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Archives for March 2012

When You Think of Beautiful Makeup Marketing Campaigns, What Are the First Ones That Come to Mind?

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Beautiful makeup marketing campaigns?

Most of the ones that pop into my head first are from MAC, like the Fabulous Felines collection from fall 2010? With the kitties! That has to be one of my favorite makeup marketing campaigns of all time.

And then there’s MAC Chenman, which is on counters now. I just think the imagery and the references to water are very pretty, and oh! — the MAC Originals collection from back in 2007, with the older woman with the cane.

She was pimpin’. 🙂

Now that I think about it, a bunch of other campaigns are coming to mind, like the print ads for the Bobbi Brown Ivy League collection. That had some pretty cool imagery in it with the preppy tweed styling.

And Chanel has had a bunch of visually interesting marketing campaigns over the years, but one that’s occurring to me now — and I’m not sure if it was the official campaign or just a beautiful backstage photo — was for Les Trompe-L’oeil de Chanel, the Chanel temporary tattoos release, with the model wearing the tats on her neck and shoulders? I thought that was very neat.

I also think Benefit has done some interesting campaigns over the years, like recently with their B.Right! line. I love the image of the girl wearing the lamp shade as a hat.

When you think of beautiful makeup marketing campaigns, what are the first ones that come to mind?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. El Hub and I are already back from our St. Patrick’s Day feast. We just went to a brewery/restaurant here in town called Moylans. I got my fish and chip on, haaay!

Now, I’m gonna sit on the couch with my copy of Catching Fire (I’m just about to start Part 2: The Quell!).

Hope you had a nice St. Patrick’s Day. 🙂

Elizabeth Banks: Her Best Hair?

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Elizabeth Banks: Her Best Hair?

Born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell on February 10, 1974, actress (and occasional CNBC anchor on 30 Rock), Elizabeth Banks is helping me through a tough time…

You see, I have Hunger Games fever right now — BAD. I stayed up way past my bedtime last night re-reading the first book, finished it, and then started on the second one, and now while I’m reading the books, I picture the characters as the actors who are playing them in the new movie (Elizabeth plays Effie Trinket).

The only one who doesn’t fit for me is Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. I don’t know… I see Haymitch as more of a Robert Downey Jr. type, especially when he looks like this, but a little bit scragglier and undoubtedly stinky.

This is kinda weird, but sometimes I get Elizabeth and Parker Posey confused. Is that just me? As a matter of fact, I only just now figured out while reading about Elizabeth that she was the actress who starred in the Spider-Man movies (worked for J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle).

This whole time I thought that was Parker. Seriously, I can’t be the only one who sees a resemblance.

I even remember telling people, “Wasn’t Parker Posey great in Spider-Man!?”

LOL! Sorry, ladies. For what it’s worth, I’m a doofus, and I think you’re both great. 🙂

Elizabeth also has what looks like a fun recurring role on 30 Rock playing Jack’s business savvy girlfriend, CNBC anchor Avery Jessup.

Man, I love that show… And oddly, so does Tabs. He’ll even come down from upstairs to sit on the floor in front of the TV when it’s on.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Elizabeth in The Hunger Games next week. I just hope, hope, hope the movie lives up to, or at least gets close, to my expectations.

Which of Elizabeth's hairstyles do you like best?

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Your friendly neighborhood tribute,

Karen

Two Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora!

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A Makeup and Beauty Blog giveaway

Luck o’ the Irish to ya! That’s one of the ways El Hub wooed me into marrying him, by saying that because he’s part Irish, we would have a long and lucky life. I’d pretty much already made up my mind by then, but ya know, it was another selling point. 🙂

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! May you be very fortunate, not just today, but always.

I can’t think of anything new or noteworthy this morning. We did go see that movie last night, 21 Jump Street, and that was a lot of fun. You gimme a big bag of mixed popcorn/kettlecorn, Channing Tatum in a uniform and a pretty well-written comedy, and I’m a happy gal.

I’m still dusting the cobwebs off my brain this morning, so I’m having a wee bit o’ difficulty (because it’s St. Paddy’s, I’m going to talk like that all day long; just warning you) stringing my sentences together, but I’m sure today’s fried food and beer will help, haha!

Time to make a Starbuck’s run. Can I get you something while I’m there? You stay here and enter today’s giveaway. I’ll be right back.

What folks are saying…

“Oh my goodness! Thank you so much Karen (and Tabs, of course)! I really appreciate this! I’d been eyeing the Anastasia brow pencil in Strawburn to match my red hair!”
-Chelsea (and Jiji the kitten and Quincy the bunny)

“Hi Karen and Tabs. Wow! Thanks so much for this! It’s hard to believe I actually won something. I can’t wait to shop my little heart out! Thanks again. Love to Tabs! And I love your blog with the Tabs stories. ;+)”
-Sophie, St Petersburg, FL

“Never before have I been so pleased to check my email right before bed!!! Thank you so, so much! I truly enjoy your blog and check it almost daily! Thanks again! This made my night!”
-Melissa, Edmond, OK

“Hi Karen. Oh my goodness! I can’t believe I won! :O Thank you so much! You, Tabs, and your blog are amazing! Thank you for keeping me updated on all things beauty and more importantly, for keeping me entertained! Keep doing your thing! 🙂 Thank you again.”
-Jacqueline

“Hi Karen. Thank you so much, I’m so excited, I’ve never won anything before. My name is Hana … I just turned 25 (today is my birthday!) Yay! Thank you.”
-Hana

  • One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

  • There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, what’s your favorite fried food? When was the last time you had fish and chips (or corned beef and cabbage)? Have you ever had a green beer? Are you wearing anything green today? Have you ever found a four-leaf clover? Have you ever worn green eyeshadow? — you get the idea.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora! http://bit.ly/z0nbvl

  • The deadline to enter is Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 11:59PM (PT).
  • Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
  • A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
  • Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
  • Sephora eGift Certificates can only be redeemed online and are not valid in stores or available for purchase or redemption in Canada. International winners may opt to substitute the Sephora eGift card prize for $50 sent directly to their email address by PayPal instead.
  • Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
  • The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
  • Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Keep an Eye Out for the Too Faced Summer Eye Summertime Sexy Shadow Collection

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too faced summer eye

Earlier today, as I sat upstairs in my office staring out the window, I realized that I spend a lot of time staring out the window. 🙂

I’m pretty sure the neighbors think it’s creepy… I’ve caught them staring back a few times, but whatev. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, right? Letting my mind wander helps me work stuff out.

I have noticed that I think about different things depending on the weather. When it’s raining and overcast like it’s been this week, I keep getting distracted. Instead of contemplating lip plumpers, verbs and things I can photograph on top of Tabs, I’ve been daydreaming about summer, beaches and hanging out by the pool.

Thank goodness for the new Too Faced Summer Eye Summertime Sexy Shadow Collection ($36), which is really just a palette… It’s part of the new limited edition Too Faced Summer 2012 collection, and it’s been the only thing keeping the weather from getting me down.

The palette contains nine shimmery, summery shadows in beachy bronzes and browns, accented with warm coral, pink and teal (here are the swatches). It also has a few how-to cards that show how to create three different eye looks.

too faced summer eye

too faced summer eye
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My St. Patrick’s Day Multi-Colored Manicure in Different Shades of Green

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My Lucky St. Patrick's Day Nails

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, and that means two things: 1) that today is St. Patrick’s Day Eve, and 2) that I get to be Irish tomorrow, thanks to El Hub and the Irish Proximity Effect. He says that because he’s one quarter Irish, I get to be part Irish by proximity for 24 hours.

And I plan to put that time to good use. 🙂

For some folks, St. Patty’s Day means beer, and lots of it. Me? I use my Irish By Association card as a free pass to eat as much fried food as I can.

Like fish and chips.

Oh, I love fish and chips… The precious little basket they come in, dousing them with vinegar and salt, and that first crunchy bite of melt-in-your-mouth batter and flaky fish…

I’m sorry, where was I?

Oh, yeah! St. Patrick’s Day. Almost as much as the food, I also like to see folks getting green in the spirit of the day (please leave me a link to your look!), and I usually try to add a little something green to my beauty routine. This year, it’s with a multi-colored manicure in different shades of green.

A St. Patrick's Day Nail Tutorial

I actually didn’t start out planning to do something with more than one shade, but when I sat down with a few polishes, thinking I’d pick one right then, I couldn’t decide.

So I used all three — Dolce & Gabbana’s Mint ($20), Sonia Kashuk’s Making Waves ($9.99) and China Glaze Ray-Diant ($8).

A St. Patrick's Day Nail Tutorial
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Which Way Did You Vote for MAC By Request?

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The riddle of time travel remains a nut science has yet to crack, but even though we can’t alter the past (yet), we can shape the future!

With the new MAC By Request collection, MAC is giving 18 of their former bestselling Eye Shadows, Lipsticks and Lipglasses a second chance at stardom, and it’s by people’s choice on Facebook.

The three top vote getters in each of the three categories will go on sale again in the limited edition release beginning this August in North America (online only) and in internationally sometime this fall.

Missing your favorite MAC colors from days of yore, like the kinder, gentler days of The Jersey Shore’s first season (when Sammi and the Situation were, like, a thing)? Act now, because MAC is taking requests for comeback colors. Now through March 30, cast your vote on Facebook for the colors you’d like to make an encore appearance in MAC By Request. The top nine fan favorite shades will go on sale again beginning this August, exclusively online.

I was able to track down 13 of the 18 eligible colors… Have you made your decision yet? Which of these former stars (three each per category) deserves a comeback? The shades not shown here are Candy Yum Yum and Moxie among the Lipsticks, Icescape among the Lipglasses, and Moth Brown and Solar White for the Eye Shadows.

I cast my votes for… 🙂

  • Lipsticks: 3N, Eden Rocks and Rocker
  • Lipglasses: Cult of Cherry, Flash of Flesh and Bait
  • Eye Shadows: Cool Heat, Guacamole and Heavenly Bliss

Eye Shadows

mac by request eyeshadows
Eye Shadows clockwise from the blue pan on the left: Cool Heat, Heavenly Bliss, Guacamole and Jeté

mac guacamole
Guacamole

mac heavenly bliss
Heavenly Bliss
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