Fun with Mascara: Maybelline Great Lash Royal Blue

I wear foundation/concealer/brows (and to a lesser extent blush) because I think they make me look better, but eyeshadow/liner/lipstick because they're fun. I realized a few weeks ago that mascara, long part of the first group, comes in colors and could therefore become fun, too! So when I found a bunch of the Maybelline Great Lash colored mascaras from last summer at Grocery Outlet for $2.99 apiece, I picked up the blue and teal ones. I've only opened the blue, since I currently have 3 other mascaras in rotation (I don't know how that happened, either), and have been playing around with it. And guys, guess what? It's fun.

this is what fun looks like, y'all.

Tarina Tarantino FOTD

I won Liz's Tarina Tarantino giveaway, and after a number of delays, my goodies arrived a few days ago and I've been having fun playing with them! I'll do complete reviews of the products over the next few weeks, but I thought it would be nice to start with a full Tarantino FOTD as a preview.

HELLO

Face

MAC Matchmaster 1.0 mixed with Face Atelier Ultra Foundation Zero Minus
MUFE Full Cover Concealer 1
Tarina Tarantino Pearl Glow Luminizing Primer* patted on cheekbones, cupid's bow, browbone
Meow Cosmetics Pampered/Flawless Sleek Siamese/Korat foundation
Ben Nye Neutral Set Powder
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Radiant Magenta

FOTD

Such an original title, I know. I've written roughly 10,000 words of academic prose in the last week, and I am just zonked. Headed up to Seattle tomorrow (technically today, because OH YES I AM STILL AWAKE) with the boy, where we will gallivant and I will meet Larie and swatch some Burberry and hopefully sleep at some point? And then eventually return home and write real posts. It'll be fun. Until then, a teaser for some of the products you'll get to look forward to hearing about on here.

Yep:

Subtle FOTD

I like to play with makeup on the weekend, when I have time to do fun things. Recently, I decided to try a smoky eye in couches de couleurs style (see Messy Wands for what it's all about!). It didn't end up quite as well as I'd hoped, but I had fun with it!

FOTD, or: I have a tripod and taupe eyeshadow, so let's post about it

So I found a tripod in my brother's old room (which I'm in the process of moving into, very gradually, and which has all sorts of peculiar oddities, such as a bow and arrows). And then I read MM's taupe eyeshadow post. And then I decided to use my tripod to take a FOTD with my own take on the taupe eye. And then I decided to post it.

Le Métier de Beauté Corinthian up to crease, MAC Antiqued in outer corner and crease and lining upper and lower outer lashline, Maybelline Full N Soft mascara

Oh hai, glasses-less self

Other things I'm wearing:
Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch
Becca Radiant Skin Satin Finish in Shell (full review to come)
Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer 1 Pink Porcelain
Kryolan Anti-Shine Powder
NYX Marbella (blush half)
Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow Ash 25
Becca Sheer Tint Lip Color Gisella (somewhat faded, as I didn't reapply after snacking)

The end.

Inspired By: Cacti

I considered doing a "year in review" post, but decided that I spend enough time on here rambling introspectively, and as this is a beauty blog, I should perhaps spend some time doing beauty things! So, I decided to attempt something never before attempted here: an "inspired by" post. Generally my FOTD posts are based on products I'm testing, but I so enjoy reading other bloggers' posts that center on a theme (Getting Cheeky and Cute and Mundane, in particular), so I've decided to take a page from their books. The source of inspiration: the cactus and succulent garden at Sherman Gardens and Library in Corona del Mar, outside Newport Beach. The entire gardens are delightful––my mother and I went there when we had a few hours to spare before tea on the Queen Mary, and had a marvelous time wandering around with the mere $3 entrance fee––but the cactus and succulent garden was particularly breathtaking. I took nearly 50 photos in an attempt to capture the magic, and while I don't think I quite did, here are some that came close. (I was going to try and get this into an awesome collage, but ran out of time. Something to plan for in 2013!)

FOTD, as Photographed by The Boy

I recently wore a full face of new products on a night when the boy came over for dinner with the fam and managed to rope him into taking pictures for the blog. I have a hard enough time getting decent pictures when I'm photographing myself, so you can imagine the number of ridiculous photos that resulted from having a partner in crime. Or you could just read the rest of this post! Take note of the interesting evening lighting...

Looking suspicious

Quick(ish) Reviews of Two (~)Discontinued Products and a FOTD

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30 Days: Day 12

What are your favorite "your [blank] but better" products?

All products mentioned below, minus my normal glasses

I pretty much tend to shoot for "my face but better" when it comes to makeup, so many of my products relate to that! For my face but better, I apply CoverFX ClearPrepFX primer and then put a blend of Revlon ColorStay Ivory 110 and MAC Matchmaster 1 on top. When I need extra coverage, I use Meow concealer in Sleek Siamese, because it matches my skin so well!

FOTD and Flowers

Last weekend it was gloriously, gorgeously sunny, and I figured I should take some FOTD shots. While I was outside doing that, I saw a bunch of pretty flowers, so I snapped some shots of them as well.

The best of the shots I got of myself. Freckles, anyone?

Face
CoverFX Clear Prep FX (review to come)
Revlon ColorStay for Combination/Oily Skin in 110 Ivory
Meow Concealer in Sleek (1) Siamese
Kryolan Anti-Shine Finishing Powder
theBalm Frat Boy

New York Shopping Ramblings

I've got a ton of posts heading your way in the next few days/weeks, but I thought I'd start the deluge with this one!

I had a marvelous day of shopping in NYC on Sunday and managed to pick up a few products as well as sniff some perfumes, spot a makeup celebrity, and get a makeover. Herewith, some musings on the stores and my experiences:

We went to Bergdorf Goodman first, since it's home to Le Métier de Beauté and a Guerlain boutique, as well as a slew of other beauty and fragrance counters. The beauty section is on the lower-level, and the design is rather different from typical department stores, with lots of smaller rooms (connected by open archways) which made the shopping experience much more intimate. The LMdB counter is right at the base of the escalator going down, so that's where we went first; the saleswoman was nice enough, if a little distant, and I ended up picking up a couple of items: Corinthian eyeshadow, the Queen of Taupes, and a Lip Crème (Fraise!) for L, my shopping companion.

We then walked around the store and checked out some of the other counters (though not Clé de Peau, since I cannot afford anything at their counter). I made us stop by the Guerlain boutique, which supposedly has the full range of their fragrances (300 in all, though from the looks of it, they're not all displayed) and cosmetics. I sprayed the pure parfum versions of L'Heure Bleue, Mitsouko, and Nahéma on blotters just for kicks (and to see if the two former smelled noticeably different from their edp formulations; to my untrained nose, they did not, which I'm going to say means I don't have to order the parfum version from The Perfumed Court, at least not until I get really obsessed with fragrance, if that ever happens!*), though I think I should perhaps have stuck with the edt of Nahéma, since I quite disliked the parfum. I also sniffed the bottle of Vol de Nuit, though I was starting to suffer from some olfactory fatigue by that point, and also swatched a few of the Rouge Automatique lipsticks (Guet-Apens is in my future!) and tried the Kiss Kiss gloss upon L's recommendation, only to deem it, as usual, "too sticky".