anns-blog-of-beauty

Stila Liplove

2012-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

OMG. Sephora always has awesome lip gloss sets around Christmas time, if you ever really like a brand and don't know what color to buy. Stila's sets are AWESOME...I absolutely lovvvve their lip glaze. Last year, they were sold out by the time I figured out I wanted one but this year, I snagged one. Been randomly wearing all of the colors every day since! LOVE! This is a 2011 Fave, definitely!!

I am on Sephora now buying some stuff and I noticed they STILL HAVE SOME OF THE GLAZE SETS. Yay!

Here is the link to buy for $25: Click here.

I'm trying to resist buying another set (I like to lose gloss on the regular).

Keep rockin'.

xoxo! Much love! ~ann

Bronzer on Casper

2012-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I am white as a ghost but I never gave up my quest to find the perfect bronzer. We all know my obsession with Benefit Cosmetics boxed blushes (=love). I decided to try out this honey:

Benefit always has super cute names for their products/colors but this one is apparently supposed to speak for itself. It's just called, "10." And that's what I rate it. I'm IN LOVE. I'm even considering throwing away all of my other blushes. Crazy in love, yes I am. Super cute color and a little bit of shimmer...anyone could wear it.

Buy it by clicking here.

I bought this baby on December 14, 2011 and of course it EASILY makes its way into my list of 2011 Faves. My only regret is that I didn't purchase it on December 14, 2010; I would have experienced a much cuter 2011.

[Per usual, I hate the brush so throw it in the garbage ASAP. I use the Chanel Blush Brush.]

I've been wearing it EVERY.SINGLE.DAY with my sweet Stila lipgloss set I bought on the same day. Shockingly, Sephora still has some in stock. That blog is coming out tomorrow.

Keep rockin' it.

Love y'all,
Ann

P.S. Supposedly, Benefit has discontinued "Georgia." OMG, I'm traumatized.

There is absolutely no reason...

2012-01-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

...why you shouldn't be adding this to your Sephora cart right now.

$20 bones. Click here. Go.

Not too many of you at once, though. I still need to check out! These sets sell out fast and I need one, for SURE!

Keep rockin' it.

Much love!

Ann

You Need This

2012-01-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

Who's the worst blogger EVVVVER!? I am I am. Not a fan of this being the case but 'tis the truth. So sorry!

I've got about 300 new products (OK not quite) to blog but I'm going to prioritize. Since my last blog was published January 4, 2011 (OMG!!!!!!!!!), I am going to start with my very favorite item of 2011!

For some reason, I avoided buying the highly-coveted Naked Palette by Urban Decay. WHY OH WHY OH WHY!? OH WHY!? WHY!

I love it so so so much, I would definitely MARRY IT! Every single person in the free world needs this palette, I'm so serious. LOVE all of these colors and they are awesome for any time of day or night. Plus, goes perfect with my #2 favorite of 2011 (eyeliners). See next blog for details :) As for the palette, if I have convinced you (and I don't know why you wouldn't be convinced after seeing the pic posted above), you can buy it here for $48. :)

AND as a side note, we all know how I always say to toss the included brushes and buy the real deal. This brush in the palette is actually awesome. Shocking, I know. I couldn't believe it either!

Keep rockin' it. xoxo!

Love,
Ann

Son of a B######!

2011-01-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

That's "Biscuit," people! Son of a freakin' Biscuit!

I'm allergic to my Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. Not like full-on acne or anything THANK GODDDD but the little bumpy things that you can feel when you wash your face. Ew. Ew. Ew. I stopped using it a couple of days ago and all is well again. Thank you, Sanitas!

I would be more depressed about it if I didn't love Hello Flawless so much (don't worry - I won't re-hash my love in this post).

I'll let you know when the next "I thought you were 19" comment happens (a.k.a. never!)! Waaaaah!

xo!
Ann

Yah yah yah

2011-01-02T03:25:00.001-08:00

Shopping trip was a success!! I would've spent a lot more (oops) but our husbands started standing outside of Sephora with the bambinos (we were in there almost 2 hours). LOL.

So, I got nothing I intended to get:

Benefit SugarBomb
Stila shadow in like Wheatgrass(?)
Stila Kajal eyeliner in Tiger's Eye
LipFusion in Sugar

Can't wait to try these today!

More later...I'm typing on my blackberry so it's taking forever ;)

Hope you all had a Glam (or anti-glam but fun) NYE.

Xo!
Ann :)

Hark!

2011-01-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

Did I mention we are getting an Ulta? I may have. I may have not...

We are getting an Ulta. Overjoyed really can't describe. Granted, I've never been in an Ulta but surely it's better than the makeup store we have now (i.e. we don't have one).

Rumor has it where Ulta goes, Sephora isn't far behind. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she!

xoxo!
Ann :)

Uh-oh

2010-12-31T12:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's Eve to all. Viva La Glam and party it up, etc. I'll be wearing very little makeup tonight as, yawn, we will be carting the rugrats <3 <3 BUT...

Guess where I am rigggggght now. Jordan Creek Mall. Likely at Sephora. Oh yeah, going to Des Moines for New Year's and it involves Sephora. I'm setting this up to auto-post when I know I'll be there!

Anytime anyone mentions liking a makeup product, of course I need to check it out ASAP. On the agenda, in case anyone cares (*crickets*):
Sephora brand marker-like eye liners.
Dior Show. I may give it another chance. I'm in a giving mood, after all. Falalalalalala.
Nail Polish. I need some ridiculously expensive and fabulous nail polish to get me through the winter blahs.
I am going to buy Benefit's Georgia peach blush/luminizer ($28) that I've been wanting for like a year and the new Bella Bamba ($28) (same thing different color)! We all know how much I lovvvve Dandy ($28), so surely I'll love these just as much?!?!

See you soooooooooooooonn.. ;)

xoxo!
Ann

5 MIN MAKEUP JOB #1

2010-12-30T07:36:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new category: Five Minute Makeover
You may know me personally or see me out and about. You may think, "Wow. This girl doesn't look horrible...but she doesn't look like she's rockin' a several thousand dollar makeup kit either (it adds up quick, people)." Likely, this is true...

WHILE I CAN do my own makeup in a stellar way, I rarely take the time to do it justice. I mean, I love the people at the Gap but they are not worth me doing my makeup for 75 minutes if I'm sweater shopping. I'm a mamasita of a one-year old. Enough said. I *like* to budget 10 minutes for my makeup but 3 of that is skin care. I could do most of my makeup in 5 minutes, if needed. Granted, that doesn't include finding what I need and stuffing it all back into my makeup cabinet. Back when I was working, I implemented the 5 minute makeup rule.

We all know I'm a spaz about eyes. You should be, too. Unfortunately, they are the most time-consuming by far. Here is my fave five-minute makeup job product:

Chanel Ombre D'Eau $32 in #40. The little tiny square in the drop-down box in no way represents the color it actually is - but the big photo is actually showing #40. My first bottle lasted me literally four years...and this is one thing I use ALLLL THE TIME. I just bought my second bottle recently. I couldn't even believe they still sell the stuff because I had had the same bottle THAT LONG.

Anyway...you just use this stuff in place of: eye shadow primer, eye shadow, crease shadow. Just brush it on with the little want thing. Add eye liner, mascara. Be gone with it.

Here are my steps:

1. Use Sanitas skin care line (never skip this).
2. Quickly (if you're doing the 5 minute makeup job) add tinted moisturizer or foundation or "Hello Flawless!"
3. Quickly add blush
4. Quickly add Chanel Ombre D'Eau
5. Quickly add eye liner
6. Quickly curl lashes and slather on several coats of mascara.
7. Leave house.
8. Put on lip gloss while pulling out of driveway.

Voila!!
Ann :) :)

Liner Love

2010-12-29T01:33:00.000-08:00

I boycotted liner for several years and used a wet eye liner brush dipped in shadow. I do still like this technique but we all know there's no rest for the weary. Occasionally, I try eye liners. The thing is, I HATE HATE HATE hard liner. I like a nice, smooth, fat line that I can smudge. I don't want to heat the stupid liner up with a blow dryer or run it under hot water, etc. No. It should just WORK.

Previously, I have reviewed the Stila Smudge Pots. Like them lots.

I really like Stila shadows too, so I recently tried the Stila Kajal Eye Liner ($18). LOVE LOVE LOVE. It's soooooooooooooooo soft. Perfect. Love it. Wear it every single day since I bought it. Highly doubt I'll be in the market for a new brand of eyeliner for a longggg time. I bought the Smokey Quartz (grey) but of course I WANT every. single. color.

XOXOXO!
Ann

Can't Complain

2010-12-28T00:49:00.000-08:00

K, sorry Sephora for the info below.

My mom asked me the other day about my makeup. She asked if I only used that "one brand from that one store." I'm like, "OMG, which brand. I use like 20." She's like, "you know, that one store you always talk about going to..." Unfortunately, Dede has never been to a Sephora. She hates the mall (gasp...still waiting on the maternity results...we can't be related). It's kind of sad because she is actually really good with makeup and would really like looking around. I mean, she's the one with the cosmetology degree, not me!

ANYWAY

To eliminate any confusion, while Sephora DOES have it's own brand, I don't personally use it. When I buy heels, do I go to Payless? Sorry, but no. I like the idea of having 10 pairs for the price of 1 pair at Von Maur but those shoes kill my feet, wreck my pedicures and feel like plastic.

I did, however, make a rash purchase and buy a Sephora angled blush brush $32 on my big Des Moines stranded/shop day. I dig it! Although I don't think it can compare to the Chanel brushes, I do really love it and use it every day with the NARS Super Orgasm.

XO!!
Ann :)

Do Not Buy

2010-12-27T23:55:00.000-08:00

Oh God. Why.

I already know I hate Clinique. Why do I do this to myself!?

So I did my friend's makeup for her wedding. She had this gorgous lipstick and gloss. It looked AWESOME on her.

Do I buy lipstick and gloss for the color? Sometimes. But in general, you should buy it for the FORMULA. Most brands will have a color similar to what you are looking for...I mean, there are only so many shades of pinks, reds, nudes to go around, right?

Granted, I am spoiled by my $40 glosses. I'll admit it. Moving on...

I do have very fond memories of my Clinique "Sweet Honey" lipstick $14 from my college - age 25 days and will honestly still wear it sometimes.

Apparently, this lipstick of the bride's that I "just had to have" is the #1 seller of all time.

Almost Lipstick in Black Honey $14 - click here

Long Last Glosswear in Fireberry $14 = click here

I do see they have a set for $33 but I would not buy it even though the color is stellar/gorgeous/etc. It fades unevenly which is not cute when the color is a plum and our lips are light pink. And the gloss goes on even but also doesn't last very long which leaves a weird lip-liner look around the outside. Ew.

Lesson of the day: Put on big sunglasses and a floppy hat if the Clinique girl looks your way. Go to the nearest computer, log onto Sephora and buy this instead.

XOXOXO!
Ann

Pearls = Girls Best Friend

2010-12-26T23:49:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's just me...but sometimes (back when I used to work out), I'd be at the gym weight training (no cardio for this girl). I'd look in the mirror and think, "OMG I look better than when I came in!" I can't really describe it but it's kind of a dewy, summery, it's hot outside but now sweltering look.

Benefit, one of my fave brands (we all know this) has a new highlighter product called Girl Meets Pearl ($30). You just dot a little above your cheekbones post-makeup application and voila. Gym look. Gorgeous. Buy asap.

Love love love! Hope all had a great Xmas and got lottttts of good makeup goodies for themselves!!

XO~
Ann :)

NARS

2010-12-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

I love NARS lipstick. Pair it with NARS gloss and you're livin' the dream.

During my three-hour stint at Des Moines Sephora, I discovered NARS Super Orgasm blush ($26).

I thought NARS Orgasm blush was the bee's knees until I found Super Orgasm. If I could only get one, I'd say the Super. It's more of a pink color and pops more, IMO. Of course, I've "been known to" go ridiculously heavy on the blush, so maybe don't take my advice. ;)

Back to the original point, of course I bought the NARS lipstick and gloss in Super Orgasm to complete my glorious time spent in Des Moines Sephora. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

XOXO!
Ann :)

H20 = Love

2010-12-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest. Bath & Body Works hasn't been the same since Sun-Ripened Raspberry was taken off the shelves. Big mistake. Big. Huge.

...[long pause, followed by gasp]...

Uhhhhhhh...I stand corrected. I just searched the internet for an old photo of Sun-Ripened Raspberry and THANK GOD THEY ARE FREAKING SELLING IT AGAIN. I'M BUYING SOME TOMORROW. Is this for real? Tomorrow. I'm there. Hopefully I'm not remembering it more fondly than it really is...

Don't get me wrong; I do like to mix up my general routine with a little Victoria's Secret lotion, a little Bath & Body scents, a little Bliss Blood Orange and Black Pepper, etc. For the most part, though, I use H20 products...aka "we'll make Heaven a place on Ear-rth...they say in Heaven, love comes first. We'll make Heaven a place on Earth."

My new fave is Clearwater. Yummmmmm. It totally smells light and shower-ish. Goes perfectly with my new Clean fragrance set. Also, it doesn't clash with any of my french-wh*** perfumes (e.g. Chanel *sighhhh*). It is seriously so lovely and , smells so yummy and most importantly, IS NOT STICKY. You'll GOING to hooked so make sure you're cool with spending $11.50 a bottle for lotion. Worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of their products are awesome. I hearrrrrt the body scrubs, too.

Love love love~
Ann

19 and holding

2010-12-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

You may think I'm lying in the story below. That's cool. Except that I'm not.

Some of you may know I do makeup just for fun because I have no real training. One thing I don't mess around about for brides is Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer ($42). I always send them to Von Maur for this to see my girl Angela.

I could just leave it at that but I will tell this lame story... SO, I have always lovvvvved this tinted moisturizer. In the past, though, I was always between colors (the Casper color they had was always too yellow for me but the next step up was too dark). Yahhh, I lovvvve me some "Hello, Flawless!" by Benefit. Except that during winter, my skin is slightly too dry for the powder foundations. We can't use our humidifiers this year either thanks to the one-year old makeup prodigy and his ability to pull over large items onto himself. ANYWAY, called (stalked) Angela at Von Maur and found out she was working. Went to Von Maur and told her I wanted to see if the T.M. matched me yet (it had been a few years since we tried it last). EUREKA!!!!!!! IT DOES!!! PERFECTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overjoyed with it.

Getting to the point soon...

I'm only 4'11" and used to get "OMG, how old ARE YOU?" a lot. Haven't been getting it as much lately since I have a kid that is almost as tall as me and one who is a baby. Certainly, I must not have started LOOKING MY AGE, so surely it's the kids. Anyway, today, RANDOMLY, TWOOOOO PEOPLE asked me if I were 19. :) :) :) The eye doctor and the girl at the restaurant. Today was certainly not a "cute day" for me so I give all the credit to the L.M. Tinted Moisturizer.

I love it. It goes on so nice and is so light. I get so jealous when I hang out with my friend Kate and she is always rockin' the Laura flawless natural-looking skin.

And what's my golden rule? You don't invest in a car and leave the tires at Lujack's do you? No. You buy what is recommended for application. BRUSHES ARE KEY. Not the brushes in your case (most of the time...unless you are a person who will vehemently disagree with this statement and then I agree, you most likely know what you're talking about so your brushes truly are probably fabulous - what are they?? Do tell...). Ask the chica what she thinks you should buy. This is not a rip off. In this case, Laura has awesome brushes but uses sponges for foundation work. So, I bought the pack of sponges ($15) too and they are great.

SOOOOO MUCH better than those crappy triangles from Walmart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, she does recommend the foundation primer to go with the tinted moisturizer. I have the primer so I will use and review the two together sometime soon.

Hollllllllllllllllllllllllla to you!

XOXO!
Ann :)

"O" Yah

2010-12-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

They won't all be as long and rambling as yesterday's post. Sometimes, I'll just get to the point.

Sephora also "suggests" products you might like while shopping online. Who am I to question Sephora? One suggestion I couldn't commit to (no clue why) was the Smashbox O-Gloss ($22). I thought it sounded cool and it had stellar reviews. Why this wasn't enough for me, no idea.

THEN, conveniently, I became stranded in Des Moines a couple months ago. At Sephora. For three hours. In line, I see the O Gloss in a small size for $10. I ask the girls about it. They are like, OMG, you HAVE TO GET IT.

Literally, take my (aka "their") advice. YOU HAVE TO GET IT. It's the most perfectest shade of pink. If I could marry it, I would.

Do I leave the house without this? Why no...no, I don't.

Peace, love, joy, etc~
Ann :)

Yeahhh...

2010-12-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Freakin' New Year (almost)!!!!!!

Wow. My blogs 2010 sucked. I'm just going to say it. We all know it. I mean, really...the "Big Fat Benefit Post" of February can only get a girl so far.

Anyway.

How do I know I'm going to stick with the makeup blog this time?? Well, because I have a *&^%-ton of new products to review AND I'm going to write them in advance and do the auto-posting. Another point of honesty here - it's not like I can use my "job" as an excuse now. Thank God I get to be a stay at home mamasita. AHHHHH it's soooooooooooooooooooooooo great (THANKS, HONEY!!). And I STILL get to buy makeup and sneak it in the house (THANK YOU, CLIENTS!!!). It's awesome. And, since I know my old bosses were checking my makeup blog on the sly (hahaha), maybe they are STILL reading it and can actually USE some of the advice now, LOVELIES! ;) See, it's a win/win for all involved :D

FINALLY, I had no idea so many people were actually reading and using my blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNTIL I stopped blogging and friends would comment about being sad I wasn't blogging anymore and how much they loved the blogs. That was AWESOME - thank you thank you thank you! And if I have some haters, that is cool, too because every blog needs haters. XOXO!

Back to biznazz. So, yah, I'm a Sephora V.I.B. If you aren't one, I highly suggest you take this piece of advice: spend however much money is required to be a V.I.B. (I don't even want to know) and become one. It's buennnnno. Randomly, Sephora sends V.I.B.'s gift cards, also always around Xmas. Mine this year was $20.

So....CHRISTMAS IS A GREAT TIME TO SHOP AT SEPHORA. Did I say, "great?" I meant "effing great." I don't even want to count how many lip glosses I own. I guarantee it's like 150. For real. How many have I finished? ZERO. You can buy the awesomest, wonderfulest lip gloss sets at Sephora around Christmas. I was going to buy one this year but couldn't commit. THEN, when I returned for the Lip Fusion set, the one I wanted was GONE!!! GONE!!!! OMG!!! Saddness. Learn from my mistakes, people.

THANK GOD the gem I found in a Christmas gift set was actually still in stock @ Sephora. OMG... Previously, I've mentioned the high IQ of those marketing people that figure out what samples to send with orders. I can't even tell you HOW MANY things I've found via the random Sephora samples that arrive in the black&white bag. Last time I ordered, I received a deluxe size rollerball of CLEAN perfume. So, so so yummmm. I wanted to order a full-size but couldn't decide, based on the reviews, which ONE of the four CLEAN scents I wanted (it's like $40 for small bottle, $70 for the big bottle). They all sounded delish.

Hallelujah. Xmas at Sephora = CLEAN PERFUME IN A SET ($65). The bottles in the set are bigger than I would *likely* ever finish (1 oz) since I have a bunch o' perfume. I am so glad I have all of the four because you can (and should) use the CLEAN scents layered together. So I just spray two randoms on together every day. Ahhhhhh, please buy this for yourself. Right now:

OMG, I'm dying. When I pulled the photo above just now, I noticed THE LIP FUSION SET IS BACK IN STOCK. HELLLLLP.

Off to shop for gloss (again).

Keep rockin' it. Holla.

Lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve~
Ann

Ommmm...

2010-07-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

Why yes, yes this is me. My spiritual pilgrammage (sp?) to THE MECCA. Las Vegas big, huge, humongous SEPHORA. This could be a lie, but I'm pretty sure LV Sephoras are open 24/7. I DEFINITELY bought a rockin' lip gloss at the Sephora on The Strip after midnight. IN LOVE!!

Many of you know I'm now doing photography. Lovin' it, lovin' it, lovin' IT. Therefore, I need more lip gloss. I told you before that I'm a gloss hound...I pretty much think of any reason under the sun to buy gloss, so there...NOW you have my latest reason.

Previously, I had raved about Lip Fusion! I got "Sexy" this time! Yah, I know it's 38 bucks...for lip gloss. It's worth every dime. I got sucker-punched into being hooked on this gloss when Sephora did a "cute" little intro special on the "Sun" color of Lip Fusion for $10. I had been wanting to get another color for a long time but couldn't decide since hello, I wanted ALL.

Since Sephora and I have a mutual love for eachother, I had a bunch of VIP points racked up and I got to redeem some for the deluxe sample of Lancome Hypnose Drama!!!!!!!!! $24.50. I shall not rehash my undying love for regular Hypnose also $24.50. I aspire to leave it behind (no one knows why), then I go back to it always. It's a similar thing as Charlie Sheen and the hooker situation. I mean, why doesn't he just admit he likes hookers and just go with it?

However, now I shall officially RISE ABOVE and commit myself to Hypnose Drama. The end. Really, this time. I'm now married to Hypnose Drama. I do.

Okay, so really, now that I'm a stay at home mom (Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and photographer (Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!), hoping to have a lot more scoop to post. Again, for real this time.

LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU ALL!

peace & love/love & peace
~ann :)

Yah!

2010-02-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

So last night, I had the E! channel on from 2am - 5:15am, thanks to Baby Will who thought it would be fun to stay up and party during this time. :)

E! somehow caught up with Kim Kardashian promoting her new scent at Sephora! Kim randomly took the E! person around the store to show off her favorite products! Her favorite blush is NARS ORGASM. OMG!!! I thought that was pretty rockin' since hello, Kim a) is beautiful and always fabulously made-up and b) could have literally any and all makeup in the entire world.

And how hilarious is it that the color looks perfect on Kim K. and also on me. We couldn't be more opposite in coloring!

Once again, if you don't have, please buy.

She also mentioned her fave lipstick is NARS Belle du Jour so I'm going to check that out now. :D

Little Much? Little Much, NARS. Ew.

2010-02-18T19:07:00.000-08:00

I've blogged about a Best of Sephora and cult favorite, NARS Orgasm $26. And don't get me wrong, I'm down with s-ually suggestive names and all...I mean, whatever. Affair in Red Square, I'm Not Really a Waitress, etc...(Those were OPI colors, as most know). But seriously, this same NARS product has other colors such as Sin, Torrid, Desire. Fine, whatever. It also has "Deep Throat!!" I mean, COME ON NOW. How are you gonna go from Sin to Deep Throat. Even Orgasm isn't as bad as Deep Throat. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!! I do think the color is pretty rockin', however. But no, I don't have it (yet. lol). And, for the record, I know I've said it before but Orgasm is a freakin' GREAT color!

I read on another beauty blog about a blush/luminizer from Benefit called Dandelion $28. It is apparently a cult-fave and was sold out for a long time. Sephora emailed me when it came in, so I immediately threw it into the shopping cart (online, of course) and hit "Check Out!" It really is a perfect color, especially if you have fair skin. It definitely helps you look awake and non-dead. All good things. The brush is horrid-looking. I didn't even waste my time with it. I use the Laura Mercier blush brush most of the time so I went straight to that one. I'm also a big fan of my Chanel blush brush.

Remember my whole "know your assets and liabilities" schpiel? Well, one of my major liabilities is lack of cheekbones. To compensate, I usually get too heavy-handed with the ol' "rouge" as my beloved Grandma would call it (RIP). The Benefit Dandelion is GREAT because it's not heavy like a true blush so it's realllllly hard to over-apply. I think I could definitely benefit from having this around (no pun intended. har har). No, seriously, I could use some toning down with the blush every once in awhile (I only have this over-blushing problem when I do makeup on myself). I think it will be perfect for Spring and Summer when I'm trying to rock the more "au naturale" look (in which I use almost as much makeup just lighter colors - lol) OR when I'm trying to roll some HOT PINK lipstick!! Supposedly, HOT PINK lipstick is in. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. I'm so excited about this! Yay!

Love,
Ann

BIG FAT BENEFIT POST #1 (Eyes)

2010-02-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

As promised, my big fat Benefit post!!! *Party favors, kazoos, etc* ...*crickets*

Yes, MY BIG FAT BENEFIT POST! HURRAY! I am sooo excited that my friend Kate K. read the blog and bought some Benefit Hello Flawless! and loves it! Yay!

K, again, I can't take credit for discovering this brand. In general, if someone tells you THEY LOVE A MAKEUP BRAND, seriously try it. Chances are it doesn't suck at minimum. Furthermore, if they love makeup in general or seem to be huge product wh*res such as myself, chances are it's awesome. Such is the case with Benefit!

We don't have my personal holy land, Sephora, in this crappy town but we do have internet thank God. I guess it's good-ish we don't have a Sephora store here. I'd have to ban myself like people ban themselves from the casino boats. Sign a waiver to charge me with trespass when I enter and whatnot.

Alright, down to biznazz. I've blogged about Benefit before, including the Hello Flawless! post (a.k.a. OMFG BUY THIS). No, seriously, buy it. I decided to scope out some more Benefit stuff for my pre-baby mass Sephora order. As a side note, something SUPER HELPFUL is to READ THE REVIEWS on Sephora when you're thinking of ordering stuff. I do this all the time. My take is 90% of the reviewers are die-hard makeup people, so I like to read their opinions on stuff.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: I HATE MINERAL MAKEUP. Specifically, eye shadow. I've blogged before about my wedding day trauma. Ugh. Why did I not just do my own makeup for that? Anyway! I like to stick to what I know when it comes to eye shadow formulas...a.k.a. I like the dry, non-powdery stuff. I have no clue what possessed me to look into ordering the cream shadow line from Benefit ($19 each):

Basically, on Sephora, I went to the Benefit page and saw it under Best Sellers and read the awesome comments. I loved the colors and thought I'd give them a whirl. After much deliberation, I'll admit to ordering ALL OF THE COLORS but one (which I've subsequently ordered, received and loved).

They rock it hardcore. Since I have all of them, I work with different color combinations every day. It's crazy that just as the reviews say, you can make all of the colors lighter and darker by applying more or less or smoothing them out more or less, etc. They blend really well together and I'm LOVIN' 'EM INSANE AMOUNTS! I can't wait to use them on my future sister-in-law Andrea, my friend Joy and my friend Monica for their weddings. :)

Disclaimer: you absolutely cannot use these shadows without The Benefit Talent Brush $18. Not a bad price for a brush and if you invest in some cream shadows, by all means buy the brush to use the stuff! :)

As with regular shadows, you gotta use an eyeshadow base. If you don't use a base with ANY eyeshadows, even Chanel, they don't last, don't blend right and the color isn't true (i.e. it won't work or look like it's supposed to). I wish I had known this earlier in my life! Anyhow,when I first got the Benefit shadows, I tried my favorite eye shadow bases with them including Two Faced Shadow Insurance and Laura Mercier shadow primer. None were working. Too thickish for cream shadow (made the shadow look scaly-ew) although I love both for regular shadow. Anyway, so with Sephora order #2, I ordered the Benefit Lemon Aid Concealer/Shadow Primer ($20). It works fabulous with the cream shadows. Do read about it and check out the reviews. People use it for all different things. Other than primer, chicas use it as under eye concealer, use it alone as a shadow for a fresh natural look, use it in the inner and outer eye corners as a brightener, etc. I can attest to it being good to use as a quick shadow for a natural look if you didn't feel like putting on makeup. I haven't specifically used it for this but I'm considering it :) It's really thin and has a great light color to it. It works perfect with the cream shadows! I use the Benefit Concealer Brush ($20) to put on the Lemon Aid but the Talent Brush would work fine as well.

OK, back to the shadows. Click on THIS LINK! Scroll down the colors. Notice the top three have a picture of one girl, the middle three a different girl, and the last three a different girl. This makes it confusing to know what to order (assuming you aren't insane and going to order all of them). The top three are light colors, the middle three are medium colors and the bottom three are dark colors.

Tattle Tale is my least favorite color. I think anyone can live without this unless you are a die hard like myself. Both RSVP and Birthday Suit go with almost all the other colors and would look great on anyone! If I could only have three, it would be Birthday Suit, Skinny Jeans and Strut. Otherwise, it would be RSVP, Get Figgy and Stiletto.

Here's an example of what I've been doing using Birthday Suit and Skinny Jeans:

Use the Birthday Suit on your entire lid. Then put a layer of Skinny Jeans on the lower lid up into the crease and a little above the crease. Lightly blend the colors together with the talent brush. You may want to stop there and go on to the liner. This is a great look for every day. For a smokier or going out look, add Strut to the crease and blend with the talent brush. Then use thick gray liner. =Love!

RSVP, Get Figgy and Stiletto also look great together using the same process as above. Use either brown or gray liner. =Love!

If you have all six colors, the options are endless. RSVP and Birthday Suit look great with all of the medium colors. You can even use RSVP and Birthday Suit with just the darker colors in the crease.

Moving on to liner...with the Benefit shadows, I've been using another new purchase. I have no clue why I procrastinated buying the Stila Smudge Pots ($20) for so long. I knew I'd love them and I so do. How did I live without them? Previously, I've also used some type of liquid eyeliner and then smudged over it with a wet liner brush dipped in eyeshadow to get the smokey look. Smudge Pots work so much better! I have the Brown and Gray and love both. They work awesome with these cream shadows so I highly recommend. And by all means, please buy the Stila Smudge Pot Brush ($32)! I can't imagine any brush I have doing as good of a job as the smudge brush. It's short-bristled but really stiff, unlike my other short-bristled liner brushes. Just dip the brush in the pot, make a pretty thick line above your upper lashes and use what's leftover on the brush to make a lighter and thinner line below your lower lashes. On the bottom, ideally you want the shadow to get thinner as it goes in toward your nose. I usually put it about 3/4 of the way in. A lot of times I use a q-tip to make my liner more smokey looking and not so harsh.

I also love Chanel eye liner and use a q-tip to blend it. The only liner I haven't tried but really want to is Bobbi Brown Gel Liner. However, Sephora doesn't sell it so I haven't ordered it yet. :) Maybe it will be a birthday present to myself. :)

Okay, fine, I'll admit I also ordered the Stila Smudge Pot gift set ($32) that includes black, blue, purple and Kitten. I like all of these colors but have rarely used them since I always use the gray or brown. I think the blue and purple will be fun for summer, the black great for going out and the Kitten is a really good color for eyeshadow but not sure about it as liner.

OMG, this post is HUGE! I'm going to post it now! :) And I'll post about my other Benefit purchases and a few others soon! Promise!

Mucho love!

Ann

New Stash

2010-02-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

Yah, I admit Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes looks scary to use. I also admit to giving props to tons of mascaras on this blog and later hating on them. I'm always looking for the bigger, better mascara (a.k.a. Crazy Mascara Lady). This one rocks it HARDCORE but it should for $28.00, don't ya think?? Think again - good mascara don't come cheap, ppl. I think Chanel mascara is even more expensive. I love Chanel but I swear it doesn't look as good after the first week of using it so I am over it. ANYWAY! So I finally overcame my fears of using a spikey ball thing so close to my eye and ordered the Phenomen'Eyes. It arrived today! IT IS SOOO BUENO. I looooooovvvvvvvvve the ball. It lets you get all the side lashes and coat all your lashes individually as opposed to using the normal big wand. It's AWESOMELY AWESOME. And actually very easy to use.

So, you may know I'm on maternity leave. I still do my makeup every day. Why? A) So I don't feel so ew and B) because I have all of my new Sephora lootage!!!! The baby is a month old and today my husband came home and asked why I'm wearing makeup. *raised eyebrow* Hello, I wear it every day. The fact he just noticed today leads me to believe it's because today is the first day I wore my Phenomen'Eyes. Holla!

I also take back what I said before about Buxom Lash ruling the universe. Sephora had sent me a sample of it and I wanted to MARRY IT. I used it forever. Then I ordered the full-size and have since decided it is "okay." It's my second favorite mascara, second only to Lancome Hypnose. I keep going back to Hypnose. This has been going on for years. I have taken a vow to quit screwing Hypnose over and just use it exclusively from now on, IF my relationship with Phenomen'Eyes doesn't work out.

I told you I take this sh!t seriously. Here is why: I truly believe you need to evaluate your face and figure out your assets and liabilities (I'm an accountant). For you non-accountants, assets = GOOD. Liabilities = BAD. Play up your assets (regardless of time, effort or cost lol) and EITHER down play the bad or purchase product to make them more asset-ish. My assets are my eyes, eyelashes, lips and teeth. My liabilities are my cheekbones (or lack thereof), chin (don't love it but not a big deal) and my eyebrows (just plain BAD). That being said, I can't live without mascara and lip gloss. It's soooooo easy to take your goods and make them greats by using awesome products. Like Phenomen'Eyes.

Moving on!

Right after Xmas, I randomly ordered a Sephora suggestion of a plumping lip gloss. Lip Fusion, baby!!! It was an introductory limited edition color called Sun. It's similar to Bare in the current collection, fyi. Like a peachy nude color. GOES AWESOME WITH NARS ORGASM BLUSH. Anyway, it came up as a suggestion for the $10.00 limited edition price. I clicked "Add to Basket" without knowing (or caring) the normal price, assuming I would maybe kind of like this gloss and probably not order again. OMG, it's UNBELIEVABLE. It seriously works, people. However, it's $38.00 so I'll just stop talking about it now because I'm guessing there are few people who would pay $38.00 for one gloss. Hell, I won't (normally) pay this much for a gloss and I'm obsessed (Chanel excluded from conversation). This totally gives you a poutified pout and isn't sticky, icky or gooey. *Swoon* I'll once again mention Sephora is run by a boatload of geniuses. They offer a lip gloss for $10.00, everyone orders it and is subsequently hooked on $38.00 lip glosses. lol. Genius, I tell you, genius. I'll be ordering another color SOON, I am just not sure which color yet. I'm thinking maybe Blush or Flirt??

Coming soon is what I call THE BIG FAT BENEFIT post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to the fab CeeCee (see her blog here - MUCH funnier/more interesting than my blogs), I have become a Benefit Cosmetics addict. It's an illness, yes, but I am feeling mucho cuter because of this addiction. I ordered a bunch o' Benefit right before I had the little bambino and some more just arrived today. I need to post on this. Pronto.

Until next time, "Well, I've never been to England but I kinda like the Beatles..."

Mucho love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ann

Oops :)

2010-01-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

Anyone reading this may know I'm having a baby tomorrow. OMG, yes for real. Of course, I need to buy myself a gift for this endeavor. It was an awesomely awesome purchase from Sephora. Obviously.

Can't wait to get my box of new products and try them out. Not sure when I'll have time with the new love of my life needing my attention 24/7 but even mamasitas need to look and feel cute :)

I have been inspired by my Hello Flawless of the last post so I ordered a bunch of additional Benefit products and finally some Stila smudge pots.

Super excited!

Also, wish me luck tomorrow!!!!!!

Love,
Moi :)

BUY THIS

2009-12-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

O.M.F.G. BUY THIS!!!!!!!OMG, so I'll admit to never make-up blogging anymore. I am sad!! I have lots of product to blog about and will attempt to catch up! I do have a somewhat decent excuse (preggoness = tired and not feeling cute). However, this product was enough to make me come out of the blog abyss and actually start wearing makeup every day!

I was snooping around on Sephora.com at the beginning of the makeup addict's favorite time of the year (Christmas!!) when I randomly came across Benefit's Hello Flawless! powder foundation ($34.00). I think it popped up on the right side of my screen under the "You Might Like" suggestion list. Who am I to question Sephora?? I have and love some other Benefit products and this had awesome reviews so I threw it in the cart. I had kind of been in the market for a new powderish foundationy thing to wear as "every day." I own both the Chanel powder foundation and NARS powder foundation. While I like both products a lot, I'm sort of in between colors on both. Chanel's is a little too light but the next darkest is too yellow for me. I love the Chanel formula so I usually wear it over the NARS. NARS is pretty cool but doesn't go on quite as good as Chanel's IMO, and it's *slightly* too dark for me! Ay! The toils of being Casper-esque!

Anyway, so I swooped Hello Flawless! in the color "Me Vain?" Champagne. Freaking LOVE IT SO MUCH. I have been putting it on with my Lancome foundation brush ($33) and it works awesome. I am sure any GOOD foundation brush would work well. By good, I don't mean Target. If you're going to spend the money on expensive product, please please PLEASE buy expensive brushes to use with your product. Inexpensive brushes are sh!t and work like sh!t. Besides, once you buy the brush, you have it forever. My brush brand favorites are Lancome, Chanel and Laura Mercier. I'm sure there are others that work well as long as it's a higher line brand.

Now, I do like regular foundation (I currently wear a Chanel). Personally, I only wear it when I go out. For me, it's too heavy and takes too much time to put on in the a.m.'s just for work. Hence, powder foundation works awesome for every day!

Hello Flawless goes on super, super bueno and allows for good blush blending (VERY important!). It feels really light but has such good coverage and leaves such an even look!!!!!! It covers up all redness, too. Lovin' it! It has a better formula than both Chanel and NARS, according to moi. I have been using it with NARS Orgasm blush ($25) (raved about in previous posts) and the Laura Mercier Cheek Colour Brush ($45).

Finally, I've been using my very fave mascara to date, Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash ($18) and a random pairing (different every day) of another AWESOME thing that I bought when I bought Hello Flawless!:

The Bare Escentuals Buxom Babes Around Town Collection ($39.00). LOVVVVVE THEM! Basically you use a lipstick with some Buxom lips lip gloss on top and oooo lala. Love this stuff!! These sizes are awesome too. I never go through entire lipsticks or glosses so I really don't need full sized anything of lipstick or gloss. These are good size and would last a long time. Highly, highly recommend :)

Xmas is a great time to buy these gift sets from Sephora and try out a bunch of different colors in their popular product lines. Hence the reason I said it's a makeup addict's favorite time of the year!! :)

Okay, back to Sephora!

Mucho love~

Ann

Back with a Vengence!

2009-06-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not even sure what that means but hello, wtf, I am back to my makeup blog! Yay! I've been wanting to post for awhile but KNEW I need something good to "make up" (no pun intended) for this ridiculously long hiatus.

I had an unplanned but much needed splurge this afternoon. You see, accountants are all about these silly measurements such as "Return on Investment," "Hurdle Rates," and whatnot. It basically means do you get back more than you put in, financially? How lame. You're reading a makeup blog, so I think that tells you I'm not your typical accountant that is "good with money" and abides by the "a penny saved is a penny earned" rubbish! I say, "Spend on, sista girl!!" ROI is for corporations only not makeup hounds like myself. :) HOWEVER, in this case, my accounting scenerios FIT THE SITUATION! WOOT!

If you want to throw down a couple hundy but feel like a million bucks, seriously, hit the Chanel counter!! For example, I spent $224.00 today and felt like $1,000,000 so that is a 4,464.2% Return on Investment! I've eluded to this in the past and while I do feel like Chanel is crazy expensive and other lines can be substitued for fun, Chanel is by far my stand-by and go-to line when I have that overwhelming feeling of un-cuteness. I was feeling the serious need for a new look for summer and my eyes fell upon the apricot-colored eye shadow called "Abricot." Then, I built the rest of the look around it with the help of Sara, the fabulouso Chanel counter girl at Von Maur.

Now, I will throw a "return on investment" disclaimer out there: I got a sample of the foundation (new formula, have to make sure I'm not allergic) so had I bought it, tack on another $47.00. I also own all the Chanel makeup brushes (except the two that I still want, which will soon be mine). The point is that I didn't get the COMPLETE look for $224 but I did get a lot of HOT stuff:

Three shadows at $28.50 each: Abricot, Island and Cinnamon.

GORGEOUS Blush at $42.00: Joues Contrast Powder Blush in In Love. I am def head over heels in love with this color!! It's a peachy/pink! *Swoon*

HOT HOT HOT lipstick. lip gloss and lipliner. They are all a bright effing awesome corally color!!! Lipstick is part of the Rouge Allure collection in shade Exotic for $30. Gloss is Aqualumiere Gloss in Neully for $27.00. Awesome glossy lipliner (goes on so smooth) is Le Crayon Gloss in Rose Honey for $30.00.

While I do admit, Chanel makeup has to be seen in person...the site is good to read about the formulas. I think Chanel's site sucks as far as accurately showing the colors that people could actually pick out ONLINE!

So I run home with my bag of tricks, use the Chanel foundation brush with the foundation sample, my Laura M. eye shadow base, and some Lancome liquid liner covered with the Cinnamon eyeshadow, and finally my Bad Gal Lash mascara. Voila! Million bucks!!! What a great R.O.I.!! :)

Until next time, "If I had a million dollars...(if I had a million dollars)..."

Love,
Moi!!!!!!

Double Damn

2009-05-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I want to know the marketing genius who invented Sephora's "Send 3 Samples With Every Order!" Sephora better have paid them a fat freakin' bonus (i.e. not the Jelly of the Month club OR Von Maur goose plate). The accountant/MBA dork in me REALLY wants to know if they track, by customer, the samples the customer selected and if the customer ended up ordering the full-size product after testing the samples.

OK, I know I just got the YSL. Seriously, I know this. But I cannot LIVE without Stella McCartney's Stella perfume that was shipped to me in sample size with Benefit's Bad, Bad Gal-friend mascara from yesterday's blog.

Sigh.... I'm going to think about it for a couple of days (against my will) because it does totally reminds me of Beautiful Sheer but still different because it doesn't time-warp me back to Paris 2004. Yum! Pretty sure this is a MUST HAVE.

Much love!
Ann

P.S. I blame Emilene for turning me to the darkside of fragrance whoreing. I was only mildy fragrance whoreish before that!

Bad, Bad Gal-friend

2009-05-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the hiatus. My friends and I suffered a major loss last week that made makeup blogging seem insanely ridiculous so I just couldn't do it. We'll forever be changed and there is really no way to go on livin' life except to just slowwwwly go back to normal.

Back at it...

The lovely blog title is in reference to my friend Molly's favorite song "Bad Girlfriend," by Theory of a Deadman. It's for sure a pretty kick-ass song and I hate all rock except Classic Rock. Oh... and Marilyn Manson. And Poison. ~ANYWAY~

Upon C.'s recommendation, I ordered the Benefit Cosmetics Bad Gal Lash ($19). We all know my severely unhealthy mascara obsession. This a.m., after using the Bad Gal, my eyes went from being all sunken-in, squinty, tequila-sunrise to hello, Oceans 11. It is awwwwwwwwesome with a big fat brush!!!! After you put on tons of coats, you can run up the tip of each lash with the tip of the brush. Hellllllo, FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!! This is a must have. It's everything DiorShow wishes it was plus more :)

Much love!
Ann

Low Maint Luciousness

2009-04-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

For me, there is work cute...and there is weekend cute. Two tooooootally different things.

I am soooo NOTTTTT a morning person. I really think I could be one...IF I didn't have what's known to most people as a JOB. Therefore, my "morning" would start around 7 and I'd have nowhere to be until the mall opened at 10:00 or yoga started at 4:30. HOWEVER, my life revolves around hitting snooze a bunch of times, showering, sugar scrubbing, shaving, drying, off, lotioning, MINIMAL makeup application, throwing on some random outfit and leaving...all within about 30 minutes. I am an accountant and sorry, my laptop screen is not worthy of a one-hour makeup application. I've gotten my workday regime down to 5 minutes. Not saying I look near as cute as I could if I spent the hour, but I feel pretty good considering it only took me five mins! IF you are looking for a 5 minute work makeup regime, meet my army:

#1) Foundation or Pressed Powder. Fine one that works for you and rock it. Buy whatever tool it takes to make it look awesome. It will save you time and you'll be getting full use out of the product.

#2) SPARKLY EYE SHADOW PRIMER. If you are going all out and wearing eyeshadow to work (go girl!), pick a primer that is matte (e.g. Too Faced). If you're rollin' all casual/workish, wear an awesome sparklyish primer as your eyeshadow. This is what I do every day. It brightens your eyes and makes you look more alive! :) All good things! Plus it only takes like 15 seconds. Yay! I had two favorites until today when they became KICKED TO THE CURB: remember I told you about the Sephora samples??? My deluxe sample this time was Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin ($17). = TRUE LOVE!

It's like a really thin champagne color with a little bit of sparkle. I love the wand; it's almost like a lip gloss wand! I use the wand to put it all over the lid, then blend it (delicately) with my ring finger. Taaaa-daaa! I also do a thin line under my lower lashes and blend out a little bit with my ring finger (barely touching it). This second step is optional :) Another sparkly primer I dig is Chanel Ombre D'Eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow in Delta ($32). Pretty much the same thing but not as quite easy to use as the Urban Decay and I like the Urban Decay formula mucho better. This is a PERFECT summer look when you don't feel like dragging out the shadows. During Iowa summers, we need to waste NOT our precious outside time primpin' in the bathroom. Before we know it, we'll be scrapin' ice off our windshields again. Ugh!

#3) Mascara!!!!!!!! Get comfy with thick mascara and use LOTS OF IT. :) Big mascara = big eyes. I've discussed on the blog before but my current faves are MAC Plush Lash and Lancome Hypnose. :) I counted today and I do at least 30 strokes on each eye's top lashes and at least 15 on the bottom. My mascara takes me way longer than everything else combined.

#4) Blush! Find an awesome blush you can't live without and an awesome blush brush to be your new blush's BFF. See Thursday's blog for an orgasmic blush recommendation :) :) My fave blush brush is still Chanel's #7.

#5) Some type of fabulous lipstick or gloss (I do this in the car)! I had a "must-have" neutral recommendation in Thursdays's blog. BUT if you are wearing more of a pink blush, like my other favorite blush, NARS Mata Hari ($25), by all means please wear this awesomely awesome Lancome's Color Fever Gloss in Volcanic Pink ($25).

Agreed. It does look semi-hideous. But you will LOVE IT!!!! Let it be known this is the VERY FIRST makeup item my husband has every complimented me on. He's a typical guy so he just doesn't care/notice makeup (unless it involves disorganization in my makeup cabinet - then his OCD kicks in). He goes, "I really like that lipstick on you." Ha! I about DIED. So now I try to wear it as often as possible when we go out to see if he'll say it again. :) He never does :( Oh well! ha.

So, that's it! :) It took me much longer to write this blog post than to use my regime.

Is this helpful whatsoever? Ridiculously boring? Mega-lame? I hope not!

Until next time, "Just Hold On Loosely, but don't let go... If you cling too tight babe, you're gonna loose control. Your baby needs someone to believe in...And a whole lot of SPACE to breathe in..." (As performed by 38 Special)

MUCHO AMOUNTS OF LOVE! :)

xoxo,

~ann~

The Big O

2009-04-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Yah, the big O...I said it. This is a grown up blog. :)

I mentioned in a prior post that I'll forever mourn the discontinuance (waaaaahhh!) of my beloved Chanel Fantasia blush. R.I.P.!! In this pic, it's the pinkish peachish gorgeousness on the left...

But, alas...another day, another dollar, and seriously it's time to move on. I mean they discontinued it like three years ago. Eventually my stockpile from Ebay will run out. And I really need to save one just for brides b/c it's a great bride color. I've been crawling through the trenches (i.e. at makeup counters and online), desparately searching for something similar but a maybe little more pink, little less peach...or maybe the other way around...I don't know...

Anyway, I've mentioned being a big fan of Sephora's lists Best of Sephora 2008, Best of Sephora 2007, whatever year you wish. Just type in Best of Sephora 2008 (or whatever year you want) in the search box of Sephora.com and you'll find the lists! It's so interesting to click around, see their picks (obviously they know what they're talking about) and read the reviews.

Yahhh, sooooo...I was about to search Ebay (again) for more Fantasia when...

"That's when I saw her, ooo I saw her, she walked in through the out door out door..." (Prince)

Best of Sephora 2008 Winner for Cheeks:

Behold NARS Blush in Orgasm *<--click that link!* ($25). OMG!!!! Apparently, this blush has been the "cheeks winner" for FIVE straight years!!!! Who am I to say Sephora doesn't know their stuff? Of course they were RIGHT, of course I LOVE IT! Here's what the Sephora description says (other than "BUY ME!! BUY ME!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!"):

What else you need to know:
Designed to be worn alone or layered together for more depth, NARS Blush provides a healthy glow to flatter any skintone.
.
-Orgasm Blush:Winner of best of Sephora for the past 5 years! NARS Orgasm makes cheeks blush a perfect pinky-peach flush and subtly highlights with accents of golden shimmer. The perennially pleasing, universally flattering shade is again and again a makeup artist and beauty editor favorite.
.
It's awesome, I agree! I can't imagine who this blush wouldn't look great on...similar to my beloved Fantasia! I love you NARS! I have another blush of theirs that I adore, too.
.
Until next time, "She wore a RAAASSSSPBERRY BERET. The kind you find in a second hand store..." (Prince, obviously, again). :)
.
Much love,
~ann~
P.S. This blush goes awesomely with a couple products I mentioned in my first blog: Make Up For Ever Aqua Lip lip pencil in Rosewood 2C $17. Lightly line your lips then color them in with the pencil, too. You may not think you're a "lip liner type of gal", but trust me on this: you are! It just takes a little practice. Just start by lining lightly, then make it darker as you improve. Anyway, so after you color it in, cover it with Stila Plumping Lip Glaze in Melon Mint $24. Voila! God, I love these two products together! If you want to know what they look like, see pic in my first blog.

P.P.S. All of the above suggestions will work on EVERYONE. These are all gorgeous neutral colors that are great for summer or any season. :) Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! For a quick summer look, use the blush, pencil and glaze with a bunch of mascara and HELLO, BEAUTY QUEEN!!!

Yo, Yves!

2009-04-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Warning: Emilene, do not read! :)

So here's the deal: Sephora doesn't know me. But I tell everyone how wonderful Sephora is ALL THE TIME. Why? Because they are. Freakin' geniuses.

When you buy stuff from Sephora, for some reason you get to pick 3 free samples of whatever. They have tons of options. Also, if you're a "member" you get to pick a "deluxe sample," which I think means a bigger version than a normal sample. Does this make sense? I usually just click whatever but this time I really thought about it, realizing the blog/helpful potential!

Alright. So one thing I must have selected for a sample was Yves Saint Laurent's "elle" fragrance. I put this baby on at 7:00 this a.m. and it's 10:53 p.m. and it's in my shopping cart and I'm ordering it as soon as I hit "Publish Post" on this blog. I HAD TO HAVE IT. I've been trying to be in a bad mood all day (bc of school) but I can't because I keep smelling this perfume and it makes me happier! :) Also, it has woodsy undertones which I didn't think was my gig UNTIL NOW. I want to marry this perfume.

Here is what the description says:

elle Yves Saint Laurent Yves Saint Laurent presents a new fragrance for women. Unpredictable and unique, Elle is the essence of femininity which embodies Yves Saint Laurent. It's a vibrantly feminine, audacious fragrance that blends dazzling floral and woody
notes, including peony, pink berries, and patchouli.

Notes:Cedrat, Peony, Lychee, Pink Berries, Freesia, Jasmine, Patchouli, Vetiver, Ambrette.

Style:Adventurous. Modern. Feminine.

***Sigh*** What is NOT TO LOVE, seriously!?!? OMG I cannot wait to get this awesome, awesome, awesome bottle of awesomeness. Yay! This is a fragrance that everyone would love, for sure :) so definitely order if your fragrance cabinet needs spruced :)

I also must have selected the fragrance sample for Versace. It is "okay" but I'm definitely not ordering it.

Until next time, "I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it like it yes I do..." (The Stones)

Mucho love and xoxo,
~ann~

It's Arrived! It's Arrived!!

2009-04-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hark! My box o' Sephora arrived today!

Unfortunately, I have to finish my two projects for my master's classes and can't scope the goods. ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, will post reviews SOON!

xoxo,
~ann~

Sunday Funday Shower Scoop

2009-04-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

My poor husband. He's LITERALLY the greatest guy in the world but he's also counting down the days 'til we no longer share a shower (we're moving in September). :) His neat-freakness doesn't really go 'hand-in-hand' with the shower and bathtub walls being lined with random product. He tries to neatly stack them up, card-house style, labels forward! But of course I go all anti-establishment on him and grab the bottom body scrub and knock it all over again, then randomly line everything up again ...like as in, this happens every single day. If you've seen Sleeping with the Enemy, you know how we live: cans perfectly aligned, labels facing forward, etc. I just throw the shiz in the cabinet, shut the door and call it good. Oddly enough, next time I look in the cabinet, it's labels forward, organized by size, pure perfectness. *rolls eyes* :) This used to really make me mad until I realized that I'm pretty lucky to have a guy who actually likes to clean.

Anyway, I actually take two showers per day, every day (unless I have the flu/think I'm dying). So you can imagine I take it pretty seriously. I also take post-shower lotioning up even more seriously.

THEREFORE, I will share some of my body faves. Comments section is obviously open to suggestion.

I have been a Victoria's Secret lotion fan (the crazy, obsessive kind) for YEARS. Since junior high or high school, seriously. I still love the VS scents but I discovered the H20+ line at Von Maur a couple years ago. Yummo. There's not as big of a selection (especially at Von Maur) and there are no 7/$35 deals. Hah! But these are for sure the best lotions and body scrubs I've ever used. The lotion formula is just wayyyyyyyyy better and they smell sooooo good!

My everyday faves are Raspberry Guava Moisture Boosting Body Balm ($11.50) and the Rasberry Guava Body Buffer ($14)

Look what it says about the body buffer for gods sakes:

"Natural apricot seeds, jojoba beads and pumice help remove impurities and dead surface cells. Extracts of kiwi, apricot, orange, and lemon peel help nourish and soften skin. Provitamin B and Allantoin add additional hydration and nourishing protection." = Love!!
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My all-time fave was the holiday line Sugar Plum Body Butter (no longer around = sadness) and Sugar Plum Triple Butter Sugar Scrub (was $25, apparently is now $10!) It smells soooo yummy!
In scoping out this H20+ website, I cannot believe it! They have all different kinds of products: tons of face product lines including anti-aging, sun protection, sensitive skin, etc. Of course like of body products and even shampoo and conditioner! Von Maur definitely doesn't carry all of this stuff! Von Maur has a few different scents and the website has a ton, if you're not a raspberry kind of gal.

Okay, I better go shop this site some more... 'Til next time..."S'why I'm easy ..... easy like Sunday mornin', It's why I'm easy ..... easy like Sunday mornin'." *Sigh* Love you, Sundays.

Much love.

xoxo,
~ann~

"Hey baby, whatcha wearin'?"

2009-04-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

The lovely Emilene mentioned that not only are there product whores, but fragrance whores as well. :) I love it! I've actually been meaning to put a little blog out about "Every Woman Should Have At Least One ___" and make a list. ..."bottle of Chanel" perfume would make the list, I assure you.

Granted, everyone has different personalities and that's why there's like 50,000 perfumes in the world. I'm a flowery, girly, dramatic type, so my fragrances rock it like that. I really don't think I'm that bad of a fragrance whore but I just keep perfumes forever. Not sure why! Maybe because I get detained at the makeup counter before I get to fragrances??

Here's what's in my fragrance cabinet (in order of favorites):

#1 Vera Wang Truly Pink. = True Love.

#1 Givency Very Irresistible. I adore this and have worn it on the weekends forever. More of my going out perfume. (Sorry about the pic - it had a run-in with a bottle of clear nail polish on the flight back from the Dominican). Definitely ties with Vera.

#1 Chanel Chance. LOVE IT. Usually wear it to work and also out. Also ties for first with Vera and Givency.

#2 True Religion. Quadruple love the jeans, quadruple love the perfume. What can I say? Definitely a going out (while wearing true religions and cowgirl boots) type of perfume. Wear it to work occasionally.

#4 Ralph Lauren Romance. Never get tired of it, though it might be out like a light. I have a HUMONGO bottle that has lasted like 2 years. Obviously, I don't buy into the "throw it away" after a certain amount of time rule. :) Usually I rock this baby at work.

#5 Escada "Whatever the Beach Fragrance was for Summer 2007" Love it. I want to be on vacation 24/7 and take this perfume w/ me.

#5 Lacoste Touch of Pink - ties with Escada. Great every day scent. Yummy! It reminds me of Spring :) Kurt's mom bought me this one :)

#6 (get this) Clinique Happy. Talk about old school! Everyone compliments me on it, so I consider it an "oldie but goodie, oldie but goodie."

#7 Beautiful Sheer. I love this but I took it to Paris for an audit, and so did my friend Tracy. Whenever I wear it, I feel like I'm working on the 13th floor in a conference room in a building in Paris. Then I REALLLLLY start wanting Pain au Chocolate (fresh break with choco chips baked in it).

#7 Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely. A gift from Kurt's mom. I love it and it's lovely lovely lovely! But I haven't take it out of the box yet so it has to be #7 :(

#8 rocks it but it's totally not a "perfume". It's the perfume-ish stuff from Victoria's Secret Love Story. This used to be my signature lotion before I discovered the H20 body lotion at Von Maur. I still love Love Story, though!

#9 Finally! It's a random Sparkling Peach perfume from Bath & Body. I love still but WAYYY over did the peachness when I bought it last Spring. That was during a workout kick and so it reminds me running on the treadmill. Ugh! Maybe I'll wear it today :)

I like perfume bottles, so here are all the girls, from L-R, in order they are listed above. :) Ignore the kid-friendly refrigerator in the background. :)

Feel free to share your own perfume loves. This is an area I could use some more info :)

Until next time, "Perfect song on the radio, Sing along 'cause it's one we know, It's a smile, it's a kiss... It's a sip of wine, it's summertime... Sweet summertime..." (Kenny Chesney, Summertime)

Much love!

xoxo,
~ann~

Facials + Skin Care

2009-04-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Ugh...it is with deep regret I admit I was always scared to get a facial until January 2009. Not only am I a product whore...but a spa whore as well. I would get salt scrubbed, deep tissued and pedicured all day long...but no el facialo for moi.

In Jan., I went to Five Star Salon & Spa with Heather, Queen de Spa Whores, and had a "Be Fabulous" day. Yeah, wasn't cheap (oops!). But it was effin' FREEZING OUT, we were on vaca and it was pure heaven. :) OMG the facial part of "Be Fabulous" was like the greatest 70 minutes of my life. I will forever love facials.

So. what's the point? I have super sensitive skin so I'm allergic to lots of facial cleaners, toners, etc. I have forever had to use the Estee Lauder super sensitive line called "Verite," and even then, I could only use the Calming Fluid, not the Moisturizer. I'm 31, okay. Sista needs some moisture! So my regimen was always the Calming Fluid and Purpose Soap by Johnsn & Johnson (per my dermatologist). Ew! Again, 31 (a.k.a. need a better face wash than something that costs $3.49). Last year I couldn't take it anymore so I switched Laura Mercier. I was kind of allergic to it but it def better than the Fluid + orange bar soap.

Five Star uses (for facials) and sells Sanitas products. They are all natural and el awesomeo!!!!! For once, I went there not intending to buy a bunch of product! I was convinced this "natural" stuff was a sham and Laura M. was where it was at... But my plan was bogus. My facial chica wrote a Sanitas skin care routine for me during the facial. I have stuck to it and my skin is rockin'. I'm for real - why would I lie? I can assure you 5 Star won't be sending me any endorsement checks. :) Oh and on the "day of" your facial, I think the starter kits are only $30. I did buy the start kit along with some other products she suggested.

I use (2X per day) Oatmeal Face Wash. Spray face with Moisture Mist. Pea-sized amount of Topic C with the 2-3 drops of Vitamin-Rich Serum. Mix together and apply like moisturizer. I sometimes use the Hydrating Toner. Then, 2-3X per week, I use Hydrating Mask for 10 mins. The End.

The Sanitas website has guidance on what you should use if you select your skin type.

It's great! Highly recommend! :) :) My skin has never looked better and I'm the queen of skin drama.

Any other suggestions are HIGHLY appreciated on skin care stuff...because of my sensitive skin, I haven't been able to try a lot of products. :( Waaaah!

Mucho love, y'all! Have a great Saturday & Sunday!

Until next time, "Everybody's working for the weekend. Everybody wants a little romance. Everybody's goin' off the deep end. Everybody needs a second chance. You want a piece of my heart? You better start from start. You wanna be in the show? Come on baby lets go!"

xoxo,

~ann~

Must NOT Have List 1

2009-04-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Before I continue to rave on & on & on about stuff…and you start getting totally bored thinking, "OMG Ann just LOVES everything under the sun," let me assure you this is sooo not the case (although I can see how it may seem like that at times). I’m just going to be upfront about the things I despise... Please remember I love more things than I hate :) and these, as always, are just my humble opinions:

Must Not Have #1: Mary Kay, Avon, etc
In general, I don’t like beauty products sold in any type of bootleg/catalogish/secret clubish manner. I’ll buy online from Sephora all day long but not from Avon or MK. It’s possible I will change my mind about this in retirement and become a Mary Kay rep with a Pink Cadillac, rollin’ down the street…hmmm...yes, yes, I will...do I have to wear it, too?

When I was in junior high, my awesome dad used to let me order from Avon books that his neighbor would drop off to his house. I remembered this last night as I was trying to figure out what contributed to my high maintenance-ness. My dad rocked it, so he just kind of bought the stuff without questioning it. With Avon, you can get a huge paper lunch sack FULL of makeup for like $16. In general, this is not a good plan, unless you are in junior high or well into retirement.

Sorry to anyone who loves Avon or MK :) If you love it, love on, girl! :) But in general, there are A LOT better things out there (but not mineral makeup or Dior Show - see below)

Must Not Have #2: "Mineral Makeup"
In general, I DO NOT LIKE Bare Escentuals or any copycat brands/minerally types of makeup stuffs. Ew! If you must use mineral, I would use the Bare Escentuals brand. *sigh* My hate sort of stems from having this brand applied for my wedding and I HATED it. So much for my idea of being pampered that day! I just don’t like (whatsoever) all that loosey goosey powdery stuff (using OR wearing it). It’s super messy and the pressed normal stuff is just better (times 1,000), IMO. Also, I prefer liquid foundation (applying AND the look of it) wayyyy over ten million little circles of caked on powderiness. Ew. Therefore, I’m keeping it real and boycotting all loose powder products (this “blanket statement” excludes Laura Mercier Gold Digger ($32), which rocks it to the max). Now, I do love the one lipstick and gloss I have from Bare Escentuals but the love ends there!
...as in: no love for ANYTHING else! I will post no links b/c I don't want you to be tempted to order the "Starter Kit" that everyone buys and no one uses. Not that I would know... *whistles*

Must Not Have #3: Dior Dior Show Mascara
One of my life’s MAJJJJORRRRR disappointments. We’re talking wretched. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for that stuff I couldn’t stand it. I mean, anything from Dior should far exceed expectations. It got awesome reviews on the Sephora Best of 2007 and 2008 lists.

Everyone else jocks it hardcore but me…and I’m a mascara FREAK. It’s too clumpy for me and I love clumps. But these clumps don’t smooth out (wtf?). Plus it seems to flake off, which I’ve never had a mascara do this. AND to top it all off, it washes off in chunks. Yikes. Yeah…I NEVER use it. TONS of ppl love it though, so I encourage you to give it a whirl if you have $ to throw away…$24, specifically. Is it possible I had a bad batch? Yeah. Am I traumatized for life because of this huge letdown? Possibly.

Until next time, "I love you for your pink Cadillac, Crushed velvet seats, Riding in the back, Oozing down the street, Waving to the girls, Feeling out of sight, Spending all my money on a Saturday night..."

xoxo!
~ann~

Dorky Talk + Sephora + Sweet Deal

2009-04-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

Any accountant knows there are several inventory methods in accounting. There is First In, First Out (FIFO), Last In, First Out (LIFO), etc. I operate on the LIFO method with makeup. I always use the most recent stuff I bought (unless I sort of hate it, then I regress). This means you'll often hear me talk about products I recently bought but I do still have lots of awesome past products that I still use and will share scoop about because they rule. I'm almost out of Spring 2009 MAC Trip stories so yay for you :)

The good news is I have ordered a few new goodies from Sephora. Obviously, I had to take advantage of the $50 free shipping! HA! Click the names to review them, for sure! One is the Benefit PosieTint ($28) suggested by a blog reader! Yay!

Another is the Too Faced Shadow Insurance ($17).

So I'm going to take this opportunity to tell one of my el favorito makeup stories like EVER... Alright, so we've all dated a cute jacka$$ or two in our lifetime. My friend, who shall remain nameless (LOL) once dated this ADORABLE farmboy from Des Moines area. He was cute, had a hot tractor and stuff, and somehow had a Southern accent although he grew up in rural Central Iowa. Weird. Also, I dated his cute friend, who was of equal jacka$$ness but without the tractor...although he did train horses and wear a cowboy hat and have the same accent...ANYWAY...!!! SOOO she had literally just started liking makeup and had gone to a MAC store in DSM shortly before dating said farmboy/jacka$$. Come to find out his mom was a MAC REPRESENTATIVE and loved her!! So the mom gave her a whole freakin' TRAINCASE FULL OF MAC!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no idea how many shadows, blushes, lipsticks, etc etc etc were in that damn thing! Needless to say, the relationship didn't work out but we've done many, many, many a hot makeover with that case o' tricks!!!!! This is why I loved MAC in the first place.

I'd like to tell you there is more of a point to this story...but there is really not! Only that sometimes yes, you do date idiots but it's totally worth the hassle if a) he's cute and b) his mom gives you a train case full of rockin' makeup! The End.

Sooooo, I anxiously await my Sephora purchases! My MAC stories are over for the week so I will find something else bueno to blog about... :) :) :) Oh, I know.

Until next time, chicas, you gotta "let your soulshine, it's better than sunshine, it's better than moonshine. it's damn sure better than rain..." (Soulshine, Allman Brothers Band)

Rock on & xoxo,
~ann~

OOPS!!! & Brows

2009-04-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

Note to self and readers: Never leave your receipts out after a major makeup binge! *Smiles Sweeeeeeeeetly* But, uhhhh...seriously...WTF was I thinking!?!? hah!
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I got the receipt out of MAAAAJJJOOOORR lockdown to "quickly" check if the artist's name from the other day was on it. I've made it a habit of always emailing the stores post-makeover and to give props to chicas who hook me up with some sweet shades, tools and tips. I do this because I know most retail stores base raises and promotions on customer feedback and unfortunately it's usually the crazy/b**chy customers that call or write in.
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Anyway, I apparently FORGOT to re-bury it in the backyard under a two-ton pile of bricks because the husb found it! Yikes! :) Good thing he loves me so much :) He did take the opportunity to remind I'll be working until I'm 110. Oh well, at least I'll have product. :)
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So, I forgot to mention something awesome I bought at MAC! I'm notorious for skipping the VERY IMPORTANT makeup step: BROWS. It's just not my bag, baby. I don't like doing anything with my brows (meaning product)...yet I agree it rocks when makeover chicas fix mine all cute (this means they need product). I have tried brow pencils = hate. Then Laura Mercier Brow Definer ($20) with Laura Mercier Brow Definer Brush ($25). It = okay. I generally like stuff in pots and I reallllllly like brushes so it seemed like a good fit on purchase day. Then I figured out this stuff is actually still a lot of work, so I skip it 97% of the time and later remember I forgot it. Damn.

Anyhow, the MAC chica hooked me up with this stuff and so far, I'm in love.

MAC Brow Set ($13.50). It is seriously so easy and so fast to use. It looks just like a masacara brush so you just brush it on your eyebrows. How easy is this? I can't mess it up like a pencil and it's not a pain in the @$$ like the Laura stuff. And it looks freakin' bueno. Now that I've said this, you can scroll down and tell my brows are totally rockin' in the pic from the other day...no? Brow set, baby!

This brings me to a very important point: please do as I suggest :) not as I do :) Just because I admitted to skipping the brows doesn't mean you should do this, too. Defining the brows makes your eyes look wayyy bigger and wayyy happier! Noooooooo longer pluck your brows to thin lil' lines of nothingness (let your brow girl do ALL of it - no plucky plucky in between!) and definitely don't forget to define them (esp. if anyone is going to take pics of ya and post them on Facebook). And seriously this stuff is $13.50. What a deal. :) :) :)

If you live in the QC, please see Emily at Exotic Escape Day Spa in Northpark because seriously she's the best brow shaper ever! :)

Love you gals!! Until next time, "blame it on the rain..."

xoxo
~ann~

Must Haves

2009-04-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Have you been living your life without a "shu uemura"!?!? If so, stop now, please just stop. Why torture yourself any longer? Don't you want to be happy? :) :) :)

Buy one immediately from Sephora ($19).

I regularly read Sephora's "Best of Sephora" annual lists. That's where I found this baby and thought "Eh, what the heck..." I needed a new lash curler at the time, and had, until that point, been making the common mistake of thinking all lash curlers are created equal. Not the case, hello. I've tried two since then just for kicks but have since sworn off ALL OTHERS in the future.

It makes the perfect curl for all lashes I've ever curled and makes all the difference. Why not just love it and not leave it? That's what I'm gonna do: love it!

Assuming (and hoping) you already have another browser open on your internet with the shu uemura in your Sephora shopping bag, please note Sephora offers free shipping on purchases over $50. Also, all purchases apparently have free returns although I've never returned anything - ha!

That being said, my first thought definitely take advantage of the free shipping and spring for a Stila quad set ($40) (not necessarily the one pictured below - they have several options) ~ Also, note that while a color may look hideous in the case, it might be awesome on - see pic on the front of the case. I'm seriously about to order this thing based on that pic :) These quad sets are designed to easily achieve the smokey eye look. This is great for dressing up in the summer, going to weddings, parties and whatnot.
Okay, so I am a big fan of quads...PERIOD. The two-toned look is sooooo over. You really need at least 3 colors, preferably 4. In buying a quad, you save tons-o-cash (individual Stilas are $18), keep your makeup bag lookin' neat and tidy, AND lo and behold, they have already matched the colors up for you! Stilas quads are sweet because they have a little super short/to-the-point instructional layover over the shadows. Like it says "Liner" over the darkest color and "Lid" over the lid color. And obviously the case shows a picture, which is always a plus!

I adore Stila shadows for their awesome blending capabilities! You want to avoid harsh crease color lines against the base color. Use a soft brush to blend the colors where they meet. Then, if you want, use the darkest color as an upper lid liner (first dip your liner brush in water and lightly blot the sides on a cloth (i.e. you don't want it soaked and dripping water everywhere), then run around the edge of the darkest shadow). Line your top lid with it carefully. I hate when I mess up this part! It's an easy technique once you get used to it, really. I would then use the crease color very lightly on under your lower lashes (using a dry brush). [I personally believe dark lower lid lining is a thing of the past. It took me a long time to break myself of this bad, evil habit! I'll let you know when it comes back in (possibly this Fall). lol.]

Don't forget to use an eye shadow primer. My current fave is Laura Mercier but if you want to pick up a cheap one to get you by, by all means do so. It's mucho better than rollin' without. Tonight I am ordering the Too Faced Shadow Insurance from Sephora ($17) to try with my MAC acquisitions. I read a review about it on my fave beauty blog (see blog list) and also the reviews on Sephora are really good. I'll try and post my own review soon :) Thank you so much for visiting :)

Until next time, keep on rockin' in the free world...

xoxo,
~ann~

April 2009 MAC Trip!

2009-04-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

I figured I would start my blog off right by posting several makeup do's and do's and must have's and can live withouts. However, I just cannot WAIT to blog about my lovely (but LONG) MAC experience so here it goes:

A few girls from work and I decided to venture up to Chicago on Good Friday to visit the M.A.C. store at Oakbrook Mall. While I have always liked MAC and own a few shadows and brushes of theirs, I mostly have stuff that I can get in the Quad Cities (i.e. not MAC). Unfortunately, we don't have a MAC or a Sephora so yes, we are deprived majora. Hence, me being cut loose at a makeup counter I can't find back home is just never good news... Yikes!

*The stuff in this pic looks so tiny but that's because I had to stand on a chair to get it all in the pic. Everything is normal sized :) The MAC pallette is kind of humongous (prob about the size of a very large greeting card) but it's very flat so it will fit into most handbags, if necessary*

I take every opportunity to get information and suggestions from the makeup chicas working there. I figure they know a heck of a lot more than I do about choosing colors and what goes together! I take note of all brushes they use and ALL products (this includes eyeshadow base, highlighter blushes, etc). Even if you can't buy it all, at least know what they used and have them write it down for you. I ask questions about every technique they used. You'll find the artists are overjoyed to explain this stuff to customers. In most cases, they are under-used for the vast amounts of knowledge they have gained in their training programs. USE 'EM. Tell 'em you have no clue what you're doing. They can't help you unless you let them help you - similar to psychologists. :)

One of the key things to note is that not all shadows go with all blushes go with all lipsticks/glosses. I know this sounds totally obvious. But seriously, most people buy just new shadows and stick with the same blush. Or a new lipstick but stick with the same everything else. It's highly important to see the bigger picture, even on a day-to-day basis.

That being said, I have been in an un-cute funk so I was overjoyed for a full Spring/Summer makeover on Friday. I was needing a new look somethin' severe. I just went ahead and immediately told this to my fabulous artist chica. I ended up buying sooo much stuff! The good thing about MAC is that it's really not that expensive! My Chanel stuff (dearly love it) is more than twice as much for each item. For example, MAC mascara is $12, Chanel Inimitable is $30!! I love Inimitable but I have a couple of issues with it that will be covered in a later blog.

BACK TO MAC:

Eyes
MAC is an AWESOME place to buy eyeshadow. You can buy MAC shadows individually or for suprisingly cheap, you can buy a little quad case with four slots in it, and refill eyeshadows for it (they clip in with magnets). I told her I would love some help designing a quad of color, then everything to go with it (meaning blush, lipstick, etc). She ended up enticing me into buying the fifteen-color pallette. By cheap, I mean the case cost $12 and each shadow was $11. Chanel, by comparison is $28.50 for a shadow. Last time I checked, Lancome was $16.50. Granted this was not the most reasonable decision to make (especially considering my shadow drawers at home), but seriously, I love the darn thing. It's going to be great at weddings so I don't have to take a whole train case of shadows with me! I let her pick the entire pallette, saying she knew what colors I should wear more than I did. She picked an array of "must have" colors for me and organized them in the pallette by highlighter, lid color and crease colors.

This chica taught me some awesome new shadow techniques and of course I had to buy the #222 brush ($28)!! This brush works great as a highlighter brush for the crease and the crazy thing is that you should use it with your eye OPEN and it shadows your natural crease.

Well, hello, goldmine. Chica showed me MAC Fluidline ($15). I am A HUGE FAN of Laura Mercier's tight line technique with their eye liner (to be blogged about at a later date) so I was SHOCKED when I found another liner that is just as good, if not better! You definitely need the #210 brush ($17.50) or something exactly like it, though, to get the look right.

I decided LOOONNNNGGG AGO I would not stray from Lancome Hypnose mascara EVER again. I have tried EVERYTHING else and always go back to the Hypnose. I use it on all my brides and on myself every day. I decided to give the MAC a whirl, though, because it's way reasonable and I'm always in the market for something bigger & better to add to my mascara army. I got Plush Lash ($12). Yummmmmy! It's SUPER thicking and I love the brush. The formula reminds me a lot of Hypnose (this is a good thing) but the brush seems to help separate the lashes more than *gasp* Hypnose (this is a really good thing). I took the advice of the makeup chica and also bought Dazzle Lash to put the finishing touches on the tips. What an awesome idea. It seriously works. For $12 bucks, eh who cares. If I'm only working on the lash tips with Dazzle Lash, this will last forever. Seriously.

I will admit I made a mistake in not buying the MAC shadow primer. Primer is VERY IMPORTANT but I've loved the Laura Mercier primer I've used for the last year or so. Unfortunately, not all product brands mix well and Laura primer works better with Laura or Chanel shadows. Buying a MAC primer is high on my list of "to-do's." After all, I just bought a 15-shadow pallette. I'll be using it for awhile and want it to rock to it's maximum potential.

Blush
I do have a lot of blushes. So I opted to only buy one MAC blush, Mineralize Due in Moon River ($22.50). This is the one she used in my Springy pink makeover and I loved it. It was a combo blush/highlighter. I also bought the blush brush #109 ($32) she used. To be honest, blush is an application weakness of mine but only on myself. It's weird I have a ton of blush brushes by Chanel, Laura and Lancome but love none of them. I used the brush today and was a lil' heavy handed with it as it's always weird to get used to a new blush brush.

Face
I told her I was obsessed with my NARS pressed powder but she took one look at it on my face and wasn't convinced (FYI - this is not a good sign and I later agreed). She put the Face & Body Foundation (like a tinted moisturizer) on me and I was SOLD! I have always wanted tinted moisturizer FOREVER but I'm allergic to Chanel and although I ADORE Laura's tinted moisturizer, I am BETWEEN colors. Yeah, it sucks. So I go between Chanel pressed powder and NARS pressed powder. I freakin' love the stuff so I'm praying I'm not allergic. Yesterday I had TWO people ask me what kind of foundation I was wearing. Isn't that random!? No one has ever asked me that question before (also not a good sign).

DEFINITELY need the #188 brush. I thought my Lancome and Chanel foundation brushes were the greatest things ever but now I love my #188 ($34). It works SOOOO good and makes the application SOOOO easy.

Lips
I bought the lipstuffs she used on me during the Springy pink makeover. Viva Glam VI ($14) which is a versatile pinkish/twigish color, Lip Pencil in Dervish ($13) and two awesome glosses.

Bottom line is I'M PSYCHED about my new goods. :) I've been able to experiement with them on Saturday and Sunday I'm still lovin' 'em. Today I gave myself a makeover similar to what I'm planning to use on a bride for a May 30th wedding. I thought of her as soon as I saw the colors. I took some pics for the blog and to send to the blushing bride (well a 7 year old took the bottom one):

I'm wearing all the MAC eyestuffs I mentioned. Shadow colors are: Naked Lunch (highlighter under the brow and blended into the middle after the base color application, Expensive Pink (base color - very summery!) and Corduroy highlighted in the crease and very slightly under the bottom lashes. Top eyeliner is FluidLine in Blacktrack. I used both mascaras I bought at MAC.

Foundation is MAC's Face & Body Foundation ($32).

Blush is Lancome's discontinued color Fantasia. This is my all-time favorite cheek color EVERRR. It matches LOTS of looks. It's kind of that pinky/peachy/sparkly/matte look that will never again be replicated (R.I.P.). Luckily, I found a few strays on ebay after the big announcement of it's discontinuance.

Lip color is Make Up For Ever's Aqua Lip in Rosewood 2C ($17) and Stila Plumping Lip Glaze in Melon Mint ($24). I love this combo. A Sephora girl picked it out for me a couple of months ago and I still love it! Yet another example of something I could not have picked out by myself :)

Mucho thank you if you made it this for in the super-long MAC blog! Not all blogs will be this long or detailed...I PROMISE! :)

Love y'all!

xoxo,
Ann

My Scoop

2009-04-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hear ye, hear ye! Announcing my NEW blog!! I'm sooooo excited! "Um...why...?" you may ask. Beeeeecause buying and trying makeup products is one of my FAVORITE hobbies...second only to TALKING about them. The only reason talking comes first is because it doesn't hit the credit card bill at the end of the month. :)

NOW! About me - I'm a 31 y/o accountant from Iowa. Lame, I know. My dream job is to be a makeup artist but quitting my current gig to do wedding makeup is what's known as career suicide around these parts. I have learned everything I know from magazines, having makeovers and talking to the makeover artists. I also read about makeup and trends online. The only time I "practice" makeup per se, is when I do my friends' wedding parties and/or event makeups. I did my first wedding makeup around five years ago. I LOVED IT. Not only is it super fun and great to make my friends all beautiful...but it gives me an excuse to over-buy and under-use all the products in my collection. :)

My makeup obsession began at an early age when my Grandma used to buy me Estee Lauder and Clinque cosmetics for junior high. Sweet!!! It's become REALLY bad over the past ten or so years after I graduated college and could afford to follow makeup trends and buy the tools. It's official: I'm a total product whore.

I have TONS of favorites. In general, I gravitate around the Chanel, Laura Mercier, Lancome, Stila and M.A.C. lines. I do live in the Quad Cities, so while we (thank god) have decent makeup counters at Von Maur (it's sort of like a Nordstrom's) we don't have everything. AND...as much as it severely agonizes me to not have a Sephora, it's definitely good for my wristlet.

You won't normally find information on my blog about crazy expensive stuff (e.g. $250 eye cream). My blog is going to be for normal people who can actually afford to buy and use this stuff on themselves. I'll try to post links and prices for all products.

So, hopefully you will all enjoy this blog and definitely feel free to e-mail me questions at any time!

XOXO,
Ann ;)