Archives 2022

Go young entrepreneurs, go! (A high school student runs this brand!)

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new appeal brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

Guys, do you remember what you were doing at 15…? I’ll tell ya, I certainly wasn’t running my own makeup line, LOL! say hi to Raazika Cosmetics, a new cruelty-free indie line founded by high school student Khadija Ikram, who started the brand fueled by her passion for makeup and her desire to help her community. The brand donates a portion of all proceeds to anti-bullying campaigns.

Yeah, at 15 years old, I was marching around a football field with a flute in a band uniform while concurrently plotting ways to up my GPA… I wasn’t starting my own service (although I wish I had!).

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In Arabic, Raazika indicates “one who supplies for others,” and the line is cruelty-free, fragrance-free and Halal-certified, indicating that the ingredients are permitted within Islamic or sharia law (you can read a lot more about it here if you’re curious), and they’re available now online. The brand is still quite small and very new.

I’m wearing Raazika Cosmetics Hi Def foundation in Caramel and the liquid Lipstick in Bentley Bliss.
Within the line, there are full-coverage foundations ($36 each), a couple of contour kits ($49 each), vegan brushes ($16-$30 each), a sprinkling of eye makeup (there’s a mascara and a liner), liquid lipsticks ($27 each) and lip pencils ($17 each), so it’s not Fenty big, but it’s not a teeny, tiny product range either.

Everything’s priced within the too Faced/Make Up For Ever/Smashbox range. Like, their Hi-Def foundation, which I’ve tried — I think it’s pretty good (super full-coverage!). It’s $36 for a 0.68-oz. bottle, and a little goes a loooong way. I nearly want to call it concealer-coverage worthy because it’s SO pigmented and intense, and now that I think about it…it looks and feels very similar to NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. I’ve worn shade C45 Caramel a few times, and I like how it looks in pictures, in particular, because of how well it blurs my pores. Straight-up hides everything.

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I’ve also checked two of the brushes, the artificial Jumbo Buffer and the small pointed Face, which are pretty soft and less stiff than normal for synthetics (as you know, some synthetic brushes feel very stiff). If you like real techniques or It Cosmetics brushes, I think you’ll like these, too.

Oh! — the matte liquid lipsticks? just like the foundations, they’re *very* pigmented, but they do kinda dry out my lips…

If you’d like to learn a lot more about Raazika Cosmetics, check it out online.

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Your friendly neighborhood appeal addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!!!

The sun came out yesterday for the first day in a loooong time, and I was able to walk outside without a sweater, a sweatshirt, a coat and a raincoat. ‘TWAS GLORIOUS. I could actually put my arms down without feeling like Randy from A Christmas story in his snowsuit.

Every person I ran into yesterday said something along the lines of, “The sun is out! let us bow down and worship it!”

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Yeah, I’m exaggerating, but we Californians are nuts. ?

It wasn’t quite warm enough to wear sandals outside yet (unless you’re one of those dudes who wears Tevas in a snowstorm), but the Coywolf and I still stopped to smell the flowers and the new spring shoes as DSW.

I love tennies with cute animal prints, and there were plenty of puppy patterns for all the #crazydogladies.

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Are dressy flip-flops a thing? because they should be. These Kate Spade slippers fit the bill. I like them, but I can’t spend $70 an a pair of fancy flip-flops, ya know?

To clarify: I really want to…but I can’t. If they go on sale, though? That’s another story! ?

I haven’t worn a proper high heel in three years, but I liked this navy and tan Clarks of England sandal and this Dr. Scholl’s sandal. The heels don’t seem obnoxiously high…

I also thought these Naturalizer tennies in pink and taupe were cute, but I can’t figure out if one is supposed to wear socks with them. The mesh is see-through, so I assume you’re supposed to forgo the socks, but then maybe the mesh is there so you can show off your socks?

Now that’s the universal question, isn’t it? To wear socks, or not to wear socks. Hmm…

Speaking of socks, there were lots of cute ones!

Props to whoever organized this display, because I would have placed the coffee socks next to the doughnut ones too, ha ha ha!

How about a strappy sandal to show off a cute spring/summer pedicure?

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I’m so ready to be warm again. It’s not even funny!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Today is a great day to have a great day.

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with bit clicky buttons. It’s just a listing of five more or less random concerns I’ve been publishing on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007). I like reading your answers, as well as it assists me get my week off to a great start.

1. bath or shower?

I take showers our of sheer necessity since they’re so much quicker than long, extravagant (heavenly) baths, however if I were a woman of leisure, as well as perhaps likewise had a gloriously deep old-fashioned clawfoot tub, I’d be taking baths all day, every day, for sure.

With great deals of bubbles… Can never have as well many bubbles. as well as music!

2. A skin care step you won’t skip?

Removing my makeup every night before bed. I never avoid it, even when I was shaking my groove thang as well as going out a great deal back in the day as well as came house at an obnoxious hour (by which time I’m usually in my fourth or fifth REM cycle now), I would always take off my makeup.

I utilized to keep makeup cleaner wipes on my nightstand next to my bed so I might just collapse onto my comforter, begin wiping my makeup away while I was horizontal, as well as then drift off to sleep right then as well as there…

3. What’s the last product you finished?

Body cream. I go with A great deal of that stuff. this time around it was H2O plus Coconut Lemon Verbena (smells tropical however not “sun-screeny”).

4. What’s the last dance you learned?

Um…that one that all the youngsters are doing, or may have been doing a few years ago? I believe it’s called the floss?

It’s the one where you stand with your feet shoulder length apart as well as rock your arms back as well as forth (or something).

Previous to that, I likewise discovered a six-step since I was discovering exactly how to break dance, however this was a while ago…

5. Your very first beauty product obsession?

It was back in high school: Revlon toast of new York lipstick!

All the women used it. (In situation you’re wondering, yes, it’s still around.)

Revlon toast of new York

The thing I like most about cats

That you can never rather tell whether they’re about to swat you in the face, or provide you a head boop.

They’ve got that whole secret thing down pat! even besides these years of helping Tabs, I still can’t anticipate when he’s going to go full-on Naomi Campbell as well as throw a phone at me, or if he’s going to nuzzle me with purrs as well as lovies.

It’s one of his many talents…

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He ? as well as I want to remind you to make the most of this lovely Monday. as well as in situation you haven’t heard it yet today, you are ? cherished, as well as you are loved.

Your friendly community beauty addicts,

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Karen as well as Tabs

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P.S. concern time! right here they are to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. talk to you soon.

1. bath or shower?
2. A skin care step you won’t skip?
3. What’s the last product you finished?
4. What’s the last dance you learned?
5. Your very first beauty product obsession?

‘Sup?

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 terrific start. ?

1. A drugstore beauty product you swear by?

Cetaphil, baby! It’s totally old school, I know, but it’s always worked for me, and I’ve been using it off and on for…gosh, almost 20 years now? It’s one of the longest relationships I’ve ever had!

2. When did you start shaving your legs?

Middle school. Seventh grade. So, 12. I was wearing my favorite olive green plaid shorts with a matching green vest, and the girl who had the locker below mine said, “Did you forget to shave today?”

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I looked down at my shins and was suddenly and painfully aware that I had leg hair.

How did I never notice it before??

When I saw my mom that evening I asked if I could borrow a razor, and she said, “Why do you need to shave your legs? I don’t need to shave mine.” I’m pretty sure my response involved a very heavy and loud sigh…

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Anyway, I sneaked one of my dad’s disposables, and shaved my legs for the first time in the shower that night.

3. Last beauty product you recommended to someone in person?

Biologique Recherche P50 1970!

4. Last time you washed your makeup brushes?

Um… A month ago? No, really, you don’t want to know… I have a whole box full of them that need to be deep-cleaned!

5. Something you have to do today?

Ugh, make an appointment with the dentist to get my teeth cleaned.

Best mug ever!

Please note that the mug I’m holding in the pic at the top says this:

Never in the history of mugs has this ever been more apt.
HA HA HA HA HA!

If my cupboards weren’t bursting with cat lady mugs, I would’ve picked it up in a heartbeat.

Speaking o’ mugs, I’m going to refill mine right now with coffee made from my new coffee maker! Did I forget to tell you about the coffee maker incident from last week?! DUDE. I had a work call at the crack of dawn last Monday (or was it Tuesday? Anyway, it was really early!), and when I went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee from the machine I’d programmed the night before to brew at 5:45, the coffee maker was KAPUT. Dead. totally deceased!

It just so happens that we had an extra 2-cup coffee maker my in-laws gave to us before they moved back to Hawaii, which I ended up using that morning, so crisis averted, but it’s one of those mini ones that you get at hotels, and it doesn’t really work well.

Long story short, I got a new one, and I’m very excited about it, because, apparently it makes some excellent coffee! — as evidenced by my rambling in print. ?

Hope your caffeine has also kicked in!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

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Karen

P.S. here are the questions for you to copy and paste with your answers in a comment:

1. A drugstore beauty product you swear by?
2. When did you start shaving your legs?
3. Last beauty product you recommended to someone in person?
4. Last time you washed your makeup brushes?
5. Something you have to do today?

great morning!

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t precisely a poll… It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random listing of concerns I’ve been doing every Monday morning for the past 11 (!) years. (It’s like a kick begin for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments as well as getting my week off to a great start, as well as I hope you do, too.

1. have you ever wished to modification your name?

When I was a youngster I did since I utilized to believe that “Karen” was boring, so I tried to informally modification it a few times, however nothing ever stuck.

In eighth grade — oh, gosh, as well as this is such an eighth grade thing to do — my buddies as well as I selected “secret” names for ourselves to utilize in our letters, as well as I asked my buddies to phone call me “Rennie” (both in person as well as in print).

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Yeah, not such a trick name, right? Needless to say, it didn’t stick.

And then freshman year college I went with a phase when I wished to “rebrand” myself, LOL! So I had everybody in the dorm phone call me “Karen Tess,” which is a shortened combination of my very first as well as middle name (Theresa)… That didn’t stick, either. as well as I likewise went with a phase when I resided in San Francisco in my early 20s when I introduced myself as “Kate” (my nickname at home).

Now I like my name. I definitely feel like a Karen.

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2. Are you a feline lady?

100%

3. What did you do over the weekend?

Um…caught a cold? El Hub, Connor as well as I spent the weekend visiting household in Redding, which was nice, however I believe we brought a chilly up there from infant story Time down here.

Connor’s doing much much better now, however I believe it’s about to be my turn next… I feel that telltale scratchy throat. keeping my fingers as well as toes crossed that it turns out to be allergies…

4. Something on your to-do listing this week?

Bring at least one bag of clothes to Goodwill, since I want to KonMari this home up until it can’t be KonMari’d anymore, dawg!

5. exactly how do you feel about liquid liner?

I feel great about it, LOL! I feel great about it as well as utilize it often, particularly if it’s simple to utilize like Tom Ford’s as well as Clinique’s.

Happy Monday!

You understand what’ll wake you up on a Monday morning? Slamming a glass of Emergen-c. WOW. Anyway…hi! exactly how are you doing this morning? What did you do over the weekend? I hope you have a fantastic week.

Your friendly community beauty addict,

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Karen

P.S. right here are the concerns to copy as well as paste with your answers in a comment:

1. have you ever wished to modification your name?
2. Are you a feline lady?
3. What did you do over the weekend?
4. Something on your to-do listing this week?
5. exactly how do you feel about liquid liner?

Still naked besides these years!
Dude, can you believe UD’s O.G. naked combination is practically 10 years old?

Wait — ought to that be in the past tense? since UD phased out the O.G. naked (RIP). They replaced it with naked Reloaded, which’ll be out in less than week!

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Overview

What is it? naked Reloaded replaces the now-defunct naked Palette. It has 12 powder eyeshadows, as well as four of the pans — satiny beige Bribe, shimmery golden barely Baked, matte orange-brown limits as well as matte peachy beige Blur — include much more product than the others. Those are the shades UD believes you’ll utilize the most.

How much is it? I haven’t verified this yet, however I’m guessing it’ll be $54, which is exactly how much UD charges for the other naked Palettes in the long-term collection. It’s $44.

Who’s it for? According to UD, errrrrbody, since the colors as well as structures are expected to work for each age, gender as well as skin tone.

When can you get it? February 18th on the UD site as well as at metropolitan Decay stores, March 4th on the Sephora as well as Ulta websites, as well as March 7th at Sephora as well as Ulta stores.

How is it different than the original Naked? Reloaded has much more mid-toned warm browns as well as fewer cooler, darker shades like grays as well as taupes. It likewise doesn’t have a dual-ended liner or a brush, as well as then there are the four larger pans.

Is it like any type of of the other naked palettes? Yup, I believe so. naked Reloaded is like a warmer, powered-up naked on the Run (without the cheek as well as lip products), with great deals of mid-toned colors to make it versatile. The color temps are warm like naked Heat, however nowhere near as red.

What about the eyeshadow formula? It’s what I’ve come to expect from UD eyeshadows. They’re soft as well as silky with fluffy powder bits that like to fly when I touch one of the pans with a brush. based on a prelim arm swatch, many of them feel smooth, except for Angel Fire, which has huskier shine than the other shimmers, so it’s on the chunky side.

What about that orange? MAN, I’m so over UD’s obsession with orange in their eye palettes… I like orange eyeshadow well enough, however it keeps popping up everywhere, as well as I’d just presume see something else in location of it.

I’m an NC42 in MAC.
Please note the Taylor Swift-ian references…
In paw for scale…

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Oh, as well as pardon me for going all X-Files for a moment, however IT’S CONSPIRACY theory TIME! Here’s why I believe credibility as well as end Game, two of the colors, noise like Taylor Swift tune references to me: since I believe somebody at UD is secretly weighing in on the Taylor Swift vs. Kim/Kanye feud that hit a couple years ago… Or perhaps I’m composing as well much into it, LOL!

Your friendly community charm addict,

Karen

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Seeing scarlet!
Right now, nothing makeup-wise really scares me, and I’ll try any color — lip, cheek, eyeshadow, whatever. I’ll try it at least once… Black lipstick, red eyeshadow, you name it, I’ll give it a go, but I do have to say that red eyeshadow was absolutely terrifying when I first started using it. There were many, many failed attempts, and more than once I ended up looking like a I had been crying for weeks! It took me a while to figure out a few tricks to make it work (layering it with a bronze liner, or wearing a black pencil on the waterline really helps).

Now I’m more comfortable with it and feel like I can kinda-sorta pull it off.

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That said, is red eyeshadow my first choice for colorful eyes? No. It is not. Gimme a jeweled purple or blue any day! but I do at least feel like I kinda-sorta know what to do with red.

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How about you? What makeup colors currently scare (or used to scare) the living crap out of you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

When your middle institution gaming dreams come true!
Look, ma, all those hours spent playing very Mario Bros. on Nintendo — the O.G. version, the one before the 64! #datingmyself #nerdalert — were *not* a squander of time (“You ought to be reading the dictionary instead of playing games, Karen!”), since now I’m one of choose few ’80s video game enthusiasts/beauty enthusiasts who completely gets all the references in the Shu Uemura holiday collection.

The Lipsticks (pink tubes) are sheer as well as the tinted in Balm (black tube) is pigmented.
Holla if you get the references…
See, that’s Mario swimming among the sea creatures in the underwater levels on the Cleansing Oil Shampoo ($57) as well as Cleansing Oil Conditioner ($58), as well as on the hair oil, Essence Absolue ($69).

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Oh, as well as the pipe on the hair Master Wax ($39) jar as well as the brick walls on the lipstick tubes! as well as the star appeal dangling from the Lash Curler!

Baby, you’re a star (the appeal is removable).

Swatches of a couple of the lipsticks, a lip tint as well as the black liner
The only thing that might make this LE introduce land better to house is if you had to climb a flight of brick stairs
and jump from the top onto a flag pole.

Wait — was that as well deep a dive into Mario world? Alright, here’s all you requirement to know, civilian/non-nerd: the collection’s been out a while, however a few of the bits as well as pieces are still available. The hair products are bomb for dry or color-treated manes, as well as the conditioner as well as hair oil soften rough strands as well as ends. You can still discover the hair products at Barneys as well as the Shu website.

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The makeup’s a bit harder to find at this point. It introduced in the fall, however you can still discover pieces floating around right here as well as there, if you’re identified to track them down.

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What was your preferred video game when you were a kid? — as well as by favorite, I imply the one that your parents were always telling you to stop playing THIS INSTANT, haha!

Your friendly community charm addict,

Karen

SMOKAYYYY
Smoky lids-4-life! I’ve got mad like for smoky eyes. They’re my all-time preferred eye look to wear (and there are limitless methods to wear them)…which is why I had to go as well as tell the world about it on a shirt.

Dark as well as dramatic? CHECK. Black sooty smoke? CHECK. glossy as well as gray with a touch of taupe? AFFIRMATIVE. Burnished brown as well as blown out? YOU understand IT.

Basically, I will take ALL. THE. SMOKY. EYES.

If you like them as much as I do, peep the new Smoky Tee in the store. It’s offered in sizes S to 2XL.

Your friendly community appeal addict,

Karen

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things change, however my like for neutrals always stays the same. ?
I state this every December, however where did the year go?? has it truly been a year? I worked as a legal assistant at a legislation firm in my 20s, as well as one of the lawyers stated something I still remember. He stated that time moves quicker as you get older, as well as I didn’t comprehend it at the time, however I absolutely get it now. Nowadays, it feels like I go from task to task to task up until I pass out. then I get up as well as do everything over again. then I look up as well as it’s December, as well as one more year has passed!

Anyway, my life (and my makeup) altered in rather a few methods this year…

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The greatest modification occurred in the spring, when my wonderful kid Tabs crossed over to the rainbow bridge.

I’ve lastly gotten to where I can believe about him without feeling a sharp pain in my heart… There’s still sadness, however it’s somewhat much easier to bear. I really, truly miss that thug, as well as I still have days when I truly desire I might hold him as well as odor the fur on his “delicious stomach meat” just one a lot more time, however it’s getting better.

We took out our Christmas designs last weekend, as well as I discovered his Christmas stocking as well as got a bit teary… I’m going to hang it up as well as put in a can gravy for Christmas so his spirit will understand that his people still like him as well as believe about him during the holidays.

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(That may be the craziest feline woman thing I’ve ever written.)

I hope he’s okay with quite woman Rosie — who moved in with us in October — sharing our space. She’s a sweet, dainty torbie woman who suddenly pranced into our lives last October. It’s a different type of like than I had for Tabs, for sure, yet it makes my heart feel a bit fuller understanding that our house is a risk-free location for one more abandoned kitty that would’ve otherwise stayed a stray.

Another huge modification that likewise occurred just recently — I started working part time as a baker at a bakery. It’s a odd pivot for somebody who’s been composing about makeup steadily daily for the last 13 years (!), I know, however when the chance opened up, I got the exact same tingly feeling that I had when I started MBB. It’s a move, my gut tells me, that will cause lots of great things (both figuratively as well as literally).

This autumn Connor likewise started going to preschool five days a week, from Monday with Friday (she’s going to be four in March; can you believe it?). I miss her like crazy — some days it’s so intense that I physically ache, which most likely seems nutty, however it’s true — however she’s flourishing in school, as well as it felt like the ideal time for the both of us to begin learning, bit by little, exactly how to spread our wings on our own.

So this has been the most time I’ve had to myself in five years, as well as it’s been a (welcome) shock to the system.

OK, makeup wise, I still like me some neutrals. That hasn’t changed, ha ha! as well as it most likely won’t, either. What has changed, though, is that I’ve quite much stopped using false lashes (thanks, Lash Boost!). I likewise seldom do looks that include challenging blending these days. I mean, I’ll still go full glam on occasion, like when every other full moon, however a lot of days I’m doing a a lot more pared-down style, which takes me 10 minutes. 15 max. as well as I’m fine with that.

That’s where I am in this season of life, however who knows? perhaps someday I’ll get back to doing everyday incredibly intense looks with shading as well as lashes as well as all the steps. I do still like the artistry of it all.

How about you? exactly how has your life as well as your makeup altered in 2019?

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Your friendly community appeal addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!