14 minutes, do a 10-minute natural steam release, and then a quick release.
  2. You can remove the trivet and shred the chicken directly in the pot to mix into the juices if you want. Or, you can take them out and shred them outside of the pot and the juice. I usually take the chicken out, shred it, then top it with the sauce, but really it’s up to you!

Make the sauce:

  1. Bring the refrigerated reserved marinade to a simmer in a small saucepan on the stove. Simmer for 5-10 minutes (the longer it simmers, the more reduced and slightly thickened it will be). Spoon it on top of the chicken and/or rice when serving.

hawaiian chicken marinade ingredients

hawaiian chicken marinade
You can also use ground garlic and ginger if you’re in a hurry

CUCUMBER AND CARROT SALAD

DESCRIPTION
Crunchy, tangy and just a touch sweet! This easy cucumber salad tastes just like something you’d find at your favorite Thai restaurant. I customize ours to suit my four-year-old daughter’s palate, but I’ve added options below if you’d like to dial up the stronger flavors.

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 5 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound persian cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup shredded carrots
  • 1/2 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Optional: 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup red thinly sliced red onion, and 1/3 cup chopped peanuts

DIRECTIONS

  1. Place peeled and sliced cucumbers in a colander, and sprinkle salt over them.
  2. Toss the cucumbers to coat them with the salt, and let sit for 10 minutes.
  3. Gently blot the cucumber slices dry with a paper towels.
  4. In a small bowl, mix the rice vinegar and sugar. Microwave for about 30 seconds until sugar is dissolved.
  5. In a large bowl, place the cucumbers and carrots, pour the rice vinegar and sugar mixture over the top, and stir to combine.
  6. Optional: at this point, feel free to mix in the cilantro and sliced red onion as well.
  7. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
  8. If you’re using peanuts, sprinkle them on just before serving.
cucumber carrot salad
This cucumber carrot salad adds crunch and texture to the meal.

cucumber carrot salad ingredients

HAWAIIAN MAC SALAD

DESCRIPTION
A creamy, sweet and tangy salad with some crunch. This is a staple on a typical Hawaiian lunch plate. You can easily customize this salad to make it your own by adding onions, your favorite proteins (eggs or chicken would be good!), or maybe even some diced, cooked potato. Totally up to you. When I make it for our family, I leave out the raw onions because otherwise my kid won’t touch the stuff, but I’ve added options below if you prefer punchier flavors.

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 8-oz box of pasta (macaroni is great, but spirals work too! Because El Hub has Celiac and is gluten-free, I use Banza Pasta)
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup mayonnaise, divided (I used light mayo)
  • 1 cup whole milk, divided
  • 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt, plus additional for cooking the pasta
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup shredded carrot
  • 1 cup minced celery
  • Optional: 5-7 green onions, sliced thin

DIRECTIONS

  1. Generously salt a large pot of water, bring to a boil, and cook your past according to the instructions on the box. Drain, return to the pot and toss with the vinegar. Let cool for 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the mayonnaise and 3/4 cup of the milk until fully incorporated. Then, mix in the brown sugar, salt and pepper.
  3. Toss the cooled pasta into the mayo/milk mixture, and let come to room temperature (I usually wait about 15-20 minutes).
  4. Once cool, fold in the carrot and celery. If you’re using the green onions, you can add them at this point. Whisk the remaining mayonnaise and milk, pour over the salad, and toss well to coat. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Chill in the refrigerator until the pasta is cold.
hawaiian mac salad
Creamy, tangy and delicious

COCONUT RICE

DESCRIPTION
Lightly sweet and fluffy, this coconut rice is the perfect addition to your Asian-inspired dishes. Long grain rice like Basmati and Jasmine work best; however, I have used short grain rice in a pinch, and although it’s “technically” edible, it’s very gluey and gummy, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Also, I prefer to use the full-fat version of the coconut milk because the fam-bam likes the richer flavor, but you can substitute it with light if you’d like.

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25
  • Total time: 30
  • Yield: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/2 cups jasmine or basmati rice
  • 1 can coconut milk, regular or light
  • 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse, kosher salt

DIRECTIONS

  1. Combine the rice, coconut milk, broth and salt in a large pan.
  2. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring on occasion to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  3. Reduce the heat to low, then place a cover on the pot, and cook for 16 minutes.
  4. Turn off the heat, leave the pot covered (don’t lift up the lid!), and let it sit on the stove for 10 minutes.
  5. Fluff with a fork if you’d like, then serve.
coconut rice ingredients
The start of something yummy!

coconut rice overview

Aloha and enjoy! ??

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Q & A: Have You Ever Done Your Highlights Successfully at Home?

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Girl…HELL, NO, and the funny thing is, I’ve tried quite a few times, but it turned out terrible EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. You might’ve thought I would’ve learned my lesson after the first attempt, but nope! I just kept coming back for more.

I vividly remember using one of those boxed chunky highlight kits in the mid-’90s with my cousin…who wasn’t really my cousin. If you’re Filipino, you probably already assumed this because when someone is referred to as your “cousin,” you don’t even have to be marginally related to them. As long as your moms or dads knew each other even tangentially, then they were immediately dubbed “cousins.”

But I digress!

This girl (my cousin who wasn’t really my cousin) and I both had jet black hair, and we decided it was a good idea to use a highlighting boxed kit made for blondes (yes, you read that correctly). One of us had heard from a friend of a friend that if you wanted black hair to lighten, you had to use what the blonde gals used.

The kit came with a plastic cap, which you placed on top of your hair. It had dots on it, and you’d pull chunks of hair through the dots using something that looked like a crochet needle… All veeeeeeeery scientific, as you can tell. LOL!

I just remember sitting there in her bathroom with that crackly cap on my head and the pieces of hair jutting through it and thinking that my mane was going to look bomb. ?

I’m pretty sure we end up with Oomopa Loompa orange strands and it looked 100% terrible, but at the time I thought it was the sh*t.

So teenage me would’ve answered this question, “Yeah, I’ve done my highlights, and they were totally successful!”

But me now is like, “Um, no. Because, girl, your hair was straight-up orange! But I forgive you because you didn’t know any better.” HAHAHA!

How about you. Have you ever successfully done your own hair highlights at home?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Checking In: A Chanel Blush Brush Haunting, and a Jewel-Toned FOTD With Purple Lids!

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urban decay born to run purple look k lids closed

I will totally get to these purple lids in a second (BECAUSE PURPLE), but first, can we pleeeeease talk about the latest mystery to unfold on this end of the keyboard — a mystery also known as “The Haunting of Casa MBB”?

Don’t worry, there’s nothing terribly sinister afoot (I’m not splashing buckets of holy water on things left and right, in case you’re wondering!).

I’ve been gently “haunted” for the past few weeks by my favorite Chanel blush brush, which has been disappearing and reappearing all over the house in the most random places. I’ve found it on my bed, in the hallway, on the middle of the stairs, on the kitchen floor.

Last week I found it smack dab in the middle of living room, just sitting there on the carpet right in front of the couch.

Hmm… ?

I just assumed that Connor had grabbed it and played with it and forgot to put it back, but when I asked her about it later she said, “No, mama, I have my own brushes.” (Hahaha! She totally does!)

Now, this brush just so happens to be one of my favorite blush brushes because it’s super soft, and the brush head fits perfectly on top of the apples of my cheeks and underneath the hollow of my cheekbones, so I can use it for blush and bronzer. The bristles are also perfectly floofy, so it blends like a dream.

I thought, if an otherworldly entity/spirit has been obsessing over it, I completely understand.

But it ended up not being due to a makeup brush-loving ghost. The disappearances were in fact due to a cat.

rosie posie chanel blush brush

YUP! Look who I just found outside my office doing her “hunter’s mewl.” It’s this cute little growl/grumble Rosie Posie does whenever she stalks and hunts one of her soft toy balls and she wants to show off the riches of her spoils.

I went into the hallway to investigate and give her the usual attention she likes after she catches her prey (“Oh, good job, Rosie-Pose! You’re such a good mouser. Look how well you stalked your toy!”), and that’s when I caught her red-handed (red-pawed?) with my Chanel brush in her mouth.

Mystery solved!

I guess from this point forward, this brush will have a special hiding place…inside a drawer!

(QUICK UPDATE: Later in the day, I also caught her dragging my NARS blush brush around, so she appears to be expanding her hunting horizons.)

Jewel-toned purple lids

OK, so let’s talk purple lids. Now, this might look a little familiar to ya because I’ve been doing variations of this look using the same neutral colors in the crease, inner corner and lash lines, but with different jewel tones on the lids. First, green, and then blue, and now purple!

urban decay born to run purple look eye closeup

urban decay born to run purple look k lids

Find your core

This totally wearable look relies on finding a core group of matte brown and beige eyeshadows for your crease colors. Once you find ones you like, then you can just keep them on standby, and then quickly swap out the jewel tone on your lids with other colors to create different looks!

I’ve been using the same set of warm browns and beiges in this series…

For the purples, I’m wearing a shimmery purple called Guilt Trip, a dark purple called Drift (both are from the Urban Decay Born to Run Palette) and a dark purple UD pencil called Empire.

urban decay born to run purple look k

The foundation, powder blush/bronzer and lipstick are the same products I recently used in a 10-minute makeup look in this It Cosmetics Foundation review (which I’m also wearing in this pic, by the way).

As you can see, I’m pretty stoked about this look, and I’m excited to wear makeup again! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 648

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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. Describe yourself in a hash tag.

    I mean, where do I even begin? Right now I’m…
    #toughbuthellatired
    #stillhangingintherebutjustbarely
    #kindaoverit

    2. One ingredient you put in almost everything?

    To mis-quote Queen Bey, “If you liked it then you should’ve put some parmesan on it.”

    3. Window or aisle seat?

    I’ll take the aisle seat please, especially if the person sitting next to me is a stranger (I don’t like feeling too boxed in). But if it’s me and El Hub and Connor, then I’m cool with the window.

    4. Favorite place to view art?

    The Musée d’Orsay in Paris, because the light inside is otherworldly. I’ve only been there once, but that’s all I needed to fall in love!

    5. White eyeliner or black eyeliner?

    Can I mix ’em both to get gray? LOL! If I had to pick just one, then I’d go with black.

    6. Diamonds or pearls?

    Small, tiny, dainty diamonds please.

    7. Blow dry or air dry?

    Air dry all the way!

    8. Favorite beauty trend of all time?

    Winged liner with a barely-there kitten flick, which I’ve been wearing off and on since high school!

    9. What color (or colors) are most of your shoes?

    For someone who wears a lot of black and gray clothing, I have a surprising amount of colorful shoes. I don’t really have one color that completely dominates over the others, although I *do* have a lot of shoe “staples” which are black. Black boots, black flip flops, black sneakers. So black, I guess!

    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. Describe yourself in a hash tag.
    2. One ingredient you put in almost everything?
    3. Window or aisle seat?
    4. Favorite place to view art?
    5. White eyeliner or black eyeliner?
    6. Diamonds or pearls?
    7. Blow dry or air dry?
    8. Favorite beauty trend of all time?
    9. What color (or colors) are most of your shoes?

    P.P.S. You’re doing so, so good, my friend! I know that it’s challenging right now, but if you hang in there, I will too. ?

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