So…what is the Monday Poll?
Good question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll. It’s just a list of five more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past gazillion years (more than 10!). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a great start. ?
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Homie…I don’t know.
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
So, I’m still all about finding an alternative to under-eye concealer. Last week I tried a foundation, a BB cream and a color corrector, and man — it’s been an adventure! (I’ll post a post about it later this week.)
Basically, it’s been a hoot, but everything so far has mostly just confirmed that It Cosmetics CC+ Illumination Full Coverage Cream is the freakin’ SCHTUFF as far as under-eye concealer alternatives go (I wear it in Tan, by the way). Like, as a straight-up foundation, I think it’s nonsense, because it’s waaaaay too glittery to actually do pores any good, but IT’S SO GOOD at brightening the under-eye area and as a general pick-me-up.
3. Do you like going to parties?
Sure, but these days, I gotta be honest…it really depends on who’s going and where it’s at. I’m all in for casual get-togethers at a friend’s house when 1) I can take my shoes off at the door, and 2) I don’t have to be told where the bathroom is.
But if it’s a party with a bunch of strangers I have nothing in common with and will probably never hear from again, I’ll pass. I’d rather read a book on my couch or watch The Golden Girls.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Accepting that YOU WILL make mistakes, but also knowing how to fix them.
Oh, and having a steady hand.
And finding a formula that works for you, which is *totally* key. I’m pretty comfortable with most of formulas, but right now I’m all about pencil liners because they usually don’t irritate my eyes.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
’80s song lyrics. If there were a game show devoted to quoting obscure songs from the ’80s, mama would clean up!
Adventures in gluten-free lasagna
Yup, that’s *THE* gluten-free lasagna experiment, and it actually turned out A-OK. I mean, lots of melted cheese never hurts anything, but the pasta itself was pretty good. I used Barilla gluten-free pasta and it tasted just like a regular lasagna! Oh, and why do I always forget that with lasagna a little bit goes a long way? I now have a ton of it (seriously enough to feed a small army of makeup lovers), so one of the things on my to-do list today is to freeze a few slices.
Onto Monday, friend. How are ya feeling?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Question time! Here are they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to you soon.
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
3. Do you like going to parties?
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Suzanne C says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
No gloss, but if I had to choose, absolutely non-sticky.
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
Bronzer. Who knew that you could apply it lightly, in a non-Kardashian/Instagram way? Also soft blur foundation- so pretty! And flattering to older skin if done correctly.
3. Do you like going to parties?
A hearty Amen to what you said.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
… I haven’t figured that out yet.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
… cooking/baking related questions, unless they are gluten-free or vegan questions. I have no experience there. Also questions about most crafts.
Amy says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Non-sticky. Flyaway hair and all that.
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
Whether or not to buy Cover FX glitter gloss shadow. It looks really good and comes in a bunch of great metallic-y neutrals, and I love the concept, but I’m not sure how much I would wear it. Also their spray makeup fixers – they come in an impressive array of finishes, and they hold really well. Their brand name sounds more like audio electronics than makeup to me, but I like their stuff a lot!
3. Do you like going to parties?
Yes, if they’re with families of my son’s friends (new or old) and he will have a good time!
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Having someone else do it for you! Haha!
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Other people’s deep-down feelings and needs.
Rachel says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Non sticky please.
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
In the summer I’m all about putting on a bright lip because I don’t want to wear a whole lot of other makeup, or spend an hour in my un-air-conditioned bathroom doing a complicated eye look!
3. Do you like going to parties?
Same as you, I like parties with familiar friends or family, but as I get older the less outgoing I am about meeting new people.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
A good eyeliner formula!
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Reading people, I am good at sensing people’s vibes!
Ericca says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
non sticky but my some of best and favorites are mac and they are sticky
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
i am not sure. i think wearing powder and lipstick.
3. Do you like going to parties?
depending on the party and the people. i can be an anxious person
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
a steady hand
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
people’s lipstick color. i can identify colors quite easily. i can get a lot of mac lipsticks down to the name or atleast the color description.
Karen says
That’s cool that you can do that with MAC lipsticks, Ericca! I’ve only done that a handful of times, and only with very distinct colors like Ruby Woo or Lady Danger.
ericca says
thanks. i love lipstick and always watch videos on swatches, even do swatches on myself.
Stephanie Smith says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss? Non! But to be honest, I don’t like a shiny mouth, so no gloss.
2. Your latest makeup obsession? I don’t really have one. I am looking for an SPF lip balm with a little color in it that doesn’t look like a Barbie lip. Just something I can swipe on while walking out the door.
3. Do you like going to parties? I have kids, so any party I go to has to be pre-teen and teen friendly. It’s easier to have a bbq at my house than to go anywhere.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…” the right eyeliner. And practice practice practice!
5. I’m seldom wrong about…my girlfriend’s significant others. I’ve never been wrong. Ever. I can spot a cheater/faker/slimeball from a mile away.
Karen says
Wow, your answer to number 5 is a superpower, girl!
Rachel Runyan says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss? Non-sticky. I’m fine with thick gloss, as long as it doesn’t feel gummy or stick to itself when I open my mouth.
2. Your latest makeup obsession? Trying to figure out the best way to apply the Dominique Lemonade Palette. It’s beautiful, but I didn’t realize how much silicone was in it. So far stiffer-haired brushes seem to be the answer. I’ve never had eyeshadows with such a slick texture.
3. Do you like going to parties? Not usually
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…” Using good products.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…colors. I have a weird memory for exact shades and finding matches or mixing paints.
Karen says
Hi Rachel,
You might want to try the Real Techniques or the Eco Tools brushes. They’re stiff but not scratchy.
Rachel Runyan says
Thanks for the recommendations! I have brushes from both brands, so I’ll try them for sure. A friend of mine also said she had good luck with the brush that came with the Urban Decay Electric Palette, which I still have, so I’m going to try that, too.
Jenna says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
In my experience they have to be a little sticky to have some staying power. My current faves are Thrive Causemetics and Dose of Colors.
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
Probably the sunscreen I’m using. It is Mychelle Liquid Skin Tint in SPF 30 (I use Nude) and I haven’t been needing to put any foundation over it, which is perfect for summer. Just a little concealer and blush and my face is done.
3. Do you like going to parties?
You put it perfectly. I wish I had more parties with my good friends, but with little ones it can be difficult.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Smudging! I love a smokey, lived in look with eyeliner. Plus, I can never get wings to look right.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Movie trivia, like what actors were in it and what it was about. Maybe we can find a movie and 80’s music trivia to team up at. 🙂
Karen says
Hi Jenna,
If there was a trivia night with those two subjects I’m certain we would dominate, LOL! 🙂
So, I have an ’80s fun fact for you that I learned last week! In the video for Toto’s song, Rosanna, the main dancer in the video is Cynthia Rhodes, who starred as Penny Dirty Dancing. Also in the video is a very young Patrick Swayze, who as you know played Penny’s good friend Johnny in Dirty Dancing. One last thing: once upon a time, Cynthia Rhodes was married to ’80s singer Richard Marx.
Leah G. says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss? I’m addicted to the EOS lip balm balls. Love the melon one in particular and also the coconut. So non sticky.
2. Your latest makeup obsession? Bronzer but not too dark!
3. Do you like going to parties? If they are in the neighborhood yes. That way I can stumble home… 🙂
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…” having the right tools. You want that tip to be the perfect sharpness but not too sharp.
5. I’m seldom wrong about… gut instinct with work related things. I have my ear to the ground always with my small employer. Gals can be tough to work with so you have to be on your guard. I find guys easier to work with!
P.S. Karen, we lost our tabby of 18 years (Maximus). Heartbreaking. Good news is we rescued a new gray tabby over the weekend. He’s 13 weeks old and is a love! purr purr purr. Loves his toys and so far he’s traveling with us each time we go to Maine and he does well in the car and at the Maine house! <3
Leah G. says
New tabby is named Julius! Sticking with the Gladiator names. 🙂
Karen says
Leah, I’m sorry about Maximus. Eighteen years is a lot of love… He was so lucky and so were you.
I’m happy to hear that you have a new tabby boy to keep you company. Is he outgoing? Sounds like it!
Leah G. says
He’s 4.6 pounds of pure love. I can’t believe it’s only day 3. He has settled right in to our family. 🙂
Karen says
Oh sweet boy! So tiny. Do you know anything about his backstory?
Leah G. says
He was fostered and we met the foster woman! We got him thru a rescue in MA. 🙂 The rescue was amazing to work with. 🙂 So no 13 weeks in a cage he had a home!
Karen says
I’m so happy for you! Although no cat will ever replace Maximus it’s so great that you were able to open up your home and your heart to a cat that needed a family.
Tatiana says
That lasagna looks so yummy. I’m driving up to put a claim on your leftovers, heehee. Just kidding. I didn’t even know Barilla made gluten free pasta. Will have to look for it next time I go shopping.
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss? Non-sticky.
2. Your latest makeup obsession? All of it?
3. Do you like going to parties? Depends. If it’s a small dinner party, say one or two other couples where I’m able to converse with everyone, sure. As a borderline introvert, if I could just get up and leave when it gets to be too much that would be great too.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…” Finding what works for you. I like pencils. Dear Daughter does a mean cat-eye liner with Urban Decay 24/7 pencils. I have no idea how she gets the line to such a fine point at the end. With a pencil!!!!
5. I’m seldom wrong about… Can’t think of a single thing here.
Karen says
Aww, why aren’t you closer?! I would hook you up if you were my neighbor. And then we would have to make a date to go running to burn off all the cheese… Although I did use part skim for the mozz. Full fat for the ricotta though.
Anywho, I found the Barilla pasta at Safeway. They don’t have it at Target, however they do have an extensive gluten-free pasta section of their house brand pasta (it’s the one in the teal packaging)!
Tatiana says
I’m bad, I always use full fat in my lasagna. I need to make a Safeway run either tonight or tomorrow and I’ll look for it. It doesn’t hurt to have a package of lasagna noodles on hand, does it?
Karen says
I mean really, if you’re gonna do it might as well go all the way. I would’ve done full fat mozz if they had any pre-shredded bags on hand (they only had the skim stuff for some odd reason)!
The Barilla gluten-free noodles are oven-ready, so you can just stick them the casserole in without having to pre-boil them. I usually prefer to boil lasagna noodles for at least 4 minutes beforehand, but decided to just try these out of the box to see how they taste, and they were still very good.
Tatiana says
I never buy pre-shredded cheese. If I did that Dear Husband would eat it all before I got to making the dish. So I buy balls of mozzarella and make sure it’s way more than I need. When I’m cooking if he’s around and asks if he can help, instead of rolling my eyes because he has no cooking skills whatsoever, I task him with shredding the cheese. He usually eats half of it then.
Just a warning, if I lived closer your way, I’d be hanging out at your place all the time. I’d also be spoiling Connor Clair.
Karen says
I really need to stop buying the pre-shredded because apparently it doesn’t melt as well as when you shred it on your own? But dang if doesn’t save so much time.
P.S. Haha, even though he has cheese motives, you gotta give the hubs props for stepping up! Also, I had no idea you could actually shred the ball-shaped mozz! MIND BLOWN.
P.P.S. Why is everything in the Bay Area so close, yet so far?!
Tatiana says
It helps to stick the balls in the freezer for a bit so they’re really firm before you shred them. I don’t buy the imported ones submerged in water. Just the domestic cryovac wrapped ones.
I feel like everything feels so far because traffic is getting to be like L.A. traffic. I used to take painting lessons from a guy in San Rafael and I swear it never took me more than 45-50 to get to his studio. Now I can’t even get to SF in 45 minutes, unless it’s like 2 a.m. Even late at night there’s been traffic.
I want a Jetson’s style personal helicopter or flying car to take me where I want to go now.
Karen says
Good to know. Next time I take a crack at lasagna, I’ll try it! Full fat cheese FTW.
If I have to go from one end of the Bay to the other, I’ll do everything I can to avoid driving down 19th Ave in SF. I’d rather go over the Richmond Bridge and drive through the craziness that is 880 than go through the city.
Also, here’s something else that I’ve noticed about Bay Area driving: in Marin, nobody can drive. There’s no flow. In the East Bay and SF, the driving is hyper aggressive, but at least there’s flow.
I’d skip the Jetson’s helicopter and go straight for a Star Trek style “Beam me up” situation.
Erin says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Non-sticky but a little is okay
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
Dr. Jart’s tiger grass color corrector.
3. Do you like going to parties?
Really depends.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Patience.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Anything?
Christine says
Happy Monday! It’s cruising by for me – and I’m surprisingly less tired feeling than I thought I would be.
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Non-sticky for sure! I have too much hair to deal with that plus lip gloss.
(I don’t wear gloss, honestly.)
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
I’ve been loving tinted lib balms. Pacifica’s are really great – just a touch of color and not waxy at all (I hated the Burt’s Bees ones for that reason). Currently rocking Pacifica’s Sugared Fig as my every day color.
3. Do you like going to parties?
Not really? I sound like a party pooper, but really…not a fan. Small get together, sure, but I much prefer staying home. I’m around 200 people in my office every day that when I don’t *need* to be around people…I don’t want to.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Having faith in yourself…LOL
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Whether I want tacos, or need tacos.
The answer is “Always.”
Jaclyn Levy says
1. Girl, what do you mean you don’t know? Non sticky all the way!!! ?
2. Lipstick forever and always. Thinking about getting a new Maybelline Hydra matte tube. The colors are gorgeous and it lasts FOREVER.
3. Yes! I’m going to New Orleans to celebrate my cousin’s 21st birthday over labor day weekend. HOLLA!!!
4. Good eyeliner application is all about patience and practice.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…when someone needs a hug.
This week I’m STRESSED. My husband and I have dubbed it Hell Week. Everything is happening at once. We have 3 guys painting our house this week so there is scaffolding everywhere. My husband is teaching 2 webinars on top of his day job. My oldest starts kindergarten full time. I’m putting on a big event Friday and Saturday at my church. I have a meeting Tuesday evening. And my mom is coming into town! AHHHHHH!
Michele DiCola says
Happy Monday !
Getting ready for the shore on Wednesday.
Non sticky or even matte .
Obsession is Hourglass Scatteted light glitter in Smoke Taupe . The Gold is nice too !
Under eye is anything iT . The best !
Parties . Well only my immediate family !
Eyeliner application is all about
Mac . Using Coffee and Teddy .
I’m seldom wrong about the murderer in any book or movie ?
Kate & Bree says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Both. I really don’t care. I just love lipgloss.
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
I’m still on a good kick of the “wearing makeup only when absolutely necessary” obsession. But, skin care? Love skin care.
3. Do you like going to parties?
Nooooooooooo. I hate parties. Too many people generally.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Looking down in the mirror so your eyelid relaxes, especially if you have twitchy eyelids like mine can be. My eyelids are different so I’ve stopped worrying that my eyeliner looks different.
Oh and the tape method. Abuse the tape method.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Horses. I’m very good at reading them and they all love me.
I’m still very angry at my NFP as they refuse to relinquish Abby to my coach and her barn. Abby actually belongs to the barn I go to now and they have been stonewalling all of us on her condition unless I go to drastic measures.
Susan C. says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Sticky, please — it’s all about the staying power!
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
I just bought the Lorac Pro 4 palette on sale at Kohl’s, and can’t wait to dig into the berries. Looking forward to berry eyes and cherry lips once the weather crisps up.
3. Do you like going to parties?
If you mean a casual get-together that involves dancing in the living room to selected ’80s YouTube videos, yes. If you mean a drinking and small talk gig, hell to the no.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Skill. Practice. And, when in doubt, having a makeup professional do it for you!
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
Sadly, seeing someone for the last time. An inexplicable feeling of sadness sort of washes over me. There’s never a discernible reason for it, but the several times this has happened I really have seen the person (or in some cases, animal) for the last time.
Linda Libra Loca says
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss?
Non-sticky
2. Your latest makeup obsession?
Using the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks as eyeshadow. So good for the summer.
3. Do you like going to parties?
YES! Even more now that I can´t go that often.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…”
Practice and patience.
5. I’m seldom wrong about…
I´ll leave that for my husband to answer.
Kim says
Congrats on the lasagna success. Not going to lie – I would consider having someone distract you while I ran off with it and ate the entire pan. HAHA! It looks delicious!
1. Sticky gloss, or non-sticky gloss? Non-sticky
2. Your latest makeup obsession? Well, not quite obsession but I’ve been liking the Amore Pacific cushioned compact (spf 50) for summer.
3. Do you like going to parties? Same as you. If it’s friends and casual, then yes. But I’m also getting old and like to be home by 10. I feel embarrassed even typing that.
4. Finish the following sentence: “Good eyeliner application is all about…” practice.
5. I’m seldom wrong about… ANYTHING! Totally kidding. Movies. I’m pretty good at remembering the plot, who was in them, etc. Like you, I’m fairly whiz bang at song lyrics as well. Though, I’ve had a few funny moments when I realized the ACTUAL lyrics to a song I knew as a kid. So often it’s because it’s a phrase/information that a young person wouldn’t necessarily know. It’s like “how did I NOT know those were the words?” Oh, case in point “just like Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti”. I believe I thought it was “rises like a leopard” back then. 🙂