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Bloggerati Spotlight

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The Beauty Bloggerati

Happy hump day, homies! I’m making my morning tea right now and browsing the Sephora website for Illamasqua goodies. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What’s Your Favorite Drugstore Makeup?

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sally hansen diamond 12 hour lip treatment flawless

Drugstores are treasure troves of fantastic makeup bargains, like my current favorite, Sally Hansen Diamond 12-Hour Lip Treatment (the shade above is called Flawless).

The product comes in a ton of vibrant (and highly moisturizing) colors, feels thin and non-sticky on my lips and packs *lots* of eye-catching shine.

Plus, at $7 a tube (sometimes less on sale), they don’t break the bank. 🙂

NOTE: Walgreens has Diamond 12-Hour Lip Treatment on sale now for $4 each!

What’s your current favorite drugstore makeup product, and why has it stolen your heart?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I just found out that Sephora online is now selling Illamasqua. Woot!

Makeup and Beauty Blog on Twitter

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Tabs on Twitter
Click here to follow me on Twitter…

What is Twitter? — As far as I can tell so far (and I’m VERY late to the party), Twitter is at least two different things, the first of which is the reason I refrained from using it for so long.

The beauty of Twitter

  1. It’s an instant messaging/chat service similar to the old AOL chat rooms, AIM or MSN, except that it makes it easier to carry on conversations with large groups of people (from one to potentially millions of people in the same conversation!) and archives each individual message (aka a Tweet) on the web.
  2. Twitter’s also a great way to find and instantly communicate with people and businesses with similar interests (in my case cats, photography, blogging, writing, randomness, makeup and beauty).

How do I know this?

Because of something that happened last week…

It was early on Thursday morning. I was at my computer, drinking coffee in my pajamas and catching up on beauty news online. I saw a blurb in my feed reader for a blog post titled, “Illamasqua Coming to Sephora!!!!”

Holy shizz! Fo’ reals? I couldn’t believe my eyes, so I Googled for info and called Illamasqua to confirm.

It was true, and guess where the news first broke — where did it first appear?

You guessed it: Twitter. 🙂

Even though I’m afraid I’ll get sucked in, that I’ll need a Twitter intervention by Christmas, who cares? All of the big cosmetics and beauty companies are tweeting out coupon codes, announcing new products, events and sales on Twitter; I can no longer resist.

If you have any Twitter tips or just want to scold me for taking so long to join, let me know in the comments (or via Twitter, ha! Love the irony). I pledge to make up for my lateness with frequent Twittaway beauty giveaways and breaking beauty news.

Quick and easy

I was also really surprised by how easy it was to make a Twitter account. It’s free and easier than ordering a book on Amazon. The toughest part was choosing a username.

My first choice (mbb) was already taken. I’d wanted something short because of how people send messages on Twitter, and “makeupandbeautyblog” isn’t exactly short, right?

So, on Twitter I’m karenmbb. Tweet ya later.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Do you use Facebook? On Facebook I’m at facebook.com/makeupandbeautyblog. I have my Twitter and Facebook accounts linked, so you can reach me at either one.

Bloggerati Spotlight

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The Beauty Bloggerati

Is it Thursday already?

How’s it going, girls? Do anything fun last night? After dance class I watched some slightly more proficient (LOL! — slightly) dancers do their thang on So You Think You Can Dance. Did you watch? I think Ade and Melissa have the best chemistry together, but Jeanine might be my favorite dancer overall.

I’d cheer that we’re almost to Friday… but at the rate time’s passing, it’ll be Christmas soon!

Have a great morning.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I saw on Pursebuzz this morning a report that UK newcomer Illamasqua will soon be carried at Sephora stores in the US! Details are still sparse, but that’s good news if you’re a fan of the line. 🙂

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, July 5

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07060-monday-poll-laduree
Assorted macaron cookies from Laduree bakery in Paris

  1. Mood:

    2. Wide awake now (shocker!) and cheerful.

  2. What’s your favorite type of music?

    3. I *love* hip-hop and R&B, but I listen to everything. My music collection is a mish-mash of singers and bands from across the board.

  3. Do you like to match your toe and finger nail polishes?

    4. It depends. Sometimes, but I mostly like to wear complementary colors.

  4. What do you like to do on your days off?

    5. Sleep in, curl up on the couch with a good book and watch movies!

  5. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

    6. I’m going with a cat eye and red lips today using mostly MAC products. Eyes: MAC Painterly Paint Pot, MAC Arena Eyeshadow, MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack and MAC Dazzlelash Mascara in Black Dazzle. Lips: MAC Cockney lipstick from the Euristocrats 2 collection. Cheeks: Illamasqua Bronzing Duo in Glint & Burnish.

  6. Dudes who wear eyeliner: hawt or not?

    7. I can appreciate a well groomed man, but I was never drawn to guys who wear more beauty products than I do, LOL!

  7. Are you a planner or a spontaneous kinda girl?

    8. A mix of both. For certain things, like big meals out or events with lots of people, I like to have a plan, but if it’s just me and another person, I prefer to wing it.

  8. Do you have any phobias?

    9. A couple, like I’m afraid of earthworms (YUCK!) and confined spaces. Oh, and I’m deathly afraid of one day getting stuck in an elevator!

  9. Outfit:

    10. Dark jeans, a black scoop neck top, white cotton blazer, black strappy sandals and a long necklace with faux pearls.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Dust off my stability ball and try some new ab exercises, rearrange the living room, and find a few new writing exercises to try.

Whew! I’m running behind this morning because I stayed up late last night reading Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris.

It’s one of the books that inspired the True Blood TV series. Yup, Mom always said there’s nothing like curling up on the couch with a cup of tea and a vampire story…

Okay, maybe Mom never said that, but it would have been *really awesome* if she had. 🙂

Were you ready for Monday this morning? Warm up to your day by taking a minute for the Monday Poll. Just copy the empty list below, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Let’s do this!

Le list

Mood:
What’s your favorite type of music?
Do you like to match your toe and finger nail polishes?
What do you like to do on your days off?
Eyes/lips/cheeks:
Dudes who wear eyeliner: hawt or not?
Are you a planner or a spontaneous kinda girl?
Do you have any phobias?
Outfit:
Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What’s Your Favorite Bronzer?

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stila-24-kt-loose-mineral-bronzer

Right now mine’s a toss up between two — Stila’s new 24 kt Loose Mineral Bronzer in Brushed Gold ($34) and Illamasqua’s Bronzing Duo in Glint & Burnish ($30).

stila-24-kt-loose-mineral-bronzer-2
Stila 24 kt Loose Mineral Bronzer in Brushed Gold

Each adds a subtle golden glow to my skin without looking too shimmery, and neither one has those Oompa Loompa orange undertones that some bronzers tend to have.

illamasqua sirens swatches bronzing duo glint and burnish 2
Illamasqua Bronzing Duo in Glint and Burnish

How about you? What’s your current fave bronzer?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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