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Archives for April 2012

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

April 15th, 2012 by Karen 9 Comments

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Weekly Roundup

I’m starting to realize just how much I enjoy going to tea houses. On my second trip into the city this week, I had a hankering for tea and that smoked salmon quiche I had earlier in the week at Samovar Tea Lounge, so I went back on Thursday.

I love the whole experience of it, ya know, because you’re there, you’re eating, you’re socializing. Plus, you’re having tea! And you’re having it in cute little cups with matching saucers.

Which reminds me — have we ever talked about fine china? I don’t own any, but I’d love to have a nice set someday. Doing dishes the other day, I realized that I don’t own a full set of matching dishes. And I may never will, thanks to El Hub (sorry, sweetie, but it’s true). I love that man, but he has an uncanny knack for breaking plates, and quite frankly, it drives me bonkers.

I don’t know how one man can break so many dishes… It’s like his superpower. I swear, if I ever get a really nice set, they’re going to be off limits to him.

A few beauty posts that caught my eye…

  • Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Shadows look lovely — We Heart This
  • Want! This set of T3 Voluminous Hot Rollers– Cafe Makeup
  • And speaking of curls, the ghd Style Curl Hold Spray looks intriguing, too — Let’s MakeYuUp
  • Nom nom, coral nail polishes for spring! — The Beauty Look Book
  • I like the idea of the natural, sheer matte finish of this Chanel Loose Powder — 25fLondon
  • New lipstick shades from Le Metier de Beaute — The Non-Blonde
  • Butter London Nail Stickers? Yes, please! — A Vain Woman
  • A soft, blue eye look with Clarins — The Notice
  • A tutorial with soft citrus colors to wake up your eye look — Beaut.ie
  • Sounds like I need this Clarins Relax Bath & Shower Concentrate, stat — MakeUp4All

Oh, no. They’re back! Reports of a new makeup monster sighting are trickling in. Witnesses report seeing purple school buses and orange stop lights. Very unusual, indeed…

Color Chameleon

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Makeup MonsterDescription: Color Chameleons are shy, solitary reptilian humanoids with an unfortunate special ability. Like other species in the Chamaeleonidae family, they are able to change their skin color, which they often use as camouflage to avoid predators, or when courting a mate; however, they are also able to change the color of items in their immediate surroundings, which makes them particularly dangerous to makeup artists. And painters.

Although generally peaceful, they are quick to react when bright colors, interesting color patterns or large blocks of uninterrupted color threaten their territory. Using stealth and camouflage, they will stalk the colorful interloper, getting up to within a few feet of it, and then change its colors by proximity.

They derive sustenance by licking pigmented products. It’s kind of nasty…but not altogether dangerous.

Frequency: Rare
Speed: Medium
Armor Class: 5
Special Attacks: Proximity pigment change
Special Defenses: Camouflage
Intelligence: Low
Alignment: Neutral
Size: Medium (7′ tall)

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Makeup Monsters
The Makeup and Beauty Blog Makeup Monsters
Makeup and Beauty Blog Weekly Roundup

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Right Image A MAC Unsung Hero: Cremesheen Glass in Right Image

Becca Mineral Blush in Bolero Becca Mineral Blush in Bolero

Urban Decay Summer 2012 Nail Kit Urban Decay Summer 2012 Nail Kit

Becca Eye Tint in Romanticism Becca Eye Tint in Romanticism

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Garden Collection Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Garden Collection

Zoya Beach and Surf Collections Making Waves With Zoya Beach & Surf

Laura Mercier Belle Nouveau Collection The Laura Mercier Belle Nouveau Collection

Estee Lauder Pure Color Gloss Sequins Finish The Estèe Lauder Sequins Finish and Two Tone Collections

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun Keywords: weeklyroundup

Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadows

April 15th, 2012 by Karen 5 Comments

Three of the 10 shades from Make Up For Ever’s new line of Aqua Shadows, $20 each. From the left: 30E (a pearly pink beige), 26E (a pearly pink) and 4E (a matte taupe gray). Available now at Sephora stores and online.

There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Beauty Keywords: make up for ever

Mom’s Lumpia

April 14th, 2012 by Karen 16 Comments



There are 16 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Photo

Shimmery Champagne and Olive Make This Dune a Visionaire of Love: The Hourglass Visionaire Eye Shadow Duo in Dune

April 14th, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

hourglass dune

Next time you happen to find yourself by the Hourglass display at Sephora, have a look at my new favorite duo, the Visionaire Eye Shadow Duo in Dune ($38).

Oh, it’s so gorgeous… One side, a shimmery champagne; the other a deep, shimmery olive with a whisper of smokey black, but this duo’s good looks are just the icing on the cake. Both shades also blend like coffee and cream. Super silky, highly pigmented, and best of all? — when they’re layered on top of a good primer, they DO NOT MOVE.

Paired with NARS Pro-Prime, they don’t crease or fade for…I don’t know, 14 hours? It really does seem that long. Heck, I even wore them on bare eyelids for fun the other day and still only noticed a couple creases hours later.

hourglass dune

hourglass dune swatch

hourglass dune
[Continue reading…]

There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Eyes, Hourglass, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: hourglass, hourglass cosmetics

What’s Your Weekend Beauty Homework?

April 14th, 2012 by Karen 16 Comments

Weekend Beauty Homework
Clockwise from the left: MAC 30 Lash ($8), MAC 36 Lash ($15) and MAC 34 Lash ($15)

I gave myself a few beauty assignments this weekend. In no particular order, I’d like to give myself an at-home mani/pedi, apply a face mask (I’m still stuck on Tata Harper’s Resurfacing Mask), and do a head-to-toe exfoliation with Koke’e Body Polish by Malie Organics, a Hawaiian indie skincare line.

Oh, yeah. Teacher also wants me to practice applying false lashes… The MAC video at the bottom of this post has inspired me to up my lash game.

How about you? Do you have any weekend beauty homework assignments?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 16 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

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

April 14th, 2012 by Karen 514 Comments

  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Amy! Congratulations, Amy! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

A Makeup and Beauty Blog giveaway
A Makeup and Beauty Blog giveaway

Tabs is such a creature of habit, and if something forces him to break one of his regular patterns, he gets very fussy. Every morning, as long as I’m awake before dawn, he requires at least 5 minutes of lap-time lurvies to set the tone for the day, and if I’m busy, incoherent, or just not paying close enough attention to my petting, he’ll grumble, mumble and nibble at my elbows and hands as if to say, “You’re doing a terrible job.”

He also does this thing I call “the circuit,” which he does throughout the day, where he sprints down the hallway (slipping and sliding, because the floor is tiled), through the dining room, the kitchen and then to the living room and back to the hallway almost to where he started. And he always runs in the exact same direction every time, counter clockwise.

At Nordstrom the other day, I realized that I do a circuit, too. With makeup counters. And I’ve been running pretty much the same route for, oh, eight years!

It always starts at MAC, and then I sprint to Chanel and Laura Mercier, and then around the perimeter of the department to Clarins, Clinique, Shiseido, YSL, Dior, Estée Lauder, Bobbi Brown and Trish McEvoy, before finishing at Lancôme (sometimes out of breath!).

I also do a circuit at Sephora, where I start on the right side of the store and work my way around counter-clockwise (it just feels right).

What folks are saying…

“Shut the front door! OMG Karen, you have made my day. 🙂 I’m sick in bed with the flu and this has just cheered me up immensely!!!!!!!! BTW, I’m the one that sent you that pic of my pug in a wig a few weeks back LOL! Thanks again, honestly, I’m beyond giddy right now.”
-Angel

“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)

“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

Win a $50 gift card from Sephora

  • 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, do you have a circuit/pattern you follow when you visit the beauty department? What was the first counter you ever visited? What’s on your current beauty lemming list? Have you ever worked at a makeup counter? Do you have allergies (because I do)? What’s your favorite eye primer? — 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/IFdvza

  • The deadline to enter is Sunday, April 15, 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

  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Amy! Congratulations, Amy! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
There are 514 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Giveaways, Just For Fun Keywords: giveaway

Happens Every Time

April 14th, 2012 by Karen 9 Comments


There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Beauty Keywords: tabs

Raindrops on Pink Petals

April 13th, 2012 by Karen 5 Comments


There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Daily Photo

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

Makeup and Beauty Blog features daily product reviews, makeup tips and beauty news — like an interactive version of a monthly print magazine, except with occasional pictures of my cat.

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