Archives for November 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to You

November 24th, 2011 by Karen 51 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving from Makeup and Beauty Blog

Today’s a special day, friend, and I hope it’s a very good one for you. I have so many things to be thankful for — a healthy family, El Hub, a somewhat friendly cat, and you. 🙂

But that’s not all.

I’m thankful…

For photography, because it opened my eyes to the world. I’m still just a beginner, but I feel like I’ve come a long way since those first blurry pics of the Barbie Loves MAC collection.

I started out thinking of my camera as a gadget, but now I see it as a paintbrush. Outside, I notice things now that I don’t remember noticing before, like the color of sun-dappled leaves and exactly where the trees cast their shadows just before the sun sets. I’ll watch scenes filmed outdoors on TV shows and know, or think I know at least, what time of day they were shot in by the color of the light.

I really enjoy it, and I’m thankful to have discovered how much I like being behind a lens.

I’m thankful…

For kindness. I’m in my 30s now, and I have zero tolerance for cruelty, spite, bitterness and things like that. “Life is short,” isn’t a clichÃ© anymore. It’s just the truth.

I feel like I’ve been around for a good chunk of time now, and just when I start to feel beaten down by the nightly news, a young man will hold a door open for an old woman, a child will share her lunch with a hungry friend, a family will adopt a shelter dog — I’ll see some act of kindness somewhere that reminds me what it means to be good.

Kind people of the world, I salute you. You make everything better. 🙂

I’m thankful…

For the musicians who create the music that moves me. Running on the treadmill is easier when I can bop along to Phoenix, and singing in the shower about my neurosis is all the sweeter when it’s to a Sara Bareilles tune.

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Woo Hoo, Ruby Woo!

November 23rd, 2011 by Karen 4 Comments

One of the best MAC reds, evah! MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick, $14.50.

Give Yourself a Glitter Ombre Manicure to Support Your Team on Thanksgiving

November 23rd, 2011 by Karen 25 Comments

I stopped by a UPS Store to mail a package last week and received an unexpected compliment from the guy working the counter. He pointed at my glittery red and gold ombre manicure and said, “Atta girl! You’re wearing 49er colors.”

Go Niners! He said that his wife, a long-time Niners fan, would probably love to wear a mani like that on game day and asked if it was hard to do.

“Not at all,” I replied, and I walked him through the process as he prepped my package.

FYI: Talking nails with a big, burly UPS guy is weirdly entertaining. About halfway through the process, his eyes took on the same glazed, confused look that El Hub gets when I try to explain why it makes perfect sense for me to own 15 pairs of black shoes…

That’s when I suggested that the guy have his wife visit MBB. 🙂

If you’re a sports fan, Thanksgiving also means football! — a fun excuse to 1) paint your nails in support of your team and 2) give everyone around you something sparkly to look at while they heap mashed potatoes on their plate (YUM!).

To match the 49ers, I used red and gold shades from China Glaze and Lippmann.

Polishes from the left: China Glaze Champagne Bubbles, Lippmann Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?, and China Glaze Ring in the Red

So, Mr. UPS guy, this one’s for you and your wife! 🙂

Kickoff and the start of the first quarter

Let’s start by applying a clear base coat to even out the surface of the nail, and then brush on three layers of your background color, in my case golden Champagne Bubbles by China Glaze.

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Retrospeck Eyeshadow

November 23rd, 2011 by Karen 25 Comments

These days, getting the family together for the holidays is like planning a trip to the moon. There are so many machinations involved in getting everyone under one roof that I’ve considered getting NASA involved.

Things sure were easier when I was a kid… On Thanksgivings, all my brother and I had to do was open our eyes, most of the time around noon, and lumber down the hall toward the kitchen and the aroma of great food.

The hallway outside my old room in my parents’ house that leads to the kitchen

This year we couldn’t get the whole family together for the day tomorrow, and it makes me a little sad. With El Hub’s parents having just moved here to California earlier this month, we’ll be driving out to see them. It’s about a four-hour drive to a town close to the Oregon border called Redding, and I’m a little nervous because I’ll be meeting a group of the family there that I’ve never met before, some of El Hub’s cousins, aunts and uncles. I’m sure everyone will be very nice, but I’m really going to miss spending the day with my brother and parents.

You know how it is… These are the kinds of things that people deal with over the holidays when family members live far apart.

Whatev, Shauna the Wonderdog still thinks it sucks…

Since we’ll be hitting the road early tomorrow, I’ve drawn upon my vast experience as a makeup nerd/control freak to lay out a beauty plan, because the last thing I want to do on Thanksgiving is scare the relatives, BOO! 🙂

The plan involves today’s Unsung Hero, MAC Retrospeck Eyeshadow ($15 for a pan; $11 for the Pro Palette Refill at the top of this post).

Like MAC Phloof!, Restrospeck is one of my favorite get-out-the-door products. It brightens eyes in just a few quick swipes.

MAC describes it as a bleached blonde, but on my skin I see a warm and shimmery mix of silver and gold — a surefire way to look wide-eyed and bright.

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Live Clean Baby, an Eco-Friendly Cruelty-Free Line, Arrives at Walgreens Stores

November 23rd, 2011 by Karen 14 Comments

Anonymous sources on Sesame Street have confirmed that rubber ducky makes bath time lots of fun, and with the new Live Clean Baby line of cruelty-free drugstore baby products, the whole bath time experience is likely to improve. 🙂

Yup, for the moms and grandmothers among us — and for those of us who just like soothing, gentle drugstore products in adorable packaging — the six-piece Live Clean Baby collection has made its way from Canada to U.S. Walgreens stores.

The collection includes a Tearless Shampoo & Wash, Moisturizing Baby Bath, Moisturizing Bar Soap, Non-Petroleum Jelly, Diaper Ointment, and a Lotion, each one priced at $7.99.

I went through a phase in high school when I was obsessed with Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo and Lotion. They were just so uncomplicated and gentle, and that’s also how I feel about these.

Tabs, as the current “baby” of our family, approves of my use of this line, as the products don’t contain any animal ingredients and weren’t tested on animals. They’re mostly plant-derived and free of many of the harsher synthetic chemicals commonly found in drugstore bath products and lotions, like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), diethanolamine (DEA), parabens and phthalates. The company claims that 98%-100 of the ingredients are plant-derived.

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