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“Mrroww.”
TRANSLATION: Even though my contract explicitly prohibits me from performing manual labor, I did my assistant’s laundry today as part of a barter for sliced turkey. For the record, I upheld my end of the bargain but have not yet received said turkey.
UPDATE, 6:40PM: I may have thrown my back out carrying the laundry upstairs. Still no turkey.
LOL! Poor Tabs… It’s a hard-knock life for cats. 🙂
Who is Tabs the cat? Click here to see how we met.
Whenever I’m out galavanting with my camera I always check out what’s going on overhead. I must look kinda kooky staring up at the sky or the ceiling sometimes, but there’s a whole world out there above eye level just waiting to be explored. It’s yet another reason to keep looking
up.
Looking up revealed this chandelier at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco…
Isn’t it neat how the perspective at which something is seen from completely changes how it appears?
And that goes for a lot more than sculpture.
Has your perspective on anything — makeup or otherwise — changed this week? Do you like something that you disliked before or dislike something you liked? Big or small, tell me about it in this week’s open thread. 🙂
If you’re new to the open thread, here it is in a nutshell:
Anything goes! It’s a chat fest where we get together in the comments at the bottom of this post to talk about whatever’s on our minds — makeup, pets, relationships, whatever. For instance, last Sunday some of us shared ideas for fast weeknight meals (thanks, Amber!), among other things. Feel free to reach out to me or to anyone else.
It goes on all day (and night), so stop by if/when you can, and as often as you’d like.
See you there!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
A picture of one of the four wedding parties taking pictures at the Legion of Honor yesterday.
A few more snapshots of detailing from one of my new favorite paintings, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s A Coign of Vantage (taken at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco).
Nice shoes!
Hey, good lookin’, whatcha got cookin’? How did you sleep?
It was so quiet this morning — no dogs barking off in the distance, no cars accelerating, no neighbors talking, no trees rustling in the wind — that I almost couldn’t will myself out of bed!
I’m still not totally awake yet. I know I should be (it’s already 8:30 here!), but I’m typing this without any caffeine in my system, so for all I know I’m typing in tongues.
If I accomplish anything today, I hope it involves my butt in a movie theater seat with a big vat of popcorn on my lap. I go through withdrawals if I don’t go to a movie for more than a week. There could be something narcotic in popcorn…
Here’s the plan: I’m going to bribe Tabs with a piece of sliced turkey. I’ll tell him that he can have it if he cleans the kitchen for me. 🙂
So what were your overall opinions on NARS Fall 2010 and MAC In The Groove? Basically, I’m overwhelmed. I think there’s so much amazing makeup between them that I could use more time with them both. Right now if I had to choose something to play with today, it would probably be one of the two Urban Decay palettes, Naked or Vegan. With so much makeup stimulus this week, the palettes are easier concepts to grasp, LOL!
While I dig up something with caffeine in it, here’s a look back at topics we talked about earlier this week:
MAC IN THE GROOVE
EYE SHADOW TRIOS
Sometime today, between shaving my toe hairs and vacuuming the stairs (Tabs is shedding like cray cray!), I had an affair…
It started innocently enough with a crush (as they often do). I’d played with three of the nine new MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow Trios ($19.50 each) from the upcoming In The Groove collection. One thing led to another, yadda yadda yadda and BAM! — I couldn’t stop myself.
We’re supposed to meet again this Thursday when the collection arrives on counters.
Shh! Don’t tell El Hub. Read more…
NARS FALL 2010
PICS AND SWATCHES
True story: I was so starstruck when I briefly met Francois Nars last year that I lost all control of my vocal cords. With my head tilted ever so slightly and my eyes locked on his, I asked, “Did you ever know that you’re my hero?”
Yup, I’d quoted Wind Beneath My Wings… If there was anaward for World’s Biggest Dork, someone should’ve handed it to me right then and there!
I appreciate that Francois Nars didn’t bust out laughing at me that day, but I admire him for something else — how he handles his seasonal color collections.
As cheesy at it sounds, I think his color stories are metaphors for how I want to live my life. He’s always dancing to the beat of his own drum and clearly having a blast while doing it. Read more…
URBAN DECAY
NAKED PALETTE
As an international kitteh model, Tabs 
the feline form.
After years spent striking fierce poses for fashion and beauty, he’s comfortable in his own fur, but sometimes when a shoot calls for him to pose in the buff, he wonders…is it a Sin to want to get Naked in public?
Not according to Urban Decay!
If you like neutral makeup and palettes, you may want to Hustle on down to Sephora this September when the new Naked Palette ($44) disrobes on shelves. Read more…
URBAN DECAY
VEGAN PALETTE
Ladies, I have an awful case of kitten fever (now with makeup complications).
Because I want a second cat — err, I mean, “Tabs needs a coworker” — I’ve been surfing rescue kitty websites and bookmarking prospective kitty candidates, but whenever I run one of them by El Hub, he replies with grumble, grumble, grumble, “just feeding the CCL fire.”
And that’s not all: Tabs hasn’t been very supportive of the idea either. When I showed him the last batch of kitty resumes, he shot me a dirty look!
Whatev… The boys don’t have final say in the matter. I do.
Come hell or high water, a kitten like the one on the new Urban Decay Vegan Palette ($34) will find its way into my arms. Read more…
MAC IN THE GROOVE
SWATCHES
Today zillions of MACaholics (including yours truly) descended like locusts! were drawn to makeup counters like moths to a 
flame.
Question: Why did we do it?
Answer: To get MAC In The Groove. The 35-piece beauty bonanza — with makeup morsels for eyes, lips, cheeks and face — relies heavily on MAC Mineralize products.
With goodies ranging from $14-42, it’s like this year’s version of last summer’s Colour Craft, which I kinda adored. Read more…
GILLETTE FUSION
PROGLIDE RAZOR
I was about to say that I can’t believe I’m sitting down to review a beauty product men’s grooming tool, but I was actually looking forward to this.
When Karen asked me to test some new men’s products a few days ago, the first thing I thought was, “oh, please, no.” I love my girl, but god help me I thought she was going to make me moisturize my cuticles or cut my toenails. And then I saw the package for the Gillette Fusion ProGlide POWER Razor ($12.99 with one cartridge; replacement cartridges cost $33.99 for a package of eight).
WOW! Um, Gillette must have gotten help from someone who knows male psychology when they designed this razor because it has shiny chrome parts (ooh…), black plastic ridges (ahh…) and a big power button on the back — all good things! Read more…
NARS FALL 2010
DAY/NIGHT LOOK
Yeah, my tummy just rumbled, but I can’t tell if I’m hungry for food or hungry for more makeup. Some days I swear I derive more sustenance from NARS and MAC (more In The Groove swatches coming soon) than I do from actual edibles, ha!
This afternoon I invited four tidbits from the nine-piece NARS Fall 2010 collection to play with me and the NARS Orgasm/Laguna Blush and Bronzing Duo (NOTE: all seasonal NARS products are rolled into their permanent collection). At the time I didn’t have dinner date makeup in mind, but El Hub just asked me to Thai…and he suggested I call this look my Dinner Date Face of the Night/Day.
For the eyes, I layered the shimmery gunmetal gray shadow from the Tzarine Duo on top of the Palladium Soft Touch Shadow Pencil and swept the shimmery beige shadow from Tzarine below my brow bone. Then, I lined my lash and waterlines with Coconut Grove Single Eyeshadow. Read more…
MAC MINERALIZE POWDER
BY CANDLELIGHT
If there’s a cure for my addiction to MAC Mineralize Skinfinish powders, I don’t want it! Whenever MAC releases these limited edition shimmery powders for face and cheeks (so fab for highlighting!), I always fall for at least one of the new pans.
My latest MSF obsession? By Candlelight, from the upcoming MAC In The Groove collection (arrived Thursday, July 8).
It may not look like much in the pan (just another blah brown, right?), but don’t be fooled. Introduce it to cheeks, and By Candlelight comes to life! Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Can you spot a friendly neighborhood beauty addict?
Evenin’, ladies. Just wanted to say hola and share a few pics from my adventures this afternoon. After the museum we swung by the mall, and now I desperately need your help. I’m struggling to exercise restraint here at Nordstrom, where I’ve got my eye on a Dior palette that’s taking every ounce of willpower to resist (I told myself I’d only get one thing, and that thing is NOT this)!
Maybe this in-store mobile blogging break will distract me. 🙂
Here are some pics I took with my phone today. Sorry if a few of them aren’t as sharp as usual.
Columns in front of the Legion of Honor
Rockin’ messy, beachy waves
I could have stared at this painting for hours…
WOOO! Double rainbow all the way across the sky!!
Um, doesn’t this guy look EXACTLY like Keanu Reeves?
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Double rainbow, y’all
Ah… The sun is out, birds are chirping, and I’m feeling pretty darn good.
Maybe not as good as the double rainbow guy, but good nonetheless. 🙂
What are you up to today? I just finished a slow trot on the treadmill, and now I’m getting ready to head to the city to check out an Impressionists exhibit (my favorite movement!) at the Legion of Honor museum.
I get the feeling we’re in for another hot one today. Care to cool off in the surf with me before I jet?
Chanel No. 5 — Older Girl Beauty
Target — Nouveau Cheap
coconutAnd the double rainbow returns (now with a remix)!
Because one can never play enough Super Mario Bros.
NEAT! Here’s a music video made entirely on the new 
iPhone 4
Quick question: Have you ever seen a double rainbow before? Just asking. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. If you’re new here, thank you for visiting. Makeup and Beauty Blog is a makeup blog with daily product reviews, beauty tips, giveaways and the random shenanigans of a crazy cat lady/makeup enthusiast named Karen (that’s me!). 🙂
When I was 12 years old, my parents sent me down to spend part of the summer in Southern California with my friend Karrie and her family. They’d been our neighbors before they moved, and Karrie and I were best friends.
We didn’t look anything alike; she was blonde with blue eyes, and I was this little brown girl who didn’t know a thing about sunscreen. Her family did a lot of outdoorsy things, too, like camping and going to lakes. Karrie always knew to put on sunscreen, and her mom would always offer some to me, but I never took it because I’d never been burned…until that trip to Lake Perris.
It was a blistering hot day, and we’d spent all of it out in the sun. Of course, I didn’t put on a lick of sunscreen…
I remember riding home in the car and feeling my face get really, really hot. The peeling started the very next day — all over my nose, my shoulders — it was terrible. 🙁
Now I always put on sunscreen, so lesson learned!
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
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