Face of the Day (FOTD)

A Friday Face of the Day With the New NARS Laser Cut Holiday Palette: Hazy Khaki Eyes, and Rosy Cheeks and Lips

October 17th, 2014 by Karen 20 Comments

Now we shall dance like children of the night!

Or not. 🙂

We can dance around my kitchen though, but only if it’s low impact because I’m still resting up for the race.

What are you doing tonight? I have a feeling El Hub is going to coerce me into watching Fury, that new WWII tank movie with Brad Pitt and the guy who played Shane in The Walking Dead.

Sounds like a hoot!

Oh, well. I’ll get him back in November when the new Hunger Games comes out.

I’m just gonna wear the smokey-light khaki eye look I wore today with the new $59 limited edition NARS Laser Cut holiday palette (available now).

Not that I’m gonna do it, because I feel lazy, but it would be really easy to turn this into an evening/party look by just swapping out the rosy gloss for a more dramatic lip color, like this glossy plum number perhaps…

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This Hot Pink C.P. Yu From the $49 NARS Digital World Set Made Me Feel a Million Megabytes Better

October 9th, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

I'm Wearing NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Yu from the Digital World Kit — Wearing NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Yu, from the $49 Digital World set

Memory is a funny thing, isn’t it? So many times I read the same tips over and over again — tips that have helped me before, but then I forget that they exist until I read them again, and it’s like, “Well I’ll be damned. That would totally work!”

Here’s one I know I’ve heard before, but I recently read it again: sometimes when you aren’t feeling great first thing in the morning, it can help to spend a little extra time getting ready.

Like, say goodbye to the sweats, and put something on that makes you feel cute. You know, fix your hair, do your makeup — that kind of thing — even if you totally aren’t in the mood.

To the first person who figured that out, wherever you are, thank you. You saved my butt this morning.

I woke up exhausted after an orange alert meltdown last night. It’s my fault, because I haven’t been taking my breaks throughout the day, which slowly turns me into a crazy person.

On top of that, I’ve been riding a PMS-fueled hormonal tidal wave, and everything has been getting on my last nerve. I’m serious, that one nerve is RAW.

Ha! OK, but seriously, I turned into a rabid cat in my office yesterday, and my poor computer chair… I kicked the living crap out of that thing, and then I cried non-stop for 45 minutes.

I felt much better this morning, but nowhere near my usual self. Without really thinking about it, I grabbed a pair of stretchy pants and a wrinkled tee shirt and planned to put my hair up in a bun and skip my makeup.

But then I remembered that tip about spending a little extra time getting ready when you feel blue…

After a long shower, during which I did a hair mask, a body scrub and even shaved my toes (yay!), I put on one of my favorite dresses, spritzed some Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Perfume, and slicked a hot pink lipstick on my lips.

Never underestimate the power of hot pink lipstick, my friend. It’s even better than chicken soup.

Today I haven’t once felt the urge to punch any office furniture. 🙂 Cupcakes for everyone!

NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Yu, the hot pink I’m wearing in these pics, couldn’t be easier to apply (unless it applied itself…which would be scary and weird). It’s from the new Digital World holiday set. One of the things I like about it, in addition to the color, is that I can line and fill in my lips with the same pencil.

Yu is one of five Lip Pencils in the $49 Digital World set (coming November 1 exclusively to Sephora), which also includes the Satin Lip Pencils in tea rose Descanso and peachy coral Torres Del Paine, and the Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in scarlet Cruella and warm orange Iberico.

NARS Digital World Lip Pencils from the left: Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Iberico, Satin Lip Pencil in Descanso and Satin Lip Pencil in Torres Del Paine — From the left: Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Iberico, Satin Lip Pencil in Descanso and Satin Lip Pencil in Torres Del Paine

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MAC Viva Glam? Yes Ma’am! A Hump Day Face of the Day Using the Too Faced Sugar & Spice Palette, the NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette and MAC Viva Glam

October 8th, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

OK, so I’m enjoying an Amy’s Mexican Casserole Bowl and watching Gilmore Girls last night when I kindasorta FREAKED THE EFF OUT. One of the main characters in the show, Lorelei Gilmore (the mom half of the Gilmore duo), was getting her best friend Sookie ready for a date, doing her hair, putting on her makeup — all of that good stuff a beauty BFF does for her gal pals. Anywho, when she’s ready to apply Sookie’s lipstick, she calls out to her daughter Rory (the other half of the Gilmore Girls) downstairs to bring up “Viva Glam.” Yes! THE Viva Glam. She doesn’t say the word “MAC,” but when she holds the lipstick up to Sookie’s lips, you can clearly see the tube, and it’s definitely MAC.

Witty banter? Endless cups of coffee? MAC makeup references? This just might be the best show ever. 🙂

I still had Viva Glam on my mind this morning when I was getting ready, so I took out my favorite version, Viva Glam V Lipglass, and paired it with a cool-toned smokey brown and peach eye using the new Too Faced Sugar & Spice Palette ($39, available now), and the new NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette.

Also, just for fun, and to see how the eyes would look with a more dramatic lip, I swapped out Viva Glam V with the new Viva Glam Rihanna 2 Lipstick and Lipglass…

Wow! I actually really like the bolder lip combo.

Incidentally, the first time I wore the Rihanna 2 lippies separately, I felt they looked a little too stark on me. Then I tried them together and came around. Now I’m lovin’ that deep, sparkling pinkish mauve.

As for my cheeks, I’m wearing the new NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette ($65, from the new holiday collection). It comes with three blushes (Sex Fantasy, Deep Throat and Final Cut), a highlighter (Miss liberty) and a bronzer (good ol’ Laguna), available exclusively at Sephora starting November 1.

NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette Swatches from the left: Miss Liberty, Deep Throat, Sex Fantasy, Final Cut and Laguna

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Today’s Makeup: MAC Ruby Woo, I’m Into You! The MAC Keepsakes Red Lip Bag and MAC Keepsakes Smoky Eye Bag

October 7th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

MAC Keepsakes Smoky Eye and Red Lip — Wearing makeup from the new MAC Keepsakes holiday collection

I got Ruby Woo’d today, man! I had an early morning meeting, so no glitter or falsies. Just a reliable, classic combo of cat eyes and red lips using the contents of the new MAC Keepsakes Smoky Eye Bag ($39.50/$47.50 CAD) and Keepsakes Red Lip Bag ($39.50 US/$47.50 CAD).

Red lips and cat eyes — it’s hard to go wrong with that combo. There are endless ways to tweak and work it.

I usually use a gel or liquid liner for my feline eyes, but I was running late today. (No way! That never happens, haha.) I couldn’t risk getting into a Greco-Roman wrestling match with my eyeliner, so I went with a softer, smokier version by lining my upper lash lines with a black eye pencil, and then smoking out the edges with a shimmery, blackish gray eyeshadow to create the cat eye shape.

Sometimes I prefer the softer, less formal look I can get with the eye pencil-eyeshadow combo…and sometimes it’s just quicker and easier than trying to control a gel or liquid liner.

It being the season and all, I paired the eyes with a red lip, reaching into the MAC Keepsakes Red Lip Bag for MAC Ruby Woo Lip Liner, Ruby Woo Matte Lipstick and Ruby Woo Lipglass.

Oh! If you haven’t danced with bluish red Ruby Woo yet, you MUST. It’s one of those MAC reds you have to try at least once, ideally when you’re going someplace fun (no, not a work meeting…although that would also work).

The MAC Keepsakes Red Lip Bag and Smoky Eye Bag arrive online with the rest of the Keepsakes collection October 19, before showing up at North American MAC stores and counters October 23 through December 18 (and at all international MAC locations this November).

MAC Keepsakes Red Lip Bag Swatches — Keepsakes Red Lip Bag Swatches

MAC Keepsakes Smoky Eye Bag — Keepsakes Smoky Eye Bag

MAC Keepsakes Smoky Eye Bag swatches — Keepsakes Smoky Eye Bag swatches

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Today’s Makeup: We’ll Always Have Paris

October 3rd, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

I’ve had Paris on my mind today, but not for the usual “Paris is terrific!” reasons. It’s because of a disturbing dream I had last night.

I dreamt that I was in Paris staying at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, which is the same hotel Carrie stayed at in the final season of Sex and City when she went to Paris to live with that art gallery dude.

Anyway, instead of sipping champagne and stuffing my face with macarons and twirling around in custom Chanel couture in my fabulous dream hotel room (which would have a view of the Eiffel tower, of course), I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off because the city was being bombed.

Yeah, that’s right.

Homegirl finally has a dream about the City of Lights, but instead of having tea with Karl Lagerfeld and Choupette or strolling down the Champs-Élysées alongside Tabs, who of course would be wearing a little red beret (I know you can picture it), she’s stuck in a five-star hotel as bombs rain down on the city.

I can’t remember why I was in the room, but all of the windows were wide open, and I could see explosions going off in the distance.

It was terrifying!

Right before I woke up from the dream, I was running around turning off all of the lights, because I didn’t want anyone outside to know that I was in the room by myself. 😯

So the moral of this story is to not eat too much chocolate before bed…

El Hub and I visited Paris years ago, right before he asked me to marry him, and I fell head over heels in love, both with him and the city.

I hope, I hope, I hope I can go back to Paris one of these days. Maybe by then Tabs will have given me a raise, and I’ll have saved enough to go to the Chanel store and buy myself a handbag. In Paris. Then every time I carried it, I’d remember that day.

All this is to say that I was in the mood to wear makeup today that I could see myself wearing to the Chanel store — red lips and black cat liner, with softly sculpted lids.

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Hello From Redding! And Yes, I Did the Makeup for This Face of the Day in the Car…

June 13th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

What else am I gonna do in the car for four hours?

Happy Friday the 13th greetings from Redding. 🙂

So, on the four-hour drive up here this morning, El Hub and I covered just about all of the Game of Thrones conspiracy theories we could think of while I played with makeup in the car.

Seriously, why nap or stare out the windows at the bone-dry California Central Valley when you can talk about all of the drama in King’s Landing and make tiny little circles in the outer corners with your MAC 217 instead?

I find the latter much more entertaining.

Like Willie Nelson said, “On the road again…”

I was running late this morning (SURPRISE!) and only had about 10 minutes to pack, so I ended up just tossing a few tried-and-true treasures into my Sonia Kashuk Triple Train Case, along with a couple of new things from Urban Decay and BECCA.

Obligatory bare face pic… 🙂

Not wearing a lick o’ makeup, and just some Neutrogena Age Shield Sunblock

Yeah, my hair’s lookin’ a little cray… It has a mind of its own, you see, and tends to lash out at anyone near it when I first step out of the shower.

I started by priming my face with Guerlain Meteorites Perles Base Eclat Les Ors (it has a subtle golden sheen that I really like) and my eyes with MAC Fast Response Eye Cream.

Next, the basics. I evened out my skin with MAC Face and Body Foundation (love this in hot weather because it doesn’t budge), covered up my dark circles with MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter in Bright Forecast and YSL Touche Eclat, and filled in my brows with MAC Monsters Bride Pro Palette X 6 (I use it in Brun to fill the outer part of my brows) and MAC Eye Shadow in Cork (for the inner part).

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Gold Glitter on a Tuesday? Why the Hell Not! A Face of the Day With MAC 3D Glitter in Brass Gold, and the Clinique On Safari All About Shadow Quad

June 3rd, 2014 by Karen 23 Comments

Wearing Clinique's On Safari Quad with MAC 3D Glitter in 3D Brass Gold — Glitter! Wearing Clinique’s On Safari Quad with MAC 3D Glitter in 3D Brass Gold

Generally I think of rigorous makeup rules and structure as hogwash, hooey and blarney, otherwise known as crazy talk.

Can’t say I’ve ever really believed in hard-and-fast rules for le war paint, but I do have a mantra — a guiding principle, if you will — and this is it: WHY THE HELL NOT!?

Want to rock a blown-out Khal Drogo smokey eye to a formal Sunday brunch?

Why the hell not!?

Want to wear a bright green gloss and gold glitter on your lids to walk your cat around the block?

Why the hell not!?

My point is this: life is short. You might as well wear what moves you.

Today I was in the mood to sparkle because, you know, it’s Tuesday, and that’s as good a reason as any. 🙂 So I did this glittery, brassy, kind of smokey greenish khaki eye.

I like that it has tricks up its sleeve. One minute, when my eyes are wide open, I think it looks almost tame, just a warm brassy golden eye, but then when I blink, BAM! — that’s when the glitter does its thang.

I used MAC 3D Glitter in Brass Gold atop Clinique’s greenish gold All About Eyeshadow Quad in On Safari, and I kept the glitter in the center of the lid so it wouldn’t overpower the whole look.

The Clinique On Safari All About Shadow Quad

I think the loose glitter I’m using here, MAC 3D Glitter, is really cool. The hexagonal multicolored glitter bits may look kind of mellow in these pics, but all about the drama in person.

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Mint Madness With NARS and Essie! A Mint Mani and Accompanying Face of the Day

May 19th, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

Today’s minty fresh face o’ the day was inspired by the mint mani I did last weekend with Essie Fashion Playground and In The Cab-ana (used as an “accent nail”).

Tabs the cat approves of this mint mani! P.S. That’s catnip (from the mint family) in the background.

The mint liner comes courtesy of NARS Barrow Street Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner, the black is NARS Black Valley Eye Paint, and my lower water lines are sporting MAC Fascinating Eye Kohl.

Because the liner look here’s pretty dramatic, I decided to leave my lids neutral, with just MAC Texture and Ground Brown in the crease and Mylar on my lids.

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