Old FOTD: Bronzed Plum!

Hi Guys!

I know I've mentioned here before that I am getting behind on my posts, but I'll say it again... I'm getting behind on my posts! I am finding a lot of Face of the Day posts from long enough ago that I don't really remember accurately where I placed everything I used in it. And I'll be honest: the real reason I take pictures of everything I used is so that it will jog my memory! Otherwise I'd be sitting here telling you "I used some purple (maybe this one or this one or that one or any and all combinations thereof....)", and that would never do. At any rate, I'll be posting a couple of looks with less-than-stellar descriptions in the coming week or two as I try to work through some of my older folders. Does this happen to you guys? I feel like if I wait more than three or four days between when I did a look and posting it, I can't for the life of me remember where I put what, unless it's really simple or really obvious.

Oh yeah; this was also the day or two before I started pinning my bangs back, so they are loooong and OUT OF CONTROL. Don't say I didn't warn you...

What's all that there? Hanging over my forehead? 

 I don't really know what inspired this look... All I can tell you is that I remember wanting to do something a little bit darker on the eye than usual, but still keep it "daytime/casual," and it ended up getting much softer than I had in mind after I blended it out, although I did quite like the result. Do you guys ever feel really over-dressed in makeup? Lately, if I even leave the house, it's just to run to the grocery store and I feel ridiculous if I do very dramatic makeup. I guess I shouldn't care too much. I need more of a nightlife so I'll have an excuse to do more dramatic looks. Sometimes I feel like I've forgotten how! This time last year I was all about the smoky eyes. Maybe I'm just feeling a bit uninspired when it comes to experimenting with makeup; I guess we all go through phases of wanting to focus on different looks, and lately my phase has been softer daytime looks, but I think I'm beginning to break out of that! I have been gravitating towards different colors; maybe the next evolution will be Drama. Oh well, sorry for the rant... On to more pictures!

Here are the products I used. Because I don't remember where I used each product, I'm just going to list them in their given category. If you're curious about anything, though, let me know, and if I remember I'll give you as much information as I can!

 Face: Almay Primer, Hard Candy Glamoflage, Make Up Forever Face & Body Makeup, NARS Luminizer in Orgasm, Tarte Smooth Operator Loose Powder,  Benefit Hoola, Wet n Wild Bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana, Boots Botanics Blush in Chicory, MAC blush in Sakura

Eyes: NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base, Korres Eyeshadow in Plum, Wet n Wild eyeshadow single in Brulee, Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette (only used the top left pale gold shade), Revlon Eyeshadow in Vintage Lace, Stila Eyeshadow in Kitten, Inglot 344, 363, and 402, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Delinquent, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Baked, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Rockstar, Prestige My Biggest Lashes Mascara, Prestige Eyebrow Pencil, Anastacia Brow Gel in Caramel.

Lips: EOS Lip Balm in Lemon Drop, Wet n Wild lipstick in Black Orchid, Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in in Decadent.

Cheeks! 

 Gratuitous Eye Closeups:

Lips! 

Slowly but surely, I am getting through all of my old photographs. This one is only about 3 weeks old... Hopefully I don't get more behind than this!

And I know I don't say it on each and every post, but the sentiment is always there; thank you so much for reading and commenting, guys! I love interacting with each and every one of you, and it means a lot to me that you take the time to stop by and check out what I'm doing.

Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hr Lipstick in Beige Forgood: Swatches and Review

Hi guys!

I had a coupon for Maybelline and decided to use it to try one of the new 14 Hour Lipsticks in Beige Forgood. My favorite nude of all time is Prescriptive's Posh Nude, and I've been looking for a dupe for ages now that it's discontinued. Or even if I couldn't find a dupe, I'd settle for finding another nude shade that I thought flattered me. A lot of nudes give me "foundation lips" or look dark enough that they come off as a light brown rather than a true nude lip color. So, does Beige Forgood meet the mark?

Nope. File this one under "foundation lips"; it just kind of washes me out. I'm sure I'll end up using it now that I have it along with lip glosses or mixed in with other lipsticks, but on its own, Beige Forgood seems to have a bit of a grey cast that does absolutely nothing for my complexion. That being said, the formula of these new Maybelline lipsticks isn't my favorite, either. It's a bit tacky on the lips, which I suppose is part of the long-wearing formula, and has a plasticy-berry sweet scent that doesn't fade upon application. To be honest, I haven't made it past about an hour with this lipstick on before the scent and texture got to me and I wiped it off, so I can't say I've tested the 14 hour claim. It hugs the lip very tightly; it doesn't settle into lines, but it doesn't camouflage or cushion them at all. The formula is moist enough not to be drying, but it's not moisturizing, either.

Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hour Lipstick

Beige Forgood

Swatch of Maybelline Beige Forgood

Wearing Maybelline Beige Forgood

Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hr Lipstick: Beige Forgood

Summary: So, there you have it; not my favorite color, and not my favorite formula. I'm sorry I didn't give this enough of a go to let you know if it lives up to it's 14 hour claim, but the formula just kind of makes my skin crawl after a little while. The color doesn't look so awful in the pictures, but in real life it has a bit more of a dull grey cast to it. I don't hate this enough to want to get rid of it, but I don't expect to ever wear this product on it's own; its new life will be to lighten other lip colors and worn under lip gloss. I don't plan on buying anymore of these, though; it's not my cup of tea.

Belle Peacoque

Haha, sorry for the dumb title! I wanted to do a Peacock-inspired eye look, and the the colors in the result reminded me a lot of the color schemes employed by Alphonse Mucha in his Belle-Epoque era Art Nouveau posters. So of course I had to utilize a stupid pun.

As you may or may not have noticed, I've been doing a lot more neutral looks lately; some of this is not having much time to do my makeup on most days, some of it is wanting to focus more on lip and cheek color. But I've been kicking around the idea of using peacock inspired colors on an eye look; I didn't want to do anything too literal, but I was in the mood to use deep jewel tones on my eyes. The second thing I had going on was that I was out of town over the weekend and still haven't unpacked the makeup I took with me! I'm sure I overpacked; as a result, all of my tried-and-true basics are still in a travel bag in my as-of-yet-unpacked suitcase. I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I am more creative when I am working with restrictions; I can't fall back on the safe things that I know work. This also provided me with a great opportunity to draw inspiration from some older and under-used items in my stash, which is always fun! I also used a lot less foundation/ concealer than usual, and I was really happy with the way my skin looked, so I might try experimenting with sheerer applications of my different foundations to see if I can find a new sweet spot between getting enough coverage and getting a more natural skin texture than what I have been seeing with my current routine.

Take a look!

Here is what I used:

Face: Almay Primer, Benefit Stay Don't Stray (as concealer under the eye and to cancel out redness on my nose, and as primer on the lid itself), L'Oreal Infallible Foundation (very sheer application, focusing on the center of the face), NYC loose powder, Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana (as highlighter on cheekbone, chin, and across forehead), Nyx blush in Raisin (to contour), Urban Decay powder blush in Quickie (on apples of cheeks).

Eyes: Benefit Stay Don't Stray (to prime; you'll notice above that I actually did this before my foundation and used it elsewhere on my face as well), Stila Smudgepot in Kitten (applied from lashline to brow bone), Aromaleigh Big Bang (focused in deepest part of crease), Aromaleigh Dark Matter (just above crease and blended up), Aromaleigh Alloy (top of inner corner and blended up and out into the crease), Meow Cosmetics Bast (top of outer corner into crease), Meow Cosmetics Reincarnation (middle of crease blended down onto middle part of lid).  Mark by Avon eyeshadow in Retro Peacock (outer corner, winged up and out), Urban Decay eyeshadow in Haight (patted on top of the bottom portion of Retro Peacock). Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Lucky (on lower lashline), UD 24/7 eyeliner in Covet (on lower waterline), UD 24/7 eyeliner in Yeyo (on lower part of inner corner), UD 24/7 eyeliner in Binge (blended onto Lucky on lower lashline, and used to create cat-eye wing on outer part of upper lashline; I did not line the rest of the upper lashline). Revlon Colorstay #4 in Addictive Quad (to fill in brows), L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara (top and bottom lashes).  Note: I applied all of the eyeshadows avoiding the bottom center of the eyelid so that Kitten shows through there.

Lips: L'Oreal Infallible lipstick in Brazen Bronze, Revlon Colorburst lipgloss in Crystal Lilac.

I'm not thrilled with the way the lip color paired with the rest of the look; I wanted something that leaned coppery-brown and was glowy, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Oh well.

The finished look

Cheeks! (Raisin and UD's old powder blush in Quickie)

Eyes

Outer Corner of Eyes

Lips: Brazen Bronze and Crystal Lilac

I am quite pleased with the way the eye look turned out! It's not what I usually do, in technique or in the colors, but I was able to pull out some products that don't get enough love and play around, which is always fun. I'm excited to try modified versions of this look until I get something closer to what I'd pictured in my mind's eye, but this was a neat and unexpected look.

Don't want to work!

Hi everyone! Here I am, sitting at my desk in front of my laptop, trying to make a concerted effort to get some work done towards what will become my thesis and I cannot get anything to happen. It would be more apt to title this post "Can't work!" I have had the worst case of writer's block I've ever experienced, and I'm not even writing yet! I am still researching, and this entire process intimidates the hell out of me. I am the type of person who hates change, and I got really comfortable in the coursework routine; I found a rhythm that worked for me and gave me great results, and all of the sudden that isn't working anymore. I am also learning how much I relied on the classroom environment for inspiration and motivation.  Have any of you guys been through this process? What did you find that helped you? I am trying to just break things down into really small steps and forgive myself for not being better at this; I'm at the point where the guilt I'm feeling at not having done more is really crippling. I know I'm not going to graduate this semester, but I'd really like to be done by the end of Summer, before the Fall semester starts up! 

Anyway, I decided that if I can't be productive in my schoolwork right now, I can at least be productive in writing up a blog post, and hopefully that will help motivate me to crack open one of the several-inches-thick volumes I have sitting next to me and take some helpful notes. It is in that spirit that I bring you... Owl's Lust! This is an old Nail of the Day that I had pretty much decided not to post. Even though it's a gorgeous red shade, it was limited edition (part of L'Oreal's Project Runway collection) and I already had some serious tip-wear going on by the time I got around to taking pictures. But I was going through old pictures looking for posts I'd missed, and  I decided that I should share this with you guys since I have such a soft spot for this color! 

Owl's Lust has the typical L'Oreal nail polish formula, which I like just fine, but I know some people have issues with it. It wears about average on me, and I don't find it any more difficult (or any easier) to work with than most formulas. Owl's Lust looks like it might be a typical darker red shade in the bottle, but on the nail it shifts between a brick-red and muted deep wine tone, depending on the light. It's quite the chameleon! 

I've got three pictures below that I think fairly accurately represent the spectrum of reds this can appear as depending on the lighting: 

L'Oreal Owl's Lust: no flash

L'Oreal Owl's Lust: flash

Owl's Lust: more flash! 

What do you guys think? Are you sad you missed out on this? I still think "Owl's Lust" is a really awkward name for ANYTHING, much less a nail polish. Haha, it actually makes me kind of uncomfortable! 

NOTD: Sally Hansen Mousseline and Instant Coffee Leopard Print

More nail stamping! Will it ever end? Probably eventually... But not anytime soon! This is my favorite stamped nail design I've done so far; I used colors that contrasted with each other better but weren't too loud, and the design was definitely noticeable. I got a few compliments on my nails while I had this manicure, and people were really curious about how I did it. I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Mousseline as my base, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Instant Coffee for the leopard print stamping. I love both of these colors, and they worked really well together. This was the first time I had worn Mousseline, a shade that I found on clearance at Ulta and was able to use a $1 off Sally Hansen coupon with, so I got it for next to nothing. After I put it on, I fell for it... hard! I actually went back to check and see if there was another bottle hiding in the clearance bin! (No luck.)

Mousseline and Instant Coffee

Mousseline as my base, Instant Coffee for the leopard print design

A couple of the leopard spots got smudgy (one of my little fingers was the worst offender, which is why you don't see it featured here), but I think that is just the nature of stamping. I'm sure that my success rate will go up the more I practice, but so far I have found it difficult to stamp my little finger (the curve of the nail seems too severe to get the stamper to roll across it easily without any smudging), and you have to be really, really careful that you scrape the plate really well and keep the area around the image clean of excess polish before you pick up the pattern; that's been the mistake I've made the most often. Oh well, I am still having so much fun with this! It's really satisfying to think I can do neat designs on my nails quickly, easily, and (usually) accurately. The lamest part is waiting for the base color to dry enough to stamp on without relying on fast-dry top coat!