Product Reviews

Beauty Thoughts, May 26, 2023

May 26th, 2023 by Karen 7 Comments

Sheer base life

I’ve been using Rose Inc Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum for the last two weeks and have been getting lots of nice compliments on my base!

It’s sheer and moisturizing with barely there coverage and a slight pore smoothing effect, and when I set it with just the teeniest bit of MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder, in real life it looks natural and beautiful, even in full sun.

If you’re into minimal foundation like I am, give it a go.

FYI, you do need to mix the pigment spheres in your palms or the back of your hand before applying it, so there’s a small extra step involved, but it’s so easy that I don’t mind it at all. I’ve been using it lately for my quick go-to makeup.

Speaking of go-to looks, what’s yours right now?

Here’s mine! It takes less than 10 minutes, which I’m all about these days.

Base: Rose Inc Skin Enhance set with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural and Hourglass Retouching Fluid in Sand
Cheeks: NARS Deep Throat Powder Blush
EYES: Hourglass Cave Eyeliner, Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Strapless, Tower 28 Mascara (it’s just OK), Anastasia Brow Pencil
LIPS: Whatever non-neutral lippie is around. Lately it’s been NARS Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil.

Building a pre-packed beauty bag

Memorial Day is right around the corner, which means summer trips, yay!

I was wondering, when you go on a trip, do you pack your skin care and beauty essentials beforehand, or do you keep a separate travel bag on standby?

I’ve always packed my beauty bag right before a trip, and ugh, I *really* don’t want to do that anymore. It just makes packing too stressful! Side note: I tend to overpack and overthink what I bring because I’m always worried about forgetting something. Half the time I end up bringing too much, and I no longer want it to be that way.

Anywho, all this to say I saw a video recently about keeping a travel bag of beauty products stocked and ready, and it really spoke to me!

We’re going on a few short trips this summer, so I’d like to build travel beauty bags — one for me, and one for Connor, since I usually pack her toiletries — before we go on our trips.

I’d like to fully stock it (skin care, makeup, hair products, all the things), so that when I’m done, I can photograph everything inside and write everything down into a list. Ideally I’d like to format it into an easily accessible checklist, so I can take stock of what needs to be replaced and not have to reinvent the wheel every single time.

WISH ME LUCK because I’m gonna need it, LOL!

Happy Friday to you

Hope your week has been peaceful and joyful! If you feel like sharing any good things that’ve happened to you lately, I’d love to hear about them.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Checking In: A Beauty Bakerie Palette, Hourglass Eyeliners and Enthusiastic Empties

February 23rd, 2023 by Karen 6 Comments

Warm tones and shimmer from the Do It For the Graham Palette by Beauty Bakerie

Ever wonder why Graham crackers are called “Graham” crackers? I was wondering this the other day while swatching the Do It for the Graham Eyeshadow Palette by Beauty Bakerie.

I'm an NC42 in MAC, by the way — I’m an NC42 in MAC, by the way

Turns out the crackers have an interesting history, and that the word “Graham” is always capitalized because Graham crackers are named after a real person.

I know. So many fun facts!

Between all the trees blooming and the crazy winds lately my allergies are officially on fire. Runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing every two seconds… Spring’s around the corner, and just when I start thinking it might be my new favorite season, pollen changes that in a hot second, LOL!

Just looking at this makes me want to sneeze

On that note, I’ve been searching for waterproof eyeliners that don’t budge. I know, I know, I could just skip wearing eye makeup on those days, but I’ve been on a beauty roll for the past few months and want to keep it up! Wearing face paint definitely helps with my mood, and on the days when I feel more put together, I’m just that much happier, ya know?

Lil’ liner haul

Speaking of eye makeup, remember the Hourglass Solstice pencil from last month? It’s a beautiful golden bronze from the Hourglass Waterproof Gel Eyeliner line. I finished it – yay!

You know how it goes though. Instead of replacing it like a sane person (ha) I wanted to try something new, so I grabbed these two Hourglass liners last week at Sephora: the shimmery bronze 1.5 MM Mechanical Gel Eyeliner in Bronze and the cool matte brown Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in Cave.

Hourglass liners: Some initial thoughts

Bronze 1.5 MM Liner: The skinny tip in this is super cool. It’s so precise! If you have a hooded lid situation like I do and prefer your liner to take up minimal space, it’s absolutely lovely for a touch of definition on the lash and water lines. Long wearing, too. My only concern is that I’m going to go through it quickly! $
Cave Waterproof Gel Eyeliner: Hmm. Mixed feelings so far about this cool brown. On the positive side, I love the cool tone of the rich, brown color. It reminds me of well worn, wet smooth brown pebbles that you’d find in a stream. There’s very little red in it, which I think is especially great for adding depth to the lash line. On the not-so-great side, when I wear it on my water line, it transfers more compared to the Solstice shade. I think I’m going to keep wearing it until I finish it, then go back to Solstice.

Empties are my jam, man

RE: Solstice again. I was thrilled to finish a liner all the way through! What is it about emptying out and finishing a makeup that’s so satisfying? I’m at the point where it’s more exciting to finish something all the way down to the last bits and bobs instead of accumulating lots of things I only use on occasion.

Do you ever feel this way? Or is it just me?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hourglass Solstice Gel Liner and Canvas Lip Gloss | Overheard at Sephora

January 18th, 2023 by Karen 13 Comments

Hiya! It’s just me, wearing some stuff I bought recently at Sephora — a bronze gel eyeliner (Hourglass Solstice) and a opaque pink gloss (Hourglass Canvas).

I loooove this liner! I think the bronze color adds a touch of definition to my lids and lash lines without my making eyes look more hooded (the struggle is real when you get into your 40s).

Still undecided on how I feel about the gloss, though. It did a lot for me back in the day and was a go-to purse gloss for a few years, but now I’m like, “Eh, it’s a’ight.” I still like how it feels (not too sticky) and how it doesn’t have an obnoxious flavor or scent (vaguely minty). My soul, however, is not shook-eth to the core, and I need that now from my makeup — especially gloss!

Forgot to mention yesterday that while I was shopping I overhead a mom and daughter team chatting about blush. The mom said, “According to my daughter I’m no longer allowed to wear blush that’s powder.” The daughter replied, “You can still wear it, but you have to layer it under cream blush first.” LOL!

I wonder if that’ll be me and Connor in the future… Something tells me maybe? Or maybe not. She had a dance performance a couple weeks ago and was totally firm on NOT wearing blush or eyeshadow. Red lipstick was fine (and it was part of their costume, so she had to wear it), but she absolutely refused to put anything on her cheeks or lids.

Too funny!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Shiny Lids With Tarte Quick Stick | Thoughts of Sunshine and Spring

January 13th, 2023 by Karen 1 Comment

I think the more makeup feels like you’re just foolin’ around in art class, the more fun it is! I definitely get that vibe from the Tarte Quick Sticks ($25 each).

The artsy girl gang of eyeshadow and pencils comes in six wearable neutral combinations. On my lids is Rose Gold Luster/Brown, which has a shimmery warm golden pink eyeshadow stick on one end and a creamy brown pencil liner on the other.

I like to line my lash and water lines first, smudge-smudge-smudge with a finger, then do a few dashes of the shadow on top. A quick swish of my blending brush and my lids shine bright like a diamond. Totally recommended if you’re like me and currently into looks that don’t require a heavy lift.

I want to try the Matte Tan/Brown and the Bronze Luster/Black combos next. I bet any of the combos would layer well with the Tartelette In Bloom Palette, too.

Happy Friday to you, my friend. How’s it going today out in your neck of the woods? If the sun is out, please do me a favor and bow down and worship it, LOL! It came out yesterday for the first time in weeks, and it was a truly dazzling sight. It’s raining again today, though, so for now I’ll enjoy the sound of raindrops on my window while I dream of the spring days that are coming…

Speaking of spring, this new Guerlain perfume is giving me warm weather vibes! It’s a Mattise collaboration, which I think is pretty cool.

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A post shared by Guerlain (@guerlain)

The colors make me feel like this scent could be sunshine in a bottle!

What do you think?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Hourglass Brilliant Nude Blush

January 10th, 2023 by Karen 3 Comments

This Hourglass Blush has been a staple in my makeup bag for years. I recently re-discovered it, and it truly is brilliant! And by the way, the pic at the top was taken before I grew my hair color out. 🙂

When some people think of brilliant nudes, they might think of Venus de Milo or the statue of David… I think of a blush from Hourglass, LOL! Brilliant Nude Strobe Lighting Blush by Hourglass, you guys, is so, SO good, especially if you love a fresh-faced look where your cheeks glow without looking overdone.

Can’t-miss fresh-faced color that isn’t obnoxiously obvious

It’s the same effect you get from NARS Madly Blush or the Kevyn Aucoin Neo-Trio, you know, where you have a hint of color, a whisper of shine, and your face and skin look livelier and peppier, like you just took a brisk walk or somebody sneaked up and started tickling your ribs.

Your cheeks will have that beautiful flush! That’s what you get from Brilliant Nude.

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.

Peachy amber mixed with a shimmery highlighter

Brilliant Nude is a peachy amber blush mixed with a gorgeous golden shimmery highlighter. It’s one of the Ambient Strobe Lighting Blushes, which is the blush family in the Hourglass permanent collection that has a more obvious and visible highlight (there’s also the Ambient Lighting Blushes, like the shade Diffused Heat, which are great, too, but they have a quieter highlighting effect).

Not to say that the Ambient Strobe Blushes like Brilliant Nude have an obnoxious highlight. Ya know, it’s Hourglass, they handle their finishes with a very refined touch. It’s softly reflective and luminous, but it isn’t metallic or garish or harsh, so women of all ages (and pore sizes!) can wear it.

A healthy glow on all shades of skin

When you mix the highlighter and blush together you have that perfect combination of color and shine that’s just a little something but not too much. I’m a tan gal, an NC42 in MAC, but I’ve seen this on both lighter and darker ladies, and it’s beautiful across the board. On lighter skin, you get more of the blush effect. On darker skin, it functions more as a highlighter, but in either case cheeks have a healthy flush and glow.

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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