F.O.T.D. featuring Sally Hansen's Natural Beauty inspired by Carmindy

Metallic

Everyone knows Carmindy as the makeup artist from TLC's What Not To Wear. She has teamed up with Sally Hansen to bring a new line of cosmetics to a drugstore near you. They are reportedly formulated with minerals, natural extracts, active botanicals and are paraben-free. They hit drugstores a few weeks ago and the beauty blogs have been buzzing since then.

For better or worse, I've never been one to buy an entire collection of makeup. Usually, I try 1 or 2 things and go back for more if I like them. For this collection, I chose an Instant Definition Eye Shadow Palette in Metallic ($7.99). It was hard to choose just one palette because they are all seriously beautiful in muted, highly wearable earth tones. At one point, I had four of them in my hands and forced myself to put some back.

Here are some swatches of the three colors in the palette:

Contour, lid, highlighter (left to right)

And here's the F.O.T.D that I put together. I used only this palette on my eyes along with my usual High-Impact Clinique mascara. On my cheeks I have a light wash of my current favorite blush, Daydream, from Everyday Minerals. There's nothing on my lips because I was running late and trying to get out of the house (I'm being completely honest here).

And here are some close-ups of the eye that I did. Nothing fancy, I simply followed the instructions: Smooth medium shade over entire eyelid. Blend deeper shade into crease. Use highlighter under brow to brighten.. It doesn't look like the liner shadow is coming through in the pictures, but in real life you can see it better.

The colors are well pigmented for a drugstore brand and, after three days of use, I can say that they are long-wearing as well. Overall, I'm impressed with the Carmindy line. You can find them for yourself at drugstores and at ULTA.com. I might even be going back to get a few more...

Excellent reviews of other Sally Hansen Natural Beauty can be found here and here. What's interesting is that both of these reviews compare the products favorably to La Mer products which are significantly more expensive. Nice work, Carmindy!

Metallic Monday

The Life of a Ladybug posted an interesting question last week where she asked (literally): What's your thing? Meaning, what are your current beauty obsessions? Red lips? Brightly painted nails? Smoky eyes? For me, I'm rocking the metallics recently. So in that theme, here are my current tips & toes.

ULTA brand polish in Burnt Sugar (free with reward coupon! yes!)
indoor lighting without flash

Essie in Ritzy Business (on sale for $3! yes!)
indoor lighting without flash

Ritzy Business is a unique color and difficult to describe: some sort of gold/silver/bronze metallic hybrid. There might be a reason that it was in the sale bin. As is typical of the Essie polishes that I've tried, it suffers from uneven application. That being said, I'll continue to use it because I love the color. I bought an orange dress for a few weddings this summer and I think this polish will look awesome with it.

I hope everyone has a gold-star week!

Tea Party F.O.T.D.

I hosted a ladies tea tea party today and, for the event, decided to keep the makeup simple and light. I went with a white, slightly shimmer eye shadow with a pale peach crease color, natural nude blush and a sheer pink lipgloss.

Face:
Stila Illuminating Moisturizer SPF 15, Shade 01
Everyday Minerals Foundation, Light Medium and Fairly Light
Minerals Mineral Veil

Cheeks:
Everyday Minerals, Daydream blush

Eyes:
Urban Decay Potion Primer (for base)
MAC Eyeshadow Vanilla (for lid and lower lash line)
Stila Eyeshadow Salsa (for crease)
MAC Dual Pencil, Nighthawk/Front Row (for tight-lining)
Clinique High Impact Mascara, Black 01

Lips:
L'Oreal Infallible Lipgloss, Petal

I highly recommend hosting your own tea party. It's the perfect activity for a Saturday or Sunday get-together without all the pressure (and expense) of an evening out. You can be as formal or informal as you want and don't be afraid to ask folks to bring something -- it's more fun that way. We had tea, crust-less little sandwiches (cucumber, chicken salad and ham), scones with cream & jam, little shortbread cookies, cheese and fruit salad.

The helpful ladies at Makeup Alley had these excellent suggestions for what to serve at a tea party beyond the standards:

petit-fours
crust-less tomato sandwiches
little pastry shells filled with tiny cooked prawns, mascarpone and chives
chocolate dipped strawberries
Devonshire cream, antipasti
mini quiches
cookies, mini cupcakes
cheese & grapes
creamy spring soup in little bowls
prosciutto wrapped melon balls, crab dip, mini fruit tarts
sparkling wine
and, saving the best for last: Buy dried dates or figs. Split each one open and stuff with cream cheese to which has been added a little liqueur to taste (I'm thinking amaretto or grand marnier). You could also add a pecan or walnut on top.

The take-home point being: anything mini will do.

Unrelated Rant: How annoyed am I that I don't get to go to the Stila Warehouse Sale in L.A?! I'm seeing pics of everyone's haul on MUA and I can't take it!!! Add that to my annoyance that I cannot find the Wet n Wild i-Sparkle Palettes anywhere. I have now been to FOUR drugstores without success. They are only $4 each! And so pretty! *jealous sniff*

Tips & Toes

I recently picked up a sample pack from the OPI India Collection: three colors and a topcoat in little, teeny, tiny bottles. It seemed like a good idea because (a) I never use up a whole bottle of polish and (b) I got to try three colors for the price of one. What I didn't consider was how difficult it might be to try to maneuver the teeny, tiny brush. It turns out that these little bottles leave a lot to be desired in terms of ease of application. That being said, the colors are fantastic.

From left to right: I'm Indi-a Mood for Love, Meet Me at the Delhi, Black Cherry Chutney, Topcoat

I'm on a mini-vacation for today and tomorrow and decided to celebrate by painting my tips in the bright Indi-a Mood for Love creamy pink. My toes are sporting Meet Me at the Delhi. The combination of the two is fresh and festive -- like my nails are confetti celebrating my days off from work.

I'm Indi-a Mood for Love, indoor lighting

I'm Indi-a Mood for Love, natural outdoor lighting

Meet Me at the Delhi, indoor lighting

Meet Me at the Delhi, indoor lighting

A little bit of a messy application on the toes here. I blame it all on those damn little brushes! You can see the rest of the India collection colors on the OPI site or on All Lacquered Up. If I haven't mentioned it, I love this blog. Not that she needs my help getting readers (she's famous) , but it is so useful and fun to read.

Green with (Lipstick) Envy

In honor of Earth Day 2008, I attempted to complete a very nonscientific survey of cosmetic companies to see if they offer recycling program for used up product containers. I sent out around 15 emails my favorite brands requesting information.

Somewhat surprisingly, only one company that I know of has a recycling program for its containers. The Back to MAC program will give you a free lipstick of your choice if you return 6 primary packaging containers to a MAC counter or store. Recycling with incentive...nice!

Also notable is CARGO PlantLove Botanical Lipstick. They don't have an exchange recycling program, but the entire lipstick container is made out of corn, which just warms my Ohio-born soul. I don't understand how is this possible, but yay science! And if that weren't cool enough, the outer packaging carton for the lipstick is made of "flower paper" embedded with real flower seeds. that you can moisten, plant, and wait for a bouquet of wild flowers to grow! And, if you didn't feel like a do-gooder already, they make a donation to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital for every tube purchased. I'm sold. What colors look pretty? I'm thinking the Kilarney or Lola. The Cargo PlantLove lipsticks retail for $20 online or at your friendly neighborhood Sephora.

A few companies (Shu Uemura, Korres) testily replied that they do not have product recycling programs but that they are very eco-friendly at the source and in their manufacturing. The rest of my informal survey participants either didn't address the question directly or they referred me to my local facilities for information on recycling. One company, BeneFit, gets props for sending back a pleasant email thanking me for my inquiry and reporting that they will pass the suggestion along for further development. I look forward to that.

Last, but not least, I should mention the Seattle-based company, Butter London is having a nail polish exchange "Turn in Your Toxins" program now through May 15th. There here is concern regarding three ingredients sometimes found in nail polish, called The Big 3 (Formaldehyde, Toluene, and DBP) that may be linked to cancer, birth defects, and other nasty things. There has been a movement to get away from these nasties and you now see many polishes advertising as "Big 3 Free." Butter London is helping you turn over your new Big 3 Free leaf by offering a free Butter London polish to customers who turn in three bottles of traditional formula polish. I overheard a woman at the salon refer to these polishes as "more natural." I'm not sure I'd go that far, but to each her own. Here's a good article on Big 3.

L'Oreal Infallible

The search for a long-lasting lipgloss: it never ends. At this point, my expectations are pretty low. If a lipgloss lasts through my first 1/2 cup of coffee, I consider it a success. I decided to give these new Infallible glosses by L'Oreal a try with the hope that, as they have this outrageous claim of lasting 6 hours, that they might actually last through the whole cup of coffee. They retail for around $9-11 in drugstores everywhere, which seems like an awful lot to me for drugstore lipgloss.

Colors top to bottom: Petal, Suede, Sunset

I amused myself by testing them while at work on Sunday. I applied some of the Suede (middle in the pics) and set out to spread my empathic, calming presence all around the hospital. Three hours later, no trace of the Suede was visible. Mind you, I had done no eating or drinking and what I consider to be a typical amount of talking. Definitely not infallible. *sigh.*

That pretty much concluded the test. I've been using it for a few days at this point, and I will say that at least it isn't drying. In case you are turned-off by sticky gloss, I would rate it as moderate stickiness. Probably to have staying-power, it has to be at least a little sticky (similar to my thoughts on the non-greasy lotion).

If you are looking for a new drugstore lipgloss, give Infallible a try., especially if you can get some on sale or 2 for 1 [L'Oreal: Buy 1, get 1 50% off on skin care, sun care or cosmetics at Rite Aid 4/20 - 4/26]. The colors are fairly typical for drugstore brands: some nice basics but nothing to knock your socks off. It might not last 6 hours, but at least it should make it through the drive to work.

Here are some swatches:

Colors left to right: Sunset, Suede, Petal (in bright sunlight)

(in regular indoor light)
wow, my skin looks dry this close up.

Lemon-y Goodness

You don't have to spend much time with me to discover my love for all things lemon. Lemon seems simple but it is actually a tough scent to get right. You want to walk the line between delicious-refreshing and Pledge. Nobody wants to smell like Pledge.

Bath & Body Works has some tasty things that I wanted to share with any lemon-lovin' folks out there. The first is C.O. Bigelow Lemon Collection. So far I've tested the Lemon Cream Body Wash and the Lemon Body Cream. The sample-sizes are on sale 3 for $10 right now, which is awesome for testing.

So far, I'm pleased. I had to work this morning and the body wash was bright, fresh and made leaving my warm bed for the cold bathroom almost bearable. After that, I slapped on the cream. The cream has a similar scent to the body wash and is on the thin-side, somewhere between lotion and butter. It absorbs fairly quickly (but this could be due to my incredibly parched skin) and is only a little greasy. [Side rant: Every cream on the face of the earth claims to be not greasy. They're all liars. Seriously, how is a moisturizing agent not going to be at least a little greasy? I don't believe it is possible. There are varying degrees of greasy, but not greasy at all? I doubt it. Of course, feel free to leave comments if you disagree.]

Interestingly, the B&BW website claims that these two products are scent-free. I'm assuming they mean artificial scent because they are a very nice, natural, crisp lemon scent that isn't overpowering. Perfect for starting a sleepy morning. Verdict: It's a Keeper.

Hello Sugar! Body Wash and Shimmer Lotion from B&BW are available now as well. It is a limited-edition line so there are no sample sizes. The 3-in-1 Body Wash is a fairly good deal in terms of expensive bath products: $12 for 16oz. It is the biggest bottle in my shower.


In contrast to the C.O. Bigelow, Hello Sugar! has a very, very sweet vanilla-lemon scent. It reminds me of lemon cupcakes. Yummy to my nose, but if you're looking for something subtle, this is not it. It's definitely a younger and more "girly" product than the C.O. (which is fairly obvious from the packaging). The lotion, in addition, has a shimmer. I personally like a little shimmer now-and-again, but it's not for everyone. Verdict: maybe not for every day, but a fun option for the summer months.

The Hello Sugar! line also has a Moisturizing Body Meringue, a Crystalline Body Splash, and a Hello-To-Go Kissable Lip Duo. If you are looking to order something, I would definitely pass on the Lip Duo. Unless maybe you are an 8 year old girl; in which case, get your mom to buy you some right now.

Sniffer Report

Admittedly, I'm not a fragrance person. In fact, I haven't owned a perfume in literally years until I randomly picked up a bottle of Falling in Love by Philosphy last summer. It has notes of vanilla, jasmine, lilly of the valley, musk, and blackberry and it appeals to me because it is light, clean, and a little sexy. I like it.

Then, around December, I caught a whiff of Vera Wang Princess. It has many, many notes and I'm too lazy to type them all. You can read it for yourself. I like it because it is flowery, but not too much so, and a little sassy. Plus, it has this ridiculous tag line: Born to Rule. Whatever that means. Incidentally, it also has a really ridiculous webpage. I dropped, like, a million hints about it and J. bought me some for Christmas and I was happy.

My most recent object of fragrant desire is Marc Jacobs Daisy.

I find the ads for it to be a little disgusting, in all honesty, but I sure do love the way it smells. It has notes of strawberry, violet leaves, ruby red grapefruit, gardenia, violet petals, jasmine petals, musk, vanilla, and white woods. To me, it smells bright and sunny. To other people, it smells "eternal." Again, what does that mean? I was trying to resist buying it, I really was, but today I finally broke down and got the smallest possible quantity available. And now I can't stop sniffing my arm.

So, my newly-awakened interest in things yummy-smelling led me to the fragrance section at Ulta. Here I made an interesting discovery...

I never thought I'd have a fondness for anything associated with Mariah Carey. Her music somehow appeals to millions and millions of people, which really baffles me. I guess the most polite thing to say is that it's not for me. As I was walking my sniffer around, I tried her new fragrance M by Mariah Carey. What the heck? I thought, fully expecting to experience some over-the-top musky nightmare (sort of my idea of what I think her music would smell like). Well, dear readers, I can now say that I approve of one thing that Mariah Carey has created: her freaking perfume. Loved it.

The very over-produced website [warning: nude pic of Mariah on front page] has some long-winded statement about all the magic that went into creating a perfume for Mariah Carey. In short, it includes notes of warm marshmallow (no kidding), gardenia petals, Tahitian tiare flower, sheer amber, and Moroccan incense. Marshmallow? Wouldn't that make it sickly-sweet and disgusting? you think to yourself. To be sure, you can definitely tell the marshmallow is there, but all I can say is that somehow it works. It really does. I kept smelling the sample all through the rest of my time in in the store. What is vaguely humorous is that all the sampler bottles of perfume are sans caps so I didn't even realize what a hideous mess of a design the bottle is until I looked it up once I got home.

What is up with that weird, tacky butterfly?

Now I'm going to be pining for this. It never ends.

Other random observations from my sniffer:

• Deseo by Jennifer Lopez -- weird bottle, nasty musky scent. I stood there looking at the picture of J.Lo thinking You really like the way this smells?

• Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker -- not usually a SJP fan (sorry Amy!), but this is kind of nice.

• Intimately Beckham Women by The Beckhams -- I can't get past the name. Like I want to know what being intimate with the Beckhams smells like. Ew.

Interesting NYT Articles on Fragrances [NYT login required]:
The Sweet Smell of ... Nothing
Ahhh...The Secudctive Fragrance of Molecules Under Patent
(and in case you missed it up top) Everyone's a Critic

Overrated!

I've been trying to think of something to write about that wouldn't take up too much time tonight. Since it takes me sweet forever to deal with the digital photo software on my dinosaur of a computer, I can't turn out as many photo essays as I'd like. Don't despair, however, because a new computer may be in the works...

In the meantime, I realized that I have not yet posted a rant about a product that I find to be unhelpful, overrated, expensive, and maybe even detrimental. Here it is:

Fresh Sugar Lip Balm, SPF 15

I hate this stuff. My story with it is one of interest, desire, longing, attainment, disillusionment, frustration and ultimate rejection. Does that sum it up? I was interested initially because it has a lemony flavor/scent and I love all things lemon. Fresh Sugar Lip Balm is supposed to be an excellent lip balm, but I didn't try it for a long time because, boy, it is expensive. It is $22.50 to be exact, no matter where you buy it. I resisted for a long time because of the price and I can't recall what ultimately made me go for it. I think it was around Christmas-time and I just threw it in the basket as a little gift for myself while I was shopping for others. What's another $22.50 when you're in the seasonal spending mode?

The company claims that it has some unique blend of something-or-other (essential plumping fatty acids, grapeseed polyphenols, vitamins A, C, and E) that make it nourishing to the lips and provide SPF protection (always a good thing). To be fair, I have extremely chapped and dry lips. Always. No matter what. I don't understand it, it confuses me, but there it is. So, needless to say, I'm always on the lookout for a holy grail lip balm that will solve all my chapped lip problems.

This is not it. If nothing else, I do love the scent. It smells good. I think the package is a little strange: it is metal (maybe aluminum?). As a result, it feels very hefty in your hand, so you feel like you really got something for the $22.50. I used it sporadically at first and didn't notice any improvement in my perma-chapped lips. So, I decided to really put it to the test and I started slapping it on at every opportunity. No kidding, I probably applied it 3-4 times daily for about 2 weeks. The result? Nothing. No improvement at all. And, I actually think that it is a little drying. It made my lips worse, if that is even possible. And I just can't tolerate that.

So, that's my story with the Fresh Sugar Lip Balm.

It shows up on "best of" lists all the time and I just don't get it. I still have some left over and I keep it in my car for emergencies when I'm without other, better, lip balms. Be warned, however, if you ever decide to try it for yourself: it melts...easily.

F.O.T.D. (and bonus tulip pics!)

Inspired by the feature 'Pale Fire' in the April issue of Allure & featuring Stila Poppy eyeshadow.

I would link to a photo except that Allure's website kind of sucks and doesn't appear to have photo essays from past issues available for viewing. Bad, Allure, very bad!

Face:
Stila Illuminating Moisturizer SPF 15, Shade 01
Bare Minerals Foundation, Fairly Light
Bare Minerals Mineral Veil

Cheeks:
Bare Minerals Golden Gate

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion (for base)
TheBalm Time Bomb Concealer, Light (under eye)
Stila Eye Shadow, Poppy (for lower lid and crease and lower lash line)
MAC Fafi Quad #1 Vanilla (for brow highlight)
Bare Minerals Fashionista (for eye liner)
Clinique High Impact Mascara, Black 01

Lips:
Stila Lip Glaze, Brown Sugar

And, just for fun, here's a pic from the Skagit County Tulip Festival which J. and I visited on Saturday. Really pretty. I think I'll have to do a tulip-inspired FOTD this week.

These are pretty and they have a French name.

Fields and fields of daffodils. Neat, huh?

Me and J. Don't ask me to explain his shirt.

More Stila Haul

I went a little crazy on beautycrunch.com, y'all. The Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion and the Benefit creaseless cream shadow are from ebay, but the Stila products are all from beautycrunch.com. I've seriously been on a Stila binge recently. Not as bad as this girl or this one, though. Holy hell, girls! Those collections would have paid for medical school! Well, maybe not quite the whole thing, but at least a loan payment or two...

Stila mini-lip glaze (left) in Raspberry was free gift with purchase. Yay!

Stila refillable 8 pan eye shadow compact (with double ended brush!).
Colors are (clockwise from top left): Vine, Terra, Salsa, Poppy.

Stila smudge pot in Plum (the smudge in it is from my fat finger).

Benefit creaseless cream shadow in Get Figgy (similar finger smudge). I have been searching ebay and MUA swap lists for weeks trying to find this freakin' stuff. I don't know why I'm so averse to just paying full price for it at Sephora, but I am. Now I just need to find a deal on Birthday Suit. Unless someone out there would like to donate one...

I'm trying out the smudge pot today and, so far, I'm a bit irritated with it. It's a great color (fitting with my ongoing purple problem), but kind of a pain in the ass to apply. I tried it to apply it with a liner brush, a flat brush, and my fingers (index and pinky!) and it all came out uneven and clumpy. Grrrrrrr. I might need to get a stiff brush like this one. But dammit, I feel like if you name a product with the word 'smudge' in it, it should be easy to use. Don't you think?

So that one might be a dud. But stay tuned, I have a FOTD in the works featuring a few of the other products and I think it is purrrrrty. I'm having issues getting my FOTD photos to turn out nice and crisp. My camera should be able to accomplish this, but I haven't quite figured out a winning formula yet. I'll keep working on it.

Sick Bubble*

It is just no fun being sick. Normally, spending a day in my pj's and fluffy bathrobe puttering around the house would be my idea of bliss. But puttering around the house with a terribly stuffy head, a wicked sore throat (like, the worst one ever), and waves upon waves of nausea...it makes going to work seem like fun. And then you reach the point where you simply cannot sleep any more and yet you can't manage to do anything else. So what's a girl to do? Well, this girl decided to paint her nails. Maybe not everyone's idea of a sick-day activity, but it was helpful to take my mind off the various other uncomfortable sensations coursing through my body.

I tried out a new color that I bought last month at the Nordstrom Spring Trend Show: Lippmann Collection My Old Flame. In case it doesn't quite show up on your monitor, it is a classic, red, red without shimmer (two coats shown above). Think old Hollywood like Rita Hayworth or nouveau-classique like Dita von Teese. Or, forget all that and just think sexy. If you want my advice, though, if you're going to sport the red nails, by all means, keep them short! You don't want the Adriana from The Sopranos look. *shudders*

Normally I wouldn't shell out $15 for a nail polish, but this one came as part of the Material Girl Gift Set. The set included (full size!) Lippmann Cuticle Oil, Sarah Smile Polish, My Old Flame Polish, Hard Rock Strengthener, Rich Girl Hand Cream and three Stripper To Go Pads in a somewhat strange plush bag that I can't quite figure out what to do with. Plus I got a gift with purchase of Tiny Dancer Polish. Nice haul, huh? In addition to the My Old Flame, I'm seriously loving the Sarah Smile, the Cuticle Oil and Rich Girl. I just realized that a new bottle of Rich Girl costs $24! I'm going to have to slow down on the slathering.

*Remember those old Zoloft commericals of the speech bubbles bouncing around interacting with each other teaching you about depression? Anyway, the "sad bubble" concept has stuck around as a running joke between me and my J. So, some days you're a happy bubble, some days you're a sad bubble, and today, I'm a sick bubble. Here's an alternative version of the sad bubble commericial.

Nail Of The Week

Featuring China Glaze For Audrey

(and, for the first time ever on the Beauty Couch, my feet!)

without flash


with flash (as well as my feet on my actual couch, where they were pretty much all day).

This is supposed to be Tiffany's Blue (as in "Breakfast at ..."). Not quite sure that it's a dead-on match, but it's cute nonetheless. Seems like a sassy bride could wear this as a 'something blue' on her toes. That would be way funky-cool. Just in case you happen to know a sassy bride in your neck of the woods...You can get your own For Audrey here for $2.99!

F.O.T.D.

Featuring Everyday Minerals
Veranda as blush and eye shadow.









Face:
Stila Illuminating Moisturizer SPF 15, Shade 01
Bare Minerals Foundation, Fairly Light
Everyday Minerals Concealer, Mint
Bare Minerals Mineral Veil

Cheeks:
Everyday Minerals Veranda

Eyes:
Clinique Touch Tint For Eyes, Nude Sparkle 06 (for base)
TheBalm Time Bomb Concealer, Light (under eye)
Everyday Minerals Veranda (for lid and crease)
Stila Eye Shadow Duo, Vieux Carre (for lower lid)
MAC Fafi Quad #1 Vanilla (for brow highlight)
Bare Escentuals Fashionista (for eye liner)
Clinique High Impact Mascara, Black 01

Lips:
Everyday Minerals Natural Lip Color

I love Veranda as blush, especially. I was afraid it would make me look corpse-like, but thankfully it didn't. I'm such a freak for purple lately. Even had my mani done with sheer purple today to match my face.

Incidentally, I also tried out Time Balm by TheBalm as an under eye concealer. It comes highly recommended by my future sis-in-law Amy. I'm having mixed thoughts about it, more on that later.

F.O.T.D.

Face of the day featuring MAC Fafi!

Fafi is a French graffiti artist who collaborated with MAC to come up with an amazing makeup collection. I admit, I was never really that into MAC (the sacrilege!) until the MAC Fafi collection came out. I was visiting my best friend Marisa in San Francisco and when we were out marathon shopping we came upon this huge MAC Fafi release extravaganza. I got a picture of these two real-life Fafinettes. I think they look so cute!

So, of course, I had to at least sample something from the collection and I ultimately settled on the Quad #1. I wanted to pick up the Nice Vice Paintpot as well, but it was all sold out by the time I got there. Denied!

Overall, the Quad #1 is fantastic. The colors are vibrant, apply beautifully, and blend well. Besides the look below, I have also tried out this look by Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog. Not surprisingly, it looks a little different on me than it does on her, but I think it works. Since Nice Vice paintpot wasn't available, I substituted Artifact paintpot and it is actually a pretty close match. At any rate, here's what I did with the Fafi Quad #1 this morning.

Here's what I did:

Face:
Stila Illuminating Moisturizer SPF 15, Shade 01
Bare Minerals Foundation, Fairly Light Bare
Minerals Mineral Veil

Cheeks:
Stila Convertible Color, Peony 3

Eyes:
Clinique Touch Tint For Eyes, Nude Sparkle 06 (for base)
MAC Fafi Quad #1 Vanilla Sugar (for brow highlight)
MAC Fafi Quad #1 Hey (for lid and crease)
MAC Fafi Quad #1 Pink Venus (for inner lid)
MAC Fafi Quad #1 Howzat (for liner)
Clinique High Impact Mascara, Black 01

Lips:
Stila Convertible Color, Peony 3

Even if you don't like makeup, how can you resist these totally adorable Fafi dolls?

What do you think about the FOTD? Too much? Not enough? Can you even tell I'm wearing makeup? Leave some comments, people!

I'm off to bed. Unfortunately, I have a full day of consults and general chaos at HMC tomorrow. *Sigh* Maybe I'll reward myself with some new makeup on Sunday. There's an inspiring thought!

Everyday Minerals Haul

My Everyday Minerals order came in the mail and I'm super psyched to try them out.

• Free Sample Makeup Kit (3 foundations, 1 blush, 1 concealer)

• Personal Custom Kit (3 brushes, 2 lip colors, gentle lip scrub)

gentle lip scrub, 100% jojoba


long handled kabuki brush (top), flat top brush (bottom), siesta lip color (left), natural lip color (right). I also ordered the angled blush brush but it's on back order.


siesta lip color (left), natural lip color (natural)

Nail Of The Week

OPI Skinny Dip'n In Lake Michigan
from OPI Chicago Collection


with flash


without flash

I was looking for a swatch of this color on the internet and couldn't find one, so I'll put one up myself. This is a neutral color with a little shimmer, which I'm not sure is coming across in the pictures. But, trust me, it's there. You can get your own here or here.