Just For Fun

Day in Beauty, Vol. 12: The MAC Zac Posen Collection, ChocStars, and a Belated Blog Birthday

February 22nd, 2016 by Karen 45 Comments

Hey, baby, you’re a ChocStar!

Yes, you read that correctly — a ChocStar, which is somewhat different than a rock star.

How funny are these chocolate bars, though? (Please note the tabbies.) I found them at a fun candy store called SweetE Organic in my old stomping grounds in Mill Valley. It’s just a little shop, but they have every square inch filled with interesting speciality candies — like organic chocolates, gluten-free gummies, vegan candy, sugar-free candies, dairy-free candies, SO MANY CANDIES!

Add it to your list of dessert-related things to do in Southern Marin before or after hiking Mt. Tam, sightseeing in Sausalito or shopping in Corte Madera or Mill Valley. You could have lunch at Pizza Antica (OOH! Try one of their chopped salads with a piadini.), and then swing by SweetE Organic for dessert.

It’s right next to a wonderful store called The Spanish Table, where I could literally spend hours looking at olives, wine, recipe books, maps and bars of Spanish chocolate.

I walked in yesterday while El Hub and I were out and about. With Baby Girl coming very, very soon, we’ve been trying to stay close to home and be ready to hop on the freeway to the hospital in San Francisco, buuut I was starting to go a little stir crazy, so I had to get out of the house.

Can’t help it. I’m antsy!

MAC Zac Posen

And the shopping yesterday was exactly what I needed. It was also a perfect excuse to wear makeup. 🙂 I busted out the new MAC Zac Posen collection (available now online and coming to stores and counters Feb. 25 through March 24) and did a look similar to what I’m wearing today — matte black winged liner; soft purple, plum and taupe lids; warm bronzed cheeks; and hot pink matte lips.

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 411

February 22nd, 2016 by Karen 25 Comments

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

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 seven 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.

What was the very first thing you ate today?
A bright green smoothie! And I guess it would be more accurate to say that I drank it, instead of ate it, but it was filling.

I put two big handfuls of spinach in there, one small gala apple, the juice from one lemon, a cup of coconut aloe juice (the one that comes in a box from Trader Joe’s), a fourth of an avocado and 10 blueberries (has to be 10… Don’t ask me why.).

Now that I look back at the ingredients…yeah, it might sound kinda gross, but no way. It was delicious, and now I’m fired up with energy right meow, woo-hoo!

When was the last wedding you attended?
Um…years ago. Maybe a decade? I think it was my friend Jen’s destination wedding in Boca Raton, Florida. That was a while ago…

And the Award for Best Pet in Your Entire Life goes to…
Seriously, growing up our house was like a zoo. We had dogs, cats, birds, mice, rabbits, fish, probably other animals I can’t remember now too, since my dad was always bringing some random stray or other animal home, but of all of the animals I’ve shared my life with, Tabs wins, hands down. He’s been the sweetest, most patient, funniest, most loving animal I’ve ever known.

What would you call your biggest shortcoming?
I waste a lot of time and energy — too much time and energy — needlessly worrying about things that are out of my control, and it’s exhausting.

Like so many things, it’s a process. I’m workin’ on it…

What do you consider your biggest asset?
Hmm… My outgoing-ness (is that a word?). Things do seem to work out better for me when I can talk to other people, even strangers.

I don’t know if that makes any sense, but it’s true.

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. What was the very first thing you ate today?
2. When was the last wedding you attended?
3. And the Award for Best Pet in Your Entire Life goes to…
4. What would you call your biggest shortcoming?
5. What do you consider your biggest asset?

Hey, babe! Happy Monday to ya. Are you busy today? I am…but then again I’m not. Like, I feel like I have a ton of things to do around the house, but all I’m really doing is sitting around waiting for BG to show up. Will it be today? Tomorrow? Tonight? Middle of the afternoon? I don’t know.

I do have today, howeve, marked on my calendar, because it’s the day Susan Miller of Astrology Zone (don’t laugh… Her forecasts have been eerily accurate for me.) said that a new baby could be coming.

If she does decide to arrive today, I just hope it’s before 2 p.m. this afternoon… LOL! We have to drive to San Francisco, and I want to beat the traffic and still have some energy.

So, um…if I could please send a cosmic message out into the universe, I would like to ask for BG to announce her arrival before 2 p.m. today.

I’m just sayin’.

Anywho! Time for another cup of decaf tea. I hope to see you in the comments. Have a great day.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 386

February 21st, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

Dear Diary,

The new hire starts soon, and I’ve been doing my level best to get the office ready.

She comes highly recommended by my chief assistant, so I’m very excited. From what I understand, she’s a good girl, so I’ve taken it upon myself to mold her in my most phenomenal kitty modeling image. She will be both my muse and my protégé, because I feel a responsibility to share my breadth of kitty modeling experience with the world.

I want to be a good mentor to her because I never really had one myself (other than Tim Gunn), and you know me; I like to excel at everything.

Of course, she’ll need to learn runway walking, because it’s such an essential skill. A lot of new models incorrectly assume that walking with fierce purr-pose comes naturally, but it actually takes a lot of practice to correctly shake your groove thang.

Also, in order to eventually run her own fashion and modeling empire, she’ll need to know how to delegate, because no cat is an island. It takes a team. Behind every successful kitty supermodel is an army of fur stylists, makeup artists, personal chefs, personal trainers, nutritionists and masseuses. The new girl has to know how to dish out orders to keep everyone working at peak efficiency.

She also has to know how to lay the smackdown on wannabe divas, which is a skill I learned working with Naomi.

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When Was the Last Time Someone Complimented You on Your Makeup, and Do You Remember What Makeup You Were Wearing at the Time?

February 18th, 2016 by Karen 43 Comments

When was the last time someone said something nice to you about your makeup, and do you remember what makeup you were wearing at the time?

It happened last weekend! — and it took me by surprise because 1) I’d done the pretty mininal makeup, and 2) the compliments came from two Sephora artists.

The gals who work at the store in my town are always so done up — they wear intricate cut creases, glitter, lots of contouring, etc. — and look fabulous, but, interestingly, talking to them I’ve found out that most of them say that they like to wear simple, minimal makeup, just as much as I do.

I guess I always just assumed that because they go all out with their makeup at work, they must prefer intricate, complicated looks, but that’s not always the case!

I forgot to take a picture of my makeup that day, but it looked very similar to this five-minute makeup look here…

Here were the main products I used…

BECCA Backlight Priming Filter
NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint SPF30 (I mixed the shades St. Moritz and Cuba)
Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Concealer (I use R32 to correct the color of my dark circles, then Y33 to conceal them)
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Tan
Guerlain 4 Seasons Contour and Bronzing Powder in Brunettes
MAC Sheertone Blush in Gingerly
Chanel Le Stylo Yeux in Waterproof Eyeliner in 914 Feuilles (I like to use this dark gray sometimes because it’s a little less intense than black liner)
Too Cool For School Dinoplatz Escalator Mascara
Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper & Hair Touch Up in Brunette
Urban Decay Naked Lipgloss in Liar

The whole kit and caboodle took 10 minutes, tops.

Oh! — and these are the makeup products, by the way, I’ve packed into my labor hospital bag. Yup, I’m finally officially packed and ready to go! I’ll be ready to party when Baby Girl shows up (OK, probably not really). 🙂

What about you? When was that last time someone complimented you on your makeup, and do you remember what makeup you were wearing at the time?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Day in Beauty, Vol. 11: Tabby Tea Time, the L’Oreal Cleansing Balms, and Gooooo Science!

February 17th, 2016 by Karen 48 Comments

Let’s hear it for the boyyyys! I gotta hand it to El Hub and Tabs for always keeping me on my toes. Those two… I never know what to expect from them, even after all this time.

Like today — today I learned that Tabs likes tea.

Who knew?

Because this morning I made a cup of decaf Irish breakfast tea (it’s super tasty! — the one from Trader Joe’s), put a hearty splash of milk in it, and set the cup down on my desk when I sat down to write.

Shortly thereafter, Tabs jumped up on the desk, and I just assumed that he was going to do what he usually does, which is to walk across the desk toward the window, where he likes to look outside.

I wasn’t really paying attention because I had my eyes on the screen, but then I heard a little tabby tongue lapping something up and realized, OH, CRAP! He’s drinking my tea.

LOL! #smdh

Oh, don’t even get me started on traumatic tea events… Seems like my desk is a magnet for them (remind me to tell you about the “Onion Tea Incident” someday, but I can’t talk about it right now because the thought of it just triggered my gag reflex).

So, yeah, watch your cat around your morning beverages… Sneaky kittehs…

L’Oreal Cleansing Balms

This next one isn’t tea related, but I’ve also been into these new cleansing balms by L’Oreal lately.

WOW! Years ago, back when I started MBB, I never would have thought we’d be seeing affordable sulfate-, silicone- and paraben-free hair products at stores like CVS, Rite Aid and Target, but these cleansing balms are exactly that. They’re about $12 for a big 16.9-oz. bottle.

These would have been the kinds of products I would have had to get at a specialty beauty store or salon, and they would have been a lot more than $12… Drugstores have come a loooong way.

So, these non-lathering cleansers? I think they’re great. You use them in place of your regular shampoo and conditioner, where they clean and condition in one fell swoop, and they do it without stripping color or moisture from your hair or weighing it down.

The overall idea has been around for years (google “conditioner washing” or “co-washing”), so these aren’t revolutionary, but I like that the idea is more mainstream now.
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The Day in Beauty, Vol. 10: Flamingos, Polka Dots, Deborah Lippmann Spring 2016, and The Pleasure Principle

February 15th, 2016 by Karen 23 Comments

Um…if this teal rash guard (complete with rollerskating flamingos) and matching ruffled polka-dot bikini bottoms are designed for babies, why do I want them so much for myself? 🙂

They’re from Carters, which, coincidentally, is having a 50%-off sale online now.

Obviously, I had to get them for BG (along with matching sun hat).

Obvs.

And, um…here’s to hoping that Baby Girl will actually like to splash around in the water. Yup, I really hope that she’s a water baby (*crosses fingers and monkey toes*).

Jeez, she’s not even born yet, and I’m already researching and plotting different ways to get her to fall in love with the water, haha.

For now I’m indulging El Hub, who thinks that BG is going to grow up to be an Olympic soccer star, but I wouldn’t protest if she said that she wanted to be a pro surfer instead. Because then I’d be able to hang out with her at the beach all the time.

Deep thoughts…

Speaking of beaches, here’s an important (OK, not really) question for you: do you believe that there’s an age after which one should stop wearing a two-piece? (See, I said it was important, LOL!)

My mom-in-law believes that nobody should wear a bikini after the age of 40, but I feel that if you’ve got the swagger, why not? #deepthoughts

Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Pro Spring 2016 Afternoon Delight Collection

All this talk of beaches is making me think of another tidbit of paramount importance, and that’s pretty pedicure colors. I love wearing boots, but oh! — I love sandals, flip-flops and wedges at least as much, if not more, because…

TOE FREEDOM!

I’m so looking forward to warm weather footwear. 🙂

I always like to have my toes painted when they’re gonna be out and about because, I kid you not, my toes are freakishly long. Fo’ reals! They’re like little monkey paws…

I’m going to keep these new Deborah Lippman Pro Gel Lab Nail Colors ($20 each) close by so I can paint my toes with them just as soon as I can actually, ya know, reach my feet…

The four here are from the Deborah Lippman Afternoon Delight collection for spring 2016, available now at Nordstrom stores, Sephora and online.

Wearing Deborah Lippmann's Spring 2016 collection on my nails; the purse is by Jetoy USA — Wearing the Deborah Lippmann Spring 2016 collection on my nails (the purse is by Jetoy USA)

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 362

February 15th, 2016 by Karen 32 Comments

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

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 seven 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.

What are you chasing at the moment?
Honestly? — sleep, because even though I’m not getting a ton right now, I know it’s only gonna get worse once BG arrives, so I’m trying to catch as many “Zs” as I can.

It’s funny…but in the morning after we wake up, El Hub and I always ask each other, “How did you sleep?” and now when one of us says, “Not bad… At least not completely terrible,” that constitutes a great answer, LOL!

I also feel like I’m always chasing the clock, because there’s never enough time to get everything done, ya know? And I can’t stand it when every minute of my day is blocked out, like I have 20 minutes for this and 15 minutes for that.

*sigh* Whatever happened to big blocks of unstructured time?

Today I’m wearing…
A kinda Kate Spade-ish striped black-and-white maternity/nursing dress from Asos.

It’s made of jersey, so it’s stretchy and comfy and, more importantly, it’s not that same pair of Jessica Simpson maternity jeans I’ve been wearing for what feels like the past four months, OMG!

We hit a stretch of springy weather here in the Bay Area, and it’s been really nice to be able to wear dresses and not have to cocoon myself under four layers of clothes. 🙂

Should you always have a backup plan?
Hmm… I’m conflicted about this answer. One the one hand, no, I think it can be helpful sometimes when I don’t have backup plan, because it forces me to take my main plan more seriously, but on the other hand, it is usually a good idea to have some kind of fallback plan in case things don’t work out.

So I dunno… Most of the time, yes, I think it probably is a good idea to have a backup plan.

I guess that was my long-winded way of saying that I don’t have a concrete answer to this question, LOL!

What makeup or beauty topics do you like to talk about the most?
GIRL, do not get me started about foundation or concealer or primer because I will talk your ear off!

I did it last Saturday when I wandered into Sephora and bumped into a few of my favorite sales associates. I’ve gotten to know some of the gals who work there (the Novato Vintage Oaks store) from attending those free Sephora beauty classes, and they’re all so sweet and nice. Whenever I’m in there, we talk about everything — makeup, skin care, hair, babies, whatever! Anyway, I was in there killing time while El Hub got a haircut, and one of the gals, Frances, and I must have talked about foundation and primer for a solid 15 minutes.

I told her that I thought she should try a combo of BECCA’s Backlight Primer and NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint stat.

I also like talking about color products, of course, particularly bronzer and blush (Frances recommended that I try Givency’s Le Prisme Blush Powder Blush in Aficionado Peach), mascara, eyeshadow and eyeliner. And then after that, hair products and hair styling; then perfume, and skin care.

So, pretty much in that order.

To whom do you feel closest right now?
Baby Girl. Even though I’m more than ready for her to check out of her luxury suite at Hotel Karen, it makes me a little sad to know that she’s not going to be with me like this forever…

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. What are you chasing at the moment?
2. Today I’m wearing…
3. Should you always have a backup plan?
4. What makeup or beauty topics do you like to talk about the most?
5. To whom do you feel closest right now?

Happy Monday to you, sweet girl. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a very happy Valentine’s Day.

El Hub and I kept it casual this year… We exchanged cards in the morning and then just lounged around the house, which was great because I’m not exactly super mobile at the moment. I do a “slow waddle” when I walk now, so it takes me FOREVER to get anywhere, and oh! — chairs have NOT been my friends, so no more long and leisurely romantic dinners or trips to the symphony for a while. My back gets achy after I sit for more than an hour.

You know what, though? I can see the finish line! We’re almost there! I just keep reminding myself of that…

Wherever you are today, and whatever you’re doing, I hope you feel loved, happy and calm. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen