Inspiration & Beauty

I always enjoyed reading & looking at Kristen's (owner of Aromaleigh) Weekly Eye Candy.  The luscious pictures & images of all that is beautiful in the world.  So I've taken inspiration from her & want to share with you images that have moved me & spoken to me over the past few weeks.  I also love photography & am somewhat of a photographer myself, so I love looking at pictures that convey a message.  I subscribe to Harper's Bazaar for nothing else but the photography & editorials.  Mmmmm my monthly delicious eye-fest!!!

I especially love this picture.  All done underwater ~ how awesome is that?!?

Is this something that you would like to see me continue??  Let me know in the comments!!

I Was Bored

I was goofing around this morning & playing with my newness from Aromaleigh (<3) & created a really dramatic eye.  I mean, I think it looks cool, but tell me what you think!

I used three colors from Aromaleigh's Ciao Italia! collection, LORAC's On Screen Duo in Champagne & Caviar & Bare Escentuals Champagne Diamond Radiance.  The mascaras I used were, in order of application, Dior Diorshow Black Out, Dior Iconic & Dior Extase.  I also used Urban Decay's 24/7 pencil in Crash on my eyebrows.  

What do you think??  Let me know in the comments!

Phyrra's Giveaway!!!

My friend Phyrra is also having a giveaway on her blog as well ~ her very own personally named tower from Glamour Doll Eyes!!!  Go enter & read about it here.  You can also check out Glamour Doll Eyes here.

Let her know that some freak named Shayne sent you!!

XOXO,
me

Makeup Zombie's New Contest!!!

My friend Wendi is having a giveaway on her blog, Makeup Zombie.  Veronica at Hi-Fi Cosmetics has just released a brand new collection, Nightmare 2010, and has given Wendi a sample set of all 10 colors to giveaway on her blog.  To enter, go here.  While you're there, check out her LOTDs.  She has amazing application & looks exquisite!!

Tell her that insane girl, Shayne, sent you!!!

XOXO,
me

Fragile High Heels

I went to a friend's housewarming party on Saturday.  Jackie is a very dear friend of mine & I've known her since I went into my church's "rehab" Discipleship program  seven & a half years ago.  She was the very first person I met & we've been "Sistergirl" to each other ever since.  She threw a housewarming/birthday party for her husband.  My husband, my mom, her boyfriend & also a dear friend of ours all rode together over there.  We had a great time & there was awesome food, fellowship, music & laughter.  Jackie & I also work together, well we did until May when my doctor took me off on disability leave.  I was getting awful Facebook messages & text messages from a few of the girls that I work with, but Jackie had my back, just like she always does.  I had incorrectly assumed that she had invited those people along with several others from work and truth be told, I was hesitant to go.  But only a few people from work came.  So it was an enjoyable evening.  This is what I wore to the party.

Face:
Meow Pampered Puss foundation in Sleek Chausie
Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Translucent

Eyes:

• Aromaleigh Pink Fingers (from the L'Orchidee collection) lash to browbone
• Aromaleigh High Heels (from the Holiday Blast collection) over Pixie Epoxy inner third of lid, inner V & tear duct
• Aromaleigh Fragile Charms (from the Les Papillons collection) patted on also over Pixie Epoxy middle & outer thirds of lid
• Aromaleigh Elegie (from the En Pointe collection) in crease & outer V

For mascara I used Buxom Lash & Clinique High Impact mascaras on top lashes only.  I then used Stila Convertible Mascara on just my lower lashes.

So what do you think??  Do you have Elegie??  It is one of my favorite colors & want to use it every day!!

Have you ordered anything from Aromaleigh's Final Clearance sale??  Let me know in the comments!!

XOXO,

me

I don't remember what colors I used for this look, but I'm pretty sure they're all Fyrinnae colors. 

I think the following colors were:

• Fyrinnae Jade Ghost lash to browbone
• Fyrinnae Otherworld applied over Pixie Epoxy inner third of lid, inner V & tear duct
• Fyrinnae Geek Glam patted on middle & outer third of lid
• Fyrinnae +20 Beautification crease & outer V
• Fyrinnae Jaguar mixed with BE Weather Everything liquid & applied as liner upper & lower lashlines

I love Fyrinnae & can't wait for my latest order to be mailed!!!  What do you think??  Let me know in the comments!!!

XOXO,
me

I've been using a lot of Aromaleigh eye shadows lately.  I don't know if it's because Kristen is closing or I'm just hungry for complex, beautiful colors.  So for today's look, I thought I would just stick to pinks & purples.

Face:

• Stila One Step Color Correcting & Brightening Serum (OMG this stuff is awesome, amazing, astounding)
• Meow Pampered Puss foundation in Sleek Chausie
• Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Translucent

I haven't been wearing blush the past few weeks & I don't know why.  I just haven't had an urge to put it on.  Some days I think I look better without it.

I wanted to do these pictures a little blurry so you could see the sparkly goodness of all the colors I chose, especially Passionfruit.

Eyes:

• Bare Escentuals High Shine Charisma lash to browbone
• Orglamix Passionfruit inner third of lid, inner V & tear duct
• Aromaleigh Clara (from the En Pointe collection) patted onto middle & outer third of lid 

I used Aromaleigh's Soul Takes Flight in the crease & outer V.  I know this isn't immediately thought of as a purple, but as the light catches it, I think it appears a sparked aubergine.  Soul Takes Flight is from the Les Papillons collection & is one of my favorite colors.  This color is very similar to Elegie from the En Pointe collection, also another favorite.

I really think that purple makes my hazel eyes pop.  Purple is at the opposite spectrum of green, and makeup experts believe that the use of this color, applied as close to the iris as possible, makes a huge impact on actual eye color & how vivid your iris appears.  I would tend to agree, not that I'm an expert or anything.

I used Stila Convertible Mascara & Clinique's High Impact Curling Mascara to finish this look off.

What do you think of these colors??  Do you think they make my eyes appear more green??  Have you ever tried Orglamix?  What do you think of them?  Let me know in the comments!!!

XOXO,

me

My Step-By-Step Makeup Routine

So I thought I'd show you exactly how I apply my "face".  It's probably got more steps & products than your average woman, but then again, I'm no average woman.  So here's my first step:

 Actually, this is my first step after I've moisturized.  My moisturizers are, in the order I apply them:

• Cosmedicine Medi-Matte Lotion with SPF 20 (T-Zone)
• Clinique Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Moisturizer with SPF 20 (cheeks & jawline)
• Bare Escentuals Rare Minerals Active Triple Treatment Eye Cream (upper & lower eyelids, eyelashes)

Now these two pictures are showing the above plus Benefit's Girl Meet Pearl Luminizing Primer.  This primer is just as good as its predecessor and smells so amazing.  You can see in the pictures how it just faintly glows ~ it's doesn't show up shimmery at all.

Now for the second step:

My next step is my foundation & my finishing powder.  You can see here exactly what I use ~ Meow's Pampered Puss Mineral Foundation in Sleek Chausie & MUFE's HD High Definition Powder.  I apply the Foundation with either a big buffing brush or a blending sponge, depending on how much coverage I want that particular day.  This day, I used my brush, which is BE's Full Flawless Face Brush from the Pure Platinum kit.  I use a flat top Heavenly Face Brush from BE's Pure Moxie kit for applying the HD Powder.


Third Step:

I define my brows after I put on my foundation & finishing powder.  I first use the Smashbox Brow Tech Wax Pencil.  Then I use my Bare Escentuals Brow brush, which is the best brush I've used for this, and my Bare Escentuals Brow Powder in Brunette.  I used Smashbox's brow tech powders for a while but found that BE's powder looks more natural & covers more completely because I have a couple bald spots.





Fourth Step:

I put my eye primer on after doing my eyebrows.  I have several eye primers I use, but on this particular day, I used my new Tarina Tarantino Pearl Glow Eye Primer.  This stuff rocks!!!!  Cute packaging, leaves behind a sparkly pink wash & helps your eye shadow lock in place & last for at least 8 hours.  I got this at Sephora this last week and fell in love with it.  I'll be posting a separate review for this sometime this week.

 If you'll click on the eyelid pictures to enlarge them, you can see the beautiful wash of color & shimmer this amazing primer leaves behind.  Oh, I Just love it.  I kept my receipt in case it didn't work & I had to take it back.  I have an issue with most eye primers not working because I have extremely oily skin and my lids are no exception.

See how gorgeous it is!!








Fifth Step:

Ooooooh my favorite part!!
I do my eyeshadows next.  On this particular day I used the following colors:

• Aromaleigh Sylph (from the "En Pointe" collection) lash to browbone
• Aromaleigh Tangled Tinsel (from the Holiday Blast collection) inner third of lid, inner V & tear duct
• Aromaleigh Moth (from the L'Orchidee collection) patted onto the middle & outer third of lid
• Sephora Glitter Pot in Black in crease & outer V

Sixth Step:

Now, I don't utilize this step every day.  There are some days that I want a soft look & eye liner just doesn't go with a soft look for me.  But this day, I used the following:

• Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in Zero upper & lower waterlines
• Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in Gunmetal upper & lower lashlines

Seventh Step:

I LOVE mascara.  To prep my lashes, I used my Shu Uemura eyelash curler (the absolute BEST curler!) but I first heated it up with my blow dryer.  Now if you're a reader of my blog, you know that I have stick straight lashes.  They stick out from my lids like diving boards with no one on them.  So I usually like to pick up curling mascaras & I always use my curler.  I used Sephora Atomic Volume first on my upper lashes only.  I then used Stila Convertible Mascara on my top & bottom lashes.

Eighth & Final Step:

I always do my lips last & it's almost always just a layer of lip gloss since I don't own any lipsticks other than my Buxom one.  Here, I used Smith's Rosebud Salve.  This stuff is so yummy & I love how soft it makes my lips.

So, there you have it!  How many steps are in your makeup routine?  Do you use more products than I do??  Let me know in the comments!!!!

XOXO,

me