Karen

These days, it’s Ulta. I used to be a die-hard Sephora gal, but lately I haven’t really been feeling it, especially when I go into the store (so gross). At Ulta, I can get hair, skin care and makeup in one place, and I feel like the brands they carry are a better fit for me right now in this stage of my beauty journey. Also, I like that the Ulta points system seems to give you more bang for your buck. Case in point: the time I used my Ulta points and a beauty deal of the day to get an $83 Murad serum for a mere $5.97.

How about you? Where do you do the majority of your beauty shopping?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Palazzo pants or a poncho?

Palazzo pants, as long as their hemmed! Short girl problems, ya know.

2. What’s your birthday cake flavor of choice?

I usually like a white cake with vanilla frosting and berries! Or a red velvet cake, yum.

3. On a scale of one to 10, how nerdy are you?

A solid 6!

4. Twist-up or pencil liner?

Twist-up liner, please. Pencil liner I can do if I need to, but it’s messy.

5. Does it feel like spring yet where you live?

Definitely. It’s been sunnier lately, and in the 60s and 70s. All the trees are growing their leaves back and the flowers are blooming. It’s glorious!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Palazzo pants or a poncho?
2. What’s your birthday cake flavor of choice?
3. On a scale of one to 10, how nerdy are you?
4. Twist up or pencil liner?
5. Does it feel like spring yet where you live?

Hello, my friend!

Can I just say, it’s so nice to be sitting at my keyboard in my PJs at the start of a Saturday? I haven’t spent much time writing this week because work has been draining lately. I come home feeling like my life force has been sucked out of me by a baby vampire, LOL! All I have left when I get home is just enough energy to make dinner and prep things for the next day, so I apologize if I’ve been MIA lately. I haven’t been feeling particularly creative or chatty. Just tired.

Question for you. Does the workload at your job ebb and flow? Or is the work more steady? I’m finding out that mine has these cycles where things will be very slow for a few weeks, and then just like that, it’ll pick up, and if I’m not on top of it, I get buried in details very quickly. If it wasn’t for my tracking spreadsheets, I’d be a mess.

The interesting thing to me is that the work isn’t technically hard. It’s very detail oriented, though, and having to concentrate for hours on making sure numbers and dates and copy are consistent across different programs takes a lot more out of me than I expected.

Anywho, things are still going well, and I like the work. Next month will be my fourth month there, and I’m finally starting to feel settled.

Earlier this week we had a team-building exercise making spring wreaths, and guess what? I found out that I kindasorta love making wreaths. I know, so random. I got to make a spring wreath out of fresh cuttings from trees and shrubs from the college farm, and I absolutely loved it.

I started by taking olive branches as my base and tying them together with green floral wire. Then, I clipped off the stiff parts of the stems with shears. Then, I just kept adding different branches to fill out the wreath. I used cherry blossoms, sage and rosemary.

I think what I liked most about the exercise was the process of trying different combinations of colors and leaves to see where the wreath would go. I think there’s something very freeing about not having a plan and letting the creativity flow!

When I brought it home, the first thing I did was put it on my door, and then I took about a jillion pictures of it.

If you ever get the chance to make a wreath, do it! You just might love it. 🙂

Other than being kinda buried at work and sneezing my way through my days (it’s allergy season for me in Nor Cal), I’ve been OK. How has life been on your end of the keyboard? Got any fun plans for the rest of today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I don’t know why, but when spring comes around, I get the sudden urge to chop my hair off. The need to get bangs is particularly strong in me right meow, LOL! May this post serve as a reminder to resist the urge.

1. What possessed me to do this!? Why did I ever think that bangs would be a good idea? I’m never, EVER doing this ever again. (Side note: If I had a dime for every time I said that during this process I’d be a rich woman, LOL!)
2. What the hell!? My leg hair, the hair on my big toe, my mustache, even MY CHIN — why does the hair grow so fast everywhere else EXCEPT for where I actually want it to grow??
3. I should invest in a company that makes bobby pins, seeing as how I’m probably keeping the entire bobby pin industry in business. I walk around leaving a trail of bobby pins in my wake! I find them in the shower, the corners, the kitchen counter, my nightstand, and I may or may not have found a bunch around my feet in HIIT class at the gym.

   I also may or may not have seriously considered picking one of them up and using it to put my bangs back.

4. This freakin’ cowlick! How many cans of super extra hold hairspray will this take!?
5. If I put on this cray-cray pair of false lashes, it’ll distract people from looking at my cowlick. Yeah, that seems perfectly logical…
6. Good grief. I’ve only been growing out these bangs for five days, but it feels like FIVE YEARS.
7. I feel like a shaggy sheep dog…
8. I am starting to feel personally offended by my baby hairs, because they absolutely refuse to listen to me. RUDE.
9. What should I do today to get these out of my face? Braid them? Twist them? Slick them back? Wear a headband? A hat? F*ck it. Maybe I’ll just wear that itchy blue wig I got from Party City, since that would be easier than dealing with these bangs.
10. I’m never, ever, EVER getting bangs ever again.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Are you more creative or analytical?

I feel like I’m more on the creative side, for sure. I do have to say that it’s useful in doing analytical things, though; I can often use it to come at problems in different ways.

2. Something you find tedious?

Any type of online meeting that has to deal with sorting out forms or processes.

3. Are you sporty?

Not in the team sports sense, no. I used to be able to run like a hamster on a wheel, though.

4. Pineapple or cantaloupe?

Pineapple. I like cantaloupe but sometimes it makes my tongue itch.

5. Three words that describe how your makeup has been looking lately?

Minimal. Somewhat haphazard.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Are you more creative or analytical?
2. Something you find tedious?
3. Are you sporty?
4. Pineapple or cantaloupe?
5. Three words that describe how your makeup has been looking lately?

It’s common knowledge that cats have a particularly strong connection to the magical planes of existence. They saunter between dimension doors, crossing over from one realm to the next, and are usually wide awake every night at the witching hour, so they see things… Many cats work the proverbial graveyard shift, and consequently nap all day long because they moonlight as magical spies or wizards’ familiars.

Yet despite their proximity to the Underdark, few cats parlay their supernatural connections into success in the human world.

Few cats other than Tabs, of course. Among his many titles, he was also Chief Feline Ambassador on the Council of Druids and Leprechauns. 🍀

As such, he was one of the only creatures on the material plane to know the whereabouts of every pot o’ gold at the end of every rainbow. 🌈

But with great power came great responsibility, and he didn’t tell anyone. 😊

Rosie

Rosie may not have her predecessor’s supernatural connections, but she knows what side her bread is buttered, so today she showed her appreciation for St. Patrick’s Day (one of the more magical days of the year according to druidic lore) with appropriate apparel.

How do you think she looks in her bejeweled clover collar?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

According to my allergies, spring is just around the corner here in Northern California. 🙂 I really want to enjoy the outdoors today, so after I hop off my keyboard, I’m going to do what I call “power cleaning,” aka all the frenzied cleaning I can get done within 90 minutes while I’m hopped up on caffeine. Hey, it’s better than nothing, right?

This week’s reading

• French fashion line Celine is launching makeup. Exciting!
• Archaeologists have identified the oldest known lipstick.
• Makeup from the 2024 Oscars. Um, why doesn’t Zendaya’s gorgeous bronze look have the all the product details?
• Oh, apparently her makeup was done by artist Ernesto Casillas.
• “To get a new perfume is to commit; it’s like choosing the olfactory soundtrack for the next several months of your life.”
• People really wanted to believe that this McDonald’s fries perfume was real!
• Gen Alpha is more interested in skincare than toys.

Fresh and effortless

I kinda sorta love it

I can’t believe this is “old pop,” but okay

Who else is ready for spring?

Have a wonderful, joyful Saturday!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen