My first trip to Ulta!

In my neck of the woods, cosmetics and nail product pickings are pretty thin. We have the regular drugstores...and we have Sally's. Not the greatest selection. There is a Sephora about 25 miles away (I think) but I try to avoid that shopping center at all costs.

Recently, things have changed! We were making an emergency run for milkshakes (what, it was an emergency) and I noticed a shiny new store going in to the old Borders store front. (I think that Borders was our last big chain bookstore in the county. Too bad.) IT WAS ULTA! Holy shit, I was stoked. Finally! Somewhere to check out and buy brands like Zoya and Butter London! A friend heard through the grapevine that it was opening on August 3. I was resigned to wait patiently, though I did rush to the website to sign up for their rewards program, since I do love a good coupon. Then, come to find out, there was going to be a soft opening...and it was already happening!! And everyone got a 20% coupon! Now, in the interests of full disclosure, I had been to an Ulta in North Carolina. So this wasn't really my first trip, but that time I spent maybe 10 minutes in the store and then I wasn't as into nail polish or make-up as much as I am now.

sorry for the shitty cell phone picture...I just couldn't wait!

So this afternoon, we packed up the kids and made the loooong two mile trek (did I mention this store is two miles away? I think this might be dangerous) to the new Ulta. I wish I had taken pictures! Aisles of make-up, polish, cosmetics! Brands I had only had access to on Amazon, right in front of me! I ended up (after wandering around for 25 minutes) with the OPI mini Spider-man set, some shiny holo glitter from NYX, and my old stand-by: Sally Hansen's Double Duty. After my coupon, I spent less than $20.

I forsee a long, loving relationship with this store. Not only do they have some awesome polishes, but they also carry nearly everything I use on my face. So I will definitely try to make this a monthly trip. Hooray Ulta!

Just a quick reminder....

Do right by your polish!  On my left hand I prepped with acetone, applied base coat, thin coat of polish, wrapped my tips, second coat of polish, then top coat, letting it dry completely between coats.  On the right I just prepped and threw on a coat before a quick clean up and running out the door.

I think the results speak for themselves...

Pardon the birthday man's foot, please.  He was nice enough to take the photo for me...after saying that his birthday should be a day without any nail polish.  I talk about it too much.  *snicker*

I have a bunch of backlogged posts to get on here once I'm done with birthday festivities.  See you soon!

It's Like My Nails Are On Fire...But In A Good Way

My awesome new Makeupalley buddy, Nicole (that could get confusing), sent me a packet of pure polish awesomeness and I was (am!) gonna do a post about that..but this is too amazing to wait.

Barielle Elle's Spell jumped instantly into my all-time top 10 polishes.  It's as breathtaking on the nail as it is in the bottle.  It's a deep red jelly packed full of iridescent flake glitter.  The glitter itself is a lot like Essie Shine Of The Times, but because it's *in* the jelly base it has a depth to it.  The "jelly sandwich" technique approximates it, but it can't quite do what this does.  It's fiery, glowing, and I can't stop staring at it. (Layered over Orly Grave Mistake.)  Words and photos don't begin to do it justice...

This *MUST* be owned by anyone who loves reds and is absolutely perfect for fall.  ...sucks that it's July.

My July Birchbox!

For Mother's Day, I got a subscription to Birchbox. It's a subscription service that delivers samples and the occasional full sized product right to your door each month. I LOVE cosmetics samples, so this is the best thing for me.

I do love the boxes.

everything comes nicely wrapped. It makes a great gift.

In this month's box:

• Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint
• Blinc Mascara
• Tea Forte Minteas in Chocolate mint
• Alterna Bamboo UV+Color Protection Fade Fluide
• Harvey Prince "Hello!"
• Glamour earbuds

Everything unwrapped. The mascara looks to be full sized!

The tint was a little orange for me, but it might be cool mixed with my moisturizer...dunno. I'll try it at least once. I'm kinda excited to try the Blinc mascara. Its supposed to be those little tube thingies...we'll see.  And I LOVE the mints. Chocolate and mint...what could go wrong?! (well, ok. A LOT could go wrong. But they are good.) I haven't tried the fade "fluide" yet, but I'm getting my hair colored next weekend, so I'll give it a run then. The perfume is really fresh smelling, and I think I like it. I don't really know if I'll ever need the earbuds...but hey, win some, lose some.

Not everyone should make tutorials...

So, I spend an inordinate amount of time on a certain website. There is a group of ladies and gentlemen on there that share my enthusiasm for all things make-up. I saw a post about this video tutorial last night. I, as was everyone else who commented, was flabbergasted. How on earth this woman fancied herself a professional make-up artist is beyond me. Maybe this "scene" stuff just wasn't her forte. I mean, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I can barely handle liquid liner that isn't in felt-tipped pen form. Maybe she was just practising?

 Still--this video is bad. The make-up is sloppy. I watched it hoping that it was some sort of parody. I still think it might have been...though admittedly, I am too old to know the whole "scene" thing.

After watching this video, I declared that my five year old could do at least as good a job at "scene" make-up.  So I sat down with Charlie and we watched the video...and I gave her a brush and a cheapie ELF palette. This is what happened.

the "scene" look as told by a five-year-old.

 I think she did a pretty good job. My palette didn't have any orange, which she was kind-of annoyed about, but she made do...with more blue. And black.

She was happy with the final product.

And the arteest. She was pretty proud.  She told me she thinks she did a better job than the lady in the video. I kind-of agree.

I don't know who you are, but I LOVE you!

Last month I got a bottle of OPI without a label.  I knew it would drive me crazy, but at $2.99 for a wine-ish looking color...I kinda had to buy it.

Sorry for the blurry photos these past few times...I think the lense must need cleaning or something.

Anyway...isn't it pretty?  Isn't it maddening?

It was in a clearance bin, so I didn't even have an idea about its collection.  I did some poking around, then asked on Makeup Alley's nail board (more about that place soon).  I got all kinds of suggestions, but none looked *quite* right.  All were too red, had a shimmer, had the thin brush...something.

Look at it! ...and not at my pre-improvement cleanup and cuticles.  It's so shiny, so deep, so...just...wow.

The search for its name seemed to be pointing to William Tell Me About OPI, and on my next Ulta trip I found a bottle in the clearance section.  Motherfuckingbingo!!!  That's exactly what this is...and now I have a backup too!  I wanna wear this forever, with every glitter, flakie, everything.  LOVE!!!  New favorite color...or new favorite cream at least...no doubt.

...but I can't leave amazing alone.  It needed something extra...  I'd tried Sally Hansen Glass Slipper before (bottom of loooong post) and I wasn't wowed, but I *had to* see what it looked like with William Tell.

Amazing!  It has this delicate sparkle along with the flakes.  I didn't see it last time against the glitter clusterfuck that was my evolving nail.  I love this now.  It's so different.  I stand by my "fake snow" comment though.

After that (weeks after, but who's counting?) I had to see it with a more standard flakie.  I got Essie Shine Of The Times at Rite Aid with a $2-off coupon, but I didn't full-on wear it until Friday.  It's a lot like the Finger Paints flakies.  I want to do a whole big post just about flakies sometime...I'm so obsessed!

Figures it didn't get sunny until today...when I'd already thrown NYC Matte Me Crazy over it...

I think I might even love it a little more this way.  Tough call.  The shine is mesmerizing, but with the matte you see each color in the shift more clearly.

Brace yourself for SPAM!  Shine Of The Times deserves all the angles there are.

(now with bonus tomatoes!)

You still here?  Wow.  You're tenacious.  My cleanup and cuticles still aren't there yet, but they're really improving, aren't they?

More Summer Makeup

This is similar to my first post about summer makeup, but now that it really *is* summer here, it seemed right.  I used mostly e.l.f. again too, so this really feels like a rerun.  One major difference...I went back to the Covergirl CG Smoothers tinted moisturizer I was trying to replace.  I use 805 Fair to Light, one of their pathetic offering of three shades.  It covers just a little better than the e.l.f. and since my rosacea triangles are at their summer reddest, I need all the light coverage I can get!  It smells like a whiff of a clean diaper...making me miss the fruity smell of the e.l.f. one.  It feels a lot nicer though, and you quickly forget it's even there.  With my rosacea as obvious as it was, I also threw on a quick dusting of CG Smoothers pressed powder in 705 Translucent Fair.

I did my eyes with a quick tightlining with a black liner, then a sweep of e.l.f. eyelid primer in Sheer, and the lighter shade in the e.l.f. Coffee & Cream Duo Eye Shadow Cream.  I dabbed a little e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Citrus on my cheeks and the inner corners of my eyes.  I really love this stuff, in all the shades I've tried.  I'd call it a must-have.  My lips got just a little coating of the Golden Glitz shade of e.l.f.'s Glitter Gloss.  It looks like a light, tawny gold in the tube, but goes on very sheer, enhancing the color of your natural lip.  It looks very pink on me.  Overall, this wore well on me despite a long day on a grocery shopping adventure in Lancaster County.  The gloss vanished as quickly as they all do, but my rosacea was still fairly well concealed when I got home hours later.

This look was more than the previous amazing $5.  The CG Smoothers tinted moisturizer is $6.50-8.50, depending on where you shop.  I paid $6.70 for it at soap.com.  It's more than three times as much product as the e.l.f., but at over 6 times the price.  I've had the CG Smoothers pressed powder forever and need a new one.  It's also in the $6.50-8.50 range.  I used a 99c Wet n Wild black eyeliner because my "good one" (I forget the brand) is missing.  Grrr!  e.l.f. products are almost always a great bargain.  The Glitter Gloss is $3 and the Eyelid Primer, Duo Eye Shadow Cream, and Shimmering Facial Whip are all $1 each.  Great quality, especially for the low price...which, of course, goes for most of their products.

I also used a brush this time.  Last time I just used fingers.  As great as e.l.f. is for cosmetics, they might be even better for brushes.  I've had this mini face brush for years and it still doesn't shed, washes like a champ, and works as well as more expensive brushes I've had.

Coming soon; tons of nail stuff...when I get around to it.  I'm also fighting a cuticle war...and just starting to win!

Nine Perfect Nails

Eighty-seven years ago today Dorothy May Barbour was born. In her mid-50s she became my Grandma Norris. She's been gone for almost five years, but I always think of her around this time. We weren't very close, but she was one of the women who helped shape my ideas about makeup and beauty. She was pin-up stunning when she was young and in her mid-70s still looked just out of her 60s. Never left the house without makeup. Always had her nails painted.

I feel a little bad that this is the only photo of her I could find... because it's really more of a photo of me.  I joke that even at the tender age of three months I was amazed by the ugliness of her sofa.  Gold polish on her nails for xmas.  You can see a hint of it.  Frosted hair, silver chain....this is really how I remember her.  She doted on me for the few weeks I'd see her each year and I loved her for it, in that greedy piggy way kids love anyone who spoils them.

Years before I was born, my mother stopped wearing makeup for anything but the biggest occasions, so my grandmothers were my only real exposure to it.  They were both of the generation that couldn't leave the house without, which is what caused my mother's lasting rebellion against it.  Grandma, was prim and dorkily conservative, but Grandma Norris loved shimmer and frost.  She was the flashier, bolder, and yes...speak ill of the dead...tackier of the two.  In early years she was the icon of glamour in my eyes.  She was fussy about how everything looked, not just wiping smudges off my face, but tidying my hair, straightening my clothes...as I wiggled to get away.

I'll never forget how grown up I felt when she gave me a bunch of her old makeup.  I was in middle school and only allowed to wear lip stuff out of the house, but I played with this new treasure trove at home.  My little sister and I both looked absurd smeared with smoky brown eye shadow, but it was so much fun.

The title of this post seems a bit odd if you didn't know her.  Her nails were always painted.  She'd redo them every couple of days, sitting in her chair at the kitchen table.  She had all the stuff right there in a neat little basket and I liked watching her.  She had the full range of neutrals and pale shimmers...pink, beige, pearl, gold, taupe, nude, tan.  In some ways it was a brave thing for her to draw attention to her nails.  She'd lost her left pinkie finger in her teens.  The whole thing, down to the knuckle.  She used to tell her childhood hardship story (didn't all grandparents have one?), a bit harder than many.  She'd been ordered by her father to leave school at 14 and get a job.  I think she worked in a factory making bicycle parts, but I'm not sure.  Might have been bottles.  It's weird how the more you hear some stories, the less you remember them.  It was a factory, whatever it made, and she lost her finger when her hand got stuck in some machinery.  When I look back at visits with her, I always think of those nine perfect nails...