Karen

Two Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora!

October 27th, 2012 by Karen 461 Comments

WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is AG! Congratulations, AG! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

I’ve been testing Canon’s brand new camera flash this week, the Wonderland WL-600, and wow! — it’s even better than I expected. I took it to the Sephora store down the street and fired off a couple of shots. That’s one of ’em up there at the top…

Pretty neat, huh? That’s the amazing stuff we’re missing when we just look with our normal eyes. 🙂

In other news, happy Saturday! I just hopped off the treadmill after a slightly grueling run, and now I’m just cooling down for a few minutes before I clean up.

How’s it going today? Big storm out there off the East Coast… I hope it decides to take a hard right today and heads out to sea.

Wherever you are, and whatever you’re up to this weekend, have a good one, okay? You deserve a break.

Before you jet, take a moment to enter this weekend’s $50 Sephora eGift card giveaway. It only takes a comment at the bottom of this post (and a tweet for a second chance to win).

Good luck!

What folks are saying…

“Hi Karen. Oh my goodness! I can’t believe I won! :O Thank you so much! You, Tabs, and your blog are amazing! Thank you for keeping me updated on all things beauty and more importantly, for keeping me entertained! Keep doing your thing! Thank you again.”
-Jacqueline

“Thanks so much, Karen. Just in case you were wondering what I got with it, I decided to go with the Clarisonic Mia–I’ve been wanting it for years now, but have never purchased it because of the price. Your eCard helped me finally buy it! I look forward to using it. Thanks again!”
-Jane

“Shut the front door! OMG Karen, you have made my day. 🙂 I’m sick in bed with the flu and this has just cheered me up immensely!!!!!!!! BTW, I’m the one that sent you that pic of my pug in a wig a few weeks back LOL! Thanks again, honestly, I’m beyond giddy right now.”
-Angel

“Oh my goodness! Thank you so much Karen (and Tabs, of course)! I really appreciate this! I’d been eyeing the Anastasia brow pencil in Strawburn to match my red hair!”
-Chelsea (and Jiji the kitten and Quincy the bunny)

“Never before have I been so pleased to check my email right before bed!!! Thank you so, so much! I truly enjoy your blog and check it almost daily! Thanks again! This made my night!”
-Melissa, Edmond, OK

“Hi Karen. Thank you so much, I’m so excited, I’ve never won anything before. My name is Hana … I just turned 25 (today is my birthday!) Yay! Thank you.”
-Hana

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).

There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, do you believe in magic? Are you good at Trivial Pursuit? What’s your favorite shampoo? How do you feel about body glitter/shimmer? Are you a gamer? How often do you line your lips? Favorite winter moisturizer? What’s the most touching book you’ve ever read? — you get the idea.
Second, you can enter by following me on Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora! http://bit.ly/RnrH0K

The deadline to enter is Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 11:59PM (PT).
Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
Sephora eGift Certificates can only be redeemed online and are not valid in stores or available for purchase or redemption in Canada. International winners may opt to substitute the Sephora eGift card prize for $50 sent directly to their email address by PayPal instead.
Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is AG! Congratulations, AG! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

What’s the Word on the New MAC Perfectly Plush Advanced Brush Kit?

October 27th, 2012 by Karen 16 Comments

A lot of people don’t know this, but the bag that comes with MAC’s Perfectly Plush Advanced Brush Kit ($49.50) was patterned after the elusive pink lady leopard…

How cool is that? 🙂

But seriously, I can totally see one of the Pink Ladies from Grease working this kit in the powder room at the malt shop. It’s gotta be one of the best-looking MAC limited edition holiday brush sets I’ve ever seen.

Included with the bag: the 167 Bronzer Brush, the 168 Large Angled Contour Brush, the 239 Eye Shader Brush, the 217 Blending Brush and the 212 Flat Definer Brush.

Counting the bag, that works out to roughly $8.25 per piece.

Unfortunately, the kit has something else in common with fictitious big cats…

The bristles are so scratchy! — like leopard claws! They’re nowhere near as soft as my regular full-size MAC brushes.

Hrmpf! At least the face brushes seem okay, but those eye brushes are a total drag.

Sucks, too, because the set comes with two of my all-time favorite MAC brushes, the 239 and 217. Here, though, they’re both super scratchy, and the brush heads themselves also seem less dense than usual.

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How to Apply False Eyelashes and Fake a Fabulous Fringe

October 26th, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

Hemingway once said, “I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky…”

Wait, that was — my bad! Sorry, I was thinking of someone else. 🙂

Forget the quote, but the sentiment still stands when it comes to applying false lashes. Believe you can do it (“I can fly!”) and do it boldly, and with great verve.

Otherwise, you might picture yourself accidentally gluing your eyes shut, and freak yourself out!

If you think you might wear false lashes with your Halloween look and don’t have a lot of practice with fake fringe, try this little trick on for size: practice putting on your lashes without the glue first…

I’m totally serious!

mac 33 lash — MAC 33 False Lashes, my favorite for natural-with-a-kick eye looks!

It’s a great way to practice and build up that muscle memory. Just keep repeating the motion, over and over, until you get a feel for how to hold your hands and the tweezers, and where to place the lashes.

It might also help to run through it a few times while sitting, and then while standing, because one way may be easier for you than the other (I prefer to stand).

Okay, are you ready for some practice?

Pick up your falsies (sans glue) with a pair of tweezers, look down into a mirror, and gently place the false lashes directly on top of your real ones…

The ends of the false lashes may splay out here, and if they do, tuck the outer and inner corners into place with your tweezers…

Next, gently pinch your real lashes into your false ones.

There! Just a quick practice run (repeat it as many times as you need to).

Once you feel ready to “go live” with real glue, also known as starting your journey to the center of the universe of crazy-@ss false lashes (LOL!), snap a Q-tip in half, grab your lashes, tweezers and your lash glue, and ROAR AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS!!!
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Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: Katy Perry

October 26th, 2012 by Karen 30 Comments

Dude, anything can be sexy these days.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Not gonna happen. Don’t even try to rationalize it.

But —

No! I said no, as in no. And I meant it. I absolutely, positively forbid you from dressing up as a sexy clown for Halloween.

Okay, fine. Then how about Katy Perry?

Sure! That’ll do! 🙂

I promise — this last-minute costume didn’t start out as another ode to crazy cat ladies, but we all know how Katy luvs teh kittehs.

Doopdadoo, there I was, browsing the aisles at Party City last weekend, when I spotted this blue wig and thought, “Hmm…” One glittery microphone, a sparkly party dress and loads of liner later, badabing, badabang! — Ms. Teenage Dream!

Kinda sorta. I hope.

Katy usually wears some kind of variation on a classic pin-up girl look — cat eyes, bold lips and big lashes — so I took the idea and ran with it.

If you think you might like to try something similar, here are some ideas…

Bring on the brows!

Katy often wears super strong, full brows. I fattened mine up first by applying Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow in 25 with a MAC 214 Short Shader Brush, and then patted good ol’ MAC Concrete on top with the same brush.

Get catty, MRRROW!!

Cat eye liner can be trÃ¨s tricky if you’ve never done it before. If this is your first time, or if you’re just looking for a new trick to try, grab a liner in dark gray, instead of black. I find that grays are easier to work with because it isn’t as harsh as black.
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In a Beauty Emergency, Dial Fine-One-One

October 26th, 2012 by Karen 27 Comments

I keep wanting to say “FOINE-one-one” instead of Fine-one-one.

Am wondering if I’m alone in this…

Look for this brightening $30 multitasking cream stick at Benefit counters, stores and benefitcosmetics.com this December.

The New Hourglass Holiday 2012 Collection, Spaghetti Squash, and What I Do for Excitement on a Typical Thursday Night

October 25th, 2012 by Karen 23 Comments

Tonight is all about experiments.

First, this spaghetti squash…

I’m thinking that after I cook and shred that bad boy, I’ll toss the “noodles” in olive oil, salt, pepper and so much damn parmesan cheese that I oughta be ashamed of myself. Say it with me — “More cheese, please.” 🙂

Second, some new noms from the Hourglass holiday 2012 collection: two luscious lippies that look creamy enough to put some meat on ya, a pitch black eye kohl, a brow pencil and a fire engine red lip liner and lipgloss (find the whole schebang now at sephora.com).

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Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: Crazy Cat Lady

October 25th, 2012 by Karen 36 Comments

Granted, I wear my crazy cat lady costume 365 days of the year, but for the purpose of a last-minute Halloween costume, I feel like I need to put in a little extra work to truly get the message across. 🙂

This costume draws inspiration from a crazy cat lady action figure I found a few years ago at the bookstore.

See, homegirl’s got the right idea. Why bother to put on real clothes when the cats just ruin ’em anyway? LOL!

To start, I grabbed my bathrobe and pinned a few stuffed cats on it. FYI, you need a minimum of three kitties, because the third cat is the gateway cat. It’s the crucial part of the puzzle that takes you from a mere “casual feline enthusiast” to full-blown CCL.

Then I put my hair up in rollers, put on some crazy, bright and glittery makeup…

crazy cat lady costume — On my eyes I’m wearing the 29 Purple Glitter Pencil from the new Sephora Jumbo Liner 12HR Wear Waterproof Set as an eyeshadow base and a mix of the purple and multi-colored glitter liners from the Sephora Collection Glitter Eyeliner Set as eyeshadow

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Paint Job: Pixi Nail Colour in Classy Cocoa

October 25th, 2012 by Karen 39 Comments

A few snapshots of my morning. 🙂

I’m trying to get out of a funk, so I started off the day by cooking a good old-fashioned Filipino-style breakfast, OM NOM NOM! An egg over easy, garlic fried rice and fried shrimp — it’s comfort food my mom makes on Sunday mornings.

A typical Filipino breakfast involves 1) eggs (or meat or seafood), 2) tons of garlic and 2) frying anything (AND EVERYTHING) in copious amounts of oil, LOL! I tried to make it a little healthier by using a non-stick pan and an olive oil mist spray from Trader Joe’s to cut calories and lighten things up, but it was still very hearty. I haven’t been eating a lot (just not hungry), and it certainly filled me up.

After breakfast I took some pics of leaves in the rain…

…and then spent way too much time trying to learn the dance from Jordan Knight’s magnum opus, 1999’s Give It To You.

Note to self: Not a good idea to attempt body rolls before 9 in the morning without stretching first. You’re way too old for that sh*z.

But what really cheered me up was the mani I did with Pixi’s new Nail Colour, Classy Cocoa ($8; available now at Target stores and target.com).

It flashes from a deep chocolate to a purply taupe, and from certain angles, a golden shimmer peeks through. Really super cool, and I think it looks like something you’d find over at Chanel or Dior. I can’t believe it’s only $8!

I used three coats, but you could probably get away with two. I just like how the polish looks that much richer with the third coat.

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