Random Squared

So, I realized it's been forever and a half since I last posted, whoops.  I keep on running across some of these pictures on my computer where it's like "oh, I should blog about this" but it's never enough to have a special post or I'm just too lazy, etc, etc and then I forget what I used and the cycle continues.  So, here's just a cluster of looks from the past couple of weeks that I remember some of the products to (the main ones I mean because oftentimes I am wed to certain eyeliners and so on if you haven't noticed). Okay...yes...and now, enjoy!

 Yes, this picture was taken with Vaseline smeared on the lens..no, just uber bad lighting in my dorm room. This was for the end of the year theatre fest, so I had to wear a wig.  Normal eye stuff but with the dark and now coveted MAC Lipstick in Rebel

 Where are my eyes? Well, at least my purplish lips go with my hair :D

 This was another "Shoshanna" look with MAC Lipstick in MAC Red and Urban Decay's Eyeshadow in Half-Baked.

 I really luurrrv the yellow-blue color combo of this look.  Urban Decay Eyeliner in Electric was the bottom blue and I layered a ton of MAC eyeshadow in Goldenrod which is a super pigmented screaming yellow which looks pretty darn good on most skin tones.  Oh, and the reason my skin looks so dewy and fresh if I do say so my self is BECAUSE i used Benefit's "That Gal" shimmer primer.  It's really pretty and doesn't weigh skin down. 

And finally, I really liked this classic look from what seams like decades ago, but I didn't get a good picture because my bow was in the way...awkward moment there.  The significant thing was I found my long-lost MAC Lipglass in Autobody Red WHICH WAS THE BEST MOST WONDERFUL RED GLOSS IN THE WORLD, THAT'S ALL I'M WEARING ON MY LIPS AND IT'S THAT PIGMENTED AND I LOST IT AGAAAAIN....okay...MAC really needs to make that one again...

   Hope you all enjoyed this sporadic post, until later...

~Shannon

Glitter and Other Pretty Things

 All of the new, shiny, pretty things! There's a product description with more pictures below, except for the Pirates of the Caribbean OPI minis collection that comes with: Skulls & Glossbones (Grey), Planks a Lot (Violet), Sparrow Me the Drama (light pink), and Stranger Tides (odd grey-green).  I'll probably end up hand modeling at least one of these in my next post.  Sadly they were all sold out of the Silver Shatter, so my quest for that goes on.  Overall, I really like this new collection from OPI, it's different and perfect for all of these rainy summer days we've been getting in Mpls.

MAC Mineral Blush in Sakura aka a new favorite! I managed to snag the last one at MAC while turning in job applications.   It seems like it's impossible for a college student to get employed in this town, le sigh.

 OPI Nail Polish in Mermaid's Tears. This is my favorite color out of the "Pirates" Collection

 True blue, the best concealer in the universe: Neutrogena's Skin Clearing Makeup in 10 Classic Ivory.  I should just buy this stuff in 5-gallon drums...love this product and is perfect for stopping breakout in their tracks.

 Freeman's Clay Mask a la Mint and Lemon.  I have never had a bad experience with any of their products and this is no different.  The lemony smell is sooooo nice and as the mask dries it smells more minty.  

 Modeling the mask like the classy lady I am, haha, after about five minutes it stung a little, but afterwards my pores were all purged and such.  Worth it, especially for only four dollars.

Finally, this is the nailpolish I wore before I got my "Pirates" collection.  The main MAC Nailpolish (Varicose Violet) is from the Dame Edna Collection-- one I loved that apparently didn't do that well for them.  Maybe it's because stupid people don't know who Dame Edna is...that is a possibility. I layered some OPI in Teenage Dream. I liked the combo of the violet (it's less pink-looking when it isn't next to a screaming pink table) and the pale pink sparkles.  

So these are my latest purchases...I promise that new blush will be put to good use in my next post, until then...

~Shannon

Glorious, Inglourious

I watched Inglourious Basterds for the nine millionth time (after first seeing it during my spring break) and I will say and say again I loooooove that movie.  It took me a really long time to actually see it because Brad Pitt was always such a turn-off after that shocking/terrifying/moving/every-emotion-brought-forth Christoph Waltz opening.  Now that I've finally seen it if it's on tv, I will watch it.  It's honestly one of the most underrated overrated movies..if that makes sense.  The thing I can't understand though, is why Diane Kruger got billed as the top actress in the film whereas Melanie Laurent stole the show as Shosanna.  I am obsessed with her in this movie and decided to do a makeup look modeled after the Nazi movie night/her being tragic and fabulous planning on blowing up her own movie theater.  So, pardon the Swastikas in the pictures from the actual movie.  And if any of you have not seen it, please go rent it or buy it or netflix it, it's sooooooo worth it :)

 Laurent's character prepping...she could not be cooler nor more beautiful...really!

   As I said, this look is based off the part of the movie where Shosanna is instigating her plan to kill all of the Nazis in her theatre and there is this amazing sequence where she's applying her makeup and getting ready to *spoiler alert* die for her cause.  It's a very natural beauty, classic look that I modified a little because I have a) a paler complexion and b) dark hair.

Finished look without netting in outdoor lighting

 I did all of my basic foundational makeup: Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Makeup in Classic Ivory 10 followed by Urban Decay Razor Sharp Ultra Definition Finishing Powder to set the foundation and remove excess shine.  It's a great product that is translucent, so it works with every skin tone.  To get a more 40's feel to this look I "pencilled in" my eyebrows by first combing them and then took MAC's Brow Set in Show-Off and ran it through my brows.  This product tints the brows and also acts as a gel, keeping them in place and is a must-have tool because, if nobody noticed, eyebrows are kind of important for the whole framing your eyes, giving definition, blah, blah, blah.  Highlighter was NARS Multiple in Cococabana.  In the movie, Shosanna uses a red rouge for her cheeks, so I used my red MAC Cream Colour Base in Movie Star Red achieve her glamourous look.  
      For the eyes I used a slightly bronze color--Covergirl Eye Enhancer in Golden Sunrise and filled my lid with that.  I blended MAC Eye Shadow in Free to Be (peach-coral) in my crease and under my eye/around my water line/a little past that, blending so there was just a hint.  I then penciled in a teeny tiny bit of Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Uzi (dark grey in color) around my water line.  Benefit's Bad Gal Blue Mascara finished off the eye.


My lips have been super dry so I applied a thin layer of MAC Lip Conditioner (SPF 15!) on my lips before applying lip pencil (Hot Topic's Red Pencil). I filled in my entire lip with the pencil and then blotted on MAC Lipstick in Russian Red.  The lip balm made the overall lip-look more soft and dewy which was welcomed because oftentimes I feel like Russian Red gets kind of chalky in texture and appearance.

 No surprise that I had my netting out for going out to sushi...just like Shoshanna minus Nazis :) Wish I could have gotten a slightly better picture though :/

Such a cute design...MAC Eye Shadow in Free to Be

Hope you all enjoyed this Inglourious Basterds look and remember that classic looks like this can be modified to work with your skin tone and hair color while still resembling your target look/inspiration...I mean, I think this is pretty spot-on, I even have fancy head gear...per usual...

~Shannon

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

Ironically, when I was driving to the doctor's today, this song ("Mellow Yellow") came on the radio.  I attributed this to the fact that I was wearing yellow eye makeup AND nail polish and that it wasn't referring to drugs or sex or whatever that song is really about. I know yellow is another color that seems to be really "in" this season.  I don't really follow the trends of the kids these days (I'm from MN, I can make hipster statements like that...) but I've always liked yellow eye makeup.  I feel like it can be really hard to pull off though because oftentimes when I try and do yellow liner, eyeshadow, etc it either mixes with other colors or ends up working its way into my eyebrows and travelling around my face :/.  Today was a lot more successful.  I used my Makeup Forever 12-Pallete (the yellow pigment in it) and before I applied that, I was sure to prime with Benefit's Stay Don't Stray Shadow Primer.  I applied black liner after applying the yellow.  I've tried doing the yellow above black before and this worked so much better than that.  I had some leftover yellow on my makeup brush and ended up blending that with MAC Lipstick in  Neon Orange.  I feel like I've been using that color a lot as of late...I do love orange lipstick ever so much...

 Really rocking the "complete look" with Spa Ritual Nail Polish in Enlightened Soul.  It's a nice polish, the only thing is the yellow/light color really shows every flaw ever...otherwise it's a great color!

Deep thinking..obvi because of the complete matchy-ness 

 On another note, I've appeared to have turned into modern art...

 Haha, this adorable four-year-old boy who is the son of a friend of my mom's really likes makeup and we had some fun at this little dinner get-together.  I drew a little spiderweb on his cheek whereas he went crazy on me, he even was drawing pictures on my back with Tokidoki eyeliner and stuck my MAC Lipstick in Russian Red all over my face (mainly my forehead) and even in my ears, eeek! It took a lot of cold cream to get all of it off, but it was worth it, he was just soooo cute! :)

I still have some lipstick in my hairline...better break out some more makeup wipes :)
~Shannon

Double Colors...So Intense

Hello, hello, hellooooo! I am back safe and sound in my home state, which is heavenly.  Apparently Minnesota is now the most hipster state and the Twin Cities are the gayest cities in the states.  So, we've made a lot of progress since I started college :)  My lovely mother took me to the show "Next to Normal" today which was fabulous.  Everything was wonderful-- the plot, the singing, the acting, the lighting design, the set, and so on.  I am now obsessed and suggest everyone try to see it (it's touring) or at least listen to the soundtrack.  It did win a Pulitzer and a bunch of Tony's, so yeah...get on that.
   The protagonist in "Next to Normal" was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which turned out to be schizophrenia...hence "bi-colored" eye? No, that was a bad connection, BUT, it is true I am obsessed with one of the new summer trends (and it always seems to be a summer trend), the two colored eye.
     I've been trying a bunch of color combos and so far my favorite is purple/blue and purple/green, but I'm continually trying out new combos.  Here's the look I wore for today's musical:

 First, I used my typical Neutrogena Concealer and brushed some Urban Decay Razor Sharp Ultra Definition Finishing Powder over my entire face.  Highlighted with NARS Multiple in Cococabana and blush was MAC's Powder Blush in Tippy.  
    I used Benefit's Stay Don't Stray Shadow Primer and then layered Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Ecstasy with MAC Eyeshadow in Aqua.

 I lined my top lid with Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Lust and winged it out, but decided that it was too much of a muted purple for this springy-summery look.  I layered so UD Liner in Asphyxia (one of their new liner colors--a super pretty light purple) and then lined my bottom lid in UD Liner in Electric.  I find it hard to be able to wear blue shadow/liner with my skin tone, but this seems to be a perfect color blue for me and just a hint of it rather than my entire eye.

 I mascaraed and then lined/filled my lips with Hot Topic's Lip/Eye Pencil in Magenta.  They are such a great deal and come in such a wide range of colors, i'm obsessed! My lipstick was some Lancome lipstick that the name had rubbed off of, stress.  It was a dark pink with little flecks of blue sparkles.  Any ideas on the name? Anyone?

Meet and slightly blend both colors if you decide to add a cat's eye like I did.  It adds the right amount of connection to the colors. 

Hope you enjoyed the two color look.  What are your favorite colors to blend?

~Shannon

Fresh Faces: Roomie Premier

       This Friday, while I holed myself in my room studying, two of my roommates and some other people went out.  An impromptu makeup request by Haley (above) led to this five-minute going out look, yaaay!  I used a bunch of the purples from my EyesLipsFace Palette combined with Tokidoki Glitter Eyeliner in Skeletro, which is this really pretty navy blue and it really made her green eyes pop.  She used some mascara of her own...which I will eventually find the name of.  BUT, her lashes look so long because I made sure she curled them.  Curling your lashes makes such a big difference, ALWAYS DO IT! :)
        I blended a tiny bit of MAC's Creme Colour Base in Madly Magenta to give her a rosy, but still cool glow.  It's a really great color for people who have olive undertones like Haley.  Because she was going out, I highlighted her face with this sparkly, wonderful powder highlight/put it anywhere by Chanel called Gold Rush.  Lips were glossed with MAC's Lipglass in Pink Poodle.  AH, doesn't she just look great..and in five minutes too :3
~Shannon

NEW THINGS!!!

YAAAAY, it's finals week....*sob cry sob*  Over the past couple days I've gotten some new goodies.  My lovely and wonderful mommy sent me a Nordstrom care package complete with some of MAC's new Fashionflower line and I recently bought a 100-color eyeshadow palette from EyesLipsFace.  I've never tried their products before and I was a little doubtful because it was sooooo cheap...$10 for 100 eyeshadows...like 10 cents per, PUH-LEEZE.  The moral of the story is it's a wonderful fabulous investment and I love it forever and ever!!!! I also got a really cool Urban Decay Anniversary eyeliner set a little while ago, so I have lots of fun things to play with once finals week is DONE and I'm HOME! I'll be posting a five minute makeup look I did for one of my roomies shortly too, until then, lovely product eye candy :)

 ELF eyeshadows...so many colors!...don't mind the background...my desk is a mess!

 MAC's Fashionflower Eyeshadow in Aqua aka sooo pretty and cute.  <3 my mom!

Enough liner to line a nation....love this product so much!

On another note my blog somehow mysteriously deleted all of the blogs I follow.  If anyone knows how to fix this issue, any info would be helpful.  At least you all can still follow my blog and please do :)

~Shannon

Procrastinating Post

Wow, I did not realize it's been so long since I last posted, whoops! These last few weeks have been a killer, especially with finals next week...and a 12 page film paper due in a couple hours that I haven't really gotten a roll on yet, so it's a perfect time to blog! (At least I love the director-- David Cronenberg-- that I'm writing about, his movies are my absolute favorites!!!) I have a makeup look I did today when I found a new lipstick at the bottom of my makeup bag and a review of two products, enjoy :)

 I found this really cool plum-purple lipstick in my makeup bag: MAC Lipstick in Rebel and put a spot of MAC DazzleGlass in Funtabulous over it to make it sparkle.  It cooled down a lot in MKE today, so I was feeling the cool lips.  I also filled in my brows today (you can see it a little right under my bangs with Revlon's ColorStay 12-hour Eye Shadow in 01 Copper Spice  The two darkest colors in this palette are great for someone with dark hair (like me) and who have eyebrows that are not perfectly filled in (like me a la a failed brow wax many years ago that never properly grew back).  This is one of my default eyebrow filler-ins that's natural and not difficult to handle like some brow products can get.

 The rest goes without saying, highlighter in NAR's Multiple in Cococabana, Benefit's Bad Gal Blue Mascara, Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Perversion (I will marry that liner) and some MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Threesome (under the eyeliner, of course).

 My skin has been kind of breaking out a bit due to STRESS, so I made sure to use my Neutrogena SkinClearing Concealer in Classic Ivory, it works suuuuuper well with troubled spots and just as a preventative for any breakouts.  Now, on to REVIEWS!!!!

Bliss' Poetic Waxing Wax Strips (Face) and Sephora's (by OPI) Chic Prints for Nails are on the chopping block!

 1. Waxing Strips: Okay, I normally luuurv all of Bliss' products, their Poetic Waxing Kit is a godsend, but these mini little stupid face strips were terrible.  They did not pull any semblance of hair off of my eyebrows and just left a sticky mess everywhere.  I want my money back, and this is coming from a Bliss fan.  Plus, the packaging was very "ehh" for a $25 product :(
Quality: 1/5
Packaging: 2/5
Product Worth Price: 1/5
Look/Appearance: 1/5
Overall Rating: 1/5
I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!! FSGDBFVCHUWU827Y7EQ8IEI0$^&%&*^**(


2. Nail Print: I was browsing the clearance Sephora racks and came upon some marked down Christmas nail stick-ons.  Well, the bows seemed very "all seasons" for me and they were marked down a couple bucks and I wanted to try them, so I did.  Overall, they were really easy to use, the instructions were easy to follow and the design was super cute (yay bows).  The only problem is when I filed them down, the edges got a bit sharp and frayed and I think this is because of the metallic/foil nature of the strips, so I'd be interested in trying non-metallic strips.  I got a ton of compliments on them, so they were well-recieved, I think I just need to experiment with some different ones and brands before I'm really happy.  Plus, I feel like it's burning money for a $15 design when a bottle of nail polish is half the price and lasts practically forever...but lace designs would look cool...

Quality: 3/5: A little fraying, a little early peeling of stickers, but have not chipped after 4+ days

Packaging: 4/5: Cute, Simple

Product Worth Price: 3/5: Yes and no, could I do this myself: no...could I buy two nailpolish colors:yes

Look/Appearance: 4/5: Looks nice, mistakes not that noticeable, cute design, no chips!

Overall Rating: 3.5/5: Like but not totally sold...the product must be investigated more!

Mini gummy bears match my nails! ^_^

And on this note, I must return to the crazed world of Cronenberg, seriously check out his amazing films, and enjoy the nearing of summer!

~Shannon