Two Lipped

     Ugh, guys, I really am the worst with promises of blog posts and the like, whoops.  Life always seems to interfere with blog maintenance.  You know, school, job searches, copious amounts of British television shows...I've been drawn into the world of "Downton Abbey," "Sherlock," and "Doctor Who," with no sign of surfacing from said world, so, when I get back to serious blogging once the semester is over (in just a month, thankfully!) I will likely be doing some BRIT-ISH inspired posts and declaring my love for various British actors.  I have a long running joke/annoyance/legit truth that I am BRIT-ISH (yes, said in that manner) that has been entertaining and annoying everyone who interacts with me.  It's clearly a good time.  So, I am alive, well, a bit overly-caffinated and returning with a simply spring-y look that I wore recently.

 I've always been a fan of the two-tone lip look and since it was lovely and spring-y out, I took advantage by doing a pink/orange combo.

 I kept my cheeks pink to compliment the less noticeable pink (because my upper lip is thinner) and the eye makeup to a basic bronze overcast with a basic liquid liner cat eye.   The scar below my brow is reeeeally noticeable in this picture.  As a child I was playing tag (indoors) with my father and ran into a wall (typical).  I love scars though (this, of course, stemming from my heart surgery scar that goes from in between my collar bone and down to a couple inches above my belly button).  Scars always tell a story! And there goes my scar rant....haha

Face:

Typical Neutrogena Skin-Clearing Makeup in Ivory

Garnier Fructis Under-Eye Roller Concealer

Urban Decay Razor Sharp Ultra Definition Powder

Cheeks:

NARS blush in Orgasm (across cheek bones)

MAC Creme Blush in Bougainvillea (on apple of cheeks)

Eyes:

Lime Crime Shadow Primer

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Baked and Toasted (mixed on lid)

Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner in Perversion

Urban Decay Glide-On Eye Pencil in Baked (applied on waterline)

Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara 

Lips:

MAC Lipstick in Pink Pigeon (upper lip)

and Lady Danger (bottom lip)

Thoughts on the two-tone lip? I, as I said, really like it, the only trouble I had was with keeping the colors separate.  In about three seconds I already mashed the colors together and had to fix it, haha.  So goes my general clumsiness.   Anyway, it's lovely to be back and blogging.  Not making any promises on how frequent my returns will be happening (because I have broken o' so many promises), but, until next time!

~Shannon

If You Take a Mouse to School...

Hi lovlies! I just finished up with the children's show I've been rehearsing/performing for forever!! I cannot believe it's done.  It was such a fun show, even with screaming children and 20+ performances.  The show was "If You Take a Mouse to School" and I played the Teacher and Mother Mouse (Grandma Mouse) complete with ears.  I am actually obsessed with my teacher costume (a screaming pink suit) that I'm greatly considering buying it..GREATLY!  The overall theme was very pink, so I did my makeup to match. 

 UD Liquid Liner in Pervasion, MAC Creme Blush in Florida, discontinued Makeup Forever pink Lipstick, and Wet n' Wild Eyeshadow trio (magenta color) in Spoiled Brat= basic makeup usage.  I had a quick change where I had to wipe this all off and turn into... 

MOTHER MOUSE! This is some basic old-age makeup (and old-age clothing, hello lovely not totally turtleneck...) without speckling with my favorite stipple sponge because the lighting made it...wonky.  Of course, this looks super cartoony and odd, but, with the magic of stage lights, I looked relatively and realistically old.  It was funny because the majority of the children didn't even realize I was both roles, haha, silly children. This was actually applied in about two minutes because, it was a quick change with the basic highlighter and character shadow from my Ben Nye makeup kit. You can see my more intense aging/realistic aging makeup here.  All in all, I had a fun time, slapping on my makeup running around two shows a day, eeek! I have a ton of makeup to review/blog about now that I have a semblance of a life.  Plus classes...eeek, classes...Until then...
~Shannon

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

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

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

License Renewal Powers Activated!

Yesterday was it? Oh, it feels so long ago I got my license renewed at that lovely place known as the DMV aka HELLLLLL! I waited 2 hours to get my bloody picture taken and pay $20.50 to do so. There were soooo many people there and it had been open for only 15 minutes when I got there, rage, rage, rage, continue and BLAH! Anyway, at least the DMV is a great place for people watching! So many ill-fitting tank tops and general oddness. I have a theory about places like the DMV or the airport, or the state fair, and other venues of that nature: that there are some people who live on the outskirts of society that you never see except at places like the aforementioned.  It's unreal.  Like these people come from little caves in the woods only to hop a plane or get a elephant ear at the fair.  I don't understand!

 So this was my look for DMVing, going to the doctor because I have another cold/sinus infection, and getting feathers in my hair with friends.   I ended up foregoing the doctor because it was a 2 and a half hour wait and I was not having it.  So, I later picked up my friend Alicia and we met my friend Jenny at this salon to get feathers, which I'm now obsessed with.  I'll have to take a picture and post them :).
    My makeup was a pretty general me look.  I opened up a new Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Perversion, which of course I'm mad about per usual.  I used some UD Eyeshadow in Baked before applying the liner and then added the blue liner (UD in Electric).  I just love the hint of blue under my eyes! Blush was MAC Blush in Tippy.
    From my previous Ulta haul I opened up myNYX Slim Lip Pencil in Bloom and fell in love.  It's so creamy and such a great color that fills in the lip nicely.  I had never tried a NYX pencil before and I am completely sold on them, especially for the fab price.  I applied a little bit of YSL Lipstick in No.7 just to add a little more pop of pink.

 On another note, I've been using my new Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Waterproof Mascara and I feel like it's actually making my lashes longer and thicker.  It separates my lashes nicely too.  The only think I'm not crazy about is the brush, it's a bit bulky and "old-school" I want to say.  Like it's a very big brush and not as dainty as my previous mascaras.  That does not make the mascara a deal-breaker though!

The mascara in question! See what I mean about it being an "old-school" brush? Haha

Thought I'd show off my new sunglasses too! I'm loving the red and white combo and am completely ignoring the fact that they could be considered "in" because of the color blocking.  I ignore such statements! AHHHHH, haha.  They're by an Agrentinian designer, Maria Rivolta who only has one store in the U.S, which happens to be in Mpls! We ordered my fake aunt/really should be a real aunt a birthday present from this designer and they had an issue with shipping and after WEEKS of trying to get this present, they shipped it to their U.S store.  We're like, "so, we have to go to what, New York to get this thing?" And they said the store was at Southdale center, Mpls surprisingly. What a small world we live in.  

~Shannon