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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, July 7

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  1. Mood: Very much in love. Today is my second wedding anniversary. 🙂

  2. Lips: Clarins Sun Sheer Lipstick in Paradise Papaya

  3. Fragrance: Bath and Body Works Green Clover and Aloe Body Lotion and Body Splash (the Body Splash is currently on sale at Bath and Body Works for only $4)

  4. Food craving: A plain butter croissant from the French bakery across the street

  5. Makeup craving: A few eye duos: NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Rated R and Chanel Irreelle Duo in Emerald Coast

  6. Song of the day: Ruler of My Heart, by Irma Thomas

  7. Jewelry: White dangling earrings and a white beaded bracelet, both from H&M

  8. Hair: A hot mess! I need to get my roots done because the ends are terribly unruly. I’m wearing it in a loose, messy bun today.

  9. Reading for the week: Rick Steve’s Paris travel guidebook

  10. Goals for the day: Make a long-overdue appointment to get my hair done, to have a good day at work and to do some push-ups

Girlfriend, you know what to do! Just copy the list, insert your answers and leave ’em for me in the comments. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
Lips:
Fragrance:
Food craving:
Makeup craving:
Song of the day:
Jewelry:
Hair:
Reading for the week:
Goal of the day:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, July 5

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All Lacquered Up
How many times have you left the house late for school or work and not wearing any makeup? But when you caught a glimpse of your pretty, painted nails, didn’t you let out a sigh of relief? Sometimes, all it takes to feel put together is a little color on your fingertips. If you love nail polish as much as I do, check out All Lacquered Up.
alllacqueredup

kuler
Graphic designers and web developers use Adobe kuler to help them identify color palettes to use in projects for work, but I think it’s a great tool for makeup lovers, too. One nifty feature suggests color schemes based on images you upload yourself (Create>From an Image). Say you have a picture of a lovely pink and yellow flower. Upload the photo to kuler, and it’ll return a list of colors — like swatches — based upon the predominant colors in the picture. COOL!
kuler

POPSUGAR – Celebrity Gossip & News
PopSugar is one of the ways I get my celebrity gossip fix. I like to go there when my brain needs a break. It’s part of the Sugar Inc. network of women’s blogs (ala BellaSugar, FitSugar and geeksugar). Interesting… I just learned Luke Perry may sign on for the new 90210 TV series. He better not be playing a high school student because he’s *hella* old.
popsugar

iVillage: Beauty
iVillage is kinda like one-stop shopping for beauty and fashion news. It’s another good way to start your research if you’re unfamiliar with a topic. Try the Makeover-O-Matic. With it you can test virtual makeup, hairstyles and celebrity looks.
ivillage-beauty
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Who Else Wants Great Hair?

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The road to accepting my hair fate has been long and filled with bad haircuts and products that delivered heartache and frizz. If I had a dime for every time I cursed my wavy hair I’d be a rich woman. I swear, I’m filing a request with the powers that be for straight, wash-and-wear hair, LOL.

On my seemingly never-ending quest for more manageable hair, I’ve found a few products and tips that have helped, and here are some of my favorite ones. What are yours? What are your hair care power tips? Do share in the comments — I need all the help I can get!

  • Fight Frizz with Fekkai Summer Hair Zero-Humidity Frizz Control
    “Zero-Frizz isn’t just a hair smoothing spray. It smells great (like coconut and citrus) and even contains a UV protectant Fekkai calls Solarshield, designed to prevent sun damage and lightening. And no alcohol here, which is a big plus, as hair products containing alcohol tend to be drying.”

  • Tips for Breast Cancer Patients: Staying Beautiful Inside and Out!
    “One of the many challenges for Mary Anne was navigating the world of makeup and beauty as a cancer patient. How do you deal with losing your eyebrows? What do you when you feel a hot flash coming on? These are just a few makeup/beauty issues that she had to deal with.”

  • Hair Tip for Dry Hair: Skip the Shampoo and Wash With Conditioner Instead
    “It does take time to get used to not having bubbles. You may want to transition by alternating the conditioner wash with your regular shampoo for a few weeks, and then going every two days, then three days, etc., and thus slowly weaning yourself off your shampoo…”

  • Not Your 80s Hairspray: Bumble and Bumble’s Spray de Mode Makes Me Want to Use Hairspray Again
    “I’ve been wearing my hair big and wavy lately as a homage to my 80s pre-teen self. Spray de Mode’s worked wonders in keeping the waves in check without leaving my hair feeling sticky or crunchy. I can even run my fingers through my mane, and it keeps its shape. And Spray de Mode dries quickly. I remember 80s hairspray taking forever to dry.”

  • Innovative New Remington Shine Therapy Flat Iron Straightens and Conditions at the Same Time
    “…the straightener’s ceramic plates are porous and infused with a blend of conditioners and avocado oil. With the heat cranked up, the plates evenly emit their conditioning blend during styling to protect and moisturize hair. Neat, yah?”

  • Product Review: Bespoke Labs T3 Featherweight Hair Dryer
    “There are so many pluses to this dryer, but the best part is that it gets the job done fast, and now I get an extra an hour and a half every week. It used to take an hour to blow dry my hair with my old hair dryer. With the T3 the time is cut down to 30 minutes. And a good blow out on Sunday means that I won’t have to bother with my hair until Friday…”

  • Garnier Nutrisse Product Review Plus Tips For At-Home Hair Color
    “The smell is pretty strong, but in comparison to other at-home dyes it’s not bad. It also doesn’t dry my hair out, which is one thing I hated most about Feria, the dye I used in high school. If you have dark hair like me and want to go a few shades lighter, Garnier is a good choice…”

Oh, and thanks to Marisol for pointing out that Bella Sugar is doing a Friday giveaway today featuring the Fekkai Summer Hair product shown above. You have until 5 pm PDT today to enter; head on over to Bella’s blog for details. Good luck, bonne chance, held og lykke, viel glueck, etc., etc.

I hope you’re having a great Fourth of July!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Dear Makeup and Beauty Blog, July 3

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Dear Makeup and Beauty Blog,

I’ve read on your blog that you take hip hop dance classes. I want to start taking them too, and there’s a place near my house, but I have a problem. I absolutely have to wear eyeliner to look presentable out in public, but I sweat a lot when I exercise. I don’t want streaks of liner running down my face, and the thought of watching myself for an hour in those huge dance mirrors without eyeliner stresses me out. Can you recommend a good eye pencil that can stand up to someone who sweats a lot like me?

Love,

Eyeliner Lover in Emeryville

Dear Eyeliner Lover in Emeryville,

Girl, I am a huge fan of sweat-resistant makeup, especially when big mirrors are involved. I know I don’t want to look at smudgy eyes and dark circles while I drop it like its hot (well, like it’s warm; this 30-something booty can’t move like it used to). I *totally* feel your pain.

What you need is a good waterproof eye pencil. I’ve road tested some different brands in dance class and my favorite by far is Clarins Waterproof Eye Pencil ($22). It’s both sweat- and smudge-proof, even when I’m sweating buckets. And the texture feels creamy and soft, so the pencil doesn’t tug at my lids (a pet peeve) when I apply it onto my upper or lower lash lines.

clarins-crayon-yeux-waterproof-eye-pencil

It comes in four lovely colors — black matte, bronze shimmer, violet matte and turquoise shimmer. I’ve worn all four in different combinations while dancing, and my fave combo is violet on the upper lash line, with bronze on the lower. The look packs just enough color to make my eyes pop.
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Maggie Gyllenhaal Hairstyle Celebrity Poll

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Mark your calendars, ladies, because it’s almost time for Christian Bale to strut his stuff on screen in the next Batman movie. The new flick, The Dark Knight (followup to 2005’s Batman Begins), opens Friday, July 18. I welcome any excuse to drool over C. Bale’s hot, muscled bod. Girlfriend, you know I’ll be there!

The fabulous and talented Maggie Gyllenhaal, one of my favorite actresses, takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in the first film) playing opposite C. Bale as Batman’s love interest. I dig Maggie’s trademark brown tresses, especially when she wears her hair long. From the trailers and previews I’ve seen so far, that’s how she wears it in the film.

Although Maggie often plays brunettes, she has sported other hair colors and cuts in several of her films and on the red carpet.



Morning eye candy… Mmm… Christian…


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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, July 2

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Petite Fashionista
I tower at exactly 5’2″ tall, and when you’re my height, clothing presents certain … challenges. Christa Jean at Petite Fashionista understands the plight of the vertically challenged. Her site gives shorter women everywhere the tools they need to dress in style.
petitefashionista

Nessasarymakeup.com
You can’t help but catch Vanessa’s exuberance for makeup when you pay a visit to her site. She does some really colorful looks, but beyond her skill with makeup she’s the cool cousin you wish you had, the really nice one you could go shopping with any time.
nessasarymakeup

The Daily Monster
Sometimes, inspiration comes in the form of an ink blot. Stefan Bucher creates art by dropping ink on a page and blowing it out with a straw until he sees the shape of a monster. Then, he fleshes out the creature with a pen. I know, it’s weird, but trust me; it’s also beautiful and cool. He records the entire process, too, and posts the videos on his blog.
thedailymonster-1

About.com: Beauty
Julyne Derrick has run the About.com Beauty Guide since 2005. The site maintains a huge library of how-to articles and general information about makeup and beauty. The easy-to-follow layout makes it a perfect resource for women testing the makeup waters.
beauty-about
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Ditch Those Lightweight Lashes Once and For All

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I have several objectives in life, like stalking Christian Bale, watching as much bad reality TV as humanly possible and finding Nemo, but I’d give up all of those to find the perfect mascara, one that transforms my stick-straight eyelashes into dramatic uber-lashes. Here are a few of my recent mascara adventures. Welcome to the land of longer, thicker and more dramatic lashes!

  • Get Long, Dramatic Lashes with Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara
    “I’m the type of girl who doesn’t care for drama, but I’ll take dramatic lashes any day! If you crave long, can’t-miss-me lashes like I do, get thee a tube of Shu Uemura’s Precise Volume Mascara ($23), stat!”

  • 11 Luscious Lash Tips
    “For a soft, feathered look with great separation, use two brushes. After applying mascara with a regular mascara brush, run through your lashes again with a MAC 206 while your mascara is still wet.”

  • MAC Makeup Reviews, Cosmetics – Invisible Set Powder; Natural Flare Loose Beauty Powder; Indianwood and Groundwork Paintpot; Plushlash in Plushblack
    “I’m usually a big fan of drugstore (aka cheap!) mascaras and makeup, but MAC Plushlash is actually worth spending your hard earned cash on. And, baby, I know you work hard for that money. Plushlash’s awesomeness begins with the huge brush. It’s all puppies and rainbows from that point on, ladies.”

  • Clarins Wonder Mint Mascara: Rise of the Teal Terror
    “When I got home from work a few hours ago I applied a third coat, and that’s the one that took it from subtle-and-appropriate-for-work to you’re-totally-fired-you-crazy-green-lashed-lady. Stepping back several feet from the mirror, there was no missing the teal. I gotta admit, I liked the bolder color, but I’ll reserve the third coat for nights out dancing.”

  • Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Mascara Review
    “Another issue I have with my lashes is that they’re stick straight (BOO), so I need a mascara that holds the curl I get from my lash curler. Ceramide mascara holds the curl all day (and night) long, giving me a wide-eyed look ’til the wee hours.”

  • Stila Multi-Effect Mascara: A Brush with Destiny
    “I gotta hand it to Stila for the curved brush they packaged with Multi-Effect Mascara. The thing flat-out rocks, helping the product deliver amazing thickness. The arch fits perfectly into the curve of my lashes (and probably yours, too), better than any other curved brush I’ve used before. With it I can really get into the lashes and coat them from root to tip.”

  • Lancome High Definicils Mascara: What a Difference a Brush Makes
    “While the new brush doesn’t save the whales or feed the planet, I have to say it’s a pretty nifty piece of makeup technology. It makes Definicils a far more useful product than it had been.”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, June 30

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  1. Mood: Gung ho!

  2. Mascara: Chanel Inimitable Mascara in Noir

  3. Breakfast: Eggo waffles with syrup (no butter)

  4. I’m lovin’ it (makeup related): Nars Supervixen lipgloss

  5. I’m lovin’ it (non-makeup related): My Bissell vacuum, LOL. Totally weird, I know, but I went on a cleaning frenzy yesterday and realized that if there weren’t such things as vacuums, my world would fall into the depths of grossness VERY quickly.

  6. Outfit: Wide-legged jeans, gold braided belt, a hot pink button-up shirt (with the sleeves rolled up) and gold chandelier earrings

  7. Fragrance: Laura Mercier Eau de Lune

  8. Quote of the day: “Attentiveness cannot be kept casually, or visited in season, like Venice. The patterns of our lives reveal us. Our habits measure us.” (Mary Oliver, poet)

  9. Just another manic Monday? Yes

  10. Goals of the week: To stay organized, to lift weights and to figure out how to wear the burnt orange shade in the Nars Mediteranee eyeshadow duo (any ideas?).

Your turn! Just copy the list, insert your answers and leave ‘em for me in the comments. 🙂

Le List

Mood:
Mascara:
Breakfast:
I’m lovin’ it (makeup related):
I’m lovin’ it (non-makeup related):
Outfit:
Fragrance:
Quote of the day:
Just another manic Monday?
Goals of the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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