An Apothica $25 Gift Card Giveaway

I have the pleasure of doing a $25 Gift Card giveaway sponsored by Apothica. This giveaway is opened to my international readers also. If you aren't familiar with Apothica. The store carries many brands of cosmetics including Vincent Longo. I know many of you are fans of this handsome makeup artist and may find his brand hard to get but don't fret. Apothica can fulfill your order quickly and ship it free within the U.S. on orders of $49(USD) or more. For international customers, the site offers international shipping for a fee.

Just a Revlon Binge

Revlon is a line that I revisit every leap year, I suppose.  Actually, the line had some staple products for me way back in the 80's.  Anyone remember its unbelievable eyeshadow base?  That was a forerunner in its category, the product really worked and eyeshadows lasted all day and well into the night.  I also loved their mascara that was clear but had a black swirl in it.  Those were the days when Revlon really caught my eye and I trusted the product.

Face Off-SyFy's Special FX Show That is Worth Watching

Pictures courtesy of SyFy.com

SyFy has recently aired a very interesting reality competition show called Face Off which airs on Wednesdays at 10/9C (and repeated many times during the week).  The show is hosted by actress Mckenzie Westmore whose lineage is considered to be Hollywood makeup royalty; great grandfather George Westmore founded the first movie make-up department in 1917.  The show brings special effects makeup artists from all over the U.S. to compete for the ultimate victory of being the best and a chance to launch their career in Hollywood.  Each week the contestants are given different challenges that will make or break their skills in special effects artistry and are judged by the best:  Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill, and Patrick Tatopoulos.

On a Verge of a Purge

I bought these Kryolan HD Micro Shades when I first began my blog last year or so and they were nice except for the container.  Pumping the thing took forever.  Eventually, Kryolan changed the packaging.  I haven't re-bought the items because I am afraid they will dry out like they have in this so-called "airless" container. 

My Oldest Cosmetic Item-Helena Rubinstein Raisin Lip Pencil

My Helena Rubinstein lip pencil is the oldest (vintage) make up item I have.  The circa is early to middle 1980's.  The color is called Raisin and in my mind has nothing to do with it unless they were thinking of golden ones which still isn't close.  This one is an orange kinda pumpkin brown color.  The texture is on the hard side like a number 2 pencil.  The pencils back then were not exactly the type to fill in your entire lip with, just used for outlining.  Either way, the hardness of it does drag and pull and applying it on my chapped lips was a feat. ( Excuse the dryness of them.)

Borghese Rapido Nail Lacquer-Chroma and Lira

I was out hunting for a gold nail polish and I wanted one that wasn't too warm or too orange yellow.  I didn't think finding a simple gold polish would be hard but it was, at least for me.  Then, I saw Borghese Rapido Nail Lacquer ($8USD).  I am guessing these are new since I never seen them at ULTA and I don't think the line had fast-drying nail polishes up until now.

Is NARS Portobello a Magic Mushroom?

I bought this during the Sephora F&F sale.  I know what you are thinking, I have enough beige and nude colors.  If you weren't thinking that then it was my voice of reason.  I really didn't need another set of beige colors, but these were NARS and it had been a long time since I had used anything from that line.

Bullying, The Beast, and a Bloggy Award

Yes, it is the awards season in Bloggywood!  Thanks to Hebridean Sprite Beauty, I got a stylish beauty blog award!   The rules are: 

1. Thank and link the person who gave it to you
2. Share 7 random facts about yourself
3. Give the award up to 15 other bloggers and let them know about it

Well, instead of doing  7 random facts about me, I am going to bend the rules and get on my soapbox a bit.  Here is a random fact about me:  I grew up being BULLIED by many kids and I know there are many of you out there that were in the same situation.  The following is a condensed version of my bullied life. 

Going Mad Over NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

I always see these pencils at my Ulta but never got around to buying them.  Then, I bought one which was the lavender.  I went crazy and ordered the entire lot off of ebay!  I don't know what got into me, maybe it was the red pencil that was glaring at me on the NYX website.  You know I have a weakness for anything red that can be worn on the eyes!  I have all 28 pencils and here are the colors.

Tarina Tarantino Magic Hour Smudge Pens

Chanel used to have a dual ended pen back in the 80's which were innovative and a nice concept back then but they soon became a gimmick because the shadow just didn't apply well.  The sponge tip applicator became this shiny bowling ball like tip and so did the shadow that was housed in the cap.  I wasted precious dollars back then.

Vintage Chanel Baubles

Yes, this is another post of my vintage collection.   The top one is a hairclip that is made of red leather and has the chi chi double C's.  I thought having the double c's in my hair was really cool.  Now, I don't even wear a pony tail so this just sits in my jewelry box.

Bloggy Award

I have been bestowed by loodie to the third power or loodie times 3 or Anna, however you want to look at this very informative nail blog a bloggy award.  I know I had another award from Confessions of A Beautyholic which I never got around to.  I love you dear! I feel bad.

Argan Oil and Other Cosmetics by Josie Maran

I am probably the last person to try Argan oil.  Okay, that is an exaggeration but I didn't jump on the bandwagon right away because of a show I watched a few years back on the History Channel called All About Dung hosted by Monty Halls (not Monty Hall of Let's Make a Deal).  He travels from Oregon to India discovering and uncovering dung.  I am so glad I didn't have smell-o-vision but I did have a can of Lysol close by.  Anyway, the show was actually quite interesting and informative.  Who knew cow dung could be transformed into soap?  What made the show more interesting was the blurb on food products that went through the animal's digestive system then used as food again for human consumption.  One was the coffee bean ingested by the civet and the other was the nuts ingested by goats which turned out to be argan oil. 

Physicians Formula-Glam Collection Gel CreamLiners

When I saw NouveauCheap blurb about these on her blog, I went searching for them and found nothing until it came close to the new year.  Typical that Ulta would display these just after Xmas and before the New Year knowing people want shimmer and glam for the New Year Eve parties.  I think Ulta was doing a special pricing on these because I noticed a discount when I paid for this.

Hooded Eyes-Occidental and Asian

Here, I have taken three different hooded eyes.  First, what are hooded eyes?  Good question.  I always think of Kenny from South Park when I hear this.  Basically, the orbital ridge will lap over the crease, hiding the depth of the eye.  The difference between an Occidental (Caucasian or anyone other than Asian descent) and Asian is the crease or the area where the eyeball and bone structure of the eye meet.  On an occidental when the eye is tilted or looking down you see the crease.  On an Asian that area is visible but the depth of it is shallow.  When the eye is looking straight ahead, the depth of the eye is hidden in all the eyes.  You could say the BIGGEST difference would be the layer of fat on the eye area that Asians have that prevent a deep fold to occur.  All Asians have this and some remove that layer and they end up with some weird flatness of the eye which in time has to be corrected when one gets mature.