I feel pretty--NOT! THE COSMETICS THREAD

haha yeah re: new mom, my skin has become better now that i don't have time to fuss with it in the mirror! i still use the clindoxyl (acne rosacea 4evah) and a basic moisturizer though.

I use a pencil and brow gel. Highly recommend it.

two friends of mine visited me right after getting their eyebrows threaded in my neighbourhood and they looked amazing. they both have naturally dark and bold eyebrows. i don't think i have enough eyebrow to warrant it but i kind of want to anyway just to see...

Oh I like threading! I don't have dark, bold brows either and it works for me. I actually just discovered a place that is relatively convenient to my home that is $7 for brow threading!

the anastasia brow whiz pencil is awesome - looks totally natural. i figured out something after watching a couple of lisa eldridge vids: she doesn't fill in the first quarter/widest part of her brows, so they don't end up looking overly penciled or fake.

i have a little brow box that has two brushes and a wax and a powder -- it works pretty well
i've tried pencils and powders and now i need double strength i guess

also i went to ulta to replace my eyeliner and they were all out my standard brown
a young man offered to help me and i was like "should i get the purple instead?" and he said "you've got glow in the dark eyes, yes absolutely" and i appreciated his quick and efficient salesmanship + compliment

i want to get my eyebrows threaded i think

mine are dark brooke shieldsian caterpillars that i've never done a thing to, kinda think some tidying is in order

it makes a big difference, you're gonna love it!
i remember when i first started grooming my eyebrows -- it was like a total transformation, borderline new face

what is eyebrow threading?

it sounds painful, somewhere between bikini waxing and gum surgery

ancient method of hair removal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threading_%28epilation%29

most people i see getting it done aren't screaming -- i think it's not that bad?

of course the first thing that really caught my eye was:

Verma, S. B. (2009). "Eyebrow threading: A popular hair-removal procedure and its seldom-discussed complications". Clinical and Experimental Dermatology 34 (3): 363–365

I think I am just culturally embarrassed by paying people to do things like that for/to me.

No, it's not that bad! It's on par with waxing, pain-wise, although it makes me sneeze like crazy. It's basically like high-speed plucking.

A bit of eye brow shaping and coloring can really make a face stand out. I remember the first time I saw my friend - red head with wiggly blonde eyebrows - the first time after she'd threaded them, and I figure out why she looked particularly stunning that day... It was all in the brows!

Even if I don't do any other make up, I do my brows - and imo it's esp effective if you wear heavy framed glasses

I tweezed my own eyebrows tonight!
I did not like it but more importantly I did not fuck it up yay. Not very styley but at least neater & a bit more shaped. Also bought a maybelline eyebrow gel spooly brush hoonja doonja, works p good!

Oh AND i think I have finally mastered my eyeshadow technique

Going to a semiformal do next week, hence the sudden beautifying

oh and can I add that my local ulta sucks baaaaaalllllls

my only advice for plucking is: do it after a hot shower (it hurts way less), go slow, and do it frequently so you don't have to do a painful marathon plucking session.

thx!!

i found a really good tutorial video for hooded eye smoky eyeshadow makeup. it's kind of commonsense but I found it v helpful for technique
plus I like she does the tutorial on a real girl rather than a model, and interacts with her

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4J_RrbsxRc

ugh LE makes it all look so effortless :/ but i have def picked up a few good tricks from her.

That was great.

Wow, if I'd been a teenager in the age of YouTube my make-up would've been so much better! Maybe. I guess it was the 90s though so my liquid-lined nude top lid was de rigueur.

I need that lady to come over and do my makeup for me because that looked amazing but I can't could never replicate it.

i think i have hooded eyes, idk. i cant see my eyeshadow when i open my eyes

I have the Anastasia brow pencil but I very rarely use it but I think I lucked out with my brows in that I don't really have to do much to them.

I've also been adhering to a pretty strict skincare regimen since Jan and I don't think my skin has looked this good since I was in college tbh. I'm so happy!

Things I've been loving recently:

This W&W is $5 and it's amazing. I don't wear foundation but I've been using this + concealer and I really really like it. http://thelittlewolf.net/2015/02/18/new-wet-n-wild-cover-all-primer-base-de-teint/

This is the best blush I've ever used and the cool pink color is AMAZING. http://www.makeupforever.com/us/en-us/make-up/face/blush/hd-blush

The Covergirl lip lava lipglosses are really bright and/or sparkly but a lot of fun.

i got a lava lipgloss & they're kind of fun!

i got a nars rikugien satin lip pencil sample from sephora and aaagh i am so into it, so soft and lovely natural pink with a slight pearl sheen

the velvet matte pencil not so much, color is good but so drying

sephora points are keeping me well stocked in high end mascara and fancy lipstics: just got the kat von d mascara (v nice), the makeupforever one a while ago (really hurt my eyes), and through an admin fuckup i got TWO birthday gifts!! the nars lip pencil duo (SO nice) and a sort of nude-red MUFE mini lipstick. but my real favourite is the mini buxom lipstick in dolly - it's the prettiest nude pink.

xp those are the ones i got! yeah i like the satin one more, it's a more wearable color, but i use the matte one as a stain - just sort of dab a litle on and smudge it in with a fingertip. also, as much as i love the look of matte over satin or gloss or shimmer, i've realised that matte just doesn't look that good on me, bc i really deeply lined lips from too much sun as a kid.

i've been having tons of fun buying a shitload of mostly drugstore makeup for my mum - makeup is like 4x the price in NZ.

"i got a nars rikugien satin lip pencil sample from sephora and aaagh i am so into it, so soft and lovely natural pink with a slight pearl sheen"

I LOVE this one. The color is the perfect MLBB shade for me. I'm wearing it now! I also somehow got both birthday gifts and I like the MUFE mini lipstick too but not as much. The red Nars is ok but not really my thing.

can u'all recc a blog or some frequently updated site, pinterest, instagram, whatever, that talks about makeup, hair, etc? cheapy/diy focus is appreciated especially if they are not dummies (eg talking about "TOXINS")

reading sites like this is like my favorite way to unwind lately

xovain OCCASIONALLY has decent articles, the comments section is usually better. but i've yet to find what you're looking for. there's been some good stuff on millihelen but they only have one or two posts a day, and it's the comment section that's usually the most informative.

I've been reading The Beauty Brains, which is really interesting - http://thebeautybrains.com/

just1n3 et al., for drugstore finds I can HIGHLY recommend the Wet n Wild "Fergie" (lol) eye primer! I like it more than the Urban Decay and Kat von D offerings.

ca that blog is awesome!!

inspired by enbb I am trying a cream blush for the first time

had to go the cheap route & got nyx cream blush but wooow it is v v good
highly recommend

also nyx eyebrow gel is the fking business. kinda hard to remove but fills perfectly & stays put

basically i am an nyx shill atm lol

inspired by that beautybrains site I have been doing a test w/makeup setting spray
one half elf the other half a free sample of the urban decay setting spray
switch it up day to day in case i touch one half more than the other
they both seem p much the same as far as foundation wearing off
the ud side has had more mascara fallout
elf ftw!!

that said i am a dumb ud follower despite better evidence
like they will probably come out w a color called 'bath salts od' and i'll be like 'damn got 2 get that' :/

also the sephora lip stain is my <3 <3 fave http://www.sephora.com/cream-lip-stain-P281411

i love ud! their electric eyeshadow pallette is my most prize possession in my makeup case :)

I've been using the NYX setting spray lately and it's pretty good! I think almost as good as UD tbh.

Also, can you link the NYX cream blush VG? I'm out of the MUFE and even though it's the greatest I need to save some $ for a big tattoo I am getting at the end of the month. I like NYX a lot in general.

I do, too. There's a lot of bang for your buck in there.

this is what i got;
http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/p-146-stick-blush.aspx

there's also rouge cream mineral blush in pots that is meant to be good

After several days of switching up which half of my face I am using the UD and the elf setting spray, I have concluded: 1. they are p much the same. 2. I touch the laft half of my face a lot more!

ulta had the ud ammo pallette half price recently and I was DAMN i better get THAT
sin is the best color, i have used it up 3x

i think i may have found a good oil-control powder to wear with foundation. i had been using MUFE hd finishing powder over my cc cream foundation, but it only works for 3 or 4 hrs, still shiny by lunchtime. i dont *mind* blotting but i would rather not have to

so i got this yesterday from ulta: palladio rice powder - comes in 3 tints, translucent, natural & warm beige & only costs $4.99 (!)

today is my first day using it, it's v light & the packaging is not suuuper practical...it seems to be working so far, a bit early to tell

i don't have an oil problem (i get the opposite - dryness/flakiness), but i use the rimmel stay matte translucent powder to take the shine off sunscreen (the elta md doesn't get shiny but i'm using the neutrogena stuff right now, and good god it is SHINY), and i know it gets a lot of beauty blog love for being really good. and cheap.

i also just bought the real techniques powder brush which is the best! so fluffy and big.

i just started using the real techniques eye/brow brush set, so good,!i may invest in their powder brush at some point