Mother's Day 2014 and EotD

I hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day!  I had a great one.  My parents came to Detroit on Saturday to go to the opera, and they stayed over night so we could spend Mother's Day at the "Royal Oak In Bloom" flower sale.  The weather ended up being perfect -- mostly sunny and around 70 degrees.  We wondered around the sale for a few hours and saw lots of gorgeous things to buy.  My mom bought a bunch of perennials for her rather sizable garden, and I found some Forget-Me-Nots.

Forget-Me-Nots

I would have liked to buy more, but I'm running out of room for new plants in my garden!  My husband was hoping to find some carnivorous plants to add to his collection, but, alas, there were none to be had. My dad brought a chair along so he could sit and let us shop while he worked on some physics calculations.

Then, we went to my favorite Indian restaurant for their lunch buffet, where I may have gone slightly overboard.  I looooove that restaurant, but my tummy is always overly full when I leave.  Everything tastes SO DANG GOOD.

Because this is a beauty blog, here is my EotD for Mother's Day.  It is really simple and features shadows from the Too Faced à la mode palette, which is part of their summer collection.

You can see some of the sparkliness here.

I used Jardin on the lid, Soleil in the crease, and St. Tropez under the brow and in the inner corner.  I applied one thin coat of Fresh Supernova mascara.

Jardin, Soleil, St. Tropez

Aaaand, for some mysterious reason, I didn't take any pics with my mom!  So here is her gorgeous engagement portrait circa 1967:

I almost forgot to mention my other mothers!  We sent some tulip and iris bouquets to my mother-in-law and step-mother-in-law because we weren't able to see them  :(  (sad face).  We are hoping to be able to see both of them this summer.

Did you celebrate Mother's Day?

Perfumes for the Week Days 1-10

Rebecca over at Hello Pretty Bird (do yourself a favor and go read her blog -- some of the best writing on the interwebz) is doing a "Scent of the Day Challenge" in which one wears a different perfume sample everyday for a month, and I thought I would participate.  Her choices are lots of indie fragrances, which are far more interesting than the standard perfume samples I have.  I'm also horrible at describing fragrances, so I'm only going to say if I liked the scent or a quick something about it because I thought that would be terribly helpful if you are looking into one of the perfumes I wore one day.

Day 1: Burberry Body Tender -- I'm kind of meh one this one.  I don't think it's for me.
Day 2: Killer Queen by Katy Perry -- I like this one, both on first spray and the dry down.
                                        It's kind of warm and spicy.  The packaging looks like a huge jewel.
Day 3: Dolce by Dolce and Gabbana -- I like it.  It's a pretty floral.
Day 4: Marc Jacobs Honey -- I only kind of like this one.  It's a fresh floral, to my nose.
Day 5: I ❤ NY by Bond No. 9 -- This is a light floral that I quite like.
Day 6: Ralph Lauren Romance -- This one faded really fast on me.  I wasn't particularly
                                        fond of it anyway.
Day 7: Versace Bright Crystal -- I liked this, but it was gone by the end of the day.
Day 8: I forgot to wear anything.
Day 9: Elizabeth Arden Untold -- A light floral that I like.  The bottle is really elegant.
Day 10: Gucci Flora Gardenia -- I definitely like this one.  It's described by Gucci as a fruity floral.

So there are the fragrances I tried out the past 10 days.  I am going out of town next week (on Thursday), and will be gone for several days, but I'm going to try to take samples with me to keep up with the challenge.

More fragrance samples to come in the future!

Throwback Thursday with Urban Decay

Once upon a time, Urban Decay made a dual colored lipstick that was packaged to look like a bullet casing.

The colors are a burnt brownish copper and a white silver, and are both super metallic.

I didn't find this to be particularly wearable, but, boy, it is cool looking.

Early May 2014 Garden

Let's see what's been blooming in the garden, shall we?

Bergenia "Pink Dragonfly"

Brunnera "Jack Frost

mixed Grape Hyacinths

Violets

Tulips

Pulmonaria "Raspberry Splash"

close-up of Pulmonaria (aka Lungwort) flowers

mixed Hyacinths

mixed Daffodils (the one in the middle was feeling shy, I guess)

Hellebore (I don't remember the variety)

Hellebore (aka Lenten Rose) bloom

Ok, this hosta isn't blooming, but the water droplets look so cool.

I have an old English D (for the Detroit Tigers, of course) that my parents gave me.

Thanks for joining me on today's garden tour!

Naked Palette Tutorial (Pic Heavy)

A warm golden smoky look courtesy of the Urban Decay Naked palette!  Perfect for a night out. Or a night in.  Or a trip to the hardware store.

I had a request from the lovely Gin from Siren Makeup to do some tutorials.  So here is my attempt at one.  I hope you like it!

I started by priming my eyes with LORAC Behind the Scenes eye primer.

I used Half Baked all over the moving lid up to the socket.

I placed Buck in the crease and outer corner.  Actually, I guess it's more the socket, but I always call it the crease.

It always looks weird at this point.

I used Naked to blend out Buck, blending up towards, but not up to, the brow.

I used a pressed powder to blend out Naked under the brow.

I used Smog in the outer corner and blended it with Half Baked.

I spritzed a flat brush with E.L.F. Mist and Fix and applied Darkhorse to the upper lashline.

I used Darkhorse and Half Baked under the eyes.

I lined my lower waterline with a black liner (Tarina Tarantino's Tommy Jet Hyperliner), and added mascara (Maybelline's Full 'N Soft).

I used some concealer to sharpen the line of the outer v, and I filled in my brows.

Finished!

Shadows used:

Swatches:

from left: Half Baked, Buck, Naked, Smog, Darkhorse

Doing a tutorial was a little easier than I thought it would be, so I will definitely be trying to do more of them.  Perhaps with fewer pics though, because I'm afraid this one was too photo happy.

Have a wonderful day, and thank you for visiting!

April 2014 Favorites

This is going to sound cliché, but I can't believe the month is over.  April just kind of got away from me.  Maybe it's because I'm so busy checking every day what is new in my garden.

Favorites of the past month:

Kat Von D Chrysalis Palette -- I've been wearing this almost everyday since I got it.  The packaging!  The colors!  The quality!  Did you know Kat Von D's line is made by Sephora?

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Balm Stain in Rendezvous -- A shimmery somewhat sheer orange with a great balmy texture.  Plus, it leaves a light stain on the lips.

Pretty Necklace -- I have no idea what to call this piece of jewelry, so "pretty necklace" will have to suffice.  I bought it years ago, and I don't remember what the stones are (most likely cubic zirconia, but possibly a pink topaz).  It's kind of dressy and fancy with the stones the climb up the chain, but I've been wearing everyday with my casual clothes anyway.

Betsey Johnson Hopeless Romantic Bucket handbag -- I've gotten tons of compliments on this bag.  It's large enough to carry a bunch of stuff, but not so big that it's like a piece of luggage.  I do wish the shorter strap with the studs was slightly longer so it's easier to put the bow back in place after the bag has been opened.

Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner in Fierce Blue -- This is a great eyeliner.  It's incredibly creamy and smudgeable (is that a word?), but once it sets it's not moving.  It a very dark almost black navy blue with blue shimmer.  I wear this frequently on my lower waterline.

Here I am wearing my favorites:

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Balm Stain in Rendezvous, Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner in Fierce Blue

A non-favorite: the chilly weather.  It's been at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than average recently.

Thanks for reading!