So…what is the Monday Poll?

Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).

1. What are the chances of you wearing a bright lip this week?

Very high! I’d actually say 100%. I’ve been doing bright reds and pinks lately and have been totally into it.

2. A makeup trend that you were very invested in back in the day?

Whatever eyebrow trend that was happening at the moment was my jam! I used to love a skinny brow with a frosty highlight on the brow bone back in the day.

3. How often do you buy foundation?

These days, rarely. I bought a tinted moisturizer, like, a year ago.

4. If you had the time and the energy to do a full-on “everything and the kitchen sink” makeup look every day, would you?

I love the way full-on makeup looks in pictures, but even if I did have the time to do it, I probably wouldn’t in this season in my life. I’m just not used to the feeling of wearing that much makeup on my face anymore.

5. What type of eyeliner is the easiest for you to do?

Hmmm, well, the easiest for me these days is doing a soft line on the upper lashes done with powder eyeshadow and an angled brush.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.

1. What are the chances of you wearing a bright lip this week?
2. A makeup trend that you were very invested in back in the day?
3. How often do you buy foundation?
4. If you had the time and the energy to do a full-on “everything and the kitchen sink” makeup look every day, would you?
5. What type of eyeliner is the easiest for you to do?

Happy Monday, friends! It’s Monday and there isn’t a lot to smile about today but it’s ok. I got you. I hope had a good weekend, I hope you aren’t sweating too hard today, and I hope your walking around in 96 degree weather with a full beat on your face that isn’t melting off because that’s what you deserve. I know things are a little chaotic but if you want my sand pit is pretty comfy and we can all just stick our heads in it for a little while and pretend things are copacetic.

If it all goes well I should be posting this while fighting off tourists in Chinatown to get my hair cut. No, I’m not doing a pixie cut. But I’m taking several inches off because it needs it and my waves are looking like I put my hand in an electric socket as I screamed, “IT’S ALIVE!” Ya know, wavy hair+heat=holy freaking airball! Oh P.S. That made me think of Sting! We should all watch the Bride together. Who wants to do a online watch party with me? How hot sauce was he in that movie?

Anyway, here’s a few things to smile about in the world of makeup as we struggle through the chaos of the world. Guess who’s back? Back again!

Stains! Well, not really but E.L.F. is thinking of making that happen. Sheer For It Blush Lip + Cheek Tint are five bucks and available in five shade selections. I told you I had reasons to smile for you! You gotta smile so you can dot this new stain on the apples of your cheeks and get that doll-like look we all know and love (or am the only one stuck in my doll skin makeup era?). If you don’t like them on cheeks you can use them on your lips too! In this heat, I’m always up for a long-wearing cheek stain.

I’m throwing out there and you can disagree but I don’t hate Tarte x Dunkin. I don’t even drink coffee but these cute charms they did for the Maracuja Collection have me in a chokehold! How adorable? Don’t buy them on Ulta’s website though as you can both for $27 with free shipping on Tiktok shop! Super deal!

You know what I hope? I hope that Christmas in July isn’t a thing this year. I hope we actually get some cool Fall Collections! The last few years we haven’t and as a Fall baby that loves autumn I really love the colors of the season and adore makeup collections that feature them! We’re off to promising start as Lancome just dropped their Idôle Café Crush Nude Eyeshadow Palette and it’s stunning! Take my money! This screams warm, cozy eye looks! If you can’t smile at this palette I’ve failed you, my friends.

I can’t save you if you aren’t smiling to ear to ear at the fact Essence now has a collection of Juicy Bomb Body Mists! Inspired by their bestselling lipglosses and available in four fragrances these cute body mists look like an oversized lipgloss!

What’s making you smile in makeup today?

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There was a time—not long ago—when each season brought with it a new beauty “moment” that we all knew about. Graphic liner, bold blue lips, glitter brows. And while many of these trends were polarizing or impractical for daily life, they kept beauty fun, expressive, alive because we were all talking about it. Now, trends seem to have disappeared.

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Scroll through TikTok or Instagram, and the majority of trends are replaced with instruction. It’s a masterclass-heavy moment. In many ways, this is a gift—we’ve never had access to professionals and the knowledge that was once reserved for celebrities (think: Danessa Myricks’ tutorials or Mary Phillips’ underpainting technique). Yet, it feels like something’s missing: the joy of surprise or rush of reinvention.

Instead of beauty inspiration coming from the pages of a magazine or the front of Fashion Week, they’re stitched together by algorithms, hyper-personalized feeds, and ever-scrolling For You pages. One person’s feed might be neutral lips and soft contouring, while their best friend sees bold liner and smokey eyes. Whether it’s over-filtered social media feeds or the striking similarities between influencers, there’s a uniformity that’s hard to shake.

It’s splintered the beauty world into hyper-particular niches—each with its own set of unspoken rules and strictures.

“Trends are fragmented because everything is fragmented these days: how we communicate, who we listen to, how we get information,” says New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman in a recent article.

But in the deluge of tutorials and trends, maybe this fracture actually creates space for us all.

With the rise of no-makeup makeup and “your skin but better” foundations, there’s been a move toward embracing (and even re-creating) natural features—freckles, texture, human imperfection. We’re questioning the beauty standards we grew up with and collectively finding empowerment in choosing not to cover up.

Yet somehow, this movement meant to celebrate individuality has somehow developed its own homogenized aesthetic. Even the “natural” look—think perfectly dewy skin, fluffy brows, subtle contours—creates a new type of conformity, evolving into its own prescriptive routine. We’ve traded one uniform for another, even if it’s a more subtle one.

“When even being anti-trend—deciding to buy nothing or at least nothing new—is trendy, you know we have reached peak trend Dada,” writes Friedman.

Has the pendulum swung so far that there’s no longer any space for whimsy and weird? How do we get back to playful expression?

Maybe the way back isn’t about abandoning tutorials or the quiet power of subtlety, but about giving ourselves permission to color outside the lines again. To apply a product simply because it makes us feel something, not because it’s trending. To reclaim experimentation as a form of art.

Dare I say, there’s room for both celebrating our natural features while exploring creative expression through the color and texture of makeup. For finding both acceptance and transformation. Personally, I want to start having more fun again.

Instead of following a tutorial from someone whose features look nothing like mine, I want to start being more intuitive in how I apply my products. Instead of focusing on doing it right, I want to do it in a way that feels right. Some days, it may be no makeup, but other days, it may be a fun pop of color.

Recently, I find myself gravitating toward grungy green eye shadow and mustard yellow nail polish—the kind of unconventional hues the minimalist version of me would run from. So I’m saying it—rather typing it—here for accountability: My goal is to incorporate more colors in ways that feel personal and authentic. Less prescriptive, more playful. Maybe you’ll join me?

Illustrations by Megan Badilla