• 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

News

Get a Makeover and Make a Feline Friend at the New Novato Cat Cafe & Cosmetics!

April 1st, 2016 by Karen 33 Comments

novato-cat-cafe-cosmetics-logo

I’ll have a latte, a lipstick and a luscious orange tabby to go, please!

Have you ever dreamed of uttering that phrase in public?? I know this is a shocker, but I have, and I’m so happy to announce that the dream has finally come true. 🙂

Dun-dun-dun! — introducing the Novato Cat Cafe & Cosmetics, my new business venture.

I know — kind of a funky title, but it gets straight to the point…which is cats, coffee and cosmetics, three of my favorite things.

tabs-orange-cat-cafe-cosmetics

This has actually been in the works for two years, and it’s been really hard to keep it under wraps, but the investors finally came through, and we secured the perfect space. All that’s left now is to finish construction, hire the resident kitties (pending Tabs’s approval, of course), and bring onboard a talented cat-loving makeup artist to do makeovers (yes, we’ll even have makeovers!), but that’s down the road a little.

If you live in the Bay Area, I’d love for you to stop by when we open. We’ll be serving coffee drinks, selling cat-themed makeup (hello, Paul & Joe cuteness), and you’ll be able to make a reservation to hang out with our adoptable cafe kitties in Kitty Village, our special play area.

tabs-cat-cafe-cosmetics-2016

We’re hoping to house 15 adoptable kitties at a time, but who knows? If the idea takes off, we may open other franchises around the Bay Area, or heck — across the United States and around the world!

We’re located in downtown Novato by the Trader Joe’s, and the grand opening will be in early June.

tabs-paul-joe-cat-cafe-lipstick

We’re taking reservations now for the first two weeks. If you’re in the Bay Area and would like to be one of the very first guests, leave a comment below, and I’ll get in touch with you to schedule a date and time to meet the kitties.

Lattes and mochas for everyone! 🙂

I’ll be posting pics of the space as the construction progresses, and when we get the adoptable kitties lined up, I’ll be posting pics of them here as well.

Meowza to new adventures!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 33 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun, News

Heads Up! The New MAC Website Debuts MONDAY!

June 7th, 2015 by Karen 5 Comments

mac cosmetics
Checking out a preview of the new MAC Cosmetics website

Prepare your eyes (which I’m sure are lined purr-fectly with Blacktrack) and your makeup-loving heart for a feast of Monday MAC marvelousness, my friend, because that’s when I hear the new MAC website will launch.

I gotta warm up my shopping muscles! — but let’s keep that between us. El Hub does not need to know that I’m eyeing MOAR LIPSTICKS. 🙂

Check out maccosmetics.com Monday morning to see the new and (I think) improved site.

mac cosmetics blush
The new blush section…
mac cosmetics lip gloss
Gimme dat gloss!
mac cosmetics artists
The new MAC Artists page…

Let the fun commence! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: MAC Makeup, News

See the Photography of Jessica Trinh and the Cats of Instagram Pop-Up Gallery on Saturday, June 14, at Union Square in San Francisco

June 10th, 2014 by Karen 5 Comments

Photography by Jessica Trinh, Purina MyGreatCat Ambassador
By Jessica Trinh

Tabs has so far been unable to capture the attention of the good human and feline curators at Cats of Instagram, the largest curator of cat pics on Instagram, but he hopes to change that soon…

He’s been prepping his portfolio of pics that he believes could go toe-to-toe with the pics that’ll be on display this Saturday, June 14, in San Francisco’s Union Square at the Purina Pro Plan #MyGreatCat Pop-Up Photo Gallery, a free event from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. in the city (details about the event on Facebook).

My Great Cat

Purina enlisted the help of up-and-coming pet photographer Jessica Trinh to help define, in photographic format, “what’s so great about cats,” and to inspire cat owners pet assistants everywhere to recognize and share the things that make their cats great.

Jessica was invited into the homes of 10 cat owners to chronicle their stories through photography, and the photos, along with cat pics collected through a partnership with Cats of Instagram, will be displayed at the gallery in Union Square.

If you like cats, stop by! 🙂

19-Year-Old Pet Photographer Jessica Trinh works to answer the eternal question, “What’s so great about cats?” in picture format

Photography by Jessica Trinh, Purina MyGreatCat Ambassador
By Jessica Trinh
Photography by Jessica Trinh, Purina MyGreatCat Ambassador
By Jessica Trinh

About the Purina Pro Plan #MyGreatCat campaign
Purina Pro Plan wants you to share what you love about your cat on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For every photo or video shared that uses the hashtag #MyGreatCat, the brand will donate 1 pound of cat food — up to 50,000 pounds — to cat rescue groups nationwide through the Purina Pro Plan Rally to Rescue network.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: News

8 Minutes With Hayden Panettiere: The Nashville Star Talks Makeup, Beauty and Style

April 14th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

With Neutrogena Beauty Ambassador, Actress Hayden Panettiere
With Neutrogena Beauty Ambassador, actress Hayden Panettiere

I may or may not have come this close to asking Hayden Panettiere to harmonize with me when I interviewed her this afternoon. It was either that, or ask her if she would do some cheerleading moves with me.

Not that I’m a cheerleader… I just thought that might be kind of rad. Save the cheerleader, save the world?

You might know Hayden from this little show she used to do called Heroes. She currently stars on the hit show Nashville, where she plays singer/country rock star Juliett Barnes. Hayden, who lives in Nashville now where the show is filmed, is also a Neutrogena Beauty Ambassador.

We chatted about her must-have beauty products and a frightening thing called “tarantula lashes.” And I even got her to speak some Russian for me!

No, not as random as it sounds. 🙂 She’s engaged to world champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko, and she’s learning the language now.

I didn’t have a lot of time with her, but I totally enjoyed every minute. She was really down to earth and cute and completely normal, which shouldn’t come as a surprise at all, but with the media nowadays and the way people are often portrayed, you just never know. She also has the most beautiful skin.

Hayden and Karen
Oh, hai!

Thanks for the question ideas on Twitter and MBB. I tried to ask as many as I could.

Hayden Panettiere talks makeup, beauty and style

Karen: I’m curious; have you noticed, like, how is style here in Nashville different from L.A. style? Has it affected your style at all as well?

Hayden: The style in Nashville is pretty laid back, and it’s also — it can also be kind of hipster.

Karen: Hipster.

Hayden: Yeah, and funky, and I love the way the girls dress here. You see a lot of fun cute little dresses and little boots, like what you’re wearing [she gestures toward my cat print dress, which I LOVE], but people tend to go a little more casual here.

I see a lot of cute hats, and I’m a big fan of hats, so it’s almost kind of allowed me to, um, re-embrace my personal style. Because in L.A., I felt like I had to put a lot more effort into it, because you know that you’re gonna be met outside your front door with cameras, and the topic of conversation is going to be your outfit or what you’re wearing, ya know, all that good stuff. So you get a little gun shy.

I’ve always been more of a tomboy and more laid back and more casual and comfortable. Over the years, I’ve definitely experimented with things, but it fits me here. It suits me here, ’cause it feels comfortable.

Karen: So what’s your everyday makeup routine like? You mentioned that you’re a tomboy, but are you more, like, minimalist makeup, or a glam girl, or somewhere in between?

Hayden: That’s another thing that’s kind of changed is that I’ve definitely stopped wearing quite as much makeup. I had times in L.A. where I wouldn’t wear any makeup at all, either, but when we went out to dinners and stuff like that, it was great to have fun with it, to dress up, to do more makeup, and when you see that here, it’s pretty rare that you see massive quantities of makeup here. It’s very natural, and I love that.

Can’t get enough of Hayden? Check out Neutrogena’s All Day Beauty series, which includes Hayden’s hair and beauty essentials, along with videos and additional tips.

I have definitely had my fun, and sometimes I’ll do a great nude eye with just a pop of red lipstick or, ya know, a more smoky eye with a nude lip, but my day in, day out look is, ya know, mascara, and in the summertime, it’ll be mascara and a little blush and lips, and that’s why one of my favorite products are these [Neutrogena] Moisturesmooth Color Sticks.

[Yesterday] I had about 10 of these in the bottom of my purse in every color you can think of. We love to use them on our lips, but we also like to put them on our cheeks and use them as a blush, and it’s great because sometimes I don’t want to carry this big purse, and I wanna wear, ya know, just shove my credit card, my I.D. and a little touchup in my jacket pocket.

This is perfect, ’cause it’s two-in-one, and, I mean, it certainly fits in a clutch, like what we wear down the red carpet sometimes, ’cause we all know that those teeny tiny bags are not quite functional. They’re fashion, not function.

Karen: Oh, yeah. Do you have a favorite color from the MoistureSmoothes?

Hayden: I love Juicy Peach. Posey? Posey is the blush/bronzer duo. There’s also a red-red, and then there’s almost like a purply one, but I like all of them. It just depends, and you can layer them, too, really easily, like, I’ll do a nude, and then I’ll take the red-red one and go along the inside of my lips so that it almost looks like you just sucked on a popsicle or a lollipop. It’s a great look.

Karen: I’ll have to try that.

Hayden: Yeah, it’s great.

A few of Hayden's favorite things (from the left): Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes, Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Makeup and Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Sticks
A few of Hayden’s favorite things (from the left): Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes, Neutrogena Nourishing Long Wear Makeup and Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Sticks

Karen: Besides the MoistureSmooth Sticks, what are you —

Hayden: And mascara.

Karen: What are your other must-haves — the things that you would freak out about if they were discontinued?

Hayden: Well I kind of love this [Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara] because I’m blonde, so I have blonde lashes, so I look about 12 if I don’t have mascara on. They won’t let me in anywhere! [Laughing] And it’s been great for my lashes because a lot of the time we wear false eyelashes all day long, and it’s so drying to put fake eyelashes on, and then when you pull them off your eyelashes come out.

A lot of mascaras will give you tarantula, crispy, crunchy lashes. But for the first time I’ve actually been able to not wear any fake eyelashes, and even on the show, it’s high def, and you can see it. If you’re paying attention, you can see when I am and when I’m not, and recently I’ve stopped wearing fake eyelashes even during performance scenes because my eyelashes have been allowed to grow, and they’ve gotten really thick and long.

Karen: I bet it’s kind of liberating not to have to wear them. They can be a pain.

Hayden: I mean, they can be a blast; they really can, but you want to be able to have the choice.

Karen: Yeah, for sure.

Hayden: And then this stuff [Neutrogena Long Wear Liquid Makeup] has saved my skin because we work for 12-16 hour days, and we’re doing performance scenes or sweating, and then we’re putting powder on because we’re shiny, and then we’re putting more base makeup on. Getting your makeup to last 12-16 hours is a feat, but the Long Wear allows my skin to breathe all day long, and I know that it’s healthy for my skin. I don’t have to worry about my pores getting as clogged. With HD TV, like — everything’s in HD, and you can see everything.

Karen: It doesn’t mess around.

[Continue reading…]

There are 21 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Makeup, Neutrogena, News

A Walking Dead Walk-On! See You in Season 5!

April 1st, 2014 by Karen 45 Comments

I'm going to be on The Walking Dead!
I’m going to be on The Walking Dead!

I had a feeling I’d get turned into a zombie sooner or later, but I honestly didn’t think it would be this soon! As in this summer! In Georgia! ON THE WALKING DEAD!

Oh, please let me be in a scene with Daryl Dixon’s biceps…

That may or may not have been the first thought that went through my mind when I got a call last night out of the blue from AMC.

Apparently, one of the bigwig writers on the show, Angela Kang, likes reading beauty blogs (seriously, who knew there were so many makeup-loving zombie fanatics out there?!), and she got wind of our little #zombiebeautylove Twitter party during the finale.

@karenmbb Got my kettle corn and fruit punch! lol #zombiebeautylove

— Tiffany Anne (@CraziMomOf2Boys) March 31, 2014

@karenmbb I know, right! They'd be able to cover up all those bruises with Studio Fix or something! # zombiebeautylove

— bluey529 (@bluey529) March 31, 2014

So she invited me to be an extra on the show!

See!? Dreams really do come true.

I still can’t believe it… I’m going to be a zombie on The Walking Dead, but that’s actually just the icing on the cake. I’m also going to be getting a behind-the-scenes look at the makeup department and see first-hand how they turn someone into a zombie, which I’m really, REALLY excited about.

You can bet that’s gonna be a fun post.

I have no idea if I’m going to be in any scenes with any of the main actors, but you know me — I will do everything in my power to make it happen. 🙂

@themegfisher @karenmbb Hahhaa Ricksanity !!

— Stephanie L (@Steeph_xx3) March 31, 2014

If you have any questions you’d like me to ask — just on the off chance I’m actually able to ask them — let me know in the comments.

I’ll see you in season 5! WOO-HOO!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There are 45 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: News

  • « Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • …
  • Page 75
  • 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

you have so much to look forward to

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 674

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 655

sumo citrus in hand

Saturday Surfing, April 17, 2021

honest beauty happiness lipstick glam on the go coral lips 5

This or That: The High/Low-End Beauty Edition, Part II

disney house of sillage

Disney X House of Sillage

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 © 2021 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.