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Archives for April 2009

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Apr. 5

April 5th, 2009 by Karen 11 Comments

The Tabs Colour Ready Collection

If Tabs could talk — wait, we all know he can talk.

“When” Tabs talks, lately all he talks about is MAC, particularly the MAC Colour Ready collection.

Did you partake of Colour Ready, or are you waiting for something else?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 11 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun Keywords: tabs

Get That Groom Some MAC Blot Film!

April 5th, 2009 by Karen 14 Comments

mac-blot-film-nordstrom

Happy Sunday, girls. I’ve been trying to catch up on e-mails today, but I’m a little behind.

MBB reader Spring Bride recently sent a note asking for wedding makeup advice — for her groom!

Hi Karen,

I’m an avid reader of your blog. Thank you for your great advice and tips. I’m getting married in 2 weeks and my fiance would like some recommendations for blotting paper as his forehead gets really oily.
 
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Spring Bride, congrats on your upcoming nuptials! That’s fab that you’ve got your honey’s back. Nobody wants to look too shiny in their pics, you know?

Because you only want that boy glowing when he says “I Do,” I highly recommend MAC Blot Film ($12.50 for 30 sheets). It cuts down on the shine and leaves skin looking super matte without leaving a powdery residue.

I used it a few months ago on myself at my BFF’s wedding, and it worked great. Before the wedding, I stuffed five of the papers into a small mirrored lipstick case and popped that into my purse for touchups through the 10-hour celebration.

If your boo’s wedding outfit has pockets, maybe he could carry a few of the papers on him that way.

If you don’t have a MAC counter nearby, Clean & Clear makes a blotting paper called Oil Absorbing Sheets ($5 for 50 smaller sheets). They work well, too, and cost a little bit less.

To save even more (hey, weddings ain’t cheap), you could always use Starbucks napkins. No kidding, but for some reason I think they work really well at removing oil. Go figure!

Sunday is my fun day

Are you having a good weekend so far? I’ve mostly been chillaxin’ and doing a whole lotta nothing. 🙂 The only effort I’ve expended today was when I danced around the living room to VH1’s 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the ’80s.
[Continue reading…]

There are 14 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Beauty Tips, Drugstore Beauty Finds, MAC Makeup

Retro Roundup: One Year Ago on Makeup and Beauty Blog

April 5th, 2009 by Karen 1 Comment

MAC Fafi warm weather face of the day

  • MAC Fafi and Laura Mercier Gold Digger for a Warm Weather Face of the Day
  • The Gillette Venus Embrace Razor: Leg Hair Annihilator Extraordinaire!
  • MAC Lipglass in Russian Red: A Bold Lip Look
  • L’Oreal Cosmetics Fun Facts
  • Get Long, Dramatic Lashes with Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara
  • MD Skincare All-Over Blemish Solution: A Pricey but Awesome Acne Fighter
  • Clinique Long Last Glosswear SPF 15: Pretty New Shades, Long-Lasting Lip Protection

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There's 1 comment on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Chanel Cote D’Azur Summer 2009 Aqualumiere Lipglosses: Six-Pack Abs Not Included

April 4th, 2009 by Karen 18 Comments

chanel-aqualumiere-lip-gloss-summer-2009

Skip down down memory lane with me for a sec…

Remember how Chanel dropped the fabulous coral dream that was Gazelle Glossimer on us for summer last year?

Girrrrrl, that was some good shizz! To this day I foam at the mouth Kujo-style when I think of Gazelle. It was THAT good.

This summer, I had myself braced and ready for another orgasmic Glossimer moment from Chanel, but they decided to throw me a curve ball. For their Cote D’Azur summer collection they skipped the Glossimer entirely and released four Aqualumiere Glosses ($27 each) instead.
[Continue reading…]

There are 18 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup

If You’re Planning to Start a Blog

April 4th, 2009 by Karen 15 Comments

If you're thinking about starting a blog

This blog has been one of the funnest (most fun?) things I’ve ever done. It’s the perfect creative outlet for me, a way to connect with good people and mentally challenging (like jumble and Tetris only with pictures of makeup and cats!).

Every once in a while someone who’s thinking about starting a blog will send me an email.

Wendy wrote:

“Hi Karen,

I have been a fan of your blog and your work has inspired me to start one for mom’s and parenting. Do you have any professional advice or resource information that you can suggest for me to get started. I am fairly new to blogs and need a little help.”

I don’t think of myself as an expert, but here are some things that might help.

  1. Why blog? — If the answer is to make friends, to express yourself, to explore your creativity or to learn something new, then you’ve come to the right place. 🙂 If the answer is to make money fast, stop right there. Trust me when I say that there are far easier ways to earn a living than by starting a blog.
  2. Read the manual that came with your camera — This one took me about a year to figure out, LOL! I kept thinking that other bloggers must have just had better cameras than I did. Then I dug out the manual that came with my old Canon Powershot SD200 and WOW! My pictures suddenly got a whole lot better.
  3. Use keywords in the name of your blog — It will help people find you on the search engines, so a parenting blog might be called something like parentingblog.com or mommyblog4parents.com.
  4. What do I blog about? — Pretty obvious, but choosing a topic you love to talk about (and have loved for years) is a great place to start.
  5. Use self-hosted WordPress — This is just one blogger’s opinion, but I’ve used Blogger and another blog system called Nucleus and think WordPress.org is the best by far. It has more plugins (to add features like polls and games), more people who use it (which means more people who can help) and does everything I need.
  6. Join an email list/blog network — Most niches have networks of like-minded bloggers. Search Google for ones in your niche, and ask them if you can join. I prefer ones with an email distribution list that members use to communicate with each other. I hear that Twitter’s great for networking, too, but I think you have to like instant messaging to appreciate Twitter.

Do you bloggers out there have any other tips or advice about starting a blog?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention OnSugar! It’s a combination blog network/blogging platform that takes a lot of the guesswork out of blogging, and it comes with a built in network (which takes care of #6 above). There are other platforms out there, but OnSugar is probably the one I would have used if it had been around back when I started.

There are 15 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun Keywords: blogging

Bag Lust 101

April 4th, 2009 by Karen 5 Comments

Hello, luvah!

(Yellow bags by Marc by Marc Jacobs.)

There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Beauty

Sometimes All You Need

April 4th, 2009 by Karen 5 Comments



Are a few pops of color.

There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Photo

MAC Trip Collection: Travel Exclusives for Spring and Summer 2009

April 4th, 2009 by Karen 51 Comments

mac trip

I love to travel…

Even if it’s just a quick day trip up to the Napa Valley or down to Fisherman’s Wharf, El Hub and I will try to swing a small vacation every few months if we have the time and moolah.

No matter where we go, I’m always on the lookout for makeup and beauty because you never know what you’ll find, particularly at airports. Totally nerdy, I know, but I actually like getting to the airport early so I have time to hunt for products. Sometimes I’ll find limited edition items special to airports (they call ’em travel exclusives) from big lines like Estee Lauder, Clinique and MAC that aren’t available at their regular stores and counters.

This spring and summer, MAC has a special travel exclusive collection called MAC Trip. It features nine limited edition eye, cheek and lip palette products on sale at various airports and travel hubs around the world.

If you have an hour to kill at the airport before your next flight, keep your eyes peeled for MAC Trip. Some of the palettes take me back to other limited editions like Barbie Loves MAC and Strange Hybrid.

Pricing and availability will vary from airport to airport, but the approximate US prices are $35 for the eye, $22 for the lip and $30 for the lip and cheek palettes.

MAC Trip Eye Palettes

5 Cool Eyes

mac cosmetics cool eyes palette

  • Prismique: A creamy white with pearl
  • Springtime Skipper: A yellow green with golden pearl
  • Water Nymph: A blueish green with golden pearl
  • Flashtrack: A frosted dirty navy
  • Knight Divine: A charcoal with silvery pearl

5 Warm Eyes

mac cosmetics warm eye palette

  • Whistle: A pastel pink
  • Da Bling: A bright pink with golden reflects
  • Parfait Amour: A vivid blueish violet with pearl
  • Leisuretime: A cranberry plum with pearl
  • Cassette: A blackened eggplant

5 Neutral Eyes

mac cosmetics neutral eyes palette

  • Bisque: A soft muted beige
  • Mineralism: A frosted light taupe
  • Say, Yeah: A pinkish coral with golden pearl
  • Sable: A muted bronze with golden pearl
  • Bateau: A dirty midtown brown

[Continue reading…]

There are 51 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: MAC Makeup

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