Ipsy December 2013: Celebration

Wow.  I mean, WOW!  I was a bit bummed that it took a few days for me to get my Ipsy bag after I got the notification, and then I open it and it only has five things in it :/

But those five things!

I was really hoping to get nice lively colors, and other than the grey eye shadows, the colors were pretty awesome.  The nail polish is Nicka K New York in Ripe Apple, retails for $4.99.  This is very much the shade of red polish I am immediately drawn to.

Next was Be A Bombshell: The One Stick in Sunset, retails for $16.  I was so confused when I opened the package, but I'm excited to get to play with it.  I love the orangey color!  Much better than a bland coral.

J. Cat Big Lip Pencil in Caramel Mocha, retails $3.99.  It is a much richer and creamier color in person than it is on their website.  A very similar color and consistency to the The One Stick, but a tad darker.  I am very glad that neither is scented.

Pop Beauty eye shadows in Naturally Bare, retails ~$7.20.  These are what I would consider the dud in my bag.  If I'm going to wear eye shadow, I normally want something noticeable.  We'll see once I actually try it out.

Mirabella Eye Blender Brush, retails $27.  OMG IT IS SO FLUFFY!  This one is pretty fantastic.

TOTAL: $59.18.  Not bad.  Not bad at all!

Thankskilling 2013

November 27, 2013, at 5:36 pm, my much loved 5 qt Kitchenaid mixer decided to commit sepuku over a box of gf cookie dough.  Ten minutes later, I dragged Dan to BB&B to get a replacement.  My lovely brother offered to get me a 6qt for christmas!

Unfortunately, not in time for the rest of Thanksgiving, but we made due.  For starters, Dan got a Butterball electric deep frier.

• 13 lb deep fried turkey
• 18 lb roast turkey with all of the garlic
• Onion soup
• Gravy
• Fresh cranberry sauce
• Home cured ham with green beans
• Home cured ham with black beans
• Brussel sprouts with bacon
• Scalloped potatoes
• Hummus
• GF cherry pie
• GF apple flax muffins
• GF chocolate chip cookies
• GF brownies
• apple caramel cookies
• Haroset

Brought by guests

• shells a la putanesca
• cheese
• veggies
• assorted chips and dips

Forgotten in fridge

• creme brule
• 9 egg whites that are probably still there

It was a good few days full of fantastic food and even better people.

Dress everyday like you'd run away with the Doctor in those clothes.

I think I'd end up scaring several aliens with my technicolor skull tights, Zim boatneck sweatshirt, and grey thigh high socks.  The makeup wouldn't be that appealing, either.  I really liked this at home, with the warm bathroom lights, but I kind of feel like Mimi out in public.

First, I went to Ulta yesterday to buy NYX High Definition Eyeshadow Base, thanks to this article with really good comparisons!  It had a thicker texture than the ELF one I'd been using, but went on smoothly enough.  I don't really know yet if it is making any difference, since mineral eye shadows have been staying on me pretty well, even through derby, until I just rub it off my face.

Second: the positive.  I really love how I overlapped the liner and the shadow.  It makes it a bit more dynamic and interesting.

Third:  The negative.  Yeah, the colors are not really my thing.  You'd think Femme Fatale's Sunfire would be EXACTLY what I would want to wear.  Instead, it is salmon.  I don't like salmon.  It isn't pink (which some can be decent) and it isn't orange.  And it didn't have the gold flecks from the picture, either!  Waaaa.  The blue is Riptide.  It was a bit more cobalt in the bag than on the site, but really nice and trippy.  On my face it looks pretty blah and thin.  I even tried layering it a few times to make it more intense!  But it didn't really make a difference.

So yeah.  Learning experience.

I caught the Ipsy bug

From none other than Cephalogal.  Fancy that!  In the past year I have splurged on Smash Cosmetics, Sweet Libertine, and Femme Fatale eye shadows.  I've been reviewing them on Facebook, but I should be collecting them all here in the not too distant future.  Mostly so I can catalogue how the colors look on me.

But for now, My First Ipsy Bag!  It was all pink and shiny.

A gold wristlet.  Whatevs.

Nailtini polish in Champagne.  Exciting.

Star Looks pencil in Amethyst.  I don't know if I'll use it much.

Bombshell lip crayon in Shameless.  It's very moisturizing, I love the texture, and the color is very wearable, but it stinks like rancid sheep.

.em Lash Gallery mascara in Black.  Can't have too many black mascaras.

Pixi Beauty Bronzer in Subtly Suntouched.  I never wear bronzer, but I did find myself wanting some a few months ago to placate my blinding pallor.

BHCosmetics Galaxy Chic baked shadow in Sun.  Right up my alley.

All full size-ish.  I'd say it is definitely worth $10.  Here's the first run through.

 

I'm wearing the eye liner, mascara, lip pencil and bronzer.  The amethyst liner just looks glittery silver on me, which I am perfectly ok with.  I love the featheryness of the mascara!  The lip crayon has a very useable color.  The bronzer (which I swear I piled on!) is invisible.

Pay no attention to my irritated nose.

For eye shadow, I used Femme Fatal's Emerald Dream which is significantly bluer in person.  It's not bad, but I forgot to put on primer and it creased like a mofo.  The glitter pencil also went everywhere within a few hours.

I can't wait until my hair is not Ronald McDonald red so I can try out the Sun shadow.

Autumn in The Valley

I've been a bit sporadic in my updates...  But life has had its changes, and I will probably be getting back on track.  I flew down to Texas in August to empty out my mother's storage unit and drive her truck back to PA to sell.  It was amazing to be able to spend two days with Amalthea and Kakashidactyl, and to meet some of Burn's oldest friends.  And then I got home to a lot of bullshit and debt.  So, in order to get everything back in order, I decided to transfer back to SCAR.

So what am I supposed to do with 15 hours back into my week, no longer stuck in the car commuting 80 miles each way, three times a week?  I was a Phantom in Rocky Horror.

It was a blast!  It was also another three months of no life outside of Derby and rehearsals.  I'm the christmas ham on the left.  

As soon as the mic packs were off, we all ran to get pizza.  OMG, The Arena's pizza is SO GOOD!  Kuges got a whole series of pictures with people stuffing their faces with said delicacy.  It rocked.

So now that I "have time", I plan on updating the last three swaps I was in (Alice In Wonderland, Buffy and ... I could have sworn I'm missing a third one...), finishing all those half socks, and the sweater I started for Burn last winter.  And maybe I might even knit something for myself this year!  You can also expect to see a huge thanksgiving post coming in a few weeks MUAHAHA and a lot of makeup swatches.  Blame it on Cephalogal, who should be scheduling some Crafty Bitches shenanigans already.