What’s the biggest gamble you ever took with your hair?

I ask this one every so often, but mine was right after a bad breakup. I was half out of my mind with heartbreak and looking for a fresh start with a new look, so I asked my stylist for help.

I had her chop my long black hair, which was down to my elbows, into a chin-length layered style with the ends flipped out.

But that wasn’t enough of a change to purge my emotional demons, so I went back the following week and asked for chunky red highlights, too.

I remember how liberating it felt to transform my look… Letting go of all that hair was like unloading the baggage of my failed relationship.

Of course, I also remember how much of a pain-in-the-arse it was to grow out that cut, LOL! I hate the way my hair feels when it’s in that mid-length stage, creeping down the back of my neck.

What’s the biggest gamble you ever took with your hair? Let me know in the comments, and try your luck with the Makeup and Beauty Blog slot machine at the top of this post (if you’re reading this in the feed, click here to play).

Happy hump day!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Dang, I’m so coveting Carrie Underwood’s hair! The 26-year-old country singer and former American Idol winner has a penchant for waves, side-swept bangs and layers.

I wonder what hair she’ll wear to the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 when she sings the national anthem, hmmm…

Which of Carrie's hairstyles do you like best?

• 1. Updo with side-swept bangs
• 2. Long and straight with pinned-back bangs
• 3. Low side ponytail with curls
• 4. Long layers with side-swept bangs and curled ends
• 5. Half up, half down with side-swept bangs and height in the crown
• 6. Smooth and sleek with side-swept bangs
• 7. Loose waves and side-swept bangs
• 8. High bangs with side wings (so '80s!)
• 9. Half up, half down with pinned-back bangs and curls

View Results

 Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Oh, almost forgot…

Continue Reading…

Leonardo DiCaprio is THE MAN. For serious. Yesterday, the actor/environmentalist donated $1 million to support aid efforts in quake-ravaged Haiti, earning him my YOU GO, BOY! Award of the Day.

Born November 11, 1974 in Los Angeles, California, Leonardo’s been artfully kicking butt ever since the day his mother, a legal secretary, named him. She was pregnant at the time and gazing at one of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings in a museum in Italy when little Leo first kicked.

Leo was a very youthful 16 when his acting career began. It started on TV, with sitcom stints on Parenthood (a series based on the movie) and Growing Pains. Those jobs led to his breakout film roles playing young Tobias Wolff in This Boy’s Life and Jack “I’m the king of the world!” Dawson in Titanic.

Today, thanks to the influence that comes with celebrity, Leo actively promotes issues near and dear to his heart, one being protection of the environment. Through The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and groups like Global Green (I’m a member!) and the National Resources Defense Council, he’s become one of the most influential people in Hollywood on global climate change.

Oh, and he works a mean set of bangs, LOL!

Which of Leonardo's hairstyles do you like best?

• 1. Dark brown and slick with a side part
• 2. Light brown with a side part and soft feathered bangs
• 3. Long, crunchy blond bangs and a side part
• 4. Wolverine-style bangs
• 5. Spiked messy bangs
• 6. Slicked bangs with a soft wave
• 7. Long, messy bangs brushed forward
• 8. Short blond crop
• 9. Chin-length bowl cut

View Results

 Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Did you catch the People’s Choice Awards last night? Country-crossover darling Taylor Alison Swift (who was ROCKING that cute lil’ white dress and silver heels, LOVE!), snagged the award for Favorite Female Artist of the Year. Go Taylor!

The young singer/songwriter’s (born December 13, 1989) career is on fire right now, but she’s been at this for a while. Who knew that the fourth grade national poetry contest she won for her three-page poem titled “Monster in My Closet” would eventually lead to this? Or that by age 10 she’d be composing and writing her own songs?

Her 2006 self-titled debut album exclusively featured songs she’d either written or co-written herself.

Yet Taylor’s talents do go beyond singing and writing. She also plays guitar (including the 12-string… that’s a LOT of strings, yo!), piano and ukulele.

And she’s even on her way to the silver screen, starring in the soon-to-be-released Valentine’s Day, with Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Alba.

Looks like the Kanye incident didn’t slow her down at all. Keep rockin’, T!

Which of Taylor's hairstyles do you like best?

• 1. Straight, sleek updo with smooth bangs
• 2. Tight curls with side-swept bangs
• 3. Loose waves with a thin headband
• 4. Medium curls
• 5. Side-swept bangs with height in the back and a side ponytail
• 6. Tight curls
• 7. Low updo with wavy pieces in the front
• 8. Side-swept bangs and a low ponytail with a headband
• 9. Updo with feathered bangs

View Results

 Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hark, a Dark Angel cometh, and she’s got bitchin’ hot hair!

Okay, so I just walked in the door from seeing Avatar (the 2D version… I KNOW! The theater was closer to home), and, yeah, I loved every minute of its FernGully-ish, eyeball-kissing spectacle. That Jimmy James Cameron (Aliens, Terminators 1 and 2, The Abyss, True Lies, Titanic) sure has some science fiction film making chops, right?

Makes me wonder if Jessica Marie Alba (born April 28, 1981; NOTE: She doesn’t star in Avatar), when she learned back in 2000 that she’d been picked to star in Cameron’s short-lived Dark Angel TV series, thought, “OMG! I’m going to be taking orders from James Cameron!? How cool is this?”

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that Jessica’s bad girl looks and lascivious locks had something to do with her getting the part. And yet she’s managed to maintain a strict no-nudity clause in her acting contracts throughout her career, once saying, “I don’t do nudity. I just don’t. Maybe that makes me a bad actress. Maybe I won’t get hired in some things. But I have too much anxiety.”

It didn’t stop her from taking the No. 1 spot on Maxim’s Hot 100 list in 2001, or AskMen.com’s list of the 99 Most Desirable Women of 2006.

I don’t know about any of that, but daaaayam, girl has some foine hair.

Which of Jessica's hairstyles do you like best?

• 1. Short blonde bob
• 2. Long, loose waves with a center part
• 3. Shoulder-length and brown with streaks
• 4. '40s-style curls with a side part
• 5. Straight and long with bangs
• 6. Updo with braids and a center part
• 7. Updo with height in the front
• 8. Long, black and straight
• 9. Blonde with curls and bangs

View Results

 Loading ...

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen