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Bloggerati Spotlight

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The Beauty Bloggerati

It was almost too hot to surf the web this afternoon… almost.

Blasphemy, right? It’s never too hot to surf. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Tuesday Beauty Tips: Hitting Your Limits in Stride

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Stained glass rose

Accept Limits

“You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” — Anonymous

I can’t remember the first time I heard that, but it makes more and more sense to me every day.

I read it to mean that we all have our limits. There are only so many projects and commitments people (and cats) can tackle at the same time, and only so much pressure we can take before we crack! we-crack

TIP: Whenever I feel like I’m drowning under a torrent of tasks, I’ll set aside my long to-do list and grab a blank Post It note instead. On it, I’ll write my three most important tasks — the things my gut tells me I should do — ignoring all the rest.

If that means the carpet doesn’t get vacuumed or the laundry doesn’t get done for another day or two or three, so be it, because…

Every little thing gonna be alright

When I look back on my worst days (I’ve had some doozies!), I think about all of the good days that followed them.

TIP: When times are tough, I try to remember that this too shall pass. Sometimes it really helps me to look ahead to a time after the obstacle I’m facing — after the deadline, the virus, the exam, the uncomfortable business meeting — a day, week or month down the road.

Stop and smell the roses

There’s a world of roses out there just waiting to be sniffed! 🙂

TIP: Whenever I see (or hear, smell, taste or feel) something beautiful, I STOP — maybe not in the middle of traffic — to take them in. Try to make time in your life for beautiful things.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Two Ways to Win Redken Blonde Glam Color Enhancer

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The giveaway is now closed to new entries, and the winners are being contacted. 🙂 Good luck!

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QUESTION: Do blondes really have more fun?

ANSWER: They do on Tuesdays. 🙂

The good people at Redken sent me these two bottles of their Blonde Glam Color Enhancer (a color-depositing conditioning treatment for blondes) to review, but since flaxen locks aren’t in the cards for me, I need to find them a loving home.

How about a giveaway?

The prize

One lucky lady will take home two bottles of Redken Blonde Glam Color Enhancer (a $28 value): Redken Blonde Glam Color Enhancer in Perfect Platinum (for pale to light blonde hair) and Redken Blonde Glam Color Enhancer in Rich Vanilla (for warm blonde hair).

How to enter…

Entering is easy. There are two different ways, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post — a comment about anything at all. Describe those shoes you’re wearing, what the weather’s like, the name of your favorite TV show, or the one movie you can watch over and over again. 🙂

Even though I can recite the dialogue in each one from memory, I never get tired of The Sound of Music, The Wedding Singer or Dirty Dancing (PS, I’ll miss you).

Follow me
Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to Win Redken Blonde Glam Color Enhancer http://bit.ly/n0Ecf

Recap…

  1. Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win.
  2. Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:

    RT @karenmbb: RT to Win Redken Blonde Glam Color Enhancer http://bit.ly/n0Ecf

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Wednesday, September 16.

Boa Sorte!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The giveaway is now closed to new entries, and the winners are being contacted. 🙂 Good luck!

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Sept. 14

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  1. Mood:

    2. A little sleepy. The caffeine still hasn’t kicked in yet!

  2. Are you having a good hair day?

    3. I’ve had worse. It’s been raining, which makes the mane take on a poofy and unruly life of its own.

  3. Ever had a job with a uniform? What did it look like?

    4. Yup, a navy blue polo shirt and khaki pants.

  4. What book are you reading right now?

    5. Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook, by Carole Raymond. I like reading cookbooks before bed. Weird, I know.

  5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

    6. Nothing yet, but I’m thinking of trying my hand at this teal and brown eye with a red lip from the Agent Provocateur show at New York Fashion Week.

  6. What’s for breakfast?

    7. Waffles with (yup, you guessed it) Nutella.

  7. Have you dated someone shorter than you?

    8. Nope. I’m pretty tiny (5 feet 3 inches *with* heels), so somebody shorter than me would have to be extremely “vertically challenged.”

  8. Guys who wear big, bold rings: hot or not?

    9. Hmm, I’m not into the man jewelry. Not!

  9. Outfit:

    10. Jeans, black scoop neck tee, purple pearl necklace and black heels.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Go to dance class on Wednesday, start packing, make all my writing deadlines.

Happy Monday, gals! 🙂

I went to bed early last night to catch up on my zzz’s, so I missed all the drama that went down at the VMAs. What the heck was Kanye thinking? So not cool, K. West.

Anyway, all obnoxious public outbursts aside, I hope your day is off to a good start. When you get the chance to take a break, spend a few minutes filling out the Monday Poll. Copy the empty list down below here and paste it with your answers in the comments. Talk to you soon!

Le list

1. Mood:
2. Are you having a good hair day?
3. Ever had a job with a uniform? What did it look like?
4. What book are you reading right now?
5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:
6. What’s for breakfast?
7. Have you dated someone shorter than you?
8. Guys who wear big, bold rings: hot or not?
9. Outfit:
10. Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What Were Your Best and Worst Beauty Experiences of the Week?

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best-and-worst-beauty-91309

MY BEST:

Playing with some goodies from NARS and falling hard for the Kalahari Eyeshadow Duo, Orgasm/Laguna Duo and Powder Foundation SPF 12 in Sahara (LOVE! Small red heart Review coming soon). Oh, the fine textures and rich color payoff … NARS is the bomb-diggit-haaaaay!

MY WORST:

While I was giving myself a pedicure last week I discovered a few random hairs on the tops of each foot. I was kickin’ it hobbit-style, yo! 🙂 There were only like five or six hairs — all short and soft — but still. Does this mean I have to start shaving my feet??

What were your best and worst beauty experiences of the week? Do tell in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Are you ready for the True Blood season finale tonight? It’s the last new one for months! I feel like I should be doing something special for he occasion. Maybe I’ll open a bottle of wine…

How Assertive Is Too Assertive for Cosmetics Sales Staff?

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How assertive is too assertive for cosmetics sales staff?
Evenin’, ladies. How was your day? Mine was filled with earth tones and nylon because I visited a carpeting store to learn about flooring.

Talk about excitement!

I was just petting Tabs and reading the news online when I came across this interesting article about aggressive sales people.

Now, I fully accept that with makeup comes a large degree of marketing. Beauty is big business, after all, and it comes with the territory.

But isn’t there a line between reasonable salesmanship and overbearing manipulation?

When store clerks and counter reps ask if they can help me, that’s a great question, but “Are you gonna do anything about those dark circles?” is not.

When it comes to makeup and beauty products, I don’t mind subtle attempts to garner my affections — pretty packaging and glossy photos, friendly sales staff, the music bumping behind the counter. As a matter of fact, those are some of my favorite things about makeup! 🙂

But I don’t want to be made to feel bad or, for that matter, hard sold anything, blech!

So I’m wondering — how far is too far when it comes to making a sale?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing

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Saturday Surfing

Whew, we made it to the weekend! 🙂

In the wee hours of the morning a freak thunderstorm struck the Bay Area. It was kind of scary — bursts of lightning flashing across the bedroom walls in my little apartment, and thunder rattling the windows and blinds.

I got worried about Tabs, who was outside working the night shift, so I asked El Hub to go outside and look for him.

El Hub found the little guy cowering in the woods next to the building, crying and mewling. He was crouched low to the ground, looking up at the sky as loud thunder roared.

Poor little guy!

Sucks when your little kitty brain doesn’t understand high pressure systems…

The storm passed early this morning, so I’m off to run some errands. Gotta look at carpet and laminate flooring, two things I have absolutely no clue about.

How’s it going this weekend? Whatever you’re up to, I hope you get some time to do something fun. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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