Beauty Tips

Three MAC Must-Haves for the Club – Makeup and Beauty Blog’s Guide to Smart Clubbing, Part 5

May 19th, 2007 by Karen 1 Comment

mac-must-haves-for-clubbing
When I hear music it makes me dance … I know you love that song by Debbie Deb! Anyway, when I hear music at the club I can’t help but dance. I can’t understood people who pay a cover and just sit around and bob their heads. The least you can do is shuffle your feet back and forth – it’s exercise, people! And the thing about dancing is that everyone looks silly doing it. We’re all in the same boat.

When I go dancing I get pretty damn sweaty, so I wear makeup that will make it through the night without disappearing. I have three MAC holy grail items that make it through a long night of dancing so, without further ado, here are three of my MAC must-haves for any clubbing night![Continue reading…]

Three Ways to Make Your Clubbing Experience Better -Makeup and Beauty Blog’s Guide to Smart Clubbing, Part 4

May 18th, 2007 by Karen 2 Comments

three-things-for-clubbing

Three Ways to Make Your Clubbing Experience Better

1. Put some makeup wipes or baby wipes in your car. Chances are after you leave the club you’ve got a layer of sweat caked on ya. I live out in the burbs, so if I go into the city and have to drive home I’ll wipe my face down before I leave. This instantly wakes me up for the ride home and saves me time when I get home and just want to go to bed. If you are carpooling with your girlfriends they will think you are a genius when you bust these out.

2. Bring a small snack, like a Special K meal replacement bar or a Pria Bar, for the after-clubbing munchies. Unfortunately I no longer have my 20s metabolism, so scarfing down a bucket of fries at 3:00 a.m. is not an option. I have to watch what I eat. =( To stay on track with my eating plan, I keep a meal bar in the car to eat on my way home. This gives me a 200-calorie fix, which is just enough food in my stomach to prevent me from stopping by the drive through Taco Bell.

3. Since we’re on the subject of food and drink, here’s another trick that I use to help me stay on track when I hit the club. If I’m going to drink, I order from a mental list of low calorie drinks, like white wine, which is about 120 calories per 6-ounce glass. I know it’s fun to drink and then get your dance on, but if you’re trying to lose weight then downing 3 margaritas at the club will not help your plight. Beer and mixed drinks are calorie heavy. For example pina coladas have 272 calories per serving, and beer, depending on the type, an average of 200 calories per serving. Knowing the calorie counts of what you’re drinking when you’re out can help you stay on track.

It’s Friday, woo hoo! I get to blissfully putter around the house today. I bought some tomato plants last week so I am going to attempt replant them today. I know nothing about tomatoes so this will be interesting. One of them actually has a small tomato growing on it so I hope I don’t kill it. I also get to help plan a trip down to San Diego for Memorial Day weekend. Do you have plans yet for the long weekend? Ya better get on it!

I hope you are having a FANTASTIC Friday.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Tips for Making High Heels Comfortable – Makeup and Beauty Blog’s Guide to Smart Clubbing, Part 2

May 16th, 2007 by Karen 10 Comments

dance-revolution-comic

So you want to get your groove on and you positively must wear those three-inch heels – but you know that in the wee hours your feet will be paying dearly for putting fashion over function. (Blisters, anyone?)

Makeup and Beauty Blog feels your pain.

After having one too many nights of wearing hella cute but painful footwear, I’ve found that there is a method to keep my feet blister-free so that I can dance all night long. The best part? I don’t have to spend a lot of money to achieve happy feet!

It sounds weird, but if I’m going to rock my high heels I prep my feet before going out. I figure it’s just like any part of getting ready for the night, except the words “moleskin” and “arch inserts” aren’t as sexy as “Chanel No. 5” and “MAC Nymphette Lipglass.”

Here are three essentials things for $11.00 or less that I use to keep my high heels comfy for a night out dancing.[Continue reading…]

Late Night Beauty Shortcuts – Makeup and Beauty Blog’s Guide to Smart Clubbing, Part 1

May 15th, 2007 by Karen 1 Comment

truck-stop-shower
Now here is a sentence that I never thought I’d see in print: I’ve been going to clubs for 13 years. YIKES! I don’t go to clubs to meet people (hello, married). I go to clubs strictly to get my dance on, and during these many years of shaking my groove thang I’ve learned a makeup and beauty trick or two for several pre and post club situations.

So this week Makeup and Beauty Blog will be all up in the club, with posts about how to make your makeup and beauty routine easier, faster and just plain better for those late nights out dancing with your friends. [Continue reading…]

Beauty Tip – Makeup and Beauty Tips for DMV License Pictures

May 11th, 2007 by Karen 5 Comments

dmv-guide-to-picture-taking

My mission today is possibly one of the biggest of all of beauty challenges: I have to go to the DMV to take a new license picture and somehow make it look cute.

The nasty florescent lighting, the institutional blue paper background … there are many elements that point toward certain disaster. Plus, I think the picture-taking dude that works at the nearby DMV REALLY HATES his job. He purposely waits for your eyes to be crossed, or for you to look like you’re confused before he snaps away, thus preserving your startled doe-in-the-headlights look for all eternity.

The only decent license picture I ever took was when I was 21 and weighed 20 pounds less … needless to say, I need a little bit more help now, since the fresh blush of youth and innocence has left (I’m not bitter!).[Continue reading…]

A Quick Beauty Tip – Shop at Stores with Excellent Return Policies

May 9th, 2007 by Karen Leave a Comment

I love trying new products — it’s the best part of being a beauty addict! However, when a new shampoo, skin cream or cleanser doesn’t work for me, I don’t want be stuck wasting money on a product that I don’t like. I usually buy products at the store and not online because for me, a big part of the experience is being able to smell and see the texture of whatever I’m buying. Plus, I like being instantly gratified. =)

I do three simple things to maximize my beauty dollars. [Continue reading…]

MAC Favorites – Chosen by Makeup and Beauty Blog Readers

May 7th, 2007 by Karen Leave a Comment

Ahh, it’s been fun, but â€˜tis the end of MAC MAKEUP WEEK here at Makeup and Beauty Blog.

This won’t be the last you’ll be seeing of it though — I’ll be sure to hold more MAC-themed weeks like this in the future.

For all of you that sent in e-mails, thanks for sharing. As promised, here’s what you, the lovely readers, love most about MAC![Continue reading…]

Hair Tip for Dry Hair — Skip the Shampoo and Wash With Conditioner Instead

April 28th, 2007 by Karen 20 Comments

Alberto VO5 Tea Therapy Clarifying Conditioner in Vanilla Mint Tea

It’s usually standard operating procedure to wash your hair with shampoo every day. While this may work for many women, it doesn’t work for me because my hair is thick, wavy and dry. No, I don’t walk around with a stinky head of hair a la Pig Pen. I “shampoo” using a cheap drugstore conditioner!

Why Skip Shampoo?
I started skipping shampoo when my hairstylist noticed my hair looked and felt overly dry. She asked what my routine was, and I told her I was coloring my hair, and then on top of that washing and blow drying it straight every day. She suggested skipping a day (even skipping two or three days if I could handle it) between washing and blow drying. That way, my blow out would last longer and I wouldn’t have to subject my hair to the daily abuses of heat styling. Another alternative she mentioned was to skip shampoo entirely a few times a week. She suggested using water to rinse my scalp and hair and then following up with a conditioner.

I did this for a few years until I realized that I hated spending so much time with my hair dryer. If you have thick, long, curly hair and wear it straight, you know it can take from 45-60 minutes to blow it out. If you’re blowing it out at least four times a week that’s four hours spent with your blow dryer! When I had this epiphany I realized, holy crap, all that time I spent fighting to get my hair straight I could’ve been doing other things like learning French or building a better mouse trap.

So about a year ago, I decided to stop fighting nature and embrace my wavy hair. That’s when I learned about the world of conditioner washing.[Continue reading…]