It's A Bare Sunshine Day

Oh, it's been a crazy week.  I've been physically & mentally wrapped up in my Grandpa & his health and living situation that I haven't had much time to blog.  I'm so sorry about that, gentle Reader.  But I haven't forgotten about you.  As far as my Grandpa is concerned, in case you were interested, his prostate cancer has returned & has spread to his bones.  It was also discovered that he has Parkinson's Disease, but only in his lower body and it's affecting his swallowing, hence the feeding tube in this picture.  The family & his doctors are having a meeting Tuesday morning (my mom, me, my aunt Annie & my aunt Susan) to discuss discharge plans, diagnoses & care.  I am just beside myself with joy to see that my old Grandpa is back.  My mom spent all day Friday with him, which God orchestrated, and it was so healing for her.  I think God is using this to heal the Dober women & heal our relationships with each other, with Grandpa and to teach us to forgive.  It's a powerful lesson, but one that I embrace whole-heartedly.
Now, on to the pretties.....
I came across a comment recently that I don't use Bare Escentuals in my looks except for their eye primer.  I had shared the link for my blog with Leslie Blodgett on Facebook, and someone posted that she had looked through the posts but didn't see anything BE related except for the primer.  Are you kidding me??  I have several LOTDs with something BE (and not just the primer) & I just kinda got my feelings hurt.  So, in answer to that comment, I would like to present.....

Face:

• Bare Escentuals Matte Foundation in Fair
• Makeup Forever HD High Definition Powder
• Bare Escentuals Blush in First Class
• Bare Escentuals Rose Radiance over First Class
• Smashbox Brow Tech Wax Pencil & Brunette/Taupe combo

All yellow with accents of green ~ don't you love it!!

Eyes:

• Bare Escentuals Eye Primer in Original & Brightening mix (I've been applying my eye primer with a brush lately.  I think it helps it apply more evenly)
• Bare Escentuals Lemonade applied lashline to browbone
• Bare Escentuals Sundress applied to the inner corners & tearducts
• Bare Escentuals Trophy Wife applied to middle lid lash to browbone & blended into Sundress
• Bare Escentuals Key Lime applied to crease & outer vee
• Bare Escentuals Envy applied under Key Lime to outer third of lid & blended into Trophy Wife & Key Lime

For liner, I borrowed an idea from my friend Kesha over at her blog.  I applied Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Cream eye liner in Green from the Green Eyes kit on upper & lower lash lines.  I then took Bare Escentuals Big & Bright eyeliner in Granite to line my upper & lower waterlines.  I really liked how it made the green pop against the charcoal.  I also love love love how it makes the whites of my eyes noticeably brighter.  On my lashes, I used Cargo Lash Activator as a base coat, then layered Clinique High Impact Curling mascara over it.

What do you think??  I forget how much I love yellows & really need to use them more.  What are your favorite colors to wear that you sometimes forget about?  Let me know in the comments!!

XOXO,

me

Bouncing Faith in Trees - A Love Story

Hello hello my lovelies!!  Can I talk to you for a minute??  It's about my Grandpa.  See, I lost my Gram, his wife, my mom's mom, in May of 2008.  It was one of the hardest things I've ever gone thru because I was very close to my Gram.  But I can't even imagine what it must have been like for him.  See, Gram & Grandpa did not meet & fall in love under the best of circumstances and a lot of people got hurt.  But they were soulmates from the gate.  My Gram was very artistic ~ a painter, a sculptor, a cross-stitcher, a doll maker ~ and my Grandpa was very good with his hands & was a hard worker.  Gram was one of those women who spoke her mind and was strong & what my family likes to call a bold-hussy (which is a good term).  She didn't take any guff from anyone.  She taught me so much.  But, so did my Grandpa.  Grandpa was loving and nurturing and sensitive.  I mean, my Gram was loving too but in her own way.  I think I get my sensitivity from my Grandpa.  Alas, I digress.  I can't imagine how hard it was for him to lose her.  She was the love of his life, and he was hers.  Since that time, his health has steadily declined and he's stopped eating, bathing & basically sleeps all day.  What do you do when you lose your soulmate??  Then, in 2009, Grandpa's son, Norman, passed away.  Also in that same year, my Aunt Susan lost both of her sons - Grandpa's grandsons.  So, in a period of 15 months, my Grandpa lost 4 people he dearly loved.  And since depression runs in my family, you can imagine the dark hole that he slipped into.  I think he gave up & was slowly killing himself.  And it was hard to watch.  But fast forward to last Monday, when he was admitted to the hospital after the realization that he was indeed gravely ill & needed medical intervention.  It has since been discovered that his prostate cancer has returned & has spread, he can't swallow at all & his kidneys are failing.  Through this all, he is the Grandpa that I remember him as.  Talking, laughing, smiling, flirting with the nurses.....he has some hard decisions to make about his future, but whatever those decisions are, he knows that we (the Dober girls) have his back & will do whatever it takes to make his remaining years comfortable & enjoyable.

So, in honor of Gram & Grandpa, here is my LOTD......

Face:

• Moisturize as usual
• Benefit "That Gal" primer
• Meow Pampered Puss foundation in Sleek Chausie
• Aromaleigh Ultra-Resolution Finishing Powder in Peaches&Cream
• BE Vintage Peach Blush
• Smashbox Brow Tech Wax & Brunette/Taupe powder

Eyes:

• BE Prime Time for Eyes lashline to browbone
• BE Diamond Gossamer with BE Platinum Gossamer over it all over lid to brow
• Hi-Fi Cosmetics Morbid Faith eye shadow inner third of lid & tear duct
• Hi-Fi Cosmetics Suicide Trees eye shadow crease & outer vee
• Hi-Fi Cosmetics Bounce eye shadow middle third of lid over iris 

For mascara, I used my standbys ~ Cargo Lash Activator & Stila Convertible Mascara over the Cargo.  These two have become my go-tos lately.

Thanks for letting me ramble & muse ~ it feels better when I can talk about what's going on in my head.  And thanks for listening.

XOXO,

me

Purple ~ The Color Of Royalty

I know, I know.....I promised a LOTD with my newness from Hi-Fi.  Sorry, I just haven't been feeling inspired. And today was just too exciting of a day, what with Lindsay getting released from Jail and all!  It's just been a period of time where the fibro has taken over & scooped me out.  I try to not let fibro control my life & live my life with fibro as a footnote....but I don't always succeed.  And it definitely hit me hard the last few days.

Anyway, enough with the pity-party....on to the crack!!!

Face:

• Moisturized as usual & used Smashbox Photo Finish Primer (love)
• Meow's Pampered Puss Foundation in Sleek Chausie
• Aromaleigh's Ultra-Resolution Finishing Powder in a 50/50 mix of Clear and Peaches Cream
• Laura Geller Blush & Brighten in Sunswept
• Smashbox Brow Tech Wax Pencil over brows to groom
• Smashbox Brow Tech combo of Brunette/Taupe over wax to define
• BE Prime Time Eye Primer

My chin area looks really blotchy.  I'm not sure why.  I have these weird dark spots/blotches on the like outer corners of my chin right underneath my lower lip corners.  They're really annoying & it is so hard to find a product that will cover them completely.  I'm not sure what they're from either.

Eyes (I think the purple really brings out the green in my eyes):

• MAC Pigment in Kitschmas from lashline to brow bone
• MAC Pigment in Grape in crease & outer vee
• Tarte Lock & Roll Duo in Tanzanite - I actually only used the cream shadow half & I used it as a liner on my upper & lower lash lines.  It was subtle but SO pretty.
• MAC Pigment in Fuschia in middle of lid right above the iris of my eye.

On my lashes, I used my new favorite mascara, Stila Convertible Mascara.  I love everything about this mascara.  It doesn't clump at all, the formula is pretty thin but I like that because it helps separate my lashes so they don't stick together & make that spider leg look, it's buildable unlike other "tubing" mascaras which is cool and it doesn't budge even on my lower lashes which is a blessing in itself.

What do you think??  Do you love MAC?  Have you ever tried any of Tarte's products?  Tarte.com is actually having a Friends & Family sale going on right now until August 9th.  Use code: FFAUG to receive 40% off everything!!  I highly recommend the Lock & Roll Duos and their Lights, Cameras, Lashes mascara.

Big hugs & sparkle twirls!!!

It's A Tenacious Beckoning

I've recently picked up a couple of L'Oreal HIP High Intensity Pigments.  I've never tried their pigments before, and I was curious as to how they looked & applied.  Several beauty editors, I've read, love these pigments and put them in the same class as MAC.  Now, I wouldn't go that far but I was pleasantly surprised when I tried them.  Have a look:

Face:

• Meow Cosmetics Pampered Puss Foundation in Sleek Chausie
• Aromaleigh Ultra-Resolution Finishing Powder in Peaches & Cream/Clear mix
• Smashbox Soft Lights Quad in Luminary as blush

Eyes:

• Urban Decay Eden Eyeshadow Primer all over lid
• I used L'Oreal HIP Pigments in Tenacious all over lid (lashline to brow bone)
• Then I used Tarte Lock & Roll Creaseless E/S Duo in Citrine (the loose side) over Tenacious
• I used L'Oreal HIP Pigments in Beckoning in crease & outer vee
• Then I patted on Tarte Lock & Roll in Tourquoise (the loose powder side) in the middle of my lid
• I also lined my lower lash line with Beckoning

I also recently purchased a new mascara ~ Stila Convertible mascara in Black.  This mascara is awesome!!  It's like Blinc Kiss Me mascara in that it forms tubes around your lashes.  It's dual ended with a normal spoolie brush on one end, and a skinny spoolie brush on the other end.  So I did something that I don't normally do.  I put mascara on my lower lashes.  I have very oily skin & eyelids, so I rarely use mascara on my lower lashes because it smudges & smears & I look like a raccoon by mid-day.  But with Stila's, I didn't.  And the skinny spoolie brush made it so easy to apply to those lashes & it still looked great at the end of the day.  I highly recommend it!!!

So what do you think of today's look??  Have you tried HIP Pigments or Tarte Lock & Roll?  Do you like them?  Tell me all about it in the comments!!

Until next time, my lovelies.....