Oh, boy. Hmm… A month? Granted, I wasn’t doing a lot of crazy, complicated looks with brights at the time, just simple washes of neutral color, so I could get away with using eye brushes that weren’t exactly pristine, LOL!
But yeah, it was about a month, give or take a week or two. I did swipe them and wipe them down with paper towels to remove as much of whatever former product was on them, but mainly I just took into account that they still had leftover color on them in whatever look I was doing.
Eventually, though, when I completely ran out of even arguably, questionably, remotely clean brushes and was forced to wash them all, girl, it took FOREVER. I was in that bathroom washing brushes for what felt like years! I think I finished an audiobook, haha.
How about you? What’s the longest you’ve gone without washing your makeup brushes?
My brother’s going on a one-month trip to the Philippines this month, so he’s been working a side gig on the weekends to earn some extra money before he goes. It’s at a thing called a pop-up, which is like a restaurant that takes over another restaurant for a short time. This one’s called Friends With Benedicts, and Connor Claire, El Hub and I went for brunch (complete with mimosas) Sunday morning.
Connor and I with the owner (on the left) and my brother (on the right)
It was delicious!
The pop-up is at Myconos Greek Restaurant at 1431 Polk St. in San Francisco, easy walking distance from one of the cable car lines, and they’re open on Saturdays and Sundays.
Basically, in the pop-up idea, the pop-up crew — the cooks, the wait staff, the kitchen helpers and the manager — visit and temporarily take over the other restaurant for the day, so the parent restaurant (Mykonos Greek Restaurant, in this case) is closed. It’s just the pop-up that’s open.
FOOOOOOD!
Yummy, yummy, yummy
It was like visiting somebody’s house and them make great food for you, like classic breakfast/brunch dishes with scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, pancakes, etc., and some weekends they’ll do brunch specials with a twist, like an eggs benedict with beet-infused hollandaise sauce, or themed brunches (they did one based on old-school breakfast cereals, another one called That ’70s Brunch, and another one inspired by The Jungle Book), so they have fun with the idea, too. It’s not stuffy or formal.
Everyone was friendly and down to earth, unlike some brunch spots or restaurants where you’re ushered in and out. This didn’t feel like that at all. The cooks and greeters and wait staff (and the bartender, who made a damn fine mimosa, BTW) were incredibly friendly.
El Hub had a baked croque madam (brioche pain de mie with grated cheese and slightly peppered ham topped with a fried egg and hollandaise sauce; served with fruit), and I had the banana pancakes, which I ended up only eating half of because Connor decided to mooch off mommy’s breakfast, which was fine.
Both of us thought it was delish!
If you ever find yourself hungry for good food and friendliness in the city on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you should go. Maybe we’ll see you there.
Hello, spring (makeup)! Here I’m wearing the Chiang Mai and Thessalonique Eyeshadow Duos ($35 each) from the new NARS Spring 2017 Wildfire Collection, which is reminding me that we have a looong way to go before spring
I know that this maxes out the Cheese-O-Meter, so my apologies for that, but you know what I’ve always wanted to do?
It’s this thing I’ve seen on police shows where there will be a couple of police officers sitting in their car on a stakeout, and they’ll be watching a perp (yes, I said “perp”) across the street, but then the perp will do something illegal and make a run for it, so one of the officers will say, “Light ’em up!” and they’ll turn on the lights and sirens and chase that fool down!
I’ve always wanted to say “Light ’em up!” like that. LOL!
Yes, I know, I’m weird.
Anyhow, whenever I play with these new NARS Eyeshadow Duos, I say “Light ’em up!” now just like that, except that I’m referring to how luminous they are.
They are SO glowy and shimmery, but not frosty at all. It’s a very specific level of luminosity, and the only other place I can remember seeing something like it before is over at Chanel with their Les 4 Ombres baked eyeshadows.
I’m excited to also see it at NARS now because… Remember when I was going through that phase when I was all about mattes? Well, now I’m all about luminosity.
You know how it is… These things are cyclical.
Availability
There are two of them in the NARS Spring 2017 (I almost typed “2016”) Wildfire Collection, which is available now, and they’re $35 each. Chiang Mai, the sky blue and reddish copper one, is limited edition, and the smoky violet and opalescent pink one, Thessalonique, is permanent.
I’ve looked around, and I haven’t spotted any exact NARS duo dupes, which is exciting.
The NARS Spring 2017 Wildfire Collection
The Wildfire color story references the earth, but not in a typical greens and browns way. The colors are more like a red rock cliff overlooking a bright blue sky and a valley speckled with spring wildflowers.
I’m feelin’ it.
Swatches of the Chiang Mai Eyeshadow Duo (top) and the Thessalonique Eyeshadow Duo (bottom)
Pigment and fallout
All of the shadows are highly pigmented, and when I use a fluffy tapered blush to place them on my lids and buff them out, I only need one or two (two, tops) layers, and that creates a lovely, luminous glow.
Typical of NARS, they blend like a dream…
As for fallout, though, there is a little. It’s not Urban Decay-caliber, but it’s enough for me to notice… Just as an FYI, especially if you like to do your foundation first.
The standout shades for me
The opalescent pink in — I really need to learn how to pronounce this — Thessalonique made me say, “Oooh!” the first time I wore it. It’s incredibly soft, creamy and fine (foine), and the color flashes from pink to gold like the inside of a seashell. There’s something otherworldy and angelic about it when you wear it as an inner corner highlight, and it really opens up the eyes. If you look tired, pop some of this into that inner corner, mama.
I’m wearing the Chiang Mai Eyeshadow Duo on my eyelids and the pink shade from the Thessalonique Duo in the inner corners. That’s Bumpy Ride Blush (from NARS Spring 2017) on my cheeks and Kiss Me Stupid (also from the NARS Spring 2017) on my lips with Victoria Beckham Lipgloss on top
The other shadow in the duo, the smoky purple, isn’t quite as soft and creamy as the pink shade, but it’s still pretty easy to work with.
It’s a tad chunkier and grittier, too…but definitely not like cheap drugstore gritty. It has silver flecks of glitter in it that you can spot at a glance, and they probably make the powder fluffier. It wants to go all over the place when you blend it.
I don’t mind the glitter, though, because, you know…extra sparkle, and it amplifies the lovely luminosity. Good things.
The NARS Chiang Mai Eyeshadow Duo ($35)
In the Chiang Mai duo, the copper is the one that took my breath away. It’s pigmented and looks like a shiny copper penny. It bet it’ll complement many different eye colors, especially brown, green and blue.
The NARS Thessalonique Eyeshadow Duo ($35)
I’m not exactly sure why they paired it with a blue, though. I mean, the blue is beautiful, and NARS likes unusual color combos in their duos, but I tried several combos, and I still don’t quite get how the two shadows go together… I tried using the copper as a base, then popped the blue in the middle. Then I did the blue on the top as a single shade all over my lid and smudged the copper on the bottom…
If you have any ideas, please let me know.
The verdict
These lightweight, long-wearing, luminous lovelies should fabulously flatter lids (particularly those belonging to gals and guys in their 30s, 40s and up). Be careful about the fallout, though, because there is a little.
Mars
I am SO emotionally invested in this show! It’s a series called Mars on Nat Geo (the National Geographic channel), and it’s like half-documentary, half-drama. It jumps back and forth between a documentary in 2016 about the project to get humans to Mars and the things happening here and now with space travel, like with the rockets being built by SpaceX and NASA’s plans to build a long-term colony, and a dramatization of a future expedition to Mars that starts in the year 2033.
It’s so engrossing! You get to learn about the science, and then you also get to experience what could really happen someday not too far off and follow the characters in the dramatization parts. It’s fascinating to think about what the first explorers to Mars will see and experience.
And I get super emo watching it, partly because Aunt Flo is visiting right now, but also because El Hub always jokes that Connor will be one of the first astronauts to go to Mars, and I keep thinking, “What if my baby actually does go to Mars someday?? I’ll miss her so much. She won’t be able to have a cat with her on her ship, but she’ll be doing all of these amazing things for the space program and humanity in general!”
LOL! I’m a sap.
Anyway, if you haven’t caught the series yet, you need to get on that. It’s FANTASTIC.
I’m gonna propose something kinda crazy here regarding under-eye concealer, but if you bear with me, I think it could be worth your while. It’s something I’ve been doing pretty regularly for the past few weeks and, frankly, it’s rocking my world.
OK, here it is: instead of applying your concealer right after your foundation, do it after you do everything else — after your foundation, your eye makeup, your blush, your lips, bronzer if you wear it, etc. — all of that stuff.
Then, as the very last step in your makeup process, do your under-eye concealer.
Why have I been doing it this way?
Because I’m always looking for ways to get my makeup to look as natural as possible, and that can be a challenge in the under-eye area, you know? — especially if you have some fine lines in that area, and/or you follow a multi-step process involving color correcting and setting your color corrector with powder.
I have lines there, and the more makeup I wear underneath my eyes, the heavier it looks and, but when I wait and do my concealer as the last step, I find myself using less concealer — correction: using just the exactly right amount — because I’m able to use the rest of my look as a reference point.
I talk about using reference points a lot because they really help me use the least amount of product I need for a particular effect.
In this case, depending on the rest of my look, I can adjust the amount of under-eye concealer I’m using to match the particular look, so if I go full-on glam, then I can go heavier with my concealer, but I’m less likely to go too heavy.
Without anything else to guide me — like, if I do it the normal way and apply my foundation, and then my under-eye concealer — I just keep putting more and more on, because I can’t tell! But when I can use the whole look as my reference point, it’s very easy to tell what the least amount of concealer that I can get away with is.
It’s just something to try if you sometimes wrestle with your under-eye concealer like I do.
Oh, and this approach definitely works better for certain types of looks than others. If you’re doing smoky liner along your lower lash lines, I would probably still do my concealer first, then do whatever smoky action I have going on underneath. And you also have to be mindful of your blending to seamlessly blend that concealer in if you have foundation on the upper parts of your cheekbones, but if you keep those things in mind, I think you’ll be fine.
OK, well, my blending skills have gone to absolute crap over the past two weeks, because I did not take major advantage of the holidays to go buck wild with my makeup.
This is the time of year when it’s totally OK to roll into the office (or the library or the Pier One) with double-stacked lashes on a Tuesday afternoon because the accounting department is hosting their annual cookie party, but I kinda took the past two weeks off from hardcore makeup testing and wearing…
(I am, however, testing a great skin care product that I’m excited to tell you about, but that post isn’t quite ready yet. Soon…)
The line already exists, but these are four new shades for spring. There’s a frosty sky blue, a shimmering bronze, a bronzed orange and a satiny rich purple, which, OMG! — will make you drop to your knees and thank the universe for giving us the glory and the greatness that is NARS (don’t miss out on it!).
NARS Spring 2017 Wildfire Collection Velvet Shadow Sticks from top to bottom: Siros, Belle-Ile, Usbek and Grand-Large ($28 each)
Babe. BABE! Why do I keep needing to be reminded over and over again that the NARS Velvet Shadow Sticks are basically the sh*t?
There are so many great shadow sticks out there from so many brands, but these are some of my favorites of them all — easily top five — because they last all day long and glide across my lids like fabulous figure skaters.
They’re spectacularly slippery — almost like a super creamy gel. Applying them is like slipping under satin sheets, and they lay down rich, even, smooth color without any patchiness or tugging.
Oh! — and they stay creamy for a few minutes, giving you enough time to mellow out any hard edges, which has always been one of my issues with Bobbi’s cream shadows. They just dry too fast for me to always properly blend them.
The NARS Velvet Shadow Sticks also don’t look or feel heavy. Like, you know how some shadow sticks start to look dry, thick and heavy when they get a little long in the tooth? And then when you add fine lines into the mix, it’s even more of a mess? Well, the Velvet Shadow Sticks always look light and effortless on the skin, even the ones I’ve had for a couple years.
Mind you, it is possible to also get these to look more intense, if that’s what you’re going for, because they also layer well, so if you want intense color, by all means, go forth and pile that sh*t on. The Velvet Shadow Sticks can totally get you there, too, and they’ll still look good.
I should mention that a couple of these are limited edition — blue Grand-Large and the amazing purple Usbek — but bronze Siros and bronzed orange Belle-Ile are perm.
Saw these at DSW the other day on sale for $12 after my $5 coupon! I didn’t get them at the time, but now I’m wondering if I should go back and adopt them…
So…what is the Monday Poll?
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 NINE (!) 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.
1. What did you do for your makeup on the first day of the year?
Hmm… It looks like a big deal now that I’ve typed everything down, but it didn’t take long to do. I think it took about 15 minutes.
2. What’s one of your goals this year?
I really want to make myself more accountable for finishing projects. I start a lot of them that I don’t finish, so I’m gonna attack it old school.
My goal for the next eight weeks is to eat healthy, but if I bite off more than I can chew and set a goal for like six months, I think it’ll be overwhelming.
But I think I can handle eight weeks. To track my progress, I’m going to print out a monthly calendar and put a little star sticker on each day that I eat healthy, and for every ‘x’ amount of stars, I’m going to reward myself with something, because let’s get real… For self-motivating myself, bribery works.
3. What two eyeshadow brushes do you use the most?
I use a fluffy domed brush like the MAC 217 and a tapered blending brush like the MAC 224.
They aren’t necessarily always those two specific brushes, but I like those shapes.
I like dense domed brushes for precisely putting color exactly where I want it on my limited lid space, and also for feathering out the edges.
Both of those brushes are my go-tos.
4. Your current favorite YouTube channel?
This is probably because I’ve been thinking about eating healthy, but I’ve been watching a lot of a channel called Fit Men Cook.
It’s this guy in Texas named Kevin, and he does lots of easy, healthy meals using ingredients that are easy to find.
Plus, his recipes are usually also things that El Hub likes.
5. What are your top two Make Up For Ever products?
Now that I think about it…I use a lot of MUFE products, but my top two are the Step 1 Skin Equalizer Primer (the one in the dark grey tube). I use that almost every day. And I also use their Mist & Fix Setting Spray almost on the daily.
Coffee makers?
Can you recommend a good one? — because the one I have is driving me bananas. Every morning it makes me swear under my breath (or, not under my breath), but it was a gift, and I feel kind of guilty about not liking it…but I can’t take it anymore.
It’s a five-cup Black & Decker. First, it doesn’t shut off automatically when I remove the pot while it’s brewing, so if I forget and just grab it, coffee pours onto the machine and the counter. With this one, you’re supposed to wait until it finishes brewing, but I didn’t have to wait with my old one. It would just stop when I pulled out the pot.
And it doesn’t matter how careful I am, there’s something about that pot… It literally dumps coffee.
Anywho…
Today is sort of a holiday last hurrah around here, and I’m kind of melancholy about it. It feels like we’ve been in holiday mode for the past two months since Halloween, doesn’t it? I’m a little sad to see the holiday send, but I’m also ready for a new beginning.
How are you doing today? I hope your 2017 gets off to a fantastic, fabulous, epic start.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…
1. What did you do for your makeup on the first day of the year?
2. What’s one of your goals this year?
3. What two eyeshadow brushes do you use the most?
4. Your current favorite YouTube channel?
5. What are your top two Make Up For Ever products?
Tabs didn’t waste a minute before he started enforcing his new healthy 2017 workout and nutrition regimen for Team MBB. No, sir. Every member of the team has to do their part. Of course, as supervisory tabby, his exertion is more figurative than literal. He doesn’t break a sweat, but he still takes his managerial responsibilities very seriously.
