Just For Fun

I would so wear these boots in pink…

Dang, I love those shrimp tacos on the SkinnyLicious Menu at the Cheesecake Factory… The only problems are the bread that comes before the meal, how impossible it is to refuse, and the cheesecake afterward (which I was actually able to resist, for once, yesterday).

Good morning, gorgeous. 🙂 How’s it going today? The end of another week. Hopefully yours went well.

Although I haven’t mentioned it yet, I was saddened to hear about the death of Steve Jobs. He was an iconic figure in the tech world we live in today. I grew up with Apples in school and got my tech feet wet on those early computers, but when I entered the corporate world after college, I transitioned to using Microsoft Windows PCs, because that’s pretty much the way things were done.

When I started blogging back in early 2007, I was also using Windows at home. I wasn’t a tech person by any means, and I was always struggling with one issue or another, like a printer that wouldn’t print, extra toolbars multiplying in my web browser (gah!), getting redirected to websites that I didn’t intend to go to, annoying popups from my antivirus software asking me if I wanted to “Allow this program that you can’t identify by its weird name, like image.ao.helper, to run third-party software on your computer?” Uh… no? But then after clicking “No” my scanner would stop working, or something like that.

Since then I started using Apple stuff at home, and for whatever reasons, I have way fewer weird computer problems overall.

Anywho, Steve Jobs, dude, thank you. You will be missed.

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

THE ESSIE COCKTAIL BLING COLLECTION AND
TV’S LATEST DANCE CRAZE

Watching The Jersey Shore is completely exhausting (but yet strangely hard to resist). And with all of the underwear flashing that’s been happening over the past few eps, it’s also been quite gross.

I want to stop, but I almost feel like I’ve already invested so much time in following these goofy characters that I can’t quit now. And, truth be told, I’m also weirdly fascinated by Ronnie’s unique outlook on dance.

He’s not the nicest boy in the world (that’s one way to put it), but I gotta give it up to the guy for taking his club moves so seriously.

Lately he’s been doing this one thing where he puts his hand in front of his face and wiggles it side to side really fast, like “Peek-a-boo!” Read more…

THE SONIA KASHUK TRAVEL DUFFEL
ROOMY ENOUGH FOR XXL TABBIES

Just how roomy is Sonia Kashuk’s new $39.99 limited edition Travel Duffle? Well, it’s big enough to bear the bare necessities for a three-day weekend (or maybe four, with a few packing tips and tricks).

It’s also big enough to comfortably fit one XXL 18-pound tabby.

Ya know…in case you were wondering.

You know how I am about overpacking (I can’t help it!), and this is a bag I can really sink my teeth into. I was able to fit a pair of shoes into it, a few outfits and enough makeup to last me three days. That’s not bad. Plus, I think the pattern looks good with my two favorite fall jackets (one black and one brown). Read more…

MAC UNSUNG HEROES
DUBONNET LIPSTICK

Am I way too easily amused for my own good? Survey says, “Probably.” For instance, I continue to get a huge kick out of mucking up names. Around here, Trader Joe’s is Traitor Joe’s, Target is Tar-ghay, and Whole Foods is affectionately (not) referred to as Whole Paycheck.

Lame? Yes. But also hilarious to moi.

And now I’m doing it with makeup, too. I’ve heard the peeps at a MAC counter pronounce today’s Unsung Hero, MAC Dubonnet Lipstick ($14.50), as “Doo-bow-nay,” but I like to call it “DEW-bonnet” instead.

Sorry! I can’t help it, even if I am messing with the moniker of one of the greatest reds in the MAC permanent line. Read more…

THE LIMITED EDITION L’OREAL COLORS TAKE FLIGHT
COLLECTION HAS A RATHER CHARMING COCKATOO

It’s been a Project Runway kind of day…

No, nothing big like running into Heidi at Sephora or kicking it with Tim Gunn at the DSW (I wish!).

Just a couple of small but cool brushes with my favorite reality TV show. The first one I noticed this morning, when the Tivo, a normally evil form of artificial intelligence hell bent on recording all of the shows I NEVER watch, actually did something useful for a change. It recorded the entire season four of Project Runway, from start to finish, without me having to program it. Read more…

A BOBBI BROWN PARTY TO GO
PALETTE FACE OF THE DAY

I feel so “all dressed up with nowhere to go” right now! And yes, I know you’re probably laughing at my hat. It looks exactly like the one I wore with my band uniform freshman (or was it sophomore?) year. To complete the illusion, I should have been holding my mellophone and standing at attention in these pics of me wearing Bobbi Brown’s new holiday palette, Party to Go ($25).

Try as I might, I’ll never be able to escape my band geek past.

Do you remember a while back when we talked how no two purple eyeshadows are created equal? And how some of them, depending on the specific color and the wearer’s skin tone, can make our eyes look bruised, tired (like I need any extra help with that, hello!) or like we’ve been crying? Read more…

3 TIPS FOR A FABULOUS
FACE THIS FALL

The leaves are falling! The leaves are falling! And, oh my — that brisk breeze that leaves cool kisses on your cheeks? Yep, it’s baaack.

Fall, that is. I actually like the idea of the seasons changing and the different colors everywhere and the leaves falling from the trees. But in practice, I just don’t like being anything but warm.

This “in-between” time is actually one of my favorite times of year. Not yet winter, and just barely into fall. Too bad I know it won’t last. Pretty soon we’ll be freezing our bums off! — but this time we’ll be prepared.

I’ve been conducting extensive “research” into knee-high boots. Read more…

I’VE FALLEN FOR THE
FERGIE FALLEN BOOT

Why, cruel world!? Why is it so much easier to gain the weight than it is to lose it?

Last month, as part of my latest quest to get healthier, I resorted to good old-fashioned bribery (whatever works, right?). I told myself that I could get a new pair of boots if I exercised at least 24 days during the month…

And I did it!

So, last weekend I stopped by the new Novato DSW to select my prize, and I walked away with this snazzy suede olive pair of, quite possibly, the greatest boots I’ve ever owned.

Oh, and here’s the kicker: they’re made by Fergie! — as in Fergilicious, her body stays vicious; she be up in the gym working on her fitness. Yes, THAT Fergie. Read more…

20 LIP SWATCHES WITH THE BOBBI BROWN 1991 LIP PALETTE
AND 20 THINGS I’VE DONE SINCE 1991

My tummy’s rumbling like crazy right now, and I should probably eat…but I can’t stop yet. No breaks until I finish swatching all 20 lipsticks in the new Bobbi Brown 1991 Lip Palette ($60).

You know how it is. Makeup comes first!

Released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, the limited edition palette is available now at Bobbi Brown counters and also online, and it features 10 of the brown-based lipstick colors from Bobbi’s original launch way back in 1991, along with 10 bright new shades. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Good mornin’, glory. 🙂 Hope you got a good night’s sleep. Mine wasn’t bad, even though I stayed up way past my bed time reading Gunn’s Golden Rules.

I love that man… He seems like such a genuinely good, kind person. I think I’m gonna send him a fan letter.

Very few signs received so far for The 2011 Breast Cancer Awareness Month Sign Project. I know you’re busy, but it only takes a minute if you have a camera phone (I’m just sayin’).

And yes, I do fully intend to keep prodding you (politely at first) about this over the next 29 days because I think it’s worth it. My mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor (going on three years now), and I know how much seeing last year’s support signs meant to her and to the many women I’ve heard from about them. Plus, on top of your good deed, you’d be entered for a chance to win more than $1,100 in free makeup. You could even donate some of it if you won (again, I’m just sayin’).

In other news, MoneyBall! Or, as Tabs puts it, kitty balls! I watched it last night with El Hub, who isn’t a baseball fan, a fact he had to repeatedly remind me of before, during and after the movie. He liked it though. We both did. I grew up just a few miles away from Oakland Coliseum in the East Bay.

It was weird seeing Brad Pitt driving along the same freeways I use to visit my parents’ house… Dang, the life of an actor, right? One minute they’re in Oakland, California. Next minute they’re filming a zombie movie in Scotland. Freaky.

The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed

MAC UNSUNG HEROES
MELON PIGMENT

Here in Marin County — how should I put this? — tie-die is the new black. I joke, but this area is a mecca for different ways of thinking, and while my younger self probably would have giggled at some of the self-improvement techniques I’ve been trying lately, my older self has more of an open mind.

One of my new favorite things is to sit on my deck at sunset and mentally list all of the good things that happened that day. Some days the list is shorter than others, but I can usually come up with at least one or two things.

Plus, there’s a great side effect of catching a good sunset: makeup inspiration. Read more…

PACIFICA COLOR QUENCH LIP TINTS
PROVE THAT MAKEUP IS THE BEST MEDICINE

Imagine, if you will, that it’s Friday night, 7:57 p.m., in a sleepy little town called Novato.

The sun has set, and I have the cover of darkness now. I’m almost positive I’m going to get away with it. I slowly withdraw the keys to the car from a bowl sitting on a table by the hall. They barely make a sound. Just a quiet jingling, barely audible, and I think I’m safe.

I start toward the door, my eyes checking the corners for signs of movement. The coast is clear. I walk faster now, my sneakers all but silent on the tiled hallway floor.

Almost there. I reach the door and take the knob in my hand, turning slowly. I have one foot out the door when…

“Where ya headed?” Read more…

BUMBLE AND BUMBLE SHINE ON (AND ON)
FINISHING SPRAY IS DIVA KITTY APPROVED!

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live with a creature so beautiful, so genetically blessed, that the mere sight of his silky fur fills supermodels with envy and makes stylists question their careers, let me tell ya, it ain’t easy.

Don’t get me wrong — I love Tabs’ shiny coat. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with him. Even though he’d been living on the streets when we met, he had fur like a feline Adonis. Read more…

STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT, THE BELLE DE NUIT HOLIDAY COLLECTION
FROM GUERLAIN GETS IT RIGHT

A few weeks ago I walked into an air-conditioned Williams-Sonoma store that had Christmas decorations up and a fancy holiday window display (complete with garland-covered pine tree flocked with fake snow).

In early September.

I’m just sayin’.

Funny thing is, when it comes to fashion and makeup, I actually like super early seasonal releases; they appeal to my inner princess — you know, the one who makes grabby hands at pretty products and says, “Gimme, gimme, gimme!” with big anime eyes. Read more…

3 LESSONS LEARNED
FROM GETTING BANGS

I’ve had other brushes with bangs, like the time my mom cut my hair into a lopsided Dorothy Hamill bowl cut, or the gravity defying ‘do I wore for a time in my hair bear teenage years (that thing ensnared more insects than a Venus Flytrap!), but none of them prepared me for the full-on blunt-cut bangs I embraced a few months ago.

And that’s because they weren’t just bangs. Dude. They were BANGS! — all caps, bold, with an exclamation mark.

I’ve liked having them these past months, but I gotta say — I wish I’d given more thought to what I was getting into before I took the plunge, because these real deal bangs have been a commitment. Read more…

THERE’S GLOSS AT THE HEART OF EVERY DOLCE & GABBANA
PASSION DUO GLOSS FUSION LIPSTICK

Dear Diary,

My list of the day? Makeup I’d Wear If I Were a Vampire.

But not just any vampire. Not one of those goody-two-shoes Cullens. I’d be more like Pam from True Blood, and I’d wear dark lipstick, skintight jumpsuits and leather. I’d hang out at all the coolest underground vampire techno clubs, too, because, as you know, vampires must techno.

Yeah, I’ve watched Blade one too many times…

Moody dark burgundy Dolce & Gabbana Passion Duo Gloss Fusion Lipstick in Intense ($34) would go right up at the top of my list. One of 20 gloss/lipstick hybrids in the recently launched Gloss Fusion Lipstick line, it’s perfect fare for creatures of the night! Read more…

WITH THE $22 JK JEMMA KIDD SMOKE IT UP I-KIT
YOU CAN SMOLDER FOR LESS

Each of the five powder eyeshadows in the new $22 JK Jemma Kidd Smoke It Up I-Kit are so easy to blend that they could have been made by KitchenAid! — and with loads of pigment, they look and perform just like Jemma’s fab fall full-size shadows (which usually run $16 apiece).

The result is an affordable palette able to produce some of the quickest, easiest smokey eyes I’ve seen this fall. With lesser shadows, blending out the edges and layering darker shades can take (me) forever, but with the I-Kit I can bang out a smokey look in less than 10 minutes. Read more…

MAC UNSUNG HEROES
MOCHA BLUSH

Instead of doing one of the millions of things I should have been doing this morning, like shaving my toes (those hairs pop up overnight!), figuring out what to do with the rest of my life, or assisting Tabs with his aromatherapy (by rubbing catnip leaves on his cheeks, which he loves), I lined up all of the dark MAC lippies I plan to wear in October.

Of course, some of the brand’s old-school baddies were there, like Russian Red, Dubonnet and Paramount, as were a few newer colors from Styledriven and Posh Paradise.

I was separating tubes by finish (obsessive much?) when an idea struck me like a wayward jar of Fluidline flying through the air. Read more…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen