Anniversary Day at the Detroit Zoo (Lots of Pics and Videos)

Last week, my husband and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary.  We got married in the Detroit Zoo Butterfly House, so we try to go back every year on our anniversary.  We had a wonderful day.  It wasn't too hot and the animals were out (not hiding like they sometimes do).  We also live close enough to the zoo that we can walk there, which is quite nice.

On This Day 8 Years Ago...

I married my best friend.

Face of the Day with MAKE UP FOR EVER and Charlotte Tilbury

Another attention-grabbing post title.  At least it's descriptive.  I used my new Charlotte Tilbury goodies along with the gorgeous MAKE UP FOR EVER (aka MUFE) Nudes You Need Artist Palette.  I'm really pleased with how everything came together and the final look, so prepare yourself for lots of pics.

Charlotte Tilbury Haul

Yep.  I did it.  I bought some Charlotte Tilbury stuff that was on my wish list.  And I'm glad I did.

Face of the Day with Makeup Geek, Tom Ford, and NARS

 I couldn't come up with a witty name for this post.  I wanted to do something referencing the name of the green eyeshadow (Jester), but I wasn't feeling creative enough, I guess.  Ah well.

A Little Rant/Ramble

So, what do you guys think of the whole Sephora Epic Rewards fiasco?

Beauty is fleeting?  Geez.

Google "Sephora Epic Rewards" and you'll see what I'm talking about.  For example:
http://www.eonline.com/news/685185/twitter-is-really-pissed-at-sephora-over-their-epic-rewards-day-find-out-why-it-became-an-epic-fail

Warning: this post is nothing but text.  No pretty pictures here.  Feel free to skip it.  I'm just blathering in this one, so it's pretty long.

Makeup Trends I Have Yet To Master

So, there are some beauty trends out there (I'm mainly speaking of Instagram, because runway or high fashion trends are very different) that I either can't seem to get right, or that just aren't for me.  Now that I'm on Instagram, I think I'm much more aware of these "popular" trends.  Many (but not all) blogs I read do more reviews and new collections coverage (which is why I read them -- for information on that kind of thing).  Instagram is more single photo and brief caption friendly, so showing a makeup look that doesn't need a whole lot of explanation (except for maybe what products were used) on Instagram makes sense.  (Part of me even wonders if I should start putting my face of the day posts on Instagram instead of here on the blog.  Personally, I like to read blogs that feature face of the day posts, which is why I put mine here.)

Anyhow, there are a few "trends" that I see on Instagram that I have yet to master/figure out/decide if they are really for me.

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?

A Couple of Maybelline Fails (For Me)

I don't like writing negative reviews, but I think honesty is important.  Not everything out there is fantastic and beautiful and wonderful and amazing and... well, you get the idea.  I tried a couple of Maybelline products recently that just did not work for me.

Current Wish List

I have a pretty long wish list right now.  Of all expensive stuff.  Yeesh.

First up is my Charlotte Tilbury lemmings:

Filmstar Bronze & Glow Face Sculpt and Highlight -- This bronzer/contour and highlighter duo seems to be universally considered the best product in her line.  It looks like the bronzer/contour shade would be an excellent color for my skin tone, and the highlighter looks somewhat subtle, which would be good for me because I tend to go overboard with my highlighters.

A Kitty Update

I told you last week that my parents' cat Rani was missing.  She had escaped when a new dryer was being delivered to their house.  Everyone was worried about her, and everyone in the neighborhood was looking for her.

Well, she is now home!!!

Let This Blue Shadow Take Center Stage

Hey hey, everybody!  I hope all is well with you guys!  I've been a little bit stressed the past week or so, because one of my Mom and Dad's cats escaped from their house and has been missing since July 2.  :(  She's strictly an indoor cat, so we're pretty worried about her.  She needs to come home, like, yesterday.  They've been doing everything the experts suggest (flyers, posters, a front yard sign, humane traps around the house and neighborhood, etc.), and the ASPCA say that 70-75% of missing kitties are reunited with their families, so I have lots of hope that she will be home soon.  I know there are some people who would say "it's just a cat," but our cats are family members and very important to us.  We love them so much!

Anyhow, I'm really enjoying my Makeup Geek eyeshadows.  So much so that I ordered a bunch more.  A bunch.  Yeah.  (I believe they are going to arrive tomorrow.)  I, of course, had to do a smoky eye with the dark blue shade called "Center Stage," which is one of the foiled eyeshadows offered by Makeup Geek.

Happy 4th of July

To my readers who celebrate, happy Independence Day!

I almost bought this incredibly patriotic t-shirt I found at Meijers (my grocery store of choice).

Have a safe 4th of July!

First Look Using Makeup Geek Eyeshados

This is the first look I created using my new Makeup Geek eyeshadows.

My First Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Hey!  Happy July!  A good way to start off the month is with some haulage, right?

So, it finally happened.  I jumped on the Makeup Geek bandwagon.  You knew it was going to happen sooner or later.  I bought a Makeup Geek blush last fall (Secret Admirer - a lavender shade), but didn't buy any eyeshadows for some inexplicable reason.  Well, I finally decided I needed some.

Makeup Geek is an independently owned company based in California.  It was started by Marlena, who is a YouTube beauty "guru".  It seems like everybody has some of her shadows (especially peeps in the blogging/youtubing world).  I'm a bit of a sucker for hyped up stuff.  Yep, I'm okay admitting that.

Japonesque Color Pro Performance Lipstick Shade 5 Review and Swatches

I've been meaning to write this post for months.  I bought this lipstick for my birthday back in November (!), and have wanted to give you guys my thoughts on it, because there don't seem to be too many reviews out there on Japonesque lipsticks.

Pink and Purple for My Husband

My husband requested an eye look using pink and purple shades.  I was happy to do one.  Plus, I got to wear some fun pink earrings that kind of matched the shadows.

Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Glow-Boosting Airbrushing Bronze Veil Deluxe Edition Swatches

Um, so does this bronzer have the longest name or what?  Geez.  C'mon Physicians Formula.  Time to simplify.  In any case, this bronzer is beautiful in the pan, and it looks kind of high-end to me.

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.

Unzip the LORAC Palette for this Look of the Day

I kinda like the title of this post.  Slightly witty, I think.  The LORAC Unzipped Eyeshadow Palette is really really nice.  The shadows are lovely to work with, and there is a nice mix of mattes and shimmers/metallics.

Sephora Sun Disk Swatches

I spotted the Sephora Sun Disk on the Sephora website a few weeks ago.  Sephora makes these limited edition extra large bronzers each year, I think.  The design of this one (kind of looks like tiger stripes, right?) really drew me in.

Face of the Day With a Pop of Sugar From Too Faced

I used the very cute Too Faced Sugar Pop Eyeshadow Collection (aka eyeshadow palette) a couple of days ago (I posted a pic on Instagram of my eyes) -- Chelle's post is what really inspired me.  I also used a boatload of bronzer.  I've also been doing some self-tanning, so yeah, I have some color to my skin.

A Fancy Face of the Day

So, this look isn't particularly fancy, but the makeup I used is.  No drugstore products used for this FotD.

A Little Luxury (Haul)

I bought some fancy makeup recently.

First, my little haul from Beautylish.  If you are ever considering buying something from Beautylish (beautylish.com), you should totally do it.  They have free 2-day shipping on orders over $35 USD.  Everything was packed really carefully, and they even included a personalized note.  Oh, and if you create an account, you receive a $10 off a $50 purchase promo coupon thingy.

The little bag was slightly ripped, but there was so much padding around it that there was no damage to anything.

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.

Grungy Gold Eye of the Day

I haven't done a simple floating eyeball post in a while.  This ended up being kind of "dirty gold" because I used a dark brown base (Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick in Bark) on the lid which obviously darkened the gold quite a bit.  I think it looked kind of cool.

Another Vice 3 Look of the Day and a Matt Groening Reference

Hey peeps!  Wuzzon?  It's been a while, huh?  Anyhow, I thought I'd share a face of the day with you that I did a few weeks ago (that's how far behind I am).

Lab Work Time

We're getting ready to put some more Venus flytrap seeds in tissue culture, so last weekend we mixed and prepared the growing medium.  It's quite a process, but rather fun.

We take safety seriously when performing our lab work.  But not our hair.

Wakeup Carnivorous Plants!

It's time for the carnivorous plants to wakeup from dormancy, come out of the basement, and get out into the real sun.  Most of them are already showing new growth, and the little Pingicula grandiflora is blooming!

The ping!  (The little black dots on the leaves in the background are tiny bugs the ping "caught" over the winter in the root cellar.)

Tarina Tarantino Face of the Day

Everything I used on my face makeup-wise for this look is Tarina Tarantino.  Well, not everything.  Not the base products or mascara.  So, all the fun stuff.  Not that foundation, powder, or mascara isn't fun.  I mean I'm not trying to trash talk about foundation, powder, and mascara, but they're not as interesting as colorful stuff, right?  Know what I'm sayin'?

Face of the Day with the Tamanna Palette

Hey guys!  I'm kind of inconsistent with the blogging thing lately, huh?  I've got posts written in my head, and was hoping to write a bunch (and post them) this week, but I've been a dealing with a bit of vertigo, which is a weird thing.  It makes it hard to do much of anything, being so dizzy and wonderfully nauseous, but it seems especially hard to read and look at a computer screen.  I'm feeling a bit better, so I'm attempting to do some stuff on the laptop.

Anyhow, this is a look I did last week that I figured I'd share with you because why not?  I was inspired by the March favorites of El over at The Beauty Isle to pull out my Anastasia Beverly Hills Tammana Palette.

Garden Report for March and Early April

Yay for spring!  Lots of stuff is coming up in the garden, and some things are blooming!

The first flowers to bloom are the crocuses, dwarf iris, and scilla.

Crocuses:

If you follow me on Instagram, you already saw this photo of a sneaky purple crocus.

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.

Favorites of March 2015

It's (kind of) the beginning of a new month.  You know what that means.  Favorites time.

Detroit Tigers Opening Day Face of the Day

Baseball's back!  Today was opening day at Comerica Park in Detroit, and the first Tigers game of the season.  I watched the game on Fox Sports Detroit with Rod, Mario, and Gibby (Kirk Gibson) on commentary, which is always fun.  Of course I had to use some Tigers colors (orange and blue) on my face.

Happy Easter Pastels FotD

To my readers who celebrate, happy Easter!  To those who don't, happy Sunday where everyone else is obsessed with pastel colors, chocolate bunnies, and eggs.  I don't really celebrate Easter anymore (we did do Easter-y stuff in my house when I was a kid) except maybe eat a Cadbury Creme Egg.  I did use a bunch of pastel shades for my makeup, and it seems kind of Easter-y.

Michigan State Basketball Final Four Look of the Day (featuring Emma)

MSU is playing in the Final Four (the semi-final game in the NCAA basketball tournament) this evening, so I absolutely had to use some green and white eyeshadows today.  I went rather dramatic with this look.

Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash Review

My favorite cleanser was recently discontinued (it was the Olay Regenerist Purifying one), so I had to begin a search for a new one.

I did a bunch of research on Beautipedia (Paula Begoun's website), which is a site I use quite a bit when shopping for new skincare, and chose to look into the Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash.  It was on her list of best products, and I trust her research (although, I don't always agree with some of her less favorable reviews -- case in point: the Josie Maran Argan Oil.  She says it's a one note product, which it is I suppose, but I love that stuff).

Back to the Purpose cleanser.  I knew the ingredients were gentle and safe, so I decided to give it a try.

Face of the Day with NARS (featuring Charlie)

I was going to make an April Fool's Day joke about not blogging anymore, but I thought that would just be too mean.  :P

So instead, I'm just going to show you my face with a bunch of NARS makeup on it.

Here's all the NARS stuff I used.

ColourPop Haul and An Announcement

ColourPop stuff is way to addictive.  Oh my goodness.  I've placed two orders recently, and I thought I share with you what I got.

Another Face of the Day with the Vice 3

I still can't keep my hands off the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette.

Chicago Trip: Part 2

So, yesterday I shared with you what my family and I did on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday while in Chicago a few weeks ago.  Today, I'm going to tell you about what we did on Saturday and Sunday.  Warning: lots of photos incoming.

Chicago Trip: Part 1

A few weeks ago, I had a little time in Chicago with my parents and my sister.  My husband couldn't come with because he was takin' care of business.  I took a million photos, and I thought I'd share some (too many) of them with you guys.  I put most of the photos in collages (fun with picmonkey!) so I could show you more of them without making you scroll down the page for the next three days.

Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Shine Sculpting Lipstick in Pink Dragon

So, I was reading a review on the new Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Shine Sculpting lipsticks by Melissa on Kiss and Make-up Beauty Blog and was thought "Those lipsticks look awfully nice.  Lemme add Blossom Bright to my Sephora wishlist (because it looks awesome), and let's see what other colors there are available."  So I moused over all the shades and discovered one was named Pink Dragon.  PINK DRAGON?!?!  ZOMG!!!  I practically fell off my chair (well, technically off the couch...).  Once I picked myself up off the floor and caught my breath, and I promptly ordered a tube of it.

First Signs of Spring in the Garden

I have some exciting news!  It's spring, and I have the crocuses to prove it!

Did you notice the little white one over on the right?

First Day of Spring Look of the Day

Happy Spring Equinox!!  Who else besides me is absurdly excited about spring?

I matched my eyeshadow to the top I'm wearing.  And, yes, my hair is pulled back in a clip again.  And I forgot to put in some earrings.

Chicago Travel Makeup Bag

I just got back from a trip to Chicago with my family (minus my husband because he had to work (sad face)), and I thought I'd show you what I took in my makeup bag.  If I showed you my skincare, this post would take forever to read.  Besides, I like looking at travel makeup bags more than travel skincare stuff.

My Favorite Tools

I felt like talking about my favorite makeup-applying tools today.   Let's get started!

Bronze and Marsala Look of the Day

I "Brokedown" and used the Vice 3 palette today.  Get it?  Get it?  Yeah, I'm still trying to be witty.

I am pretty much obsessed with the Vice 3 palette.  I'm not fond of using the word "obsessed" because of the way it gets thrown around these days, but I actually lie in bed thinking about what shades I can use together instead of counting sheep, so I think in this case "obsessed" might be an appropriate use of the word.

Cats and Plants

Just a short post with some fun photos.

I often wake up to Emma thinking she should be sleeping on my pillow.

Charlie sometimes falls asleep on his face.

There's life in that jar!  (These are some of the venus fly traps we put in tissue culture.)

Have a wonderful Saturday!