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Archives for January 2012

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 205

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  • You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
    Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
  1. Mood:

    2. Optimistically mellow… 🙂

  2. Flashback time! We’re going all the way back to the winter of 2002. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing 10 years ago?

    3. That would have made me 26, so let’s see… I was four months into a new job working in the legal department at a big public utility and living with a roommate in San Francisco’s Richmond District (five minutes away from the beach!).

    It was the happiest I’d been in a while. I finally had a steady job again and a great roommate after working a string of temporary gigs and living in less-than-ideal situations. And things got even better a few months later when I met El Hub.

  3. Are you naturally athletic?

    4. Good gawd, no. Not when it comes to projectile sports. I was the person in P.E. who’d run away from the ball whenever it was thrown in her direction. In my defense, part of it was because I was nearsighted but didn’t really figure it out until I was 16.

    I’m okay when it comes to running, but that’s about it.

  4. Three makeup or beauty-related things you’ve been loving lately?

    5. Anything and everything moisturizing, like Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Tiger Lily, Laura Mercier Gel Lip Colour in Dollface and Pacifica French Lilac Body Butter (in LOVE with this since I picked it up at Sephora on Saturday).

  5. Three other things you’ve been loving lately?

    6. My pink and black plaid Victoria’s Secret pajamas (complete with matching slippers), the nice weather we had last weekend, and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Vanilla Tea.

  6. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?

    7. It depends. I’m more of an extrovert, but I withdraw when I’m tired or sad.

  7. Something you feel too old to wear?

    8. Let’s be honest here. Sh*t happens, and yes, there are some things I feel too old to wear, like short shorts, mini skirts and anything with tons of ruffles and/or zippers…

  8. Do you blog? Why or why not?

    9. I do! I do it because I enjoy writing, photography, makeup, being theatrical and whimsical, and getting to know interesting people like you.

  9. What’s the least amount of sleep you can fully function on?

    10. Six hours. Anything less and I’m a foggy-headed grumpy goat.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Email and call a couple of old friends to say hi, go through the stack of magazines piling up in the living room, and try a new recipe or two.

Hey, hey, happy Monday! I hope you had a nice, relaxing weekend, friend. As usual, mine wasn’t long enough, but I was able to go for a long hike on Saturday with El Hub, and I still feel recharged from that.

There’s just something about spending time outdoors that always perks me up, ya know? I went to this place near my house called the Indian Valley Open Space Preserve. If you’re ever in the area with some time on your hands, there are some beautiful trails, even a tiny waterfall (home to a bunch of salamanders, El Hub excitedly pointed out!), and a number of friendly horses and horseback riders.

I don’t know how ready I am yet for today, but I’ll hang tough if you do. Please take a minute to touch base and say hello in today’s Monday Poll.

  • To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.



1. Mood:
2. Flashback time! Do you remember where you were and what you were doing 10 years ago?
3. Are you naturally athletic?
4. Three makeup or beauty-related things you’ve been loving lately?
5. Three other things you’ve been loving lately?
6. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
7. Something you feel too old to wear?
8. The least amount of sleep you can get by on?
9. Do you blog? Why or why not?
10. Weekly goals:

Jeez, last Monday of January already? Let’s make it a day to remember.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 176

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Tabs for Essie Bluebird Nail Polish

Back from Vietnamese food for din-din, and now I’m freshly showered and ready to watch the next episode of my latest TV obsession, Downton Abbey!

“…my latest TV obsession.” I must type that phrase at least five time a week.

Anywho, Tabs finally talked me into giving it a try, and I’m so glad I caved because it’s 10 shades of great. It’s filled with royal politicking and machinations, just like life with Tabs. 🙂

The reason he wanted me to watch it is because he’s actually a guest star on the show. Yep, he plays a groundskeeper in a few of the episodes who takes care of the family’s extensive 4-acre zinnia garden.

I’m just about to fire up the next episode, so I gotta run. Feel free to hit me up in the comments if you’d like to Downton Abbey dish.

But first! — highlights from Tabs’ kitty modeling work this week. He had shoots with Essie, Burberry, Tarte, Estée Lauder and Hourglass.

Tabs for the Burberry Cat Carrier

Tabs for Tarte Tabby Tummy Tint in Rainbow Trout
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Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow Could Use a Dash More Blush and a Tad Less Glow

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tarte maracuja blush & glow (4)
Wearing Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow in Sunlight on my cheeks

Aha! I knew I’d seen this unusual suspect before…

Tarte’s new Maracuja Blush & Glow line of tint and highlighter duos has been giving me major déjà vu. They look and feel awfully similar to a couple of my tried-and-true loves from NARS, namely the Multiples ($39) and Illuminators ($29).

Available now at Sephora stores and online for $32, each Blush & Glow comes with a Tarte Tint at the tip and a Luminizer in the tube.

Passion fruitMaracujá oil comes from passion fruit seeds, and Tarte added it to the Maracuja Blush & Glows. They say it delivers a high dose of essential fatty acids and vitamin C to the skin when applied.

As similar as I think these are to the Multiples and Illuminators, I wouldn’t call them dupes. Their counterparts over at NARS do seem to pack a little more pigment and feel a tad smoother to me, but after giving all three Blush & Glow shades a try, I will say this: they’ve got game.

The Tint tip performs like a cream blush on bare skin or atop foundation, while the illuminating Luminizer, aka a liquid highlighter, bestows a shimmery glow to the tops of cheekbones, along brow bones or when added to foundation.

Shimmery champagne Candlelight appears to be the neutral babe in the bunch; cool-toned shimmery pink Moonlight should work well for gals who like the way they look in cool-toned pinks; and Sunlight, a warm shimmery peach, is just begging to play with warmer skin tones and tans.

I gave each of them a try on bare skin and then atop foundation, and I thought they did much better with foundation. On bare skin, the colors skipped town after about an hour, but they held their grown for 5 hours on top of foundation.

Part of me loves natural-looking cheeks, and that’s the part that adores the subtle glow I get from these duos. I also like how I can apply and blend them with my fingers. It’s just nice not having to use a brush, and it saves time for more important things, like emergency trips to See’s Candy, Target, Trader Joe’s and Petco (Tabs has been all about dried catnip lately) — or other times when I need to look presentable in a rush.

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Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow from the left: Sunlight, Candlelight and Moonlight

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From the left: Sunlight, Candlelight and Moonlight
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The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Weekly Roundup

Good morning, fellow beauty babe. How’s it going today? Did you do anything fun yesterday?

I didn’t get to a whole lot of the things I wanted to get to around the house yesterday, like housecleaning and grocery shopping, but I did manage to go for a nice hike with El Hub. Fun took precedence over function.

Oh, what do you know about cat cafes…? Yes, this is completely random, but if you come by very often, you’ll know that’s sort of par for the course around here. 🙂

So about cat cafes, apparently they’re popping up all over Japan. They’re places where you pay a reasonable fee for the privilege of spending some time with cats. Here’s an interesting article about ’em (complete with pretty kitty pictures!). Seriously, someone needs to open one here in the U.S. because I know at least a few hundred cat lovers who’d be regular customers, myself included, even if it meant upsetting Tabs… He’d probably say I’m cheating on him.

In other news, here’s a trend (you have to click your region after the link) I never thought would ever again see the light of day. I saw these recently on the American Apparel site.

I remember wearing HUGE bows back in the day… Every girl in my seventh-grade class had one in her hair.

I don’t know, though. Are these supposed to be for grown women? I’m a little confused (and yet intrigued). 🙂

As for food trucks, remember last weekend when I mentioned wanting to make it to Off the Grid (the local food truck jamboree)? It was raining here during the last one, so I missed it, but it’s supposed to be sunny today.

Wish me luck!

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

  • How to prevent eyeshadow fallout — Kajal Couture
  • Nail art brushes: having the right tools for the job — The Nailasaurus
  • LOVE these cool iPhone cases — society6
  • The Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Grège 734 — The Beauty Look Book
  • Tips to overcome procrastination (I’ll try ’em later, LOL!) — the99percent
  • How to use your camera’s Aperture Priority (sometimes called AV) mode to create awesome blurry background effects — Running on Happiness
  • Four words: Hunger Games sugar cookies — Fictional Food
  • How to cover practically anything on your skin from pimples to red patches — Beauty Editor
  • Good knight! a England’s Order of the Garter is a gorgeous blue nail polish — Nihrida
  • Gotta love a good makeup book: Makeup Makeovers in 5, 10, 15, and 20 Minutes — Jennysue Makeup
  • The relationship between acne and food — The Beauty Department

MAKEUP MONSTER: BRONZER BUGBEAR

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Makeup MonsterFREQUENCY: Rare
SPEED: Slow
ARMOR CLASS: 9
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Bronzer Bugbears are huge, slathering ogres with a taste for bronzer. They consume it for the talc and silica, which they need to survive, and also like to roll around in it like elephants do with mud.

Bronzer Bugbears are able to sense the presence of bronzer within a 10-mile radius, but the exact mechanism by which this sense works remains a mystery (it’s not a sense of smell, since Bronzer Bugbears lack noses). Once within range of bronzer or a person wearing it, they attack! — using a special powder puff that all Bronzer Bugbears instinctively know how to construct. After collecting the bronzer, they retreat to their lairs to eat it in peace.

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: Huge (12′ tall)

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Makeup Monsters

Makeup and Beauty Blog Weekly Roundup

Burberry Beauty Spring/Summer 2012Summer in Britain With Burberry Beauty

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes for Spring 2012Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes for Spring 2012

Burberry Beauty Pale Barley EyeshadowBurberry Beauty Pale Barley Eyeshadow in No. 22

MAC A Shade of Red for Every HeartMAC A Shade of Red For Every Heart

Burberry Lip Cover Lipstick for Spring 2012New Pink Burberry Beauty Lip Cover Lipsticks

Essie Navigate Her Nail PolishesThe Essie Navigate Her Nail Polishes

Estee Lauder Illuminating Perfecting PrimerEstée Lauder Illuminating Perfecting Primer

Estee Lauder Pure Color BlushesThe Estée Lauder Pure Color Blushes

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

When You Look at The Bright Side, Tarte’s New Double-Ended Eye Brightener Has Some Pretty Good Ingredients

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Tarte had a bright idea when they thought they’d combine two powder shadows on the same brightener, but is the total package worth the time it takes to use? I hope so! — because I can always use the help when it comes my dark circles.

When I heard about Tarte’s new twin-tipped eye brightener, I thought, heck, let’s look at The Bright Side ($20). 🙂

The Bright Side has a powder shadow on each end — a shimmery champagne called Day on one and a shimmery pink called Night on the other.

To open up and brighten the eyes, Tarte recommends applying Day at the outer corners and under the brow. Then, to really make the eyes pop, they suggest applying Night at the inner corners.

My expectations may have been set a little too high when I gave The Bright Side a try. I mean, the name — The Bright Side? That’s a setup right there. 🙂 I had high hopes, but the product’s not as easy as I hoped it would be to use.

Day / Night: Ingredients

Shimmering Pink: Mica, C12-15 Alkyl Ethylhexanoate, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Triethylhexanoin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Myristyl Lactate, Ceresin, Silica, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Tocopherol, Caprylyl Glycol, Methicone, Phenoxyethanol, Propylene Carbonate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Hexylene Glycol, Propolis Extract, Kaolin, Carmine (CI 75470), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491).

Shimmering Champagne: Mica, C-12-15 Alkyl Ethylhexanoate, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Triethylhexanoin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Myristyl Lactate, Ceresin, Silica, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Methicone, Tocopherol, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Propylene Carbonate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Hexylene Glycol, Propolis Extract, Kaolin, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

The sponge tip applicators at both ends apply each shadow unevenly, so I have to spend a few extra minutes patting and blending them in, which wouldn’t be a bother if I didn’t also have to apply about four layers to see the colors on my NC 42 skin (lighter lovelies should be able to get away with one or two).


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