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MAC Cosmetics

Dinner Makeup With the Honest Beauty Eyeshadow Palette

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Happy Friday, friend!

I went out to dinner with the fam-bam last night and wore a brown smokey eye with a pink cheek and glossy pink lip. I’m a little out of practice with blending, but you know what? I didn’t worry too much about it and decided to let the whole look land wherever it wanted to land! (Side note: I’m trying to be more gentle with myself and not so persnickety about, well, everything.)

Anywho, We went to FOB Kitchen in Oakland, a cute, casual spot that serves Filipino food! I was too busy eating and having fun to take pictures of the food, but here’s a shot we got of Connor’s dessert, a Filipino shave ice concoction called halo-halo.

Quick list of the makeup I’m wearing…

  • Rose Inc Skin Enhance Tinted Serum in 080
  • Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation in 8 Warm
  • Hourglass Retouching Fluid in Sand
  • Dior Backstage Concealer in 4W
  • MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden and Give Me Sun
  • Anastasia Brow Wiz in Dark Brown
  • Tower 28 Mascara in Jet
  • Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette
  • MAC Costa Riche liner
  • Hourglass Voyeur Gel Liner in Cave
  • NARS Blush in Amour
  • MAC Lip Liner in Talking Points
  • Hourglass Lipgloss in Canvas

Hope your day is peaceful and joyful!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Unsung Heroes: Texture Eyeshadow

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mac texture
Get into thy crease, stat.

MAC Texture is still one of my favorite neutrals to pop in the crease! Happy Friday!

Today, on the MAC Greatest Brown Crease Color Hits Tour (Geez, that would be a very specific tour, wouldn’t it?! Hahaha! Never mind me as I crack myself up in the corner.), we visit MAC Texture Eye Shadow.

Ooh, Texture! We’ve talked about/drooled over several of my all-time favorite MAC brown crease colors over the last couple weeks, like Swiss Chocolate and Saddle.

Yum!

And I couldn’t forget about Texture. 🙂

It’s also a peachy brown, but it’s lighter and less orange than Saddle and darker than Soft Brown, and if you really, really wanted to get technical, you could do Soft Brown as your first crease color, then Texture as your second color, and then Saddle as your third.

But that’s only if you’re in the mood to complicate things and carefully do all of the steps in your gradients.

mac texture swatch
An essential MAC brown

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Texture isn’t only for peeps who want to spend two hours on their eye makeup, though. In fact, if you can’t blend for sh*t and just want something easy, you need Texture in your life as a crease color/transition shade, because although it usually looks matte, it’s technically a shimmer and has these tiny flecks of micro-glitter in the pan. Most of the time, those flecks are imperceptible, but they help to make Texture very easy to blend.

mac texture crease
Texture doing it’s thing in my crease

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Saddle Eyeshadow

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mac saddle eye shadow
Mount up! It’s MAC Saddle…

I’ve loved MAC Saddle eyeshadow for years. It’s one of my favorite MAC neutral shadows of all time!

I know that a few of you gals and dudes who visit MBB also ride horses, so I need to know — does MAC Saddle Eye Shadow in any way remind you of actual saddles? Is this what color saddles are? Because I’ve only ridden a horse once, so I really have no clue.

All I know is I love this color, man, and I’ve been wearing it for years! It’s a — now please don’t run away when I say this — matte orange brown.

Yep, I said orange…but it’s more brown than orange. It’s not obnoxiously orange. The little bit of orange just gives it some warmth.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

mac saddle swatch
Howdy, pardner. I reckon I’m about a MAC NC42 for refrence, if’n yer inclined to know…

Sometimes I use Saddle to deepen my crease and make my eyes look like they’re set back further in my sockets…

OK, that sounded weirder than it did in my head…but anyway, mattes are useful when you want to make something look more recessed.

You could start with a light brown matte like MAC Soft Brown, Soba or Wedge in the crease first, then add Saddle on top on the part of your crease that you want to look deepest and furthest back.

Feathering it up into the lighter brown you started with also creates a gradient and gives the look a little somethin’-something, a.k.a. complexity.

I’m wearing Saddle and Wedge on my lids and in the crease, Brun and Mulch in the outer corners, Ricepaper to highlight the inner corners and my brows, and Feline Kohl on my water lines.

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Some Days You’ve Gotta Flip Your Hair

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Quick five minute makeup today!

I followed this tutorial by one of my faves, makeup artist Hung Vanngo.

The key makeup products I used are MAC Date Maker lipstick (so good), Laura Mercier Corsica liquid blush, Chanel Espresso eyeliner (THE BEST), Chanel Rosy light Drops liquid highlighter and YSL Faux Cils mascara. I also tried a new-to-me concealer — Revlon Colorstay Skin Awaken in 050.

If you’re in the Bay Area… How did you fare during the storm last night? I was a little freaked out when I drove Connor to dance because the rain was coming down in sheets and the roads were starting to flood. Our power stayed on, though. (Knock on wood.)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Layered Eye Looks: Forest Green Liner with Champagne Eyeshadow

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I jokingly texted a friend to tell her that I finally put on a full face of makeup because I no longer wanted to look like I just crawled out of a pit of doom! LOL. And even though I’m 100% comfortable now rollin’ around town bare faced with just sunscreen, there’s still something really nice about going to the grocery store to buy cara cara oranges and have the checker call me “miss” instead of “ma’am.”

I’ve been inspired by simple, layered eye makeup lately. In this one, I layered a glittery champagne cream shadow (Hourglass Ray) on top of a shimmery forest green liner (Urban Decay Mildew). It’s easy, peasy, lemon squeeze-y, and I feel like I get a lot of look for very little effort.

What I also really like about this look is how the glitter isn’t too flashy. It sparkles in the light, but it’s not, like, too much for a weekday midday run to Tar-ghay.

Key products worn in this look

Here’s what I used for eyes, cheeks and lips. If you want to know more about the base or brows, let me know in the comments. 🙂

Officially a dance mom!

Connor joined the junior dance team at her studio this year, and last weekend was her first official performance. I think she was more excited to wear the clip-on earrings, LOL!

I’ve had my ears pierced since the day I was born; no really, back in the day in the Philippines, you could get your baby’s ears pierced at the hospital!

Anywho, all this to say we found out that clip-on earrings are a whole different beast. Connor was so looking forward to wearing them, but when she tried them on for the first time, one of the earrings was too tight and hurt her little ear.

I did a little googling and found a trick to loosening them. All you have to do is move the part of the clip-on that looks like a “U” around. You need widen it to relieve the pressure on your ears! It really helps. Just goes to show you, you learn something new every day.

Have a peaceful and joyful Tuesday.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What Type of Makeup Looks Are You Liking Right Meow?

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Rosie says hi. I’m obsessed with her ear tips, OMG!

1. A softly shimmering lid.

For a while I was all about mattes because I like how they create an illusion of a deeper crease, but now I love softly shining lids. I think it’s casually chic, which is the vibe I go for these days. By the way, Chanel’s quads are great for this type of shimmering lid look! Today I’m wearing an old school fave, Codes Subtils, which unfortunately is no longer available (boo), but you can get a similar look with any of Chanel’s shimmery quads, like Tisse Rivoli.

2. Blurred lines.

Give me all the smudgy, please. No crisp edges here — too harsh! A cat eye with a blurry edge and a flick that softly fades into its end point? That’s all I want at the moment. Anywho, lately I’ve been getting this by wetting a flat eyeliner brush with setting spray, then loading it with a dark brown, navy, plum or khaki eyeshadow.

Today’s Makeup: Chanel Codes Subtils quad, MAC Glow Play Blush in No Shame and MAC Sugar Sweet Cameo Lipstick

3. As much natural skin peeking through as possible.

A dollop of Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (Wheat) applied all over works wonders. Then, I dab Hourglass Retouching Fluid Concealer (Sand) underneath my eyes, around my mouth and on my cheeks, and then I blend-blend-blend. I set both with the sheerest amount of MAC MSF Powder (Medium Golden). If I wear too much base it just looks heavy and fake, so I try to get away with as little as possible these days!

4. A soft, semi-sheer matte lip color in a bright pink or coral.

Just like the shimmering lid, I feel like this lip look is casually chic. I also like how the matte finish contrasts with the shimmery lid and the natural, glowing skin.

5. Leaving the lower lash line alone!

Dang, girl! I can’t believe there was a time when I’d pile on all the things along my lower lash line. Now I just leave it alone because the more I wear, the more it seems to draw attention to how tired I look and feel. LOL! For me, less has been best for the last year or so.

I think it’s really interesting to see one’s makeup taste evolve and change, don’t you? What type of makeup looks are you liking right now? Please let me know in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Creme in Your Coffee Lipstick and Thoughts on Coffee

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I’m wearing MAC Creme in Your Coffee Lipstick!

Neutral lip lovers who also happen to adore coffee, you have to get MAC Creme in Your Coffee into your life, ASAP. It’s a mid-tone pinkish brown with a semi-glossy finish which I’ve been wearing since (GULP) 2011.

It goes great with all shades of brown, plum, taupe and bronze. If you wear and love MAC Satin Taupe (which I’m wearing lightly dusted on my lids in the pic above), you have to try it with this lippie. They work so well together.

Speaking of coffee-related things, it appears as though MAC Half ‘n’ Half lipstick, a shade I’ve loved for years, is discontinued. RIP to this neutral beauty!

Thoughts on Coffee

  • I wonder if anyone else has a coffee cut-off time? I generally don’t have any after 3 p.m. because if I have a cup any later than that, I have a hard time falling asleep at night.
  • On that note, I’m in awe of people who can drink strong coffee after dinner and still sleep normally at night. There’s NO WAY I could do that.
  • I can’t remember when I started drinking coffee regularly, can you? I think I was in college? I may have been in my early 20s.
  • Best coffee ice cream is Haagen Daaz, for sure.
  • I haven’t had drip coffee in a while (Nespresso-4-life), but when I was drinking it every day, I used to love Dunkin’ Doughnuts coffee.
    • lipstick swatch a thon mug coffee
    GET IN MY BELLY!
  • Anyone else reach that point where coffee that’s too sweet is undrinkable? I don’t know how I got there, but here I am.
  • I have never Door Dashed a cup of coffee. I’ve seen my neighbors do it, and I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m too old school, but it really doesn’t take much to get in my car and pop over to the drive through coffee place down the street.
  • Black coffee tastes like punishment — gotta have the milk and creamer.
  • Re: creamer. I can’t deal with oat, almond or soy milk creamer. Give me half and half or whole milk. There’s something about how dairy feels when it coats my tongue that I absolutely need. The plant milks don’t have the same sensation, and that’s a big thing for me.
  • I get on these kicks when I need to have coffee in a certain mug in the morning. Lately it’s been a blue and beige “cat person” mug I got as gift.
  • So many core memories in my mind of elementary school teachers leaning over my shoulder to explain something and smelling coffee on their breath!
  • Weird, but I don’t think I’ve ever brought coffee anywhere in a thermos that has an attached cup.
  • I’ve weaned myself off of coffee a few times throughout my life just for fun (and to see if I could do it), but at this point I don’t know if I could without 1) falling apart or 2) turning into a monster or 3) some combination of both 1 and 2.
  • Weak coffee that tastes like lukewarm sad brown water is the worst.
  • I wonder if something such as Chanel-branded coffee maker exists? I mean, if there can be a Chanel surfboard, why not a Chanel coffee maker?
  • Last but certainly not least, what’s your favorite coffee?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Summery Coral Lips and Cheeks, and What Adulting Equals

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Coral Lips: MAC Crossfade. Coral cheeks: Laura Mercier Corsica.

Adulting equals…

  1. Saying things like “wood rot” and “gum recession” and “deployment calendar” and “reparenting yourself.”
  2. Packing emergency go-bags for fire season.
  3. Being tormented by aggressive hyphenation.
  4. Flossing, and liking it.
  5. Tracking your protein portions.
  6. Listening to easy listening (96.5 KOIT, you know what’s up) while you chop vegetables for dinner.
  7. Knowing you need rest in order to keep functioning, and then (GASP) taking that rest.
  8. Forever drinking water.
  9. Keeping a stash of two-minute makeup specifically for video work calls on your desk.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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