Ipsy December 2014 - Thinking of You

All things considered, this bag is pretty great in the harvest. These are the most narrow selections I've seen since joining back in March. Still, I feel like I got the best of the options. 

Beauty Without Cruelty

A.H.A. 3% Facial Cleanser

http://www.beautywithoutcruelty.com/aromatherapy-skin-care/aromatherapy-skin-care-aha-facial-cleanser-8-5-oz.html

Full Size $11.95

2 fl oz/8.5 fl oz

Adjusted price $2.81

I have never heard of the brand, but their name sounds more like a slogan or a creed rather than a name. It's cheesy. 

Either way yes on the cleanser! I don't know what alpha hydroxy acids are, but this product does have aloe vera. That's familiar. This is kind of exciting for me, as I have been looking (more or less stagnant waiting for one to get stuck in my spiderweb, as opposed to active seeking) for a cleanser. 

This works well and with it I am pleased. So far the bottle has more than lasted for two months. 

Cailyn Cosmetics

Just Mineral Eye Polish

http://www.cailyncosmetics.com/EYE/JUST-MINERAL-EYE-POLISH?product_id=564

Full size $15

The website makes this product look amazing. The shade is very lovely, but not exactly an Orchid to me. Still is a lilac tinted nude. Cailyn has a penchant for interesting containers, and I feel like this is going to be lovely. Cannot wait to try it!

Makes for a beautiful look. I enjoy. 

NYX Cosmetics

Butter Lip Balm 

http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/p-214-butter-lip-balm.aspx

Full size $4

As a lover of butter gloss and butter lipstick from NYX this is very welcome. This is one that everyone received, reminiscent of the lip cream from NYX everyone got in their Dec 11 bag. 

I am super hopeful to get really either color, but more hopeful towards mauve or the blueish pink. 

I got marshmallow. It was nice and had. Nice flavor/scent. It was boring, but had a nice light nude that went with my skin. I speak in past tense, because three days after receiving it my dogs fished it out of my purse and decimated it. 

Sexy Hair

450* Blow Out Heat Defense Blow Dry Spray Mini

https://www.sexyhair.com/p/style-sexy-hair/450-blow-out

Full size $18.95

1.7 fl oz/4.2 fl oz

Adjusted price $7.67

Of the hair products I could have received, I dodged a bullet. Blow outs were recently featured on a Maskcara tutorial that actually prickled on my interest radar. While yes, I still have last months hair spray, this one kind of made me happy. Maybe I can try a blowout with my scraggle hair. 

Ended up just using this to supplement a birthday gift for my sister. 

Tarte

Deluxe Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara

http://tartecosmetics.com/tarte-item-lights-camera-lashes-mascara

Full size $20

0.10 fl oz/0.24 fl oz

Adjusted price $8.33

4-in-1 is a funny title. I do not see different benefits with mascara. Good mascara is black, and makes my lashes look like Perversion or They're Real. 1-in-1 would be like "Hey, does this mascara work or no?" Now Tarte is known for their fancy-scmancy natural things like the Amazonian clay. This one promises to nourish and condition your lashes by 330%. That is a lofty goal that hey, maybe it will deliver. I'll tell you when I open it up in March. 

Everyone got one of these, as sort of a throwback to the first bag. I already have a mini of this, which I have not used. But trust me when I say that this is next after I finish Lash Domination and my understate Almay One Coat Thickening. I always love mascara samples, as the size is more appropriate to use during a 2 month span without much waste. 

Price wise this is almost the value of the bag and a hair more expensive than the Maybelliene I regularly purchased prior to this year. 

This can be a bit flaky if you apply too much, but it really gives a beautiful lash. Almost up there with Perversion I would say this is my third favorite mascara. 

$37.81/$10. 

as ususual we are around the $40 mark but with products I can actually use I am elated. 

Toiling

Hello again. I ended up publishing only about three posts in November. NaNoWriMo did anything but produce more blog posts, because I filled ever spare minute with glorious, uninterrupted writing. This month of NaNo was the best one I have ever had, and I have never had such an honest word count as this one!

So I did some interesting projects.
Finally, I tore apart my UD Book of Shadows IV Redux and made it something more friendly for my purse.
I have photos I can upload from that.

I also attempted that faux undercut with a braid. While it did not turn out, I ended up taking it myspace style and dolling myself up for a psuedo bathroom photo shoot. It was a nice opportunity to let my inner badass free for once. That is, instead of suppressing her with my husband's hoodie and generally work/school appropriate makeup.

More on NaNoWriMo and the fate of Distortia/Doppelgang/Double-Goer or whatever it is I am choosing to call my story these days; the book of shadows depotting; and attempts at MOTD posts.

Maybe December will be a touch brighter for my fumbling attempts at blogging.

Also here is a question: Why do most beauty bloggers I see, only wear the makeup they swatch on their arm? Rarely do I see people actually create looks with the products. Another chunk have once reviewed makeup and instead are writing posts about how sticky notes saved their life and reviewing companies for fire insurance. I had no idea beauty blogging was really supposed to be mundane like that...

In lieu of actual content in this post, here is my beautiful puppy. Nightshade is a truly sweet and loving dog. I absolutely love him and his half-effort movements and mannerisms.

Ipsy November 2014 Girl Meets Glitter

Son of a gun I forgot to upload this while waiting on pictures...I rock at this..

Imagine my joy when Ipsy finally sent me a shipping code earlier than it had in quite a number of months. No account errors, no shipping delays. Now double that thrill when my mom pulls into the driveway to drop me off at home, and hanging out of my mail box is the pinkest envelope on the grayest day. And this was a day earlier than it should have been, as it was scheduled for delivery Saturday the 15th, and it actually arrived on the 14th.

On my regular facebook group I follow, one individual had a legitimate complaint that the Ipsy envelope was not a metallic pink. While mine was that same “matte” type shade, it really didn't bother me. Also was written a complaint about how the glue was too hard to seperate the opening. Frankly, that's a pretty funny complaint. The envelope is sealed. I would rather my things not fall out of the bag buut okay.

Petty complaints aside, I was pretty thrilled with the bag this month. Glitter is not a theme I was super enthralled with, but it turned out okay. Not too much of the products were actually infused with glitter. You see, I do not have an affinity for glitter.

But onto the items.

Marc Anthony
Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Shine Hairspray

buy the full size here for $8.29
1.5 oz/ 9.0 oz
Sample value adjusted $1.38

The dud of the bag is of course the hair product Ipsy keeps thinking that I want. Both products from the last month have been used, but they did not rock me like maybe a cleanser would have. This one was a hair spray. My little 2010 travel size Garnier has been missing it's lid since about 2011, and it is truly running low. This worked exactly as I needed it to when I added a tiny pompadour. I forgot whether or not it smells like anything but whatev. The size is actually fabulous and I am not as disappointed about this as I originally though I would be.

This barely contributes to the bag value, and that puts us off to a bad start.

Elizabeth Mott
you're so FINE Eyeliner in Glitterati

buy the full size here for $17.99
full size

The next item was the Glitterati liquid eyeliner. That is my glitter and it's actually pretty nice. It boasts waterproof and smudge proof claims. With an initial swatching on my hand, I smudged it. It yielded. BUT let me say that it was not even set. This appears to the a longer setting time despite claims of drying super fast, but then during my shower I had to rub it off. Water hitting it did not eliminate the matte black or glitter sprinkles. So plus one on that. 

When applied to my eyeballs, I did not encounter problems with the eyeliner transferring or smudging throughout the few days I have tried it out. It goes on fairly black and surprisingly, the glitter looks absolutely amazing with shimmer shadows. Pair this with my Ammo palette I felt like a rockstar. Now I have to dock the company points for the claim that the tip is precision. It's anything but, instead it's a rounded tip. You can get a fairly thick line from this because it's a blunt shape. Urban Decay's 24/7 Liquid liner has a precision tip, and you can get such a thin line. I've seen drugstore liners with precision tips. Precision tip this is not. It's alright because I may be improving my steady hand during application, and I enjoy the thick line it gives me, I just have no idea how one would achieve a cat eye with that huge tip.

This was worth the bag, and Ipsy has a 50% off code until well into january. I could see myself using that on another one of these bad boys. 

Be a Bombshell Cosmetics
Eye Base in Submissive 

buy the full size here for $14

full size

I also received the eye base. At first I had frowny face, because I just bought a NYX shadow stick in a similar color. Upon using this, I can see that this is in fact lighter and much more shimmery. It provides a different look than just a metallic or matte shade. It's very creamy, and takes a bit of building but I have found it does well as a primer. It just cannot be worn alone, much like the original NYX shadow stick. 

I wore this with under Smog from the Ammo palette and it was awesome and held up the entire day. A second test was with a matte shade, Faint from the UD Naked Basics. Matte is what I said, but the shimmer peaks through in a pretty classy way. It also subtly brightened the darker brown shade of Faint. 

Though it's a touch redundant to a bronze Ulta cream shadow I own, I found this to be much easier to work with. It's texture let it built up and blend a lot easier than the Ulta one. The main difference is that the Ulta one can be worn alone, and is more opaque. Redundancy or not, this was very welcome and I kind of love it. So far, this bag is amazing.

An additional wearing with only a light brush of shadow yielded many creases by the end of the day. I wore this on Thanksgiving under some lightly applied UD shadow, which was hastily applied during a car ride while my dog licked the mirror on my palette. Just as a note, you absolutely need to wear this with something if you want a long day of wear. 

This represents both the liner and eyebase.

Temptu
S/B Highlighter in Pink Pearl

buy the full size here for $27.50
0.1 fl oz/ 1.0 fl oz

Sample size adjusted $2.75

Through the first hadn swatch I decided I liked this more than Benefit's High-Beam. It's very pretty and I liked how fluid it was. While I cannot boast it's application for highlighting and contouring, I did find it added a lovely shimmer to my cupid's bow, upper cheekbone, and under my eyebrows. The pink sheen picks up very nice in the light and really is between gold and pink. Somewhat a duo-chrome. All in all, I found this easy to work with and I appreciated it greatly in the bag. Size was rather small, but I doubt I will use it enough to where the size will irritate me. That is not to say I don't love it, because I rather think I do.

J. Cat Beauty
Wonder Lip Paint in Red Potion

buy the full size here for $4.99

Full size

Finally was the product I was most apprehensive about. My heart has been rather low when it comes to my Ipsy lip products as of late, but it's usually raised when I can actually try the product in question. This was no different.

This months lip options were on the cheap side, and there was a direct repeat from last month. Fairly tacky, but I really enjoyed that repeat product last month. There was two lip crayons, another gloss, and a few lip sticks. Both of the glosses were nude and everything else had various wine or berry shades.

I was saddled with the Jcat Wonder Lip Paint. The colors given were either Mad Splatter, a deep red, or Red Potion which is a burgundy cranberry type. It's insanely dark. Of course, I was given the darker Red Potion.

I made my faces at the choice and then gave it a college try. In a review I watched on YouTube, the lady had quite a few colors of the Jcat and a handful of OCC Lip Tar as she believed them to be dupes. She ruled the textures different, but some of the colors were dead on. While I have never tried the Lip Tars to compare, I found that these were rather nice. The color is super opaque and it somewhat dried down to a glossy stain. The color was actually flattering enough on me. But be advised... a little really goes a long way. I applied mine with a brush, and I believe it would be impossible to use your fingers like I saw someone on the Ipsy forum doing. These are very affordable at five bucks a pop, so I really would like to try out some other colors. It may be worth it. This was the hit of the bag.

As far as longevity goes, it does come off easily if you wipe it off and does not have much for staining power. It dries, but not completely leaving you with a non sticky gloss feeling. It's a little tough for me to describe. An example of it's lasting power is that I applied this around 10AM the morning my sisters and I took both of their little babies to the art museum. I removed it so we could eat dinner around 4. It was pristine leading up to that moment, and I drank some water and had some apple and a garlic biscuit at the museum. Like I said, this may be something I want more of. 

Wearing everything in this one.

How about the bag and value?

Overall the bag was kind of fantastic. I was even impressed with the bag itself, because it was not gritty like I thought it would be. My first impresion of the bag on the internet was disgust because I imagined touching it and glitter rubbing off on my fingers. Instead there was this awesome and festive bag that I could see myself using. Final thought on this particular bag is that, Ipsy may have converted me to being a little more open minded with glitter. As most of the products ended up being glittery. 

Nothing will beat last month's October blue puffy quilted plastic bag. I flipping loved that bag. 

$41.11/ 10.00

The value seems to be on the average side, leaning towards the upper-middle. For five items that I can actually use, this could be my favorite bag to date (product wise). I have yet to do this years Ipsy bags in actual value...That's a post I look forward to. 

And heeere is something neat. I just got an awesome follow on my instagram. 

Like woah you know how I mentioned that I wanted to do embalming or something closely related since I was 12? Yeah. You know what sparked me revisiting that idea when I was 21? I was watching Oddities and there was a pratron who had been (is still?) a mortician, and she was lovely, and she made lovely clothing. That moment sitting my bed with a puppy Dallas, I remembered my the first childhood aspiration that I actually wanted to do. You know how a lot of kids want to be things? I never had a clue even when I was in elemantary school. There were no dream jobs that popped out at me. Not until I heard of this wondrous place called Ancient Egypt and that there was this Jackal that embalmed people and sent them off to judgement. It was around then I developed an unsatiable curiosity for psuedosciences and quack medicine that gave way to our modern medicine. Heck, I somehow convinced my husband that we should go to the Mütter Museum for our honeymoon...

MORTICIAN FANGIRL MOMENT!!!

tl;dr

OH MY GOSH GUYS. SHE'S LIKE THE REASON I REVISTED MY CHILDHOOD DREAM AND THEN EVENTUALLY WAS OFFERED AN INTERNSHIP AT A FUNERAL HOME. (which I am still holding my breath on.)

NaNoWriMo 2014

Every year and every summer I participate in NaNoWriMo and it's camp version. I've had months that I've won, and then I've had months where I underperformed. Regardless of winning I tried and I usually wind up with a few extra pages to my story.

The feelings of victory are quickly cast over by the feelings in the latter panel. Usually my hair is in a sloppy mess, and my clothes haven't been changed in eight days. (if you did not catch the obvious exaggeration, then you have such little faith in me. Hah I would only go six days... lol)

It's November now, and I will see my dogs and my husband again once the clock strikes midnight on December.

NaNoWriMo places me at the computer more often, so perhaps I will stop with my slacking on blogging. I've been atrocious at it for the past few months.

NYX Infinite Shadow Stick

A while ago, I mentioned briefly how terrible I thought th Ulta shadow crayon was. It required a touchup halfway throw the day from it's creasing. It was faint despite being black, and it felt greasy. It was just hard to work with.

Always I have heard of the NYX shadow crayons, particularly the white color milk. It creased on some and not on others. I believe it was recent that NYX came out with the updated Infinite version. Largely the same, scribbling on my hand this one smudges less than the original. 

That's what I picked up during the last 40% off sale at Ulta, instead of grabbing yet another lipstick. Aah help. The only shade I bought was black. Frankly, I miss wearing black eyeshadow every day. I've traded that in for nuetrals and occasional apricots. 

So black it is! In my tests I tried to use the Bare Minerals 5-in-1 in Divine wine, then Infinite shadow stick, topped with Lorac's black eyeshadow from the Pro Palette. It got me through my day, but creased around hour six. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture this day. 

The next test involved Bare Minerals Prime Time eye shadow primer, with the shadow stick and topped with Lorac's black and sable smudged into the crease. Also from the Pro palette. This was applied about 7 in the morning, and somewhere around Midnight, the color was crisp as ever with nary a crease. Ding ding!

Morning photo. 

And dangit, I never photographed the late night photo. But scouts honor, it looked no different than the above photo. 

Heck, I fell asleep with it on and it's still there. Shame on me for that, but the shadow rocks. 

The final test involves the shadow stick as a base and primer alone, topped with black eyeshadow. I am unwilling to try it by itself because it tugs and does not yield to smudging. I assume it will look rough and patchy without the crucial eyeshadow. 

Ipsy Unboxing - Beauty Candy October 2014

Mango Mandarin Hand cream
This was actually a very pleasant surprise. No part of this felt greasy, instead it melted into my hands very quickly. From years of farming, my hands certainly get abused. I mean have you ever seen hands after someone picks tomatoes? Or how dry your hands get after handling produce all day? Dirt will not leave the cracks that are left in the wake. It gives me great pleasure to report that this product left my hands very satisfied.

As far as the scent, I really cannot pick up on citrus notes at all. It smells a little strange to me, but I really cannot put my finger on it. Oh well, it's going in my purse regardless. I kind of love it.

Ecru New York
The dud of the bag. I really hate hair products, because I hate doing my hair. And for real? BB cream infiltrating the hair? Where will it end BB Toothpaste?

Either way it's a generous sized sample and it may make dry ends feel better. This is not exactly I product I would ever seek out myself, but it's chill. Everyone has dry hair days. This is sized nice enough for my purse.

The box was very smooshed. Can't blame anyone, as my bag was very packed.

Starlooks lip gloss

Hot dang this thing is tiny!! This was almost as disappointing as the hair product, because lip gloss is not really something I am interested right now. Rather than grumbling, I took some silver lining from it. The color is beautiful, and on it's almost a perfect nude.

It's incredibly glossy and has a rather odd smell. The bag of odd smells i see. It's not unpleasant, but it is a little interesting. It's more opaque than NYX Butter Gloss, and if I'm not mistaken similar in the color I recieved Creme Brulee.

Where this really made a near dupe-level match was Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie lip gloss in Rebel. Recently I acquired Rebel for my mom and I was surprised at how close they were. The texture is different, but the color is dead on.

This has become a great little product. It's a bit sticky and it sits on your lips very creamy, and lasts quite some time. It's not moisturizing, but the feeling is a bit more welcome than a lipstick as it's getting colder outside. Thanks for this one.

Skyn Iceland Wipes

These are kind of great. Good introductory package. The problem with wipes are that I do not know if some really perform better than others? This removes all face makeup like a breeze, but it does get stuck in regards to mascara. For the past few months I have been using Benefit's They're Real and that stuff really stays on. Cannot fault the wipes.

Bonus Item!
Bodyography electric lip slide in Cupid's Beau
This thing is frigging awesome! It has a very sweet smell to it, which pairs perfectly with the sweet pink color. I thinks it's a perfectly flattering color and it's very smooth feeling.

This applies very similar to the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream, only its far less sticky. It never sets, so you will forever have a cream on your lips.

Definitley worth the redemption of 500 points for sure.

Ipsy October wish list.

I got caught up in that Ipsy billing snafu, where money was certainly on the account but they claim it was not. Ipsy has been having a bit more issues lately, so I guess that's something to look out for.

Anyways, the billing finally went through, but I have yet to receive early access to the Glam Room.

In the mean time, I would like to make a wish list.

1. On the absolute top of that list is the Noyah mauve lipstick. Mauve lipstick is something I do not lack, but I love it so much and it's definitely the most appealing to me. The City Color lipstick may be alright as the color SEEMS like one I would like, but I would rather not have the Starlooks lipgloss. The lipgloss is a pretty color, but lip gloss is not for me.

2. Secondly, I would not want mascara. Probably I want the Skone black liner the most. Although, I am a-okay with concealer or the mineral eye shadows.

3. The third preview has a hand cream in fruity smells, body butter, or perfume. To be honest, any of those are awesome. Hand cream is not exactly that cool to me, but if they are fruity I am down. Perfume is always cool, and body butter would be great too.

4. Fourth preview bears cleansing wipes, cleanser, or an exfoliator. Either of those I would use gladly, but right now cleanser is the one I am vying for most. My cleanser stash does not exactly exist.

5. Ugh, do not give me hair products. Anything but that. The nail polishes both are welcome, especially from Cirque. Or I would definitely take the pumpkin mask or H20+ face treatment. Just not the dang hair products. I barely dye my hair enough to maintain it's lustrous raven color, why would I style it? I could not be arced.

So lets see how I match up if I gain access any time today. Lets hope for ultimate satisfaction!

Easy Peasy Look pictorial.

I kind of want to try something a smudge different. The kids call these types of posts "pictorials"? It's recently became apparent how appealing these posts are. Informative and it's a great window into different folks processes. 

With October being an awesome month, let's be awesome together!!

To start, I wanted to test the It Cosmetivs CC+ cream I received in a sampler a while back. For measure, I will post my face. It's horribly broke out (again!). For the first time I cleansed it with Freeman's purifying scrub and wow. So warm and lovely. My face feels clean and awesome. 

Onto the face. 

I needed to wash off my black eyeshadow. I know, I know. Don't sleep with it on. Every other day I do good, but considering before this year I never washed my makeup off it's leaps. 

Seriously though. 

After CC. 

It's medium. A tad too dark  fair or light would be better, but I am home all day today. Good for a test. Far more fluid than the other creams I have used, but it reminded me of paint. At the very least, it canceled redness pretty decent. Maybe of it wasn't $38 I would purchase full size. We'll see. 

Concealer time. 

Well-Rested liquid pen is just okay. It certainly brightens my under eyes. 

And today I used the pop bronzer from the July Ipsy bag. Blush was Ulta's cheek tint in Tickled. I have to use it every time I use a cream foundation, I just love it! It's one of my favorites. 

Also, I took off my deer shirt. In the above pics, the blush isn't strong enough. I intensified a bit later. 

Brows! It Cosmetics brow power and a little dark brow palette from Meijer. 

Instead of bothering with primer I throw on Laura Gellar's Cool Lids shadow in Rose Gold Goddess. The next choice of eye color was easy choice. 

This guy in Revealed 2 palette from Coastal Scents. 

Patted this in the inner and middle lid. 

Easy look, like I said. 

Crease and outer V. I should mention that I am using the Crown brush from the Sept. Ipsy. 

Lined my eyes with Pacifica's Fringe liner, also from Sept Ipsy. 

They're Real mascara from Benefit. It was too wet and clumpy when I started using it through September but now it's growing on me! It's not as black as Perversion though, so that docks a point. 

Also Hikari Lipstick in Cabernet from Ipsy again. It's a really nice matte lip, and it does feel nice to wear. 

This shade makes teeth look white. 

Also. It should be noted that I do not have any contacts and I am wearing glasses anyways. The look translates well. 

So that's a wrap. Just phone pictures because that's what I have to work with right now. 

Ipsy Septiembre Unboxing - Street Style

Dangit guys. My bag came super timely this month, but I have been lagging on the updates. 

Overall it was a nice bag and the bag itself is lovely. Idk what street style is supposed to mean. I thought street style is everyday wear, opposed to dress up. Maybe I am uncultured. 

Crown Brush

Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet

Full size here http://crownbrush.us/deluxe-infinity-shadowcrease-duet-p-904.html

$6.99

<a href="https://imgflip.com/gif/c9hc0"><img src="https://i.imgflip.com/c9hc0.gif" title="made at imgflip.com"/></a>

It first this brush just swept product around like a broom. What. Then I tried it using something other than a NYX shadow. It works beautiful with Urban Decay and Lorac Pro formulas and made foiling a breeze. It's soft and I absolutely love this! Great brush, even though it does not provide a ton of color build. 

Hikari Cosmetics

Lipstick in Cabernet

Full size here

http://www.hikaricosmetics.com/shop/lipstick/

3.8g/ 13 oz

$13

Cabernet. Fact: I hate most wine. I absolutely loved the Spumante Andrew and I were given at the resort for our honeymoon, and I have had done good ones in past. But generally, no. 

Another fact is berry lipsticks look horrible on me. Every lip color I have worn these past few months has been favorable, with a few exceptions like "that one looks good layered; not today for that one." Berry lipstick was welcomed with "ugh". 

This on the other hand is wiine! It's somehow different enough to have gotten a positive response from the man, and I have already wore this out a handful of times. 

Swatched, it looks sheer. In reality it applies to lips nicely and gets full color with minimal layering. Texture wise, it's not drying or moisturizing and it does lack the high end smell I notice to my favorite lipsticks. It's almost a non intrusive powder smell. 

NYX

Hot Singles Eyeshadow in Arrogance 

Full size here 

http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/p-230-hot-singles-eye-shadow.aspx

Weight: 1.5g/ 0.053 oz 

$4.50

Slight backstory, but I got the purple shade. The color choice is interesting to me because ten years ago, I built this story character named Adrian. He was arrogant and because Marilyn Manson reasons he would wear purple eyeshadow. Adrian has since evolved into a still arrogant being, but is more of a character than just a projection of my music taste. 

So my Adrian purple unfortunately does not differ from the other purples I have, like UD's tornado. Additionally NYX eyeshadows are not always pigmented as well. This one is fair with layering, and has a lovely monochromatic shimmer. It's a deep eggplant with orchid flecks. That is a touch different. 

On my eyes it does take a bit of building, but it registers as a halloween purple. It also is much tougher to blend than Lorac or Bare Minerals. It got muddy fast when used just as a crease color. I do like it and I think it's unique to my collection, but as a single I do not know how much I will reach for it. 

Pacifica

Natural Water-Proof Eye pencil in Fringe

Full size here $11

http://www.pacificabeauty.com/makeup/eyes/natural-waterproof-eye-pencil?id=434

0.026 oz/ 0.10 oz

$2.86/ 11

My color happened to be Fringe, the brown. It's boring, but I do not even own a brown liner. This pencil is fairly soft, tugging only slight. I have not found it to smudge, but I also have yet to photograph it on my eyes. 

This is a very decent eyeliner. So far I like it, but I rarely go natural with my eyes. Even nuetrals (which is most of what I am wearing lately) have black in them somewhere. 

Bottom lash line I think. I have wore it multiple times without photo, but it looks great with bright nuetrals. 

Briogeo

Don't Despair, Repair Deep Conditioning Mask

Full size here for $26

https://www.briogeohair.com/product/dont-despair-repair/

1.0 fl oz/ 5.25 oz

$4.95/ 26 

Hair products always bore me. Styling hair is just not something I care to make time for. Whenever I do, it just frustrates me and I give up after my hair is half teased, half curled and on hundred percent blah. 

Something like this is okay. Especially after dying my hair, I love to deep condition. Given my hairs textures, this will give me likely two or three uses. 

On that note, I will not test this yet. Too lazy to dye my hair. 

Total Bag Value $32.30/ 10

I am satisfied with this bag. The liner, brush, and lipstick have seen some great usuage.  

Full Review of Bare Minerals BareSkin Serum

It dawned on me, that as a blogger I have not registered "consistent" to my vocabulary. Rambling is a tendency of mine, without truly informing about all of the products I have been using.

Where I am going with this, is that early May I purchased Bare Minerals Bare Skin serum. I made a scant impression post, utilizing a streak that was on my face and then never went back and revisited my feelings on it. On my phone lived nearly a month worth of notes on the product, and enough to pack in a great review. Somewhere after that month, I purchased the smallest sampling kit available of the original Bare Minerals foundation, and my BareSkin has been used only sparingly between.

So how about now? Months after, lets review the product!

Within my notes I had a log, describing how many drops I used and it's lasting power.

Let's start.
Wednesday May 7, 2014.
I accidentally shook the bottle while the lid was not secure. It gushed about 8 drops. This provided complete coverage, but was definitely way too much. Andrew told me he liked it anyways. All this was layered over an SPF ++50 Moisturizer and Lorac POREfection.

The first and last picture is likely a difference of 7AM to about 3PM, while I was waiting for Micro.

Thursday May 8, 2014.
the drops were adjusted to six; two for each half of the face, and one on the forehead and chin each. This still was too much, and clung to the dry spots of the t-zone but settled too dewey at the chin. Despite the flaws, and the greenhouse holding in a temperature of 90˚, my foundation remained from 8 in the morning until 8 that night.

Thursday.

Friday May 9, 2014.
Using five drops, making a similar mistake to wednesday this coated my face rather opaque. Instead of starting at the chin like I did on previous days, I started at the cheeks and it looked much better. The mouth area still looked off though. Again this lasted all day, in a humid greenhouse.

Friday.

Saturday May 10, 2014.
My log only extended until the day I got my droplet amount figured out. Three drops, one for each half of the face and then one to go over the chin and anything missed on the forehead. Applying at 3:30am without primer even, this got me through my entire work day which ended around 4. 

Unfortunately this bad boy had some flaws. If you touched your face you would get product on it. If you touched your clothes, you would transfer product. If you X, you would Y. I went this solid month without setting it once. I would repeatedly get frustrated by it's finish and where it would cling to dry skin patches that I had no idea existed. This is all using moisturizer and primer. When June was starting up, I pulled this out to do my makeup for a funeral and I remember clearly being irritated because I could not get it to work with me.

Not 100% opaque, as freckles still evident but this is flawless for me.

It was around then I just started to use my tiny powder sampler exclusively. Finally it all became clear. YOU HAVE TO SET THIS MOTHER?! WAT?!

From then on, whenever I would want a nice bit of cover and a flawless face I did the process correctly and set my face with mineral veil. It's funny how much frustration I would have saved by simply watching the video of one of my favorite Bare Minerals fanatics.

Like so.

For today, I am going to take a photo of my very broken out pre-joyous-ladies-thing face, and then detail my process using BareSkin. Another thing to note, perhaps I should pick up Bare Porcelain before winter hits. If I have used sun protection enough, then my face should be just as pale, but when I was shade matched both looked rather swell.


Perhaps I will do a video, but look out for that.

Value: $29, coupled with the brush for +$28
Shade Range: There is 20, and they're awesome! (my shade is 03 Bare Linen, but I can move fluid between 01 Bare Porcelain.)
Application Time: Fairly Brief, but requires blending galore.
Comodegenic: Not on my skin at all. Does have tendency to cling to dry patches, and can settle in oily areas. Likely best for normal skin without a lot of blemishes to begin with.
Overall Rating: 8/10. I dock points because if your skin is not smooth it will show it. Honestly, I prefer a powder at this point. But this is amazing and does not make me break out like lots of BB creams I have tried. It also lasts all day for me, even before I set it. If I rank Bare Minerals original foundation as a 10, this is definitely an 8. I look forward to any reformulations they come up with.

Purse Guts - Video

Late May I tried another video out while I borrowed my sister's digital camera. It was a touch blurry, but I tried a purse video.

Cameo by Dallas of course.

Sad review - Tarte Lip Crumbler.

Hey fellahs. I wanted to try something different, and just see how this felt to upload a video.

Firstly I would like to apologize for mumbling. My volume is kept low due to the discovery that there is no door to this room. Was it there when we saw the house with the Realtor? Am I insane? I think I am. Anyways, down the hall behind another closed door, my husband is taking a nap because market is a long day that starts early. I am less tired from it, probably due much more years conditioning. So unfortunately I am rather quiet.

Long story short,

Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Angelic Nude

My original first impression of the product

This is not something that ended up working out for me. 

The story I tell of the tip being too soft, and crumbling apart on me could have happened to any lipstick, but I have yet to have it happen to any other. 

The color is absolutely amazing, but the gritty texture is not desirable and the wear time is less than an hour if you open your mouth at all. 

Perhaps this product worked for you, and I would love to see your results. For me at this moment, this is a big flipping dud. Here's to hoping that the CK One Pure Color Lipstick in Fancy is an ample replacement. 

In future, videos would be great to make, but perhaps I will film in a different room with better lighting. The beautiful color of the walls unfortunately make for a dark environment. Additionally, I am uncomfortable talking without a barricade of some sort. 

What a wonderful week.

Again I have not posted in a while. The past week has been wonderful! So I'm the early part of Spring 2012, not only did my best friend move to Florida with her husband and her little gene replication, incubating, but as did her entire family. That was tough. Her family was the head of the church, and I was very close to them. 

That same year in November, my husband and his buddy drove from Michigan to see them. It was a lovely time, but probably not actual a wise financial trip. Dallas was a puppy then, and not nearly as respectful as he is now. In fact, he was at the start of his brat phase. A few months and he got pretty bad and then wonderful. (Then we got nightshade and start the cycle over.)

Visiting in 2013 was not an option as we did not acrue enough winter savings for it (seasonal job is pretty foolish yo.) and I was in school. 

Finally, the last week of August 2014, Wally, DJ and their little guy Lincoln came up and we were reunited! It was spectacular, and I had such a wonderful week with them. And it was great to visit DJ's family again, as they stayed there. 

We went to the zoo, enjoyed two bonfires, watched a movie at our place, devoured tomatoes, saw a scary movie, ate good food, and while it was short, it makes me hopeful for next time. 

 

Fingers are crossed for December between semesters. Andrew and I will not be returning to the farm, because frankly it has become unbearable and hardly resembles the place I had loved dearly. But I do have both the phone numbers of an owner and the funeral director/embalmer of a lovely funeral home. Going to give them a call. 

Additionally, school started back up. For the first time since 10th grade almost a decade ago, I have chemistry. I also am taking Spanish and Art History. Should be a fun semester. Muy bien. 

More exciting news is that my sister had her baby. Cute little boy who looks just like her (for this week anyways). 

Unfortunate for me, she is the third child in my family. The eldest had a baby five years ago (and that lad just started kindergarten. What!?!). Last year the second born had a baby, and this year the third. I am about to be bombarded with questions of upcoming infants. 

To which I will answer "I have two beautiful dogs." It's not a total dismissal, as I would love to mix mine and Andrew's genes, dearly. I truly look forward to having a little fellah who looks like a perfect blend of Andrew's large elongated head and my almost unrealistic small ears. Haha I jest. Seriously though, that would mean a lot to me. 

Right now I am 23 and in the next few years I will be in school hopefully doing lots of cadaver classes. I do not posess the patience as of yet to handle infants that I can not just give back to their mom after they suddenly smell foul. 

Right now, I love being an aunt to Tommy, Mac, and Junior (said like Seam Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He name is actually Andrew, after his dad. Ah. Now there's three Andrews in the family. Mine, Stephanies and I guess Stephanie's too.)

This post will end on this note. Note the tasty Great White Beefsteak. Also note the doughnut that was in our assortment for Saturday Market. It's a unicorn doughnut!! Although, we were so busy it took me from 7am-11 to actually eat. Stephie was not my bean friend, dang that having baby thing. So independently, I kept the table filled and sold about 30 bushels of beans, about 25 of them separated into heaping quarts and half peck baskets. Like so. 

Steph and I last year doing this. Bah I attribute a lot of hate to the lady who cut my hair at the hair college this April. 

Okay. I really am ending the blog now. Gracias, y hasta luego. 

Ipsy August Glam Room Unboxing - Beauty Schooled

I should just bank on my Ipsy coming later than sooner now. Premeditating a move, after putting an offer on our house I changed my address to my parents address. My sister also gets her Ipsy there as well. Saturday after market I stopped by their mailbox at the end of a long driveway and bam. One pink envelope. Not mine at all. My friend also got hers that day.

Unfortunately mine came on Tuesday the 19th, and it's Friday and I am just now collecting it.

Even though the items I received are lovely, I am not nearly as excited. I will attribute that to the horrid bag they came in. This is one I do not even want to give away. Maybe it will just work as a pencil case for my Prismacolors, rather than the plastic freezer bag I have been using.

Giving even that yucky little bag some thought, it is actually genius. The pattern is adorbs, but it's a flat little plastic blah bag. BUT it's like a pencil case. Get it "Beauty Schooled". In fact, this fits all my Prismas nearly perfect (although, if I did not spend about ten minutes sharpening their broken tips, thus shortening them, these would not fit.)

Like all Ipsy bags, save for July which went to my nonsubscribed sister, the bag grew on me. 

Urban Decay

Perversion Mascara

Purchase the full size here for $22
0.1 fl oz/ 0.4 fl oz

3ml /12 ml

$5.50 / 22

Alright. Like many others, I took advantage of that early access to the glam room. I was elated to have received another Perversion sample. My current sample has been notably drier lately, as it's nearly two months lifespan. While I will not open this guy just yet (need to try another kind like They're Real or Lash Domination) I absolutely LOVE this mascara. To date it is the best I have ever used. The blackest and baddest, beefy lashes ever. The sizing is perfect for me as well. Top notch Ipsy. Franks.

Coastal Scents

Forever Blush Sample Duo in Fresh (Left) and Elegant (Right)

Purchase the full sizes here and here for $7.95 each
2.4g/ 20g (both)
0.08oz / 0.70oz (both)
$1.82/ 15.90

Very hard to price this one, but I do really like how they are packaged. Both of these come from Coastal Scents' individual bluse compacts. Each pot in the sampler represents about a quarter size of the actual product. Fairly, that seems about right as far as samples go, just the diminutive packaging on it's own seems skimpy. A quick look at these would suggest they are of similar size to what one might receive in a travel sized palette. In fact width is a near match for my Too Faced Candy Bar.  

One shade is a lovely candy pink, while the other is a dusty peach rose. I have been fond of using the dusty color Fresh over my whole cheek bone, and plopping some Elegant on my apples. The colors blend fairly well together and they are pogmented nicely. As with other CS products I have used, it's longevity is a hair shorter than say Bare Minerals or something a little fancier. Even with a fading near the end of the day, I loved this blush and the compacts go on sale fairly often to where this would be a great purchase. Pssh. They're cheap enough anyways. 

Don't mind the 3AM market-getting-ready photo. Eye makeup really makes you look awake. 

Jersey Shore Sun

Mongongo Lip Conditioner

This product is full size. Purchase here for $5.50
Weight: 0.15 oz
$5.50

A quick glaze over on the ingredients is fairly simple. While I do think the "Organic" label is a little off putting, as my background is from a conventional small time farm. Much of our pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are in fact organic. We still spray, but take Copper. It's organic and an effective fertilizer and fungicide. In the public eye, we are spraying. Many organic farmers will still spray. This is a different can of worms, but I only point it out to say that labeling something organic does not automatically add "wholesome" to the list of qualities. Large corporate farms that spray often don't grow the produce with love, and likewise there are probably organic farms that do not employ the same love either.

ALRIGHT REBECCA. AS I WAS SAYING... the ingredient list is fairly simple, with Beeswax, Sunflower oil, cocoa butter and essential oils. This resembles the ingredient list to the lip balms I make. The only difference, save for different oils themselves is the addition of Vitamin E. I am so game for this.

Going into actual usage oh my GOSH. I can easily proclaim the most excitement about this lip balm. This is the smoothest balm I have ever used, and as the website gushed how juicy this tastes and smells I wholeheartedly agree. Beautifully smooth and I can definitely pick up on the Ginger flavor, and lime blends to give this an exquisite fruity flavor.

If this ever goes through my washing machine I will cry for hours.

Lord & Berry

Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil

Purchase the full size here for $16
0.02 oz
0.6g
I could not find a size for the full version, so I guesstimate this is about a third of a full size.
$5.33/ 16

This is one small son of a gun. It bears the esteemed title of being smaller than my pinky finger. It also does not look too horribly exciting. I have one automatic black liner from Bare Minerals, and an Urban Decay pencil liner. At least this does not over-encumber me with liners.

It applies on my arm incredibly smooth, but does not quite make a super dark black. Very little tug if any, but this bugger smudges rather easily.  

For the past week, I have solidly used this booger with the instructions on Lord & Berry's site. Put in lower lash line and blink. For my eyes anyways, this works awesome. Super black and lasting. I have not tested it on my upper lid, and may not. I do love it, and it's fab for my water line.  

Paula's Choice Skincare

Clear Ultra-Light Daily Mattifying Fluid SPF 30+

Purchase the full size here for $8
15 ml/ 0.5 fl oz 
This travel size is available on Paula's Choice website.
$8

This one is kind of just okay. The high SPF rating is favorable, but as a moisturizer I mostly just feels like sunscreen. The consistency matches that of a sunscreen, paired with a distinct sunscreen smell. With absolute certainty this will be used, but as the highest value item in the bag all I can muster is an unenthusiastic wow.

After using it a few days, this is definitely more runny. Still it gets the job done. I have not suffered any breakouts from this either. 

Total Bag Value
$26.15/10

Well the look I cobbled together with my products. 

Face: Pür Minerals 4-in-1 pressed foundation, Too Faced Chocolate Soliel bronzer, Coastal Scents blush (both colors with Elegant on the apples), bare Minerals Mineral Veil. 

Eyes: Lorac Pocket Pro (Nude, Pewter, and Espresso), Urban Decay Perversion Mascara, ELF Cream liner, Lord & Beryy Silk Kajal liner. 

Brows: It Cosmetics Brow Power Universal Taupe, Studio M dark brow trio. 

Incredibly low value bag. Social media bore many complaints about the ridiculous sizes on the samples. As long as I get use from the samples, I will be alright but sheesh. This bag would not be the one to recruit newer people likely.

All the same, these are five super usable products that I have integrated into my use for a week now. Point is, bag value does not equal to how good the products actually are. As much as my early impressions were sour, I am glad to have all these. 

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