• 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

Just For Fun

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 658

December 28th, 2020 by Karen 33 Comments

rocks on walk
Spotted these beauties on my walk yesterday

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’s your definition of “no makeup” makeup?

    Well…it’s all an illusion as you know. Mine starts with sunscreen, followed by a quick curl with a lash curler and a coat of mascara. Then, brows filled in with a pencil, followed by the daintiest kitten flick done with either liquid liner or eyeshadow applied with a wet angled brush.

    Voila!

    2. Would you rather cut your own bangs or dye your own hair?

    It’s been two years since the last time I colored my hair(!), so at this point, I’ll reluctantly opt to cut my own bangs… I’ve done it before, although it was in high school, so I’m fairly sure I could do it again…but I’ll cut slooooOOOooowly and carefully, and I’ll do something like side-swept bangs that I could easily pin back if disaster struck and I made a major boo-boo.

    3. Something you’ve been wearing a lot since March?

    High waisted Zella black leggings! At this point they may be permanently glued to my body.

    4. What kind of tea would you like today?

    Earl Grey please, with a splash of half-and-half. No sugar.

    5. Would you rather have to apply your makeup solely with your fingers, or solely with sponges? (It’s either/or in this scenario.)

    Fingers! — although I know you can do a lot with a Beauty Blender, I feel like I have more control when I use fingers. Plus, it’s faster for me to pile on a more concentrated application of eyeshadow and blush with my fingers!

    6. What’s the weather like today where you live?

    It’s overcast in the mid-50s with some drizzle. Nice winter day for us. I may take Connor out in her rain boots and rain coat to splash around in some puddles.

    7. Say something nice to the person above you in the comments.

    Since there’s nobody in the comments yet, here’s a nice thing for everyone reading this: you’re doing SO good. Hang in there, and keep it up!

    8. One of your go-to beauty products as of late?

    Oooh, Odele Leave-In Conditioner! It does a little bit of everything (tames frizz, moisturizes dry hair and adds a light hold), and it does it all without my hair feeling heavy or weighed down with product. A big 8-oz. bottle with a pump is pretty affordable, too, at $11.99.

    9. Something you want to do today?

    I got a Cuisineart Bread Maker for Christmas as a gift from my niece (thank you, Rachel!), and I want to bake my first French bread loaf in it today.

    Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

    Karen

    P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

    1. What’s your definition of “no makeup” makeup?
    2. Would you rather cut your own bangs or dye your own hair?
    3. Something you’ve been wearing a lot since March?
    4. What kind of tea would you like today?
    5. Would you rather have to apply your makeup solely with your fingers, or solely with sponges? (It’s either/or in this scenario.)
    6. What’s the weather like today where you live?
    7. Say something nice to the person above you in the comments.
    8. One of your go-to beauty products as of late?
    9. Something you want to do today?

    P.P.S. Hello, my friend! 🤗 Last Monday Poll of 2020. Deep breath in, deep breath out…and remember, we’ve totally got this!

There are 33 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 639

December 27th, 2020 by Karen 4 Comments

This time of year, I keep my gaze looking forward, which is something I learned from Tabs. Right after every Christmas, he’d always have me draft his New Year’s resolutions for the upcoming year, so I took some time to work on mine today, and one of the things I would like to do in 2021 is become an avid cyclist.

I’m gonna start my cycling journey by spending lots of time on my new stationary bike. 🚴‍♀️

I have a feeling my feet will thank me in a few years.

While I was riding today, I got to thinking about Tabs’ resolutions throughout the years…

He had some quirky ones, like one year he wanted to win a chili cook-off. Another year he wanted to become a hydroponics expert, and the cool thing about him was that he actually did all those things!

Rosie’s resolutions

I asked Rosie today if she had any New Year’s resolutions, and the first thing she said was that she would like to climb all of the trees in the neighborhood in 2021. She had me draw out a map of the neighborhood topiary, and after she climbs each tree, we’ll be marking it off with a big red “X.”

She also plans to learn to code and is currently working on Python…

And this one surprised me: she would like to make peace with Harris, the self-appointed cat mayor of the neighborhood.

Last, but certainly not least, she plans to become a chess grandmaster, which I see as very fitting.

Oh, Rosie just meowed! I think she’s asking what your New Year’s resolutions are. 😸

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun, Rosie, Tabs

Saturday Surfing, Dec. 26, 2020

December 26th, 2020 by Karen 4 Comments

rosie and grogu
New kids on the block

Good morning and happy Boxing Day! Please say hello to our newest boarder, Grogu, otherwise known as “The Kid,” otherwise know as Baby Yoda.

(Side note: both El Hub and Connor are obsessed with The Mandalorian, and they’ve re-watched the season 2 finale too many times to count.)

Grogu was chillin’ in front of the tree yesterday, and his eyes told me that he desperately needed a fuzzy pastel headband and bracelets!

Rosie has already started showing him the ropes around here, although I don’t think it’s out of the goodness of her kitty heart. I’m pretty sure she believes Grogu is now her personal assistant… You know cats.

rosie and grogu
“Let me show you where they keep the treats so you can feed me at my whim.” -Rosie

Onto today’s reading…

  • Liquid, cream and powder blushes makeup artists swear by
  • All about Peter Philips, a.k.a. the former creative director for Chanel and the current creative and image director of Christian Dior makeup
  • This 10-year-old entrepreneur launched her own nail line for kids.
  • Hmm… Does perfume expire?
  • How lipstick 💄 is going to be different in 2021…


This was so moving!


Yeah…no more of this in 2021.


I LOVE her hair!


Yes please.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the day after Christmas, it’s that if you’ve been lucky enough to receive a gift, you better take it out of its box and find a place for it to live in your house ASAP; otherwise, it could end up sitting in a corner somewhere for years, so that’s what we’re doing today. I’m looking forward to this task because now I have an excuse to start organizing and tidying up before the new year.

I know, I’m a weirdo…

Hang in there. We’re in the 2020 home stretch now.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Have a good rest of your day, OK? Oh, and let me know if you received any beauty gifts!

There are 4 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Merry Christmas! 🤶 😺 🎄

December 25th, 2020 by Karen 24 Comments

And a happy new year!

Merry Christmas, my sweet friend. I feel like a broken record because I say this every year, but I still don’t feel like I say it enough — THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here, for being my makeup sister-from-another-mister, for sharing your life with me. All the highs and lows. Thank you from the bottom of my glittery painted toes to the tips of my lashes, and from the deepest part of my being.

The universe seems to have had fun messing with all our plans in 2020 (so rude!), and while it’s been a year of many good moments and unexpected blessings (like all the extra time spent with El Hub and Connor), it’s also been…well…super weird. Difficult, too. Like, that once-in-a-lifetime kinda hard that changes you forever. The optimism that I could once find so easily has been shaken to the core and challenged in so many ways.

Somehow, though, I’ve still managed to hold onto hope.

I’m feeling it today.

When things feel insurmountable, I look to that sense of hope. It reminds me that we’re still moving forward, and that soon enough, better days will come. Hope steadies me, and it keeps me going.

This Christmas has been vastly different for many of us, but I hope you find a way to enjoy this very unusual take on the holiday season. Love you so, so much. Thank you for giving me the greatest gift of all — the gift of your time and your friendship.

Merry Christmas.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

This or That: The Holiday Beauty Edition, Part II

December 22nd, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

this or that holiday beauty edition christmas tree gifts
Part deux!

How to play

Pick one or the other for each of the questions below, and copy/paste your answers in the comments. Can’t wait to see your picks! Mine are listed below. 💋

This or That: The Holiday Beauty Edition

  • Santa leaves you a food-scented holiday candle. 🎅 Would you rather have one with notes of candy cane, gingerbread cookie or hot cocoa?
  • What would you rather find under the tree 🎄 — a Sephora gift card or an Ulta gift card?
  • Favorite skin care brand or an advent calendar with polishes from your favorite nail brand?
  • Cozy robe with matching slippers or cozy, baggy sweats?
  • Matching your makeup to your ugly Christmas sweaters — yay or nay?
  • Which gift would be more thrilling — laser hair removal, or microblading for your brows?
  • Which would you rather find in your stocking — your favorite mascara or a tube of your favorite lip balm?
  • Silver pedi or gold pedi?
  • Red eyeshadow or green eyeshadow?

Santa leaves you a food-scented holiday candle. 🎅 Would you rather have one with notes of candy cane, gingerbread cookie or hot cocoa?

Gingerbread cookie…preferably more ginger and less cookie.

What would you rather find under the tree 🎄 — a Sephora gift card or an Ulta gift card?

ULTA!

Favorite skin care brand or an advent calendar with polishes from your favorite nail brand?

Ooh — wait! A nail polish calendar would be fun. Plus, I could share the polishes with Coycoy and Rosie.

Cozy robe with matching slippers or cozy baggy sweats?

The cozy, baggy sweats please.

Which gift would be more thrilling — laser hair remova,l or microblading for your brows?

Yikes, both sound like they’d hurt…so neither? LOL!

I guess I’ll go with microblading. I’d add a few hairs to the tail of my right brow, and that’s it.

What would you rather find in your stocking — your favorite mascara or a tube of your favorite lip balm?

I’ll take a tube of either Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara or Chanel Dimensions Mascara.

Silver pedi or gold pedi?

A cool-toned glittery gold would be nice.

Red eyeshadow or green eyeshadow?

Believe it or not, I had to pause on this one because I don’t mind red eyeshadow, but green is overall so much easier for me, so I’ll go with an olive green.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen 😘

There are 8 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

  • « Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • …
  • Page 887
  • 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

cat lovers pad

5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately

cerave healing ointment

It’s a CeraVe Jamboree! CeraVe Healing Ointment Soothes Dry, Cracked Skin

yay for berets

9 Reasons to Love Berets

urban decay stay naked threesome top

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay Stay Naked Threesome in Naked

hello monday pond ivc

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 660

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.