Hi! My name is Kate.

I spent a lot of money and time thinking about and consuming makeup and skin care. I wish I had a more productive hobby like highway cleanup or music, but here we are.

I hope you enjoy some of my thoughts on the unnecessary and often ridiculous world of cosmetics. 

The name of this blog is a play on one of my favorite works, Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera ('A Masked Ball'). Scattered throughout you'll also find occasional reference and discussion of my second hobby, opera. What's the connection? I love makeup, skin care and opera because my enjoyment of them all involves research, time and study. I enjoy the trivia of ingredient lists and complementary color shades as much as that related to the history of a work, the personal life of a composer or the specific repertoire or recording history of a favorite singer!  Hence 'Un Ballo in Mascara' was born. 😜