Belated Halloween Pedicure

Bats and black cats as you can see!  My little toes were done in black with streaky white in an attempt at spiderwebs.  I really like how the bats came out though :D  Maybe next year I'll have my holiday nails up in time :P

Product Review: Neutrogena Light Night Cream

So I've been using this lovely product for about two weeks now.  I didn't want to review it right off because I wouldn't know what effects it would have then, would I?
Neutrogena's Product Description:
Light Night Cream is a light yet effective overnight cream.This non-greasy, dermatologist-tested formula absorbs quickly into skin. It provides an immediate surge of moisture, doubling skin's moisture level for eight hours.

The appearance of fine lines and wrinkles is minimized. Skin is left feeling softer and smoother.
-Hypoallergenic
-Absorbs quickly

Now I've been skimping on my skin routine for financial/time issues, but I finally got around to replacing my old night cream.  I had been experimenting with Olay's Regenerist line, but gave it to my mom instead because my skin is sensitive and weak, and my mother is the actual target age group for the product.
In the mean time, my skin had been feeling a bit drier and just less...elastic than usual.  This product fixed that.
It claims to be non-greasy but I'll never know since my face is a bit oily naturally.  On nights when my AC is working right, I wake up to significantly less greasy skin than usual, but a warm night will render the magic of this cream a bit useless in that regard.
I know that it does definitely hydrate my skin much more than my hypoallergenic off-brand lotion that I'd been using, so my skin is much nicer now overall.  Some people complained that it gave them acne, but I've had no trouble with it in that regard - whatever acne I have currently can be completely blamed on stress.

Overall, I'd buy this again.  I'm a sucker for simple, tried-and-true products that just work, and I've read reviews of people using this product for decades who still rave about it. Good job Neutrogena, I'll probably be one of those rave reviewers in another couple decades :)

Daily Grind

Finally, a semi-decent picture of my bangs!  I'd tried to style my hair a bit today, but it really just ended up a slightly curlier mass than usual.  At least I tried I suppose :)
So this is my go-to look; Lancome's 2Sexy duo and the single Constellation for shading in a sparkly black.  I wet down my eyeliner brush and dabbed some Constellation and it came out to be a surprisingly dark but not too sharp line.  Usually I'll smudge my Coffee pencil or dry-swipe a black eyeshadow for a softer look, but this ended up pretty well overall :)
Am still working on getting more blush onto my cheeks.  It always seems like so much when I put it on that I have to stop or else I'm worried throughout the day that I look like some cartoon character.  And yet it's barely showing in this non-flash picture.  *SIGH*  I'm never going to get through any of my damn blushes.
I'm also wearing the same lipstick as yesterday, Revlon's Pink in the Morning.  Its warmer than Primrose, which seems almost too light for my skin.


And here you can just barely see the shimmer from where I'd packed some of ELF's eye transformer on the ball of my eye, a little blue shimmer for funsies.

Smoky Blue FOTD

So I've been wearing a full face of makeup pretty regularly for the past couple of weeks.  This may change in the next few days as my LSAT scores are released - no sense in wearing makeup if I'm going to stress it all off anyway D:
But this smoky blue eye was my fun look for the week since I'd been diligently applying my Lancome neutral duo all week earlier.  I used a light taupe all over my eyelids from an ELF quad, then packed on some color with Lancome's single eyeshadow Strobe and toned the vividness down a bit with a sparkly black in the outer corners.  This is also one of the few times I've worn liquid eyeliner in ages since we just don't seem to get along, but it looks pretty good with the blue, if I say so myself.
I used a bunch of ELF on my face, from the Complexion Perfection pallet for my dark circles to the extremely affordable pressed powder I dusted all over my face.  I'm so glad they broadened their color ranges because now I do not look the least bit orange, which is what used to (unfortunately) happen with their early beginnings.

I'm also wearing Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Pink in the Morning here, which I thoroughly love.  The formula is moisturizing, which always seems to be a problem with the lipsticks I buy, and I love the color.  It holds up pretty well under regular use too, and doesn't transfer too much.

Dead Products

Since I've realized exactly how long I've had some of these products, it's occurred to me that maybe some of them need to be retired.  No matter how much I love that shade of lipstick, it didn't get it's worth in my makeup bag and it needs to be retired before I poison myself or something. 
Times like this make me wish my first foray into the world of makeup had not been at the makeup counter in Macy's.  I was a teenager and had little experience applying makeup - I really should not have splurged on the good stuff when I had no idea what I was doing.  My only excuse is that I'd begged my parents to take me to the drugstore to finally pass that milestone of girlhood and buy some makeup, and they decided that I should get the expensive stuff.  While thoughtful, not the most practical idea.  I did appreciate that the woman who was helping us at the Lancome counter (Bridget, I still remember you being so nice) carefully explained how to apply each product and let me try on my own.  She's probably the only reason I knew how to apply eyeshadow at all. 
Ah, memories.
In any case, I can no longer pretend those nostalgic items are still good to apply.  While I've always used the guidelines for tossing beauty products as something to generally scoff at, I really can't pretend that 6 year old lipstick is still good. 
But I still love some of the shades so I really just wanted to record this passing of my beauty closet.
Lancome products: Rouge Absolue Creme - Creme de Marron, Color Design - En Vogue, Rouge Sensation - Henne, Juicy Rouge - Pink Candy and Sugar Rose
Also ELF: Waterproof Eyeliner Pens in Coffee and Plum, lip-plumping duo gloss in Fire Coral, and Brightening Eyeliner in Gilded.

I absolutely loved the Lancom Juicy Rouge lipstick/glosses, especially Sugar Rose - a pretty pink with golden shimmers.  Unfortunately it was discontinued after the lip gloss craze hit - but now that lipsticks are coming back in, perhaps they'll revive the product?  I can only hope :D
I also really liked Creme de Marron, which I could pretty easily replace.  It was a soft creme nude that was perfect for everyday wear.  But until I make a dent in all my lip products, I don't see myself replacing it anytime soon. 
And under pressure from my impending LSAT exam, I impulsively bought replacement lipsticks - two Revlon tubes and  an eco- lip shimmer that is easily a dupe for Burts Bees lip shimmers at a fraction of the price.  I foresee my BB shimmers being retired soon in favor of the Wet n Wild dupes - creamier and less peely (on my lips at least) than BB's. 
The ELF products though, I could easily do without.  The new formula for eyeliner isn't bad, but the "waterproof eyeliner" is terrible.  I do not recommend buying that.
Hopefully I'll get to reviewing my beauty haul sometime soon.  :D

Taupe!

So this is my minimal look for today...as you can see I also have some apparently lopsided bangs going on - that's been around since midsummer....and that's how long it's been since I've posted a look.  Bummer.
But anywaaaays.  I just did a layer of taupe-ish over the entire lid with some black liquid eyeliner and a nude lip.  I still feel dressy with just this much on :)

Summer of Silence

Since I've been prepping for the LSAT, I've become deplorably lax in my beauty routine.  All summer was empty of makeup, with the exception of visits with the boyfriend (eyeliner and lippy which he hates anyway, I think I might be doin it wrong there :P). 
And now that I'm comfortably ensconced back here at school, I still can't be bothered to apply more than a bit of eyeliner and lip color.  I've long been trying to deny the fact that makeup melts off me in this heat - I have no idea how other girls traipse about with a full face of foundation and spiky mascara without wanting to scrub their faces within the hour. 
Once I acclimate to the heat again perhaps I'll try more. 
I've also cut myself some bangs though, so I'm worried the combination of hair on my forehead and makeup will not be a good one for my complexion. 
Despite the lack of makeup though, I'm still doing a weekly manicure and whatnot.  I've FINALLY figured out why my konad set wasn't working for me - apparently it needed to be filed a bit with my nailfile to actually pick up the images.  That seriously drove me nuts for ages.  So now I've got a nice, slightly chipped coral nail with little black flowers on that I now want to change to something fancier and non-konady.  Funny how once you get what you want, you change your mind :P
Actually, now I just really want to get some konad plates that have a full nail stamp instead of just a teeny stencil :X  However, my financial situation isn't such that I can splurge on nonessential beauty items anymore, so I'll just satisfy myself with the many polishes I've got and get creative :)

Head2Toe Beauty Haul

This is starting to turn into more of a nail blog.....lols.
Top row, left to right: CG Ruby Pumps, Gussied Up Green, Color Club Worth the Risque, more CG Wagon Trail, Dorothy Who?, Hope Chest, Magical, Passion, Cherish
Bottom row, left to right: CG Lemon Fizz, Paper Chasing, Color Club Revvolution, CG C-C-Courage and Poetic.
It's my first time trying any China Glaze stuff, but I'd kind of been stock piling a list of stuff I wanted from them.  So far I've worn Ruby Pumps on my toes and Gussied Up Green on my fingers - both were so much more opaque than what I'm used to.  I could have gone with only one coat!  But for science I tried two and got a deeper opaque layer on my nails. 
I've also never tried Color Club polish, but these two were holographic so I have to try them :D 

Blue Stripes

This is a much tamer nail design I did at home.  Typically, I have little patience for doing my nails unless I'm studying, so unless I'm working on an exam, most of the polish I use will be flat and uninteresting.
However, this summer I'm spending a couple of hours each day prepping for the LSAT which I'll take in the fall, so I have lovely nails at least once a week. 

Idea stolen from Deez Nails who always seems to be doing a nice monochromatic stripey look with her new polishes, so I figured that I should give it a try :)

Artsy Flowers

So I did this look ages ago, some time before school ended in May...I have a tendency to get distracted when I study, so in the midst of my preparation for final exams and whatnot, I found a much more intense nail art tutorial to entertain myself while I dug up the relevant notes for each exam.  

I love the way this turned out - it must have taken like seven coats of polish total, but it was so worth it.  I used a tutorial from LOVE4NAILS and subscribe to her channel, but I don't feel like sifting through her videos to find the one that showed me this lovely pattern.

I even grew out my nails for this - in fact, I'd been growing them out so I could do this design on it and while it was fun to have the design all over my nails, I was slowly going crazy from such long nails.  My fingertips fairly itched with a need to clip them shorter.

Commitment

I've always had issues with it, when not in reference to you know, people.  I tend to do things in half-measures - I often spread myself out a lot and to make up for having a half dozen projects going on, I tend to half-ass things that aren't graded or anything.
This blog for example - I'm definitely not updating it as often as I should be.  Not like a loyal blogger at least.  The same for my other blog, which is about reading books, which I'm always doing.  I should have plenty to write.
Alas.  Other things distract me.  What can I say?
....
Well, earlier this week I attended my friend's first Mary Kay makeup party thing.  I've never been to one of those things and it was pretty fun (if admittedly dim; it was held at my other friend's new place and they haven't quite settled in yet) but I was fascinated by this whole being-your-own-boss thing - again. 
My friend is the first person I know on a personal level who does this kind of thing, also the first person who has been pretty honest about the whole startup cost.  Working for Mary Kay seems pretty reasonable to me, and a good way to supplement my lower cash amount while looking fabulous! (lol)
So perhaps I'll sign up for it?  I'm tight on funds (who isn't?) and the initial cost isn't as much as I expected, but it's still more money than I typically drop at any given time.  As mentioned above, I have a bit of an issue with commitment and tend to waffle on these kind of things...like the Avon thing.  But this seems better :)

End of the school year...

The year's coming to a close and for the past month I've been busy preparing to shift dorms, switch islands, and hopefully pass my classes.  So this will take a back seat to those priorities until I have the time/inclination to write a satisfactory entry.  I have some pics of stuff I've done...but I'm lazy.  Ohwell.
Back to studying!

Ice, Ice Baby

So here's another nail look, but the colors really didn't come out.  The blue looks more Caribbean than this straight blue here (Sinful Colors, All Mighty)...I also tried to add a little frosty look with some blue glitter (Sinful Colors, Nail Junkie). 
I've never used this brand before, am trying to find/get brands that chip less.  So far, this one is a slight improvement from ELF, which was cheap and fun, but is now just eh now that I'm getting more into playin with nails. 
I really dig the color on both of these polishes, and can definitely get in on the glitteriness.  Ftw blue sparkles.

Nail Art!

Some nail artsiness!  Fingers done with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away!  and White On.

Toes done in E.L.F. Pearl as a background color with NYX skinny nailpolishes for detail in black and silver.

Greenest of Greens!

 Did I fluff my hair up?  No indeed.  This is just how it looks most of the time.  If I'm lucky.

So I just found this in my camera, can't remember when I wore this - it is SO GREEN.  I mean, it's not that green, but for me this is SO GREEN.


Now that the picture is all small on my computer screen though, it doesn't seem too bad.  Thoughts?







I can only assume this is one of the few times I was wearing mascara because my lashes look super long :)  Mysterious green makeup day must be solved.

The Daily Grind

Day in, day out, my look can best be summarized as...my Default.
I've been doing this thing lately where I actually spend time studying, so I don't linger so much over my makeup...despite using the same shades for about two weeks, there hasn't been much of a decrease in my eyeshadows.
I'll just have to keep using them til they finally disappear!

Homemade Beauty Goodies

Is this an obscene photo?  No indeed, it's my homemade lotion! 
So my dad orders tons of beeswax for his metal working dealies, so I decided it'd be awesome if I nabbed some and tried to make my own beauty goods!
So here are some of the results: two different colored lip balms (which I love incidentally), and a runny lotion.
The lotion was creamy when I made it originally - at home, in a cold environment.  When I brought the bottle back to school however, it became a much more gooey liquidy consistency. 
Conclusion?  Lotion making will require more practice, but lip balm is full of win.  The hyper-moisturizing nature of both of these seem to be working great with my oh-so touchy skin, so I'll probably try to refine my recipe over the summer.