Clinique

November 2018 Favorites

December 10th, 2018 by Karen 19 Comments

Because it’s cold, I’m already getting nostalgic for November! Here are some things I loved the heck out of last month…

1. Onomie Boosting Lip + Cheek Sticks ($30 each)

These are super sheer compared to some other creams products out there, like the MAC Cream Colour Bases, but don’t walk away just yet. I don’t really use them when I’m gonna be taking pics for MBB, because they’re too subtle for photography, but for regular life, like when I’m wearing the most minimal of minimal makeup (a recurring theme when you live with a demanding tabby and a toddler), they’re B-O-M-B. They add just enough color to cheeks and lips to liven things up so I don’t look totally dead, ha ha.

I blend concealer under my eyes and skip the tinted moisturizer/foundation completely, then plop on a coat of mascara, and dab and blend one of these tints on my cheeks and lips.

It’s a very Megan Markle makeup look, and I’m into it.

Comes in six shades. I wear the Berry the most.

2. Juno & Co Microfiber Velvet Sponge ($6 each, or four for $20)

You can use this soft and squishy makeup blending sponge wet or dry to apply or set foundation, powder and/or concealer. The surface of the sponge feels velvety, similar to velvet fabric, which makes a big difference in the finished look. It’s a more airbrushed and polished look than you get with the beautyblender-y makeup sponges out there.

3. R+Co Television Perfect Hair Shampoo and Conditioner ($30 each)

You know when your hair feels coated, weighed down and heavy? UGH, I hate that feeling. It’s like living with a family of filthy forest animals on your head 24/7. Anyway, with this shampoo and conditioner, you can completely avoid that issue. They’re for smoothing, moisturizing *and* volume, and they’re made for all hair types, from fine to thick and wavy like mine, and everything in between. When I use this set, my hair is what I call, “light and fluffy.” My only wish is that they came in bigger bottles!

The scent is lovely, too. I detect lavender, pineapple, tangerines and warm, white musk.

4. R+Co Waterfall Moisture + Shine Lotion ($29)

Again for the girls and guys who like hair that isn’t coated with a thick layer of goo. (R+Co is good at that.) This intense leave-in conditioner and frizz-fighter is just as moisturizing as their High Dive Moisture + Shine Cream (don’t even ask me how many bottles of that I’ve gone through), but it retains more volume in your strands, so it flattens the hair less than High Dive.

Both are brilliant, but if you have long or medium-length hair, and you’re all about floofy marshmallow volume, this is the one you’ll want, especially if you like violets, oranges and caramel, which is how it smells.

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Clinique Pretty Easy Liquid Eyeliner Pen

December 7th, 2018 by Karen 17 Comments

clinique pretty easy liquid eyeliner pen 2 — I love this so much that I rubbed off the writing on the package!

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

OK…I don’t know how you feel about liquid eyeliner in general, but this is THE best black liquid eyeliner in the known universe, IMO, and yes, I think it’s just as good as the Tom Ford pen.

(Yup, *that* $58 Tom Ford Liner.)

It’s the Clinique Pretty Easy Liquid Eyeliner Pen, and it’s a comparatively bargain $22. It does so many of the things that the Tom Ford liner does, and does them just as well. It’s a deep, dark black; it draws super skinny lines; dries quickly; it’s really, REALLY easy to use.

It’s got one of those long, flexible felt tips, so if you want to draw an ultra-fine line on your upper lash line or a precise cat flick in the outer corner, you can easily do it, even if you’re all thumbs, half-asleep or in a hurry.

Normally, I’d never dream of applying liquid liner when I’m in a rush, but it’s totally doable with this one. There’s something kinda magical about it and very user-friendly…which is probably why they call it the Pretty Easy Liquid Eyeliner Pen, ha!

clinique pretty easy liquid eyeliner pen 1 — When you try to make kissy faces and look awkward but decide to just go with it anyway. (That’s the liner on my upper lash lines, by the way.)

One of my favorite things about it is the ~20-second drying time, which doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but it’s just enough to either 1) let the line dry on its own, or, 2) and this is what I like to do, I grab a smudge brush and feather out the edge of the line to make it look blended and smooth.

And after that 20 seconds, you can blink, roll your eyes or whatever, and your liner won’t transfer up onto your lids! Once this stuff is dry, it’s smudge-proof and budge-proof.

But that’s not all! You can also find it pretty much anywhere. I love that I can just pop into the Novato Sephora and grab one if I “need to,” or that I can stop by a Clinique counter at Macy’s or Nordstrom.

I should probably get a new one soon because mine is looking very…well-loved, ha ha ha!

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A Sephora VIB Sale Strategy (and a Skin Care Haul)

November 13th, 2018 by Karen 27 Comments

kate somerville skin care — New from Kate Somerville

I have revised my plan of attack for the Sephora VIB sale, because, let’s get real…only a few of the items I want are things I can’t function without (I’m talking to you, Kate Somerville Anti-Bac Clearing Lotion). Most of the things are things I only want because they’re on sale… I’m 100% my mother’s daughter that way (“It’s on sale? BUY IT. Don’t you ever pay full price, ever!”).

But really, how much do I actually need another bronzer, all-matte neutral palette or another coral lipstick?

Not much! LOL. But I still want them all, especially with new makeup coming out every five seconds, so I gotta check myself before I wreck myself…

How do I weed out unnecessary or spur-of-the moment purchases?

On the very first day of the sale, I put everything I want to buy into my cart, and then I wait… And wait. And wait. I let it all simmer there, brewing and stewing (and taunting me?). Then, juuuuust before the sale ends, I’ll see what’s left in my cart, and most of the time when I do this, there are things that have sold out, which whittles the list down, and from there I reevaluate what’s left and see what fits into my budget.

This tactic reduces the likelihood of me getting a whole bunch of things I mostly only want because they’re on sale.

sephora vib haul — ‘Twas a skin care haul (regular prices shown)

Um…but K-Dawg, does this actually work?

Dude, it totally does! Forcing myself to wait and really think about my cart and the grand total $ staring back at me helps…because I know who I am, and I’m a spur-of-the-moment shopper.

Waiting also forces me to look around at what I already have in my stash.

For this last sale, I knew I needed another bottle of Kate Somerville Anti-Bac, sunscreen/face moisturizer for winter (ugh, dry skin), an eye cream and some chemical exfoliators for mature skin, because every morning lately when I wake up and look in the mirror, instead of seeing my face, I see freakin’ Gollum’s!

What my heart was telling me I wanted, though, was a bunch of makeup — a Charlotte Tilbury palette, Shiseido eyeliners and eyeshadows (they recently revamped their entire makeup line, and it’s supposed to be REALLY good), some Charlotte Tilbury blushes and bronzers, and a Dior foundation.

OK, and maybe a few other things were in there too, ha ha ha. You know me too well!

Step 1: Shopping my own stash

The Charlotte Tilbury palette ended up being sold out, but everything worked out because I rediscovered my BECCA Chrissy Palette, which more or less serves the same purpose. I’m a little sad panda, 🙁 but if the CT palette is still around for the next VIB sale and I’m still lusting after it, I’ll get it then.

becca chrissy teigen swatches — Hello, old friend…

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Do You Like to Layer Sunscreens?

August 2nd, 2018 by Karen 14 Comments

layering sunscreen — Lemme tell you a story about sunscreen…

When I was pregnant with Connor (and for almost the entire year after she was born) I wasn’t good about wearing sunscreen. I wore very little.

(OK…I didn’t wear any at all.)

It started out from a cautionary standpoint. I was freaked out about chemicals and everything I was consuming (except for the massive amounts of frozen waffles, of course) and putting on myself potentially affecting the baby, but then, well…it morphed into a long-term bad habit. I was also so exhausted from merely just living at the time that I couldn’t handle having to do another thing in the morning, so I just stopped using sunscreen.

I was thinking about this as I got ready this morning. I don’t have anywhere special to go — just a regular Thursday — but I grabbed, not one, but two (!) sunscreens for my face from my bathroom shelf.

Some peeps (like me now) like layering a chemical sunscreen with a physical sunscreen (here’s the difference between them). That’s what I’ve been doing this summer.

After I wash my face, I do a layer of Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion WetForce SPF 50+ on my face and neck, wait a few minutes for it to sink in, then do another layer of Clinique SPF30 Mineral Sunscreen Fluid for Face on top. This particular combination works well for me, especially under makeup.

And sometimes, if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll also do a few sprays of Supergoop! x Milly Defense Refresh Setting Mist Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 50 on top of my makeup.

Is it overkill? Perhaps.

Probably. 🙂

But my skin’s doing pretty well this summer (knocks on wood), and I’ve been breakout-free for months.

I am more sensitive to sun than ever, though, which I think has to do with the Biologique Recherche P50 1970 I’ve been using every night. It’s a fairly aggressive acid toner.

How about you? Do you layer different sunscreens together to make your own super sunscreen cocktail, or are you a single sunscreen guy or gal?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hello, Hydration! Clinique Pop Splash Lip Gloss + Hydration

June 28th, 2018 by Karen 3 Comments

“You can never have too many tubes of gloss in your purse. Or too many kittens.”

— Ancient proverb (author unknown)

Clinique Pop Splash Lip Gloss + Hydration ($18.50, 0.14-oz. tube with a doe-foot applicator, 20 shades)

The key words here are “HELLA HYDRATION.”

You probably don’t *need* to collect ’em all, since the peaches, roses and pinks all look very similar on lips (the hot pink and red are pretty distinctive, though), but you might want to keep one or two in your purse for when your lips are dramatically dry (like mine are).

clinique rosewater pop — My fave: Rosewater Pop

Be prepared for a touch-up every couple hours if you wear one because they aren’t long-lasting (unlike the recently discontinued Glosswears), buy it’s a decent trade-off considering how cute and compact the tubes are. I do like seeing them in my T. Rex claws…

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