I’ve always loved make-up. I swear, if I was rich, I’d have a special section in my room, with the right lighting, a vanity filled with every color eye-shadow imaginable! And I wouldn’t stop until I found that perfect shade of pink lipstick!
Sometimes when I’m bored at home, I like to experiment with different eye-shadow color combination’s, or just to improve the way I apply my make-up. I know, it’s weird, but I don’t care.
Here is what I’ve come up with the last couple of times I’ve played in my make-up drawer. LOL
This one is really bright, so it's a little hard to see the eyeshadow. I was messing with pinks and purples.
Here I decided to use some dark green I had, I believe Mary Kay and some silver from Aromaleigh. I love the Aromaleigh stuff. I also used some red sparkling shadow.
This is a closer shot of the eyes.
Wicked Cats 
LOOOOOOOOOVE! As you well know I can’t stand being female, but damned if I don’t love make-up. LOL You look great in either color combo, and I am downright jealous of those fantastic eyebrows of yours! It’s taken me years of careful plucking, waxing and other tortures to get my eyebrows out of that thing where they looked like I had two dead caterpillars stapled to my forehead, lmao
Now I have to ask: do you have any brand of anything that you’re hands-down loyal to at the moment? You mentioned Mary Kay. Do you use them exclusively or just for certain things, and do you find that they’ve got some products that work better for certain skin types, etc? My mother had a type of Mary Kay lipstick trio that she loved because it had one color of the three that was her color, plus the retractable brush was bitching. I love to talk make-up, LOL
By: Elphaba Thropp on April 7, 2010
at 2:32 pm
Oh, I totally agree with you. There are so many things about being a woman I hate, mainly my fucking period and having to shave my legs! Bah! But make-up sort of um, makes up for it. LOL.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but back in the mid 90’s, when think eyebrows were in, I over plucked. I’m talking, a lot! I’ll take a picture one day of how they look without the brow liner. But basically, I follow the natural shape, to a degree but draw most of it in. Oh actually, I may have a photo of me with no make-up I may be able to post.
I usually buy the least expensive stuff. There is a brand called Milani (http://www.milanicosmetics.com/) They aren’t super expensive and they totally rock! I love sparkly stuff, and they have a lot of shimmering shades.
I also really like Rimmel (http://www.rimmellondon.com/US/home.aspx) They are very reasonable and right now my foundation is a combination of the Milani cream to powder foundation and on top I finish with Rimmel powder mineral foundation. It works really well.
Oh, and I also use Bare Minerals multi task concealer (http://bareescentuals.com/Concealer/BM_SUB_CONCEALER,default,sc.html?psortb1=price&psortd1=1&view=null) That’s great for covering under eye circles. I use the Bisque color.
Oh, and another brand that I really love is Aromaleigh. (http://www.aromaleigh.com/minfacfounpo.html) They also do mineral cosmetics, but they are less expensive than Bare Minerals, and for about $1.00-$2.00 they will send you little samples of foundation or eye shadow or lipstick or anything. Their eye shadow colors are amazing! I mean really, there are colors that you would just die if you saw!
By: Wicked Cats on April 7, 2010
at 2:46 pm
Your brows are awesome! I can’t tell if anything is penciled past just filling them in for color to make them more solid looking (I have to do that, as I have BLONDE in my brows), and I know about eyebrows. See, back in the 90’s I was rocking the grunge look, so my brows were entirely natural, save for the occasional rogue hair that wanted plucking. I read Sassy magazine and their make-up tips were the best when it came to doing stuff that actually looked like you could pass for the same person with our without make-up (thanks, Jane!). About 6 years ago I dyed my hair black and dyed my brows to match. Yes, I’m that woman who doesn’t care what the box says, I will dye my eyebrows if I’m doing black, LOL Saves me a lot of bullshit on brow liner if I’m not wearing any make up. I also found out when I did that the first time that my eyebrows are seriously light colored naturally and seriously THICK naturally, and you can’t tell when they’re un-dyed how thick they are! So I plucked them to about half the thickness and what you see on me now is that. However, I have stopped dying my brows and just pencil them in now, LOL Eyebrow drama, much? 😉
I’m totally checking into the brands you mentioned. I hear Bare Minerals is the shit and a half, now I can just say, “Nuria told me it’s great!” and try it, LOL. I use Avon for all of my pre-make up skin care. They have products that actually earned me a wonderful compliment from Michael’s supervisor’s wife. She told her husband she’d seen us in walmart, but wasn’t sure it was us, because she saw TWO young girls and wasn’t sure which one of us was his wife! HA!! Her husband said, “well, the one with the turquoise hair is their daughter. The other one is his wife and she’s only a year younger than Michael”. Her response: Wow. Michael’s wife looks YOUNG! Needless to say I’ve promised this woman a drink, LOL
Right now my foundation is the only thing I can find in my shade (which is a harder match than people would think, LOL) that actually feels good, lets my skin breathe and I can just wear the powder is Manic Panic’s Vampire’s Veil. I use their lightest color, Moonlight. It’s sad, I wish I had found out about them years ago, because there isn’t a company I’ve found besides them that makes a powder you can wear by itself that won’t clog your pores AND comes in a light enough shade to not look bad on someone who has skin fair enough to nearly glow in the dark, LOL
I’ve used Rimmel and they’ve got a great variety of colors at a great price, I totally agree. I’m going to have to hit websites and check the other brands you’ve mentioned out. I can’t find a company that puts out a black eyeshadow that doesn’t wear off quickly and goes on evenly. That seems to be a problem with darker eyeshadows, they seem to want to go on unevenly, so I have to apply tons of it to get the solid look I want.
As per make up tools, what do you like? I’m Avon all the way with my lip brush. It was $5, and that fucker is the best brush I’ve ever used, period. You can line, you can fill and it’s retractable AND fits in the smallest purse you have for touch-ups. I want to get some of their other brushes, but this cheap set I got off of eBay works fine for brows and brushing on eyeshadow, smudging it or using the big brush for my foundation finish, so I’ve not really got the motivation I need to spend more on Avon.
OH, and What kind of skin care stuff do you use? You’ve told me you’re in your 40’s and I have a hard time believing that, as your skin looks more like you’re still in your 20’s. Seriously, that close up pic above of your eyes does NOT look like those eyes are going to age badly, assuming you ever show signs of aging, lol Honestly, your skin is beautiful. You’re aging like a vampire, my dear!
As per skin care, I moisturize with (you’ll laugh) Johnson and Johnson’s baby care lotion. It’s a 24hr lotion, it’s nice and creamy and absorbs quickly and because it’s developed for babies it’s not going to annoy sensitive skin. I use Avon’s Anew Clinical Instant Face Life under my make-up when I’m going somewhere, lol. Which is good, as it’s about $28 a bottle. Another near-$30 indulgence I can no longer live without is Avon’s Anew Clinical Eye Lift. This stuff is wonderful if you’ve not slept because you were up late. It has a gel for your upper lids and a cream for under your eyes. Lovely, lovely stuff. 🙂 If you go to http://www.avon.com and check out their Anew beauty quiz thingie, it will tell you based on your age and aging concerns (crow’s feet, fine lines, etc) what products they have to help minimize the look of said aging. I didn’t know I was so vain until I started using products that cost more than my wardrobe on my skin, ROFL!!!
One product that Michael even uses with me is Avon’s dermabraison stuff. I always wanted to try dermabraison but didn’t want to feel like I was sandblasting my face…..you’ve seen those kits, they look like they have a little sandblaster in them. LOL Avon makes it less scary and you just use it every few days according to the directions. Michael’s pores are more obvious than mine, so I’ve been able to tell the most difference in his skin versus mine. It works wonders on big pores and fine lines, assuming you have any…which from your pics I seriously doubt you do. ;P
Re: being female: The period is an ache and pain in every part of my ass, hips and joints, LOL Nevermind that great backache. As per shaving…..I’m going to be damned if a male-centered POV on body hair (which men have aplenty!) is going to determine how often I shave, LOL I’m one of those horrible women who goes months without shaving my legs. I figure A: it grows for a reason and B: I wear long skirts, who the fuck cares, right? LMAO
By: Elphaba Thropp on April 9, 2010
at 11:42 am
For my eyebrows, I try not to go beyond what I still have naturally, that way I think they look more natural. Hell, my dad’s wife has hers tattooed and omg they look so weird! I use to dye my hair red, and I also always tried to dye my brows, but they are so damned dark and thick, they never took the color. Thankfully, I’ve never been interested in being blond. lol
I’ll tell you something though about Bare Minerals. They tout being the best for sensitive skin, be careful. I stopped using the foundation powder because it made my skin itch so bad, especially if it was hot outside! For me, I found that the Aromaleigh powders felt better on my skin, and what I currently use which is a mineral powder from Rimmel doesn’t bother me. The only Bare Minerals product I’m using is the multi-task Bisque, which is a fantastic cover up powder. I use it to cover the dark circles under my eyes or any blemish I may have. This stuff rocks!
What I’ve been using as foundation recently is the Milani cream to powder and the Rimmel on top. I like it so far and it doesn’t feel super heavy. I apply the Milani sparingly, just enough to cover any redness and such, then brush the Rimmel on.
I actually don’t really use much on my face as far as moisturizer. I’m only just now beginning to us some on my face in the evenings because I’ve been washing my face with that L’Oreal 360 degree cleanser. When I get out of the shower I just put some Dove moisturizer and that’s pretty much it.
I guess I’m lucky. My mother had very fair skin, and I take after her. I’m not a sun person, so as a teenager and in my 20’s I never went to the beach and laid out in the sun, so I think that’s helped. And btw, didn’t you know I AM a vampire? LOL
I’m going to check out that Avon dermabrasion stuff. I’d love to find something to shrink my pores a bit.
Oh, and brushes, I buy almost all of mine at CVS. I buy a brand called Essence of Beauty ( http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/search/shop_all_results.jsp?trail=SRCH%3Amake-up+brushes&selectedGroup=facet&addFacet=1016%3AEssence+of+Beauty ) They are really awesome and not super expensive.
I found this really neat online store too that have a lot of stuff priced very well. It’s called Makeup Geek ( http://makeupgeek.com/store/ ) They have MAC shadows I did notice they had some black shades.
RE: Shaving: Hey, you’re lucky Michael doesn’t give a crap if you have hair or not. Some men think it’s gross. One of the good things about being single is not having to shave often. LOL, I haven’t shaved my legs for several weeks!
By: Wicked Cats on April 9, 2010
at 12:12 pm
I knew a woman who had all of her make up tattooed on. It looked beautiful on her, but I have seen cases of make up tatts gone awry and it looks ultra freaky, lol
Ty for the bare minerals heads up!! I’ve got seriously sensitive skin. I’m even allergic to sunscreen, so I’ve never been a sun person either, lol My sister talked me into laying out with her once for about 10 minutes. All it did was take the blinding glare off of me, loool!!
I have a concealer (also from Manic Panic), that is lightweight, blends great and is three different colors to take care of ANY kind of blemish, dark circle or redness. I don’t have to use it often, but it’s a life saver when I do.
I don’t know where I get my skin from. The coloring is my mom, but I’ve always had a great complextion for the most part and both my parents had bad skin. My younger sister too. My youngest sister has skin more like mine. My mom has Lupus, so she’s really careful about her skin now. I have to watch when I hug her so I don’t get any of her sunscreen on me, lol. She though it super witty of me to take my big umbrella everywhere due to my SPF allergy.
Re: vampirism, I thought I recognized a fellow creature of the night! Lol!
Re:shaving, I didn’t shave anything during either of my last 2 pregnancies and it doesn’t bother him a stitch. His opinion is that women who choose to go natural aren’t being gross but natural, and that’s their business, lol. As far as me, it’s still me, just unshaven. He’s still getting ass from the woman he loves, so it’s all good,lol.
Usually men who think things that occur naturally are gross are pussies, IMO. Hehehe
By: Elphaba Thropp on April 9, 2010
at 12:47 pm