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Just For Fun

Celebrity Poll: What Do You Think of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Audrey Hepburn Look?

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At last night’s Sex and The City: The Movie DVD release party in New York City Sarah Jessica Parker took inspiration from an icon of Hollywood style. The gloves, bangs, the black shift dress — girlfriend was obvs channeling Holly Golightly/Audrey Hepburn’s look in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

I think Audrey’s classic, timeless look in Breakfast represents the pinnacle of style. Sure, 99% of the time I dress like a bum in tank tops and jeans, but with unlimited financial resources you better believe I’d hit the Safeway wearing pearls, a tiara and a black satin gown.

At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about SJP’s interpretation of the look (the sheer gloves, eek!), but I think I’m on board. The pink patent leather shoes won me over in the end. 🙂

I wish I had a Holly Golightly dress to wear to the wedding I’m going to this afternoon in SF. One of my best friends from college is getting hitched. They’ve been dating forever, so it’s about time. I’ll take some pictures to share.

I’ll probably recycle the dress I wore to Macy’s Passport the other night (Shhh…).

Whatcha doing this fine Saturday? Got any plans?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

YOU MUST CHOOSE: The Road Trip Edition

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1. Whom would you rather drive across the country with: Tyra Banks or Martha Stewart?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

2. Whom would you rather dirty dance with: Tom Hanks or Bobby Brown?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

3. An eccentric billionaire offers you $10 million, but to earn the money you have to either live the rest of your life naked OR take a vow of silence for five years.
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

4. You need an emergency date for a company dinner, and you only have two choices. Both guys are cute and perfect in almost every way — almost. One has uncanny body odor and always smells like dirty belly button; the other smells strongly of Britney Spears’ Fantasy perfume (he exudes it from his pores). Which guy goes with you to dinner?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

5. Describe the happiest day of your life so far.
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

Girl, don’t even front… I know you want to play! 🙂

  1. Road trip with Tyra or Martha?
  2. Dirty dancing with Tom Hanks or Bobby Brown?
  3. $10 million to live your life naked, or 5-year vow of silence?
  4. Boy who smells like belly button or like Britney Spears’ Fantasy?
  5. The happiest day of your life so far?

Have a great night. It’s almost my bed time. Zzzzzz…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Share Your Mirror Mantra [WIN A PRIZE]

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UPDATE 9/20/08: The giveaway is closed, and winners will be notified soon. Good luck!

As women, we often struggle to see beyond our perceived flaws. I know that in my case when I see myself in a mirror I first notice my dark circles, my figure and any fine lines or blemishes on my face before I notice anything else.

It seems like the things that stand out the most are usually the things I’d most like to change.

And I get the feeling I’m not alone. Studies have shown that only 2% of women describe themselves as beautiful.

Makeup artist Carmindy of TLC’s What Not to Wear wants to help women see their beauty before their faults. The overriding theme of her new beauty book, Get Positively Beautiful, is to help you train your brain to focus on your strongest features first.

The book shows how to enhance your natural beauty with step-by-step instructions for eyes, brows, lashes, lips, cheeks and skin. It covers ways to adapt looks to different weather conditions and “beauty moods.” There’s even a useful index in the back that lists high end and budget beauty products Carmindy recommends.

I like how the book uses pictures of real women (not models) in the tutorials and tips, and the personal “mirror mantras” sprinkled throughout the book are my favorite touch.

A mirror mantra is an uplifting statement you say to yourself while looking in the mirror. Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy, but words hold power. If mean words have the power to hurt our feelings, then kind words have the power to help them.

A few of my favorites from the book…

Mirror Mantras

I’m blessed to have a dark skin tone that enables me to wear such beautiful shades.
–Theta, 47, El Cajon, CA

As a war survivor from Cambodia, I am thankful each day for my life and health. Many others were not so lucky.
–Sori, 25, Las Vegas, NV

You have the right to remain fabulous!
–Elaine, 51, Arlington, MA

Get Positively Beautiful Book Giveaway

Enter today’s Get Positively Beautiful book giveaway by sharing your own mirror mantra in the comments.

The Prize

Five winners will each receive a copy of Get Positively Beautiful by Carmindy (222 pages, hardcover); $21.99 value.

How to Enter

To qualify, leave a comment below with your own mirror mantra. It can be as short or as long as you like (up to a maximum of 250 words), and there are no right or wrong answers. I’ll choose the winners at random from among the people who enter by 11PM PST on Friday. Be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so I can reach you if you win! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Would You Pay $225 for a Bronzer? Rock & Republic Sure Hopes So

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Are you ready to rock? I hope so, because Fashion house Rock & Republic unveils its first ever cosmetics collection this week. The enormous 116-item luxury release includes makeup for the face, cheeks and lips, as well as a line of tools. While most of the items are priced up in the Chanel range, some of them, like the $225 Accentuate Bronzer compact studded with Swarovski crystals shown above, even exceed it.

I haven’t seen the line in person yet, but the sleek, silver packaging and cold, minimalist promo pics don’t do a lot for my soul. Sure, I get that it’s supposed to be exclusive and luxurious, but is this the right time to be releasing a $225 bronzer?

Beyond the startling cost of the items in the collection, I’ve been more into girly, fun, accessible makeup lines like Stila and Benefit lately.

Let me know what you think.

Accentuate Bronzing and Highlighting Powder for Face and Cheeks, $225

Trickery Tinted Illuminator for Face, $48

Extremist Mascara, $28

Contrived Pressed Blush, $40


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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Sept. 15

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Climbing the 3,922 steps of the Haiku Stairs in 2003, Oahu, Hawaii

  1. Mood:

    2. Mellow

  2. Fragrance:

    3. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

  3. Friend I wish I could hang out with today:

    4. NBLACK

  4. Outfit:

    5. I’m sporting ye olde cranky librarian look today: brown tweed jacket, purple button-up shirt, pearls, glasses and dark jeans

  5. Mascara:

    6. Chanel Exceptionnel

  6. Lips:

    7. Chanel Papette lipstick topped with Delight Glossimer

  7. Food craving:

    8. Turkey and cranberry sandwich on really soft, sliced bread

  8. Makeup craving:

    9. Stila Convertible Color Blushes

  9. Shoes:

    10. Dark brown, suede, four-inch heels I can barely walk in from Nine West

  10. Goals for the day:

    11. Do a load of laundry before work, finish my filing and find a dress for the wedding I’m going to on Saturday

What’s on your mind today? To play, just copy this list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le list

Mood:
Fragrance:
Friend I wish I could hang out with today:
Outfit:
Mascara:
Lips:
Food craving:
Makeup craving:
Shoes:
Goals for the day:

Here’s to us all having a good Monday! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Sept. 14

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I’m not the only film buff in the family. Tabs loves movies too. Before settling down, he worked as a makeup artist on a couple low budget Hollywood films and commercials. Once or twice he even filled in as an extra. Now he decorates his litter box with some of his favorite movie posters and self-portraits.


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Kate Spade Serena Bag, I Lurve You

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I’m at the mall right now and just found out there’s a new Kate Spade store here. Two words: sweet temptation! I’m a huge Kate Spade fan — LOVE the clean lines and feminine elegance of her bags and accessories. Yeah, most of her stuff is out of my budget, but it doesn’t hurt to look, right? 🙂


Serena, by Kate Spade, $325

Several items from the fall line were on display. The new bags, clutches and shoes sport lots of rich, dark colors like burgundy and deep brown, along with quite a few items in black/white, many with patent leather accents.

Black patent leather graces the handles on Kate’s new black and white fabric bags from her Classic Noel collection. I couldn’t take my eyes off the Serena bag ($325) shown above.

Serena does hobo chic with a single black patent leather handle, a zip top, royal purple interior liner and 14-karat gold plated hardware. Kate pre-treats the soft fabric exterior to make it highly stain resistant, so there’s less reason to worry about the white showing dirt right away. Plus, because these bags are pre-treated they’re pretty easy to clean (dry cleaning, or spot cleaning with a toothbrush and a mild soap).

Serena fit *perfectly* under my right shoulder. Girrrrl… it was love. Le sigh!

I’ll just have to keep saving my pennies. Meanwhile, I plan to “visit” her every chance I get.

Hope you’re having a kickin’ Sunday!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Grab a cup o’ tea and a find a comfy seat because it’s time to catch up on some reading with a few of the week’s best beauty, fashion and shopping posts from the ladies of the Splendicity Network.
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Recent Posts You May Have Missed

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Heya, chicas. Can you believe it’s already mid-September? Before you know it, it’ll be Thanksgiving, then Christmas… Where does the time go?

I’m already feeling a little nostalgic for summer, so I put together this list of posts from July. These were some of my favorites of the month.

  1. Gaga for Gold with Chanel Fall 2008
  2. Makeup Tutorial: A Peach, Brown and Green Eye for Summer
  3. Mally City Chick Smokey Eye Kit in Nolita Navy: Makes Blue Eyes Easy
  4. The $29 Drugstore Beauty Roundup
  5. Loving on MAC Love Connection Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo
  6. Autumn in the City: Sally Hansen Fall Nail Lacquer Colors by Tracy Reese
  7. A Green and Grey Eye with MAC Fresh Green Mix Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo
  8. Save Big Bucks on Stila and Smashbox at Costco
  9. How to Attend a Free Chanel Master Makeup Class
  10. Tuesday Beauty Tips: Be Good to Yourself

Not much on my agenda for today beyond some cleaning and maybe a trip to the mall. El Hub asked that I help him pick out some new clothes for work. In boy parlance that means his last few pairs of pants have holes in them, lol!

Have a good one today. Tabs says hi.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Hey, animal lovers. Stop by the cosmetics department at the downtown San Francisco Bloomingdale’s this Thursday, September 18, for a Day of Beauty for Pets. The event will benefit Pets Unlimited, a local non-profit providing emergency medical treatment and adoption services for pets.


I volunteered with them as a dog walker a couple years ago and had a lot of fun. They’re a fantastic organization.


On the 18th, Bloomies will donate 10% of all cosmetics purchases to Pets Unlimited. You can even bring along your pet to help you shop. Fido can get his picture taken or his portrait drawn while Fluffy gets her pet tag engraved. Keep an eye out for the workshop on holistic animal care.


If you live out of the area but would still like to support the cause, call Bloomingdale’s at (415) 856-5540 to place an order by phone. They even ship internationally (as long as your items aren’t flammable, lol!). For more information, visit Bloomingdale’s.com.

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