Makeup Favorites

I rarely wear makeup because certain conditions have to be met so I can.  In order to put make up on for the day I have to be staying at home and not planning to do a whole lot that's productive.  I have very little energy on a daily basis and most of it gets used wheeling myself around the house throughout the day in my wheelchair.  Most days I save the extra energy for working on my Etsy shop.  On the rare day that I have to leave the house I save my extra energy for riding the bus and interacting with people.  But on a day where I have nothing to do but relax and watch Netflix I like to play with makeup.  I don't have a whole lot of makeup.  I don't have any blush or bronzer, but I do what I can with what I have.  On those low-energy days it's always nice to look in the mirror and see my made up face and not feel quite so worn out.  Since I don't have a lot of makeup I don't have a lot of favorites but I do have a few, so here they are.

Brija Cosmetics:  a small business where all of the makeup and skincare products are made by one hardworking lady; everything is 100% vegan, gluten free, cruelty free, and dye free

The first thing I purchased from Brija Cosmetics was the blogger pack, which included four mystery products and one full-size eyeshadow of my choice.  I was immediately in love with the products.  They are so pigmented and wear wonderfully.  They never make my skin break out worse which is super important to me.  I purchased the Halloween Heroes(ish) Eyeshadow collection next and it is amazing.  First of all, the products are all based on characters from some of my favorite movies like Coraline, Hocus Pocus, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Second, the shadows are super unique shades but very versatile.

If I had to choose my favorite products from Brija Cosmetics that I've tried so far I would have to pick Lace Dresses eyeshadow, Glorious Morning Magic eyeshadow, and ESPN highlight.  I highly recommend all of three of these.  They're the ones I reach for just about every time I wear makeup.  Brianna is always coming out with new collections and her new Glamour to Go 2 collection is definitely on my wishlist.  I'll definitely blog about any products I buy from her in the future.

Glorious Morning Magic

Moon Glimmer Cosmetics: This is a cruelty-free makeup brand on Etsy.  Jordan's mom bought me a really pretty highlight from this shop and I love it.  It's the Persephone shade from this listing.  They also have it as a pressed highlighter if you like that better than a loose powder.  It is an absolutely gorgeous color.  It's super pigmented with great reflect and lasts all day.  I love swiping a little bit on my cheeks and feeling just a little bit magical when I see my reflection.  This shop has so many gorgeous shades of eyeshadow and highlighter and I definitely want to try more.  I am all about a good color reflect.  There's even a shadow that reminds me of my favorite stone, labradorite, with a grey base and stunning blue reflect.  That one is definitely on my wishlist.  Seriously, is it not stunning?

So those are really my only makeup favorites at the moment.  Some of the things on my wishlist include a good liquid foundation, the Real Techniques diamond makeup sponge, and Tarte lipstick, as well as pretty much any blush and bronzer.  I just signed up for Glambot so I have my eye on a few products there.  If you don't know about Glambot it's a site where you can sell certain kinds of makeup as well as buy makeup.  The makeup they receive is thoroughly sanitized before they sell it and it's a great way to get some cash if you clean out the makeup you don't use.  You can use my referral link to get $10 to use when you sign up.

Makeup Monday: Brija Cosmetics

After I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2013 it was overwhelming enough just to figure out what foods I could eat, so I didn't even bother with makeup.  I just stopped wearing makeup completely.  Now that I can't walk again I am even more exhausted than ever and I got tired of just seeing a sick person when I looked in the mirror, so I started looking into gluten free makeup.  I ordered a few samples and I'll be talking about what I like and I what I don't in these Monday posts.

I discovered Brija Cosmetics after looking for vloggers with celiac disease on Youtube.  I discovered Brianna, a great lifestyle vlogger, and immediately subscribed.  She introduced me to the huge range of affordable gluten-free products available on Vitacost.com and I am so grateful, so of course I looked into her line of completely gluten-free beauty products, Brija Cosmetics.  My first order was for the Blogger Pack because I would get four surprise samples and one full size eye shadow of my choice, and I love surprises!  I picked the full size Lace Dresses eye shadow because I love the color and the name.  It's such a pretty color!  I also received three eye shadow samples and a highlight sample.

Please excuse the blurry photo.  I am wearing Brija Cosmetics eye shadow and highlight in this photo but the glasses glare makes it hard to see the eye shadow.  I also did a more natural and subtle eye look.

I learned how to do swatches!  From top to bottom these are: Consulting Detective eyeshadow, You Only Have to Do It Once eyeshadow, 90s Kid eyeshadow, ESPN highlight, and Lace Dresses eyeshadow.

Another blurry photo but it is not easy to take a photo of your eye!  I just used Lace Dresses eyeshadow for this look.

I love all of these products!  I will absolutely be purchasing more products from Brija Cosmetics.  The products are all really pigmented.  I only used the little bits of powdery residue on the baggies from the samples for the swatches and seriously just look at them!  These eyeshadows are going to last a really long time.  They're super affordable at just $5.50 for a 5g jar, and they're made of only natural ingredients.  The color really packs a punch and it stays on wonderfully all day long.  (I don't even use eye primer and it still stays perfectly.)  The highlight is really pretty and looks great on.  It really brightens up the corner of eyes and makes me look more awake and lively.  I love these products and highly recommend them for anyone who has celiac disease or just likes natural or affordable makeup.

The Brija Cosmetics products on my wishlist include: the upcoming glitter collection (all of the glitters are named after stones/minerals and the glitter is amazing! Like the I would buy all 19 colors if I had the money kind of amazing.),Can I Keep You? eyeshadow, the Gilmore Girls matte eyeshadow collection, and the Poise Cream Blush.

I also super love that most of the products have nerdy pop culture inspired names.  That just makes me love them even more.  She also has a monthly subscription box that I want to try.  So the final verdict is that you should definitely try Brija Cosmetics.  It's so incredibly affordable and really great quality all-natural makeup.

Product Reviews: ModaVoxBox from Influenster

I received the Moda VoxBox free from Influenster in exchange for an honest review of the products it contained.  All of the following opinions are my own.

First up is the Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves Mascara from Rimmel London.  You probably know that I don't wear makeup very often, but when I do I always wear mascara.  Fun fact: I think I might be the only person in the world who puts on mascara with my mouth closed.  Now that I'm writing this I realize I should have probably included a photo of the mascara wand, but I didn't so oh well.  I really like this mascara.  It has a unique curved brush shape that is big on the bottom and small on the top.  The brush makes it easy to apply mascara to any lashes you may have missed (for me, that's the inner lashes) with the added bonus of making it so you probably won't accidentally jab yourself in the eye.  I am super clumsy and almost every time I apply mascara I end up poking myself in one or both eyes with the wand.  I have worn this mascara three times and not jabbed myself in the eye with it once.  The actual product goes on smoothly and makes your lashes look amazing after just one coat.  It stays on all day too.  It's also easy to wear from day to night.  I put one coat on the right eyelashes in the above photo and none on the left, so you can see the difference.  I will definitely continue to use this mascara and buy it in the future.

In the previous two photos I am wearing the mascara as well as Moisture Renew Lip Liner and Moisture Renew Lipstick, all from Rimmel London.  Let me start this review off by saying that I had never used lip liner before in my life.  This was a clear lip liner that "defines lips and prevents color from feathering".  I honestly don't know what to say about it.  I guess it did what it was supposed to but honestly I have no idea.  The lipstick had long-lasting color and left my lips feeling soft and moisturized.  It wasn't sticky at all so there was none of that having-my-hair-stick-to-my-lips-as-soon-as-I-step-outside nonsense.  The shade I received was not a good color for me, although you can't see that in the photos, so I gave it to a friend, who loves it.  Also, since I have celiac disease I have to be really careful about my makeup, especially lip products, and I couldn't find anything about either of these products being gluten-free so I will not be buying or using them in the future.  If the lipstick was gluten-free I would definitely use it every so often and buy it in the future, in a more flattering shade of course.

The next product I want to talk about is Hair Food.  Hair Food is a new brand that is available at Target.  The product I received was the Hair Food Moisture Hair Mask.  I wasn't excited about it and expected to use it one time to review and then give it to a friend.  I'm pretty low-maintenance and don't put anything in my hair except shampoo.  So I gave this a shot and was happy to find that even with my thick hair, applying the product and combing it through only adds one minute to my shower time.  It smells great, is easy to apply, and the results are incredible!  My hair felt softer and healthier than it has in a long time, and you can see how shiny it was in the pictures above.  I love this product and I will definitely use it again and buy it in the future.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants healthier hair.

Swiss Miss Simply Cocoa made me think, okay hot cocoa is good, and it's gluten free so that will be nice to drink.  I bought some milk at the store, because you're supposed to make this kind of cocoa with hot milk.  I got out my prettiest cup, heated up the milk, and mixed up the cocoa.  You guys!  It was all I could to not gulp the entire thing after the first taste so I could get some pictures.  I took three quick pictures, then drank the rest in one long swig, then wished I had more.  This is the best hot cocoa I have ever had in my life.  If you can't tell by the look on my face in the third picture, I am in love with this cocoa.  If it was legal to marry I hot beverage I have found "The One".  My mouth is seriously watering just thinking about how good it was.  You should probably stop reading this post right now, go out and buy a box of Swiss Miss Simply Cocoa, make yourself a mug of it, then finish reading the post.

Okay, now that you are enjoying probably your second cup of delicious hot cocoa I'll review the last three products.  I didn't take pictures of these because I didn't want to get lotion on my camera and didn't think you wanted to see me blow my nose.  The Puffs SoftPack is a box of facial tissues in a soft pack, in case you couldn't tell from the name.  It has a pretty design on it and it's easy to throw in your purse.  The tissues are also soft and gentle on the nose, and they arrived at just the right time, since I was fighting off the last of a sinus infection.  I don't plan to buy them in the future, because the cheap store-brand of tissues I buy work just fine and I don't really feel the need to throw them in my purse.  The Jergens Ultra Healing Extra Dry Skin Moisturizer is a good lotion.  This time of year, especially working in retail, I am using hand sanitizer all day long and that makes my hands get really dried out, sometimes even cracked and sore.  So I use a lot of hand lotion this time of year to combat the dry skin.  This lotion is gentle on dry skin and it leaves your skin feeling moisturized but not greasy.It also has a thing in it called Hydralucence which makes your skin more luminous.  I personally don't care about my skin's luminosity but maybe you do.  I have been using this lotion on a daily basis and definitely felt an improvement in my skin, so I will continue to use it and I will buy it in the future.  I don't really see what the big deal is with the Resource Spring Water.  It's got "naturally occurring electrolytes for a clean, refreshing taste."  To me it tastes like any other bottled water.  But it comes in a bottle that is made from 50% recycled plastic and is 100% recyclable, so if you're into that sort of thing, maybe this is the bottled water for you.  I won't be buying it though.

So to review, the thing you should definitely buy from this box is Swiss Miss Simply Cocoa.  At just $2.29 it's super affordable and it's also super tasty.  Plus it's made from just five ingredients: sugar, cocoa, nonfat milk, salt, and natural flavor.

The things you should probably buy are the Rimmel London Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves Mascara and Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick, as well as the Hair Food Moisture Hair Mask.

The things you should maybe buy are the Jergens Ultra Healing Extra Dry Skin Moisturizer and the Puffs SoftPack.

The thing you should maybe skip is the Resource Spring Water.

And lastly, the thing that I have no clue about is the Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lip Liner.

Happy shopping!

Product Reviews: Products I'm Loving

I purchased some new beauty products a few weeks ago.  I bought them all with my own money, and have not been compensated in any way for this post.  One of them was something that is fairly new and everyone online has been raving about how wonderful it is.  Another was something that seems too good to be true, that I bought to see if it might actually work.

The products are: Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter, Almay Clear Complexion Foundation, and Simple exfoliating facial wipes.

I won't make you wait in suspense. I love every single one of these products (in case you couldn't tell from the title).  I can't even pick a favorite, I love them all so much. 

The exfoliating wipes are so gentle and soothing on my skin that I will never go back to harsh exfoliating scrubs.  They have Pro-vitamin B5, Vitamin E, and aloe vera.  They make my skin feel smooth and refreshed, and they also moisturize.  Also, there are no dyes or perfumes that can irritate your skin.  They smell really good and refreshing anyway, because of the aloe vera.  I use them every day, morning and evening.

The Almay clear complexion foundation sounds way too good to be true.  A foundation that makes your skin clearer?!  It couldn't possibly work.  But it does!  It contains salicylic acid which is an ingredient in most acne clearing products.  The only thing is that it can be really drying if you keep using your usual acne clearing product as well.  After using this foundation my skin has never been clearer, well at least not since before I went through puberty.  It covers fairly well, but doesn't feel at all heavy.  It stays put all day too, which is great.  It dispenses easily through a pump, and a little bit goes a long way.  I only use about three pumps to cover my whole face.

The Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter has been raved about by beauty bloggers and regular girls alike, all over the internet, so I had to try it for myself.  I have severely chapped lips year round, so I have to use chapstick constantly.  It helps quite a bit, but not as much as I'd like.  The Revlon Lip Butter actually moisturizes my lips better than chapstick.  It leaves them feeling soft and healthy.  I originally bought the Red Velvet shade but it was way too dark for me.  I looked like I was either a wannabe goth/emo or I had a vampire fetish.  So I went on eBay and found the shade I really wanted, which they had been sold out of at Rite Aid, brand new for less than I had paid for the other one.  It is the Tutti Frutti shade, which is sort of a coral color.  The color is vibrant and long-lasting and I love it.  I don't ever want to use a different lipstick, maybe a different shade of the Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter, but never a different type of lipstick.



This is my face after using the exfoliating wipes, then applying the foudation and lipstick,
with no other makeup at all.  The lipstick is a little oranger in real life.

So I guess that's it.  I give every single one of these products 5 stars out of 5, and will definitely purchase every one of them again in the future, many many times.  I also highly recommend them to everybody.

Product Review: ELF Eyeshadow

Remember how ages and ages ago I got some makeup for cheap from E.L.F. and told you I would review it at some point?  Well, now is finally that time.

Here's the palette which cost me $10 and contains 85 total products consisting of
60 eyeshadows, 20 lip colors, 3 blushes, and 2 bronzers 

here's what the eyeshadow looks like as part of a complete look,
which I usually don't do because of my difficulties using eyeliner

this is what I normally do, eyeshadow and mascara, no eyeliner

I took this picture after dark (boo), so you can't see that much contrast between
the orange eyeshadow and how weirdly orange the lights in my room made my skin look

Overall I am very pleased with the E.L.F. eyeshadow in general and this palette in particular.  I would buy it again in the future, but I have so much that I won't need to for a long while.  It is highly pigmented and doesn't take much.  I usually do three "coats" for each eyelid (I'm not a beauty reviewer so I have no idea what the proper term is).  This palette contains lots of different shades of each color which makes doing your eyeshadow really easy.  I usually do one color for my entire eyelid, then either a darker shade or different color on the outer corners for depth.  You can't tell from my pictures, but when I did the orange eyeshadow, I did pink on the outer corners and it looked really cool.  It lasts all day (for me anyway) without finishing spray, which is great because it makes it easy to wear and you don't have to worry about it.  Also, spoiler alert: I'm pretty happy with most of the E.L.F. products I've purchased.  E.L.F. has eyeshadows for every budget, including a 100 eyeshadow palette for $10 and a 144 piece palette for $15, as well as smaller palettes including eyeshadow duos for $1 each and a 32 piece palette for $5.  So once again the verdict is that I would purchase eyeshadow from E.L.F. again and I would recommend it to others as well.  I purchased these products with my own money and was not compensated by E.L.F. in any way for writing this post.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

With the changing of the seasons come changes to my blog. Did you see that nifty ad box in my blog's upper right corner? That's here to stay now.  And, depending on its success, more ad boxes might join it.  In other news, I'm going to start taking this "I'm a freelance graphic designer" thing seriously.  I ordered some business cards today, 100 of them.  There was this promotional deal where I got them for free and just had to pay shipping.  In hindsight, I should have probably made my company website first, but oh well.  So yeah, I run my own company now.  It's called Honeybee Designs and I plan to create my new website for free using Blogger, so you guys will be the first ones to know once that's up and running.  G and I are really starting to get into the holiday spirit.  Mainly because it's nearly freezing out lately, 40 degrees F.  So yesterday we bought pumpkin ice cream and ate it while cuddling under blankets watching movies.  Two movies we watched over the weekend that were both really good and are on Netflix, that you should totally watch, but I'm not going to review them properly right now, since this blogpost is going to be long enough without it, are Paper Man and Cherry.  Paper Man is one of my new favorite movies.  And Cherry is also pretty fantastic.  So watch those.

In football, the Washington Huskies got their butts thoroughly kicked by Stanford Cardinal this past weekend.  Let's just say we lost by over 30 points and leave it at that.  Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns played a game of who sucks slightly less on Sunday.  Nobody scored a touchdown, but the Browns beat the Seahawks 6-3.  Truly pathetic.  Sidenote: in my mind, today is Monday.  Because G took the week off to work on his paper for his master's degree and I've been staying at his house until today.  I helped him transcribe his entire 48 minute long video for his paper.  It took me significantly longer than 48 minutes.

The other big news is that I am going to start reselling thrift store clothing and stuff on eBay in an attempt to make some extra money.  It was G's idea, since he always marvels at the things I find for so cheap at thrift stores, and he hasn't even seen the little black dress I got on my last trip yet.  So I plan to list all of the clothing I don't wear and use whatever money I make off of that as capital to buy more stuff to resell.  I'll blog about how that goes, of course.

In other news, I received my E.L.F. order today and I'm really excited about that.  Like I said, I'll review one product from that every once in a while on here, so you can expect to see lots more pictures of me in the future. 

And last of all, I have an announcement: in my next blogpost, I will be having a giveaway with two winners, who will each receive a tube of lipstick, so watch out for that.

I hope you are all staying warm and healthy, and I'll be back again soon.

Post Loading: 20% Complete

Prepare for discombobulation; you have been warned.

I've been MIA for a few days.  I had the most awful migraine headache EVER for three days straight.  G was starting to get worried about me and started tossing around words like brain tumor and brain aneurysm, which started making me feel pretty worried too.  But he talked to his mom, who is a nurse, and she said it's most likely just a migraine, and if I start having other symptoms with it to see a doctor, but for now just to take some ibuprofen and try to sleep it off.  So that was Wednesday through Friday.  I felt quite a bit better on Saturday and had just the tail end of the migraine hanging on, but I took some more ibuprofen and it let go by game time.  Which was great, since I got to watch the Washington Huskies thoroughly stomp the Colorado Buffaloes 52-24.  We are now 5-1.  Washington Huskies are now a ranked team, number 22 in the AP ranking.  We take on number 7 ranked Stanford Cardinal, who has had an undefeated season so far, on Saturday.  It's certainly going to be interesting.

Now my allergies are being ridiculous, but other than that I'm feeling great.

I would like to welcome my newest blog follower, The Silver Swann.  She's really friendly and very nice, so be sure to stop by her blog and say hi, maybe enter her bracelet giveaway.  She can also be found on Etsy, which is where we first "met" one another.  She handcrafts some amazing jewelry, and you should go check out her Etsy shop as well.

And now I would like to wish a happy birthday to one of my first subscribers ever.  She's a lethal combination of writer and fashionista.  She's got looks and brains, and some super-cool tattoos.  And she writes an awesome blog.  So if you get a chance, stop by and tell her happy birthday.

Tsaritsa, I hope you're birthday is super duper fantastic and  you're surrounded by your loved ones having a great time right now (now, as in, when I'm writing it, not when you're reading it, unless you normally surround yourself with your loved ones to read blogs).  Anyway, I thought I'd go along with the theme of your dad's birthday greeting, and get you something cat-themed as well, so here's a cat playing you happy birthday.



And the last thing I want to discuss is E.L.F.  I never knew how inexpensive some of their makeup is!  I always hear people talking about their stuff and I just assume it's some sort of brand that I can't afford.  But I stumbled upon their website yesterday, and if you're poor like me, listen up.  They have all of the basic stuff you need for $1 each!  I'm not sure how great the quality of some of it is, but I know that it's been in different magazines and stuff.  Anyway, I ordered a bunch of stuff, since they sent me a code for $10 worth of $1 each products for free with a $20 or more purchase.  So I bought $36.95 worth of products, with shipping included, for $26.95, and I'll be reviewing everything once I get it.  I'm pretty excited, since at the moment my makeup collection is very small.  I only have one brush, one eyeshadow palette, three single eyeshadows, one mascara, one eyeliner, foundation, concealer, and two kinds of lip gloss.  I will be getting two different palettes, one with 60 eyeshadow colors, 20 lip colors, 3 blushes, and 2 bronzers, and the other with 20 lip colors and 28 eyeshadow colors.  That is the $20 portion of my order.  For my $1 each products, that would end up being free, I chose: a foundation brush, a blush, 3 different kinds of lip gloss, a lipstick, a mascara, an eyeliner, a foundation, and a concealer.  It should arrive in about 10 days, and then I'll review one product every time I blog.  If you visit their site right now, they have 2 really great deals going.  The first is you can get an 83-piece set that normally costs $35.00 for only $3.50, with any $25 minimum order.  The other deal is free shipping on an order of over $25.  These deals cannot be combined, however, as E.L.F. only allows one code per order.  Their site is very user-friendly, and if the inexpensive products are any good, I'll be saving lots of trips to the drugstore.  So I'll just have to wait and see if these products are any good or if the saying, "You get what you pay for" applies here.

I have an announcement: Sometime in the not-too-distant future, I'll be doing a giveaway, so be on the lookout for that.

Carpe Diem

So yesterday I wasn't able to do my errands, but I will get them done today. I am also having lunch with one of my friends that I haven't seen for a while. She graduated recently and she's going to take me to do errands too. What I did accomplish yesterday after the post was: discovered a couple of cool blogs via StumbleUpon, painted half of my fingernails, tried to fix my shirt design in Photoshop (today I'm going to try it in Illustrator), made a list of some movies that sound really interesting, watched a movie called Brick which wasn't really my kind of movie but was pretty good anyway (3 out of 5 stars, too much drug/gang stuff for my liking), got woken up at what must have been 3 or 4 in the morning by my neighbors playing pop music way too loud, and asked H to have dinner with me.  Usually when I ask him if he wants to come over and watch a movie or something, if he already has plans, he just says that he has plans. However yesterday, he said that he wanted to have dinner with me but he has plans and would I be free for dinner this weekend. So I'm having dinner with him either today or tomorrow which I'm pretty excited about, even though I'm pretty sure it's not a date. But I want to look cute anyway, which is quite honestly something that I've never said in my entire life, ever. So I'm going to wear a long sleeved gray and white striped shirt with a fitted vest over it that is white and sort of lacy but not really (I don't know terms for fashion things), jeans, probably my brown boots because my Converse all all pretty dirty, and my red jacket that I think is called a peacoat but I'm most likely wrong about that. Also, I'm buying makeup today, so hopefully I can figure out how to use it before dinner. I have used makeup before, but just eyeshadow and I have never figured out how eyeliner and mascara work. If it turns out well, I'll post pictures of the results. Farewell comrades.

Update: I went and did my errands and had a fantastic lunch and am too full for dinner. I didn't wear a warm enough coat because my winter coat gets feathers all over my clothes and it bugs me. We went to Buffalo Exchange, which is an upscale thrift store and I found the perfect gray wool coat. The crazy thing is that it's by Tulle, which just happened to be the brand of the red jacket I was wearing. I got the other jacket at Goodwill and it is by far my favorite, but not warm enough right now. I also got makeup and I think I did a pretty good job with it. Here's a bunch of pictures I took of me wearing makeup and my outfit for dinner with H, which I think is tomorrow, since he didn't call today.

I love this hat that I got for Christmas, debating about wearing it to my dinner.

close-up shot of my eye

my white vest thing, I think that I look sophisticated in this picture

the grey coat I got today, not sure whether I want to

wear it to dinner or the red one to add some color

the coat again, trying to look modelly and failing, that's probably not even a word

And now I get to download music from Itunes with the card I got for Christmas. Yay, I love music so much.