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!!

Merry Christmas!

"Christmas is a time when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ"

I know, you probably thought that was a quote from a great theologian, but NO! It came from the one and only crude dude himself, Bart Simpson. Shocking, isn't it? If you've read any of my previous posts, you probably already know, I am a follower of Jesus. I believe that he is God in the flesh, and celebrate His birth on December 25th (even though He was probably born nowhere near that date). So whether you are a believer in Christ or not, I wish you a very merry Christmas!

I love the 80s

For Christmas I talked my aunt into giving me the Electric set of Urban Decay 24/7 liners and once I got them I could NOT wait to use them. Temptalia did a great review of them here. It also worked out that this weeks Makeup Showcase in NTMS was free choice, and what better way to pay homage to such great colors than with an 80s themed look!

They are all awesome, and you know I'm a purple kinda girl so Ransom had to be used immediately. Grab some shoulder pads, a bustier and some Aqua Net and have a look at my 80s look!

For this look I used
UDPP
Sweet Libertine "Disco Butterfly" over Pixie Epoxy on the lid
My Beauty Addiction "Heliotrope" in the crease
Pampered Xombie "Amityville" to blend the line between lid and crease
Fyrinnae "Calavera Cupcakes" on the browbone and inner corner
Urban Decay "Radium" to line the upper eye
Urban Decay "Ransom" under the eye
Clinique mascara as always


And here's a little something to give you some inspiration! What about you, are a child of the 80s like me??

It's a blue, blue winter

The fab Wendi, my pal the Makeup Zombie posted this weeks challenge and wouldn't ya know I had just done my eyeballs in that theme without even knowing it! I used theBalm Muppet palette for the most part to create this look along with a silvery gray from a Sephora palette I got last year.

This is not your typical wintry look because here in the south we rarely get snow. We are more prone to ice storms creating black ice all over the roads which leads to a murky slush on the side of the road. So that's kinda what I went for in this look. It was a bit more vibrant IRL but it was overcast and my picture taking skills of my own eyes are still meh. Anywho! Hope y'all have a great day and send some snow my way, ya here?!

p.s. I am now humming this with a small change in the lyrics to suit the blog title lol!

About me

I saw this tag on another blog I follow and thought maybe some of my new readers would like to know a little about me. If not, it's okay to skip this post entirely, I won't mind!

What is your best friends name?

Chris, I'm lucky enough to have married him ;)

What are you listening to right now?

Despicable Me playing in Lil's room

 Whats your favorite number?

13

What was the last thing you ate?

Grilled cheeseburger, zucchini and squash and red potato salad

If you were a crayon what color would you be?

Purple

How is the weather right now?

A bit chilly actually

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

I hung up on a telemarketer, does that count?

The first thing you notice about the opposite sex?

Probably eyes and hair

Do you have a significant other?

Yep! I've been with him since I was 16 (geesh I'm gettin old)

Favorite TV show?

Lately it's been The Vampire Diaries, Say Yes to the Dress, Family Guy, Law and Order SVU, Obsessed, Hoarders. But faves ever include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, X- Files, Ab Fab, The Vicar, My So Called Life, Sex and the City, Home Movies... I could keep going but then I would just sound like a couch potato sooo

Siblings?

1 brother, 1 stepsister, and 3 stepbrothers

Height?

5 feet, 3 inches.

Hair color?

Blonde

Eye Color?

Blue/ green

Do you wear contacts?

Lately I've been wearing my glasses since my contacts are so old they feel like sandpaper in my eyes. But normally, yes, I wear contacts :/

Favorite Holiday?

Christmas!  

Month?

August has my anniversary and birthday so I'm quite fond of it as well as November, that's when my daughter was born. 

Have you ever cried for no reason?

Yup... I'm a girl, aren't I? ;-)

What was the last movie you watched?

Breakfast at Tiffany's can you believe I had never watched it before?!

Favorite Day of the Year?

Uhhhh, I guess Christmas for this one too

Can you do a headstand (not using the wall)?

Back in tha day, yes. Now, not so much lol!

Hugs or Kisses?

Yes, please :)

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Vanilla

Do you want your friends to respond to this?

Yes!  I'd love to read everyone's answers, and comments to me on this post!

What books are you reading?

The Christian Atheist, The Bible light load compared to normally when I have 3-5 books going at the same time. 

Favorite movies?

This could take a while Pulp Fiction, LoTR trilogy, Sweeney Todd, Edward Scissorhands, Clueless, Kill Bill 1 & 2, The Princess Bride, Twilight(s), Star Wars (pretty much all of em), Stardust, Rocky Horror, Elf, Christmas Story, Tommy Boy, Moulin Rouge, Nightmare Before Christmas, Chronicles of Narnia (all of em), Lord Save Us From Your Followers, Coraline again I could keep going but will stop for now

What were you doing before this?

Catching up on my favorite beauty blogs

Butter, Plain or Salted popcorn?

Butter and salted that we make at home in our vintage style popcorn maker

Dogs or cats?

Dogs!

 Favorite flower?

Lilies and roses (like my daughter Lillian Rose)

Have you ever fired a gun?

Nope, only held one once and was a bit freaked out so who knows if I ever will

Do you like to travel by plane?

I do, I'm kinda like a kid. The first time I flew I was in my early twenties and the pilot let me in the cockpit, it was pretty amazing!

Right-handed or Left-handed?

I'm right handed.

How many pillows do you sleep with?

2

So there ya have it some useless Melissa info to keep with you. Feel free to copy and post away and link back on mine so I can learn more about you as well!!