Spring Is Starting--I'm Getting Used To It :) My Spring Look :)

Hi guys :)  Here is how I started my day :)

Yum :)

Also, here is my collection of...dare I say it?  Probably my favorite perfumes of all time--and they are dirt cheap!!!  I should do a perfume collection blog, as I own a whole bunch of perfumes from many price ranges, but thought I'd share these because I love them so much.  They are so wonderful!!!  I love to wear the violet one at bedtime, it has a really soothing, wonderful violet smell.  The old version of Rose and the old version of Oceane (maybe the new too--haven't tried it yet!  As you can see I have Oceane from back when the brand was owned by L'aromarine).  And then the others are just wonderful as they are--although wishing Outremer's newer version of "Rose" was sweeter like the old version.  It now is sharper and has a citrus note :-/  Anyone reading know of any nice, sweet, rose perfumes?  The sweetness of Fleurs reminds me of the old Rose, but doesn't satisfy that perfect rose scent craving that I need!!!  I love smelling like sweet flowers!

ONTO THE MAKEUP! :)

About The Makeup:

*Hourglass ethereal light is the one showed, which I used all over the high-points of my face GENEROUSLY, as ALWAYS (those darn powders are my favorite makeup item EVER).

*The La Rose de Versailles eyeliner and pink lip crayon were brought back to me from Japan by my boyfriend, wasn't that sweet... :)  Of course when he went over there, I told him he didn't have to get me anything but if he did, I'd want it to be makeup!

*The pink blush is from the ELF Blush Palette.  The contour shade is the only shade I used from the ELF Contour Palette...I love that contour.  It seriously lasts all day, more than a lot of my high-end contour powders can say.  Since the whole palette is only $6, yeah, I will continue buying the whole palette just to get that contour shade, although I hope they start selling it separately!

*For this photo, I tried to touch the brushes to the products that I used them with!! :)  That morphe eyebrush is the very best eyebrush I own (granted I own all elf, bh cosmetics, and sonia kashuk kit eyebrushes!!).  That eyeshadow quad by Napoleon saves my butt on days where I really don't have the time to do a full-on eyeshadow look.

*The one thing that I used that isn't pictured is a deluxe size sample of Anastasia Brow Wiz in Chocolate.  Wow, I am AWED by how well that stuff work on weeks where I haven't been regularly keeping my brows conditioned.  It was too tiny to see in the picture anyway!! :)

*The thing in the picture that I like the least is that Mario Badescu setting spray.  I now put it on if my face is feeling dry in the morning but I know I'm going to be washing my face soon (the case today, and why I was able to use such a heavy face cream [yu-be] with that tarte foundation, which for me is on the moisturizing side), because if I leave that rose spray on my face, it will get itchy.  Itchy faces are not fun and usually lead to either scratches or some sort of breakout!!  Really have to apply certain products to their own scenarios... Which was the case today.  I am usually an oil-slick!!

*---ON THAT NOTE: If you want a damn good hydrating/refreshing spray that also, weirdly enough, hydrates your eyes and soothes them (I have chronic dry eye and I don't like ruining my eye makeup with eye drops), try the Benefit Facial Hydrating Mist...It is seriously a godsend for me.  I don't even bother buying any other sprays for hydration anymore, unless of course it's an actual setting spray, which is a completely different thing.

*Pairing the Lancome Hypnose mascara with the Fleurs perfume really made me smile, as they smell a lot alike.  Very flowery, fresh, and lovely...Just one of those extra things that puts a pep in your step.

Pops of pink :)

My look :)  I look like I'm wearing a sheet, but it's a really long, flowy pink shirt that I got on clearance for $8 at Anthropologie back in January (back in January!  I can't believe how time flies.  Spring's here!).


Did anyone know that Dita Von Teese is actually a natural blonde?  I was doing a little research on her because I want to read her book, "My Beauty Mark," and when she was a teenager, she was blonde as blonde as blonde!!  The transformation is pretty cool.  She was always gorgeous, just in two different ways.  It's amazing what just a little makeup and some hair-dye can do.  If you want to change your personal style, you CAN do it!!  She's proof, for sure.

Back to the grindstone!  I have a TON of stuff to do today, and then I'm heading to dinner with a friend. :)


Hope everyone else is starting their spring marvelously!  Mine could be going a bit easier, there is a LOT TO DO and a lot of it is stuff that will change my life permanently if I don't get these tasks done, so I'm trying to keep calm, drink lots of tea, and push myself forward.  It hasn't always been easy!!  April is going to be a god-send!!!

Sally Hansen Airbrush Tan--My Thoughts and Experience.

EDIT:  I saw on emilynoel83's youtube channel that you can just mix this stuff in your hand with cheap Hempz lotion and then it works perfectly!!!  Doh!!!!  Hopefully this entry at least provides some laughs.

LOL.  The title of this alone is making me laugh because it not only sounds so serious, but in recent years I was FERVENTLY OPPOSED TO SPRAY TANNING IN ANY SHAPE, SIZE, OR FORM.

And now, lalala, I've got myself a bottle of spray tan.  That's essentially what this stuff is, I think.  They did sell this stuff as, 'Leg Makeup, Airbrush Legs', rather than spray tan, and that's part of what sold me.

I would not have bought this if they hadn't come out with the new, lightest shade, called Fairest Glow.  My fellow pale ladies, this is NOT the fairest glow.  But if you have a slight tan, you can pull it off very naturally.  I know it will match a lot of people who are of medium-fair skin, perfectly.  If you are anywhere around NC10/NW10...any of the 10s--This could easily be too dark for you if you aren't careful, although it could work if you are good at sheering it out and applying lightly--I think it MIGHT work...maybe, due to the fact that it's more of a sheer product and not really a high-coverage foundation.  But I do think N15s, and especially 20's, can pull it off more seamlessly if you don't get carried away with it.  I am an NW15, for reference, with my light suntan I got this summer :)



WHY I decided to buy it:  A few things pushed me over the edge.  I am inherently iron-deficient at all times--I bruise VERY easily, and I am also a mondo clutz.  I have also been busy as HECK lately and I've been hurting myself, namely my legs, all of the time because I'm running back and forth so much, overwhelmed and forgetful of the fact that, haha, large pieces of furniture are in my way.  Also my legs have been vein-ier (for lack of wanting to use a better word) lately.  And the other day, I ran into my boyfriend's cabinet he built when he was 12 (it is VERY sturdy and it was VERY painful.  In my angry tears I called it firewood...lol (I take it back now)), and got this gigando welt on the side of my leg.  Not even a bruise, but a rainbow colored black, blue, red and white lump.  So, with that and a combo of sales and coupons, and the fact that I saw the new lightest shade--I ran over to the store and grabbed two of these.

(Am I being thorough enough for you??  PHEW.  I'm trying to work on being more concise, but hopefully this is a good read.)

THE Application:  Because I'm a newb and I don't know what I'm doing with this, I put on some loose shorts and went on the back deck and had my boyfriend help apply it (I felt very classy...but I'd never used a product like this before and was worried about it staining the house).  I just used my bare hands, like a caveman (LMAO) and we followed the directions on the bottle, first applying a small pool of it in the palm and then blending it into the skin very quickly.  It has an absolutely beautiful fine mica in it that looks fantastic on the legs...kind of a silvery shimmer.  If you don't shake the bottle enough you will just get the shimmer, which can be wonderful on some parts of the legs (the upper thighs) and absolutely terrible on other parts (the knees, the feet), so you really do have to shake it well before each time you spray it.  The formula dries EXTREMELY fast.  Crazy fast.  You must forget all pre-notions of how a lady should daintily apply her beauty products and BLEND.  BLEND FAST.  BLEND like a damn mad-woman, rubbing the formula into the skin and buffing it out roughly in order for it to not set in patches.  I thought it would be a fun, slow activity, but because the stuff dries so fast, you truly do feel like you're in some kind of sculpture-building contest, chaffing and buffing as fast as you possibly can in order to disallow the product from drying into patches.  You do NOT feel like a lady when you apply this stuff.  If you feel like a lady while applying this stuff-YOU ARE NOT DOING IT RIGHT!!  LOL.

It, truthfully, was kind of fun, aside from the fact that my boyfriend and I disagreed on the best way to apply it.  He thought following the directions was the best way (spraying into the hand and then applying it), but I felt that shaking it aggressively and then spraying a fine mist, 12 inches away from the skin was the best way, because you would get a lighter mist and you wouldn't have to worry as much about blending perfectly because a lighter, more sheer amount of product would be applied each time you spray it (and I still stand by this thought).  Anyone have their own views on this?  Agree?  Disagree?

The hardest part of the application is without a doubt, the feet.  I HATE it when people wear spray tan and you can see, ew, the outline of the tan around their toes, and worse, their pale, white skin inbetween their toes...in my opinion if you can still see that you should have never bothered putting on spray-tan/self-tanner/body makeup.  What I did, was aggressively shake the can (as per-usual), spray a bit of the product on the tips of my fingers, and then QUICKLY rub the product between my toes using my fingertips (I told you, you do NOT feel like a lady -.- ).

Being that it sets so instantaneously, I have not found it to smudge at all on any clothing or furniture, although I was cautious in the first hour and a half after applying it.  I'm now sitting on the ground, feet firmly planted on the floor and yes OF COURSE I did apply the makeup to the bottoms of my feet (I'm not an animal).  Nothing is showing up on the ground.

The FORMAT: I would not say that the spray bottle, at least in the way we applied the product, added to the convenience of the product, but I think if we had done it the way I preferred to apply it, which was spraying it a foot away from the legs in sheer mists and rubbing it in very well afterward, in different spots, that would have absolutely made the sprayer a plus.  This product comes in two different formats, a sprayer and a squeeze lotion (which could be totally different and I know nothing about), so it may be just up to what your preferences/abilities are.

I don't think this product is for everyone.  If you suck at blending and it's just too hard for you, well, this probably isn't going to work.  I think anyone could do it if they worked at it and paid attention and had a good mirror and good lighting and/OR someone they trust watching them to make sure they don't miss spots.  Those factors won't all come together for everyone though, this is the real world.

I adore the shimmer of this product.  It makes me feel like a fairy-tale princess.  But some people might not like that aspect.  The shimmer does seem to leave the rest of your body faintly sparkly with teeny tiny sparkles :)  Which to me is so wonderful it's almost not worth mentioning, but I know some people don't like sparkles, so whatever.

This picture is absolutely not doing the finish justice.  The lighting is picking up on tiny glitter sparkles, which ARE present, but it's actually a much more uniform mica, similar to how an opaque, glitterless, mica silver eyeshadow would appear, and it does look very natural, at least on my skin.


I know this stuff washes off like a dream because I applied it with my bare hands and there was a huge layer of sparkly golden-brown stuff on both under-sides of my hands.  It dripped off within less than 30 seconds of gentle soap and water, normal hand-washing.  Was this a unique experience?  I don't know.  If it's not, well, the soap I used was just Softsoap Oatmeal Honey, the moisturizing kind you can get in a big refill bottle at the grocery store.


Would I buy this stuff again?  Absolutely.  SO FAR, anyway.  If you are a bad-ass at blending (and I do mean it very much when I use that curse word...No more appropriate word for it in my opinion), you can really get a beautiful look and what is wonderful about it, is it will last and it won't smudge off on anything, but it will wash right off with no effort at all in the shower.  I would not recommend wearing it on a rainy day outside with shorts on, because it comes off so well with soap and water that I'm worried it would literally just drip off, although maybe it wouldn't.

I think the color is not orangey on me at all...it's the classic tan color my warm-undertoned skin naturally turns.  It also is slightly tanner than the rest of my body right now, but it doesn't look out of place as I blended upward on the tops of my legs and it doesn't stand out against my other skin.

THE COVERAGE:  No, it absolutely did not cover up that welt on the side of my leg.  I would need some

That fun welt I've been talking about.

camoflauge makeup for that, possibly Dermablend or Colortration.  It did however, make my skin look tanner and because of that, it contrasted less with my skin, being that my skin is very pale and a dark bruise on it has a lot of contrast, so it stands out less now.
Veins and vericose veins, it covered lightly and well enough to make them not noticable unless you are looking for them.

Faint/tiny discolorations/freckles bruises--almost made those disappear and look more uniform.

==This is definitely less of a coverage product and more of a tanning product--but it absolutely is a low-coverage NATURAL foundation and I think that's what you want (and quite possibly, is as good as it's going to get) for your legs.

The overall appearance of my legs is a pretty sparkly glow over a tan softness, but it's still natural looking.  I'm really enjoying it and think it looks very beautiful, and it makes me feel better about my formerly yucky, sick looking legs :)  I'm happy I bought it.  I'm happy I have two cans!  SO FAR anyway.  It has been six hours now (so calm down, self...lol).  I will post an update on this very post, later.

 In regards to the appearance, I would also wear this leg-makeup in any season, not just summer-time.

 In dim, indoor lighting (YAY FOR ACCURATE PHOTOGRAPHY -.-  Another picture in natural outdoor lighting will be posted within 24 hours of the initial post time.)

I will post some pictures of this in natural light, tomorrow (edit: nope.  That didn't happen.).  It is dark and storming outside right now.  And I'm sorry for not thinking to do it earlier--I blame it on the fact that I'm just not excited to use my cell-phone camera, and my awesome camera I had previously got stolen, so the prospect of taking photos right now is all a bit disenchanting.


I enjoy this product so far :)  I'll update this post in a few days to let you guys know how it has faded, whether it was patchy or not, etc.

Hope you liked my REVIEW!  Haha, if anything it was hopefully at least an entertaining summary of a person's first encounter with self-tanner.

DIY On-The-Go Girl Portable Makeup Palette!!

Me, wearing all of the products I put in my portable palette. :)--
I'm wearing every single product in the palette, all of the lip colors mixed together in different ratios, over a separate NYX lip liner called pinky beige.

Hi guys.  Thankyou so much to anyone who is still reading in spite of my long hiatuses (hiati?  Uh...How do you pluralize that?  Lol.)

I have currently been living, essentially like a gypsy...I commute from where I currently live (in which, I have no internet, just a small phone data plan), and sometimes I have to stay at a midpoint in order to use said internet and to get to my job and have a little more time to relax (midpoint being my boyfriend's house).  Plus, my sister visited and I was going back and forth an hour out of the way to visit her where she was staying.  It has been kind of nutty.  So, essentially what I am saying is, I've had little time and opportunity to blog, although many times I have wished I could!!

I'm finally enjoying a four day break, and I've reached another midpoint (my dad's place) :)  So here I am.  LET'S GET ON WITH THIS :)  Are you ready?!  Okay I am so excited!!!  I hope you guys love this DIY as much as I do.

DIY Portable Palette :)
Scroll down to the bottom for the list of products/supplies I used.

This is a super easy little project to do.  I'M TALKING AN AWFUL LOT HERE FOR SOMETHING SO SIMPLE.  You can skip all of the words and look at the pictures if you like.  They are pretty darn self-explanatory.  However, I have written some extra fun ideas in the last few paragraphs, uses for the palette, and ways you can get creative :)

So obviously, living like the gypsy that I have been living like lately, I NEEDED something like this. I work at a makeup store, and my bag was getting FULL because I kept having to grab stuff that I needed and store it in my big work bag.  It was getting out of control :)

I have had this L'oreal True Match Powder :)  Truthfully, I'm not L'oreal's biggest fan due to their animal testing/business practices and such, but I got this for an amazing discount at my job.  What is cool about this particular packaging, as rather than have one large compartment, in one snug space, this compact has two separate compartments.  One side is the side with the powder, and the other side carries the mirror and fits a cotton pad/sponge.

Happy accident, I suppose, my powder tray was falling out of where it'd been glued in.  So I easily pulled it out...and then I thought, wait a minute.  This could easily be a makeup mixing palette.  I wiped away the glue (I used Marcelle Cleansing Water--it was what I had on hand--I think isopropyl alcohol would be much better for this particular glue removal) with half of a makeup cotton pad, scrubbing and wiping until all of the glue was gone.  Then I took the dry half of the cotton pad and dried the freshly cleaned, shiny inside of the compact (for lack of a word for that) :)  I then hot glued the powder to the OTHER side of the compact--the side that includes the mirror.

And here is my lovely palette :)  Well, maybe not LOVELY in that it is pretty to look at, but lovely in that it is useful ;)

The Portable Palette ;)

You can also fit other powders inside.  Here, I've inserted an Estee Lauder double wear powder foundation pan in Ecru.  This true match setting powder in N1 is the closest match to Ecru, almost exactly the same shade, the true match being just a hair or two pinker in tone.  It fits perfectly in here!! :)

Estee Lauder Powder Foundation Pan in Ecru, inserted here to show what it looks like.

You can't fit a powder puff or sponge in here, at least none I have tried.  Nothing is flat enough :)  But in my opinion, brushes work FAR better than those anyway!!!  I wouldn't trade a retractable brush for a powder puff or sponge.  Nope.  Wouldn't do it.  I use this eco-tools one I got on amazon for around $6.  There's plenty out there.  I also use an elf retractable lip-brush, which cost me $1.50 with a coupon code. :)  These cost me very little and they make everything easier, cleaner, and less messy in my makeup bag than I think sponges and puffs do.

My retractable brushes for my purse makeup bag.





You may also decorate this if you are feeling crafty and wanting it to be a little more beautiful.  I personally am fine with it the way it is.  Here I show you how you can remove the sticker and the glue.  You simply peel off the sticker and start patting it over the left over glue spots, and the sticker will pull up all of the remaining glue.  Easy trick.  My true match powder is only a few weeks old, so I am not sure if this trick will work for older compacts.  You might need another cotton pad and some isopropyl alcohol.  You can use swarovski crystals, stickers, labels, or mod-podge...whatever.  I would add crystals, except I think they would make this bulky.  Maybe I will think of something pretty to decorate this with later, if I have time.  If so I'll definitely post the new picture on here :)

How to remove the stuck on glue residue with the sticker itself.


This has literally made the weight of my purse makeup bag half as heavy...half of the products are gone.  I was able to completely remove most of my lip products and just swatch them into the palette. :)  I have here, three shades of Too Faced Melted Liquid Lipsticks, one lavender colored LA Girl Lip Glaze, and my favorite concealer I have ever tried, Physician's Formula RX in the Fair/Light shade, which I put in just to dab on with my finger for touch-ups.  The problem with the concealer is it likes to ooze itself out of the tube even when you are not squeezing it...by putting it in this palette I have eliminated that problem!!!

You can also smush lipsticks in here.  You can smush in concealer sticks.  You don't have to be restricted to liquid products.  Powders will be more difficult, but you can always glue powder pans where you feel they will fit, or if you use a different variation of palette, you can keep certain eyeshadows you really like that came inside the palette, and remove the other ones you don't like using a needle and dental floss :) (the needle prys up the pan, poke the floss and wedge it underneath with the needle and then floss it beneath the pan until it's released from the glue).

I'm so thrilled because it is also SO much easier to mix lip colors and control how much product I get on my lip brush.  I've also found that when I apply with a lip brush, my application looks so much better and what I have applied lasts so much longer, disperses so much more evenly, and I use up less product as well.

Plus, at the makeup store I work at, we can't bring in products we have bought at the store most of the time.  This pretty much eliminates that problem, at least with liquid products and setting powders, because I can simply dab a little of anything I need onto the palette and leave the full-size product at home.  Plus I don't have to worry about losing those products!!!  YAY.  I just adore this.  AND everything is all in one place.  Going to make putting my makeup on quickly during lunch breaks and such a snap, and I can get the color I want quickly too!!

As you can see, I absolutely am in love with it!!!

I have been carrying it around, using it all day, and it is stored sideways in my bag.  Because my swatches are small, they really haven't budged or mixed together.  Your results may vary if you use something very watery/oily.  With that in mind, you may want to make a portable palette out of something with separators, keeping the deepness of the separators in mind.  The most liquidy thing I have put in this is the LA Girl Lip Glaze, and it just spread out a little bit, and now it has set and stayed in one small spot without budging.  I like the layout of this True Match compact because I have all of my touch-up products in one place, but you may enjoy a different set-up :)

Hope you guys enjoy this too :)  It is definitely a time-saver, a clutter-clearer, and a creativity-inducer.  As I mentioned a little bit in the last paragraph, you can do this with so many other kinds of palettes.  Not just this one, but you can also make at least lip/foundation/concealer/whatever palettes by removing eyeshadows from little drugstore eye palettes (I'm thinking Wet N' Wild--they have some new six pan white ones that would be great :) ).  Then you'll have little separators in those ones as well :)  You could even press powders you would like into empty pans you have and keep powders and liquids in the palette, if you feel inclined to.

I hope I have helped everyone.  Yay!!!  Just so thrilled, I truly think this has made my life a lot easier, and my makeup more creative and managable.  You can add in and remove what you are using currently.  All of your favorite colors and products in one place, not taking up bulk and there to mix together and play with.  It is so much fun!!  Like a grown up Polly Pocket!! :)  At least for someone who loves makeup.  And at the least, it will clear out your bag of some clutter and make it easier to find what you need.

Complete List of Products Used
LA Girl Glazed, Coy
Too Faced Melted Peony
Too Faced Melted Fuschia
Too Faced Melted Berry
Physicians Formula RX Concealer, Fair Light
L'oreal True Match Setting Powder, N1
ELF Lip Brush
Ecotools Retractable Kabuki Brush
Hot glue gun
Alcohol (or in my case cleansing water...I'd recommend alcohol over that!)
Cotton Pads

Me at the end of the day wearing all of the touch-up products, using computer screen light for lighting.  Several true match powder touch-ups had been done through the day.  I did not touch up the concealer--I more or less have it because it works wonderfully, and may need to touch it up at work when I'm sweating under fluorescent lighting, or apply it at my boyfriend's where I have no other makeup :)  Not too shabby with those lip colors... I highly recommend mixing all of those!!  The melted's last, and the LA girl gives it some much needed hydration without taking away from the longevity.  I really love the type of purple this combo creates! :)  Only did one touch-up with this lip-color.

Writing Your Makeup Shopping List

Makeup shopping can be so daunting!!!  Every makeup company out there is telling you that you need their product—but chances are, you most likely don’t.  Then you see all of the gorgeous new colors, new finishes, new ways of applying makeup, new textures…new EVERYTHING, and you think, well, what DON’T I need?!  And if you don’t know what you need and do need, chances are you’re going to leave the store with either too little, or far too much!!!

 (yep, that's all my crap!  I love meme generators...)

As silly as it may sound, just like with your grocery shopping, to be economical, whether you are a makeup LOVER like me or simply just like using a little bit of makeup (or if you just don’t know where to start but would like to try it) it REALLY does help to have a makeup shopping list.

As a makeup lover, I own everything you really need for at least basic, no-frills makeup look (Okay.  And then some.  And then some again.).  But sometimes, what I have simply doesn’t seem good enough, or I don’t have the right color, or whatever it is it may be.  And I can’t just walk into a makeup store unarmed--without a shopping list.  It’s very overwhelming for me because I’ll start to think I need something, and then realize, oh yeah, I have that same shade of lipstick from about three different brand-names!!  OY VEY.  Or, oh yeah, I already HAVE a great foundation, why do I need this new one with ‘Spyro-light technology’ (yes, I made that up.).  And ooh sparkles!!!  What was I buying again?!  Should I leave the store now before things get out of hand (solemn head shake of affirmation follows).

So I start out with this list.  It’s a bit like that pros and cons list you might have wrote about boys (or girls) you liked in highschool (or was that just my silly self?!).  Only with MAKEUP! <3

It’s VERY simple.  And it goes like this:

At the top of the list, the title is, “Makeup List.”  There are two sections.  Beneath one is, “I love my: ___” and the other is, “I’d like a better:___”

 

Then I get down to business.

Here is my legitimate list currently.

Makeup List

I love my: Foundations, Blushes, Lipsticks, Powder, Eyeliners, Face primers, Mascaras.

I’d like a better: Concealer, Highlighter, Bronzer, Lipstain, and a Sparkly Highlighting Lipgloss (for the center of the lip to add fullness and just because it looks pretty, FYI).

(I felt like I needed another image for interest...No??)

Now when I walk into the store, I’m armed.  I can avoid all of the foundations, all of the blushes—which I have way too much of, all of the lipsticks.  And focus on enjoying shopping for what I actually need!!!

If you want to really get fancy (which I often do as I’m quite serious about choosing quality products), you can of course use this list to start reading reviews online about each thing that you are looking for.  Or simply go into the store and start swatching products to get an idea of their quality, and then narrow it down to reading reviews about the ones that swatched best online.  I will often put a swatch on the bare side of my upper arm and then leave it on overnight to see how it performed.

Or if you can’t stand doing all of that, if you MUST, you could always just dive right in, purchase the item you want with a little guidance from the store employees (or no guidance if you must), and then if you hate it, hope the store has a good return policy.

Some of my tips:

• Try to match your foundations and powders to your neck.  Unless the rest of your body is darker or lighter than your neck for the most part--then you might want to try applying some foundation that matches your body to both your face AND your neck.  Because everyone’s coloring is different and most people’s bodies are different colors all over, there is a bit of an art to choosing the right foundation shade.  You can have someone help you, or just go with what you are comfortable with.  But when in doubt, most people should feel comfortable simply matching their foundation to the color of their neck.
  
• When in doubt about contouring, I bet nobody’s told you this, but you can choose a powder only a shade or two darker than your actual skin tone to get yourself comfortable with it first.  You don’t have to dive right in and go three shades deeper if you’re not ready for that yet!!!  Aren’t I a genius??  Yes, yes I am…*Pats self on the back. :P

Enjoy your makeup shopping!!!!  I hope I simplified things for you.  I think when it comes down to makeup and shopping in general, simplification helps you save time, money, and energy so you can just focus on enjoying life, and not worry so much about the little stuff.

My Skin Care Regime--Six Main Points I've Always Floated Around

Hi guys!

If anyone was curious about my skin-care regime, I thought I would post it.  I'm not sure if I look dramatically young for my age (25), but I have had coworkers who are around 18 tell me they thought I was their age and I have had people say I look young for my age, so I figured I would share what I do and see if it helps anyone else.

Here's a recent high-def photo of my face if you were curious, taken with my absolutely terrible cellphone camera (my nice camera got lost :( ).  Yes I have kind of a mustache, sometimes I bleach it and sometimes I just wear it WELL, like in the photo.  What can I say, I'm hairy I guess?  Deal with it.  I am wearing the Urban Decay electric palette on my eyes, and a Maybelline Matte Lipstick on my lips in the shade, Lust For Blush, with Urban Decay Perversion mascara.  So, I don't know, I think I look my age, but my skin looks well-cared for, and that's mainly what I'm trying to demonstrate so you can feel a bit more comfortable with my advice.  It's not to SHOW OFF.  Or whatever.  AGH!  LOL.  Anyway.  It's not like I'd post a picture of myself that looks terrible on my own blog, although let me just say I take PLENTY of terrible pictures, like pretty much everyone else in the world.


So, to get going.

1)  Daily Moisturizing.  First of all, every day I moisturize.  Every single day.  Usually only once a day, at night time after I've washed my face, but I try to do it in the morning as well before I put on my makeup.  I try to always moisturize AFTER washing my face unless I'm out and about doing touch-ups and it's the middle of the day, because if you moisturize before washing your face, it can be irritating and clog pores, especially if you still have makeup on or if you are oily.  My holy grail skin-care product is the Burt's Bees Intense Hydration NIGHT (omg!!  I wrote day.  It's MOST DEFINITELY THE NIGHT VERSION.  Sorry folks.) Moisturizer.  It is just...my staple, my everything.  It doesn't break me out, it doesn't enlarge my pores, and my skin feels so relieved and happy when I use it.  I have been using it for a little over two years now.  I also use it on my under-eyes if I don't have an eye cream and I'll often layer a thin layer of it under my eye cream.  I concentrate it in all of the dryest areas on my face, which are as goes: my forehead, my under-eyes, and my smile lines.  Everywhere else is pretty normal/combination, but I do put a thin layer of this on my cheeks and jawline about once every other day (I don't time it, just kind of ball-park it as needed...no crazy routine...I just look at and see how my skin feels and go from there) because they can be dryer as well.  I also make sure to moisturize my neck.  I prefer to use the Burts Bees for this as it works best, but often out of frugalness I will use creams that have made my face break out on my neck, which I don't like doing and I believe to be less effective because the skin is still SOMEWHAT intolerant to the product, but I feel is saving me some money.

(When I was younger, between the ages of 16-22, I used Clean and Clear moisturizers...mainly the one called morning glow, which had SPF in it, each morning, all over my face, a little more haph-hazardly than I do now-a-days, but with the same concept as I mentioned before, concentrating it in dryer areas.  My forehead and chin were always breaking out at this time period, so I would moisturize them very sparingly, whether this helped or hurt.  I almost never put moisturizer on at night-time during this time period, but when I did I used the same product.  I was highly acne prone and sensitive to whatever few products I tried, and would usually just wash my face with regular tap-water.  I am sensitive to ingredients, so I would often just rinse my face with the water, not wash off the small amount of makeup I had on, and wear hardly any makeup other than a bit of concealer on my under-eyes, lipstick/gloss, mascara and an inordinate amount of eyeliner as was my tradition especially between 18-22.)  I would often re-use the makeup I put on the day before and just touch it up, because I was so worried about different ingredients from products disturbing my skin, as it was so sensitive at the time!!

2.) Portable Skin Care.  I always bring a long a little moisturizing stick in my coat pocket or purse (I use ELF's Hydrating Stick.  It's a clear formula and in a black tube that you can take apart when you are finished with it and use to store little things like tweezers, smaller lipsticks, and q-tips) when I'm out and about, especially during winter time, and I will dab my finger into it and put it on the dry areas of my face (under-eyes, smile-lines, and forehead).  I find it also refreshes my makeup and helps with any creasing in places like the under-eye where makeup tends to cake up.  I usually use this when I am ACTUALLY out and about, and if I'm home a lot I won't moisturize at all during the day and forget to use this at all, so I'm usually a lot better cared for when I'm busy, ironically, but I don't like worrying about this constantly.  If it's nearby and I'm thinking about it, I use it.  Naturally if I'm at home I'm not carrying around a purse or coat with it in it, so it's not nearby and I'm not going to be reaching for it all the time and losing it, as I am sure to do.  I also have an ELF Hydrating Mist that I like to spray on to refresh that I really enjoy and I do think it benefits my skin-health as well, and I'm more likely to spray this on at home as the air can get dry especially in winter time, and since the bottle is slightly bigger and brighter I'm less likely to lose it (can you tell I'm good at losing things yet...I have to organize my routine around this tendency of mine).

3.) Eye Cream.  Over the years I've used some really sub-par eye creams that I absolutely don't recommend and usually I've just used my typical everyday face cream on my under-eyes.  I now currently have a Murad Eye Cream that I originally got as a sample but enjoyed so much I decided to buy the large (very expensive) version that I spent using the points program at my work, so I got it for free.  Upon first few usages I noticed my fine lines decreased.  I'm noticing this less now that I've been using it for a few months, however I still feel it is a great eye cream.  I do like to double layer it with my Burts Bees often because I feel that gives me the best mix of hydration/benefits, as for some reason I personally feel this eyecream is not as heavy as I'd like it to be and seems to absorb really quickly into my skin, so to give it some longevity I love to layer it up especially at nighttime before bed, because in sleep I feel that's when my skin becomes dryest.

4.)  Sunscreen.  I started using sunscreen on my face most mornings (not every...maybe like 5 days a week, depending on how I feel) by age 23.  At around age 20-21, I don't know if you guys noticed, but I had some sort of gap year where I hardly used ANY skin products at all except I wore natural sunscreens on my face every day.  That year, I really, really worked on my diet alone and did some sort of cleanse.  Nowadays, I strongly prefer a balanced whole foods diet with my fair share of yummy junk, and a balanced skin-care routine to top it.  I like to put on a Neutrogena (I don't know why but I just feel this brand has always worked the best and improved the health of my skin and even my pores the best) sunscreen each morning before makeup.  I LOVE Neutrogena sunscreen!!!!!  It is wonderful and I don't know what I'd do without it and I hate to be advertising for such a mass brand, but I just love how it evens out and brightens my skin and it seems to help with fine lines and even my pores, but longer than a regular primer does.  I originally started with the Neutrogena Age Shield Face SPF 110--but found it stung my eyes more than the one I currently use, which is the Neutrogena Dry Touch SPF 55 (it's not even marketed toward faces but I swear I like it far better, and the difference between SPF 55 and 110 is actually less than .001 %...).  I have used other sunscreens inbetween all of this time but these are the two that bar-none, I just like the best.  You can't wear them well in water though!!!!!!!!  I've tried many times in all kinds of makeup, trying to find a good combination of products and applications and hoping to succeed--but simply hasn't worked.  I'm still looking for a good water-proof sunscreen that I can wear under makeup (and just in general for that matter...so far I've just worn these Neutrogenas and other things and got my eyes stung and beared it--awful and I really need to just buckle down and find one!)!!!  I can definitely wear a water-proof makeup look that kicks ass, but it's always been at the sacrifice of sunscreen and I'd MUCH rather have on a good sunscreen than fabulous makeup when I'm out swimming because my face will burn, especially my nose.  I wear face sunscreens all year, winter or summer...body sunscreen usually only in summer, which I know I need to improve upon but I'm not as motivated to in Winter because I'm inside so much more!

Another thing I'd like to buy is an SPF powder for sun-protection over my makeup when I'm out and about in the summer-time, and an SPF spray for winter! :)  I think those could be really helpful little essentials for easy over-makeup sun-protection!

5.) How I Use Makeup.  For years, I didn't even use foundations because I believed they broke my skin out, aged it, and enlarged my pores, and I still believe this to be the case to this day, however I wear foundation more now, as I feel it looks nicer.  I've tried MANY types of foundations and they all pretty much do the same harms to my skin, some more than others but with little variation.  I use it sparingly, starting in the center of the face (nose and undereyes, where the redness, blackheads, and darkness is) and working outward, using the most concentrated amount of foundation in the center of the face and least amount toward the outward part, where I need the least and seem to get irritated by it the most as well for some reason.  The center of my face doesn't seem to react much to foundation so I'm fine putting it there as I feel it helps more than hurts.

6.)  Hygiene.  I am not 22 anymore (like 25 is so much older, but whatever) and I do like to wear foundation more now because I am less irritated and less sensitive to it than I was in the past, and I think it looks nicer (it also would have looked nicer in the past but I couldn't risk all the irritation I got).  This means I HAVE to wash it off, it is definitely the MOST irritating product to my skin, be it a powder or a liquid foundation.  I try to wash my makeup off every day but honestly, I don't always make it because I'm borderline narcoleptic at night-time and sometimes if I just lay down I'm asleep before I'm even realize it and before I even have time to drag myself to the bathroom.  However if that happens I make sure to wash it first thing in the morning (unless I'm feeling lazy and I end up washing it at 2pm on a weekend day!).  I like to wash it off with Burt's Bees Radiance cleanser...I've found this'll take off even waterproof mascaras very well, in my experience and with the ones I've used.  It just is a very quick way to take off all my makeup with as little scrubbing as possible.  I try very hard not to touch my skin and move it around much.  Lately as I am working at a job that requires me to wear makeup during every shift, I have been using Micellar Waters, particularly the one by Marcelle, which is a Canadian brand.  It's nice to have because if I'm super tired after an evening shift and I'm lying down and can't bring myself to move, I'll just keep it near my bed and pour some on a cotton pad and it removes my makeup rather quickly and leaves my skin feeling smooth.  I strongly prefer to rinse and wash my face after using this product, in spite of the fact that it seems to leave no residue on the skin, I feel the look and health of my skin seems to be better if I wash my face after using this product--but it's better to have this product and use it than not wash my face at all, which is the worst situation of all.

7.) Random Products That I Also Enjoy Benefits From:
All of the ones below are products I tried for the first time in the last year or so.

I use a hyaluronic acid and vitamin C product by Palmetto Derma that I absolutely love.  It seems to even out my skin very well, tighten it, and plump it up, but it's drying so I only use it a couple times a week at most.  I got it in my Boxy Charm subscription before I canceled it a while ago, and it's the product I'm most gleefully happy about and will continue to buy in some format (at least for that acid and the vitamin C) for the rest of my life.
I use Witch Hazel often, at least a few times a week, sometimes twice a day that I buy for super cheap from the grocery store in the health department.  It's by Dickinson.  It cleans up my skin really nicely and is a nice intermediate sub between the Marcelle cleansing water, but I don't like to use it ALL the time because it has alcohol in it, which is bad for my dryness in my skin.
I have other random products, samples I get in beauty bags and with makeup orders, that I'll throw on my neck or undereyes or whatever.  Sometimes I feel they help more than they hurt so I just try to stick them on my neck or hands as I'm irritated by a lot and usually what happens is my pores enlarge and get clogged and then they're permanently enlarged after that (looks like a scar usually!) so I am VERY careful about this.
I have a few random mask products--one by Mario Bedescu and a couple very basic powder clays.  I use all of these very sparingly.

The next product I want to try to buy is a hydrating mask since I have dry skin...I learned about them from a Lisa Eldridge youtube video and I think they sound divine for my skin-type.  I'd like to try the one by Dermalogica.

My philosophy is that once I find a product that works for me, I STICK THE HELL WITH IT because my skin is irritated by so much that it's really not worth it to try new things and mess it up more.


So guys as you can see here, the main points I have are:

I have many times sacrificed beauty for my skin-health.  I've also had to do it for my eye-health as well...One year (age 22) I had an awful eye infection for some reason beyond explanation, and I stopped wearing makeup for the entire year, wearing it only on special occasions.  I think you can see here that ultimately, I do what I want to do whilst still maintaining happiness and sanity and sometimes I get lazy and I'm fine with that.

Reading it all, it seems very complicated but it's actually very simple...I have a simple daily routine and I do whichever parts of it that I feel like, when I feel like it, trying to do at least 3 of the 7 things in it each day.  I seldom do all 6 every day, but some weeks it happens.

So that's it... I try to keep it easy and under 20 minutes a day, even doing all 7 steps it should never take more than 30 minutes otherwise I feel like I'm wasting my life away!  I also try to keep the products all at as low of a cost as I can because I don't also want to spend all my money on skin-care...so a lot of these are drug-store brand and drug-store priced, most importantly the three products I use the most which are the moisturizer, cleanser, and sunscreen.


Take care and hope this helped.  Long-winded and seems so complicated, and if I did all of these steps every day (I tried to in the past and I was miserable) IT WOULD BE.  But I try to keep a balance and my main thing is to keep hygienic, keep moisturized, and keep sunscreened, and not worry as much about the rest...just add it in where I can!!

My Most Favorite Foundation Brushes :)

As a forward, sorry the pictures on this blog are subpar.  I used to have an excellent, expensive digital camera, one I was totally in love with and completely satisfied with.  It disappeared... so here's what I've got! :)  Also, only the Tarte brush is currently clean ;)  These get used a lot and I'm not one to clean my brushes just for a blog entry.  I think you understand!

Foundation isn't something that I have always worn.  Back in the day, I fervently believed that foundation, of all makeup, was the worst for your skin, probably from just grabbing the first drugstore foundations with cute packaging I saw, not washing my face beforehand, and promptly breaking out from them.  (ALWAYS have a clean face before applying foundation).

I still do believe that not all foundations are created equal, and I don't wear foundation every time I wear makeup personally, but that's an entirely different topic all together.  The weather can completely affect what your skin is doing and what foundations you use, because dry climates can dry out the skin, and humid/hot ones can make it become more oily.  Plus hormones, and food allergies.  Your skin is a piece of work :)  So clean these brushes as often as you need to, keep your face clean, and choose the right products for you... And hopefully what I write here can help you navigate that a little bit.  Or if you just like brushes as much as I do, come on and lets get to the brushes!

So I have several foundation brushes that I rotate depending on what foundation I want to use and what mood I am in.  And these three, all-encompassingly, are the most fantastic of the bunch.  I ADORE these.

Qualities I Seek From A Fantastic Foundation Brush:
1. This is the most base (no pun intended) requirement, but sturdiness.  Your foundation brush has to do more blending than all of your other brushes.  It better not feel like it's falling off the handle.  And this is no time to have ANY bristles falling out.  If all of your other brushes are sub-par, fine, as long as your foundation brush is quality.
2. Blurring effect.  I don't want any streaks when I put on my foundation.  My foundation should look soft, blended, and impeccable, and brush streaks anywhere on the face mean that the brush isn't doing it's job correctly.  The brushes I am recommending here, astonishingly, do not leave any brush marks.
3. Softness.  I don't want a coarse brush scratching against my face.  The application should feel luxurious and smooth, I don't want to worry about over-exfoliating my face while I'm doing my foundation.
4. Low product absorption.  I don't buy foundation so half of the product I apply can be absorbed into my brush.  These brushes perform to blend the foundation into my face, and if any foundation is absorbed into the brush, they still do such a quick, even application that I use far less product than I would have, had I used my fingers to apply the same product.


All of these brushes have these qualities, but a couple of the brushes have some more than others.  I'll explain why each of these are great for different densities of foundations, which qualities of each brush will apply to which foundations, and how the brushes perform on the face.  These are in order from my most favorite to least favorite.  So without further ado, here they are :)

1. The IT Cosmetics Velvet Luxe LBD Foundation Brush #302.  Sigh... I can't stop touching this brush.  This is by far the softest foundation brush I have ever touched, even softer than the much-touted Makeup Forever artisan brush line (of which, does not blend well at all, I've found, for some strange reason, and I promptly returned it).  It blends pretty much any foundation like a dream.  It feels wonderful against the skin because it literally is so velvety soft.  And best of all, I don't know why, I don't know how...but it absorbs no product.  This is a rave review here, honestly.  I can go much longer (than I probably even should) between washings with this brush because it seriously absorbs barely any product, making the brush save me money because I have to spend less on foundation due to the fact that I'm using far less.  This is wonderful.  If I had to get rid of all of my makeup brushes and could only keep one, I would keep this brush.  It is my ideal foundation brush.  I really haven't found a liquid foundation yet that it doesn't apply to the skin fantastically.  Unpictured, it even has a little rhinestone at the bottom of the brush, which is a cute touch (one I don't really care about, as the brush is already so fantastic).  I love using this brush with every foundation I own, but I prefer to use the bdellium for the thicker foundations because it seems like it's bristles would be hardier with those, though this one does still blend thick foundations like a dream and it's also easier to blend with this brush because it's so soft and fits better into the nooks and crannies of the face.  You only have to touch this brush to unblended points of the face, lightly press, to blend, and by buffing you move everything quickly into a beautiful place because it's so soft and round.  I would hardly ever say this about anything makeup related, but this brush is worth every penny of $38.  They can be purchased at Ulta only, at this point in time.

my fantastic picture...

2. Bdellium Tools 957 Brush.  This brush is excellent at applying thicker foundations like Kat Von D and all medium thickness foundations.  It just completely splays out the foundation everywhere on the face and it is such a soft, teddy-bear feeling kind of a brush, unlike the Velvet Luxe which is more silky soft.  I love the feeling of this brush ALMOST as much as the previous brush and I would not want to do without this brush in my collection because it is so uniquely warm and soft feeling.  Pillowy.  I do not recommend this brush for thin watery foundations because it will absorb more product, but even then it should still blend absolutely gorgeously.  I love the way this brush blends and buffs product into my skin.  I use a swiping, circular motion.  You do have to pat it ever so slightly more than the velvet luxe to get a beautiful blend and it is larger so it doesn't fit on the face as well, but no matter.  It is also fluffier and less dense, which could be a good thing.  Beautiful, soft application, no streaks, easy to apply.  I adore it.  I got mine on Amazon for $12.  The price seems to fluctuate, right now it's actually $11.26, but I've also seen it go up to $14.  Here is the link to specifically where I bought it.  That is absurdly cheap for a foundation brush that is this effective.  There are other colors, I just adore the pink one.  And I couldn't tell ya whether the other colors are any different... I'm thinking that the yellow and green are probably the same but I'd be weary about the one with the brown bristles.  ALSO, you do have to wash this brush more than the other two brushes listed, as it absorbs more foundation and the bristles clump together far quicker.  Clean foundation brushes mean a better application.

3. Here is where things get different.  This is the Tarte The Balancing Act Bamboo Foundation Brush.  I LOVE this brush for extremely thin, liquidy foundations because it absorbs absolutely no product, something that's harder to achieve with thicker, softer brushes (although the Velvet Luxe would probably do it fantastically too).  It is also SO EASY to fit this brush into all the nooks and crannies of the face, and since thin foundations are hard to target directly in certain areas, this brush is the ticket to having those foundations give you the coverage you are looking for in those areas because it picks up and applies those products to just where you want them, without blending them out into the rest of the face and into blended-into-nothingness.  You know, when you're like, "Wait, did I even put foundation on?  What gives?!"  And you have to add 2-3 more layers...this brush prevents that from happening.  Where a softer, larger brush would blend the foundation so much that it seems to have disappeared into oblivion, this will help you target and conceal the areas where you need the most coverage because it is so dense and soft, but just coarse enough to buff the product effectively into the skin.  It's tapered shape allows you to really target tiny areas by using just the tip of it, if you please.  This is a fantastic brush, and one that is extremely hard to locate.  I got mine in a Christmas kit with that included the Tarte The Buffer Brush (one that I am not even mentioning here because I don't think it's that fantastic so far.  Maybe it's the large size, but it's not very user-friendly).  You can actually get it with a bb cream here on the Tarte website.  I know absolutely nothing about the BB cream, and I wish it didn't have to be this way, but whatever, consider it a free bonus??  I use this brush with the Makeup Forever Matte Velvet foundation.  It is the most natural-looking foundation I've ever used, bar-none.  Then top that with an HD powder and your skin literally looks like a baby's bottom.  Price for the brush with that bb cream is $48.  Tarte needs to start selling them individually!!! :)


So there you are, my three top foundation brushes.  I just adore them... and for great reasons.  I honestly am completely happy with my foundation brush collection...for now :)  But really, these have been (no pun intended) covering everything for me, with every foundation I've tried, and flawlessly.

Honorable Mentions:
The Real Techniques Buffing Brush from their Core Collection.  Great foundation brush, quick application, but streaky and a little coarse.  You need to do extra patting with the brush to get rid of the streaks, but once you do that you have a great application.
The Real Techniques Expert Face Brush--great foundation brush but very small to apply all over the face.  VERY soft.  Allows for precision, but is time-consuming to use because of it's size and can be harder to blend with evenly all over the face because of both it's size and density combined.

Still Here :) STILL Very Much Into Makeup!!!!

Hi everybody.  I hate that this has become one of those blogs where the person NEVER updates and always apologizes for it, some excuse about jobs, whatever, and it's like, who cares, just get on with the post.  So I'm not going to apologize after this time!!!  I'm busy as hell, still LOVE makeup and I'll update when I want!  Got it?! :)

I recently got hired at a makeup store, something I'm truly enjoying, and I've learned that even a job you enjoy is still HARD. WORK.  Partly because it is still just a beginner, foot-in-the-door position, I put a lot of energy into my job, but I still feel super happy expending that energy because it's something I'm enjoying doing.

How silly am I coming across when I say this next phrase?  VERY, but who cares.  ON TO THE MAKEUP!!!


Here are some things I've learned while working at a makeup store (and also ordering some raw ingredients online because I'm curious about making my own makeup):

1.  Powder makeup isn't all it's cracked up to be (but it does crack up).  People with oily skin especially think that powder makeup is their ultimate solution to makeup-wearing.  However, a lot of times the cause of oily/broken out skin is food allergies/skin allergies to certain ingredients and the use of harsh chemicals on the skin.  Oily skin needs moisturization too, and when you apply harsh chemicals and an excess of powder, the skin will actually over-compensate for it and create even more oils.  I also think most powders, with the exclusion of transcluent powders based on silica microspheres and similar ingredients, enhance wrinkles, even the popular high-end ones.  I think everyone would benefit more a balance between liquid and powder products that have ingredients in them that won't irritate your skin-type (and since everyone is different, from my knowledge anyway, I can't advise you, you just have to test things, just like with food intolerances).  I've found when I'm applying lots of powders, my fine lines begin to look a little deeper even when I take the makeup off.  So... I don't know.  I use a bit of powder and I've found my skin benefits from it, but I would NOT rely on it for everything in my makeup routine, and I'd hope if you do use it, you also use a good primer or moisturizer.

2.  There is makeup you should always buy high-end, and there is makeup you can buy for cheap and it'll work just as good or better.

High-end Products that Always Give The Best Results
--Pencil/retractable eyeliners
--Lipstick--better, less irritating formulas, can easily find ones with longer staying power, many times applies color faster/easier.
--Foundation (while there are some drugstore foundations I absolutely love, I've found that the staying power on my skin and/or the healthiness of my skin is greatly improved when I'm using high-end).
--CONCEALER.  I'm not even going to talk about why this is so much better.  IT JUST IS.  And I'm writing these lists just as the products pop in my head, but this would be at the top of my list.
--Powders, pretty much of every kind unless it's a setting powder based on silica microspheres (elf has one, it's the HD one), but there are some horrible high-end ones and you'd be better off grabbing drugstore than settling for those.
--Bronzer--much easier blendability, which is a plus for a beginner, since bronzer should always be blended well when contouring.  Otherwise, if you are great with bronzer, drugstore is fine.  I use drugstore and prefer it because I haven't found a shade I like as much as the one I currently use that is a drugstore version.
--Mascara.  There will always be a high-end option that performs just SLIGHTLY better than your holy-grail drugstore option... and to me, eyelashes are the most important part of makeup.  However, if you already have long eyelashes, go for drugstore and don't even worry about it.  You don't need slightly better if you already have long eyelashes...but for people with short, choppy ones, slightly can be a LOT.

Cheap Stuff That Is Just As Good:
--Blush--bar none, I find amazing blushes for very cheap, that most of the time, are better than the ones you have to pay high-dollar for, and last longer.  You may find some kind of shimmery, iridescent quality or fast blendability in high-end blushes that is superior to ones you can get for cheap, but other than that, they ALL apply the same and look just as gorgeous and last just as long interchangably, especially if you use a cream blush and then set it with a powder blush.
--Gel eyeliner--It is amazing, drugstore or high-end, and applies and behaves exactly the same.
--Eyeshadow--like blush, if you want some special shimmery quality or rare color, well, high-end may be your best bet.  But again, almost always, unless it's one of the rare high-end shadows that has INCREDIBLE staying power (like Clinique), you are doing yourself a service by buying beautiful, bright, drugstore shadows like Wet N Wild Comfort Zone or the Almay trios and just using a primer.
--Highlighter--Refer to blush (top of this list).

Something I'm Still On The Fence About and Need to Research (need to be honest here!!):--Eyeshadow primer.  So far the peach shade of ELF primer has worked the best for me out of ANYTHING, including Urban Decay, but still, everything seems to eventually fade!  I think part of the problem is I rub my eyes a lot due to chronic dry eye/or I'm applying eye drops for the same reason.  I need to research this badly!
--Face primer.  I've used both high-end and drugstore and I'm still on the fence about whether either one is really better than the other.  I'm very tempted to add it to the Cheap Stuff That Is Just As Good list, but frankly, I haven't tried enough yet.
--Lipliner--While for me, any lipliner with a dryer formula will do and will last all day, I do have dry, young skin, and I'm concerned that a dry formula on an older person would sink into lines unattractively.  I would like to experiment more with different formulas and see if there's one that provides more hydration, won't sink into lines and will provide the same benefits on older skin, because I'm just not clear on HOW lipliner performs on older skin yet.

3.  Everyone and their mother has a completely different skin-care routine.  Either nobody knows what to use, or everyone's skin is different :)  And while I'm very interested in it, it's still REALLY difficult for me to give skin-care advice.  There are a billion products/ingredients/terms to know about, in addition to the fact that every person's skin-type is dramatically different from the next person's. All I can tell you is to wash your face every day, always take your makeup off, and moisturize with something that won't irritate you/cause you breakouts, maybe starting with a gel moisturizer if you are acne-prone.  Also, often-times, staying away from the same ingredients that cause you stomach upset (peanut oil for example, if you are intolerant to peanuts) can be just as beneficial for your skin.



So that's my entry :)