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

Good morning and happy Saturday to ya! I hope your weekend is off to a quiet and peaceful start.

For the last few weeks, it’s become really clear to me how wonderful it truly is to just be alive, so one thing I’ve been trying to do is to break old patterns and try new things.

To not get overwhelmed, I told myself that it could be the teeny, tiniest new thing to try, and even just one new thing would be just fine.

I ended up trying quite a few new things! I wrote it all down in a short list because seeing something in print always gives me a sense of accomplishment and makes me feel like it’s real. It also gives me the motivation to keep going. 🙂

New things I tried and breaking old patterns, September 18-22

• Cooked a couple vegan meals for lunch — roasted pepper chickpea pasta on Tuesday, cherry tomato gnocchi on Wednesday and garlicky cannellini bean stew (served with a thick slice of multi-grain bread, yum) on Thursday.



• Walked a new route around the neighborhood and saw a red beautiful hibiscus plant that I’ve never seen before in someone’s yard.



• Listened to Olivia Rodrigo’s new album “Guts” in its entirety (so good).
• Breaking an old pattern — When things get hard, I retreat inward, get quiet and push people away. Instead, I shared what’s been going on with my friends here on MBB and a few friends I’ve had IRL for years. I’m so glad I did this because I’ve received the loving support I desperately wanted and needed. It’s a relief to know I don’t have to carry this heavy load on my own.

This week’s reading

• According to the “Allure” Best of Beauty list, these 33 items are the best drugstore steals right meow.
• There’s a lot to love in the “Hair Love”-inspired TV series “Young Love.”
• According to derms, these are the 20 best peptide serums for healthy, radiant skin.
• Why do kitties respond to the “pspsps” sound?
• Cats pay more attention to their owners than we think. Say what?!
• The Hollywood Forever Cemetery is serves as a home to over 130 stray animals.

Why are empties so fascinating?

Oooh

Because I love a natural look

Have a wonderful rest of your day. Gentle reminder that you are a good person and you deserve so much love and kindness!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

A quick hello

Hi, sweet friend. I’ve been having a hard time sitting down to write lately, so please enjoy this repost from October 2018 featuring Charlotte Tilbury products and lots of talk about Starbuck’s legendary Pumpkin Spice Latte.

I need to cheer myself up today, so I’ll be headed to Starbuck’s shortly to pick up my first PSL of the season. Here’s to the power of simple pleasures, like delicious fall coffee drinks.

Hope everything on your end has been steady and peaceful. Hugs to you.

Pumpkin Spice Jewels

I don’t want you to think I’ve been neglecting my pumpkin spice devotion, seeing as how it’s now October, and therefore officially pumpkin season.

SO MANY PUMPKINS EVERYWHERE. One can’t even whip her high pony without bumping into one, and I still have mad love for pumpkin spice, as demonstrated by this look, which I call “Pumpkin Spice Jewels.”

A few things I learned in the process of doing my makeup…

1. This Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino will shake you to the core

Or, should I say, “shake your core”? Because when I’d finished about half of it my body literally started shaking from all the caffeine.

I’d never had one of these before. It’s just a pumpkin version of a regular frap (like the other drinks I’ve tried in this series, I got the recipe from theMacroBarista on Instagram).

I could only finish half of it because I couldn’t take any more caffeine. I dunno… Maybe you’re made of stronger stuff than I am, but if not and you’re also a wimp when it comes to caffeine, you can still admire it from afar (because it’s certainly nice to look at).

2. I may need to build an alter to worship Charlotte Tilbury

Her stuff is so spendy, but when it comes to that effortless, dewy skin-that-looks-like-skin, C.T. has that game on lock. I’m wearing her new Magic Away Liquid Concealer ($32) and Genius Magic Powder ($45) in this look, and I didn’t really have to do any of the buffing, blending and dabbing that’s usually involved in achieving a no-makeup makeup look.

I just swiped a concealer wand on my face (I’m wearing shade 8 underneath my eyes and shade 9 on the rest of my face), blended with my fingers, then dusted a sheer veil of the powder with a fluffy brush, which took all of two minutes.

I love how my skin looks when I wear C.T.’s stuff. Like, I can’t even tell I’m wearing makeup, and it doesn’t budge. Not one bit.

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I painted my nails red in this shade a couple days ago because I’ve been thinking of my granny. Red is her favorite color.

I saw her last Sunday, probably for the last time. She’s 95 and currently in hospice care, so any day now, she’ll be headed to wherever we all go once we leave our bodies.

I want to think that she’ll soon become my angel and will visit me on occasion by popping by as a joyful, fluttery butterfly. It might sound silly to some, but it’s how I like to think of it.

We went to visit her last Sunday and to see her there, so small in her bed, was very humbling.

How do you even say goodbye to someone? Nothing ever prepares you for the hardest stuff, ever. Grief is so brutal that way, I guess.

I talked to her for a long time, and one thing that came up was a memory from when I was teeny tiny — 4 or maybe 5. Granny took me to the Sears photo studio to get my picture taken. I had a Dorthy Hamill haircut, which I loved! She put me in a blue dress with a white bow, and she painted my tiny fingernails a bright, glossy red.

She painted my nails again when I was a tween, when she gave me my first full-on manicure while we sat at the kitchen table. I remember feeling so grown up when she used the nail file to shape my nails, and how I was in awe of her ability to control the nail brush without getting any excess polish on my fingers.

When I saw her last Sunday, I held her hand, and her nails, as usual, looked perfect. They were bare but so smooth and perfectly shaped into ovals. It’s a memory I’ll hold in my heart forever.

Before I jet, I’ve got some news to share. The big scary thing that I thought I might have — the tests I took say no, that’s not it. To a degree, I’m relieved, but I still don’t have a final diagnosis, which means I have to go back for more tests and will continue living in this “in-between” world for a while until everything gets sorted out.

Weirdly enough, through all this, the universe has made it very clear to me one big message. It’s truly a joy to be alive.

The simple things, like walking Connor to school, or drinking a cup of coffee, or even just waking up in a house filled with the sounds of people whom I love unconditionally, are the best gifts.

Thank you for sharing the simple joys in this life with me, and I swear that it won’t always be this heavy! I’m just trying my best to get through it all.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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 more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. What’s the weirdest thing you like on your pizza?

Hmm, I guess potato and pesto? I had that combo on a pizza once, and even though it seemed weird to me at first to have potato slices on pizza, I didn’t mind it with the pesto sauce.

2. What are you in the mood to wear more lately — eye shadow or lipstick?

Eyeshadow! I’ve been into matte cream eyeshadow sticks. Laura Mercier has a gorgeous cool-toned taupe called Cobblestone that’s really pretty on lids with a swish of brown liner.

3. What does your favorite water bottle look like?

A coral Hydro Flask water bottle that I got from the Whole Foods in Hawaii a few years back. I like it because it keeps my water super cold and it’s also lighweight!

4. Vegetables that gross you out and why?

Ugh, I have so much vegetable trauma from my childhood. Too many mushy, slimy, soggy gray-green veggies will do that to you! My top grossest ones are okra and bitter melon. Occasionally I’ll have a gross moment with eggplant when it’s overcooked, soggy and gray. BLECH!

5. What’s your stance on wearing sneakers with dresses?

I’ve always liked wearing sneakers with dresses and have been rockin’ the combo since college. The sneakers do have to make visual sense with the dress in some way, though. I wouldn’t be wearing random tennis shoes with just any old dress, ya know?

Happy Monday, sweet pea. What a beautiful week we have ahead of us. I looked out my window this morning and the sun was shining — hooray! And, when I walked Connor to school, we ran into our favorite neighbor and saw a bunch of cool animals (a morning dove, a squirrel and a big flock of turkeys). I just got back from a quick stroll and while it’s warm outside the air has that cool touch of fall. It’s absolutely gorgeous and makes me feel happy to be alive.

I hope that you had a relaxing weekend and that love is surrounding you today. I’m about to put on some makeup with the hope that having it on will help me to *not* cry. It’s the little things!

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 the weirdest thing you like on your pizza?
2. What are you in the mood to wear more lately — eye shadow or lipstick?
3. What does your favorite water bottle look like?
4. Vegetables that gross you out and why?
5. What’s your stance on wearing sneakers with dresses?

Hello and happy Saturday!

Thank you so much for your kindness, love and care in yesterday’s post. A few words of support seems like a such small gesture, but it truly means a lot. Thank you.

What are your plans for the weekend? One of my small goals is to try something new and to do something I’ve never done before. I told myself it could be as simple as trying a new dish, exploring a new neighborhood or listening to new music.

I hope you’re having a wonderful day so far.

This week’s reading

• The art of smelling good — a deep dive into perfume’s current state of the union.
• Hair ribbons and “balletcore” at New York Fashion Week.
• Nail slugging is now a thing.
• Why do cats love boxes so much?
• I’m low-key obsessed with singer Olivia Rodrigo. Here’s the inspiration behind her new “Rolling Stone” cover. Side note, it includes aesthetics from Japanese “Elle.”

Cute

I like how she mentions mindset

Something to think about

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addit,

Karen

I wanted to pop in to say hi and wish you a happy Friday.

I’ve been quiet lately because I haven’t really felt like writing. Truth be told, it’s been a weird week. Between the handful of doctor’s appointments and the in-between time waiting on test results, I’ve spent my days feeling frightened and unsure of the future.

It seems like the older I get, the less I seem to truly understand anything about everything. When I was younger, it was almost as if there was an invisible thread weaving its way through my life in a logical, linear way — and that pathway was something I thought I could control.

But now, it’s like nothing makes sense to me anymore, like everything is just a roll of the dice. I feel shaken. Unmoored.

In a way, though, it’s been liberating. It’s become clear to me what boundaries I need to draw so that I feel supported and cared for.

I’m glad to have made it to Friday.

When I sat down to write this, I didn’t really have a plan. So I guess this is your gentle Friday reminder to love your beautiful body for everything it gives you, to wear glitter because you’re sparkly and deserve to shine bright, and to love those people who you hold dearest with everything you’ve got.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen