What's in my purse (makeup edition)?

 To continue the bad phone photo posts, here's a What's in my Purse makeup edition. The bag is by Clinique in a GWP a few months back, and it's a little bigger than a credit card and 2 or so centimeters wide, very portable. And as you can see in the next picture, can hold a lot!

It may seem like a bit -much- but I can do a quick formal or everyday look with this in a flash! Clockwise, from top left, is a mini Benefit Some Kind-a Gorgeous (foundation), random Clinique quad in neutral tones, sample size Clinique lash doubling mascara, random Sephora eyeliner, Wet n Wild liquid eyeliner, travel size  Smashbox photo finish lid primer, sample size Urban Decay glide-on cheek tint, a random brush head I use for blending, and Hard Candy glamoflauge concealer pencil.

Birthday Haul 2012

I'm sorry for the crappy quality, I couldn't find the camera so I used my phone. I'll promise to try to find it soon! So my birthday was over vacation, I can qualify my free birthday gift, and I had around 90 points on my Sephora card. I didn't turn in my points cause there was nothing in the 100 point box that I wanted (no makeup, just skin care and hair stuff, eww) but I did choose out some stuff I've been stalking on the site. Oh, and I stopped by a MAC counter too. I'll be reviewing some (or all) of these some time or another, so my opinions on this post are more first impressions. Here we go!

 This is my FAVORITE nail polish of all time - SOPI Already Famous. I was over the moon when I found it, cause I thought it was Limited Edition from last Christmas! I don't have to preserve the little baby bottle anymore! This, described by Sephora.com, is a "sheer pewter with medium champagne and silver glitter." I'll definitely be raving over this soon, and I'll have to pick up a few backups!

 My next hauling item was Benefit's Tan About Town set, motivated by the fact that I don't own bronzer and I didn't have foundation at the moment (I had a formal event during vaycay too). I don't need another mascara though, but the entire set was only 12$! I like it so far, but the foundation melts too easily and the bronzer packaging is super flimsy. I might review this soon.

 Here's Sephora's birthday gift this year - a lip balm duo by Fresh. I've already sworn myself to Sweet Mint EOS, but these have a pleasant lemony scent. For 22$ I wouldn't buy a full size, but they're nice.

 I've always wanted a purple streak but didn't want to commit, so I picked up a hair extension in my favorite "Royal Violet" (by Sultra). I had to straighten it before wearing, because the packaging made for an awkward L shape. I love that this stays in and grabs onto my hair really well, put it's quite a thin strip for being so expensive. And I have a really big gripe with this - the color bleeds a LOT. When I washed some hair spray out of it, the water turned purple and the hair extension turned more pink-toned than blue-toned. And I HATE pink, which sorta pisses me off but ah well.

And here's my lone MAC item that I picked up on the way, a classic Blacktrack fluidline. My other black creme liner I bought last year so it's all dried up by now. As said earlier, I only have used each of these once, but the one time I have used it this eyeliner GLIDES on. I'll definitely be reviewing and comparing this soon!

Makeup for a Trip

So I'm leaving for 2 weeks for a few personal reasons. AKA VACATION!!! I'm not in anywhere fabulous, it's mostly indoors but ah well! I thought I'd share my makeup hoarding packing I've done for the trip. The bag is the same one from my "If I was a MUA" post (my first post!) and will have some of the same products. My next post is scheduled to published on the 23rd.

Here's the two sides of the bag - brushes/stick shaped liners, and the real "meat" of the bag... MAKEUP!

Here are my brushes - I know it's minimal but it'll do. From left to right, there's the Ecotools Lash/Brow Comb, MAC 219, MAC 217, Urban Decay Shadow Brush, Ecotools Angled Liner Brush, and Ecotools Angled Blush Brush (softest thing EVER!).

Here are the eyeliners... and not even all of them. I'm convincing myself that I don't have a problem. From left to right, there's a random pair of tweezers that I forgot in the last picture, Urban Decay Naked 24/7 Eyeliner Set (Zero, Demolition, Bourbon, Underground, and Stray Dog), Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in perversion, Maybelline Expertwear eyeliner in Slate Gray, then Sephora Nano Eyeliner in Pure White

I'm bringing a minimal amount of face products - one of each. Left to right, top to bottom - Clinique Almost Powder, Rimmel London Match Perfection Concealer (I LOVE this stuff!), Essence of Beauty Kabuki, Clinique All Over Color in Peony, and Estee Lauder Blush in Radiant Kiss (I think it's discontinued).

...I keep telling myself I don't have a problem, then I look at my 24 shades of eyeshadow for a 14 day trip. Meh... From left to right, top to bottom, there's a random Clinique quad, MAC Goldmine, MAC Melon, sample size Urban Decay primer potion, Urban Decay Naked palette, and some random Estee Lauder Deluze Signature palette.

Here's the makeup leftovers, and let's switch it up - bottom to top, left to right! Clinque Chubby Stick in Mega Melon, Smashbox Lipgloss in Infamous, Clinique Long Lasting Glosswear in Clearly Pink, MAC Lipglass in Girl on Board, ELF cream eyeliner in plum, Clinique High Impact mascara, Covergirl Lashblast, and Wet n Wild Creme Eyeliner.

This is the last of it - not quite makeup but eh I crammed it in there. Left to right, top to bottom, there's a random stick of deodorant, Tweezerman Classic Lash curler, Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer, Urban Decay Grindhouse Sharpener, a bottle half filled (or empty?) with Clinique Take the Day Off, and 2 perfume samples I need to use up!

I'll see you all in 2 weeks time!

Eye Brushes 101

I believe every girl should own, at the very very least, one eye brush. The one brush should be fluffy and dense, to both apply and blend. My one brush for this purpose is the MAC 217, made out of white goat hair. MAC's description of the 217 is "For shading or blending of colour or creamy products. This brush has fine, densely packed fibers that are arranged in an oval shape." I use this for blending in the crease, applying lighter colors to the crease to blend, and dusting my MAC Melon pigment on my lids in the  lazy days. It's super soft, but if you want to preserve the white goat hair you need to clean frequently. After washing, you might want to put the original plastic covering on so the hair don't get splayed around.

My second essential eye brush is a flat shader - the Urban Decay Shadow Makeup Brush that I got in my makeup palette. The company's description is "Get an all-over sweep of color with the flat side of the brush, or use the fine, rounded tip for more precise shading. Thanks to the tight bristles, this multi-purpose brush picks up a little or a lot of shadow, so you can shade, blend and define." Trusted, this brush is very smooth in a bad way. It's synthetic and plastic, and don't hold color well. However, it does what I need it to do and pats shadow on the lid more or less. The MAC equivalent is the 239.

My third essential is the pencil brush - an essential for smokey eyes. MAC's pencil brush is the 219, and fit to the name, is shaped like a pencil. According to MAC, the brush is, "For precision shading on lid, in eye crease or along lash line. The soft, smooth fibers of this brush are gathered into a pencil-shaped tip. It is ideal for blending eyeliner into eye shadow to create a smoky looking eye." My 219 is slightly pokey, but at an angle it's doable. I'd say it's too stiff, but I'll do with what I have.

My last need-to-have brush is an angled eye brush. MAC's would be either 266 or 263. The 266 description is "For creating sharp, precise lines. This brush has fibres which are carefully arranged to form a perfect angle." I use the Ecotools angled eyeliner brush, which is probably the second softest brush in the list after the 217, and by far the cheapest (3$!). I use this for gel/cream eyeliner, and either this or the 219 for my brows. Not too many purposes, but does the job well.

Now you may be thinking, "why not use the free applicators?" Well,

1. You can't wash them

2. You can't blend with them

3. They spread lots of germs as they cannot be washed

4. You'll just end up spending more on applicators

I hope you enjoy my take on brushes for beginners!

The Color Wheel is your Friend

Back to middle/high school physics lesson. Between the hiding your gum and doodling your crush's name onto the desk then immediately erasing it, you probably learned that light is made of 3 primary colors - green, blue, and red. The complementary colors (combining 2 of the primaries) and their opposing primaries create white, the most vibrant color. Green and blue create cyan, which is the complementary of red. Blue + Red = Magenta, and Magenta + Green is white. Red and green create yellow, which is the complementary is blue. And believe it or no, we can apply it to makeup!

Complementary colors really make eyes "pop," and they sit opposite each other on the color wheel.

For example, darker blue eyes are really brought out by yellows and golds. Lighter ("cyan") can be amplified with red lipstick. 

Green eyes are exaggerated by pinks, especially bright magentas.

Brown eyes are strengthened by blues!

(All of these pictures are courtesy of Makeup Geek)

Changing it up

If you went to the homepage yesterday, I changed the background to my collage of makeup ads (I'm not endorsed in any way). Later today I'll be changing the banner to the same magazine theme - look out for it!

I hope you like the new layout instead of the bland blue/purple I had going on!

Secret Weapon: Baby Wipes

Picture credit to Google

MAC Makeup remover wipes: 15$ for 30 sheets.
Neutrogena Makeup remover wipes: 7$ for 25 sheets
Pampers Soft Care Baby Wipes Refills: 8$ for 216 sheets

That was 3 digits. Two, one, six. For under 10$.

Baby wipes, while made for a baby bum, are extremely soft, actually wayyy softer than wipes made for the face. In the beginning of my makeup journey, I hoarded the Neutrogena wipes at Wal-mart that lasted maybe... 2 weeks? And that stuff burns so, so bad. Since then I've switched to my Holy Grail Clinique Take the Day Off because I mostly use eye makeup, but baby wipes are extremely useful when you can't get to a bathroom. Actually, baby wipes are very useful when you're going to the beach, camping, or generally anywhere when you have more than a purse. Try it out sometimes, baby wipes work wonders!