Please don't TEAL my credit card number...

My hair is looking shaggy and brassy so I've *cleverly* cropped it out of the photos! :-P

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting

So, it finally happened.  After years of shopping online with abandon at innumerable retailers, somebody finally hacked my information and made fraudulent charges on my credit card.
I feel so violated!
It is a small comfort to know I likely will not be held liable, and I know other people that have been victims of this kind of fraud.
To cheer myself up, I've done a colorful EOTD!  It's been a while since I reached for colors this vibrant :-D Works a charm <3

Method: Too Faced Shadow Insurance is my base all over, followed by the champagne shade (rehab, fourth from left) on the inner third of the lid applied with a flat eye shadow brush.  Next I applied the purple-tinged blue (bellbottom, second from right) to the outer 2/3 of just the lid with the flat brush, avoiding the crease to tame the bright blues for daytime.  Using just the side of the flat eye shadow brush, I carefully traced the turquoise (peggy, fourth from right) into the crease and outer v, being careful not to take it up too high (for this look, I'm sort of sneaking blue eyeshadows into my office by hiding them in the crease only to be seen when I close my eyes).  This makes for a harsh line, which I softened by using the slanted blending/crease brush with the champagne color (rehab) around the turquoise and up on the browbone as highlight.  Lastly, I used the pencil brush in the teal color (bukowski, third from right) to line the outer 2/3 of my lower lashline, used a white pencil on the waterline, and applied mascara to top and bottom lashes.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black, Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara 1 (decent mascara, but not really worth the $30 price tag, in my opinion), Wet n Wild Color Icon Eye Liner in White, Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Angeles, EcoTools flat eyeshadow brush (great for concentrating color, can be used to apply concealer), pencil brush, slanted crease brush

First Day of Fall FOTD

It's the first day of Autumn, officially, and we've got the weather... 53 degrees and rainy! I saw a woman hydroplane off the expressway on my commute this morning. Fortunately, she and her car were okay!  I just hope this weather isn't going to persist the entire season. It was really hard to photograph my FOTD this morning!  I could have reached for the standard fall colors (browns, rusts, etc.) but I was feeling greenish antiqued-gold, blue-glittered purple, and soot to reflect the gray days and rain we've been having.

Face: Origins Vitazing, Boscia BB, E.L.F. Personal Blend Mineral Foundation in Light, Garnier Tinted Eye Roller
Cheeks: Rimmel Sun Light Bronzer, Too Faced Cocoa Rose Blush, Too Faced Candlelight Highlighter

Eyes: Too Faced Shadow Insurance, MAC Paint Pots in Soft Ochre, Too Faced Honeymoon on inner 1/2 lid, Party Girl on outer 1/2 lid, Nice Ash in the crease, blended out with In the Buff (also used on inner corner and browbone), First Dance applied dry to upper lashline, L'oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Lips: What could be more Fall-like than the Clinique Black Honey Lip Duo?

August 2011 Favorites: My First Monthly Favorites Post!

Ooh, boy, it was hard to narrow down my favorites this month... because it's my first favorites post ever!  I had to really limit myself to stuff that got crazy love within the month of August, which was kind of difficult to separate from my favorites of the year.  At any rate, after much deliberation (and a consolation swatching of my faves that didn't make this list):

Boscia BB Cream: I'm sure I've said it before, but this has been my go-to foundation this summer.  I only need to blot once all day (not too shabby for a greasy girl), the SPF is pretty great for a U.S. color base product (SPF 27), the price isn't too high to stomach, and best of all I didn't have to buy it once because I kept using a code on Sephora.com to get a generous sample size!  If you're curious, the code is "bb cream" and I've used it three times (3x .35 oz = 1.05 oz.  Retail cost is $38 for 1.75 oz and each sample is a $7.60 value!).  It isn't moisturizing so I use Stila or Origins tinted moisturizers underneath (both work great).  It cooperates just perfectly for a flawless finish with my Beauty Blender and covers up most of my acne/post acne marks.  I'll probably wind up buying this if they stop running that code and my winter skin likes it.

Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstick in Born With It $8.49: It's worth at least $14.50 because it's my dupe of MAC Creme Cup that I actually prefer to Creme Cup! Comparison is here. I've been wearing this a lot with the Maybelline Color Explosion Palettes to the office, but to be honest it's most gorgeous with a matte smokey eye. Now that August is over I'll probably do that look more often (If I can grudgingly surrender my colorful Summer brights!).

Orly Oh Cabana Boy $8: Again, I already mentioned it but besides the Axxium Gel Lacquer by OPI, it's the only nail color I've used this month that I couldn't stop ooohing and ahhhing over.  It also lasted over 3 days each time, which is pretty great on me. I know it's probably going to be put away until next summer, but I look forward to busting it out again!

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Explosion Eye Quints $10.99 each:  I was really impressed by these. I don't like Maybelline's regular eye shadow line as it's not pigmented and chalky (bleh).  But these pack a color punch and you know I love color.  After I bought Forest Fury, I went back to the store during a sale and snapped up the rest (at least, what they had left!).  I was stopped twice by strangers the day I wore Forest Fury and asked if I was a makeup artist (yay!).  The price is not amazing but of course you can always find coupons and BOGO 1/2-off.  The shimmer topcoats really make these stand out and I'll continue to use them into Fall.  I love Too Faced's Matte Palette but I must admit I've been reaching for these more... even for office work days... now where is that promotion? Oops!

CVS Makeup Remover Wipes $5.49 for 25: This is my first month as a beauty blogger and I don't know what I would have done without these!  They do the best job at scraping off all those pigmented swatches and FOTDs!  Their price is not too far off from a pack of MAC Wipes at $28 for 100 ct., but I find those sting my skin a little. I also tried the much-raved Yes to Cucumbers makeup remover wipes (more expensive per wipe) but the fragrance was too strong and they didn't do as good a job at quickly removing makeup completely as the MAC or CVS wipes.  CVS wipes often go on sale, too. I just bought three two-pack boxes because they are on sale BOGO 1/2-off this week, in fact.  I also like that when I can't be bothered to really take care of my skin (kryptonite for the acne-prone, but I am a flawed human being!), if all I do is wipe off my makeup with one of these the damage is limited.  Best wipes I've tried!

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara $10: Now an essential, as it really drives home the entire point of my pixie hair cut; Channeling Twiggy! Full review here.

Jewelmint Trinity Bracelets $29.99: I am NOT a bracelets person. I have delicate (try skinny and bony) wrists that I like to look at when I'm feeling bloated/fat.  Reminds me that I'm only fat in the brain!  On top of that, my desk job has me typing up documents all the time and wearing bracelets is usually annoying, if not painful.  These do emboss my skin a little but I hardly notice it. They make my wedding set (white gold) look just fine with any other metal colors I could be wearing on any given day.  In fact, my wedding set is the only other jewelry I wear without fail every day.  I always want to change my jewelry to complement an outfit and these complement everything! I've worn them fancy and casual and never feel the itch to take them off.  Above and beyond my favorite Jewelmint item thus far (I have eleven pieces currently). I can see myself wearing these less often when I'm wearing a coat or long sleeves on a daily basis, but I never give this much love to a piece of jewelry that isn't a gift from DH/Mom & Dad.  They're a part of my body now :-P

Wow, it was so hard to narrow these down!  This Summer has been full of beautiful makeup and I'm just starting to love what I've hoarded for Fall.  I hope I turned you onto a product or two you might have easily dismissed.  Let me know your favorites if you don't put them up in your blog!

Anti-nothin' Serums

I'm not feeling so well today so I don't know if I'll be taking pictures or writing up a product review... hopefully my headache medicine will kick in!  Inspired by this post by the Muse, I thought I'd share some "miracle" anti-aging products I've tried entire bottles of that didn't do anything for me and were a big 'ol waste of $$$:

Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster $48 for 1 oz. (sticky to boot)

Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector $49.50 for 1 oz. (no difference, sensitized my skin a bit)

Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle and UV Damage Corrector $44.50 for 1 oz. (no difference)

Givenchy Vax'in for Youth $90 for 1 oz. (might be contributing to breakouts :( no improvement in skin, but the sample that got me to buy this made my fine lines disappear for a week! Actual product I paid for was a fail, though)

Lancome Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate $78 for 1 oz. (actually, I saw fine lines disappear temporarily, but this made me break out A LOT)

Dior Capture Totale Multi-Perfection Concentrated Serum $135 for 1 oz., but I didn't pay that, I got four .33 oz. samples! (I actually liked this as a light summer moisturizer, but it didn't do anything else)

Dior Hydralife Pro-Youth Sorbet line $40-$73 (I actually like this, but no lasting improvement and pricey. I feel Garnier things I've tried are comparable and way cheaper)

Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Peel Pads $45 for 60 pads (these last forever and seemed to diminish my fine lines at first but I've been using them for ages -on my third pack- and I haven't seen any change since that first couple of weeks. I think I won't buy these a fourth time, because I'm preferring Kate Somerville Exfolikate for Acne)

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm $45 for 1.7 oz., a classic product and was a good foundation primer back in the day but now it just seems majorly heavy and newer products are better

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pads $18 for 10, are a great facial self-tanner but I don't think they do anything "anti-aging"

Kate Somerville Exfolikate Acne Clearing Exfoliating Treatment $65 for 2 oz. is amazing at exfoliating.  Blackheads and clogged pores seem to pop themselves out with the tiniest nudge after I use this. But it doesn't do anything for my fine lines (worry line between brows, horizontal forehead lines, or nasolabial folds on sides of mouth). I am going to keep getting this for my adult acne, though!

I used a Neutrogena line with copper peptides or something about eight years ago. It didn't touch my fine lines, but it did seem to "firm."  However, I believe it's discontinued (figures, they'd discontinue something that works...)

Semi-related Bonus:  Mederma Cream $21 for 20g, didn't do anything for the scar on my nose (yes, it's a scar), BIG frownie-face.  I used it faithfully for six weeks, however I did use it six years after I got the scar in the first place so that might be the issue. It's not that expensive but I was really disappointed that I was unable to reduce that scar as it's smack-dab in the middle of my face.  Have any scar treatments on the market ever worked for you?

If you know of any products I haven't mentioned, or have a story about one that I did mention, please comment below! I'd love to get a recommendation for anti-wrinkle/firming/dark-spot-corrector/scar-reducing "miracle" products that worked for you :)

REVIEW: Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara is a $10 little wonder with the cutest little mascara brush head. It allows you to reach and enlarge every last tiny wisp of a lash along your bottom lash line with ease. It comes in both black and brown (black shown here).  I don't always try to put regular mascara on my bottom lashes, in part because I fear I'll just make a big tar-like smear down there and ruin my concealer work, but now I might be tempted to rock the Twiggy look of super-long lower lashes every day! How did I live without this before?

without

Eyes: TFSI, NARS Grand Palais Eye Shadow Duo, E.L.F. Studio Blush in Gotta Glow as highlight, Clinique Black Honey Cream Liner on upper lashline, MAC Zoom Lash Mascara on upper lashes

Cheeks: NARS Grand Palais dusky rose shade as blush, E.L.F. Gotta Glow as highlight

with

Eensy weensy brush! Beautiful tube! <3