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

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past seven years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. What are you chasing at the moment?
   Honestly? — sleep, because even though I’m not getting a ton right now, I know it’s only gonna get worse once BG arrives, so I’m trying to catch as many “Zs” as I can.

   It’s funny…but in the morning after we wake up, El Hub and I always ask each other, “How did you sleep?” and now when one of us says, “Not bad… At least not completely terrible,” that constitutes a great answer, LOL!

   I also feel like I’m always chasing the clock, because there’s never enough time to get everything done, ya know? And I can’t stand it when every minute of my day is blocked out, like I have 20 minutes for this and 15 minutes for that.

   *sigh* Whatever happened to big blocks of unstructured time?

2. Today I’m wearing…
   A kinda Kate Spade-ish striped black-and-white maternity/nursing dress from Asos.

   It’s made of jersey, so it’s stretchy and comfy and, more importantly, it’s not that same pair of Jessica Simpson maternity jeans I’ve been wearing for what feels like the past four months, OMG!

   We hit a stretch of springy weather here in the Bay Area, and it’s been really nice to be able to wear dresses and not have to cocoon myself under four layers of clothes. 🙂

3. Should you always have a backup plan?
   Hmm… I’m conflicted about this answer. One the one hand, no, I think it can be helpful sometimes when I don’t have backup plan, because it forces me to take my main plan more seriously, but on the other hand, it is usually a good idea to have some kind of fallback plan in case things don’t work out.

   So I dunno… Most of the time, yes, I think it probably is a good idea to have a backup plan.

   I guess that was my long-winded way of saying that I don’t have a concrete answer to this question, LOL!

4. What makeup or beauty topics do you like to talk about the most?
   GIRL, do not get me started about foundation or concealer or primer because I will talk your ear off!

   I did it last Saturday when I wandered into Sephora and bumped into a few of my favorite sales associates. I’ve gotten to know some of the gals who work there (the Novato Vintage Oaks store) from attending those free Sephora beauty classes, and they’re all so sweet and nice. Whenever I’m in there, we talk about everything — makeup, skin care, hair, babies, whatever! Anyway, I was in there killing time while El Hub got a haircut, and one of the gals, Frances, and I must have talked about foundation and primer for a solid 15 minutes.

   I told her that I thought she should try a combo of BECCA’s Backlight Primer and NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint stat.

   I also like talking about color products, of course, particularly bronzer and blush (Frances recommended that I try Givency’s Le Prisme Blush Powder Blush in Aficionado Peach), mascara, eyeshadow and eyeliner. And then after that, hair products and hair styling; then perfume, and skin care.

   So, pretty much in that order.

5. To whom do you feel closest right now?
   Baby Girl. Even though I’m more than ready for her to check out of her luxury suite at Hotel Karen, it makes me a little sad to know that she’s not going to be with me like this forever…

Your turn. 🙂 Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ’em!

1. What are you chasing at the moment?
2. Today I’m wearing…
3. Should you always have a backup plan?
4. What makeup or beauty topics do you like to talk about the most?
5. To whom do you feel closest right now?

Happy Monday to you, sweet girl. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a very happy Valentine’s Day.

El Hub and I kept it casual this year… We exchanged cards in the morning and then just lounged around the house, which was great because I’m not exactly super mobile at the moment. I do a “slow waddle” when I walk now, so it takes me FOREVER to get anywhere, and oh! — chairs have NOT been my friends, so no more long and leisurely romantic dinners or trips to the symphony for a while. My back gets achy after I sit for more than an hour.

You know what, though? I can see the finish line! We’re almost there! I just keep reminding myself of that…

Wherever you are today, and whatever you’re doing, I hope you feel loved, happy and calm. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Ooh! OPI Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops, for sure! If you ever go to get your mani-pedis at a salon, you may have seen them before, but if you’re more of a DIY, at-home nail polish gal like I am… Well, let me rephrase that: like I USUALLY am, since I can’t reach my toes right now, so the only way I can get them painted is if I go to the nail salon, LOL!

But if you haven’t heard about this stuff before, GIRL, you need to know!

You apply the clear liquid to your nails right after applying your top coat, just one or two drops per nail, and five minutes later, voila! — your nails are dry, even if you aren’t using a quick-dry nail polish formula.

Now, I wouldn’t rush out and do dishes or chop firewood or charge the waves after exactly five minutes… I’d still wait 20 or 30 minutes before doing any rigorous work like that, but after five minutes or so, my nails are basically safe to touch.

Oh, and the drops also moisturize your cuticles because they contain jojoba oil and vitamin E.

I love these dang drops so much that I bring a bottle with me to the salon! Yup, whenever I go to the nail salon to get my toes done, I always bring my own products, and that includes my bottle of Drip Dry.

So, friend, what’s an under-the-radar beauty product that you think people NEED to hear about? Spread the word!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! Ya know…I didn’t realize that we’d reached the end of the week until late last night in bed when I said to El Hub, “Babe, it’s Wednesday, isn’t it?” and he said, “Nope, Thursday night. It’s almost Friday.”

Whoops! Team Pregnancy Brain scores again. The days are starting to swirl together… I wish I could slow things down so I’d have more time get things ready before BG arrives, but I’m starting to get the hint that nobody ever really feels ready for a baby coming.

I’m so glad we all made it to the end of the week in one piece! What are you up to this weekend?

For me? Oh, so completely necessary! Rarely (um, like, never) do I skip primer. Even when I’m running ridiculously behind, frantically grabbing products, leaving a mess in my wake and rushing to do five-minute makeup, I still leave a little room for primer.

At times like that, it comes down to priorities, like, what do I need the most? It’s usually a face primer to blur mah pores and fine lines, and to smooth the surface of my skin a little before I apply foundation or tinted moisturizer. I call it “taking the edge off.” LOL! It’s so true though…

And when I’m not running ragged and have enough time to put on a full face, I’ll even “go there” sometimes with multiple primers. I might use one (or two!) different face primers that specialize on doing different jobs, like a color correcting peach primer under my eyes and around my mouth, or for spot treating places where I feel my pores need the extra help (usually, my cheeks and nose). Then, I’ll whack some eye primer on my lids to help my eye makeup last longer.

I’m practically married to NARS Pro-Prime for this; I’ll occasionally also work a little into my brows and lower lash lines, too (try it sometime!).

One type of primer I never wear is lip primer. I’ve tried it before, though, a few different brands, but it never seems to make much of a difference. When I used it, I didn’t really notice smoother lips or my lip products lasting longer. I’m still open to the idea, though, so if you know of a lip primer that’s, like, change-yo-life worthy, please let me know. My only prerequisite is that I’m able to hear angels singing when I use it. 😉

How about you, friend? Is primer an absolute necessity for you, or do you think it’s unnecessary?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Sooo, somehow I’ve gotten it into my head that BG is coming early. This is partly because Susan Miller of Astrology Zone mentioned in my horoscope (Insert eye roll here…but seriously, Susan does not mess around! Her horoscopes for me have been crazy accurate in the past.) that a new baby could be arriving on February 22, and also partly because I’ve heard quite a few birth stories from friends whose babies came early at around 37 weeks…

I just hope that BG decides to stay put a while longer because I’m absolutely and completely not ready. I feel like I still have so much stuff to do and prepare before she comes. I’m trying to stay calm, but it’s been a challenge. *Takes deep breath*

It’s all going to be fine, right?? I gotta keep telling myself that…

I hope things are going well on your end. What have you been up to?

And by “beauty snob,” I mean, with what products and services do you insist on only going high end?

I like to think I’m pretty open to finding and loving beauty products, regardless of whether they’re drugstore or high end (and you gotta try everything once), but I dunno… I think I might be a beauty snob in a few ways.

But one thing I’m definitely not snobby about, although I kind of used to be back in the day, is foundation.

DUDE. There was a time when I’d only use department store/high-end foundations and concealers, mostly because of how hard it was to find budget products with a wide range of shades in my skin tone vicinity, but that’s changed over the past few years. Some of the big drugstore foundations lines have really stepped up their game, and now there are lots of great options and shade choices at the drugstore level that are just as good, if not better, than the pricier products on counters.

L’Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous Makeup comes to mind. It’s only $13, and in terms of coverage, texture and shade range, it’s SO GOOD. If I didn’t know it was drugstore, I’d guess it was in the $30 range.

Oh, and perfumes? I definitely have beauty snobbery tendencies in that area. I love wearing Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Tocca and quite a few other high-end scents.

Not as a general rule, but I dunno… I’ve sniffed a lot of drugstore scents, and I always try to keep an open mind, but most of them are too sweet for my taste, or they just don’t play well with my body chemistry. Plus, sometimes fragrances are just one of those things on which I like to splurge. A gorgeous bottle of a great perfume is such a nice treat.

Aaand I think I’m also a little snobby about my shampoos and conditioners, but that’s partly because of a traumatic incident in the ’90s when I was a college student. I went through a phase when I only bought very cheap shampoos and conditioners to save a few bucks, but after a few months, that, coupled with aggressive blow drying, darned near destroyed my hair. It was dry and stripped so badly that it looked like fried noodles.

No, really, it looked like crispy fried noodles. 🙁

A hairstylist who worked at the campus hair salon (yes, we had one on campus) cut off the fried bits and lectured me about the difference between good and bad products. Little did she know when she handed me a few samples of Biolage shampoo and conditioner that she’d just created a monster…

I do have to say, though, that like drugstore foundations and other face makeup, drugstore shampoos and conditioners have come a long way. Now there are lots of good ones out there in silicone-free and sulfate-free formulas, which is great! I’ve found some that I really like (Clairol Herbel Essences, Yes To, L’Oreal…)

What about you? In what ways are you a beauty snob?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Hello, my friend, and good morning to you! How’s it going over there? Things are going OK here in preggers-ville (I’m 36 weeks now), but I can’t lie — it’s getting difficult. I feel like a stuffed sausage.

I probably won’t be posting very often over the next few days this week as I take care of some things (and because I don’t have as much energy as usual), but I’ll be around.