Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

Lips Like Marilyn’s Are One Swipe Away: Pigment Abounds in the New MAC Marilyn Monroe Lipsticks

October 1st, 2012 by Karen 22 Comments

mac marilyn monroe scarlet ibis lipstick — Wearing the new MAC Marilyn Monroe collection lipstick in Scarlet Ibis

Some say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.

My chapped lips and I have to politely disagree. I mean, sure, diamonds have some cool things going for ’em. They’re all sparkly, and allegedly you can use them to cut mirrors and glass (I’ve always wanted to try that!), but what good are sparkly, shiny baubles when your lips are all flaky and you want to wear a bright orangey red lipstick like the new matte Scarlet Ibis or a frosty nude like Pure Zen ($16.50 each; both part of the MAC Marilyn Monroe collection)?

I’ve been so jazzed about these colors and their three siblings since I got wind of the MAC Marilyn Monroe collection earlier this year. I imagined re-creating MM’s signature sultry lips while happily stepping over a subway vent and having my skirt fly up for the whole world to see my Spanx…

Okay, maybe not. But I’d still love hot makeup like Marilyn’s, and it’s easier to get with these lipsticks. Both lay down loads of opaque, solid color, and a single swipe takes me from lowly pet assistant to polished screen siren.

Or thereabouts. 🙂

MAC Marilyn Monroe Pure Zen Lipstick Scarlet Ibis — Lipsticks in Pure Zen (left) and Scarlet Ibis (right)

mac marilyn monroe pure zen lipstick — Lipstick in Pure Zen

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How to Marry a Showgirl: The Many Faces of the New MAC Marilyn Monroe Eyeshadows

October 1st, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

mac marilyn monroe showgirl eyeshadow — Wearing the new MAC Marilyn Monroe Eyeshadow in Showgirl

Being the right-hand human to an international plus-size kitty supermodel can be a real chore if you’re not, you know, in the mood to be your cat’s minion/punching bag.

To my feline employer, I’m merely a toady, a gopher, but there’s more to being a successful pet assistant than having opposable thumbs. It’s a multifaceted job requiring a diverse skill set, dagnabbit, and ideal candidates are people with layers — just like the new $21 Large Eye Shadows from the MAC Marilyn Monroe collection.

Blueish gray Showgirl and soft white How to Marry, two of the four shades in the limited edition launch that arrives on counters this Thursday, might look like standard issue shimmers in swatches, but wait until they get on your lids.

MAC Marilyn Monroe Showgirl How to marry Eye Shadow — Eyeshadows in Showgirl (left) and How to Marry (right)

Like Marilyn, these Large Eye Shadows are larger than life! Each of the $21 0.1-ounce pans contain twice as much product as MAC’s regular $15 eyeshadow pans, which contain 0.05 ounces each.

Thing is, these babies love buffing, so start by pressing either one on your lids with a firm, flat eyeshadow brush or finger (side note: this part’s kind of important, because I’ve noticed that if I skip the firm brush/finger part, these shadows exhibit significant fallout), and then swirl a domed, fluffy brush like the MAC 217 on top of the shadows to lift away some of the pigment.

What remains is a semi-opaque wash of shiny color and tiny glimmering flecks of shimmer. Although the effect’s kinda quiet in these pics, I think it’s much more obvious and super pretty in person, especially if you like your glitter on the understated side.

mac marilyn monroe how to marry eyeshadow — Eyeshadow in How to Marry

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 239

October 1st, 2012 by Karen 80 Comments

You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”

Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past four years. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Mood:
Inspired! Funny (sad?) thing is, I think I feel the way I do right now because of a TV show called Friday Night Lights.

I must have watched 10 episodes last weekend, and they’re an hour long each. I’m already on the fifth and final season (tear!). If you’ve never seen it before, it’s about a small West Texas town and their local high school football team.

I keep wishing that I had my own personal Coach Taylor to hover around my desk and motivate me. He’s the head coach for the team, and he would tell me stuff like, “Listen to me. You’re gonna be the best darn pet assistant in Novato, Karen. You hear me? The best darn one. You keep this up, and I promise you — you’re going all the way to state!” LOL!

What’s one of your biggest foundation gripes?
Why is it so hard to find a comfortable, full-coverage foundation with a matte finish that perfectly matches my skin tone? Most ones I find are either too beige or too yellow, yargh!

If you were forced to wear one makeup look every day for a year, what would it be?
Cat eyes, loads of mascara and bright lips, for sure. Classic, easy and it goes with almost everything! 🙂

Name one thing you need to (or should) stop doing?
Staying up late watching Friday Night Lights on TV. My sleep schedule is a mess because of it. It’s been taking me at least an hour to unwind when I finally get to bed around midnight because I’m so fired up from the show.

Fishnet stockings: love ’em or leave ’em?
Love ’em, but only when the mesh pattern squares or diamonds are small, and when they’re worn with things to tone down the sultriness, like a pair of tough girl Doc Martin boots or a long skirt.

It’s snack time! Today we’re having a healthy fruit salad. What’s in yours?
Grapes, blueberries, strawberries and Honeycrisp apples.

Please…PLEASE, no honeydew or cantaloupe melon, blech!

If you could take a two-month class on anything right now, what would it be?
Ooh, that’s tough! I’m kind of a nerd and love taking classes when I can. Right now, I’d take Pilates or a studio lighting class for photography.

What’s one thing in life you should stop waiting for?
For everything to be perfect, because while you’re waiting, you’ll miss all of the good things right in front of your nose.

What’s one key to success?
Repetition. Whatever it is you want to do, just keep doing it, and when you get to the point where you feel like you can do it backwards, upside down and in your sleep, do it some more.

Weekly goals:
First, I need to take care of myself this week. I want to get in at least 30 minutes of cardio daily, get to bed by 11 every night, drink lots of water throughout the day, and be kind and supportive of myself (no negative self-talk whatsoever!).

What’s up, cutie pie? Yup, another Monday, which means we get to hang out again and talk beauty shop.

Here, why don’t you man the keyboard for a minute while I go brew us some tea in the kitchen.

To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le List

1. Mood:
2. What’s one of your biggest foundation gripes?
3. If you were forced to wear one makeup look every day for a year, what would it be?
4. Name one thing you need to (or should) stop doing?
5. Fishnet stockings: love ’em or leave ’em?
6. It’s snack time! Today we’re having a healthy fruit salad. What’s in yours?
7. If you could take a two-month class on anything right now, what would it be?
8. What’s one thing in life you should stop waiting for?
9. What is one key to success?
10. Weekly goals:

Who knows what great things will happen to you this week? I’m looking forward to finding out. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Feel the Teal

October 1st, 2012 by Karen 13 Comments

I wore this teal dress by Leifsdottir for my day in San Francisco last Friday.

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 211

September 30th, 2012 by Karen 14 Comments

I’m sitting here in the living room eating popcorn and watching the fifth season of Friday Night Lights, and Tabs is nowhere to be found. I think he turned in early, totally tuckered out after the rollicking weekend he had.

He didn’t party in the traditional sense, but he did host a couple of parties — or rather I did, seeing as how I take care of that kind of thing for him as his professional pet assistant/lackey.

Let me just say this: if I never see another catnip cocktail in my entire life, it’ll be too soon.

I’m sure he’ll be down for dinner… Tabs hasn’t missed a dinner in, um, ever. He better hurry, though, because I don’t know how much longer I’ll be awake.

I may try to coax him downstairs with cookie dough… Seriously, it’s the weirdest thing. Whenever I bake cookies and bust out one of those tubes of Toll House cookie dough, Tabs comes runnin’. I don’t know if it’s the crinkling of the packaging or the scent of the dough, but he stands up on his hind legs at the kitchen counters, meows and flashes his sad eyes like he’s saying, “Please, miss, can you spare a cookie? I’m so very hungry.”

Yeah, right! We all know that’s B.S., as evidenced by his No. 1 ranking from the Association of Plus Size Kitty Supermodels, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to lose that ranking anytime soon, not with busy modeling weeks like this one. Here are some of the campaigns he did… 🙂

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Two Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora!

September 29th, 2012 by Karen 506 Comments

WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Ester Y! Congratulations, Ester! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Thank goodness for dishwashing machines, ya know? Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to do dishes.

How’s it going this morning? 🙂 What’s the weather like out your way? Looks like it’s gonna be a sunny one here. It’s about 60 degrees or so, lots of leaves on the ground because it’s definitely fall, but at least it isn’t freezing cold yet.

I haven’t figured out my game plan for today, but I hope it involves some relaxing. I’ve got a new episode of Project Runway to catch up on, and I would love to go for a hike. I spent all day yesterday indoors with Tabs because we had a meeting for some potential investors. Even did a PowerPoint presentation, and I think it went pretty well. If you’re interested, here are the slides…

Now, without further adieu, let’s get on with the festivities, shall we?

You know what that means… It’s giveaway time. 🙂

What folks are saying…

“Hi Karen. Oh my goodness! I can’t believe I won! :O Thank you so much! You, Tabs, and your blog are amazing! Thank you for keeping me updated on all things beauty and more importantly, for keeping me entertained! Keep doing your thing! Thank you again.”
-Jacqueline

“Thanks so much, Karen. Just in case you were wondering what I got with it, I decided to go with the Clarisonic Mia–I’ve been wanting it for years now, but have never purchased it because of the price. Your eCard helped me finally buy it! I look forward to using it. Thanks again!”
-Jane

“Shut the front door! OMG Karen, you have made my day. 🙂 I’m sick in bed with the flu and this has just cheered me up immensely!!!!!!!! BTW, I’m the one that sent you that pic of my pug in a wig a few weeks back LOL! Thanks again, honestly, I’m beyond giddy right now.”
-Angel

“Oh my goodness! Thank you so much Karen (and Tabs, of course)! I really appreciate this! I’d been eyeing the Anastasia brow pencil in Strawburn to match my red hair!”
-Chelsea (and Jiji the kitten and Quincy the bunny)

“Never before have I been so pleased to check my email right before bed!!! Thank you so, so much! I truly enjoy your blog and check it almost daily! Thanks again! This made my night!”
-Melissa, Edmond, OK

“Hi Karen. Thank you so much, I’m so excited, I’ve never won anything before. My name is Hana … I just turned 25 (today is my birthday!) Yay! Thank you.”
-Hana

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, have you ever done a PowerPoint presentation? Do you enjoy public speaking? Are you reading any books right now (good ones or bad)? How many times per week do you wash your hair? Do you wear summery makeup colors (like corals) in the fall? Have you found any good drugstore lipglosses lately? — you get the idea.
Second, you can enter by following me on Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win a $50 eGift Card from Sephora! http://bit.ly/P29TuE

The deadline to enter is Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 11:59PM (PT).
Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
Sephora eGift Certificates can only be redeemed online and are not valid in stores or available for purchase or redemption in Canada. International winners may opt to substitute the Sephora eGift card prize for $50 sent directly to their email address by PayPal instead.
Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Ester Y! Congratulations, Ester! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂