Wednesday, October 21, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 17

It's electric! ...... blue.

Another liner look. I like how this turned out metallic. Just get an angle brush (or a Q-tip, or in my case, a really small eyeshadow sponge applicator), get it damp, rub it around in the shadow, and line your eyes!


On my lips..... nothing! I didn't feel like being fussy today. I was up late last night writing a paper. Plus I though I would just let my eyes do the talking.

120 days of shadow: Day 16

Yikes, this is getting harder than I thought. In my old age I'm forgetting which shadows I've used, and which I haven't.... Eep!

Well, I think I used this color today:

I'm wearing a rosy-wine colored dress today, so I tried to coordinate my makeup to my dress, but not be matchy-matchy. The verdict's still out though.

Let me tell you the story about my lipgloss/stick, whatever. I bought a Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick earlier this summer, not too long after it came out at drugstores. I was soooo excited because, um, I love lipstick! And the colors looked versatile and wearable, and the description of the formula sounded lovely too. Was it lovely? Not really.

First of all, it smells like the whole 64 pack of crayons condensed into one neat package. And not in a good way. I picked Peachy Scene (of course... anything with "peachy" in the title draws me like a moth to the flame), and yeah, the color was pretty. But the texture actually felt like a crayon, too! Not creamy at all like the ad claimed. Boo. It was waxy and thick and hard to spread. It's better if you apply it over a thin layer of gloss. But 2-step lip looks urk me. So here's what I finally did today. I took Peachy Scene (which was too thick):

....and combined it with a tinted balm of mine that is WAY too clear to wear alone (have lots of those!) and mixed it all together in a cute little *GREEN!* pot! Here's the finished product:

Pretty, right? And it goes on sheer, but with a nice punch of pinky color. And it feels like lip balm, which I love. It was pretty easy, too. Kinda messy, though. I chopped off the Peachy Scene and put it in the empty pot. Then I added my tinted balm and attacked both of them with my hairdryer for a few seconds so they were nice and mushy. Then I took a toothpick and mixed them together. And I really like this color!

Now I'm eyeing the rest of my lipsticks suspiciously, wondering who will be the next victim....

Monday, October 19, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 15

I decided to suffer through pink again today, but much to my surprise, it looked peachy on me! Talk about a welcome surprise. So to match, I played up my peachy cheeks and a peachy lipgloss.

I'm wearing Jordana InColor Pretty Shine Luxury Gloss in Dazzling, which is bright tangerine shade. The cool thing about a sheer formula is that your natural lip hue shines through. So because my lips are pink already, the orange color turns peach (which is pink + orange). And don't even get me started on the feel of this lipgloss! Well, OK, do get me started because it's GREAT! It's smooth, it smells happy and fruity, it never gets sticky, and it definitely has a good shot of pigment. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hate gloss that looks brightly colored in the tube and then looks like a layer of clear nailpolish topcoat on your lips. Why??? Lips don't look any more attractive just because they're shiny. They look more attractive because they have a pretty blush to them. And if there's some shine to that blush, then that's a bonus.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Lipstick Storage

I was goofing around yesterday after a long, boring day of book-cramming, and found a bunch of amazing pictures and videos of ways girls had organized their makeup. While I didn't have enough energy to organize all of my makeup (actually most of it is lipstick anyway.... Who am I kidding?) I just chose to tackle my box lipsticks. That whole box thing sounded convenient at first... until I started dumping them out on the bathroom floor to find the right one, and "Mr. Green" kept stepping on them and getting annoyed.... Plus it just wasn't very elegant, which of course I am. Or at least this puts me a step closer to elegance. See???



This is all of them, except for like 2 that I'm trying to get rid of. The colors just won't work for me, no matter how I combine it with other things. So these are all the ones that I could actually wear. My husband was happy about this, because he said I would have to get rid of one to buy a new one, so that my system would keep working! Hmmm, smart. Not sure I like that, but it's smart.

120 days of shadow: Day 14

(Um, took the makeup day off yesterday. I spent all Saturday studying and eating ramen. I didn't put anything on my face at all!)

Here's today though. I went mossy green again. I had a crazy hectic morning, so I didn't have time to do any fancy color-blending or anything. Just a swipe of shadow. I lined the inner corners of my eyes with Rimmel's Exaggerate Liner in Brown. It was starting to dry out though (I lost the cap!) so I attacked it with my hairdryer. Just put it on high and point it at the tip of your eyeliner for about 5 seconds. Don't do much longer than that, though, because it will melt right off! Don't ask me how I know this....

More quick swiping: I'm wearing Mary Kay's NouriShine Lipgloss in Cocoa Creme. Just enough so I looked done so I could run out the door! I really love this gloss. Mary Kay is the only non-drugstore brand that I own, because my mom used to buy it for me when I was younger. She has a friend who is a sales consultant. And good thing, because this gloss is great. I have three other ones, and their formula is great. Not watery and not sticky. Not too sheer and not too shiny. Just very creamy with a decent amount of pigment. Perfect!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Review: Dove White Beauty Bar


If you have dry skin (like yours truly) this soap will
change your life!! I hear you. You're asking, soap, on my face? Unlikely.

It's true! I've been so frustrated with my 21-year-old skin that thinks it's 81. I start the day out with a facial scrub, so the dry flakes are gone, and a good moisturizer. And my face looks bright and dewy. But then by the time I get home at night, I have little crusty spots on my face! And when I wash my face before bed, I can never seem to apply enough moisturizer. It keeps tightening up on me.

Well yesterday, I hit my frustration quota. I read some reviews online for good face washes for dry skin, and Dove's Beauty Bar seemed to take the cake. What really sold me was it's dirt cheap and says "1/4 moisturizing cream" on the package. Score!

I could hardly wait to wash my face last night (that's a first). And it was worth the wait! As soon as I rinsed my face off, I could feel that it was different. It didn't even feel like my skin anymore! It was supple and insanely soft. I couldn't stop touching my face! Good thing "Mr. Green" was asleep because he would've thought I'd finally lost it....

I was still excited to wash my face this morning. Still soft and supple. And I barely felt like I needed to apply moisturizer! And when I got home tonight? No flakes!
Crazy. I've tried lots of face washes that were supposed to help dry skin (Cetaphil, St. Ives Olive Cleanser, etc.) but they've never made my skin feel any different. I can't believe that a measly bar of soap (that costs about a dollar!) could change the moisture levels of my skin in one day.

GO BUY IT RIGHT NOW, ALL YOU CRAZY KIDS WITH OLD-LADY SKIN!

(Just fyi, I tried this product and wrote this post of my own volition. I really do LOOOOVE IT!)

120 days of shadow: Day 13

My husband ("Mr. Green") took me out to dinner and the symphony tonight! It was wonderful. Especially since I got to dress up. Teehee. I wore a champagne-colored cocktail dress, and wine peep toe shoes. Since I would normally pair that with champagne eye makeup, I decided to do something out of character and pick the wine color instead. Hence the dusty purple eyeshadow.


Oh, and the lipstick is called Wine, too! It's Maybelline's Superstay, which really did stay. Even through our seafood meal. Nice! I'm really digging the color, too. If I didn't feel so self-conscious about it, I'd wear bright/dark lipstick every day. I'd be.... "the girl in the awesome lipstick!" Maybe when this eyeshadow craziness is over!


Thursday, October 15, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 12

Aqua. I finally did it. You can't really tell though, because I applied it with such a light hand. I tried it wet first, and it was so crazy I couldn't do it. So sheer it is.

I really thought this aqua-colored shadow would look awful on me, since my eyes are kinda aqua. But see how it kind of blends in with my eye color? Weird.... Shows what I know. Which is apparently nothing.
On Katie's sad, pouty lips (another long day of studying): Yup, CoverGirl's Trushine in Blushberry Shine! Even though I posted about my love for it early last week, I gotta be redundant and do it again. I love how it's kind of neutral (in that it doesn't clash with other colors), but it's still enough color to brighten up my tired face. Pretty cool. Now if I could just find a color like this in a long-wearing formula.... My face would look awake all day!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 11

Total bum day today. Have a buttload of studying to do for the next ummm.... rest of my life. No, not really, because I'm (hopefully!) graduating from college in May. Then maybe I'll get a respite from all this mind-numbing studying.

ANYWAY, what I was getting at was that I didn't feel like doing anything schnazzy today. Just neutral gray-taupe that I used to wear on an almost-daily basis. I was so lazy today that I even wore my beat-up Batman shirt. And I don't even like Batman.





I swiped just a smidge of pale pink lipstick on my lips. It's Maybelline's Moisture Extreme (fave!) in True Pink. Done. Now back to studying.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 10

I wanted to wear a steely blue shadow today, but I didn't want it to completely conquer my face. So I only have the blue shadow on the inner corner of my eyes. Then I used the pewter shadow from a few days ago on the outside of my lids, and in my creases. Then I added navy liner all around my eyes.

I'm wearing just a touch of lipgloss- Maybelline's Lip Polish in Papaya Kiss. Normally I wouldn't mix orange and blue, but the skirt I'm wearing has a super pretty print with navy, coral, and light blue, so I thought maybe I could get away with it? Plus steel blue kind of washes out my face.

Monday, October 12, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 10

I had an awesome hippie shirt on today in earthy colors, so I picked eyeshadow to match. I have olive green on my lids, and earthy brown in my crease. And Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner in Pine (dark green) lining my eyes.

Lips: Maybelline's Moisture Extreme in Nude Blush. I also wore it on Day 2. LOVE this stuff. It's my favorite cream lipstick. It feels just like applying chapstick. At first I hated the slight smell of cucumber, but now I don't mind it so much. Especially since the formula and the colors are amazing.

120 days of shadow: Day 9

OK, I didn't get to post this yesterday because I was exhausted and running a fever. But here's what I wore yesterday. I just wanted to do something simple and fresh, since our church met outside yesterday. I didn't wanna wear anything nuts. Bright/Dark makeup looks strange outside....


It's just a nice, pale color with a thin line of brown eyeliner. On my lips? CoverGirl's Trushine in Rosy Shine. Like I said before about Blushberry Shine, this formula is definitely my favorite of any lip product I've tried to date (amazing, I know). It feels good, it's sheer but still vibrant, and the finish is just right- shiny but not in a sticky lipgloss kind of way. Next I wanna try Peach Shine or Coral Shine. Sounds right up my alley.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The perfect fall polish (at the perfect price!)

"Mr. Green" and I went to Walmart last night for our weekly Friday-night junk food run. While he went and bought a pinball game for his Xbox, I sneaked a peak at the makeup. I was really looking for a pale lavender nail polish, but found something much better! This awesome shade of gray-purple:

Love, love, love! It's by Pure Ice and it's only............

dum dum dum dum dum (insert your own imaginary drumroll please)

$2! So of course I HAD to buy it. My husband cleverly pointed out that I technically do not NEED another nail polish.... ever again for the rest of my life. I also cleverly said he didn't need another Xbox game for the rest of his life, so we agreed to disagree. To each his (her) own, I guess.

The best part of this polish? It's named "Taupe Drawer." What the *word I shouldn't say*? Who named that one? Why not "Ivory Crown Molding" while we're at it? It's OK, it just makes me that much more emotionally attached to this awesome nail polish.


The other good things about this color is how it kind of morphs depending on the lighting. The first picture (taken without a flash) looks more grayed, but in this one (with a flash), it's more vibrant purple. Nifty:


And it gets better. I only applied one coat for these pictures! It's very highly pigmented AND one of the smoothest, glossiest polishes I've tried. Sooo easy to apply, even for me! I have yet to find out if it wears well, but I'll get back to you on that one.

120 days of shadow: Day 8

It's Saturday and my eyelids needed a break. Or I was just bored. So I took an eyeshadow sponge applicator (one from Physician's Formula Wet/Dry Baked Eyeshadows.... it has one side that's really narrow to use as liner), got it damp, dipped it in wine-colored shadow, and lined my eyes with it. The effect looked like I'd used a liquid metallic liner. Pretty cool. I'm definitely gonna have to do that for some of the crazier colors I'm scared to try. Like, ahem, turquoise. Can girls with blue eyes really wear turquoise eye makeup?? We shall see. Someday.




I noticed I've been doing a lot of warm colors that contrast with my eye color, like pink, wine, and orange. It seems to make them stand out a little more. So I guess girls with brown eyes should pick cool-colored shadows?


And now to my favorite segment of the show- What Katie's Wearing On Her Lips! I find L'Oreal's HIP Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss (the kind in a tube) in Astounding in an old purse of mine, so I decided to give it a second shot. It's BRIGHT purple in the tube, but looks kind of like grape jelly on my lips. Which is stinkin awesome, because I love grape jelly. The only problem? It kind of feels like grape jelly too- thick and sticky. These L'Oreal glosses in the tubes aren't my favorite, but the color is nice, I guess.

Oh, and I had to give a shout-out to my husband (I guess we bloggers would call him Mr. Anything Green? Mr. Green?) and his special ramen recipe. It's one of the few things he cooks, but boy is it awesome. It's spicy enough to make my nose run, which is the true test of epic ramen. Perfect Saturday food.

Friday, October 9, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 7

Today was really blustery outside, so I opted for a pewter-y look. Pewter. I hate that word. P-U-ter. Ew. Good things my eyes don't look ew. Or at least I don't think....



For my lips, I picked a bright-ish color because I didn't wanna look washed out by the gunmetal-colored shadow. It's Maybelline's Forever Metallics Lipcolor Pencil in Blush Beams. Unfortunately, it's discontinued now, but you can find them at Dollar Tree! Oh, how I love Dollar Tree. Anyway, if you really like this color, I did some stealthy investigating and found Wet 'n Wild's Megaslicks Retractable Lip Stick in Passion Fruit Pink. It looks freakishly similar, although it is slightly more than a dollar. Sigh, well what are you gonna do.... Here it is:
In other VERY important news, Kim Kardashian is COPYING me! Check out her orange eyeshadow! I soooooo started it....

Thursday, October 8, 2009

120 days of shadow: Day 6

Today was a very important day: Green Eyeshadow Day! Well, I don't know how important it is, because I'm pretty sure no one could tell what color shadow I was wearing.... I asked my husband and he said, "light blue? gray?", so whatever. Let's just call it Awesome Shimmery Eyelids Day.


I blended that same peach from yesterday into my crease just for giggles. No, I'm not being uber creative. I actually stole that idea from Indian Girl. Check out her blog- her pictures of her eyeballs look much better than mine.

I also have Rimmel's Exaggerate Waterproof Eyeliner in Pine (a mossy green) around my eyes, although it's kind of subtle. That's why I included this crappy close-up of my scary eyeball. But regardless of the scary picture, these liners are great! I use the black one almost every day, and just bought a brown one for more subtle looks (what with all these crazy-colored eyeshadows and all!). They last way better than Revlon's Colorstay, which I used to pay $9 a pop for. Stupid, I know. Now I pay about $4 for these, which are much better and have a really nice color range. Next I wanna try purple.... Mmmm.

And of course, I picked a peach lipstick (yay, peach!). You'll soon find out that I've been hunting for the perfect peach (a cross between light pink and light orange) for what feels like FOREVER. This one, however, is pretty near perfect. It's CoverGirl's Outlast Double Lipshine in Sahara, which is an awesome color! And don't even get me started on Outlast products. Some people would openly mock me for this, but I love long-wearing lipcolors! They're like nailpolish for your lips! (You have to get some kind of remover to take the color off at night.) But maybe this is just a matter of taste. Some people like sheer glosses that you have to reapply every hour on the hour.