Friday, April 29, 2011

Contest now closed

Thinking of asking the kids at work to pick a random number between 1 and 8... But probably I'll do the random number thing later on.

Thanks for entering, and thanks for your support!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Contest time!!!

I have reached 50 followers. This means it's time for my first contest!

Stuff you might win:
1. Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush in Rose
2. Neutrogena Naturals lip balm
3. Sally Hansen lipgloss - citrine
4. Essence eyeshadow single - purple color



To Enter:
1. Be a follower via Google Friend Connect
2. Leave a valid email address
3. Tell me about a surprise favorite item of yours - something you weren't sure you'd like at first but now love

Extra entries:
1. Post about this contest somewhere else I can see it (your blog, Twitter). Leave a link in the comment - one comment per person, please!

Contest open until 11:59 p.m. EDT Thursday, April 28, 2011. One hour for each follower! I'll select a random winner and post on Friday. This contest is open internationally - but I'll be shipping first class so you don't get tracking or anything.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Day 9 of detox, a few random things

Detox update - Day 9:
Didn't buy anything. :) I did get my Sephora order in, and the sunblock stash is fun! I also like the Sin shadow pencil, but not for the reasons I'd thought - turns out it does crease on me without a primer. But! It's perfect for the lower lashline - wakes the whole area right up. They did forget to put my birthday gift in there, so I have to go to Sephora soon and pick that up. Maybe if I leave my money at home, I'll walk out with only the gift and some free samples.


Project Use It:
I also decided to restart my lip and eye product Project Pans, see if I can use up five more lip products and eight more eye products. I have too many baggies of stuff - and they need to be gone!

This week, I used up:
Liza's Lotions Luscious Lip Balm - Not my favorite lip balm ever, but it didn't cause me any problems. And I did use it up. :)

Aromaleigh planetearth (cool bright turquoise blue with tiny pink sparkles). I might end up missing this one a little, but I have about three more bright turquoises, so it's ok.

ES project pan - 2/8
Lip project pan - 1/5

122 items gone
45 full size items gone

Upcoming contest:
I need two more followers!!!


Revised shopping list:

I've since decided to scale back my SoBe order, am still planning on a Shiro haul at the end of the no buy, and am thinking about another Morgana Cryptoria order and a small Darling Girl order. After I use up a specified amount of Fyrinnae stuff, I'm reordering some favorite colors. I should * crosses fingers * FINALLY have a decent job come August, so that will make ordering easier. I also want to make another SN order around June (when I'll need more Vitamin C Serum - I think it's been helping!) and will want to try out some of the newer stuff then.

Monday, April 18, 2011

I need 4 more followers!

And then I can post my small giveaway!

Get four friends to join, and then I'll give BRAND NEW stuff away. :)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Used it! And then a tangent about shampoo.

More things are gone!!!

Aromaleigh Viburnum sample (darkish gray brown). Teddy Wisp is very similar to this, just a tad lighter. This looked awesome over a brown base.

Aromaleigh Trillium sample (spring green similar to SN Go). This also looked good over the brown base - kind of minty chocolate. I might get Go at some point in the future, but my green and blue drawer is full now.

Mix of silica, silk powder, and Aromaleigh Sunbright powder. Silica does not mix well with silk. The silk kept balling up, so towards the end I had more silk than silica in the mix. The more silica heavy version worked a lot better for me. I did like the little sparkles and the touch they added.

Ecotools body wash - I can't believe I still have another bottle. This stuff is super liquidy, smells like slightly overripe fruit, and just isn't my favorite.

Kiss My Face tinted moisturizer - Beach. This is slightly too dark for me. Also, spf 8 is just kind of stupid. I did really like it at first, but now I don't think I'd get another one.


120 items gone
44 full size items gone

I also demoted the rest of a shampoo mix to makeup brush duty. It was Suave Rosemary Mint mixed with Queen Helene Mint Julep at a 3:1 ratio. Then, I added 3 parts of water for 1 part of mix and used it with a pointy-nozzled squirt bottle. Way too harsh, and left me with an itchy and dry scalp after washing, and an itchy, oily, and dandruffy scalp right before the next wash. (I wash my hair every three days most of the time.) I've used different shampoos since then with a much less unpleasant effect. Tomorrow's wash day, but my scalp isn't super itchy or anything, and I certainly don't find myself needing to clean my fingernails after scratching my head anymore. I think rotating the three I have now is going to be a good system, especially because I like them all.

I'm using these, which I won't use up any time soon, but I want to talk about them:

Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Intense Cleanse shampoo. It has microbeads. They exfoliate well and feel nice on my scalp.

Desert Essence Lemon Tea Tree Oil Shampoo for Oily Hair. Delicious lemony scent mixed with tea tree's detoxifying benefits.

Kenra Clarifying Shammpoo. It smells like grapefruit. It's also a chelator, so it can get the deposits from my hard-as-nails water out. And I like that it has a sulfate that can't penetrate the hair. So now I'm using harsh cleansers only every nine days.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Starting "detox" all over.

It's not even three in the morning yet, and soon I'll be getting an Urban Decay shadow pencil in Sin. I also ordered a bunch of sunblock and something the man needed (which he'll pay me back for), and squeaked over the free shipping limit by $.57, and also got the 15% off. And I'm getting a mini of UD Greed with my points.

So, today is Day 1 again. New goal date: May 17th.

At least I'm not drooling over the beauty aisles at drugstores a couple times a week anymore. Right? I didn't even go to CVS or Walgreens this week, and my cheap store brand body wash and lotion mission to Whole Paycheck got me out of there with just what I went for, dinner, and a magazine.

I'm kind of over drugstore stuff now. There's nothing else out there that I want. Most of my wish list now is indie stuff, and I have a small handful of high-end products I'd like, mostly a royal blue 24/7-like pencil and some sparkly eye primer (which I'm getting, in small amounts, with my new order). I also want the Naked palette, but have decided I have to wait until I hold my diploma in my hands.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lazy smoky eye - one color of shadow needed

This is my first ever tutorial. I shot the pictures a few months ago, and they aren't the greatest, but they give the idea. Ok, the pictures kind of suck. And I also don't have most of these products anymore, but that doesn't matter, because it's more a technique than a look. So, anyway, here's the final result:





Step 1: Apply some sort of primer or base, according to your personal eyelid needs. Here, I'm using Urban Decay's cream shadow in Moonshine.


Step 2: Thickly line your upper lashline with the smeary black liner of your choice. I'm using the dark gray-black cream shadow stick from Wet N Wild.


Step 3: Smudge the line you just made so it blends into your base.


Step 4: Apply an eye shadow of your choice from lashline to just above your crease. I'm using some random gray I had around, before I swapped it away because I don't like how gray looks on me. This also works well with a nude sparkly color.


Step 4: Line your lashline with the non-smeary black liner of your choice. I either used the Milani Minerals liner pencil or one of my Physicians Formula black gel liners. Then I did my mascara.


The result was the pictures at the top.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Detox fail, upcoming giveaway!

I suck at detox. Now I have to see if I can go until May 5th because I want to go a whole month.

In the past couple weeks, I have bought:

1. A Sally Hansen by Carmindy blush in Plumberry from the clearance bin. At least this one was only a dollar, and it does work pretty well as a contour color.
2. Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush in Rose. I can't resist extra bucks! This purchase is good news for you, though.
3. Some clearance shadows and blush samples from adorned with Grace.

1, I was feeling like crap and killing time while the pharmacy filled prescriptions to make my bronchitis go away.
2, I thought I might need the extra bucks to replace CP items that got lost in the mail. Luckily, the CP finally found its way to the recipient! Rejoicing!
3, I don't know, I just wanted them. I wanted a package. They were really cheap. The money was in my paypal account.

The good news for you guys is that I have a giveaway I want to do. I have the blush I impulse bought plus a couple other things that I'll give away to a lucky follower after I reach 50 followers. I'm at 44 now, so get six more people to play and I'll start the contest!