Lips

If There’s One Thing You Grab Next Time You’re at NARS…

April 25th, 2023 by Karen 6 Comments

Please let it be Dolce Vita. You’ve gotta get the Velvet Matte Lip Pencil version of it, though, not the lipstick. While the lipstick is pretty, I think the Velvet Matte Pencil is easier to apply and that much more user friendly.

It’s great if you want to wear something colorful on your lips that’s 1) low effort and 2) goes with most everything!

In the makeup I’m wearing today, I paired it with NARS Dolce Vita blush and Laura Mercier Strapless Caviar Stick cream shadow. I knocked a little bronzer (MAC Give Me Sun) into my crease for a touch of warmth, too.

Do you love Dolce Vita as much as I do? It’s a classic!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Hope you’re having a terrific Tuesday!

Sephora VIB Sale Recommendation: Tower 28 Pistachio AKA the BEST Purse Gloss | Fancy Lady Tea at Crown & Crumpet

April 12th, 2023 by Karen 12 Comments

I’m wearing Tower 28 Milky Lip Jelly in Pistachio

Hiya! Happy Wednesday. The Sephora Savings Event is coming soon (see here for details). If you’re looking for an easy gloss to wear that you can just toss in your purse, consider adding Tower 28 Shine On Milky Lip Jelly in Pistachio ($16) to your wishlist.

It’s a moisturizing, semi-sheer nude pink gloss that’s I’ve been been wearing steadily since February. It doesn’t dry out my lips and is just sticky enough to stay on! I like the formula so much that I’m going to grab a couple other shades — Seasame (a semi-sheer mauve) and XOXO (a sheer pink).

I wore it yesterday to a “fancy lady tea” with Connor at a tea house in Marin called Crown & Crumpet. She’s home for spring break this week, so we’re hanging out and doing all the fun things.

Connor ordered an herbal peach tea with her kids’ tea service, and our sweet and attentive waitress thoughtfully brought out a cup of ice so that we could cool the tea down in her cup immediately. I love nice touches like that, don’t you?

Anywho, I ordered a regular tea service with all the fixings and a big pot of darjeeling (YUM), which I drank joyfully with plenty of milk and sugar!

You know what I realized while I was there? I’m not a fan of crumpets. The one I had was a little chewy, and I felt like I was eating bread-flavored gum. LOL! I did love the scone and all the tiny sandwiches, though.

If you happen to visit with littles, FYI, right down the street is an awesome playground with a huge rope climbing structure. It’s a great place to get some wiggles out.

OH! If you visit the playground and need to use the lavatory afterwards, you can walk right around the corner back to Crown & Crumpet to use the loo. That’s what I did because DANG, that tea goes right through ya.

Anywho, we had a great time! Highly recommend it if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

I’ve really been enjoying my time with her this week. It’s really starting to hit me just how big she’s getting and how short the window I have for her wanting to hang out with me truly is.

Hope everything is going well with you!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Do you have any Sephora recommendations for me?

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14th, 2023 by Karen 5 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day, my beautiful friend.

I decided to say “I love you” to myself today by sitting down in front of the mirror to joyfully put on makeup! 🙂

A few notes on the key items

The Do It For The Graham eyeshadow palette is from a new-to-me brand called Beauty Bakerie, and it includes 12 powder shadows in foil, matte and duo-chrome finishes.

I’m wearing the tan, beige and dark reddish brown matte shades on my lids. Even though I’m out of practice with blending, the soft, smooth powders made it easy to weave one color into the next. Very nice!

You might recognize the red lip, because it’s one of my MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour favorites, Quite the Standout, which is a bright orangey red. If you like warm-toned reds, this shade is gonna be your jam! It’s temporarily out of stock on the MAC website (boo), but check your local counter to see if they have it around.

Last but certainly not least, MAC Glow Play Blush in That’s Peachy. It’s a light peach blush that goes on sheer, which I like because then I can really control the color intensity on my cheeks. It pairs especially well with warm red and peachy-pink lip colors.

Valentine’s Day flowers for you, friend!

Sending you so much love. Treat yourself with extra kindness today, OK?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Oh, and let me know if you also did a red lip, too!

Interview Makeup and Hair | Latest Beauty Buys

January 26th, 2023 by Karen 10 Comments

Well, at least I was having a good hair day!

Hiya, and happy Thursday!

Yesterday I had two interviews lined up. I spent the entire day prepping and studying, so I’d feel extra prepared. I did full makeup and hair early, so I wouldn’t feel rushed (I even took test shots to double check everything, which is why I ended up with these pics).

I searched for “what to wear in a video interview for a creative job,” and then I tried various options in front of the camera to see what looked best. Side note: most wardrobe experts do not recommend wearing a white shirt, and after seeing various options on screen, I’d have to agree.

AND THEN…

…Both interviews got cancelled at the last minute. (The second one in the late afternoon was cancelled 10 minutes before it was supposed to start.)

On the bright side, both interviews were also rescheduled, which means the positions are still open — and I still have a chance.

Eh, at least my makeup and hair looked ok!

Needless to say, I was jumpy at the end of the day because of all the built-up adrenaline, so me, my full face of makeup and bouncy hair went to Sephora for some stress (de-stress?) shopping.

Lately the Novato store in my town rarely seems to have anything I actually want in stock, though. I ended up with just a Bumble & Bumble conditioner and a Tower 28 gloss.

I also had to stop by Target, which is next door, to buy some oat milk, so skin care landed in my cart: Versed Press Restart Gentle Retinol Body Lotion, good ol’ CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser and Naturium Purple Ginseng Cleansing Balm.

It’s been a long week. Oh, and poor Connor still has a cold, so none of us have slept in days. Her immune system is certainly getting a workout this school year! (And so is mine.)

Seriously, I cannot wait for the weekend.

Anywho, thank you for listening. Hope that everything on your end has been smooth sailing.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A Follow Up to Fenty Heat Gloss, Pie and Half, and All the Errands

December 23rd, 2022 by Karen 3 Comments

In the last post’s comments, Tatiana (hey, Tatiana!) had some questions about the sheer red gloss Connor and I were wearing the other day:

Does the Fenty gloss have a scent or taste? Is it super sticky or just moderately so? I keep looking at them, but haven’t bought one yet.

OK, great questions about this beautiful red gloss!

Fenty Heat Gloss in Hot Cherry smells and tastes like fruit punch. It’s very subtle, though. Because it’s not obnoxiously sweet or fake or plastic-y, it doesn’t turn my stomach, which is KEY when it comes to gloss for me!

On my lips, it’s pretty comfy. I’d describe it as moderately sticky — less sticky than a MAC Lipglass and more than a MAC Plushglass.

FYI, Hot Cherry is one of five shades in the Heat Gloss collection, which is Fenty’s line of lip plumpers. Since it’s a plumping gloss, it tingles a little bit at first.

I don’t really see a big difference in my lips after I apply it, but I typically don’t have high expectations when it comes to lip plumpers. *shrugs* I mostly wanted it because I love the particular shade of red and how sheer and shiny it is!

If lip plumpers aren’t your thing, there’s another line of Fenty glosses called the Gloss Bombs, which are also very pretty. They smell and taste a little bit like vanilla and have a similar texture to the Heat Glosses. I wore and loved the OG shade Fenty Glow when it first came out.

On a non-gloss note, I was chatting with a mom friend today, and we joked about how moms and caregivers during this time of year are seemingly always doing one ridiculous errand after the other in the days before Christmas, LOL! Sigh.

My long list of errands today included buying a couple Cara Cara oranges (I’ve only seen them in one local grocery this year!) and a couple pies — well, technically one pie and a half!

One gluten-free apple pie and a half pecan pie, please!

Do the grocery stores in your neighborhood sell half pies? I swear they’re the best thing ever! If you have a smaller family like we do, you get just enough pie to feel satisfied but not so much that you start to get sick of it. Yay for half pies!

Oh, and before I continue on my quest to conquer all the errands, a friend of mine recently started a new Amazon store featuring smart fitness watches. If you’re in the market for one, you might want to check it out.

I’m off! Here’s to smooth sailing for all of us before Santa visits.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Layered Eye Looks: Forest Green Liner with Champagne Eyeshadow

December 6th, 2022 by Karen 16 Comments

I jokingly texted a friend to tell her that I finally put on a full face of makeup because I no longer wanted to look like I just crawled out of a pit of doom! LOL. And even though I’m 100% comfortable now rollin’ around town bare faced with just sunscreen, there’s still something really nice about going to the grocery store to buy cara cara oranges and have the checker call me “miss” instead of “ma’am.”

I’ve been inspired by simple, layered eye makeup lately. In this one, I layered a glittery champagne cream shadow (Hourglass Ray) on top of a shimmery forest green liner (Urban Decay Mildew). It’s easy, peasy, lemon squeeze-y, and I feel like I get a lot of look for very little effort.

What I also really like about this look is how the glitter isn’t too flashy. It sparkles in the light, but it’s not, like, too much for a weekday midday run to Tar-ghay.

Key products worn in this look

Here’s what I used for eyes, cheeks and lips. If you want to know more about the base or brows, let me know in the comments. 🙂

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil Liner in Mildew – A shimmery forest green liner that stays put!
Hourglass Scattered Light Glitter Eyeshadow in Ray – A deep champagne glitter eyeshadow with subtle flecks. Gorgeous!
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Blush in Coastline – A toasty warm brown cream blush that could double as a bronzer. A little goes a long way.
MAC Lipstick in Half ‘n’ Half – A workhorse neutral lipstick that goes with everything.

Officially a dance mom!

Connor joined the junior dance team at her studio this year, and last weekend was her first official performance. I think she was more excited to wear the clip-on earrings, LOL!

I’ve had my ears pierced since the day I was born; no really, back in the day in the Philippines, you could get your baby’s ears pierced at the hospital!

Anywho, all this to say we found out that clip-on earrings are a whole different beast. Connor was so looking forward to wearing them, but when she tried them on for the first time, one of the earrings was too tight and hurt her little ear.

I did a little googling and found a trick to loosening them. All you have to do is move the part of the clip-on that looks like a “U” around. You need widen it to relieve the pressure on your ears! It really helps. Just goes to show you, you learn something new every day.

Have a peaceful and joyful Tuesday.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I’m Loving the Laura Mercier Petal Soft Lip Crayons

August 4th, 2022 by Karen 5 Comments

As someone perpetually dealing with a time crunch EVERY MORNING (sigh), makeup in crayon form is now my beauty BFF. Drawing on your face is just that much easier when you don’t have to contend with a brush, ya know?

My latest loves are these twist up matte crayon lippies by Laura Mercier. The new Petal Soft Lipstick Crayons offer sheer, easy-to-apply color, so I don’t have to worry about precisely drawing a crisp edge. (Side note: you can easily build up the opacity if you want more intensity, FYI.)

I’ve been doing a layer or two for a casual, effortless summery lip look, but I can see these working year round.

The formula feels lightweight and smooth on my lips, and I like that its unscented and unflavored. Comfy!

I’ve been rollin’ with Augustine, the coral shade, all week, and when I wear it on video calls, I look brighter, and dare I say, less cranky? LOL!

There are 20 shades to choose from, and each is $28 for a 0.06-oz tube.

The Laura Mercier Petal Soft Lip Crayons

300 Lea – Warm brown nude

301 Augustine – Deep coral nude

302 Ella – Warm mid-tone nude

303 Jeanne – Rich warm nude

320 Amelie – Coral pink

321 Ophelie – Bright bluish pink

322 Camille – Neutral pink

323 Maia – Peachy pink

324 Louise – Bright yellowish pink

340 Elodie – Dusty mauve

341 Simone – Rosy berry

342 Zoe – Bright berry

343 Noemie – Mid-tone plum

360 Agnes – Pinkish coral

361 Alma – Reddish coral

362 Leonie – Orangey coral

363 Adele – Bright warm coral

380 Sienna – Orangey red

382 Laura – Plummy red

You can find the Petal Soft Lip Crayons on the Laura Mercier website, Sephora and Ulta.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

5 Reasons to Love Bright Lipstick

January 18th, 2022 by Karen 5 Comments

1. It does so much makeup heavy lifting.

I swear, I can get away with wearing so much less makeup when I’m wearing a bright lip. I can feel completely put together with just a bright lipstick, mascara and concealer.