Makeup

Next Stop: Caron Paris

July 12th, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

Saw this on my feed this morning, and it hit a little too close to home, LOL!

As Fox Mulder famously said, “The truth is out there…” I agree, and I think that someday the truth will finally be revealed about whether some Starbucks baristas purposefully muck up your name. 😒

my name isnt caron — Was this on purpose?!

Extra points for creativity to the young man who spelled my name exactly like this luxury French fragrance house: Caron Paris.

Thanks to my friend Joey for pointing this out!

I’d never heard of Caron Paris before Joey mentioned it, and now I have yet another place to add to my long list of places I’d like to shop when I go back to Paris (whenever that may be!).

Caron has been making high-end perfumes (both for women and men) and makeup since 1904, and they have three boutiques in the most fashionable neighborhoods in Paris.

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#Rose Michel Morsetti, captivated by its many nuances chose to evoke the delicateness of a rosebud picked at dawn, the fragrance of wild roses. #Caron #CaronPerfume #Tribute #NotreDameDeParis

A post shared by CARON (@caronparisofficiel) on Apr 18, 2019 at 9:40am PDT

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Délire de Roses, A fragrance that combines every quality of the huge variety of roses that abound in nature. #Delirederoses #Caron #Caronperfume #lanadelrey

A post shared by CARON (@caronparisofficiel) on Jul 16, 2017 at 2:41am PDT

They’re known for their rosy scents, as well as their “fragrance fountains” — the opulent crystal decanters with bronze taps that dispense your chosen perfume into a flacon, which is then adorned with golden thread…

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Let’s go to our shops : 23, rue François 1er 75008 90, rue saint honoré 75008 29, rue du Roi de Sicile 75004 #caron #caronperfume

A post shared by CARON (@caronparisofficiel) on Jan 30, 2019 at 8:57am PST

SO FANCY!

They also do a bevy of indulgent accessories, including handmade glass pieces for your dressing table, pearl-encrusted mirrored compacts and handmade lace fans.
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Chanel, You’re Rockin’ My World at the Moment!

July 10th, 2019 by Karen 4 Comments

chanel contour graphique — A little Chanel never hurt anyone.

Heya, friend. I’m sitting here at my desk with a rumbly tumbly because I’m waiting on an air conditioning specialist to stop by for an estimate. (Side note: Phase one of Operation Casa Mini Remodel is officially underway.) Two things I’ve learned so far about home remodels and home repair projects:

Anything that can break, will break, and surprise! — everything breaks at the same time.
Waiting on the people who can fix those broken things wreaks havoc on your lunch plans, because when someone says, “I’ll be there between 10 a.m. and noon,” that’s code for “I’ll ring your doorbell at 12:15.”

Anyway, yeah, I’m waiting on someone right now, and I’m hungry, but I don’t want to start making food because then I’ll have to eat it really fast, or wait and have it get cold, or awkwardly shovel a frozen breakfast burrito down my gullet in front of a stranger…

This is probably a good time to distract myself with one of my favorite things in the whole wide world: mascara.

I’ll gleefully try each and every new mascara that promises lusciously long lashes, but the one I’ve been loving lately is Dimensions de Chanel Mascara.

I got hooked on it last spring when Chanel introduced the shade Nero Metallo, a smoldering deep onyx (take a breath, it’s still available!).

chanel dimensions de chanel — Oh, hello lashes!

The bristle brush wand stretches the stubbiest strands up toward the sky, and one coat coaxes my skinny, straight lashes into a captivating curved fringe that could pass for a pair of falsies. And yes, it does all this without flakes, clumps, smudges or smears.

As for removal, an oil-based makeup remover takes it off in a snap.

I’ve been wearing it daily for a while (you may have noticed), and I can’t get enough.

I also can’t get enough of products that can be used for more than just one thing, because why not have an eyeshadow that doubles as an eyeliner? — which is exactly what you get with the Chanel Stylo Ombre et Contours. (I’m on a Chanel kick, as you can see.)

Twist-up cream shadows have been around forever, but it’s rare to find one that’s blend-adble enough to play with on your lids, and long-wearing enough to stay put on the waterline.
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Urban Adventures

July 5th, 2019 by Karen 14 Comments

urban decay soul love glitter 3 — B-A-N-A-N-A-S

In the interest of full disclosure, the only place I went wearing this glittery makeup (Urban Decay, obvs!) was downstairs…and then upstairs…and then downstairs at home because I felt absolutely bonkers wearing it, so perhaps the title of this post should be “Suburban Adventures”?

But you know how it is… Sometimes, you gotta just play with glitter, even if it takes you to crazytown.

There are some big-@ss flecks of glitter in this look, and yes, they’re HUGE. I used two UD glitter gels, including Distortion, which has iridescent hexagonal glitter pieces (they look white in pics taken with a flash, but more purple and pink in real life); and Soul Love, the dark, dainty teal. Both are safe to use on eyes.

By the way, I stumbled upon a tip while I was working out this look! If you’re layering tons of glitter on your lids (because you never know when the occasion will arise), wait for each layer to completely dry before applying the next one, because if you pat more glitter on your lids while they’re still wet, you might disrupt the previous layer.

Which is just…not good.

I also stumbled upon a lovely, easy way to do a natural-looking base: full-coverage liquid matte concealer (dotted wherever you want coverage) sheered out with a face brush and dampened with a makeup setting spray.

Ideally, use a face brush with synthetic fibers because synthetic bristles won’t absorb as much liquid product as natural bristles will, which leaves more on your face.

urban decay summer solstice — All about that (sheer) base

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Fireworks!!!!!

July 4th, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

Your Fourth of July fun fact! — aerial fireworks go by several different names, many of which are botanically themed…like peony, dahlia and chrysanthemum.

Coincidentally, I was thinking about vibrant, dynamic peonies when I did this eye look.

As each boom radiates outward, the circumference of each colorful circle has a defined shape, but as it expands, each individual point of light trails off ever so slightly until it disappears.

For the eye, I tried to convey the radiating roundness with the half-moon shape, and then spread the bronze and ruby red glitters outward.

For the lips, I experimented with two different styles — one, an opaque, editorial (a.k.a. “artsy-fartsy”) matte red; and the other a sheer raspberry, which I think is slightly more wearable.

Um…is red glitter ever wearable, though? DISCUSS. 😁
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Get Gorgeous Doughnut Lips with NARS Oil-Infused Lip Tint

July 3rd, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

When your lips gleam like a glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut, you’re doing it right! 🍩

The new NARS Oil-Infused Lip Tints blaze bright neon in their tubes, but they look almost clear on lips. There’s just a wink of coy color, and thanks to the bevy of fruity moisturizing factors they contain, my dry lip flake situation is currently MIA.

The formula feels like a cross between a gloss and a balm, and these somehow manage to not glide around the outline of my lips, which, as a chronic lip-rubber, I appreciate.

One swipe across my lower lip, and another swipe across my upper lip, and then a quick smack-smack-smack, and my lips have that healthy, shiny sheen normally reserved for teenagers just getting outta bed.

I particularly like how sheer the brights are (the rose is a little too shy on my pigmented lips), and I think their delicateness makes them work well with a wider array of looks than a full-tilt, high-pigment gloss.

INGREDIENTS:
HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE · DIISOSTEARYL MALATE · BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER · ETHYLENE/PROPYLENE/STYRENE COPOLYMER · SILICA DIMETHYL SILYLATE · SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL · RUBUSIDAEUS (RASPBERRY) SEED OIL · PUNICA GRANATUM FLOWER EXTRACT · GLYCERIN · TOCOPHEROL · HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL · ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS (ROSEMARY) LEAF EXTRACT · POLYETHYLENE · MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX/CERA MICROCRISTALLINA/CIRE MICROCRISTALLINE · POLYGLYCERYL-10 PENTAOLEATE · BUTYLENE/ETHYLENE/STYRENE COPOLYMER · FLAVOR (AROMA) · SILICA · GLYCERYL DIISOSTEARATE · TRIISOSTEARIN · TRIMETHYLOLPROPANE TRIETHYLHEXANOATE · TIN OXIDE · ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE · POLYSILICONE-2 · BHT · PHENOXYETHANOL · [+/- (MAY CONTAIN): MICA · TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891) · IRON OXIDES (CI 77491) · RED 27 (CI 45410) · RED 33 (CI 17200) · RED 28 (CI 45410) · CARMINE (CI 75470)]

They’re $26 each, limited edition, and you can find ’em at Sephora.

nars disco infernal — Disco Infernal (by the way, I’m wearing the NARS Wanted Mini Eyeshadow Palette on my eyes).

What’s bumping in my headphones at the moment?

Sometimes when I get home from the gym I like to sit in my car in the garage for a few minutes and listen to music, because, I dunno…I’m alone, nobody’s asking me any questions, and I can just ~~chair dance in complete and total privacy~~ simmer with my thoughts.

Last night, I was listening to a local hip-hop station (106.1 KMEL, which I’ve been listening to since I was in middle school, OMG!) when this song started playing.

I had a moment, man! For approximately four minutes, my Mazda temporarily transformed into Club Karen, complete with booty shaking and arm waving — the whole kit and caboodle.

Of course, this song played in the middle of a mix, so I had to reverse engineer it to find the artist (Ari Lennox). I found her by Googling a phrase from the song: “break me off gitchy gitchy ya ya.”

Seriously, the Internets are amazing!

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