Influenster Beauty Blogger Vox Box

I am so excited to share this with you guys! Influenster has done it again. I recently received the Beauty Blogger Vox Box and was very impressed with the contents. In it I received

NYC IndividualEyes shadow palette "Dark Shadows"
Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit (haven't used them yet, but I love the look of them)
Bath and Body Works Mini Candle "Cider Lane" (my favorite candles ever, and this scent is heavenly)
Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin (I LOVE this, makes a quick bun when I'm in a hurry, it's easy and looks adorable!)
EBoost Daily Health Booster orange flavor (I'm nervous to try this, I have a thing about artificial flavors. I'll let ya know once I try it out).
Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Cream. (Haven't tried yet on me, but didn't see much difference in my daughter's hair. Maybe I should straighten her hair ?) Here's a review of the palette and a quick EOTD I did with it.

 

My initial thoughts on the NYC palette is this would be great for a night on the town. This is an all in one with primer, illuminator, high light color, lid color, crease color, and a definition color. The shadows feel a bit powdery but for $4.99 retail, you can't beat the pigmentation and blendability. I don't own much NYC, but if this is any indicator of the quality, I may have to pick up some more :) Perfect for a sparkly smokey eye if you ask me. Pair this with a bold red lip and va- va- va- voom, you're good to go! I wasn't going on the town, but having a Bible study at my home, so I wore a nude lip to balance out the drama I had going on on my eyes!

When you wear a smokey eye, do you prefer a bold lip or nude? I think I like them both depending on the time of day and what I'm doing/ where I'm going.

Tori Series Part 2: Girl Disappearing

Thanks for coming to see my second look in the Tori Amos series. Today's girl is Clyde, she appears on the American Doll Posse album and I just loved her bright eyes.

 

To create this look I used :
Eyes:
UDPP original all over the lid
Tick Tock Cosmetics Eyeshadow base in Milky Way and Supernova
Sugarpill "Decora"
Geek Chic Cosmetics "Yes, Sir"
Moi Cosmetics "Haunted"
NYC highlight color from "Dark Shadows"
MAC "Smolder" to tightline upper water line
Elf Cream Eyeliner "Plum Purple" under lower lash line
Sugarpill "Paperdoll" under lower lash line
Clinique Mascara as always

Cheeks:
Darling Girl Cosmetics "Doll Face"

Lips:
OCC Lip Tar Anime
OCC Lip Tar Grandma

Here's Clyde's blog from several years ago, if you want to get to know her more. My favorite quote from her bio is "But if no one sees their potential then they may not ever see it themselves and that would be tragic." If you want to hear the song this blog title was taken from click here. See you next time!



*Some products were sent to me for my consideration. All opinions are my own, like them or not :)

Tori series part 1...on account of those rattlesnakes

Awkward title, I know, but let me explain myself. Today marks the first installment on my series based on different character created by Tori Amos. A friend suggested I go with the woman who represents "Rattlesnakes" from the Strange Little Girl album. Neil Gaiman wrote mini- stories to go along with each character and here is hers.

She doesn't know who owned the jacket originally. Nobody claimed it after a party, and she figured it looked good on her.

It says KISS, and she does not like to kiss. People, men and women, have told her that she is beautiful, and she has no idea what they mean. When she looks in the mirror she does not see beauty looking back at her. Only her face.

She does not read, watch TV, or make love. She listens to music. She goes places with her friends. She rides rollercoasters but never screams when they plummet or twist and upside down.

If you told her the jacket was yours she'd just shrug and give it back to you. It's not like she cares, not one way or the other.

This is a very wearable neutral look with a touch of glamour in the super shiny lip. While it appears simple, I used a butt ton of products. The glowy look her skin had in the photo was hard to achieve so here's the list. Long list is long!

The arsenal:
Face:
Tarte Maracuja Miracle Foundation in Fair
Philosophy Divine Illumination in Love at First Light
Philosophy Amazing Grace Shimmering Powder
Cheeks:
Milani Illuminating Face Powder in Beauty's Touch
Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
MK Signature Eyesicle in Vanilla
Sephora 5 in 1 Color Play Palette
Urban Decay Virgin
Urban Decay Darkhorse mixed with Smog
MAC Smolder eye kohl
Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara
Lips:
Avon Perfect Wear lip liner in Neutrals W
MAC Viva Glam V
NYC Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City



So tell me,did I do the look any justice? Any suggestions for my next character?

*I do not own or claim to own this video

SparkleCon 2012!!

 I alluded in my last post to a trip I recently took out west. Well let me tell you, I had a blast! I flew in to Denver and my sweet friend Sam picked me up at the airport. The following day, we Thelma and Louise-d it down to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a beautiful drive down, and I personally had a great time. I even saw antelope!

 Once we got there we were greeted by huge hugs from Wendi and Megan. Even though we had never met in person, it was like reuniting with old friends. That night we had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant where I got the biggest bowl of guacamole in the history of man.

 The next morning kind of snuck up on us, so after much rushing around, I did a quick makeup job at Wendi's mother in laws dining room table. After that, it was a flurry of delicious food, makeup and laughing till my sides hurt. I met wonderful women who share my obsession with all things sparkly. Goodie bags were provided by Milani Cosmetics, Tick: Tock Cosmetics, Chinovi Cosmetics and Dorian and Dahl Perfumery (reviews all to come soon).

 I also had my first experience at MAC. This adorable guy Ricky gave me a mini makeover when all I was expecting was a color match. He was so sweet and cute, I just wanted to bring him home and sit him on my shelf.

Me, Ricky and Sam

I'll sign off with one last pic of the whole gang!

L-R Wendi, Sam, Megan, Angela, Me, Meredith Jia

See what had happened was...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Today I come to you with my tail tucked between my legs. I have failed as a blogger. Maybe I lost my passion, maybe I got busy or maybe I just forgot. Either way, my little piece of the interwebs has been neglected. Well, no more I say! I have so many exciting things to share with you all. Little Miss "never been out of the south" traveled to Colorado and New Mexico to meet up with some other (more dedicated) bloggers for the first annual SparkleCon put together by Wendi at Makeup Zombie. You can check out her post about it here. But I've got a preview pic for ya until you get the chance to read her blog ;)

So to make it up to you, I'm going to begin a series of makeup looks based off the characters created by Tori Amos, including some from the Strange Little Girls album. This was suggested to me by my dear friend Sam at Kiss My Sparkle. But I can't decide which girls to do, I don't want to offend any of them (sounds ridiculous I know, but I believe they have feelings). Decisions, decisions! There are some potentials here and here. Do you have any suggestions? What's your favorite Tori style??

I'm alive

I haven't blogged in forever. I'm not sure why but I think it stems from drama in the makeup world. I know, it's sparkly pretties, how can there be drama? But believe me, there always is room for it. That being said, I feel like I need to go back to my blogging roots. I started this page with the intent to share my beliefs, encourage others or maybe even rant now and again. But my insane love of all things pretty kind of took over.

My posts became more about beauty than I meant for them too. I abandoned my muse and I have to find her again. I'm not saying reviews and makeup looks will disappear. I'm just saying there's more to me than glitter...

Darling Girl Cosmetics review

I have been a makeup junkie for years. As soon as my Mom allowed me to start wearing it, it was ON! I have since ventured out from my original black eyeliner and deep blood red lips thankfully. In recent years I have developed a penchant for indie mineral makeup. For my non-junkie readers, translation: Mineral eyeshadows, lip products, and other pretties made by small businesses. They are usually ran with minimal employees, typically the owner/ formulator and maybe a family member. I have tried more than a few companies, but this is my first serious review and the lovely subject is Darling Girl Cosmetics.

It came securely packaged in a bubble mailer, with several smaller, and super cute bags inside.

This was my first purchase from Susan, founder and owner of DGC. It all started with my quest for an indie dupe of the coveted NARS Orgasm blush that makes me blush just saying the name. I'm in a makeup group with her on Facebook, and I may have gently prodded her into making one! And I am so glad I did. She introduced "She-Bop", a duochrome blush that is peachy with a golden shift after the 2011 holiday season. I knew as soon as I saw her dupe, I had to have it! Not to mention, my 2nd grade teacher called me Cyndi Lauper since I got in trouble in class for singing! I also ordered a Pretty Mistakes Grab Bag (5 random shadows), Jeweled Taupe eyeshadow, SuperStar Serum, and Sweet Lips on the Go Sugar Scrub all for $29 including shipping!! Here are the pretty maids all in a row.

Ready for some pictures??

The blush I ordered, She-Bop was clearly labeled with ingredients as well as a warning: Don't put on your lips, and I guess you also shouldn't eat it... even though it looks yummy! The jar came with a sifter and a sticker over that to ensure no spillage, thus no loss of the pretties.

The lip scrub is amazing! I use it almost every day. The sugar gently exfoliates your lips and the remaining balm is silky and moisturizing. Don't tell anyone, but I always nibble off the sugar instead of rinsing it off. Susan said it was ok!

How cute is this sticker?! I can't decide if I want to put it on my sewing machine or makeup organizer, decisions, decisions!

Over NYX  JEP  in milk

 Jeweled Taupe, oh how I love you! This is such a complex color, a nice taupe with a bronze quality that reminds me gorgeous jewelry and it has sparkles galore. I love this as a lid color. The official description is an amazing metallic bronzey taupe with amazing multi-colored shimmers like tiny little jewels ribbon-ed through it. Yup, that about sums it up, but she left "freaking fantastic" out of the description!

I'm not gonna tease you with swatches of these as they are "Pretty Mistakes". You couldn't order them if you tried, suffice it to say, they are all lovely.

I also received two samples including one from her brand new collection, Darling Grrl! Did I mention I am a HUGE fan of The Cure and was excited to see that "Friday, I'm in love" was the one I got?!






I think that about sums it up for my experience. Would I purchase from DGC again? Uh, yeah! Amazing customer service, quality prices and reasonable prices, you bet! Be sure to check them out, they're a great company to do business with. Have you tried Darling Girl? What's your favorite item from them? Go, shop, win!

Baby it's cold outside!

It's that time again, time for a makeup showcase in Never Too Much Sparkle. This week's theme: Winter Sunset. I took my inspiration from this picture I found whilst Googling. Not your typical wintry pic thus inspiring a not your typical wintry eye look.

One day *fingers crossed* I'll learn to take pics with consistent lighting and in focus lol! I used a butt ton of different shadows and pigments, the few I remember are Shiro Rapidash, Dawn Eyes Copper Beige and Moi Minerals Shimmer and Pearls.

Hope you like the look, I had fun getting back into the swing of things slapping some color on my eyes. Christmas through New Years I was more than a little lazy with making myself presentable, so here's to lookin  purdy and getting my stuff together! Happy New Year!!