Halloween 2012

Better late than never to post; at least that's what I'm going to say as I am not only a day after Halloween, but since this costume/makeup was worn last Sunday. Just wanted to pop on here and share my makeup look for Halloween 2012.

Wish I had some pictures of my full costume, but unforturnately I was only focused on taking my makeup pictures; of course if you can't tell I was a mermaid. I made this top with real sea shells that I painted and glitterfied and then attached to a beige tank top with some industrial strength E6000. That stuff really does "sew" miracles. Not sure how I would have attached the shells without that glue as I really didn't want to buy a special bit to drill the shells which could have potentially cracked the shells as well. My tail was a blue mermaid tail, which my mother sewed from a pattern. This costume, as this is my 2nd time wearing and my sister has worn some times too, is too much fun not to wear more than once.

For my hair, which is extremely straight and hates curlers, I used my Remington wand to create curls starting section by section from the lower part of my head on up. I spritzed the curls as I went along with Aussie scrunch spray, not really sure it didn't anything, but it kept the curl enough to be a wave througout the night. After I was done curling, I parted my hair where I liked it just so and then took my seashell clip (sorry no better pic on this one) and gathered my hair all to one side using the clip. Bobby pins for any extra strands.

As for my makeup, I started with the eyes. I put L'oreal infallible eye shadow in endless sea all over the lid and above the crease and along the lower lash line extending it past the lower lash line further than normal. I really just did a lot layering with this look until I achieved the look I was going for.

I also layered my Clinique gel liner all around the outline of my eye and then for added oomph, I used the liner to create a line just above my crease. I had to go over this line a couple of time to create the look I was going for, but I got it eventually. Then along this same upper crease line I winged the liner outward. Immediately below this (as you can seen in pic 2) I mimicked the wing with 2 other swoops. I had to go back right between the "wings" with the aqua shade so that it was extended through these lines. I did lots of blending and used a darker blue shadow in my inner/upper area of my eye to create a bit of concavity. Along my upper brows I used some of MAC pigment Vanilla. Trying to keep this just up here and not wanting glitter all over the rest of my face. After I had this under control, I finished the rest of my makeup.

Foundation: L'Oreal lumi foundation in NW2
Benefit Hoola bronzer
MAC msf in Petticoat for blush
Lipstick: I wanted a light/pink sheer shade, so I went with MAC hue, layered with Maybelline Color Sensational in Pearly Pink. As the night went on, I only packed the Maybelline lipstick so I just kept layering Pearly Pink on my lips!

So on an end note to this look, I just want to say how much I really do love Halloween and I think it has a lot to do in part with dressing up, playing with makeup and "pretending" to be somebody/something else. But I mean, come on, I really might have to throw this mermaid makeup on again, someday that isn't Halloween? In all honesty, I wish there were more days where I could freely play with makeup and go out wearing whatever outrageous makeup I feel like that day. But then again, who says I really can't? . . .

Baring it All

I think it takes a lot to put you're face out there without makeup, but at the same time it also extremely necessary so you can see via pic how the makeup looks, changes and transforms what is already there. 

I probably should have posted these before my lippies of the day posts, but better late than never, right?!

These are me baring it all with absolutely no makeup, please refer back to these as I add looks of the day, etc. I have been experiencing a lot of redness and other not so fun stuff like acne with dryness. Yeah, doesn't seem logical, but I would describe my skin-type as combination. 

Combination skin could and does mean a lot of different things for lot of different people; so my "combination" is really = dryness, oiliness, acne-prone and sensitive. Phew, I'm sure there's more but let's make it as "simple" as not possible.

open eyes no makeup shot

closed eye, no makeup

lips nothing on and no makeup around the mouth here as well

sorry for the nose shot :o

and a side close up of my entire facial features

Again, hope this helps and remember to check back to these pictures so you can compare the change in colors from my  no makeup to makeup applied!

Jo-Ann Fabric's Moving Sale! (& Home Projects to Come!)

So I have been so lucky that my local Jo-Ann fabric and craft store is moving and therefore is having some amazing deals. Everything in the store is 30% off which goes ON top of sales items and things which are on sale for the week. So if a fabric is 40% off say you get a yard that's regular $10, you get the fabric for $6 but oh wait, you're not done there you'll get an additional 30% from there, so really it comes to $4.2!! Ok, so enough math there. I wanted to share what I picked up from the sale as well as my hopes and dreams for projects that are to come from my great steals!

Not that you need a visual, but I think pictures make everything better, so here's my goodie haul bag!

Not sure how clear this receipt is for you, but just to show you what I got, I paid $27.66 and saved $68.25 with all the fabric I purchased I have enough to make a full quilt top and cover the dining room chairs, to follow...

 Ok so here's project 1 that I want to share you, and when I say Project 1, I'm not really labeling it as that, just that here's another work in progress that I hope to update on here as progress becomes more than simply purchasing the fabric. But don't' get me wrong, finding the correct materials I want is half the battle.

Just to give you a little insight: I have 6 dining room chairs a la the picture below. They all have different colored fabrics on each cushion and I want to take these from shabby to chic. I plan on staining the chair a dark espresso brown and then they will be covered with this creamy-white leather fabric. The fabric I found is great because it's leather-like yet, the little grooves it has are not to deep or feel icky like; if something gets on this fabric they will easily be washcloth washable, which I'd say is always a requirement when thinking about upholstery. You want your fabric not just to be the correct color, but also to function and be good for where you need it (i.e. in the kitchen/dining room)!

 Just a close up of the current seat... Not bad, but they need to be re-done.

On to project 2 from my hauling!!!

I picked up these 4 cotton fabrics and hope to put together a quilt with them for my living room. I am loving the combination of teal and coral and I thought these fabrics provided a nice balance. I have not "re-done" my living room by any means, but this is the beginning to my inspiration of what I will want to do color-wise. The coral fabric is actually not as "hot" as the picture appears. I think I took about 40+ pictures trying to get an accurate color on that fabric, but for some reason my camera doesn't like orange-red.

Here's the fabric all next to give you a better idea of my palette. I will be using neutrals which are found in fabric 1 and fabric 4 below. The cream combined with white and the leaves on the fabric 4 there is actually more of a muted coral and not yellow or gold. So this 4th fabric compliments fabric 3 when you see them all together.

 Teal-blue. It's a good idea to not all have bold or large prints when choosing fabrics to come together in a quilt. This is a good choice, because it's not a a solid, yet the print is fairly simple that it will not compete with the larger prints such as those in 1 and 3 above.

Love this print. This is a better coloring of the coral-orange than the above pictures!

This fabric brings out the coral in a muted medium shade. The neutral cream plays through this fabric as well. It is good to have coherency throughout the fabrics you chose as much as you possibly can, so they all make "sense!"

This print is "bold" but not in the way that the coral fabric is, but moreso because of the contrast of the teal-blue from the cream background. This brings out the teal-blue and is a wonderful compliment to the coral-orange.

I don't know what quilt I will be making as of yet with these quilts yet. I need to sketch out ideas or work a little bit on Electric Quilt (EQ) which is a simple quilt program that lets you draw up and color different quilts to give you an idea what they will look like. Look for more on this project to come!

Loreal Infallible Eye Shadow Swatches

So I seem to have acquired quite a few of the L'oreal Paris infallible eye shadows recently and I wanted so share my mini collection with swatches. Love all these shades and the shadows are so smooth and gorgeous. All I have are fairly metallic/shimmery except for continuous cocoa which is the most matte out of any that I own here. There is no glitter particles in these, but they have great light reflecting qualities. Another quality I love about these is how long they last. With a primer underneath they last on me all day. Of course if I skip the primer, only about an hour or two before they crease, however this is about standard for any shadow on me without primer as I have heavy lidded eye lids. Oh and forget to mention, but hoping you can tell from my picture below, the opaqueness of these is so undeniable. Each swatch is from me rubbing my finger in the pot and then swiping 1 time down my arm. So gorgeous, right!!!

From left to right; shades as follows:

iced latte, eternal sunshine, amber rush, liquid diamond, bronzed taupe, continuous cocoa