Back to Black

***Don't forget to enter my giveaway here, it's a no-brainer really...:)***

Unless you have been living under a rock (many pardons to rock-dwellers), the singer Amy Winehouse died this weekend.  I have been a huge Winehouse for years and it's just so sad how many demons and what a mess such a talented artist had.  She really reinvented popular music and made classic jazz and blues mainstream.  It's just unfortunate that she didn't put out another album, but then again, she's been in pretty rough shape for a while.  Anyway, besides her voice, her iconic makeup and hair is...iconic.  I decided to do a Winehouse inspired look while listening to the album "Back to Black" on repeat.  

 Her winged liner is obviously the main focal point.  When researching her makeup it was interesting to see the variations of her giant wing liner.  I used Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner in Blackest Black for my eyes. I used the included brush and lined my entire lid and drew guidelines for the wings and filled those in.  She didn't typically have under-eye liner, so I just used some mascara.

 I always thought Amy had a mole, but I guess it's a Monroe piercing.  I improvised with a little jewel from Michael's and glued it on Shu Uemura Eyelash Adhesive.

I have very un-arched eyebrows so I improvised by filling in my brows with NAR's Shadow in Night Bird and making more of a point with some liner that was leftover on my brush.

 Her lip color changed all of the time, but she was most commonly seen wearing a light pink or peachy.  I  used Estee Lauder Long Lasting Lipstick in Rubellite, dabbed it with a tissue and applied MAC Kissable Lipcolour in Vanity Fair to pink things up.  I teased my hair, which is now a rat's nest too, but it's not a complete look without an attempt at a beehive.

 "Tears Dry on Their Own"

On a happier note, my nails matched my bubble tea (Revlon Top Speech Fast Dry Nail Enamel in Super Nature)

I promise this is my last one, "Valerie" sung live, most def one of her most underrated songs.  Ah, so sad, but at least we can concentrate on her wonderful music.

~Shannon

1st Giveaway, AHHHHH! *closed*

Hi lovely bloggers and meander-ers.  As promised, after hitting 50 followers, I've decided to have my first giveaway *the crowd goes wild, rioting begins.* This is the first of a series of threeeee (pretty sure) giveaways that I'll do to finish out the summer, yay!  And with each giveaway, the items get more impressive and pretty and more costly for yours truly, so be sure to stick around. So, without further interruption I present:
AH, Super fun new things that I know I really want and WHAAAAT? All I have to do is follow a blog and maybe do some other stuff and all of this is MIIIINE?! :)

 Winner receives: 1 e.l.f 32-piece eyeshadow, 3 lipsticks, 3 makeup brushes, 1 liquid eyeliner pen, 1 mascara, 1 pair of gold glitter eyelashes, and 1 ADORABLE Harajuku Lovers makeup bag

 Close-up on the eyelashes

 :D

AHHHH, I forgot to say, these lovely lipglosses are also included.  Eeek, seems to be a common theme of me leaving things out of pictures (ie: lipstick rainbow post)

SOOOOO, to win these lovely items and increase your chances of winning you must:

FOLLOW MY BLOG PUBLICLY via GFC (required, obvi)

then...

~follow my Twitter (+2 entries)

~Post my giveaway on your Twitter/with included link to blog  (+2 entries)

~Like my Facebook page: Lipstick Makes the Girl (+2 entries)

~Post my giveaway on your blog (+3 entries)

~Post my giveaway on your sidebar (+3 entries)

~List my blog as one of your favorites on your blog (+4 entries)

~Because this is part of a three part series entering this giveaway also gives you  +1 entry in my next giveaway

Once you have done one or all of the above, be sure to COMMENT ON THIS POST with your GFC name, your e-mail address, and any links to Twitter or promotions on your blog, etc.


*New followers are obvi encouraged and welcomed with makeup love, but I discourage unfollowing after the giveaway because it will result in disqualification from any other giveaways.  Plus, isn't that kind of rude anyway?*

The winner will be randomly selected on August 3rd, 2011

The contest is open internationally as well as domestically and all that jazz.

!!!!!!!

Well, thank you for making this giveaway possible and good luck, break a leg, and be sure to spread the word :)

~Shannon

Rainbows to the 2nd Power

Okay, I will begin by warning you all that this is going to be a long post, haha.  I mentioned....yesterday that for my birthday from my lovely mother I got my dreamed about obsession, Lime Crime's Lipstick Rainbow.  Well, I've dubbed it "The Land of Misfit Toys Rainbow" because Lime Crime had stopped selling the Lipstick Rainbow and my mother sought out different shops and websites to compile a semblance of Lime Crime's lipsticks.  She is actually a saint AND happened to bestow upon me a Magic Dust Rainbow by Lime Crime as well.  This is an insane amount of makeup and I'm so grateful :)

   Now, onto business, would this sought-after dream be as great in person as it was in my...dreams? The answer is yes, yes, yes, yes triple yes, yes.  The lipsticks are beautiful, they smell like a cake/vanilla combo, they stay on my lips, they are pigmented, they are pretty much perfect.  So, I "swatched" all of the colors from my rainbow on my lips because I think you get a better sense of the color when it's actually on as opposed to just kind of there, so pardon the messy eye makeup (it is like 100 degrees over here) and the gratuitous amount of pictures of yours truly with odd expressions and deer in the headlights looks. *Note: the only color I'm missing is D'Lilac, which is a pastel lavender...lilac, duh.  Maybe someday it will be mine too...*  Lies! I now have it! And picture, it is all mine, mwhahahahah :D

 Colors from left to right: Styletto, Retrofuturist, Countessa Flourescent, Great Pink Planet, My Beautiful Rocket, Cosmopop, Coquette, New Yolk City, Mint to Be, No She Didn't, and Airborne Unicorn.  I just realized that I forgot the lipstick Centrifuchsia when I took this picture, but I wore it today, so I have a picture of it on.

 Styletto is a straightforward, beautiful black.  It goes on easily and is really a fab pure black.  Super creamy, perfect.

 I have a tooooon of red lipstick, but this has to be one of my new favorites. Retrofuturist is such a flattering red and will look great on all skin tones.  The sheen/glossiness it has makes it look like candy and again, super creamy.

                                                
 Countessa Fluorescent reminds me of my long-missed MAC lipstick, Heatherette's Hollywood Night, only with a little more pastel to it.  Gorgeous.

 Great Pink Planet is a pretty pastel pink.  It's a little lighter than I normally go for but I think it actually looks pretty dec on me.  I think it might look more flattering with a bright lip liner underneath or mixed with something for my pale skin, but someone with a darker complexion could wear this and have it look *bam*

 My Beautiful Rocket is a great, bright orange that isn't too orange, you know? I love this color and I guess it goes perfectly with the summer trend of orange and such...not that I care :P

 Cosmopop is like applying a creamsicle.  Again, not a color I go for, but it's really so interesting, I've never seen anything like it.

 Coquette is my first nude lipstick.  Personally, I don't think I pull it off that well, but it's one of the prettiest nude lipsticks I've seen.  It seems like there's a hint of pink or something that makes it more noticeable than the typical nude lipstick.

 New Yolk City...wow...all I can say is "wow." It is a highlighter disguised as a lipstick.  I'm so impressed how pigmented Lime Crime's lipsticks are and how it actually is a true yellow.  Not an everyday look but I will figure out ways to put it to use.  And hey, I thought it might make me look jaundice-y, but it works out well.

 Mint to Be is meant to be fabulous.  I feel like mint ice cream.  Beautiful, pigmented, etc. Love, end of story.

 No She Didn't has to be one of my favorite Lime Crime lipsticks.  It's an uber flattering blue and I feel like I would actually wear this just bumming around on a normal day.  I love it and it goes on flawlessly.

 Airborne Unicorn is sooooo cute.  It's such a unique purple and again, love, love, love.

D'Lilac: Pastel purple, love it, enough said. Plus, I'm too lazy to add anything, you all know I love these lipsticks XD

 And now the forgotten Centrafuchsia.  I feel if you mixed this with Countessa Fluorescent I would reclaim Heatherette, haha.  I wore this all today and it stayed on like you wouldn't believe and still remained creamy.  I know some people have said they had issues with Lime Crime's lipsticks drying out their lips, but I had no such issue.  I full heartedly love all of these lipsticks and recommend this brand to everyone.  You'd have to be crazy not to love their products.  I know there has been some buzz and blah blah blah about the company, but since Lime Crime is fairly new to me, I really don't have the time to worry or really care about it.  The quality of their products is enough for me.

Oh, hi there Magic Dust Rainbow...didn't see you there...oy vey, I don't think I can swatch this all now, haha, but just a peek of the again, super pigmented magic dusts.  I wish I was actually getting paid to endorse this company, but alas I am not, haha.  This is an unbiased review-y resembling thing of these fab lipsticks. Let's just say I'm super obsessed.  Oh, and even though I was planning on showing all the colors my friend Aaron wanted full credit for me wearing all the lipsticks, eh, not really giving credit, but I acknowledged him...

~Shannon

   

Back from NY

ACKKKK! I've been gone for so long! I was originally supposed to be in New York only until Sunday, but because we fly standby, we (my mother and I) got knocked off our flight and had to stay an extra day.  We finally got home today, where it is hotter than...anything.  The humidity in MN matches the Amazon, oy vey.  SO, I have so much to post and talk about! It will all likely come in a series of posts, including some of my AH-MAZ-ING birthday presents (yay being an only child) which included the trip to NY, haha.  

 First day of New York.  We saw a super funny play, the Motherf**ker with the Hat, did a lot of shopping, saw the Alexander McQueen Exhibit (life-changing, moving, fantastic, even more obsessed with him now) had amazing Thai food, ah, so good.  I'm obsessed with that new YSL palette which I got at Saks.  The next day we saw "Silence!: the Musical," which was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.  I was laughing so hard I was crying.  It's a parody of Silence of the Lambs and was one of the raunchiest pieces of theater I've seen, but I could literally see it every day for an entire year, it was so good.

 Next day, OBSCURA, OBSCURA, OBSCURA!!!!!  Obscura is an oddities and antiques shop in the East Village which also has the most addicting show on Discovery called, "Oddities."I'm obsessed with the show and really wanted to go see the shop.  It's absolutely tiny but has a plethora of amazing things and I was in heaven.  The salespeople were also just as nice in person as they are on the show, which is always nice :)

 Hi there little alligator wearing a mantilla, nbd or anything.  This is one of my birthday presents, for real :D I still have to think of a name...wearing Wet n' Wild Lipstick in Stoplight Red.

 Birthday dinner! Shrimp pasta at this fab Italian restaurant

I will have a longer post, but yes, a Limecrime Lipstick Rainbow for my birthday...dreams do come true...

So, this was a super short almost scrapbook-y (ewww) post, but it's just a little update and OH, I will be posting about my first giveaway soon, so be prepared!

~Shannon

3 Women? No, 3 Lipsticks. There I Go, Confusing Makeup For Movies

 YAY for new lipstick! Even though I need more makeup...especially lipstick like I need a hole in the head.  These are three MAC lipsticks that are in their permanent collection that I have yet to try.  In order: Lady Danger, St. Germaine, and Cyber. I decided to test them out, I would wear each one for part of the day.  This was yesterday (Sunday) which was super busy and fun.  My friend McKenna got a new puppy so I hung out with her and the puppy and drank coffee and watched Indiana Jones movies until I went to one of my new favorite Vietnamese restaurants in St. Paul, Saigon, with Interact staff and interns.  Saigon has a pho challenge where it's TEN POUNDS of soup and you have to eat it in 45 minutes.  Being cruel, we made the music intern Michael try the challenge.  He failed, but honestly, I don't understand how people could finish the challenge...I love my pho, but in small doses.

Lady Danger is matte and a really fab orange/red.  It's way less drying than Ruby Woo and the color lasted for a long time.  Love it!

St. Germain is a little pale for me, but I really like how it's almost neon.  Personally, I don't know if this is the most flattering color on me, but i'm thinking if I mix it with something else it would be a huge improvement.  I still really like it though...

I typically find super dark colors kind of bleh and meh, but Cyber is legit dark dark purple and I just adore it.  I think because it has no brown undertones like most darrrrk lipsticks have it makes it a really unique and flattering color, especially for people who have skin the color of typing paper...

So, yes, loving new lipsticks and life and all that fun jazz.  I'm leaving for New York on Thursday, so I'm sooooooo excited.  Alexander McQueen, Silence: The Musical, shopping, MoMa, all better be ready for me :)

~Shannon

Pretty in Pink

Chanel, Chanel, ohhhhh, how I love thee Chanel.  I'm not a label snob, believe me, but Chanel just makes me happy sometimes with how classic and amazing it is.  When I went shopping with mi mama a couple days ago, I said I got some new Chanel makeup and here it is, complete with an entire look made with these purchases that were exclusively given to Nordstrom for distribution.  

 Chanel Powder Blush in St. Rose Tourbillon, Chanel Luminous Lip Colour in Joyeuse, and Chanel Quadra Eye Shadow in Rose Envolee

 The blush is actually waaaaay more pink, I just couldn't get the best picture.  It's a perfect pink and smells like heaven, literally.  The smell is all rosy and wonderful.

 I really love the eyeshadow colors.  Apparently when the quad is comprised of circles, it's European and  only in America are the quads square.  The colors are very pretty and I used them all in this eye.  I used the lighter colors on my brow bone, the brighter pink on my lid and kind of lined my lid with the burgundy dead rose. Oh, I also used MAC's Brow Set in Show-off to tint my eyebrows and groom them into place.  I swear by this tint and a little goes a long way.  It has a mascara-like brush and I always wipe off a ton of the product inside the bottle and just gently run it through my brows.  It looks so much more natural than pencil and stays on all day.

 European...other side of the world Quad! I do have to say I like the cute little circles :)

 Eyes, the color was a little more intense in real-life, but you get the gist.  

The lipstick was a little lighter than I typically go for, but it was such a cute pink I had to have it.  For a pale pink I really like it and it looked really cute because I was wearing kind of matching pink and blue pastels.  This collection was apparently originally released in Japan so I wore my Baby, the Stars Shine Bright Necklace, a Japanese Lolita brand.  I never dress Lolita, but some of their things are very cute and not over the top little girl for me.  It's just not a look that works for me, haha.  I really love all of these products and am glad my mother was so nice to give me an early birthday present.  Another birthday present is....I'm going to New York this Thursday! I'm so excited, I haven't been there in forever and I get to see the Alexander McQueen Exhibit at the Met, which I've been ready to sell my soul to see.  Ah! So much excitement for my upcoming birthday (July 18th)! 

~Shannon

Wings So Long I'll Likely Take Flight

This day (Thursday) I went shopping with mi mama at Nordstom for the Anniversary Sale, so of course I had to go all dramatic with the winged eyeliner :) This is just my basic look pretty much: Benefit's Posietint, Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Perversion, Makeup Forever Lipstick in 205, and the base eyeshadow color was Covergirl Eye Enhancer in Golden Sunrise.  I used Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Lucky on my waterline, above my black liner to clean it up and finally, I swooped it from my waterline underneath the black.  It's a different take on the "popular" double winged cat's eye and I really loved the way this turned out.

 Not to be going on about how great I look, haha, jk, jk, I used Benefit's That Gal Primer all over my face under my foundation to give myself a rosier glow.

Closeup on my eye, *twilight zone music cue*

 Because I was at le mall of AMERICA! I stopped at Sephora and got some new fun purchases and restocks.  For instance, I was out of my UD De-Slick, which works wonders for touching up and de-slicking excess day face oil.  I had my old one since they invented the stuff and it has lasted that long.  A fab product for sure! I really wanted to try Makeup Forever's new Aqua Liners.  I tested them out today and the liner literally stays on though everything.  I'm talking excessive sweating from learning how to ride a bike (true story) and a dance party with extreme interpretive dancing to Bohemian Rhapsody.  The only downfall is that the brush is a little hard to control, so my lines weren't as precise as I like them to be.  I think with practice, this aspect will improve.

TOKIDOKI lipgloss! I really like Tokidoki makeup products.  I loved their handbags since their invention and I feel like their makeup really fits their overall brand.  It seems like not a ton of people use their makeup though...
   OHHHHH, and I got some really cool new Chanel makeup, which will be posted about later, so be prepared.  AND I'm thinking once I hit 50 followers I'll have a lovely little giveaway for all the fab and beautiful and talented followers of my blog.  Thanks so much for the support and lovely comments.  I read them all and really appreciate everything, so hopefully a giveaway will be an acceptable token of my appreciation :)
~Shannon

Hades, Oh Wait, I Meant to Say "James Woods"

Sooooo, this is my second part of my Disney Villains series of looks, yaaaaaay.  I chose Hades from "Hercules" because I just had bought a great cheap turquoise eyeliner AND i was *gasp* watching Family Guy and one of the episodes with James Woods was on so obvi my series of thoughts would go James Woods->James Woods playing James Woods playing Hades playing James Woods, because honestly, that character is pretty much all Mr. Woods, haha.  Love it so much though and even though Meg is not teeechnically a "princess," she has one of the best songs.  I used to listen to it on tape during road trips over and over again, because we were going the distance, ahhhhhhh. 

 Wish I had some tooth coloring to do his creepy jagged teeth, alas, until a later day....

 This look was more of an.. "arty?" take on Hades using certain colors from his character and applying it not quite as literally as my Scar look.  After priming and prepping, I used MAC Eyeshadow in Forgery (silverish) as a base on my lid to brow and under my eye.  I marked out my brows a little with a Hot Topic Black Pencil and did just a mixture of blues from my Makeup Forever 12 Flash Color Case and a Hot Topic Turquoise Pencil.  My lip color was made in the same manner of mixing blues and some things were finished off with Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Ransom and Binge.  

Overall, I like the eye and the look, buuuuut I would and tried to take off the slightly awk glitter on the side of my cheekbones and such.  I mean, sometimes I look at it and really like it and sometimes I'm thinking I shouldn't have put it up because of the strange glitter.  But I was thinking Nyx Creme Glitter Palette in Ocean Breeze=similar to flames, yeaaah. 

~Shannon