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Quick Update!

I've got a bunch of posts that are going to come up soon. I just need to make make my photos at home visible on my work computer so I can update during my lunch hour... or whenever :P

Some photos that I'm really looking forward to sharing are from this weekend! I did some FX Makeup for my friend Jason who is the mascot for 2 different RollerDerby teams. This weekend we dressed him as a Zombie Derby Girl and the effect was.... well it was a man dressed like a girl, but the makeup was awesome. I used some inspiration from different people, and then conformed it to what he wanted. I also did his wife's makeup, she wasn't playing (her team didn't play that night) but she was giving out raffle tickets and volunteering. They won't be super in depth photos but I think they'll turn out okay.

Kat Von D Part 2

Kat Von D True Romance Eye Shadow Palette - True Love

So I'm a sucker for nifty packaging and I really like the way the eyeshadow palette was packaged. It was in a little box with tattoo flash art on it, then when you open it it's wrapped in sparkly tissue paper. The compact itself is pretty cute also. The other really nice thing is that it has a very decent mirror. Always a good thing!

I swatched these over the two primers that came with the set, A. is over Sin and row B is over Smokey I also swatched it over bare skin, row C. As you can see these shadows absolutely ABSOLUTELY need a base. They go on incredibly sheer without a primer.

I really like the quality of all of the eye shadows except the metallic gold one Benji (Number 7). It’s almost like it can’t make up its mind whether it’s a cream or powder eye shadow. It’s really difficult to work with unless it warms up. So I will be applying this mostly with my finger, which makes it difficult to get an even application. Sigh.

That being said, I thought the rest of the shadows were awesome. All of them are really pretty and easy to blend.

 Missy (1) – White with purple-y duo chrome SUPER SHIMMER! The purple shows up more over the darker primer.

Babe (2)– Violet kinda blue duo chrome, also very shimmery

Skiba (3) – Lavender with gold sparkle. Not awe-inspiring, but a very decent colored shadow.

Cholita (4) – Dark Plummy Burgundy shimmery and very pretty. So I think, looking at these photos I need to use this more. It's GORGEOUS.

Lucifer (5) – Matte black with a hint of sparkle. I like this black a lot. It's got great pigmentation (way better than the pictures give it credit for.

Rebekah (6) – Chocolate Brown with a hint of Sparkle. I honestly don't have a single bad thing to say about this shadow. I have used it more than any of the others. Good all around shadow. The picture makes it look kind of reddish but it's perfectly chocolate brown.

Peanut (8)– Creamy gold color with gold shimmer. I've used this shadow quite a bit, the only thing I don't like about it is that it has a lot of fallout. Other than that I really like the texture of this shadow, it goes on almost creamy but it's a powder. In the picture it looks kind of silvery over the dark primer, I haven't done this aside from the swatches, so I'm curious to see if that is true outside of these pictures.

Kat Von D Get the Look Kit Part 1

I’m going to do this in two posts: The first post will include the eyeliner pencil, primer, lipstick as well as the samples I got from Sephora, the second will be the eyeshadow palette.

I am overall really happy with the Get the Look kit. I would certainly recommend it to anybody else, especially people who are looking for a decent starter kit for their makeup collection. The reason I bought this, since I certainly don’t need an introduction to my makeup collection, is I found myself in need of primer and an eye pencil, as well as wanting a more shimmery eyeshadow palette that would be good for smokey eyes. For the price ($54) it really couldn’t be beat. I’d be likely to spend almost that much on just one primer and a palette. Unfortunately I think Sephora is no longer carrying the kit, so you might have to purchase these products individually.

On to the review! Swatches Under the cut!

High Voltage Eye Primer (Skin and Smoky)

The consistency of the primer is pretty thick. A veeeery little goes a long way. It’s quite sticky and holds the shadow quite well, it’s a little heavier than UDPP, but it doesn’t bother me since I used to use the MAC paint pots as primer and they are quite heavy. Think of these as a blend between the two. The smokey primer is pretty awesome I have to admit. I’m kind of shocked that nobody else does this. In a endless parade of champagne and shimmery primers how come nobody thought to make one that perfectly complements a look that gets done SO much. Weird, right? Take a look at the second post for how AMAZING it is at making the shadows look SUPER VIVID.

Painted Love Lipstick in Celebutard (Light Pinky Nude) –


For the most part I like Kat Von D’s Lipstick, Celebutard is unfortunately the exception. It’s really creamy, but since it’s so light it means that every single flaw shows up. Which is a bummer when you have fish lips like me, everything is super noticeable because they’re so big. I even tried to put a gloss over it and still not so good. I need to try it out with a primer and then do a re-review :P.

Also pictured is Urban Decay Lip Gloss in Midnight Cowboy. It's a really pretty sparkly nude gloss. It's a little sticky when layered over some lipsticks, but isn't too bad on it's own.


Autograph Eyepencil in Maybe Black Metal Love – 

This is a very good pencil, creamy and fairly long lasting. It comes with a smudging tip on one end and a sharpener on the other (which is AWESOME). The sharpener works quite well so far, which is usually my major complaint against attached sharpeners. I've used this a couple times for smokey looks and it works really well. I don't really bother with the smudger. I would not suggest using this on the waterline since it does have glitter in it which could potentially irritate your eyes.

Guerlain Abeille Royale Youth Serum - This serum is really lovely. It smells so good and leaves my skin feeling really silky and smooth. As much as I would love love LOVE to purchase the full size of this, since I've already gone through the sample.It is way WAY too expensive for me: $140 for 1 oz at Sephora just to put that into perspective for you, an ounce of gold is about 6 times that. When I'm older, have hit the lotto and am really in need of a really spectacular anti-aging serum I might revisit this as a possibility. For now I'll just grab a sample from Sephora every chance I can.

Tocca Eau de Parfum in Stella ($19-$68 at Sephora) - I never really know what to say about perfume. What I can say is this: This would not normally be a smell that I would look at based on its description (I actually got this on accident, I wanted the Tom Ford Black Orchid). It's slightly sweet smelling with notes of bitter orange, blood orange, watery accord, white freesia, wild diamond orchids, spicy lily, sheer musk and sandalwood. Now I normally gravitate towards floral perfumes, citrus notes tend to turn on my skin and smell a little bug-sprayish. This really smells good, in the bottle and on my skin.

I actually haven't used the Tan Towel yet, I'm saving it for a special occasion when I want my legs to look tan. It's winter, so it's probably going to be a while...

Product Focus: YBF Brow Pencil

YBF (Your Best Friend) Brow Pencil in Taupe

My NEW Best Friend! Hahaha. This is definitely one of my favorite products I've received from BirchBox. I have suuuuuper light eyebrows, and finding a product that works with them is difficult. I've always used powders (the lightest duo from Anastasia), but I don't have a brow gel and powder without brow gel = no staying power. Pencils are a typically a little waxier, which is great because they keep the hairs in place and the color doesn't rub off as easily. I would say that the product lasts at least 6 hours, possibly more. At first I thought it was a teeny bit darker than I liked, I think this is just because I'm not used to having really defined eyebrows. The color suits me quite well and after using it for a few months I think I’m in love... It comes with a really coarse spoolie and which makes it super portable and since the color is really light but build-able I can use it on anybody else, even on brunettes! This would be a really decent pencil for free-lance artists since you could use it on almost any client.

Update and Birchbox

So obviously that 30 day challenge thing hasn't been happening. But I promise it's not my fault, Chris re-organized the office and my camera disappeared, right after the cord connecting it to my computer disappeared, which was the original reason I wasn't updating. This past weekend Chris and I went through the office together and found my camera. So! I'm going to add a BUNCH of stuff to this really soon. In the meantime (a little late) here is my review of last month's birch box.

Computer has been having issues and I've had no time. Will pick up my 30 days of posting blog as soon as all is resolved. Apologies from the flight deck.

30 Day Challenge: Day 4

4. Do you like wearing foundation? If so, what's your color and favorite?


I don’t know if liking or not liking foundation is the point. I think having my skin look nice and as flawless as possible is important. From there it’s more a question of coverage. I prefer minimal coverage, just enough to deal with any slight imperfections. If I could wear tinted moisturizer year round I probably would.

Currently I'm switching off between the CoverGirl NatureLuxe in Aspen and Revlon Colorstay in Ivory for normal to dry skin. The Aspen is too dark for me, so I always mix it with moisturizer which lightens the pigment a little. I sometimes mix the colorstay, sometimes not. It depends on if I think my face needs a little extra moisture.

As for color I am....Paaaaaale. Favorite depends more on coverage than anything else. I like MAC’s Face and Body Tint mixed with moisturizer, Cover Girl NatureLuxe and Revlon Colorstay Foundation if I need fuller coverage.

I'll add some photos to this post after this weekend is over. For now I'm off to the Cascades to camp!

On the upper right is the CoverGirl NatureLuxe in Aspen and on the lower left is the Revlon Colorstay in Ivory (110). The back of my hand photographed a little dark, it's actually an exact mach for the Revlon and the CoverGirl is too dark.

30 Day Makeup Challenge: Day 3

3. Favorite brand?

I am no brand slave. There are certain products I prefer to get from different places. For instance: MAC eyeshadows are wonderful, but their blushes (with a few notable exceptions) suck. Even really cheap brands like ELF have some decent products. It doesn't make sense to completely stick with one brand when you can get better quality stuff, sometimes cheaper, elsewhere.

However, I have a couple of brands that I find to be consistently awesome: Urban Decay, Sugar Pill and Kat Von D.  All of them make some super appealing stuff for me. Everything from their product names and packaging to the products themselves are awesome. Color payoff is great on almost everything. Ooof. Looove.

30 Day Challenge: Day 2

2. How did you learn to put on makeup?

Initially I’ll admit, it wasn’t a pretty sight. I mostly just lined my eyes really heavily. At some point my best friend in middle school/high school started to get really good at applying makeup, I remember when she came to school with winged eyeliner and I nearly fell off my seat. I had tried to figure out how to make my eyeliner look like Monroe so many times and she just showed up and didn’t even say anything! Here's a picture of me my senior year, by then I had started to pick it up a little.

When  I started college, I would go to the MAC store just below my school and watch the employees. Later there was YouTube, which has probably been the best resource for me.

30 Day Challenge: Day 1

1. When did you start putting on makeup?

Like most little girls I destroyed a few of my mom’s lipsticks and slapped some peacock blue eye shadow on my eyes. My mom would find me, wearing her high heels or my prettiest tutu and covered in her face powder looking a little like this:

Minus the the facial hair.

I remember my first piece non-candy or fruit makeup was a peach flavored/tinted lip gloss/stick that I loved… until my little sister ate it, and the one I got to replace it for that matter. I may never forgive her.

That's me on the right and Jessica on the left. Pretty cute huh?

That being said, I probably started seriously using make-up around 6th and 7th grade (I'll try and find some photos of me when I was younger...) It started out as just mascara, which was all the eye makeup my Mom allowed me to wear; I remember convincing her that I looked funny because my eyelashes were so blond nobody could see them. I then progressed to heavy (and badly applied) eyeliner. For the most part I stuck with liner; I didn’t know about eye shadow primer and I hated the way my lids creased!

FOTD: Purple and Green Leopard Print with SugarPill

Oh my god oh my god I love this look. It was my first experiment with colored eyebrows and I might be in love. I have an obsession with leopard print and had been meaning to do a purple and green leopard print for forever, but I actually did it waaaay different than I had planned and I think it came out really well. Next time I’m going to wear a nude lipstick with it!

 I'm a little bummed that I forgot to photograph it in the morning. So this is after 8 hours of wear, Which means certain things happened that I'm not happy about: The black liner on the water line wore off, my brows look a little disheveled, and the nice sparkly inner corner that I had went away too. But it was still awesome.

August Birch Box

I've decided to just start doing these at the end of the month since for the past two months I haven't got my box till the 20th or so, and I like to have at least a week to test the products before I review them. The only hazard of this is that it's possible that there will be overlap between monthly favorites posts. We'll see... Now, on to the review!

Product Review: Blinc Eyeliner

“There’s nothing wrong with having a good cry or a spontaneous swim, but you need the right products to avoid total makeup meltdown. This eyeliner is unlike all others —instead of painting on a line, it actually forms a water-resistant layer that won’t smudge or run. (Really! We tested it.) If you have sensitive eyes, wear contact lenses or just need your liner to last you through the day (and night), this is your new go-to.”

I’m sort of on the fence about this eyeliner. I had a bunch of birch box points so I got it for $4 instead of $24 and I think if I had paid that much I would be more disappointed. As it stands it was $4 and it won’t be the end of my life, I’ll just keep shopping around for a liquid eyeliner I really like.

Today I might have been having a bad makeup day. It happens to the best of us. But Blinc certainly didn’t help ease my frustration. I have always had a really hard time getting eyeliner to stay in the inner corner of my upper lid, and today it was an absolute disaster. The formula is really wet and takes some extra time to dry, today my eyes watered, the liner got in my eyes, smeared everywhere, irritated my eyes more which made them water more… you see where this is going? At one point I turned my hairdryer on my face in an attempt to get the liner to dry before it smeared all over the place. Not too much luck with that strategy. Eventually I gave up and lined my inner corner with pencil liner and set it with black shadow. I still missed my bus to work.

That being said there are some definite positives to this product. It really does last all day, and the brush is really small which makes application relatively easy, even if you want to do a small line, which can be tricky with other applicators. It has some serious staying power, and is very black, both excellent. The only negative that I have experienced so far, aside from this morning’s melt down, is that if you get it in your eyelashes it’s difficult to apply your mascara in that spot without it clumping really badly.

FOTD: Katie Comes Over and Leaves with Dewey Skin and Golden-Coppery Eyes

 One of my co-workers recently got married, one of my friends at work wanted me to do her makeup for the wedding. She came over and I had so much fun doing her makeup. Nobody ever lets me play with them anymore. :(

Normally Katie doesn’t wear much makeup so I wanted to keep things pretty simple so it wasn’t overwhelming for her. Also, since it’s a summer wedding I focused mainly on the skin so that she would look dewy and have a lot of golden peachy tones. In order to get that dewy look I applied SIRCUIT Cosmeceuticals Molecular Mist and Olay moisturizer before the primer and foundation went on. She doesn’t do lipstick so I let her borrow a peach lipgloss from ELF (not pictured).

Because she wanted mostly of natural looking makeup I had to do some improvising, since for some reason I don’t have a brown pencil right now (WTF?). So I put down a layer of brown liquid liner and then covered it with NYX jumbo eye pencil in Gold, the greasiness helped smudge it out. Unorthodox maybe, but it got the job done. I told her that I was going to do a little pop of color underneath to bring out her eyes a little better. So I used one of my all time favorite MAC colors, Tilt. It's a super pretty blue with green duo chrome. Overall I think the finished look turned out really well.

Eyes:
Brown Prestige Liquid Eyeliner
NYX Jumbo Eyeliner Pencil in Gold
Lancome Colorfocus Duo in Suntouched

MAC Eye Shadow in Tilt
ELF Mineral Eyeshadow in Golden and Innocent (brow highlight)
I don't know what kind of mascara she used, it was her own and I didn't apply it....

Face:
Smashbox PhotoFinish Primer

CoverGirl NatureLuxe Silk Foundation in Aspen
L’oreal Translucent Loose Powder
Laura Geller Blush n’ Brighten in HoneyDipped
ybf Brow Pencil in Taupe

NOTD: Tanzy by Zoya

Tanzy (Sunshine Collection) by Zoya is a pretty tangerine colored nail polish with gold and tangerine colored glitter. I bought it a few months ago and promptly forgot about it. I bought it during a deal on Zoya’s summer polishes, I was super excited about the Mattes and just neglected Tanzy. Oh how wrong I was…

30 Day Makeup Challenge Begins Sept 1st

One of my favorite beauty bloggers, Viola of KillerColours, recently finished up a 30 Day Post Challenge. I really enjoyed reading it throughout the last month or so, and I thought in an effort to be better about blogging I should do it too... So I'm gonna! Beginning August 1st I will answer the following questions:

1. When did you start putting on makeup?
2. How did you learn to put on makeup?
3. Favourite brand?
4. Do you like wearing foundation? If so, what's your color and favourite?
5. Favourite lipstick, lip gloss and lip liner?
6. Do you like/wear false lashes? If yes, strip or individual?
7. Favourite eye shadow color
8. What's your favourite daytime look?
9. Picture of your makeup collection
10. Favourite makeup brush
11. Do you like wearing bronzer?
12. Favourite mascara
13. Where do you keep your makeup?
14. Favourite Youtube guru(s)
15. Do you wear blush?
16. Do you copy celebrity make up looks?
17. Favourite makeup artist
18. What's your favourite night time look?
19. Favourite concealer
20. Favourite eyeshadow primer
21. Where do you buy your makeup at?
22. Favourite toner
23. Favourite eye shadow palette and blush palette
24. Which do you like: cream, matte, powder, sheer or shimmer eye shadows?
25. Favourite eyeliner
26. Do you wear makeup everyday?
27. Favourite powder
28. Favourite makeup remover
29. Do you like wearing liquid liner? If so, what's your favorite?
30. Picture of yourself with and without wearing makeup

This is gonna get good.

The next couple weeks I'm going to be adding a bunch of stuff to this blog. I swear to god I've just been saving it up and then BAM!

Things for you to look forward to in the next few weeks
- A 30 day challenge for the Month of September
-2 Nails of the Day (NOTD) posts
-2 Look of the Day (LOTD) posts
-1 Haul Post (Sephora and Urban Decay)
- Birchbox Review
- July/August Favorites
Not to mention product reviews and swatches!

It's going to be MADNESS!

BIrchbox July

Donate and Repost for your Kittehs!

YT Guru SayAnythingBr00ke is having a MASSIVE OCC+other prizes giveaway. Please watch the video, and donate if you can. Cheers.

Makeup vs. Work Round 2: Fight!

So today I did this look, I used the BH Cosmetics Matte 88 Palette, tinted moisturizer, Milani HD Concealer, setting powder, Laura Geller Blush-N-Brighten in Honeydipped and CoverGirl Nature Luxe Tinted Lip Balm in Spice.

It's a pretty combo, but it's too time consuming for my morning. I'm thinking, since I'm quite fast at a traditional pin up, I'll just do that tomorrow. I was sort of hoping for something a little simpler, but so be it. I meant to take pictures, but I was SUPER late for work this morning (mostly because of spending the time on my makeup). I'll recreate it some other time and take pictures.

Late June Favorites

So if you read the previous post you know that I've been struggling a bit with my balance between make-up and work. Keeping that in mind, my favorites for June are going to be a little short, but I'm looking forward to some up-tempo for July and August.

On to the Faveys!

June for me has been all about the face. I've been neglecting eye makeup and playing around with contouring, highlighting and blush. I'm going to also include some hair products that I love, some are not so new but they deserve a mention!

Makeup
Laura Geller Blush-n-Brighten in Honey Dipped -- This came in my June Birchbox, and I've literally spent the month totally in love with it. I think I've worn it on my cheeks for most of the month. On Birchbox they claim that it looks good all over the face. I disagree. I think the sparkle is a little chunky for that, but I love it as a peachy blush with a summery golden shimmer.

Milani HD Concealer -- I have been looking for this product forever. It's almost an exact dupe for YSL Touche Eclat at about 1/4 of the price (~$10 vs $40). I have pretty dark circles under my eyes and it helps get rid of them really well.

Hair Products (read: Got2B)
Got2B Guardian Angel Blow Dry Lotion -- I have noticed such a huge difference in my hair since I started using this stuff. It's the second biggest difference I've noticed since I stopped washing my hair every day. Yeah, that big. I blow dry my hair pretty much every day, and flat iron it almost that much. This stuff is pretty cheap (under $10) and does a pretty fabulous job.

Got2B Smooth Series -- Twice a week (the days I shampoo) I use Got2B Smooth Operator Lustre Hair Lotion, which is a lotion. I apply both to damp hair. My hair is shiny, with no frizz and fewer fly-aways. Not to get crazy, but the Got2B Smooth hair spray is pretty awesome also. Good hold without being stiff and crunchy, great for everyday hair styles.

Got2B Rockin' It Dry Shampoo -- This is my first Dry Shampoo and I think I'm in LOVE. I used it for the first time a few weeks ago, my hair was still styled from the night before but had become kind of greasy over night. A few sprays, quick shake PRESTO! Not to mention that compared to most of the dry shampoo's I've seen, this leave relatively little residue, smells good, and is CHEAP. LOOOOVE!

My TokiDoki Flat Iron! Okay, I bought this in May but I love it! It's wicked cute and leaves my hair so straight and shiny! LOVELOVELOVE!

I think that's it... I'm going to try and do some fun design stuff for these, but that probably won't go up for this post.

Makeup vs. Work Round 1 -- FIGHT!

I've noticed in the last couple months that I have basically stopped wearing anything but the most basic of makeup (which I'm going to try and do a post about).

The reason for this is that I leave my house for work at 8am, and before that I need at leat 45 minutes for my most basic morning routine (i'm including crating the dog, getting his breakfast, shower etc), the dog needs to be walked for at the very least 30 minutes on top of that, 45-1 hour is better. This means that for the most basic morning I'm getting up no later than 6:45am, with 6:15-6:30 being preferable.

But I'm not super happy about this. My eye makeup, which is usually the focus is non-existant. Right now it's mascara and brow definition, and that is ALL that is going on in that region.

However! My puppy can't be walked long distances for the next week (he just got neutered, the cone is so sad), so! My goal for this week is to come up with a fast, natural, go with everything day look, that I can incorporate without a ton of added time.

Birchbox!

Oh man, my new Birchbox is probably waiting for me at home. I'm super excited about this one. It's got the Redken Shine Mist, an eyebrow pencil, Korres Shower Gel and Purity Facial Cleanser from Philosophy. I'll post some reviews once I try them out.

Also I'm going to go to Lush sometime this week and pick some stuff up. I'll do some reviews.

I know that I need do a tutorial, but I want to figure out a better way of formatting them. I don't want to do videos, mostly because I don't want to buy a video camera.

Oh! One last thing, I've been working my way through the BBC's Big Read List and I think I'm going to try and do some makeup looks based on the books. The one I'm working on right now is Stephan King's The Stand... so I'm not sure how that will work... Probably something dark and purple.

Bzzz Campaign

I got an invite to a Bzzz campaign a few weeks ago for Covergirl's NatureLuxe collection. I've tried Covergirl foundation in the past, like waaaay past, and was never really pleased with it, but I thought I'd give it a try. It's free so why not?

I got the box in the mail and have been using it for about a week now. The color I got was too dark for me, they didn't have my shade available as a free sample. So it was too dark, until I spent a little over a week in Texas and Arkansas and got a little color to my face. Now this is going to be my summer foundation. The consistency is a little grainy when you first apply it to the skin, which was off putting. But then I just blended it out and it looks really nice. I can't truly say anything about it's weight because I always mix my foundation with my moisturizer so that it applies and blends more completely and evenly. But it did feel more like a tinted moisturizer as opposed to foundation mixed with moisturizer. Make sense?

To me however, the real star of this collection is the tinted lip balm. OH MY GOODNESS! I've had tons of problems with my lips in the past. They're kind of huge, and have a tendency to get ridiculously chapped the minute I stop drinking enough water and/or stop applying chapstick. I also have a problem with tinted lip balm because typically it stays on for a bit and then leaves my lips really dry afterwards OR it's more like a lipstick and not just a tint. This stuff is exactly what I've always wanted and never received from a tinted lip balm. A hint of color + moisture and repair. My lips feel awesome. I didn't even like the shade I got and I've still been wearing it like mad. I'm getting all the lip balms, and I will probably get the lighter foundation come winter time.

Bottom Line:
Foundation-4 Stars
Lip Balm- 5 stars

Upcoming Looks

Alrighty by a landslide vote of 1 to zero (pathetic, no?) comic book characters have won out.

This won't be your crappy "Spiderman, batman (well there will be batman), superman, etc." List of comic book characters. I'm going to do things a little different. Look for some Frank Miller's Sin City inspired looks, some Transmetropolitan, Tank Girl and more. Starting VERY soon!! As in maybe tomorrow??