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

Are you the kind of person who can just stroll right into a hot tub like it ain’t no thang? Because I am not.

My friends Jen and Cindy are. They won’t skip a beat. They’ll just swoop right in, but I swear it takes me like 10 minutes to slowly lower my body into the hot water inch by inch, and even when I’m finally submerged down to sitting level, I remain uncomfortable for at least five minutes.

We actually have a hot tub here in our condo area, and in the almost 10 years I’ve lived here, I’ve only ever used it for my feet! I like to find the strongest jet and use it for an improv foot massage, haha!

Life tip right there, friends. When your tootsies hurt from stomp-walkin’ all day long, track down a hot tub. 😉

There aren’t any hot tubs in my immediate future today, but we are going to the beach, and by “beach” (air quotes), I’m referring to a Northern California beach, which is NOT like California beaches are usually portrayed in the movies. Up here the water isn’t Baywatch blue (more like a murky, suspicious green…), and it’s usually too chilly to comfortably swim in without a wetsuit.

I recently heard about a beach called Heart’s Desire on Tomales Bay, which is about an hour west of here on the Pacific coast, that’s supposed to be really nice, especially for the little ones. It’s a protected bay, and the water’s allegedly warm enough for swimming, and it’s shallow. No tides, waves or sharks.

I like the sound of that!

I wish there were a way for Tabs to come along. As you can imagine, he’s quite a boss beach kitty, but it’s a drive out there, and he doesn’t like cars…unless we’re talking about his custom baby blue Aston Martin.

Now, while I go stuff the beach bag with 12 million bottles of sunscreen, here are some good reads I ran into this week…

• I wear mascara daily. In fact, I probably wear mascara more often than I don’t, so, needlessly to say, I’m a fan.

  Is it just me, or doesn’t it seem like there’s always another new bigger, better mascara hitting the scene? And yet I’ve still not found *the one* mascara to rule them all.

  Hmm…

  I thought this article was pretty cool. It takes you through pretty much the entire process of bringing a new mascara to market, from brainstorming, to development, testing, packaging and marketing.

• OK, has anyone here tried the Frownies Facial Patch? You’ve probably heard about them. They’re these patches that you put on your face that are supposed to smooth wrinkles between your brows and across your forehead.

  (Side note: there’s a famous scene in Sunset Boulevard where the main character, a fading silent film star named Norma Desmond, pulls some Frownies off her forehead.)

  Anyway, they’re an independent family-owned business that’s been around for more than 100 years, and they’ve been run by a long line of women entrepreneurs.

  Cool! Current president Kat Wright says that “Frownies are a non-invasive, non-toxic strategy against wrinkles since they are designed to help rejuvenate facial muscles under the skin.”

• I appreciate anything that promises to make burpees more fun (they truly are the devil’s work), which is why I need (YES, NEED) a pair of these sneakers by Athletic Propulsion Labs, otherwise known as APL. Through the power of science, their shoes will supposedly supercharge your physical abilities by allowing you to jump higher, run faster and stretch further.

  Normally, I’d chalk this up to marketing fancy talk, but it appears to actually work. The shoes have even been banned by the NBA for providing players with an undue competitive advantage.

• People are getting creative with their beauty shoplifting (!), as two ladies in Texas used a stroller to lift more than $1,000 in beauty products at Ulta.
• This beauty shoot featuring the stars of Netflix’s GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling!) wearing ’80s-inspired hair and makeup is all sorts of fabulous! (The show’s second season just came out.)

  I’m especially loving Alison Brie’s purple eyes and coral lips. She plays Ruth Wilder, one of the main characters.

  I mean, I’d actually wear that whole getup she’s wearing to go to the library, LOL!

OK, that’s it for now. Time to go fill the cooler for the beach! You have a wonderful weekend, alright?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

OK…so, this blog is called “Makeup and Beauty Blog.” I realize that. It was makeup that brought most of us together, but I’d love to hear about your other hobbies, too. What are your interests? Do you like antiquing? Renaissance fairs? Knitting? Hiking? Stand-up paddle boarding? Something else?

I like to cook and bake. I like gardening, reading, cat wrangling, exercising (well…sometimes it’s a love/hate thing), photography, and I love watching movies. A few years ago I tried knitting for a spell, but it didn’t take…most likely because I’m terrible at it. 🙂 So I quit. I also used to love going to a hip-hop dance class when we lived in Mill Valley, and I would do it again if I could find a studio nearby that I liked (have yet to find one).

Oh! — and if I had more energy and there were more hours in the day, I’d love to learn how to play a new instrument. Either the accordion or cello.

How about you? What are your hobbies (other than makeup)?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen