Just For Fun

In a perfect world…but one where you don’t have six dozen different brushes, what’s the bare minimum number of makeup brushes you need to comfortably do an entire makeup look from start to finish?

For me it’s four. Actually, I could probably get away with three, but four is my magic number, and they’d be…

• 1. An angled eyeliner brush, which I could use to fill in my brows (I’m back on an eyeshadow-as-a-brow-powder kick) and line my upper lash line.

  See what I’m doing here? It’s multitasking madness, yo! I like the NARS #47 Angled Eyeliner Brush (it’s a splurge at $28, but DAYUM! — it always does my winged liner right, and I recommend it to beginners all the time). The good ol’ MAC 266 is another great one.

• 2. A tapered blending eyeshadow brush, which I’d use to quickly get a base color all over the lid. Then I’d clean it by running it across a paper towel before using it again to blend my eyeshadow.

  And, as long as I’m not working with any dark or bright colors like blues, greens and purples, it could also double as a highlighting face brush.

  Right now Laura Mercier makes my favorite version of this type of brush, which she calls a ponytail brush.

• 3. A domed eyeshadow brush, which I’d use for crease work. LOL! — “crease work.” Makes it sound like I’m building a better mousetrap or something. 🙂

  I’d also use this one to run shadow along my lower lash lines. MAC makes my standby favorite, the 217. I consider it an absolute essential in a makeup bag.

• 4. A medium-sized face brush, which I’d use to apply all of my face stuff (powder, highlighter, bronzer and blush) because it doesn’t just take a village, people! It takes a small nation!

  I really like the MAC 128 Split Fibre Cheek Brush because you get both natural fibers (good for powder products) and synthetic fibers (best for cream products) in the same brush head, but I usually just use one side to apply my products and then blend with the other.

  You are literally getting two brushes in one!

I guess the theme here is multitasking… I like brushes that do different jobs.

How about you? How many brushes do you need?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being hardly any makeup at all and 10 being full-on diva drag queen fabulousness, where are you in terms of how involved/heavy your makeup has been lately?

Seeing as how, pretty much, all I’ve been wearing lately hasn’t been much at all (Well, let me clarify that… It hasn’t been much for me, since my idea of “hasn’t been much at all” might be more than the average gal’s, since I love le face paint and all.), I’d put myself at about a 4 or a 5… Maybe a 4.5. Or a solid 4.75? LOL! Let’s just say that I’m smack dab in the middle at 5.

Honestly, with the hectic holidays and a little bit of travel thrown on top — plus my inability to sit still for long (pregnancy has made me antsy, yo!) — all I can manage is whatever I can squeeze into 15 minutes.

And I’ve also been into more natural looks lately. I guess I’m going through a phase… I mean, sometimes I want to do all of the fun makeup extras — the extra contouring, the blending, the layering, the playing with different textures and finishes — and I like wearing a “heavier” makeup look, too, because, well, it’s fun, and it can be a great artistic outlet when I have the time, energy and patience for it, but right now, though, I’m all about skin that looks like real skin (which doesn’t require a lot of effort) and a light touch of color and definition on my eyes and cheeks.

The furthest I’ll go in terms of color lately has been on my lips, because for me I think they’re the quickest way to make an impact that doesn’t require tons of work. I keep a couple of nude lip colors in my makeup bag (one foolproof combo that works with everything: MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Only You from the Ellie Golding collection and NARS Lipgloss in Chihuahua), along with some brighter options.

For brights, I still like ’em easy, and I have several reds, oranges and pinks in my bag from the MAC Velvetease Lip Pencil collection (Anything Goes, Lover’s Lane, Just My Type and Just Add Romance) because they’re like lip pencils and matte lipsticks in one, so they don’t take much fuss.

How about you?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day!

Man, I love to travel. I love getting out of dodge and seeing new things. I wish I could do it more often, too, and by “more often,” I mean every month! I’d love to be able to go someplace new one weekend a month…

Do you hear that, future eccentric billionaire who’s going to fund my life of leisurely travel? I would very much appreciate one all-expenses-paid weekend trip per month. I mean…if you don’t mind. It sure would be nice. 🙂

Thanks to El Hub and frequent flyer miles, last weekend in Monterey we stayed at the Portola Hotel & Spa right down by Fisherman’s Wharf.

Naturally, this calls for a list of five things I love about hotel rooms. Things like…

1. Trying new beauty products

GIRL, you know it’s true: first thing I do after I put down my luggage and open the curtains is make a beeline for the bathroom to check out the complimentary beauty products. The Portola had products from a brand I’d never heard of before, Olive Branch Botanicals? They had all the essentials — bar soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

My fave was the body wash, which smelled a little like orange flowers, and it was good stuff, too. My skin felt nice and soft and moisturized. I’ll have to keep an eye out for more products by Olive Branch Botanicals…

2. Robes

OH! — the robes! Can’t forget about the robes. You gotta rock the robe if there’s one in the room. I like to wear them after I take a shower, while I’m getting ready for the day, or while I’m just lounging around the room.

I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about wearing a robe in a hotel room… Just makes it all feel a little more indulgent, like yeah, you know it! I’m really treating myself! 🙂

3. Trying different teas, coffees and coffee machines

So, at home I have a boring old drip coffeemaker… It serves me just fine, but on trips I always take full advantage of any fancy schmancy hotel room coffeemakers, especially when they come with a selection of different teas and coffee flavors, and on this trip the room had a Keurig!

I was all about the Decaf Breakfast Blend…
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Mine are 1) not drinking enough water, 2) not getting enough sleep, and 3) eating too much junk food, and the two that really do me in are not drinking enough water or getting enough sleep.

When I forget to drink water throughout the day, or when I just don’t have a taste for it, my lips definitely pay the price. They get all flaky and dry, and my skin feels tight and doesn’t look as…plump as usual (I can really see it around my mouth, especially around the smile line area).

Sleep is the other big one for me. My dark circles look darker (UGH!), and I can see a general look of dull tiredness around my eyes.

I didn’t start putting these things together and realizing the consequences of my actions on my skin until I reached my 30s, where I also started to realize how food played a part. Like, when I’ve been eating a lot of salty foods, my face will look puffy the next day, or if I haven’t been eating my leafy greens and fruit, my skin starts to look duller and more…congested? For lack of a better word.

Nowadays, garbage in, garbage out. When I eat too much junk food, whether it’s too much fried food or not enough veg, I definitely see it in my skin, but it wasn’t always that way! I can’t lie, I kinda miss the days when I could have a huge mound of French fries with a vanilla shake at 3 o’clock in the morning after a night out clubbing and not even notice any difference at all in my skin.

Enjoy it while you can, kids!

How about you? What are your three biggest skin no-nos?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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.

1. When your energy is low, what gives you a quick boost?
   Coffee…which I can’t have right now, and cat naps.

   Hoh! Cat naps. And I don’t actually have to be in a horizontal position to partake of a cat nap either because I’m like Tabs in that I can nap pretty much anywhere, any time (once I fell asleep standing up on MUNI, SF’s metro line, which is like the crown jewel of napping).

   Even if I can just sneak in a five-minute nap, I’m right as rain, but if a nap is out of the question, then a brisk walk outside often also does the trick.

2. Mini dress or shrunken jacket?
   For the record, this question is hard to answer when you’re massively pregnant because either choice would look extra teeny tiny juxtaposed with le tum.

   But, uh…I guess I’d go with the mini dress, but only if it’s black, stretchy and has long sleeves, because it’s cold right meow, and I’d wear it with tights, booties and my BlankNYC faux leather jacket, which I haven’t been able to zip up since September. LOL!

3. Are you wearing your hair up today or down?
   Mine’s up in a messy bun because it’s raining today, and when it’s raining, I don’t even want to bother…
4. What’s one of the most memorable makeup looks you’ve done?
   I always remember one I did with the MAC Maleficent collection. I was really out of my comfort zone because of all the highlighting and contouring and the cut crease and the brows for days.
5. Do you wear makeup daily?
   Nope, not really, but I used to! Heck, I’d put on concealer just to go get the mail, but now I’m cool going bare faced to run errands or go for a walk or, yes, even get the mail. 🙂

   Don’t get me wrong, I still love, love, LOVE wearing makeup, and I wear it at least five or six days a week…but sometimes I think it’s also nice to not have to fuss with it.

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

1. When your energy is low, what gives you a quick boost?
2. Mini dress or shrunken jacket?
3. Are you wearing your hair up today or down?
4. What’s one of the most memorable looks you’ve done?
5. Do you wear makeup daily?

I was just about to type, “This is the first Monday Poll of the New Year, so you better get up in the mix!” when I felt something sticking to my lipgloss, and then I looked down at my white tee and realized that Tabs, who was hardcore loving on me (he says hi, BTW), left a half a pound of cat hair in his wake…

I guess that’s one thing that hasn’t changed in 2016! I’m still sitting here in front of my computer with a shag carpet of cat hair on me, haha!

I’m in a great mood today, my friend, and I hope you are, too, but if you’re dragging — and I can totally understand that, seeing as how it’s the first Monday back after the holidays — here’s a dose of good energy to help you get through your morning…

ZZZAP!

I hope you felt that. 🙂 Because I don’t mind sharing. Good vibes all around, man.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen