Long time no blog

Sorry about the long absence. I packed up my family and all our belongings and moved us all to North Carolina. New house, new schools, new job, tons of new furniture. Stuff has been busy, and good!

Yeah, whatever, on to the girly stuff!

I'm way into makeup now and I'm having a ton of fun. I want to get some vlogs with reviews and tutorials up because I'm spending a good bit of time (and some $$) on trying different products and lines to find just what I want. However, my mac's charger/adapter died and so I'm using the dude's old laptop and I've no idea how to film/edit on here (not that I did much editing on my mac anyway).

Right now I'm really looking for a good foundation routine. I had been wearing a tinted moisturizer from Wet n' Wild and while I was really liking it, it wasn't giving me the coverage I was really looking for. I watched a bunch of videos and read some reviews and decided to give Revlon coverstay liquid foundation a try. It's inexpensive and got some really great reviews for a drugstore brand. So far, I like it but I'm not in love. The color is a bit off, so I might try a lighter shade and try to blend them together to get that right. I bought the one for normal to dry skin and I still feel like it is drying. My face feels a bit tight when it's on and my skin seems to really soak up my moisturizer when I clean it off at night. :/ I may try some more expensive options after the new year.

I feel like I have a lot of eye shadows, liners and brushes I like so I should probably do a full review of those.

I'm still really learning how to use blush effectively but when I do it well, I love the look! I got a little sampler kit from Tarte and it came with this awesome cheek stain. It's gorgeous! So I'm playing with that a bit and figuring out how it works.

Lipstick is hit or miss with me. Some days I really nail it bust most days I feel like my color and gloss choices are close-but-no-cigar, yk? Learning curve!

My nails are doing awesome! I broke a few over the last couple of weeks (housework, I shake my fist at you!) but I think I've got a good length now and a good routine for care and manis.

I think that covers most of the major stuff I've been doing for cosmetics.

Oh! I bought a straightener and ironed my hair. Wore it straight for a couple of days. It's a ton of work but it's fun to have such a different look. I definitely don't want to do that very often, but it's nice to have the option for a big change like that. My curls are doing well with the plopping and smoothing routines so not much change on that front.

I got a ton of new clothes, mainly office wear as I was training for the new job and had meetings and interviews and whatnot. Discovered that Ross is a totally fucking awesome place for fat chicks. Totally great cheap dresses. I own several pairs of shoes now that are NOT flip flops so that's a new thing. lol I may have to get some pics or videos of my outfits and shoes up.

Ok, I've babbled long enough. I think I've caught up on the major bits anyway.

Omgomgomg! Hair breakthough!!!

I found something that really really really works for my hair!

Before. It was hard to find a before pic because I almost always do my photo shoots with wet hair because I hate my hair. :lol This pic is old, but this is generally what my hair looks like dry. You can also see the threading improvements to my eyebrows in these pics. :)


After!!
Please to ignore my after-work tiredness. Look at how tight my curls are!!! And note lack of frizz!!




A close up of some of the curl definition

Duh, me. The method I used is in this video here:

It's called "smoothing" and it's about 1/2 way down. It took about 10 minutes. 10 minutes!!!! And no product beyond cheap suave conditioner. And my curls are tight and bouncy and soft and shiny.

Baby Pinks are just not for me

I tried a few colors last night and two just really did not work.

Tickled Pink from Bonne Belle was awful. Streaky and the color was just terrible on me.

Avon's speed dry Sheer Chiffon went on well enough but was also not a good color for me.

I liked Sally Hansen Goldspun Rose Frost but then I got a little ambitious with decorating it and f'ed it all up. So I ended up taking it off this morning and putting on Sinful Colors Night At the Barbados again. This blue is just so so pretty and it looks so nice next to my skin. Also, I went shopping yesterday and got this awesome blue cashmere poncho and gorgeous black corduroys so this polish will look great with that outfit. :D

I would very much like to find a subtle pink that works for my hands. I am having trouble with light colors. Maybe it'll be easier in the summer when my hands are tan?

Manicure Monday

I'm running out the door, but I wanted to toss up this pic of the polish I am wearing because I LOVE IT LIKE I LOVE CAKE. It's from sinful colors and it's called Night at the Barbados. It looks blue there but it's irridescent and shimmery and looks lavender elswhere and sometimes green and it's like mood-polish or something.

Wish list

Concealer brush, maybe this one from Target.

Pixie Epoxy from Fyrinnae

Arcane magic shadows from Fyrinnae

olive oil, coconut oil

Bare minerals Bisque for concealer?

Urban decay eye primer

I think I may have found a purpose for this blog!

Yay!

I'm playing with nail art and cosmetics. So I think I'll journal what I'm doing, reading, watching, buying, using and experimenting with here. :)

My first order of business was to take stock of my nail polish and nail accessories. I ended up having to toss about 1/2 my polish stash (dried out beyond repair) and the remover I had (no longer worked!). I made a run to the drug store last night and got:

some polish remover (cvs brand, for now. I may upgrade later if I feel the need)
Sally Hansen 5 minute French manicure pen kit (hey, it was 50% off)
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Tea Rose, which is a matte bright baby pink
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Poppy, which is an iridescent orangey hot pink

I already had a decent manicure set and some files on hand. When I got home, I cleaned my nails using some plain white felt and the remover. I got the felt tip from a friend on twitter (thanks, k!) and it worked really well. The polish I had on came off quickly and easily.

I then did a quick file (I'd moisturized and pushed back my cuticles the day before) and washed my hands. I applied the SH Maximum Growth from the French manicure kit. Then two coats of the natural French manicure base. My nails are no where near long enough for that French tip pen yet, but I wanted some design. So, I used the SH Poppy and a toothpick to paint 5-petal flowers in the center of each nail. I also used the Poppy in little dots around the flowers. And a small dot of the Tea Rose in the middle of each flower. They look a little young and silly, but that was kind of the point. Dotting with the toothpick is easier than I thought but my left hand needs a lot of practice. I don't have the steadiest hands on the block. I tried to snap a couple of pics, but they aren't grand.