Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. 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 quadrillion years (since 2007). I love reading your answers, and it helps me get my week off to a good start.

1. How well do you pull off slang?

Oh, boy. Ha ha ha! I can’t help but laugh at this question, because at one point in time I felt like I was “hip” (she says awkwardly!) to the slang here in the Bay Area, but now I just… I don’t think I can do it anymore. I just feel awkward when I try it, and sometimes, I swear, I don’t know what people are saying! You know it’s probably time to retire your slang habit when you do things like google, “Why do kids say Gucci.”

I mean, I will occasionally still throw a “hella” here and there, just because it’s part of my vocabulary DNA (Hey, man, what can I say? I grew up in the East Bay.), but I generally don’t use as much slang as I used to.

2. What’s your favorite red lipstick?

Most of the time, anything with a coral undertone and a matte finish.

Mmm… I love me some bright coral-reds. MAC has this one called Relentlessly Red, and it is perfection in a tube. 💄

3. Do you think you could successfully handle being a member of a royal family?

HELL, NO, GIRL. I would be the one sister who’s the black sheep of the family because she’s always doing stuff she’s not supposed to and chillin’ with inappropriate company because I don’t like being told what to do.

And from my understanding based on the Disney princess movies and every single show I’ve seen about the British Royal Family, every public move is choreographed, and I would have a difficult time with that. I mean, maybe there’s a slight chance I’d get in line eventually… Slight chance.

4. What do you think of hair vitamins?

Hmm… I know they’re a thing now, but I’ve never tried them myself.

I will say this though: my hairstylist friend Alis says that she’s seen a huge difference in her clients who take the Viviscal hair vitamins. Also, from my personal experience, when I was taking prenatals consistently, my hair was thick and luscious and strong.

Note to self: start taking prenatals again.

5. Something you do when you need to be brave?

This is gonna sound silly, but it works for me. When I’m really scared but have to put a brave face on, I’ll sit in a quiet place (sometimes it’s my car), and I’ll say out loud to myself over and over again, things like, “You can totally do this. You’ve got this. You are so strong and brave.”

I’ll just repeat those mantras to myself over and over again, and I’m not talking one minute or two. I’m talking like 30 minutes. I’ll do this for a really, really, really long time, just repeat the same things over and over again.

And I’m also a firm believer in “fake it ’til you make it” in these situations. Like, if you need to be strong, act like you are strong, even if you don’t feel like it, and I swear, you’ll start to feel legitimately stronger after a while.

This dog is my spirit animal

This magnet makes me laugh (I saw it at Copperfield’s bookstore in Petaluma)! This color is totally a his-or-her color. It reminds me of the time I was making dinner, and it got suspiciously quiet in the living room where Connor was playing… When I looked over at her, she had red marker all over her lips, and when I asked her what she was doing, she said, very matter-of-factly, “I’m putting on red lipstick.” 😂

Hey, wanna make a pact with me to wear red lips one day this week? Who’s in?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Question time! Here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon!

1. How well do you pull off slang?
2. What’s your favorite red lipstick?
3. Do you think you could successfully handle being a member of a royal family?
4. What do you think of hair vitamins?
5. Something you do when you need to be brave?

P.P.S. Give yourself a big hug for me, will ya? 🤗

Happy Caturday, my friend. You know that all is well in the world when you walk into a HomeGoods and see a plethora of cat lady mugs 🤗😸☕ on the shelves near the cash registers.

(This is an important signal.)

One could build an entire collection of kitty-themed mugs based solely on quick jaunts to HomeGoods. (Ha ha ha, is there even such a thing? I’m lucky if I get out of there in half an hour.)

I love the chonky kittehs on the “Catfinated” mug and the sweet Siamese posing betwixt the flowers, especially.

Today, I’m enjoying my morning brew from my trusty XXL kitty teacup, which was also a HomeGoods find, and catching up on my reading.

I’m smack-dab in the middle of reading Maida Heatter’s Brand New Book of Great Cookies (FEELING THIS SO HARD) and The Modern Cook’s Year, by Anna Jones (eh, kinda boring). I’m also listening to an audiobook of Michelle Obama’s autobiography, Becoming.

So many books, so little time.

By the way, for all my fellow chocolate-chip cookie fanatics, according to Maida Heatter, the key to making the perfect chocolate-chip cookie is doubling the vanilla, and using chocolate bars cut into pieces, instead of chips. Then, pop the batter in the fridge.

Who wants to make these cookies with me??

Before we start, here’s this weekend’s reading, and yay! — there were LOTS of cat stories in the news!

• Good news! Your cat may not totally hate you. A new study by animal behavior researchers suggests that cats may bond to their people, just like dogs and babies do.
• You know you’re a crazy cat lady dude when your cat is the best “man” at your wedding.
• Meet Dr. Leon, an attorney who also just so happens to be a cat! His duties include welcoming guests to the office, and, being cute. Oh, and you know he’s official because he has a name badge. 👩‍💼
• Estimates indicate that more than half of the indoor cats in the U.S. are overweight. While some kitties can self-regulate their food, most indoor cats need help keeping the pounds off.
• Kitties always find their way home — even plush toy kitties! Meet Plurna the cat, who went missing for 14 years but was recently found.
• The best makeup, hair and nails from Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020, according to Allure.
• Artificial skin is a thing.
• Apparently, baby pink nail polish is back. (Um…am I the only one out there who didn’t know it left?)
• Will somebody please explain to me why these Barbies look like Kardashians…

Happy fall, y’all!

Doing this ASAP.

I’ve been watching time management vids all week long.

Note to self…

I’m all about the 10-minute makeup life.

Have a wonderful weekend! 🤗

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Highs and lows. I got the idea for this post from a moms group meeting I went to this week. At the end of the meeting, everyone went around the table sharing their highs and lows for the week, and I liked the idea so much that I’m “borrowing” it for MBB — except this one has a beauty-related section.

My beauty highs

On the “high” front, I tried two braided hairstyles this week (tutorials linked below), and I like how they turned out. I think they looked more complicated than they actually were. In fact, thanks to the tutorials, they were pretty easy. No tricky or intense braiding, and I didn’t have to contort myself into weird positions, LOL!

This looks hard, but it’s surprisingly easy.

I did the first hairstyle in this series of three ‘dos.

Also, I re-discovered an oldie but goodie, NARS Lovejoy blush…

I picked up this rosy, plummy bronze while digging through a drawer of neglected products in my office, and I tried it with the MAC Woodwinked/Satin Taupe eyeshadow combo I’ve been into lately. Lovejoy looks really good IMO with purplish golden taupe eyeshadow.

My beauty lows…

UGH. I had a couple. Like, earlier this week, I poked my right eyeball with the tip of a mascara wand (Chanel Dimensions de Chanel, in case you were wondering), and that was NOT fun.

Yeah…it hurt for a day or so.

Also, I desperately need a haircut. The reason I’ve been wearing hair up and in braids is because it’s really uncomfortable to wear it down now. It’s past that point of no return where I should get it cut, but I’ve been too cheap and too lazy!

I have it on my calendar to get one in October, so we’ll see if it actually happens. You’ll know based on whether my hair is still in braids come Halloween, LOL!

Non-beauty highs…

I signed up for my first Spartan race!

What’s a Spartan race, you may ask? Well, it’s basically an intense obstacle course with lots of running, and from what I understand…they’re difficult.

The one I’m doing is a sprint, and it’s a shorter version of the longer courses. More importantly, there’s no mud involved. 😊

Normally, with these obstacle course things, there’s mud involved, and I’m not having that. I don’t like mud in my bodily crevices or in my socks or in my shoes, but the one I’m doing is mud-free. 🤗

I’m doing it with a group of people from my HIIT class. They’ve been bugging me to join them on one of these for ages, so I’m joining their team.

Should be fun… I’m kind of at a point where I feel like I have a little extra oomph in the tank to train for something, so I’m excited about that.

And non-beauty lows…

The point of these “lows” sections isn’t to wallow in misery or obsess over the not-so-great things that have happened, but I think it’s helpful to look at recent events that were…less than ideal, to perhaps seem them through a different lens and maybe think of ways to confront challenges or work around them.

For me, my low this week involves my daily work life/career. Basically, I don’t know where I want to be in five years, and I’ve been thinking about that a lot.

It’s not about MBB, which I still love. It’s more about…working by myself at home and feeling lonely. I’ve been doing what I do the same way for a really long time, and I don’t know if it’s time for a change.

In five years, I will have been blogging on MBB for — wait for it — 17 years! That’s crazy town.

Anyway, frustration over my work comes out sideways in other ways. Like, I have less patience for myself and less patience for my family members.

Take a moment to think about your highs and lows this week

Please share them if you feel like it.

Happy Friday, by the way!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! 😘