Rise and shine — yikes! It’s quarter to ten already? How’d that happen?
Well, good late morning anyway. 🙂 I started snapping pictures of Tabs after breakfast, and it appears that time has gotten away from me.
How’s your weekend been so far? I can’t recall having done anything spectacular with mine yet, but I did swing by a Barnes & Noble last night after dinner to read some magazines. That’s always fun. And I almost bought copies of the new French and Japanese versions of Vogue, but they were about $15 each (!) and shrink-wrapped, so I passed.
I know this isn’t beauty related, but I’m heartbroken about the Borders bankruptcy and bookstore closings announced here in the U.S. I found out this week that our store here in Marin is one of the ones on the chopping block. Dang, whenever a bookstore closes, I think a piece of the community it was in dies a little bit.
Of course, I’m guilty of contributing to its demise because I would often browse the store, only to leave and buy the books I found interesting from Amazon.com for less. But what can you do, right? Amazon was often 30-40% less expensive. That’s too significant a difference for me to overlook, even in support of something I really like.
Oh, well. C’est la vie…
The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed
THE SONIA KASHUK BEAUTIFUL BERRIES LIP QUAD
IS A DRUGSTORE MYRRH-ACLE
If you’re in the mood for a weekend drugstore splurge/reward, what do ya think of Sonia Kashuk’s new Beautiful Berries Lip Quad ($12.99)?
It’s one of three in SK’s new spring collection, and it looks like a perfect pick-me-up to me.
The pigmented colors and sleek packaging first caught my eye — so cute, right? — but the interesting ingredients sealed the deal. Sonia added myrrh resin extract to supposedly reduce the signs of aging and the depth of wrinkles, and antioxidant-rich pomegranate fruit sterols to moisturize and protect against environmental damage (the juice has been shown to be good for the heart, so there may actually be some real benefits to its use here). Read more…
SUAVE SAYS THEIR $3 DRY SHAMPOO
WORKS AS WELL AS $24 RENE FURTERER
I’ve been wearing my normally wavy hair straight lately and waiting a few days between washes to extend the life of my blowouts. To prevent my scalp from getting too funky with excess oil, I’ve been reaching for Rene Furterer Naturia Dry Shampoo, my fave dry shampoo, which also gives my roots a nice lift.
The problem: Naturia costs $24.
Ouch! Time to find a less expensive alternative…
And maybe I have. Suave Professional Dry Shampoo refreshes hair “as well as Rene Furterer” — at least that’s what it says on the side of the bottle. 🙂
Not even considering the fact that it only costs $3 (compared to $24?), the stuff is pretty good. Then when you DO consider the price, it’s downright amazing! First, there’s how fast it works. Read more…
THE SMASHBOX SULTRY/SWEET GLAMBOX TAKES
THE GUESSWORK OUT OF LOOKING GOOD
By the time I finished folding my laundry last weekend, there was a stack of 10 surf tees sitting on the bed. I don’t know when or how it happened, but it’s official — I have the wardrobe of a tween surfer boy.
It’s not that I wouldn’t like to wear other things. I just don’t like to spend the time and energy (read: I’m too lazy) it takes to put together comprehensive, fashion-forward looks. What I need is a wardrobe correction kit, a single set of pieces designed to create comprehensive looks, like a wardrobe version of the Smashbox Sultry/Sweet Glambox ($68). Read more…
LIKE SNICKERS, BITE BEAUTY DEFINE & REFINE
LIP SET REALLY SATISFIES
Sometimes you just need a quick snack to quiet the rumbling in your tummy, ya know? Not a full-on meal. Just a quick snack, like when Vampire Bill takes a sip from Sookie (Ha! I almost typed “Snookie”) while they’re “having relations.”
In a way, Bite Beauty’s new Define & Refine Lip Set ($36) is like a quick snack. You get to taste three full-size Bite lip products without having to pay full price. Purchased separately, they’d cost $68, or almost twice the price of the set.
I think Bite did a pretty good job picking the colors for this set. These are shades that should work well on a wide range of skin tones, and the overall quality, pigment and price make it a pretty great deal. If I could only recommend one thing from the Bite line so far, without a doubt, this would be it. Read more…
YOU’LL MARBLE AT MILANI’S
BAKED EYESHADOW COLLECTION
Remember when the first baked eyeshadows emerged hot and fresh out the beauty ovens way, way back in 2008? The big department store lines were popping them out faster than you can say, “I’ll take two red velvet cupcakes with extra frosting on the side.”
Three years later, the trend lives on! Budget versions of these sturdy baked beauties, which tend to resist water a little better than traditional shadows, have now made their way into drugstore makeup aisles.
And some of them work just as well as their pricier department store cousins. Take Milani’s Marbleized Baked Eyeshadows ($7.49 each), for instance. Read more…
MAC QUITE CUTE IS…
OH, THAT’S TOO OBVIOUS.
I wish I could hop into a time-traveling Delorean with the upcoming MAC Quite Cute collection and zoom back to 1984 (to when I was in 4th grade). Even though I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup back then, I would have done flips for these pastel treats for cheeks, nails, lips and eyes.
When I was a kid, I was crazy for anything and everything pastel. My favorite colors were mint green, lavender, peach and/or baby pink (not necessarily in that order). The colors of the MAC Quite Cute collection would have driven my 9-year-old self into fits! I probably would have locked myself in my room with it, loaded Duran Duran’s Notorious tape into my mint green Casio portable radio and danced around my purple painted room like an ’80s fairy princess.
Now in my thirties, I still have a deep and abiding love for pastels, and I felt the same familiar flutter in my tummy today when I saw Quite Cute up close for the very first time. Read more…
THE GLITTER IN MAKE UP FOR EVER’S NEW HIGHLIGHTERS
MAKES ME WANT TO STAY UPLIGHT
Rarely does my bizarre memory for cheesy pop music lyrics come in as handy as it did today. While marveling at the explosion of pigment and glitter on my cheeks from two of the eight new Make Up For Ever Uplight ($28) highlighters, I sang along to a MUFE version of Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl.
“Uplight girl! She’s been living in her uplight world!”
Okay, so I’m way too easily amused. But I do think these multitasking, oil-free illuminators are well worth singing about. Maybe because they’re mostly water (70%), these gel highlighters feel almost weightless, and it’s like they melt right into my skin.
NARS released a similar product earlier this spring called the Illuminators. While I think both those and these are great, MUFE gave the Uplights a fluffier, airier texture that I find easier to blend. And from the colors I’ve seen so far, the Uplights also appear to pack much more pigment. For a subtle tint, I might opt for a NARS Illuminator, but I’d reach for an Uplight if I wanted bolder colors with intense glitter and shine. Read more…
SPRING’S AWAKENING WITH SONIA KASHUK’S
LATEST LIMITED EDITION MAKEUP PALETTE
Now that it’s spring here in the northern hemisphere, Tabs has been getting up early to perch up high on his cat tower by the windows and watch the birds outside.
On our walk around the neighborhood today, we saw that the branches of one of our favorite trees, which sits at the bottom of our hill, are now dressed in coat of beautiful pink blooms.
My spring allergies are already kicking in (thank goodness for Zyrtec!), but I wouldn’t trade this time of year for anything. Early spring is like getting a post card from a friend who’s coming to visit. You know there’s something fun right around the corner, but you’re not quite there yet. You know that if if you can be patient a little longer, the fun will start soon enough. Read more…
MAC BRONZE EVERYDAY COLLECTION
THE SUN NEVER SETS WHEN IT’S MAC BRONZE EVERYDAY
Well look who’s just in time for sundresses. 🙂 Hey there, MAC. Wait — let me bare my shoulders before we go outside…
Come April 7, babes, the bronze will be on — North American MAC counters, that is (internationally some time in April). That’s when the new MAC Bronze Everyday collection beams down.
The release features a mix of old and new MAC bronzing items for face and body. Expect to see repromoted favorites like the Skinsheen Leg Sprays and Lustre Drops alongside new products like Mineralize Skinfinish Natural and the Mineralize Skinfinish Bronzing Powders.
If you miss the release, don’t despair. MAC plans to add everything here to their permanent line. Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Target. 
It’s repeated ad nauseum, but that’s because it’s true: the wrong shampoo and conditioner can wreak havoc on hair. Just like you wouldn’t give a moisturizer with mineral oil to someone with oily skin, you shouldn’t use sulfate-rich shampoos and conditioners on color-treated hair.
Styling products work by coating each strand of hair, and as many contain chemicals and oils, merely rinsing in water might not remove them. Products built up over time can leave your locks dull and limp. That’s where a clarifying shampoo comes in. 
The sun is a fickle mistress, huh? It can burn our skin, yellow our nails, and now it can dull our hair, too? Well, yup. UV rays are extremely damaging to colored hair (especially to darker shades), leaching the life out of locks and making strands brittle and dry. But it’s easy to remedy with a leave-in treatment or spray containing UV-protection (basically, sunblock for your hair!). Many companies are now formulating UV-protecting shampoos and conditioners; however, if you spend much time outside, they shouldn’t be your hair’s only defense.
Heat styling and volumizing products both do some of the same things. They open the cuticle and make hair porous. Heat does it by making the hair cuticle expand; volumizing products do it by forcing open the cuticle and making strands appear thicker. Both of them allow color to escape. 
— that I know El Hub loves the sound of my voice because I can see it in his eyes. 
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