Do Not Buy

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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