Just For Fun

Let me tell you; you haven’t lived until you’ve taken a toddler to the ballet. It’s an experience, LOL! I took Connor to watch the Nutcracker yesterday, put on by a local ballet company here called The Stapleton Ballet, and they did a performance for parents and young kids.

Technically, it was a dress rehearsal, but it was open to everyone — even babies! The kids got to enjoy the ballet and could move around and get their wiggles out if they needed to.

It was cool. I have so many memories of the music and the dancing from Nutcracker when I was growing up. I had a well-loved record (YUP) and a book, and I’ve gone to see the ballet a few times.

Back in high school band, I played parts of the music when we did select excerpts one year. My favorite piece, by the way, is the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, because it has the best flute parts. 🙂

I think Connor enjoyed it… It’s hard to say… She didn’t want to sit on my lap, which I guess isn’t a huge surprise, since she’s a high-energy kid with her own agenda.

She’s a mover and a shaker, but we were in a row toward the front right, with about three seats between us and the next family, so she had room to groove.

When the house lights came on and the curtain went up, she said, “WOW!” Then when the dancers started kicking and flying through the air, she decided that she wanted to participate in the performance, so she started twirling in the aisle and kicking her legs. It was quite the adventure!

We ended up leaving during intermission because it was nap time, and she was getting cranky. But it was fun. I’m hoping to make it a new tradition for the two of us.

So, I didn’t have a lot of time to get ready before we left for the theater. In fact, I had literally two seconds to put on my makeup…

OK, maybe it was a little more than that, but not much.

Anyway, I’m always cutting it close, but lately I’ve been cutting it REALLY close.

Normally, when I only have 10 minutes or so to get out of the house, I won’t attempt winged liner, but I did it yesterday. You can totally do it if you have an angled liner brush and a black eyeshadow.

The trick is to only load the tip of the liner brush. If you do that, you get much more control over where that shadow is going, and if you happen to make a mistake, it’s easy to correct because it’s just shadow.

I used matte black powder MAC Carbon eyeshadow and a MAC 263, which is their small angled brush.

I think it’s so much better than the 266 if you have limited lid space because it’s thinner than the 263 and much easier to control.

On that beauty note…here are some stories (some beauty related, some not) that caught my eye this week.

• Could glitter eventually become a relic of the past? Scientists call for a ban on glitter in an effort to protect marine life, and microplastic bans could soon include glitter used in lotions, cosmetics and more.
• Work can become a major part of your identity. The danger is letting it define who you are. Here’s how to emotionally detach from your job.
• Mad props to this photographer who pulled off a high-fashion photo shoot at a mega hardware store.
• The Paul & Joe Spring 2018 (!) collection is paws-tively purr-fect because of — you guessed it! — cats. LOTS OF CATS. The green nail polish looks like pretty cool paw polish.
• Spa experts offer their tips for glowing skin, and part of me hopes a 120-minute deep-tissue massage is somewhere on the list.
• Beauty stocking stuffer ideas for those on your nice list.
• Presents for the skin care addict in your life… Or, presents for yourself, you skin care junkie, you. 🙂 Either way, it’s all good!
• Speaking of skin care, the Algenist Genius Liquid Collagen is supposed to start showing results overnight. Sign me up because I don’t have time to waste, yo!
• The holidays are hopefully a happy time, but sometimes people are going through difficult things this time of year. Here are four mistakes we often make when comforting friends over the holidays.

Have a good rest of your day, OK? I hope you find a nice balance between being productive and finding time to relax before the sun goes down.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Do you have your tree yet? We’re thinking of getting ours this weekend… So excited! 🙂

Hmm, let’s see… Measure here, tilt head there… Maybe a six? Or seven?

No, I think that’s too high. I’ll say five, because they’re symmetrical in some ways, but they’re inconsistently symmetrical, if that makes any sense.

They’re on the same horizontal plane. I mean, they both start on the inner side at around the same area, but things start to get a little wonky toward the outer tail.

My right brow is a completely different shape than my left, too. The right one is shorter by at least a quarter inch, and the arch is slightly higher, so whenever I fill in my right brow, I have to take it out further than my left.

I also have to sort of “do things” to the arch…

I’ve been doing these little tricks when I fill in my brows for so long that they aren’t a big deal anymore, but it took me a long time to actually figure out which brow was thicker than the other one and how differently they were shaped.

One thing that helped was taking pics of myself for MBB. I’d look at them on my computer screen and be like, “What’s up with my right brow!?”

Well, a) it was/is shaped differently, and b) my right brow always looked darker because I was pressing harder on that side when I was applying my brow products.

Seriously, I only came to realize this in the past four or five years, so when I say that it took a while, it really did take a while.

Anyway, scale of 1-10, how even are your brows?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I wish I could say that it’s normal and perfect, and I never have breakouts or itchy redness, ever, but alas…that’s not the case. If you can say that, though, congrats. You’re a unicorn!

I’ve got combo skin. It’s dry on my cheeks and around my nose and mouth, and you know what? It gets REALLY bad on windy days. Consequently, I freakin’ hate windy days, which happen all the dang time here in Novato. The wind is like a hydration-sucking vampire, and its bite makes my cheeks hurt like hell.

It’s also dry under my eyes and on my lids.

Now, my forehead, on the other paw, is oily, especially the area between my eyebrows, and also on my nose and my chin.

But that’s not all! My skin also likes to break out, so I use benzoyl peroxide daily.

So, yeah… That’s my skin type, for now. I’m sure it’ll change one of these years, and the oily areas will probably trade places with the dry areas, LOL!

How about you? What’s your skin type?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past 10 (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. What would you wear with a coconut bra?

High-waisted black Zella leggings, white Converse high-tops and a jeans jacket, obviously. What else would you wear with a coconut bra? 🙂

2. Have you ever met somebody who literally dazzled you?

Yes, Santa Claus, when I was 5. He was the most amazing person ever. His eyes twinkled, and his beard was so soft.

3. Who does the holiday decorating in your family?

Well, the cat doesn’t do it, and El Hub has no interest, so it’s all me. This year we’re going with a red, green and gold theme with lots of plaid.

4. Have you ever lost your purse?

I’m absentminded about many things, but I’m pretty good about keeping track of my wallet, my keys and my purse. That said, I’ve only lost my purse once, and that was when I was six months pregnant. El Hub and I went to Panera one morning for breakfast, and I was in some kind of pregnancy fog because we left the restaurant, and I literally left my purse hanging on the back of my chair and didn’t realize until 10 min later as I was petting a fluffy dog outside.

I remember it with so much clarity now because it was the only time. So, I’ve never technically lost my purse… I just misplaced it at Panera. Everything was still there.

5. Which do you prefer: sticky or non-sticky lipgloss?

I like both. Either one, as long as it’s moisturizing and good.

I actually just realized that I don’t have any glosses in my bag at the moment.

Happy Monday, my friend

I want to play in the rain. I want to slip on my boots, button up my coat, splash in some puddles, and feel the drops on my hands and on my face. I just want to feel alive, ya know?

It’s like, everything is so wondrous to a toddler. Everything’s amazing. I feel like somewhere along the way, though, we lose that. It’s a nice feeling, even if it’s just for a few minutes in the rain.

Hope your spirit feels light this week and nothing weighs your shoulders down.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste:

1. What would you wear with a coconut bra?
2. Have you ever met somebody who literally dazzled you?
3. Who does the holiday decorating in your family?
4. Have you ever lost your purse?
5. Which do you prefer: sticky or non-sticky lipgloss?

Happy ? Thanksgiving, sweet friend. I just wanted to say hi and wish you a wonderful day.

I know you’re probably busy contemplating a piece of pecan pie (I’m 100% in support of that), but…

I want to try something today that I saw my friend Toya Renee do on Facebook. She’s such a joy to follow (you can find her here on Instagram and Twitter). She did a fun thing, and I want to try it here on MBB because I’m hoping — fingers crossed! — it’ll spread some T-day ? joy.

Here’s what you do

Leave a comment below, and I’ll write you a positive, loving and encouraging comment back. I’m hoping that my words will make you feel a little more loved today.

Thank you for being you!

This little corner of the Internet is just a little corner, but it’s a cozy corner thanks to you.

This year I’m thankful for many things — the big things like health, family and a roof over my head — but I’ve always been thankful for you.

Thank you, Kim, for always making me laugh. I always look forward to hearing from you and hearing about your twin boys. I feel like I’m their long-lost crazy aunt in California.

Jane! It’s been so much fun talking about makeup with you (neutral eyeshadows 4 life), and I look forward to the day Connor gives me (even more) gray hair when she learns how to drive (does Zack have his license yet?).

Chelsea, how long have we been chatting? It has to have been at least four or five years. Thanks for sharing your life with me all this time. Because of you, I now want to take circus classes!

Rachel R.! You’re such a sweet and wonderful mom. Thanks for always having a kind word to say. I admire you, and I love your bold makeup looks.

Sweet Efrain, you’re the little cousin I wish could dote on. Thanks for all of your emails and kind check-ins when I’ve felt blue or overwhelmed.

And thank YOU, dear reader, for always brightening ? my days. I’m eternally grateful for your company. Without you, my life wouldn’t be anywhere near as ?? colorful, ? happy or fun.

Have a wonderful rest of your day, and I hope to see you in the comments soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I was thinking about this the other day because Chelsea and I (She comments here on the blog! Say hi to her sometime. She speaks French, has a few furbabies, and she takes circus classes for fun.) were talking about the makeup we wore in our high school senior pics.

I was looking at mine recently, and I don’t think I was wearing any concealer at all… I was so not wearing the two things I wear every day now — actually, the three things I wear every day.

I didn’t fill in my brows (they’re completely untouched), no concealer (the horror, LOL!) and no mascara.

Like…what?! Who goes for their high school senior photos without any mascara on? THIS GIRL.

And I loved makeup back then. I don’t know what I was thinking.

I’m pretty sure I had on a little foundation and some powder, because that’s what I did back then, and I think I was also wearing blush…

I had this shade — I think it was by Covergirl — that was this peachy brown matte, and the lip!? Funny thing is, that color is something I’d totally wear now. It’s a matte coppery reddish brown. I wish I could remember what it was… I think it was either Revlon or Covergirl.

I almost didn’t wear those over-sized pearl earrings. I love accessories, but I’m generally not a big jewelry person (although I do have my phases), and my mom, who lives for jewelry, was like, “You HAVE to wear some jewelry. YOU HAVE TO.” She left me some options to choose from, and I ended up grabbing what was closest, which happened to be the over-sized pearl earrings, not really thinking about like, how these pictures would follow me into my old age, LOL!

As I’m looking at this picture now, the earrings were kind of big, right?

Anyway, what makeup did you wear in your high school senior portrait? Do you remember? Were you full-on glam? Did you wear nothing but lip balm? Were you wearing any makeup at all? Let me know in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day!