Review: Benefit They're Real! Pushup Liner

So, a few months ago I wandered into Sephora in search of a new liquid eyeliner. I had been using an Eyeko one that I liked a lot, but towards the end of its life, the brush got all wonky and I couldn't get a precise line. I decided I was done with the felt-tip liner and wanted to go back to a brush applicator. 

Surprisingly... nobody wants to make that anymore except like NYX... which they don't sell at Sephora. So I asked the nice saleslady for a recommendation. And she pointed me to Benefit (a company I find to be mostly miss with occasional hit). She had me play with the liner, showed me how dynamic this rubber applicator is. The gel comes out of the middle, so its always even! She even tried to tell me that its impossible to get off at night, thats its only drawback, and then pushed the $18 eyemakeup remover. I declined and she said "I'll see you back tomorrow!" (spoiler alert: my cleanser and my towelettes take it off with no problem).

thanks to vampy varnish for letting me steal your picture
http://www.vampyvarnish.com/2014/05/benefit-theyre-real-push-liner

Ok, so I get it home and I try it out. There's a huge learning curve with this thing. First of all, it takes about 1,045 turns to get the liner flow started. Then, using a rubber tip to apply a gel... is tricky. It took me a few weeks to figure out how to vary the weight of the line. And even longer to figure out how to use the sort of wedge shape of the applicator to make wings. 

They claim that its one click per eye to use. What they don't tell you, is that you've got to smudge and work the liner around a lot in order to make it one click per eye... and you don't get a precise, dark black line when you only do one click. I've found two or three gets the dark line that I want. But here's the rub... I can't seem to get a razor thin, precise line. It never gets narrower than a few millimeters, which is frustrating if you're trying to go for something a little more subtle. The applicator also gets covered in gunk, which is hard to get off without squeezing product out of the middle and wasting some. 

I will say, its extremely long lasting. I've worn it two days in a row with almost no problem, and I swam in the ocean with it, and it stayed on. The applicator claims to be revolutionary because you can get super close to the lashline... I still had to lift and stretch my eyelid to get it right next to my lashline... which I have to do with every liner. So, getting liner next to your lashes is about skill, not applicator. I could see it being useful for doing retro/vintage looks, because the line is thick and dark, but its not a great daily use. The staying power might be great for people with oily lids where makeup just slides off. I could see that being a plus, but oily lids are not an issue for me. I probably won't rebuy, but I may keep it around. 

thanks makeupandbeautyblog.com for letting me steal your picture
http://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Benefit-Theyre-Real-Push-Liner-1.jpg

PS: photoshop trickery on the packaging. see those three eye images? claiming that the liner makes your eyes look bigger? look close at the iris size of the third compared to the first two. it looks bigger because it IS BIGGER. More proof? look at the corner of the eye on the bottom and the edge of the frame, compared to the same corner above on the other two. Its a zoomed in photo that they were hoping we wouldn't notice.

I'm really going to try. I plan to do reviews on Tues/Weds and then looks on Fridays. Thats sorta the current plan. I also intend to take my own pictures, apologies to the bloggers that I stole from, I'll happily take them down if you're upset. I just didn't have the product with me at work. Also, everyone totally needs to see my applicator covered in gunk.

A Classic Look...

So I felt like a classic simple eye (yeah right like I can actually do anything simple) and a bright red lip today. This is what I came up with...

Eyes
Crease: Inglot Matte Dark Brown
Lid: Inglot shimmer taupe
Inner Corner: Inglot light yellow shimmer
Browbone: Inglot gold shimmer

Liner: NYX black liquid liner
Mascara: Smashbox Hyperlash

Waterline: Sephora mini eyeliner pencil in white, layered with Sephora white eyeshadow.

Face
Primer: TooFaced Primed and Poreless
Foundation: Makeup Forever Mat Velvet - Mattifying Foundation
Powder: Inglot face powder
Blush: Smashbox softlights some sorta light pink

Lips
Primer: TooFace Lip Insurance
Liner: Sephora mini lip pencil in red
Lipstick: Sephora Cream Stain in Always Red

I love this lipstick because it stays put, especially when layered over liner and TooFaced lip insurance. I did really try to keep the eye simple... but its me, so it came out more complex than normal. Also, sorry I don't know the numbers of the Inglot shadows...

I took these photos late in the day and I'm very impressed that the white shadow stayed on my waterline all day. I use Urban Decay De-Slick Setting spray as well.

I like this look because its very versatile, especially if you keep the lip simple during the day and only crank it up at night for party time. I mostly used a sheer red lipgloss from Toki Doki while I was at work.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter! Because I totally tweet more than I update this (not).

Day Long Review: Model in a Bottle Setting Spray

So, I never made a post about my trip to IMATS. Between moving and working, there just wasn't time. 

But one of the things I bought was Model in a Bottle setting spray, matte finish. I'd remembered hearing about it somewhere, and couldn't remember if it was good or not, but it was relatively inexpensive so I decided to buy it. 

I used it the day after IMATS for the first time. This shit BURNS when you spray it!!! What the hell is in it??? Clearly a ton of alcohol. And it makes your face kinda tacky, like my hair was sticking to my face, not for long, it does dry, but its weird.

So I've been using it since IMATS. Pretty much every day. And I've been breaking out a lot more. So, today, I'm making a day long review where I really pay attention to how it looks. 

8:30 AM 

Just sprayed for the first time today. You put it on after all your makeup, making sure that your mascara is completely dry. It burns your face. And also, the sprayer BLOWS. no matter how far away you hold it from your face, you can't get a nice even mist. You'll end up spraying it 8-9 times to get even coverage. Insert whatever TWSS jokes you want. It has an odd finish, once it dries and your hair doesn't stick to your face anymore. Being no stranger to spray mount, it feels a little like that. Kinda rough. It also does not give the best matte finish, despite claiming it does. Aside from a bit of color correction, this has not been photoshopped. Look at the shine on my nose!



11:50 AM
Three hours+ into my work day. And its a hot one today, although I'm in an air conditioned office. Aren't florescent lights lovely. I am totally a corpse.... Anyway, its holding my makeup on pretty well, despite the fact that my skin looks like a leather handbag... ugh. But thats the fault of my primer (just bought some new stuff, expect a review next week). I can feel the oil on my nose, forehead and chin (T-zone area) starting to bleed through, despite the fact that my cheeks feel a bit stiff and dry (they're not, its just the SHITTY finish of the setting spray). I'm already in the habit of being super aware of NOT touching my face, but with this stuff on, I feel like any touch will just wipe the makeup right off. The overexposure you're seeing in the picture on my nose is not really shine, or at least not much. Just low-quality iPhone camera combined with bad office lighting. There is a bit of shine though. And there will be more by the end of the day I expect.

Smokey Wednesday

I was in a hurry this morning. Went for a run that ran long. Ha! Smokey eyes are easy to do in a hurry, thats why I like them. Lots of shadows to hide your mistakes! Sorry for the picture quality. The lighting in my office is so freaking terrible and I don't have time to photoshop the hell out of these today. 

Eyes
Base: Two faced Shadow Insurance, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil... the black one, dunno what the name is.
Outer corner: Inglot sparkly neutral (sorry, at work and I don't know remember the number)
Inner Corner: Urban Decay Naked 1, Sidecar
Crease and Lower Lid: Inglot matte chocolate brown
Liner: Kat Von D liquid in Puro Amor, Urban Decay 24/7 Eye pencil in Perversion, set with black shadow
Mascara: Smashbox Hyperlash mascara in jet black


Face
Primer: Cover FX primer for Oily skin
Foundation: Makeup Forever Velvet Finish foundation
Concealer: MAC something or other (sorry, again at work and I don't remember, its in a squeezy tube)
Powder: Inglot Powder
Blush: Inglot Bronzer/Blush

Lips
Kat Von D lipgloss in Rocker


Hey, two posts two days in a row! Go me!!! 

Ion Color Brilliance - Review

So, I've been obsessed lately with being a redhead. I'm a brunette normally, and last year I wanted to be as light as brunette as possible without going blonde. This year: its RED. I want like Ariel Little Mermaid red. A good friend, who like me has been altering her hair color for many years, suggested I try Color Brilliance Brights by Ion. Its semi-permanent, and requires no mixing of developer or any of that jazz. Its also ammonia free, so you can store it if you don't use the whole tube, and its also not hell on your hair. 

This was my first attempt:
Not so bad, considering its just going on top of mostly natural hair. But I definitely missed a huge swath right on the side, and it washed out pretty quick. It was bright, for sure, but not quite the red I was looking for.






My friend agreed to help me. We decided to lighten the roots, and then put lightener through the rest of my hair to help it blend (since it was previously lightened back when I had a professional taking care of this). We ended up pretty much bleaching the roots to blonde, and the rest to a lighter brown. My poor hair. So dry and fried.... But behold! Getting closer. It was pretty pink on the top, fading to exactly the shade of red I wanted on the bottom. But... motherfucking dye washed out EVEN FASTER. Within a week, the blonde bits on top were peeking out.

It always looked worse in my head than it actually did, but it was very annoying. Especially since apparently my hair grows at the speed of LIGHT and my nice dark brown roots were starting to show. Even more so now as I write this, three weeks later. 

So I took matters into my own hands. My friend had trouble getting two tubes of the straight red dye to get all the way through my hair. So, I bought two tubes of the straight red, and then a bottle of a more natural red from a different line of Ion colors to mix with it. 



Well! I FINALLY got closer to that rich firey red that I wanted. This image is just after rinsing (and turning my shower into something resembling a murder scene). It was very pretty. And I was very happy. It was still a bit pink on top (due to the bleach halo I will soon have around my head as it grows out), but I can tweak the formula enough to make it happen. 

Well, I've started washing only every other day. And i redid this hair once about five days after I did it, and haven't redone it since (so, I'm on 11 days, maybe 4-5 washes?) And this is what it looks like today. See all that lovely bleachy blonde? Ugh. For all that, it doesnt' look that bad when I wear it down. And in sunlight it blends very nicely. But this red... man, it just WILL NOT stay in!

It might be time for this gal to bite the bullet and just pay somebody to fix all the mess that it currently is. Or I might bleach the shit out of all of it and go for blue. I've always wanted to have blue hair, just for a bit. And I feel like before I turn 30 is the time to do that. But I fear the bleach.... my poor hair... :)

So, I guess my review of the Ion Color Brilliance Brights is.... yeah, they look freaking great for about two days. Then shit washes out. And fades. I mean, I was leaving this stuff in for like an hour at a time in hopes of making it stay in for longer. AND I used their color sealant, AND color sealing moisturizing treatment afterwards. I washed it this morning, there was still color coming off. And I use color safe shampoo and conditioner. So, as much as I'd like to do a blue with the same stuff, I fear that I'd just end up blondish-gray after a week. I'm used to hair dye not holding in my hair. Its always been that way. But... a noticeable difference after each wash? Seems a little ridiculous. It is super easy to use, and comes off your skin pretty easily, with a little scrubbing, and its not harmful to hair really, since its ammonia free. So, I guess I hesitantly recommend it, if you don't mind weekly touchups.

Went to IMATS. Did not plan for it well, and so I pretty much bought anything and everything that caught my eye. Eesh. I was pretty broke for a while, ha ha. I have pictures ready... just haven't posted them yet. In the process of moving from my apartment into a house, so haven't had a lot of time. I will post them as soon as I can. 

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter for extremely sporadic updates!!

Makeup Forever Profinish Foundation

Gotta write this quick, because I have shit to do at work...

I finally ran out of the Gorgeous Cosmetics foundation that I got at IMATS last April. Pretty impressive that it made it almost a year. I will definitely be buying more of it this year.

I had a sample of Makeup Forever's new ProFinish lying around that I got a Sephora a few weeks ago. I've been hesitant to try it, as #1 they didn't have a color that matched me correctly, so they gave me two different ones to mix and #2 a convertible foundation where the dry application is the full coverage? Wha?

So in a hurry this morning, I gave it a whirl. Neither color works well on me, the dark being too dark and yellow, the light being waay too light and pinkish. Blending them was also a bit tricky, as the dry application sets up really fast. But... damn! The coverage! Seriously! I barely had to use any concealer afterward, and I enjoyed that there wasn't a need to set it with powder. I did set my Mac concealer with a bit of translucent powder, just to make sure it stayed put, but then blush and a final hit with setting spray and I was done. I dislike the sponge applicator, but I can't see how I'd use either my fingers or a brush to apply it dry. Its possible that the full size sponge might be better, but its still a damn sponge. Still soaks up oil. 

I've had it on for about two hours now, and my face still looks pretty matte, and the coverage is pretty outstanding. Again, you'll have to forgive the corpse like lighting in my office. I'm working on getting a shade and a desk lamp so I'll look more like a human. I'll update later in the day when I have time to do so. If anyone has any experience with this new stuff, please let me know. Or go to Sephora and ask for a sample and try it yourself!

UPDATE 2:12pm: Foundation holding strong in most of my oil prone areas (forehead, cheeks, chin). Nose too, though not as well. It still looks matte for the most part, but i'm starting to see the oil seep through. I can't find my stupid blotting papers, or I'd take care of it. But it seems like this foundation might actually be good for something. So thats cool.

This was going to be a how to...

...but my makeup is nothing to write home about today, ha ha.

Instead I will mention that I went out last night for beers at a super cool place called Pub Dog in Columbia, MD. They have a great and cheap beer special, which I took full advantage of and am now suffering a teeny tiny aftermath. New job requires me to get up at 5am in order to be at work by 8am (since as a beauty addict I have to have perfect and unique makeup every day and it takes time). So I went to bed last night around 12:30, and got up at 5. Note that that is not a lot of sleep. My eyes weren't puffy or anything, but I was having trouble keeping them open all the way, and they're still kinda red. So I decided to whip out what I'm told is a drag queen tip, white eyeliner on the waterline, set with white eyeshadow. I extended past both the inner and outer corner to get a little panache as well. (Do I get bonus points for the word panache?) I also used a bright blue/purple under the lashline, which helps make the whites of your eyes look whiter, giving you more of a bright-eyed and bushy tailed look. Between the white liner and blue shadow, you can't really tell that I only got 4.5 hours of sleep, right?

Again, apologies for the office lighting and my work computer built in camera, both conspire to make me look very dead-alive. I also ran out of my Inglot powder, so I'm using some bullshit Maybelline crap. Its from the FIT collection and it sucks, don't buy it.

In case anyone wants to know, stuff I'm wearing on my face is:

eyes: inglot shadows (sparkly darker taupe, lighter matte taupe and sparkly dark purple in the crease), MAC shroom on my browbone, NYX liquid eyeliner, Smashbox mascara (which i epic failed in putting on today, i have crazy spider lashes ha ha), Sephora white eyeliner mini on the waterline, set with a shimmery Sephora white shadow
face: UD setting spray, CoverFX primer, Gorgeous cosmetics foundation, UD concealer, Maybelline FIT powder, MAC blush in Rhubarb, UD setting spray again
lips: UD Pocket Rocket lipgloss in James

Tutorials will happen. I will make it happen. I want to finish my color relationships series, and I want to make a Game of Thrones series as well. I filmed one tutorial in my Game of Thrones series, but I haven't edited it yet, because... well, i'm lazy. Ha ha. Happy Friday everyone!

NYX Liquid Liner Review

So, I had been using Kat Von D liquid black liner, and then it ran out. And I was broke. So I bought this instead, because its way cheaper. I can't remember exactly when I bought it, but it was quite a while ago, Summer 2012 at least, so there's a plus. Shit lasts forever, but I guess that depends on how much you're putting on each day. But I put on a small-medium amount EVERY day, and only now am I starting to need to shake the bottle to get product onto the brush.

It goes on smoothly, and I find I don't have to stretch my eyelid out to get a smooth even line. It also stays put through most things; its not waterproof, but I've cried with it on and it stays in place. Same with small amounts of moisture, like light drizzles. I only put it on my upper lid though, and I wear glasses, so that might be why. Its also a super dense black, which is nice.

Now... I'm not a liquid liner extraordinaire or anything. I'm pretty handy, but it has taken me almost the entire time of owning this liner to get any kind of decent at applying it. I was pretty good right off the bat with the Kat Von D that I was using previously, and the MAC felt tip pen I had before that. And the MAC gel liner I had before that. But... this one, I kinda feel like a moron. I suspect its the fact that the bristles of the brush are long. This can work to your advantage, but coming from the Kat Von D, it took a lot of getting used to. I also have a lot of trouble getting just a razor thin line, like I'll get one eye done and completely fuck up the other one, and thus have to make the line really thick to cover up the mistakes. I really don't know what the deal is. Although, I suspect when I eventually go back to one of the above eyeliners, I'll be really good at applying liner.

Overall, I'd say I recommend it, but be prepared for a learning curve. I think its like $6 at Ulta, but I couldn't find it on the NYX website, so it might be discontinued and they're just selling off the rest of the stock. For the price, its pretty good stuff.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Beautylish!

Day Long Review: Moisturizer

So, all of last year I was unemployed. And it was awful. Being unable to afford decent moisturizer (and not wanting to slather mineral oil laden drugstore brand all over my face) I made do with whatever samples I had lying around. There was Algenist, Origins, Philosophy and others. I actually managed to make do without doing any damage to my skin. 

Now that I have a job, I've set out to find a new moisturizer for my terribly oily skin. After doing some research, I decided I'd give Clinique another go, despite my hatred of their "Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion". Apparently the gel version of the same is a completely different story. I tried it on my hand in Sephora and actually liked the finish it gave once it dried. But I asked the very nice and personable sales lady for a sample first, since I don't want to commit to something and then hate it. 

So today I'm doing a day long review. Before starting, I'll mention what I'm also wearing as far as makeup:
Eyes: Inglot eyeshadows in various shades, NYX liquid eyeliner (look for a review on this soon), Smashbox Hyperlash Mascara.
Lips: Sephora + Pantone Universe Gloss Brilliant Dazzling Lipgloss in Peony
Face: Urban Decay Setting Spray - Deslick, Cover FX mattifying primer, Gorgeous Cosmetics foundation, Urban Decay concealer pencil, Inglot powder and blush, Urban Decay setting spray (again)

6:10 am: I like the gel consistency. I apply moisturizer with my fingers and tend to rub it over the pads of my three middle fingers on each hand in order to apply it evenly. With most lotion type moisturizers, this action can cause my usually dry hands to soak up some of the moisture, with the gel, that didn't happen, so I got the full dose onto my face. This probably means the stuff will go pretty far and I won't need a ton. All the tightness from cleansing in the shower was gone, but I didn't feel greasy or the need to really rub it into my skin.



8:08 am:

I put my makeup on at about 6:30 this morning, and its holding up pretty well. You'll have to forgive the terrible office lighting making me look a little like a corpse. What I'm looking for is for the moisturizer to not make my face feel like an oily mess by the end of the day (like the last sample I was using, handed to me by some lady at a kiosk in Arundel Mills Mall. Think its called Vivo or something like that. TERRIBLE) 

11:00 AM: Makeup's been on for about 4 and a half hours now. Weird to think I'm one of those people who gets up that early... But whatever. The picture is not really doing a good job of showing it, but the amount of oil is pretty low. I can see it starting to build up on my nose, but it seems to be staying put on the rest of my face. And considering I think I forgot the second round of my setting spray today... thats pretty good. So far digging the moisturizer.

3:00PM: Starting to get a bit shiny, but my face doesn't feel oily or greasy. Ok, my nose a little bit, but usually the oil in my face would have eaten through my makeup on my cheeks, forehead and nose by now and I'd be a hot mess. Considering this makeup's been on for almost 9 hours now... It's doing pretty well. I feel like I've been giving Clinique a bad rap for a while. Note that the headphones are now in both ears, showing that I've given up on any real work getting done today...

6:00pm: I didn't take a photo, as I was in the middle of something, but everything about my makeup still looked awesome, and my face felt lovely and not too oily. I think I actually like this moisturizer, but its still day one. I'll give it a few and see if my skin reacts strangely.

On a side note, I just gooped a bunch of Vaseline on my face so I could make plaster masks with a friend. Can't WAIT to see the breakouts I'll have tomorrow...

Have a good weekend everyone!

Happy New Year

Hey!! Oh right... I have a blog. 

Happy New Year everyone! So, last year was both awesome and terrible. I spent 378 days unemployed before finally finding a job with two days left on my unemployment! Huzzah! I also got myself in the best shape of my life with a (so far) loss of 80 pounds. I look great, I feel great. Between massive amounts of exercise, massive amounts of job searching and playing housewife to my roommate (who paid for the cable/internet and all the groceries last year, so I did his laundry and cooked his meals and kept the house clean in return) I just could never find the time to update this. 

I'm not going to make some lame resolution to update on a regular basis or anything... because I won't, and then I'll feel bad for failing. So, my new job is one of those feast or famine kind of things. We'll be insanely busy for a week, and then have a bunch of downtime. During those downtime parts, I'll do my best to post something here. I got a new digital camera for Christmas, with HD video capability, so hopefully I can start making video tutorials and possibly reviews soon too.

Guess that's it for now. Happy New Year again everyone!

Look: omg is it spring yet??

Mostly makeup forever shadows, star powder for the blue, pressed shadows for the rest. Kat von d lipgloss in party animal.

Enjoy and have a good night!

Review: Yes to Carrots Makeup Remover Wipes

I was at Target today about to buy my usual Ponds makeup remover towelettes, when I happened upon a trial size package of Yes to Carrots towelettes. Technically they're Yes to Blueberries Age Refresh Cleansing Facial Towelettes.

They removed my makeup well enough, but they weren't textured like my typical Ponds ones, so it took longer. They also stretch in one direction, making it a little tricky to make the wipe last for my whole face. They smell nice, and apparently have lemon and apple as well as blueberries, so that's gotta count for something, right?

Well... the trial size I bought was $2.99 for 8 of them. That's about $0.35 per wipe. The full size package has 30 wipes.... and costs a whopping $20. Holy crap!! That's almost double the price. It would literally be cheaper to buy 4 packages. They're good, not that good, and not better than the Ponds. Its unfortunate because I love my Say Yes To Carrots lip balm. I was hoping these would be super awesome.

I'll stick with Ponds, which have yet to ever let me down. And only cost like $6 for 30.

Stupid fingernails...

For most of my life I've bitten my nails. And then a graphic design client of mine told me about nailtique. I can't sing its praises enough! My nails are weak and they peel easily, but nailtique formula 2 works like a charm.

Until yours nails get a bit too long, and catch on the toilet seat when you're cleaning the litter box....

Yeah, stupid toilet seat split my nail clean off. Awesome. But thankfully with nailtiques it wont take more than a few weeks to grow back.

Still, I'm cranky.

For anyone who wants to know, my current polish is China Glaze, For Audrey. It's apparently Tiffany blue.

Interview Makeup

So I had my interview today. It went well, I'm hoping they'll call me for a second soon. Money to buy things might be nice... Anyway, so here's the look I did. Very simple and clean.

Eyes: Urban Decay Naked Palette Sidecar on most of the lid, Hustler on outer corner, in crease, and along lashline for definition, just a tiny bit. Sin on browbone for hightlight, beautique black liner, very fine right along the lashline, maybelline lash stiletto mascara.

Face: coverfx primer, smashbox foundation, mac concealer, smashbox powder, inglot blush, urban decay setting spray

Lips: soap and glory sexy motherpucker in a neutral pink, mac gloss in Like Venus, a slightly lighter pink.

Happy New Year!!

So, this is the year I fix things wrong in my life. I have a list of resolutions, though I hate to call them that because it just seems so passe. I added a new one today and installed an app on my phone to help. Which is to post in this damn blog at least weekly if not daily. Even if its just quick looks, or thoughts or whatev on beauty.

So... God/dess willing, there'll be a post tomorrow about job interview makeup, since I have an interview tomorrow! In the meantime, check out my nails that I did. Its a little bold for an interview, but I'm a graphic designer and I can get away with stuff like that, lol. Its China Glaze polish in "Breakin'". Its a pretty pumpkin-y orange with just a hint of a gold shimmer. I draw the orange from my logo, which you can see here.

Color Relationships: Complimentary Colors 1

So... First look of the new Color Relationships series!! I started with complimentary colors, these colors are opposite one another on the color wheel. I started with Yellow and Violet (that's right, not Purple. The "correct" color name is Violet.) I also painted my nails with China Glaze Happy Go Lucky for the occasion. Its a creme yellow.

Complimentary colors by their nature make each other look more intense, and therefore, more noticeable. Those drug-store eye palettes that are made specifically for your eye color?

They work off this principle. Blue's complement is Orange, Red's compliment is Green, Yellow's compliment is Violet, and so on. They also will "vibrate" against each other if they're both super saturated hues. Don't believe me? Well, I

have an art degree, so... I know these things. Also, look here

See how the colors sort of "bounce" off each other? Told you I was right about vibration.

Anyway, here's my look!

Eyes

• Primer: Two Faced Shadow Insurance
• Base: NYX Jumbo Eye shadow pencil in Milk
• Outer half: Makeup Forever... lemony yellow. I forget the name. Its super bright and matte
• Inner half: Inglot light yellow shimmer pressed shadow, forget the number, but its sort of lemon-meringe-y
• Liner: NYX Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Purple (metallic)
• Lower Lid: Inglot Matte Violet shade, forget the number, but its a violet hedging on blue-violet
• Browbone: MAC Shroom
• Waterline: NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk, set with MAC Shroom
• Mascara: Maybelline One By One (god I can't wait to finish the damn tube, its really terrible)

Face

• Primer: Makeup Forever HD Primer
• Foundation: Smashbox High Definition Healthy FX Foundation in Light 1
• Powder: Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Powder Foundation (yes, I wore two foundations today, but I'm out of all other powders and broke, lol) It was actually quite effective at staying on in this terrible rainy weather we're having
• Blush: MAC blush in Rhubarb (its a Pro color I got in Chicago. SOOO bright and a perfect contrast for this look)

Lips

• OCC Lip Tar in Memento, set with a translucent setting powder that kinda tasted funny, I might not use it again...
• Tarina Tarantino lip gloss in Parade just in the center. Its a sheer pink gloss with SO MUCH GLITTER in it. I love it.

So, thats the first look in the Color Relationships series. I will probably go bolder as time goes on... I kinda did the look and then decided to do the series, lol. I think it came out really well though, although I'm not super thrilled with the applicator on the NYX liquid eyeliner. I may have to invest in an eyeliner brush.

Keep an eye out for my next post!!

Announcement: New Series!

So... I have two series in mind at the moment. One is... more involved than the other. So I'm sticking to the easy one right now.

The series is: Fun with Color Relationships. Basically, I'm going to look at the color wheel, and draw on my graphic design knowledge to make a series based on the various color relationships, primary, secondary, complementary, analogous, pr

inters primaries, etc.

My other series is for Game of Thrones, and I picked like 14 characters to do looks based on.. and colors for each, and they're in-depth and take time... and I'm lazy. I tried one and I didn't like the way it looked so I'm re-doing it at a later time.

So.. look for my Color Relationships series.. star

ting with my next post. (Which I'm going to write right now, lol)

Hair products :)

So, my hair is generally pretty ok. I don't dye it that often, maybe once a year, but I do wash and blow dry every day, or nearly every day. I'm also lucky that my boyfriend's mother is a hair-stylist and when she owned her shop, I got all kinds of free stuff all the time. Since she sold her shop, she pretty much just takes me to the "professional only" supply stores where stuff is SUPER cheap. She recently bought me Joico's K-Pak Reconstructor, Deep Penetrating Reconstructor. According to Miss Joann (my boyfriend's mother) you shampoo and condition your hair, then put this in for 3-5 minutes and rinse it out. It smells like artificial banana, which is up to you if its a good thing or not. Its lightweight, and has an odd consistency, sort of like greek yogurt.

And it's awesome. My hair feels like silk for about a week after using it. Its easy to brush, super shiny, much less frizzy (no product has yet to stand up to Baltimore humidity in my experience) and so manageable. I also noticed today that after not washing my hair for a day (thanks to being drunk and passing out at a friend's house) that it came clean a lot easier than normal. Getting the excess oil only took one shampooing rather than the two it normally takes after missing a wash. I did the treatment again today, since there's no limits in the directions about how often you're supposed to use it.

I want to sing this products praises from the rooftops! So awesome. Go buy it now! It would appear you can buy it at Trade Secret, and I know they carry some Joico products at Ulta, but I actually have no idea how much it costs, since it was a gift. And Ulta.com doesn't carry it due to "manufacturer's restrictions". But a little bit goes a long way. I've been doing it bi-monthly (or whenever I remember) but I'm going to try to do it weekly now.

Not much else to report. You'd think unemployment would make me post more... but... no.... ha ha.

I did however start an account on Beautylish.com. Its awesome, come find me! and other beauty junkies :)

Review

So, I haven't reviewed anything in a while. I'm on a makeup-buying freeze at the moment due to my lack of job, but I still have a few new things that I bought with giftcards, groupons and on sale.

I had a Groupon for the Body Shop, it was $20 for $40 worth of stuff. Pretty good deal I thought. If you don't get Groupons, you're totally missing out and should go sign up using that link immediately.

So, I go to the Body Shop at Towson Town Center and peruse the stuff there. I ended up buying a mini cocoa butter lotion, a mini olive butter body scrub, and then two anti-aging products, which I will review... now:

#1 Wise Woman Intensive Firming Mask for Mature Skin
Yeah, I don't have mature skin. But, I'm a smoker and a sun worshipper, so I stress out about aging my skin. You might say, "Hey Ellen, why not wear super strong sunscreen and quit smoking?" Well, I do wear SPF 85 on my face and chest, but I sweat a lot and I'm not good about reapplying it. And as for smoking... well.. shut up, I look cool.
Anyway, so the firming mask. I've used it twice so far, and I love the way it smells. Kind of earthy and clean. Its very very thick, which makes me worry about clogged pores, but it didn't make me break out either time, so thats good. It supposedly plumps skin to help hide fine lines. I get two little worry lines, right between my eyebrows. The directions say to apply it for fifteen minutes and then either tissue off or rub it in. I put it on generously (but not thickly) last night and just let it absorb while I slept, and... I haven't really noticed a difference. The jury's still out though. It doesn't say how often to use it, but I figure I don't need to every day. So, I'll give it a whirl twice a week and see if it makes a difference. In the end, its still moisturizing, so its not like its gonna hurt me.

#2 Vitamin E Eye Cream for all skin types
I've needed an eye cream for a while. I have a ton of samples from Sephora, but never enough for me to form an opinion. Also, they're all too expensive. So I figured having a Groupon was the perfect time to get one and give it a try. I've been pretty good about using this one. It helps reduce fine lines, puffiness and dark circles. I have noticed that my dark circles are a little bit less, but I've been getting more sleep, so I don't want to reward the cream just yet. I like that its very light and absorbs quickly, so I can put it on right before my makeup and not have any trouble. So, yeah, I guess the jury's still out on that too.


Hmm. Two completely useless reviews. Ha! Go me.

Makeup Look - Aurora

I was just gonna put on a random bright look, but it looked so pretty I thought I'd blog about it. Yes, I'm narcissistic.
Eyes

• Two Faced Eye primer
• Sephora nano-eyeliner pencil in white spread across the whole lid as an additional base
• Kat Von D Memento Mori Palette: Hard luck on most of the lid (tealy-green shimmer) and Solitude (matte lavender) on the outside corner.
• Kat Von D Truth Palette: Snake Eyes (yellow green, with emphasis on green) on the lower lid, Sister (light peach) on the inner lower lid, and Sugarskull (light buttery yellow) in the inner corner
• Nyx Ultra Pearl Mania loose shadow in Grass Pearl (minty, but still yellowy light green) on the inside of the upper lid, blended really well into the Hard Luck
• Make Up Forever Star Powder neon pink in the crease
• Two Faced shadow duo in Skinny Dip, the light iridescent blue on the brow bone
• Nyx Liquid eyeliner in purple, overlaid with EyeKandy Glitter in Gumball
• MAC Penultimate liquid liner
• Maybelline One By One mascara
• Urban Decay 24/7 liner on waterline

Face

• Make Up Forever primer
• Pur Minerals 4-1 pressed mineral foundation
• MAC concealer
• MAC blush in rhubarb

Lips

• Toki Doki Lip gloss in Rocketeer

I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, so I'm having some trouble with under eye circles. More sleep, more water! But I should probably look for a halfway decent product as well.

I've joined BeautyLish, its actually pretty awesome. I can tag products and write reviews, and its easier to connect to other beauty-addicts, and learn about new products.

Also, don't forget to follow me on Twitter!