Halloween Night

Hey Hey Hey!

I had a great Halloween.

I'm going to post some pictures. I did a zipper eye with full face makeup around it. Easy and fun..

I glued the zipper on with mineral spirits. It's like a heavy duty lash glue. If you have any don't put it near your lashes or you'll lose them!

I placed individual eye lashes with regular duo lash glue on the outer edge of my lower lash line, keeping the middle open so it looked more fleshy and painful, I filled in the red with a lip pencil. I also lightly bruised the eye area with navy matte eyeshadow and shadowed around the zipper with a purply mauve. Black eye liner and a few smudges of eyeshadow above to make it look a bit more defined. I did apply a pair of false lashes to the tops as well. This step is not needed but looked good.

I hope your Halloween 2012 was a great one!

KISS.. off topic

This is kind of makeup related..

Went to an amazing concert at our state fair.

KISS

Some photos of the event if you'd like to see.. Scroll down for a few looks of the show.

I'm scared!

I saw the most goriest werewolf movie of my life! "The Beast Of Bray Road"

WATCH IT!

By the way, I have made a werewolf for my halloween set up this year! He's AMAZING!

He's not quite finished..

Nail Of The Day

I just have a quick nail of the day to show you. I have one quick photograph of it and it looks like blood dripping down the nail. The nail polishes that I used: China Glaze White On White and also Orly red.. color name on that one is Haute Red.

I used a dotting tool to create the blood drips and I also dotted the base of my nails to look like it was dripping from the nail bed. I really do like the China Glaze nail polish, the white was opaque in two thin coats. The red Orly seemed a little sheer but it's not noticeable with this application. The red streaked slightly when applying Seche Vite topcoat. The finish still looks great with these minor errors.

Small Makeup Haul

I ordered this very nifty contraption that does a french manicure on you in seconds flat. It's seriously amazing. You do need an opaque white polish, or color of your choice. Everything else is provided to complete your tips.

Here's my first try:

This thing is called the "French Tip Dip". You dip the size side you need into polish then swipe it over your tip. You can go over two or three nails before you need to reload. I needed to use 3 tips: The smallest, the next smallest, and the third smallest. The largest one was a bit too big even for my thumb. I could try it on toes?? Anyway, my first attempt was pretty nice! A couple of blobby parts and one streak along my super long pinky nail. I'm impressed!

Next item I got was the Lorac Pro eye palette. This brand has such amazing shadows. Ultimate pigments, smooth, buttery feel. Love them. 

I have not yet dipped into this one yet.. Photo is crap quality from my phone:

This palette has almost an entire row of matte finish shades! The next row is pearlized, metallic finishes. These colors are all rich and beautiful, natural looking on the skin.. Just amazing! I can't wait to try this one out for work this week. This came with a mini eye primer. I am not sure if I have tried theirs or not yet. I'll let you know what I think of it. I'll try to get some photos re: pigmentation and wear.

If you have questions, comments or suggestions either about the makeup or this blog, add it in comments section. I'll get back to you! Take care!

NOTD Green gels with stamps over it

A quick NOTD

I have Red Carpet Manicure gels on in a fluorescent green called "Show Me The Money". The color glows in black light. It glowed under the LED light, too. See blow:

I then stamped an OPI black polish called "Onyx" with a Konad style stamp over the tops of the nails, pressing the color on the top and bottom of the nail instead of placing the entire stamp over the entire nail. This way, it appears to look like lace on the edges of the nails.

I top coated the nails with Seche Vite. The wear on these are great, the gels do not budge at all and the wear of the OPI is slight. The edges look kind of rubbed off after 6 days of wear.

 

The gel polishes do really help to extend the war of your regular polishes on top, since your nails are not as flexible when you have the gel, your regular polish is less likely to chip or wear down.

When you like to change your colors more often, try placing two layers of clear base coat gel and one coat of gel topcoat, then polish over those. You'll be amazed at your wear time. AND you can change your colors out at will, using non-acetone polish remover won't affect the gel. Very cool.

Share your polish or gel tips with me in the comments. Any questions? Leave them there, too.

Carol's Daughter - Month 1

I have been using Carol's Daughter Monoi shampoo, conditioner and mask for one month. I have super baby-fine hair so I wondered if this product would be too much for me. To my amazement, it is so lovely! My hair has never been shinier. I even see new growth coming up, it looks like I have a lot of hairs coming in all around. I usually have a few baby hairs sticking up around my hairline, but now I have hundreds more. I have not colored my hair yet. I am concerned that I will lose these baby hairs from the coloring process. I will keep you posted about that. When I purchased the bottles, I got the full sizes. I think they are about 10 oz. or so. I have used about ½ a bottle of shampoo, a ⅓-½ bottle of conditioner and a smidge out of the hair mask. I use the shampoo daily, the conditioner 5 days a week and the mask 2 times per week. I keep track by using the mask on my days off from my full-time job. Sometimes, I have to do the hair mask 2 days in a row for the week. My hair is not affected in a bad way by doing this. I like the way the mask feels in my hair rather than the conditioner anyway. It's smoother, softer, silkier and tangle free. When I use the conditioner, I need more than I think I should, otherwise the hair feels drier and more tangly.

This has such a wonderful scent as well. It first smells like gardenia or magnolia. After the flower scent wears off it smells like coconut. Almost like a summer tan lotion, but fresher.

I'm giving this product an A++. I emailed the company when I first started using this product line. I wondered if it would be OK to use this product as my everyday shampoo, and could I use it long term? The answers were YES. They want me to use these products daily for at least 6 months for minimal results. I was concerned because this is considered a reparative product line. Some, you cannot use daily or long term or your hair feels straw-like. The Carol's Daughter rep said that the product does not build up like stronger protein shampoo so I should not be concerned about product build-up.

Monoi Oil products are for all hair types. They have other products for coarse, very texturized hair types and would be too heavy for my hair. I have tried the Black Vanilla conditioning spray. It's OK, but not enough detangler in it for me. It smells so good, I use it for the scent.

Any questions? Have you tried any Carol's Daughter products? Which ones, and what did you think? Let me know by commenting on my post.

Off Topic - Venus

Venus passing between the Earth and The Sun. Won't see this again for over 100 Earth years!

We used a pair of old binoculars, faced them backwards towards The Sun and shone the image it cast on a piece of pink paper to capture the image. Here's a pic of us getting the set up.

I have another glimpse that came out ok.

Pretty cool, huh?

Collective Haul

Multi-Haul! Ulta Macy's Mac Shiseido Carol's Daughter Manicure

From Macy's Ulta and the drugstore.

As you can see, I am a nail polish addict. One time I picked up over a dozen colors. I wonder if I've used them all yet? I'm just not sure.

I picked up a couple of Essie polishes on clearance at Ulta. "Your Hut Or Mine" and "Braziliant", polishes number 1 and 3 in the above photo. The other two I got there were regular price, one was China Glaze "Flip Flop Fantasy". I saw this on a girl at work and just had to have it. It's so much more fluorescent and beautiful in real life, pictures just can not read the polish like your eye can. I also bought a Butter London color called "Trout Pout" I get so many compliments when wearing this one. It's the perfect pale coral. I picked a color up at Walgreen's too. It's the new Sally Hansen Magnetic polish in "Ionic Indigo". I did not get a chance to try this yet, I have another brand and really think these are cool.

I have been gelling my nails for a while now. I have applied the base and top, then I use regular polishes over the top. They last much longer that way. I am assuming its because my nails are more sturdy and hold polish better since it's not so flexible underneath.

I bought the Carol's Daughter Monoi shampoo and conditioner and received a free travel size hair mask for buying the 2 full size products. They run about $20 each. I have been trying these ones for about a week and really like how shiny my hair is. I have super fine, slick straight baby hair. The Monoi products do not weigh my hair down at all, which I thought they might do just because they are oil based, The shampoo lathers because of the coconut oil in it, it has no sulfates which usually cause the lathering. This stuff smells so good! As I wash and condition, it smells like gardenia or magnolia flowers. After about a half a day, my hair takes on a more coconutty scent. I really like it. It's not a heavy scent, I have to be close to my hair to be able to notice the scent. I have used the mask twice, once after coloring my hair and again today, so about weekly. I like the feel of this more than I like the feel of the regular conditioner, but I would not think to use it daily. Maybe I will use it a couple of times a week instead of once. So far, I LOVE IT! It's claim is to grow hair longer by preventing breakage. I contacted the company and asked about the gentleness of the product, they recommended that I use it daily for at least 6 months. I wrote them because I was concerned about using a repair shampoo daily for so long. But they assured me that it would be fine, since the proteins are so gentle in the products. I hope I see wonderful results from it.

I picked up a cool brush I heard about from Shiseido, it is the Perfect Foundation Brush. This thing looks amazing! I found this video on line a while back about how the brush is made. Pretty cool. I have tried it a few times, and each time I use it I like it more and more. I am using it with a foundation from Clarins, the long wear fountain. I think it dries to quirky to work well with this brush, but I sprayed the brush with Mac's fix+ and it works much smoother. I have ordered a different foundation to try with it as well. We will see. The brush lays down the most airbrushed look I have ever seen. It does go through more product than with other application techniques, but I think it's worth it. It really looks flawless. The actual brush looks really tiny, but I think the size seems to work for better control as you stripe the product down your face. It's super soft synthetic densely packed bristles are such a great feel on the face, it does not drag or blotch the makeup on like other foundation brushes or sponges. Much better than fingers, which is my usual foundation applicator.

I picked up another Clarins Everlasting foundation in #03. It's called Ivory and I think it's still a tad too dark for me, but it's the closest I can find. It's my third bottle, I like it except for the slight color mismatch. I just ordered a Mac foundation in NW15. We will see if it's too light/dark?? when it arrives. I'll keep you posted on that.

I bought a bunch of M•A•C products at Macy's this week as well. I am going to try the Prep & Prime SPF 50, it's made for oily skin. I had it on the past couple of days. Not bad, doesn't feel too heavy.

I picked up a few brushes too. I needed a new spooky so I picked up the lash brush # 204. I am going to use it to tame the brows after pencilling them in.

I also grabbed the # 212, the push brush to put eyeliner into my lash line. It packs the color on in the right spot, it's super thin ad tapered so soft on the ends, I don't even feel like I'm poking my upper waterline.

I purchased another # 217 crease brush, I thought I'd try it for concealer but I don't like it for that. I'll just have a spare # 217 for eyeshadow.

I also picked up another M•A•C Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light. Good, light coverage to finish off foundation for a more natural finish. Not too matted down, beautiful natural skin sheen. If you have not tried it, go for it, it's so beautiful. I also like it for the light coverage, not like a finishing powder since it provides just a hint more coverage over my redness and whatnot. 

Last but not least, I purchased another big bottle of Mario Badescu Enzyme wash. Good, gentle cleanser, non-foaming, removed makeup and controls flakiness.

Well, I am giving up on this haul for tonight. I'll let you know if my views change on any of these products. Let me know if you've tried them and what you think. Have a good one!

NOTD

Nails with China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy and a Kiss brand 3-D charm.. Photo does not do this amazing color justice! Light pinky coral full-on flourescent! Amazing!

Quick NOTD

Nails of the day for yesterday and today.

Yesterday was Orly Haute Red with a matte top coat by Essie, finished the tips with a stripe of Seche Vite.


Today is a beautiful corally pink by Butter London called Trout Pout.

Living Proof Full - Review

I hauled this product a few days ago and was super excited to try it!

Well, I have given it 5 days. I must say that at first I really liked the way my hair felt. But as I used it, my hair got more and more tangled, fly-away static.. and so on.

I guess if you really need the added unmanageable texture this provides, it's OK. LOL

Anyway, I will give up on Living Proof. Not as great as I thought it would be, with all the hype.

I'm going to try the Monoi Carol's Daughter line next. A completely different concept. This one will hydrate the hair and make it not break, so making hair fuller and longer over time. As long as it feels good in the hair, I will want to use this one a long time to really see the effects. It's around the same price as the Living Proof set. I think they are round $25-$29 for the travel size set.

I'm going to pick some up this week because the Ulta near me just started carrying the Carol's Daughter line. I heard about this one on QVC. You learn a lot from watching that channel.

I'll put up an Ulta haul when I get a minute after my shopping spree this week. I'm also going to pick up China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. It's lovely. I can't wait to show you that one.

Questions, comments or your review of this product would be appreciated!

Living Proof Full

I picked up a travel size pack of a hair care line I have been wanting to try for a while. It's called Living Proof Full. It's a body building product line.

Living Proof products were designed by scientists. Here's a link from their web page:

About Us

The kit has four products. Shampoo, conditioner, thickening cream and root-lifting spray. I am trying the entire system. I wash my hair everyday so I was wondering if this would be too much for me. It was not, usually I have tangled hard to comb hair by the third day of using most volumizing shampoo/conditioners. I really like this line so far, the shampoo gives a bit more texture to my hair but then, the conditioner tames it and detangles it just enough, without destroying the texture it had from the shampoo. I towel dried my hair, combed through and sprayed ½ dozen pumps of the root-lifting spray on the crown of my head, then put about a dime sized dollop of the thickening cream throughout the rest of my hair. I then blow dried my hair with a large round brush.

I like the shiny look of my hair! It looks so healthy and feels natural. The products provide moderate texture. It keeps my hair styled to my liking through about half of the day. My hair loses it's style rather quickly anyway. I wonder if I should try more of the thickening cream. We'll see.

I also noticed on the third day of use that my hair got some fly-away static after about 10 hours. I usually just get like that in the winter, so it's odd. I'll try again to see if more conditioner or thickening cream will alleviate this problem. I hate static in my hair!

So, I like the feel of my hair and it's glossy look, but don't like the loss of style or static. I don't think I'll repurchase these. I'll still use up my travel sizes and see if my views change by then. I'll keep you posted if I change my opinion on this brand.

Holographic Nails

I think I've found something WONDERFUL!

Have you seen Holographic nail color? Oh my goodness.. I just tried some at Ulta from Layla. This is amazing. I put it over my coral gel polish. The coolest one is the silver, it has the most amount of flash! I can't pick up the differences of the colors very well on camera. 

Just beautiful. It flows and changes with every move you make. So pretty. It has a lot of micro glitter per swipe.

Silver

I have photos of two other shades. One is pink, the other is beige. They kind of look the same but have changed the color of my underneath polish slightly.

Beige

It's kind of spendy. It's $15.50 a bottle. Yipers.. So, I was trying them to see which one I should get. I think it's the silver. I want to try some more colors, I think there were 6-8 colors to choose. They had purple, blue, grey, black, pink, beige, silver and maybe more. But it just seemed like a light see-through color with the sparks of holographic micro glitters floating in it.

Pink

If you have tried other brands, let me know what they are and what you think of them. I'd like to see the differences by brand.

Ulta M•A•C and Lush HAUL

My neighborhood Ulta just remodeled so they've now got a Benefit "area". You can go there and try all the products, get a foundation color match ( you get a free 10 day sample of your foundation just for getting a match done this week), get your brows and/or face waxed. Pretty cool. Anyway, I always love their lipstick formula so I picked up a new one from there today.

Benefit Lipstick, Lady's Choice

It's called Lady's Choice. It's a wonderful nude with a hint of peachy-ness. This one is one of their Full Finish lip colors. The formula is so smooth, soft and glidey on the lip, comfortable to wear all day. However, I do have to reapply a couple of times per day while working an 8 hr shift. It's non-drying but you do still need to put more on through the day, if not just for color fade. I used it right w=away so did not take pics.. Sorry.
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I also went to the mall and shopped M•A•C and Lush inside Macy's. I really wanted the new lip color from M•A•C from the Shop Cook collection, also the Reel Sexy collection. Sadly, they did not have it. It was called Watch e Simmer, a beautiful pinky coral. I did find some wonderful items from the new stuff, and a lipstick from the permanent line.

First, I got the new Extra Dimension Eyeshadow ($20) in "Warm Thunder" A lovely long wear eye color. It's a medium grey shimmer, maybe with a glint of rainbow pearl. The consistency of this one is smooth, almost liquidy or damp feeling. It keeps the shimmer where you put it.

I also grabbed Lightscapade in the repromoted Mineralize Skinfinish ($29). It's a pretty pale beige, almost a regular translucent powder with loads of beautiful veining of teensy shimmers in it. Rainbow colors of tiny shimmer particles, looks much more natural than the usual robotic metal gleam of most MSFs.

I always have to buy a lipstick when at M•A•C. Since they did not have the one I came in for, I picked up one called Faux ($14.50). It's a satin finish so very natural feeling on the lip with full color. This one is called a muted mauvey pink. Light to medium shade. I'm pale so it's a nudey natural pink on me.

The photo does not show true, color is a bit darker than what you see.

That's it for my M•A•C haul, now on to the few things I picked up at the Lush counter. I went in for Ocean Salt ($34.95 for 8 oz, $19.99 for 4 oz.) which is a face and body scrub. It smells like a margarita, but what it does is so much more awesome than even the amazing scent! You can scrub your face everyday with it if you can handle it, I can do a couple of times a week. I get the softest smoothest baby skin from this great stuff

When you first get this stuff, stir it up to mix the blue and big salt chunks through it. If not, you'll get an extreme scrub your first time. There are big and small crystals of salt mixed into a softening base.

I also got a bunch of Bath Bombs, these are bath fizzers that color, scent and soften your bath water.

Big Blue ($6.35) Lavender, lemon, sea salt and seaweed. Haven't tried this kind yet.

Avobath ($6.25) Lemongrass, avocado, olive oil. Turns your water green.

The Rocketeer ($6.95) Sweet candy scent, blue w/yellow streamers through water, as it fizzes it scoots around the tub! It's cute, too.

I also picked up some solid lotion called a Massage Bar in Strawberry Feels Forever ($9.95) Strawberries and cream scent. This product melts in your hand, I rub the bar on my arms and let it melt there, or I will melt it in my hands then rub in for a lighter coat. It locks in moisture very well.

I did pick up some more Toothy Tabs in Ultra Blast, mint ($3.95) They are little pills you crush in your mouth to brush your teeth. They taste kind of bitter or salty but clean your teeth so well. Nothing better.

I got one more soap to try, it's just a hand and body bar called Miranda. You buy these by the size of the chunk. Mine was about ¼ of a lb. ($9.17) Kiwi, bergamot, orange, ylang ylang, juniper berry. It smells like fresh clean skin, and it's got a stained glass look to the surface.. Pretty!

I did cut this one down the center so I wouldn't have one big square in the shower. Easy to cut with smooth knife. You can see the stained glass effect on the top in this picture.

Well, that's it for this haul, I'll post reviews for products I really love or really hate.. We'll see. Any questions or comments? Post below! Later!