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!

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!

And The Party Doesn't Stop....

I really loved my birthday look.

I loved it so much that I thought about what I could do to make it even better. 

And the answer was obvious.......

MAKE IT BLUE!!!!

After all, blue is my favorite color for eyeshadow--ever.  I've never met a blue that I didn't like.  Okay, that's not entirely true.  I have a love/hate relationship with Sugarpill's Afterparty--it just doesn't work for me.  But aside from that, I have a blind obsession admiration for most blues.

I like this look better than my birthday look.  I feel fabulous and fierce!

I used:
Concrete Minerals Electric Eye Primer
Wet N' Wild Blue Had Me at Hello Palette (I mixed the two dark blues for the crease and put the bright teal on my lower lashline)

Urban Decay Oil Slick (to deepen the crease...I could have used the sparkly black from the Blue palette just as easily)

Sugarpill Tako (blending, highlight)

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk(Inner corners, brow bone)

My Pretty Zombie Unicorn Pee(inner corners, highlight--applied over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy)

NYX Cosmetic Glitter in Blue (on lid)
(applied over Pixie Epoxy)

Physician's Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner, Black
Maybelline Define-a-line eyeliner, Black
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara, Black

Wow!  I blogged two days in a row...this could be the start of something productive.  Or not. :)

Party on my eyeballz! (Happy Birthday EOTD)

Today is my birthday!  I'm refusing to age any more so let's just say I'm turning 27.....again (I've been 27 for years now!)

I did absolutely nothing for my birthday.  It was just an ordinary day.  Later in the week, the family and I will have a celebration dinner of Tacos (my absolute favorite meal) and Pineapple Upside-down Cake (my favorite cake!).  But for today it was just running errands and lounging around.

So I got to thinking....if I couldn't have a party today....I could at least have a party ON MY EYEBALLS!!!!  (I was inspired by the recent look by Vintage or Tacky...which was amazing!)

I used:
Crease:  Sugarpill Poison Plum, 120 Palette (medium purple, raspberry)
Deep Crease:  Urban Decay Oil SlickHighlight:  Sugarpill Tako (to blend out) Urban Decay Grifter (browbone and inner corners)
Lid:  120 Palette (raspberry shade), NYX glitter in Pink and Hot PinkUrban Decay Flash (lower lashline)
Physician's Formula Eye Booster Felt tip eyelinerMaybelline Define a line eyeliner in black (waterline/tightline)
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara (the super black one)

and of course...my camera doesn't even come close to capturing the awesomeness of it!

Do you have a special meal that you like to eat on your birthday?  What's your favorite kind of cake?

Hauling Queen (and a simple LOTD)

I did a little shopping recently.  We'll call it retail therapy...since I've been dealing with some stuff in my life and needed a boost.  I probably shouldn't have spent the money...and my one credit card is probably huddled over in the corner crying...but this is the absolute last stuff I'm buying for a really long time (barring necessities).  Despite my bad judgement...I love what I bought and I'm really happy with most of my purchases :)

WHAT I BOUGHT.....

**Awesome, super-cool Hello Kitty tote bag from Loungefly
**Milani Lip Flash in:  Hot Flash, Lip Flash, Flashy, and In a Flash (I also pictured Starflash...but I already owned that one...I'm a goof!)

**Milani Lip glosses in:  Starshine and Stylish
**Milani Baked Powder Blush in:  Luminoso
**Urban Decay Ink for Eyes in:  Pyrotechnics
**Urban Decay  Pocket Rocket Lip Gloss in: Julio
**Urban Decay Eyeshadow Transformation Potion

Lip Stuffs Swatches:

 (Top Row:  In a Flash, Lip Flash, Hot Flash, Flashy, Starflash.  Bottom Row:  Starshine, Stylish, Julio)

I also placed an order from Epically Epic Soap Company.  But that's soap.  Soap is a necessity.  And I NEEDED pretty smelling soap!!

I bought....

 GRANOLA BAR and...

 LEMON POPPYSEED CAKE

All right....I also bought Yellow Cake scented Roll-on perfume and Mimosa flavored lip balm.  But I still insist that THIS was a necessity order! :-P

I've been fairly uninspired lately with my makeup.  I've been sticking to looks that are comfortable and familiar...looks I've posted before...so that's why I haven't really posted anything new in a while.  I was dying to play with the Urban Decay Transformation Potion though (purchased for $5 on HauteLook) so I did this neutral eye with bright eyeliner look.

 (I swear this looked waayyy better in real life!!)

So...have you guys made any fun purchases lately?  I'd love links to your haul posts!! :)

LOTD: Venomous and Immature :)

I did this look a while ago.It's been sitting on my phone for what seems like forever but school and work have been kicking my butt big time!  It's my recreation of this tutorial.  I was really happy with the way this turned out.  The day that I did this, I went out for lunch and the waitress stopped and talked to me for a good chunk of time--complimenting me, asking how I did it, what I used etc. 

I used:

Concrete Minerals Electric Eye Primer

120 Palette (darkest bright pink--above the crease)

Sugarpill Poison Plum (crease)

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy (lid)

Concrete Minerals Juvenile (lid)

Sugarpill Tako (highlight)

Milani Liquif-eye eyeliner

Maybelline Falsies Mascara

I'm working on a May favorites post.  Hopefully, I'll get it up in the next few days :)

Also, a few years ago...I belonged to a blogging community.  We made weekly posts on a topic that was given to us the week before.  It's been resurrected by some former members and I'm very excited to be a part of it again.  I've started a second blog for that purpose.  I haven't written anything yet but I have the blog up and running.  If anyone is interested in reading a non-makeup blog....you can go check it out right here!

I can't escape from Wal-Mart......

....without some sort of makeup in my cart!

I'm a sucker for sparkles and cute packaging (who isn't, really?).  On my last trip to Wal-Mart I managed to make it out with only two things! *gasp!*

I picked up Hard Candy's Glow all the way luminizer (which I've yet to really test drive) and this cute single eyeshadow from Hard Candy as well.

 This shade is called Lunar Eclipse

 (Oh. My. Jammies.  I love shiny stuff!)

The eyeshadow also came with a mini eyeliner pencil in a shade called Abyss, which to my eye looks like a black with some sparkle.  This is my first eyeshadow from Hard Candy.  It was a little dry to work with but I expected it to be much worse...I really thought that this was going to be a product that just looked cute sitting on my vanity and I was very surprised at how nice it actually was.  This is the look that I created with it:

New Year's Eve

I didn't do anything super-fun for NYE.  We had a quiet night in with the kids.  We made some snacks and played xbox and board games.  I fell asleep at 9pm and the kids woke me at 11:55 so I could see the ball drop.  Afterward, I promptly went to bed as I had to be to work at 7am.

But I didn't want to miss out on all the NYE makeup fun...so I threw this together just to be festive.  I like how it turned out.  The checkout girl, at my local supermarket, thought so too...she gave me some nice compliments as she was ringing up my stuff :) 

This was the first time I've ever applied my crease color first but I don't think it's going to be the last!

I used......

 Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel as Primer (for face AND eyes as recommended here)
Concrete Minerals Bang Up Blue120 Palette darkest purple and white (highlight)
LA Colors liquid eyeliner

Maybelline Define-a-Line eyeliner

Although, I've been using Monistat as a cheap primer alternative for my face for quite some time...it honestly never occurred to me to use it as an eye primer until I read Blix's review.  It really does a good job!  You have to use it VERY sparingly though (or at least I had to).  The first time I attempted my look, my shadows wouldn't stick and were pilling up while I was attempting to blend.  But if you only use the tiniest of amounts, it yields some pretty great and cheap results!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's celebration and that you've all had a good start off to 2011!

All Kinds of Christmas Related Stuffs! (and makeup too)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas that was filled with happiness and joy and maybe even a few presents that they've been longing for!  My living room is still filled with toys galore.  Wall-to-wall, no matter how much we try to organize and separate them into sensible piles for each child.  There's even been talk that this is the best. Christmas. ever.  but then again, they say that every year ;)

Almost the whole house has fallen sick with some sort of cold.  Addy, Alex and myself are pretty much flat out sick.  Bear and Mathias are starting to show signs as well.  Jeff and Nathan are the only ones untouched....so far.  On top of that, we are expecting a massive snow storm that is supposed to drop anywhere from 6-12 inches on us.  It will be our first "real" snowfall of the year and I'm not looking forward to it at all.  I hate snow.  Bear, on the other hand, was really sad that we didn't have a white Christmas so he's getting his wish (just a few days late) and he couldn't be happier about it.

I have two looks to share.  The first one I did for the fun of it on the 23rd.  I was inspired by a house near my job.  It's decorated in tons of sparkly light blue and dark blue lights, with some white lights for an accent.  It looked soooo pretty!

I used:
UDPP (original)
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil (Milk)
120 Palette (light teal, the speckled dark blue, and the darkest purple, and white to highlight)

Color Workshop liquid eyeliner (Silver on the upper lid)

Maybelline Define-a-line eyeliner (water line, smudged a bit under lower lashline)
Maybelline Falsies mascara

Once a week...I get pretty :)

While I was off hiding (well...mostly sleeping), I did manage to compile a few different looks.  I didn't do much makeup (I probably did full makeup maybe once a week) but here's some of the EOTDs that I did do

120 Palette (light/speckled purple, dark purple, black), LA Colors liquid eyeliner

 I've done this one before...but I think I did it better this time.  Practice makes perfect!

NYX JEP (Black Bean), Concrete Minerals (Temptress), 120 Palette (Bright Yellow), Maybelline Define-a-Line eyeliner

I used a crappy primer with this one.  I was experimenting and I failed miserably.  I liked how it came out at first, but as the day progressed...yeah...not so much :)

120 Palette (speckled black/gray, black), maybelline define-a-line eyeliner

I've owned Sassy Minerals' Crown Jewels for a really long time and for whatever reason, I never got around to trying it out.  The camera doesn't do this color justice.  It's a gorgeous dirty brown with blue sparkles.  This look is just that one eyeshadow applied over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy and blended out.

That's it for now :)

Eyeliner Woes!

Make-up has been my passion/hobby for roughly two years now.  I'd always wanted to learn how to apply eyeshadow without looking like a toddler that had messed around at her mama's vanity.  I had no idea the amount of information that would be available to me. 

Like so many people like me, blogs and videos supply us with ideas, recommendations, and opinions.  And even though opinions may vary from person to person slightly, I think there are some products that are almost unanimously thought to be the best at what they're for.

Like Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner.

I don't have a lot of disposable income.  I have four kids and a job that doesn't pay all that great.  I have bills on top of bills.  So when I do have money to splurge on makeup, I tend to think very carefully on my decision.  I have a wish list, of course, but I try to get the most for my money.  I try to *invest* in products that I know will serve me well based on what I've read.

Spending $17 for an eyeliner is a big deal--at least for me.  But it was last year's tax refund and I was rich for a minute so I bought two--a zero and a flipside.

I've always heard how smooth and creamy they are.  How they don't budge one you've applied them.  They are the mostawesomethingeveromgyouhavetohavethiseyelineroryou'lldie.

I had a really difficult time getting it to glide across my eyelid.  I had to press down really hard to get even a small amount of waterline coverage.  I shouldn't have to scrape across my eyes to get decent coverage...right?

I'm not sure why I even did this:  but I went to the store searching for a new eyeliner and I bought the Covergirl liquiline blast (or whatever it's actually called...did I get it right?  I'm nowhere near my "toys" lol) which is supposedly a knock-off of the UD liners.  I don't know what I was thinking but maybe I was hoping they'd at least be a little softer.

Nope.  I still can't get it right.

My go-to low end eyeliner is Maybelline Define-a-Line.  Which is more of a crayon consistency than pencil.  It glides like a dream BUT it's crap in the waterline and rubs off really easily.

I'm still learning liquid and gel liners so I've been buying cheapest of the cheap--for practice.  Truthfully, although I like the liquid look...I just don't like it all the time. 

I NEED a good pencil eyeliner.  I need one that goes on soft like my beloved Define-a-line but can deliver everything (or mostly everything) I had hoped Urban Decay would. 

I'm calling out to you guys, my lovely followers, to give me suggestions.

• What pencil eyeliners do you love?
• Is UD 24/7 your holy grail eyeliner?  Why?
• Did I get a faulty product?  Am I doing something wrong?
• What are your favorite high end/low end eyeliners?

Thanks guys!

Daily Challenge 11/12--I'm such a cheater!

I'm totally cheating at this daily challenge stuff!

But it's okay, because days 11 and 12 can go together :)

Post a recent photo of yourself/whatever tickles your fancy.

And....you can't get anymore recent than today!

I had to go to school to take my entrance exam and this is the makeup I did.

Rawr!!

Today, I tried my first leopard print look.

I'm definitely not afraid of color when it comes to my eyes, but for some reason this whole leopard print thing was daunting to me.

My eyeliner could have been better and I really didn't have a brush small enough to fill in my "spots".

But for a first attempt, I think I did all right :)

Not myself....today!

We didn't get to picnic today.

The weather report called for a high temperature of 79 degrees and intermittent thunderstorms/showers.  Part of our plans included the kids swimming in a local creek--an idea that they were VERY excited about--and the weather just didn't match up with our plans.  Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be much more swimmer-friendly so we postponed our picnic until then.

After spending so much of my week accomplishing things, I really didn't feel like doing much around the house.  I was mostly lazy but I knew I wanted to play with my makeup....well, just because. 

I had a few ideas in mind but I finally settled on entering makeup geek's Christina Aguilera inspired weekly challenge.  I have no fantasies that I'll actually win, but I had fun and I think I did a pretty decent job :)

Adventures in eyeliner (and all-you-can-eat buffets)

On Thursday, I set out to do the makeup look I neglected for the previous two days due to being sick.  I thought it came out well except for the liner.  Ordinarily I stick to pencil/crayon type liners but every now and then I like to play with liquid/gel because I do LOVE the winged liner look.  I suck at liquid liner...but I keep practicing!  It seems like the general consensus is that gel liner is easier but my previous experiments with it yielded awful results. 

How this makeup addict gets up and goes when she has no get up and go...

I did not want to leave the house yesterday. Nope. No way. No How. My sweetie and I had been relaxing (read: being utterly lazy) all day and it was wonderful. So many days we always have someplace to go...laundry, groceries, post office etc. But despite how much I was enjoying being a bump on a log, I ended up having to make a trip out to do some banking and a little shopping. Yesterday (unlike today) was an extremely sunny, gorgeous day. And since I really wasn't feeling the whole idea of leaving my cozy chair and bum-around-the-house clothes, I decided to do some bright colorful makeup to try and cheer me up and put me in the right frame of mind to deal with the outside world.

I was inspired by Eden Blue whose blog can be found here

Eyes

Urban Decay Primer Potion (all the way to brow and along lower lash line)
Concrete Minerals--Juvenile (on lid to the crease, inner half of lower lash line)
120 Palette--bright dark green, third row down, third row in from the right (crease and outer half of lower lash line) and a little mix of brown and reddish brown for my brows (still trying to find the right shade for them) oh and I used some black from this palette as well (outer v)
My old faithful generic Almondine (highlight)
Maybelline define-a-line eyeliner in black
Maybelline Colossal mascara in black

Face
Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel (Primer)
Sassy Minerals foundation--Cool/Fair
Sassy Minerals finishing powder--Light

No lips because a)I was feeling lazy and b)I often make that makeup faux pas since I'm not really a big fan of stuff on my lips anyway :)








And this one is my daughter, Addy, and I being super silly. I wuvs her...she rocks!




**Yesterday's Tidbits**

My Mood: LAZY!!!!!!
My Song: 'Sexy Chick' by David Guetta f/ Akon. Because a) I am and b)I needed something peppy to get me energized and moving.
My dinner: No kids at home last night so I just cooked up some chicken patties. Had them on bread with lettuce and tomato. Homemade potato salad. Unsweetened iced tea with lemon.