Sparkly Purple!

One of my favorite shadows of all time is Darling Girl Cosmetics "Here's Johnny".  It's a gorgeous, very sparkly purple.  Whenever I wear it, I spend entirely too much time looking in the mirror with my eyes half closed admiring the beauty that it is.  I never like taking it off at night!  My husband also loves it, and always comments on how awesome it is when I wear it.  I wore this makeup for date night last week.

Time for a "Merry" Opera

Ohhh long time no blog.  Well, it's only been about a week and a half, but it seems like a long time to me.  I'm also behind on reading and commenting on my favorite blogs.  Geez.

Anyhow, my parents, husband, and I went to see The Merry Widow by Franz Léhar at the Detroit Opera House about a week ago, and I thought I'd show you some photos of the evening.

Detroit Lions Face of the Day

So, I created this look of the day last week when the Detroit Lions (Detroit's NFL team) were playing in the wild card playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.  I was hoping wearing some fun, Detroit Lions colors-inspired makeup would help them win.  Unfortunately, the referees had a different plan.  Even President Obama weighed in on the controversy.  Anyhow, I had fun with this look.

Detroit Lions colors are blue and white.

Happy Halloween (Fashion and FotD)

It's finally Halloween!  Time to binge on candy and horror movies!

I didn't do any unusual costume or makeup this year, but I went with a bit of a spiderweb theme for my clothes and jewelry for the day.

I just did some (what I think are) awesome smokey eyes for my makeup.

I used:
     from the Urban Decay Naked Palette--Naked (matte tan) in the crease
                                                                   Creep (sparkling dark gray) in the outer and inner corners
                                                                   Virgin (shimmery shell) under the brows
     from the Too Faced Pretty Rebel Palette -- Miss Sparkles (sparkling black) in the outer v
     Fyrinnae loose pigment in Velvet Vampire (sparkly rust red) in the center of the lid
   

I followed the same pattern as the upper lid on the lower lashline.

from left: Naked, Creep, Virgin, Velvet Vampire, Miss Sparkles

Velvet Vampire, Miss Sparkles (swatched dry 'cause that's how it used 'em)

  LORAC Front of the Line PRO Liquid Eyeliner in black along the upper lashes
  Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Perversion on the waterlines
  Mally Voluminizing Mascara in Black

Cheeks: BFTE Babycakes Blush

Lips: MAKE UP FOR EVER Rouge Artist Natural in N9

from left: BFTE Babycakes Blush, MUFE Rouge Artist Natural in N9

This photo makes it look like I put my blush on weird and unevenly, but it's just the lighting.  I swear.

I found some cool nail stickers (the kind that are nail polish in sticker form, so they are long-lasting).

I kinda wish I had attempted some "spiderweb" eyeliner.

Did you dress up for Halloween?

P.S. The weather here was miserable for trick or treating (37°F and rainy).  Many of the kids that visited my house were wearing mittens.

Opening Opera Night in Detroit

The 2014-2015 opera season in Detroit has started!  Saturday was opening night, and the Richard Strauss opera Elektra is the first opera of the season.

Elektra is the story of a woman who is determined to kill her mother (Klytemnestra) and her mother's lover (Aegisth) for murdering her father (Agamemnon).  She enlists the help of her brother (Orest), but her sister (Chrysothemis) just wants a normal life with a husband and children.  Elektra's family tree looks something like this (she and her siblings are all the way at the bottom):

The scrim was painted to look like the family tree scrawled on a chalkboard.

The opera is quite interesting in that it is presented in one act with no intermission.  Elektra is on stage through the entirety of the opera.  It requires a soprano with great stamina and vocal range.  Christine Goerke was fabulous as Elektra.  Seriously sublime.

Elektra is a nicely "heavy" opera in the sense that it is both a tragedy and the music is kind of bombastic and grand.  I always describe this kind of music as the kind that "makes you feel like your stomach is being pulled out through your nose."  I felt slightly wrung out after the opera.  Love it!

Elektra's dress is all bloody!

The opera house was showcasing some of the costumes from this season, including Elektra, Madame Butterfly, and The Merry Widow.

I'm looking forward to The Merry Widow for the costumes alone.

Now, because this is a beauty blog, here are some photos of the makeup I wore on my face:

I'm not sure what happened with the lips in this picture.

On the eyes: Darling Girl loose pigment in Jeweled Taupe on the moving lid
                     from the LORAC PRO Palette
                               -- mix of Mauve and Sable in the crease
                               -- Nude in the inner corner by the tear duct
                               -- Cream under the brow
                     Physicians Formula 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner liquid liner in Ultra Black
                     Tarina Tarantino Hyperliner eyeliner in Tommy Jet on the lower lashline
                     L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

Blurry to show the sparkle!

from left: DGC Jeweled Taupe (swatch over Fyrinnae Pixe Epoxy because that's how I wore it), LORAC PRO Palette Mauve, Sable, Nude, Cream

Look at that sparkle!

P.S. Pardon the super shiny forehead -- I remebered to apply my Mally Poreless Face Defender AFTER I took the pics, and I didn't have time to retake the photos.  I don't retouch my photos either (unless I'm attempting to make the colors more true to life).

Cheeks: NYX Powder Blush in Taupe to contour under the cheekbones
              Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Luminous Flush

Lips: YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick in Opera Rose (of course)

from left: NYX Taupe blush, Hourglass Luminous Flush blush, YSL Opera Rose lipstick

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to take any photos of my husband and my parents.  Boooooo.  Next time for sure!

Elektra got rave reviews, and rightly so.  It was amazing.

Little BFTE Haul

I was perusing the BFTE (Beauty From the Earth) website and stumbled across a blush named "Babycakes".  Now, this might be too much information, but "babycakes" happens to be what my husband and I call each other.  I showed him the blush, and he actually told me I had to get it.  The fact that it is a pink blush with little sparkles that I knew I would love was just a bonus.  So, I placed a little order with BFTE (which is an indie company that has mostly loose pigment eyeshadows, blushes, and mineral face products).  Here's what I ordered:

Look at the pretty little bag!

I bought a full size Babycakes blush.  The full size blushes come in 10 gram sifter jars with 2 grams of product.

BFTE Babycakes Blush (heavy swatch)

sparkles!

Here is Babycakes blush on my face:

I have Marc Jacobs lipstick in Have We Met? on my lips

I also bought 3 sample eyeshadows: Miracle, Heat, and Harvest.

I've swatched the eyeshadows dry and over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy for your viewing pleasure.

from left: Miracle, Heat, Harvest

Harvest just seems like a perfect color for fall.  And just look at Miracle.  Look at it!

Like the other BFTE stuff I have, I am impressed by everything I ordered.  Also, shipping and turn around time was incredibly fast.

BFTE has an absolutely amazing array of colors, and it's hard to choose just a few to buy.  I want them all, of course.

Do you have anything from BFTE?  What colors would you recommend?