Archives for August 2008

Have You Tried Stila Perfecting Concealer?

August 31st, 2008 by Karen 37 Comments

Sephora kinda let me down yesterday. The only item in stock from the new Too Faced Smoke & Mirrors Fall 2008 collection was the Smoky Eye Palette. Bummer, but I didn’t leave the store unsatisfied or empty handed.

In the Stila section I found Perfecting Concealer in Shade F ($22).

It’s a highly pigmented formula and looked great in the store. I’m looking forward to trying it out. Anything able to conceal my dark circles gets a special place both on my makeup shelf and in my heart.

I hope it has good staying power. I’ll let you know!

Anywho, today should be interesting. El Hub volunteered to drive one of the floats for the local Labor Day parade, and I get to ride shot gun, ha! We haven’t seen the float yet, but I’ll take some pictures to share.

What are your plans for today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot

August 31st, 2008 by Karen 26 Comments

Every morning and night a cat shows up meowing at my door. I’m not sure if he’s my cat because he just sort of showed up one day about a year ago, but I give him love, feed him Friskies, take him to the vet and let him use my makeup. Basically, he calls the shots.

While he’s kind of a diva, he’s also one of the most creative cats I know. He taught me a lot about Photoshop. This morning he insisted that I post a gallery of some of his favorite pictures. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted.

Tabs in his favorite chair (used to be my writing chair)…

Tabs, with some nail polish he stole from me…

Barbie loves Tabs…

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Subscribe to Makeup and Beauty Blog

August 31st, 2008 by Karen 4 Comments

Each morning at around 9 o’clock my time (Pacific Standard), an email with my latest posts goes out to Makeup and Beauty Blog subscribers.

If you aren’t already subscribed, the daily emails can be a nice way to start your day. I try to keep things interesting, alternating makeup and beauty news with giveaways, product reviews, photo posts, tutorials and tips.

Subscribe to Makeup and Beauty Blog
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Tabs and I promise to keep blogging our tails off in search of the best beauty booty! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you’re swamped with email, you can also subscribe by RSS feed.

Looking for Cheap, Stylish Ways to Organize Your Makeup?

August 30th, 2008 by Karen 46 Comments

Your local art store may have just the thing you need to keep your growing makeup stash organized.

Most arts and crafts stores stock unvarnished wooden boxes in assorted shapes and sizes. They make perfect (and affordable) makeup storage containers. I spied these boxes, each ranging from a whopping $1.50 to a staggering $3, at my local Ben Franklin Craft Store this afternoon. They’re perfect for storing eye shadows, blushes, glosses or whatever your makeup-lurving heart desires.

I bought the smallest one for $1.50. What an incredible deal, and it holds 14 pans of MAC shadow!

I kinda like the unpainted color of the wood, but if you wanted something with a bit more spunk you could decorate your boxes with stickers, pins, fabric shapes, or you could varnish, paint or draw on them in pen.

I’m definitely paying regular visits to crafts stores more often. It really got the creative juices flowing.

Daily Photo(s)

How scary are these art store dolls? I think I may have nightmares about ’em tonight.

This one bears a striking resemblance to actor Rob Schneider.

LOLOLOLZ!

Hope you’re having a good night!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Too Faced Cosmetics Smoke and Mirrors Fall 2008 Collection Looks Lovely

August 30th, 2008 by Karen 25 Comments

G’morning, girls! How’s your Saturday going so far? I slept in a lil’ bit and then spent some time catching up on my beauty reading; check out these really cute vintage perfume bottles on Bella Sugar and Beauty Addict’s favorite fall nail polish. I also spotted the Too Faced Cosmetics Smoke and Mirrors Fall 2008 makeup collection. A few of the items look super cute, especially the lipsticks, smokey eye palette and the glitter liner. Right now I’m getting ready to run some errands (Target and Costco, fun!), and since my closest Sephora sits next door to House of Tar-ghay, I figure it won’t hurt for me to pop in and take a look. 😉

I don’t have much experience at all with the Too Faced brand, but earlier this year I tested Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti-Crease Eyeshadow Primer, using it for one week beneath Clinique, Dior and MAC eye shadows and had much better luck with it than I had with Urban Decay Potion Primer. I had no problem blending shadows layered on top of Shadow Insurance.
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Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturizer: No More Sticky Neck

August 29th, 2008 by Karen 13 Comments

I’ve always tried to take care of my skin, applying sunscreen every day and moisturizing on a regular basis, but I haven’t always been good about taking care of the skin on my neck.

Lotions tend to make my neck feel sticky (I can’t stand that feeling!), but I don’t want to end up with wrinkled turkey neck. I’ve tested different moisturizers over the years and finally found one that doesn’t cause sticky neck: Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturizer ($29).

It’s a quick absorbing mousse like Olay Quench Mousse body moisturizer and feels light as air. But most importantly for me, it doesn’t leave a gross, sticky film when I use it on my neck.

The bottle says it contains a glucosamine complex “…to allow the natural rebuilding of skin’s collagen structure and diminish the appearance of discolorations like dullness and brown spots.”

I put it to the test.

Each day for a month I applied Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturizer (say that five times fast!) to my neck, shoulders and collar bone area in the morning and at night before bed. Not only have I noticed softer skin, but my skin tone appears more even than it was before the test. I used to have a few slightly discolored patches on my neck and shoulders, but now those patches are gone.

I was so happy with the results on my neck that I tried using it on my face. Unfortunately, I think that’s where my luck ran out. My cheeks and forehead are prone to breakouts, and they didn’t like Definity very much. After a few days I broke out in tiny pimples.

So, I’ll stick to using it on my neck, shoulders and collar bone area. No problem. I’m so glad I’m fully moisturized and don’t have a sticky neck! 🙂

Yep, $29 is a bit steep, but it only takes a small dab the size of a gum ball to cover a large area. That makes the price a little easier to stomach.

Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturizer

Price: $29
Use: As a neck and/or facial moisturizer
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

If you like to shop online, I just found it on sale at drugstore.com for $20!

Daily Photo

It was hotter than hades here today, so Tabs decided to kick it old school with me indoors. Here’s his striped butt relaxing on my writing chair, which, coincidentally, sits right in front of the fan.

Smart cat. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hairy Beast Be Gone! Neutrogena Rainbath Shower and Shave Body Wash

August 29th, 2008 by Karen 10 Comments

I was cruising around my ‘hood the other day when I saw the above poster in front of a salon. It conveys how I’ve felt practically *every day* since puberty. Seriously, where does all the hair come from??? It’s like I’m a Play-Doh Mop Top Hair shop.

The only good thing about being a hairy beast is that it always gives me a valid excuse to try new hair removal accoutrements.

One such miracle of hair removal is Neutrogena Rainbath Shower & Shave ($7.50) body wash. It’s a combination body wash and shave liquid with aloe vera to soften and moisturize skin.

I’m in love with the fragrance. The bottle claims it’s “marine scented,” but I think it smells like towels, fresh from the dryer, mixed with lemons and a dash of soap — refreshing and clean, and it totally wakes me up when I use it in the morning.

As a shave gel it works great. It’s not as thick or rich as gels like Gillette Satin Care Alluring Avocado; consequently, it doesn’t clog my beloved Venus Embrace razor, and with it I get really close shaves.

No nicks, razor burn or bumps, either, after I’m done hacking off my fur — nothing but smooth, soft skin that feels moisturized and smells fresh.
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9 Things I Would Like to Try

August 28th, 2008 by Karen 44 Comments

1. A fancy honeymoon. El Hub and I just had our second anniversary. With our jobs and whatnot we never went on a fancy honeymoon. I can’t complain, but I’d sure love to go to Italy!

2. Guitar lessons! My lil’ brother got me this guitar for Christmas. It rarely sees any action. I can paw at it like a cave girl, but the sound it emits frightens the cat.

3. Making out with C. Bale. Just kidding! Kinda…

4. Blogging from Paris, Milan and Tokyo Fashion Weeks, all in one year!

5. Riding as a passenger in a smokin’ fast jet, like the kind the Blue Angles fly! Fast cars and motorcycles don’t do it for me, but there’s something about fast jets…

6. Sleeping in every morning for an entire month. I’m sooo not joking, yo.

7. Watercolor painting.

8. Not doing anything productive at all on the weekends.

9. Sipping a warm cup of coffee on a NY rooftop at the crack of dawn, looking out across the city as it comes to life.

Do you have a list of things you’d like to try? Please share them in the comments. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen