2 recent FOTDs featuring my beloved Sleek iDivine palettes

It's been forever since I posted an FOTD--mostly because I haven't been wearing a whole lot of makeup lately. We all that cosmetics + intense heat = eyes like Tammy Faye Bakker on a crying jag, so I've been opting mostly for either a completely nekkid face or just mascara + lip balm. 

But my hunger for color got the best of me this weekend and I busted out my Sleek i-Divine palettes and went to town. This is what happens when I go on a DVR RuPaul's Drag U viewing binge. I am absolutely endlessly inspired by drag queens, their astounding makeup wizardry & their ability to use color, contour, light, shadow--and of course glitter--to whip up a wholly different persona for themselves to inhabit. Oh if I only had those kinds of skills...

Saturday's Look:

                                          

                                          

                                                  

~~PRODUCTS USED~~

Face:

E.L.F. Translucent Mattifying powder

E.L.F. HD powder

NYC Color Wheel Allover Bronze Glow

NYC Color Wheel Pink Cheek Glow

E.L.F. Golden Bronzer (as highlight)

Eyes:

Garnier Anti-Dark Circle eye roller

NYX HD eyeshadow base

Sleek Curacao i-Divine palette 

Sleek Ultra Matte Vol 1 i-Divine palette

Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner

Wet N Wild ColorIcon shadow single in Panther

Jordana Extreme Volumizing Mascara

Wet N Wild Acapulco Glow bronzer (to blend out shadow and highlight browbone)

NYC brow kit

Lips:

L'Oreal Colour Riche Audacious Amazon lipstick (from last year's Project Runway LE collection)

 Sunday's Look:

~~PRODUCTS USED~~

Face:

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder foundation in Translucent Light

E.L.F. HD Powder

NYC Colorwheel in Pink Cheek Glow

NYC Colorwheel in Allover Bronze Glow

Wet N Wild Bronzer as highlight

Eyes:

Garnier Anti-dark circle eye roller

NYX HD eyeshadow base

Sleek Curacao & Ultra Matte Vol 2 i-Divine Palettes

Wet N Wild ColorIcon shadow single in Panther

Jordana Extreme Volumizing mascara

NYC brow kit

Lips:

L'Oreal Colour Riche Audacious Amazon

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Decadent

Who are your glam idols & makeup inspirations?

that $20 face I promised you

About a week ago, I wrote this post about my picks for the $20 face challenge that has been floating around beauty blogs. Well, I finally got around to doing a look for it and taking the pics. Here ya go (list of products and thoughts below pics):

(click to enlarge)

Products used: 

Wet N Wild Ultimate Sheer Tinted Moisturizer--$3.99

E.L.F. Studio Translucent Mattifying Powder--$3.00

E.L.F. Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzer Duo--$3.00

E.L.F. Essential Eye Primer (not pictured because my dumbass forgot to grab it when I took these pics)

E.L.F. Essential Eye Brightening Eyeshadow Quad in Butternut--$1.00

Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara--$2.99 (this mascara is quickly becoming my new holy grail mascara. it works JUST as well as my beloved Maybelline The Falsies Flared mascara AND I like the Jordana brush better because it's slimmer and easier to work with!!) 

Wet N Wild Silk Lipstick in 552A/Just Garnet (I erroneously listed this as Cinnamon in my initial $20 post)--$.99

E.L.F. Studio Stippling Brush--$3.00

E.L.F. Essential Defining Eye Brush--$1.00

Translucent powder is on the left, blush/bronzer is on the right. Eyeshadow quad underneath

The translucent powder is really amazingly good for the price. However, it is not truly "translucent.' It does have a beige color to it. That beige color just happens to match my natural skin tone. I applied this powder using the included sponge by swiping the sponge over the powder and patting it onto my face. 

The blush/bronzer is SO amazing. The blush is a gorgeous peachy tone with amazing gold shimmer in it. It's rumored to be comparable to the iconic NARS Orgasm blush. I can't afford no NARS so I can neither confirm or deny this rumor. All I know is I love it for what it is! The bronzer is MEGA pigmented so you need to use a very light hand. I literally just barely touched the brush to it and then blew on the brush before applying. 

The Butternut eyeshadow quad is quickly becoming a holy grail item for me. You can create SO many easy neutral looks with this little one dollar wonder. The darkest shade also works as a gorgeous eyeliner when applied wet (which is what I did for this look).

The E.L.F. stippling brush (left) is something I use every day to apply my blush. It makes it super easy to apply and blend color without accidentally OVER applying. The eye defining brush is another staple in my every day makeup routine. This brush is SO versatile. When it is dry, it is fluffy enough to use to apply and all-over wash of color. The angled cut and the pointed end is awesome for outer V/crease work and when you wet this brush, its angle sharpens into a nice point that I took advantage of for this challenge. I managed to get a pretty good, clean wing with this little brush for this challenge. 

Wet N Wild $.99 lippie!! Who doesn't love a good, cheap red? This one has an almost metallic finish which I happen to love. And the formula is amazing. Smooth, easy to apply and super pigmented. The only thing I don't like about these lipsticks is Wet N Wild only prints the names on the outer seals. Once you buy the lipstick and remove the seal, you're only  left with the letter/number gobbledeegook on the bottom of the label and that can make it hard to pinpoint and remember shade names.

So whaddiya think of my $20 face? Pretty decent bang for my buck if I don't say so myself! 

My picks for the $20.00 face challenge

I've been seeing this $20.00 face challenge thing floating around many beauty blogs. Basically, the challenge is to do a full face of makeup and have all the products you use add up to be at or below the $20.00 mark. To this I say: NO FRICKIN SWEAT! I can SO do this and to make it even MORE challenging, I'm giving myself a few more parameters: I am only going to select products at their regular price (no super low sale prices or clearance prices allowed); I'm not going to cheat by using any free samples; I'm only going to use products that I own and know to work amazingly well and I'm going to charge myself for tools as well as actual makeup products.

So here are my picks. Using these products together, you can create a simple look with a neutral eye and bold red lips:

Face:
Wet N Wild Tinted Moisturizer--$3.99
 E.L.F. Translucent Mattifying Powder--$3.00
E.L.F. Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder--$3.00
E.L.F. Studio Stipple Brush--$3.00

Eyes:
Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara--$2.99
E.L.F. Brightening Eye Color eyeshadow quad in Butternut--$1.00
E.L.F. Eyeshadow Brush--$1.00
E.L.F. Essential Eyelid Primer--$1.00

Lips:
Wet N Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in Cinnamon--$.99

GRAND TOTAL: $19.97 

Stay tuned for product shots and pics of a look that I'll create with these items!

2 different neutral looks

Hell must have frozen over because I've been doing nothing but neutral looks lately. It all started last week when I picked up the E.L.F. eyeshadow quad in Butternut at Target (seriously, reach between your couch cushions, dig out 4 quarters and go get this quad. It RULES and, at 25 cents per shadow, you can't friggin beat the price!!)...ever since then, I've been pulling out all my neutral shadows and playing with them to make up for neglecting them in favor of all my bright shades for so long. Here are 2 contrasting looks that have come out of that experimentation--one more dramatic and one more subtle but still defined.

LOOK 1--on the dramatic side:

Here's a neutral look I did with the aforementioned Butternut quad. It's a soft cut crease with a pop of bright coral/pink gloss on the lips (hey I can't quit my colors cold turkey!!)...I've also been testing out the new Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation and have been LOVING it so far (will write a full review on this soon).

FACE:

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation in Buff

ELF Studio HD Powder

Physicians Formula Bronzer (this one is from years ago, the label's gone and I can't remember what it was called).

Milani blush in Dolce Luminoso

ELF Golden bronzer used as highlight

Eyes:

NYX HD eyeshadow base

ELF shadow quad in Butternut

Jordana Fabuliner in Brown

Rimmel Spark It Up liner in Tiger Eye

Maybelline The Falsies Flared mascara

ELF brow kit Medium

ELF brow gel

Lips:

Revlon Colorburst lipgloss in Strawberry

LOOK 2--much less dramatic:

Here is a much more subtle neutral look with just some light contouring in the crease & at the outer corners of my eyes. Since the shadow was so understated, I went for a bold red lip and some cat-eye liner. I was being lazy this particular day and decided to skip liquid foundation in favor of a dusting of Physicians Formula Healthy Wear powder foundation.

FACE:

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation in Translucent Light

Old mystery Physicians Formula Bronzer

L'Oreal Charming Cockatoo's Blush (from last fall's LE Project Runway collection--which you can still track down on Ebay)

ELF Golden Bronzer used as highlight

EYES:

NYX Nude on Nude palette

Jordana Fabuliner in Brown

Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara

ELF Brow kit medium

Lips:

Revlon Cherries in the Snow (can't get more classic, iconic red than that!)

Spam on the Cheap, the FOTD edition

Yep, it's time to clean out the To Post folders again--I always procrastinate on sorting through my FOTD pics because I tend to take about 340850438504 shots of each look and it takes forever just to upload them and click through them all.

It's kinda funny--I can tell the chronology of these pics based on my hair color's metamorphosis. Gotta love my Manic Panic A.D.D.!


**Unless otherwise noted, I used the following in all these pictures: Almay Clear Complexion Foundation, Powder and Concealor in Light/Ivory; ELF Eyebrow kit in 'medium;' Jordana Fabuliner; Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara; NYX HD eyeshadow base**

Look, I still have pink hair in this one! 

Eyes: Sugarpill Chromalust in Tiara and Stella

Cheeks: Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush

Lips: Baby Lips balm--the minty one with no pigment in the lime green tube (I can't remember the name)...

Enter the Turquoise/purple hair! 

Eyes: Wet N Wild 8 Pan eyeshadow in "Blue Had Me at Hello." Sugarpill Chromalust in Stella

Cheeks: ELF blush in Pink Passion

Lips: Revlon Lip Butter in Dollypop over NYC Lipstain in Forever Fuchsia

Oh look, yet another blue shadow look...what a shock.

Eyes: Glamour Doll Eyes shadows in Fabulous  and Aqua Foil, some ELF loose shadow that I can't remember and Sugarpill Chromalust in Stella (oh yea I'm crushin HARD on Stella!)

Lips: ELF lipstick in Gypsy

Cheeks: Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush

This is my eye look from yesterday. I was being lazy and didn't do my whole face, hence the eyeballz only shots. For this look, I used Pearl Ex Pigments in Green/Yellow Duo, Blue/Green Duo and Interference Gold. 

What are Pearl Ex Pigments you ask? Well, if you are a crafty bitch like me, you might find the name familiar: they are powdered pearlescent pigments used to add color and luster to arts and crafts projects. You can find them in places like Hobby Lobby, AC Moore and Michael's. Here's the thing about them: they are non-toxic, inert, acid-free, amazingly finely milled, richly pigmented and they apply, blend, and last (all frickin day) like a DREAM...but they're not TECHNICALLY cosmetics. I figure if it looks like makeup, applies like makeup, and is made of perfectly safe ingredients, then HECK, to ME, it's makeup! But, to cover both my ass and Pearl-Ex's I'm gonna say if you wanna try them out, do so 'at your own risk.' I've worn them quite a few times with absolutely no ill effects whatsoever and I am always blown away at how vibrant they are and how easy they are to work with.  ...

Anyway, so there's some of the mugshots I've collected over the past few months. Clearly, I gotta lay off the blue eyeshadow for a while. It's funny. I used to avoid blue shadow like the plague cuz I always read it didn't do anything for green eyes. But, after I started dying my hair all crazy-like again, I decided to HELL with what's "appropriate." I just wanna play with COLOR, dangit! 

Here's to self-liberation...

So what's your color of the moment?

lookin a hot mess for Sub Ball...

Hello, blogosphere! I'm actually feeling well enough to post. As I mentioned in my last post, I've had Strep throat AND a double ear infection on top of that (oh yea, even when I get sick, I gotta go ALL OUT). They gave me antibiotics and I guess they're actually working because I can actually sit up without feeling dizzy AND I actually ate something solid today! I'm actually even well enough to abuse the word "actually!" Yay medical intervention!

Anyway,  I got a chance to dress up all fancy a few weeks back.. It was for The 112th annual Submarine Birthday Ball, which is what it sounds like it is--a birthday ball the Navy throws in honor of submarines & all who work on them. It's a  big shin-dig and a killer excuse for us wives to get all doozied up in decadent, floor-length, sparkly things like we're going to the Oscars, which rules because, honestly, how many times does a poor schmuck nobody like me get a chance to rock an evening gown & feel like a princess? )...

(click to enlarge)

Since I was going with an all-black ensemble (of course), I got black glitter heels and I wanted my nails to match my heels, so I got the idea to paint my nails black (with my trusty Wet n Wild Black Creme) & dip the still-wet nails in a big ol vat of black glitter. They look more like asphalt than glitter nails in the pictures, but they looked pretty dang nifty in person. For a girl who loves all things black, sparkly and nail-related, it was like the convergence of all awesomeness on my fingertips.

These nails were fun to wear but they DID have their draw backs. They're definitely a "one night special occasion" type thing only. I learned the hard way that if you try to put a top coat ON TOP of the glitter layer to smooth it out, it just ends up looking like a wet, bubbly mess--like tar or something. So basically you gotta wear the glitter top-coat free, which means your nails are all gritty and rough & catch on stuff. Amazingly, the glitter itself did not shed at all, though and it wasn't all that hard to remove afterward. I didn't even have to foil the nails--I just held a remover-soaked ball on top of each nail for a minute and I was able to easily & gently scrape the glitter off in one or 2 pieces with an orange stick.

Of course, after I did my nails, I remembered I had purchased satin gloves to wear for the night (duh)--but I ended up having to take the gloves off later anyway cuz, dude, satin is slippery & trying to, like, hold stuff is a pain with them on. 

Anway, because I can't think of a clever segway (hell I can't even spell the WORD) I'm going to start abruptly talking about  my outfit and makeup. Usually, wives get bridesmaids dresses and whatnot to wear to the ball but I wanted to keep it a tad more goth/victorian than that, so I came up with this:

beaded Corset + tight lacy shirt + layered skirts = my outfit. And Yep, that's Mr. Cheap there by my side all decked out & showing off his naval awesomeness.

I didn't get too many good shots of my makeup that night, but here's a crappy, awkward pic to give you an idea. You really can't tell what's going on with my eyes but I attempted a subtle double-winged liner...

Face:

Almay Clear Complexion Foundation, powder & concealer

ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion

Wet N Wild Bronnzer in Acapulco Glow

Eyes:

NYX HD Eye base

Sugarpill chromalust in Tiara

Sugarpill chromalust in Stella

Wet N Wild Color-Icon shadow single in Panther

Jordana Fabuliner in black

Milani Liquif'eye liner in black

rhinestone falsies I got at Sally's (I think they are by Ardell)

Maybelline the Falsies Flared mascara

brows:

ELF brow kit in medium

ELF clear brow gel

lips:

Wet N Wild Megalast lipstick

Revlon Colorburst Lip gloss in Decadent

So anyway, yay for special occasions and yay for Amoxicillan for helping me feel well enough to write a big rambly post about getting dressed up). Do you like getting dressed up? Are you a fan of anti-biotics? ;)

FOTD from last week--featuring even MORE Glamour Doll Eye & Sugarpill!

Hello, hello! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. The weather has been way too gorgeous lately so we've been spending redonk amounts of time outside. I HAVE been taking pics, though--my "to post" folder is overflowing, so time to stop being a bad blogger and sit down long enough write something and hit "publish." 

Here's a look I wore last week. Basically my objective here was to match my NEW new hair (yes, I changed it AGAIN--took my trusty Manic Panic Atomic Turquoise and put it all over my head--including over the existing Hot Hot Pink streaks--which created these awesome royal purple chunks and, of course, deepened the other Atomic Turquoise parts even more)...oh yea, and I also wanted to play some more with my gorgeous Glamour Doll Eye and Sugarpill loose shadows, of course

Products used:

*Face*

The usual Almay Clear Complexion Foundation, powder and concealor

ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion

Wet N Wild Bronzzer Acapulco Glow

*Eyes*

Glamour Doll Eyes Fabulous

Glamour Doll Eyes Aqua Foil

Glamour Doll Eyes Bruised

Sugarpill Hysteric

Jordana Fabuliner in black

Wet N Wild ColorIcon single shadow in Panther

Maybelline Falsies Flared mascara

Wet N Wild Acapulco Glow under brows as highlight

*Brows*

ELF brow kit in Medium

ELF clear brow setting gel

*Lips*

One of the new Wet N Wild Megalast lippies (I LOVE the lipstick but HATE that Wet N Wild only prints the name on the outer seal that gets removed)

Revlon Colorburst lip gloss in Decadent (from the LE holiday 2011 collection)

yesterday's FOTD featuring Sugarpill and Glamour Doll Eyes

I was in a pink mood yesterday. Plus I really wanted to play with my Sugarpill and Glamour Doll Eye loose shadows. So this is what happened:

PRODUCTS:

*face*

Almay Clear Complexion foundation, powder and concealor

Garnier Anti-dark circle eye roller

Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush

Wet N Wild Bronzzer in Acapulco Glow

*eyes*

NYX HD eyeshadow base

Glamour Doll Eyes Pinky Swear 

Sugarpill Decora

Sugarpill Stella

Overall Beauty Champagne (under brow)

Jordana Fabuliner in black

Maybelline the Falsies Flared Mascara in black

Brows:

New York Color Brow kit

Lips:

New York Color Lipstain in Forever Fuchsia

Milani Haute Flash LE gloss in Flashy

Revlon Colorburst lip gloss (LE Holiday 2011) in Decadent 

I am in so much love with indie-made makeup lately. I have a whole wish list of different companies I want to try out--and so much of it is so really reasonably priced, too! 

Oh yea, dig the new hair? You can't really tell in these pics but it is in streaks--Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink and Atomic Turquoise over bleached-to-death blond. Yay for color!

nails on crack from your favorite bimbo punk

I totally thought I was off the crack, but then they came out with glitter crack and I had a massive relapse. According to the flood of China Glaze press releases in my Google Reader app this morning, China Glaze is coming out with a line of glitter crackle colors and so is Nicole by OPI, but I won't be buying any of those those. Why you ask? Because I found a bunch of glitter crackle polishes that look JUST like the China Glaze ones at Five Below (a brand new MASSIVE Five Below that they opened a few towns over)...here's what I did with a few of them:

This is Funky Fingers Blue Glitter Scales (what they call their particular incarnation of crack--everybody's gotta have their own snazzy little name) layered over Fuchsia Glitter Scales layered over NOPI's It's All About the Glam.  

(please ignore gnarly cuticles and sloptastic polish application, k? thx)

I confess, the idea to layer one glitter crackle over another is not my original idea. I saw it on one of the other bazillion nail blogs that I follow and I would TOTALLY link to that blog right now if I could only remember which one it was (if I DO find it, I will def edit this post and put the link in). Damn faulty brain and its inability to remember junk!

These crackles are much more subtle than their non-glitter cousins. I discovered (after completely jacking up the first hand I did) that you should definitely use a thicker coat for these or it won't crack well--you'll just end up with what I call "canyon nails" (one massive crack down the center of your polish). Also, if you apply it over slightly wet polish, it will crack your basecoat (a problem I never had with regular crackles). 

Anyway, in the end, I'm glad I only paid 2.50 per bottle for these (they were 2 for $5) because, honestly, I'm not a fan. Glitter crack is whack...

Anyway, now for the bimbo punk portion of this post. Here's my look of the day:

Bleach blond plus neon leopard and studded leather and chains--what ELSE would you call that but bimbo punk. Just remember, I'm the one who started the trend lol...anyway, enough over-estimating my impact on the fashion world and onto the products I used here:

Face:

The usual Almay Clear Complexion foundation, concealor and powder

L'oreal Project Runway blush in "accidentally ripped off the label and can't for the life of me remember the name" (DOH!)

Wet N Wild Bronzzer in Acapulco Glow

Eyes:

NYX HD eyeshadow base

Glamour Doll Eyes loose eyeshadow in Jailhouse Jumpsuit and Aqua Foil (LOVING these shadows and yes I am STILL planning a mega swatchfest of all the GDE shadows I hauled about a month ago)

Wet N Wild creme shadow pencil in Pixie

Jordana Fabuliner in black

Milani Liquif'eye pencil in black

Wet N Wild Coloricon shadow single in Panther (my new go-to for setting my liner)

Brows:

ELF brow kit in medium

ELF clear brow setting gel

Lips:

Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Fruiti

Oh and here's a shot of the spider post earrings I made out of some Halloween craft button thingies I've had sitting around forever (I hoard halloween-themed craft supplies-well, I hoard halloween-themed ANYTHING really. It makes my little black heart happy)... Stay tuned to find out how you can win a pair (among other things)!!