Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 329

July 14th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

It's going to be a hot one today! — It’s gonna be a hot one today!

You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”

Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past seven years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Did you watch any World Cup matches?
So, I just found out that Germany won the World Cup yesterday… That tells you right there how closely I follow soccer (oops!).

You know how I feel about sports with projectiles. Give me iceskating with the pretty, sparkly outfits any day. 🙂

Do you and your significant other ever talk baby talk or have pet names for each other (honey or sweetums)?
At the risk of embarrassing El Hub, yes (whatever he likes it). We mostly call each other babe, which I know isn’t very creative. “Babe, where’s Tabs?” “Babe, have you seen the cat lately??” “Babe, Tabs just barfed on the carpet! Um…could you please clean it up?”

What’s one invention that would revolutionize the beauty industry as we know it?
A drugstore full-coverage under-eye concealer that works as well as MAC Pro Longwear but comes in easier-to-use packaging (like a regular plastic tube with a doe-foot or a pen like YSL Touche Éclat) that doesn’t break (no glass bottle or annoying pump).

What’s your favorite kind of tree (oak, willow, ash, spruce)?
I like willows. The way they look and the sound of the wind rustling through their leaves.

They remind me of my childhood because there was this huge willow tree in Union City where I grew up, and every time we’d drive by it I’d gaze at it wistfully and daydream about playing beneath it.

What’s your favorite beach, and why do you like it?
It’s called Ke’e Beach, and it’s literally at the end of the road — the one main highway — on the North Shore of the island of Kauai in Hawaii.

The drive up there is along a winding, jungly road, and you feel like you’re going someplace magical and remote (cell phones don’t even work out there).

The beach itself is sort of a secluded hideaway with a cliff you can hike up on the left to a beautiful view of the ocean and the beach down below, and the water is shockingly blue and warm with lots of cool animals and things to see (last time I was there I chilled out on the sand next to a Hawaiian monk seal).

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. Did you watch any World Cup matches?
2. Do you and your significant other ever talk baby talk or have pet names for each other (honey, sweetums, my liege)?
3. What’s one invention that would revolutionize the beauty industry as we know it?
4. What’s your favorite kind of tree (oak, willow, ash, spruce)?
5. What’s your favorite beach, and why do you like it?

A new day, a new start.

Hi, my friend. 🙂

I hope you had a great weekend and got your batteries recharged. I feel like I kind of did, but there’s never enough downtime, you know? Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could just spend our entire days contemplating gravity and flowers and kittens and looking for shapes in the clouds like the highly evolved citizens of some utopian society?

That would be nice…

So, what’s on your to-do list today? I’m trying something a little new with mine. I’m not sure where I got the idea (probably lifehacker or 99u, two of my favorite productivity sites), but it’s basically this: only put three things on the list.

That’s it. No matter how many tasks you actually have to do today, just put the three most important ones on your list…and basically ignore everything else, LOL!

The three most important tasks. The ones you really want to accomplish.

It’s like, if you can finish those three, you’ll probably have a great day.

The idea is that your entire to-do list, if yours is anything like mine, is ridiculously long and terrifying and overwhelming, so by just picking three tasks to work on each day, you’re removing a lot of the noise.

We’ll see… I definitely like the sound of the idea.

Good luck in your to-do list vanquishing efforts. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 304

July 13th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Tabs the Cat for CATEX Claw and Nosetint

This post is sponsored by Purina Pro Plan #proplancatpartner. For information about my posting policy, please see my Disclaimer.

Have you ever done any sort of genealogy research into your background to find out more about where you came from? Tabs actually did some of that this weekend, and what we found was fascinating! — although not altogether a surprise.

Apparently, Tabs comes from a long line of kitty models and entertainers, like his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather cat, Franklin, who starred in one of the very first print ads for feline cosmetics. Catex Claw Polish and Nosetints were all the rage among fashionable felines in the late 1930s and ’40s.

No kidding, but we found evidence of his feline family ties working in the kitty modeling business from the ’20s through the ’70s, but that’s when the trail went dry… It seems that his ancestors got out of kitty modeling for a while, for some reason, and went into the shipping business.

Weird…

I don’t know if you’re into this kind of thing, but if you are, here are some of the vintage kitty modeling advertisements we found. 🙂

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7 Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

July 12th, 2014 by Karen 330 Comments

THE COFFEE AND THE BLOGGER

“Please, nice lady,” said the terrified cup of coffee. “Please don’t drink me.”

“Why not!?” barked the groggy, bleary-eyed beauty blogger as she ambled toward the carton of almond milk on the counter. “You’re mine! And I need you!”

“But…” pleaded the cup, “if you drink me, I’ll disappear, and I don’t want to disappear.”

The beauty blogger’s left eye twitched uncontrollably, and her hands were twisted into claws. “Bah! I don’t care! I’m not awake yet and I need my coffee!” Clumsily, she dumped the milk-like liquid into the cup, filling it close to the brim.

“Grgglrgl!” the cup cried. “I can’t swim!”

“Oh, shut-up!” the blogger screamed. “Just shut-up already!”

–THE END–

OK, that was dumb.

SO dumb.

LOL! But I am really that tired right now, and I have no sympathy whatsoever for the coffee I am about to consume, bwahahahahahaaa! 🙂

Hi, babe. How’s it going this morning? What did you do last night?

I made pasta for din-din and watched some PBS specials on Netflix, one about Chatsworth, which is the palatial house where Downtown Abbey takes place, and the second one was about Selfridges, the department store in London (founded by an American, who knew?). And then I watched the first half of Titanic again (because we all know what happens in the second half).

Sometimes TV is the world’s greatest cure for a frazzled mind, ya know? There are times when I literally need for my brain to be turned into mush.

In other news, I’m counting down the seconds till tomorrow because I’m heading into the city to meet my two girlfriends for the day, and I haven’t seen them in a while.

So that’ll be fun.

I hope you have a great weekend lined up. I’ll be around, as usual, so I’ll talk to you soon.

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Open to U.S. and international readers.
You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws).
Your comment can be about anything at all, but here are some ideas if you’re stuck:
- How do you take your coffee?
- What’s your favorite summer fruit (for me, peaches, cherries and watermelon)?
- On average, how many eyeshadows do you wear at a time?
- What was the last meal you prepared?
- Have you ever been to London?
- A movie that scared you as a child?
You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.
The giveaway ends on Monday, July 14, 2014 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time), which is, incidentally, someone’s birthday. 🙂
Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Be Cool, Honey Bunny! The New Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection Is Coming Soon

July 11th, 2014 by Karen 34 Comments

Be cool, honey bunny. Be cool!

Try to contain your excitement (“try” being the key word here), Pulp Fiction fans, when you check out the Urban Decay Pulp Fiction collection.

The fall launch commemorates the 20-year anniversary of the movie that gave us phrases like, “Bring out the gimp,” and the products are all designed around one of the flick’s iconic characters, Mrs. Mia Wallace (played by the gorgeous Uma Thurman).

“I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take ME out and do WHATEVER I WANTED. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good.”

— Mrs. Mia Wallace

Here’s a quick look at the five-piece collection, which is coming July 16 to Urban Decay counters at Sephora, Ulta and select Macy’s stores, and online to sephora.com, ulta.com, macys.com, beauty.com and urbandecay.com.

Pulp Fiction Palette, an eye palette with five shades of Eyeshadow (three new, two repromotes), including Righteous (a matte light cream), Tyranny (a matte warm brown), Vengeance (a satiny matte deep taupe-brown), Furious (a satiny white) and Anger (a satiny black with a slight sparkle). Limited edition, $34.
Revolution Lipstick in Mrs. Mia Wallace, a deep blood red lipstick. Limited edition, $22.
24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Mrs. Mia Wallace, a blood red pencil that matches the lipstick. Limited edition, $20.
Nail Color in Mrs. Mia Wallace, a deep red with a slight shimmer. Limited edition, $15.
Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner, a black with black and silver sparkle. Limited edition, $19.

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection Palette — Front of the palette

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection Revolution Lipstick in Mrs. Mia Wallace — Revolution Lipstick in Mrs. Mia Wallace

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Mrs. Mia Wallace — 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Mrs. Mia Wallace

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection Nail Polish in Mrs. Mia Wallace — Nail Polish in Mrs. Mia Wallace

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The Primary Colors Are of Primary Importance in My Look Today With NARS Torre del Oro Nail Polish

July 11th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Wow, when did that happen…?

When did we teleport back to eighth-grade art class?

I’m wearing red, yellow and blue today and feeling like I’m sketching an apple and using those grids to get the proportions correct (you know the ones I mean).

My eighth-grade art teacher would always go off on tangents about the primary colors, and then, while he was rambling, he’d suddenly get this glassy, faraway look in his eyes, like he was dreaming about the seminal summer he spent on the coast of Italy painting and eating pasta.

Actually, now that I think about it, that glassy look could’ve been due to something else, as I’m pretty sure he was a total stoner, but I digress…

Anywho! Besides learning how hard it is to draw bowls and vases (those curves are seriously freaking difficult), I also learned that you really can’t go wrong with pairing red with yellow and blue. It’s a classic color combo.

This morning, I put on this bright highlighter yellow top, and then slipped on some layering necklaces with red, yellow, blue and white.

And a blue and gold bracelet.

Then, to play off the red accents in the necklaces, I chose a cherry red nail polish by NARS called Torre del Oro ($20), an opaque blue-based red with killer pigment (you could easily get away with a single layer, no problem).

NARS Torre del Oro swatch — Cherry red, she said…

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What’s the Closest You’ve Ever Come to a Major Makeup or Beauty Disaster?

July 11th, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

I’m talking about that one time when you came this close to an epic beauty disaster.

Mine happened only a couple months ago…

It was during a false eyelash phase, when I was wearing them almost daily.

I was using tweezers at the time to apply a set of false lashes, and that day, like most days, I was running a little behind, so I was rushing. I grabbed the closest pair of tweezers, which happened to be a super duper pointy pair.

I think you know where this is headed… Hurrying with a pair of pointy tweezers to apply false eyelashes?

Yeah, I came this close to poking out my eyeball! It was actually really scary, and it put me off of using tweezers to apply false lashes. Now I just use my fingers, even though it’s much harder for me, but that’s vastly preferable to poking an eye with razor-sharp metal tweezers, OMG!

Seriously, babe. Be careful.