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Unexpected Mint Green Makeup of the Day

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This makeup did out turn out anything close to what I was going for, LOL! Does that ever happen to you?

I saw this beautiful picture of black liner with mint green accents on the Shu Uemura Instagram, which was my original inspiration.

Isn’t it so cool? I love how it’s creative but doesn’t feel overworked.

Anywho, I don’t know what I was thinking giving myself 15 minutes to try to recreate something similar! Maybe if I had an hour or two I could’ve gotten there, but alas, it did not happen. I put way too much shimmery mint green eyeshadow into the inner corner, so I ended up buffing it all out.

I kinda like how the sparkles traveled haphazardly over my lids, though!

I’m wearing a new foundation that I picked up at the Sephora Sale — Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin in the shade 8 Warm. I used two pumps and set it with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural. It was hot in Northern California yesterday and it held up well despite the warm temps.

Oh, and the glossy lip! I’m really into shine these days. It’s Hourglass gloss in Canvas, in case you’re curious.

Have a great rest of your Purrsday-Thursday. We’re almost to the weekend!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

In Case You Need Some Creative Makeup Inspiration Today

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I wish my looks were as fun as Connor’s. The other day she asked if she could play with makeup, and this is what she came up with. Not a boring brown eyeshadow or neutral lip in sight, unlike yours truly, LOL!

In addition to the hot pink leopard-inspired dots and the blue brows, she also used the lipstick as a stain on her lower lip, too.

Oh, and peep the tiny hot pink heart placed strategically at the corner of her eye!

Oh, this age is so much fun. I feel like I say that about every current age she’s in, but this one has been a blast, especially when I see her stretch her creativity.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Unsung Makeup Heroes: NARS Deep Throat Blush

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nars deep throat blush
Even better than NARS Orgasm

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.

I realize that NARS Orgasm is widely believed to be the true tour de force of the NARS blush multiverse, and for sure, I totally get why so many people love it…but NARS Deep Throat to me is a far better peachy pink option. Hands down.

Like Orgasm, it looks incredible on a wiiiide range of skin tones, but it lacks Orgasm’s intensely golden pearl, which in this case is a good thing, particularly if you have pores — like I do.

nars deep throat blush
Wearing NARS Deep Throat with BECCA Tiger Lilly Glow Gloss

I actually like that I can’t see Deep Throat’s golden shimmer unless I’m way up in a magnifying mirror. Most of the time, all you see is the lovely color.

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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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New Bangs | Trader Joe’s Lemon Cake | Mineralist Warmth Palette by bareMinerals

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I promise these new bangs aren’t a cry for help! Just needed a change.

I went with the longer length because I didn’t want the commitment of having to grow out a set of shorter bangs; if you’ve been through this, you know the struggle is so real, LOL!

Oh, I’m also hoping pushing the bangs forward will help with taming the wild pokey strands at my hairline. They refuse to do my bidding, and I’m determined to stop the madness.

(We’ll see if this actually works, ha.)

Oh! I learned something new from the stylist who cut my hair. For bangs, she suggested applying a flexible styling cream before blowing them out. That way, you get enough hold for the hair to stay pushed forward while retaining some moment. No crispy bangs, please! Let’s leave that behind in the ’80s.

So won’t been going on besides bangs?

Well, on this end of the keyboard, I’ve been typing non-stop for what feels like weeks. I’ve been lost in a fog of deadlines, and they’re only now starting to lift, but wouldn’t ya know it! Because the universe got hella jokes, I have an unexpected project to push through by next Tuesday. Lots going on here, but so grateful for the opportunity to work.

Totally not related, have you heard about the new Mini Lemon Sheet Cake from Trader Joe’s? Word on the street (aka the online mom’s group in which I lurk) is that it’s the best thing ever to grace TJ’s dessert shelves. It’s lemon cake topped with a lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon zest. Yes, it’s very lemony.

I like lemon cake and think it tastes good, but I probably would not drive out to TJs at night in my pajamas. I’m really picky about frosting and this one’s a smidge too sweet. If it wasn’t, though, girl… It would be so on! Try it if you see it on the shelf and let me know whatcha think.

Also in the realm of new things is this palette of warm neutral eyeshadows by bareMinerals.

Would you wear this? I tried it out today and like the softness of all the powders except for the beige shade — it felt hard a rock!

Anywho, let me know what you’ve been up to. I hope you’ve been doing great.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Caboodle Grip! | Wander Beauty Sunkissed Getaway Palette | Kitty Cupcakes

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This is Connor’s birthday Caboodle, and it’s filled with jewelry and makeup. 🙂

Can somebody please explain the hold that Caboodles have on us? Well, at least the hold Caboodles have on me, ha ha ha!

I know technically it’s just a cute plastic box to hold makeup and miscellaneous doo-dads, but for some reason I feel a strong emotional grip whenever one is around. Maybe it’s because my Caboodle was such a big part of my formative years.

Ahh, makeup. I put some on today because I had a video meeting to present a big marketing deck (yup, I wrote it!), and nothing seems to soothe my nerves like a little bit of face paint.

I’m wearing taupe, brown, bronze and peach shades from the Sunkissed Getaway Eye and Face Palette by Wander Beauty. It has a bunch of eyeshadows and cheek powders for breezy bronze looks. If you’re the type of person who likes shadows that don’t make you work too hard, you might like it.

Please note the chocolate brown liner on my water lines, which is Cave gel liner by Hourglass. Pretty, yeah? I like the richness of the pigment, and how it’s not too red. Stays on all day, too. I think I found a new staple!

I have a number of deadlines on Friday, so I gotta get back to it. Before I head out though, these are the cupcakes I made for Connor’s cat-themed birthday party at the Marin Humane society.

The girls kept asking of the cats were edible, LOL! (They totally were, by the way.)

I debated long and hard between frosting them the night before or the morning of the party, which by the way, started at 10:30. Side note, if you have to plan a two hour party for a child, and they give you a choice between a morning or afternoon slot, morning is the way to go IMHO. I prefer taking Connor to morning parties because that way we still have the rest of the day to do other things, and if she’s still hungry after the party, we can go directly to lunch.

Where was I? Oh, frosting. I wasn’t sure when to frost because the frosting was buttercream which I made from scratch, and it contained heavy whipping cream and butter, so I wasn’t sure if I could leave them out overnight.

I asked my buddy Allison from my bakery days what to do, and she suggested frosting them the night before, popping them into the fridge, and then taking them out in the morning first thing so they could come to room temperature before serving, which is what I ended up doing.

Just some cupcake FYI for ya from a professional baker!

Happy Wednesday to you, and I hope the rest of the week treats you kindly.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Checking In: NARS Dragon Girl | Caboodles | Chanel at Ulta | Vogue Magazine

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NARS Dragon Girl!

Today I really wanted to wear NARS Dragon Girl lipstick but couldn’t find it, but I guess that makes sense seeing how The Great Makeup Purge happened around these parts in the last couple years, LOL!

This pic of me wearing it is from 2017, and ya know what? I’m actually relieved I made myself get rid of it because chances are I probably would’ve kept it and worn it still, and even I have to admit that’s pretty gross.

I’m going to pop by Ulta today because 1) I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without Dragon Girl (it’s a must-have red) and 2) I need to buy Connor a last-minute birthday present. She’s turning seven tomorrow, can you believe it?

Throwback to this coy face from 2017!

Time really does fly when you’re having fun — and raising a tiny human!

During the last few trips to Ulta, she’s admired the Caboodles, so she’s going to finally get one this year for her birthday.

Lil’ birthday gift

I doubt that she’ll want to put makeup in it, though, because during her last dance performance, she absolutely refused to wear any makeup beyond the dance team bare minimum requirement of red lipstick. No blush, no eyeshadow, no glitter. Just red lipstick. I KNOW. I was shocked, too.

Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe I’ll get her a stick of Dragon Girl, too.

Her Caboodle will probably hold play jewelry or art supplies (or both), no doubt!

While we’re on the subject of Ulta, GIRL… Did you know Ulta sells Chanel makeup now? Yes! It looks like they carry a lot of the line, too, including my favorite Chanel foundation, Vitalumiere Aqua. I have quite a few points saved up, so I might be doing a lil’ Chanel shopping there soon.

Question for you. Were you an “Allure” subscriber like I was before they shut down their print magazine? I still really miss it. Sigh! Anywho, they sent me the latest copy of “Vogue” as a replacement, and you know what? I’m really enjoying it! Maybe it’s because I’m starved for a beauty magazine I can hold in my hand, but I’ve been devouring the latest issue with Erykah Badu on the cover.


This is my favorite Erykah Badu song, by the way

I’m going to try to finish work early today, so I can do all the pre-birthday prep that needs to happen before tomorrow (including Connor’s annual birthday lasagna). Time to shred some mozzarella!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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