Karen

The Limited Edition NEST Opulence Scented Candle (and a Tabs Cameo)

November 11th, 2013 by Karen 13 Comments

It feels weird to admit that I’m enamored with a candle, but I am really, really enamored with this one from NEST Fragrances.

It’s called Opulence, by Ken Downing, and it’s a whopping $40, which is a lot for a candle, but it smells almost supernaturally good — like autumn leaves, fireplaces, snuggly cable-knit sweaters and long hugs from handsome boys.

I mean now, come on, doesn’t that sound good? 🙂

It’s available now at Neiman Marcus stores and neimanmarcus.com.

“Our own Ken Downing, together with NEST Fragrances, developed this exotic fragrance that layers the essences of black orchid, sandalwood and amber against a sumptuous backdrop of Malaysian patchouli leaf, Australian sandalwood and hints of Mirabelle plum.”

— neimanmarcus.com

Even Tabs loves Opulence…

The Pumpkin Caper: There Were Many More of These Before I Took This Shot

November 11th, 2013 by Karen 17 Comments

These Pumpkin Macarons from Trader Joe’s are pumpkin crack, I tell ya! Even El Hub, who usually pooh-poohs sweets that aren’t covered in chocolate, was like, “Can I have another?” when I gave him one last night.

Pumpkin custard filling seasoned with pumpkin pie spice… YUM!

I found them in the frozen food aisle at TJ’s (12 for $4.99), right next to the ice cream.

By the by, Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Tea takes ’em to the next level. 🙂

What a Trip! The Balm Voyage Holiday Face Palette by theBalm Is a Trip

November 11th, 2013 by Karen 12 Comments

theBalm Balm Voyage Holiday Face Palette — Wearing the new $42.50 limited edition Balm Voyage Holiday Face Palette by theBalm

How flippin’ cute is this holiday palette?! I’m a sucker for retro postcards and posters, so this is totally my style. Plus, I have a soft spot for theBalm because, like moi, they’re from the Bay Area.

Yessir, I grew up in the 510, moved to the 415 after college, and now I’m just over the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin.

So WOOT! Bay Area represent. 🙂

Balm Voyage… Cheeky name, and fun way to tie in the trip theme. They go all out with the travel references, by golly, from the different cities on the cover, to assigning a “seat” to each of the powder eyeshadows (there are 16 of them, along with three lip and cheek creams). Even the mirror on the inside of the palette looks like a passport for “Anita Vacation,” haha! GURL, anita vacation, too. You don’t even know.

I wore this palette pretty much all through last weekend, and it was perfect for chill-axing on Saturday and Sunday. The eyeshadows apply with either sheer or medium levels of pigment, probably making the palette better for casual, natural eye makeup than bold, high-fashion looks.

You could always crank up the intensity by applying them with a wet brush, or by layering them on top of a pencil or cream base, but that could interfere with how they blend.

When I do just a straight-up simple look with one or two colors on a primed lid, the powders meld seamlessly into each other, but the second I add a cream or pencil to the mix, the lines between the colors become more difficult to diffuse.

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With Aromatic Coconut Milk, Pistachio, Fig, Amber and Vanilla, Laura Mercier’s $60 Soufflé Body Crème Sampler Collection Smells Like the Baking Challenge on a Cooking Show

November 11th, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

The delicious-sounding (although inedible) new $60 Laura Mercier Soufflé Body Crème Sampler Collection

Today I thought, “Why don’t I review this new holiday body care collection from Laura Mercier?” not because it immediately struck me as one of the most eye-catching sets I’ve ever seen, but because, yeah, I’m wearing some crazy-@ss makeup right now (I look like a brown Baby Jane!) for testing purposes (one eye is darker than the other…), and I wasn’t ready to take pics yet. 🙂

Enter Laura Mercier’s new $60 Soufflé Body Crème Sampler Collection! — which is actually my favorite thing in my bathroom right now.

Interestingly, my bathroom has been smelling a lot like my kitchen lately…

Wait — that sentence is just not going anywhere good, LOL!

Ha! But seriously, I think that Pumpkin Body Butter from Trader Joe’s set off a food-scented chain reaction in my bathroom, because lately I haven’t wanted anything to do with any moisturizers or body products that don’t smell abso-frickin’-lutey delicious.

The set includes four scents, which I’ve been calling “flavors,” even though they’re inedible, because dayum, Gina! — if they were, I’d be spreading them on toast.

I don’t know about you, but I like smelling like a walking bakery. I want people who pass me on the street to think, “Why do I want to bite that girl’s arm?!”

(Yes, I admit it. I’ve been watching and reading too many zombie stories…)

Really, though, what I want are lotions that make me feel warm and cozy, like I’ve been baking magically delicious treats in the kitchen.

Someone else’s kitchen, I mean, because mine hasn’t seen a lot of baking lately. Just meals of questionable nutritional content. But imagine a cozy kitchen where someone’s baking holiday cookies. Like, hella cookies. So many cookies that all of your splurge points from here till next Tuesday are completely obliterated.

With the collection, you get four 4-ounce body creams, each one with a different scent, and if you’re going to get into these, you should like food fragrances with warmer notes like vanilla and amber.

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 297

November 11th, 2013 by Karen 45 Comments

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 six years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

How many pets do you currently assist in your capacity as a professional pet assistant?
Just one demanding diva tabby. I’d love to get him an officemate, also known as someone else to boss around, but he’s an alpha cat (’nuff said). Something tells me that would not go well…

Glasses or contacts?
I have both, but mostly glasses, because I like being “the girl with the glasses.” But I do wear my contacts when I work out.

Are you close to any of your cousins?
Not really, unfortunately. I have a large extended family, but we didn’t see them very much when I was growing up because we all lived so far apart.

I always thought it would be cool to be BFFs with a cousin.

Have you ever had bangs?
Yes, off and on since I was a kid. Right now mine are side-swept, but I had a blunt cut a couple years ago that went across my forehead.

Ice cream or sorbet?
Sorbet is bullsh*t.

Do you ever take selfies?
Uh…are cats moody?

That’s a yes. 🙂 But it’s usually just to make sure my eye makeup looks even, LOL!

How do you usually fill in your brows?
Usually using a thin, flat blush or an angled brush and eyeshadow, which I apply in the sparse areas.

There are other ways, but I like this one because it’s quick, easy and I like how natural it looks.

Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of a sorority?
No, but I had a lot of friends who were in college. They were nice girls and were always trying to get me to join.

I don’t know… I think I might’ve liked it, but I just didn’t have the time between work, volunteering and school.

When was the last time you went to the beach?
Oh, boy. I wish I could go today — to a warm beach — but it was last August in Kauai.

I miss the hotel kitties…

Are you working on any arts and crafts projects?
Not now, but I would love to knit Tabs an infinity scarf with a matching beanie.

Crazy cat lady much? 🙂

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

1. How many pets do you currently assist?
2. Glasses or contacts?
3. Are you close to any of your cousins?
4. Have you ever had bangs?
5. Ice cream or sorbet?
6. Do you ever take selfies?
7. How do you usually fill in your brows?
8. Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of a sorority?
9. When was the last time you went to the beach?
10. Are you working on any arts and crafts projects?

Hmm… I’m not completely sold on this whole Monday thing. I didn’t really get a lot of stimulus last weekend, so I don’t have any interesting anecdotes to share. I mean, I did have a cool conversation with a guy at Trader Joe’s yesterday about the 49ers. That was probably the most interesting conversation I had all week, outside of the stuff we talk about here (because makeup is always pretty interesting to me).

But the football thing does not bode well for my overall creativity this week, although who knows? Maybe we’ll talk about some football stuff this week. Anyone? Which team has your favorite uniforms?

I’m still trying to get a handle on my day, as you can see. I hope you’re hanging in there. Drop me a line to say hi when you can. Fingers crossed that we all have a great day.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy Veterans Day.

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 269

November 10th, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

Who is Tabs the Cat? About six years ago I befriended a stray, flea-bitten tabby cat with a bad case of worms. I could see he’d fallen on hard times, but his profound knowledge of high fashion and department store cosmetics led me to believe that he was more than meets the eye. We became fast friends, and now he’s actually my boss (and a successful kitty model). 🙂

So I told the guy, “No, really, you can go. I got this,” and he completely ignored me! He just kept doing his repairs.

I can’t believe my assistant didn’t read my memo. I told her that I could do any office repairs myself because I’m a fully qualified kitty contractor. I even have my own tool belt.

It’s true. A lot of people think I’m just a plus-size kitty supermodel, but I’m also pretty good with my paws…

In fact, I built my kitty condo from scratch, all five levels, 18 square feet, with carpeted walls and an observation deck/lounge.

Find me another kitty supermodel who can do that…

Which reminds me, I had a hectic week. I modeled for Rimmel, Maybelline, a few other brands and did a cover shoot for my new workout DVD (a great Christmas gift for the cat in your life).

Purr usual, I’m reprinting the modeling campaign photos here in my online portfolio. I hope they meet your discerning standards.

XOXO,

Tabs

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

November 9th, 2013 by Karen 516 Comments

Good mornin’, glory.

How’s it going today, babe? Did you do anything exciting last night? I got a bowl of soup, a grilled cheese sandwich and went to a movie.

Exciting, right? I know! 🙂

Yup, El Hub and I got soup and sandwiches for dinner at Panera Bread and then went to see Ender’s Game up here in Novato. I loved the book when I read it many years ago, especially the battle room scenes, which I still remember, and I think the movie did it justice. The boy who plays Ender, Asa Butterfield, did a great job. Seriously, that kid’s got acting chops.

About that NARS pic at the top, I had all of those products previously organized by collection and date, but I decided to try something different yesterday, because I never wear things like that — all of the holiday 2010 products together or spring 2011. I just don’t do it. So instead, I separated everything by type of product into Ziploc bags. The duos with duos, singles with singles, like that.

I’m hoping it motivates me to explore some older products.

I don’t really have anything planned this weekend. My brother and his girlfriend may come over tomorrow night to watch The Walking Dead with us, but that’s about it. I feel like I need to get some stimulus out of the house, so I may head to the Corte Madera mall this afternoon. We’ll see.

Whatever you’re up to, I hope you have a great day. Good luck in this weekend’s giveaway.

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:
- When was the last time you gave someone flowers?
- Do you eat ice cream in winter?
- Do you have a favorite hair mask?
- What was the last bridge you crossed?
- Have you ever had multicolored hair?
- What’s the longest you’ve ever had your nails?
You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.
The giveaway ends on Monday, November 11, 2013 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time).
Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Mega Moisturizing Lippies in Edward’s Best 8-Color Lipstick Palette Could Best the Driest Climate

November 8th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

Edward's Best 8-Color Lipstick Palette by Edward Bess — Wearing Jasmine Blossom Lipstick from the $75 Edward’s Best 8-Color Lipstick Palette by Edward Bess

I want to hang out with Edward Bess…

I mean, have you seen this man’s mane? It looks like it should be moving in slo-mo in a shampoo commercial with, like, birds singing in the background and sh*t.

We could hang out, talk hair, and chat about the $75 Edward’s Best 8-Color Lipstick Palette and how it’s creamy lipstick heaven in a pan. Eventually, I’d segue into my master plan to become the world’s first lipstick nomad/cat lady.

We’d be at Starbucks. I’d reach across the small table, take his hands in mine and say, “Edward, I think it would be really cool to travel the world with a whole cadre of lipsticks, like 100 of them, and take pics of myself wearing a different shade in every new location.”

He would respond, “That’s a wonderful idea, Karen. Let me help you…”

The pigmented lippies in this 8-pan palette could get me through at least one country — perhaps one with a dry, cold climate, since all of these are crazy moisturizing, and wearing them soothes my lips like ahhhhh.

“Edward,” I’d ask, taking a sip of my pumpkin spice latte, “may I french braid your hair?”

“Of course,” he’d reply. “You may.”

Edward Bess Edward's Best 8-Color Lipstick Palette — From the left in the top row: Nude Lotus, Pure Impulse, Rose Demure and Tender Love; bottom row: Candid Affair, Jasmine Blossom, Deep Lust and Midnight Bloom

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