Just For Fun

What’s the Most Unlikely Thing in Your Makeup Bag?

September 17th, 2019 by Karen 1 Comment

Lemme guess… Is it a toothbrush? (They do come in handy for taming flyaways.)

Or a business card? (So convenient for stenciling out crispy cat eye flicks!)

For me, it’s a tossup between the bottle of Essie Gel Couture Top Coat and a small tin of Hollywood Fashion Tape!

I keep the top coat around because I’ve become the person who gets wherever she needs to go a half an hour early these days (to make a long story short, I feel much less anxious, but it goes totally against my nature, LOL!), so I often find myself with time to spare waiting in the car. So, while I’m there, I’ll swipe a little of the top coat at and under the tips of my nails to delay chipping.

Oh, and the Hollywood Fashion Tape is a double-sided tape you can stick on your body or your clothes, like on bra straps or loose hems, to keep things in place.

Can’t even BEGIN to tell you how many times it’s prevented a fashion faux pas!

How about you? What’s the most unlikely thing in your makeup bag?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Transitional Booties at DSW

September 16th, 2019 by Karen 8 Comments

I got a coupon in the mail for some good deals on early season boots at DSW, so I went! — despite the fact that it was 92 degrees with nary a cloud in the sky.

Thankfully for me and my feet, DSW has the answer to navigating this very confusing time of year between summer and fall, and the answer is something I call “transitional booties.”

Did you laugh like a teenage boy when I said, “transitional booties”? Because I crack up every time I say it, ha ha ha!

So, what is a transitional bootie? Well, they’re ankle boots, usually made from suede or leather, that you can wear with summery dresses or your favorite fall pant/cozy sweater combo, and they go with everything during that weird in-between phase between summer and fall.

My favorite type of transitional booties are perforated ankle booties.

They have the little hole cutouts in the shoe material, a la instant air conditioning for your feet. On warm days, you can wear them without socks, and perhaps with a dress.

baretraps booties — The perforated Rizzo bootie by Baretraps

And on cool days…socks!

I really like the Rizzo by Baretraps because of the low heel and the rounded toe.

Super comfy.

I also like the Dr. Scholl’s Best Day Bootie. This one is SUPER cute in person, especially in the Olive option, which is a dark, rich green khaki that functions as a neutral.

dsw booties 21 — Dr. Scholl’s Best Day Bootie in Olive

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 592

September 16th, 2019 by Karen 20 Comments

you are worthy — A gentle reminder on this beautiful Monday.

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. Are you better at remembering names or remembering faces?

Oh, it’s a tossup because I’m equally bad at both! 🤣

I guess I’m a little better at faces if, and only if, I’m wearing my glasses or contacts (I’m nearsighted)… That said, I’m getting pretty lazy when it comes to wearing either. What I really need to do is invest in some good reading glasses, but I’m still in complete denial about that.

2. What’s your favorite TV show?

The Great British Bake Off! But this one-new-episode-per-week thing on Netflix kind of pains me. I got used to marathoning the earlier seasons.

“Give me all the gluten!” is all I have to say.

3. Something on your bucket list?

I desperately want to learn how to play the accordion… I really need to make that happen, because when there’s an accordion playing, everyone is happy. 😊

4. If you had more time for hobbies, what are some hobbies you would have?

Baking would be one, for sure. Brownies and bread are my love language. ❤️ I’d also like to take hip-hop dance classes again, although I don’t think I’d be much good at it anymore, since it’s been years.

Oh, and if there were an American Ninja Warrior-type gym nearby, I’d start doing obstacle training in a heartbeat.

Oh, and one other thing: does sleep count as a hobby?!

5. Apple or Android?

Apple! — mostly because I’m already stuck on the Mac hamster wheel, and once you’re on there, it’s hard to get off.

Because I’m a “list lady”

Speaking of remembering names…I really don’t like that awkward feeling when you keep running into someone whose name you can’t remember, but after a certain amount of time has passed you can’t ask what their name is again. At that point, it’s clear that neither of you remembers the other person’s name, but you both keep pretending that you do, and it’s so uncomfortable (at least it is for me, LOL!).

So here’s what I do now: I keep a list oh-so-creatively called “People I’ve Met” on my phone, and right after I meet someone, I jot down a few details about them, like, “Long red hair, Molly’s mom, met her at the dance studio in the fall, super friendly.”

It’s actually REALLY handy, especially 1) if you’re bad at remembering names, and 2) you usually have your phone on ya. When I see that person again, BAM! — I just pop open my list, and there are the details.

Super nerdy, and yet super effective. 😉

Have a wonderful week, OK? Talk to you soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Question time! Here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon!

1. Are you better at remembering names or remembering faces?
2. What’s your favorite TV show?
3. Something on your bucket list?
4. If you had more time for hobbies, what are some hobbies you’d have?
5. Apple or Android?

P.P.S. Please be extra kind and loving to yourself this week. If you do that, I’ll do the same. 😄

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 571

September 15th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

Of all the things Tabs was, low-carb wasn’t one of them. That cat loved his bread. Sourdough, French, honey whole wheat — if it was bread and I was eating it, I was sharing it with Tabs.

It was one of his many enduring quirks.

Not a lot of people know this, but Tabs was supposed to be one of the original hosts on The Great British Baking Show. He was cast as the Paul Hollywood character.

Yeah, we flew over to the UK and spent a few weeks filming the pilot episode. Like, we were literally in the tent.

I think it was week three or four when we found out Tabs had been cast as the main character in the Spider-Cat movie, and it was his chance to fulfill one of his lifelong career dreams to work with Jon Favreau, so we bid adieu to The Great British Baking Show and returned home…

Paul Hollywood stepped into the tent, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Every once in a while, I make one of Tabs’ favorite recipes. This weekend, I busted out his world-famous catnip-infused 🧁 cupcakes, and of course I also made a rustic rosemary catnip loaf in honor of my little bread lover. 🥖

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing, Sep. 14th, 2019

September 14th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

golden gate bridge fog — Chrissy Field Beach Park in San Francisco, California

Good morning from the Bay Area! It’s that time of year around here when the microclimates go cray. You can leave the house in shorts and a sleeveless shirt and be desperate for a warm sweatshirt a few hours later. People are NOT playing when they say to bring layers for Bay Area adventures. The pic up top was from the beach a couple weeks ago in the heat of summer. It was warm enough to play at the edge of the water (granted, just our feet because it was cold!), but that pretty much sums it up.

What are you up to today? I hope it involves a little rest and reading.

Speaking of that…your beauty links for the week:

You can now buy a makeup mirror with Alexa built into it, and all I have to say to that is SNOOZE. Call me when she can actually do winged liner for me.
The New York Times asks, “Are you being kind to your butt?” (P.S. Apparently, butt skin care masks are a thing now.)
Favorite quote of the week: “Eventually…I was caught. My mom got home early from work one day and found me in her room wearing her favorite red lipstick. I learned one thing that day that forever stuck with me after the fact: you can’t trick your mom for as long as you think you can.”
These two clever penguins keep sneaking into a sushi shop.
According to NYFW, basic beauty is dead.
I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Marin Humane Society website lately, and I just found out they have a lot of in-depth and useful resources on cat and dog behavior in their Training Handouts section. (And they come in both English and Español!)
Sasha Plavsic, the founder of clean beauty brand Ilia Beauty, is obsessed with typography.
Got a pimple? Cover AND heal it with these cute yellow star stickers.
NYFW also told us that hair scarves are going to be everywhere come spring/summer 2020 (yikes, did I just really type “2020?”).

Easy hair styles with a scarf

I want to try these styles, too.

Chrissy Field, San Francisco, California

When Riri stands up and starts clapping, you’re doing something right.

I needed this today.

Now, this is usually the point when I go get another cup of coffee, but I’m going to make a green juice instead because my body is craving spinach… Does that ever happen to you? And sometimes I don’t want to expend the effort to actually sit down and eat a big bowl of it, so I just blitz it in my Ninja Blender with some fruit. That’s where I am in life right now, LOL! 😂

Anyway, have a great rest of your weekend.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen