Weekly Wrap-up

Sunday has rolled around once again and that means it’s wrap up time.  This week wasn’t very productive so this should be fairly short.

In the weight loss department, I was only down 0.8 pounds.  A little disappointing but I haven’t been working out the past two weeks or so.  I don’t expect to be down any this coming week either, in fact I’ve probably gained some weight.  I was so stressed out trying to get the tutorial up all week all I wanted to do was eat, so I did.  I just know that this coming week I have to get my butt in gear and keep on track.  

As a team at work though, we are ROCKIN’ it!  I’m so proud of everyone I work with and am so glad we all support each other every day!

Moving onto beauty items, I only had a few purchases this week but it was more than I planned.  I stopped at Ulta yesterday since I had a 20% off coupon that was set to expire and there was a new Stila blush in the most recent ad.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have the blush in yet so I’ll have to check back.  The only items I ended up getting were a new Loreal Carbon Black eyeliner, some Physicians Formula Conceal RX concealer (I haven’t bought concealer in years so hopefully this is a good one) and I got two new NYX Glitter Mania eye glitters, one in pink (GP04) and one in purple (GP07).  I’m hoping to use these soon with some new looks.  That’s it for new purchases this week, hopefully I’ll have the new blush by next week’s wrap-up.

Finally, my new Crown Brush “Smoke It Out” palette arrived Friday.  So far, I’m very pleased with it.  There are 36 colors in shades of browns/golds, greys/silvers, greens, blues, purples and pinks.  I already have a new look to show everyone with the pink shades that I plan to have up by Wednesday.  The shadows themselves are quite pigmented and don’t seem to have a lot of fall out.  Hopefully I will stay pleased with it as I experiment with the other colors.  Below are some pictures of the palette.  It, along with several others, can be found here.

Without flash, colors labeled

With flash

Well, that’s it for this evening.  I hope everyone has a great week ahead.  I’ve got overtime scheduled so mine’s going to be long, lol.  Talk to everyone later! J

Grey Smoky Eyes

Finally!!  As promised, the long awaited Grey Smoky Eye Tutorial!  Sorry it’s up so late but I did finally conquer all the technical difficulties I was having except for one, the very end of the video got cut off but I'm okay with that at this point.  I'm just happy I finally got it finished.

This look is a good one for someone just starting to try out bolder, smokier looks.  If anyone has any questions about any products I use or where I get them leave a comment and I’ll be sure to let you know. 

 And now, on to the pictures, products and video and I’ll talk to everyone later!  Enjoy!

Products Used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

NYX For Your Eyes Only Smokey Eyes Eye Shadow Palette

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

NYX Slide On Eyeliner in Platinum (SL08)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon

Stila “Empowered in Pink” Palette Blush in Pink

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

Revlon Colorstay Lip Butter in Peach Parfait

No Video So Here's Some Lip Butters Instead

I know I said I’d have a tutorial up sometime either Monday or Tuesday and now it’s Wednesday and there’s still no video L.  I’ve been having all sorts of problems with software and disc issues.  I thought I got it figured out last night then “BAM!”, more problems this evening.  I hope to have it up tomorrow or Friday night at the latest.  This has really caused more headaches than it should, lol.  Sorry for all the delays, I will make it up to everyone.

So, in place of a video I do have the swatches of the Revlon Colorstay Lip Butters I purchased at Ulta last Saturday.  Recapping those I picked up Sweet Tart (a semi-opaque pink), Peach Parfait (a transparent peach with some frost) and Crème Brulee (a transparent nude).

Sweet Tart

Peach Parfait

Creme Brulee 

Top to Bottom:  Sweet Tart, Peach Parfait, Creme Brulee

Sweet Tart

Peach Parfait

Creme Brulee

If you’re looking for some new lip colors these are great for just about any skin tone.  The possible exception to that is Sweet Tart, it can seem a little bright.  However, the Lip Butters line has a wide array of colors so everyone should be able to find something flattering.  The formula of the product itself is very nice.  All the colors are creamy and moisturizing without being too…slick.  I hope this helps anyone who may be torn about picking up one or two.  I find them to be a great product and plan on getting a few more colors.

That’s all I have for tonight.  Again, I hope the tutorial is up by tomorrow evening.  My Crown Brush palette is finally on the way as well as a new NYX palette so I’ll have many more colors to work with soon.  New colors means new ideas and new ideas are always fun!

Hope everyone has a great night, talk to you soon! J

Weekly Wrap-Up

Once again it’s Sunday, time for this week’s wrap up.

Starting out with the weight loss progress, I’m down another 1.4 pounds this week.  I probably ruined that this past few days, though, as I haven’t been eating well.  Weekends are the hard part, mostly because I’m not eating regularly.  I usually only eat something  for lunch and then dinner so I want to snack a lot in the evening.

During the week I eat on a regular basis.  For example, I have a yogurt for breakfast, on my first break I have a cheese stick and an orange, I then have a healthy lunch and finally on my last break I have an apple.  These are spaced out about every 2 hours.  I then go home and make supper, which may or may not be the healthiest, I’m working on that, and then before I go to bed I’ll have a light snack.  All of this keeps me from being hungry all the time so that I don’t just eat everything.  I really need to find a way to do this on the weekends too and I’ll be good.

Moving on to beauty purchases, I filmed a haul video that you can find at the bottom of the post.  Because of this I’ll just quickly mention what I got.  I picked up 3 of the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters (2 at Ulta and one at Target) in Sweet Tart, Peach Parfait and Crème Brulee, all very nice colors and I plan on having the swatches up this coming week. 

I got some new Conair hot rollers and some roller clips to go with them.  I’m going to try curls in my hair rather than my usual straight look.  I think I’m gonna need to practice a bit first though, lol.

I also got a package of the Say Yes to Cucumbers (I say “carrots” below in the video by accident) facial towelettes.  I really like these, they’re great for sensitive skin and they’re not perfume-y, they just smell like real cucumbers. 

I bought a nice light pink nail polish from Essie called “Raise Awareness”, a left over from Breast Cancer Awareness month in October.  This was in the clearance bin at Ulta for $3.99 instead of the normal $8.00 Essie usually sells for so that was nice.

Lastly, I was able to get some more cotton rounds at Ulta since 2 weeks ago they were all sold out.  I prefer these ones over any other, they’re priced nicely and they don’t fall apart leaving cotton pieces all over. 

That’s it for beauty purchases this week, check out the video below to see the products.  Next week I’m hoping to have my new Crown Brush eye palette to show everyone, along with another one possibly.

 This week’s manicure is Neeka by Zoya, from the Smoke and Mirrors collection.  It’s a pretty pearly purple with grey undertones.  It’s a very nice for fall and winter.

So that’s it for today.  I hope to have a tutorial up possibly tomorrow or Tuesday on a grey smoky look.  I’m still trying to find the best place to film but I think I’ve got it figured out.  Anyway, hope everyone has a great week, again check out my video below.   Talk to everyone later! J

The Sickies Are Here

And I’m home with them L.  This is the 2^nd time in a month I’ve come down with something.  I keep telling Aaron it’s his fault since he made me quit smoking.  I don’t usually get sick this often, maybe once a year if even that.  So yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m not smoking now, lol.  Even if that’s not true it’s a good excuse J.

I stayed home from work since it hurts to talk and swallow and my job pretty much consists of talking all day.  I’m also sure my coworkers appreciate me not coughing my germs all over the place.  So, instead of being there infecting everyone, I'm catching up on what I have saved on my DVR.  I’m taking Echinacea so hopefully this all clears up soon.  I’ll be back to work tomorrow, regardless, as its busy season and we can only have one “same day call-in” of personal time a month without it affecting our actual attendance.

In other news, I’ve had a few requests from friends that they want to actually SEE how I do my eye makeup.   Because of these requests I’m trying to figure out the best way to do any tutorials.  The lighting in my house is not the best so finding a good place to film is presenting a problem.  The best lighting is in the bathroom but there’s really no room in there.  I’d like to be able to use my desk downstairs since I have a chair and plenty of space to put my makeup mirror, makeup and camcorder but there is almost no light at all down there.  I’m also going to have to play around with the camcorder and the DVD + RW’s I have for it since I’m quite unfamiliar with reusing one of these discs after they’ve been finalized to be played back on other equipment.  I do plan on trying to film soon, probably a haul video of what I purchase this weekend.  Hopefully I can get everything in place with decent light and a voice that is back to normal, lol.

Until then, here’s another look I got from my favorite beauty blogger, MakeupByTiffanyD.  If you click on the link you will be taken to her tutorial and list of products, which is slightly different than mine.  She calls the look “Changing Leaves”.  I think it’s very pretty and great for fall and winter.   Enjoy!

 Products Used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

MAC Eye Shadow in Humid

MAC Eye Shadow in Copper

MAC Eye Shadow in Dazzlelight

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

SEPHORA Flashy Liner Waterproof in Moss (17)

MAC Mascara X in Black

 Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon

Stila “Empowered in Pink” palette Blush in Pink

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk (as a highlighter)

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Cosmo (LG110)

Talk to everyone later!  J

Weekly Wrap-Up

Wow, it’s Sunday already!  Weekends go too fast and weeks too slow, don’t you agree?  Anyway, it’s time for the weekly wrap up.

Let’s start with this week’s results of the Wedding Challenge at work.  I’m down two pounds!  It seems a bit easier this time to stay within my calorie allowances since I have so much support from the people I work with.  We’re such a GREAT team!  Working out is taking some getting used to though.  I totally got off track the past year or two.  I had been going to the YMCA 3 times a week but I got lazy and stopped going.  Then my shift at work changed to me getting off later and I just couldn’t find the time to fit it in.  Now, with the elliptical at home and Just Dance 3, I can’t blame it on not enough time, lol.  The last thing I need to do is find healthier recipes to make for dinner for all of us, if anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

Moving on to purchases this week, they’re not very interesting.  This week’s shopping pretty much just consisted of groceries and other household or work necessities.  I did order a new some new eye shadow.  It’s a Crown Brush smoky eye palette I found on Hautelook.  Once, I receive it I’ll be sure to post and review.

I did buy one other thing, since Aaron gave me what was left on his Wal-mart gift card.  I picked up the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie.  It’s a really pretty, well, raspberry color, lol.  It’s a bit more opaque than I thought it would be.  All the swatches of other colors I’d seen had been more transparent and gloss-like.  It’s still a beautiful color and I think it should work well with my skin tone.

And lastly this week, here’s the purple smoky eye I was sporting yesterday in support of my Kansas State Wildcats, even though it didn’t help all that much L .  This is one of my most worn eye shadow looks as anyone who knows me knows my favorite color is purple.  Hope you enjoy!

 Products used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

Maybelline Stylish Smokes Quad in Amethyst Smokes (06)

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

NYX Slide On Eye Liner in Purple Blaze (SL10)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon

Stila “Empowered in Pink” palette Blush in Pink

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk (as a highlighter)

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Cosmo (LG110)

Well, that’s all for this week!  Hope everyone has a great upcoming week!  Also, if there is anything anyone would like to know or any look someone would like to see, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.  

Talk to everyone later! J

It's Not a Dinosaur But It Sounds Like One

It’s a Polydactyl!  Polydactyly as defined by Webster’s is “the condition of having more than the normal number of fingers or toes”.  So a polydactyl would of course be a being with more than the normal numbers of fingers or toes.

What brings this up you may ask?  Well, I saw this article on Huffington Post talking about 2 cute little black and white polydactyl kittens.  One has an extra 8 toes and the other an extra 10.  I thought I’d share pictures of my polydactyl cat.  Dune, my black Bombay, has an extra toe on each front paw that makes him look like he’s wearing mittens.  He also has an extra one on each back paw but they’re smaller and mostly unnoticeable.  Check out his adorable pictures below.

Also, little bit of trivia, in the book version of Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lector is polydactyl.  He has an extra finger on his left hand.  This was left out of the movie.  Just thought it was interesting, lol.

Oh, Hai! 

See my extra toes, I can almost pick things up like you do!

I’ll close this evening with today’s brown smokey eye look.  It's a fairly easy look that anyone can do and would look good on just about everyone.  One of these days I plan on actually making tutorials but it may be a while.  I need more practice, lol.

Eye products used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

NYX For Your Eyes Only Smokey Eyes Eye Shadow Palette

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner in Sable Brown(011)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Other products used:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Cosmo (LG110)

Talk to everyone later! J 

Weekly Wrap-Up

I’m gonna try this for a while and see how it goes.  I’m not sure exactly what it will involve as not every week is that exciting.  At work a group of us are all trying to be healthier and eat better so I’ll probably mention my progress in losing, gaining or maintaining weight each week.  Fashion and beauty purchases will also be listed, although those aren’t necessarily “weekly” things especially since I’m trying to cut back on the spending.

We’ll start this week’s wrap up with the weight loss.  I’m trying to lose just 10 pounds.  The majority of my friends don’t think I need to lose any weight.  Admittedly, I don’t look like it but it’s there.  I’m 5’3” and currently weigh 140 lbs.  This puts me right on the border of normal/overweight for my BMI.  Ideally, I should probably be at about 125 lbs. but I’m just gonna start with the 10 lb. weight loss and go from there.

To do this I’m trying to eat better  and work out more.  I’m using a website and app for my phone called Loseit.com to track my calorie intake.  Based on my age, height and current weight I have a daily allowance of 1,421 calories which can be difficult to stay at or under.  I’m also working out at least 3 times a week.  Aaron bought me an elliptical for Christmas that I use that after work for 20 to 30 minutes.  Also, Santa brought Scarlett Just Dance 3 and Smurfs’ Dance Party.  Both provide a great workout so I’ll probably start doing those as well.  With support from friends and coworkers I think it will go well.  It’s only been a week since I started so I haven’t had another weigh in yet, that will be in next Sunday’s wrap up.

Moving on to fashion and beauty purchases there aren’t many this week.  I only bought two beauty related items.  I replaced my Revlon Brow Fantasy.  I got Light Brown this time as I think the Brunette was slightly too reddish for me and didn’t look good.  This is one of the best brow pencils/gels I have used.  On one side is the pencil and on the other is a tinted gel.  The pencil is glides on real well, it’s not too hard and not too soft, and the gel sets your brows nicely without feeling too stiff or goopy.

I also got a full sized Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer to replace the travel sized one I got myself for Christmas.  I really like the way this looks on me, the way the colors of the palate blend together so it’s not too orange (like some bronzers do) or pink (like blush) on my skin.

That’s it for beauty items.  I do wish I had realized that the Revlon items were buy one, get on 50% off at Ulta though as I wanted one of the new Colorburst Lip Butters.  The color I really wanted was sold out though so it’s okay.  They’re on sale until January 21^st so I’ll pick two up next payday and maybe they’ll have been restocked by then.

Lastly, and this will be bi-weekly, is my current manicure, Anja by Zoya, from the Smoke and Mirrors collection. It's a very pretty deep burgandy cream.  I'm just starting to like ceam-based colors.  I usually go with a pearl or very glittery polish but I have found some creams that look very nice on me as well.

Well, I guess that’s all for now.   Have a great week and I’ll talk to you all later! J

Quality Comes at a Price

I have found out that sometimes, probably most times actually, but definitely sometimes, higher prices do mean better quality.

For the past few years the makeup brushes I have been using have been okay quality.  I have an assortment of Sonia Kashuk and E.L.F brushes from Target.   I’ve spent from $1.00 to $12.00 per brush on these.  They work well, however they aren’t the softest and they hold onto a lot of product.  So much so that I have a “set” of brushes for each eye shadow look I have because if I didn’t I would have to fully wash each brush everyday to use a different color.  This is a slight problem as I am running out of space to keep brushes.  Additionally, I’m going to have to replace a few soon as the bristles are getting quite stiff and actually hurt to use.

So the Monday after Christmas I decided to break down and spend a much larger amount of money on some really nice makeup brushes from Sigma Makeup.  I had a 20% off coupon code so that helped.  I ordered  the Make Me Crazy 12-piece set in purple.

The set includes the following brushes (from left to right):

F30 - Large Powder (natural bristles)

F40 - Large Angled Contour (natural bristles)

F50 - Duo Fibre (blend of natural and synthetic bristles)

F60 – Foundation (synthetic bristles)

F70 – Concealer (synthetic bristles)

E40 - Tapered Blending (natural bristles)

E60 - Large Shader (natural bristles)

E55 - Eye Shading (natural bristles)

E70 - Medium Angled Shading (natural bristles)

E30 – Pencil (natural bristles)

E65 - Small Angle (synthetic bristles)

E05 -  Eyeliner (synthetic bristles)

I absolutely, positively love these brushes! They are sooo soft and nice.  They pick up a lot of the product and deposit almost all of it on my face rather than most of it staying on the brush.  I haven’t had to use my brush cleaning spray on any of them except for the pencil brush.  Since I’ve been using black eye shadow on that one cleaner is always going to be needed to keep it from being stained.   I don’t need separate brushes for each color of eye shadow I use anymore which is just AWESOME!

All in all, these are great brushes.  Like I said, they are pricey but since I don’t need multiples the price is reasonable to me.  I would recommend them, or any Sigma product, to anyone who asks.  I also plan on getting one more brush soon, the F80 Flat Kabuki as I prefer flat topped brushes for applying blush.  I expect this to meet or exceed all my expectations as well.

I hope everyone enjoyed this review and that I helped anyone who may have been debating spending a lot on makeup brushes.  Some may think I’m crazy due to the cost but it was definitely worth it to me J.

Talk to you all soon!

Welcome to 2012!

Happy New Year!!  Hope everyone was safe last night and all is well today!  I just hung out with my family last night so not very exciting here.  We had snacks and watched the ball drop.  It’s the same thing we do each year.

Today I got the tree taken down and all the decorations put away.  The only things still up are the outdoor lights.  Aaron worked all day today and I’m afraid of heights so those will have to wait.  It looks like the holidays are over.  I don’t know whether I’m glad or not about that.

Anyway, time to start a great new year.  I only made one true goal (not a “Resolution”) for 2012, to not put anymore purchases on my Citi card.  I’m really bad about using it for impulse buys when I can’t really afford something.  So, I took the card out of my wallet and put it away.  I’m only going to make payments on it for the year.  If I can stick to this goal then this November, for Black Friday, I’m going to buy myself a new digital SLR camera.  I’ve wanted one for a long time but never bought one.  I’m bound and determined to do this so wish me luck.

As a smaller goal, I want to build up my savings so that means less spending over all.  This one will be harder I think so I’m not as hopeful, but I’m gonna try.

To finish up today please take a look at my New Year’s look from yesterday.  I figure just because I didn’t go out and do anything that’s no reason not to look all glam and such, lol.  I got this look from one of my favorite makeup bloggers, Makeup By TiffanyD.  If you click the link you can see her tutorial on how to achieve the look as well as her list of products used (which differs slightly from mine).  Check her out!

Products used:

Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer
MAC Eyeshadow in Copper
Maybelline Eyeshadow in Golden Halo (270S)
MAC Eyeshadow in Dazzlelight
Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense liquid eye liner
NYX Slide On Eyeliner in Golden Bronze (SL16)
MAC Mascara X

Face:
Smashbox Photo Finish primer
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle
MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon
Stila "Empowered in Pink Palette" Blush in Pink
Too Face Pink Leopard Bronzer
MAC Lusterglass in Venetian Red

Once again, I hope everyone has a great 2012!  Talk to you later J.