Lips

Glittery Green Gradient Wings: A Quick and Easy Holiday Makeup Look

December 11th, 2019 by Karen 16 Comments

Current dilemmas du jour?

What to do with the five pounds of lemons Rosie’s former foster mom gave me (she has a tree in her yard that produces a RIDICULOUS amount of lemons).
What’s some festive and colorful holiday makeup that won’t take me till Valentine’s Day to finish? (I’m only half-kidding.)

As of yet, I still have no clue what to do with the lemons (ugh, lemon bars and lemonade? Maybe some kind of lemon marinade?), I figured out a trick to flying through different colorful looks.

And here it is…

Play with your winged liner. THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS!

Like with this look here with glittery green gradient wings. It was surprisingly quick and easy to do.

The step-by-step

Start by drawing your winged liner with a dark green matte liner as the base (I used Urban Decay Mainline). Be as subtle or dramatic as you like.
Then, for a bright shimmer POP, layer a bright green glitter in the center (I’m wearing Urban Decay Stage Dive) on your lash line.
Lastly, to create a color gradient, dip an angled brush into a black eyeshadow (MAC Carbon for life!), and pat that on top of the outer portion of your wing.

Green goes well with warm browns and peaches, which is what I’m wearing on my lids, lips on these cheeks in this look. If you want to be more adventurous, however, pink would be a playful complementary color… I’m just sayin’. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

When In Doubt, Red Lip It Out

December 10th, 2019 by Karen 10 Comments

stila beso 121019 current uniform — Standard-issue #OOTD

Big kisses to you, Stila Beso, for always being there for us makeup lovers who apply lipstick at the last minute in the car using the rearview mirror before dashing into work. You make it easy to look like we, ya know…actually had our act together. LOL.

Friend, I predict that this could be your new default matte red lip color (if it isn’t one of your faves already), because Beso is opaque. Beso is smooth. Beso has a lovely liquid-y texture, and it starts off creamy and slick. It eases along lips and around edges, so you definitely don’t need a lip liner.

Basically, it’s completely devoid of the bad kind of drama.

I had three massive cups of coffee before putting this on yesterday, in the car (we’re working longer hours at the bakery this month because of the annual holiday cupcake rush), and even though my hands were vibrating at a high frequency due to all the caffeine, I was still easily able to paint this lip in under a minute.

Say what?!

Yes, you get a bright red matte lip that moves as you smile and laugh through your day (I hope). This particular lip lasted through the making of 600 sugar cookies.

And if you’re prone to lip flakes like I am, fear not, because this lippie also won’t dry out your lips.

You can pretty much wear anything on your eyes with Beso, too. It’s a very cooperative color. I whipped up this matte taupe lid with the Viseart Neutral Palette without much thought and just went with it.

stila beso 121019 eyes — When you do your eye makeup in a blur…

I usually wear Beso with some type of neutral eyeshadow, but it also works well with colorful lids.

In fact, we have a holiday sprinkle mix at the bakery that we’ve been using on glazed sugar cookies… It’s a mix of bright red, green, purple and teal sprinkles, and I think the color palette would totally work for a makeup look — teal, blue and purple on the lids with a red lip.

I’m not 100% sure I could pull it off in a wearable way (can totes see it going unintentionally crazy), but hey, you never know till you try. 🙂

Other (somewhat) important items of note

Since I was the first one at the bakery yesterday in the back of the house, I got to choose the music…so we bumped ’80s hits all day long (we’re also catering an ’80s party, so I felt it was appropriate).

I heard so many songs I hadn’t heard in ages!

I don’t know why, but I’m consistently shocked by how much I’m moved by Phil Collins songs…

Who the heck is Billy, anyway?

Even after all these years, I still have NO idea what this song is about…

If you can break down Sussudio for me, I would really appreciate it… He’s talking about a woman with an unusual name that he has a crush on, right??

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Monochromatic Makeup: Playful Pinks, and a Play on Cat Eyeliner

December 6th, 2019 by Karen 18 Comments

mac steady going lipstick k smile — Inspired by this pink sweater!

I was inspired to do this monochromatic pink look by this quilted sweatshirt I found at the Eddie Bauer outlet store for 50% off (!).

I can’t remember the last time I walked into an Eddie Bauer store, but there’s one of their outlet stores at Vintage Oaks in Novato, and El Hub wanted to check it out one day to look for a jacket, which he found…and I found this. It’s incredibly soft, and I love the color.

I almost didn’t use any brushes for this look. I used my fingers to press the pink glitter eyeshadow on my lids and to pat the pink cream blush on my cheeks. Really, the only brush I used was an angled eyeshadow brush, which I dipped in a dark brown shadow to diffuse the edge of the liquid black cat eye liner (Tom Ford, baby!).

Speaking of the liner, next time you want to flip the script on your cat eyeliner game, try this: after you finish your cat eye flicks, line the inner corner of your eyes with the thinnest, skinniest line you can get away with.

urban decay glitterrock

Then line the outer portion of your lower lash line with your liquid liner, and connect the inner and outer sections by smudging the most infinitesimal amount of a coordinating eyeshadow color.

If you like to geek out over makeup, this is a fun way to do something a little different with your liner.

mac glitter rock
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5-Minute Makeup: Glowing Peach Cheeks and Lips, Cool Brown Lids and Latest Drugstore Loves!

December 4th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

neutrogena kerry washington essential eye palette cheek palette — All. The. Carbs.

Good morning! We’re not back in Novato yet, but we’ll be home tonight. I prepped this post before we left on vacation, and now I’m seeing the pics and mentally preparing myself for jacket weather.

If, while strolling through downtown Novato recently, you saw a woman taking selfies with a bag of bagels in her car, FYI, that woman was very, very likely me — especially if she had a massively cheesy smile. 🙂

The smile was there for a couple of reasons. First — hello! — ALL THE YUMMY CARBS (this was shortly before the Spartan race, so I brought them with me to share with my coworkers at the bakery). Second, I did my makeup in five minutes (and it wasn’t a hot mess).

Fresh and glowing

This 5-minute makeup look has glowing peach cheeks, glossy peach lips and cool neutral brown lids with the lightest touch of pink sparkle. I wore it to work a couple Fridays ago.

I have absolutely no idea why, but I got some nice compliments from people I ran into while I was running errands that day, and also from El Hub when I saw him later that evening, and that surprised me, because why does super easy makeup like this get so much love? I don’t get it. I’m literally just throwing sh*t on and hoping it doesn’t go awry.

My best guess is that maybe it’s because I didn’t have the time to overthink it, so I didn’t do too much counterproductive tweaking? I just went with my gut and got it done? Who knows?

New drugstore makeup loves

Oh! — for all my drugstore makeup-lovin’ ladies, I used a couple of palettes in this makeup look from Neutrogena: the $12.99 Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette and the $9.99 Kerry Washington Essential Cheek Palette. Both are easy to blend, pretty (I think so), and the powders last all day long. Highly recommended.

Makeup worn in this look

Eyes: Neutrogena Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette (lids and upper lash line liner), Urban Decay Glitterrock (pink glitter pressed lightly onto lids), Chanel Dimensions de Chanel Mascara (lashes), NARS Komo Brow Pencil and MAC Clear Brown Set (brows)
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5-Minute Makeup: Bright Berry Lips and Glowing Taupe Lids

November 22nd, 2019 by Karen 19 Comments

mac craving lipstick — Yes, Bay Area people will wear scarves and thermals when it’s 63 degrees outside. ?

So…you know those mornings when everything goes smoothly, and you even have extra time to do a load of laundry or stop by the drive-through coffee shop to get a latte before you start your day? On top of that, you also get to work 15-minutes early (so you don’t have to drive around the block two times to find good parking)?

Yeah…this was not one of those mornings. LOL!

I don’t know what happened, but Connor and I made it out the door by the skin of our teeth. We made it, though!

And I still managed to 1) get out of my pajama bottoms (although I seriously considered wearing them to the bakery, HA HA HA!), and 2) put on 5-minute makeup.

I grabbed what was within reach and moved with a quickness. Funny thing is, I even got compliments on my makeup today!

You know, sometimes the quickie looks are the best ones…

I think the bright berry lipstick really helped. Berry is great when you’re rushing because it’s just so colorful, and it instantly brightens up your face, but it’s usually also less labor-intensive than red or bright pink.

Also, you can pair it with a bunch of different colors. Purple and gray work, but a lightly shimmering taupe is my go-to to wear with berry. If you’re ever in a serious time crunch, go with a berry lipstick, 100%.

mac art library nude model palette k — When you have a photoshoot in your car…

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Cat Eye Flicks and Bright Lips (The Purple Edition): A Wednesday Makeup Formula

November 20th, 2019 by Karen 17 Comments

mac tailored to tease lipstick k — Purple power!

Question for you… How do you feel about formula dressing?

LOL! Pardon me for a moment, but I had to laugh there, because “formula dressing”? Sounds like something you put on a salad.

But I digress…

If you’ve flipped through the pages of a fashion magazine in the past decade, you may have read talk of having an “outfit formula,” something you can always turn to when you want to look sharp. Maybe it’s a white t-shirt, high-waisted jeans and a black blazer, or maybe it’s something else.

Once you figure out a formula that works for you, then you can tweak it ever-so-slightly (perhaps by replacing the black blazer with a black motorcycle jacket), but essentially, you go back to the same formula over and over because it works.

I’m a HUGE fan of translating this idea for the realm of makeup, and I do “makeup formulas” all the time.

I’m wearing one of mine in these pics — cat eye flicks and bright lips.

It’s quick and easy and gives you a lot of bang for your makeup buck, IMO. Also, crucially, it doesn’t make me think too hard, and I’m not reinventing any wheels, because I know that both of the main elements in the look work for me. Still, there’s plenty of room within the look to jooj it up in different ways.

Basically, I was in the mood to wear purple, so I started with a smudgy purple cat flick (which I did with a matte dark purple eyeshadow and an angled brush).

I like the whole smudgy/diffused effect because the imperfect edge leaves lots of room for error. I can fudge it a little (or a lot), and even though it might not look perfect, it’s usually passable, which is good enough when I’m in a hurry.

Next, I matched it with a bright matte purple lipstick, and side note: I just thought of another version of this I could do… How about layering a shiny purple gloss on top of this lippie? I think that would be super cool too!

This is just one of the makeup formulas I use often. Apply, lather, rinse and repeat! 🙂

mac tailored to tease lipstick — You think I’d be smiling more since I’m having a surprisingly OK hair day!

mac art library nude model — It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Makeup worn in this look

Eyes: MAC Art Library Nude Model Palette (Sugar Plum and Dance in the Dark as liner, Nude Model and L.E.S. Artiste on lids, and Outre in crease), ESUM Dual Eye Pencil in Rose and Aubergine (tightline), MAC Extended Play Perm Me Up Mascara (lashes) ESUM Brow Defining Pencil and MAC Brow Set (brows)

Cheeks: Charlotte Tilbury Ecstasy Blush

Base: Make Up For Ever HD Concealers in Y41 and Y31 mixed with MAC Strobe Cream (foundation), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Golden Tan, Estee Lauder 24H Concealer in Medium Deep (under eyes), Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

Lips: MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Tailored to Tease

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Unsung Heroes: Smoked Almond Lipstick

November 18th, 2019 by Karen 17 Comments

mac smoked almond lipstick swatch — MAC Smoked Almond, a.k.a. THE BEST.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Warning: do not attempt to picture an almond hunched in a doorway, puffing away at a cigarette when you think of the words, “smoked almond,” because once you see something like that in your mind’s eye, you’ll wonder 1) what would ever possess an almond to smoke in the first place, and 2) why said almond wouldn’t know that smoking was bad for it.

Every day for the past week before my shift has started at the bakery, I sit in my car in the parking lot and apply a layer of this beautifully bright rosy brown lipstick on my lips, and every time I do this, I say the same thing to myself in the mirror.

“SO PIGMENTED!”

I’m talking intensity to the extreme.

And yet despite its intensity, Smoked Almond isn’t one of those tricky lippies that is SO saturated that it becomes a pain in the bum and you end up needing a PhD in chemistry to apply it. You can still totally do it freehand, straight from the tube, while half-asleep, WITHOUT a lip liner or brushes or a Christmas miracle, for that matter. Smoke Almond’s creamy consistency practically melts onto lips the moment it touches them. No dragging whatsoever. Just a smooooove glide.

My lips tend to dry out and practically shout, “MOAR moisture!” from the rooftops, but Smoked Almond, which has MAC’s Amplified formula, has enough hydration to keep ’em happy all day long.

mac smoked almond — Smoked Almond on my lips

This is a fantastic everyday/daytime color to keep around if you have many rosy or rosy brown blushes like NARS Amour or Charlotte Tilbury Ecstasy in your collection. It’s also long-wearing and doesn’t move or scoot once you lay down a layer, and it feels lighter than a kitty whisker kiss on your cheek.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

3 Tips for Wearing Red Eyeshadow (and a 20-Minute Makeup Look)

November 6th, 2019 by Karen 18 Comments

viseart libertine — I may or may not be in my pajamas, FYI.

Fall-inspired look, TAKE TWO.

I think this one’s a little closer in terms of vibe to the Thanksgiving baking accouterments I found at Michael’s the other day… More fall, and less summer, with shimmery reddish copper lids, bronze cheeks and nude-beige lips.

I wore it to the bakery the other day… The bakery in my kitchen, THAT IS! Had this on while trying to work out the pumpkin/pecan cupcake situation (yes, this is a thing I’m working on). In a nutshell, I think I found a good balance between a spicy pumpkin cupcake, and brown sugar pecans, but that’s a story for another time…

As for this look, here are some things you may find helpful when wearing reddish copper eyeshadow, or really any shadows with red tones:

1. Full-coverage foundations make a HUGE difference

You know me; I like to wear as little as possible in terms of base products, but whenever I try to do minimal foundation/concealer that incorporates any sort of copper, coppery red or red eyeshadow, I look tired, messy and juuuuust not right. Babe, if you’ve got anything remotely red happening on your lids, then go for full-coverage foundation. A full-coverage base balances with the red eyeshadow’s POW! very nicely, methinks.

2. Tightline with a black liner

You need something like a black liner to add a visible “break” or barrier between your red eyeshadow and the whites of your eyes; otherwise, it can look kinda “off.” If black seems too harsh for you, try a dark brown.

3. Do your eye makeup first

Why? Because you want absolutely NO red underneath your lower lash line, and you’ll want to completely remove it before doing your base. Then, after you clean up, apply a concealer. I’m usually team “Skip the Under-Eye Concealer,” but in this case, I’m thoroughly on board, because, again, it can look weird if you skip it.

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