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This Matte Brown Classic Eye Makeup Goes With Everything

January 20th, 2021 by Karen 7 Comments

eyeshadow breakdown eye makeup goes with everything — This is an easy, everyday classic eye look.

If I were cruelly forced to select a tiny handful of eye makeup looks to wear for ~~the rest of my life~~ the rest of the winter, this matte brown look with brownish black eyeliner would definitely make the cut.

Not only is it relatively speedy to do (say 15-20 minutes start to finish), it’s also easy because it doesn’t heavily rely on intense blending.

A banging’ brew of browns

So, what makes it relatively easy? Answer: The two brown shades — the golden brown on my lids (MAC Cork) and the warmer orangey brown in my crease (MAC Saddle) — are similar tones, which makes blending them together easier.

In fact, if you’re REALLY pressed for time, you can even skip the warm brown in the crease, and just wear the golden brown eyeshadow all over your lids.

That said, I do like the warm brown in the crease because, especially when I’m wearing a little bronzer, a warm brown in the crease ties everything together nicely.

Always adjustable

Another added bonus to this look is that it really does work with everything — bold lipsticks, nude lipsticks, no lipstick at all (for when I’m masked up). It’s quite flexible.

eyeshadow breakdown eye makeup goes with everything bright lip — With a bold lip color, MAC Powder Kiss Liquid Lipcolour in Escandalo. Long Live Lipstick Tee in Red Hibiscus.

eyeshadow breakdown eye makeup goes with everything nude lip — I feel good in this makeup! Long Live Lipstick Tee in Driftwood.

Base notes

Oh, and about that eyeshadow base — in the pics above, I’m purposefully wearing a beige cream eye primer with a beige powder eyeshadow buffed on top, which are lighter than my skin tone. I do this because, when I want browns to show up on my brown skin, I have to go lighter with my base. That makes them pop. I recommend going with a base that’s similar to your skin tone.

Sometimes, though, I skip the beige base entirely and just do a swish of golden brown eyeshadow all over my lids, like in this pic below:

duri when in rome — I’m wearing MAC Cork all over my lids without an eyeshadow base. The lipstick is MAC Relentlessly Red. Nail polish is Duri When in Rome. Nap Then Attack Tee.

See how the brown shadow adds a touch of depth to my crease? But not as much as it does when there’s a beige base underneath? I think it still works, though.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Today is inauguration day here in the US. Congratulations and good luck to President Biden and Vice President Harris!

A 15-Minute Face With Shimmering Cocoa Brown, Pink and Gold

November 27th, 2020 by Karen 16 Comments

For the record, I absolutely did *not* look this fabulous on Thanksgiving (this was from the day before), and to the ladies who can pull off prepping a full T-day spread while looking fab, I salute you!

I wore the above 15-minute look the day before Thanksgiving when Connor and I dropped off Thanksgiving cookies and cards to our neighbors. Pretty simple, pretty classic and wearable, and done completely with permanent collections products!

As for my look on Thanksgiving day itself? — it was far less fashionable. I cooked all day long, and it was all I could do to run a brush through the mop on my head and change my pajama pants into joggers. 😁

Please excuse my very non-Instagrammable mauve-toned Golden Girls-circa-1992 kitchen. It came with the house, and I make do with it because…eh, it works! #normalizeregularkitchens #itswhatigot

Anyway, the above pic was taken before the hurricane of baking and cooking happened, and waaaaaay before these happened…

These gluten-free cheesy cheddar garlic drop biscuits, which are like mini savory scones, were the last, and by far the best, T-giving thing I made this year. We had maple glazed ham as our main dish (no Turkey this year), and we sliced the biscuits in half and put a slice of ham in the middle. There was also Yukon gold mashed potatoes, a sweet corn casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, GF pumpkin pie and Christina Tossi’s Milk Bar Pumpkin Pie.

MAN. SO GOOD. I’m drooling just thinking about them again… They were so easy to make, too!

If you want the biscuit recipe, let me know, although I do have to warn you… There’s a lot of butter and cheese, so if you’re trying to make healthier food choices…it ain’t exactly health food.

Happy Friday. What are you up to today? Are you doing any Black Friday shopping?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!

Spring Makeup Ideas: Shimmering Shades of Green

March 31st, 2020 by Karen 6 Comments

I call this “the look that almost never was.” Like “the land that time forgot.” LOL. It happened on accident last week while CoyCoy was napping in her fort.

You know how wet leaves seem to look greener and lusher and shinier than usual under a gray spring sky? (Or is that just to me?) I swear, it’s like the color transitions are more obvious. Even in a blade of grass, it’s easy to see where the moss green fades into a dark forest green.

I wanted a similar vibe of wet, green gradients on my lids, so I took out some NARS neutrals, along with a healthy handful of Urban Decay green shadows (they do the most technicolor greens; so does Make Up For Ever), with the intention of doing just my left eye with green, and then a completely different look on the other eye just for fun. Side note: Do you ever do this, too?

Look breakdown

Anyway, I liked it enough to keep going, and then this happy makeup accident happened.

I’m wearing golden brown and beige mattes in my crease with a sweep of olive green in the lower portion of my crease. On my lids, I’m wearing metallic moss green in the center for a slight “halo” effect, with a darker forest green on the outer corner… That’s also reflected on the lower lash line (see the lighter section in the middle there?). The inner corner has a bright kelly green spotlight/highlight for a purposeful clash of color!

Weirdly enough, sometimes adding more product makes it easier

I’m wearing a lot of different eyeshadows in this look, which is far from the streamlined makeup I’ve mostly been wearing the past few months.

spring green products — There’s a lot, I know.

urban decay mildew — Follow the trail of greens!

You know what I realized, though? If I’m going for a look that’s gradient intensive, it’s actually easier for me to throw everything and the kitchen sink in (a.k.a. more eyeshadows), rather than trying to make it work with, like, just two shades.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive (and maybe it is), but when I’m going for lots of shifts from light areas to dark points, it’s easier for me to make everything look seamless when there are more shades involved.

Think about what you can nix

That does not mean that, just because you do a complicated eye, everything else has to be complicated as well.

Of course you can go wild with everything if you want to, but I think that when you have bright, elaborate eye, it helps to pull back somewhere else on your makeup.

Like here, I’m not wearing anything as a base — no concealer, no foundation, no powder. I’m wearing Elta MD Sunscreen, and that’s it! And it’s exactly how I would wear the skin with eye makeup like this in real life.

I also tried skipping brow pencil and just using a clear brow gel, but it felt like there was something missing…like I needed something to frame the big lashes and the dramatic lower lash line. So, I filled in my brows a little, and it fell into place.
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Spring Makeup Ideas: Blue Eye Makeup With a Green Top

March 25th, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

Unsolicited life tip: When you unknowingly grow a Machiavellian mustache on your upper lip, it’s probably time to put some makeup on again.

So here we go!

OK, raise your hand 🙋‍♀️ (which I’m assuming has been vigorously washed with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds) if you tend to go matchy-matchy with your clothes when you wear colorful makeup. BECAUSE I TOTALLY DO. You know that girl wearing orange eyeshadow and orange lipstick and an orange shirt? Yup. So me!

A surprisingly springy combination

I would never think to wear this blue eye makeup with a green shirt (am I the only one?), but when I saw the blue shadow and green outfit on Meghan Markle recently, I was like, “YES. Rock those jewel tones together, Meg!”

I think the blue shadow and green clothing pairing is surprisingly springy, especially if you wear it on a rainy day, which I did. When it’s wet and cold and everything outside is stone cold gray, the blue-green combo stands out even more.

Also, yeah, I know there’s a lot of eyeshadow swatches up in the mix. While I’m usually one for keeping eye makeup streamlined, especially for the past few months with the new job at the bakery and all, this time around I went ham on mixing and blending ALL THE EYESHADOWS. Try your hand at custom mixing your own shades sometime. Mixing and matching is so, so fun.

Key makeup worn in this look

EYES: It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Palette (a mix of cool and warm browns in the crease, and the navy shade on the lid), Kevyn Aucoin ElectroPop Palette (blue/green shades on lid), Maybelline Tattoo Studio Gel Liner in Striking Navy and MAC Coffee liner (waterline and lower waterline), Laura Mercier Caviar Volume Mascara (lashes)

Cheeks: NARS Amour (blush), Hourglass Radiant Bronze Light (bronzer)

Lips: Nudestix Cheek/Lip Pencil in Mystic, MAC Boldly Bare lip liner, MAC Beaux Lipglass

Base: Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Honey Bronze mixed with MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklight, Estée Lauder 24HR Concealer in Medium Deep Warm

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Spring Makeup Ideas: Sparkly Taupes and Purples With a Soft Hint of Pink

March 19th, 2020 by Karen 31 Comments

wander beauty wanderess k3 — Big hair, big dreams

It’s weird. Even though the world around me feels like it has gone full-on BONKERS, when I go outside for walks with the Coywolf (and we’ve been going for a lot of them), the great outdoors seems unaware of the sitch in the human world.

Spring, in all her glory, keeps coming.

Case in point: One of the showiest trees in the neighborhood is blooming, and she’s absolutely gorgeous.

(Yes, she’s a dainty lady in my eyes.)

Coy-Coy and I went for several walks yesterday, and on one of them we stopped by to visit our favorite tree. As we stood under the canopy of flowers and looked up, tiny pink petals gently floated onto my hair, and I felt a song in my heart.

Thank you, tree, for your inspiration — makeup and otherwise!

For this springtime makeup look, I did shades of taupe and light purple on the lids, with plummy cheeks and soft pink lips.

wander beauty wanderess taupe look swatches — Key items in this springy look

wander beauty wanderess taupe look — Feelin’ springy

Key items worn in this look

EYES: MAC Groundwork Paint Pot (eyeshadow base), Wander Beauty Wanderess Escape Palette (Nude beach and Enchanted in the crease, Flourish on the lids, and Moonlit in the inner corner), MAC Coffee and Cargo Liner (lash and water lines), Laura Mercier Caviar Mascara (lashes)

CHEEKS: NARS Sin (blush)

LIPS: MAC Oak pencil (outer lip edge), MAC Boldly Bare pencil (inner portion of lips), MAC Oyster Girl gloss (all over lips)

BASE: Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream (to prep skin), Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Honey Bronze mixed with MAC Strobe Cream, Estee Lauder 24H Concealer, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Golden Tan