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!!!

NYC Liquid Eyeliner Review and My Eyeliner Story :)

Firstly, I must address this, I apologize it's been so long since my last post (roughly 2 or 3 weeks?).  I find that these makeup blog entries can often take a little bit longer and require more work than the entries of my other blog, Thoughts and Makeup, which is just my own thoughts spouted out!  Give me time, I'm finding my feet, but I have tons of entry ideas in store that I can't wait to share with you!





(NYC Liquid Eyeliner)

I have had times in my life where I utterly and completely struggled with makeup.  I remember my first couple years of college were especially rough in the eyeliner department… I would use old Jordana and NYC pencil eyeliners from high school.  They would melt off my face throughout the day, so every couple of hours, I was running to the bathroom to do touchups (luckily I only wore a little undereye concealer, the eyeliner, and some decent mascara, but it was still a nightmare).  I didn’t know about primer, and I had very few tricks up my sleeve.  I don’t know why it never occurred to me that better formulas were out there—in my head, they simply didn’t exist.  I chocked it down to the fact that everyone must have been doing what I was doing, and I was just failing at keeping up with it quickly enough!!  Luckily, in addition to having some good tricks, I’ve overcome that naiveté and I can share with you something cheap that actually WORKS—and phenomenally, dare I say it.

I had avoided this brand like the plague for some years after my horrible experiences with their eyeliner and other unmentionables that would melt off my face.  But I am a believer in following advice from professionals—via Youtube—and so when I saw a makeup artist I really respect, Chrisspy, using the NYC Liquid Eyeliner, and not only that, but saying it was her, “favorite,” let’s just say I hopped over to the nearest NYC-selling location (unfortunately for my wallet, not very far away--fortunately for my wallet, it’s NYC!).

(wearing NYC Liquid Eyeliner)

I’ve been in the market for a GOOD liquid eyeliner for a while now.  I’ve been sticking to gel pots of eyeliner (Stila was my first, which I bought for 20 dollars, until I found ELF’s version, which was the same exact thing for 3), because in the beginning of this fascination with makeup, what little research I’d done had pointed to that gel pots of eyeliner had that majestic staying power that College Lyza wanted so desperately and did not have (and gel pot eyeliners work great by the way—last ALL day, even when they get wet, and they come in intense black shades, though not as deeply pigmented as liquid liners).

Until present, I have also been using some mediocre liquid liners—and in a way they work for me, because I like to layer them over pencil eyeliner to define and intensify the color—and also to bump up the staying power.  I did that in my About Me picture on the right side of the page using a Milani pencil eyeliner and ELF liquid liner in midnight (the elf doesn’t have great staying power at all, until you enter in a good black pencil).  It works.  Cleans up the look and greatly turns up the staying power.

But, I never dreamed something so cheap would prove to work well on it’s own.

(wearing NYC Liquid Eyeliner)

First of all, let me just say this stuff is the blackest eyeliner I have ever owned, and I have always wanted a highly intensified, pigmented, black-hole black eyeliner, because the deepest shade of black intensifies every look more than any other shade could (just be careful with it!).  I just adore the intensity of this.  It’s wonderful.

It also dries extremely fast, without being so fast that there’s no room to fix errors…In less than a minute, it is completely dry.  The tip of the brush is pointed, but is thick enough to where you can line your eye without having to constantly draw back to create a thicker line (I recommend using the tip of the point to line the middle of your eye to remove some of the product, then going back over after the point is somewhat dryer to create the wing, that way there’s more room for error and you can more easily create a cleaner, pointed wing).  And the staying power is incredible.  It lasts, lasts, and lasts without fading!  I am hooked!

And some swatches on my arm actually lasted without changing or smearing all night long.  Although, I noticed that the thinner swatch of eyeliner, where I barely applied much product but still got a solid line, faded though, so use a thicker layer on your eyes (two coats is safe for me).

(NYC Liquid Eyeliner swatches)

Consensus of Pros:  I purchased this for $2.50 with a buy one get one free coupon (I also got the NYC Smooth Skin Translucent powder—I wish they’d just call it what it is—PALE!!  Someone   The eyeliner is a definite winner in terms of price, staying power (just don’t get it wet—read more below), intensity, and ease of use.  I do recommend not using a thin layer of it—use a thicker layer (two coats, or one thick coat is good) to have the all-day staying power.  You could also try layering a line of black eyeshadow or  a good black eyepencil (I like Milani’s) underneath it as well to change the look, intensity, and staying power, but be warned that experimentation does not always lead to good results : )

with darker skin couldn’t pull it off unless they were using it as a highlighter).

Consensus of Cons: Okay, there is one con that I haven’t mentioned yet, and it’s pretty important.  This eyeliner is in NO way, shape, or form waterproof.  Don’t even touch it with water!!!  This could be a great thing for someone who hates taking their makeup off at the end of the day and would like to remove it quickly.  However, for someone like me, who constantly has to put eyedrops in, this could make things a little precarious.  So I won’t be putting this on my under eyes.  Don’t wear this in the rain without an umbrella, don’t wear this if you think there’s a chance you may cry that day—DON’T.  Stick to gel pots if you have those concerns!!  I still love this eyeliner because of the amazing pigmentation and the staying power.  I can wear it from morning till night and it will not budge or fade in the slightest, and I do have combination skin with oily eyelids.

Because of the water concern, I give this a 4/5.  Still fabulous stuff though, and I haven’t been having problems with it, even with my eyedrops.  I hope it works as well for you as it does for me.

Because of gel pot eyeliners and some other eyeliners with fantastic formulas, like this one, my eyeliner woes are completely over :)  When you want something a lot, never settle for something that doesn’t work for you!!  At least give yourself a chance to look around and do some research first, no matter how silly or small you think it is!  You should be using makeup that you can rely on, otherwise you shouldn't bother using it at all.

And when in doubt, stick to gel pots!! (Some dependable, affordable, and pigmented ones are ELF Studio Cream Liner, ELF Essential Smudge Pot, Essence Gel Eyeliner, and Wet N Wild Mega Eyes Creme Eyeliner. All of the expensive ones perform exactly the same as the ones I just listed, so I am not going to bother mentioning them!!)  

Take care and have a fabulous day!