Shakeup Your Makeup

Do you ever go through your makeup drawer only to find something you have forgotten about for months? Well, I did the other day, and came across this Smashbox pallet that I received last year for Christmas! Whoops! I think that when I reorganized my stash, I managed to put this in a drawer and it fell to the back, only to be lost until now!


This pallet is perfect for a neutral but smokey eye, which I tried to accomplish in the look below. I used the turquoise, dark brown and ivory to create this work, blending all together.

To create this look I used the turquoise on the inner corner and blended the dark brown into the outer corner. These colors were pulled up towards the crease and blended into the ivory, which was also the high light. I then used the dark brown wet and lined the lower lash line. Finish off with some mascara and ta-da!

So, if any of you read the MUA boards, you can feel the anticipation for the Sephora F&F coming just around the corner! I know I can't wait, and already have my shopping bag filled with things I *need* to have.

1. Urban Decay Book of Shadows

This collection has some gorgeous colors, and I love their eyeshadow. Plus, the packaging has some great detailing! I love the butterflies and the little mirror. With 16 colors in the pallet, you definitely are getting a good deal at $45 for the set. This breaks down to approximately $2.81 a shadow - not too shabby!


2. Bare Escentuals Ruby Collection

As you all know, I love BE and this collection doesn't look to disappoint. Each color is enhanced with crushed rubies, to add beauty and shimmer to the shades. The other great thing about these collections from BE are the additional products, such as brushes, mascara, blushes, new finishing powders, etc. I love their Buxom glosses, and this color looks beautiful as well. A great value at $54.00!

3. Bare Escentuals Extreme Glimmers Kit

This kit is right up my alley with tons of sparkle and multiple functions for each color. Not only could they be worn as a shadow, but get them wet and add some intense shine to your look or use them as a liner. I love the colors, and have recently become addicted to the smokey eye look, so I think this would be another great way to glitz up the evening look. It also comes with a foiling brush (which I love of theirs) and a sample of the prime time. Price is $32.00.

4. Nars Superorgasm Blush

Keeping with the glitz and glam theme, when I read they were coming out with a sparklier version of the original Orgasm blush, I had to have it. After seeing it in person, it's a definite must! Price is $25.00.

There aren't many other things I love to collect and consider a hobby besides makeup. The one thing I would say ranks right up there is growing orchids. There's something about the beauty and color range that orchids have, not to mention the satisfaction of being able to make one bloom, that I just love!

Now that the weather has turned cool here in Indiana, I had to bring in my orchids from outside, which is where they reside during the hot and humid summers here. The other morning I had a few minutes before I had to head to work, and amongst the forest of green leaves, I found this beauty that had opened unknown to me!



I can honestly say I had no idea it was going to bloom, not to mention how thrilled I was at the color contrast and beauty of the bloom. Talk about inspiration for some EOTD's! Unfortunately, we had a severe wind storm earlier this year and the tag must have blown away, so I cannot remember the name.

Below are a few more pictures of some blooms from last year - we'll keep our fingers crossed that I can get them to repeat their show this year!

I figured it was due time I posted the swatches of the two eyeshadows I picked up at Walmart the other day. Below is Smoulder (blues) and Sumptuous (pink/purples).

Both are beautiful colors, but the blues definitely have better pigmentation than the pink/purples, which I found a bit surprising. Still, not bad for $2 a shadow!

Please click the images below for a larger picture.

My husband and I celebrated our 1st anniversary last night, and in honor of such I decided to wear my favorite color - green! More importantly, I was able to play around with my new Too Faced Galaxy Glam eyeshadow, which I am currently obsessed with!

This shadow is so versatile. Not only is it wet/dry, but it has several different colors, that with the right brush and application can create an look all in itself, like below! I used the the entire shadow swirled together to create the bright kelly green on my lid and pulled it down under my eye as a lower lash liner. I then selected the darker hunter green swirls, and used them to create the smokey look that is carried up into the crease. With a different brush, I picked up the light green/white swirls, and used those as a high light. Then, with my flat head eyeliner brush, I applied the shadow wet as a liner on my upper lid. Top it off with your favorite black mascara, and ta-da!

This was another one of my gifties from my birthday. I have been eyeing these eyeshadows forever at Sephora. The Too Faced Galaxy Glam remind me of baked eyeshadows, and have complimentary colors swirled together. The color I got is Moonbeam, which is a deep black-emerald, a cool shamrock green and swirly white frost. Together, they make a great smokey green color, which I absolutely love.



I swatched the eyeshadow, below, dry. It is very shimmery, which was hard to capture with the camera, but you get the idea below.

It's that time of year again - you start wandering through your local Walmart and you find the Halloween section. Well, this year I did that and came across an end cap filled with makeup inspired by the haunting holiday. Wet 'n Wild has come out with their annual Fantasy Makers, all looks and colors inspiried to top off your costume or festively haunting look.

Although there were lots of options, from black to glow in the dark, I decided to pick a couple of things that I new I could use outside of Halloween. For one, I absolutely love glitter and sparkle, so I had to pick up the nailpolish with tons of different color glitters inside (Black Magic). I also chose two eyeshadow duos, a blue (Smoulder) and a purple (Sumptuous). The colors are extremely intense and filled with shimmer, which I love as well. Being that they are from Wet 'n Wild, I am anxious to try them out and see if the quality remains through this line as well. I will have swatches up and coming soon!

For those of you that love falsies, they have tons of those as well. You can see what is available here.

One of the sets of makeup I received for my birthday on Monday was this great Smashbox kit, which can be found at Costco for around $20.00. This is definitely a bargain, especially for all the different goodies that you find in this kit!

In the picture below, you will see mascara, mascara primer, Smashbox Picture Perfect Eyeshadow Quad, three mini Smashbox lipglosses and case, and Smashbox Skintint in Radiance.





This set of eyeshadows may be the best neutral set I have used so far. Although I do like to play around in color and glitz, there are days when a basic look is best, and this set achieves it effortlessly. Not only are the eyeshadows extremely smooth and pigmented, but they last and blend so well together, that it is easy to get a simple look with little effort.





The swatches below are of the eyeshadows, starting with the ivory color, and working around clockwise through the four eyeshadows.

The white is a beautiful warm ivory with gold and a hint of peach shimmer.

The brown is a great coffee color with some warm shimmer.

The peach has great pigmentation - a warm peach with gold shimmer.

The taupe is a beautiful warm taupe color with some cooler shimmer.

The Smashbox Skintints remind me of the Nars Multiple sticks, which give you the option to use this on your face, eyes, lips...where ever you wish! This color is a beautiful light golden-peach which adds just the right amount of high light and shimmer!

As I am lacking in the suntan department, you can see how light this color is. It's absolutely beautiful!

Finally, the three gorgeous lipglosses: Pout, Fame and Glitz.

Pout: A light, pale, lavender/pink.

Fame: A sheer raspberry with gold shimmer.

Glitz: A light mauve with shimmer.

Someone was looking at my birthday list when they picked out presents this year! Not only did I receive lots of goodies in the makeup department (pics and posts to follow), but I also got a few things for the bath and body.

First, to satisfy my need for everything pumpkin in the fall (lattes, food...), my mom got me the Philosophy 3 in 1 in Pumpkin Spice Muffin and my grandmother got me the matching lipgloss. Now, I will be the first to admit that sometimes the spice and pumpkiny scented bath items don't quite get the fragrance correct, but this one hits the nail on the head. When you open the bottle, it smells like a loaf of pumpkin bread is baking. There is nothing artificial about the fragrance - just pure spices and pumpkin! As the Philosophy states:

pumpkin spice muffin
high foaming shampoo, shower gel & bubble bath

whoever thought a bath or shower couldn't possibly smell absolutely delicious, will be amazed at philosophy's pumpkin spice muffin shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath. the ultra-rich formula cleanses skin and leaves it feeling soft and hydrated. not only is the warm, gooey smell of pumpkin spice muffin appealing to the senses, according to scientific research, this aroma has been found to arouse men and women. it's a smell that's so irresistible, you'll lather, rinse and definitely want to repeat!

you need this product if...
you are a true multi-tasker
you love a rich, foaming lather
you want a calorie free way to indulge in a pumpkin spice muffin
you enjoy fun, delicious smells that won't linger when your bath or shower is over

You can purchase it here.


Secondly, my grandmother also got me the lotion from the new Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere collection. Talk about wrapping yourself in something warm and cozy. The smell is like a sugary vanilla - it almost reminds me of vanilla icing. It is a rich and emollient lotion, but it doesn't leave behind any greasy residue. My skin is absolutely loving this, and I think it will be perfect for winter when it gets cold and dry. There are tons of other things in this collection, including bath gels, hand cream, foot cream, etc. These are just fantastic too!!

It's official, I am now 27! I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed that I will have some new goodies to post about in the upcoming days from the birthday festivities! I did celebrate a little early this weekend, as it is also my aunts birthday, so I already have some goodies to pass along and share with all of you!

Cheers!!

I have been having so much fun playing around with warm golds and browns! They are so easy to coordinate and can make a stunning yet neutral look!

Some of my new favorite eyeshadows are the Jesse's Girl Eye Dusts, which have some great staying power and beautiful colors. I chose the eye dust in Sunlit Cactus to play with this time. This color comes off as a burnished gold, but also has tons of olive green iridescence to it, making this a fun color to play with.



Jesse's Girl Eye Dust "Sunlit Cactus" - foiled on lid
Bare Escentuals Glimmer "Sex Kitten" - dry in crease and pulled down into corner of lid
Jesse's Girl Eye Dust "Sparkles Gold" - foiled to hilight
mark. Hookup Liquid Eyeliner "Bronze Edge" - upper lid
Miliani Eyeliner Pencil "Brown" - lower lashline
Maybelline Colossal Mascara "Black"


Again, here are some pictures of the Jesse's Girl Eye Dusts, which includes swatches of each. Sunlit Cactus is on the bottom right of this first picture, and swatched first below.

As you have all probably gathered, I am so excited for fall! I decided to start browsing around and see the new fall collections that have come out, and one that stood out to me was the Nars 2008 Fall Collection, which I love every peice in!

You can see the entire collection here.


There are some absolutely beautiful eyeshadows, perfectly picked for fall. I absolutely love the Isolde Due Eyeshadow - the golds and bronze are right up my alley!

The lipsticks are gorgeous too, especially a nice warm pink to have for fall. Senorita is stunning, and I am definitely going to need to go to the store and see if I can' swatch some of these and show all of you.

The weather has finally broken into the 50's and 60's here, which means fall is right around the corner! In honor of the cooler weather, I decided to break out my turtleneck sweaters and my bronze eyeshadows for a fall inspired look. This is another go-to-any-time pallet, as the colors work so well together!

This was also the first time I used my mark. Lillith eyeliner, which I really like. The color is a bit on the light side, but it did add just enough definition to work well.




Face:
Fyrinnae Rice Primer
Serious Skin Care Mineral Foundation "Medium"
MAC Mineralize Blush "Love Thing"

Eyes:
Bare Escentuals "Hottie" - foiled on lid
Bare Escentuals "Sex Kitten" - crease
Bare Escentuals "White Gold" - high light
mark. Hook Up Liquid Eyeliner "Lillith" - upper liner
Sephora Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil "Gold" - lower lashline
Maybelline Colossal Mascara "Black"

Lips:
Avon Color Rich Lipstick "Sparkling Peach"

As I'm sure many of you know, I love golds and browns. Although I do like to play in color, working with browns and golds is so easy for me to do, so I just love to play around with different colors and techniques when I have the chance.

I decided to do more of a smokey antique gold look with the following colors:

The She Space "Fire and Brimstone" - inner corner
Jesse's Girl Eye Dusts "Cactus" - outer corner
Bare Escentuals Glimmer "Sex Kitten" - crease
Bare Escentuals Glimmer "White Gold" - highlight
Taylor Made Minerals "Fiji Beach" - under eye liner
Fyrinnae Liquid Eyeliner "Lovers Quarrel" - upper liner
Rimmel GlamEyes Mascara "Extreme Black"




For some reason, all these random colors worked well together and made a natural but beautiful look. The liquid eyeliner managed to take on several colors, including lavender, silver, gold and bronze. I absolutely love it!