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

Your Discontinued Faves?

May 30th, 2019 by Karen 24 Comments

Contrary to popular belief, the most powerful magic words are not “abracadabra” or “alakazam.”

No, the most powerful magic words are “fifty percent off.”

I found my favorite foaming co-wash slashed to half price at Ulta last weekend. Unfortunately, as I celebrated with a well-placed booty pop, I realized — OH, NO! — that they were on the same shelf where they keep the soon-to-be discontinued products.

As you know, I’ve been trying to embrace the Marie Kondo life, so I haven’t been hoarding beauty backups as of late, but girl…I’ve gone through three of these bottles in the last six months, so I know they’ll get used.

So…I got the last three bottles on the shelf. ?

What are your discontinued faves?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Need for Speed

May 30th, 2019 by Karen 19 Comments

Never have I seen a truer statement than the one emblazoned on this tin I saw at CVS the other day.

Don’t worry; they’ll disappear before you know it.

Props to the person who thought of this, because you and I both know that it’s only a matter of time before those ties disappear into that household wormhole that swallows all of the black hair ties in the world and sends them to their mysterious final destination.

Where do they all go?

Until the scientific community figures it out, I will continue to work under the assumption that they go to the cosmic playground in the sky where angel kitties swat at them for hours on end.

I’ve actually got a black tie in my hair right now because I’m typing and painting my nails. ’cause that’s how I roll. Paint, type, paint, type…

Oh, noooo. Is that a nick on my thumbnail?

Wait — it’s not. WHEW! *wipes sweat off brow.*

As I was saying, I’m multitasking, even though I’m running the risk of accidentally denting a freshly painted paw.

Faster, pussycat

I recently figured out a way to speed up the process even more, because, frankly, who has the time? Why fritter away 30 minutes of your life waiting for paint to dry when you could be doing things like squats or watching a Keanu Reeves movie (I know I’ve been talking about him a lot lately, but can you blame a girl?).

Also, I think I finally nailed (ha ha ha) the “speed mani” thanks to these few products. I’m completely done in 15 minutes. FOR REALS. Everything dries super quickly, AND the mani lasts a long time. I’m talking zero-to-very-few chips for a full week.

It’s all about that base

It starts with Sally Hansen No More Stains Spray-On Base Coat, which is also fun to use.

Doesn’t it look like a travel perfume bottle?

You just spray the clear base coat on bare nails (one or two spritzes per nail), and the thin protective layer dries in less than a minute. You don’t have to be very precise about it (it’s like you’re spraying hairspray on the tips of your fingers). Just spray, spray, spray, and ya done!

T-minus 300 seconds

On top of that, I add a couple layers of a nude shade from the Essie Gel Couture line, and it doesn’t seem to matter which color I wear — tan, pink, peach, taupe. Whichever direction I choose to go, the end result looks so-fresh-so-clean, even after a week.

Duuuuude! I’m also all about the brush. It’s wider and flatter that a typical nail polish brush, so I can paint from base to tip in even, smooth strokes.

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How Often Do You Use Heat to Style Your Hair?

May 29th, 2019 by Karen 33 Comments

Hmm… A few days a week? I use a wide-barrel curling iron or a flat iron for a few seconds on very few pieces of hair to create some waves on my outer layers.

And then once or twice a month I’ll bust out ye olde big guns (the T3) and use it on low heat with a diffuser to lock in some waves, or on my roots if it’s chilly outside and I can’t bear to have wet roots. But I generally try to use heat styling as infrequently as possible, because experience has taught me that it, or at least the way I do it if I have my druthers, damages my hair more than anything else.

How about you? How often do you use heat to style your hair?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Aladdin Collection Swatches

May 28th, 2019 by Karen 14 Comments

Even though I’ve had very little real-life experience with magic lamps, I do know this much: Your wish, no matter what it is, will always end up a little wonky.

OK, usually a lot wonky.

HELLA WONKS, if you will.

Like, if you wish for a million dollars, you’ll get a million dollars…but it’ll be in shredded $5 bills that have been stuffed into random prickly cactus plants spread out across the Mojave Desert.

Those genies, man. They’re tricky.

I may not be a genie, but if you wish to see swatches of the new MAC Alladin collection on NC42 skin, I can make that come true, no strings attached!

Below are swatches of the entire collection — the first three are overview swatch pics, and closeups with the product names come after.

FYI, the eye quad and black liner are sold out (but the black liner is just a re-promote of Technakohl in Graphblack, which you can still get in the permanent collection in the regular packaging), but everything else is still available.

Overview swatch pics

mac aladdin lipsticks — The Lipsticks ($20 each)

mac aladdin lipglass — The Lipglasses ($19 each)

mac aladdin princess jasmine — Eye Shadow X 9: Princess Jasmine ($35), Technakohl Liner in Graphblack ($20) and Pigment in Rose ($24)

mac aladdin powder blush — Powder Blushes ($35 each) and Crystal Glaze Gloss ($24)

Detailed swatches

mac aladdin friend like me princess incognito — Lipstick in Friend Like Me and Princess Incognito

mac aladdin rajah whole new world — Lipsticks in Rajah and Whole New World

mac aladdin jewels on jewels diamond in the rough — Lipglass in Jewels on Jewels and Diamond in the Rough

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Your Thoughts on Pink Eyeshadow?

May 28th, 2019 by Karen 27 Comments

My thoughts on pink eyeshadow? I’m into it. I have been ever since high school. My very first pink (because you never forget your first!) was a dainty pale pink frost — Seashell Pink, by Clinique — which I loved to wear from lash line to brow bone when I was a teenager.

I know.

But wait, it gets better…

Sometimes I added a little bit of shimmery bright blue in the outer corner. ?

Later in high school, when I REALLY started experimenting, I buffed my favorite pink blushes on my lids. One was Clinique New Clover, otherwise known as “the blush in almost every gift-with-purchase ever given out at the Clinique counter.”

In college, I was all about the mauve-pinks, and again, Clinique. The color was Fawn Satin, which used to be sold as an eyeshadow single in the ’90s. (Fun fact! Both Seashell Pink and Fawn Satin are still around, and they’re sold together in a duo.)

Even today, I still wear all o’ the pinks. When I wear neutral looks, I like to use a pale pink eyeshadow like MAC Malt as highlight placed in the center of the lid, underneath the arch of the brow (just a little), and also in the inner corner.

Bright pinks? Yeah, them too, especially on the lids, and always, always with a black liner. A couple faves: MAC Sushi Flower and MAC Girlie.

And you? What are your thoughts on pink eyeshadow?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 576

May 27th, 2019 by Karen 18 Comments

essie red white blue — Happy Memorial Day

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. Which are you more likely to like: a 30-pan eyeshadow palette, or a good quad?

The quad, for sure. Ideally, something with a combo of cool-toned golden brown and beige, because then I’m more likely to actually get use out of it.

I like the idea of those boombox-sized mega-palettes with their limitless possibilities, but I know myself too well. I’ll only end up using a handful of the shades.

2. What blush are you wearing today?

Nothing yet. I’m about to work out, but there’s a Clinique Chubby Stick on my desk just begging to be wielded when I’m done. 🙂

3. What was one of your teenage dreams?

Uh…to marry Keanu Reeves?

Wait, no, that’s still one of my dreams (sorry, El Hub!). ?

But seriously (not really), to marry Keanu, then move into a house a few doors down from where my high school friend Jen lives, so that our kids can grow up together.

Apparently, neither one of us can let go of this dream because we still send each other real estate listings for houses in the neighborhood.

4. Pencil or pen?

Pencil (a mechanical one though).

5. Last time you got your hair done specifically for a special occasion?

Geez, it’s been forever. I think it may have been for the Emmys five years ago.

I can’t believe that was already five years ago…

Thank you to those who served

My dad with some of his Navy buddies in the ’70s

Happy Memorial Day, and happy first unofficial day of summer.

It does NOT feel like summer here today though. It’s cold! (Well…it’s in the 50s.) I’m wearing sweatpants and long sleeves right now, as a matter of fact. The neighborhood pool just opened, but there’s NO WAY I’m getting in that water today. It’s been unseasonably overcast and rainy for a few days, and that thing isn’t heated.

The forecast does say that it’s supposed to warm up starting tomorrow, so…someone call me when the sun comes out! ?

What are you up?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Question time! Here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to you soon.

1. Which are you more likely to like: a 30-pan eyeshadow palette, or a good quad?
2. What blush are you wearing today?
3. What was one of your teenage dreams?
4. Pencil or pen?
5. Last time you got your hair done specifically for a special occasion?

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 555

May 26th, 2019 by Karen 10 Comments

As you know, Tabs was a voracious eater. He earned every inch of that tum. I thought about this yesterday as I perused the shelves at HomeGoods.

I froze like an extra large tabby stalking a butterfly on a warm spring afternoon when I happened upon this end cap covered in kitty-themed bowls, dishes, mugs and knick-knacks.

Something tells me Monsieur Belly Meat’s spirit lives on in that hot pink cat bowl, which he would have loved.

Not all of the items were for kitties, though, because, cat ladies, you know HomeGoods also got your back. I was sorely tempted by the butter dish with the cat ears and the little kitty cat measuring cups.

Oh! — and the ceramic cat sponge holder!

I would have gotten all of the above, but I already have those kitchen needs filled, and I could hear Marie Kondo’s voice in my head saying, “Nuh uh,” to me…

I am 100% sure whoever is running HomeGoods is a cat person. Every time I go there there’s a cornucopia of cat lady stuff!

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Saturday Surfing, May 25th, 2019

May 25th, 2019 by Karen 13 Comments

karen ali wong — Me and my alleged doppleganger

Rise and shine, morning glory! I hope you slept well.

So, I received an invite this week to the San Francisco premiere and after party of a new Ali Wong (a.k.a. my doppelganger) movie coming to Netflix May 31. The movie’s called Always Be My Maybe, and it takes place in SF.

I wasn’t planning on going because 1) it’s on a Tuesday, which is a school night for me; and 2) it doesn’t start until 7…which for me is the equivalent of midnight.

I’m pretty sure I’d pass out!

I’m so not kidding either. These days I start turning into a pumpkin at 4 every afternoon. Lately, I’ve been eating dinner at 5, and then I shower and put on my pajamas by 6. By 8:30 I’m in the middle of my first REM cycle.

That’s just where I’m at in life right now…

As I was saying, I wasn’t going to go to the premiere, but I’m thinking about changing my mind now because it would be kinda funny to see how many people I could trick into thinking I’m Ali Wong. I don’t really see it, but I’ve been told I bear a striking resemblance to her.

Yeah, we’re both Asian and partial to statement eye wear. And I guess we might’ve looked similar from certain angles when my hair was longer, but I don’t feel like we look that similar.

Anyway, if we really do look like long lost twins, I wonder how many people I could fool at the premiere… Could I get all up in some selfies? Would they get tagged #Ali on Instagram? In other words, how far could I push the joke? HA HA HA!

I would totally do it if I wasn’t so tired. This week I started a new cutoff time for coffee and I’m hurtin’. No caffeine after 12! I know! The afternoons have been rougher than cheap toilet paper.

Thankfully, it’s still early here, so I have time to slam a few more cups. While I’m doing that, here’s your weekend beauty reading…