October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

When they first arrived they were not met with a happy welcome.

Of course the first step was denial. Never mind that whenever I ran or cartwheeled or climbed trees they were always bouncing every which way. I was 11. I was a tomboy. My agenda involved riding bikes, playing baseball: I absolutely had no plans to grow up, acquire boobs or wear bras in the near future.

But then there they were. And one day, when my best friend and I were running around her yard pretending to be Olympic track stars, her mom noticed that I was sprinting in the most peculiar way. Without thinking, I cradled my arms underneath my bosoms to prevent the No-These-Aren’t-Boobs from bouncing around as I ran sans arms for the Gold.

Her mom made a quick jaunt to our house and gently mentioned to my mother that I might want to get something to rein those suckers in. And although in my mind tomboys didn’t need no stinking bras and I was determined to live in my life of boob-denial, my mom sat me down that evening and declared, “YOU WILL BE GETTING A BRA THIS WEEKEND.”

And so I went to bed that night in tears.

Even though I was just 11, I knew that my life was changing, and that from now on, things would be different because I was growing up. That frightened me most of all.

While the relationship between my breasts began with a rocky start, I can say now that I appreciate them. They’ve helped me score numerous free beers. Oh, and my husband claims they were really “easy on the eyes” on our first date.

But in all seriousness, I thank the powers-that-be every day that the boobs been healthy thus far. Within the past few years I’ve had a few friends who’ve been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. These amazing women are survivors, and are my heroes.

So, in honor of these wonderful ladies I’ll be doing several posts this month dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Several of my favorite beauty lines are selling special products with proceeds that go to different Breast Cancer organizations. If you’re planning on buying a lipstick or a blush this October, please think about purchasing something that supports the cause. It’s a small step, but you can still make a difference. See – makeup can be a powerful thing!

Product: Limited Edition of Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. Check out the cute Clinique and Pink Ribbon cell phone charms!
Use: As a moisturizing facial lotion
Price: $35.00 for a 6.7 fl. oz pump-top bottle
Who this benefits: $10 per Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding the most innovative clinical and genetic research at leading medical centers worldwide. For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrfcure.org or call 1.866.FIND.A.CURE.

Product: Prescriptives’ Limited Edition Pink Ahead Colorscope Eye Color
Use: A shadow trio to highlight, define and contour eyes – wear each shade alone or blend them together to create your own customized look.
Price: $17.50
Who this benefits: Purchasing a product from this collection helps Prescriptives donate $40,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Product: Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights and Smashbox Face & Body Brush #19
Use: Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights is a powder highlighter that gives skin a natural-rosy hue. Apply with Face & Body Brush #19 to your face or décolleté.
Price: $59.00
Who this benefits:A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the set will go directly to the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, a grassroots advocacy group dedicated to finding a cure.

Product: Splendid and Estee Lauder’s Limited-Edition Pink Camouflage Tank Top
Use: To cover your bosoms and to raise awareness that early detection saves lives!
Price: $42.00
Who this benefits: Splendid will donate 25% of the proceeds from the sale of each tank top to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

I hope you get the chance to hug the women you love on this wonderful Wednesday.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Nix’ie Palettes are Too Sexy for This Blog

SoCal girls may already be in-the-know about Nix’ie, a cosmetics line with two free-standing stores in Redondo Beach and Valencia, California. I met a makeup artist recently who raved about their shadows with a great and fanatic urgency! Nix’ie sells these awesome palettes for $9.00, and you can fill ‘em up with any of their 200 (!) shades, which you purchase separately. Each shadow pan is $15.00 and the pans are quite large, too.

I’m becoming a huge fan of palettes and can’t wait to bust into this one.

Blissmobile + Free Brownies = Hell to the Yeah

In addition to being afraid of bright pink and orange eye shadows, I have a fear of vans –
especially white, windowless, kidnapper-friendly ones.

When you stare at this van, do you think of puppies and rainbows? Probably not. You know that whenever a white van is in the equation nothing good can happen.

Despite this, I realize not all vans are scary dens of hell. Take for example the blissmobile, a happy-go-lucky vehicle that makes me want to solve some crimes with Fred, Velma and the rest of the Scooby gang.

Don’t be scurred when you see the blissmobile cruising the streets of San Francisco from the Ferry Building to the Castro Street Fair between October 3-21st. No kidnapping will be involved, just some brownie taste testing! Bliss is on a mission to find the best brownies in SF to serve at their San Francisco spa, and they’re taking it to the streets. They’ll be passing out brownie samples from three bakeries, and then you’ll get to choose which one you like the best on the spot.

Free brownies, hello?

(And if you’re not familiar with bliss products, then you need to stop by Sephora or Pure Beauty stat and get yourself a tube of lemon + sage body butter. It rocks!)

Stay tuned for more bliss news in October, as I’ll be heading to the bliss spa to get a much-needed manicure.

Lusting for Chanel’s Fall Color Line

I’m going to Macy’s next week to get a makeover from a Chanel national artist, and I can already forsee where the hell this party is going. I am determined to go that counter and purchase the Garden Party Quad ONLY. Yup. That’s it. Nothing else.

It’s like when a boy at a college party puts down his red plastic cup (full of Natty light keg beer) and looks longingly into your eyes and says, “Let me give you a massage.” Ya’ll know that you are gonna get more than just a massage, ladies and gents.

Anyway, it’s Tuesday (woo hoo) and sunny and beautiful here! I hope that wherever you are that you can enjoy the sunshine on this fantastic day. Keep smiling!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Here’s a Face of the Day that I did with Lola Laptop’s Color to Go in “Joy.” I’m a sucker for packaging, and I love how sleek and sophisticated this looks.

What I liked about it
- Cute packaging
- Captive Eyeshadow is a beautiful, highly pigmented bronze.
- Gloss has a great texture and is not sticky
- Huge mirror in compact
- Unusual color combo

What I didn’t like about it
- Lots of large chunky glitter in the gold enchant shadow (too disco for me)
- No lip brush

So I never wear pinks on my eyes but this palette helped to push me out of my regular makeup comfort zone, which I appreciate. Here’s what I used:

- Enchant on the brow bone
- Captive on lid
- Charm on outer third of lid
- Cherish on lash line

On my lips I first applied a layer of Allure, which looks dark in the pan but is actually very sheer. I popped a thin layer of Entice on top.

I have to admit, it took me a while to figure this palette out. These shadow colors are shades that I’m not normally immediately drawn to, but after some practice (and lots of blending) I liked the result of the eye very much. I felt like I had to use a lot of color to get it to show up, but that may just be because I have darker skin.

If you are lighter then I suspect you’ll have an easier time with this. Oh, and while it’s not quite my style, if you like big flashy glitter gold glitter than you’ll love the highlight color, Cherish.

The Lola Laptop Color to Go Palette is $36.00.

Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

I’m exhausted, ya’ll. The last two days have really taken a lot out of me. I think I’m crashing from the adrenaline rush, plus I’ve had very little sleep and too much coffee.

I’m glad it’s Friday because today is my day off and I’m looking forward to digging into more of the Lola Holiday/Fall loot today. Perhaps I’ll even pop by the movies to catch the new Resident Evil flick, too.

Hope your Friday so far has been fun and that wherever you are that your feeling rested, happy and loved. Oh, and I also hope your brows look good, too! =)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

With all the talk about red lips, TV and pirates around here lately, it was only a matter of time before makeupandbeautyblog.com found experts to wax philosophic on the subjects.

And while I was 100% unsuccessful in finding a legitimate pirate to interview (damn), I did manage to track down celebrity makeup artist Bruce Grayson, the Makeup Department Head for the 2007 Primetime Emmy’s (hooray).

He was nice enough to offer some tips how to get the perfect red lip, one of the dominant makeup these at this year’s Emmy’s, and how to have perfect makeup in HDTV conditions.

Makeup and Beauty Blog: This year we saw several stars at the Emmy’s rockin’ the red lips. While it’s pretty, many women have a hard time in real life recreating this dramatic look. What are your favorite tricks and products that real women can do and use to create the perfect bold lip?

Xtina working the red lip. Photo credit: people.com

Bruce Grayson: Dramatic lips are easy to create if you have the right tools. Start with a good round tip lip brush.

Apply lipstick from the center of the lips and paint towards lip line. Use a complimentary colored lip pencil to draw the lip line.

Start at the bow of the upper lip and the center of the lower lip to the corners. Don’t be afraid to draw outside the lip line to recreate shape.

Use a cream highlighter with a brush or highlighter pencil above the bow and below the lower liner to define.

Makeup and Beauty Blog: HDTV is notorious for showing extreme detail in a makeup, and some makeup companies like Kryolan are even creating special products to adjust to the fine detail of High Definition TV. What tricks and products do you like to use to deal with the HDTV?

Bruce Grayson: The first thing I do is become buddies with the cameraman. Lighting is the most important element in HD.

Second I make sure that the skin is even tone using a minimum of foundation and thin concealers only where needed.

I always defuse eyeliners, especially black which can look harsh in HD.

Before I even begin to apply eye make-up, I like to start with Olay Definity Eye Illuminator ($25.99 at drugstores nationwide) because it has multi-colored micas that help to hide imperfections. It limits the amount of make-up I need to use around the eye.

I use shimmer eyeshadows and blush selectively, HD accentuates all contrast including shimmer makeups. I use shading to give the face contour. Blending is key!

Translucent pressed powders are used where needed to tone down areas of the face where reflection is distracting to create strategic shine.

The Products:
Nars Translucent Pressed Powders
Stilla Sheer pressed power
Olay Definity Eye Illuminator
Olay Definity Deep Penetrating Foaming Moisturzer- a great underbase before foundation
Concealer: Amazing Cosmetics Concealers
Mac Shaping powders

Makeup and Beauty Blog: What are your three can’t-live-without products that you absolutely must have backstage and why?

Bruce Grayson: The three can’t-live-without products backstage are:

1. Mac Clear Lipglass- compliments any lipstick.

2. Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets- take the shine down without powder build up.

3. Laura Mercier Undercover Concealers- Comes in a variety of shades and are workable to provide just enough coverage to get the job done.

Makeup and Beauty Blog: Thanks Bruce! Now we’re all ready for our close ups!

ARGH! Tis Talk Like a Pirate Day, Mateys!

Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day, and yesterday it occurred to me that nobody does heavy black eyeliner like those crazy pirates.

And of course, in typical Karen fashion, this epiphany happened while I had my left arm stuck between an extremely heavy desk and a wall for 15 minutes:

I work part time in a book agent’s office, so while she was out yesterday I had to install a new fax machine. Everything was fine and dandy until it was time to plug the damn thing in. The desk weighed about a million pounds and was pressed up so close to the wall that I couldn’t get the plug in easily.

Somehow I managed to snake my left arm in, and for five minutes I kept trying to get the plug in unsuccessfully. When I finally gave up I tried to shimmy my arm out and BAM, that bad boy is stuck. Really and truly STUCK. And it remains stuck for 15 minutes. And of course, the phone is three feet away from me, so I can’t call anybody.

During that time I contemplate spitting all over my arm to get it all lubed up (so gross). I comtemplate yelling, “HELP! CALL 911” at the top of my lungs on the off chance that someone in the office building might hear my cry.

And then I remember the episode of COPS I saw a few years back where a kid gets stuck between a toilet and a bathtub and the police have to bring the JAWS OF LIFE to get him out. I start sweating profusely.

So after the initial panic and then having my life flash before my eyes, I finally get myself to relax enough by thinking of Talk Like a Pirate Day. I start wondering whether Captain Jack Sparrow would prefer Technakohl or Fluidline (I don’t see him as a brush fanatic), and soon enough, that left arm slinks right back out.

I wonder what he uses on his waterline

MACY’S PASSPORT 2007 is Tonight!

Tonight I’m heading to SF to attend MACY’S PASSPORT 2007, a fashion-charity show, and to interview MAC Viva Glam Spokesperson Dita Von Teese!

After attending SF Fashion week I realized that I need a big bag to fit all of my camera and tech equipment when going to these shows, so yesterday after I freed myself from the wall I went to the mall and picked up this lovely bag from Lululemon Athletica.

It’s supposed to be a gym bag but it can also be a massive purse, overnight bag, makeup bag (!) or school bag. The best part? It’s only $64.00.

Check out the three cavernous sections and envision all of the crap you could put in it! All of my stuff fits in it; I stuffed my laptop, my cameras, my tripod and a bunch of other stuff in it and there was still room to spare.

It’s lightweight, you can throw it in the wash and it holds 50 FRICKIN POUNDS! And there’s even a designated pocket for my Crackberry, awww!

So I’m all packed up and pretty much ready to go for the interview tonight! Wish me luck!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sweet Jeebus this limited edition collection is hot. The Lola line always makes me want to put on some pearls, a pair of black patent high heels, a faux leopard fur coat and satin elbow length gloves…and when I’m rockin’ this makeup I’d wear that outfit to Safeway to buy some bananas. Seriously.

Stay tuned for the reviews on both the Immaculate Complexion and Unforgettably Lola collections in the next few weeks!

Whatever Lola Wants…

Lola Gets…

And little man…

Little Lola wants you.

CRANKY! The Internets are out once again at our house. Sigh. Can I just say that there was *much* improv used to get this post up? I feel like I’m blogging using two sticks and a hand crank radio.

But it’s Thursday and ya can’t beat that. Tomorrow I’m getting highlights done because my roots are showing something fierce. Oh, and there’s the hot date with the Comcast repair man at 3:00, who visits our house so much that I feel like I should sit him down to tea and feed him some cucumber sandwiches and earl grey. I’m not bitter!

Have a great Thursday and keep on truckin’!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen