Product Reviews

Channel Your Inner Paddington Bear, and Stay Dry During a Deluge in the Eddie Bauer Charly Jacket

December 12th, 2019 by Karen 9 Comments

eddie bauer charly marigold — Autumnal camouflage

Question for you: who wore this yellow coat better — me or Paddington Bear? 🤣

OK, so, the fact that I‘d be able to channel Paddington’s vibe wasn’t the only reason I got this bright yellow waterproof raincoat from Eddie Bauer! (It was one of the main reasons, though. Ha ha ha!). It was also (and still is) marked down 50%, from $189 to $89.50.

It’s been pouring off and on for a few days here, and this coat has kept me dry, even without an umbrella. The rain practically rolls off the material (it’s 62% cotton and 38% nylon), which is warm, but sill breathable enough to be comfortable, and it moves just enough to feel structured but not stiff.

The hood is wide and has a subtle brim — apparently, this is *totally key*!

The brim prevents raindrops from hitting my face and my glasses so much more effectively than the raincoat I bought at Target a couple years back. I still love that coat, but last winter I got caught in a few downpours and was soaked through, which is why I wanted a new one.

This coat, though, won’t let water in for nothing!

Other reasons I love it…

Zippered pockets! Oh, gosh, there are so many zippered pockets, and it’s glorious — two on the sides of the front pockets and one on the inner lining. I carry my phone with me everywhere, and the zippers on the pockets give me a little extra peace of mind.
Subtle branding. It’s there, but it’s not splashed across the chest like on a lot of Eddie Bauer coats. There’s a small logo embroidered on the wrists of both sleeves, but you can’t really see it unless you look closely.
So many sizes available. The coats come in your standard-issue XS, S, M, L and XL, and in a bunch of height options including Regular, Petite, Tall and Plus. I ended up getting a Regular in XS. It fits, but it does run a little big, so it’s roomy on me. I don’t mind, though, because I can layer a sweater or a thick sweatshirt underneath.
It’s cute! I like the J. Crew-ishness of this coat. Plus, the yellow color is so fun.

It also comes in beige, a dark brown and navy (which is super cute too), if the Paddington Bear stoplight yellow color is too bright for you.

I’m into it… Now all I need is a red hat to go with my coat. 🙂

Bring on the rain and the rainbows!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Glittery Green Gradient Wings: A Quick and Easy Holiday Makeup Look

December 11th, 2019 by Karen 15 Comments

Current dilemmas du jour?

What to do with the five pounds of lemons Rosie’s former foster mom gave me (she has a tree in her yard that produces a RIDICULOUS amount of lemons).
What’s some festive and colorful holiday makeup that won’t take me till Valentine’s Day to finish? (I’m only half-kidding.)

As of yet, I still have no clue what to do with the lemons (ugh, lemon bars and lemonade? Maybe some kind of lemon marinade?), I figured out a trick to flying through different colorful looks.

And here it is…

Play with your winged liner. THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS!

Like with this look here with glittery green gradient wings. It was surprisingly quick and easy to do.

The step-by-step

Start by drawing your winged liner with a dark green matte liner as the base (I used Urban Decay Mainline). Be as subtle or dramatic as you like.
Then, for a bright shimmer POP, layer a bright green glitter in the center (I’m wearing Urban Decay Stage Dive) on your lash line.
Lastly, to create a color gradient, dip an angled brush into a black eyeshadow (MAC Carbon for life!), and pat that on top of the outer portion of your wing.

Green goes well with warm browns and peaches, which is what I’m wearing on my lids, lips on these cheeks in this look. If you want to be more adventurous, however, pink would be a playful complementary color… I’m just sayin’. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

When In Doubt, Red Lip It Out

December 10th, 2019 by Karen 10 Comments

stila beso 121019 current uniform — Standard-issue #OOTD

Big kisses to you, Stila Beso, for always being there for us makeup lovers who apply lipstick at the last minute in the car using the rearview mirror before dashing into work. You make it easy to look like we, ya know…actually had our act together. LOL.

Friend, I predict that this could be your new default matte red lip color (if it isn’t one of your faves already), because Beso is opaque. Beso is smooth. Beso has a lovely liquid-y texture, and it starts off creamy and slick. It eases along lips and around edges, so you definitely don’t need a lip liner.

Basically, it’s completely devoid of the bad kind of drama.

I had three massive cups of coffee before putting this on yesterday, in the car (we’re working longer hours at the bakery this month because of the annual holiday cupcake rush), and even though my hands were vibrating at a high frequency due to all the caffeine, I was still easily able to paint this lip in under a minute.

Say what?!

Yes, you get a bright red matte lip that moves as you smile and laugh through your day (I hope). This particular lip lasted through the making of 600 sugar cookies.

And if you’re prone to lip flakes like I am, fear not, because this lippie also won’t dry out your lips.

You can pretty much wear anything on your eyes with Beso, too. It’s a very cooperative color. I whipped up this matte taupe lid with the Viseart Neutral Palette without much thought and just went with it.

stila beso 121019 eyes — When you do your eye makeup in a blur…

I usually wear Beso with some type of neutral eyeshadow, but it also works well with colorful lids.

In fact, we have a holiday sprinkle mix at the bakery that we’ve been using on glazed sugar cookies… It’s a mix of bright red, green, purple and teal sprinkles, and I think the color palette would totally work for a makeup look — teal, blue and purple on the lids with a red lip.

I’m not 100% sure I could pull it off in a wearable way (can totes see it going unintentionally crazy), but hey, you never know till you try. 🙂

Other (somewhat) important items of note

Since I was the first one at the bakery yesterday in the back of the house, I got to choose the music…so we bumped ’80s hits all day long (we’re also catering an ’80s party, so I felt it was appropriate).

I heard so many songs I hadn’t heard in ages!

I don’t know why, but I’m consistently shocked by how much I’m moved by Phil Collins songs…

Who the heck is Billy, anyway?

Even after all these years, I still have NO idea what this song is about…

If you can break down Sussudio for me, I would really appreciate it… He’s talking about a woman with an unusual name that he has a crush on, right??

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Monochromatic Makeup: Playful Pinks, and a Play on Cat Eyeliner

December 6th, 2019 by Karen 18 Comments

mac steady going lipstick k smile — Inspired by this pink sweater!

I was inspired to do this monochromatic pink look by this quilted sweatshirt I found at the Eddie Bauer outlet store for 50% off (!).

I can’t remember the last time I walked into an Eddie Bauer store, but there’s one of their outlet stores at Vintage Oaks in Novato, and El Hub wanted to check it out one day to look for a jacket, which he found…and I found this. It’s incredibly soft, and I love the color.

I almost didn’t use any brushes for this look. I used my fingers to press the pink glitter eyeshadow on my lids and to pat the pink cream blush on my cheeks. Really, the only brush I used was an angled eyeshadow brush, which I dipped in a dark brown shadow to diffuse the edge of the liquid black cat eye liner (Tom Ford, baby!).

Speaking of the liner, next time you want to flip the script on your cat eyeliner game, try this: after you finish your cat eye flicks, line the inner corner of your eyes with the thinnest, skinniest line you can get away with.

urban decay glitterrock

Then line the outer portion of your lower lash line with your liquid liner, and connect the inner and outer sections by smudging the most infinitesimal amount of a coordinating eyeshadow color.

If you like to geek out over makeup, this is a fun way to do something a little different with your liner.

mac glitter rock
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5-Minute Makeup: Glowing Peach Cheeks and Lips, Cool Brown Lids and Latest Drugstore Loves!

December 4th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

neutrogena kerry washington essential eye palette cheek palette — All. The. Carbs.

Good morning! We’re not back in Novato yet, but we’ll be home tonight. I prepped this post before we left on vacation, and now I’m seeing the pics and mentally preparing myself for jacket weather.

If, while strolling through downtown Novato recently, you saw a woman taking selfies with a bag of bagels in her car, FYI, that woman was very, very likely me — especially if she had a massively cheesy smile. 🙂

The smile was there for a couple of reasons. First — hello! — ALL THE YUMMY CARBS (this was shortly before the Spartan race, so I brought them with me to share with my coworkers at the bakery). Second, I did my makeup in five minutes (and it wasn’t a hot mess).

Fresh and glowing

This 5-minute makeup look has glowing peach cheeks, glossy peach lips and cool neutral brown lids with the lightest touch of pink sparkle. I wore it to work a couple Fridays ago.

I have absolutely no idea why, but I got some nice compliments from people I ran into while I was running errands that day, and also from El Hub when I saw him later that evening, and that surprised me, because why does super easy makeup like this get so much love? I don’t get it. I’m literally just throwing sh*t on and hoping it doesn’t go awry.

My best guess is that maybe it’s because I didn’t have the time to overthink it, so I didn’t do too much counterproductive tweaking? I just went with my gut and got it done? Who knows?

New drugstore makeup loves

Oh! — for all my drugstore makeup-lovin’ ladies, I used a couple of palettes in this makeup look from Neutrogena: the $12.99 Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette and the $9.99 Kerry Washington Essential Cheek Palette. Both are easy to blend, pretty (I think so), and the powders last all day long. Highly recommended.

Makeup worn in this look

Eyes: Neutrogena Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette (lids and upper lash line liner), Urban Decay Glitterrock (pink glitter pressed lightly onto lids), Chanel Dimensions de Chanel Mascara (lashes), NARS Komo Brow Pencil and MAC Clear Brown Set (brows)
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