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
Because if it is, “OH, HELL YEAH!!” Paws up for mythical creatures, yo. 🙂
Bright colors, bad@ss mythical beasts and playful prints are the perfect pick-me-ups on cloudy days like today, and the MAC BollyDoll makeup bag (and brush kit) collection is almost as potently positive as coffee.
As in my hurr!
It keeps getting shorter…and darker!
My latest hair adventure was inspired by this shoulder-length ‘do on Megan Fox.
My friend Alis at Fox + Stone salon in Corte Madera took off about three inches from the bottom and added more layers around the front of my face.
She also did a darker base with warmer highlights.
I’m still trying to figure out how to do the super loose and choppy waves Megan’s wearing in this pic…but I’m working on it. When I tried today I ended up with bouncy curls instead of loose and choppy waves.
Getting closer though…
THESE LASHES HAVE A BLACK BAND!
Yes, that was all caps necessary.
I’ve often wondered why false lashes don’t always come with a dark brown or black band, like these Eylure Volume No. 101s.
Most of the time they have bands that are white, which for me means usually having to paint them with liner, either before or after applying, because I don’t want the white to peek through on my fringe.
I mean, it wouldn’t be an impossible feat of engineering or anything. Right? To make a black lash band? I’m guessing we have the technology…
Not that it’s the end of the world to have to darken them myself, but it is an extra step I’ll happily omit.
I like this particular style, the Eylure No. 101s, because the lashes are juuust long enough to be noticeable…but still aren’t super long. They’re also lightweight and a good width for me, so I don’t have to trim them down.
The lashes are staggered in length along the band, too, with the longest ones in the middle, which I think makes my eyes look larger, more rounded and open.
This kit here, the Volume Starker Kit, includes two small bottles of glue, a plastic lash applicator (which I don’t really use, since the lashes are really easy to apply without it) and an extra practice lash (because practice makes perfect!).
It usually sells for $5.99, but it’s on sale now at Ulta for $4.99 (they’re also reusable a few times if you’re gentle with them).
I saw a lovely documentary on Netflix last weekend that I think you’ll like called Advanced Style.
It’s an offshoot of the Advanced Style blog, which has awesome pics and stories about fashionable New Yorkers in their 50s and 60s and beyond.
I just thought it was so sweet and inspiring. I love seeing stylish, creative women embracing life with a bear hug, ya know, and just doing the damn thing! 🙂
Highly recommended for when you’re in the mood for something sweet and fashionably fun on Netflix.
Topshop’s $14 Cheek Jelly in Reign looks like a budget-friendlier ($14 vs. $30) Benefit Benetint doppelgänger on my cheeks — same sheer, rosy red color, but I think it’s way easier to use.
The gel formula, which feels wet and slick like a MAC Casual Colour, isn’t as runny as Benetint’s liquid formula, making it easier to blend on cheeks.
I usually use my fingers or a skunk brush to stipple it on my cheeks, where it looks quite natural, especially on bare skin, but you can also build it up for a bolder flush of color.
I have combination dry/oily cheeks (read: generally fussy and unpredictable), and it lasts from 4-6 hours for me.
Cheek Jelly in Reign, one of five $14 Cheek Jelly shades (there’s also a coral called Phenomenon a plum called Sibling, a burgundy called Museum and another red called Beep), is available now online and at Topshop stores.
You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”
Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past seven years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
…befriend stray cats. 🙂
They can sense the cat lady-ness radiating off me in waves… Either that, or they smell the treats in my pocket, haha!
Also, I’m like a shoe-shopping savant. I’m the girl to call when you want/need a shoe enabler.
I used to start my days at the behind-crack of dawn and have my butt glued to my computer for, literally, 12-14 hours, often without breaks.
Now, I force myself, hook or crook, to get out of my chair by 4 p.m. (and I usually start working at 7:30 a.m.)
Sometimes it’s hard. Very hard. Because I don’t nave a naturally super fine-tuned concept of time (read: I’m always running late), and I’m the kind of person who always like to do a little extra, sneak in a little extra something into her work.
But now I’m a much happier person overall, so I guess that would be the biggest change for me this year.
I like to prep the Saturday morning giveaway over coffee (as you know), and either watch some (hopefully brainless) TV or read and nom on something that, ideally, I didn’t have to make, like a croissant from a local bakery.
And a big bottle of Amlactin lotion, which I got at Costco.
Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!
1. If there’s one thing I can do in this life, it’s ____________.
2. What product in your makeup bag/toolkit do you wear more than any other?
3. How has your life changed this year?
4. One of your greatest indulgences?
5. What beauty products are on your nightstand right now?
Happy Monday to ya, sweetpea. How was your weekend?
Mine was nice. El Hub and I drove up to Redding to visit his parents and see their new house, while Tabs held down Fort MBB with his favorite sergeant/petsitter.
Just a laid back weekend, really, but I’m a BIG fan of those. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Tabs puts a lot of time and effort into his kitty modeling shoots, but he doesn’t usually get into the mechanics of them in public very often (he likes to think of himself as modest). Still, it’s interesting to see what really goes on behind the scenes. Some of these shoots can be quite complicated.
Earlier this week he and I sat down briefly to discuss some of his favorite kitty modeling shoots of the year.
Here are his 10 favorite kitty modeling shoots of 2014, complete with the behind-the-scenes commentary. 🙂
TABS: “We had to go through dozens of hairpieces to settle on the caramel brown I wore for this shot. The costume department had me try on — I think it was more than a 100 — 70s-style wigs. Eventually, we narrowed it down to a rich obsidian black, a strawberry blonde and this caramel brown, which made the final cut because of how the color played off the gold glints in my eyes. I think it was the right choice.”
TABS: “Betcha thought this was me for a second, didn’t you? Nope, this is actually my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather cat, Franklin, one of the original trendsetters in the first feline print ads for cosmetics in the 1930s and ’40s. I must admit — the resemblance is uncanny. Even I’m surprised sometimes by the depth of kitty modeling talent in my family.”
TABS: “I trained with Cirque du Soleil for two months in preparation for this shoot, which required precise timing and a keen sense of body awareness. If I’d been off a single inch, the entire shot would have been ruined. The photographer anticipated that we’d need at least 50 frames to get a usable amount of material, but I nailed it on the first shot.”
Rise and shine, morning glory! It’s a beautiful day!
Well…actually, I don’t really know what kind of day it is outside because I haven’t looked (it was raining cats and dogs and frogs last night!), but I’m sure it’ll be a beautiful day regardless of the weather.
I’m sitting in my father-in-law’s quiet office in Redding right now with my laptop on the floor and typing to poo. 🙂 Yup, we drove up to Redding last night to see their new house (they recently moved), and I think I’m the only one awake.
I’m wondering if it snowed in the night… We shall see.
Good luck in the giveaway, and have a wonderful weekend, whatever you’re up to. I’m gonna see if I can find a place online now that sells doughnuts…
Not sells them online, online. I mean, find a place on the web that sells doughnuts in the area.
Never mind…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
To think that once upon a time, many, many moons ago, gorgeously glowing skin was just something that happened sometimes on one of Mother Nature’s whims.
“Ooh! My cheeks are a little oilier than usual today? Woot! That means my skin will glow like Sheila’s, the cave-girl who lives down the way.”
Well, OK, that’s probably not exactly how it went down back in prehistoric days…but throw a girl a bone here please! I had awful insomnia last night (stayed up too late watching TV), so it’s the best I can do under the circumstances.
I did have a point though…
Now that we’re modern women living in modern times, we have access to a much wider range of illuminators than ever before, from frosty highlighters that leave your cheekbones lookin’ like Rihanna’s in a video (shine bright like a diamond!), to shimmers so soft that you can barely see their candlelit glow on your skin, and everything in between.
Dolce & Gabbana’s new six-piece holiday 2014 collection has a very interesting illuminator named Eva ($51, called The Illuminator in Eva; there’s also a bronzer in the collection called Desert), a creamy beige face powder blended with tiny flecks of gold glitter. It has a soft, sheen-like finish that reminds me of the Hourglass Ambient Powders, only the sparkly flecks seem finer…
They create a slightly different effect that’s flat-out gorgeous.
Available now in a limited edition holiday version with a pretty design on the pan (but also available in the permanent line) online and at Dolce & Gabbana counters.
