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.

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.

Patriotic EotD

Happy Independence Day to my American readers!  I created a red, white, and blue eye look in celebration of the day.

I used:
  NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (matte white)
  "browbone" color (sparkling white) from Wet 'n' Wild Shimmer the night Away palette
  Naked (matte tan) from the Urban Decay Naked palette (tiny bit in the crease)
  Benefit swingin' sweetie eye sparkle in Swing (sparkling red)
  Darling Girl Cosmetics loose shadow in You'll Shoot Your Eye Out (sparkling blue)
  CoverGirl Liquiline Blast eye liner in Blue Boom (royal blue)
  Sephora Outrageous Volume Mascara in Blue (lower lashes)
  L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara in Blackest Black (upper lashes)

from left: Urban Decay Naked, NYX Milk, Wet 'n' Wild "browbone", Benefit Swing, DGC You'll Shoot You Eye Out, CoverGirl Blue Boom, Sephora mascara

Have a happy 4th of July, everyone!

Sparkly Dramatic Plum EotD with Darling Girl and Kat Von D

Sparkly purple shadows and over-the-top lashes.  Perfect for a Friday night.

From the Kat Von D Chrysalis palette:
     Lid, crease, and lower lashline -- Mezzanine (sparkly purple)
     Under the brow -- Lifelike (matte cream)
     Outer Corner of lower lashline -- Hybrid Moments (matte plum) palette

Lid -- Darling Girl Cosmetics Here's Johnny (sparkling plummy purple)

Liner on the upper lashes -- Sonia Kashuk Gel eyeliner in Ebony (black)
Liner on the lower waterline -- Tarina Tarantino Hyperliner in Tommy Jet (black)

Mascara -- L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara in Blackest Black

Blurry photos to show the sparkle:

Mezzanine

DGC Here's Johnny

from left: Lifelike, Mezzanine, Here's Johnny

I can't get over the gorgeousness of Here's Johnny.

Blurry swatch to show off the little glitters!

And a couple of photos of the eyes with flash:

I liked this look so much, I didn't want to take it off!  But that's what's great about makeup.  You get to do it again the next day!

Godzilla Green Face of the Day

Go, Go Godzilla loose eyeshadow by Darling Girl Cosmetics is an emerald green that simply glows.  The color is described as "Slightly bluish green with a shift from brilliant bright green to gold and color shifting aqua sparkles!" (from darlinggirlcosmetics.com).  I wore this on Sunday for the Spartans basketball game.  They lost, so they are out of the NCAA Tournament, but it was a great year for MSU basketball.

Eyes: Darling Girl Cosmetics loose eyeshadow in Go, Go Godzilla
         Urban Decay eyeshadow in Naked in the crease
         Wet 'n' Wild Color Icon eyeshadow single in Brulee under the brow
         Physicians Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner in Ultra Black
         Tarina Tarantino Hyperliner eyeliner in Tommy Jet
         L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

Cheeks: NYX Powder Blush in Taupe under the cheekbones to contour
            Clinique Cheek Pop in Ginger Pop

Lips: Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait

from left: DGC Go, Go Godzilla, Urabn Decay Naked, Wet 'n' Wild Brulee

from left: NYX Taupe blush, Clinique Ginger Pop blush, Revlon Peach Parfait Lip Butter

Gorgeous Go, Go Godzilla green!

Thank you for visiting today!