Karen

5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately

October 23rd, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

three fall scents — Lovin’ these perfumes

1. These fall fragrances

Mind you, I don’t know if these three should be officially considered “fall scents,” but it is fall here now…and I have been rotating among these scents and lovin’ ’em.

Maison Francis Kurkdijian Femin Pluriel: A chypre floral with notes of iris, violet, rose, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, orange blossom, vetiver and Indonesian patchouli leaf.
I like this one, and it doesn’t hurt that nobody else I know wears it.
MAC Shadescent in Creme d’Nude: This soft, clean amber musk is spiked with caramel, and it smells like clean, schmexy skin.
Chanel Coco Mademoiselle: An oriental floral with notes of mandarin orange, orange blossom, bergamot, jasmine, Turkish rose, ylang-ylang, vanilla, vetiver and white musk. This one’s a classic feminine “sweater weather” scent.

2. This funk version of Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You by Scary Pockets

Those runs are so crisp! Plus, how could you not love that name: “Scary Pockets?” LOL!

3. Vegetables

My sweet tooth GOES HARD, so 99% of the time I’m more likely to crave fruit than vegetables, but lately I’ve been all about the veggies. Literally, I’ve been eating plates and plates of them for lunch and dinner (not so much for breakfast though). My faves du jour right meow are the little bags of organic snap peas from Trader Joe’s.

Park me in a corner with a side of Bolthouse Salsa Ranch Yogurt Dressing, and I’M A HAPPY GIRL. 😁

bolthouse farm salsa ranch — So yummy… So healthy…

4. 1920’s-era dresses

Must be all the Downton Abbey I’ve been watching, LOL! I love the drop waists and how loose and comfortable everything looks. I also like the beading and the fringe (even if the fringe doesn’t look cat lady-friendly).

5. Having a cat place demands on me again

Every day, Pretty Girl Rosie opens up a little more and lets us get to know her better. This week we learned she’s quite feisty! Like, if she wants lurvies, and she wants them now, you’re GOING TO GIVE THEM TO HER. Or, there will be consequences…

She’s already claimed my desk and windowsill…

What’ve you been loving lately? 😊

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Three States of Being

October 22nd, 2019 by Karen 19 Comments

cocobaby rosie napping on couch — Just the girls taking a nap (please note the sparkly heart ring on her finger)

At the pediatrician’s office last week, Connor’s doc said what were perhaps the most accurate words I’ve heard about toddler-hood so far. She said that all preschoolers are either 1) currently sick, 2) recovering from being sick or 3) about to get sick again.

Oh, my goodness! It’s like a viral triathlon… Why doesn’t anybody tell you about this at the baby shower? (Also, why doesn’t anybody mention the weird underwear they give you at the hospital after giving birth? — because *that* was another surprise.)

Cocobaby’s in the thick of the frequent illness phase. She’s already caught a cold, or a cold-like virus, a few times in the past month, ’cause apparently three-year-olds are Petri dishes.

She’s just getting over the last virus, on top of which she also had a sinus infection, so the last few weeks have been very challenging, first, for her tiny virus-fighting body, but also for the rest of us.

It’s been quite scary at times. There was a night a couple weeks ago when we’d gotten dressed and ready to rush her to the emergency room after her fever spiked. Luckily, it quickly started to fall. I’m very thankful for the sound advice and steady guidance of the kind Kaiser advice nurse who helped us that night because my nerves were frayed.

mama cocobaby — Somebody needs a cuddle.

Nobody in our house has been getting much sleep. (This, of course, to Rosie’s delight. She must think she stepped into a family of night people!) It’s been like living the newborn lifestyle all over again, with me and El Hub sleeping beside Connor in shifts. My body feels that same familiar dull ache of exhaustion… Weirdly enough, it was surprisingly easy to get used to again… Like riding a bike.

It’s scary watching a child who can’t really communicate the way they feel yet, and knowing you have very little control over any of it. All you can do is care for them the best you can, take them to the doctor, and try to make informed decisions. You do what you have to, ignoring your throbbing knees and aching back to hold them in your arms as they cry at the witching hour in a dark bathroom filled with steam until they feel a little better and finally fall asleep. You run to Target at obscene times of night in pajamas crusted with snot to pick up more Pedialyte, saltines and tiny Disney Princess toys because you know they make her smile.

Basically, you do what you have to.

tiny disney princesses — All the tiny princesses

Anyway, this is what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks. Just doing the best I can.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

You’ll Wonder Where Your Experience Lines Go When You Wear Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow

October 22nd, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

charlotte tilbury filmstar bronze and glow fair medium — When Charlotte Tilbury makes you feel like a fancy lady…

OK, my fair friends, many of my makeup-loving pale pals say that it’s very challenging to find a bronzer that suits lighter skin tones. If this is the case for you, I believe I may have found a solution to your woes, and her name is Charlotte Tilbury. She’s got a bronzer/highlighter duo called Filmstar Bronze & Glow ($68, so start saving your lunch money), and there are two versions — Fair-Medium, pictured here, and Medium-Dark. Fair-Medium could be purrfect for lighter lasses.

If your makeup style is more “Sir John” than “Insta-glam”, I think you’ll love it.

The bronzer in Fair-Medium is a gorgeous peachy tan (no glitter in sight) without any weird or obnoxious orange undertones, so, what you get is a natural-looking, toasty almond tone when you sweep the finely-milled powder across your cheeks.

charlotte tilbury filmstar bronze and glow fair medium swatches — Livin’ that NC42 life

The highlighter is equally beautiful. It’s a peachy gold with dainty shimmer, and, like the bronzer, it’s more on the natural-looking side. If you prefer highlights with a delicate touch, you’ll love it.

Because the powder grains in both products in the duos are so incredibly fine, they soften the look of fine lines and pores impressively well. No tell-tale caked-on makeup here.

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Will Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream Cast a Spell on You?

October 21st, 2019 by Karen 16 Comments

charlotte tilbury magic cream final — Nothing can stand in our way…

Brace yourself: if you happen to see this jar sitting atop your dressing table, it means that any second now, your lady’s maid will magically materialize to dress you, gently brush every lock of hair into place, and pin a diamond tiara on your head.

(Side note: I have watched an obscene amount of Downton Abbey over the past few days.)

Only Charlotte Tilbury could turn a standard-issue makeup artist’s trick — applying a layer of rich moisturizer on your face before putting on your face paint — and turn it into a bonafide F.L.L. (that’s “Fancy Lady Lifestyle,” dahhhling), with one of her line’s most renowned products: Magic Cream.

Lots of people swear by this rich, thick cream, which is made for all skin types and designed to be applied right before going in with your makeup.

Devotees of the Cult o’ Magic Cream claim that it potently plumps the skin, and it does contain heavy-hitting hydrators like hyaluronic acid, shea butter and aloe vera (to name a few), but I’d characterize the plumping effect as subtle.

The idea is that it’s supposed to smooth your canvas, so to speak, before you layer your foundation, concealer, powder, etc. on top. So, basically, it’s a rose-scented moisturizer/primer combo in a very pretty jar.

One thing about it? It smells fancy and expensive, and my skin absorbs the rich cream right away. Immediately after applying my base makeup on top of it — my foundation, powder, concealer, etc. — my base products look a little richer, more vibrant and slightly smoother. Everything looks a little more…natural and less like “makeup.”

If you’re a seasoned makeup person, you’ll see a subtle difference, but I dare say that most people won’t.

Here’s the thing: you can get a similar effect with any moisturizer, and doing a quick hit of moisturizer before base makeup is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Be that as it may, this cream’s ability to actually adhere to whatever you layer on top is its super power. In that way, it’s far better than a run-of-the-mill moisturizer. A lot of similarly rich creams will make your makeup slip right off, but this doesn’t. So, as a primer, it’s very effective.

I like it. A lot. But I don’t like the price. AT ALL.

INGREDIENTS

This product is gluten free.

AQUA/WATER/EAU, C12-15 ALKYL BENZOATE, GLYCERYL STEARATE SE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, GLYCERIN, OLUS OIL/VEGETABLE OIL/HUILE VÉGÉTALE, ISONONYL ISONONANOATE, CETYL ALCOHOL, ETHYLHEXYL PALMITATE, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, DIMETHICONE, POLYESTER-7, PHENOXYETHANOL, NEOPENTYL GLYCOL DIHEPTANOATE, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER, STEARETH-21, AVENA SATIVA (OAT) KERNEL EXTRACT, CARBOMER, DIMETHICONOL, POTASSIUM CETYL PHOSPHATE, CHLORPHENESIN, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, XANTHAN GUM, HYDROLYZED VIOLA TRICOLOR EXTRACT, ALLANTOIN, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE, DISODIUM EDTA, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, CAMELLIA OLEIFERA SEED OIL, ROSA CANINA FRUIT OIL, ROSA DAMASCENA EXTRACT, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL, MICHELIA ALBA LEAF OIL, SODIUM LACTATE, COCO-GLUCOSIDE, PEG-8, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, SODIUM HYALURONATE, TOCOPHEROL, PALMITOYL TETRAPEPTIDE-7, PALMITOYL TRIPEPTIDE-1, ASCORBYL PALMITATE, PLUMERIA RUBRA FLOWER EXTRACT, ASCORBIC ACID, CITRIC ACID, NICOTIANA SYLVESTRIS LEAF CELL CULTURE, LINALOOL, CITRONELLOL, GERANIOL.

The 30-ml. jar at top is $64, a 50-ml. jar is $100, and a 150-ml. jar is $225. (Wow!) Sephora also sells a tiny 0.5-ml. mini jar for $29. Every size it comes in is crazy pricey!

If you aren’t too keen on dropping your beauty budget on a product that’s basically invisible, not to worry; you have other options. Head over to MAC, and give Prep + Primer Natural Radiance a try (it’s an underrated rock star, IMHO).

While it isn’t anywhere near as luxurious as Charlotte’s Magic Cream, it does basically the same thing, and it’s about 50% less pricey at $42 for a 50-ml. size.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 597

October 21st, 2019 by Karen 25 Comments

you are sunshine — You light up the world, my sweet friend!

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start.

1. What was the first skincare product you ever bought on your own?

Hmm… It was a long time ago. I can’t remember precisely what it was, because when I got into beauty, I was a tween, and I was all about makeup and hair, so skincare was more of a secondary interest…which, now that I think about it, is kinda weird, because I suffered from pretty bad acne back then.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure it was one of the products teenage girls loved in the early ’90s — Noxema Cleansing Cream, Neutrogena bar soap (the amber one), Ten O Six Toner or Stridex acne pads.

2. If you knew you couldn’t fail at it, what’s one thing you would try?

Honestly? Real estate investing. 🏘️

I know, that’s a full-on #adulting answer, but it’s true.

3. Yoga pants or jeans?

Tough call, homie. You know I have a serious love affair with my black, high-waisted stretchy pants, yet there’s something about wearing a pair of dark, skinny jeans that makes me feel neat and put together… I’m gonna go with the yoga pants, though, because it’s easier to bust out a quick leg stretch in them whenever I want.

Speaking of that, let me stretch out my hammies for a sec…

4. A perfume (or other scented product) you’ve worn within the last month?

I was just telling a friend last week (hi, Maricar!), that I’ve been all about Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris Feminine Pluriel lately. It’s pricey but nobody else I know wears it, which I love. Plus I like the pink bottle!

5. Something you find fun?

Working out. 😂

Feelin’ the energy

Hiya, friend and happy Monday. I’m going to try something this week, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride. It’s nothing super involved or stressful, I promise. It just involves a simple choice — choosing to focus on things that invigorate and inspire me, instead of choosing to invest time/effort/energy into things that drain my spirit (like needlessly worrying, complaining or obsessing over things I can’t change). Will you join me?

As part of this, I’m going to make lists throughout the week of things I’m grateful for, and I’m going to spend more of my time enjoying the people in my life.

My quick gratefulness list for this morning (’cause I love lists):

I’m grateful for central heating (because when our heater was broken last spring…dayum, life was cold).
I’m grateful for hearing Pretty Girl Rosie’s purr while she shares my desk chair and keeps my lap warm.
I’m grateful that I get to be the first face Connor sees every morning.
I’m grateful for this cup of Trader Joe’s coffee, because it’s so warm and delicious…
I’m grateful for scrunchies (got one in my hair right now, babe).

Lists.

I love lists.

They’re such a little thing, but I swear, it’s amazing how well they can help you change your point of view.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Question time! Here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon!

1. What was the first skin care product you ever bought on your own?
2. If you knew you couldn’t fail at it, what’s one thing you would try?
3. Yoga pants or jeans?
4. A perfume (or other scented product) you’ve worn within the last month?
5. Something you think is fun?

P.P.S. This is *your* week, my friend. You’ve got this! ❤️