Makeup & Beauty Blog

Lake Tahoe with my number one girl!

HELLO from the back in the Bay Area! Baby Love, El Hub and I made it got back yesterday afternoon.

Before heading out I meant to post a list of the products I was bringing with me, but I didn’t have a chance, so here goes now. Tracy, girl! — I know you also asked, so here’s the makeup I brought to Tahoe and also used for the look I’m wearing in the top pic.

Oh, and wouldn’t ya know it? The weather cleared up just as we were getting ready to leave… Don’tcha hate it when that happens?

Here’s what I brought on the trip (the pink bag is the Drawn to Lipstick Makeup Bag from connorclaire.com)

Products I brought that I actually used on the trip…

Here are the products I actually ended up using, and I’ve listed them in the order they were used in the makeup I’m wearing in that pic at the top.

• Make Up For Ever Step 1 Smoothing Primer — On my cheeks, nose and around my mouth and chin
• Urban Decay Naked Skin One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector in Medium Dark — Applied all over my face to even out my skin tone (you guys know how much I love this stuff)
• Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Concealer in R40 — I use this orange-toned concealer as a color-corrector to cancel out the purple under my eyes.
• NARS Translucent Crystal Light Reflecting Setting Powder — I use the tiniest bit to set the corrector.
• Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Concealer Y33 — I apply this on top of the corrector as a concealer and to brighten my under-eye area. Then I use NARS Translucent Crystal again to set it.
• Hourglass Vanish Foundation in Beige — I apply a tiny bit to my cheeks, nose and around my mouth.
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden — To set my face makeup
• Benefit Ready Set Brow — Applied to bare brows to wrangle them into place and give my brow powder something to hold onto
• MAC The Monster’s Bride Palette — I only used Brun, which I used to fill in the spare spots in my brows with a stiff, flat eyeshadow brush.
• NARS Pro Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base — An old fave for priming my lids
• MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick in Lilacked — This wasn’t in the picture I posted of my Tahoe makeup the other day, but OMG! — SO TOTALLY OBSESSED WITH THIS.

  It occurred to me on this trip that I need to give this the Unsung Makeup Heroes treatment ASAP, along with my other favorite colors from the MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick line.

• MAC Nordstrom Naturals Palette — Using a MAC 217 brush, I mixed Woodwinked and Wedge, and then applied that on top of Lilacked Colour Stick, before applying Carbon with a flat eyeshadow brush along my upper lash line.
• Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof in 929 — THE BEST warm, shimmery brown! The Stylo Yeux pencils are pricey, but they never irritate my eyes and stay put all day long.
• Urban Decay Cannonball Waterproof Mascara — Holds a curl like WHOA
• Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette — I’m wearing Incandescent Electra blush, which I applied to the apples of my cheeks.
• NARS Apoline Lipstick — My neutral pink jam at the moment

Products I brought that I ended up not using…

I’d planned to do some looks with glitter and shiny liquid liner for going out to dinner, but that didn’t happen because of the rain (we didn’t want to deal).

In no particular order…

• The MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Sticks in Cinder Black, Tabby, Tea Leaves and Bitter Clove
• Benefit High Brow Glow Pencil
• Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyeliner in Eros
• Clinique Quickliner for Eyes Intense in Intense Ebony
• MAC Eye Kohl in Powersurge
• Clinique Liquid Eyelining Pen
• The Estée Edit The Edgiest Kohl in Iced
• Urban Decay Razor Sharp Long-Wear Liquid Eyeliners in Goldrush and Snakebite
• Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons in 03 Naturel-Bruenttes
• MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Constructivist
• Chanel Illusion D’Ombre in Rouge Brule
• Hourglass Panoramic Lip Liner in Eden
• Urban Decay Naked Lipgloss in Sesso

By the way, random thing, but did you know that most hotels can send a baby crib up to your room if you ask them?!

The things you learn when you’re a first-time mom…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hmm… Maybe I should’ve brought some mittens. It’s chilly here in Tahoe. Paddle boarding and jet skiing are out.

Even though it’s been rainy and cloudy, the lake is still beautiful.

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It’s officially fall in Tahoe

Shoot! I still haven’t found Kitty Glitter, my favorite penny slot machine, but I haven’t given up the hunt yet.

We’ve been having a good time here so far. It’s chilly and looks like it’s about to rain, so we’ve been keeping it low key. Here are just some pics from our day so far. I hope you’re having a good one too. Friday’s right around the corner.

Hanging out at Heavenly Village. It’s been a little chilly…

Steampunk masks — I want one of these for Tabs

Earthbound Trading Co. is one of my favorite stores here in Tahoe. It’s like Cost Plus World Market with more clothes and accessories.

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For the chronic makeup over-packers out there, I feel your pain! Whenever I travel, my natural inclination is to bring everything and the kitchen sink (I blame it on my need to always feel prepared for anything).

But I’m always looking for ways to trim down my makeup bag because, really, am I going to spend 30 minutes in the morning blending three shades of brown into the crease?

Probably not.

I’ve learned that most of the stuff I end up bringing, I actually don’t use, so to stop myself from packing 15 pounds of makeup, now I dump out everything I want to bring on a towel…and then I just remove half of it.

That’s what I did when I packed my makeup to bring to Tahoe.

I realize that compared to die-hard makeup minimalists, I still brought quite a few things, but this is pretty darned streamlined for me, LOL!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Yup, the magical microfiber Aquis hair towel that I love so much because it cuts my hair drying time in half…also works on makeup brushes!

You just squeeze the wet bristles with the towel, except that this towel is magical, and bam! — (almost) completely dry brush heads.

I say “almost” because they still need about another hour or so of air drying, but that’s still good.

I mean, I guess I should have known this towel would be good at drying more than just hair, but it didn’t occur to me until I washed a few brushes to bring to Tahoe today. I saw my Aquis towel out of the corner of my eye and had an ah-ha moment! 😀 Try it sometime.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen