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Karen

The NARS Erdem Strange Flowers Collection, and Familiar Flowers in My Neighborhood

April 19th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

nars erdem wildflower
NARS Erdem

The new NARS Erdem Strange Flowers summer collection is out now (side note: Erdem is a women’s fashion designer, if you’re not in the know… I had to look him up, so you aren’t alone if you had no clue!), so, of course, being the frustrated botanist that I am, I walked all over my neighborhood looking for strange flowers, and that’s when I realized that there aren’t any strange flowers in my neighborhood…

LIKE, NONE.

I don’t think it’s too much to expect to see a Venus Flytrap while you’re taking your cat for a walk.

But I digress…

The NARS Erdem Strange Flowers Collection

Wanna-Be Botanist Karen is like YAAASSS because every piece in this LE release is covered with 🌺🌻🌹 flowers.

  • The eyeshadows palettes — Super potent. Just a little dip with the tip of eye brush lays down loads o’ pigment. If I get in there and blend with a fierce purpose, I’m fine. Fun for smoky looks. πŸ™‚
  • The blushes — Frostier in the arm swatches than they are on cheeks, yay! Good news for those of us with, like, pores.
  • The lipsticks — Such a twist! They look dark and intimidating, but five of the six are sheer. The only opaque one is red Blood Flower, which I think is OK, but the sheer ones, I LOVE. They’re like super intense lip tints, and I’m all about the pink and purples because they could almost pass for nudes.
  • The blotting papers — OK.
  • The stick highlighter — Opalescent purple dewy gorgeousness. Also doubles as an eyeshadow base (I used it in these pics underneath the blue and charcoal from the Night Garden Palette, and it tinted the smoky look with a hint of purple)
  • The lip palette — I like layering the lip powders on top of the cream lipstick, but they make my lips look and feel a little dry…

Instead of strange flowers, I saw a bunch of familiar 🌺 flowers, and even though I’m bummed about my neighborhood’s lack of exotic horticulture, the familiar flowers always bring me so much joy and fill me with happy memories. πŸ™‚

nars night garden eyeshadow palette
Strange flowers with familiar flowers

Like these white and purple daisies. Oh, my goodness! When my my parents first moved into the house I grew up in, which is the house my parents still live in today, it had this big patch of daisies just underneath the living room window, and when you’d walk in and out of the house, they were the first things you saw in the yard.

white and purple daisies
These were all over our front yard when I was a kid.
nars fleur fatale eyeshadow palette
Fleur Fatale Eyeshadow Palette
nars night garden eyeshadow palette
Night Garden Eyeshadow Palette (in the day!)

My friend Karrie, who lived next door to my childhood home in the East Bay, would hop over the fence, knock on the door, and ask if I could go outside and play. At some point whenever we’d be playing, a few of these daisies would be picked, and they’d end up either in our hair, around our wrists as bracelets, or squashed underneath bicycle tires.

And these California poppies… OH! They take me back, too.

poppies
Poppies

[Continue reading…]

Categories: Collections, Makeup, NARS, Product Reviews Keywords: nars, nars erdem strange flowers, nars summer 2018

7 Messages Written in Lipstick I’d Leave for a Stranger on a Bathroom Mirror

April 19th, 2018 by Karen 15 Comments

thank you for your bootyshake
Because somebody had to say it.
  1. Thank you for your πŸ’ƒ bootyshake
  2. Call mom. She misses you.
  3. Tight jeans are bullsh*t
  4. You survived puberty — you can tackle ANYTHING.
  5. Dump his (or her) a$$. *You deserve better.
  6. Beautiful girl, you’re so brave!
  7. The fourth cat is the gateway 😸 cat
tight jeans are bullshit
You know it’s true. 😁

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Categories: Just For Fun

An Eye for Color

April 18th, 2018 by Karen 24 Comments

connor hello kitty backpack 2

I let her pick out her outfit today, and this is what she came up with. The bows, the Hello Kitty backpack, the flower-print hoodie — everything, all her.

connor hello kitty backpack 2

connor hello kitty backpack

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Categories: Just For Fun

10 Things About Makeup and Beauty That Make You Go Hmmm…

April 18th, 2018 by Karen 39 Comments

 things that make you go hmmm
Deep thoughts?!

  1. How did baby poop-colored nail polish 1) come to be so frighteningly accurate, and 2) so coveted by the masses?
  2. Why are dudes who have no clue/don’t care always blessed with the longest, curliest, lushest eyelashes?
  3. Why do tweens with porcelain skin and no dark circles wear enough foundation to cover a rump roast and go to Target in full-beat glam?
  4. Why are Instagram brow tails SO sharp?
  5. Why do I remember to bring that 14th tube of pinkish nude lipstick but forget my phone at home?
  6. Why do I feel the need to keep three sticks of half-used MAC Teddy Eye Kohl in my makeup bag?
  7. Why does one feel compelled to buy — not one, not two — but FIVE (*rolls eyes*) πŸ™„ different bougie foundations/face tints at the Sephora VIB sale, even though one knows they will just end up wearing MAC Face & Body half the time anyway?
  8. Why do the makeup powers that be do lame sh*t like discontinue the world’s best brown pencil liner (I’m talking to you, person who took MAC Coffee away from me!)?
  9. Has the “influencer”/brand collaboration trend hit its peak?
  10. Is there anything out there like liquid SPANX for under-eye bags, and if there is, where can I get it, and do they ship overnight?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day, babe! 😁

Categories: Just For Fun, Makeup

MAC Pink Hearts Glitter | Better Than Photoshop

April 17th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

mac pink hearts glitter
MAC Retro Matte Lipstick in To Matte With Love on my lips. And GLITTER.

The other day I covered up what the beauty/fashion world calls my “imperfections” — the freckles on my cheekbones, acne scars on my cheeks, the chicken pox souvenir in the center of my forehead that I got when I was three — with big ol’ heart-shaped glitter from MAC, and you know what occurred to me?

WE SHOULD BE DOING THIS, LIKE, ALL THE TIME. Screw Face Tune and Photoshop. This is much so cooler.

Weirdly enough, these glitter hearts, which are even more epic in person, do a bang-up job of sticking to my skin. I wore them all day long without any glue (just on top of my usual foundation and powder), and only two hearts fell off.

mac pink hearts glitter
Literally counting down the seconds till I roll up into TJ’s looking like this…

[Continue reading…]

Categories: MAC Makeup, Makeup Keywords: mac, mac cosmetics

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About Makeup and Beauty Blog

Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Hi there! I’m Karen, your friendly neighborhood beauty addict, and I’m a Bay Area girl who hoards brown eyeshadow and covets coral lipstick. Every morning, I wake up and say, “I’m going to do something other than a smoky eye today.” Then…I end up doing a smoky eye anyway (most days). When I’m not putting on makeup, taking pictures of makeup or writing about makeup, you’ll find me hanging out with my hubby (“El Hub”), my two-year-old daughter (Connor Claire) and my cat (Tabs).

Featured Posts

New Spring 2018 Items for Cat Ladies and Makeup Lovers on connorclaire.com

New Spring 2018 Items for Cat Ladies and Makeup Lovers on connorclaire.com

A Glamorously Grungy Makeup Tutorial: Smoky Reddish Brown Eyes and Vampy Matte Lips [MODERATE SKILL LEVEL]

A Glamorously Grungy Makeup Tutorial: Smoky Reddish Brown Eyes and Vampy Matte Lips [MODERATE SKILL LEVEL]

A 10-Minute Minimalist Makeup Tutorial: Gleaming Rose Gold Wings With Glossy Cheeks and Lips

A 10-Minute Minimalist Makeup Tutorial: Gleaming Rose Gold Wings With Glossy Cheeks and Lips

A Rainy Day Minimalist Makeup Tutorial: Cheerful Pink Cheeks, Rosy Lips and Doe Eyes

A Rainy Day Minimalist Makeup Tutorial: Cheerful Pink Cheeks, Rosy Lips and Doe Eyes

10-Minute Work or Weekend Makeup With Red Blush, Red Lipstick and Smudgy Bronze-Black Cat Eyeliner

10-Minute Work or Weekend Makeup With Red Blush, Red Lipstick and Smudgy Bronze-Black Cat Eyeliner

Recent Posts

The NARS Erdem Strange Flowers Collection, and Familiar Flowers in My Neighborhood

The NARS Erdem Strange Flowers Collection, and Familiar Flowers in My Neighborhood

7 Messages Written in Lipstick I’d Leave for a Stranger on a Bathroom Mirror

7 Messages Written in Lipstick I’d Leave for a Stranger on a Bathroom Mirror

An Eye for Color

An Eye for Color

10 Things About Makeup and Beauty That Make You Go Hmmm…

10 Things About Makeup and Beauty That Make You Go Hmmm…

MAC Pink Hearts Glitter | Better Than Photoshop

MAC Pink Hearts Glitter | Better Than Photoshop

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