Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Look what I spotted at the mall last week, new sunglasses by Bobbi Brown.
Seems kind of random, but Bobbi is sometimes pictured wearing a pair o’ black specs, so I guess it makes sense.
Some of them are pretty darned cute. Lots of chunky, hip frames that should go with just about everything. Prices are from $139-179, so they’re not inexpensive.
What do you think? I’d totally rock the Stella.
You know when your hair reaches that maddening length — that hellacious hair point of no return — when trying to wrangle it into place becomes about as easy as trying to ride a bucking bronco?
I’m at that point.
I probably should’ve gotten a haircut about a month ago, but eh. You know how it goes…
The side braid has been totally saving my butt lately. It’s cute and easy (and I feel like Katniss Everdeen when I rock it), but I still like to switch things up.
Enter the messy braided bun! 🙂 It’s just as easy and only takes five minutes.
I got the idea from L’Oreal Consulting Celebrity Hairstylist Mara Roszak, who works her hair magic on glam red carpet gals like Emma Stone, Olivia Wilde and Mila Kunis, in an online webinar. I asked Mara for an easy, trendy hairstyle I could do in five minutes, and she suggested a textured bun.
Importantly, it’s easy. Just start by putting your hair into a ponytail. Then, braid the pony (haha, I just wanted to write, “braid the pony”), and secure the ends with an elastic.
My nose knows! Whenever a gal walks by wearing Chloe, I can always pinpoint the scent. El Hub and my friends make fun of me because of my heightened sense of smell, but whatevs (my olfactory abilities are often compared to those of a Bassett Hound). It’s my one cool parlor trick, I guess. (“That girl who just walked by? She’s wearing Chloe.”)
I love and wear Chloe, myself, in all of its incarnations, but I have a soft spot for the original Chloe and Love, Chloe.
The newest version of the scent, Roses de Chloe Eau de Toilette, though, is jostling for the top spot. I’ve been setting aside the richer scents I wore over the holidays in favor of brighter, more citrusy fragrances, and this one smells so good…
Chloe’s signature rose notes still beat at the heart of the fragrance, but this one’s lighter, with a sparkling bergamot (a citrus fruit) note that freshens it up for spring.
The official fragrance notes are fresh cut roses, bergamot, rose essence, magnolia accord, white musk and amber. Unofficially, I’d call it “sleeping in on a Saturday meets getting a surprise delivery of roses meets the best mimosa you’ve ever had.” 🙂
Care to give Roses de Chloé a sniff? You can find it now at Sephora, Nordstrom and nordstrom.com.
Shocker of all shockers (I’m serious, you may want to sit down for this), I was running late yesterday to go to my parents’ house for Super Bowl Sunday. 🙂
I know! — me, running late? Can you imagine? Haha, but seriously, I was running late, so I just threw some makeup into a bag to get ready in the car on the drive over to their house about an hour away.
One of the things I put into that bag was NYX’s new Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk ‘Til Dawn, one of three $15 limited edition eyeshadow palettes made to be, so says NYX, the answer to your shimmery dreams (assuming, of course, that there’s a lot of shimmering in your dreams).
Well, as far as any dreams I’ve ever had in which I’m putting on my makeup in the car (and there have been a few)…this palette probably would have helped. It does seem ideal for makeup-in-the-car dreams, particularly for ladies (and lords) who like how they look in warm-toned neutrals.
Ten baked shadows in warm shades of gold, brown and beige, along with a sprinkling of purple and black, reside inside. I ended up doing a shimmery gold and brown smokey eye in the car, and I, despite the bobbing of the car as we crossed the Richmond Bridge, I didn’t have to contend with any fallout or battle with my blending.
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 seven years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.
You can put together a ton of different looks with just those five things.
I also get a weird thrill out of seeing the duvet when it’s all fluffy. Unfortunately, that level of fluffiness usually only lasts about five seconds, depending on how long it takes Tabs to notice that the bed, which he sees as his own personal wonderland, has been made.
SMOOTHIES!!
Yup, I’m still on a smoothie kick. The one I made this morning had frozen bananas, kale, frozen strawberries, almond milk, chia seeds, acai powder, vanilla protein powder and honey.
I’m salivating right now just thinking about it…
For real, though! I just always assumed El Hub and I would have a pack of dogs, but then Tabs strolled into our old apartment one fateful day (he was a stray and literally walked right in one day like he owned the place).
Now it’s your turn. Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em! 🙂
1. Lately, my wardrobe staples have been ______.
2. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
3. Do you make your bed every morning?
4. The best things in life take ______.
5. What’s your favorite healthy food/snack?
6. Something unexpected?
7. What are things you like to do on the weekends?
8. What are some things that inspire you?
9. Where do you go when you need to get away someplace quiet?
10. Something you’re afraid to do?
Hello, bud. Happy Monday. 🙂
Did you watch the big game yesterday? Dude…all I can say is that was we left my parents’ house one minute into the third quarter.
Yeah, Tabs was pretty bummed about his team losing, but there’s always next year.
Best thing about the entire Super Bowl for me was Bruno Mars (and the Kitten Bowl on Hallmark).
Bruno’s performance was so much fun, and his makeup? — totally on point! His cheekbones looked defined, but not overly so, and his skin looked great. Awesome coverage and smoothness. I’m dying to know what primer, foundation and setting powder his makeup artist used.
Anywho, you have a great Monday, ‘kay? And I’ll try to do the same.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
This post was written by Kate
Is it possible to birth a baby and still look cute? Kate thinks so, and she shares how in today’s guest post.
When I found out that my due date was May 1st, my first thoughts weren’t of baby blankets and onesies. All I could think about was, how am I going to avoid looking like a wet dish towel in one of those post delivery photos? — the ones that someone always manages to snap at the exact moment when you’re the most sweaty, the most tired, and the least ready to have a remotely flattering picture taken. I’m talking about that moment when after 12 hours of intense labor, the cameras start clicking like crazy!
I never really thought of myself as a particularly vain person, and I know that when the time comes, it’s supposed to be all about the baby, but I was determined to hang on to some shred of my former makeup loving self, and come out of the whole experience glowing, despite the stretch marks and imminent hemorrhoids.
About a month before my due date, I became the lone pregnant lady haunting the aisles of my local Sephora. I rarely took a friend on these occasions, mainly because I could not have any distractions from what I saw as my personal mission. I was determined to put together a look that could withstand whatever curveball Mother Nature decided to throw my way, be it C-section or 24 hours of labor. Whatever happened to be going on below my neck, I was hellbent on keeping what was above it well controlled and looking its best. I needed the makeup equivalent of an Earthquake Prevention Kit.
I decided that my best course of action was to treat my baby’s delivery like a really long and painful spinning class. I knew to expect a lot of huffing and puffing, and most of all, a lot of sweat. That meant that I needed a face that was waterproof and sweatproof. I wanted to strike a balance between no makeup and being a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills. To me, that meant glowy and flushed, not sculpted and painted. Even if I spent whole days in oatmeal splattered pajama pants and my husband’s wife beater remembering the days when I could count on a morning shower, I would feel secure in the knowledge that I didn’t go down without a fight.
[Continue reading…]
It’s game day, and you know what’s up. 🙂
Ya know, a lot of people think of cats as dainty, aloof and too sophisticated for the gritty gridiron, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Tabs loves football, loved all the years he played it professionally for the Mill Valley Wildcats, and even in his retirement, he still plays for fun in a summer cat league.
This Super Bowl is a special one for Tabs because it also marks the first one for which he’s released his own limited makeup collection of Super Bowl Cat Paw Quints (available in Seahawk and Bronco). If cats and people like them, he’ll release one for every team next season.
We’ll definitely be watching the game this afternoon. I did end up making some veggie burger patties, too. I’ll let you know how they turn out when we barbecue them later today.
Which team are you rooting for in the game? I think we’re pulling for Denver…mostly because Seattle beat the Niners a couple weeks back (the nerve!).
Oh! Almost forgot… Here are pics from Tabs’ kitty modeling portfolio this week. He believes they turned out well.
Who is Tabs the Cat? About six years ago I befriended a stray, flea-bitten tabby cat with a bad case of worms. I could see he’d fallen on hard times, but his profound knowledge of high fashion and department store cosmetics led me to believe that he was more than meets the eye. We became fast friends, and now he’s actually my boss (and a successful kitty model). 🙂
Morning time!
Good morning, glory. 🙂 I hope you got good sleeps.
I slept pretty well. Got a tabby up in here, and he’s been extracting extra lurvies from me since I got up. I think he’s a little disheveled from the siding repair over the past few days. His fur isn’t looking as silky as usual, and he’s a little twitchy. The contractors aren’t working this weekend, so it’s blessedly quiet around here, but the racket last week got on his last nerve.
Poor guy…
Yeah, you and me both, tabby, LOL! I’m pretty frazzled, too.
In other news, it’s friggin’ freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth! I didn’t even want to get out of bed, but I left my walkie-talkie downstairs…
Walkie-talkie. El Hub and I use walkie-talkie radios to communicate with each other when one of us is upstairs and the other’s downstairs. Seriously, I’ll radio him things like, “Babe, could you please bring me a cup of coffee. Over.” And he’ll be all, “OK, roger that. I’ll bring it up.”
Haha! For reals…
I don’t know what we’re doing today. Hopefully nothing, but I do have to pick up some things for the Super Bowl tomorrow. We’re barbecuing at my parents’ house, and since I’ll be the only veggie-tarian, I better plan ahead and make sure I have something to eat.
Oh, Tabs picked up some last-minute Super Bowl week kitty modeling work, so that’s pretty cool. Look for his ads here on the blog tomorrow before the game. 🙂
Alright, I’ve been rambling. Enough of that. It’s giveaway time.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. GO DENVER!
