Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Do you remember Choose Your Own Adventure books? I loved those blasted things so much… I’d always exhaust every conceivable permutation of every single one!
The books are kinda what I had in mind with last weekend’s Sundays with Tabs when I posted this comic template with blank speech bubbles. I think the idea could still use some refinement (I’ll keep working on it), but here are your reader generated results.
Rinnie, the man-panties line? SO FUNNY!
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Bobbi Brown Beach Shimmer Brick Compact ($38, from the new Bobbi Brown Beach Club collection).
I awoke this morning to a dazzling development! No, not my birthday; I saw that coming from miles/weeks away. This dazzling development was a tube of MAC Dazzle Lash resting on my nightstand. I set it there before bed last night so I’d see it first thing this morning.
Why?
To remind myself to tell you about it first thing this morning. 🙂
MAC Dazzle Lash isn’t new, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before. It’s one of the many MAC mascaras in the company’s permanent collection. With a velvety, non-clumping formula that adds subtle thickness and lash length, it’s designed to deliver a seemingly natural lash look with extreme curl hold.
And that it does. Two or three coats is like BAM! — but not BAM! like Fergie or Lady Gaga lashes; more like BAM! — the lashes I wish I’d been born with. They hold their curl all day long and glow with mad glossy shine. My fringe feels wonderfully light and soft.
I’m guessing the shine has to do with copernicia cerifera, aka carnauba palm wax.
RANDOM FUN FACT: Carnauba is also the main ingredient in surfboard wax.
Just a quick shot of the Essie Summer 2010 polishes. Full nail swatches in two shakes, babes.
From left: Demure Vixen, Haute as Hello, Knockout Pout, Miss Matched, Pretty Edgy, Vermillionaire
Back before BIC lighters and matches, primitive men went on quests for fire! 
And today, not unlike ancient man, I embarked upon my own special quest, but this one was for neatness and better makeup organization.
It took weeks of preparation! — okay, maybe not weeks. 🙂 The idea stemmed from a comment left by MBB reader Marisa (thanks, girl!) and the eyeliners and cream shadows I dealt with a couple of weeks ago.
Before that, I’d resigned to let my lip products live lives of disarray, tossing them all into a clear plastic box.
But that just wasn’t working.
I was stressing out every time I had to pull it out to find something, like yesterday, when I spent an obnoxious amount of time looking for my tube of Lychee Luxe (I knew it was in there!).
There had to be a better way.
See, this is why I love craft stores: cheap and easy storage solutions. For this project I needed scissors, Scotch tape, one big box and a bunch of smaller empty boxes from lipsticks and gloss.
Find the big box. It should be deeper/taller than your longest lip product when you stand it up inside the box. I picked this pink one because not only does it fit my longest gloss, but it also has a lid, which makes it stackable.
Flatten one of your empty lipstick/lipgloss boxes, and cut it through the middle to split it in half.
Today marks my last day as a 34-year-old woman. The next time the clock strikes 12, I will have officially entered my mid-30s, huzzah!
So what am I doing with these last few hours of year 34? Well, playing with makeup, of course, and taking stock of my life (overall, no big complaints).
I’m also setting goals for year 35, and since I seem to have misplaced my confidence at some point along the way from 34 to here, I’m making its restoration Priority No. 1.
Mind you, I’ve definitely made progress lately. I’m not as down on myself as I was a few months ago; your support and encouragement have helped (THANK YOU!), but there’s still a lot of work to be done.
Where a few months ago I was telling myself I couldn’t write, couldn’t take a decent picture to save my life, lost my sense of humor, wasn’t a good wife, sister, daughter, etc. — today I’m merely telling myself I’m not half bad, which is still not the same as saying, “Karen, you’re great!”
When it comes to writing, in particular, sometimes I feel like an athlete after a bad injury. Even though I’ve been through the physical therapy, in this case the extra reading and writing exercises, I just don’t trust my instincts anymore. I second guess myself now, where before the injury I would have just gone for the dunk!
As I move into my thirty-fifth year of life, I want to nurture the part of me that once believed I could do anything. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about different ways to do that, and here are five of the tips that have helped:
Author William Feather once said that “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” In my case, since I’m usually my own worst critic, I read that to mean outlasting my inner critic. Sooner or later she’ll get tired of picking on me and move on to someone else, LOL!
When something knocks you down, pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and keep…moving…forward — one small accomplishment at a time.
Make notes of every compliment you receive, and post them somewhere visible (where you can see them all the time). Do the same thing with uplifting quotes, and read biographies about confident people you admire.
Surround yourself with a posse of supportive people (and a mentor if you’re working toward a specific goal). That’s easier said than done, but ask yourself, “Who are the most supportive people I know?” and reach out to them.
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Oh, the scourge of dark circles… They plague me! No matter how much sleep I get, I just can’t seem to get rid of ’em.
And it turns out I’m not the only one (who knew?). Last week I put out a call for your favorite concealers to hide dark circles, and almost a hundred of you answered! Tabs tallied the votes, and here are the top five.
This creamy concealer has been my absolute personal favorite for a while, and the votes showed it’s one of your favorites, too. Able to (almost) completely cover my dark circles, it’s also able to work that magic without looking heavy or obvious, and it lasts throughout the day with nary a crease. $18, available in six shades. [Grab it…]
A friend of mine over at YSL once told me they sell a tube of this cult classic highlighter every six seconds. SIX SECONDS! That’s 14,400 per day… Not surprisingly, the product’s earned beauty awards up the wazoo. $40, available in four shades. [Grab it…]
Bobbi Brown Corrector is actually supposed to be layered beneath other concealers for a little extra oomph. It’s a helper product designed to treat uber-dark circles by adding extra coverage. $22, available in 12 colors. [Grab it…]
This concealer duo comes with two shades you can custom blend for best results. Fans love how well it blends, how smooth it feels and that it doesn’t settle into fine lines. $28, available in five shades. [Grab it…]
A creamy, all-in-one concealer AND brightener, Benefit Erase Paste is a peachy pink-toned concealer with a touch of shimmer. I’ve tried it before and didn’t feel like it had enough coverage for me, but die-hards absolutely swear by it. $26, available in three shades. [Grab it…]
Have you tried any or many of these top five? If you have a favorite that didn’t make the list, let me know in the comments.
Now it’s time to cast a vote for the best of the best. Which will take the dark circle-eliminating crown?
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
The Problem: Your favorite pigmented lip products disappear faster than Coolio’s rap career (OMG, Gangsta’s Paradise!). Is there anything you can do about it?
Too Faced says sÃ, se puede! Worn beneath other lip products, their new Lip Insurance lip primer ($19, available at Sephora stores and online) is designed to prevent color fading, bleeding and creasing while simultaneously ramping up the richness of lipsticks and glosses. It’s also jam packed with ceramides and peptides to plump lips and help restore natural collagen.
Too Faced took out all the guesswork from choosing colors, too, because it’s only available in one, which they call Nude. Nude goes on clear with a matte finish and has a light, non-sticky texture that feels smooth like butter. Being a huge fan of Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I couldn’t wait to give Lip Insurance a try
