Just For Fun

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 578

November 3rd, 2019 by Karen 6 Comments

Tabs was a real dynamo, in more ways than one. He was also a skilled dynamo operator.

Dynamo, as in one of those emergency radios with the hand crank you can turn to juice them up. I’ll never forget the time we lost power at the home office for three days, and Tabs kept the entire office running through sheer force of will and gravy-fueled feline ingenuity.

If you heard him tell it, he would say that he did what he had to do…to keep kitty modeling, because this was back in 2014, which was at the peak of his modeling career. He always had a full plate of gigs lined up, and he did that week too.

When the power went out around 8 a.m. on that fateful Tuesday, Tabs was shooting a photo spread for Chanel…

But he didn’t panic. Not for a second. He kicked it into high gear. He knew he had to keep the photography lights on and needed to be able to hear the news, so he pulled out his trusty emergency radio and started cranking.

Then he climbed up on the roof and made sure the office solar array was working.

Thankfully, it was! So we were able to keep the lights on AND the gravy refrigerator running.

Ours was the only building in the neighborhood that had power, so Tabs invited all the local kitties who didn’t have power at home over to the office so they could store their gravy in the company fridge.

That’s just the kind of cat he was. 😊

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing, Nov. 2nd, 2019

November 2nd, 2019 by Karen 19 Comments

Happy Caturday from The Cat Lady Crew (TCLC)!

Pretty Girl Rosie has been a member of Team MBB for a little over a month now, and my two girls are getting along famously. Rosie kindly allows Connor Claire to attend to her demanding kitty needs, and the two of them spend a lot of time chatting, playing hide and seek, and doing art projects. Rosie transforms into quite the micromanager when someone is sitting at their desk, and she’ll immediately park her dainty self on your lap (or, on top of your desk) if there’s any free space available.

Slowly, but surely, she’s opening up more and more.

How’s your morning been so far? After I finish my coffee and get ready, I’m off to Sur La Table and Michaels to pick up some baking supplies so I can do some practice bakes at home this weekend. And then we’re hopefully going to be painting Connor Claire’s bedroom at some point as well (Behr Moxie, a pale lavender).

But before that, here’s your weekly dose of Saturday Surfing reading! 😁

Rosie stays in Connor’s room every night until she falls asleep.

mama rosie — Then she heads to our room for the rest of the night.

These women take Halloween seriously! They spare no expense on Halloween makeup and on-demand hair and makeup services like Priv and Glamsquad.
Nivea Crème, Vaseline and Cetaphil. I love all three, and folks seem to either love or hate these classic beauty products. Which camp do you fall into?
In the most random skincare news of the week, actor and former ’80s teen hearthrob Rob Lowe just launched his own line, which includes face washes, scrubs and moisturizers.
A hair removal company is asking ladies to grow out their ‘stashes for Movember.
Five styling products for hair that has difficulty holding moisture.
Hair accessories that help this author cope with compulsive hair-pulling.

Ooh baby, baby, it’s a wild world!

One of my favorites. Peep those wings!

Note to self, try this.

I hope something fabulous happens to you this weekend! Talk to you soon. 😊

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

13 Unexpected Side Effects of Makeup Addiction

November 1st, 2019 by Karen 16 Comments

You can never leave the house without at least three lipsticks and two lipglosses.
You have a dedicated stash of neutral eyeshadow palettes, and while most “non-natives” would just see a whole bunch of pans of brown and beige eyeshadow, you can thoroughly break down the differences between each and every palette by undertone, finish, appropriate place to wear, etc.
You have a collection of several brown, black and/or gray eyeliners, and, as you can do for your neutral eye palettes, you know all the distinguishing factors among them, so you say things like, “Well, that black liquid liner has a matte finish, and this one has a shiny finish, and this other one has a vinyl finish, which is COMPLETELY different than a shiny finish…”
When your partner says, “Do you really need another coral lipstick/mascara/[insert any product you tend to hoard here]?”, you don’t even hear them anymore… They literally sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown (“Wah-wah-wah-waaaah!”).
You maintain several tubes of your favorite lipstick stashed in various places (your purse, your car, your jacket pocket).
All the makeup artists and sales associates at Sephora knowingly nod at you when you walk in, like “What’s up?”
You’ve experienced makeup shopping blackouts more than once, where you walk into a store and someone sticks a basket in your hand. Next thing you know, the basket is filled to the brim! — where you can barely carry it — and you have no idea/recollection how the items in the basket got there.
Having a dedicated shelf, drawer or (*ahem*) tote full of foundations makes complete sense to you.
You have an eye makeup look that continues to elude you, but you keep practicing it on the off chance that you’ll be able to perfect it someday (for me, it’s cut crease).
You use makeup lingo like it’s your mother tongue, and say things like, “Do you bake? I used to, but I never do it anymore,” and the person you’re speaking to knows you’re not talking about cupcakes.
You’ve had a HALLELUJAH moment with bronzer at one time or another.
Your friends and relatives have asked you to help them with their prom, wedding or Halloween makeup.
Your plan of attack for the Sephora VIB sale is so elaborate, and so thorough, that it requires weeks of intense preparation. 😊

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 😁

Happy Halloween

October 31st, 2019 by Karen 11 Comments

My baby unicorn dressed up as a baby unicorn this year. 🎃😂🦄🌈

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Your Best and Worst Halloween Costume?

October 30th, 2019 by Karen 18 Comments

I think all the plastic costumes I wore as a child in the ’80s fall into a collective “worst” category. 😂 If you had to suffer through a plastic mask back in the day, you know what I’m talking about. The eye and nose holes were always juuuuuust a little bit askew, which left me unable to see or really breathe for that matter, LOL! Every Halloween in a mask was hot, sweaty and uncomfortable.

The candy made up for it, though! 🎃

As for best, hmmm. Well, I quite enjoyed dressing up as the crazy-looking beauty queen inspired by the cover of Hole’s Live Through This album a few years back.

How about you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. We’re home! The power is officially back on!

Anyway, I can’t tell you how relieved I am to do simple things like run a load of laundry, brew a cup of coffee and surf the web. ❤️

The past few days have felt like I’ve been waiting at an airport for an uncertain connecting flight, and now that the power is back on, life will hopefully continue on as usual, knock on wood. My nerves are sighing the most epic sigh of relief.