Product Reviews

Hot in Here

June 14th, 2019 by Karen 14 Comments

Let’s just say that grocery shopping has been challenging…

Things nobody ever warns you about but probably should:

If you’re going to fill your trunk with things to donate to others — things that no longer spark joy for you (like that pink paisley polyester dress from Bebe you haven’t worn since 1999), but that could still hopefully spark joy for someone else, you’ve got to get your booty in the driver’s seat, put the keys in the ignition, and drive to Goodwill LIKE RIGHT NOW; otherwise, you’ll be driving around town with metal mixing bowls rattling around for months!
The majority of “adulting” consists of paperwork…and biting your tongue.
When the bare skin on your thighs repeatedly rubs together over a long period of time, it really, really hurts.

I’d like to file these things under “Lessons I’ve Learned the Hard Way,” especially item number three, which I figured out during my first half marathon. About halfway through, the friction between my bare thighs hurt so bad that I had a minor meltdown. I cried for three miles straight and had visions of the ground opening up underneath me and swallowing me whole.

I can laugh about it now, but it was like a raging garbage fire between my inner thighs at the time. This minor trauma taught me that whenever I wear something like shorts or a maxi dress, and I know that my legs are going to be rubbing against each other, it’s vital to have something to ease the glide between my thighs. I used to use a little Vaseline (I’d store it in an old contact lens case to prevent spillage in my purse!), but I got tired of it staining my clothes, so I just recently started using the Anti-Chafe Stick by Love AnyBody.

This unscented, non-sticky balm can be applied pretty much anywhere and everywhere your skin rubs — underarms, your neck, and the nook beneath your boobs — to stop chafing. It has vitamin E and aloe to soothe irritated skin, and no parabens or aluminum. The stick’s a little big and awkward to keep in a purse, but it’s convenient and doesn’t stain my clothes. I have a stick in my bathroom and use it in the morning, but I’m thinking about keeping an additional stick in my car because it’s kinda like deodorant or hand cream; it’s always handy to have extra around. I just whip it out and slick it on! Life changing, especially in this hot weather, I tell ya.

Another warm weather must-have I rely on: waterproof mascara. For YEARS, my go-to was Urban Decay Cannonball, which they discontinued a while back… Yes, I’m still hella salty about that, because why mess with a good thing?? Anyway, they replaced it with a waterproof version of their Perversion Mascara ($24). I’m totally on board with its dark black color, the anime ingenue curl and smudge-proof-ness (it was 99 degrees here yesterday, and there wasn’t a single smear underneath my eyes). Taking it off is also a cinch ’cause it slides right off with an oil-based makeup remover, so I don’t stress about my lashes breaking off. (Always a good thing.)

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Why Yes, You Need to Revisit the Little Black Backpack

June 12th, 2019 by Karen 14 Comments

Target Convertible Nylon Mini Backpack — Does she or doesn’t she have cat food in there?

Is it 1994? Are we wearing Doc Martens, flowery black dresses and Revlon Raisin Rage? HAS ANYONE SEEN MY NIRVANA CD? Sorry, for a second there, I could’ve sworn we took a hot tub time machine back to my late teens, which was when the little black backpack was the undisputed Queen of All Accessories.

Believe it or not, enough time has passed for them to slingshot back into style again. It’s only a matter of time before the beauty gods also bring back pencil thin brows, but that’s a discussion for another day.

I’ve been wearing this tiny black nylon one I got at Target practically everywhere lately, and ya know what? I cannot help but wonder why I ever stopped carrying a little black backpack, because they’re freaking great.

This one is from A New Day, and it’s an affordable $19.99. The nylon is feather light, so I’m not hauling around three extra pounds of purse, and it’s juuuuuust big enough to hold the bare necessities. (You know me; if there’s an opportunity to overstuff a bag, I will totally do it.) This one’s the perfect size.

Best of all, my hands stay free, so I can scoop up the Coywolf at a moment’s notice, or pet a passing kitty.

But wait, this particular bag also easily converts to a cross-body bag. You just pull the straps up at the top!

If black nylon is too retro for you, check out the black-and-white striped one instead. I came this close to picking it up because it has a slight J.Crew vibe. The pale pink one is also pretty cute (but it would probably pick up more dirt), as are the bright blue and the canary yellow.

Some reviewers on the Target website say that the zipper gets stuck, and yeah, it happened to me once when I shoved one too many things inside. It was an easy fix, though. I slowly pulled the zipper back to the starting position, and the teeth slipped back into place. I think as long as you don’t push the maximum capacity, you’ll be OK.

I bought it mainly to take with me to the playground and have both hands free to play with Connor. I don’t feel comfortable leaving my purse on a table or bench, which the moms do here all the time, but I ugh, I just can’t. I feel safer with my wallet and phone physically on my body. I looked online, at Marshalls and at T.J. Maxx, and this Target bag was the lightest and cheapest hands-free option I found. It fits my wallet, phone, keys and a pouch for Connor’s Travel Potty, and then I usually bring my water bottle in a separate bag, along with snacks.

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How Often Do You Wear Makeup on Places Other Than Your Face (Arms, Legs or Other Parts of Your Body)?

June 11th, 2019 by Karen 19 Comments

At the beach last weekend I saw all these people wearing swimsuits and showing off skin, and that got me thinking about wearing makeup on places other than your face.

I know celebs often wear makeup on their arms, legs, necks, backs and even feet (!) for red carpet events, but how often do us mere mortals wear body makeup?

Do you ever wear foundation on your legs or limbs to the beach or pool? Or do you wear body makeup on a daily basis, like, for covering a tattoo for work?

I’m curious to know if it’s more common then I think it is, since body makeup is a rare thing for me. I’ve only worn it once or twice for Halloween, which is what’s going on in this picture from a few years ago. I dressed up as a fall wood fairy, so I buffed a cream bronzer on my arms, neck and hands to make it seem like I’d been roaming around the dirt in the forest.

Was it successful? Dunno. I could’ve been dirtier, LOL! It was fun to experiment, though.

Sometimes, if I’m taking pics for MBB and I’m wearing an off-the-shoulder top or if my hair is up, I’ll wear foundation and/or bronzer on my neck, chest and ears to even everything out so my skin appears consistent on camera from the chest on up, but ya know… It’s not something I’d bother with if I was just chillin’ on a Tuesday.

How often do you do wear body makeup?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Meghan Markle Makeup Moments

June 4th, 2019 by Karen 24 Comments

Hiya, ya cutie patootie with a big ol’ booty!

I sure do love the scent of clean makeup brushes. They remind me of burying my nose in a gloriously fluffy cat tum… I’ve only mentioned this a million times, but I’ve been lackadaisical about brush washing lately (I literally cannot remember the last time I deep cleaned them), and I’ve only been getting by because 1) I haven’t been wearing much makeup, and 2) when I have been wearing makeup during the day-to-day, I’ve been using products that I can apply with my fingers.

On the one hand, ewww, gross brushes; on the other, I’ve discovered some neat things that only take a minute or two to use (more on my latest finds in a second).

Anywho…I finally parked myself in front of the sink and washed my brushes, and now they smell wonderful! Also, for the first time in a while, I feel inspired to try some different looks with those bristles in the near future.

I wish I could say that I was motivated to clean my brushes by an immediate and sudden need to Marie Kondo the sh*t out of my situation, but nah… The driving force was the pimple on my chin! It’s one of those pimples that feels worse than it looks (it’s throbbing just under the surface of my skin as I type this), and to discourage myself from messing with it, I’m going to cover it with makeup; otherwise, I’ll just keep futzing with it, because as much as I hate to admit this…I’m a pimple picker.

I anticipate doing some concealing in the next few days, so it was time to finally clean those damn brushes.

It just goes to show ya — sometimes what you REALLY need is a painful pimple to light a fire under your @ss!

lumene invisible illumination — Lumene makeup at Tar-ghay

I’ve been getting by with easy makeup over the past month or so, and this has lead me to some cool things, like this sheer liquid foundation, liquid blush, liquid bronzer and liquid highlighter by Lumene (all of which you can find at Target).

You know how Perricone has their line of no-makeup makeup with the liquid foundation serum, blush and highlighter? Lumene has a similar sheer coverage, fluid consistency, but it’s a little more affordable ($25 for the Lumene foundation versus $60 for Perricone).

If you’re in the midst of a major Meghan Markle moment, then you’ll appreciate how everything is almost undetectable. The only thing that’s kinda obvious is the highlighter, but I think that’s mostly because the pearl isn’t as fine as something like MAC Strobe Cream — definitely made for the minimalist who prefers a sheer, sort of “is she or isn’t she wearing makeup?” type of coverage, and loves the simplicity of putting on makeup with fingers.
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Lady Unicorn

May 31st, 2019 by Karen 21 Comments

GIRL. I haven’t worn big lashes in how long? But it’s just like riding a bike!

I’m also wearing a lot of glitter in this lady unicorn look, I know. 🦄

I was inspired by unicorns because my daughter is obsessed with them at the moment, and, let’s face it, so am I.

Oh, and body glitter. I’m wearing it too because WHY NOT? FYI, body glitter has come a loooooong way since I wore it back in the day. This one from Urban Decay comes in a tube, and you kinda just put it anywhere — on your face, in your hair, on your arms, on your neck, your legs.

And seriously, it does not come off! My goodness, I remember the old stuff lasting about 2.5 seconds in my clubbing days, so props to the sparkly scientists who finally discovered a way to get glitter to stick to yo’ body.

Eyes: Urban Decay After Dark Palette, Urban Decay 24/7 Pencils (Roxy, Electric Empire), MAC 75 Lashes, MAC Graphblack liner, MAC Princess Jasmine Palette (from the Aladdin collection), Urban Decay Glitter Liner in Disco

Face: MAC Studio Fix in NC42 mixed with Pinklite Strobe Cream, NARS Summer Lights palette (bronzer and highlighter), Urban decay Heavy Metal Glitter Gel in Saturday Stardust

Lips: MAC Honey Love Lipstick, Hourglass Prose Lip Gloss

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