Just For Fun

Hello, friend. Good morning! Only two more sleeps till October. That’s just crazy to me.

So I was outside watering the plants on my deck this morning, a.k.a. the Lady Sanctuary, and I’m trying to figure out what the heck I’m gonna do with that space later this fall and winter… The plants are still hanging on, but they won’t be much longer.

Every summer I plant a lush little cat-safe garden back there (it’s on the deck off my bedroom, which is above the deck that has the Tabby Command Center), and every year I just let the plants slowly wither through the winter, mostly because I don’t hang out much on the deck when it’s cold, not that it really gets THAT cold in the Bay Area, but still… Cold enough to not want to be out there.

But it’s kind of depressing when I open my bedroom curtains around Christmas and see a bunch of sad, dead foliage, so maybe if I jooj-ed it up with some fall and winter plants, I’d be motivated enough to take care of them? I dunno… I don’t know anything about gardening in winter. Maybe I should start with a winter test garden with just three or four plants? What do you think? I know there are a bunch of gals here on MBB who are kindred spirits with ‘ze plants. Please halp.

Hmm… While I contemplate botany and breakfast, here are some articles to get you going on this lovely Caturday.

• Makeup is a full-body, 360-degree thing when makeup artists prepare celebs for the stage or red carpet. Not only do artists have to consider their clients’ faces, but also their arms, necks and feet!
• Most American men don’t wear makeup, but that might be changing, as more and more men look at makeup and beauty as part of “self care.”
• Dust off your old pink velour tracksuit (the one you wore EVERYWHERE in 1999), because Juicy Couture’s coming out with a new makeup line.
• NYX just launched a library of beauty how-to videos called Masterclass, where you can learn from industry artists like Patrick Ta (he does makeup for Gigi Hadid; I’ve been following his career since forever!), as well as popular YouTube influencers.
• Why is dating app Bumble releasing a skin care line? Maybe their reasons are similar to 7-Eleven’s. Many large companies that previously didn’t have any ties to the fashion or cosmetics worlds are coming out with their own beauty products or collaborating with beauty brands.
• I’m totally not a nail art person (I’m so bad at it, unless it’s basic), but I think I have the skills to handle this Sharpie manicure.
• Photography stalwart Canon’s latest printer does a bunch of cool things, but most importantly, IT PRINTS OUT NAIL ART.
• A Swedish grocery chain just released a fragrance that smells like rotten milk… Eau du no thanks!
• Do you like surprises? If you do, you might love the new mystery kits Sephora is releasing for the holidays.
• —–> Favorite story of the week
• If you merged foundation with tinted moisturizer, you’d get this.
• Sephora and Ulta’s fight for the $48.3 billion makeup industry…

See ya later! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Sending random cards to friends out of the blue

I’ve always liked getting a note or a card in the mail from a friend “just because,” so I’ve started sending cards to friends randomly just to say hello. If I’m at Target I’ll pick one up, since I’m there anyway. (Side note: They have a HUGE greeting card section, although to be honest I kind of miss Hallmark stores. There was something so soothing about going to one. Anywho!)

It only takes a minute to write a quick hello, and it makes me feel good knowing that the person on the other end will get a surprise.

2. Honey and Lemon in Trader Joe’s Fall Harvest Tea

At least one person in our family has had a cold at any given moment every single day since Connor stepped foot in preschool last August, and I’m totally over it… Everyone tells me it gets better after a few months? Is that true? I hope so… POWERS THAT BE, GIVE ME STRENGTH!

I’ve been guzzling hot tea lately (specifically TJ’s Fall Harvest) with honey and lemon because the combo is pure magic. It soothes my sore throats, calms my cough and tastes really good!

3. The special edition Allure Best of Beauty

I devoured this the other night in one sitting! Cracked it open when I got into bed and read it from cover to cover.

It’s been a long time since I’ve said that about this magazine. I almost cancelled Allure last year because it seemed to have gotten to be less about beauty and more about celebrity worship (there was a spell there when every other month had a Kardashian or a Jenner on the cover, and I was immediately tossing them into the recycling). This particular Best of Beauty issue is filled with product recommendations (which I totally appreciate), but it also has more in-depth stories than usual. I really enjoyed it!

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Hell no! I would hate it. I mean, you know…I’d love some of the perks. I could probably deal with it for about a year, but eventually the attention would wear me down, man. I couldn’t handle having everything I did or wore or said be totally scrutinized. I like doing normal people things waaaaaay too much. Like, I need to be able to buy an extra large bulk jar of Nutella and the new Us Weekly at 11 in the evening without announcing it to the world!

I was thinking about this because of a movie I started streaming last night called Gemini. In it Zoe Kravtiz (she is her mom’s doppelganger, RIGHT?!) plays a famous actress. I only got about 15 minutes in before bedtime, but there’s a scene near the beginning where she’s leaving a restaurant and the paparazzi start harassing her, trying to elicit a reaction from her by asking rude, obnoxious questions… It did not look fun at all.

Will let you know how it turns out when I finish watching it…IN LIKE A WEEK, because that’s the average time it takes me to watch a movie at home now, LOL! I start a movie and watch for maybe 15 minutes before Tabs “needs” to inspect something on the deck or Connor “needs” a coloring partner or another load of laundry “needs” to get folded.

The cycle repeats itself every day or two until said movie has been watched, ha ha ha.

Anyway, could you handle being famous? Inquiring minds want to know.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Yes and no. There’s an outdoor mall five minutes away from me that I like… I like that it’s five minutes away from me, and it has some great practical stores like Target, Costco, DSW (commonly referred to as “Shoe Valhalla”), Sephora (right!?), LOFT and Old Navy. They also just got a Nordstrom Rack, a Carter’s and a Banana Republic Factory Store.

So lots of everyday useful stores, but I still wish I lived closer to a proper indoor mall with more variety, like the huge three-story malls in San Francisco and the East Bay where you could walk in while it’s daylight, totally lose yourself for hours, and walk out when it’s night.

I am glad, though that I live so close to a Sephora and a Target and to places where I can get an affordable dress in a pinch, then grab a Starbucks on the way out.

Right after I gave birth to Connor, man…that mall was my safe place! When I was in my postpartum no-sleep haze, El Hub would make me go to that mall every couple days just to see people and get out of the house. It got me to wash my face, brush my hair and teeth, and put on clothes (because, let’s get real, I was wearing spit-up stained nightgowns 24/7 for months) to interact with real, live human beings.

Anyways. Malls! Do you live near a good one? If so, what are your favorite things about it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Good question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll. 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 gazillion years (more than 10!). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a great start. ?

1. Is golf ⛳ fun?

It is if it’s mini-golf and I’m winning. ?

2. What’s hiding under your bed at night?

Um…the trail of broken hearts I left behind in the ’90s? — also, Pennywise, who’s obviously only there because he’s hanging out with that terrifying clown from Poltergeist!

But seriously, I’ve got a stack of Williams Sonoma cookbooks under the bed because I like to read them before snoozing.

3. Mascara or false lashes?

Mascara, ya’ll. In fact, I’m convinced that wearing false lashes for a spell (coupled with turning 40) ruined my natural lashes. ?

4. Balayage or highlights?

Balayage, please! — but only if my friend Alis can do them.

5. How well could you handle living with five cats?

I wanna say that I could hang, because it seems like the proper CCL answer, but Tabs aggressively trained me to be a one-cat woman (he’s territorial TO THE EXTREME), so I don’t think I’d fare terribly well in a multi-cat household…

BONUS QUESTION: Chanel or Dior?

Chanel all the way.

My favorite part of doing makeup lately…

Good morning! OK, deep thoughts today because, ya know…Monday. I can’t handle anything too intense before 10 a.m. on a Monday unless it’s absolutely necessary, ha ha ha!

Here it is: I was just thinking about how much I love wearing blush — and not just because I look less zombie with some color on my cheeks, but also because of how incredibly satisfying it is to sweep that much color over such a large area of my face (applying bronzer is similarly satisfying).

Juxtaposed to how it is with eye makeup, especially if I’m attempting anything with more than two shadows where I have to be extremely careful and mindful of my placement and blending.

With blush, I can go buck wild and sweep back and forth with reckless abandon, LOL!

And yo, don’t blush brushes just feel so gloriously good on your skin? It’s like being kissed by 100 tender kittens. I’m kinda/sorta hoping that the fashion gods make it trendy to wear blush all over your face, like across your forehead, on your chin and along your jawlines, someday.

Hey, if un-blended dark purple lip liner can have its day, why not full-face blush? ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Question time! Here are they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to you soon.

1. Is golf fun?
2. What’s hiding under your bed at night?
3. Mascara or false lashes?
4. Balayage or highlights?
5. How well could you handle living with five cats?

BONUS QUESTION: Chanel or Dior?