• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To MakeupMakeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
    • Advertising & Media
  • Categories
    • Product Reviews
    • Makeup
    • Skincare & Fragrance
    • Style & Fashion
    • Hair
    • Nails
    • Tips & Tutorials
    • Just for Fun
  • Brands
  • Store

Essie

What Are Your Sanity Savers?

May 19th, 2020 by Karen 17 Comments

essie at the barre me over
Painting paws keeps me sane. I’m wearing Essie Spool Me Over (left) and At the Barre (right).

List the things that are preventing you from standing in your front yard and screaming up into the sky for hours on end while sheltering-in-place!

My sanity savers, in no particular order:

  • Painting my nails (I’m all about #MismatchedMani life right now)
  • Honestly… Carbs. I was eating “lower carb-ish” before the pandemic hit but now I just don’t have the bandwidth for it. Give me all the carbs, please.
  • Speaking of carbs, baking ALL THE THINGS, especially cookies. Funny thing is I bake more now than I did when I worked at a bakery, ha!
  • Cocooning myself into stretchy pants 24/7! My body repels jeans now.
  • A schedule during the weekdays.
  • Working out first thing in the morning.
  • Hanging out with Pretty Girl Rosie, the Torbiest Torbie of the Torbie Girls.
  • Predictably cheesy rom-coms like Bridget Jones’ Diary, and historical period pieces
  • Lists upon lists upon lists.

How about you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 17 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Essie, Just For Fun

More #MismatchedManis: Essie Gels Coutures and Sally Hansen Miracle Gels in Blues and Brights

May 18th, 2020 by Karen 4 Comments

sally hansen miracle gel fish teal braid mintage
Sally Hansen Miracle Gels in Fish-Teal Braid and Mintage

Mismatched manis should come with a warning: once you start, ya can’t stop.

At least that’s been the case on my end of the keyboard!

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to wearing a single color on both hands ever again. 🙂

sally hansen miracle gel apollo you anywhere lemon heaven
Sally Hasen Miracle Gel in Apollo You Anywhere and Lemon Heaven
essie beau tie surrounded by studs
Essie Gel Couture in Beau-tie and Surrounded by Studs

I’ve just about #mismatchedmani’d all the colors in my collection of Essie Gel Coutures and Sally Hansen Miracle Gels, which means the next thing to do would be to collect more colors… Right? That’s solid logic in my book.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Essie, Nails, Sally Hansen

#MismatchedMani Should Totally Be a Thing

April 29th, 2020 by Karen 15 Comments

essie first view labels only

Since we went on lockdown, I’ve been wearing mismatched nails, with one shade of nail polish on the fingers on one hand, and another shade on the other, and ya know what? I’m completely convinced now that the #MismachedMani trend (It’s totally a thing now.) will forever change nail hoarding habits as we know them.

Now maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally get around to wearing some of the nail polishes in my collection that I still haven’t worn?!

sally hansen apollo you anywhere beauty marked

essispool me over at the barre

essie taylor made with love daring damsel

essie preshow jitters wearing hue

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day. Here’s an e-hug. 🤗❤️ How are you doing this morning?

There are 15 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Drugstore Beauty Finds, Essie, Nails, Sally Hansen

Double the Nail Polish!

April 15th, 2020 by Karen 10 Comments

essie beauty nap take me to thread
When you just can’t decide…

Double nail polish! I think we should make this a Spring thing.

Last night I was trying to decide between light green Essie Beauty Nap and mauve Essie Take Me to Thread, and then I was like, “Screw it. If there’s a good time to wear mismatched nails, this is that time.”

So now I’ve got green nails on one hand and mauve nails on the other. 🤷‍♀️

essie beauty nap take me to thread
Essie Take Me to Thread (mauve) and Beauty Nap (green)

Maybe this way I’ll actually get around to wearing all of the nail polishes I’ve hoarded collected, ha ha!

Who’s with me?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 10 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Essie, Nails

Saturday Surfing, February 8th, 2020

February 8th, 2020 by Karen 9 Comments

essie second hand first love
Essie Expressie Nail Polish in Second Hand, First Love

Welcome to the weekend, my friend!

Time to rest and recharge your batteries (hopefully!). For me, that means painting my paws, because when my paws are painted, the stars are in alignment. Mercury avoids retrograde. Pluto becomes a planet again… I feel so naked these days because we can’t wear nail polish to work at the bakery for food handling reasons. So the first thing I like to do on my days off is paint my nails. 💅

Last night I did a quick mani before bed with one of the new Expressie quick-drying polishes from Essie (grabbed it at Target last night for $9). They have a built-in base, color and top coat and, allegedly, they’re supposed to dry in one minute… Took more like 5 though, which is still pretty good, considering there’s a base and top coat up in the mix. I’m wearing two coats of rosy pink called Second Hand First Love on my fingers.

I like the smoothness and opacity. It looks even from base to tip, sans streaks, and the finish is super shiny and almost gel-like. Two coats was perfect.

No nicks yet as of this morning, but quick-drying polishes are notorious for chipping easily, so I’m not holding onto any illusions that it’ll last more than a few days…but who knows? Hopefully Expressie will prove that wrong.

Either way, it was just what my nails needed for a quick fix.

You know what else I need to do right now? Finish this cup of coffee! 😊

That means it’s time for Saturday Surfing.

  • The only Valentine’s Day gift I really want is this Keanu Reeves coloring book. 💖
  • Here’s what astronaut Christina Koch did in space while she was breaking the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
  • This year, give your significant other “flours” for Valentine’s Day with a bouquet of Olive Garden Breadsticks. 😂
  • Love this —-> “Nothing is ever lost by being generous.”
  • I wonder how many people stepped on Lego when they built this cherry blossom tree out of 800,0000 blocks.
  • Speaking of Lego, anti-Lego slippers now exist to protect your precious feet!
  • In a single year, Canada lifted nearly 300,000 kids out of poverty with a program known as a child benefit.


The gal in the black dress and glasses is my hero.


Eyeliner tips for hooded lids: YES, PLEASE


So fun. And I love Lizzo’s blue eye makeup, swoon!


I want to wear this look to Costco (FOR REAL).


Wish we were here


I want all the notebooks…


This is the song stuck in my head at the moment.


The world’s smallest cat


The secret to keeping a new habit? Start small.

Are you doing anything this weekend to refill your well?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Essie, Just For Fun, Nails

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • …
  • Page 8
  • Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

About Makeup and Beauty Blog

Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Hi there! I’m Karen, your friendly neighborhood beauty addict, and I’m a Bay Area girl who hoards brown eyeshadow and covets coral lipstick. Every morning, I wake up and say, “I’m going to do something other than a smoky eye today.” Then…I end up doing a smoky eye anyway (most days). When I’m not putting on makeup, taking pictures of makeup or writing about makeup, which I’ve been doing daily since 2007 (!), you’ll find me hanging out with my hubby (“El Hub”), my four-year-old daughter (Connor Claire) and my torbie girl cat (Pretty Girl Rosie, a.k.a. PGR).

SHOP THE STORE


Long Live Lipstick Tee 💄



Blush Is My Crush Tee



Mascara & Kitties Tee



Thank You For Being a Friend Tee



You Hair Me Tee


Recent Posts

be strong coffee mug youve got this

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 662

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 643

window bed balcony

Saturday Surfing, Jan. 23, 2021

briogeo at ulta

Briogeo Now at Ulta!

duri when in rome

I’ve Found the Perfect Pale Blue Denim Nail Polish, and It’s Only $8

Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Featured Posts

Lady Unicorn

Weird Things I Like to Do

brows fill out beforehand

Before You Pluck or Wax Your Brows, You Must Do This

current bare skin status

What’s One Thing That Drastically Changed Your Skin for the Better?

red brown smokey eyes tutorial top pic 2

A Glamorously Grungy Makeup Tutorial: Smoky Reddish Brown Eyes and Vampy Matte Lips [MODERATE SKILL LEVEL]

Copyright © 2020 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.