Hell-to-the-Yah! #1: Blue and Green Eyeshadow

Why did it take me so long to get on the blue and green eyeshadow train? I can’t believe I lived through my 20s only wearing beige, brown and taupe on my lids. Although I still love those neutral shades, in the last few months I’ve become obsessed with blues and greens! They set my heart a-flutter.

Hell-to-the-Yah! #2: Indian Summer in the Ess Eff Bay Area

Fall sunset in Tiburon, California

‘Twas a balmy 70 degrees today in the San Francisco Bay Area. I went for a long run around my neighborhood wearing a t-shirt and shorts — no jacket required! The sun on my skin felt heavenly.

Hell-to-the-Yah! #3: Girl Power Workout Songs

During the toughest part of my run, I listened to a playlist on my iPod named “Girl Power Workout Songs,” LOL. Totally cheesy, I know, but the songs on that list always give me an extra boost. I blasted Nelly Furtado’s Maneater during that last grueling hill and charged up it like a woman on a mission. I guarantee that if you crank this song you’ll push through that last part of your workout with everything you’ve got left.

Hell-to-the-Yah! #4: Weird Holiday Catalogues

When the holidays roll around my mailbox gets flooded with a plethora of weird catalogues! I never buy anything from them, but I still like to look through them for fun.

Mars’ Cheese Castle in Wisconsin just sent me one featuring fascinating things I’ve never seen before, like spicy sausages shaped like beer bottles and cakes made with whiskey. SO WEIRD!

Hell-to-the-Yah! #5: Morris Chestnut

Last night I watched a movie called The Perfect Holiday. It’s a cute chick/family flick starring Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah and cutie pie Morris Chestnut.

In the last 24 hours I’ve developed a massive crush on Maury C. If we’d been in the same chemistry class in college in the late 90s, I would have wanted him to be my lab partner so I could have stared at him while he did titrations all semester long. Le sigh!

In Other MBB News

So sorry for the late post, ladies. After my run I watched a few episodes of The Tudors and then talked to El Hub for a while on the phone. Next thing I knew it was 5!

Part of the reason why I’m in a good mood is because El Hub’s coming home from Hawaii today, but I’m mostly happy because his mom’s operation went smoothly. She’s now recovering at home. Hopefully El Hub and I will both be able to go back next month to see her during the holidays. It’ll all depend on how she’s feeling.

I wanted to thank you for your positive notes and well wishes. And thank you especially for sharing stories of how your families coped when illness struck. Your stories lent me so much hope.

Have a lovely Saturday night.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

UPDATE 11/17/08: The giveaway is closed, and winners will be notified soon. Good luck!

YOU: Being Beautiful, a new beauty book by New York Times bestselling authors Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, hit shelves this week.

This book is the fifth in the YOU: The Owner’s Manual health series, and in it the doctors discuss three levels of beauty in their trademark writing style which blends science with entertainment.

1. Looking Beautiful: what you can do to keep your skin, hair, teeth, hands, feet and body looking great
2. Feeling Beautiful: dealing with “inner” beauty health issues like aches, pains and stress
3. Being Beautiful: how improving your relationships with loved ones can help you find true happiness

Oprah’s homeboys (did you see the book featured on her show on Tuesday?) also talk about how different foods, vitamins, creams, gels and injections can boost how you look on the outside and feel on the inside.

I’m pretty excited about seeing this book in stores because I got to read the drafts at the literary agency, and I can remember when the book looked just like this:

My favorite parts of the book are the sections detailing the biology of beauty. I also like the helpful YOU Tips! sprinkled throughout the chapters.

YOU Tips!

CREAM IT ON. There are hundreds of skin care ingredients, including many with fancy names and expensive price tags. But there is very little science to most of them and no science to many of them. The list of ingredients that really can make a difference in the skin is small. The big ingredients (and their closely related derivatives) to know:

• Vitamin A (retinoids)
• Vitamin B3 (niacin or nicotinamide)
• Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid, panthenol)
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Alpha-hydroxy acids
• Ubiquinone or coenzyme Q10 (small-molecule antioxidant)
• Ferulic acid (small-molecule antioxidant)

These eight are examples of skin-care ingredients you can cream on with solid scientific backing.

YOU: Being Beautiful Book Giveaway

Enter today’s YOU: Being Beautiful book giveaway by sharing what keeps you being beautiful in the comments.

The Prize

Ten winners will each receive a copy of YOU: Being Beautiful by Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz (419 pages, hardcover); $26.99 value.

How to Enter

To qualify, leave a comment below on what keeps you being beautiful. You can leave tips talking about what keeps you beautiful on the inside or on the outside (or even both!), and it can be as long or as short as you like, up to a maximum of 250 words. There are no right or wrong answers.

Continue Reading…

I Want All The Bags From the Hayden-Harnett Target Line

• SO CUTE! I’m a total handbag ho, so I can’t wait for Hayden-Harnett’s Target Line (a collection of tote bags, clutches and a single, random umbrella) to debut on December 28th.

James the Vampire = Kinda Hawt

• Hey, Twilighters! Behold the new Men’s Health magazine cover featuring bad boy vampire James (aka cutie pie actor Cam Gigandet)!

Say It Ain’t So

• Are you ready for the return of the bowl bang? I used to have a Dorthy Hamill bowl cut with bangs just like these circa 1981, LOL.

Coming Soon

• When you hit those day-after-Christmas sales on December 26, head over to MAC to peep the new Dame Edna collection. Also keep your eyes peeled for Clinique Instant Relief Mineral Powder ($32.50), a yellow, loose powder designed to cancel out red tones, which debuts in January.

The Return of the Pant Suit

• You may soon be kissing your GAP khaki pants goodbye. With the unemployment rate in America at a 14-year high and more than half a million jobs lost in the last three months, people are changing the way they dress for work.

The Case of the Disappearing Collar

OMG, scandal. I hadn’t seen Tabs all day yesterday, and when he arrived home last night his collar was totally MIA. This cat better not be cheating on me with another human. It’s one of those safety collars that’s designed to break away if a kitty gets stuck, so I am really hoping that unsavory human hands did not remove the stylish blue collar from my rotund, striped friend.

Still, I’m happy it’s Friday. It’s been a long week. Today I’ve got grand plans to buy Tabs a new collar (pink with rhinestones?), test my tube o’ MAC Dazzle Lash mascara and experiment with the Nars Jolie Poupee eye duo (from the Nars holiday 2008 collection). So excited!

Are you having a good day so far?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Mood:

Excited! Celebutante and fragrance mogul Paris Hilton is visiting the downtown SF Macy’s today to promote her new fragrance, Fairy Dust, and I’m trying to score an interview. Last time we talked, she gave some pretty good beauty tips (start taking care of your skin at a young age, for one). For deets on her schedule today, check out the Macy’s website.

2. Fragrance:

Once upon a time a friend of mine went for a job interview at the Gap wearing non-Gap clothes; she didn’t get the job. Later, she asked the interviewer what she could have done differently, and one of the answers was “Well, you didn’t come to the interview dressed in Gap clothing.”

Needless to say, I won’t be wearing Coco Mademoiselle to Macy’s today.

3. Eyeshadow:

It’s a toss up right now. Either Dior Golds 569 or Chanel Emerald Coast eyeshadow duo.

4. Nails:

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

5. Body lotion:

Jergen’s Naturals Renew Daily Moisturizer (smells like blueberries)

6. Lovin’:

My first cup of coffee, a good night’s sleep, and that I don’t have to get my bridesmaid’s dress altered for Jen’s wedding later this month. It’s loose in the bosom area… but whatever, I’ll just wear a padded bra and stuff that sucker if push comes to shove! As Tim Gunn says, “Make it work.”

7. Stressin’:

Worried about my mother-in-law, El Hub’s mom, who goes in for surgery (mastectomy) later this week. I’m sure everything will be fine, but she’s still on my mind.

8. Purse:

The over-the-shoulder turkey holder, aka my slouchy black Lauren Merkin bag.

9. Working out today?:

Maybe hip hop class tonight. If not, then maybe a yoga DVD in the living room.

10. Goals for the week:

To be true to myself, to stay positive and cheerful and to hold down the fort while El Hub visits our mom in Hawaii.

Happy Monday, girls. Are you ready for this? Just copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le list

Mood:
Fragrance:
Eye shadow:
Nails:
Body lotion:
Lovin’:
Stressin’:
Purse:
Working out today?:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

1. Chanel Holiday 2008

“Some might say Chanel was too tame in the color department, but I’m liking the browns, beiges and golds. The look features neutral beige and brown eyes paired with either pink-gold or red lips. The face and cheeks glow with touches of gold and shimmery pink highlights. Mmm… I lurve Chanel.”

2. MAC Holiday 2008: Red She Said

“I’ve been a little late to the Red She Said party, but I’m getting into it now. At first, I didn’t think it had the same WOW factor that Cult of Cherry did, but both Enough Said blush and Inter-view eyeshadow delivered beautiful results and helped me see the error of my makeup lurvin’ ways.”

3. Shu Uemura Mika Holiday Collection

“Each of the eyeshadow palettes comes with pressed shadows and a cream liner shade with the same wonderfully high color pigmentation and fine textures we’ve come to expect from Shu Uemura’s eye products.”

4. Lancome Holiday 2008

“OOH! If you’re more into red, you gotta check out In All Her Splendor next time you hit a Lancome counter. It’s sheer and glamorous and very nicely done.”

5. Lippmann Collection Nail Colors, Holiday 2008

“Take a gander at the new Lippmann Collection Holiday 2008 colors ($15 each). The four new full-size shades are available online and at Nordstrom stores nationwide.”

6. Clinique Holiday 2008: Blackberry Bloom

“The first time I saw the gorgeous model in this promotional picture — her smokey purple eyes, berry lips and cheeks — I about fell over in my chair!”

7. Prescriptives Aglow Holiday 2008

“With a thick, non-stick texture, the Colorscope glosses feel a lot like Stila Lip Glazes but are much more moisturizing (no dry or peeling flakes, huzzah!). I think it’s a natural-looking lip, sure to look fab with smokey eyes.”

8. Estee Lauder Vintage Jewels Collection Holiday 2008

“The collection’s adventurous eye, lip, face and nail shades remind me of jewel-filled pirate treasure chests bulging with amethysts, emeralds and sapphires. Aye, matey! I’ll walk ye plank for these colors!”

9. Benefit Cosmetics Holiday 2008

“Does m’lday like to keep her options open? If so, the set provides a lot of options. Two of the six shades in Peace Love & Glossiness are a purple and a gold, and each of the three double ended gloss sticks come with two coordinating glosses, to be worn by themselves or mixed together.”

10. Bobbi Brown Holiday 2008

“While the blue, silver and black shades in the Night Sky Long-Wear Eye Palette are pretty on their own, I like this palette mostly because the cream shadows and gel liners complement a wide variety of powder eye shadow shades.”

The Holidays…
This year the holidays will be a little different for a few reasons, one of which is the economy and how it has grind to a halt. I hope the big players in the makeup and beauty industries wake up and pay extra attention to their pricing. Why not offer a few more value sets and better sales than usual? Now is the time, right?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen