Archives for 2014

Last-Minute Halloween Costume Idea: MEOW! A Simple, Sassy Kitty Costume

October 23rd, 2014 by Karen 35 Comments

Candy, costumes, crazy makeup and cats! As much as I love Halloween, and I do love Halloween, I don’t think I’ve ever planned a Halloween costume more than one week out, which is kind of funny, considering how with certain other aspects of my life, like packing for trips or making playlists, I’m a compulsive over-planner.

I mean, dude! — you should see my running playlist. I have every track planned down to the last minute/mile. I kid you not.

With Halloween, though, I’m all about fast and loose. I think I’m addicted to the last-minute thrill, the pressure of putting something together at the last minute and seeing it all come together. 🙂

I wasn’t even planning on dressing up at all this year, truth be told. I dunno… I just haven’t really been feeling it lately (it happens), but today, as I was squeezing my employer’s front paws into his velvet royal tabby costume, I felt inspired.

So I whipped up this simple, sassy kitty costume using some things I had on hand/paw.

Step 1: Start with smokey eyes

I’d already done these cat-shaped smokey eyes earlier, and I think they exude Halloween drama, so I started with them.

To ramp things up you could add falsies, which would be super cool. I wanted to, but I’d just applied the long claw nails (see step 3) and didn’t want to risk poking my eyes out, LOL!

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Fall Makeup Trends With Dolce & Gabbana National Makeup Artist Christian McCulloch

October 23rd, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Mono Cream Eye Colour

Teach me the ways, *sensei!* Dolce & Gabbana National Makeup Artist Christian McCulloch talks fall makeup

Come meet Christian this Saturday, October 25

Bay Area babes and dudes and out-of-towners visiting the area, you’re in for a treat. Dolce & Gabbana’s National Makeup Artist, the fabulous Christian McCulloch, will be visiting Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco’s Union Square on Saturday, October 25, and he’ll be doing makeovers!

Christian has worked his magic on some of Hollywood’s hottest ladies, including Scarlett Johannsson, Christina Hendricks and Olivia Wilde. More importantly, he complimented me once on my brows. 🙂

Christian will be at the Dolce & Gabbana counter inside Saks from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. He’ll be there to introduce and answer questions about the new fall collection and fall’s latest looks. Based on the one time I met him, I think you’ll have a blast and could learn a lot (he’s kind of a ham!).

Call (415) 438-5225 to book an appointment for a makeover with Christian while he’s in town. No minimum purchase necessary, and it’s free to attend.

Speaking of Christian and fall and Dolce & Gabbana, I asked him a few questions by email recently, and here’s what he had to say about trends for fall…

QUESTION: So which beauty trends are you most excited about this fall?

ANSWER: Fall 2014 is all about warm, natural looks softly illuminated by iridescent tones. I love this ethereal, yet bold look because it transitions wonderfully from day to night. This modern take on a natural look is created with a clean lid and a strong, bold brow.

Illuminate the eyes with soft, nude shades — I’m loving Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Mono Intense Cream Eye Colors in Nude and Gold Dust ($36 each).
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A Bounty of Beauty Awaits in theBalm Balmsai Eyeshadow and Brow Palette

October 23rd, 2014 by Karen 57 Comments

I’d fully intended to channel the spirt of the bikini babe on the front of theBalm’s new Balmsai Eyeshadow and Brow Palette ($39.50) this morning by doing a light, colorful, tropical surfer babe eye makeup look, but then I started listening to The Smiths and this dark smokey eye happened…

Oops.

Oh, well. I am human and I need to be loved! 🙂

Oh, Morrissey… How I love your emo warbling. I think you really get my pain, the pain all the way down in the marrow of my bones (my lower back still hurts after the half marathon).

Speaking of things that really “get it,” theBalm always seems to know what I want/need in an eyeshadow palette. Their Balmsai palette has a great combination of neutral matte and shimmer finishes fabulous for classic looks, as well as some fun teal, blue and purple shades for spice.

On my lips: Illamasqua Glamore Lipstick in Naked and MAC Cremesheen Glass in Stately Shimmer

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Purr-Fect Cat Eyeliner Flicks Are Easy With This Quick Makeup Tip Using MAC Fast Response Eye Cream and a Q-Tip

October 22nd, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Throughout the long, hallowed (not really) history of Karen’s Cat Eyeliner Life, Volume I, I’ve drawn a lot of cat eyeliner looks on my cat lady lids, and over all those years, I can count on one paw the number of times I’ve drawn two perfectly angled flicks. That’s how rarely it occurs!

Most of the time, it’s my left flick. The right will be OK, but the left will turn out wonky, angled either too low or too high, or too short or too long.

It’s pretty much guaranteed that one or both flicks will need an adjustment.

One quick way to fix your flicks is with an eye cream and a Q-tip. What I’ll do is soak a Q-tip with a little bit of the cream, then run that along the edges of the flick to instantly sharpen them and/or fix any mistakes, all while adding some extra moisture around my eye area (something I need anyway).
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The New MAC Objects of Affection Lip Gloss Sets in Nude and Red, Pink and Plum, and Nude and Coral

October 22nd, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

It’s Christmas morning.

You tear open an oddly shaped present with shiny reindeer wrapping paper and find a plastic banana holder.

You consider this for a moment…

Do you jump up and down with enthusiasm, so happy to finally have a place to store a banana?

No, you do not, and I can say this with certainty because I actually did receive a plastic banana holder last year as a gift, and I did not jump up and down with enthusiasm.

Now, had I opened the same present and found one of the three new MAC Objects of Affection Lip Gloss Sets instead ($35 each, $42 CAD), things would have been different. I would have leaped and kicked and danced in my flannel pajamas because unlike MAC’s regular holiday eyeshadow palettes and brush sets, which can be hit or miss, their gloss sets tend to consistently delight me.

In my experience, the glosses in their holiday sets are right up their with the glosses in MAC’s permanent line in terms of quality, making them good bets for gift giving.

I’ve gifted past MAC holiday gloss sets to beauty gals of all ages over the years, from my teenage cousins to my 80-something-year-old glam granny, and they’ve always been hits. Even my BFF Cindy, who’s aggressively anti-makeup, hasn’t groaned when I’ve given her one of them. That has to tell you something.

This year, there are three lip gloss sets in the MAC holiday collection — Nude and Red, Pink and Plum, and Nude and Coral. Each one comes with three mini Cremesheen Glasses and a mini Dazzleglass.

I love these two formulas, especially during the cooler months. Unlike the Lipglasses, they aren’t sticky, so my hair doesn’t get stuck to my lips when it’s windy. They’re also moisturizing and shiny, to boot.

I don’t mind having to reapply them every two to three hours because of how good they feel on my lips, like Zella hoodies in gloss form.

The three MAC Objects of Affection Lip Gloss Sets: Overview

If you’re looking for variety, grab the Nude and Coral set. It has a good mix of sheer and fully pigmented shades.
If you want glosses for layering, go for Pink and Plum. Its three sheerest shades really come into their own when layered on top of lipsticks. There’s also a more intensely pigmented bright blue pink in the set for a fun pop of color.
If you go gaga for classic makeup looks, don’t miss Nude and Red. Its three neutral nudes and bright raspberry red go well with makeup standards like cat eyeliner and smokey eyes.

The Nude and Coral Lip Gloss Set

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Stately Shimmer — Cremesheen Glass in Stately Shimmer

MAC Fashion Whim Cremesheen Glass — Cremesheen Glass in Fashion Whim

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Rising Sun — Cremesheen Glass in Rising Sun

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Courtley Coral — Dazzleglass in Courtley Coral

MAC Objects of Affection Nude and Coral Lip Gloss Swatches from the left: Stately Shimmer, Fashion Whim, Rising Sun and Courtly Coral — Nude and Coral Lip Gloss Swatches from the left: Stately Shimmer, Fashion Whim, Rising Sun and Courtly Coral

The Pink and Plum Lip Gloss Set

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Fashion Scoop — Cremesheen Glass in Fashion Scoop

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Pagoda — Cremesheen Glass in Pagoda

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Tom Ford’s Bad@ss, Budget-Busting $44 Brow Sculptor

October 22nd, 2014 by Karen 43 Comments

Smizing and wearing Tom Ford Brow Sculptor in Espresso

People of the world…y’all just don’t understand! In the morning, right after I wake up, I can barely make it the eight feet from my bed to the bathroom without falling down. “Not a morning person” isn’t just a catchy phrase with me. It’s an official descriptor, like female, 39, 5’1″, Gemini, not a morning person.

Before I’ve splashed some water on my face and had my coffee, delicate makeup maneuvers like the filling in of brows are normally impossible, but Tom Ford’s Brow Sculptor gives me a fighting chance.

I’ve successfully used it to fill in my eyebrows and create perfectly drawn arches at jacked-up times without a drop of coffee in my system (so we’re talking about worse muscle control than a zombie). This $44 makeup miracle delivers flawless, full, natural-looking brows, and I could not live without it.

Well…I could, but you know. Life would be rougher, man. 🙂

Of course, here’s the thing about Tom Ford Beauty: it’s So. Freaking. Expensive. I feel that unless his products are completely on point, I can’t justify their price.

I mean, what sane person drops $44 on a brow pencil??

Answer: someone who’s tried some of Tom’s products before, because when he gets it right, boy gets it really, really right (case in point).

Most brow pencils for me are slightly less exciting than a John Philip Sousa march, but I think Tom’s Brow Sculptor is epic.

EPIC.

So epic that I had an out-of-body experience once when I put two of them into my online cart (the shade I wear is called Espresso) and realized that the subtotal was $88 before tax. I swear, I floated out of my body and watched myself slowly click the “buy” button while my inner monologue said, “Holy effing crap.”
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Where Do All the Bobby Pins Go? (And a Mini Target Haul)

October 21st, 2014 by Karen 41 Comments

So…where do all the bobby pins go?

Million-dollar question, right?

Over the course of my 39 years, I bet I’ve purchased hundreds — no, thousands — of bobby pins.

Thousands.

And yet right now I can only find three of them.

Why is that? Where do they go? It’s like I live with an invisible bobby pin monster that only comes out at night.

Sometimes I really wish Tabs could talk… He’d probably totally freak out. “YES! FINALLY! I’ve been trying to tell you FOR YEARS! There IS a monster, and it takes all of the bobby pins and my food and my toys and then it goes into the closet!”

LOL!

I actually just bought this pack of 50 Goody Bobby Pins last weekend from Target, and a quarter of them have already disappeared. I seriously doubt anyone will ever see any of them again. It was fun while it lasted, y’all!

(NO, SERIOUSLY, WHERE DO THEY GO!?)

In what will probably turn out to be just another sorry attempt to break my scrunchie habit (hey, I’m trying), I also picked up a sock bun kit by Mia Beauty, a six-pack of Medium Goody Claw Clips…

…and this Sonia Kashuk Lash & Brow Comb, because it looked great for travel, and you just never know when you’ll face an emergency brow or lash situation that needs urgent attention (a lesson I learned the hard way).