Archives for 2014

Tantalizing Trios Await! With the Transformative bareMinerals Ready Convertible Eyeshadow Palette, You Can Take It With You

November 25th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

This new $39 Ready Convertible Eyeshadow Palette by bareminerals is a lot like the last Transformers movie…except without the fast-twitch camera cuts, ear-splitting explosions and, ya know, robots.

OK, so now that I’ve thought about it more…it’s actually nothing at all like the last Transformers movie.

But it is like the slogan. 🙂 “More than meets the eye.”

With 12 full-size shimmery eyeshadows that you can pop in and out, this holiday set is something of a quick-change artist. The idea is to place three colors into the smaller mini-palette in the middle of the bigger palette, which you can then slide out and take along with you — you know, for touchups, booty calls, impromptu acts of makeup artistry in airport bathrooms, etc.

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Tag, You’re It, Girl! Go Cremesheen Crazy for Less With the $39.50 The It Girl Trio by It Cosmetics

November 25th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

It Cosmetics The It Girl Set Under the Mistletoe — Wearing Under the Mistletoe gloss from the new $39.50 The It Girl Set by It Cosmetics

And here I was, thinking that in order to be an “it girl,” I was going to have to travel to a parallel universe, one where it’s hip to have spinach stuck in your teeth (And it’s always the teeth on the upper left side… Why?!), wear clothes covered in three pounds of cat hair and have an overabundance of hair roots in desperate need of a dye job.

Not so. If the new $39.50 The It Girl Set by cruelty-free It Cosmetics has any say in the matter, all of us can be it girls (or boys!) together.

It Cosmetics The It Girl, $39.50 — The It Girl, by It Cosmetics ($39.50)

“Power to the it girls!” she shouted, before reading the names of the limited edition shades in the three-piece set aloud.

Her feline sidekick appeared disinterested.

“Listen, Tabs,” the girl continued. “There’s pale pink Snow Bunny, pinkish brown Joy to the World and berry Under the Mistletoe. Which of these my-lips-but-better colors do you like best on me?”

The cat sneezed, then spontaneously licked his paw.

“Anyone? Bueller?”

Tabs may not have an opinion on these three sheer, creamy glosses (he’s partial to bling, after all, and none of them are vibrant or sparkly), but I bet RyGos would. 🙂 Because he’s fabulous like that, obvs.

It Cosmetics The It Girl Set glosses from the left: Snow Bunny, Joy to the World and Under the Mistletoe — From the left: Snow Bunny, Joy to the World, and Under the Mistletoe

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[SPONSORED] Comment to Win $188 in Fragrances From i smell great and the Maker of CLEAN Perfume

November 25th, 2014 by Karen 232 Comments

The following post is sponsored by i smell great. From the creator of CLEAN perfume, the scents you love, extracted, encapsulated, bottled. Isn’t that great? Learn more at ismellgreat.com.

Too bad mixing and matching things isn’t always as easy as it is with the new i smell great fragrance line.

Like when it comes to mixing and matching prints… I start out trying to create a cool-girl outfit but usually end up looking like I created my wardrobe in the dark.

Or cooking! Note to self: randomly throwing things from the fridge into a pot, and then praying that it turns into something edible, is not a legit food philosophy. I can tell you first hand that it works less than half the time.

But when I mix and match and layer any of the four gentle fragrances in the new i smell great line, totally different story. Every concoction I try turns out fantastic.

New from the creator of CLEAN, i smell great currently has five products and four fragrances. I’ve just started using them and like every one.

Beach Babe, Candy Crush, Angel Cake and Wild Honey — the four scents — are gentle, surprisingly long-lasting and very light, so they aren’t overpowering, and they’re designed to be mixed and layered together to create unique scents (of course you can also wear them individually).

i smell great: the four fragrances

beach babe: Ah, take me away to a land of tropical breezes, coconut cream and golden suntan oil…

candy crush: Mouthwatering candied flower petals, rose syrup, icing sugar and candy hearts to tempt and tease you.

angel cake: A comfy, cozy scent with notes of pink icing, powdered sugar and candied almonds…with a touch of sweetness.

wild honey: A soothing synthesis of honey, brown sugar, Tahitian vanilla and sweet nectar make this intoxicating aroma irresistible.

Which brings me to this…

It’s giveaway time!

Want to explore i smell great for yourself? You, my friend, have clicked on the right blog. 🙂 Enter now to win an aromatic prize package worth $188, featuring all four scents in the line. In no time you’ll be mixing and matching like a graduate of Givaudan!

The prize

One (1) lucky lady or gent will win a prize package valued at $188, including…

Eau de Parfum in Wild Honey ($68)
Wellness Water Mist in Angel Cake ($32)
Soft Body Whip in Candy Crush ($28)
Hair Fragrance in Beach Babe ($32)
Reactive Lush Lip in Candy Crush ($28)

To enter, leave a comment below, and your comment can be about anything at all. Tell me about your favorite scents from real life (fresh laundry dried with fabric softener, baby powder or the inside of a Starbucks at the crack of dawn perhaps?), if you plan to go shopping on Black Friday and what you plan to get, or what you’re preparing for your feast on Thanksgiving.

Seriously, any topic you want.

Terms & Conditions
Enter by leaving a comment below about anything at all.

Deadline to enter is Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Entrants must enter using a valid email address to win.

The giveaway is open to individuals in the United States 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).

Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries left in the comments at the bottom of this post.

Void where prohibited by law.

Sending you my most fragrant wishes of good luck. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Instead of Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat, The Magic Act Eye and Cheek Palette by bareMinerals Creates Compliments Out of Thin Air

November 24th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Huzzah! Good news, friend! As it turns out, you will not have to promise your first born child, sell your soul or slice your arm open and drip blood into a boiling cauldron in order to experience The Magic Act ($39), the new holiday neutral eye and cheek palette by bareMinerals.

Seriously, thank goodness, because the last thing I want to do on a Monday afternoon is barter with a warlock. Generally, I’m much better equipped for things related to the dark arts later in the week…like around Wednesday or Thursday, after I’ve warmed up. 🙂

The Magic Act comes with six powder eyeshadows (three mattes and three shimmers), three blushes (two satins and a shimmer) and a highlighter, all in neutral shades, and with pigment levels that range from sheer to medium.

It’s weird, but whenever I wear this palette, I usually wear it with a bright lip and sometimes a bold liner, and when I do, someone will invariably ask about my lids or cheeks…even though those are the parts of my look that aren’t bold or flashy.

The palette’s neutral browns, beiges, taupes, pinks and peaches are mysteriously attention-getting…

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 348

November 24th, 2014 by Karen 50 Comments

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll for November 24, 2014

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past seven years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Ponytail, braid or bun?
Ponytail if I’m working out, braid if I’m chilling around the house, sock bun if I’m out and about.

You knew I couldn’t just pick one. 🙂

Tell me about the worst date you ever went on.
Ew! Eighth grade, when my first boyfriend — let’s just call him “Bob” — showed up at my house with a posse of friends, and they were all on bikes.

I guess they didn’t believe that he actually got a girl to say, “Yes, Bob, I will go out on a date with you.”

I think we went to Taco Bell after that… Just me, Bob and his homeboys.

Pretty dumb.

Shimmery shadows in the crease — your thoughts?
I’m more into mattes in the crease, but I won’t say no to a good shimmer…even though they get a little harder to wear as I get older.

While we’re at it, let’s just throw some glitter in there too, ya know? Why not?

I like to put mattes in my crease because my crease isn’t naturally very deep, and so mattes, which you can use to make parts of your face look more recessed, makes my crease appear deeper.

Cool toned or warm toned?
Warm toned. I’m an NC42 in MAC (lately I’ve been loving LM’s Flawless Fluide in Chai), but I also wear cool-toned shadows a lot. My skin tone is warm, but I wear both warm and cool-toned colors, which I think goes back to the whole “mattes in the crease” thing. Cool-toned browns, especially those grayish browns, really make my crease look deeper.

A place you’d like to visit again and why?
Oahu in Hawaii, because when El Hub’s parents lived there (he was born and raised in Hawaii), we were going at least once or twice a year to visit, but now that they live on the mainland, we rarely go back.

I miss my old haunts, like Matsumoto’s Shave Ice, which I hear they’ve completely changed, and Haleiwa on the North Shore, and Turtle Bay Resort, which is where we got married.

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. Ponytail, braid or bun?
2. Tell me about the worst date you ever went on.
3. Shimmery shadows in the crease — your thoughts?
4. Cool toned or warm toned?
5. A place you’d like to visit again and why?

Let’s just hurry these first three days of the week along so we can get to the food quicker on Thursday. 🙂

I’m not really into the turkey, though… I’m more about the sides, and the dessert. I gotta have my pecan pie, man. It’s my thang!

El Hub and I were thinking about skipping turkey this year and having a crab-fest instead, because it’s crab season out here, which leads me to this question: how would crab taste dipped in gravy? Something tells me it might taste good.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 323

November 23rd, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

Dear friends, fans and felines,

Yes! I think I finally figured out what makeup to wear to Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday.

What do you think?

I was sure you’d like it, so I put together this quick tabby tutorial.

There’s glitter, which you know I love — you can never go wrong with a little spark and funky style — but it’s also themed and holiday appropriate.

After last weekend’s giant Thanksgiving to-do, this week’s actual Thanksgiving dinner will just be a small fête for the employees here at the office…mostly just my assistant and her man servant/significant other.

I’ve met him before. Nice enough chap… Strong hands.

I just couldn’t handle another big party, ya know? Not with everyone saying, “Tabs! Tabs! Tabs! Look over here! Look at this!” And there’s always that one person scratching at the floor to get my attention or waving something around. I can’t help but look, of course, even when I don’t want to. It’s exhausting.

Oh! And then someone always has to bust out the laser toy or my feather stick, and then I end up running around and jumping at the walls like a fool.

I just have to be smarter than that and not put myself into those kinds of situations…

Anywho, I really hope you give this look a try. I think you’ll look great. 🙂

xoxo,

Tabs

STEPS:

Apply a metallic bronze loose pigment to the inner half of your lids with a flat eyeshadow brush (I wet my brush first to really amp up the color).
Clean the remaining eyeshadow on your flat eyeshadow brush with a paper towel. Then, rewet the brush head, and apply the copper loose pigment to the outer half of your lid. Now wait for both eyeshadows to dry…
Seamlessly blend the bronze and copper eyeshadows together with a tapered crease brush.
Trace your upper lash line with black liquid liner, and flick out the edge, going up and out.
Draw a little autumn leaves flourish just above the bronze and copper eyeshadow with a brown, and yellow (or gold), liquid liner.
Finish with your most flirty, fabulous pair of false lashes.

P.S. Really though, please do not try this at home on cats. I know you already know this, but Tabs does not advocate putting actual makeup on cats.

This post is sponsored by Purina Pro Plan #proplancatpartner. For information about my posting policy, please see my Disclaimer.

About Purina Pro Plan Cat food

Tabs may appear loving and playful and funny and adorably fluffy and chubby and more squeezable than a bunny! — but he’s also a ravenous monster. Purina Pro Plan fuels him through his busy kitty modeling schedule.

If your feline friend also aspires to kitty modeling greatness, try Purina Pro Plan. Their wide range of dry and wet cat foods and snacks, sold exclusively at pet specialty stores, comes in three unique nutritional platforms — Savor, Finesse, and Focus — with each designed to provide advanced nutrition to help bring out the superstar in your cat. For more information, visit www.proplan.com, and follow Purina Pro Plan Cat on Twitter @proplancat.

7 Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

November 22nd, 2014 by Karen 269 Comments

Good morning, buddy! So, Mockingjay last night. El Hub and I went, and while some of the reviews out there haven’t been kind, I liked it…which I know is probably a HUGE surprise.

But seriously, some of the reviews are calling it the worst of the three movies, boring, just a real stinker, but I didn’t think so at all.

It definitely has a different feel than the other two films, yeah, but so did the third book. The filmmakers split the last book in half to squeeze out another movie, but that’s sort of par for the course these days with successful franchises.

It’s darker than the first two films, literally. Not as many long sequences outdoors in thick forests and jungles, but that’s because this one is a wartime story, and it looks the part. I can’t say that I enjoyed the movie quite as much as the other two, but I did like it, and I think it holds its own in the greater Hunger Games film canon.

I mean, you know…if you’re a fan of the Hunger Games, it’s not like you’re not gonna see this movie. 🙂

In other news, it’s giveaway time!

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).

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Open to U.S. and international readers.
You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws).
Your comment can be about anything at all, but here are some ideas if you’re stuck:
- Do you ever hang out with your neighbors?
- What would you like for Christmas?
- Are you good at fixing things around the house?
- Cowboys or rockstars?
- Do you have any brothers? What are they like?
- What did you have for dinner last night?
You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.
The giveaway ends on Monday, November 24, 2014 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time). 🙂
Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Hourglass Velvet Creme Lipstick in Fever

November 21st, 2014 by Karen 30 Comments

This is the one Fever that you’d actually be stoked to catch. “But Karen,” I can already hear you saying, “I can’t afford to get sick! Between dating Ryan Gosling (hey, a girl can dream) and pet assisting for five cats, I can’t afford time off!”

Not to worry, friend. 🙂 This isn’t a Fever that’ll leave you in bed, clammy and immobile for 48 hours with sweat between your toes. This is Femme Rouge Lipstick in Fever by Hourglass ($30), a vibrant stop-and-stare fuchsia.

The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorite permanent collection products from a variety of bodacious beauty brands.

I wore this lipstick in my review of the Hourglass Ambient Blush Palette a while back, and ever since then — kid you not — I get at least one email a week from someone asking about it, and the emails usually start with the words, “I HAVE TO HAVE IT,” or something to that effect.

I totally understand, ’cause the first time I wore the lipstick, I caught it (the Fever). My brow broke out in a cool sweat as I swiped the tube across my lips. I think I may have also experienced a temporarily delirium. Either that, or RyGos really was sitting on my living room couch eating a wedge of gouda…

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