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This or That: The New Year’s Edition ?

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new years eve cheers 2021 nye
I’m ready, 2021!

How to play

Pick one or the other for each of the questions below, and copy/paste your answers in the comments. Can’t wait to see your picks! Mine are listed below. ?

This or That: The New Year’s Edition ?

  • Your NYE celebration outfit for this year — pajama pants or leggings?
  • You decide to do a NYE makeup look this week (just for the heck of it!). Between the following two options, do you go with colorful smokey eyes or duo-chrome glittery lids?
  • How about graphic liner or pink eyeshadow?
  • Which would you rather have for a NYE hairdo — a big, bangin’ blowout or a sleek high pony?
  • Go to sleep early or stay up all night long?
  • You and your quarantine crew decide to have a Zoom “beauty night” in for NYE. What DIY treatments do you choose (pick two)?
    • Facial with the works
    • Spa-style Mani/Pedi
    • Deep-conditioning hair mask and an at-home gloss
  • Who’s making your NYE meal — you or someone else?
  • How do you show up to your Zoom NYE party with your friends — full-on glam with hair, nails, makeup and a feather boa, OR barefaced in your jammies?

Your NYE celebration outfit for this year — pajama pants or leggings?

Leggings, y’all. High-waisted in a warm, soft cotton material. Matte black, baby. As you can see, I’m a leggings aficionado, HAHAHA! Plus, with leggings, I don’t have to deal with the hem of my pants dragging along the ground, which is otherwise known as “petite lady pajama problems.”

You decide to do a NYE makeup look this week (just for the heck of it!). Between the following two options, do you go with colorful smokey eyes or duo-chrome glittery lids?

I’ll go with duo-chrome glittery lids because 1) there’s more room for error, and 2) they require less blending.

How about graphic liner or pink eyeshadow?

Pink eyeshadow.

Again, more room for error. ?

Which would you rather have for a NYE hairdo — a big, bangin’ blowout or a sleek high pony?

So, in theory, I would love a sleek high pony because it would get my hair out of my face and probably be faster to do. Plus — bonus! — I swear, a high and tight ponytail takes 10 years off my face! Unfortunately, two hours in I’d have take it out because sleek ponytails always give me a headache.

So, this is my long-winded way of saying that I’d go with the blowout!

Go to sleep early or stay up all night long?

I would try to stay up all night…but I’d still falling asleep on the couch at 9:30 (because 9:30 is the new 12); however, knowing this about myself, I’d set my alarm for 11:45PM and wake up just in time to do all of my Filipino old lady NYE’s rituals, like opening the front door at midnight to welcome the good luck in, and jumping up and down at midnight while banging pots and pans to invite the good spirits into the house, etc., etc.).

Then I’d promptly fall back asleep at approximately 12:05…

You and your quarantine crew decide to have a Zoom “beauty night” on NYE. What DIY treatments do you choose (pick two)?

  • Facial with the works
  • Spa-style mani/pedi
  • Deep-conditioning hair mask and an at-home gloss

The facial and the mani/pedi!
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 658

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rocks on walk
Spotted these beauties on my walk yesterday

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 five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start. ?

    1. What’s your definition of “no makeup” makeup?

    Well…it’s all an illusion as you know. Mine starts with sunscreen, followed by a quick curl with a lash curler and a coat of mascara. Then, brows filled in with a pencil, followed by the daintiest kitten flick done with either liquid liner or eyeshadow applied with a wet angled brush.

    Voila!

    2. Would you rather cut your own bangs or dye your own hair?

    It’s been two years since the last time I colored my hair(!), so at this point, I’ll reluctantly opt to cut my own bangs… I’ve done it before, although it was in high school, so I’m fairly sure I could do it again…but I’ll cut slooooOOOooowly and carefully, and I’ll do something like side-swept bangs that I could easily pin back if disaster struck and I made a major boo-boo.

    3. Something you’ve been wearing a lot since March?

    High waisted Zella black leggings! At this point they may be permanently glued to my body.

    4. What kind of tea would you like today?

    Earl Grey please, with a splash of half-and-half. No sugar.

    5. Would you rather have to apply your makeup solely with your fingers, or solely with sponges? (It’s either/or in this scenario.)

    Fingers! — although I know you can do a lot with a Beauty Blender, I feel like I have more control when I use fingers. Plus, it’s faster for me to pile on a more concentrated application of eyeshadow and blush with my fingers!

    6. What’s the weather like today where you live?

    It’s overcast in the mid-50s with some drizzle. Nice winter day for us. I may take Connor out in her rain boots and rain coat to splash around in some puddles.

    7. Say something nice to the person above you in the comments.

    Since there’s nobody in the comments yet, here’s a nice thing for everyone reading this: you’re doing SO good. Hang in there, and keep it up!

    8. One of your go-to beauty products as of late?

    Oooh, Odele Leave-In Conditioner! It does a little bit of everything (tames frizz, moisturizes dry hair and adds a light hold), and it does it all without my hair feeling heavy or weighed down with product. A big 8-oz. bottle with a pump is pretty affordable, too, at $11.99.

    9. Something you want to do today?

    I got a Cuisineart Bread Maker for Christmas as a gift from my niece (thank you, Rachel!), and I want to bake my first French bread loaf in it today.

    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. What’s your definition of “no makeup” makeup?
    2. Would you rather cut your own bangs or dye your own hair?
    3. Something you’ve been wearing a lot since March?
    4. What kind of tea would you like today?
    5. Would you rather have to apply your makeup solely with your fingers, or solely with sponges? (It’s either/or in this scenario.)
    6. What’s the weather like today where you live?
    7. Say something nice to the person above you in the comments.
    8. One of your go-to beauty products as of late?
    9. Something you want to do today?

    P.P.S. Hello, my friend! ? Last Monday Poll of 2020. Deep breath in, deep breath out…and remember, we’ve totally got this!

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 639

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This time of year, I keep my gaze looking forward, which is something I learned from Tabs. Right after every Christmas, he’d always have me draft his New Year’s resolutions for the upcoming year, so I took some time to work on mine today, and one of the things I would like to do in 2021 is become an avid cyclist.

I’m gonna start my cycling journey by spending lots of time on my new stationary bike. ?‍♀️

I have a feeling my feet will thank me in a few years.

While I was riding today, I got to thinking about Tabs’ resolutions throughout the years…

He had some quirky ones, like one year he wanted to win a chili cook-off. Another year he wanted to become a hydroponics expert, and the cool thing about him was that he actually did all those things!

Rosie’s resolutions

I asked Rosie today if she had any New Year’s resolutions, and the first thing she said was that she would like to climb all of the trees in the neighborhood in 2021. She had me draw out a map of the neighborhood topiary, and after she climbs each tree, we’ll be marking it off with a big red “X.”

She also plans to learn to code and is currently working on Python…

And this one surprised me: she would like to make peace with Harris, the self-appointed cat mayor of the neighborhood.

Last, but certainly not least, she plans to become a chess grandmaster, which I see as very fitting.

Oh, Rosie just meowed! I think she’s asking what your New Year’s resolutions are. ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing, Dec. 26, 2020

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rosie and grogu
New kids on the block

Good morning and happy Boxing Day! Please say hello to our newest boarder, Grogu, otherwise known as “The Kid,” otherwise know as Baby Yoda.

(Side note: both El Hub and Connor are obsessed with The Mandalorian, and they’ve re-watched the season 2 finale too many times to count.)

Grogu was chillin’ in front of the tree yesterday, and his eyes told me that he desperately needed a fuzzy pastel headband and bracelets!

Rosie has already started showing him the ropes around here, although I don’t think it’s out of the goodness of her kitty heart. I’m pretty sure she believes Grogu is now her personal assistant… You know cats.

rosie and grogu
“Let me show you where they keep the treats so you can feed me at my whim.” -Rosie

Onto today’s reading…


This was so moving!


Yeah…no more of this in 2021.


I LOVE her hair!


Yes please.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the day after Christmas, it’s that if you’ve been lucky enough to receive a gift, you better take it out of its box and find a place for it to live in your house ASAP; otherwise, it could end up sitting in a corner somewhere for years, so that’s what we’re doing today. I’m looking forward to this task because now I have an excuse to start organizing and tidying up before the new year.

I know, I’m a weirdo…

Hang in there. We’re in the 2020 home stretch now.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Have a good rest of your day, OK? Oh, and let me know if you received any beauty gifts!

Merry Christmas! ? ? ?

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And a happy new year!

Merry Christmas, my sweet friend. I feel like a broken record because I say this every year, but I still don’t feel like I say it enough — THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here, for being my makeup sister-from-another-mister, for sharing your life with me. All the highs and lows. Thank you from the bottom of my glittery painted toes to the tips of my lashes, and from the deepest part of my being.

The universe seems to have had fun messing with all our plans in 2020 (so rude!), and while it’s been a year of many good moments and unexpected blessings (like all the extra time spent with El Hub and Connor), it’s also been…well…super weird. Difficult, too. Like, that once-in-a-lifetime kinda hard that changes you forever. The optimism that I could once find so easily has been shaken to the core and challenged in so many ways.

Somehow, though, I’ve still managed to hold onto hope.

I’m feeling it today.

When things feel insurmountable, I look to that sense of hope. It reminds me that we’re still moving forward, and that soon enough, better days will come. Hope steadies me, and it keeps me going.

This Christmas has been vastly different for many of us, but I hope you find a way to enjoy this very unusual take on the holiday season. Love you so, so much. Thank you for giving me the greatest gift of all — the gift of your time and your friendship.

Merry Christmas.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Bite Beauty Upswing Full-Volume Mascara, and a Merry Christmas Eve!

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bite beauty upswing mascara
Volume, length AND lift

“Like sands through the hourglass…so are the days of our lives.”

You know you watched HELLA soap operas when you see the brush on the new Bite Beauty Upswing Full-Volume Mascara and mumble the Days of Our Lives intro, hahaha!


This sh*t is crazy!

What’s with the curvy brush?

Bite designed it that way so the center of the brush head holds as much product as possible, which is then supposed to maximize how much mascara makes it onto the center of your lash line.

Concentrating the product right there in the middle is supposed to lift and thicken your lashes where you want it most — which is music to my ears (eyes?), because I’m all about mascaras that lift, lengthen, hold the curl, and embiggen in a bad-@ss way.

I want — no, I need — mascara to work minor miracles, and the ones I keep in heavy rotation all do it to varying degrees. Currently, I think the best overall mascaras for drama are Laura Mercier Caviar and Chanel Dimensions de Chanel, but neither of those are cruelty-free and vegan, unlike Bite Beauty Upswing.

“Upswing Mascara is powered by clean, vegan, gluten-free and cruelty-free ingredients, including tree berry wax instead of beeswax. Tree berry wax, derived from berry fruit peels, grips lashes for volume and gives them an instant and buildable boost that’s both lightweight and smudge-resistant.”

-Official PR

The bottom line

If you’re looking for big, beautiful, dramatic lashes that can be seen from a mile away, AND you want a cruelty-free and vegan option, Upswing is legit. It doesn’t smear or flake, it layers well, and it’s easy to remove; however, one thing to keep in mind is that you may need to use a few layers. I’m a girl who likes A LOT OF LASH ACTION on my eyes, and I use about three, which is actually pretty normal for me.

bite beauty upswing mascara
Big lashes FTW

Where to find Upswing

Upswing just launched on the Bite Beauty website and will also be available at Sephora stores and online starting December 29. It’s $28 for a 0.40-oz. tube, so price-wise, it’s in the same ballpark as Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara, Too Faced Better Than Sex better and YSL Faux Cils. It comes in a single shade: black.

Some quick comparisons before I float away on a pink, sparkly inner tube…

  • Too Faced Better Than Sex — Upswing and Better Than Sex are in the same category, IMO. Both are cruelty-free and vegan, and both are made for bold lashes. Upswing is waaaaaaay better overall, though. It gives you more volume, more curl, more length, and it isn’t nearly as smudgy or flaky. Frankly, if you’re debating between the two, go with Upswing.
  • Laura Mercier Caviar — Upswing offers similar curl hold, length and lift, but Laura’s Caviar is more volumizing and doesn’t require as many layers. That said, it isn’t cruelty-free or vegan either.
  • YSL Faux Cils — Upswing isn’t as dramatic in terms of volume/thickness, but it offers similar length and curl hold. Again though, it isn’t cruelty-free or vegan.
  • Chanel Dimensions de Chanel — Better than Upswing when it comes to overall volume, length, curl hold and lift, but it’s also slightly more expensive at $32. That, and it, too, isn’t cruelty-free or vegan.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. One more sleep until Christmas! ?? Coywolf, El Hub, Pretty Girl Rosie and I are just hanging out at home. We made some homemade lemonade, finished making a batch of brownies, some cheddar biscuits, and now we’re listening to Christmas music and rocking out. How ’bout you? I hope you’re having a nice night.

Fun Faces of the Day With Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick in Edith, Jean, Vera and Misia | Ombre Premiere Laque in Desert Wind | Stylo Yeux in Black Wood

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chanel rouge coco jean edith swatches
A few fun Chanel lipsticks!

I may or may not have been wearing nude lips for the better part of nine months now, sooooo one could call this a “nude lip rut,” but I intend to break it with these fun Chanel lipsticks…because Chanel makes everything better. ? (Please allow me this fantasy.)

These are a few shades from the Rouge Coco Ultra Hydrating Lipcolour line. They’re $38 each, shiny, moisturizing and vary from medium coverage to opaque. Also, like most of Chanel’s lip products, they have a regal, rosy flavor and scent.

Edith is a fave! It’s an opaque neutral pink that goes extraordinarily well with shimmery taupe shadows like the one I’m wearing here (Chanel Ombre Premiere Laque in Desert Wind).

chanel edith
Rouge Coco in Edith

I’m also a fan of Jean, a hot pink with a purple hint. Like Edith, it goes well with shimmery taupe lids.

chanel jean
Rouge Coco in Jean

For this last lip look, a ’90s-style unblended lip, I layered sheer beige Vera with warm reddish brown Misia, then lined my lips with MAC Burgundy Lip Pencil.

chanel vera misia
Rouge Coco in Vera and Misia (sadly, both appear to be discontinued), along with MAC Burgundy Lip Pencil

The eye makeup

I’m always looking for new eye combos that excite me without exhausting my patience, and the shimmering taupe lid look here only relies on two things, both from Chanel. The shadow is Desert Wind, a cream shadow that comes in a tube with a wand. It’s long-wearing and sets fast, so you have to work quickly to buff out the edges.

I sure do like how wet and glossy it looks. ?

chanel desert wind black wood swatch
Love me some taupe!

As for the liner, it’s called Black Wood, and it’s one of Chanel’s twist-up, long-wearing pencil liners from the Stylo Yeux line. It’s a rich, deep brownish black.

I’ve been looking for a borderline-black dark brown liner because my MAC Coffee pencil is almost finished (TEARS!). I was hoping I could replace it with this liner because I love the long-wearing formula (it also doesn’t irritate my eyes), but I think it leans a little too black to be a dupe.

Mind you, I still like it, and I’m definitely going to keep it in rotation!

But by far the most interesting makeup around these parts lately…

Is the makeup Connor did on this blank face chart…


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This or That: The Holiday Beauty Edition, Part II

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this or that holiday beauty edition christmas tree gifts
Part deux!

How to play

Pick one or the other for each of the questions below, and copy/paste your answers in the comments. Can’t wait to see your picks! Mine are listed below. ?

This or That: The Holiday Beauty Edition

  • Santa leaves you a food-scented holiday candle. ? Would you rather have one with notes of candy cane, gingerbread cookie or hot cocoa?
  • What would you rather find under the tree ? — a Sephora gift card or an Ulta gift card?
  • Favorite skin care brand or an advent calendar with polishes from your favorite nail brand?
  • Cozy robe with matching slippers or cozy, baggy sweats?
  • Matching your makeup to your ugly Christmas sweaters — yay or nay?
  • Which gift would be more thrilling — laser hair removal, or microblading for your brows?
  • Which would you rather find in your stocking — your favorite mascara or a tube of your favorite lip balm?
  • Silver pedi or gold pedi?
  • Red eyeshadow or green eyeshadow?

Santa leaves you a food-scented holiday candle. ? Would you rather have one with notes of candy cane, gingerbread cookie or hot cocoa?

Gingerbread cookie…preferably more ginger and less cookie.

What would you rather find under the tree ? — a Sephora gift card or an Ulta gift card?

ULTA!

Favorite skin care brand or an advent calendar with polishes from your favorite nail brand?

Ooh — wait! A nail polish calendar would be fun. Plus, I could share the polishes with Coycoy and Rosie.

Cozy robe with matching slippers or cozy baggy sweats?

The cozy, baggy sweats please.

Which gift would be more thrilling — laser hair remova,l or microblading for your brows?

Yikes, both sound like they’d hurt…so neither? LOL!

I guess I’ll go with microblading. I’d add a few hairs to the tail of my right brow, and that’s it.

What would you rather find in your stocking — your favorite mascara or a tube of your favorite lip balm?

I’ll take a tube of either Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara or Chanel Dimensions Mascara.

Silver pedi or gold pedi?

A cool-toned glittery gold would be nice.

Red eyeshadow or green eyeshadow?

Believe it or not, I had to pause on this one because I don’t mind red eyeshadow, but green is overall so much easier for me, so I’ll go with an olive green.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen ?

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