My skin care routine

So, I'm a smoker. Yeah yeah, its bad. whatever.


While my roommate and I don't smoke in our living room, we do smoke in our bedrooms. And since my roommate owns the good TV in the living room, I let him have first pick of what to watch/play on it. Which means I spend a lot of time in my room, hiding from Madden or reality-show-drivel. And that means I smoke more, because I can. It does make my clothes smell bad, unless I keep the closet door closed. The other side effect is that it ages my skin. I started noticing an intricate web of fine lines on my forehead, and an even deeper wrinkle right between my eyebrows. Needless to say, at 25, I was in a panic.


I hadn't been much for moisturizing in the past, as my skin tends toward the oily. But I realized that the only way to keep my skin from aging any more than it already has is to keep it nice and hydrated. So, this is what I've been doing for about a month, and it actually seems to be working. The fine lines on my forehead are noticeably lessened and that particular little wrinkle between my brows is a little less pronounced.


In the shower in the morning, I alternate between Arbonne FC5 daily cleanser (for oily/combination skin) and MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator. As I have reviewed previously Arbonne cleanser is awesome. And I'm running out of it, which is annoying. But it lasts for a loooong time. You only need about a dime size amount, probably less.


I'm still on the fence, even half way through my tube. On the one hand, the exfoliating beads are very fine and take only a little effort to polish your whole face. It also doubles as a cleanser; as you scrub, it foams up and leaves your skin soft and moisturized. And hey, its black! That's nifty. But the trouble with "natural" scrubbing materials is that they're not smooth and even, which if you have sensitive skin, can feel very rough and jagged. If you get a little overzealous while scrubbing (as i'm sometimes prone to) it can actually hurt a little. I also haven't noticed any reduction in the size of my pores and have actually noticed more clogged pores on my cheeks, where I didn't use to have too much trouble. Now, this could be the fault of my shit foundation (which I still am using and haven't returned since I reviewed it before). So, anyway, thats what I do in the mornings. I alternate between straight up cleanser and an exfoliating cleanser. If I feel really gross, sometimes I'll do both.


When I get out of the shower, I moisturize with my Arbonne FC5 Oil Absorbing Day Lotion with SPF 20. I love it, as I stated in that other review. Never feels heavy. Smells fantastic. One of the few products that I've bought a second time, despite its $50 sticker price. If anyone's interested, contact me and I'll be happy to put you in touch with my friend's mom who sells it.


At night, I cleanse my face with makeup wipes, because I HATE washing my face when not in the shower. Water gets EVERYWHERE, and gets stuck in the cat litter that my kitties kick out of their litter box. And all over the toilet paper on the roll. and all over the mirror... (I have a really small bathroom) So I use makeup wipes. I have been using Clean and Clear wipes for the last few months, but I think they're not getting all the dirt that the Ponds ones I used to use were. So I've switched back as of last night.


Following makeup wipes, I use Pond's Mend & Defend intensive protection SPF 15 moisturizer This used to be my favorite moisturizer before I discovered Arbonne. Its a little heavy, but in a good way. And its formulated for anti-aging stuff. It absorbs quickly and leaves the skin supple and soft. And its cheap, and available (or used to be) at drug stores. There was a brief period a few years ago where I couldn't find it anywhere, and I got the supply I have now on clearance at CVS. I haven't shopped for it in a while, because I use so little, so I really don't know if they still make it. If they don't make this exact one, there's probably something similar on the market.


In addition to facial moisturizer, I use Arbonne Intelligence Not-So-Basic Daily Eye Cream. I rub this into my eyelids, under my eyes, on the bridge of my nose and up over both my eyebrows. This product I know for a fact is not on the market anymore. Arbonne stopped making the Intelligence line and replaced it (I think) with FC5. The jar I have is miniature, meant for travel, and was included in a birthday gift from my friend who's mom sells it. Her mom had a bunch of Intelligence stuff at one point that she was selling cheap, since they don't make it anymore. I'd bet you can find it on ebay, and my friend Kyle wrote this post on her blog about where to find discontinued beauty products. Dunno if any of them carry Arbonne, but its worth a shot. Again, I use a very small amount, pretty much just dab my finger in once and thats all I need, so I don't anticipate running out anytime soon. Other eye creams that I have liked are both available at Kohls, Good Skin (like generic Clinique) and Grassroots.


Anyways, so thats my daily skin care routine. And it is actually working. Of course, its important to get plenty of sleep and drink plenty of water, these also help with keeping skin young and fresh.


Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

Day - Long Review - Revlon ColorStay Sweatproof Foundation

I recently discovered that I hated my foundation. Maybelline Pure Makeup. Its water based, which is nice and doesn't clog your pores. But forget about it if you have oily skin, or even just an oily T-zone like moi. Now, I'm not the best at keeping my makeup touched up throughout the day, but you'd think your foundation could stand up for an hour at least.... Not so with Pure Makeup, it was patchy and cakey within an hour.

So I went to Total Beauty to find a better foundation. Something rated well for oily or combination skin. The results weren't promising. Too many products with too few reviews each. Irritating. On the basis of saving some cash, I decided to go with a "drug store" brand. I found good reviews of Revlon's ColorStay stuff, and I've always liked their ColorStay lipstick. They were kind of pioneers of that "lasts for 16 hours" stuff as I recall. So I set out to CVS to buy the stuff. I found there are three different kinds of ColorStay foundation: Normal/Dry, Oily/Combination and Sweatproof.

Now, my main complaint from my Maybelline Pure was that if I started to sweat, even a little, the makeup would just dissolve instantly. So, I went for the Sweatproof when I chose the new foundation. The reviews online promised it would stay put, not come off my clothes, and that it was light and comfortable. Here begins my journal style-review of my new foundation.

7:45 AM - Applied makeup to moisturized skin (ran out of primer, so didn't bother). Purposefully did my makeup before drying my hair, to check for "sweatproofness". Makeup is the consistency of watery clay. NOT light. Not uncomfortable, but certainly not like spreading whip cream on my face. My face now has these layers on it: moisturizer, foundation, concealer, powder, blush. Blow-dried my hair. Sweat not too much, but enough. Divot under my nose remains perfect, starting to see some minor caking on cheeks near nose, but easily fixed.
--Sweatproof makeup - confirmed! (but I already had sweatproof makeup, I use it on special occasions like weddings and stuff, L'Oreal Infallible, look for it in a future review)

9:30 AM - Cheeks, forehead, chin look fine. Nose is starting to get cakey and I can see my bare skin in some patches.

12:30 PM - Entirely gone from the end of my nose. Starting to look cakey on cheek area right next to nose

1:09 PM - Cheek area from earlier definitely starting to be cakey, not patchy yet. Makeup is only on the sides of my nose, and collecting around the nose-pads of my glasses. New: now collecting in fine lines around my mouth.

5:16 PM - Just got home from work. Time to check this "16" hour makeup after about 9.5 hours since putting it on. Remember, I've done no touch ups today, as I wanted to get a feel for my new foundation. Wearing off over my eyebrows, creating a weird effect that makes me look angry. Caking up above my upper lip. Entirely gone of my nose, areas where nose-pads of my glasses are have rings around them. cheeks/chin look ok. Best test will be to remove it to see if its still really there.

All that being said, it doesn't look all that bad. I think if I were good about touching up with powder throughout the day it might look better. It also might be more effective with primer.

Still, I think I might return it and try the "oily/combination" kind. We'll see.

Thanks for reading! I'll post again soon (yeah right).

Arbonne Review at long last

Wow, so I really suck at updating. Especially since I've been unemployed all summer and have had ample time to do so. So, here, at long last, is my Arbonne Cosmetics review.

I have a bunch of Arbonne products, which I bought from a friend's mom who is an Arbonne Consultant. Basically, its like Mary Kay or Avon where you can only buy it directly from a consultant.

The theory of Arbonne is great. Only natural products, no weird chemicals or rendered animal fat (EW! its called Sodium Tallowate, but I'm not sure how its spelled. check your products for it and promptly get rid of them. its basically boiled road kill). I'll review, at least briefly, the products I have used from Arbonne, and will be happy to direct you to my friend's mom who sells the stuff if you're interested.

The Arbonne Primer is a decent product. I know some who use it as both moisturizer and primer, but I didn't find it moisturizing enough to do that. It was more or less effective at its job, but I like my Smashbox primer better. And at something like $30/bottle, it didn't quite feel worth it to me. Supposedly using all Arbonne products in tandem makes them more successful and actually improves your skin (you should SEE the woman I first bought stuff from, she looks fantastic all the time) but as I couldn't (and definitely can't now) afford all the products at once, I wasn't seeing those benefits. Overall, I hesitantly recommend it.


Arbonne Foundation has about the same review as the primer. It did its job, but not better than any other foundation. I've been using this cheap Maybelline stuff for a while and I like it better (the Maybelline is water based and very lightweight for a liquid foundation). And again, for the $39.50 price tag, this foundation better be the best freaking stuff ever. I also had trouble finding a shade that matched my skintone. The lady I bought it from eventually had to squirt some lighter stuff into a ziploc and give it to me to blend with it. So, what she was telling me is I have to buy TWO shades in order to get my one perfect one. Overall, I don't recommend it.



The Arbonne FC5 line is my without-a-doubt favorite facial cleansing system EVER. It comes in several different combinations, based on your skin type being Oily, Normal, Combined or Dry. Theres (I think) an eyecream, moisturizer, hand cream, cleanser and translucent (and oil absorbing) setting powder. And the best part? Stuff smells fantastic. Fruity and sweet and clean. The cleanser rocks, it never feels drying but successfully gets off all the crap from my face. The moisturizer is also awesome, its not too heavy and not too light, which is perfect for my combination skin. I unfortunately have not been able to try the eye cream or the setting powder, aside from when my friend's mom was presenting them, but I look forward to having a job again soon so that I can purchase these also. Overall, I highly recommend the FC5 line.


My opinion of Arbonne varies greatly (clearly). I'm very very fond of all the skin care products, but not overly thrilled with the cosmetics. But then again, I'm a fan of dramatic makeup. I know other friends of mine who love every part of the Arbonne line. Its great if you want that subtle, natural look. But of course, my last review was praising neon-pink eyeshadow. So, my review of Arbonne is skin care = awesome and can't be beat! but cosmetics = your money's probably better spent elsewhere if you're looking for high-drama, high performance stuff.



I'm currently working on figuring out a way to film tutorials, I have a couple of makeup looks that I'd love to share. As soon as I deal with the lighting and camera problem, I'll get those up for anyone who's interested.


Thanks for reading, and please subscribe! I only have two followers! Thanks Julie and Meghan!

Make-up Forever - Star Powder

So I went out a few weeks ago in search of new eyeshadow. I've been watching makeup tutorials on youtube, my favorite is xsparkage. She's awesome. She does tons of bright eye makeup and puts up awesome easy to follow tutorials. For a while, I was attempting to recreate her results with whatever cheap crap I had on hand. I've since realized that in order to really get vibrant makeup, you've gotta spend a little more to get the better pigments. Even M A C pressed shadows don't hold up. Then one day, as I was watching one of her tutorials, I discovered that she's not using pressed shadows. All her stuff is loose powder. Loose powder = more pigments!

So I started with M A C pigments, I bought a purple one, and I really like it. Its bright and vibrant and gives great coverage. You can apply it wet or dry (I haven't tried wet yet, I just know you can). The trick to really getting good coverage is plenty of eyeshadow primer.

Then I was in Sephora one day and something BRIGHT FREAKING PINK caught my eye. Make-up Forever Star Powder. Its a loose shadow, and i'm pretty sure its blacklight receptive, thats how freaking bright this is. I was with my friend Jess, we spied it at the same time... and bought it together. I wear mine thickly applied so you can really see how neon pink it is, Jess wears hers light and it looks pastel and very lovely. Either way, its awesome. Everytime I wear it, I get compliments. Its very noticeable and looks great with a lot of my other shadows. It does stain my eyelids though, just a little bit. And its tough to get out of the brush I use to apply it, ensuring that I taint my other shadows with it quite often. But its worth it for the look. Its not quite a pearlescent or a matte, its something in between (satin?). There are flecks of silver glitter in it, but very few. I recently purchased the blue in the same line. Its more pearlescent than the pink, so its a little easier to blend but its strangely overpowering. I've worn it a few times blended with a yellow CoverGirl shadow and its tough to get both eyes to look the same. I blame the CoverGirl mostly, its crap. With both colors, a little goes a long way, and I advise building layers rather than trying to slather it all on at the same time, the fall-out is pretty extreme, and tough to get off without wiping off your powder and foundation (fall-out = the powder that falls on your cheeks when you've got too much product on the applicator). I highly recommend it.


Incidentally, while I was at Sephora last week buying the blue shade, I also tried their cream eyeliner. I will be purchasing it very soon. Its wicked awesome. I also tried the HD Foundation. Also awesome. I may have to buy the entire line...
Thanks to www.mymakeupreviews.blogspot.com for this image, sorry i took it without asking...

My next post will be reviewing Arbonne and I hope to get it done before the end of the weekend.

M A C Select Sheer Loose Powder

So yeah, I suck for not updating more often. Anyway. I'm going to review today MAC Cosmetics Select Sheer Loose Powder. I bought this a few weeks ago for about $21 from the MAC store in Towson. I was really excited because I remembered a friend of mine getting some MAC powder and it looking really fabulous on her.

I bought the wrong one.

Don't get me wrong, it does provide excellent coverage. It does exactly what powder is supposed to do. But you have to buy a specific kind of brush in order to use it. I've been using a kabuki-type brush (Smashbox #19, face and body brush) to apply it and I end up seeing clouds of product swirling off into the air (or even worse, landing on my shirt). I tap off all the excess product like I'm supposed to, but I still end up losing some in the application process. And once I've tapped it off, I can't really tell where I've applied it and where I haven't. The difference isn't immediately apparent, which annoys me.

So, in the end, I don't recommend it. Unless you're going to buy the correct brush and have the MAC salesperson give you a demonstration. Neither of which I did because 1. the salespeople when I bought it were both busy and ignoring me and 2. I had a perfectly adequate brush at home and didn't realize I'd need something specific.

I have a bunch of new stuff to review, so I'll get to all of it hopefully this week. Thanks for reading!

Ponds Makeup Remover Towelettes

Hello! Sorry its been so long. I'm going to try to update more frequently. Promise.

Today I'm going to review the things I use to take off my makeup every night. Ever seen those commercials for face washes where the attractive girl splashes water on her face in near-orgasmic pleasure? She's so excited to wash her face! Well, when you try to mimic her enthusiasm, the end result is water all over your bathroom. And in my case, mixing with the little pieces of cat litter that my cats kick out of the litterbox, which of course are clay so they end up leaving gray/black marks all in the grout between the tiles. My shirt ends up drenched, the toilet paper's wet and the floor is slippery. UGH! And then I found something awesome. Makeup remover towelettes! Premoistened, they come in a pack of thirty or so, and you just wipe them all over your face and throw it away. No need to rinse or wash or scrub. The first brand I bought was Ponds, because it was the first I saw. I have since tried: Garnier, Olay, Target & CVS brands, Dove and Neutrogena. Nothing compares to the original Ponds, even the Target & CVS brands that were using the same formula. There's texture to the cloths that help take off all your makeup, including waterproof stuff. I have no fear of rubbing it all over my eyes. If in the process you happen to get the solution that its soaked in into your eye, it hurts about as much as getting just water in your eye. It takes everything off without stripping all the oil out of my skin (thank you CVS brand!). And while I should, I don't typically put on anything after that. Just brush my teeth and go to bed. But even with my foundation primer and eyeshadow primer and caked on powder and tons of eyeliner, one cloth takes it all off.

There is only one downside, which I'm able to overlook pretty easily. The package is a plastic pouch with a peel and seal label on it. You lift this, take out one cloth and then re-seal it. Its not perfect. Air gets in there whether you like it or not so your last 6 or so cloths get a little dried out. The solution is to spritz it with a little water from a spray bottle, or just wad it up in your hand and stick it under the faucet for half a second, just enough to dampen it. This wakes up the dried solution and makes it good as new.

Overall, I highly recommend it.

I'm going to try to do some kind of tutorial in my next post, but I haven't decided what or how yet, so keep an eye out!

Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara

Hello to all of my lovely readers. You are few, but I am confident you will soon be many. Thanks to my friend Kyle over at FaceCandy I was able to review this product. It retails for under $7, which is pretty decent as far as a good quality drug-store brand mascara goes.

Now, I'm blessed with long lashes naturally, which doesn't make me a good judge of mascaras. But I will do my best, as I've been requested by two people to discuss mascara. The graphic designer in me is a sucker for the packaging of this one. Its designed to look like the heel of a shoe!! And the typography is cool (not altogether that creative, but well executed). The brush is great, its narrow enough to get into that corner of your eye without getting the product everywhere, but thick enough to distribute fairly evenly. I had minor-moderate trouble with clumping, but a lash comb will get rid of most of them. If you're looking for length, its pretty awesome. I put some on this morning and then reapplied a few minutes ago (because I'm going to see the midnight show of Watchmen!!!) and it looks like I'm wearing false lashes. They're black and long (thats what she said!). I had more trouble with clumping just now, but I didn't take off the previous application, so thats why.

It stays put. It doesn't flake off, there's no "raccoon eyes". It looks just as good when you apply as when you take it off. And it comes off as easy as any mascara. If you're looking for volume, forget it. Its really really great for length. It blows for volume. Each lash is defined, but not thickened, unless you count the clumping. For this fact, I'd say I recommend it, but not highly.

It still doesn't beat my favorite mascara of all time, the Kohl's brand, Flirt! Far Out Lengthing Mascara. My favorite mascaras have combs for brushes. They thicken and lengthen. My next mascara purchase will be Benefit's BadGal Lash mascara, but I now have two tubes of mascara to use up, so it may be a while before I review it.

That's all for now, thanks for reading, and invite your friends!!!

Sephora Eyeshadow Primer

I've decided today to review Sephora Eyeshadow Primer. When I first heard about makeup primers of any kind I was skeptical. Why the fuck would I want to add another layer of stuff to my face. Well, the answer is this: it makes everything stay on better and for longer. I came home after 8 hours of work today, and only had to touch up the powder on my nose. Everywhere else was fine thanks to my foundation primer. And my eye makeup was fine thanks to my eyeshadow primer. Eyeshadow primer prevents eyeshadow from fading and creasing and also helps with getting really brilliant results from a minimal amount of product. Meaning, you only have to do a one or two strokes with that eyeshadow brush instead of ten to get the vibrant color that you see in the pot/package. My blacks go on richer and darker (instead of light gray) My lime greens go on bright lime green instead of pale, sheer green, forcing me to layer the product on really thick to get my desired results.

I wasn't really sure what type of eyeshadow primer to go with when I first bought some. So I went to Sephora and bought something cheap, just so I could experiment without having to spend a lot of money. I saw products from just about everyone, Stila, Urban Decay etc. Then I went to Sephora's proprietary brand (called Sephora, go figure...) and found a little pot of eyeshadow primer for $8. I brought it home and over the next few weeks figured out how to apply it. I use my index finger, and I put a thin layer across my entire lid and brow bone. I've discovered that, since its very thick that if you apply it too heavily it makes eyeshadow difficult to apply and blend without "skipping" (when the brush gets caught on loose skin and "skips" making a banded texture in the area of application). Its thicker than concealer (which I've also heard will work in a pinch for eyeshadow primer, but have never tried myself) so you don't need much. I've had this little pot for about three months now and haven't even begun to use it all. There are days when I've forgotten to put it on and I definitely notice a difference. I'm not 100% happy with it, though it does do the job for a minimal amount of money, because its not simple to apply, and if you goop it on too heavily it doesn't make for good eye makeup results. But, since its very inexpensive and lasts a long time, I do kinda like it, especially if you're just getting used to using professional grade products (like me). I look forward to trying other products so I can do an educated comparison.

Overall, I hesitantly recommend it.

Sorry its been so long since my last post. Work has been hell and the last thing I want to do when I get home is to sit in front of my computer...

I have a small bit of news. My friend Kyle over at FaceCandy gave my address to the PR rep for Maybelline and they sent me mascara to review. I'm about to take my makeup off for the night, so look for a review of it as soon as I've tried to for a few days. Thanks Kyle for passing my name along! I'm enough of a dork that I called a friend immediately to tell her the exciting news that the Maybelline (or at least their marketing company) knows that I exist. :)

Eyeliner

I'm an eyeliner freak. I love dark eyeliner, and always have. I've tried so many different kinds. I've spent as much as $10 and as little as $1 in my quest for the perfect eyeliner. I hate retractable/self-sharpening. And I dislike liquid and creme unless I'm going for a really specific thing. I also rarely stray from black eyeliner, and if its not black its dark purple or brown. My hesitancy is simply a lack of practice, and a lack of funds to buy every shade of eyeliner and play with them.

In any case, the absolute best black pencil liner that I have found is Beautique. It's available at Sally Beauty Supply stores, in a rack right by the register. Its about 18 inches long. And is not more than $4. Online its only $1.49, in the store I think its around $3.50 or so. It's great. Fantastic. My favorite of all time. (with the exception of Revlon powder liner which they no longer make). Its not waxy. Its soft enough to get a good dark line, but not so soft that you have to sharpen it every five seconds. It stays where you put it, but is easy to smudge with a smudger brush or your fingers if you want to. It comes off easy with whatever your preferred makeup remover is. And the best part is that its HUGE. Like I said, 18 inches long. For less than $4. I sharpen mine about every other use, or if I want a really precise line.

Overall, I highly recommend it.

My first blog. Ever.

I swore so many times that I would never have a blog. I found the whole thing idiotic. Why on earth would I care about what anyone has to say?

Well, as it turns out, I have something to say.

You may be wondering about the title of of this blog, as well as the adult content warning. I like to curse. Like a Tarantino movie. If thats a problem, move on. There are a million other make-up blogs out there. I'm sure you'll find one that works for you. I'm just as sure that the sugar sweet non-cursing blog you have will give you make-up reviews just as honestly and matter-of-factly as I will.

It's very likely that I won't update often. I'll try, but I'm lazy and un-motivated.

I'll give a quick review (because it's late and I futzed with the artwork for the title of this blog for a while because the color was off) of a brush I recently acquired at Target. Its a Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow crease brush. I couldn't find a picture, and didn't feel like taking one, so I'll describe it. It has a white wood (I think?) handle and black bristles, tapered into a point. Its not extremely silky hair, but soft enough that it doesn't matter. I find it perfect for blending into the crease. I can spread eyeshadow from the corner of my eye easy into the crease with a minimum amount of strokes. Control is a minor issue, as its not the highest quality of brushes and has some stray hairs that make it tricky to limit the blending to just the crease area, but a controlled and hand and some patience will do the trick. Its an economical buy, I think its on clearance right now for about $5. Overall, I recommend it.

That's it for this evening. Thanks for reading, and please continue to do so!