Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Experiment: Olive Oil as Makeup Remover

I think many of us have been in the blogging/vlogging beauty community long enough that we've heard of the bagillion ways olive oil can be useful--including for makeup removal.

Well it just so happens that I completely ran out of makeup remover the other day.  I thought I had a back up bottle but apparently not.  Right now the only makeup remover I will use is the Target brand because it is dirt cheap and works better than a lot of more expensive options.  As I don't live near a Target anymore, I couldn't run out and buy some so for a couple of weeks I opted for olive oil that I had lying around the house.

Let's just start with some pictures, shall we?


Before

After

Just to specifiy, I used the olive oil for eye makeup removal only.  That includes my super duper waterproof and long wearing Inglot gel eyeliner, waterproof mascara, and eyeshadows over a primer.  

So is olive oil as good as my trusty Up and Up Oil-free Makeup Remover by Target?  

Well, no.  As you can see, there are still some bits of black on my face.  To be fair though, it is a very good Plan B and is efficient enough.  I did end up using more oil and more cotton rounds to remove all my eye makeup.  Getting all the waterproof mascara off is definitely a lot more time consuming and tedious, and feeling all that greasiness on my face and fingers is quite off putting.  I used maybe 4 or 5 cotton rounds to get the makeup off, as opposed to my usual 2 or 3.

So what happens then?  Well, I ordered 10 bottles of the makeup remover on Target's website only to have them all spill inside the box so I had to drive out to a Target and exchange them anyway.  I've learned my lesson.  I will never run out of makeup remover again!


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Christian Louboutin Stiletto Nails: My 1st Attempt at Sculpted Nails

Oh boy.  I've done it again, haven't I?  Started up blogging again only to be overwhelmed by life and neglect it for a few weeks.  I'll do a short update on that at the end of this post.  For now, I want to share with you an experiment I conducted a few weeks ago.

My friend Kristine really wanted Christian Louboutin stiletto nails, and asked me to create some for her.  I have never done sculptured nails before on an actual person (just the fake mannequin hands at school!), let alone stiletto nails, but I was willing to give it a go.  For those of you who don't know, sculptured nails are acrylic nails that are created as an extension of the nail plate without first gluing a fake nail tip on.  Stiletto nails were really hot last year, and they basically look like claws.

Kristine had chewed up her nails so that even though her nail bed was nice and long, I had no free edge (white part of the nail) to work with.  So I had no choice but to glue some nail tips onto all 10 of her fingers.  The reason I need some free edge to work with is because I had to place the sculpture forms right underneath (not pictured).



I then had to trim the nail tips down, tape on the forms, and get to work mixing the chemicals and shaping the nails.  Then file down the acrylic and paint each nail.  The entire process took four hours.




I wish I could say it was a success, but as you can see from the pictures, it most definitely was not.  I ruined three brushes doing these nails because the acrylic hardened on the bristles and when that happens they're beyond saving.  I also ran out of powder so my powder to liquid ratio was off and the nails towards the end became thin and rubbery.  You can't imagine how frustrated I was, and even while using odorless products, the fumes were really getting to me.

Kristine told me the nails started falling off in the shower, which is really odd because I used a primer, and I've had my own nails done using the same products.  Those nails lasted forever.  It made me so sad that all that time spent on the nails couldn't hold them up.  It also frustrated the crap out of me because the nails I did in class were always solid and well done.

You bet your pantyhose and licorice sticks--when I get my hands on more powder and brushes, I'll be looking for my next victim.


Anyway a few life updates.....

  • I'm in Quebec right now visiting my boyfriend.  It's so freaking cold--even Mr. Sugarbumpkin insists that this is the coldest winter they've had for a long time.  Needless to say, I miss California weather.  And the food.
  • Feeling a bit blue and depressed about my career choice in the beauty industry.  While it makes me happy, I feel anxious about being financially stable and all that fun stuff.
  • I've decided to stop buying makeup unless I ABSOLUTELY need it for my clients or if I'm using gift cards.  Same goes with hairstyling products.  So that means no makeup on this trip even though I have access to Canadian exclusive goodies.  Sigh.
  • Every time I visit my boyfriend, my skin freaks out and I get a rash all over my body.  My skin becomes insanely dry and this time my eyes have started burning.  Still no idea what I'm allergic to but it makes putting on makeup really unfun.
That's about it.  Mr. Sugarbumpkin has a loooooong day of work and classes tomorrow so I'll be camping out in his place hopefully putting together some more blogs.  While I have been unable to post regularly, I have been collecting material so don't give up on me yet!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Makeup Hoarding: Revlon Colorbursts Lipglosses

I had a bit of free time today so I'm attempting to clean up my vanity and reorganize my storage a little.  I seem to be prone to creating clutter so I'm not sure this attempt will be fruitful.  I did come across something quite terrifying though.

Lo and behold, 11 brand new Revlon Colorburst Lipglosses.


Ever since I tasted my first rancid lipgloss Halloween of 2010 and threw out my first batch of nasty lipglosses, I vowed never to buy lipglosses again until I used up the ones I had.  I didn't think I was buying that many, but I purchased a few here, a few there.  Glosses I liked and some where I thought the colors were very unique.  Not all of them by Revlon, but showing you just the glosses I accumulated from one line of one brand alone terrifies me.  

I haven't quite decided what to do with these glosses yet.  I don't like to open new lipglosses until I have finished some up (WHICH HAS NEVER BEFORE HAPPENED).  I do like the colors obviously.  But I don't know what to do!

As I continue cleaning, I am completely overwhelmed at the amount of makeup I own.  Even as a makeup artist, there is only so much I can use on clients.  If I were doing makeup on other people all day, everyday that would be another story.  I think I may have finally convinced myself that I can start and complete a Project 10 Pan.  

But then I think about limited edition collections out there and my trip coming up....oh boy.

Tell me I'm not crazy.  Am I the only one freaking out about how much makeup I possess?!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Baby Bro's Clipper Cut

To break away from makeup and women related beauty for just a moment, I present to you my baby brother.  I cut his hair yesterday using clippers and shears, after putting it off for the past couple of weeks.  Men's cuts were not something I had a whole lot of practice with in school because I only had so many mannequins I could cut short, and I was too chicken to practice on real clients.  Luckily for me, I have a brother and sister who are willing to let me chop up their hair.

Here are some before pictures:




And after:



Do excuse the faces/poses.  He is but a child.

Have a happy Monday!


Saturday, January 5, 2013

FOTD: Neutral look gone wrong

Believe it or not, I meant to do a quick look with neutrals, since they are idiot proof and easy to use.  I even started out with a chocolate brown in the crease.  But when I looked around to see what color I should pop on my lids, I spotted Sugarpill's Tipsy on my desk and it all went down hill from there.  I absolutely love the result, so I can't complain.





Green, purple, blue, pink...if only the colors were more prominent.

Too Faced Natural Eye Palette on the left
Top L-R: All MAC--Make your Mark, Daisychain, Satin Taupe
Bottom L-R: Fyrinnae Digital Faerie, Fyrinnae Freya, Sugarpill Decora, Sugarpill Tipsy

This still counts as a "shopping my stash" look.  So this makes Episode 5.  All items marked with an asterisk (*) are "new."

Face:
-Laura Mercier Hyrating Primer
-Lancome Teint Idole Foundation in Bisque 4
-Annabelle BB Skin Perfect Conearler in Medium
-Laura Mercier Pressed Translucent Powder
-NARS Laguna Bronzer
-Illamasqua Blusher in Thrust

Eyes:
-MAC Painterly Paintpot
-MAC eyeshadows in Daisychain, Satin Taupe*, and Make Your Mark
-Too Faced Natural Eye Palette: Heaven, Sexpresso, Silk Teddy
-Fyrinnae eyeshadows in Digital Faerie* and Freya*
-Sugarpill Loose Shadows in Decora* and Tipsy*
-UD Shadow Pencil in Sin
-Inglot Gel Liner 77
-CoverGirl Waterproof LashBlast Volume Mascara

Lips:
-Quo lipgloss in Pout




Friday, January 4, 2013

FOTD: NYE

Herro everyone!

I hope you guys all had a safe but fun filled New Year's Eve.  Mine was pretty calm and chill.  I went out to get drinks with my coworkers at around 8pm, and got back home at 11.  I wanted to avoid most of the drunkards out in public but not be confined to my house for the evening.  Didn't go too crazy with my makeup.  I sported a smoky eye without meaning to.  I'll explain after I show you the pictures.  This is, by the way, unofficially episode IV of my stash-shopping mission.  Go me!




Again, items marked with an asterisk (*) are the "new" items I used.

Face:
-Laura Mercier Hydrating Face Primer
-Lancome Teint Idole Foundation in Bisque 4
-Smashbox Pressed Setting Powder in Light
-NARS Laguna Bronzer
-Illamasqua Blusher in Thrust

Eyes: 
-MAC Painterly Paintpot*
-MAC Pro Long Wear eyeshadow in Make Your Mark
-Fyrinnae shadow in Callipygian*
-MicaBella eyeshadow in Sunshine*
-Sugarpill Loose Shadow in Tipsy*
-UD 24/7 Liner in Covet
-Inglot Gel Liner77
-CoverGirl Waterproof LashBlast Volume mascara
-Too Faced eyeshadows in Silk Teddy and Heaven

Lips:
-Quo lipgloss in Pout

Here are the "new" items:

L-R: Fyrrinae Callipygian, MicaBella Sunshine, Sugarpill Tipsy, MAC Painterly
See that gorgeous color on the left?  I was expecting it to apply as a beautiful, deep blue green but that didn't quite happen.  Definitely need to put that Pixie Epoxy on next time.



Thursday, January 3, 2013

My first swap!

Happy new year, fellow beauty lovers!  Thank you for the few of you that offered your input to my humble little blog.  I've been asked to do a little more of everything, and I'll try my very best to do that to break up the long chain of FOTD posts that I do.  It's hard to not wear makeup everyday now because I have to be professional now and look like I know what I'm doing.  Don't get me wrong, I love makeup.  I just like to give my face a rest sometimes.  But with all the makeup application, I end up having a lot to post about, hahaha.

I've rambled on as usual.  Allow me to tell you about the conditions of this swap.  I met Kristine, the makeup artist I currently work with, at a wedding back in September.  She was, of course, doing makeup and I was assisting a hairdresser at the time.  We clicked right away.  I found out she made beauty videos on Youtube, hence the same blogging/vlogging mindset we both had.  She suggested we do a swap.  I agreed immediately, but suggested we do a used item swap since I'm lacking funds and I have tons of makeup I don't use.  She agreed, and we swapped the items in person a few months later.  I made my first Youtube video in about two years to film the swap.  She filmed a video about the items I got her as well.  I will post both videos down below.

Now as for my part, I was a little sugar high when I filmed it.  I didn't realize how ridiculous I was being until I watched it a few hours later.  Naturally, I uploaded it anyway.




And here is Kristine's video:


I may or may not continue doing videos.  It would probably help with my public speaking skills.  Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!