Karen

Greetings From Lake Tahoe!

August 7th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

Wearing Essie’s Haute in Heat nail polish

Tabs decided that he needed some personal time away from his day-to-day wait staff, so he kicked El Hub and I out of the condo for a few days and hired his favorite petsitter.

Having the time off, El Hub and I drove here to Lake Tahoe, which is about three hours east of the Bay Area.

I still haven’t found Michael Corleone’s house (remember The Godfather: Part II?), but I have been looking… 🙂

But seriously, we got here around one in the afternoon and grabbed lunch on the water at Riva Grill.

Grilled Fish Tacos: Grilled snapper, warm corn tortillas, apple-jicama slaw, guacamole, cilantro, pico de gallo

Fish & Chips: Lemon-beer battered Pacific Snapper, crunchy French fries, apple-jicama slaw and cajun remoulade

It’s a bit on the temperate side here (upper 60s). I’ve been in long pants and sweaters all day, but it’s been sunny and beautiful.

Bombasilberry: Bombay Sapphire, strawberry, fresh basil, fresh lime juice, Agave Nectar shaken in a Hurricane

[Continue reading…]

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat

August 7th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

I can’t believe it’s already August… Can you? No! I refuse to accept it. I’m in a state of denial.

I’m not even going to entertain the possibility that summer could end until at least October.

Or late November.

I want to go straight from summer to Halloween, back to summer, and then wake up on Thanksgiving night, LOL! 🙂

Oh, well. Sooner or later, probably when it starts cooling off, I’m going to have to accept the inevitable…and somewhere along the way, I’m sure I’ll feel a hankering for rich, red fall lips.

To help me through this difficult time and ease the transition, I’ll turn to Hourglass Ambient Blush in Diffused Heat ($35).

Hourglass Diffused Heat Ambient Lighting Blush closeup — A closeup of Diffused Heat Ambient Lighting Blush

Talk about your beautiful blushes, babe. It’s one of my favorites to wear with warm-toned and/or vintage pin-up red lipsticks like MAC Lady Danger.

I dunno… There’s something about the way this blush works with warmer yellow-based reds (and corals).

Me likey.

Hourglass Diffused Heat Ambient Lighting Blush — Diffused Heat

Orangey poppy mixes with warm pale gold in the marbled pattern, and blended together on cheeks, they look natural (see: no crazy clowns).

The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorite permanent collection products from a variety of bodacious beauty brands.

When I apply one layer, it looks like RyGos just chased me around my condo (because, obviously, he takes time out of his busy schedule to play hide and seek with me).

Noticeable, but not hella distracting, which is great when you don’t want your cheeks competing with your lips when you wear a bold red.

[Continue reading…]

MAC Animal Instincts Blush: A Primal Plum for Fierce Cheeks

August 7th, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

If you were reading 50 Shades of Grey on a plane and had to stop and fan yourself for a moment because, whew! — it’s getting hot in hurr — you’d look like you were wearing MAC Powder Blush in Animal Instincts ($22)

Now, to answer what is possibly your first question, yes, MAC Powder Blush in Animal Instincts is pretty dark.

Next, to answer what is possibly your second question, yes, you will still be able to wear it. 🙂

And you’ll look smokin’ hot, especially if you keep the eyes simple (picture bare lids, a shimmering chocolate smudged liner and lots of mascara) and wear it with a rich plummy lip, because the two go together like herds of unicorns and double rainbows.

With this pliant plummy powder blush, which should flatter the heck out of light, medium and darker skin tones, it pays to pick your brush carefully and spend a little time blending out the edges.

I think it’s the most clear-cut nod to classic fall colors in MAC’s new A Novel Romance collection, and it fits right in with the launch’s shmexy theme.

[Continue reading…]

Exercise Your Right To Look Good While Sweating With the Hourglass 1.5MM Mechanical Gel Liner

August 7th, 2014 by Karen 25 Comments

Wearing the new Hourglass 1.5 MM Mechanical Gel Eye Liner in Obsidian ($45)

Hellooooo, freckles and dark circles! The bare-faced/no makeup action in some of the pics below was necessary to demonstrate the waterproof-ness of the new 1.5 MM Mechanical Gel Eye Liner in Obsidian by Hourglass ($45 for a pack of three).

Here’s from last weekend, before and after a 7-mile run. I’m wearing Obsidian on my lash and water lines.

Hourglass 1.5 MM Mechanical Gel Eye Liner before a workout and after — Before and after Hourglass 1.5 MM Mechanical Gel Eye Liner

Please ignore the haphazard lining, LOL! I wasn’t heavily invested in precision, although the skinny 1.5 MM twist-up tip definitely allows for it. I’ve really been loving it for getting between the roots of my lashes and for doing precision work in the inner corners (like in that pic at the top).

7.25 miles — Nike Women’s Half Marathon, Oct. 19…I’m comin’ for ya!

After seven miles, buckets of sweat, and one complete run through MJ’s Xscape album, Obsidian looked great. With the exception of some very minor transferring to my lower lash lines, I didn’t see any movement up into my crease, any creasing or smudging — basically, no malarky.

Then, I jumped into the shower while still wearing the liner and took this pic after.

Hourglass 1.5 MM Mechanical Gel Eye Liner after 7.25 miles and a shower — Hourglass 1.5 MM Mechanical Gel Eye Liner after 7.25 miles *and* a shower

[Continue reading…]

Dude, I Hit Pan Today!

August 7th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

It never gets old, seeing that flash of silver…

THRILLING! 🙂

That brown is MAC Brun Eye Shadow (a total unsung hero; available separately in the permanent collection), and the palette is the limited edition The Monster’s Bride palette from fall 2013.

Gosh, I’ve been using Brun to fill in my brows about every day for, like, forever.

If you have brown hair and haven’t rocked Brun in your brows (it’s also great as a liner and an eyeshadow, of course), you gotta get on that, young lady!

Tater the Tabby

August 6th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

I made a new friend today! His name is Tater, he’s a tabby, and he lives about three houses down on my street.

We struck up a conversation on my walk. I approached him slowly and said “Well met, tabby!” in my high-pitched cat lady voice (the one normally reserved for Tabs), and he immediately flopped over and showed me his tum (the universal cat greeting).

I didn’t have any cat treats with me, but I’ll bring some along next time. Hopefully with some snack bribery, I’ll be able to seal the deal and secure his feline friendship.

He kind of looks like Tabs, doesn’t he? If Tabs was wearing Spanx?

I have a thing for tabby boys with green eyes. 😉

New MAC Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash Mascara: I Got 99 Problems But Shiny Lashes Aren’t One

August 6th, 2014 by Karen 7 Comments

Glossy like a glazed doughnut.

Mmm…doughnut. 🙂

This stuff will leave your lashes so shiny it’ll look like a stranger walked up and licked them. Shiny like the dew glistening on Ryan Gosling’s biceps when you ask him, “Where’s the gun show?” Shiny like Beyonce and Jay-Z’s massive stash of gold bars, which I’m sure they keep under the bed (next to Beyonce’s diary). Shiny like the glint on my bared fangs when El Hub told me first thing this morning, “We’re out of coffee,” and I was PMS’ing.

Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash in Charged Black, MAC’s latest mascara, and the first one to use their 77-Mineral Complex, is designed to create glossy-like-a-glazed-doughnut lashes that are both soft and flexible.

MAC Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash with a MAC Lipstick for scale — Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash with a MAC Lipstick for scale

The thing I can’t help thinking about it: Why 77 minerals? Why not 76 or 78?

But I digress…

I love how dark and glossy it looks on my lashes. I also like that there’s no flaking or smudging, but it doesn’t hold a curl very well, and it doesn’t add a lot of length (maybe a couple millimeters, like a mouse nibble’s worth).

It adds a tad more volume than my previous number one MAC mascara love, MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash, but I think I’ll stick to Gigablack for now because of the extra length.

[Continue reading…]

Marc Jacobs Kiss Pop in Wham: Silver Space Pencil or Matte Coral Lipstick?

August 6th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

El Hub saw this packaging on my desk and started pawing at it like a monkey from Planet of the Apes. I had to explain to him that the tip of the crayon was fake, as in not real.

“Tip crayon. Not real. Ooh-ooh-eee-eee-eee!”

Wham, a matte coral, is one of nine Marc Jacobs Beauty Kiss Pop colors, and like the others, the color of the tube’s tip matches the color of the lipstick inside.

I was hoping these lipsticks would be more like the NARS Satin Lip Pencils, but they’re heavier, almost waxy. They don’t have that same sort of slip and glide, and the unscented/unflavored formula feels thicker than I thought it would be.

It’s also smoother than I expected and not as drying. In the comments when I mentioned these last week, a few gals said they had problems with patchiness and uneven application. So far, so good, though, for me. I wouldn’t call it perfect, because Wham does settle into my lip lines, but if I run my finger across my lips to pat it down, it’s tolerable.

[Continue reading…]