Saturday, July 31, 2010

Paramore Concert Makeup

Yeeeeeaaaah! I am still amped after the show. It was totally fricking awesome! I am impressed at Hayley -- she literally doesn't stop moving for the ENTIRE show. The only bad thing was that I got separated from my friend who happened to be holding onto my camera - so I have absolutely NO video footage or photos. I'm a little upset but I have the memory in my head!

I don't remember the exact order of the setlist, but they played: Ignorance, Brick by Boring Brick, Careful, Crushcrushcrush, Decode, Emergency, Feeling Sorry, For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic, Let the Flames Begin (they played this instead of My Heart, which made me sad, but holy sh*t it was amazing), Looking Up, Misery Business (which they pulled a kid on stage to sing with her on and also blew confetti EVERYWHERE), Misguided Ghost (acoustic), Playing God, Pressure, That's What You Get, The Only Exception, When It Rains (acoustic), Where the Lines Overlap (acoustic) and a Loretta Lynn song that I'm not sure of the name of.

Overall, great night even though I got no pics :( that does admittedly make me sad.

Anyway, onto the makeups!






































































So, funny story... I put on just mascara in the morning for work since I was going to be doing this afterwards, before the concert (at my work). I totally forgot any eye brushes. So this was done... with my fingers. Yes, I was THAT determined. I think it came out pretty awesome even though I couldn't blend out the orange at the top. It stayed put all night too! The blue underneath faded just a little, but for how hot and sweaty I was, it was good!

I used NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk as a base, then Beauty from the Earth's Lemon over top, then Electro-Koi from Fyrinnae (orange). Underneath is Zingy from Mac. I used Maybelline's Ultra Liquid Liner for my top liner. On cheeks is Stereo Rose, and on my lips is Boots lipstick in Rose Bud with NYX Chandelier gloss over top.

Graaaargghhh it was so awesome. That's it for today, guys! I'll be back tomorrow with my Dare to Wear haul.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

LOTDs: Last Call for Ammo

Yep. I used the Urban Decay Ammo palette for 4 days solid. I am going to go insane tomorrow for the Paramore concert and rock some crazy bright makeup. I love my Ammo palette, but I gotta break out man!




















(Photo credit of TheDailyCookie)

I will post an eyes open and eyes closed shot of each look, and post below it what colors I used. You can click on each photo to see more detail!





















Day 1 (Monday)

Colors Used:
- Sin
- Smog
- Last Call
- Oil Slick (liner)

Lips: Wet n Wild 547B, Sephora Gloss #18 over top






















Day 2 (Tuesday)
Colors Used:

- Mildew
- Smog
- Oil Slick
- Polyester Bride

Lips: Mac lustreglass in Springbean. Omg sorry for the wonky lips -- Springbean went funky on camera!





















Day 3 (Wednesday) Colors Used:
- Chopper
- Shattered
- Sin

On lips: Milani Orangina, Mac Flurry of Fun lipglass





















Day 4 (Thursday)
Colors Used:
- Sin
- Grifter
- Chopper (Not 100% sure, I should have written these down)

On lips: Mac Nymphette lipglass

There you go! I really enjoyed doing this challenge. I liked the variety of looks I got -- I think my favorite is the Mildew look, I actually really liked my Thursday (today) look... very natural.

I also went after work to get my Dare to Wear goodies (separate post later) and had a girl I know there redo my eyebrows. I really like them! I just have to practice and get them right! What do you guys think?

























Excuse the worn off makeup -- it's been humid as hell here and we're under a tornado/flood watch atm. Running into the mall killed my makeup. Well, the sweat didn't help. Anyway! She extended the tail of my eyebrow and changed the inner corners, I really like it:






















That's all for today guys! Hope you enjoyed!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Nail Polish Haul!

I got my order from Head2ToeBeauty and I am STOKED. I am totally, 100% in love with each and every one of these colors... Beware! This is a VERY pic heavy post. I did my best to capture the polishes in their true form. Some of the swatches have outdoor and flash photos. If you see two minis, the outdoor is on the left and inside is on the right. You can click on the pics to get full sizes (around 900 x 700). You -need- to blow some of them up -- the shimmer on some is outrageous.



















They came packaged in lovely little China Glaze boxes.



















Left to right: Tempest, Pucci-Licious and Wild at Heart (omg look at the holo)



















Left to right: Foxy, Afterglow and Bogie



















Left to right: Wild and Willing, He's Going in Circles, Bare if You Dare

Onto swatches!














China Glaze - He's Going in Circles: This is an absolutely stunning pale green holo. My mom hates green anything and actually loved this color, so that says a lot -- the indoor photo (right) shows the rainbow holo sparkle. I'm sure it actually shows better in sunlight, but it hasn't been very sunny lately here. Love this.














Color Club - Wild and Willing: This is a lovely orange-bronze-pink duochrome. I am excited to wear this. The fine glitter particles are more noticeable in person.














China Glaze - Bare if You Dare: Horrible, horrible swatch. This is lighter and peachier than it's shown here. I took 15 photos of this and none of them showed it properly. I will post a NOTD with it soon. Think Nars Orgasm in a nail polish.














Color Club - Wild at Heart: Most disappointing swatch ever. The bottle came out fine but I could not get the holo to show on this. It hated being on tape. This is a medium purple packed with silver and holo glitter... a stunner.














China Glaze - Tempest: Is it blue? Is it purple? No one knows! This is another stunner... I love the name! It is very stormy and mysterious. It flashes between medium blue and violet purple. Gorgeous.














Color Club - Pucci-Licious: This is a neon medium purple, a lot less blue than it shows here. This one is so amazing! It's pastel without being too girly or Easter Egg like, but yet it's non-streaky and applies so smoothly. This does dry to a slightly matte finish so a top coat is definitely recommended. I am wondering if this is a dupe for Illamasqua's Jo'Mina. I don't have Jo'Mina so I can't compare, but in real life they look awfully similar.














China Glaze - Afterglow: Omg, if you love nail polish, blow this photo up. My macro loved me on this shot -- look at the light blue shimmer! This is such an amazing polish. I will have NOTD photos at the end of the post -- you can apply 1-2 coats for a sheer, subtle look, or do 3-4 like I did and get a stronger pink base. I do still have a bit of VNL though -- it makes me think of Mac's Stars n Rockets in nail polish form, sort of.















China Glaze - Foxy:
From the new Vintage Vixen collection. I absolutely adore this (well, as I do everything else...). The outdoor swatch simply didn't do this justice -- blow up the indoor one. You can see the gold/bronze shimmer floating in it. It's a brown toned red and will be beautiful in autumn.














China Glaze - Bogie: I tried to capture this one, it's another from Vintage Vixen. The VV polishes are dark and fall and very hard to capture. The indoor shot shows it more as what it is: an eggplant shimmer. It has a subtle silver glitter, and is quite lovely.

An overall shot (outside, click for full size):









And to round out this post -- My NOTD: 4 coats of China Glaze's Afterglow. Gorgeous.










Monday, July 26, 2010

Thanks ladies! (and etc...)

I won the I Love Your Blog award from 3 ladies!












Thanks so much to:
icosmeticRN: http://icosmeticrn.blogspot.com/
thhjasmine: http://lpljazz.blogspot.com/
Makeup by Lisa Marie: http://lisamarie337.blogspot.com

You guys are too sweet! Be sure to check out their awesome blogs above :)

I know I've been slacking on the beauty posts lately. I haven't been wearing that much makeup. I also have been busy planning a vacation and Rob's move over here (which is in 16 days! Holy cow!)

I do have a list of upcoming posts however, so stay tuned! (in no particular order)
- Finished review of Jergens Natural Glow lotion (tonight, with any luck)
- Nail polish haul from Head2Toe Beauty (Tuesday)
- 4 days of looks with the Urban Decay Ammo palette (Thursday)
- Paramore concert makeup (Saturday morning - concert is Friday night!!)
- Swap post with Robyn from Stay Beautiful (tba)
- Over the top dramatic dark look with flutter lashes (tba -- I have to find a day I'm not going anywhere, lol!)

So hopefully that will sate you guys for a little while and thanks for being patient!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Nail Polish Collection

I did it as a video because I'm lazy, I won't lie. It was late at night here so excuse the tired Wendy voice. :)

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4lpxzR7ss

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Dark and Murky

I dunno, this reminded me of a swamp with bloody bodies tossed in.

Yeah, don't ask.

I hadn't done a FOTD in a while, and I really loved how this came out.

FACE:
- Mac Studio Fix Powder NC20
- Mac MSF in Stereo Rose
- Mac blush in Prism (contour)
- Mac Select MoistureCover in NW20

EYES:
- Mac e/s in Brown Down (brows)
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- Maybelline Great Lash (clear for brows)
- Sleek Bohemian matte skin tone e/s
- Sleek Bohemian olive green e/s
- Sleek Bohemian cranberry-ish e/s
- Sleek Bohemian matte dark blue e/s
- Sleek Bohemian matte green (it wore off though)
- Mac Petrol Blue liner
- Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous mascara

LIPS:
- Mac Thrills lipstick
- Mac lipglass in Nice Mix Up































Thursday, July 15, 2010

Beauty Experiment: Jergens Natural Glow Moisturizer

Come in close, 'cause I have a secret for you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone.

Ready?

Okay, I'm going to whisper it to you.
I have cellulite.

Yep. I don't know how many women suffer from it, but I surely do. It's gotten better since I lost weight, but it's quite prominent in certain areas, though limited to the sides of my thighs and my bum. I went into Target earlier to pick up a prescription and decided I would try out a firming cream. I initially picked up Nivea's Cellulite Serum (which is like $13.99 for a small tube, btw), put that down after deciding against the firming cream. Then I picked up Nivea's Sun Kissed Legs or something, for about $7.99 as I wanted to tan my legs. But then... I found this.

























Price: $7.94 (at Target) for 7.5oz
Claims: To gradually create fabulous, natural looking color with a subtle skin darkening complex and is clinically proven to reduce the appearance of cellulite
Active Ingredients: Collagen, elastin and ginseng.

First off, I thought this product was great for what I needed -- I suffer from pale leg syndrome AND cellulite, so this targets both for about 1/3 of the price of 2 products. I also have a flip flop tan that won't quit so I figured this may help to even it out.

I applied this all over, the lotion itself is of medium consistency, and has a lovely rose and shea scent that is quite pleasant. It dries down and fades so I don't think it would interfere if you wanted to put perfume on as well.





















As it rubs in, the lotion spreads out nicely and doesn't leave a thick goo on the skin, which I absolutely hate. I rubbed it into my calves and the tops of my feet, but when I got to my thighs and bum, I massaged for 1-2 mins until I began to feel resistance (as the product says). This is an odd sensation. You sort of feel a slight rubbery effect as you rub it in.

The lotion did leave a slight tacky feel on my hands, but once I washed them, it went away. The same goes for the rest of my body -- I basically just stood under my fan for a minute or 2 and let it dry before redressing and my clothes aren't sticking to me or anything.

So here's some before pics... I will post in 3-4 days to see if there's any results. The target is 1 week, but I will test this for 3.

Now, I know you girls are old enough to see some cellulite... so no screaming.






















It's the side of my thigh, don't get excited.

Also, some befores of my arm versus my thigh, and my flip flop tan.















































Will report again in a few days!

NOTD: China Glaze VII

I picked up China Glaze's VII at Sally's last night for $1.99 (think they're normally $4.99). I didn't have a color like it, so I thought hey, why not?

It definitely went on smoother than that POS Revlon polish from the other day. And smelled nicer, for that matter. Then I kinda went overboard, was feeling an arabic design so here's what I came up with...

















These photos don't do the VII justice, but I'll go on...


































































It's quite subtle from far away, no?

Hope you enjoyed! Think I'll keep this one for a while.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

This is a rant.

Don't read this if you're having a good day. Because after reading this, you certainly will not.

Yesterday was probably the worse combination of bad things in one day that has ever happened to me. Now, I've had some rough days... family members passing away, my boyfriend getting delayed for a week, etc., but yesterday was a pile of small things that amounted into one massive WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!

Seriously...

Let's start off with first thing in the morning. I get a voicemail from my dad saying "Sorry about the back end of your car". What? Oh god... what did he do? I decided to shower and continue getting ready for work. He calls again when I'm heading to my car and wants me to go look... yeah. The left rear end of my car was crushed in, headlight all busted up (my car isn't THAT new, but I take care of it and it's admittedly a nice car). He is apologizing profusely, I'm running late for work, I can't deal with it. So it's whatever.
I've got to take it in for an estimate this afternoon, and while my dad is paying for it as it was his fault, I'm cringing at how much it will probably cost, plus the rental car expenses on top of it. I could have a rental for at least a week, that is completely plausible.

I get to work and normally, my job is sort of slow. I'm an office manager and paralegal for a small employment law firm. We get busy at times, but nothing insane like when I was running a criminal law office that took on 5-6 new cases per day that I was handling 100%, plus the personal injury practice. But yesterday I walked into piles of work on my desk, literally piles of stuff that I had been waiting for responses on for weeks from my bosses (I have 2 attorneys over me). They decided to answer them. All. At. Once. This was stuff that was "MUST go out TODAY", etc.

I'm whittling away at the pile (this is in addition to another massive pile that I'm waiting for responses outside of the office on, and a 2nd pile of stuff that needs to be scanned in... about 1,500 pages worth). As usual, I'm on MSN half chatting to Rob, and as I'm a good multitasker, I can talk while I'm working (sparingly, but it works). Then his net dies.
Really? REALLY? This happened last week for 6 days solid. And now again. For those of you that don't know, the internet is my main way of talking to Rob. I spent a lot of money last week calling him due to all of the visa stuff we had to get done, and the net is the easiest and cheapest way for us to talk. While we've gotten most of that worked out, it would be nice to go back to just being able to chat. Hi, how are you? I'm fantastic, you?
But no, Virgin Media sucks and his net went down again. There is no reasoning behind it -- we both know enough about computers to know it's not his hardware, it's something on their retarded end.

Let's see... what else happened. OH, how to begin this? Let's start by saying that I generally love my job. I like what I do, and it gets sort of hectic sometimes but that is the nature of a law firm. It's fast paced work. One ongoing problem we've had where I work is that our accounts receivable are laughable. We have a lot of clients that don't pay, a lot of them are well known businesses in the area. What doesn't help is that the girl who worked here before me didn't know how to do much of anything, including accounting, so when I got here, we owed literally thousands of dollars in back due bills. We still aren't 100% caught up, but that's because she also ran his property business into the ground. Side note: Why are so many lawyers also property renters?
I've done a lot to help things get better -- but right now, we have no funds. We actually overdrew because of a communication issue between my boss and I, and also because our accounting software incorrectly showed our balance. So basically he wrote himself a paycheck for money we didn't have. I'm due to be paid tomorrow, and we run payroll 3 days prior, and there's no way its happening unless one of the bigger clients gets their payment in. More realistically, I may get a check mailed to me maybe by the end of next week. On top of it, the junior attorney hasn't been paid in even longer of a period, and my boss may want to give priority to her as she is technically above me in position.

So I'm a little worried -- I've got bills to pay even though I live at home as I support myself on everything but rent, and I also spent a bit of money last month (not a lot, I'm rather frugal) on credit cards from shopping, that are now due. I've also been supporting Rob for two months as he never could find a job. Combine that with the crappy exchange rate... yeah, you get the picture. It's a little tight right now. I've also got a plane ticket to buy in the next few weeks.

All of that, and bear in mind that when I have accounting faults at work, it takes me ages to fix them because I'm still unfamiliar with the accounting software we use. I was here until 6:45 last night (I get off at 5:30) and I worked through lunch. My brain was fried by the time I got home as from 2PM to 6:45PM, I was crunching numbers and working with accounts to try and figure out how to fix the massive accounting snafu we have at the moment.

I got home, made dinner for my parents, we all had a drink to drown away our crappy day (both of my parents had some bad things as well), and things were sort of looking up. Rob got his police certificate mostly sorted out, so when I got that text, I was feeling better. But I went to bed feeling like something ominous was hanging over me.

Got up today (and had a horrible makeup day, good god), got to work... got on Twitter... only to find out I totally missed the Vertical Horizon show in my city. SERIOUSLY? I thought it was the 17th. Amongst the stress of yesterday, I had been meaning to re-check the date and I completely forgot. Completely. They were one of the first bands I ever got into and I (sort of) know the lead singer, and I'm very disappointed. They don't come here often as they're currently unsigned. And I missed it.

Sigh. I needed to vent. I do feel a bit better, now if we can just get Rob here, I will be grand. Well, that and if I survive through hearing the estimate on my car this afternoon.

Hope your days are going better than mine! :P

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Morgana Minerals Haul/Review

I ordered from Morgana Minerals a while back and never got around to doing a full post on them.

I think I heard about them through the whole Lime Crime drama mess, and someone mentioned that Morgana carried odd colored lipsticks at lower prices than Lime Crime, and they were better quality. I took a gander and ended up doing a small order. The items can be purchased from http://morganaminerals.com/shop/

I will show what I got and review as I go.


















Eyeshadow Samples (in baggies):
Top (L-R): Ecoplasm, Transylvania Twist, Druscilla's Sister
Bottom (L-R): Coraline, Chameleon Sky, Glitter Ghoul

I love all of the shadow samples I picked up. Coraline is a stunner, it's an orange-peachy-pinky-gold (yeah, say that 5 times fast), and I think it is my favorite. Ectoplasm is showing really light in this photo -- it's not quite so shimmery. Transylvania Twist is another stunner, it's a rich metallic purple. Druscilla's Sister is a neon hot pink with lots of sparkle. Chameleon Sky is an interesting shade of metallic blue, it's not one you see often. And Glitter Ghoul is a matte black with loose sparkles. I was honestly hoping for more from that one, but it's only a minor disappointment considering the others are winners.

















Loose Glitter Samples (baggies):
Top (L-R): Marigold, Orange, Lovely Lavender
Bottom (L-R): Violetta, Copper Plum

I honestly haven't used these that much except Lovely Lavender on my lips in a contest look. I just recently got Pixie Epoxy so I will start experimenting with these on a non-work day. I did test these on my hand over PE and you can see how well they stick. (The colors are sort of self-explanatory, so I won't explain). The glitter is quite finely milled and I love how a few of the colors have an array of sparkles... observe:



















Violetta... how pretty, right?















Lipstick Samples (baggies):
- Watermelon, Coraline's Kiss and Lillian

I really do love these lipsticks! I put these three together as they are sort of the "normal" colors. Lillian is my favorite. My only complaint is that I wish there was some way to have a different application method... it's hard to get even, opaque coverage by dipping a lip brush into a baggie. I've wasted some product by doing this. But honestly, I knew they'd be in bags and I'm willing to suffer through it to get such pretty colors! Watermelon is just that -- a shimmering pink. Coraline's Kiss is an odd one -- it turns more reddish gold on me and orange on my hand. Lastly, Lillian is a shimmering lilac, just gorgeous!























Top (L-R): Silverwitch, Sub-Zero, Shrieking Violet
Bottom (L-R): Grape, Gargoyle

These are the more odd colors. I like them but I can only see myself using them for special occasions (hey, I ordered them, it's ok). I think my favorite is Shrieking Violet, I prefer it over Grape (Grape comes out odd on me for some reason). The names on these are pretty self explanatory -- Gargoyle is a standard matte black (I think?). For such odd colors, the lipsticks go on smoothly and have good color payoff.

























Wearing Coraline's Kiss. See? Turns red on me... it's weird. Also, enjoy the mascara and brows only face shots =P.

























Wearing Sub-Zero. Haha, I feel like a mime. It's kinda cool.






















*Really*
quick look using Ectoplasm, Transylvania Twist and Chameleon Sky. Literally. So fast... that's why there's eyeshadow under my eye =P




















Coraline and Druscilla's Sister. See how gorgeous? Again, really fast go just to show the colors.

Hope you enjoyed the review and hopefully you will check out Morgana Minerals in the future! She has a good range of products!

*I purchased all items in this review and they were not provided to me by the manufacturer.*