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Vacation Hair: Do You Bother Styling Your Hair When You’re on a Trip?

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It really depends on what kind of trip it is.

If it’s a trip involving outdoor adventures like camping, or visiting the beach or a pool on any given day, then chances are the styling will be minimal — after shampooing and conditioning (I wash my hair every day), I’ll work in some leave-in conditioner, let it air dry and then do a ponytail, bun or a french twist with a claw clip. Maybe if I’m feeling ambitious I’ll comb the cray-cray baby hairs down with some brow gel.

Funny thing is whenever we take these kind of outdoorsy trips, even though I know I’ll be doing the bare minimum with my hair, that doesn’t stop me from bringing a styling tool every single time. What can I say? There’s something about having the option to do my hair that’s kinda comforting to me!

Case in point: right now there’s a t3 curling iron sitting in my luggage, and even though I probably won’t touch it during the trip, I like knowing it’s there in case I change my mind.

Now, if the trip centers around sightseeing in a city, then I’ll usually try to style it, even if it’s just a few loose curls with my curling iron, so my hair doesn’t look too crazy in pictures.

Is your vacation hair routine the same as your non-vacation hair routine? Do you bother styling your mane when you’re on a trip?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 737

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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. Do fragrance ads make you laugh?

    Yes! I think most of them are silly. They’re usually people running or rolling in the sand looking semi-drenched, holding instruments or whatnot and staring into the camera.

    2. Eye patches for skincare: love ’em or leave ’em?

    I mean they feel good at the time, but I don’t really notice any difference. But I won’t say no if somebody offers me a de-puffing pair for underneath my eyes.

    3. Favorite berry?

    Strawberry.

    4. Have you ever jumped from a high diving board?

    Not a man-made one, but I jumped off the rock at Waimea, which is pretty high. I’m guessing 25 feet? Technically not a board, but I still jumped!

    5. Favorite taco?

    Fish! I love breaded fish tacos. Mmm…

    6. Which one freaks you out more: earthquakes or tornados?

    Tornados, for sure. Very scary to me. I’ve never been through one. I have been through earthquakes before out here in California.

    7. Your favorite hiking spot?

    The Fairway Waterfall in Novato. It’s an easy 1-mile hike in the foothills through oak and strawberry tree forest to a small 30-foot waterfall and shallow pool filled with salamanders. It’s very cool!

    8. Whatcha doing today?

    After breakfast of eggs, fresh papaya, French toast, and Portuguese sausage, we’ll probably head to the beach and get shave ice after.

    Yes, we’re in Hawaii! We’re visiting family here this week.

    9. Favorite dress length and why?

    I like dresses that are slightly below the knee, but not quite midi. I like the feeling of being a little more covered up from the longer length, and I don’t feel like they make me look shorter than I actually am.

    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. Do fragrance ads make you laugh?
    2. Eye patches for skincare: love ’em or leave ’em?
    3. Favorite berry?
    4. Have you ever jumped from a high diving board?
    5. Favorite taco?
    6. Which one freaks you out more: earthquakes or tornados?
    7. Your favorite hiking spot?
    8. Whatcha doing today?
    9. Favorite dress length and why?

    P.P.S. Aloha from Hawaii! Rosie decided she needed some time to herself with her favorite cat sitter, so she sent us all the way across the Pacific Ocean. Right now I can hear waterfalls in the background, but I won’t go chasing them… They’re actually manufactured ones at the place we’re staying, but still very pretty. Enjoy your Monday. Talk to you soon.

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 718

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Well of course he won first place in the Amateur Husky Cat Division at Pipeline Surf Contest on Oahu. Tabs accomplished many great things, including winning the world’s most prestigious surfing competition. He was proud of that win, partly because he also snagged major feline fashion campaigns from it with Roxy, Billabong, Quicksilver and Local Motion.

He was proud of his beach body and wasn’t afraid to show it off.

To this day, you’ll hear cats in the surf community speak of his physique and physical feats with wonder. Could he have made it as a pro cat surfer? I bet he could have.

Rosie

Rosie is more interested in the engineering aspects of surfing, of course. She’s working on a new composite material with which to manufacture surfboards, with the goal of creating a lighter, faster, more efficient board in tune with both nature and physics. At least that’s how she explains it to me (I think she dumbs it down).

Because she is wildly ambitious, just like my previous kitty employer, she plans to release one surfboard line for humans and one for cats. Look for them in surf shops this coming holiday season.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing, July 9, 2022!

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Happy Saturday!

You know when you’re having a good brow day? The right thing to do is to take a pic, so when your favorite Anastasia brow pencil suddenly and mysteriously disappears, you have a reminder of how your brows looked before your world was suddenly turned upside down. LOL! 🤣

I’m not sure what happened to my pencil, but I think Rosie may have found it and swatted it into same black hole where all my hair ties go.

I’ve gone to two full days of back-to-back meetings with ghost brows because I haven’t had the chance to swing by Ulta to grab another one. It’s definitely on my list of things to do today!

Happy Saturday to ya. 🙂

This week’s reading


Talk to me!


I need this.


Someone please make this for me!


*THE* Trader Joe’s sunscreen!!!


Interesting.


Gorgeous!

I hope your day off to a good start. What are you up to this weekend?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Rose Inc Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum: A Summery Staple

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This is my partner in crime! Side note: I’m a law-abiding citizen, and the only crime I’m guilty of is loving a base with barely-there coverage.

Rose Inc Skin Enhance ($49) is designed purposefully to add a little something-something to your skin. If you’ve ever tried any of the OG sheer bases (Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, IT Cosmetics CC, NARS TM, First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Tinted Moisturizer, etc.) and felt like you were wearing too much makeup, this is the base for you.

It caters to a very specific makeup person. Someone who wants…

  • Skin to look like real skin;
  • A finish that has subtle pearly shine without glitter;
  • Freckles and variations of texture and pigment to still peek through; and
  • A base that feels and looks lightweight.

It’s fresh, summery skin at its finest. This style of makeup speaks volumes to me at the moment, and I’m really into it!

My skin is combo oily and dry, and I wear the shade 080. Two pumps subtly blurs my pores and adds a hint of tint to even everything out. On super hot days I set it with the least amount of MAC MSF powder I can get away with, and then I douse my face in UD setting spray to keep it place. Otherwise, it will slide right off my face.

I’m wearing Rose Inc Skin Enhance in 080.
Another look with 080 as my base.

FYI, when I reapply sunscreen on top of it in the afternoon, I have to take care to pat the sunscreen on gently. If I’m too aggressive, then I end up just rubbing it off.

This is one of those products that you’re either going to love or loathe. Just in case you fall in the latter camp, I’d suggest buying it at Sephora and saving your receipt. If it’s not enough coverage for you and/or you feel like it just doesn’t stay on, then I’d gently steer you towards Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, which is a beast (in the best possible makeup way).

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Latest Trader Joe’s Finds: Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 and Strawberry & Rhubarb Hand Pies

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Why, yes. Once upon a time, there were two Strawberry & Rhubarb Hand Pies in this box!

I saw these pies at TJ’s and they took me waaaaay back to childhood in the ’80s, when I’d go grocery shopping with my mom on Saturdays. I was allowed to pick one sweet treat, and sometimes, I’d pick a Hostess Fruit Pie. Cherry was my favorite! What was yours?

Anywho, last night I had one for dessert (it’s delightful), and when I turned the box over to read the back, I was shocked to see instructions for warming the pie up in an oven or an air fryer!

I’d always eaten Hostess Pies straight outta the package and had NO IDEA that one could warm the pies up before eating, LOL! Am I the only person on earth that didn’t know? I’m still reeling from the revelation.

By the way, I didn’t warm up the Strawberry & Rhubarb pie beforehand, because at that point I had already taken out the vanilla ice cream and was not about to wait 15 minutes for the oven to heat up. It was still hella good. Just the right amount of sweetness and a lovely, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crust. Grab a box if you see them at TJ’s.

While you’re there, might as well stop by the body care section to grab a $9 Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40.

Word on the street is that it’s a dupe for the pricier $36 Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen. I’ve never tried the Supergoop version so I can’t really compare the two, but as far as face sunscreen goes, I think it’s a good option for a midday or afternoon touchup on top of makeup (yes, this is a thing) because it’s so smooth and so matte and completely invisible. Lightweight, too. It has a slippery silicone texture, so if you do well with 1) silicones and 2) chemical sunscreens, it’s worth checking out.

Somewhat related note: I’ve had work projects in the last few months writing copy for packaging, and so now I’m in the habit of reading all the tubes, bottles and boxes I encounter. This one apparently had a spelling issue! Of course, I had to peel the sticker and see what was corrected.

I’m nerdy that way, I guess.

Happy Thursday to you. I hope you’re feeling great today! Take care.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Celebrity Skin Care: Love It or Leave It?

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Have you noticed the abundance of celebrity skin care lines popping up lately? J. Lo, Millie Bobby Brown, Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, Kim K., Hailey Bieber… The list just keeps going and going!

I’m undecided about celeb skin care for one’s face. I’m more open to body products, though. Case in point: I recently bought a big jar of body cream from the skin care line by Alicia Keys, and it’s really good! I’m also very curious about the body sunscreen from Eleven by Venus Williams (it’s supposed to be excellent).

If it’s something with active ingredients for one’s visage, I’m more likely to skip it. I think maybe if I was in my teens or early 20s I’d be more open, but at this stage in my beauty life I feel like my mug needs serious “Real Housewives”-caliber potion that melts your face off, LOL! I’d rather spend $$$ on skin care you’d find at a dermatologist’s office, like Skinceuticals or SkinMedica.

All this to say, that for me, celebrity skin care lines are mostly a leave it situation.

How about you? What are your thoughts on celebrity skin care? Love it or leave it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 736

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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. Colors that make you happy?

    Mint green, pale yellow, light lavender – pastels bring me so much joy!

    2. Last beauty product you received as a gift?

    My friend Kelly gave me a tube of Saint Jane Lip Gloss that I’m pretty stoked about.

    3. Summer or fall makeup?

    This is hard for me. I love summer makeup because it’s so easy and breezy, but I appreciate the artistry of a full-on fall face beat. Hmm. Let’s go with summer makeup because it’s basically the style I’ve been wearing for the last two years.

    4. Grapefruit juice: yum or yuck?

    YUM!

    5. Sweatshirt or cardigan?

    An extra soft sweatshirt with a hood and pockets, please. I’m all about cozy comfort these days!

    6. Worst car you’ve ever driven?

    El Hub and I once got talked into renting a Ford Mustang convertible when we visited Hawaii years ago. It was the most uncomfortable car I’ve ever been in, both as a passenger and as a driver. This was in the early 2000s, so I have no idea how the car is now, but back then, I couldn’t make sense of the console because everything felt like it was in the wrong place. The seats were uncomfortable, and riding around with the wind in my hair wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be; it was noisy and messed up my mane!

    7. Classic or trendy?

    Trendy back in the day, more classic now.

    8. Whatcha doing today?

    Well, it’s the Fourth of July so I feel like I should be doing something eventful, but El Hub is working and the weather’s overcast and cool. If it clears up later, Connor and I will probably go for a short hike, and then I’ll play with her in the front yard for a bit. It hit me recently that she won’t be a little kid for much longer, and so I have to get in as much time doing simple things together, like sidewalk chalk, as much as I can.

    9. Something you want to accomplish this week?

    I need to research window blinds and drapes. Honestly, like most things I’m finding that are related to home furnishings, blinds and drapes are surprisingly complicated. I never thought I’d fall into a rabbit hole related to blinds, but here we are, LOL!

    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. Colors that make you happy?
    2. Last beauty product you received as a gift?
    3. Summer or fall makeup?
    4. Grapefruit juice: yum or yuck?
    5. Sweatshirt or cardigan?
    6. Worst car you’ve ever driven?
    7. Classic or trendy?
    8. Whatcha doing today?
    9. Something you want to accomplish this week?

    P.P.S. Good morning, friend. It’s a long weekend here in the U.S. because of the Fourth of July. I hope you get the chance to do something relaxing and fun today. 🤗

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