Breaking out some FOTDs because exams

So this post is both a way for me to not do a review and a way for me to avoid studying.  Hopefully that turns it into a best of both worlds instead of the worst possible outcome.  Common themes: I am wearing the wax side of the ELF eyebrow duo in "Light Brown" slapped haphazardly on my brows in every photo.  I can never remember what I put on as a base (clearly it doesn't make a huge difference) but it might be a franken-foundation of a DD cream (whatever that is) mixed with Rimmel Stay Matte or it might just be Laura Gellar Spackle on bare skin.  I always use Maybelline Age Rewind under my eyes and Revlon Photoready concealer on any blemishes.  I find skin care and brows extremely boring and probably won't really mention them ever again.

Below I am wearing the shade Cozy from the It Costmetics Naturally Pretty Holiday Palette (Christmas of 2014) as a wash and Ulta Shadow in Bone up by my browbone.  I have my L'Oreal Rose Elixir on my lips, I like how subtly healthy they look.  I have the Tarte blush in Prim on my cheeks, with TheBalm's The Balm Dessert layered on top towards the back of my face.  I think I am wearing Covergirl mascara because my lashes look brown, along with Rimmel Scandaleyes in "Nude" in my lower waterline.

Behold the magical lighting of sunrise.  This is probably the best set of photos in this post.  I again have Cozy and Bone on my eyes and Nude in my waterline.  I am wearing The Balm Dessert and Temptu on my cheeks.  I think this is the covergirl mascara again.  My lips are Urban Decay's Sheer Ladyflower.  

Here I have a different eye shadow for something crazy, now it is It Cosmetic's Peace on the lid and Miracle in the crease.  I think I detect some Borjouis purple eyeliner on the upper lash line and am going to call this mascara Benefit's They're Real (it looks black).  On my cheeks is Tarte's Prim with built up Black Honey on my lips.

]

I didn't bother taking my hair out of the drying towel for these photos which lends an air of class/sophistication to my look.  I have Benefit's Posietint on my lips.  Tarte's Cheekstain in Dreamer along with The Balm Desert on my cheeks.  I clearly have something going on with my eyes, I think it is Peace with Bone, Nude in the waterline, and Covergirl mascara.  I tried to cool down my eyes to match the blue tones of the pink in my lips and give some contrast to my sweater.  

I went to a hot air balloon race on the weekend so got to wear some makeup without dealing with any pressures to look lab/school-appropriate.  I decided this meant I could try out my version of a good slightly smokey eye using a sample card of Make Up Forever's eyeshadow.  Here I am using I-414, a shimmer cream, and M-536, a surprisingly dark matte brown.  I have The Balm Desert on my cheeks and my purple Bourjois on my upper lashlne with Benefit's They're Real.  I did not take kindly to the sample of eye shadows as after the day they looked like my eyes closed picture, tons of creasing and collecting in weird places.  Plus I found the sparkly cream hard to blend when I first put it on.  On my lips in the left photo I have a single swipe of Black Honey which has worn off by the photo on the right.  

Here we have me playing with eye makeup and pretending to gain a skill with it.  I am using another of the Make Up Forever samples, this time in the shade D-826, a dark shimmery maroon.  It is a gorgeous color which I think actually flatters my complexion if I were to talk myself into wearing something like this more often.  I use Bone on my browbone because I prefer matte to sparkly, despite having some of the MUFE cream shade left.  The real goal here was to play around with a new essence liquid liner with a felt tip.  I want to have the option of wearing cat eyes (or kitten eyes as it would probably be), but need to practice (non-fear-inducing) looks with them first.  I think I will do a full review with my thoughts on the product along with some more goofy practicing shots later.  I have Dreamer and The Balm Desert along with Becca's Pearl on my cheeks.  I needed a highlighter I was comfortable with to complete the look, so I let the temptu languish on the table.  I am using They're Real for mascara and Hello Sailor for some lip color.  If anybody has hooded eye winged liner tips I would love to hear them, I am hoping that with some experimenting I will be able to find the right shape for me.  

This was pretty much the least exciting post ever, but you are now introduced to my boring daily look with the tiniest of variations.  Next year I dream of pushing boundaries and getting comfortable wearing more varied looks.  I just have to convince myself the world won't fall apart and nobody will tell me I can't do science just because I have a little extra color on my eyes.   

OCC Lip Tar in Clockwork

There are lip tars for 50% off in Sephora right now.  I have heard everyone under the sun complain how annoying they are to apply and how they never use them despite enjoying the color so naturally I jumped at the opportunity to bring one into my life.

It comes with a tiny too stiff lip brush

I will start this off by saying that I actually really enjoyed the product and think it might work for me.  I don't mind something that's a little fussy to get on and I ordered in a shade that I will only want to use when I am doing something fun for the day rather than an everyday science-ing away in lab shade.  I have already mentioned I don't do touch ups.  Anyway, here is what the lip tar (typing that for the third time, it's really setting in how alarming that name is) on my face with some after a long day makeup.  

There is no way to describe the color other than straight up terracotta pot.  I kind of wish it was a more drying formula so I could have the lips of a terracotta soldier.  

Beauty inspiration

I found the best way to apply the product was to put a drop directly on the brush and then smear that around on my lips as evenly as possible.  I first used a cargo lip primer (because I got it for free in a gift with purchase and don't often wear tricky or pigmented shades) and a clear lip liner from Urban Decay.  I still had some slight feathering, which you can see up close, but it wasn't terrible and could be cleaned up once the product dried down.  Speaking of drying down, this takes some time to happen.  This is the polar opposite of a slap it on your face and dash out the door lip product.  This is for days when you have time to primp and preen in front of a mirror like a peacock for hours before you're scheduled to be somewhere.  However, once it dries down it is a nice matte finish without being drying.  

As you can see I had some trouble staying in the lines that I had to clean up

There is a lot of product transfer to glasses and silverware even if it has dried down completely, but it weirdly does not appear to be taking that much product off the lips.  

I don't have a shade anything like this in my collection, but here is what I could come up for as comparisons.  From left to right: Prestige Lip Liner in Natural (more brown, more drying), Make Up Forever Rouge Artist Natural in N9 (Pinker), Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya (lighter, more coral), Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Zurich (pinker), Benefit Chachatint (more coral), Pixi Lip Balm in Honey Nectar (browner), Benefit Lip Gloss in Coralista (closest color match, but does not transfer to that shade on lips).  

Above: direct sunlight, Below: indirect sunlight

I am not entirely convinced this is the greatest color for somebody as fair and cool-toned as myself to wear.  It will certainly never be subtle on me.  Seeing it next to the other swatches really drives home the fact that there is not an iota of pink in this shade.   

It wore so much better than I was expecting though, especially after seeing that transfer on my glass.   Here is a close up of my lips after an hour and a half and a glass of water.  As you can see, my lips aren't so parched as to be cracking and really felt very comfortable still.  There is some slight smudging around the edges of my lip line because I was trying to fix my mistakes in application.  

I also could not stop taking pictures of my mouth so here is a photo of two and a half hours after application with a meal of stir fry now included as an offensive.  

The sun had set so I am using artificial light, check out how orange

Here is a photo of my full face at the two and half hour mark, you can see how fine everything looks when you aren't zoomed in artificially close on my lips.  Please excuse that my face is growing ever shinier.  

In conclusion, I am pleasantly surprised by this product that I bought with stupidly low expectations.  I need to have a talk with myself about my spending habits and how important unnecessary things like makeup are as compared to rent, food, etc.   I don't think I will be buying any more lip tars, even at this low price, but I am happy to have a strange orange-brown that might look hideous or might look good on me in a form that I like.  The more I try the them, the more I am sucked in by liquid lipsticks.   

Birthday Treats in the Form of Nars Cruella

The Sephora birthday gift this year is a mini Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella.  You get the product totally free for signing up for their rewards program along with another miniature lip pencil in Rikugien.  Rikugien is a mauvey MLBB color.   I know everybody who wants this pencil probably already has it through their birthday gift, but these are my first experiences with Nars products.  I feel like a real grown up this year, taking the huge step of bringing another brand into my life.  

Look at how good I am getting at taking artsy photos of makeup

It is a compact red lip pencil that needs to sharpened.  I like that the bottom section clearly shows the color so I can quickly and easily grab it from my messy bag I toss all lip products into.   I really liked that they included two lip products, one bold and one neutral, in the gift.  It means that it doesn't all feel like a waste because I really am not a red lipstick kind of girl.  I don't reapply throughout the day because I work in a lab.  Pulling a product out that I will likely be consuming part of (yum, lipstick) around chemicals and biohazards seems like very poor decision making.  So I tend to wear lip products that have less detectable fade and wear.   All that aversion to red aside, I think this color looks pretty good on me, even without any other product on my face.  

First thing I did this morning was put on red lipstick because I am perfectly sane

It is a cool-toned red color that applies smoothly.  The pencil tip is very helpful for staying within lip lines, as a clear liner (I am using Urban Decay Ozone).   I really only needed one swipe to get full coverage, it is plenty pigmented.  

Some comparisons because the single arm swatch looked pathetic and a little gruesome:

Top is direct sunlight, bottom is indirect

From left to right swatches are Urban Decay "F-Bomb", Urban Decay "Gash", Bite "Cranberry", and Mally "Crimson", Nars "Cruella".  Yes, I know the product being compared should go in the middle, but farther to right are comparisons with my "everyday reds" which are far more sheer and not a very helpful comparison.  Cruella is a pretty close match to Cranberry, with Cruella being a little more brown; they are both lip pencils.  I find Cranberry to be much more comfortable on the lips over long periods of time, but it also tends to move around more with a creamier formula. The Mally is a liquid lipstick so it is much more pigmented but a hot mess to work with so I don't think I've ever worn it in the light of day.   F-Bomb is much warmer than Cruella and Gash is more purple/plum.   

I wore Cruella through breakfast and morning activites, so about 2 and a half hours of wear time, a bowl of oatmeal, a glass of water, and a cup of coffee.  I was pleasantly surprised with how well the color held up, but by the end of all that my lips were starting to feel uncomfortable.

Still just wearing red lipstick and no other makeup, as one does

However, with closer inspection I saw some wear and it also become obvious how parched my lips were really looking.   

I personally care more about the overall look than the extreme close up, but I think it serves to illustrate that the formula is drying.  Having worn it for about 3 hours now I am excited to take it off and put on some lip balm.   

Here is a photo to show the size of the lip pencil.  Also to illustrate a tidbit of information about where the name for my blog comes from.  It is not super obvious in this photo, but when I paint my nails I cover pretty much the entire tops of my fingers and just let the polish peel off my skin.  I get told I look like some kind of drunken three year old with nail polish as finger paint.  

I like this product for the way in which I would wear red, for a statement at a specific event.  I will probably never be comfortable enough to wear this shade on the daily and really should try to knock down some of the reds in my collection.  However, I like having this shade to tempt me into pushing my boundaries.  I feel like it lets me have some fun with my look and perhaps eventually I will wear it grocery shopping and feel like a high fashion beauty while I browse produce.  It also serves as a reminder to me to never spend money on red lipsticks, I have enough high quality freebies that I can break out if the mood strikes me, or more likely look at lovingly as they slowly rot away in my hoard of products.    

Project Pandemonium

It's a lame title, I will give you that.  But I have had a long day and don't feel creative, you try having fun after thinking about ion channels for hours on end.  But I have some exciting glimpses of my daily makeup in form of a project pan to share.   I ran out of light to take photos so no swatches are included because the photos of the products themselves have all the iffy lighting one post can handle.   I will try to remember to make another post with some demonstrations of the products in action.

I am trying to use these products up by the end of 2015.  I might be a little overzealous with all of the lip products but I have used so much of them already that I think I can pull this off.  I am assessing these products as I use them to determine if I want to purchase them again as I absolutely could never ever live without them, replace them with an alternative product that serves the same purpose, or use them up and never look back on super dark orange highlighters again.

I have drawn a line on a piece of paper that represents the amount of product left when measured from the bottom of the paper.  I put the products above their measurements. I am trying to be organized with this piece of paper that I will probably lose within the next 3 hours to show progress, so hopefully that means you can see real differences in a month.

Rimmel ScandalEyes in Nude: Everyone and their mother uses this to line their waterline and I like being able to throw it in there.  I want a nude liner for the effect it gives but I don't think I want this nude liner again.  I am dreaming of finding a pink, not yellow, based nude to serve this purpose but I may be dreaming of something nonexistent or deeply unflattering.   This is the single product I think most likely to not be used up by January 1, 2016.  I am committing myself here and now to use this every day instead of two or three times a week.  It clashes with nothing so it can't be that hard.  

Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor: I love this product.  I find it moisturizing and gives the nicest subtle berry tint to my lips.  My sister tells me it makes me look undead, but I kind of dig that idea.  I am also a huge fan of getting to put lipstick that looks blue in the tube on in public because I pretend I am a badass (and clearly have a good concept of what a badass is).  

L'Oreal ColorRiche Balm in Rose Elixir: There is barely anything left in here, I should be able to remember to apply this a few times and use it up in the next month easily.  I like to take this with me for a night out because it lends some color to my pale lips but is sheer enough I can apply it without a mirror after a few beers.   

Bourjois Contour Eyeliner in Purple Artiste: I have had this for 7 or 8 years now.  I really like it as a purple eyeliner, which flatters my green eyes.  It miraculously has not dried up to the point of being uncomfortable.  It will be weird to finish up seeing as it has been a part of my life for so long, always there if I want to reach for it.  But other purple eyeliners exist, this is not an elusive unicorn by any means.  I don't wear eyeliner often, being so pale it quickly turns toward harsh, but I will attempt to use this a few times a week to tightline.   

Temptu Highlighter in Champagne Shimmer: This is not a highlighter you guys.  Not even close.  Except that it is shiny.  It is darker than most blush I wear, or at least much more orange.   I am trying to use it as a blush topper, I don't really like it, but refuse to throw it away because I am crazy person.  This tiny devil came into my life through a birchbox subscription which I have since put on hold until an undetermined future event triggers a desire for more samples that slightly miss the mark for me.  

Maybelline Age Rewind Dark Circle Correcter in Brightener:  I love this for my undereyes, I use a different concealer for the rest of my face.  Lately though, I have found myself questioning whether I love the product or the shade.  The very pale pink is so flattering for waking up my face and helping to mask the horrible dark circles that are constant residents on my mug.  However, I think the formula is a little thin and I often find myself putting on a few layers.  These are thoughts to be explored in future purchases, but most likely at least one more of these will end up in my life as I explore alternative options.  

Clinque Almost Lipstick in Black Honey: This is a nice deep fall color in a sheer formula.  I am a bit squeamish about wearing bright lipsticks into lab during the day, especially because it is dangerous to reapply without going to a nice safe bathroom, so I appreciate the lack of pigmentation and even fading.   This will take me awhile to move through but I look forward to using it.  

Tarte Blush in Prim: I have used this enough to warrant a re-pressing, hence the very gross look going on here.  It is a fantastic pink-y nude color that only came out as miniatures in sets.  I happen to be a crazy person and have a backup of this.  I am invincible to the pangs of using up a limited edition product!  Because it is not limited to me!  I find all of this power thrilling.  

Benefit Posietint:  There is hardly anything left in here.  It leaves a bright, blue-based pink stain on my lips that lasts a few hours.  It can be drying but I just slather some lip balm on top and call it a day.  I really like the benefit insertnamehere-tints but will never buy a full size.  I just don't need it, will never use it up, and like the variety of getting to try them all as miniatures.  

The Balm Balm Desert: This makes the name look like a typo, perhaps I should call it "The Balm Desert by The Balm" but that makes it sound like prestigious fashion when really this is a teeny bronzer sample in a too-small pan.  So far I have liked it fine and am trying to up my bronzer-use game.  Because that is an important skill to hone for a successful and meaningful existence in this life.  

Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in Sheer Ladyflower: This might seem idiotic to include this tiny bubble sample in a project pan but this will probably last me two weeks of near daily use.  It is a nice purple-leaning pink color, with almost a grey undertone.  

Tarte Cheek Stain in Dreamer: You might be thinking to yourself, "wow self there is no product in there I bet she only has 3 days of uses left." But you are wrong.  This blush is actually growing rather than shrinking with use.  It has had a curse placed on it and it will continue to regenerate as I attempt to use it up.   Woe is me.  I actually don't hate it, but cream blushes aren't my favorite and my application technique produces some rather splotchy results.  It is my own doing, but I like the blame products for personal shortcomings.   

Long-Winded Introduction

I am finding it strangely difficult to write this post.  I am so mentally stressed out about it that every few sentences I am taking a break to crochet.   Which I guess should tell you something about what a fun and adventurous young lady I am.  

I have spent the last few years enamored with beauty products and their uses, but the last few months I have found myself especially drawn to thinking about the pull between consumption of beauty and the pride of consuming less.   I want to use this blog to explore what I have acquired through my blatant consumerism of unnecessary goods (because let's face it, all beauty products are ultimately unnecessary) as well as the joy found in denying oneself the cycle of buying pushed on us by new releases and limited edition products.  

I have participated heavily in beauty forums up until this point, but found that some of my thoughts were probably too cerebral and self-indulgent for what somebody wanted to read in that setting.   I also am hoping this blog will be a way for somebody who is not my poor boyfriend to appreciate my need to experiment with makeup but not necessarily wear it out of the apartment.   Which brings us to our first photo:

I am not real confident on smokey eyes, this will be a recurring exploration

I have a few projects I am working on for 2015 and want to see through to the end, so you will see a lot of those before we move into my master plan for fun activities in 2016.  My goal for this blog will be to chronicle the use of every single makeup item I own and write short reviews and force myself to creatively appreciate everything.  I will eventually introduce you, dear reader, to my shameful hoard of nail polish as I attempt to wear every color once.  And to my ridiculous number of lip products for a lady who does not do lip products often.

In the immediate future (the next few months) I will have a pan that palette, project pan, and project polish to document here.  I also track my empty products with short reviews and will share those (perhaps I will have to start taking photos as walls of text are less becoming in a blog format).   I will close this introduction with a photo of myself when I was randomly inspired to start playing around with makeup for a robot/cyborg Halloween costume in early September so you can see my whole face and we can become friends.   I also pledge I will stop using snapchat screenshots as photos from now on and start trying to use my big girl camera.  No promises any of my photos will be artistic or capture makeup with any true realism.  

Apologies for the pretty girl instagram selfie-ing, I will also try to refrain from too much of that