That is my face first thing in the morning, after I have intentionally mistreated my skin. I went to bed the night before without washing my face and without going through my whole evening skincare routine so that I could show you guys how I bring my skin back from the depths of grossness.
For reference, my skin is relatively sensitive, and I get some slight oiliness around the t-zone. I'm not breakout prone, other than that one week out of the month when my skin goes haywire (ladies, we've all been there). It tends to be dry if I go crazy with powder - which is why I usually use liquid foundations. I lean toward products that promote radiance and dewiness because dry brown skin is ASHY AND FLAKY AND GROSS.
In order to rescue my skin and make an immediate difference, I wash and exfoliate my face, slap on a face mask and then use the greatest moisturizer in the entire world.
Fresh, dewy skin! SCREW YOU FOUNDATION, I'M GOING BAREFACED TODAY!
By the way... I started shaving (most of) my head a year and a half ago. Not for any reason in particular, just because I'd always thought about doing it and one day I zipped it all off. Sorry the explanation is not more exciting, I just felt like doing it and that was that. I shave it about once a week now, and I cut my bangs myself, which is why they're all crazy uneven. I don't care, if you're going to shave your head, then you don't really care what your bangs look like.
This happened because I forgot my keys at work on Tuesday night.
The next day, I had to leave the house early with Stephen, because of the door being locked and all that, so I arrived at work two hours early. Two hours! What do you do with yourself for two hours? If you're me, you go get the largest coffee you can find and then wander around Sephora.
I needed a new makeup bag because while I love my Scrabble pencil case, it's too stiff (that's what she said) and it makes it difficult to find smaller items. I needed something a little more flexible. This was $9.
I got this little dude for free with my Beauty Insider points. It's pretty hard to impress me with skincare, since I already use the best skincare on the planet (shout out for LUSH love!), but I've always been curious about this one. Korres products seem to be on the less toxic side of cosmetics, and I like what I know about their ethics and their brand. Mostly, I was thinking I could use this when I travel.
YSL Vernis a Levres Glossy Lip Stain in no.20, Rouge Enamel
The applicator is one of those triangular petal-shaped deals.
without flash
with flash
This one is a Sephora exclusive, and it's a warm red with shimmer. I *think* I like this, but I find that my lips feel a bit dry after removal. I tried this with and without lip liner, and without lip liner, it wore for about 6 hours. Towards the fifth hour, it started to look less glossy, but was still pretty shiny. With lip liner, it was on for about 8 hours straight with no fading or feathering, and I had to practically scrape to get it off. It's quite comfortable to wear, I like the texture, and it doesn't give you the dry inner line that can sometimes happen with lip products when it collects there. This was $38.
Makeup For Ever Aqua Liner in No. 16 (white shimmer)
The applicator is tapered and won't splay out like crazy after you use it the first time.
with flash
Without flash. I clearly didn't know what to do with my hands.
Lately, I've been using white liquid eyeliner as my everyday look (no eyeshadow, just a thick line of white at the upper lashline with a thin line of black just where my lashes meet my eyelid. Nothing on the bottom lashes at all), which looks great and takes 5 minutes in the morning. I enjoy the contrast of my NC45 skin with the stark white, but I wanted to put something glittery on top for extra zazz. This is perfect. It wears for hours and hours without fading, smudging or flaking. It was something like $28? I don't know.
Sephora Moonshadow Baked Eyeshadow Collection in "In the Dark"
Dry, without flash. Ho-hum.
Dry, with flash. Again, is there even any product there?
Over Fyrinnae Pixi Epoxy, no flash. Eh, a little better.
Over Fyrinnae Pixi Epoxy, with flash
With a black cream base and Fyrinnae Pixi Epoxy, no flash
Over a black cream base and Fyrinnae Pixi Epoxy, with flash. That's what I'm talkin' about.
I bought this palette specifically for travel. I love, love, LOVE black-glitter eye shadows, especially when used with Fyrinnae's Pixi Epoxy (a foiling medium, necessary for any kind of shimmery or glittery colour). I love them even more over a black creamy base. The Urban Decay Black Palette used to be my go-to travel palette, but it was sort of a hassle since I always had to bring along a separate highlight colour and transition/blending shades, so I've had my eye on this one from Sephora for awhile, which comes with that top row of lighter shades. Altogether it was $36, which is a bargain for 10 eyeshadows, and the palette itself is nice and sturdy with a lovely lace print on the front.
So yeah. Not a whole lot of stuff, but what can you do when you only have two hours?
Can we just talk for a minute about how obsessed I am with those adhesive nail polish strips?
Oh, MAN. The Sally Hansen ones are my favourite. They are hella expensive, but if you use them right, you can get two manicures out of each box.
SNAKES ON MY NAILS! These are the shit. When I take them off, I'm going to be all, "I WANT THESE MOTHERFUCKING SNAKES OFF MY MOTHERFUCKING NAILS."
So anyway, these things come with a little nail file/buffer type thing in each box, along with a cuticle pusher and instructions. The actual nail strips are in two separate packets - once you open the packet, you have to use all the ones in there or else they dry out. There are 8 strips in each, which seems like a cruel joke on Sally Hansen's part.
At first, I was like, how the hell am I supposed to not open both packets at once, I have ten damn fingers, what is this bullshit? Then I watched Sokolum79's video on how to to get two manicures out of each box, and it all made sense.
Applying them took forever the first time, but once you get the hang of it, it takes maybe ten minutes from start to finish. I throw some topcoat on there to make them a little shinier and help them last. I'm still wearing the rattlesnake ones and it's been two weeks. There's some minor tipwear happening, but it's nothing you wouldn't see after say, three or four days with regular nail polish.
You know what I don't really get, though? They have normal ones. Like, you know, light pink and blue and green. Pretty colours, but... why would you not want to just use regular nail polish for that? Who the fuck is like, "I'm so ballin' that I'd rather just pay through the nose to get regular nail polish strips instead of buying a $3 bottle of nail polish. Also, my shoes are made of diamonds." All I'm saying is that for $10, I want rattlesnakes, not pink with sparkles.
Don't get me wrong, there is totally a time and place for neutral colours. But that time is not now, and that place is not my face.
I have always had the good fortune to have jobs that allow me to be as creative with makeup as I wanted to (although the look with the flower is a straight-up copy of the Hunger Games District 6 Morphling look that Leesha from XSparkage posted awhile back). I've never had to tone anything down, or make something I liked more "wearable" - because it's ALL FUCKING WEARABLE TO ME.
Back when Urban Decay's first Naked palette came out, everyone lost their minds. I almost got sucked in myself, and then I realized that I have all those colours - or reasonably close approximations - and since I never bother with the ones I had anyway, there wasn't any point. If I'm going to spend 20 minutes on my damn eyeshadow in the morning, I want searing, retina-burning vibrant colours. Also, glitter.
Where the magic happens, folks. Where the magic happens.
Me: I think I'm going to start a beauty blog.
Mr. Demon Rapunzel: Don't you already have one?
Me: I have a Youtube channel that I haven't updated in like, 2 years, and a sad LJ blog that I used to update with beauty stuff that no one cared about.
Mr. Demon Rapunzel: And what makes you think anyone will care about a new blog?
Me: Well, I can have a cooler background if I switch to Blogger.
=
So, hi.
Honestly, I am nobody. I did, however, go to beauty school and I dropped out halfway through eyebrow tinting. The only good thing to come out of that whole experience was the fact that I could legitimately say, "I had a little trouble in tinting class." and "Beauty school sure isn't what I thought it was gonna be." I tinted my eyebrows blue and my instructor hated my guts, and also? The other ladies in my class were in no mood for my hijinks.
Now I have taken my hijinks to the internet... where hijinks are welcome and encouraged. SO THERE.
So now I have this blog where I talk about makeup and the things I like and the things I purchase and the things, the things, THE THINGS! I love things.
Here are some facts about me that you may or may not care about:
* I have many cats. And by many, I mean three. They essentially run the house, and they are the reason I haven't made a new YouTube video in a couple of years (their fur is all over everything and somehow in my camera lens? I don't know).
* I say that I am married, but really we are engaged. We haven't gotten married yet because we are really bad planners. I hate the words "fiancee" and "hubby".
* I manage a LUSH Cosmetics shop, and I know a thing or two about skincare.
* I know a thing or two about haircare as well, but I shave my head bald except for a small and unruly tuft of bangs at the front, so I don't buy a whole lot of haircare products. I can talk for hours about scalp treatments, though.
* My favourite corporate cosmetic brands are MAC, Makeup for Ever, OCC and NARS. My favourite indie cosmetic brands are Fyrinnae and Sugarpill.
* The origin of The Demon Rapunzel thing is a long and not very interesting story.
