Happy Valentine’s Day, my friend! 
My goodness, it has been a week. The run-up to Valentine’s Day at the bakery was cray! Yesterday, I made frosting for 4 hours in the biggest mixer we have. Simply put, I was buttercreamed out by the end of my shift.
Somehow, I still had it in me to wear some makeup this week, believe it or not, and in the process I may have stumbled upon a few new beauty lessons.
Just goes to show ya — not even buttercream can stop the beauty learnin’. 🙂
Unexpected Beauty Lesson #1: A 24-hour mint green mani is totally worth it.
We don’t wear nail polish while working at the bakery, but I painted paws on my day off with Essie Expressie Polish in Express to Impress.
It’s a quick-drying formula with a base and top coat built in, and it takes me about 5 minutes to do two layers — and that includes drying time.
Unexpected Beauty Lesson #2: Face oil is a friend to your lashes and lash curler.
Does your lash curler ever crimp your lashes with an overly aggressive curl? — like, when the bend is almost at a crisp 90-degree corner? If it does, try massaging a little of your favorite face oil on your lashes beforehand, and the lash curl should be curved — more like a letter “c” than a hard, right angle.
I’ve been doing this all week long with Kahina Giving Beauty Prickly Pear Seed Oil, and my lashes have been curling perfectly! The moisturizing face oil makes lash hairs more receptive to a softer curl.
Unexpected Beauty Lesson #3: Use the “leftovers” in your brow brush.
I found the best shortcut for busy ladies and gents who rush through filling in their brows with an angled brush.
Basically…if and happen to have any leftover product in your brush head from the day before, just use it to fill in your brows now, instead of re-loading your brush with more eyeshadow or brow powder.
I actually put two and two together and figured this out one morning while scrambling to make it to work on time. I couldn’t find my usual eyeshadow palette with my brow colors and just said, “Eff it. I’ll use the same brush from yesterday.” Lo and behold, it was the perfect amount of color for softly defined natural-looking brows!
Yup, as the saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of makeup invention.” 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Lily says
February 14th, 2020 at 11:26 amI love that quick dry polish too. Even if I’m not in a rush, I just hate waiting for my polish to dry. I got it in “throw it on”, a grayish lavender.
Good brow tip. Thanks!
Karen says
February 15th, 2020 at 11:02 amI’m about to go to Target in a few to get another bottle. 🙂 I want a pastel pink but I’ll check that shade out too (love me some purple).
yelena says
March 31st, 2020 at 8:05 amok i’m late to the game, as I hadn’t been buying nail polishes so I haven’t tried the Essie Expressie bottles. this mint color looks dreamy, but I don’t typically like Essie’s brush. is the brush the same as the OG Essie nailpolish or is it any different? I usually like the wide flatter paddle brushes to make application even easier 😀
Lorraine says
February 14th, 2020 at 12:03 pmwow, the line at our bakery was out the door! I am thanking the cupcake gods for who ever mixed that frosting, because I came home with a box full of delicious and beautiful valentines treats for my family. Cheers to you and all the bakery employees who make our lives a little sweeter. Thanks for the tips and speaking of tips, that Essie mani looks gorgeous on yours!
Karen says
February 15th, 2020 at 11:02 amI’m glad you were able to satisfy your sweet tooth! And yay for the all buttercream gods and goddesses out there. 🙂
Sharon DB says
February 14th, 2020 at 12:08 pmOkay I just had to search your blog to see when you started working at a bakery – how the heck did I miss such a wonderful and scrumptious development? That is another thing that you and I have in common! Well I don’t work at a bakery but I used to (pre-parenthood) LURV baking so very much. Thanks for putting it back on my radar and thanks for the tips! Happy Valentine’s Day 🙂
Karen says
February 15th, 2020 at 11:01 amHi Sharon,
It’s been quite a learning experience! What kind of bakery did you work in?
SharonDB says
February 15th, 2020 at 1:47 pmI didn’t used to work at one, I used to love baking too is what I clumsily wrote! Baking from scratch was a passion that flew out the window once I became a mom. So it’s nice to revisit it again, if only vicariously through you! 🙂
JENNIFER R OSBORN says
February 14th, 2020 at 12:32 pmMy eyelashes are always getting crimped to the max. Thanks for the tip.
And HAPPY VALENTINES’ DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JENNIFER R OSBORN recently posted … Cherry Pink Mocktail
Karen says
February 15th, 2020 at 11:00 amI feel you. Mine were doing the same exact thing until I stumbled onto this trick.
What did you do for Valentine’s?
Jennifer Osborn says
February 19th, 2020 at 11:09 amOh, old married people stuff. We ate chocolate covered strawberries and watched an episode of something that I can’t even remember! OMG. My brain!
Did Connor exchange valentines with the kids at preschool? Is that still at thing?
Lexica says
February 14th, 2020 at 9:36 pmFor short-term wear, have you tried a peel-off base coat? It might be just the thing for how you’re currently wearing polish.
100% non-sponsored recommendation: Holo Taco’s peely base coat is as good or better than the other brands I’ve tried (sorry, UNT). And their quick-dry top coats are excellent.
Karen says
February 15th, 2020 at 10:11 amHi Lexica,
I haven’t! I haven’t had the best luck with products that peel off; they seem to wreck my nails for some reason. I’ll look into the Holo Taco coat though!
Anne says
February 17th, 2020 at 3:03 amI just spend the whole Sunday afternoon baking and decorating unicorn cakes and cupcakes for my daughters birthday today and thought that was a lot, but I don’t even want to start imagine how a day at the bakery on VD must have been like!
Anne recently posted … The truth about Clean Beauty | Doctor Anne