Thursday Three - Noella's Picks

On this gloomtastic Thursday I am going to talk about some real pick-me-ups, for these reasons: My girly bits are in knots, my face is broken out and I feel about as pretty as a Chinese Crested (see left). So in the spirit of still putting a little effort in, even when you're not feeling so hot, in hopes of maybe feeling slightly prettier, here are a few of my favorite things.

Stila Wonderful in Waikiki Palette

Nothing brightens up my face/day more than using this handy kit. It has four eyeshadows: Wahine (a nice shimmer cream shade, perfect for highlight), Sarong (a metallic peachy/orange/pink that is quite flattering for my baby blues, thanks Melissa!), Coconut (very versatile brown with just a hint of shimmer), and Surf (a matte, BOLD, bright blue that is perfect over my UD Flipside eyeliner). North Shore, (peachy blush, very nice) and Hanauma Bay (bronzer) finish out this set. Now, I would love these colors regardless, but the $14 price tag for all of this is just too good to pass up! What value! And Stila’s quality is second to none. The formulas are smooth, pigmented and easily blendable. The packaging is cute, to boot. I can’t resist anything with a hula girl on it!

Korres Mango Butter Lipstick in Natural Pink

This is my favorite everyday lipstick. Trust me, I would wear it EVERY day if it hadn’t been so expensive. I’m savoring it! The formula is very moisturizing and lip softening but it has a much nicer, more “mod” finish than just a lip balm or gloss. The natural pink color is very nude on me, which I like for feeling put together but not necessarily looking all made up. The finish is dewy but not shiny, no shimmer, no stickiness. I will definitely add more of these to my collection in the future!

Sonia Kashuk Eye Make Up Remover 

So this isn’t really a “pick-me-up” except that it makes you happy that you aren’t wiping residual mascara on your nice new white face towel. This is seriously the best remover I have found. It is one of the dual layered, “shakey” kind that has to be mixed up, then applied to a cotton pad. It needs a moment to do its job, but if you are patient and gently dab away, your eye make up will be totally gone. It doesn’t sting, it doesn’t feel greasy, (it’s oil free) and you get 4oz for $10. 

What's in My TSA Approved, Quart Sized Ziploc

Traveling is stressful enough without the threat of a surly TSA agent tapping your inner thigh and then confiscating your make up bag. Avoid the muss and fuss by having your shoes already off and your adorable clear zip up neatly packed with the following travel friendly essentials at the ready.

-Neutrogena Healthy Skin Glow Sheer SPF30. This oil free formula gives light coverage and great SPF- perfect for laid back, yet radiant vacation skin.

-Mini Coppertone Sport SPF 50. DO NOT skimp on sun protection, especially on vacation! I know you want a tan! But you can’t have one! You’ll get wrinkles on not only your face but your chest, neck, knees etc. 

-MAC Select Moisture Cover. This concealer is ever so portable and easy to pat on any blemishes or under eye circles when you want to look all foxy-mama for a night out.

-Clinique Naturally Glossy. This mascara rules so hard it actually stays put in the water if used sparingly. You know how much I love this. Go buy it. Build it up for sexy times or leave your lashes fresh and pretty for every day. Just don’t rub, as it is not *technically* waterproof.

-Benefit Creaseless Cream in Birthday Suit. Find the Creaseless Cream in the best shade for your skin and buy it and never look back! If Benefit’s shades don’t suit you in that easy-breezy, every day neutral way, try Make Up Forever Aqua Creams which are equally as awesome and come in a wider range of colors. The creamy formula won't budge if you sweat or swim and you can rock nice, glowing lids and bright eyes even whilst traipsing around a new city or whatever mischief you're up to on vacation. 

-Aveda Conditioner. Whichever one you fancy. They come in the most convenient wee bottles and really keep your hair looking fancy even with weird hotel water. I usually take a chance on hotel shampoo and just bring my nice conditioner to save space.

-Aveda Brilliant Damage Control Spray. The only hair product I travel with. Detangles, protects, de-frizzifies, smells delovely. Done.

-Philosophy Purity Made Simple. This cleanser is perfect for travel because it removes make up so effectively in addition to cleansing your face to a nice, comfortable, moisture balanced glow. And it you can buy it in mini size.

-Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap. The only shower gel for this ex-hippie. Once you get this Dr's prescription, nothing else compares!

-Contact Lens Solution. You’ll save a lot of room if you don’t rely on this like my blind ass blind eyes do!

This next part takes some tiny jar hoarding throughout the weeks leading up to your trip, (get free samples from Origins, Sephora, MAC, Clinique, then save the jars!) resulting in the freedom to bring ten scrillion skin care products in your carry on! All for the price of **FREE**

Tiny Jar of Clinique Moisture Surge

Tiny Jar of Bare Minerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer

Tiny Jar of Origins Out of Trouble Mask

Tiny Jar of Origins Modern Friction Scrub

Tiny Jar of Origins Ginzing Eye Cream

With these miniature essentials your suitcase will boast an array of gels and liquids without unnecessary bulk! And wherever you're headed, you'll be looking wicked pretty!

--Noella

Thursday Three - Noella's Picks

Hi WPs (stands for Wicked Pretties), Happy Labor Day Weekend! 

This week I’m going to get a little biased and go all AVON on your asses. Yes, I know it was just a matter of time since I signed up to sell, but I am now for real crazy about AVON’s offerings. I treated myself to some “research related” purchases with my first order and wanted to say a little bit about my favorites from the bunch.

Nailwear Pro Polish in Vintage Boutique

Not only is the muted grayish brown color quite chic right now, but the formula also happens to rock. It applied evenly and smoothly, dried quick and hasn’t chipped (yet). A nice, opaque finish after three coats. An added bonus which has recently become trendy in upscale nail companies is “Three Free” meaning that this polish is non-toxic, (made without three known harmful ingredients, Formaldehyde, Toulene and DBP). Also paraben free, this polish is on par with designer ones that cost literally five times as much!

Super Extend Mascara

I’ve never been one for the new-fangled, nubby, uniform, rubbery mascara wands, but I wanted to give this a chance. Whaddya know-- It’s great! I’m left clump-free, rocking demure, featherlike lashes. And no smudges even though I sweat like a sow in heat, (*pause* for mental image of Noella wallowing, panting in the sun-baked mud, very much as a sow would). I’m very stubborn about new mascaras and I don’t like to waver from my two Clinique favorites. I like this one though, and I will delight in using it as an every day staple.

Super Shock Liquid Lip Shine in Melon

So, besides this lip gloss’s supreme shine and lovely scent, I could basically kill a man with the packaging. So that’s an added safety feature. I’m not kidding around here, it’s literally the size of an Oscar Mayer Wiener (My baloney has a first name…). So part billy club, part cosmetic, hmmm are we onto something here, Avon? Maybe next it will be a switchblade eyeliner? Kidding aside (It's HUGE), this is a highly pigmented, shiny, un-sticky gloss. The wand is honestly so massive I could easily paint the house (2 coats) and that makes it a little clumsy to apply. I'll live though-- I still really recommend it.




Avon's products so far seem to be the poster children of affordable quality. Though the packaging isn't as sleek or sexy as some of my favorite brands and I am still an Avon beginner, I look forward to trying more bits and letting you all know what's what! 
Want some Avon delights of your own? http://www.youravon.com/noelladelaney has all the products I've mentioned and waaay more!


-Noella

The Color Wheel for Brown Eyes

Second installment of the wicked pretty color wheel looks Melissa masterminded! Thank you to gorgeous Jessica for being our guinea pig. This looks works with Jessica's brown eyes to create maximum *pop* and flattery. Products used:
MAC Naked Lunch
Urban Decay Vegan Palette- Smog/Twice Baked
Kat Von D Ludwig Palette - Leather
Benefit Bad Gal Brown

(Noella Note: iMovie can be really beastly sometimes and so on it's behalf I want to apologize for the abrupt ending of this video. It's sorry it's so hard to use and I'm sorry I don't know how to use it :o)

The Color Wheel for Blue Eyes

Hello Wicked Pretties! This is the first of Melissa's series of looks using the color wheel. Don't ask me how she got such a famous/talented model for this video--must have been expensive! The products Melissa used were:
Stila Wonderful in Waikiki Palette
MAC Coppering
Kat Von D Ludwig Palette
Benefit Bad Gal Brown

For the Love of Stila

My friends make fun of me for "endorsing" products a lot, but I can't help it. In a world where everyone is trying to sell you something, and that something is usually of a cheap quality and overpriced, it's important to recognize quality when you see it. Stila is quality on every level.

Stila is actually responsible for my foray into the world of cosmetics. Some years back, their famous, "Kitten," eye shadow was my first ever prestige purchase. If you are new to Stila, it should be your first purchase, too. Ever since then, I have been obsessed.

Stila 101:

Jeanine Lobell founded Stila in 1994 and named the company for the Italian word, "stilare," or, "to pen," because, "every woman’s makeup should be as individual as her own signature."

Later the company changed hands when it was bought out by Estee Lauder who owned the company for ten years until it became a Lynn Tilton company in 2009.

Stila's official website states, "Stila's goal is to help every woman celebrate her own unique beauty; to look and feel like the best version of herself; and to have fun doing it."

Stila releases a new line every season, as well as specials throughout the year. In the past they have teamed up for some really fun collaborations, like Barbie loves Stila, Stila loves Derby Dolls, and most recently, Stila loves Roxy.

Stila offers quality, highly pigmented, wearable products that look gorgeous and last all day. They aren't just long lasting on your face, they are long lasting in general. They really give you some bang for your buck.

For example, I have been using the same Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner pen since September, 2010. That is almost a full year of using it darn near daily, and it is still going. My MAC Penultimate was dried out in less than a month.Don't get me wrong, I really love MAC, but the Penultimate does not compare. I have also tried the NARS Eyeliner Stylo, and again, I adore NARS, but it just doesn't measure up. I have Stay All Day in black and brown, and they just released some new colors, including a lovely, dark green that I am just dying to get my hands on.


Here are a few of the things that make Stila really special...


1. The Stila Girl

Instead of models, Stila products and advertisements feature the Stila girls illustrated by Caitlin Dinkins. The drawings I have included in this blog are only a few examples. This leads us to the next thing...

2. Packaging

Okay, so I know that packaging doesn't effect the product, and maybe it is just because I have worked in marketing for a few different companies, but I adore Stila's packaging! Its like when you hear Tom Morello on the radio. No matter what band it is you instantly recognize his sound. Stila is like the Tom Morello of cosmetics. You can spot a Stila palette from across a crowded room. Packaging is the perfect segue into #3...

3. Ethics and Responsibility

Stila's packaging consists of recyclable cardboard and aluminum, many packages are biodegradable, and compacts and palettes are refillable so as to create less waste.On top of all that, a ton of their products are made from local sources in efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. Stila's cosmetics are cruelty free and never tested on animals.

4. Customer Service

Stila actually cares about you. All bazillion of you. Their customer service is crazy amazing. If you contact them, they will return your calls, letters, or e-mails. Even if you just want to say, "Oh hey, Stila. I think you rock!" Last Christmas they were really busy and behind on their orders. As a result my shipment arrived one day late, which is no big deal to me, but did not go unnoticed by them. My package was full of extra goodies because they wanted to show that they were sorry. What?! If you google Stila or look them up on YouTube, you can hear a ton of other stories about how awesome and attentive their company is. They truly go above and beyond.

I could probably go on and on forever talking about each individual product, their awesome sales, and a plethora of other things. Instead I will give you a peek at a few items from my personal Stila collection and recommend just a few essentials...

 (Please ignore how incredibly scratched up my dining room table is)

If you are new to Stila, and even if you're not, here are a few of their items that i recommend the most...

My Top Five Stila Picks

1. Natural Finish Oil-Free Makeup

If you have been following Wicked Pretty thus far, you will know that I have already raved about this foundation. I am pretty sure this formula was created using magic. It is so light that you won't feel like you have anything on your face at all, and at the same time, the coverage is outstanding. It is also buildable, so you can add more onto those pesky red areas and it will blend flawlessly. 

2. Eye Shadow in Kitten

Kitten is Stila's best selling shade for a reason. This gorgeous champagne contains just the right amount of shimmer, which makes it easy to use for both neutral and made up looks.

3. Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Dark Brown

As i mentioned above, I have been using the same pen almost daily for about a year now, and it is still not done. Seriously, what more do you need to convince you to run out and buy this eyeliner right now? I love classic black, but the dark brown is my favorite. These pens go one super smooth and do not come off until you want them to.

4. Stila Sun Bronzer

I'm super fair, so bronzer either makes me look like and Oompa Loompa, or like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown. But not the Stila Sun Bronzer. I love, love, love this product. It is perfect for contouring and does not look dirty on light skin.  

5. Lip and Cheek Stain in Mango Crush

This product is amazing. I have a few colors, but Mango Crush is by far my favorite. The color is buildable and you can use it on both your cheeks and lips. My lips are naturally pink, so one coat usually does me. When it dries i amp it up with Stila Lip Glaze in Kitten. (That was my way of sneaking in an extra top pick. I love the Kitten Lip Glaze and use it almost every day, with or without the Lip and Cheek Stain.)

If you have made it through this novel of a post, congratulations and thank you! Now go get yourself some Stila! 

Click HERE to shop Stila Cosmetics official web page.

Click HERE to "like" them on Facebook.

Click HERE to follow Stila on Twitter.

Click HERE to follow them right here on Blogger!

xoxo Melissa

The Thursday Three-- Noella Style

There are too many products I love right now to just choose three favorites, but Melissa said "The Thursday Thirty Threes" might get a little long winded so here goes:

The Naked Palette

This is frankly the Holy Grail of neutral palettes. Urban Decay really outdid themselves with this collection of twelve shadows ranging from light pearlescent cream to smoky, sparkly gray. There are matte shades, satin finishes, shimmery ones…pretty much all you could ask for as a blue eyed gal like myself. Most of the colors are very nicely pigmented and the more sheer ones are easy to build up if you desire. I feel that for practical every day use and even practical getting dolled up and hitting the town this is the only palette I will ever need. The combination possibilities are just shy of endless and you can use these colors for both natural and smokin hot eye make up endeavors.

 Clinique Even Better Liquid Foundation SPF 15

This has been a recent switch up for me, as the Clinique Superfit Liquid Foundation has been discontinued. I love that it is oil free, has an SPF of 15 and is actually quite good coverage. The benefits do not stop there, however.
This is a make up that claims to improve clarity, even skin tone and correct dark spots over time even without make up on.
 I have been using this for about 2 weeks and I daresay my skin is doing remarkably well! I find that the redness in my cheeks is more easily toned down when I apply it, (this can be attributed to the higher level of coverage too though), and my face overall feels fresh and even the slightest bit less oily. So magic, in my opinion. Clinique's foundations are quality, come in a $#!%-ton of shades and are quite reasonably priced compared to many prestige brands. I think if you are going to splurge on one high end beauty item and one only, it has to be good foundation. It can make or break your face. Harsh but true reality.

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner for Eyes in Flipside

This eyeliner may be one of the top three things that has ever happened to me, (the other two things being sliced bread and Nick). It is the brightest turquoise color, soo-ooo smooth and creamy and these pencils, folks, they stay put. I love having fun with with a bright color in a safe, eyeliner environment.
Flipside can go on top of the lash line in a nice thick flick or it can go on the lower waterline for a subtle pop. It's best to leave other shimmery eyeshadows or liners out when using such a bright product, as that gets a little clowny.
This pencil works as a vibrant base for other bright blue eyeshadows in the event of the need for an electric blue look, (80's night, anyone?) and basically just makes the bluest statement a girl could ask for. When you are feeling frisky and fun, try this!

-Noella

*Ding-Dong* AVON Calling!

So let's all think back at how cool Peg was in Edward Scissorhands, shall we? Modern woman, fashionable...an Avon lady :o)

Okay so I'll just get to my point: I'm officially an Avon lady!

I'm very excited at the prospect of playing with make up and skin care as a job and I am exceedingly enthusiastic about Avon as a company. They are the oldest cosmetics company in the country (it's their 125th anniversary this year! That means they were established way back in Eighteen-eighty....old...I don't do math)... They do NOT test on animals, and they are the biggest corporate contributor to breast cancer awareness/research in the country!

So if you are interested in learning more about Avon's products, feel like browsing a new brand's goodies or have a favorite product that you need an Avon lady for-- hit up my new Avon website or email me at noelladelaney.avon@gmail.com
Thank you!
--Noella

Applying the Color Wheel to Cosmetics

Anyone who took elementary school art is probably familiar with the color wheel. If you are not, the color wheel consists of the primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and the results of their combinations (secondary colors), which are complimentary, or opposite, to those colors. 

From an artist’s standpoint, it makes complete and total sense to apply the color wheel to cosmetics, especially concerning the eye shadow.

Let’s start by breaking things down:

Primary colors:

Red, Blue, Yellow

Secondary colors:

Red + Blue = Purple

Red + Yellow = Orange

Blue + Yellow = Green

Complimentary colors:

Red = Green

Blue = Orange

Yellow = Purple

Obviously the spectrum of colors is much wider than what I have listed here, but consider this a basic refresher.

So, if you are going to apply the concept of the color wheel to find a shadow that will really make your eyes pop, you will want to choose a shade, or a variation of a shade, that is opposite your eye color…

If you have blue eyes…

As we have established above, the opposite of blue is orange. Obviously you are not going to want to walk around with Tang eyes all day, unless you have darker skin and you can pull it off.

If you have fairer skin, try using a soft, orangey peach on your lids and using a light coral or a neutral color in your crease. Use a white or light peach colored pencil on your water line to make your eyes appear bigger and brighter. I recommend using a chocolate color on your top and bottom lash line to keep things looking natural. Top it off with a brown mascara, or a dark, navy blue. The blue mascara will compliment your eyes as well as making the whites appear whiter. This is a trick that can be used on any eye color, though I personally think it looks best with blue eyes.

If you have darker skin, feel free to be a little bolder in your choices. Vibrant colors will not appear quite as bright on dark skin, so experiment a little. Try a bright orange all over the lid and a burnt or brownish orange in the crease. Use a soft peach to highlight your inner corners and brow bone, as well as along your water line. Choose your eyeliner accordingly. If you are tan, stick with a chocolate brown, or if you have a deeper, darker skin tone, try a thin, black line. Choose a blackish brown mascara to finish the look. 

Try Stila's Wonderful in Waikiki Palette.

If you have green eyes…

The opposite of green is red. Again, unless you are into big, bold colors, you’re not going to want to walk around with Crayola lids. For the sake of this blog, let’s keep things, “wearable.”

I love pink eye shadows, but you have to be very careful with them. The wrong shade of pink around the eyes can just make you look like you have been rocking the ganj’ all day, and that is not an attractive look on anyone. If you are fair, choose a soft, baby pink for your lids. Follow it up by mixing a bit of that same pink with a little light brown and work that into your crease. White or a champagne color would make a lovely highlight for the brow bone and inner corners, and a white liner along your water line will really make things pop. Brown and pink make a lovely pair, so use a brown liner along your top and bottom lash lines and finish with a dark brown mascara.

Purples are gorgeous on both light and dark skin. Light lavender for the lid, a medium purple in the crease, and a white highlight will make green eyes sparkle. Try a deep plumb liner on your upper lash line and a soft brown for the lower. You can use the plumb on your lower lids as well, but again, take care or you will look tired and stoned. If you have really dark skin, get bold with your shades. Purples are absolutely gorgeous on women with deep and dark brown skin tones. 

Try the right side of Kat Von D for Sephora's True Love Palette. The color that looks white in the palette actually applies as lavender and is absolutely gorgeous. This palette also features stunning neutrals.

For those with brown eyes…

Brown is not on the color wheel, and is created by mixing secondary colors. As it is an earth tone, or a neutral color, I personally believe that brown eyes are best complimented by other earth tones and neutral colors. All eye colors are. A little bit of shimmer will really make brown eyes sparkle. Choose a soft beige for lighter skin and go darker the deeper your color is. I also love using gold and bronze on brown eyes. Choose a deeper shade or brown or bronze/gold for your crease and highlight with a shimmery champagne. As with the other colors, choose your liner and mascara according to your skin tone; browns for fair skin, blackish brown for tanner shades, and black for deep or dark skin colors.

If you are have dark brown skin, try using the purples recommended in the green eye suggestions. Deep skin tones are the exception to breaking the neutral rule when it comes to creating a wearable look for brown eyes.

No matter what your skin tone, don’t be afraid to play with shades of gold.

Try Urban Decay's ever-popular and widely coveted Naked Palette, or the gorgeous Vegan Palette. The Vegan Palette is on sale for $19 right now. Seriously. It is $17 for one individual Urban Decay shadow. How can you pass up six gorgeous colors, a mini primer potion AND a 24/7 pencil for $19? You can't. Buy it now and you won't be sorry. 

If you have hazel eyes…

If you have hazel eyes, you can probably successfully wear both the green eyed and brown eyed looks. Definitely play with golden shades, as hazel eyes tend to have a ring of gold in the center or gold flecks. If you have light eyes, play around with the blue eyed look as well. Though generally, I think the green and brown eyed looks are going to compliment you better. 

I recommend Benefit's BADgal Brown and Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Dark Brown to compliment all of these looks.

As soon as I round the troops I will be making a color wheel video using all of the palettes and products listed here, so keep an eye out!

xoxo Melissa

Easy Interview Make Up with Rage

Our first go at a tutorial :o) Let us know what you think. Please request fun looks so we can delight in putting more make up on our friends and family!

1st Birthday

Have you seen the latest news? I’m surprised it wasn’t on your AOL homepage, I’m shocked Matt Lauer didn’t mention it on the Today Show and I’m appalled that the Portland Press Herald didn’t feature it on the front page of Life and Leisure.

I was thrown a Surprise Birthday Party.Me. The First Noel. Christmas Miracle. No Birthday Nelly.

Turns out, when your birthday is Christmas day (yes, the 25th) people tend to have other “important things to attend to” (like their own families pffff-LAME) and your birthday gets a little pushed aside. So since the days where my dear mother would plan a party around the first weekend in December, (piñatas, relay races, dress-up competitions…she gets excited), I have had generally low-key birthdays. On my 21st, mom asked me if I’d like a glass of white wine…You get the picture.

But enough of my Lifetime Channel, made for TV movie, birthday tragedy. The point is, my amazing friend Joy and my amazing husband Nick decided “to hell with Christmas/Birthday” and threw me a surprise birthday party this past weekend. In August :o)

To my supreme delight, my dear girl friends collaborated and Nick, attentive man he is, schemed and even our housemates (boys) braved the line in Sephora to make me the luckiest girl in town. And here I am, spoiled and thankful and sooo loaded with amazing new toys.

Here it is, The Most Epic Birthday Haul:

*Urban Decay Naked Palette! Weeeee! Review/Tutorials coming ASAP!

*Origins Modern Friction scrub! Let’s just say that my face feels much like a baby’s...face.

*Sephora Gift Certificate! Hey, they’re men, how could they have known I wanted...

*Too Faced Nice Stems eyeshadow! So smooth, so vibrant, yet still wearable.

*Korres Mango Butter Lipstick in Natural Pink! Feels like lip balm, looks juicy/pretty pink!

*A Kindle! Cannot be applied to face. Can look pretty whilst reading with application of above products though :o)

Certainly the most generous array of bedazzling pretty bits any girl could hope for. Let me repeat, I am the luckiest girl in Maine if not the entire World. 

Thank you so much to Nick, Joy, Patches, Shumie, Melissa, Tom, Roberta, Tina, Ian, Jarek and Tori who all made me feel so special and loved. Special shout out to Rage (my lil sis) who spent the morning weaving an intricate web of lies to keep me occupied at the mall/Goodwill/Target, little miss "I have to hit the bathroom just one more time," and all of you who kept me so far in the dark about all this I may have wet myself a little when I saw you all standing there in my kitchen. Thank you!

--Noella

A Not Late for Work Morning Routine

I've got my routine down to a science pretty much. I know if I don't stick with the schedule I won't have time to walk the doggies before work and then they poo on the carpet and then I get in trouble. So things are pretty strict, beauty-wise. For instance, I don't have time to painstakingly apply liquid eyeliner in that cute pin-up way I so covet. I'm too slow. It takes about seven Q-tips worth of clean up and my crinkly eyelids crinkle in that un-cooperative way and next thing I know I'm calling in sick because the stress of my eye make-up has given me a mini-stroke.
Thus, the routine:

In the morning I don't actually wash my face. I rinse in the shower and then moisturize (See previous skin care post). I use a foundation brush to blend a scant amount of Clinique Even Better Foundation, mostly on the center of my face. Note:

(Red nose + red cheeks + red chin + red forehead)x = No Bueno/Not Pretty

If you solved for "x" in that equation, (and got an A++ in Pre-Calc like I did), the answer on your beauty calculator would be x= environmental stimuli of any type. Heat, cold, sun, a gentle balmy breeze--all these things just make my face redder. So even if I'm having a clear skin day, I still like to tone down the tomatoface. So everyone doesn't think I'm just sitting there mortified about something all day. (Maybe I am sitting there mortified, but you'd never know because I have a lovely foundation on :)

The next bits are easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. With my finger I apply a bit of Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Birthday Suit, (which evens out my eyelids and gives them a nice sheen).
I smudge a little dark brown liner into the outer corners of my lashes on the top, (I like Clinique Quickliner in Dark Chocolate or Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Bourbon. Then I have fun with some black mascara. My favorite, favorite mascara, for it's buildability, non-clumpivity, no-flakocity staytastic-ness (all those are words, look them up), is Clinique Naturally Glossy. Go buy it.

And seriously, that's about it. But it is summer so I am a little bronzer-happy lately. I do usually slap a bit of that on too, time permitting. As I said though, I already have plenty of ruddiness in the ol' cheeks so I have to be careful with products in that region.

I toiled to find the greatest and best bronzer in the world and I do believe I now own it. It is a waterproof, cream bronzer that smells like the beach, Too Faced Aqua Bunny. I blend a tad just below my cheekbones with my fingers. Then I pause for a moment of morning serenity whilst quasi-creepily sniffing my coconut scented fingers.
And because I'm a damn FOOL for cute packaging as well as lovely scents, I'll dust on just a hint of rose fragranced Coralista blush by Benefit, mostly as a nice, sheer highlighter. I appreciate that it does add a certain glow to my complexion without making me lobster face-y.

But seriously, that's it. Except for powder, I will dust my forehead with some powder for fear of US government agents pulling me aside during the day and asking if I would please consider solving the country's oil crisis with my T-zone. So a little powder keeps the wolves/oil at bay. Now remember, this is a day at the office so the mere SPF 15 that my foundation humors me with is sufficient. I will delve further into the SPF abyss later..

Okay, so pop some Softlips on your kisser and you're set to make all the construction boys do double takes as you saunter down the street looking wicked pretty, off to your big day at work!

--Noella

Danger's My Middle Name

What did I miss? Four days out of the ol' timezone and I'm lost! So seeing the west coast for the first time was certainly epic, but MUCH more importantly ;o) the two treasures I ordered early last week actually made it to me in time to lovingly pack and bring to California.

It's kind of a big deal, it's like your first period, your first kiss, your first love...that's right it's your first M.A.C lipstick! And this week my M.A.C lipstick cherry was popped by the enigmatic Lady Danger. Call it coral, call it orange, call it clown shoe, I don't care. I am in love with it. Not only does the tube have a nice, prestigious weight in your palm but it smells nice and actually stays on your lips! Seriously it feels nice and doesn't dry your pucker out, yet maintains for hours. Oh, so that's what it's like when you spend more then $3.99 for a lip product, weird!


The second gem I splurged on arrived just in the nick of time, the afternoon before we left. This was another first for me, an Urban Decay Shadow Box. Of course the Naked palette is on my Christmas list this year (and it should be on yours, too), but the Preen palette was on sale and definitely has the colors to tide me over. These shadows are silky smooth, divinely luminous (not sparkly) and really do stay all day. I am thrilled to be trying out UD's Primer Potion for the first time as well after hearing legendary things about it's eyeshadow staying-power-ocity-ness. How do I know it works amazingly well so soon? See photo.

Epic Laguna Beach wedding ceremony = weeping openly in 80 degree heat and sun. I was honored with the privilege of doing the bride's eye make up (I used Smog and Toasted from the Preen Shadow Box) and along with some steadfast UD Bourbon 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil and our trusty Primer Potion kept the make-up where it needed to be, (not rubbed off on new husband's chest).
It was a gorgeous setting, simple ceremony, presided over by yours truly-- thank you, thank you hold your applause for the end please--and all eye make up endured, even through the heat and tears. You may applaud now.

--Noella