Just For Fun

I don’t know about you, but today I need civil discourse, and I promise I won’t interrupt you. What’s your go-to fall beauty item? Is it a dark lipstick? Your favorite cream shadow for smokey lids? A particularly vampy nail polish? A regal, rich perfume?

For me, it’s a dark lipstick… Actually, all of the dark lipsticks! Berry, brown, red. Even though I mostly only wear them around the house these days, I still love a good fall lip color.

How about you? What’s your go-to fall beauty item?

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 five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?

1. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate?

Dark chocolate tastes like punishment to me…and white chocolate doesn’t really taste like much at all, so I’ll take some really good milk chocolate for the win, please! See’s preferably! ??

2. Would you like winged liner with a matte finish, or a shiny finish today?

I’ll go for shiny today. ✨

3. Something you’re putting off at the moment?

Cleaning my bathroom… I’ve got to do it soon (hopefully this week) because it’s on the brink of true grossness! Not quite full-on disgusting yet, but it’s getting there.

4. A weird beauty-related pet peeve of yours?

I absolutely cannot stand when my hair smells like barbecue. YUCK! Also, when my toenails or fingernails are even just a tad too long, I’m basically non-functional. I can’t think about anything other than cutting my nails when they get like that, and I’ll obsess over it until it’s done.

5. Who’s your dream travel partner?

Besides Keanu Reeves? El Hub, I guess. LOL! He’s very detail oriented, so I know that even if I’m completely out of it (like if it’s 3 a.m.
and I’m delirious from lack of sleep), and there’s a train or a connecting flight we absolutely cannot miss, I know we’ll get to where we need to go with all the paperwork and everything ready to go.

Plus, homeboy’s pretty funny. He’s always available for a hug if I need one and is always up for an adventure… And I’m also going to have to include my childhood friends Jen and Cindy, who I still hang out with. I’ve traveled extensively with them over the years, and we haven’t killed each other yet, haha! They’re both super easygoing, which is yin to my yang.

6. Who’s always on your playlist?

Honestly, these days it’s always one of the Disney princesses, hahaha! Connor loves Disney movies and music, so I like to have Disney princess tunes available to play at a moment’s notice in case she feels the need to bust out into song.

7. What’s something you learned about makeup in the last few years that really surprised you?

That brown eyeliner is your BFF!

8. What does your afternoon look like today?

Got a few errands to run and a couple things to write, but otherwise not terribly busy if I’m mindful of the time and stay on task.

9. What’s the name you put on your Starbucks order?

I use ‘Karen’ most of the time, but there are those rare days when I can’t deal with someone writing ‘Kelvin’ or ‘Kerran’ or ‘Kiera,’ so I end up giving my nickname, which is Kate.

Nobody seems to mess up Kate for some reason!

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. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate?
2. Would you like winged liner with a matte or shiny finish today?
3. Something you’re putting off at the moment?
4. A weird beauty-related pet peeve of yours?
5. Who’s your dream travel partner?
6. Who’s always on your playlist?
7. What’s something you learned about makeup in the last few years that really surprised you?
8. What does your afternoon look like today?
9. What’s the name you put on your Starbucks order?

P.P.S. You’re going to have a great day, my friend. I just know it! ?

Rise and shine, morning glory! Good morning! I may or may not have just ingested what may, technically, be described as a dessert for breakfast, and while part of me feels like I shouldn’t tell you about this cake from Trader Joe’s because its health benefits are…beyond questionable, another part of me does because it’s SO DANG DELICIOUS.

I don’t know what’s going on with this brownie pumpkin blondie confection, but it’s crazy addictive. It’s so good that you have to close your eyes when you take a bite. It’s that serious!

If a pumpkin cake met a carrot cake that met a white chocolate/slash pecan fantasy, this would be their progeny. Like…I’m not normally into white chocolate chips, but I’m all over them in this. Normally, I’m not a fan of chocolate and pumpkin together, but they are WORKIN’ here.

Mmm… The crumb is so light it just melts in your mouth. Perfect with a cup of hot coffee.

So, yeah! You’ll either love me or hate me because I told you about this. ? Or, maybe you’ll love AND hate me, hahaha! Now I realize why this was the last box on the shelf when I saw it at TJ’s. People are addicted!

Anyhow…I hope you’re eating cake for breakfast this morning, even if it isn’t this one. Here are your beauty stories for the week. 🙂

• Which of these makeup looks from London Fashion Week Spring 2021 would you wear?
• Your two new Lenny Kravitz fun facts for this week: 1) he’s the new face of a new perfume by YSL, and 2) he uses sand from the ocean to exfoliate his skin.
• Eight skin care products with oatmeal to soothe your itchy, dry skin.
• 19 Black-owned beauty brands to put on your radar.
• Do you see any of your cold-weather skin care essentials on this best-of beauty list?
• Just in case you’re looking for a list of vitamin C serums for correcting dark spots!
• Meet Lasagna the cat, a shapely 29-pound (!) kitty from Philly who just found her fur-ever home.
• Do you think your kitty has what it takes to become a therapy cat?
• Experts say that it takes a while to foster feline friendships between kitties.
• A brief history of styling Black stars in Hollywood
• Here’s what you need to know about toner, according to a dermatologist.
• There isn’t a lot of diversity among perfumers in the fragrance industry.

So I’m working on my yard yet again this weekend. It’s the neverending story of my life right now, but it’s almost done. We put down the white marble chips last week, so this is the home stretch. Now I have to track down a big blue ceramic pot for a lemon tree and look at pavers… #adulting!

What you got going on today? Besides eating cake for breakfast?!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There’s something intriguing about the hunt for the perfect combination of base products for flawless (or almost flawless) skin, even if my favorite foundations and concealers aren’t getting much action these days because of #masklife. I still (and will always) enjoy the challenge of applying my base products.

On that note, it’s time for this newest edition of This or That! Today is all about foundation and concealer…

How to play

Pick one or the other for each of the questions below, and copy/paste your answers in the comments. Can’t wait to see your picks! Mine are listed below. ?

Copy and paste

• Foundation or tinted moisturizer?
• Would you rather have a foundation that perfectly matches your skin tone but isn’t all that great at smoothing pores and fine lies, OR a foundation that perfectly smoothes out the texture (so your skin’s as pore-less as a baby’s!) but is juuuust a smidgen off in terms of color?
• Cream or liquid concealer?
• Sheer or pigmented concealer?
• Stick foundation or powder foundation?
• Sheer-, medium- or full-coverage foundation?
• Matte or dewy finish?
• Would you rather blend your base with a sponge or a brush?
• Drugstore or department store foundation?

Foundation or tinted moisturizer?

I’m having a real makeup Sophie’s choice with this one, because, on one hand, I love the flexibility of a foundation (you can easily sheer it out by adding a few drops of MAC Strobe Cream), but, on the other hand, the ease of a tinted moisturizer can’t be beat.

GAHHH. I guess for this moment in time, I’d go with the tinted moisturizer, since it’s easier and would be the one I’d be most likely to grab first.

Would you rather have a foundation that perfectly matches your skin tone but shows a little bit of texture, OR a foundation that perfectly smoothes out the texture (so it appears pore-less) but is a smidgen off in color?

Foundation that matches my skin perfectly, please. Again…easier to handle. I don’t want to deal with color correcting! Just the thought of it is wearing me down. LOL!

Cream or liquid concealer?

Liquid.

Sheer or pigmented concealer?

Sheer for the under-eye area, pigmented for my cheeks.

Stick foundation or powder foundation?

Stick foundation, 100%.

Sheer-, medium- or full-coverage foundation?

Sheer, please.

Matte or dewy finish?

Dewy.

Would you rather blend your base with a sponge or a brush?

Brush.

Drugstore or department store foundation?

Either is fine, but I’m going to go with department store foundations because, generally, I like how weightless they feel on my face.

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 five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?

1. What are you most excited about at this current moment?

LOL, don’t laugh, but I can’t wait to go out to eat at an actual restaurant again and not have to wear a hazmat suit. Who knows when it’ll be, but I’m so looking forward to it.

Ooh! — I hope it’ll be sushi. The flavors are totally out of my everyday wheelhouse.

2. What beauty item are you most excited about right now?

The old-school MAC eyeliners. I’ve been having a moment with Teddy, Prunella, Powersurge and Costa Riche. I think I’m going to use them all in single eyeshadow looks this week… Got the wheels in my mind a-turning…

3. Where do you feel most at home?

Our current home here in Novato. Mind you, it took a while to feel this way. For a couple years after we moved here, whenever I’d drive by my old exit on Highway 101 in Mill Valley, I’d always feel like, “Oh, that’s where I live. That’s where my home is,” but now Novato feels like my home.

4. What’s the best part about the place you live?

How friendly the people are. It really does have a small town feel to it, for the most part, and people are genuinely friendly. For instance, when you’re walking into a store at the mall, the person in front of you will smile and hold the door open for you, and the cashiers will smile and make small talk. Strangers you pass on the sidewalk make eye contact and say “Good morning,” and things like that.

I mean, there’s always crabby people wherever you go, right? But for the most part, the people you run into here will look at you and smile (even underneath their mask!). ?

5. What’s the worst part about the place you live?

Right now? Wildfire season. Being on alert and constantly prepared to evacuate or have the power go out for days at a time every summer and fall is…getting old. I also wish Novato had more diversity. There were more people from different backgrounds and cultures where I grew up in the East Bay, and I do miss that.

6. A beauty item you recommend to everyone?

A lash curler, girlfriend! I’m a big an of the Surratt one.

7. If there’s one instrument you could listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I’ll tell you this much, it’s not going to be the tuba. It does absolutely nothing for my soul! Sorry, tuba players. ?‍♀️

I would pick the piano. ? You’ve got the treble clef and the bass clef, and you can easily play a variety of musical genres with it.

8. What was the last emoji you remember using?

✨ The three stars! ✨ I’ve been going a little crazy with it lately. ✨

9. San Francisco or Los Angeles?

SF for sure.

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. What are you most excited about at this current moment?
2. What beauty item are you most excited about right now?
3. Where do you feel most at home?
4. What’s the best part about the place you live?
5. What’s the worst part about the place you live?
6. A beauty item you recommend to everyone?
7. If there’s one instrument you could listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?
8. What was the last emoji you remember using?
9. San Francisco or Los Angeles?

P.P.S. I hope your Monday is full of love and laughter, sweet girl. Have a wonderful day! ?