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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 604

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butterfly
Float like a butterfly…

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 morning grooming routine as of late?

    First things first: totally late Monday Poll today, I know! It’s been one of those days!

    So, I splash hella cold water on my face, and yes, it’s a little uncomfortable, to say the least, but it immediately wakes me up (and I need all the help I can get).

    Then comes the usual slew of face potions, followed by body lotion on my limbs.

    Next, after I finish about an hour of morning maintenance tasks, blogging, writing, etc., I’ll do my makeup, and then my hair last.

    Oh — and kinda-sorta off topic, but I’ve been doing 5-minute makeup a lot lately, and Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter has been my workhorse! I’m thinking of getting another bottle at the Sephora holiday sale happening now (along with a few other CT things… She’s been my EVERYTHING lately).

    2. Candy canes or hot chocolate?

    Hot chocolate with milk. Ideally, not *too* sweet, either.

    3. What shoes are you usually wearing on a typical weekday?

    Some version of the Nike Winflo Zoom… Peep these hot pink ones I want to treat myself to!

    4. What kind of bed do you prefer?

    I like my beds firm with a slightly squishy mattress, a few down pillows that conform to the shape of my head (but not so many pillows that they cover the entire bed), and sheets and blankets that feel cool and soft on my skin.

    I also like to make the bed first thing in the morning… It doesn’t have to have hospital corners or anything, but I if I don’t do the bed right away in the morning, I feel disheveled whenever I walk into the room.

    5. Favorite reindeer?

    Rudolph, obvs, because I love stories about outsiders who triumph against all odds in the end!

Feeling all the big feelings

The big news around our house this weekend (’cause I live with a toddler!) was that we went to see Frozen 2 for the second time in two weeks…and ya know what? I liked it even more than I did the first time around.

I won’t spoil it for you, but let’s just say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one of those animated movies you can totally watch and appreciate as an adult. It has those layers.

Themes include self-discovery, learning from mistakes, making difficult choices that involve sacrifice, dealing with grief and heartache, and DUDE — I left the theater feeling all the big feels.

Watch it if you haven’t already! I’m pretty sure you’ll love it.

Happy Monday. 🙂 Did you day get off to a good start?

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 morning grooming routine?
2. Candy canes or hot chocolate?
3. What shoe are you usually wearing?
4. What kind of bed do you prefer?
5. Favorite reindeer?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 583

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Tabs Christmas swagger

A lot of people just starting their careers as professional pet assistants ask me, “What was Tabs really like? What was it like working for such an iconic figure in the feline fashion industry?” and I usually tell them about Christmas 2016.

Tabs was at the pinnacle of his kitty modeling career. I was juggling working full time as a pet assistant with being a new mom to Connor Claire, who was born in March of that year.

I won’t lie; it was tough. It was a crazy busy time.

Tabs was booked for modeling jobs every day through December, and I normally would have been in charge of managing his schedule — you know, preparing his gravy, booking his favorite photographers for gigs, and making sure he always had a daily appointment with a masseuse in every city for his deep-tissue kitty massage — but I was burning the candle at both ends. Connor was eight months old, and I really wanted a few days off around Christmas.

I asked Tabs for a few days off, knowing full well how busy we were.

Without hesitating, he gave me a week off for Christmas.

Because THAT’s the kind of cat he was. He wasn’t just the greatest kitty supermodel of all time. He was also the best employer I’ve ever had.

Somehow, Tabs still managed to keep every one of his kitty modeling appointments that December. He reached out to his vast network of friends, including his mentor, fashion consultant and television personality Tim Gunn, who helped Tabs complete his iconic look for Christmas 2016…

The unforgettable “Rainbow Sparkle.” ??

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing, Dec. 7th, 2019

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Spotted at the ABC Store in Waikiki a couple days ago: tanned Hello Kitties

What skin tone do you suppose this bronzed Hello Kitty charm is according to MAC? I want to say she looks like an NC42, but I’m kind of biased that way. ?

Happy Caturday, señorita!

Wow, it just occurred to me that the Christmas countdown is officially ON. It’s getting close! El Hub and I mentioned getting our tree this weekend, so I think we’re going to do that.

This will be Rosie’s first Christmas with us, and I’m not sure how she’ll react to having a conifer smack dab in the middle of the living room. Will she attack it from afar and climb the trunk? Will she stealthily tip it over while my back is turned? I guess we’ll find out!

You know how it is with cats… It’s always an adventure. ?

On that note…


*tears*


YUM!


This liner is purr-fection.

How are you doing this weekend? What are you up to?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Monochromatic Makeup: Playful Pinks, and a Play on Cat Eyeliner

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mac steady going lipstick k smile
Inspired by this pink sweater!

I was inspired to do this monochromatic pink look by this quilted sweatshirt I found at the Eddie Bauer outlet store for 50% off (!).

I can’t remember the last time I walked into an Eddie Bauer store, but there’s one of their outlet stores at Vintage Oaks in Novato, and El Hub wanted to check it out one day to look for a jacket, which he found…and I found this. It’s incredibly soft, and I love the color.

I almost didn’t use any brushes for this look. I used my fingers to press the pink glitter eyeshadow on my lids and to pat the pink cream blush on my cheeks. Really, the only brush I used was an angled eyeshadow brush, which I dipped in a dark brown shadow to diffuse the edge of the liquid black cat eye liner (Tom Ford, baby!).

Speaking of the liner, next time you want to flip the script on your cat eyeliner game, try this: after you finish your cat eye flicks, line the inner corner of your eyes with the thinnest, skinniest line you can get away with.

urban decay glitterrock

Then line the outer portion of your lower lash line with your liquid liner, and connect the inner and outer sections by smudging the most infinitesimal amount of a coordinating eyeshadow color.

If you like to geek out over makeup, this is a fun way to do something a little different with your liner.

mac glitter rock
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Back in the Bay, and I’m Thinkin’ About Brows…

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Thinkin’ really hard about brows…

Ah… It’s good to be back home. 🙂 Of course, it would be awesome-er if it weren’t 40-something degrees here meow, but I’m happy to be back home with Rosie girl and my comfy bed.

Oh! — this next thing may seem incredibly obvious, but it isn’t always obvious to me: if you’re filling in your brows one day and they’re being particularly unruly/wonky, and you’re filling them in and filling them in and they still just don’t look right, quickly trim a little off the top or clean up under the arch. I know this sounds obvious, but if you’re anything like me and you live with your brows day after day after day, sometimes you just start filling them in without remembering to clean them up from time to time. Once you’ve cleaned them up, I bet they’ll start cooperating again.

I know, it seems obvious, but quickly cleaning up the stray hairs with tweezers and trimming any extra long hairs with a pair of round-tipped scissors (don’t poke your eye out!) will do wonders.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

5-Minute Makeup: Glowing Peach Cheeks and Lips, Cool Brown Lids and Latest Drugstore Loves!

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neutrogena kerry washington essential eye palette cheek palette
All. The. Carbs.

Good morning! We’re not back in Novato yet, but we’ll be home tonight. I prepped this post before we left on vacation, and now I’m seeing the pics and mentally preparing myself for jacket weather.

If, while strolling through downtown Novato recently, you saw a woman taking selfies with a bag of bagels in her car, FYI, that woman was very, very likely me — especially if she had a massively cheesy smile. 🙂

The smile was there for a couple of reasons. First — hello! — ALL THE YUMMY CARBS (this was shortly before the Spartan race, so I brought them with me to share with my coworkers at the bakery). Second, I did my makeup in five minutes (and it wasn’t a hot mess).

Fresh and glowing

This 5-minute makeup look has glowing peach cheeks, glossy peach lips and cool neutral brown lids with the lightest touch of pink sparkle. I wore it to work a couple Fridays ago.

I have absolutely no idea why, but I got some nice compliments from people I ran into while I was running errands that day, and also from El Hub when I saw him later that evening, and that surprised me, because why does super easy makeup like this get so much love? I don’t get it. I’m literally just throwing sh*t on and hoping it doesn’t go awry.

My best guess is that maybe it’s because I didn’t have the time to overthink it, so I didn’t do too much counterproductive tweaking? I just went with my gut and got it done? Who knows?

neutrogena kerry washington essetial eye palette

neutrogena kerry washingtoon essential cheek palette

New drugstore makeup loves

Oh! — for all my drugstore makeup-lovin’ ladies, I used a couple of palettes in this makeup look from Neutrogena: the $12.99 Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette and the $9.99 Kerry Washington Essential Cheek Palette. Both are easy to blend, pretty (I think so), and the powders last all day long. Highly recommended.

neutrogena kerry washington

neutrogena kerry washington

Makeup worn in this look

Eyes: Neutrogena Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette (lids and upper lash line liner), Urban Decay Glitterrock (pink glitter pressed lightly onto lids), Chanel Dimensions de Chanel Mascara (lashes), NARS Komo Brow Pencil and MAC Clear Brown Set (brows)
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More Firsts! (And a Travel Beauty Tip)

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Yesterday was a day of more firsts on this trip. Like, Connor and I saw our first rainbow (of the trip), and we seriously lost our damn minds.

Rainbows, man. No matter what age you are, they never get old.

Yesterday was also the first time I’ve ever been to the Honolulu Zoo. El Hub grew up here, though, and he went all the time when he was a little keiki, but it was also his first time going in decades.

I highly recommend doing the zoo if you visit Oahu with young children or toddlers! It’s right at the Eastern edge of Waikiki, and it’s a relatively small zoo compared to some of the big ones on the mainland. The grounds are incredible, and the exhibits aren’t so far apart from each other that you spend half your time walking between them, so it’s easy for the little ones (and the lazy adults).

There’s also a large playground area in the center of the zoo surrounded by benches underneath a shaded canopy of gigantic banyon trees, and it’s a wonderful spot to listen to the sounds of the zoo, watch the peacocks milling about, and take a short break.

Connor and I also went to a gentle kid-friendly beach right here by our Airbnb in Waikiki yesterday, and our little mermaid had a blast splashing in the water.

When we saw a school of fish, her mind was visibly blown when she realized that FISH ACTUALLY LIVE IN THE SEA.

I know! LOL.

Another first for me on this trip: well, I waited until we landed here to buy a few bulky basic toiletries so I wouldn’t have to bring them in my carry-on (after I lost my luggage on a trip to Milan some years ago, I vowed to never check in my bags again) and wow! — talk about whole new world!

Not having to worry about fitting everything (there’s never enough room) or dealing with as many small bottles, or as many small bottles leaking, was a relief. Worth it IMO.

I do feel kind of bad that I won’t be using everything down to the last drop…but I’ll leave the extraS with relatives. Or anyone I bump into when we’re on our way out of town.

Totally worth it IMO.

Today’s our last full day here, and we’re off to the beach now! See you soon. Hope you’re having a good week.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 603

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The adventures of a girl and her horse!

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 favorite genre to read?

    Hmm… Well, apparently, based on the last few books I’ve read (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Lilac Girls and Lost Roses), these days it’s historical fiction.

    But I’m also a sucker for cookbooks.

    2. What time did you go to sleep last night?

    A little after 10 p.m. Hawaii time. Connor usually goes to bed between 8-9, but we’re staying in Waikiki for the next few days, and the hustle and bustle down here is LOUD.

    Back when I was a city girl and lived on one of the noisiest streets in San Francisco (Geary), I could sleep right through the car horns, sirens and boisterous sidewalk conversations about people meeting up with friends, but not so much anymore. Now I’m like, “WHY DON’T Y’ALL JUST MEET AT THE STARBUCKS!?”

    3. Choose an eyeshadow: matte blue or metallic green?

    Matte Blue! Navy, specifically. And I’d apply it with a wet angled brush as a liner.

    4. Something you accomplished recently?

    I rode a horse for the first time, and woo-hoo — I didn’t fall off! ?

    5. Who’s the best dressed person in your family?

    LOL. It’s gotta be the baby, hands down. She’s got the most colorful collection of tutus, and she isn’t afraid of bold prints.

My (not so little) pony, Napoleon

I crossed one of the items off my bucket list this trip. I finally rode a horse!

It happened at Kualoa Ranch, which is a huge ranch at the base of the Ko’olau mountains on Oahu.

You know the Jurassic Park movies? Many of the jungle scenes from the various movies were filmed there. ?

They have a whole bunch of things to do at the ranch, like zip lines, ATV tours and horseback rides. I was really surprised and impressed by the whole place.

Luckily, I was paired with the most gentle horse, a blonde boy named Napoleon, who, I was told when we finished the ride, is the horse they give to the elderly and children…

LOL! He was a great listener and super sweet, and I may or may not have teared up a little when I had to leave him at the end of the ride.

The most surprising things to me about riding a horse?

  1. How high off the ground it felt! Holy crap, the ground seemed really far away.
  2. Also, the amount of core muscles involved. By the end of the ride, I felt like I had worked out for 60 minutes.
  3. Lastly, how unpredictable animals are. I don’t know why, but I was surprised when Napoleon would do his own horse thing, like veer off to a patch of yummy-looking grass (which happened only once… He was a good listener, but apparently this grass was too delicious to resist).

It was one of the funnest things I’ve done in ages, and it made me wish I had a horse buddy to hang out with on the regular.

Have a wonderful rest of your day and a great week. Talk to you soon.

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 favorite genre to read?
2. What time did you go to sleep last night?
3. Choose an eyeshadow: matte blue or metallic green?
4. Something you accomplished recently?
5. Who’s the best dressed person in your family?

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