Face of the Day (FOTD)

Today’s (7-Minute) Makeup: Monochromatic Lids, Cheeks and Lips

January 30th, 2019 by Karen 18 Comments

I’ve recently come to the following conclusion:

Five-minute makeup is bullsh*t.

Rather, it is if you (correction, I) want to do more than tinted moisturizer, brows, mascara and a nude lip.

I mean, I do five-minute makeup looks all the time. I like ’em. They’re easy, convenient… Well, those are their main selling points, but they aren’t really that much fun, because it’s just not enough time to do more than the basics.

And sometimes I want to have fun! — and I have more swag when I’m feeling my makeup, and when I have more swag, Beyoncé better watch out.

Therefore, in the pursuit of swag…seven-minute makeup is where it’s at.

It’s the sweet spot for me. It’s just enough time to go a little extra (with liner, blush, what have you), but it’s still lazy girl doable.

So, here was my seven-minute makeup look today. I did it using some new products from the MAC in Monochrome collection, but there’s also some Hourglass up in the mix. Everything is listed below in the order applied. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. 😀

mac velvet teddy monochrome — Baby, how YOU feeling?

mac in monochrome velvet teddy makeup of the day final — Seven minutes, I can do.

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Another #PSL Pumpkin Spice Look (I Call It “Pumpkin Spice Jewels”), and Bowing Down to the Wonder That Is Charlotte Tilbury

October 4th, 2018 by Karen 19 Comments

I don’t want you to think I’ve been neglecting my pumpkin spice devotion, seeing as how it’s now October, and therefore officially pumpkin season.

SO MANY PUMPKINS EVERYWHERE. One can’t even whip her high pony without bumping into one, and I still have mad love for pumpkin spice, as demonstrated by this look, which I call “Pumpkin Spice Jewels.”

A few things I learned in the process of doing my makeup…

1. This Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino will shake you to the core

Or, should I say, “shake your core”? Because when I’d finished about half of it my body literally started shaking from all the caffeine.

I’d never had one of these before. It’s just a pumpkin version of a regular frap (like the other drinks I’ve tried in this series, I got the recipe from theMacroBarista on Instagram).

I could only finish half of it because I couldn’t take any more caffeine. I dunno… Maybe you’re made of stronger stuff than I am, but if not and you’re also a wimp when it comes to caffeine, you can still admire it from afar (because it’s certainly nice to look at).

pumpkin spice frappuccino — WHOA there, sweet tooth.

2. I may need to build an alter to worship Charlotte Tilbury

Her stuff is so spendy, but when it comes to that effortless, dewy skin-that-looks-like-skin, C.T. has that game on lock. I’m wearing her new Magic Away Liquid Concealer ($32) and Genius Magic Powder ($45) in this look, and I didn’t really have to do any of the buffing, blending and dabbing that’s usually involved in achieving a no-makeup makeup look.

I just swiped a concealer wand on my face (I’m wearing shade 8 underneath my eyes and shade 9 on the rest of my face), blended with my fingers, then dusted a sheer veil of the powder with a fluffy brush, which took all of two minutes.

I love how my skin looks when I wear C.T.’s stuff. Like, I can’t even tell I’m wearing makeup, and it doesn’t budge. Not one bit.

charlotte tilbury — Divine if you’re into the dewy skin thing

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When You’re Wondering About Winged Liner at 3AM (and Reviews of the PTY Beauty No BS Eyeshadow Palette, a Fab Crease Brush for Hooded Lids, and a Drugstore Beauty Staple)

August 27th, 2018 by Karen 28 Comments

pyt beauty no bs eyeshadow palette 1 — WINGS!

I haven’t been sleeping through the night lately, and by “lately” I mean for the past two weeks, which was approximately when Tabs started his new workout regimen where he does wind sprints up and down the stairs beginning at the witching hour, and Connor started having dreams that wake her up in the middle of the night. (Last night she woke up saying, “Mama, NO! Those are my bubbles. MY BUBBLES!”)

The routine has gone something like this: After I’ve comforted all of the little animals, I crawl back into bed and lie there for an hour or two with my gumbo stew of thoughts.

Among last night’s ponderings…

Is it possible to make a gluten-free roux for a white sauce?
If all of your teeth were pointy, could you still eat Popsicles?
When was the last time I wore winged liner?

I have a pretty good memory for makeup-related tidbits, like what lip liner I wore with Clinique Black Honey circa 1994 (it was Wet ‘n’ Wild 666, which is still around!), so to NOT remember when I wore winged liner last is a minor tragedy in my book, which is why I busted them out today with a mix of products, old and new…

PYT No BS Eyeshadow Palette ($28)

Ooh, can’t say enough about this cool-toned palette with its eight neutral powder eyeshadows. Whether you’ve taken a two-year hiatus from serious blending (LIKE ME), or you’ve just started experimenting with making windshield wiper motions, these buttery powders will make your crease work look like you can blend in your sleep. The shadows combine the fineness of NARS eyeshadows with the softness and smoothness of Dior, and they feel much higher end than $28 to me.

pyt beauty no bs eyeshadow palette swatches — I’m an NC42 in MAC for reference.

For my wings today, first I lined my upper lash line with a black pencil liner to sketch out the wings, and then I dipped an angled brush into the matte dark brown and layered directly on top to set the pencil and soften the color just a touch.

pyt beauty no bs eyeshadow palette k — Dark brown eyeshadow + black pencil liner = a kinder, gentler wing

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A MAC Jade Jagger Face of the Day With Golden Shine Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4

December 11th, 2017 by Karen 27 Comments

mac jade jagger golden shine — When Target is your runway…

I vote that we all wear soft glam makeup for Target runs from this day forward.

It has been decided!

If nothing else, I think it would make the world a more interesting place, LOL!

But seriously, I’m usually barefaced when I go to Target because #momlife, unless I’m feeling ambitious, in which case I might curl my lashes — might — but I just had to go there with MAC Jade Jagger. It’s so beautiful! I haven’t been this excited about a MAC collection in a long time.

Gimme easy glam any day of the week.

mac jade jagger collection all — I’m wearing the blush in the upper right, the red lipstick right next it, the quad on the left, and the bronzer in the lower left.

The collection is LE and coming to select MAC counters and the MAC website December 14th.

This was actually my face of the day last Friday, but I just got around to posting the pics. It’s a warm, satiny bronzed brown smoky eye with pink cheeks and soft red lip.

mac jade jagger golden shine k2 — I used the rose gold shimmer in Satin Shimmer Mineralize Skinfinish to highlight my cheekbones and my nose.

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Look Book: Glittery Demi-Cut Crease Cat Eyes, Levels of Glitter, and More MAC Snow Ball

November 16th, 2017 by Karen 13 Comments

mac snow ball pigment glitter kit pink k pink lips — Wearing the MAC Snow Ball Pigment and Glitter Kit in Pink on my lids.

Look Book is a new MBB series, but I think of it as “a makeup playground.” It’s a place to try new looks, talk about techniques and products, and hopefully — hopefully — get inspired to try new things. 🙂

I have plans, my friend — makeup plans for the future — and they involve me continuing to wear glitter on my lids through my 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. 🙂

Why?

Because I don’t believe that glittery makeup has to be relegated to just one or two decades along your makeup journey. I 100% believe that there are always ways to work a little sparkle into your step.

I think it helps to think of glitter as, not just something you completely splash all over your lids, but as an accent that you can incorporate into your look in levels, which is what I did in this glittery demi-cut crease with glittery cat eye liner and a glittery dot accent in the inner corner.

By the way, before we get into it, I just want let you know that I used some limited edition makeup kits (the Pigment and Glitter Kit in Pink, Lip Gloss Kit in Rose, and the Mascara Kit) from the MAC Snow Ball collection, which is out now.

I also used all three of the Snow Ball brush kits (Basic, Advanced and Mini).

In addition to those, I also sprinkled in some MAC permanent products, of course, and everything is listed at the bottom of the post. If you have any questions about anything — the kits, the permanent things, why I did something a certain way, whatever — holler at me in the comments, and I’ll drop my two cents.

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