How to Prevent Touch-Ups

It's likely that you've seen those girls crowding the bathroom mirrors, pushing and shoving with tubes of mascara and hair straighteners, preventing you from checking your teeth for stray sesame seeds. Well makeup, especially for those who have oily skin, has to be reapplied to keep looking fresh and da best!

When you pack up your school bag, you'll want to pack a separate bag for cosmetics and maybe for feminine issues. In all honesty it depends what you wear everyday, but these 3, to me, are the most touched-up makeup items. Why reapply your powder when you could be eating lunch with your friends?

Obviously, the first to be reapplied are lip products. This, unfortunately, will almost always rub off (and if not, I'd love to see a gloss last through a sandwich wrap and fries). However, a sticky gloss does last a class period or 2 more than a slick one. MAC lipglasses are notorious for catching hair on windy days, but it does last a lot longer than say, CoverGirl Wetslicks.

Another commonly reapplied item is powder. Oily skin seems to just absorb powder, making teenage acne all the worse. To prevent powder from being absorbed, you can use blotting sheets to remove the oil but not the powder. If you don't need coverage and just oil control, blotting sheets can blot out powder in your morning routine entirely!

The last item in my list is eyeliner. No one likes looking like they just came out of a rainstorm or a breakup, but the eyeliner smudges anyway. The best, and probably the most obvious solution is waterproof eyeliner! As you can probably tell, I LOVE Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliner (both liquid and pencil formulas).

Use these tips to get you an extra 5 minutes of chow time, and more looking ready instead of looking like a meltdown!

Tutorial: Just a little bit sultry

I know this is my school series, but there are those rocker girls out there who rock sultry eyes everyday. This isn't the most dramatic eye out there (the shadows just make the top picture look really dark) so I guess if you were really into sultry makeup for school, you could try this. Otherwise, I think it'd be perfect for a date.

 Left to right, top to bottom: MAC 219 (got cut off), Ecotools angled eyeliner brush, Urban Decay shadow brush, MAC 217, Covergirl Lashblast Fusion, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners in Stray Dog and Zero, Urban Decay Naked palette, Tweezerman lash curler, Urban Decay Primer Potion, and MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack.

 As always, start off with a bare eye. Or my "too much makeup" right eye, if you wish.

And apply the primer. As is tradition. 

 Use the flat shader brush in Virgin, a "cool pale beige."

 Apply Virgin in the inner 2/3rds of the lid.

 Use the same brush in Buck (a "fawn brown").

 It's a bit hard to see here, but there it is on the outer 1/3rd.

 Use the 219 (pencil brush) in Gunmetal ("Dark metallic grey with silver microglitter")

It looks very hard here in the crease, buuuuuut...

 We blend it out! Apply more with your blending brush (my beloved 217) if you wish, just make sure to BLEND. And use some of the gunmetal on the outer part of the lower lid.

 Now time for the liner.

 Just use the usual sweep on the outer half of the upper lid. This may seem plain, buuuuuuut...

 Blend it! If you couldn't tell, I'm a blending enthusiast. And use the Stray Dog eyeliner on the lower waterline and lashline. If you want, use zero in the upper waterline.

Curl your lashes, and TA-DA!

Warning: Do NOT melt Urban Decay Shadow pencils!

 So I got this shadow pencil in delinquent (an absolutely gorgeous medium sparkly purple) as a GWP, and I decided that the pencil is too thick to use as a regular eyeliner. Assuming it was the same as a NYX Jumbo shadow pencil, I melted it with a blowdryer aaaand... this happened. 

 The pigment (sparkle part) separated from the binder (the grey part), so whenever I swipe my eyeliner brush in here nothing gets in the brush. I literally have to scrape the pigment off, ugh.

It may have to do with this synthetic wax...

Review: Covergirl Smoky Shadowblast

The two different, specially contoured ends of our SmokyShadowBlast stick make it easy to create a bold, colorful, smoky eye. A duo of expertly paired shades provide the bold, spotlight-ready looks loved by today's hottest makeup artists. I have it in the color "Onyx Smoke."


IMO: If you're looking for a really pretty frosty white, this may be your chance. If not, I suggest you skip this. I'd say this is a C.

The two different, specially contoured ends of our SmokyShadowBlast stick - predictably, the ends wear down, expecially the "step 2" pointier end made for lining and the crease. However these sticks are soft... too soft!

make it easy to create a bold, colorful, smoky eye. - I dunno what you think a smokey eye is, but to me it's a gradient of multiple eyeshadows from darkest to lightest, starting at the lash line. And I don't think the typical "lid shade, crease shade" is really a smokey eye, especially with the lighter color on the lid. From numerous other reviews, I've heard this creases like crazy. I haven't testing this for longevity, but I have dry lids and not much creases on me.


A duo of expertly paired shades provide the bold, spotlight-ready looks loved by today's hottest makeup artists. - I mean the look at the top picture. I didn't use any brushes, as the packaging claims to just use the tips. This fades SO quickly when I try to blend with my finger, as you can barely see the crease shade. The blending is gross :P.

(Picture courtesy of Temptalia)

Hi red camera! We missed you!

How I came across this product: I was just looking for the Covergirl Lashblast Fusion at Walmart, and there was a deal combining CG Lashblast Fusion (~$8 by itself) and CG Smoky Shadowblast (~$7 by itself) for $10. So, well, why not? The black is useful to separate swatches.

Review: Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid eyeliner in Perversion

Company Description: Draw liquid lines so sharp they could cut glass. Our slender brush lays down long-lasting matte, slick and shimmery shades sure to satisfy your color lust.

Achieve clean, sharp WATERPROOF lines with shocking ease. The newest addition to our 24/7 franchise is available in a veritable rainbow of long-lasting, highly-pigmented, WATERPROOF color options – shades ranging from matte to glossy to shimmery! (And why would you only buy one? Try them all!) Use the ultra-fine brush tip to create lines that are razor-thin or thick, even and bold. The brush is also short and easy to control, making it ideal for liquid liner newbies. The slim pens are convenient – go ahead and pack ‘em all into your makeup bag – and are color-matched to each shade. 

IMO: When they say waterproof, they mean WATERPROOF. WARNING: Phone cam alert! (0.058 oz for $19)


I love liquid eyeliner. Gel is okay, pencil is meh, but liquid POPS! Nothing stands out more than a sharp winged eye "so sharp they could cut glass." Now for the breakdown...

Achieve clean, sharp WATERPROOF lines with shocking ease. - This liner has a brush tip, not a felt tip. I've never used a felt tip, so I'm accustomed to liquid. It's pretty easy to me, but more on brushes later.

The newest addition to our 24/7 franchise is available in a veritable rainbow of long-lasting, highly-pigmented, WATERPROOF color options – shades ranging from matte to glossy to shimmery! (And why would you only buy one? Try them all!) - I have the color Perversion, a matte dark black. If you though the Zero pencil liner was black, you've seen nothing! It's darker than every other makeup item I've ever seen. My only quip is that this liner takes too long to dry, so I have to do my lashes before my liner.

Use the ultra-fine brush tip to create lines that are razor-thin or thick, even and bold. The brush is also short and easy to control, making it ideal for liquid liner newbies. This brush is actually a bit long, but it does make for fexilibility. Maybe a bit too much for some.

The slim pens are convenient – go ahead and pack ‘em all into your makeup bag – and are color-matched to each shade. - This is another hell yes. Unlike a traditional bulb (ex. Urban Decay's old liquid liner), this can fit into a makeup brush slot in a bag (see my vacation bag).

In conclusion? A all the way (+ if it dried just a HINT quicker)