Maybelline

A Friday FOTD With Coffee-Colored Winged Liner and Bronze Lids, and New Crocs and Ugg Sandals

April 23rd, 2021 by Karen 14 Comments

You ever go through one of those indecisive periods when every decision you have to make is…extremely difficult? When I do, these episodes can last days, weeks, sometimes months. I’m experiencing one of these spells right meow, and it’s manifesting in multiple ways. Like, I’m currently transitioning all of my shoes to flats (no more heels for this girl), and I couldn’t decide between the Crocs Brooklyn Wedges and the Ugg Kari Sandals, so I ended up buying both. WHOOPS! In my shoe defense, both colors are basic and useful so I know I’ll wear them a lot. (At least that’s what I keep telling myself, hahaha!)

The white soles on the Uggs are makin’ me a little nervous because I can just see myself getting aggravated with every little speck of dirt, but a friend recommended trying a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to keep ’em looking fresh and clean. We’ll see!

Oh, and it just occurred to me right this second that these kinda look like the slippers that Filipino moms/aunties/grandmas threaten to spank you with when you start acting up, OMG!

If I had a dollar for every time someone threatened to palo me with their tsinelas, hahaha!

Can we talk about how the element of indecision has also crept into my lipstick life?! I originally paired these eyes (coffee winged liner and bronzed lids, which I’m feeling!) with a matte coral because a coral lip is so springy…

mac crossfade april 22 — MAC Powderkiss Lipstick in Crossfade

But I also like how a matte taupe-brown lipstick looks with it too, because it has a slight late ’90s vibe.

maybelline more taupe — Maybelline Ultimatte Lipsticks in More Taupe

Which one do you prefer? The coral or the brown?

jane iredale covergirl base — From the left: Maybelline Ultimatte Lipstick in More Taupe, MAC Powderkiss Lipstick in Cross Fade, Jane Iredale Enlighten Plus Under-eye Concealer in No. 2 and Covergirl Outlast Extreme Wear 3-in-1 foundation in 860 Classic Tan

MAKEUP WORN IN THIS LOOK

BASE: Covergirl Outlast Extreme Wear 3-in-1 foundation in 860 Classic Tan and Jane Iredale Enlighten Plus Under-eye Concealer in No. 2

EYES: Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara, Laura Mercier Eye Basics in Wheat, NARS Isolde Duo (lids), NARS Coconut Grove (eyeliner), NARS Bengali (outer corner), Chanel Espresso Liner, Chanel Boy de Chanel Brow Pencil in Deep Brown

CHEEKS: Laura Mercier Blush Colour Infusion in Chai, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer in Radiant Bronze Light

LIPS: Maybelline Ultimatte in More Taupe and MAC Crossfade

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!!! 😃

Product Spotlight: You’ll Be Drawn to Maybelline Color Strike Cream-to-Powder Shadow Pens If You Love One-And-Done Eye Makeup

November 10th, 2020 by Karen 7 Comments

Your amusing factoid of the day!

The part of a pen responsible for the click-click-clickity sound is called “a thrust device.” 🖊️

You’re welcome! 😁

There’s no thrust device in these new $7 Maybelline Color Strike Cream-to-Shadow Pens, and aside from their cylindrical packaging, they aren’t very much like pens at all… When you twist them open, there’s a sponge tip inside, which is basically a fairly traditional preloaded eyeshadow applicator. In fact, there isn’t a felt tip or a ball-point pen applicator or a thrust device anywhere in sight.

Semantics, schemantics.

These cream shadows are great for a single, purposefully messy sweep of color on the lids because they’re only moderately pigmented, so they’re perfect for washes of quick, easy color.

The formula is on the thinner side, but I wouldn’t call it watery. It’s almost like someone melted a MAC Paint Pot and thinned it out a bit. It’s slick and slippery when it moves across your skin, and it takes some time to set, so you have a good 10-15 minutes to blend.

I would caution against using too many “pens” (“air quotes”) on your eyes in one sitting, though, because there seems to be a tipping point after which too much shadow results in the colors mushing into a muddy mess.

I also find the applicator a challenge to use and, even with the pointed sponge tip, the shadow always ends up a little bit off…which makes these difficult to use for layered looks with multiple placements.

That said, the price is right, though ($7 MSRP). They’re less than $10 each! And the wear time is fabulous. They last all day long on my dry lids with barely a hint of creasing, and that’s without using any primer with them.

If you’re a fan of one-and-done eye makeup, I think they’re great. Just remember to stick to single shadow looks, OK?

I would suggest starting with Flare, the matte cool-toned taupe. It’s the one I wear the most, and it’s a neutral everyday shadow color a lot like MAC Groundwork Paint Pot but more gray.
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Moody Makeup Time! Smokey Blue Lids and Matte Berry Lips (and a Trip to Gabriel Farm)

October 27th, 2020 by Karen 21 Comments

mac burning love maybelline ace front — When your hair and makeup evoke Disney Villain vibes

You know you’re a makeup lover when your penchant for puffs of sooty blue drives your Halloween decor decisions.

samantha the ghost closeup — OF COURSE I would want the ghost wearing makeup.

Behold the floaty ghost bride currently welcoming visitors to our humble abode. Despite being undead, she’s very proud of her dark lip and blue smokey eyes.

Oh, and her dark burgundy nails.

This is Samantha, and she hangs out in my doorway. I haven’t asked her yet, but I’m kinda wondering what her wedding theme was and whether Billy Idol was the groom.

Inquiring minds want to know…

This video scared the living crap out of me when I was a kid!

Samantha was the one who inspired this look I’m wearing, and if we were to hold a “Who wore it better?” battle, she would definitely have won this round because I could’ve/should’ve pushed it further.

mac burning love maybelline ace with samantha — Just the girls

I was going for a wearable version of her look, but I’m feeling like, with these blue lids — which, by the way, I did with an awesome new product from Maybelline called Color Strike (they call it “a cream-to-powder shadow pen”) — I should’ve just taken the shadow all the way up into the brows and maybe even further down the lower lash line. Oh, and what if I’d layered the blue shadow with a black or dark purple pencil and switched out the berry lip for a straight-up black? That could have been even cooler.

Hmm… I think I just figured out tomorrow’s FOTD!

By the way, if you’re admiring Samantha’s mani, I highly recommend Smith & Cult’s Dark Like Me. 🙂

Makeup Worn in this look

Eyes: Maybelline Color Strike Cream-to-Powder Eyeshadow in Ace, Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara, Neutrogena Smokey Kohl Eyeliner in Jet Black, Urban Decay Brow Beater in Neutral Brown
Base: It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better Foundation + Skin Care in Tan Warm 42.5 mixed with Tan Warm 41, Kevyn Aucoin Super Natural Concealer in Medium EC05
Cheeks: MAC Give ME Sun Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Clinique Cupid Blush
Lips: MAC Burning Love Powderkiss Lipstick and MAC Currant Lip Pencil

Fall adventures at the farm

Connor had last Friday off from preschool, so she and I met up with her bestie (and her BFF’s mom) for a fun day at Gabriel Farm in Sebastapol.

It’s an organic family-run farm that offers a yearly seasonal membership valid from June through November. A family membership is $40, and when you join you get a HUGE box of delicious, sweet and crunchy Asian pears. You also have access to the farm during those months and can visit as often as you like to pick and pay for whichever fruit and flowers are in season that month (fruit is charged by the pound). They grow berries, tomatoes, apples, Asian pears, persimmon, pineapple guava and flowers.

There’s also a cute picnic area tucked away in a gorgeous grove of persimmon trees, so when you’re done picking your goodies you can relax in the shade with your bounty.

The girls had fun picking berries and exploring the farm, and then played for hours under the trees. If you have a little person to entertain, or if you’ve got a hankering to spend some time outside, I highly recommend it.

There were multiple hand-washing stations around the property, and masks and social distancing were required. Connor and I went as guests of our friends this time, but next year I’m definitely signing up for a membership!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

FOTD: Khaki and Copper Tones for a Zoom Call

June 24th, 2020 by Karen 21 Comments

Wore this look on a Zoom call with a beauty brand yesterday (it was Urban Decay to talk about their latest Naked palette, for the nosey noodles who were wondering!), and in classic K-dawg fashion I banged it out in 15 minutes before it started because that’s how I roll.

And, um…Connor also had a social distancing playdate at the park shortly before the call was scheduled to start, and we made it back home by the skin of our teeth, ha ha ha! Whenever I’m pressed for time but want to look gussied up, I always fall back on smokey eyes and nude lips. This khaki and copper version relies on just two products.

I paired the eyes with peach lips and cheeks because EASY. PEASY.

I’m also wearing a little more base makeup than I have been lately because I knew that “makeup people” (air quotes) were going to be present, so if there were ever a time to load up on a little more concealer, this was it.

Since we’re on the topic of quick looks, what’s your default medium-impact makeup look when you’re pressed for time?

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Drugstore Makeup Look: ’90s-Inspired Plummy Pink!

June 3rd, 2020 by Karen 20 Comments

Let me be the first person to say that my hair looks absolutely BONKERS in these pics, and that’s even AFTER trying to actually do something with it.

I am one YouTube video away from hacking it off! Note to self: next time a global pandemic approaches, book a hair appointment before the world shuts down.

Sigh… Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I was thinking about a Monday Poll question from a while back (’80s or ’90s?) before I started doing my makeup, which is how this ’90s-inspired plummy pink look came about. Everything I’m using is drugstore makeup because I’m still riding a may-jah budget beauty wave right now.

A drugstore dupe for an iconic ’90s lipstick

My main inspiration was an old-school ’90s standby that’s still around called Clinique Black Honey Lipstick. It’s a sheer, ever-so-slightly shiny lippie that all of my college friends wore back in the day. There used to be a Clinique counter inside the UC Davis bookstore, and every quarter when it came time to buy books, we’d all go to that counter to get our books so we could avoid the regular long lines. The only thing you had to do to use that line was buy at least one piece of Clinique makeup, which is how every girl I knew ended up with countless tubes of Black Honey.

Anywho…I recently found a drugstore dupe for it in Honest Beauty Plum Drop Lip Tint, and it looks exactly like Black Honey! To keep with the plum theme, I paired it with an awesomely affordable plummy-pink eyeshadow palette I found over at Covergirl, and pink cream blush cheeks (which I did with a Revlon lipstick).

Covergirl So Saturated Eye Palette in Posh is so good!

The palette is the Full Spectrum So Saturated Eye Shadow Palette in Posh, which comes with eight powder eyeshadows in pink, plum and burgundy tones. The powders are on the fluffier side, so there’s definitely some fallout if you aren’t careful and forget to remove any excess from your brush head, but, on the flip side, the colors are rich and practically blend themselves.

Just a few wrist flicks and you’re good. These are long lasting too. I wear mine without a primer, and it’ll last the day. Posh is $13.49 over at Ulta, if you’re interested.

That layered liner life

To break up all the pink and plum tones, I layered two liners on my upper and lower waterline — a matte black and a sparkly purple. The purple didn’t really show up on its own, which is why I drew the black liner on first, then layered the purple on top. If you ever have a liner that doesn’t deposit as much pigment as you’d like, starting with a layer of black liner beneath it is the fastest way to ramp up the intensity. You can also do this trick with white liner, by the way!

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