Dear Makeup and Beauty Blog…

What’s tough love got to do with it? You know you need it, and I’m here to give it to ya!

Dear Makeup and Beauty Blog,

Shy in Chi-town

Hi Shy,

You are so lucky to have found your passion! It sounds like you really love makeup and have a great skill set which you can turn into something wonderful.

Like applying makeup, making small talk and interacting with strangers are skills. Think about it. Were you able to define your crease, work that outer V or blend like a rock star the first time you picked up an eye brush? Chances are it took you hours of practice and experimentation!

Learning how to be comfortable with strangers and making small talk is going to be hard, but you can work towards getting more comfortable. It just takes motivation and practice.

Believe it or not, just like you, I am a naturally shy person. I was a very introverted child, and even doing simple things, like ordering an ice cream cone, was very hard to do. I never raised my hand in class and felt comfortable talking only around my family and close friends.

I think I would’ve missed out on many opportunities in my life because of my shyness if it hadn’t been for two things that helped me pop out of my shell at the age of 14: taking drama classes and joining a speech/debate club.

I’m not going to lie. It was not easy. There were days I had to literally force myself to go to class because I hated it so much. However, after a while I got used to interacting with people and being in front of strangers. And after lots of practice I eventually became less shy.

If I were in your shoes I would …

1.) Either take a class or join a club, like a debate club or drama class. OR …

2.) Join a group like Toastmasters International, a non-profit group that helps adults learn how to become better public speakers.

I realize that these are big steps to take. If either one seems too intimidating then you could start by role-playing with your sisters or your friends. Have them pretend to be a stranger, and you can be the makeup artist at the counter.

I actually did something similar to this when I got my first magazine assignment years ago. I somehow talked myself into the job despite very little interviewing experience. To get some practice I sent out an email to my friends and family, and then scheduled “fake” interviews with them individually. It was a safe and gentle way to get my feet wet.

It sounds like a silly exercise but it is a step. And a baby step is better than no step at all.

Remember to gird your loins because like learning any new skill, it’s not going to be easy. However, this is your life. You can sit there with your shyness and watch it pass you by, or you can do something about it. You make the ultimate choice whether or not you move forward and chase those dreams.

Take care and keep on truckin’.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Newest MAC Obsession: Cremestick Liners

Product: MAC Cremestick liners
Use: A long lasting, retractable lip, creamy lip liner
Price: $14.00
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

MAC Cremestick liners, where have you been all of my lipgloss life?

For many years I thought Subculture was the epitome of all lip liners. Little did I know there were other kinder, gentler options like Pink Treat, Honey B. and Beurre.

Cremestick liners …

- Glide on smoothly
- Don’t tug on my lips
- Are rich and highly pigmented
- Don’t dry out my lips
- Are easy to use and are great for really getting into the lip corners
- Are retractable so they don’t have to be sharpened (“YES!” says the lazy beast beauty blogger!)

Pink Treat, a recommendation from my girl Christine from Temptalia.com, is my favorite out of the three, followed by Honey B. next and then Beurre last.

I like combo-ing Pink Treat with Soft & Slow lipglass (a soft rose with gold pearl from the Smoke Signals collection) and have been using this on my lips every day for the last week.

It’s an easy, natural and pretty pink lip for minimum makeup days:

- Line with Pink Treat Cremestick liner, making sure to define the corners of the lips to get good definition
- Soften the line with your fingertip (or a lipbrush, whichever is handy)
- Apply 1 coat of Soft & Slow lipglass
- Run out the door!

I am looking forward to adding more Cremestick liners to my collection. On my wish list right now are:

- Mother Pearl (sheer yellow gold)
- Softwood (coral-brown)
- Gingerroot (flesh pink)

Are you a Cremestick fan? What’s your favorite combo?

Ease My Pain, Please! Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Working with MAC Matte2 Shadows and Mattene

MAC Senior artist and all around makeup p.i.m.p. Louise Zizzo always hooks me up with the best MAC tricks.

After bemoaning my Matte2 application misery she offered the following tips for working with the shadows and Mattene lipsticks. She even offered fave her combos, too. Rock on, Louise. Rock on.

Matte2 101: Louise Saves Me From Myself

What shadow bases can you recommend using with Matte2 shadows which will keep the matte texture (while minimizing glitter/sparkle) on the eye but still give a good base to grab the color?

These Shadows are amazing because they are extremely silky which means they do grab easily to the skin, I have found the paint pots in neutral shades and no frost or simply concealor dusted over with powder.

Many of us who remember matte shadows from the 90s recall having a difficult time blending. Can you please give a few of your favorite blending tips when working with Matte2?

The key is to make sure whenever you are using these shadows or any matte shadows is you need to make sure you have a nice powdery base to put them on, otherwise they will grab patchy. I really recommend using softer brushes to apply these like the #224 and gradually building up to the intensity you desire. Don’t press hard, use a light touch and these look absolutely amazing.

Can you recommend an easy day eye look for makeup novices who want to use Matte2 shadows?

Oh my gosh the best everyday combo…
Base – Blanc Type
Crease – Tete-A-Tint
Liner – Handwritten ( you can also use this to deepen the crease in the corner)

Work that Mattene 101: Louise Breaks it Down

What is your favorite neutral color lip/eye combo with the Mattene and Matte2?

The above shadow combo and then I love, Flattering with spice lip pencil

How about your favorite bright combo lip/eye combo?

I love the cherry red lip and classic eye using…

Lips – Cherry pencil & Classic Dame
Eyes – Blanc Type – Tete-A-Tint and Black Track Fluid Line

Also I have to add my favorite smokey eye combo

Eye Lid- Satin Taupe
Brow Highlight – Blanc Type
Crease – Handwritten and a touch of Typographic in the corner
Smoulder on the inner rim of eye
Lots and Lots of Plush Lash in Black

Do you prep the lips with anything before using Mattene?

No need because they glide on like silk!

If you have problems with bleeding my fool proof and must have product is the clear brow finisher used around the edge of the lips, it works wonders.

Midget MAC LIVES!

There’s something about this season of I LOVE NY 2 that begs for serious print diarrhea.

As usual, my hydrophobic homeboy MIDGET MAC comes through once again. Despite his inability to swim, he managed to survive a brush with death (via a defective frog floatie) and even wins a date with Miss NY!

That dumb-ass Tailor Made!

I gotta admit that he did work it when he brought NY those shoes. I’d be won over by a man bearing a pair of Manolos. I can’t lie; I’m easy that way.

I liked how his ex said that he was a workaholic, because I admire a man with a strong work ethic. However, I can’t stand anyone who would let me trample all over them, and Tailor Made has DOORMAT written all over his moisturizing mask face.

And last but not least, there’s IT. Words cannot express how I feel about this fool. Isn’t his mamma ashamed? RUN, NEW YORK, RUN!

The rain continues on here today and so of course does the boot shopping. I’m still looking for a pair of cute rain boots and the quest hasn’t been easy. Oh Zappos! Be good to me!

Anyway, aren’t you glad it’s Wednesday? We’re that much closer to Friday! How’s your day been so far? Have you been productive? Are ya slacking? Whatever you’re doing I hope that it’s getting you closer to your goals.

Stay dry…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I hate the Container Store. There is something fundamentally wrong with going to a store to buy more stuff to keep all of your present stuff in. Either 1.) get rid of some stuff or 2.) put that Container Store money (‘cause nothing in there is cheap) to better use and just buy more stuff!

Because of this philosophy, I have become a victim of my own personal hell. Dante shouldn’t have stopped at nine levels, because the 10th can be found in my apartment:

See those lovely bags perched precariously on the shelf? Of course they were filled to the brim with god-knows-what and of course they had to all succumb to gravity all at the same time and fall into the center of the closet, leaving a nice two foot layer o’ crap for me to swim through.

In case you were wondering: one DOES NOT feel like a pirate looting through buried treasure when doing this.

Speaking of pirates…

In addition to writing this blog, I freelance write for a living. I love my job for the most part, because there’s so much flexibility, I don’t have to work in a cube (which I did for many years…it sucked) and I’m constantly challenged. However lately I’ve been trying to think in terms of the big picture, and where I want to be in five years, yada yada yada, that kind of thing. Plus, NOBODY seems to understand what I really do. So while the closet was imploding, I also had a mini “What should I do with my life” freakout this weekend, too.

I’ve decided that instead of having to explain what I do for a living, I’m now going to start telling people that I’m a Pirate-ologist. And if you remember your Latin roots, that would be “Study of Pirates.”

While I was at Barnes & Noble this afternoon I actually told somebody in the magazine aisle that I was a Pirateologist, and that despite being completely landlocked, UC Davis had a great program!

What do you do for a living? And do you like your job? If you could do anything and not have to worry about paying bills, what would you do?

Despite all of the moments of temporary insanity this weekend, it was still really good. I spent lots of time with El Hub, downloaded a bunch of new music and did a lot of beauty product testing. This week expect to get the skinny on FUN stuff from bliss and DHC!

I hope that your weekend was fun and that you feel happy, sane (!), organized (!) and loved.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Your weekend isn’t done yet till you’ve checked out the best posts from the gals over at The Beauty Blog Network!
Continue Reading…

Face of the Day with Mac Matte2, aka When Purple Doesn’t Reign

Try as I might, I can’t seem to get it together when it comes to MAC’s Matte2 shadows. I’ve tried to do a full on matte eye a few times but it’s just too hard for me in terms of blending. Plus, I need a lil’ sparkle and some shine, ya know?

Here’s one of the attempts with three Matte2 colors:

Fig. 1 – eggplant purple
Copperplate – muted mid-tone grey
Poison Pen – deep mid-tone purple with grey

Although I originally wanted to do an all matte eye, I ended up using Next to Nothing (from the Smoke Signals palette) on the browbone to offset the dark colors.

I also used:

MAC Bare Canvas paint as a lid primer
MAC technakohl liner
MAC Plushlash in Plushblack

On my lips that’s MAC Mattene in Composure and on the cheeks is MAC Emote blush.

The colors were really hard to blend, and I had to really put that 217 into overdrive to avoid having stark lines of definition. I also had to work fast too, because once the Bare Canvas paint dried blending was virtually impossible.

And did I mention that I felt too purple to function?

I dunno how I feel about this. I guess next time around I’ll try it with a lighter hand, which I think will make me feel less, um, purple.

Dear Makeup and Beauty Blog…

You know that you need tough love some times. And that I’m here to give it to ya!

Dear Makeup and Beauty Blog,

Confused in California

Dear Confused,

It’s not the end of the world. Think about it: there are plenty of boys out there who work the lined eye with plenty of success.

Pete Wentz does Cleopatra liner

Prince does the cat eye

Jared Leto does a light smokey grey on the outer 2/3rds

However, if it really makes you uncomfortable, you might want to have a little discussion with him.

Here are a few approaches I’d think about taking if I was in your shoes.

Bait and Switch: Let the boy keep wearing liner…just don’t let it be your expensive eyeliner

I would hide my precious Technakohl away and replace it with a Prestige or Wet n’ Wild liner from the drugstore. I did this a few years ago when El Hub kept using my pricey Bumble & Bumble Gentle shampoo in the shower. He had no clue that it cost an arm and a leg, so I just replaced it with some Suave and he was none the wiser.

Full on Frontal: Ask him straight up why he’s wearing your eyeliner…but be mentally prepared for a potentially shocking conversation

This direct tactic is the one I’d be most likely to take in this situation, but I wouldn’t go into the convo without preparing myself thoroughly. First, I’d make myself a mental list of all the potential answers that El Hub could eventually give me:

“Honey, why are your wearing my eyeliner?”

Potential answer #1
“Because I want to be a rock star like Prince, so I’m quitting my job to start a band!”

Potential answer #2
“Because I’ve discovered that I like wearing makeup. By the way, those stretched out panties you’ve been complaining about? It’s not cause you’ve lost weight. It’s cause I wear them when you’re at hip hop class!”

You get the picture.

Next, I’d brainstorm all of the possible ways I’d react to these answers.

Would this exercise help me in the end? I don’t know for sure. However, I do know that going through the possible scenarios would get me thinking about how to handle each possible situation with compassion, dignity and grace. I would also hope that the exercise would prepare me for *anything* he threw my way. And should shit hit the fan, I would hopefully be mentally prepared enough to not lose my cool and be an understanding and open-minded partner during the conversation.

Make Him Up, 101: If he’s determined to wear the liner, make sure that it at least looks good

So if the boy is hell bent on wearing liner, then the least you can do is to make sure it looks good. I’d perhaps give my guy a lesson on blending and brushes, plus a fresh pot of his own MAC Fluildline in Blacktrack.

Good luck, and keep on trucking.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog’s Hell-to-the-Yah! list: Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Hell-to-the-Yah! #1: Midget Mac on I Love NY 2

I don’t care if your television taste is more PBS than trash TV, you won’t be able to resist the couch paralysis that happens when the weirdness that is I LOVE NY 2 unfolds on Vh1.

So far, out of all the weird dudes in the bunch, right now I’m on TEAM MIDGET MAC!

(…although somebody needs to tell him to get rid of those horizontal-striped oversized shirts because they do nothing to lengthen his torso.)

And does any body else think it’s odd that when Midget Mac does his solo interviews you can only see from his nose upward? C’mon, camera man/woman! I know it ain’t that hard to lower the lens!

Hell-to-the-Yah! #2: Chanel for Dummies! Multi-Use Makeup Palette and the Winter Nights Quad

BEHOLD! Bow down to the awesomeness that is the Chanel palette.

With a combo of best-selling and exclusive colors, this palette is sure to feed my inner lazy makeup beast but will still leave me looking polished. Four eyeshadows, four lip colors and one blush equals one happy (and broke, it’s $85, OUCH!) Karen.

BUT WAIT…there’s more! The lovely reader Glosslizard sent me this pic of the Winter Nights Quad. You know better than to feed the fire, girl!


Hell-to-the-Yeah! #3: Boot Shopping on Zappos.com

It’s allegedly going to rain today in the Bay Area, which is my lame excuse for spending time in Candy Land, aka, the boot section on Zappos.com.

Where the hell am I going to wear these Gabriella Rocha boots? But I want ‘em, sigh!

Hell-to-the-Yah! #4: Nordstrom Online Beauty Gift

F*ck faxing or filing! If you’re sitting there festering away in your cube you might as well be doing something productive. Right now on the Nordstrom Web site there’s a beauty special offer – spend $95 (and you know that isn’t hard to do) and get the following “free” (HA!) samples and a gold and zebra clutch:

Bare Escentuals® Prime Time Foundation Primer (packette)
Bliss Thinny Thin Chin™ (packette)
Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste Body Lotion
Clarins Super Restorative Serum
Clinique High Definition Lashes Mascara
Fekkai Glossing Cream (packette)
Japonesque Snowflake Lashes
Kinerase® Intensive Eye Cream
Korres Guava Body Butter
L., a L.A.M.B. Fragrance by Gwen Stefani
Lancôme Définicils Mascara
Laura Mercier Crème Brûlée Crème Body Wash
L’Occitane Verbena Shower Gel
MD Skincare® Alpha Beta® Daily Face Peel (packette)
N.V. Perricone, M.D. Face Finishing Moisturizer with DMAE
Origins Ginger Souffle™ Whipped Body Cream
Oscar Blandi Olio di Jasmine Hair Serum
philosophy inner grace shower gel
Smashbox Lipgloss
Vera Wang Parfum


Hell-to-the-Yeah! #5: Kanye West’s new CD, Graduation Day

Either you love him or hate him, you can’t deny that the man can make some beats. My new theme song is on Kanye’s latest CD Graduation, and it’s called Stronger. They hook reads like the story of my life as of late:

“Work it harder make it better,
do it faster makes us stronger,
more than ever, hour after
hour work is never over”

Work it harder today on this lovely Tuesday, ya’ll. I know you can do it!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. What’s on your Hell-to-the-Yah list?!?!