Look what I found yesterday — my MAC Barbie doll from the 2007 Barbie Loves MAC release.
Of course, it only took about two seconds before Tabs claimed it for himself…
Vintage MAC
Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 150
Desperately seeking upgrade
Tabs has been wanting to redecorate his loft/home office for a while now. Originally, Nate Berkus had signed on to do the work, which amounted to a full makeover of the space, on his daytime show, but due to scheduling conflicts, it just never materialized.
So now the responsibility falls to me. Somehow, I have to appease the sensibilities of a diva kitty supermodel with incredible fashion and style sense.
I know, I’m screwed…
Tabs likes modern furniture, and the piece he needs most urgently is a new bed; his current cardboard one is literally falling apart.
Could you do me a favor and give us a hand? In your opinion, which of these beds below would best suit Tabs? 🙂
1. Modern Pet Bed, Sofa and Chaise Sectional
This one’s $210 and available now at the ModPet Etsy shop.
2. Handmade Modern Plywood Pet Bed
I think he might like this one because he’s totally into clean lines and height. It’s $149 and available now at the Atomic Attic Etsy Shop.
3. Retro Mod Pet Bed in Avocado Ribcord
This one’s $79, so it’s more affordable than the first two. It’s available now at the Likekittysville Etsy shop. Tabs does likes things that match his green eyes…
4. Upcycled Television Pet Bed
Tabs has always wanted to star in his own reality TV show. Maybe he could film one at home with this retro-style TV bed. It’s $129 and available now at the Atomic Etsy Shop.
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Mystery Melon
A mystery melon from the farmers’ market.
Got any clue what it is and what to do with it?
MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation Is a Hit on Camera, But How Does It Handle Oily Skin in Real Life?
Within every category of cosmetics are those products that almost everyone adores but yet for one reason or another I just haven’t tried. Maybe I had my nose stuck in a novel, or perhaps I was busying myself on a different bandwagon at the time.
Whatever the reason, I always seem to be hopping on some bandwagons late, like this one, which drove by me like a lumbering, metal makeup truck with the words, “MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation” plastered across its side.
Actually, I’d latched onto the rear bumper of this popular foundation about three years ago, but I was just getting into makeup at the time and rarely stayed with the same products for more than a month, regardless of how good or bad they might have been. It wasn’t long before I lost interest in Invisible Cover Foundation ($40 for a 1.01-oz. bottle; exclusive to Sephora) on my endless quest to find bigger and better things.
Then, a few months ago, I decided to try it again, so I grabbed a new bottle of this four-star-rated 
product and gave it a whirl.
My skin is pale (think Elmer’s Glue), with yellow undertones, which few cosmetic companies seem to recognize as an actual skin tone, as if they think that if you’re pale, you’ve gotta be pink. Color me surprised and excited to learn that Invisible Cover comes in 26 shades!
That’s pretty impressive for a consumer line, and the colors run the gamut from pale, to pale pink, to deep ebony, meaning that most people, including me, should be able to find a match. In my case it’s Marble 117, for “light skin with yellow undertones.”
The product comes in some of the most stunning foundation packaging I’ve ever seen. A completely transparent outer plastic bottle has the information and product name printed on it in MAKE UP FOR EVER’s signature font, and the actual product is housed within an inner vial inside the outer shell.
Under the glossy black cap sits a pump (thank god, a pump!). I’ve really come to despise bottles of foundations designed to be poured because no matter how hard I try, they always make a mess. And I can never get that last bit of product out that sticks to the sides of the bottle without getting Medieval on the packaging.
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A Sunday Stroll
The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed
I can’t get over how big the babies were. Yesterday at my friend Jen’s baby shower, which was a lot of fun, by the way, the girls who were just little kids and babies back when Jen and I were kids are all grown up now. It’s weird… I haven’t seen some of them in years, and now the youngest one is 17. The last time I remember seeing her, she literally was a baby; now she’s a young lady!
It’s freakin’ me out.
Anywho, how are things out your way today? How are you doing this morning? I have a routine on Sundays that I follow, and it usually goes a little something like this: some time around 7, which is about an hour later than I get up during the week, I feel a husky tabby paw placed possessively on my chest or shoulder that tells me I’m supposed to get up. I usually roll over at that point and try to go back to sleep, but like most alarms, the tabby alarm clock has a snooze, and it keeps going off until I finally relent and get out of bed.
Which brings me to you and us to right now. 🙂
Can I interest you in some coffee? I just made a fresh pot. It’s a vanilla macadamia nut 10% Kona blend my mother-in-law sent over in a care package from Hawaii. What can I get you for breakfast? Some wheat toast, multi-grain waffles, Trader Joe’s frosted strawberry toaster pastries (TJ’s version of Pop-Tarts), or how about a bowl of cereal? We have Raisin Bran Crunch and Kashi Go Lean.
No? Nothing yet? Okay. I’ll check back a little later (but help yourself to the coffee). In the meantime, let’s take one final look back at some of the things we talked about this week on the blog. We’re kinda between big seasonal makeup releases now, but I like that because it means having more time for drugstore beauty shopping and remembering Unsung Heroes.
The Weekly Roundup: Posts You Might Have Missed
MAC UNSUNG HEROES
FAST RESPONSE EYE CREAM
What good’s a fast-acting beauty product if it takes forever to find?
Not much, which is why I like to strategically place tubes of MAC Fast Response Eye Cream ($30) where I can reach them in a hurry. To that end, I keep one in my travel makeup bag, and another atop my dresser.
Oh, and then there’s the wayward one I found, with all of two drops remaining, in the passenger side door compartment of my car the other day. Poor thing probably thought I’d forgotten it was there (I did)…
Needless to say, I kindasorta love this cream. Read more…
AN OLIVIA WILDE-INSPIRED
CHANEL FACE OF THE DAY
I’ve been counting down the days ‘til the release of Cowboys & Aliens, and the invasion is almost here (July 29)! Just gimme a bucket of salty popcorn, a story about angry aliens and 90 uninterrupted minutes with hottie-bo-bottie Daniel Craig, and I’m good to go. 🙂
Sure, the movie looks cheesy (potentially very cheesy), but I’m keeping my fingers crossed because, after all, you never know, right? It’s high time someone pitted gunslingers against extra terrestrials, and maybe it’ll work out as well as other unusual pairings like chicken and waffles, salt and caramel, and Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav.
I’m also looking forward to seeing the lovely Olivia Wilde, whom I’m currently girl crushing on BIG TIME right now. Read more…
EVEN IF PRESSED, I’D HAVE TROUBLE FINDING FAULT WITH
MAC PREP + PRIME TRANSPARENT FINISHING POWDER
Sometimes I wonder whether MAC has my house bugged or if they’ve recruited Tabs as a spy. The company always seems to know my secret makeup desires, even when I haven’t shared them with on the blog.
It’s uncanny! Take MAC Prep + Prime Loose Powder, for instance, and how many times in reference to it I’ve said, “I wish MAC made a pressed powder version of this.”
Maybe I just watch too many cop shows, but when I heard that MAC planned to add a pressed version of Prep + Prime to their permanent line next month, the first thing I did was glance at Tabs.
“Are you spying on me?” I asked.
Of course he didn’t answer… Typical behavior for a spy. Read more…
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MAC TURQUATIC?
OH, GETTING A NEW OUTFIT, I SEE
You’re cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway on your way to meet friends for dinner. The sun just set, and the sky’s a mix of orange, pink and violet where it meets the sea on the horizon. Your swimsuit fits in all the right ways, and you’ve got the windows down to dry your hair. You don’t really know the hot boy who sits in dangerously low-hanging board shorts in the passenger seat, but he seems sweet. You’ll get to know him better soon.
That is MAC Turquatic. Light and watery, it’s like a cleaner, crisper, less sugary sweet version of Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue, and it’s my absolute favorite MAC scent, hands down.
When rumors surfaced earlier this year about it being discontinued, and it started disappearing from MAC counters, stores and the MAC website, I freaked! Read more…
TARGET’S LITTLE UP & UP COSMETIC APPLICATORS
ARE BIG HITS WITH ME
You know I’m all about cheap thrills…at the drugstore. 🙂
Like these neato mosquito Up & Up Cosmetic Applicators. I bumped into them at Target the other day, $1.99 for a pack of 75.
They’re basically custom, generic/Target-branded Q-tips made with makeup in mind. One side’s pointy, and the other is shaped like a flat paddle. Together, they’re designed to cover quite a few cosmetic tool needs, from applying and blending makeup, to fixing nail polish mistakes. Read more…
9 THINGS
I FEEL LIKE I’M ALWAYS…
I feel like I’m always writing lists. Like this morning, for example, I was writing in my journal, just jotting down my plans for the day, when I started thinking about things that I find myself doing all the time — ya know, stuff that happens over and over again. In my case, it’s opening cans of gravy, trying to find my iPhone (if I had a nickel for every time I asked El Hub to “call my phone for me…”), wanting another pair of shoes that I probably wouldn’t be able to walk in, and, of course, writing lists like these. 🙂
We probably all have things like that, right? — things we feel like we do over and over again. Well, here are nine of mine. I’d also love to read some of yours.
“I feel like I’m always…” Read more…
DEAR ESSENCE QUATTRO EYESHADOW
I’VE GOT NOTHING BUT XOXO’S FOR YOU
The Essence Quattro Eyeshadow palette in XOXO reminds me of Mariah Carey’s performance in Precious.
Why? Because it’s also shockingly good.
Let’s be honest — after Glitter, for which Mimi won a Razzie Award for Worst Actress despite basically playing herself in the film, I didn’t really expect much from her return to the big screen, but as a die-hard fan (I still have the Vision of Love single floating around here somewhere…on tape), I had to give her a second chance. Read more…
MAC OPULASH OPTIMUM BLACK MASCARA
MORE OF A GOOD THING WITH EVEN BETTER CURL HOLD
It looks like Prep + Prime Powder and Turquatic aren’t the only MAC products getting makeovers next month.
Last year’s totally tubular MAC Opulash mascara started out, like, totally rad, but now it’s getting even radder with a souped-up sibling called Opulash Optimum Black ($16).
It’s basically like the original, except in a darker, more intense shade of black.
I’ve used the original Opulash on and off since the first time I tried it last year, and I like the look. It’s very distinct, with uniform thickness from lash root to tip.
The original one’s also great with lifts — like Patrick Swazye was for Jennifer Gray in the last scene from Dirty Dancing (one of the BEST moments in movie history!) — and I reach for it sometimes when I want a lifted, even fringe with good volume. It delivers pumped up, noticeble lashes that are just shy of drag. Read more…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Rihanna: Her Best Hair? (Part 2)
How long has RiRi been rocking the red hair? Must be since at least the fall. The first time we voted on a hair poll for her was back in the summer of 2009. At that time style No. 8, the black asymmetrical bob, won with 37% of the votes, and style No. 4, the short brown ‘do with side-swept bangs, came in a distant second with 12%.
Gosh, I wonder how many different styles Rihanna has worn over the past two years… I bet it’s more than 20. The girl sure doesn’t shy away from dramatic hairstyles, does she? I think that’s totally great.
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Unhappy Cubicle Girl
See, I really was an unhappy cubicle girl. This was me when I worked as a legal secretary for a big company in downtown San Francisco. This must have been about seven or eight years ago.
Note that there are at least three angry faces or frowns in the pic.