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

Driest parts of my skin? Oy! I don’t even know where to start.

On my face, usually my cheeks, and this is consistent all year ’round, even summer. And then around the middle of winter I start getting dry patches around my mouth and my nostrils, and sometimes they’re so dry that they turn red and flaky. Weirdly, however, this wasn’t always the case. Up until my early 30s, I had straight-up oily skin and dryness was never an issue. Sometimes I’d even skip moisturizer, GASP! Now, though, that is no longer an option. When I don’t use lotion on my face, my skin feels really tight. Sometimes it hurts.

Oh, the woes of a dry-cheeked girl…

On my body, the dryness is pretty much spread all over the place. It’s equal opportunity dryness! — although there are places, like my shins, my feet and especially my hands, that do get noticeably drier in the winter.

I literally never leave the house without a tube of hand cream in my purse.

And I’ve definitely noticed that the dryness depends on the climate and the humidity. When I leave the Bay Area, like when I go to Redding to see my in-laws up north, where it’s inland and there’s much lower humidity, the dryness kicks up several notches. Same thing when I go to Las Vegas or Arizona or other parts of the Southwest.

I think if I lived in those areas I’d have to start bathing in heavy-duty cream moisturizer, LOL!
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So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. Where did you put your makeup on today?

In my office, at my desk. It was early when I put it on and that room has the best lighting in the house. (Side note: I saw a woman putting on makeup in her car the other day, which is why I thought of this question.)

2. What does your winter coat look like?

On really cold days (well, cold for California), I wear a khaki puffer coat, and on days when it’s raining, I wear a yellow rain coat.

3. Have you ever gone through a roller blading phase?

LOL, yeah, in college. During my last two years I roller bladed everywhere. Honestly, it’s a miracle I didn’t break anything, and I still can’t believe I did all that blading while carrying a heavy backpack.

4. How meticulously do you plan your holiday gift giving? Do you stick closely to your list or do you shop on the fly?

I fall somewhere in the middle. I usually start with a list and grab as much as I can, but I also like to pick up fun extras and stocking stuffers if I see things that the person might like while I’m out and about.

5. A traditional dish/food you usually have during the holidays?

Leche flan, which is like the Filipino version of creme brulee.

6. Describe your hair today in three words.

A touch unruly.

7. Solid leggings or printed leggings?

I’ll go with the solid leggings, in a dark color — navy or black.

8. Something trendy you used to do when you were a kid?

When I was in middle school all the girls wore two pairs of slouchy socks. To do it right, they had to be different colors — black and pink, or black and white, for example. Oh, and the chunkier the slouchy socks were, the better.

9. Red eyeshadow or green eyeshadow?

Green, please. Emerald or khaki!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. Where did you put your makeup on today?
2. What does your winter coat look like?
3. Have you ever gone through a roller blading phase?
4. How meticulously do you plan your holiday gift giving? Do you stick closely to your list or do you shop on the fly?
5. A traditional dish/food you usually have during the holidays?
6. Describe your hair today in three words.
7. Solid leggings or printed leggings?
8. Something trendy you used to do when you were a kid?
9. Red eyeshadow or green eyeshadow?

P.P.S. Good morning and happy Monday, sweet friend! I hope your week is peaceful and productive! 🤗

Let’s put on some lip oil! 😁

Question for you — have you ever seen a lip oil in a rollerball? Every single one I’ve tried has a wand inside a tube, and there’s usually an oversized doe foot, like the one from the original O.G. lip oils by Clarins.

You’d think a lip oil with a rollerball would be convenient because it has one less element? Right? But, I don’t know, I worry about the oil getting goopy and the rollerball just getting messy… If you’ve ever seen one in the history of ever, let me know.

These lip oils here are from a local Marin County brand called lilah b. (all lowercase).

The tubes look much darker than they do in these pics, FYI. For the pics below, I brightened the lighting to give you a better idea of what the colors look like on lips, but in real life the tubes look super dark, almost unwearable.

Anywho, in other news…I had to buy some jeans because I looked down one day, and all of mine either had snags in them from Rosie’s claws, or stains, and even though I loathe clothes shopping, I made myself go to Banana Republic Factory because there’s one nearby in town, and I’d be able to try stuff on and return it there if I had to.

Little backstory, but I’ve been putting off buying jeans for a really long time. I’ve tried to find some online, but as convenient as online shopping is, it usually doesn’t work out for me when it comes to clothing because, when I actually get the clothes, there’s always one thing — at least one thing — wrong with them.

Invariably, once they get to my house, I think to myself, oh, I can deal with this one wrong thing, so I end up keeping the items, but then I’m plagued by that one wrong thing, and I never end up wearing what I actually buy. 🙄

So, I’m making myself actually, physically go into stores to try stuff on, even though it’s really the last thing I want to do.

All this is to say that I found some pants with potential at Banana Republic Factory. They’re called the high-rise slim jean, and they were 60% off in store, but apparently 75% off online. And I don’t hate them. Yet.

I actually have a pair on right now… They still have the tags and stickers on, too. I’m just gonna wear them around the house for the next few hours to see if I can tolerate them.

So far, high rise, run big, skinny without being skin-tight like leggings, so they’re a little looser around the thighs and calves. Overall, I give ’em a thumb…sideways. I don’t know if I like them or not.

Other than that, I’ve got dance mom duties today because Connor has her first onstage performance coming up in, goodness gracious, two years? I’m going to bring her to rehearsals today, and then her performance is tomorrow.

It’s a sunny day here this weekend, but I hear there’s some rain coming. What’s the weather like out your way?

• Ya know, I’m not surprised to see Biologique Recherche P50 toner on this list of the ten most-recommended products. I need to buy myself another bottle ASAP!
• L’Oreal just bought Youth to The People.
• To quote Wu-Tang, “Protect ya neck.”
• Black women are making waves in the hair care industry.
• What cats can teach us about living in the present, being content and learning from our experiences.

I’m about to play this for Rosie Pose.

Feeling this aesthetic right meow.

I will forever think of him as the big brother in Kim’s Convenience!

Fun

Oh, the early aughts…

Yum

Talk to me, doc.

This looks cool.

I was OBSESSED with Pat Benetar when I was a kid.

On repeat

Who’s gonna make this for me?

I want to go shopping with you, Isimeme.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Lip Oils

I’m trying not to fall back into makeup hoarding habits, but I sure do love lip oils, especially the tinted ones. I could easily fill up a whole makeup bag with them!

Remember when the Clarins version first hit the scene? It’s the OG.

2. Burrata

I had a dish last weekend with burrata, foccacia and arugula, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Why is burrata so darn good? It really should come with a warning.

3. Chypre fragrances

I took out my bottle of Chanel No. 19 out from hiding and have been wearing it all week long.

In case you want some Chypre recommendations

4. THIS QUEEN!

Don’t be surprised if you end up watching this 10 times in a row.

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A post shared by The Daily Kitten ♡ Cats (@the.dailykitten)

5. Finding hidden treasures

There’s an artist in my town who paints rocks with sweet messages and leaves them for people to find. Connor and I unearthed this hidden holiday treasure at the Christmas tree lot last week!

What have you been loving lately?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen