Bobbi Brown Peach Corrector, $23

I’ve been having one of those Mondays where everything’s been going…great!

Don’t you just love those?

They’re few and far between, let me tell ya, but I’ll take it. Some Mondays I don’t feel ready for the weekend to end or for the workweek to start, but I’ve been in in a pretty good groove so far today.

I don’t know, maybe it’s the heat… It’s almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Novato right now!

Seriously, I think it’s making me loopy because I’m smiling from ear to ear…

I was watching a mama bird feed one of her little ones in the oak tree by my window this morning as I applied under-eye concealer and randomly started singing, “The hills are aliiiiive, with the sound of musiiiiiic!”

The concealer was Bobbi Brown’s bad@ss Peach Corrector. My dark under-eye situation has been triple-rainbow intense lately. I’m officially in my (gulp) late thirties now, and the purplish, bluish dark circles under my eyes have become something of a mainstay of my looks, haha.

Shoot, last night I even got 10 hours of sleep — 10 GLORIOUS HOURS! — and I still woke up with dark circles.

Thank goodness for Bobbi’s $23 miracle working Peach Corrector…

Totally worthy of hitting the pan

A creamy, opaque color-correcting concealer designed to be layered beneath your go-to under-eye concealer, it’s great if you get those real deal, Uncle Fester-caliber dark circles like moi. I use Peach, one of 16 shades in the line.

SHAZAM! It’s like waving a magic wand over my face. When I add it to my mix, I think I definitely look refreshed and considerably less tired, and that whole under-eye sitch looks brighter.

Most of the time I just wear it on its own with powder dusted on top (versus underneath another concealer), and it neutralizes the purple action. Heck, when I use it I think I even look a little younger (says the girl turning 38 in a few weeks, le sigh!).

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Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Smog, $19

Sometime in the not-so-distant future…

“Remember smog?”

“Smog! Of course I remember smog. It was one of my favorite things about the early twenty-first century.”

“Mine too!”

Years from now as you and I share a cheesecake in the middle of the night at our Miami home with the other Golden Girls — dibs on being the Sophia of the group! She’s short, cranky and carries her purse around everywhere, so I feel like I’d be a good fit — we’ll look back on this time as the era of Smog.

No, not the kind that hovers over the San Fernando Valley… I’m referring to Urban Decay’s $19 shimmery masterpiece of golden khaki bronze, the 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Smog.

“Gosh, we wore it with everything!” we’ll say. “We didn’t even touch black liners there for a while.”

It looked so good with summery golds, khakis, bronzes and browns. Even corals, purples and teals.

“Dang,” we’ll say, “that was one flexible liquid liner…”

You’ll roll your eyes as I retell the story (FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME) of how I was wearing waterproof Smog along my lash lines when I bumped into Ryan Gosling that time in Hawaii.

It was early in the morning just after dawn, hardly anyone else in the water, and I was sitting back on my surfboard waiting for the next wave. Smog’s shimmery, shiny finish caught the sunlight, which caught Ryan’s eye and prompted him to paddle over and say, “Hey girl.”

“We surfed, laughed and shared a shave ice that day,” I’ll say, “and Smog lasted from 10-12 hours.”

At some point you’ll remind me of my penchant for telling tall tales, and I’ll tap my plate with my fork, contemplating another slice of cheesecake.

What else can I say about Smog, babe? I just love it.

It’s waterproof and long-lasting enough to spend the day surfing and complements just about every eye color I’ve ever seen.

I love the way its golden khaki bronze color works with the kinds of colors I like to wear in summer.

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Dear Bobbi Brown, your Foundation Stick totally rocks. Heart you! -Karen

A girl’s gotta have options, ya know?

Well, I do. I like having ‘em — that’s for sure.

I’m the gal who shows up for a flight at the airport with a suitcase dedicated to black shoes (and yet when it comes to purses, why do I try to fit everything into one?).

Guess I like being prepared…

And when I find single products that provide me with options, they’re like beauty gold! — or beauty pirate treasure, as in the case of Bobbi Brown’s Foundation Sticks.

When it comes to foundation, I also like options. The more the merrier. Options for different occasions, like tinted moisturizer for casual days, medium-coverage liquid foundations for weekdays, full-coverage stuff for pictures — and don’t even get me started about finishes and textures; we’ll be here ’til the next season of The Walking Dead.

Since I found Bobbi Brown’s $43 Foundation Stick in Honey (my shade, and one of 20 available now in Bobbi’s permanent line on counters and online), I haven’t wanted to use anything else.

I’ve worn it every day this month because, in a nutshell, it rocks.

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Honey (a good equivalent to MAC NC42)

One of Bobbi’s top makeup artists, Marc Reagan, introduced me to it at the Saks Fifth Avenue Bobbi Brown Master class a few weeks back, referring to it as “one thing every woman needs in her makeup bag.”

Homeboy was SO RIGHT! I’m this close to sending him a fruit basket with a note that reads, “Thank you for changing my life!”

First of all, it’s like Mr. Fantastic (read: flexible). Because it’s able to go from sheer to full coverage in the blink of an eye, it’s basically like getting a bunch of different face products in a single creamy stick.

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Honey, $42

Say I want a sheer look like a tinted moisturizer — very light coverage. I’ll just load a fan brush with product directly from the stick. And when I want a more polished look for pics or events — medium to full coverage — I’ll use a flat foundation brush instead.

Oh, and it even doubles as concealer! To disguise the little darkened, post-acne spots I have on my chin, I swipe a synthetic sponge across the tip, which I then pat wherever I need extra coverage. If I need a touch-up later in the day, I just reapply on top of whatever else I happen to be wearing, since it layers like a boss on top of cream and powder products.

I almost can’t trick the stuff. No matter how I wear it, I think it looks like real, skin because it has one of those matte finishes with a bit life to it. It’s not completely flat.

It also never, ever feels heavy or like it’s suffocating my pores, and it doesn’t oxidize. It lasts on my combination dry/oily skin all day long, but I’m not sure how it would fare on super oily skin types… I have a feeling the creamy formula might scoot away.

Swatch out! It’s Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Honey…

Seriously, I have no idea how I made it through my days without this (well, I do, but you know what I mean). I love it.

Cat lady things, part 3,623

Thought you might appreciate this book my cat lady friend Heidi gave me as a gift last week.

(I started reading it to Tabs, but he wasn’t amused…)

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Glitter lover says what? That’s Urban Decay’s Baked and Urban Cowboy Glitter Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners ($18 each) along my upper and lower lash lines

Happy, HAPPY Friday, my friend.

Right before I opened my eyes this morning, when I was still lying in bed, the mental fog started to clear, and I smiled.

It’s Friday! We made it through another week.

Sorry about not being around much the past couple of days. This week kind of kicked my butt. Nothing huge, but it seemed like every day one new, unexpected thing came up to throw me off my regular routine.

I’m a creature of habit, and sometimes all it takes is one extra hour I have to spend on something I didn’t plan for, and I’m a mess after that. It’s hard to get back on track.

Oh! Remember the Bobbi Brown Master Class I mentioned a couple weeks back? It was yesterday in SF, and I went. I’m putting together a post with the tips I picked up, but it’s not quite ready yet. For now, though, here’s a sneaky peaky…

Observe my terrified expression, haha! I was asked to be the class model, and it was…an experience. Really fun, but I completely underestimated how hard it would be to NOT make any funny faces for two hours.

In other news, Urban Decay’s 24/7 Heavy Metal Glitter Liners in Baked and Urban Cowboy.

That’s Baked on the right and Urban Cowboy on the left

You might be thinking, “Um…but I thought the only people who could get away with glitter were gymnasts and figure skaters? And I’m neither.”

Wait now! Come back here. Don’t run away just yet. Contrary to popular belief, gymnasts, figure skaters and Honey Boo Boo are not the only people who can pull off glitter. We can do it, too, and with Urban Decay’s gold and bronze glitter liners, we can look sassy and age-appropriate.

Baked (left) and Urban Cowboy (right)

These long-lasting, clear liquid liners are filled with flecks of glitter so small that a Smurf could wear ‘em.

What I’ll usually do with these is draw a thin line along my upper or lower lash lines with the skinny brush (although for these pics, I’ve lined both my upper and lowers for emphasis), curl my lashes, and then coat them with mascara.

When I look in the mirror, it’s hard to even discern this glitter from more than a few feet away. All I see is a pair of bright, sparkling eyes!

The thin brush draws perfectly precise lines

That’s my jam!

Yes, using Urban Decay’s $29 All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray involves adding another step to my makeup routine, and no, it’s probably not as essential as under-eye concealer.

Buuut, that doesn’t make me like it any less.

If I were going on a big trip (say, lattes and macarons in Paris with RyGos, seeing as he’s on hiatus from acting) and accidentally forgot it at home, would I be crushed?

No, I think not.

Probably not. Okay maybe a little…

With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, I have been whipping out this makeup-saving spray mist more and more often. A few spritzes postpone fading and keep my makeup on my mug longer.

And it’s just so refreshing! — like standing in the mist beside a tropical waterfall…except without the mosquito swarms, frizzy hair and bikini muffin top, of course.

Stuff locks my look down all day long. Like, say it was the morning of the zombie apocalypse…

I’m just staying, for instance.

If it were that day, and I remembered to spray this on first thing in the morning, I’m confident that my foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow and bronzer would still be going strong when the biters finally took me down that night. (Side note: last night’s Walking Dead? Merle?? Daryl? We need to talk.)

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