The Aveda Foklor Autumn/Winter 2016 Makeup Collection

I’m wearing the Aveda Foklor Collection on my eyes and lips

Well, someone was feeling creative when they named this collection. Why is “folklore” spelled like that (like “Foklor”)? I’d really like to know. It’s interesting, though, right?

So, I don’t know a lot about Aveda makeup, but I’ve used it a bit before, and one of the things I like about the line is their botanical ingredients (fun fact: I was a botany major for about 2 seconds). Like, their Petal Essence Single Eye Colors contain aromatic waxes from jasmine flowers and geranium leaves, and their Nourish-Mint lip products have organic mint.

Foklor is their fall/winter 2016 collection, and it’s so colorful! I don’t know why, but I expected more subdued colors, and these are punchier and more exciting than I thought (yay!).

The eyeshadows are my favorite things in the collection. There are four of them, and the greens, in particular, are absolutely stunning. The powders are a little frostier than I usually like, but I love how easy the pigments are to build and blend. I can get a dramatic look fairly quickly with them without having to layer too much.

On my eyes: Balsam, Dusted Sage, Chia and Rose Quartz Eyeshadows; Gypsum Gold and Slate Shimmer eyeliners; on my lips: Sheer Primrose Lipstick and Pink Lupine Lip Glaze

The Aveda Foklor Collection
Limited edition for autumn/winter 2016, available now at Aveda counters and online

Nourish-Mint Smoothing Lip Color in Carnelian ($18)
Nourish-Mint Sheer Mineral Lip Color in Sheer Primrose ($18)
Nourish-Mint Rehydrating Lip Glaze in Pink Lupine ($18)
Nourish-Mint Lip Shine in Chuparosa ($18)
Nourish-Mint Lip Liner in Tarragona ($18)
Petal Essence Eye Definers in Slate Shimmer and Gypsum Gold ($17 each)
Petal Essence Single Eye Colors in Chia, Rose Quartz, Dusted Sage and Balsam ($15 each)

I’m all about these eyeliners, too, like Slate Shimmer, which is a gorgeous, dark and smoky bluish gray with tiny flecks of teal glitter. It’s very…almost NARS-y and really pretty.

The liners have a harder texture, so you might want to warm them up on the back of your hand first to get them nice and soft.

The Aveda Foklor Collection

Aveda Foklor Eyeshadows and Eye Definers

Aveda Foklor lip products

Eyeshadow swatches from the left: Dusted Sage, Balsam, Rose Quartz and Chia

Lip product swatches from the left: Nourish-Mint Sheer Mineral Lip Color in Primrose, Nourish-Mint Sheer Mineral Lip Color in Carnelian, Nourish-Mint Lip Liner in Tarragona, Nourish-Mint Lip Shine in Chuparosa and Nourish-Mint Rehydrating Lip Glaze in Pink Lupine

As for the lip products, there’s a super cute lipgloss called Pink Lupine, which makes me think of Connor (I call her the coywolf).

The Nourish-Mint Lip Colors, Lip Glaze, Lip Shine and Lip Liner taste and smell like mint, and I like it — which is unusual for me because I’m not a big mint person (it reminds me of toothpaste). But this is a very nice, very subtle mint.

Eye Definers in Gypsum Gold (left) and Slate Shimmer (right)

Same eyes and cheeks (that’s NARS Deep Throat Blush, btw), but with the dark lip colors from the collection

Of the lip products, the Lip Colors (lipsticks), which are kind of like pumped up lipbalms, are my favorites. They’re creamy, smooth, and I like how they sit on my lips. They don’t look heavy at all.

I’m really into the colors in this collection, and I feel inpsired to get to know Aveda better. I don’t know if you’re an Aveda fan, but their tea? They have this tea…

SO GOOD.

Sometimes I walk into their store just in the hopes that someone will offer me that tea.

I also like their color conditioner. It has a lovely herbal, grassy scent, and I always use it when I’m about halfway to my next color appointment because it darkens and enriches the chocolate highlights in my hair.

So, yeah. Aveda makeup. Check it out. And if you have any favorite Aveda products, please let me know.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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The post, “The Aveda Foklor Autumn/Winter 2016 Makeup Collection,” first appeared on Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup.

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What Would You Do if You Had Free Rein and Could Do Whatever You Want in Your Own Dream MAC Collaboration?

If I had free rein? — oh, my gosh, I don’t even know where I’d start.

I had a little taste of it once upon a time, a long time ago. I made my own Lipglass called Evolution Revolution, but if I could go back to that lab again, I’d go buck-freakin’-wild.

Oh, my gosh! Yeah, like, first of all, MAC has so many great things already, so I wouldn’t want to reinvent the wheel, but I’d take existing colors that I love and use all the time, and I’d try to utilize them in different ways.

For example, I would turn Soft Brown, Brun, Saddle, Cork and Club Eye Shadow into Paint Pots.

Ah! Cork as a Paint Pot!? Can you imagine!? I would die. Club as a Paint Pot?? I would f*cking die. Soft Brown as a Paint Pot!? OK, calm down, Karen…

OK, so I would do that for sure.

I would also turn Powersurge into a multiuse liquid. Now, I have no idea how MAC would do this, but I would love a liquid version of Powersurge that I could use as a liner or put on my brows or use on my lips.

Powersurge lips? — how cool would that be? I think that would be awesome.

I’d also find a way to take the Extra Dimension formula — the powders, the bronzers, blushes and eyeshadows — and make some crazy-@ss neutrals with them. I would make a palette of neutral Extra Dimension Eye Shadows with all of the browns I’ve ever imagined — cool tones, warm tones, dark tones, light.

*drools*

Yeah, who gets excited about browns? This girl.

And that’s just to start! I’d also have some lip products, of course. Like, I would love to do my own ultimate pink MAC lipstick collection with nude pinks and bright pinks and everything in between, because you know I love pink lipstick.

I mean, would MAC let me do all of this in one fell swoop? Probably not, but in my dreams they would. It would be a huge, MASSIVE collection.

Tell me, my love — my MAC love — what would you do if you had free rein and could do whatever you want in your dream MAC collaboration?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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Give Your Summer Bronzer a Fall/Winter Job as a Crease Color

Bronzer!!!

Last week was our first big storm of the season, so I reluctantly gave my winter gear top billing — my winter boots, sweaters, my winter coats and, yes, my winter bronzers.

Yup, I have winter bronzers, because even though I have my natural tan, my skin color still changes with the seasons. When I don’t get as much sun in fall and winter, I get a little lighter, and it gets to where my summer bronzers look jarring and too dark — like I contoured but didn’t bother to blend.

So I usually put them aside for the season when something like a big storm happens, and it reminds me that summer is long gone, but this year I’m keeping them out because I’m gonna use them as eyeshadows.

You’ve probably seen someone do this before — use a bronzer as eyeshadow. I’ve definitely seen it on YouTube a few times, but it might be a different way to look at it if you use different bronzers in different seasons.

A summer bronzer can be a terrific transition color because…you already know that it’s a brown that works well for your skin. Sure, it might be a little too dark for your cheeks in the middle of winter, but that makes it an even better crease color to wear with darker winter and fall eyeshadows. Because it’s not covering a large area, it won’t look jarring.

The final countdown…

Man, I read so many countdown articles last month about how to prepare for Thanksgiving and all of the things you should do in week four, week three, week two and week one, but none of it actually happened. I’m still scrambling at the last minute.

I know this is all unimportant stuff in the greater scheme of things, but my dining room table has a computer on it, and the room is like a forest of photography light stands. There’s hardly any food in the house (I’m drinking coffee with just a little sugar in it because I ran out of milk), and my guests arrive tomorrow.

*big sigh*

At some point today, I’m gonna need to get at least a few groceries, and I also want to go to Marshall’s to get a serving platter…

I don’t even know how I made it this far without a serving platter. This is the exact same feeling I had when I realized that I didn’t have a potato peeler.

Oh, yeah, and I also need to clean the bathroom.

YAY! FUN!

Chances are you’re more organized than I am and have all of your stuff together, right? Like your meals prepped and your house clean? If you have any wisdom to share in terms of getting a lot of cleaning done in very little time, please let me know. I need help.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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The post, “Give Your Summer Bronzer a Fall/Winter Job as a Crease Color,” first appeared on Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup.

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4 More Sleeps Till Gilmore Girls!!!

Because sometimes you’re so excited about a show that you NEED to make a video about it.

I’m so excited about heading back to Stars Hollow! I mean, I already go back once a day. I either watch old episodes of Gilmore girls in the morning while I’m eating breakfast, or I watch an episode before I go to sleep at night.

Correction: I only do that in the fall.

In my mind, I’m a Stars Hollow resident, and I live on Peach Street. And every morning we go to Luke’s for breakfast, except when we need a break and we go to Westin’s or Al’s Pancake World instead.

(I filmed this last week, which is why I say “next week” in the video.)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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Getting Personal With The Body Shop

When your Body Shop Body Butter has your name on it and you think that’s kind of awesome…

I wish I could take a spin back to 1999 in Doc Brown’s DeLorean because my late-1990s self would have lost her/my sh*t over this personalized Body Shop Body Butter.

OMG! It’s a Christmas panda!!!

I remember back in the late ‘90s/early aughts, The Body Shop was HUGE, right? All of my friends and I were totally into them. I wore their Shimmer Cube eyeshadow constantly for a while, and I had this, like — I talk about it all the time — Mary J. Blidge-inspired lip combo with a Body Shop dark purple lip liner that I wore with a frosty silver lipstick.

Grapefruit Body was was my jam for two solid years, and do you remember their Avocado Body Butter? I used that one for a long time.

And then there was the Olive one, which was also lovely. It had a light, fresh, grassy scent that was totally unusual at the time.

Do you happen to remember White Musk?? At one point in time, I swear, every early 20-something woman on Muni in SF was wearing that perfume. Some mornings I’d step onto the train into a fog of Body Shop White Musk…

If you live in or near New York City, lucky you, because that’s where you can get your own personalized Body Butter. Some of the stores in the New York area are offering it as a service (here’s a list of them) when you buy one of the regular $21 jars or the $36 super-sized ones, and it doesn’t cost anything extra. They make the label in the store, and you can pick it up the same day.

Vanilla Chai deliciousness!

I wish they did this at the rest of their stores (hint-hint!). I asked a Body Shop rep if the stores in New York could ship them out, but no luck there either. This year at least, it’s a local thing.

Do you have any Body Shop faves (now or back in the day)? Let me know in the comments. I’m curious.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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The post, “Getting Personal With The Body Shop,” first appeared on Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup.

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 450

“The producer of the Harry Potter film series and its latest spinoff is moving from Fantastic Beasts to feline ones. David Heyman announced that he’s teaming up with China’s Alibaba Pictures Group to adapt fantasy series Warriors for the big screen. And yes, it’s about fighting cats.”

— io9

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. How long are your nails right now?

Not long at all. They don’t even go to the tips of my fingertips! — and you know what, though? I like ’em that way.

I had long nails for years and years and years, but short nails are so much easier for me. They’re easier to type with, and I don’t have to worry so much about them breaking or, like, worry about accidentally scratching the baby or me poking my eye out while I’m doing my liner.

2. How old were you when you started cooking?

Oh, my goodness… I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but I didn’t start cooking until I left for college at 18 (!). And, when I started, I could not do sh*t. I couldn’t even warm up food in a pot!

No, seriously. I remember going to the dorm kitchen and trying to warm up some leftovers one day that my mom had given me. I threw them in a pot, but then I forgot about them and almost set the dorm on fire.

Yup… But I’ve gotten better since then. I can usually follow a recipe now and have it not turn out terribly.

3. Describe your hair in three words.

Long, unruly, chocolaty

4. What would/could you do if you only had 60 seconds to do your eye makeup?

See, this is where being chronically late really comes in handy. I could get quite a bit done in 60 seconds. Like, I could fill in my brows with a black pencil, curl my lashes, whack some mascara on my upper lashes (I wouldn’t even bother with my lower lashes; they’re a different beast entirely) and tightline my upper lash line with a black pencil.

And I know I can do these things in 60 seconds because I just timed it.

5. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Yay! We’re having it at our house this year, so both sets of Connor’s grandparents and my brother are coming over.

I had all of these elaborate, grand plans in my head to make every single dish from scratch…but I just couldn’t deal with the turkey, so I ended up ordering a few things from a local market that makes the best turkey and sides. So we’re gonna have that, hang out, play with the baby, and that’s it. I’m really looking forward to it.

A new week…

While doing some cleaning around the house last weekend, I found a bunch of random things I thought I’d lost, like a pan of MAC Sunbasque Blush (yay!) and a crazy cat lady action figure that my brother had given me for Christmas a few years ago.

It’s going on my shelf of cat lady things.

Don’t you love finding buried treasure around the house?

I hope you get some drama-free time off this week to relax and eat some of your favorite things. What are you up to today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…

1. How long are your nails right now?
2. How old were you when you started cooking?
3. Describe your hair in three words.
4. What would/could you do if you only had 60 seconds to do your eye makeup?
5. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

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Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 424

10 MORE things you may or may not know about Tabs

1. Whenever a new person visits the house, Tabs just automatically assumes that this hooman is his new BFF. He’ll walk straight up to them, flash his tum and meow for pets.
2. For all his diva tendencies (see #5 below), Tabs is shockingly well behaved. I almost never have to yell at him to get down off the kitchen counters or to stop clawing at the drapes or to stop pouncing at my ankles from under the stairs. He never tears into his food bags, and he doesn’t claw the furniture.

   The stairs, though? Completely different story…

3. One morning when El Hub and I still lived at our old apartment in Mill Valley, Tabs tried to join us for brunch. The restaurant was right across a busy street from our apartment, so we set out walking.

   This was when Tabs was still a 24/7 outside cat.

   We’d already crossed the street when we looked back toward the apartment and saw a familiar husky tabby scooting in our direction.

   “No!” I shouted, seeing cars approaching. “No, Tabs! Stop!”

   Thankfully, he did. He stopped when he heard our voices and just sat there watching as if to say, “Why can’t I come?”

4. He loves having his fur brushed, but he’s very picky about the technique. If you brush him incorrectly for even a split second, he peaces out.
5. He has a knack for hanging out in forbidden places. Like, what was once the forbidden chair (a chair that El Hub got me for my birthday a few years ago) is no longer forbidden (he claimed it), and he’s been doing it again with the guest bed in baby’s bedroom.

   Sometimes I sit on the bed in there while I feed Connor or just hang out, and Tabs knows that he’s not supposed hang out on that bed, but I caught him on there multiple times. I’ll walk in to find him sleeping on it all luxuriously or cleaning.

   He has zero respect for personal property.

6. He is so not graceful. Poor buddy’s actually fallen from his cat tower a few times, and he didn’t even land on his feet. I think he fell on his side.
7. He loves watching television, especially nature shows. Whenever he hears an avian actor, he perks up, and his tail poofs up when he hears a dog barking.
8. I’ve given up on trying to find him a perfect cat bed because all he really wants to do is sleep on clean laundry.
9. Even as a mature tabby, he still likes climbing trees. Whenever we go out for a walk on the hill, he hops up onto at least one of the oak trees and climbs up as far as he can on his 10-foot leash.

   Having watched him fall from his cat tower a few times…I’m glad he can only go up 10 feet.

10. His favorite foods at the moment are Nutrisca Grain-Free Chicken (his vet recommended that he stick to a low glycemic diet to maintain his energy for kitty supermodeling) dry cat food and Sheba Chicken Entrée Canned Paté.

    And he gets imported New Zealand ZiwiPeak Venison & Fish Cat Cuisine on special occasions…which he loves almost as much as kitty modeling.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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The post, “Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 424,” first appeared on Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup.

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