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.

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.

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.

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.

Physicians Formula Argan Wear Ultra-Nourishing Argan Oil Blush Swatches and Review

I saw some promo images for these a few weeks ago and knew I was going to have to have one of them once I found them in the drugstore.

Beautiful packaging and presentation sells stuff, my friends.

They showed up in my local CVS a couple of weeks ago -- much earlier than I expected them to.  I had only seen the picture of the "Rose" shade, so I thought there was only one blush color, and I had only planned on buying the one blush.  To my surprise, there are two shades, "Rose" and "Natural".  I stood in CVS for I don't know how long trying to decide which one to get, but I seriously couldn't decide.  So I bought them both.  Sheesh.  I had some Extra Bucks, and there was a deal where you get $10 Extra Bucks with the purchase of two Physicians Formula products, so that made it better, but still.

Anyhow, on to the pictures!

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.

Mulberry Nails and Look of the Day

There are times when I like being all match-y match-y with my makeup.  But instead of doing the traditional match-y match-y thing with my lips and nails, I decided to try to match my nails to my eyeshadow.

Butter London's Queen Vic is a wonderful berry shade that seems like a rather fall friendly color to me, and it's the shade I wanted to wear on my eyes, too.

Butter London Nain Lacquer in Queen Vic (sunlight)

So, the shadow I used doesn't match the nail color perfectly, but I liked the result nonetheless.

I used: from the Sephora Color Anthology Palette
                    --- berry purple on the moving lid
                    --- warm shimmery brown in the crease
                    --- light matte peach above the crease to blend out the brown
                    --- matte cream under the brow and inner corner

       
          Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in 1999
          Physicians Formula Eye Booster liquid eyeliner in Ultra Black
          Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara

from left: Sephora shadows, Urban Decay 1999 24/7 liner

Cheeks: Milani Baked Powder Blush in Berry Amore

Lips: NARS Lipstick in Dolce Vita

from left: Milani Berry Amore Baked Blush, NARS Dolce Vita lipstick

And then, later in the day, I decided to put on a berry lipgloss (MAKE UP FOR EVER lipgloss that was discontinued ages ago) just for the heck of it.

I think I look paler in this photo because I'm shiny and reflective (I didn't remember to reapply powder before I took it.)

The Sephora Color Anthology Palette was available around the holidays last year, but I snagged it on sale in the spring.  I noticed that Ulta has a palette on their website (by Beauty Gems) that looks exactly like it.  I suspect it is actually the same palette but without the Sephora nameplate on the front.

Earworm of the day: Lady Gaga's "Applause" -- it's on my workout playlist, and today it just stuck afterward.

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.

Oil Change EotD

I took my car in for an oil change and tire rotation today.  Cool story, bro.  I felt like doing a really colorful eye using my Disney Ariel Collection Storybook Palette by Sephora after I got home to make the day a little more interesting (no, I didn't have the nerve to wear this to the dealership).

I went a little crazy with the eyeliner.

I used:
   from the Disney Ariel Collection Storylook Palette
        -- wanderin' free (peachy light copper) on the moving lid

    -- sea witch (purple) in the outer corner and crease

     -- sebastian (matte peach) up towards the brow to blend out sea witch

     -- caspian sea (teal) on the lower lashline

     -- sea shells (shimmery ivory) in the inner corner by the tear duct

from left: wanderin' free, sea witch, sebastian, caspian sea, sea shells

 
   L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara
   Physicians Formula Eye Booseter liquid eyeliner in Ultra Black
   Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Black Velvet (lower waterline)

Using the Ariel palette always makes me happy, but at the same time, I don't want to use it because it's so special.

It's absolutely a privilege to own a car, but sometimes getting around to maintenance type stuff is not particularly fun (#firstworldproblems).  I often put off doing it, although now that I have a car that tells me how much oil life I have left, it will be easier to know how long I can put it off. :P

What were you up to today?