Sucker.

Some time ago I saw an ad for Avon's Spectracolor lipstick featuring Reese Witherspoon, darling of the direct selling cosmetics universe. It's supposed to give you 7 colours in 1 lipstick, enabling you to carry only a very small purse to the Emmy awards, just like Reese Witherspoon. I talked to a friend about it, who also confessed to having an urge to buy this lipstick after seeing the ad. We're not really huge Avon people and I have only seen Reese Witherspoon in God-awful movies like Sweet Home Alabama (Legally Blonde was kinda good), so it was all a bit odd.


Anyway, I ended up buying that lipstick off Ebay and it's a total lie.

Does this look like seven colours to you?



No. It looks like two, maybe three different shades if I'm being generous.

The pretext for this lipstick is a terrible pretense. Most of the colours are the same, and the dial exists mostly because we're suckers for gimmicks (see: Vibrating Mascara). There's a dial which ostensibly allows you to 'turn up the intensity' but realistically, since the lipstick is much lighter and less pigmented than real lipstick, you have two shades to work with: sheer pink, and sheer purple which, to its credit, if you layer it on does look kind of like what Reese Witherspoon has on in the commercial, if you'd applied it carefully and heavily and used lipliner.

Which is another thing. What are these seven lip products that this chunky plastic monstrosity wishes to replace? I need lip balm and possibly a lipstick or a lipgloss, or for very fancy occasions, a lipliner. Any spare lip products rattling around in my bag remain because I'm lazy. I suggest that most of this lip product handbag clutter that supposedly inflicts women on a regular basis revolves around things that a 7-in-one lipstick and lipgloss can't replace, like lipbalm, lip pencils, and lip brushes. Anyway, why would I take a bulky twisty lipstick with a cap that keeps falling off, when I can pack a flat lip palette that will take up less space. The lipstick itself is huge, far bigger than any normal lipsticks I have. A lipstick, lipgloss and lipliner would take up less space in my bag than this Spectracolor thing does.

The applicator sucks ass too. It's similar to the Too Faced Glamour Gloss applicator except with a weird smooth plastic tip with large perforations instead of a sponge-tip which would make more sense, and feel less cold and hard and cheap on your mouth.

The other colour you see in the swatch is Mary Kay's Apple Berry lipstick.

I'm not really sure why I have it even.

It's apparently Mary Kay's best selling colour, and the colour of choice for "A Kiss of Country", a campaign that country music, battered women and Jewel Kilcher. I got it from Ebay which is apparently what you do to a) buy Mary Kay lipsticks for 1.99, and b) avoid scary Mary Kay ladies.

It's okay. I'd describe it as a very Mary Kay colour, a kind of grown-up colour that is mostly inoffensive but just a little bit in your face.



It's a kind of metallic berry-orange-red and I mean, it's okay. It looks like it's an attractive colour on camera so maybe I'd wear it if I needed a photo taken. Otherwise I'd wear this colour to work or an official worky thing or a (large) family dinner or something, but not for fun. No. Not fun.

Collection 2000 BMX Bandit

One layer of Collection 2000 BMX Bandit. It's so much better than Barry M nail polishes which are more expensive and go on watery and streaky. This applies easily and covers well with one coat, dries quickly, and is the prettiest periwinkle blue. I think it actually might be the colour of my Periwinkle Crayola crayon I liked when I was little. Total win.

BMX Bandit is part of the Collection 2000 Hot Looks nail polish which includes 80s colour names like Button Moon (weirdly a blue-green not yellow),and Dynasty (lilac). They're like less than 2 quid each but are often discounted at 2 for £3 or something like that.

Cargo in Boots

I am fond of the Cargo blush, even though I only ever had one and my husband hated the colour passionately (The Big Easy blush, kind of glow-in-the-dark on me).

There was a time when you could only get Cargo at selected large Sainsburys around the country. In Central London you could get it from the Gloucester Road Sainsburys, and you could only choose from a limited range of Cargo products. Now an even more limited range of Cargo products are available right in Boots, namely the Lash Activator they're advertising in Grazia, and this 7 in 7 kit that gives you 7 Cargo products (individual products not sold in Boots, but possibly available in a Cargo-carrying Sainsburys some distance away) and it's £35.



Contents:
Cargo OneBase foundation in 02 (Light medium) - the 7 in 7 kits available in American Sephora comes in three different kits with different colours, but I think Boots has a different kit with only has the Light medium foundation.
Essential palette in warm neutral - each strip is labelled with where you should apply it.
LashActivator
BeachBlush
Black eye pencil
Lipliner in a 'neutral rose'
Lipgloss with 'Timestrip' in a 'shimmering dusty rose'. Timestrip is a little window in the lipgloss cap that turns red. When it's totally red it's time for you to throw out your gloss. Apparently this lasts nine months.

The kit contains the traditional default neutral colours in kits. Good for Christmas. Possibly excellent for Christmas, since everything's full-size and you could technically separate the items and repackage them for different people.

The Timestrip lipgloss is kind of gimmicky (like many things in Cargo: blu-ray, Timestrip, plantlove), but it's things like it that make me feel all old school and frugal, and only have two or three lipglosses at a time, and throw them out every year in an organised way. The downside to the Timestrip gloss would be the guilt you feel when tossing out a relatively new, not inexpensive gloss when you know you've got years of gloss in your kit. Giant Juicy Tubes and tubs of tinted lip conditioner.

This article says to keep lipstick only a year, and cream blush even less.

Maybe it's time they started making smaller (and proportionately cheaper) tubes of lipgloss and lipstick, and especially mascara. Tubes one person could actually use up. I like those small gwp mascaras from Estee Lauder or whatever because I change mascara every three months, which is apparently what you should do. My current favourite mascara is Benefit Bad Gal Lash, and I sure as hell won't buy a full size every three months.

It's great though. It's great. I like the big bristly brush

Alternatively, I (and you) could pare down our more perishable/non-powder cosmetics to the most basic, bearing in mind that most colours could be mixed. And we don't really need 10 shades of pinky-peach lipstick in our collection.

Urban Decay Gash

,I've still been hunting for a good dark red lipstick. I've always liked Urban Decay and hopped by their counter to try some on. I used to have the Gash lipgunk but it made me look like a tranny - just not a good look for me - so I tried the Gash lipstick and lipliner, which look kind of different.



Gash looks like a true red rather than the deep blood red I wanted, and the 24/7 lip pencil looks purple. I'm glad I didn't get them both off the internet. I could use the lipliner with the old UD pleather pencils in Rubber and Perversion but it's too cool toned to give that blood red look I want.

Illamasqua Dixie cream blush

My mama came over last week for my graduation. We went to lovely places like The Laden Showroom, Absolute Vintage, and Selfridges.

I bought Illamasqua's Dixie cream blush from Selfridges. I was debating between that and Rude, and my mama decided that Dixie looks more natural on my skin.

I personally prefer cream blushes to powder. I have a harder time blending in powder to achieve a natural look (it seems to sit on my skin more), and cream blushes are more convenient to carry around with me since I don't need a brush.

Dixie is supposed to be a peachy-pink but looks much more pink on me. My skin seems to suck the warm tones out of colours.



The texture is a lot wetter and more slippery to apply than Nars cream blushes. Nars' is definitely less oily but Illamasqua's is sheerer and easier to blend due to its texture. I find that Nars lasts longer on my skin. I dislike the texture of MAC blushcremes which are hard yet kind of greasy, so Illamasqua outshines MAC.

The prices for MAC and Illamasqua cream blushes here are the same at £16, but for 6g vs 4g. Nars is also cheaper than Illamasqua at £18 for 5.5g.

MAC and Nars cream blushes are both cheaper than Illamasqua, at £16 for 6g and £18g for 5.5g, vs £16 for 4g. I like both, but prefer the drier texture of a Nars cream blush myself. I'd say it's a matter of personal preference.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection foundation vs Rimmel Lasting Finish 16 Hour Foundation

Both Collection 2000 and Rimmel have come up with a foundation that's supposed to last sixteen hours. They both come in pretty limited shades. The darkest shade that Collection 2000 offers is too light for me, while the darkest Rimmel shade just matches me. To put things in perspective, I wear a Bobbi Brown foundation in Honey.



Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Foundation in Honey (top) and Rimmel Lasting Finish 16 Hour Foundation in Natural Beige (bottom).

I ended up with Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse foundation in Sun Bronze - I don't know what the equivalent American shade is. The October issue of British Cosmopolitan mag (Cosmo's Beauty Awards issue) claims that Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse is the Ultimate Foundation, but they also claim that Great Lash is the Ultimate Mascara, so I don't know. I'll be test driving this foundation for a while.

Barry M blusher swatches

ltr: pink orchid, rose, strawberry, raspberry, apricot, terracotta

Since I'm unemployed newly graduated, today I had nothing much to do except some housework and browse job sites, so I walked into Superdrug and swatched all the Barry M blushers.

They're new in. It's taken Barry M forever to come up with blushers, but these look pretty good. They go for £4.50 each in Superdrug and are highly pigmented. Like most other Barry M products the blushers address your basic need, ie. to put colour on your face, so all the blushers look pretty matte and not shimmery, which is good I guess. I know people are turned off by shimmer in blushers sometimes because they're more mature and have strict job roles, etc. I know that the Barry M website describes them as sheer, and I reckon they could be applied sheerlyw, but they're pretty bright. You'll have to be careful to not go overboard with them.

My favourite out of the lot is Strawberry. It looks like a cute reddish pink on my skin and I'd buy it, except I've got quite a few blushers I don't use regularly and I feel a bit guilty buying more, especially when I'm not in education employment or training.

Apricot looks a vivid orange in the pan rather than apricot - I've never used any blushers that are quite so brazenly orange but I must admit I like it. It looks like it could give a really good burnt flush if used right. I'd like to see someone do a comparison between Apricot and the ever popular orange blush Nars Exhibit A.

The Terracotta: I thought it looked brown in the pan but it looks kind of mauvey/mauvey-brown on me. If you're ordering it off the internet and you think it's brown, well, it ain't. Maybe it'll look browner if you're fairer or have a cool skintone or something. I don't know. It's my second favourite and the most subtle of the lot.

I'd say all the colours look good on darker skin except for Pink Orchid, which looks a bit chalky and purply on me. It shows up easily, just looks a bit weird.

Jewel Kilcher: her makeup, and a Jewel-inspired FOTD

Remember Jewel Kilcher? Way back in the 90's she sang Foolish Games and yodelled, and hooked up with a rodeo cowboy. She's still in country music or something. Apparently she's writing for her new country album, and talked with AOL about clothes and makeup. In summary, she uses YSL Mascara, Armani foundation, MAC Brit Wit blushcreme and Midtone Sepia CCB, and Blinc Kiss Me eyeliner.

I know about this from a twitter post by James McMurtry. He sings country songs and is really rather good but not that popular it seems. He does gigs in London from time to time, I meant to see him the last time he was here but haven't yet.

To celebrate this rediscovery of Jewel I'm doing a Jewel-inspired FOTD.



It's a bit much so I toned it down. I also don't have bright pink blush or that lipstick - I'm a bit afraid of bright colours, this makeup blog thing is kinda helping me with that.




What I used:

Eyes: Rimmel eyeliner and Benefit Bad Gal Lash, MAC Waternymph eyeshadow, the purple colour from the Sleek Originals palette, Bourjois Ombre Stretch in Violet Profond.
Cheeks: MAC X-Rocks
Lips: MAC Craving lipstick

I am back!

I disappeared!

I've been doing my dissertation etc. etc. and now I'm finally done with university and graduating on the 30th with an MSc in Pharmacognosy. Yes I chose a relatively specific and obscure course ("Sounds like alchemy," someone said to me) but I have an undergrad degree in biology and my dissertation project was on natural antimicrobials, so I hope I have a good chance of getting a job. So far I've applied to a microbiologist job and a job testing pee for drugs, I have a somewhat good feeling about the pee job. I feel that testing pee for drugs is within the range of my skillz.

Anyway. I did watch the final episode of True Blood but because of all the above dissertation etc. I haven't made any screencaps yet. The ending felt a bit anticlimactic, I'm not all thrilled and eagerly anticipating the next season like I did with Supernatural and Bones (Supernatural and Bones!) but it was alright. I did try to do a lipstick look like in the True Blood poster though, but failed desperately.


I have huge fucking teeth yall.

I used a Jordana lipliner in Silver Lilac but everything still bled desperately, I think I really do need a decent quality red lip liner. Like I'll pick up a Barry M one or something.

Looking at that picture, there's obviously a darker liner around the mouth. I tried to do that with an Urban Decay pleather pencil in Rubber, and put gloss over the top. I recommend a squeezy gloss or to put it on your fingers first. That red rubs off on the applicator. You can also see the pink 'the inside of my lips' bit on my bottom lip - I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. It's just a different type of cell or something I'm not quite sure, but it's wet and lipstick doesn't stick to it. And it's on the inside but it shows when you talk or open your mouth.

I used Urban Decay Pleather Pencil in Rubber as a base and as a kind of liner. This is old school stuff. You can probably find it on Ebay still or discount cosmetics outlets but I wouldn't bother. The main draw is that it's like a huge pencil and theoretically you could line your lips with it and colour them in, but it's slippery - I'd say more slippery than MAC Frost formula lipsticks so it slides everywhere. I used to be into gothness and, by association, pleather and Urban Decay (though they seem to have a way more cheerful and girly image now), so I still keep them around.

MAC Red lipstick over that. This is a new acquisition. I love this lipstick. It's less orange than Barry M Fire Engine Red but applies more of a true red on me than the other red lipsticks I have. It's also the first Satin formula lipstick I have, I've only tried Frost and Amplified finishes, and this feels 'wetter' than both of them.



I've compared it to the Prestige Velvet lipstick because I seem to have lost my So Scarlet lipstick. The last time I used it was when I went to a concert. I know I brought it back so it must be somewhere in the room, maybe under the bed or in a bag or something.

The gloss I used is something I bought when I went to Tokyo for my honeymoon. It's called 'Curvy Lip Silicone' and is made by Sony CP. I thought Sony made TVs and shit, but it seems in Japan they make makeup as well. There are a few colours available but I chose the clear one as the most versatile. It goes on shiny but feels really really sticky, stickier than Juicy Tubes.

This is one of my most treasured makeuppy things, because it is from Japan and applies with a LITTLE SPATULA! I'm a sucker for gimmicks.




I still have a few ideas about that True Blood red vampire poster opening sequence lipstick though. I possibly need a more burgundy/blood red colour, which I don't possess. Everything I have seems to be much darker or much pinker. I'll give it a go again.

Red lipstick day one: Revlon Sinnamon lipstick

Red lipstick day one: I used Revlon's Crushed Velvet Lip Creme in Sinnamon. In summary: it's a red lipstick, except the outside's covered in silver glitter that are essentially irrelevant to the actual lipstick. This looks like a light pink on the Revlon website but they lie. It's a dark brownish red. Hell it's that colour in the tube. Seriously, the person who decided to put up a light pink swatch on that website must've been trippin.





And I don't think it's still on sale either. You can just get to the Revlon page surreptitiously, from google.

Other things I'm using: Victoria's Secret Mosaic blush in Godess, MAC studiofinish concealer in NW35, Rimmel eyeliner. The nail polish is NYC long-wearing nail enamel in Skin Tight Denim Creme.

New In Shops Post: Barry M Blushers and Self-Challenge

Barry M finally has blushers. I always thought they weren't making any because they expected you to use that damn dazzle dust as a generic coloured powder for just everything. They're priced at £4.50 each, like the dazzle dusts and much cheaper than their bronzer (which is supposed to be similar to Nars Laguna, I have neither so I can't talk about that). They're available in six colours, all of which look really bright on their website. Barry M stuff is generally good and well-pigmented so I have great hopes for these blushers. I haven't seen them in my local Superdrug yet but I'll update you when I do. I kind of like the look of the raspberry one and will be trying it out when I see it.

I'm wearing that Barry M red lipstick again today. I've decided to face my fear and wear red lipstick for the whole of next week. This will also prompt me to use red lipstick in different looks, not just with neutral eyeshadow and black eyeliner. Yay!

Barry M Pillar Box Red

I said yesterday that I thought I should get a true red lipstick and, well, I work fast. I got Barry M's Pillar Box Red lip paint as recommended by Glamour and Look.

Barry M products don't actually have names on the label, this is #121.



The name is accurate, it's actually pillar-box, Royal Mail red.








The good news is it isn't shiny. I don't like shiny bright red lips, I think it makes me look like I've eaten something in sticky red sauce, like BBQ ribs or something. It also controllable and doesn't go on like a bright wild red immediately, I've got like about three coats on in the picture so it looks like an actual bright red.

I'm still not that fond of the texture of Barry M lip paints. This lipstick doesn't seem to dry out my lips, but I don't know. Possibly I'm just used to lipglosses and sheer, moisturising lipsticks so the lip paints feel drier and more powdery. It just goes on less smoothly than my other lipsticks, it's a personal thing.

It might be a smidge too orange on me too. I'll have to do up a whole face with the new lipstick to see how it goes, or if I'll have to mix it with a darker red before I can go out. It's an affordable price though which is good if you're just trying out a colour or it's a colour you won't use often. I sometimes wish that lipsticks came in tiny tiny tubes, especially in colours like fuchsia and red and things so you could buy the amount you'd reasonably need.

Bright red is a difficult colour. I have fairly full pouty lips ('like a little heart', said my husband), and fear walking around with the wrong red lipstick on and looking like a horrible racist 1920s caricature. Kind of like this:



Yeah that's right. I said it. I'm not sure if other people feel this way but don't say it, or I'm just fucked in the head. It's partly why I find dark red lipstick and sheer red stains more comfortable to wear. I especially have this problem with glossy red lips. To be fair, it might just be because bright red is just so, well, bright. It's kind of an out-there colour. If I were a white girl I'd probably be just as terrified of looking like a clown.



Red lipstick does bleed if you aren't careful.

But don't be insecure. I see girls of all types and colours wearing bold red lipstick and looking great. I definitely do need to sit down and create a whole retro look (foundation, etc.) to be able to wear that lipstick and be comfortable with it. It's just a thing that I need to wrap my mind around.

In the same vein...

... those of you looking to recreate Sophie-Ann's hair might like these livejournal communities:

diyretrohair
vintagehair

I'm personally fond of the 50s look and I do it sometimes when I have loads of free time (not now). I've been to Miss Betty's Beauty Parlor on Carnaby Street and she's simply amazing, it's just that it cost me fifty quid.

True Blood inspired makeup

Short post before I go out. I know I said I'd use the MAC Prom palette today but I felt a bit sexy and decided to do Sophie-Ann inspired makeup. I used these on my eyes: black Rimmel eyeliner, MAC Boot Black liquid eyeliner, Benefit Moon Beam for highlighting, Urban Decay Strip (this works for me but I don't know if it'll work if you're fairer, I've watched the episode again and her eyeshadow might possibly be a light, faintly green or blue shade, so Aquavert might work well though it's too white on me), and Benefit Bad Gal Lash. I used the Dr Pepper lipbalm and MAC So Scarlet lipstick on my lips. I don't have a matching lipliner to use with red lipstick though I should so I just put it on very carefully. I also used my Boots Natural Collection tinted moisturiser today, MAC concealer in NW35, and MeMeMe Pussycat Lip & Cheek Tint.

I decided I need a true red lipstick though. It achieves looks no other shade of red can. Possibly I'd just not got the right shade of retro red before.

MAC Rock It! Prom Palette

One of my favourite makeuppy things is my MAC Rock It! palette. It's the prom palette from I think 2004, and is mostly pink glitter. I used it today, and I'm going to use it again tomorrow since I'm going on a sort of 'date' with my husband. I'd say this is a really sweet palette for a date, for prom (like it was meant for), or for raving/clubbing, or for school. I remember really really wanting it when i was 19 but didn't want to pay full retail price for it. I forgot all about it until I saw it on livejournal recently for much cheaper so I was like, yeah, that's cool, I want that. I still wouldn't pay full retail price for it even though I love it to bits, it's one of those things that's just all lovely and girly, kind of like My Little Pony and tutus and rainbows, but it's seriously more My First Makeup Kit than other palettes you could get for a comparable price.



Pink glitter case!



That said the shades are rather lovely. The glitter cream (Rock It) is apparently comparable to the Playmate Pink glitter cream. The pink shows up on me as a highlighty kind of sheen but the glitter is large. This is like rave glitter, people. Personally I don't think it's similar to a cream colour base, it's much much drier but in a way that's good since I find the ccbs pretty oily. I use it on my cheekbones though I don't advise it for your day job, but I've also used it on my eyelids without going blind and, y'know, it just shows up as chunky glitter. It reminds me of a stack of glitter creams I got when I was 18. They were like cheap drugstore schoolgirl makeup but were similar, except they were a bit creamier. Those were awesome.

The last gloss (Up The Beat) is pretty much just sheer on me though it looks peachish in the pan, but the first and second are rather good. The first is a cute shimmery baby pink (Pretty Fab), and the second is a light berry pink (Berry Rush). They're all pretty but standard glosses.

Today I used Pretty Fab, the glitter cream on my cheekbones and eyelids, and Stila All Over Shimmer liquid in #6, Barry M Candy dazzle dust (#58), MAC Beauty Marked, MAC Boot Black liquid eyeliner, and my new mascara for September, Benefit Bad Gal Lash on eyes.



I'm not sure if you can see the glitter on my cheeks. I think you can.





I wanted a light pink eyeshadow and at first wanted Ice Pink or Pale Pink dazzle dusts, but when I tried them on in the shop they showed up too white on me. Candy is a really good light pink for darker skintones. I haven't got another pink like it but it looks like it should be a fairly common shade. I'm extremely fond of it.

True Blood Makeup: eps 9-11, and red lipstick.

Yeah I do owe you all some True Blood screencaps. The True Blood makeup has just been so boring until the latest episode.



I swear that girl gets more and more like Dita Von Teese every time I see her.

It looks like she's got some blue-ish silvery eyeshadow on (Urban Decay Strip is very good) but I might just be making that shit up, and this fancy powder compact. I don't have a nice powder compact like that and have no clue what it is. YSL? It's a little gold box.



Nah I don't think it's that, but, y'know, it's pretty fancy all the same. Now I have perspective enough to know I don't need it since I'm not really into the whole powder thing and I've already got a powder, but, y'know. If I were the Queen of Louisiana I'd buy that shit. It's got a heart in it! Aww.

Now the obvious: retro-red lips. Yeah there'll be a MAC lipstick you can wear that'll look like that, MAC Red, Ruby Woo, or something, but red is a pretty common colour and I'm sure you'll be able to find an equivalent shade fairly easily. I've used one from Revlon to good effect, it just made me look like a transvestite hooker. This shade of red just ain't for me. Everyone's got a shade of red they think they look the hottest in, but if you're looking for a red like Sophie-Ann's don't get So Scarlet.

Of course I had to put on a red lipstick after the episode and I put on some So Scarlet - it's the red I've committed myself to and it's a kickin' red, but it's nothing like that. It's nothing like Hadley's red lipstick neither (see below). It's way pinker and more cool-toned. It's LE as well, but if you want it you shouldn't be like trawling the internet looking for it. I swatched my red lipsticks and found that my cheap li'l Prestige lipstick is extremely similar to So Scarlet. Prestige lipsticks are alright as well. I find the MAC creamier but So Scarlet is the Amplified formula. I'd say Prestige is just a bit drier than that, and I much prefer the Prestige lipstick over Barry M, which I find a bit powdery. I know Barry M is pretty popular but they don't have a great range of lipstick colours, and no lipstick should feel kind of dry and powdery. The Prestige lipstick colour is a bit sheerer and a tiny bit pinkier than So Scarlet, but when you layer it on your lips they look extremely similar. Hell, they look extremely similar in the tube.







That being said I still have both. I use the MAC for specialer events, like going somewhere kind of posh or a birthday. I guess I'm just attracted to the same colours, over and over again.



Hadley has a warmer brickier shade of red on. It reminds me of an old lipstick I had. It was Nars Spanish Red and was a wonderful self-treat that was way beyond my student budget, until it melted in my drawer into a pool of expensive wax and carmine. Alas. That lipstick was the bomb, I'll get it again when I'm making a good taxable salary. Employ me! Yes.

Nobody else had very noteworthy makeup, except Hoyt's Mama:



she's matched her lips to her earrings to her clothes,



and has gone and glued scary dead spiders on her eyes,

and the Fangtasia White Trash Daytime Guard lady,



who I swear to God is using MAC's Bare Truth lipglass,

but I'll run through their faces anyway from episodes 9 and 10 in a brief montage. They're pretty much all wearing what they've all been wearing most of the season.



Apparently there are only one or two more episodes until the end of the season? Bizarre happenings have occurred in Bon Temps that weren't in the books. Alan Ball has taken the characters and now they inhabit a strange, sexual, Spanish-Moss-draped world with liberal definitions of maenads.

Oh no I haven't posted in some time.

I haven't posted in a real long time. It's been my last week in the lab and things have been crazy, but things are simmering down now. I haven't put on any fancy makeup since last weekend.



I tried to do a light blueish eye, using Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse eyeshadow in Heavenly Blue, Lancome Color Design eyeshadow in Personal Style (I got this in a swap, I think it's one of the American colours), and Urban Decay eyeshadow in Goddess. I also used an eyeliner and mascara, etc. etc. the same ones I've been using all along.



Here's a better swatch of UD Goddess. One layer just don't seem to cut it.



UD Goddess is a great great colour, I just used a bit in the outer corners. It's a dark shimmery blue and is good for blue or green eye looks when you want to keep it light and not use, like, black. The Lancome eyeshadow feels extremely soft, but is unfortunately mostly sheer with shimmer. If you're going to spread it out it becomes pretty much translucent except for small metallic shimmer, and you'll definitely need more than one layer. It's a pity because it's a very pretty light cyan-ish colour, although the shimmer might be a bit too much for some people.

The worst eyeshadow is the Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse. I just hate the texture of this. It feels kind of like mousse, but drier, kind of like, remember when you played with Play-Doh, and you've rolled it a bit too much that it's kind of dry and crumbly - that's what it's like. And maybe most things can be described with Play-Doh analogies.

It's hard to control the amount of mousse eyeshadow you pick up since it clumps together and then it's hard to manipulate, since it crumbles away easily. I use my fingers to apply it and I always seem to apply this unevenly, so I give up. It's okay if I've got plenty of time to spend on eye crumblings, or I just want a sheer layer of one colour on my lid. The colour magically vanishes from my lids anyway, leaving, yes, sparkles! It's nowhere near adult-appropriate shimmer neither, it's more like sparkly magical fairy dust glitter, glitter that's free - it roams around your face of its own free will. That's the kind of glitter it is. The upsides are: a) it's cheap, and b) it's a very nice colour, more on the periwinkle side, but then I'm partial to light shimmery blues.