Lippies Experiment: Final FOTDs!

Guys, I did it! I wore all my lippies this month! HURRAY! Let's see how the last few panned out.

What do you mean I can't have a bunny?

Clinique After Party: This is a delightful vampy plum, with one caveat: gold shimmer. So much gold shimmer. It doesn't migrate, thankfully, but it does remain after the lipstick wears off. The formula also isn't moisturizing, so after a full day of wearing just this, my lips were quite chapped. And very shimmery. I think it's a lippie I'll keep in mind for shorter events––it looks awesome for a couple of hours, and my lips can survive that long just fine. Definitely has inspired me to get another non-shimmery vamp, though! Got my eye on Hourglass Empress.

Sunday Summary

First off, I want to thank everyone for your kind comments on my most recent post. I really, really appreciate them, even if I'm putting off replying to them because I don't know how to express my gratitude (also, social anxiety). I'm still feeling a little blue, and more than a little overwhelmed, but I'm trying to just keep myself in the relative present. Here are some things that have helped:

Tea! I ordered a bunch of loose tea samples from Adagio, since there's not really anyplace in Eugene that sells a wide variety, and have slowly been sipping my way through them. I'm drinking the Spiced Maté right now (also pictured to the right), but I've also really enjoyed the Rooibos Lemon Cloud, Rooibos Earl Grey, Rooibos Chai (I like rooibos tea, clearly!), and black Earl Grey Lavender. I've placed another order with some more flavors, particularly more black teas because I've realized that tea provides some much-needed caffeine on early mornings and upsets my stomach much less than does coffee. I really like the Adagio website––it's sensibly organized, has pretty visuals, provides lots of information, and the tea is so affordable! Sample bags are $2 for enough tea to make 10 cups, and even with my 12 oz tea mug that's still nearly 7 cups' worth. Relatedly, I am also enjoying lactose-free milk. Thanks, world.

Depression and Generosity

The past week hasn't really been happy fun times at Amy central.

Nearly Perfect Lashes: Maybelline Full N Soft Very Black Review and Swatches

There are many things about my appearance that I might change, given the choice (not having to pluck my brows would be great, not to mention some way to fix my skin!), but my lashes are not one of them. They're long, dark, thick, and hardy. They are not, however, particularly curly, but I have my kickass lash curler for that. My goal when using mascara is to lengthen, separate, and darken yet further, since in the course of applying eyeshadow and face powder I inevitably end up with product on my lashes. There's a lot of things I don't want, including (but probably not limited to) crunchy lashes, clumps, sad spindly lashes, smudges, flakes, and jabby mascara wands; my goal is always my lashes but better, natural and believable. My absolute HG mascara is Armani Eyes to Kill, but at $30 a tube, it's not something I can repurchase lightly, so when it finally dried up on me I decided to start hunting for a cheaper alternative. I picked up Maybelline Full N Soft, as I remembered liking it when I used it several years ago, apparently forgetting about the 3 sample tubes of mascara I have waiting for me to try. Ah well, at least I used +Up rewards so it ended up being free...

Manicure Monday

I got through 6 unworns this week! Yippee!

Sinful Colors What's Your Number

I got this awhile back to use in nail polish jewelry for galaxies, but hadn't yet worn it. It's a really nicely opaque black with duochrome shimmers that shift from turquoise to purple. You can see the shimmer inside, though the duochrome is really only evident in the sun when you tilt your nails. Formula was good, opaque in two coats, though I had noticeable tipwear after less than a day (see photo).

Fragrance Friday

Another week nearly done. Fridays are my hell days, but at least tomorrow is the weekend! Things I've worn this week and found particularly noteworthy, many of which are very rose-centric, because it turns out I like some (but definitely not all) rose perfumes:

L'Artisan Safran Troublant (Oriental Spicy: passion flower, sandalwood, rose, vanilla, saffron, sugar, ginger): Tried this because Ari of Scents of Self loves it, and I must say I agree. It's really a gorgeous scent, a soft oriental rose, all sweet and friendly and just beautiful. Not interesting enough to be HG for me, but definitely one I would deem FB worthy if I had the money. As it is, I'll continue ordering samples of it from Aedes, my perfume heroes.

Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady (Oriental Floral: rose, raspberry, patchouli, incense, sandalwood, clove, black currant, cinnamon, benzoin, amber, musk): Got this to try and see if I like rose and patchouli together; based on a sample size of 1, I'll have to say no. The first couple hours are just PATCHOULI of the earthy sort (and being a native Eugenean, I am well familiar with patchouli, but I can't say I love it on its own), and over time the rose becomes more apparent, but it's the sharp kind of rose I don't love. Not a success for me, but maybe it would be better sprayed (I just dabbed it). We'll see.

Lippies Experiment: More FOTDs!

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Lashes as Curly as My Hair: Shiseido Eyelash Curler Review and Pictures

Okay, quick rundown of my lashes: They're long, dark, thick, but lacking in curl (because apparently my hair stole the whole allotment), and I find that unless I curl my lashes with a dedicated curler, they bump against my glasses lenses endlessly. I used to use Tarte's curler, because I would buy it in the duo with the mascara mini, which my mother adores, but I've been feeling like trying something else and leaving the Tarte one behind on the East Coast somewhere gave me kick in the butt I needed to find something new. (I've also tried Revlon curlers in the past, but found them to be lacking.) At Larie's suggestion, I opted for Shiseido's over Shu Uemura's, because of the refillable pads, not to mention the fact that I could just jaunt right down to the mall and pick it up, rather than having to wait for shipping. Herewith, my thoughts.

A super-artsy shot by yours truly

Manicure Monday

More manicures! This is going to be brief, again, because I have a bunch of quizzes to grade and a sure-to-be-confusing syntax article to read (the life of a grad student is just an endless party, y'all).

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest
I caved and bought this when I spotted it in New York. Yes, I hate OPI's terrible punny names, but the color is SO GORGEOUS. And after using it, I have to say the OPI formula (okay, based on a sample size of 1, so take it with a grain of salt) is fantastic. I will be paying more attention to their other collections now! And I will be wearing this polish all the freaking time.

Guest Post at Eye Heart It!

Hey! Y'all should go check out my guest post (Polishes for a Rainy Day) on Eye Heart It! Larie is honeymooning and asked me to fill in for a day, which I of course gladly did, since Eye Heart It is one of my blogging ideals, and Larie is just the loveliest person. A teaser:

DUOCHROMES!