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This Old Thing?

My daily wardrobe and makeup can get kinda boring (work trousers or pencil skirt, sweater/blouse, repeat), so I love to make more effort on the weekends.  I decided to try and get a little more wear out of a dress I'd bought 3 years ago.  The print is a little dating, but it's still just graphic black-and-white floral so I hope it leans towards classic. I just love the cut on this old thing!

Mod, '60s, TWIGGY!

I decided to keep my shoes, jewelry, and makeup up-to-date so it would be nice and casual.

Nails: OPI for Sephora IM Beauty

Lips: Maybelline Colorsensational Lipstick in Born With It, MAC Dazzleglass in Baby Sparks dabbed just in the center

Base: Smashbox Photo Finish foundation primer, Boscia BB Cream, BE Mineral Veil, E.L.F. Mineral Foundation in Light dabbed on as concealer only 

Cheeks: Stila Convertible Color in Camellia, DuWop Cheek Dual in Luz de Luna, Dior Aurora Bronzer, Estee Lauder Modern Mercury Powder Gelee

Eyes: TFSI, Maybelline Color Explosion in Caffeine Rush, Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes, Garnier Tinted Eye Roller, Anastasia Brow Gel

Jewelmint Brixton Earrings

Ulta and Pacsun Micro-haul

Today I went shopping for a short time with DH, and I thought I'd share my tiny haul with you guys because I only spent $17.99, total, including tax! I had Ulta rewards to cash in :)

Benefit So Hooked on Carmella, Macadamia Oil, Maybelline Colorsensational Lipsticks in Pink & Proper, Warm Me Up, and Born With It

The perfume was suggested by The Persian Babe from youtube, and it's so sweet and vanilla-y.  Definitely have to like foodie scents to like this one.  I have a miniature of this same scent I'm currently using, but I got this full-size free with the Ulta rewards.  I'm enjoying my sample of Ojon Damage Reverse Instant Restorative Hair Serum, but I have such short hair and I don't really want to spend a lot of money on styling products.  Why not try this Macadamia Oil for free with Ulta rewards?  Then, I had a $5 off $10 coupon I used on buy-2-get-1 free Maybelline lipsticks.  Born With It is just a back-up, but I thought Warm Me Up looked like a good MLBB nude candidate and various gurus have professed a love for Pink & Proper, so I checked nobody had made a tester out of them and snatched 'em up.

I had wanted floral-print shorts all summer, but I tend to wear dresses more often.  At $7, it was definitely time to indulge.

Do any shopping this weekend? 

REVIEW: E.L.F. Warm Bronzer and Golden Bronzer... "Bronzer"? Not so much.

All right, it's Saturday at last! DH and I slept in until 10:30 (ah, I remember back when I slept in 'til noon, but when your usual wake-up time is 5:30, five hours later is probably enough!)  On days when I can sleep in I don't really need much help from makeup to achieve a bright-eyed, glowing face, but for the other 300 days in a year it helps to turn to bronzer, blush, and highlighter/illuminator.
Fridays can be the worst.  I have the long week of sleep deprivation behind me, so I thought I would give these E.L.F. bronzers in Warm and Golden a whirl.

Sorry, they look identical in this picture! Warm is on the left, Golden on the right. 

Allow me to get right to the point.  IMHO, these are NOT bronzers.  For me, a bronzer doesn't just impart a glow, but it darkens the skin (preferably to a natural, tan color, though many lean orange).  On the plus side, neither of these had orange to them.  Each quadrant shade looked a bit different from the others when swatched.  When swirled and heavily swatched Golden definitely looked less pinky-peach than Warm, however...

E.L.F. Warm Bronzer, each quadrant swatched then swirled together to the right

E.L.F. Golden Bronzer, each quadrant swatched then swirled together to the right

I'm only NC25 and I haven't really gotten a tan this summer... these barely show up!  At least, they are a little bit different from each other.

Top Row is Golden, Bottom Row is Warm

I couldn't get the level of pigmentation shown on my hand to translate to my cheeks with any myriad of brushes (even eyeshadow brushes), and the hand swatches are all finger-rubbings, and nobody wants to finger-rub their face products!

On my cheeks, I couldn't tell one bronzer from the other, as their difference in depth was so minor.  Both did, however, impart a fine shimmer glow that I tried out a few ways:  applied just to cheeks, applied all over, and applied just as highlight on cheekbones.  I'd recommend these just on the tops of cheekbones, but you really don't need both of them.  If you want an all over sheen to the face, these actually do a decent job of that while evening out skintone imperfections though it's definitely a made-up look I'd save for evening.  The powders' sheen surprisingly didn't highlight my pores or fine lines much (I think they  managed to achieve more of a "blurred imperfections" effect).  On cheeks, it looks like I covered my blush with my regular facepowder to mute it.  This is actually useful to correct an accidental over-application of a pigmented blush (I tested this to see if it would work with Illamasqua Lover, and it worked a charm).  An anti-clowncheeks solution!

The packaging seems nice and sturdy, the mirror is large, and these look like they cost more than $3 for sure.  They were simply categorized improperly, if you ask me.  They make really good highlighting/finishing powders in the spirit of YSL Touche Eclat.  You don't need these if you have a separate powder highlighter, but I still think it's nice to have one of them.

What's at my desk (Tag?) - or, Office Lady Life

Happy Friday!  I've seen lots of people do "What's in my bag" posts of varying types (travel bag, makeup bag, purse, etc.) but I don't think I've seen a "What's in my cube" post before.  If you have a cubicle in an office, I tag you!
I thought this post would be interesting and revealing because people spend a huge chunk of their time at work, and possibly fun because it reminds me of one of the miniature collections of Japanese micro-toys called "OL Life" that I bought while I lived in Japan.  They sell lots of these little collections, with mini plastic food, mini dolls, or mini tools, in little boxes for 100-800 yen, and you can collect them all. They usually come with some crappy candies as well, and little collector cards.  The "OL Life" ones I bought amused me because they included things like mini pumps, stamps and ink pads, staplers, Starbucks coffee cup, folder dividers/inboxes, makeup compacts, etc., all Barbie-sized or smaller, and all themed like "Work Day to Going Out," which included the tiny Office Lady's little evening clutch bag and glitzier shoes, for example.  Kind of reminds me of the Stila Girls.  I wish I still had these to show you, but I lost a lot of little toy things when I moved back to the US. 
So, when I took these photos I thought of my own OL Life and how cute mundane things are when they're miniature, heh.
Anyway,  I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you keep at work :)

L'oreal Le Gloss 154 Watermelon Crush (very sheer, not lasting, but smells good and has a nice sheen), MAC Ever Hip, AHAVA Mineral Hand Cream, de~luxe Rosemary Mint Hand Sanitizer, Visine for Contacts (must have, I'm at the computer all day), CVS 99-cent 100% pure cocoa butter stick (smells amazing and is dirt-cheap), Jill Stuart Compact Mirror, Hello Kitty Panda peach-mint gum case from Japan (a coworker brought me) that is now holding paperclips.

I keep this stuff in stacked plastic drawers on my desk:  Loungefly Hot Dog and Hamburger key chains, Pineapple key chain from Oahu, New York and Company points card (I actually rarely buy office attire from there, but I probably should), Sarah name plate Michigan key chain a friend gave me in middle school/junior high, sewing kit card, duct tape (far more likely to use this than the sewing kit), mini dental floss, Deborah Lippmann the Stripper to go nail polish remover from a birchbox, Hello Kitty blotting linens, BCA tweezer and nail file set, cuticle pusher, nail clippers, Japonesque BCA lash curler, stamp and ink pad, post-it pad, Wet n Wild Natural Pressed Powder, E.L.F. blush and bronzer quad, dollar "jewel" tape measure, Mini Hello Kitty Notebook,  unopened Wet n Wild Speed Gloss in 943 Reckless, unopened Maybelline One by One Volume Express Mascara in Blackest Black, and Excedrin Migraine (which YOU probably need right now after reading this massive caption).

Let me know if you like this kind of post!

Hot Pink and Black

Hi all! Just a quick matchy-matchy look I wore to a coworker's wedding.  I'd like to note I did my makeup and took photos in daylight but this was an evening affair.

Sorry it's so blurry! The light was either too dim or too strong that day.  The dress was $14 from Kohl's and the sequined, skull-print platform pumps were from Hot Topic $32.  The nail color is Revlon Not So Blueberry.

Rohto Hada-Labo BB Moist Emulsion instead of Foundation, BE Mineral Veil, Jill Stuart Mix Blush Compact in Romantic Poppy (really love this but, day-amn! It's $65!) Covergirl LipPerfection Lipstick in Siren

TFSI, Jill Stuart Crystal Eyes Romantic Onyx (so sheer, pain in the BUTT to get all four shades in the quad this intensity, but nice sparkle), Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner pen, Stila Glamoureyes Mascara.

I bought the Japanese cosmetics from iMomoko.com with my own money, and I do recommend them.  They respond very quickly by e-mail if you have questions about your order.

HG and Five Enablers

If you've been reading beauty blogs for any length of time, eventually you're not going to be able to just watch your wishlist continue to grow.  You're going to cave and indulge in some of those products that are always raved about.
I keep up on over 30 beauty/fashion blogs on nearly a daily basis, all of which are entertaining or interesting in some way.  Within this selection I have certain go-to blogs, because I've tried some of their recommendations and discovered HG-worthy products as a result.
A lot of these are things I wouldn't have tried without their endorsement and review.

Vivianna does Makeup - Origins Vitazing /I think most people love her best for her gorgeous mane, Victoria's Secret Model-like tan, and lippie obsession, but her thorough review of Origins Vitazing led me to purchase it after years of avoiding their products because I had a reaction to a lipgloss in, like, 2002.  Origins definitely stepped up their game since then, but I wouldn't have felt confident to try it without her rave.

Will Work for Makeup - Milani Blush in Luminoso /Many blogs are raving about this now, but I saw it here first, and her pictures and personality that comes through in her writing are lovely.  She writes as if to a good friend, with honesty and enthusiasm.

Makeup and Macaroons - Illamasqua Blush in Lover /A blush and lipstick-loving Aussie (not to mention the drool-worthy macaroons!), Lilit loves a bold lip and cheek.  After trying a couple of her inexpensive lipstick recommendations and loving them, I had to try one of her pricier blush faves.  Illamasqua Lover blush, why did I wait so long to try you?  Oh, right, $$.
But so worth it!

Don't Call Me Jessie - Boscia BB Cream /I can't even remember how I found her blog; I think I was googling about whether other grown-up women love Disney and cute stuff (obviously, lots of us do!). She has an amazing fashion sense and makeup collection, and even got me watching Disney movies again (specifically, "Tangled," which transported me back to my childhood; it's great!).  I'm not that old, but sometimes I get that little voice saying I'm too old to love pink and Hello Kitty.  LOL so I guess her blog made me feel normal!  Anyway, I found lots of other great beauty blogs from her favorites.  The specific product I love and first saw on her blog is Boscia BB Cream, which offers pretty good coverage but doesn't feel like a layer of product on your skin... it's my go-to summer foundation this year.

Zoella - MAC Shy Girl Lipstick /This girl is cute as kittens! She doesn't do any really funky, out-there makeup, but her usual makeup look is amazeballs, her sense of style is boho-fabulous, and she is so charming in her Youtube videos to boot.  I think most people would trade one of their five senses to have her hair!  And she has that innate photography sensibility that can't be taught.  She often rocks a pale peach-nude lip, and I'm so glad her blog inspired me to try it as well.  The more I use MAC Shy Girl (she's wearing it in many blog archive photos) the more I absolutely love it.

I would love to have an ounce of the natural glamour that these bloggers have in spades! Thanks, ladies, for sharing a bit of it with your readers!