7 Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

Win a $50 Sephora e-gift card from Makeup and Beauty Blog

Rise and shine, morning glory! It’s a beautiful day!

Well…actually, I don’t really know what kind of day it is outside because I haven’t looked (it was raining cats and dogs and frogs last night!), but I’m sure it’ll be a beautiful day regardless of the weather.

I’m sitting in my father-in-law’s quiet office in Redding right now with my laptop on the floor and typing to poo. Yup, we drove up to Redding last night to see their new house (they recently moved), and I think I’m the only one awake.

I’m wondering if it snowed in the night… We shall see.

Good luck in the giveaway, and have a wonderful weekend, whatever you’re up to. I’m gonna see if I can find a place online now that sells doughnuts…

Not sells them online, online. I mean, find a place on the web that sells doughnuts in the area.

Never mind…

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

View the original article here

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 349

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll for December 1, 2014

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past seven years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

What’s one keepsake you absolutely treasure?
I have this groovy dress that my mom used to wear back in the ’70s. It’s an a-line mini in a beige lace material with an oversized ’70s-style collar, pearl buttons and sheer sleeves.

She gave it to me when I was in high school, and I’ve kept it with me all these years, through 10+ moves.

I’m not normally very sentimental about my clothes, like it’s easy for me to say goodbye to clothes and pass them along to others to love, but I love this dress. My mom designed it for herself and took the design to a seamstress to have it made when she still lived in the Philippines.

I can see her now, my mom, a newly married young woman in the ’70s, tooling about town in her groovy mini dress. Maybe in some wedge heels!

Who’s the most generous person you know?
El Hub. That man would give you the shirt off his back, even if it meant he would freeze to death. We’re having PB&J sandwiches for lunch! What kind of jelly would you like?
Raspberry for me! ? or strawberry, if we’re out of raspberry, and if we don’t have either one, marmalade will do.

Just please, no grape jelly. I’m NOT feelin’ that with my PB&J.

Which would you rather do ? spend an afternoon putting together a complicated piece of Ikea furniture with 500 screws, or spend an afternoon cleaning out boxes in a dirty, dusty garage filled with cobwebs, spiders and lizards?
Uh…both sound pretty miserable to me, but I guess cleaning out the garage? It would be dirtier, yes, but less mentally taxing. Something you feel passionate about?
Writing about makeup (obvs), and talking about it, and wearing it, and shopping for it, and taking pictures of it. After almost eight years of talking about makeup on a daily basis, I still enjoy it.

I’m also passionate about adopting strays and shelter animals. Every one of the animals I’ve been lucky enough to assist over the years has been a former stray.

There are so many great cats and dogs out there waiting to be loved!

Your turn. Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ‘em!

1. What’s one keepsake you absolutely treasure?
2. Who’s the most generous person you know?
3. We’re having PB&J sandwiches for lunch. What kind of jelly would you like?
4. Which would you rather do ? spend an afternoon putting together a piece of complicated Ikea furniture with 500 screws, or spend an afternoon cleaning out boxes in a dirty, dusty garage filled with cobwebs, spiders and lizards?
5. Something you’re passionate about?

December…

I KNOW! It’s like it silently moonwalked into the room when I was looking the other way.

Have you put your tree up yet? I did go to Target last weekend and got some new ornaments, stockings and lights, but no tree yet. Hopefully, tonight or tomorrow. That’s what we’ve been talking about.

The new Christmas tree balls I got are allegedly shatter-resistant, but we’ll see about that… Tabs is the ultimate durability test.

He always swats at the ornaments and also LOVES to drink water from the tree stand, even though he knows it’s strictly forbidden.

Cats…

Have a good one today, whatever you’re up to. Try to stay warm out there!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

View the original article here

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 348

The Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll for November 24, 2014

You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past seven years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Ponytail, braid or bun?
Ponytail if I’m working out, braid if I’m chilling around the house, sock bun if I’m out and about.

You knew I couldn’t just pick one.

Tell me about the worst date you ever went on.
Ew! Eighth grade, when my first boyfriend ? let’s just call him “Bob” ? showed up at my house with a posse of friends, and they were all on bikes.

I guess they didn’t believe that he actually got a girl to say, “Yes, Bob, I will go out on a date with you.”

I think we went to Taco Bell after that… Just me, Bob and his homeboys.

Pretty dumb.

Shimmery shadows in the crease ? your thoughts?
I’m more into mattes in the crease, but I won’t say no to a good shimmer…even though they get a little harder to wear as I get older.

While we’re at it, let’s just throw some glitter in there too, ya know? Why not?

I like to put mattes in my crease because my crease isn’t naturally very deep, and so mattes, which you can use to make parts of your face look more recessed, makes my crease appear deeper.

Cool toned or warm toned?
Warm toned. I’m an NC42 in MAC (lately I’ve been loving LM’s Flawless Fluide in Chai), but I also wear cool-toned shadows a lot. My skin tone is warm, but I wear both warm and cool-toned colors, which I think goes back to the whole “mattes in the crease” thing. Cool-toned browns, especially those grayish browns, really make my crease look deeper. A place you’d like to visit again and why?
Oahu in Hawaii, because when El Hub’s parents lived there (he was born and raised in Hawaii), we were going at least once or twice a year to visit, but now that they live on the mainland, we rarely go back.

I miss my old haunts, like Matsumoto’s Shave Ice, which I hear they’ve completely changed, and Haleiwa on the North Shore, and Turtle Bay Resort, which is where we got married.

Your turn. Just copy and paste the following questions into a comment with your answers. I look forward to reading ‘em!

1. Ponytail, braid or bun?
2. Tell me about the worst date you ever went on.
3. Shimmery shadows in the crease ? your thoughts?
4. Cool toned or warm toned?
5. A place you’d like to visit again and why?

Let’s just hurry these first three days of the week along so we can get to the food quicker on Thursday.

I’m not really into the turkey, though… I’m more about the sides, and the dessert. I gotta have my pecan pie, man. It’s my thang!

El Hub and I were thinking about skipping turkey this year and having a crab-fest instead, because it’s crab season out here, which leads me to this question: how would crab taste dipped in gravy? Something tells me it might taste good.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

View the original article here

7 Ways to Win a $50 eGift Card From Sephora! (Ends Monday)

Good morning, buddy! So, Mockingjay last night. El Hub and I went, and while some of the reviews out there haven’t been kind, I liked it…which I know is probably a HUGE surprise.

But seriously, some of the reviews are calling it the worst of the three movies, boring, just a real stinker, but I didn’t think so at all.

It definitely has a different feel than the other two films, yeah, but so did the third book. The filmmakers split the last book in half to squeeze out another movie, but that’s sort of par for the course these days with successful franchises.

It’s darker than the first two films, literally. Not as many long sequences outdoors in thick forests and jungles, but that’s because this one is a wartime story, and it looks the part. I can’t say that I enjoyed the movie quite as much as the other two, but I did like it, and I think it holds its own in the greater Hunger Games film canon.

I mean, you know…if you’re a fan of the Hunger Games, it’s not like you’re not gonna see this movie.

In other news, it’s giveaway time!

One (1) Sephora eGift card containing $50 sent to the winner by email (international readers, you may opt to receive $50 sent by PayPal instead).

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Open to U.S. and international readers.You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws).Your comment can be about anything at all, but here are some ideas if you’re stuck: Do you ever hang out with your neighbors?What would you like for Christmas?Are you good at fixing things around the house?Cowboys or rockstars?Do you have any brothers? What are they like?What did you have for dinner last night?You can enter in up to seven ways to boost your chances of winning.The giveaway ends on Monday, November 24, 2014 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time). Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

View the original article here