Search Results for: smokey

Classic Smokey Eyes: Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette

October 1st, 2024 by Karen 3 Comments

Please enjoy this repost featuring one of my favorite eyeshadow palettes for easy smokey eyes. Also, side note, I need to get back on the MAC Face & Body train. I forgot how beautiful it looks in pictures!

The Honest Beauty eyeshadow palette comes with a card with four looks you can do with the palette. I followed the one called “Classic Smoky Eye” for this post, although with one tweak. I started by buffing the matte beige shade (Vanilla’d Velvet) all over my lids as a base so the subsequent colors would pop a little more.

I was a wee bit nervous about using the shimmery gold all over my lids and the shimmery dark purple on the outer corner because…I’m in my 40s now, and shine doesn’t always play well with my 40-something skin, particularly in the crease. Some may even say that I’m “overly picky about shimmery finishes,” *ahem*. Can you blame me though? One false move and you see every fine line!

Buuuut, I decided to go for it anyway, hoping that the matte beige underneath would tone down the shine, and it did!

As I was blending, I realized another reason to love this palette. The more you buff and swirl these shadows, the less intensely they shine, until they have more of a satiny finish. The finish ends up as a soft, pearly glow, which makes this classic smokey eye very workable for daytime wear! When I dropped Connor off at school this morning, I didn’t feel like I was wearing “too much.”

Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you — I found the most beautiful cream blush by Chanel! It’s Les Beiges Blush No. 20, a stick blush, $45 (!), but dang, lady! It’s so good. It’s a bronzy, peachy tan with the finest flecks of pearly gold, and it adds a hint of natural-looking color to cheeks. I love how easy it is to blend and that I can’t see it sitting on top of my skin or in my pores.

If you’re a real stickler for blush that doesn’t heavy on your cheeks, then you might want to consider it because it’s so natural-looking on skin.

FYI, if you’re lighter than I am, No. 20 will probably function more as a straight-up bronzer on your skin, and if you’re darker, then you might better off with one of Chanel’s brighter cream blushes like No. 21 or No. 22, since I’m betting No. 20 won’t show up as readily on darker skin.

Other things I’ve been into lately: mixing two shades of Honest Beauty liquid lipstick, namely Passion and Off Duty, to create the purrfect mid-toned coral pink; and wearing an old-school standby base combination with MAC Face and Body (I mix C4 and C5), set with the tiniest smidgen of MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder (my shade is Medium Golden).

Seriously, why did I ever take a break from wearing Face and Body? IT’S SO GOOD, especially for no-makeup makeup. I’ve talked about it ad nauseam on MBB for years, so if you’re relatively new here and want to know more about why it’s the stuff, hit me up in the comments and I will repeat myself once again, LOL! LOVE IT.

Oh, my gosh, one last thing before I leave you — have you seen the Britney Spears documentary on Hulu? I kept hearing about it, and I told myself, “OK, I’ll give this 10 minutes of my life, and that’s it,” but then I started watching it and I COULD. NOT. LOOK. AWAY.

The one-hour documentary by The New York Times charts Britney’s rise to fame, her very public issues in the press in the early 2000s, and the conservatorship that was placed on her in 2008, which some people believe was against her will. Some conspiracy theorists go so far as to think that her Instagram is an entire series of coded cries for help.

As you might know, I’m solidly on #TeamBritney, and so watching the doc left me with the hope that one day she’ll surprise us all (in the best possible, emotionally healthy way).

To Britney and all my ladies out there currently holding on, make that delicious lemonade out of those lemons, mama. You hang in there!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup Looks of the Day: Soft and Smokey on My First Makeup Client, and Runway-Ready Avant Garde Glitter

June 17th, 2021 by Karen 13 Comments

glittery avant garde soft smokey top — Serving “lewks”

Technically, I don’t know if you can call Connor “my first makeup client,” since no monetary compensation occurred for my beauty services, HA HA HA!

We did each other’s makeup yesterday, and to absolutely nobody’s surprise, I did a wearable soft and smokey look on Connor. Adding to that, can I just say how much easier it is to do makeup on eyes that 1) aren’t heavily lidded and 2) aren’t my own? Blending eyeshadow is like night and day!

For her eyeshadow, I used the Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette, which is still my current go-to favorite eye palette. I didn’t think I could love it even more than I already do, but after seeing it on her skin, I’m convinced that this is a palette everyone can wear.

Oh, and tangent — my friend recently told me that she was shopping on the Honest Beauty website when she saw someone familiar…

Does this mean that Jessica Alba and I are connected in “a six degrees of Kevin Bacon” sense? I wonder!

Anyway, back to the makeup. I told Coywolf that she had free artistic reign to do whatever she wanted, and so that’s how I ended up with this runway-ready look with ALL THE GLITTER.

The stick she’s holding in the pic is the new Pixi Beauty On-the-Glow Blush stick, by the way, and you can wear it on cheeks and lips.

Early on in the process. I feel like this could be a look you’d see in Allure!

While she was piling product on my face, I mentioned that makeup artists often use their fingers to paint on their model’s faces, and she took this info and ran with it…

Here are our final looks! Let me know which one you would wear. ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Warm Reddish Brown Smokey Eyes With Teal Lids and Liner | Day 2 With the Urban Decay Naked Wild West Palette

March 5th, 2021 by Karen 2 Comments

Don’t ask me why this never occurred to me before, because you know I love streamlining, but today I wore the same shade of eyeshadow as a lid color and a liner color, and WHOOP-WHOOP! — my world is forever changed.

Do you ever do this? Because if you do, you’re officially a genius.

There’s a dark matte teal in the new Urban Decay Naked Wild West palette, and that’s what inspired me to try it.

I wanted some contrast between the lid color and liner, so I started by applying the lid shadow with a flat eyeshadow brush. Next, I buffed out the edges with a clean domed shadow brush, then blended a couple of warm matte browns into my crease to soften the edges.

After that, to amplify the intensity of the liner, I wet an angled brush with MAC Fix+, loaded it with the teal shadow, and lined my upper upper and lower lash lines. I kept the upper lash line crisp and buffed out the lower lash line for just a whisper of color…

I really like the harmony between the lid and liner colors, and there’s also a slight gradient affect!

I’m going to try it again in the near future, but not with this exact same shade of teal because it’s a little patchy…

It’s been a minute since I’ve worn colorful smokey eyes, and I figured out one of the reasons for this while I was doing this makeup — the shape of my eyes has changed so much in the last year, and that’s made doing looks like this a little more challenging to do.

Ya know…it’s just time doing its thang. Plus, the stress of the pandemic. *shrugs*

So what do we do? We adjust, right?

I feel like colorful shadow generally looks better on me when I keep the color lower on my lids and don’t go too far out in the outer corners… Took me a while to figure this one out, but eh, better late than never!

Gosh, I wish makeup magazines talked about this more — how the shape of your face changes as you get older. It feels like I’m relearning everything and starting from scratch. I mean, I knew this was coming, but I don’t feel like I was given an adequate heads-up, LOL!

Makeup worn in this look

BASE: Urban Decay Stay Naked Hydromaniac Tinted Moisturizer in 50 mixed with Lancome Skin Feels Good in Tan set with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden

EYES: Urban Decay Naked Wild West shadows in Standoff (base), Nude and Ghost Town (crease), Whiskey (outer third), Tex (lids and lash lines)

CHEEKS: Chanel No. 22 cream blush

LIPS: Origins Coral Daisy sheer lipstick

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 🙂

Classic Smokey Eyes | Day 3 With the Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette

February 25th, 2021 by Karen 5 Comments

Buuuut, I decided to go for it anyway, hoping that the matte beige underneath would tone down the shine, and it did!

If you’re a real stickler for blush that doesn’t heavy on your cheeks, then you might want to consider it because it’s so natural-looking on skin.

As you might know, I’m solidly on #TeamBritney, and so watching the doc left me with the hope that one day she’ll surprise us all (in the best possible, emotionally healthy way).

To Britney and all my ladies out there currently holding on, make that delicious lemonade out of those lemons, mama. You hang in there!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Mauve Smokey Eyes | Day 2 With the Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette

February 24th, 2021 by Karen 9 Comments

I followed Jessica A’s tutorial to do this mauve smokey eye with the Honest Beauty Get It Together! It was pretty easy too…which of course you know I liked. ?

Here are the eyeshadows I used…

Base: Matte beige vanilla (Vanill’d Velvet) buffed from lash line to brow bone
Lid and crease: Satiny coppery brown (Sunlit Copper) on lids and in the crease in a half moon shape for soft definition
Outer half: Satiny dark mauve-plum (Chromed Petal) blended onto the outer half (Side note: at this point, I cleaned up the edges with a makeup wipe.)
Upper lash line: Matte black (Magnetic Ink) applied with a wet brush on the upper lash line
Inner corner: Shimmery gold (Strobed Champagne) mixed shimmery light pink (Iced cotton)

Pretty much, I followed everything she did step by step. The only tweak I made was buffing a couple of layers of the matte beige shade, Vanilla’d Velvet, all over my lids first to give the other eyeshadows a smoother base (handy when you don’t want to apply a separate eye primer first).

In the video Jessica calls the palette the most “non-intimidating” eyeshadow palette, and I have to agree! The colors work perfectly with each other, and they’re easy to blend. It’s the most interesting product to cross my makeup path in a while, and I’m almost excited to wear eyeshadow again.

Ooh! — speaking of shocking developments, I can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you this, but last weekend Rosie and I got a solid FOUR HOURS of quality “meow time” together on Saturday. I almost didn’t know what to do with myself because it was the first time I had a block of time alone in the house in I don’t know how long! El Hub took Connor fishing at Bon Tempe Lake, so I was left to my own devices at home.

The lake is absolutely beautiful, BTW! We all went for the first time a couple weeks ago. It’s clear like a mini Lake Tahoe.

So, even though El Hub and I have been living in Marin County for almost 15 years now (YOWZA), I don’t really consider myself a local because I’m originally from the other side of the Bay, which, honestly might as well be a completely different planet. Anyway, my point is that I don’t know how to pronounce the names of all the places around here. I incorrectly assumed that “Bon Tempe” was French for “good time,” so I was saying it with my lame high school French accent, “BAHN THAMP.”

Then, my neighbor, who grew up in this area, politely informed me that it’s “BON TEMP-Y.”

HAHAHA! I’ve been saying it all bougie-fied this entire time… Whoops! ?‍♀️

There’s a trail that goes around the entire lake that’s about 4 miles long, so if you’re in the mood for a pretty gentle hike (nothing too steep or strenuous), it’s a good one with beautiful views of the water the entire time. FYI, there aren’t any bathrooms along the way…soooo 1) if you like to drink copious amounts of water, and 2) your bladder is about the size of a pea like someone’s I know (AHEM), you may want to wear pants that you can pull on and off quickly in case ya need to pop a squat behind a tree… I’m just sayin’! ?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Two-Ingredient Smokey Red-Bronze Eyes | Totally Wearable and NOT Crazy!

December 2nd, 2020 by Karen 11 Comments

mac teddy nub — Every MAC Teddy I’ve ever owned ends up looking like this! (Sweatshirt: Thank You For Being a Friend)

Can I get a whoop-whoop from my friends out there who have worn MAC Teddy down to the nubbiest of nubs?!

I was using this teeny, tiny stub yesterday and couldn’t help but laugh because I have been to this rodeo many times before. I grind and grind that pencil down until, one day, I look and realize, “Oh! I should probably replace it soon because I can barely hang onto it with two fingers.” HA HA HA HA!

MAC Teddy liner is a rockstar for a multitude of reasons (LET ME COUNT THE WAYS), but one standout for me is how well it layers with copper and red eyeshadows. That bronzed brown just werks with copper and red shades.

You can keep it easy-peasy lemon squeeze-y by lining your lash and/or waterlines with Teddy and then sweeping your copper or red shadow on your lids.

Or, optionally, you can do what I affectionately refer to as “sandwiching,” which is when you layer Teddy underneath and on top of a shadow for a smokey eye. I think it’s a surefire way to make even the craziest colors wearable.

The shadow I’m wearing here is MAC Firewerk the Room (from the new holiday collection), and it’s a straight-up red. On its own, it’s borderline bananas, but layered with Teddy it magically transforms the look into a wearable daytime smokey eye.

Start by buffing a layer of Teddy on your lids with a finger before sweeping a little Firewerk the Room (or any other red shimmery shadow) directly on top. Then buff with your favorite eyeshadow brush to feather out the edges.

Finish by lining your lash and waterlines with MOAR TEDDY, and don’t forget your mascara!

mac firewerk the room smile forward — Blanche, Dorothy, Rose or Sophia?

Makeup worn in this look

BASE: MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC42 mixed with MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklite, Estee Lauder 24HR Concealer in Medium Deep
CHEEKS: Hourglasss Radiant Bronze Light bronzer and Diffused Heat blush
LIPS: MAC Subculture Lipliner with Nuxe Lip Balm
EYES: Urban Decay Brow Beater in Neutral Brown, MAC Clear Brow Set, Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara, MAC Firewerk the Room eyeshadow, MAC Teddy liner
CLOTHING: Here’s my sweatshirt!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Using the Multi-Use Le Monochromatiques by Lancôme for Today’s Lazy Girl Glam: Daytime Golden Brown Smokey Eyes, Coral Cheeks and Lips

November 13th, 2020 by Karen 4 Comments

lancome le monochromatique k french affair down — Lil’ bit of smoke

It’s Friday the 13th! IN THE YEAR 2020! Seriously, good luck to us all… ?

Side note: are you superstitious? I like to think of myself as not overly superstitious, but when given a chance to maximize my luck by knocking on wood or putting coins underneath my doormat on New Year’s Eve (it’s a Filipino thing), I’ll do it. And if there’s ever something that looks sketchy, like a doll made with button eyes and hay with hella needles stuck to it, or an old glass bottle filled with teeth! — there’s ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I’m touching it.

lancome le monochromatique k french smile — Watch out for those ladders and black cats!

On that somewhat weird note…here’s today’s face of the day, which is kinda related to luck because I was lucky enough to stumble onto these fabulous multi-use pans from Lancôme. Have you heard of the Le Monochromatiques? They’re in the permanent line. They’re these creamy multi-use products in chic black compacts with clear tops (which I love, by the way, because I can quickly find the exact color I need), with a bouncy soft texture, and you can wear them on your lids, lips and cheeks. They blend like a dream!

lancome le monochromatique swatches — I’m an NC42 in MAC, by the way.

I’ve been really into what I like to call “lazy girl glam” lately, which are looks that rely on multitasking makeup and incorporate a subtle element or two of glamour (like a hazy smokey lid or glowing cheek highlights), but, like, toned down enough so I feel comfortable wearing them to run errands. I purposefully give myself 15-20 minutes to do everything from start to finish; that way I don’t get tempted to pile more stuff on my face, LOL!

Anyway, the Le Monochromatique line is fantastic for this type of look. Here I used the matte coral shade French Affair as a blush and a lipstick. Next, I dabbed a little bit of pearly champagne Eclat on my upper cheekbones and in the inner corners of my eyes as a highlighter (you can also use it as a eyeshadow). Then I swept a bit of matte brown Ooh La La (which doubles as a bronzer) on my lids atop a black pencil for soft, daytime smokey eyes.

lancome le monochromatique k french affair — When you’ve got 12 pounds of hair you might as well do something with it, hahah!

Besides looking effortless — I love how these creams don’t look too thick or obvious — I love how you can use them in so many different ways. I plan on mixing the brown and the champagne on my eyes next to see what happens.

Makeup worn in this look

BASE: Lancôme Skin Feels Good in Tan

CHEEKS: Lancôme Le Monochromatique in French Affair (blush), Eclat (highlighter)

LIPS: Lancôme Le Monochromatique in French Affair

EYES: MAC Smolder liner, Lancôme Le Monochromatique in Oh La La, Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara, Urban Decay Brow Beater in Neutral Brown

Speaking of black cats

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’90s-Style Lip Liner, Cool-Toned Smokey Lids, and Halloween at the Pronzini Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma

November 3rd, 2020 by Karen 14 Comments

When I said I was on a ’90s lip liner kick last week, I WAS NOT KITTEN!

Way back in 1994, Baby Karen would have probably laughed at me for doing this matte lip because of how involved it is. It’s a rosy beige matte lip, but I used two different lip liners with the lipstick (MAC Whirl and Cork liners, because I was going for a slight gradient effect with MAC Honey Love Lipstick ), and I carefully and subtly overdrew the half of my lip that’s slightly thinner by bracing my elbow on a table.

I also cleaned up the edges with a lip brush loaded with concealer. Back in the day, I used to be able to draw lips just like this while riding on a bumpy bus and balancing a bag filled with chemistry texts on my lap. Pretty sure I was half asleep while doing it, too, HAHAHA! Ah, youth… You so crazy!

Anywho, I automatically associate ’90s lips with classic MAC lipsticks and liner, so (naturally) I rolled with old-school MAC matte shades for the smokey eyes — Wedge, Omega, Carbon and Brun eyeshadows — and, of course, Smolder eyeliner, an old standby.

Ten years ago I used to feel like this type of makeup was so dated because of the unblended liner and the lack of shimmer, but now I kinda love it! I think there’s something timeless and elegant about it.

Did you have a go-to MAC lip liner and lipstick combo back in the day?

A different kind of Halloween, and Coycoy’s first horse adventure

It was definitely a Halloween for the books. Oh, 2020, you continue to surprise me!

We spent the bulk of our Halloween day at the Pronzini Farms Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma, which, by the way, highly recommended. We’re going back next year for sure.

There were so many things to do, not just for kids of all ages, but for all types of kids. There were the traditional items for play you’d expect at a pumpkin patch, like hay pyramids, mazes and pedal cars, but there were also things like bingo, a train ride and a scavenger hunt for kids who preferred less physical activities.

Connor spent most of her time at the petting zoo connecting with a gentle brown horse named “Boogie,” and she surprised both me and El Hub by asking if she could go on a pony ride with him.

Over the past few months we’ve noticed that it takes her a while to warm up to doing something different and new, so I was thrilled to see her happily jump into the saddle to take a few turns with him. When she finished her ride I asked her how it went, and she said, “Mama, my heart was so happy when I was riding my horse.” I almost turned into a blubbering mess right then and there.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen