Soft, Mushy, and Ooey-Gooey (for NTMS)

The challenge this week in, the Facebook group, Never Too Much Sparkle was to do either a pro-Valentine's Day look or an anti-Valentine's Day look. 

I chose to do a soft, mushy, oooey-gooey Valentine's day look.  I think that I look terrible in just about every pink, so I decided to do a look based on shades of purples. 

I used the Wet n' Wild Lust Palette.  I think I used just about every color in it.  Then, I lightly sprinkled Broken Glass from Detrivore Cosmetics over the whole thing to give it a little sparkle. (Not that you can see that in the pic...but in real life it looked quite pretty) 

I don't often do soft and delicate makeup.  It's just not me...but I kind of liked this.  And Jeff really liked it.  I was really surprised because he usually prefers when I do bright, bold looks.

 (I haphazardly threw on some Sephora lip gloss in Pin-up Pink that I received as a free sample with one of my recent orders)

Addy was playing with her makeup (basically all the makeup that I either don't want or don't use anymore) the other day and she made a Valentine's Day themed look.  When she heard about the challenge...she wanted me to post it.

Her homage to Silhouette Screams...she spends a lot of time reading blogs with me :-)

So....Valentine's Day....yes or no?

FOTD: The Graduate

Last night was a big night for me.  I finally graduated from nursing school! 

It was a lot of hard work and studying (and much more to come if I decide to continue on...I think I will...but I'm going to take some time off first).  It's hard to believe that it's over. 

I wore a dark purple dress and black heels.  I didn't do anything new or exciting to my hair...just wore it in it's usual style.  I wanted to wear makeup that would be suitable for work or a semi-formal occasion.  Although, I couldn't resist a pop of purple to make things a little more fun.  This is what I came up with:

 Eyes
Concrete Minerals Electric Eye Primer
Wet n' Wild Vanity Palette
(I used the lightest shimmery color on the lid, the darkest shimmery color in the crease, and the matte dark brown to deepen the crease.  I used the lightest matte shade to blend out the highlight area)
Fyrinnae Sequined Master (Lower lash line)
My Pretty Zombie Bride (Inner corners and highlight)
Physician's Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner
Maybelline Define-a-line eyeliner soft black (water line)

 Full face pic in the car...I was running late

Lips were Wet n' Wild something...I can't remember at the moment.

I took a few days off from work to celebrate.  However...my celebrating is probably going to only consist of lazing about the house and catching up on some reading :-)

LOTD: My Blix Remix for NTMS

This week, in the Facebook group Never To Much Sparkle, the challenge was to do a Blix Remix.  In other words, take a look from the amazing talented Blix and try to recreate it. 

Blix has more talent in her little pinky toe than I have in ALL my parts but I gave it a try just the same!

(I sincerely hope that I can get a decent camera soon.  My camera washed these colors out soooo much.  This is way brighter in person.)

 Eyes
E.L.F. Eyeshadow Primer
Sugarpill Poison Plum (Crease/Lower Lashline)
Sugarpill Bulletproof (Crease)
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy (On lid/inner corner/Lower Lashline)
NYX Purple Glitter

My Pretty Zombie 996 (Inner Corner/Lower Lashline)
Physician's Formula Eye Booster eyeliner
Maybelline Define-a-Line eyeliner in Soft BlackMaybelline Lots of Lashes Mascara
Wet N' Wild Lust Palette (Lightest Highlight Color)

(Goofy Face Pic!)

Overall, I was pretty happy with how this turned out. 

Have a great week!

Review: Detrivore Cosmetics

I've had these shadows for a little while.  Things got pretty hectic with school....add that to my super-procrastinator spirit and it made for not-so-successful blogging.

I bought these during a 10 eye shadows for $20 sale.  What makeup addict can resist a sale like that?  Not me, that's for sure!  I also grabbed their eye shadow primer. 

Everything arrived pretty quickly and was packaged very neatly.  A few samples were included.  I haven't opened them as I was planning to use them in a small giveaway that I'm planning.

DETRIVORE EYE SHADOW PRIMER

This primer cost five dollars.  It comes in three colors:  black, white, and original.  I bought the original.  It isn't soft or creamy like other primers.  It's sort of waxy and you need to warm it up in your fingers before applying to your eye.  I'll admit that I'm completely a wee bit lazy and it's a small (very, very small) inconvenience.  But considering what other primers cost, it's absolutely worth it.  This primer works great and it's easy on your wallet!

Now on to the.....EYESHADOW!!!

(First Row: Broken Glass, Decomposition, Ghoul, Vacancy.  Second Row: Abnormal, Brine, Sacred, Paradoxia.  Third Row:  Below and Plague.  These swatches are over NYX JEP in Milk)

My plan was to buy some colors that were way out of my comfort zone.  I succeeded with a few of them, but I did get sucked in by some blues, teals, and purples.  At first, I was disappointed with my order...not because of the products themselves, but because I felt that I just made bad choices.  But color choice is my fault....I'm the one who wanted to go outside my comfort zone.  After working with them a bit, I quite enjoyed the colors that aren't my 'usual shades'.  The only thing that I wouldn't do again is order both Decomposition and Paradoxia.  In my opinion, if you own one...you really don't need the other as they are quite similar.

The product is fantastic.  The colors are bold and have fantastic staying power.  I am extremely happy with my purchase overall and I would happily order again.  In fact, they are running a 10 for 20 sale right now...I just might hop over there next!

They also sell powders, blushes, and perfumes--none of which I've had the opportunity to try...yet.

I definitely think you should check Detrivore out!

Have you tried out Detrivore Cosmetics?  What did you think?  What are some of your favorite shades?

2 Maybelline Mini-Reviews (and a random look!)

I have two mini-reviews for you guys today.

The first one is Maybelline Lots of Lashes mascara.  It has this nifty "heart shaped" (heart shaped?  Well, that's what Maybelline calls it--doesn't look heart shaped to me.) brush.  The idea is that the brush is tapered to make reaching the lashes in the inner corners of your eyes easier. 

As far as the product goes, it's just plain ordinary mascara.  It does what it's supposed to do.  It's not amazing, but it's not terrible either.  It cost about five bucks and I'd say it's exactly what you would expect from a five dollar mascara.

I suppose the brush is kind of cool.  My only question is this:  Do you guys switch hands or turn your wand around when you apply mascara?  Because I don't.  Which pretty much makes this brush only useful on one of MY eyes...and sort of awkward on the other.

The next one is Maybelline Unstoppable eyeliner.  I'm on a mission for the perfect eyeliner.  I hate Urban Decay 24/7 and Milani Liquif-eye is awesome but it causes irritation on my eyes.  My go-to drugstore eyeliner is Maybelline Define-a-Line.  But I'm searching for something with a little more staying power. 

This isn't it.

The displays at the drug store promised a product that glides on smoothly and stays put (boy, did I get sucked in!).  This eyeliner was much harder than I'm used to.  It also isn't retractable (unless I bought a faulty one).  It also didn't stay put.  At one point, I was trying to line my eyes and a big chunk of product popped out and broke off!  I paid almost ten bucks for this!  Worst eyeliner I have ever tried.  Even the pencil liner you can buy for ninety-nine cents was better than this!

Oh! One last thing.  I just wanted to share this look that I did for the Facebook group Never Too Much Sparkle.  The theme for this week was Lunar Eclipse.  I was really happy with the way this came out!

What I'm Loving Right Now (Fall Edition)

I've really been rather suck-ish at keeping up with my favorites lists.  But somewhere between classes, clinicals at the hospital, work, kids and pretty much life in general...I've managed to still assemble a little collection of new (new to me, anyway) stuff that has quickly become my go-to stuff for the moment.

OHWTO's BLACK MAGIC SOAP
I was so excited to get my OHWTO order that I didn't take pictures of anything.  This soap totally lives up to all it's hype.  After just a few uses, I could definitely see a difference in my skin.  Even Jeff noticed!  He looked at me, fresh out of the shower, and he told me that my face looked brighter, cleaner, and fresher looking.  And I LOVE the way it smells.  If you purchase anything from OHWTO, it should be this!  www.ohwto.com

URBAN DECAY LIQUID LINER IN RADIUM
I love the color of this!  I've been using this a lot when I need to do a simple look.  Just throw some of this on...do some nice thick, winged liner and my basic face makeup...and I'm good to go.

 WET N' WILD LIPSTICK IN 522A
I still have a love/hate relationship with lip products.  I love how they look, I love how they pull together my look, I hate how they feel on my lips.  But Rite Aid was having a 60% off sale and I got a bunch of lipsticks for 49 cents!  This is my favorite of the bunch.  It makes me feel fierce!

 Taken on my way out to dinner with Jeff and the kids.  I look kind of smarmy or something but the pic shows the lipstick off pretty well :)

HARD CANDY GLOSSAHOLIC GLOSS IN FABULOUS
I suppose this gloss is pretty pointless...because I keep eating it!  I think it tastes delicious.  Aside from that, I like the extra large doe-foot applicator and the sparkly flakies. 

 Blurry gloss pic for the win!

 Very pretty!

COLORED CLIP IN HAIR PIECES
I don't have a problem putting colored streaks in my hair.  However, it isn't appropriate for school.  One of my Facebook friends suggested that I try some clip-ins.  I bought a purple set and a blue set.  I've been getting lots of compliments on them.  They've quickly become my new favorite accessory.

I like them a lot.  Eyes done with the Kat Von D Metal Orchestra palette.  I'm still on the fence about that product.

What are your favorites lately?

The Fragrance Face-Off

I love perfumes that smell like food.

I especially love perfumes that smell like desserts. (Spoken like a true fat chick!)

My favorite perfume for quite some time has been Epically Epic Soap Company's 'Yellow Cake' scent.  It's an uncomplicated smell and when I'm wearing it, I feel young, free, and content. 

It was a big hit with the dudes too.  Quite a few men that I know would stop to tell me how amazing I smelled.  Of course, this gave me a little ego boost.  So, along with young, free, and content....I also felt pretty.  Yellow Cake quickly became my signature scent...my everyday perfume.

I read an article a while back (I can not for the life of me remember where or when) that stated that there had been a study conducted on a group of men.  They were given various scents to smell and they had to rate the sexiness/arousal factor of the scents.  The winner...out of all the smells...was the scent of pumpkin pie. 

Pumpkin pie??  Really??  I was intrigued to say the least.  In my mind pumpkin pie did NOT equal sexy.  I felt compelled to put this 'research' to the test.

I had been meaning to place an order with One Hand Washes the Other for probably...well forever.  I popped over to Becca's website to see if she had anything that was pumpkin pie scented.  While there wasn't anything specifically scented like pie, I chose a bottle of Pumpkin Bread perfume oil.

From the OHWTO website:
One of my favorite things about fall is all the pumpkin-based baked goods I get to make. This smells like (almost) all of them, rolled up into one deliciously food-y fragrance! You'll smell Pumpkin, of course, along with Carrot, Clove, Nut, Rum, Bread, Butter and Malt notes; it's enough to make your mouth water!

Sounds amazing right?  It is every bit as amazing as it sounds. 

I'm terrible at describing perfumes.  But I know what I like and I know the feelings that certain scents can conjure up for me.  Pumpkin Bread is delicious smelling for sure.  But it has a deep, sexy quality to it.  I had serious doubts about pumpkin smells being sexy and arousing but I was wrong....oh so wrong.  While smelling like cake makes me feel young and carefree.....Pumpkin Bread makes me feel like the sexy, mature grown-up I'm still not quite convinced that I am.

I decided to conduct a completely bullshit and not one bit scientific experiment.  I wore Pumpkin Bread for several days.  I wanted to see if there was any truth to this idea that guys find pumpkin pie to be an alluring scent.  I wore it around the same gentlemen that had commented favorably on Yellow Cake. 

Gentleman #1 (my husband):  Upon my arrival in his presence stated:  "I smell the pumpkin.  It's amazing.  This is WAY better than the cake.  Keep wearing this"

Gentleman #2 (random co-worker):  Smelled my wrist and nodded ferociously.  Told me that although the cake smelled great,  Pumpkin Bread smelled so much better.

Gentleman #3 (co-worker/really good friend):  Told me that Pumpkin Bread didn't really smell like pumpkin anything to him.  It was just...okay....and he much preferred when I smelled like cake.

Gentleman #4 (wasn't asked for his opinion--just gave his uninvited 2 cents):  Stated that gentleman #2 didn't know what he was talking about and that he preferred when I wore 'the cake stuff'.

So there you have it.  My totally ridiculous scientific experiment discovered that different guys like different smells.  Imagine that!

What do I think?  I like them both.  I've been leaning towards the sexy delicious-ness of Pumpkin Bread lately but I can totally see myself bouncing back and forth between the two.

Plus, I ordered a few more scents from OHWTO....you know....purely for scientific reasons.