A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands. That’s San Francisco on the right and the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, etc.) across the water to the left.
If you do this hike be sure to wear layers. It was really cold and windy way up there!
I was quite the Flowerchild back in my Becca Halcyon Days. Yup, they called me Damselfly…
When Flowerchild and Damselfly, two of Becca’s flawless Mineral Blushes from last spring’s Becca Halcyon Days collection, worked their way into my heart and my everyday makeup routine, it was just like the first time I tasted bubble tea. I wanted, needed, craved them 24/7 for weeks.
Mmmm, tapioca pearls…
With the Balearic Love collection, the compact Becca Mineral Blush clan grows by one member. Bolero ($32), a bronze with faint reddish tones and the sole blush in the release, is just as pigmented, easy to apply, long-lasting and resistant to fading as the other Mineral Blushes I’ve tried, but those pluses aren’t even my favorite things about it.
What makes Bolero really stand out to me is how it just seems to look better and better over the course of the day.
I’ve been trying to unravel its secret, and I keep coming back to one thing: the finish. Becca loves combining shimmers and mattes (like Cabrera liner, also from Balearic Love), and with Bolero and its semi/demi-matte finish, they’ve done it again.
Bolero rides into town on a mostly matte finish with a super subtle sheen, but as the day wears on and oil builds up on my skin, Bolero turns up the radiant shine (picture a gal holding her surfboard on the cover of Shape). I’ve been wearing it as both a blush and a bronzer for sun-kissed, sculpted looks.
I also love how Bolero caters to my lazy side looks when it’s worn with minimal makeup. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve tried it on top of bare skin, tinted moisturizer and full-coverage liquid foundation, and it seems like the less makeup I wear with it, the better Bolero looks.
A sheer pink gloss to layer atop neutral pink lipsticks? — that shouldn’t be hard to find.
Right…?
Famous last words.
You’d think it would be easy peasy! — but quite a few sheer pink glosses have a milky quality to ’em and pigments that gather in the fine lines of my lips; the end result can look patchy and uneven.
Or how about sheer pink glosses that are just too sheer? Or too pigmented? Gah! In the first case, they don’t add much, if anything, to the lipsticks they’re supposed to enhance; in the second, they overwhelm the lipsticks they’re supposed to help.
With MAC Right Image Cremesheen Glass ($19.50), I can happily tick the box next to “None of the above.” 🙂
This sheer, pale mid-tone bluish pink packs just the right amount of pigment. It’s enough that when I wear it by itself, I can see the pink on my lips, but it’s not so bold or opaque that it overshadows lipsticks when it’s worn on top (oh! — I love how it looks on top of Modesty Cremesheen).
The Marin Headlands on the north side of the Golden Gate, California, April 8, 2012
Anywho, I asked her what she saw in store for me over the next 10 years, and whether or not she saw law school in my future. She said no, and said I’d end up doing something creative and unusual, which I think sums up blogging pretty well.
The possibilities are endless…
Well, with the exception of makeup. She’s not really into it, but dagnabbit! — I’m determined to get her to try on some blush one of these days.
Hi, cutie. 🙂 Here we go again. It’s another Monday, and I’m feeling really good — not just about the day, but generally, overall.
Maybe it’s the weather. When it’s sunny outside like it is today and the songbirds are singing, I can’t help but feel … energized.
Can you stop by for a quick hello in the Monday poll? Missed ya over the weekend!
1. Mood:
2. Have you ever consulted with a psychic or palm reader?
3. Do you buy lottery tickets?
4. Have you ever been the victim of makeup theft?
5. What’s one of your go-to tricks for radiant skin?
6. I could be a contender for the title of Most Likely to _________________.
7. Do you have a friend who’s always up for anything?
8. Time for our afternoon snack break! Where should we go?
9. What’s one thing you were surprised to learn about yourself?
10. Weekly goals:
You have a wonderful week, okay?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
The Hourglass Vol. 6 Eye Palette in Neo-Classic, $58. It includes five matte eyeshadows and one shimmer eyeshadow in universal colors. Available now at Hourglass counters and online.
Would you rock this?
I went for a short hike today in the Marin Headlands. This is the view of the Pacific from the trail that leads up to Hawk Hill. Note the hikers in the background pretending to ignore the crazy jumping girl in front of them, haha.
Dear Diary,
I’m really getting tired of the menu selection here and how it totally lacks any kind of seasonal variety. Like today, you’d think my assistant would have prepared something special for Easter brunch — maybe an array of tasty springtime gravy appetizers — but noooo.
I recently saw an episode of Must Love Cats where these kitties in the Hamptons actually had personal chefs who prepared their meals from scratch.
FROM SCRATCH!
I’m thinking about sending my assistant to culinary school just to get her thinking more creatively about the menu. Seriously, it would be like the gift that keeps on giving.
Things are starting to come together for that upscale kitty spa I told you about. You remember how I met with a life coach at the start of the year? We talked about expanding my kitty beauty empire?
Well, we haven’t nailed down a name yet (I’m partial to “A Purr-fect Place to Relax”), but we have the basic details worked out.
It’ll be a high-end establishment catering to kitty supermodels. Not your run-of-the-mill kitty daycare scene. Think solace and relief. We’ll offer services like deep-tissue kitty massage, fur facials, catnip aroma therapy rooms, manis/pedis — the works!
I mean, it’s so hard for cats to balance work and a personal life these days. I know that in my case, I have to fight for my me time, and I just feel that if it’s that way for me, it must be that way for other kitties, too.
[Continue reading…]
I recently learned a valuable lesson about my bangs. I have naturally wavy hair, and if I don’t straighten my longish side-swept bangs every day, they curl up and stick out in all kinds of crazy directions.
Thanks to a tip from the gal who does my hair (thank you, Alis!), I learned that I get much straighter, flatter bangs if I straighten them with a flat paddle brush than I’m able to get with a round brush, which creates more of an arced shape.
So, after I step out of the shower, I draw as much moisture from my hair as I can with an Acquis hair towel, and then spray my bangs with Living Proof Straight Spray.
Then, with the paddle brush (here’s one for $6 from Goody) and my T3 hairdryer, I straighten! Five minutes of work, and my bangs lay flat and straight all day long. 🙂
Now how about you?
What’s one makeup or beauty lesson you recently learned?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
