IdealbeautyCare, Kyiv (2026)

04/05/2020

Happy Caturday, my friend!

One of the perks of adulting 24/7 is that you can actively pursue unapproved, unsanctioned frivolous endeavors, like buying yourself an advent calendar from Trader Joe’s and opening everything at once WEEKS before the actual holiday officially starts!

Having the freedom to do things like this almost — almost — makes up for having to deal with people stealing your parking spot. Or, for having to pay the bills. Forever.

(Kinda sorta. Not really.)

Quick TJ’s advent calendar update

I’ve been using a few of the things from my new 12 Days of Beauty Calendar this week, and all I have to say is, “HELLO, YUM-YUMS,” because everything I’ve tried so far smells like food!

Delicious-smelling delights are to be found in the…

Blueberry & Acai Facial Scrub: This smells exactly like a fresh blueberry smoothie, and the grains are the perfect level of “scrubiness,” in that they aren’t too aggressively gritty or too unhelpfully gentle.

Warm Vanilla Body Butter: The scent of hella bougie vanilla extract will follow you around for hours when you slather this thick, moisturizing butter on your bod.

Continue reading "Saturday Surfing, Nov. 16th, 2019" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

Happy Caturday, my friend! One of the perks of adulting 24/7 is that you can actively pursue unapproved, unsanctioned frivolous endeavors, like buying yourself an advent calendar from Trader Joe’s and opening everything at once WEEKS before the actual holiday officially starts! Having the freedom ...

04/05/2020

This time of year always reminds me of one of the most astounding acts of selflessness and courage I’ve ever seen.

The year: 2012. The place: New York City, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The night before the parade, disaster struck the team in charge of the company float for Tabs the Cat Industries LLC. The float wasn’t going to be ready in time because the white roses the team special ordered from Belgium got held up in customs, so Tabs stayed up all night long decorating the entire float himself with local flowers he picked himself from around Central Park.

And as if that weren’t incredible enough, Tabs purr-formed the role of Master of Ceremonies the next morning and walked beside the company float (he also danced atop the float with Beyoncé).

It was one of the most historic displays of dedication by a corporate cat executive in American business history.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Continue reading "Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 580" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

This time of year always reminds me of one of the most astounding acts of selflessness and courage I’ve ever seen. The year: 2012. The place: New York City, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The night before the parade, disaster struck the team in charge of the company float for Tabs the Cat I...

04/05/2020

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).

Continue reading "When In Doubt, Red Lip It Out" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

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 ne...

03/05/2020

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

I realize that NARS Or**sm is widely believed to be the true tour de force of the NARS blush multiverse, and for sure, I totally get why so many people love it…but NARS Deep Throat to me is a far better peachy pink option. Hands down.

Like Or**sm, it looks incredible on a wiiiide range of skin tones, but it lacks Or**sm’s intensely golden pearl, which in this case is a good thing, particularly if you have pores — like I do.

I actually like that I can’t see Deep Throat’s golden shimmer unless I’m way up in a magnifying mirror. Most of the time, all you see is the lovely color.

Effect-wise, it’s just enough. It doesn’t go overboard. Plus, it’s easy to apply, looks just as natural on bare skin as it looks on top of full-coverage foundation, and you can dress it up or dress it down.

Continue reading "Unsung Makeup Heroes: NARS Deep Throat Blush" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites. I realize that NARS Or**sm...

03/05/2020

1. Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Seasoning Blend

I usually don’t like spicy seasoning because I don’t like it when my tongue feels like it’s on fire or when I’m excessively drooling, but I’m totally down with this mix of chili powder, salt and lime, which has a little bit of heat to it (not so much that I can’t handle it). Apparently, it’s TJ’s take on something called Tajín?

Anyway, I love it. And I’ve been putting it on everything, including the Thai-inspired ground lime chicken I whipped up a few nights ago with chopped cucumber, pineapple and watermelon.

Seriously, this stuff makes even the most mediocre watermelon, of which I’ve had many this year (not a great year for 🍉), taste delish.

2. MAC Half ‘N Half Lipstick

This neutral creamy pink lives in the MAC permanent line, and it has MAC’s Amplified formula, so it’s moderately shiny and majorly pigmented.

3. Doing air squats with a medicine ball

OK…you put the ball under your butt, then lower yourself into a squat until your “cheeks” touch the ball before you rise back up again.

Why would any sane person do this, you might ask?

Continue reading "5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

1. Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Seasoning Blend I usually don’t like spicy seasoning because I don’t like it when my tongue feels like it’s on fire or when I’m excessively drooling, but I’m totally down with this mix of chili powder, salt and lime, which has a little bit of heat to it (not so...

03/05/2020

The coywolf and I entertain the fanciful notion that every time you find a piece of glitter on your face, your body or really anywhere — and for some reason, this happens often, big surprise! — you were just kissed by a unicorn.

Indeed, if that holds true, then wearing anything glittery from the new MAC Get Blazed collection is tantamount to being kissed by an entire unicorn herd.

SO MUCH GLITTER!

I wore a couple things from Get Blazed today — the Shiny Pretty Shadow in P for Pink, and the Bling Thing Liquid Lip Top Coat in Sweet Gleams — and I can say that nothing I’ve seen from this collection goes halfway. I tried to going for subtle with P for Pink and Sweet Gleams (mind you, as subtle as you can go with glitter…), so my lids and lips look relatively subdued here, but TRUST! — if you wanna look like you’re going to swing from the chandelier on a Tuesday night, by all means, you can get there, and you can get there so f a s t.

Faster than a speeding unicorn even.

Continue reading "Glittery Unicorn Kisses…and a Look With the New MAC Get Blazed Collection (COMING APRIL 11TH)" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

The coywolf and I entertain the fanciful notion that every time you find a piece of glitter on your face, your body or really anywhere — and for some reason, this happens often, big surprise! — you were just kissed by a unicorn. Indeed, if that holds true, then wearing anything glittery from the...

03/05/2020

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. Once a week for a year, would you rather get a free manicure and pedicure by a trained professional who comes to your house, or a free 60-minute massage at your favorite spa?

Seriously, this one’s SO brutal because I just got my nails done for the first time in two years, so the wonderfulness of having professionally painted paws is still fresh in my mind, but despite the joy I would get from looking down at perpetually perfectly painted nails…I’d still go with the massage, because I love that loose-y goose-y feeling after an intense deep-tissue session.

And it would HAVE to be deep tissue. I got a Swedish massage a few years ago, and it just felt like someone was rubbing lotion on me for an hour.

2.

Continue reading "Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 534" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

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...

03/05/2020

Good morning from the Bay Area! It’s that time of year around here when the microclimates go cray. You can leave the house in shorts and a sleeveless shirt and be desperate for a warm sweatshirt a few hours later. People are NOT playing when they say to bring layers for Bay Area adventures. The pic up top was from the beach a couple weeks ago in the heat of summer. It was warm enough to play at the edge of the water (granted, just our feet because it was cold!), but that pretty much sums it up.

What are you up to today? I hope it involves a little rest and reading.

Speaking of that…your beauty links for the week:

You can now buy a makeup mirror with Alexa built into it, and all I have to say to that is SNOOZE. Call me when she can actually do winged liner for me.

The New York Times asks, “Are you being kind to your butt?” (P.S. Apparently, butt skin care masks are a thing now.)

Favorite quote of the week: “Eventually…I was caught. My mom got home early from work one day and found me in her room wearing her favorite red lipstick.

Continue reading "Saturday Surfing, Sep. 14th, 2019" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

Good morning from the Bay Area! It’s that time of year around here when the microclimates go cray. You can leave the house in shorts and a sleeveless shirt and be desperate for a warm sweatshirt a few hours later. People are NOT playing when they say to bring layers for Bay Area adventures. The pi...

02/05/2020

Well, after three years of Nobel Prizes in Physics to (mostly) theoretical physicists, this year it goes to Applied Physics (Optics, specifically, Laser physics), and the winners are:

Arthur Ashkin (American, 96 years, the oldest recipient in the history of Nobel prizes), for his invention of the optical tweezers.

Gérard Mourou (French) and Donna Strickland (Canadian, the third woman to be awarded in Physics) for the invention of the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique.

- Summary

- Press release

- Popular Science Background: Tools made of light

Congratulations to the winners!!

Well, after three years of Nobel Prizes in Physics to (mostly) theoretical physicists, this year it goes to Applied Physics (Optics, specifically, Laser physics), and the winners are: Arthur Ashkin (American, 96 years, the oldest recipient in the history of Nobel prizes), for his invention of the op...

02/05/2020

Clearly, UD has a thing for Bing…cherries. Based on the packaging for new Naked Cherry collection, Bing is bomb, and I can appreciate that. I mean, I get it. I see the connection. A deep, dark, purplish Bing makes sense for a makeup collection, but I still like Rainiers more. They’re sweeter, man! And I love that red and yellow ombre action .

(Quick makeup query: Years ago MAC also released a cherry-inspired collection. Can you remember what it was called?)

No reds, but plenty of pink and plum

Surprise! — there’s not a lot of red in UD’s new Naked Cherry collection.

LIKE NONE.

Red eyeshadow is on trend right now, but if you were hoping for seductive scarlets, vampy vermilions and ruby reds in this release, sorry.

The collection, which has been out about a week now, includes an eyeshadow palette ($49), a blush/highlighting trio ($34), two eyeliners ($21), three lipsticks ($34), and a cherry-scented setting spray ($15).

Judging by the name — Naked Cherry — you may have quite naturally expected there to be copious quantities of crimson in this collection, but these pretties are predominantly pink, rose, purple and mauve.

Continue reading "Bada-Bing! The Urban Decay Naked Cherry Collection Is Out Now" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

Clearly, UD has a thing for Bing…cherries. Based on the packaging for new Naked Cherry collection, Bing is bomb, and I can appreciate that. I mean, I get it. I see the connection. A deep, dark, purplish Bing makes sense for a makeup collection, but I still like Rainiers more. They’re sweeter, ma...

02/05/2020

OK, so it’s been an eye-opening few days, and not just because I sneaked in 10 hours of sleep Thursday night and feel like a new person.

(Side note: You know you kick it with a toddler 24/7 when the thought of eating a bowl of ice cream with your pants off and going to sleep at 8 on a Thursday night sounds VERY exciting.)

The breakthrough moment

So I’m still doing the no under-eye concealer thing (here was Chapter 1 of this adventure), and I think I mentioned this last week, but I had a revelation about a week ago while I was wearing a pearly brightening under-eye cream by Tatcha. It happened right after I took a few before/after pics of myself wearing The Pearl in Softlight, and I do believe I had what they call in the movies “the breakthrough moment.”

I realized what’s reflected in the mirror is *completely* different than what I see in my head.

“This two-in-one makeup and treatment formula breaks upon application to deliver both refreshing moisture and natural coverage for a healthy, well-rested look all day. Light-refracting pearl pigments work with Akoya pearl extract to restore radiance by helping to address the three causes of under-eye darkness: thinning skin, blue undertones, and pigmentation.

Continue reading "Ditching Under-Eye Concealer: Chapter 2" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

OK, so it’s been an eye-opening few days, and not just because I sneaked in 10 hours of sleep Thursday night and feel like a new person. (Side note: You know you kick it with a toddler 24/7 when the thought of eating a bowl of ice cream with your pants off and going to sleep at 8 on a Thursday nig...

02/05/2020

OK, I realize that this is technically one of the items in Uncle Karl’s latest collab collection, but let’s get real — I’m only here for Choupette. 🐱

KARL LAGERFELD + MODELCO Kiss Me Karl Choupette Eyeshadow Palette in Smokey/Burgundy (Nordstrom exclusive)

($65, 0.48-oz. palette with 16 powder eyeshadows)

Can you say “no” to a cat-shaped palette?

I DIDN’T THINK SO.

See, that’s why you’re a card-carrying member of Team Cat Lady, and Choupette’s looking extra cute here with her heart-shaped nose and her “K” collar.

Today’s product check in: A look at the + new limited edition makeup line. It’s at l!

A post shared by Karen | Makeup and Beauty Blog () on May 24, 2018 at 4:12pm PDT

Color-wise, I really like the cool-toned browns in this palette, which is one of two palettes in the collection (the other one, Warm/Nude, leans warmer), and the abundance of mattes, and how almost all of the eyeshadows, with the exception of the glittery burgundy, are soft and buttery enough to practically scoop themselves with a brush or finger.

Continue reading "KARL LAGERFELD + MODELCO Kiss Me Karl Choupette Eyeshadow Palette in Smokey/Burgundy" on Makeup and Beauty Blog.

OK, I realize that this is technically one of the items in Uncle Karl’s latest collab collection, but let’s get real — I’m only here for Choupette. 🐱 KARL LAGERFELD + MODELCO Kiss Me Karl Choupette Eyeshadow Palette in Smokey/Burgundy (Nordstrom exclusive) ($65, 0.48-oz. palette with 16 p...

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