It's National Lipstick Day

Hey guys!  Happy National Lipstick Day!

I rounded up 10 of my favorite lipsticks to show you in honor of the day.

Left Column top to bottom:
    --- Maybelline Color Sensational in Pink Freeze
    --- Clinique Pop Lip Color + Primer in Bare Pop
    --- Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Plump Perfect Lipstick in Perfect Blossom (discontinued)
    --- Lipstick Queen Let Them Eat Cake
    --- Maybelline Color Sensational in Strike a Rose (limited edition)

Right column top to bottom:
    --- Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Shine in Pink Dragon
    --- MAC Lustre Lipstick in Viva Glam V
    --- Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight
    --- NARS Audacious Lipstick in Brigitte
    --- Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Coral Shimmer

from left: Pink Freeze, Bare Pop, Perfect Blossom, Let Them Eat Cake, Strike a Rose
Pink Dragon, Viva Glam V, Lovelight, Brigitte, Coral Shimmer

This is definitely not a complete list of my favorite lipsticks, but I tried to narrow it down somewhat.

What are some of your favorite lipsticks?

Affordable Face of the Day

I recently did a face of the day post using nothing but high end/expensive stuff, so I thought I'd do one using nothing but stuff available at the drugstore.

Recent Lip Liner Aquisitions

I've been on a lip liner kick lately.  I think it's because I've been watching a ton of youtube makeup tutorial videos lately, and in almost every one, a lip liner/pencil is used.  I only owned 5 lip liners just a few months ago (I got rid of several ancient ones during a recent major makeup cleanout), and I seem to have added a few to my collection fairly recently.

Freeze! It's a Vice 3 Look

I had some fun with my new Urban Decay Vice 3 palette last night.  I decided to just go all out with it and create a colorful, dramatic eye look.  I only played with my makeup, so my hair is really weird, and I'm wearing a purple sweatshirt.  The sweatshirt does have rhinestones on the shoulders, so it's a little fancy.

Face of the Day With Some Drugstore Favorites

There is so much good makeup to find at the drugstore these days.  I decided to use nothing but some of my drugstore favorites today.  The hardest part was choosing which favorites to use!

Complexion: 

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation -- I like the fluid texture and light-medium coverage of this foundation.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Concealer -- This has a lovely light texture, but covers well, and it doesn't settle into my wrinkles.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder -- Non-powdery and non-cakey.  Important qualities for a face powder.

Cheeks:

Milani Illuminating Face Powder in Amber Nectar -- I use this as a bronzer.  It gives a lovely glow to the skin.
Milani Baked Blush in Corallina -- A beautiful coral blush.  Of note: this is sparkly.  But I like sparkly stuff.  It's also really pretty in the pan.

from left: Milani Amber Nectar Illuminating Powder, Milani Corallina Baked Blush

Eyes:

Wet 'n' Wild Petal Pusher Palette -- I adore purple eyeshadows, so this is right up my alley.  The texture of the shadows is quite soft.  I used the "definer" shade from the left side as the only color on my lids for this look.  It's more sheer than the other shadows in the palette, but it's still pretty.  It's a sparkly bluish purple.

Physicians Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum -- I like the calligraphy-style brush on this liquid liner.

L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara -- My favorite mascara at the moment.  It gives lots of length to my lashes.

Wet 'n' Wild Petal Pusher palette "definer" shade

sparkly!

Lips:

NYX Lipliner Pencil in Nectar -- Nectar is a very pretty, slightly metallic coral.  It's fairly creamy for a lip pencil.

Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Stick in Fresh Papaya -- This chubby lip crayon is quite moisturizing and almost balm-like, smells nice and fruity, and gives a good dose of color to the lips. Fresh Papaya is a shimmery peachy coral.  One of my favorite lipsticks ever!

from left: Neutrogena Fresh Papaya MoistureSmooth Color Stick, NYX Nectar Lip Pencil

What are some of your drugstore favorites?

May 2014 Favorites

Time for some favorites for the past month!  Let's get to it.

Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning (review) -- I've been using this every other night to give me some color on my face and décolleté.  It's light and milky, and feels kind of refreshing.  A great, gradual self tanner.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation -- True story: I needed a new foundation to match my newly self-tanned face, and I didn't want to spend too much money on one because I wasn't sure how often I was going to self-tan, or even if I was going to like doing it.  So, I went to CVS and looked for the cheapest (or close to it) foundation and discovered this one for $6, plus I had some Extra Bucks, so it cost me $2.  I hadn't done any "homework" on it, so I was buying it with only having read the ingredients on the back (I liked the fact it has titanium dioxide for sunscreen).  I took it home and immediately slapped it on my face, and discovered it was a light, liquidy, comfortable foundation with light to medium coverage.  It was a win!  I've been wearing it almost everyday, and think it is rather great.  The packaging, however, leaves something to be desired.  It is a glass bottle with no pump that is narrower at the bottom than the top, so it is quite tippy.  Chance of me spilling it: near 100%.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder -- I have already repurchased this powder.  It gives a nice finish to the skin, doesn't look powdery, and it isn't drying.  Inelegant packaging, but whatever.  It works.

Too Faced à la mode Eyes -- This palette has nothing but shimmery shadows, so I have to supplement it with matte shadow from somewhere else, but I don't mind.  The colors are so springy/summery and just feel right for this time of year.  My favorite colors: Jardin (shimmery peach), Cannes (shimmery and sparkly copper), and Soleil (shimmery plummy brown).  De La Mer (shimmery navy blue) makes a great liner color.

MAC Lipglass in Water Deities from the Alluring Aquatics Collection -- This is a very shimmery "light bronzy pink" (according to MAC). It has the signature Lipglass vanilla scent and tacky texture that makes it long-wearing.  Gorgeous color.  Pretty packaging doesn't hurt either.

This is only a small part of the garden!

My Garden! -- The garden is looking lush and full now that all the plants are up.  Plenty of spring flowers have been blooming over the past month, and it's really fun to see what blooms when, what starts growing when, and where I need to add more plants!

I'd love to hear about some of your recent favorites!

Look of the Day Gemstone Series: Amethyst

It's February, so I decided to use February's birthstone, amethyst, as today's inspiration.

Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz and is a semi-precious stone.  According to Wikipedia, the name comes from the ancient Greek a- ("not") and methustos ("intoxicated"), which is a reference to the ancient Greek belief that it was an antidote to drunkenness.

source: American Gem Society

Shades of amethyst range from pinky-violet to deep purple, and intensity within one crystal of amethyst quartz can vary greatly.  However, the stones are most often cut so the finished gem will have a homogenous color, rather than for size, which would most likely include striations of color, which lie in a striped pattern parallel to the face of the crystal.

source: list-of-birthstones.com

Amethysts can lose their color if overexposed to light sources such as sunlight or black light (so they should be protected when worn outside or in a discotheque). Amethysts can also be artificially darkened using radium radiation.  

The most prized amethyst gems have no blemishes or inclusions within the stone, and are a medium to deep purple with flashes of red.

I used several purples on my eyes ranging from light lavender to deep violet to create my amethyst look.

daylight bulb

with flash

Eyes:

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Color in Orchid on the inner corner

Sephora Moonshadow Trio in Dusk Till Dawn -- lightest color on inner third of the lid

Darling Girl Cosmetics loose eyeshadows in Fra-gee-lay on the middle of the lid

Sushi Flower Diamond Dust on the lower lashline

from left: Fra-gee-lay, Sushi Flower

BFTE loose eyeshadow in Grape on the outer third of the lid

NARS eyeshadow single (I don't know the name becaue I depotted it looooong ago -- it might be Daphne)

Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Eyeshadow in Amethyst in the crease

Urban Decay eyeshadow in Limit to blend out the crease

Urban Decay eyeshadow in Strange under the brow

from left: Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Orchid, Sephora Moonshadow in Dusk Till Dawn (lightest color), Darling Girl loose shadow in Fra-Gee-lay, Darling Girl loose shadow in Sushi Flower, BFTE loose shadow in Grape (all three swatched over Pixie Epoxy), NARS eyeshadow in Daphne (probably), Elizabeth Arden eyeshadow in Amethyst, Urban Decay eyeshadow in Limit, Urban Decay eyeshadow in Strange

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyeliner in Ransom on the lower waterline

Milani Liquid Eye eyeliner pencil in Perfect Purple on the upper lashes

NYX Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Purple on the upper lashes

from left: Urban Decay eyeliner in Ransom, Milani eyeliner in Perfect Purple, NYX liquid eyeliner in Extreme Purple

L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

Cheeks: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Milk Chocolate to contour
             Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed
             Wet 'n' Wild Fergie To Reflect Shimmer Palette in Rose Champagne Glow

from left: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Milk Chocolate, Tarte blush in Exposed, Wet 'n' Wild Fergie Shimmer palette in Rose Champagne Glow

Lips: MAKE UP FOR EVER Rouge Artist Natural lipstick in N1
         Rimmel Stay Glossy lipgloss in Non Stop Glamour (I think -- there is no name on it)

from left: MAKE UP FOR EVER Rouge Artist Natural in N1, Rimmel Stay Glossy lipgloss in Non Stop Glamour

I have a set of amethysts that I wear frequently (it's not my birthstone, I just find amethysts really beautiful).

This ring belonged to my mother, and I "borrowed" it from her as a teenager.  I wore it ALL the time, so she decided it should just be mine.

These earrings were my grandmother's, and she gifted them to me for my birthday one year to match the ring.

My pendant was a high school graduation gift from my parents to match the ring and earrings.

In all of the above pics the purples photographed really blue, so I attempted to tone them (which I don't normally do) to make the colors a little more true to life.  The below picture was taken in indoor light and actually reflects the violet colors of the shadows better.  I didn't think to try indoor light until the end of the day, which is why the shadows are slightly faded.

Thank you for checking out my amethyst look of the day!  

Opal

Diamond

Citrine/Imperial Topaz

Emerald

Tanzanite

Ruby