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Just For Fun

Have You Ever Wanted a Perm?

September 8th, 2023 by Karen 20 Comments

If you were a teenage girl in the late ’80s and early ’90s living in the East Bay Area, everyone you knew either had or wanted a spiral perm. I can still remember the scent of that distinct perm smell lingering in the salon whenever I got a hair cut!

As the resident friend with naturally wavy hair, I never wanted a perm because I didn’t really need one. When all the girls were getting them, I was happy to be the person who introduced the power of Studio Line by L’Oreal (Pumping Curls!) and crunchy gel (LA Looks and Dep gel were especially popular). Oh, and mousse. There was so much mousse!

Anywho, what’s old is new again because now teen boys are getting perms. I KNOW!

I found this out through a local online group of moms. This morning, a few moms were asking where to go in town to get a perm for their teenage sons. Apparently perms for boys are a thing around these parts now because several of the ladies chimed in to say that either their son wanted a perm or currently had a perm, which is so interesting to me.

Why do all these teen boys want perms? And why now? I wonder what famous curly haired person brought this trend on. LOL!

Have you ever wanted a perm? Did you end up getting one, and how did it turn out? I hope it was good.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

Hiya, friend! Happy Friday. I had a happy mom moment this morning when I ran into Connor’s science teacher at her school. She said Connor was quite the little scientist, and that she’s got a curious and scientific mind. I guess this makes sense seeing how Connor does things like saving her baby teeth (instead of giving them to the tooth fairy) for the sake of “research,” and is always building things out of any and everything.

My little builder!

Is it just me, or has this technically short week has felt so very long? Thank goodness the weekend is just around the corner.

I hope things on your end are great and that you and your family are happy and healthy.

There are 20 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

10 Things That Go Through Your Head When You Wear Matte, Full-Coverage Foundation for the First Time in Ages

September 6th, 2023 by Karen 4 Comments

foundation drawer
All about that base
  1. Why do I feel like my skin can’t breathe and like I’m wearing 500 layers of products? I guess that happens when you spend your summer wearing barely there Rose Inc serum foundation and tinted mineral sunscreen.
  2. Girl, it’s wild! In real life this base looks hella crazy, but it looks nice in pictures, go figure.
  3. Really, though, I need to buff these layers down with a buffing brush, ASAP.
  4. I can’t believe I used to wear full coverage every day.
  5. If only I could go back in time and tell baby Karen during that phase that she could’ve gotten away with a lot less base, LOL!
  6. Maybe next time I’ll blend a few drops of Chanel Soft Pink Skin Enhancer or MAC Strobe Cream into this; I bet that would be super pretty!
  7. I wonder if I’ll ever wear heavy base again just for fun. Maybe? It could happen…
  8. Eh, my pores probably wouldn’t play along, though, unless I was very purposeful and careful with technique. I know it can be done, but dang, it’s so much work!
  9. I bet Hung Vango would know all the tricks and save me from myself, ha ha ha!
  10. I gotta remember that makeup is fun! Trying different things, new techniques and having an open mind about products is a great thing!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Finding Happiness at the Hallmark Store

September 5th, 2023 by Karen 13 Comments

I can’t begin to tell you how fun it was to visit a Hallmark store!

We went to one in the town next to ours, Petaluma, which is about 20 minutes away. I haven’t been to a Hallmark store in years, and I swear, being there made me so happy. There’s something very sweet and comforting about all the thoughtful gifts to give to others and to yourself.

There are all the fun things that you totally don’t need but want anyway, like the “Gilmore Girls” cookbook and the talking ornaments from “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Golden Girls.”

Don’t even get me started on all the colorful, cute mugs and tchotchkes.


[Continue reading…]

There are 13 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 797

September 4th, 2023 by Karen 17 Comments

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. On average, how much time do you spend getting ready in the morning?

Anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes. It really depends on if I have to fuss with my hair. Second day hair significantly saves so much time! It’s kind of amazing.

2. Something that soothes you?

A shower right before bed and a hot cup of camomile tea.

3. A place you’ve visited that you’d like to return to someday?

I would love to go back to Italy someday so I could be there longer than 72 hours!

4. Which would you rather have for a pet: a snake, a tarantula, lizard or a tortoise?

While I have love in my heart for all animals, all these pets are my nightmare scenario for several irrational reasons, LOL! I guess I’d go with the lizard if it was an iguana, mostly because I remember reading somewhere that they eat vegetables and not other live animals.

5. Something fun you did over the weekend?

I watched a cute romantic comedy on Netflix called “Love Again” while I painted my nails. I’m all about simple pleasures these days. 🙂

Hello, my friend! You know what? I totally forgot it was Monday until about 30 minutes ago. I guess I got caught up in the spirit of the long weekend.

Hope yours has been full of family and fun, and lots or relaxation!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. On average, how much time do you spend getting ready in the morning?
2. Something that soothes you?
3. A place you’ve visited that you’d like to return to someday?
4. Which would you rather have for a pet: a snake, a tarantula, lizard or a tortoise?
5. Something fun you did over the weekend?

There are 17 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 776

September 3rd, 2023 by Karen Leave a Comment

Hello, friend. I was feeling a little nostalgic today and happened upon this post from a few years ago (2018 to be exact). Here is a reprint. Crazy to think that Harris has been the neighborhood feline tormentor all this time. Same cat who taunts Rosie through the sliding glass door in the dining room, driving her literally up the walls, was driving Tabs crazy back then! 😂

No more Mr. Nice Cat.

That’s it. Tabs is officially over trying to negotiate with trespassers like Harris who have no cat courtesy or respect for boundaries. It’s time for Tabs 2.0, and this tabby ain’t messing around.

Tabs went with black roses on his collar today to send a message to every cat in the neighborhood that they don’t want none of this, and they better step off.

Tabs was all business on patrol this morning. He left no leaf unturned.

We checked around every corner and inside every hedge, and there were no cat sightings.

Lucky for them, too, because Tabs was ready to throw down.

[Continue reading…]

Leave the first comment on this post.

Categories: Just For Fun, Rosie, Tabs

Saturday Surfing, September 2, 2023!

September 2nd, 2023 by Karen 3 Comments

Happy Saturday to ya, my friend!

Guess what? Remember how the other day, we were talking about Hallmark stores? There used to be more in the SF Bay Area, but now they’re hard to find. Exciting news — well, for me at least. I found one in the next town over, which is about a 15-minute drive away, assuming there’s no traffic.

Side note, in the Bay Area, you always have to calculate traffic and time of day whenever you travel on a freeway, even on the weekends. It’s annoying but becomes second nature after a while.

Anywho, I mentioned the Hallmark store to El Hub and his eyes lit up, LOL! We might visit later on today!

I have to go and do some cat lady duties, first, though. Connor and I have been asked to catsit “the boys” in our neighborhood for a couple days, Harris and Mr. Willoughby.

Oh hai, Harris
My neighbor’s cat Mr. Willoughby

What are your plans for the long weekend? Are there cats involved? I hope so!

This week’s reading

  • Want to smell like a carrot? Perfumes with vegetable notes are having a moment right now.
  • Speaking of scents that smell like food, here are a few with chocolate notes for your sweet tooth.
  • Chanel new Lucky Chance Diner doesn’t sell burgers, so don’t go there expecting, ya know, an actual meal.
  • Tory Burch uses scent to fuel creativity.
  • For my ginger friends out there, FYI, thousands of people gathered in the Netherlands this weekend to celebrate their red hair at the annual Redhead Days Festival!


Love the take on the song and her makeup


This look is gorgeous, WOW


Interesting


Give me wings


I will take those tips, please

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 3 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Checking In: The September Issue | Some Beauty Things from Trader Joe’s and Maybelline | Hallmark Nostalgia

August 30th, 2023 by Karen 7 Comments

Ooh, how lovely it is to see the thick, substantial September issue of “Vogue!”

Remember when they were all like that? I miss the days when I could curl up on the couch and just read magazines all day long, sigh.

Anywho, I was excited to see the “Supers” together on the cover. I love the hair, makeup and styling, and I’d wear Linda’s sequin jacket in a heartbeat!

I wonder if they had fun reminiscing about the ’90s, and if anybody gave Naomi crap about throwing a phone at anyone. Remember that?

On the beauty front, I was grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s earlier this week for dinner ingredients (I made salmon on Monday and ground beef and broccoli on Tuesday) when a couple things in the things beauty section caught my eye — a firming body lotion and a co-wash.

The Vitamin C Firming Body Butter speaks to me mostly because of the glycolic acid; I don’t really care about the firming part, but I could always use extra exfoliation.

So far, so good. The texture is thick and rich but not greasy, and the clementine scent is cheerful. A big 8-ounce tube is very affordable at just $6.99.

Speaking of good deals, this 8-ounce tube of Cleansing & Conditioning Hair Wash is only $4.99.

It’s a non-foaming co-wash with a delicate grapefruit and mint scent. If you’re living that “free of” hair life, FYI, this one has no sulfates, silicones, detergents or parabens.

I like it! I used it on second-day janky roots and was impressed by how clean my strands and scalp felt. I woke up the next morning with bouncy, soft hair.

Oh, not that I needed another base, but I was running errands at CVS and saw the Maybelline Skin Tint that’s making the rounds. I totally caved and bought a bottle, ha ha ha!
[Continue reading…]

There are 7 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Hair, Just For Fun, Maybelline, Trader Joe's

Beauty Q of the Day: What Discontinued Scents Do You Wish Would Come Back?

August 29th, 2023 by Karen 20 Comments

I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately for certain perfumes I wore back in my 20s and 30s, and now I’m deeply regretting the perfume purge I did a few years back because I found out recently that several are now discontinued!

When I think about them, I can practically smell them. Is that weird?

Discontinued Scent Number 1, Laura Mercier Eau de Lune

I desperately want a bottle of Laura Mercier Eau de Lune, a beautiful light floral with plumeria, rose, violet, amber and musk notes that I wore to my office job in San Francisco for years.

It was subtle enough not to take over an elevator but was still present enough to enjoy. I wore it when El Hub and I started dating and eventually wentthrough a couple bottles.

I just always assumed it would be there for me when I wanted to wear it again, but alas, no. I tried to find it online and couldn’t track it down.

Cue the glittery tears!

Discontinued Scent Number 2, STELLA by Stella McCartney

Oh, this one was a beauty — English rose mixed with mandarin and peony with an amber base.

El Hub got me a bottle during our first Christmas together, and I wore it all the time. I should’ve kept it just so I could smell it every once in a while. It reminds me of that carefree era when it was just us.

What discontinued scents do you wish would come back?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Have a terrific Tuesday!

There are 20 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun, Laura Mercier

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog

Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

Makeup and Beauty Blog features daily product reviews, makeup tips and beauty news — like an interactive version of a monthly print magazine, except with occasional pictures of my cat.

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Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 878

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 894

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 893

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