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.

See what had happened was...

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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??

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!!

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!

It's just a jump to the left

My bff Deb is getting older... but don't tell her I said that! So for her birthday I took her to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Plaza Theater in Atlanta. She was a virgin, and I hadn't been in years so this was the perfect opportunity to reveal to her the magic that is seeing it live! She's not typically a huge makeup wearer, so naturally I went to her house early to "help" her (not that she needs any help, she is a natural beauty, but you gotta look the part, right?!).

I went for a Magenta look. She's my favorite character in the show and couldn't wait to try my hand at her vampy, seductive eyes and those super glossy lips. I was so happy with how it turned out, and actually surprised myself with my false lash application (it was my first time).

Anyways, that was my weekend, what did you do???

Hi, my name is Melissa and...

I get stuck in the Dollar Tree! Today Lilly and I went to get some accessories for a slumber party she was going to. And as always, I scoped out the beauty section... big mistake! Here's some pics of what I got

N.Y.C. lip glosses are in Quick Sand, Magenta and Red Rock Canyon.
L'Oreal Crayon Grande are in Port, Be Mine and Crimson.
L'Oreal Wear Infinite in Ebony, Rich Plum and Lavender.

Of all my purchases, my favorites are the N.Y.C. glosses. These are my first products from this brand and I am actually quite impressed. They're nice and pigmented and and not too sticky feeling. I can see myself keeping these in my makeup bag for everyday use.

The eyeliners definitely have potential, they do go on smoothly. I'll have to try them out and see how they wear. I don't really get the feel of it being a "silky powder eyeliner", as it states but eh, maybe it is.

 And here's the bummer of the bunch. The lip crayon in Port. As you can see from the swatch it applies uneven and tries to goop up. The other two colors aren't as bad, but they all have a funky odor... like old, cheap crayons. I don't think I'll be using these often at all.

Overall, I think I found some good deals. So do you have the same problem? Get sucked into dollar stores and spend more than you need to?

Fall is here EOTD

So up until now, my blog has mainly been on life, spiritual matters and that sorta stuff. Today I'm gonna do my first strictly makeup post. This may or may not tickle your fancy, but if you know me, you know my fancy is quite tickled when it comes to anything pretty!

Here's a look I came up with to try to perk myself up after a too long stint of sinus infection. I know it's fall but that doesn't mean we have to tuck away the bright colors, right?! It also worked out that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month (pink) as well as Depression awareness month (green) and this look suits both :) Here's a pic I used for inspiration.

borrowed image

I started with Urban Decay Primer Potion and then applied NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to help the colors really pop. The colors I used were Psyche Mineral Suezo, Dawn Eyes Sunny Side Up, Shiro Thinking with Portals, Wheeeeeee! and Still Alive; Madd Style X-ray Spex and Ecto-Cooler, and Urban Decay Naked. A bit of Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy turned Still Alive and Ecto Cooler into a liner :)

So here's what I came up with, and yes I wore this out in public! You can still kinda see in my eyes that I'm not fully over this sinus thing, but dang it I was sick and tired of looking AND being sick and tired. Oh yeah, and excuse the clump in my bottom lashes, I fixed it before I went to the store LOL!

Well I can't say it made me physically feel any better, but getting myself all purdied up does wonders for my spirits. So what do you think? Like it, hate it, could really care less about my makeup obsession? Feel free to put in your $0.02, I can always use a little change!!

Would you rather? Beauty ??s

Magdalene of I'm not skinny, so what? tagged me in this and although I'm a bit late doing it, I had a lot of fun!!


1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows? 
I would definitely part with shadows and palettes before my mascara and lip gloss! I could handle a naked eye if I could jazz it up with liner, mascara and a red lip :)
2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again? 
I like my hair, so I don't think I would dig being totally bald. However, if you're talking just cut it real short, I would do that as long as my hair were long enough to donate to Locks of Love.
3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek? 
Pink! Most definitely :)
4. If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup? 
Clothes, because every time I go shopping for clothes, I talk myself out if it. To get stuff that fits me nicely usually means spending more money than I'm comfortable with. Not to mention, as a mom I rarely get to try on more than a few things at a time before Lilly gets bored!
5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick? 
I would rather the eyeliner as lipstick for several reasons actually. For hygienic reasons, the mouth is one of the dirtiest places on your body. No way would I put that bacteria near my eyeball! Secondly, I have some nice eyeliner colors that could easily double as a lip color, just add a balm and BAM!
6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora? 
Sephora. The selection is great, plus I get my aunt's discount at the one in the Penney's near me WooT!
7. Would you rather use only one eyeshadow color or one lip color the rest of your life? 
 As much as I love different shadow colors, I think I be apt to settle for a neutral eye. Changing the lip color can change the feel of the look completely. Pink, red, coral, bronze, the possibilities are endless.
8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in the summer or summer clothes in the winter?
Summer clothes in winter, hands down. I can't stand being hot. It makes me sweat, after a while no one smells that pleasant and frankly, it makes me grumpy as all get out! No one likes a grumpy Melissa >:/
9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round? 
Bright nails. My personality is fairly bubbly so they suit my personality better. Sometimes I can pull off vampy, but it's more of a seasonal look for me.
10. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a pony tail or a messy bun? 
 I like messy buns but since I have not mastered that art, I'll stick with pony tails.
11. Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss? 
 I would rather skip nails but cannot imagine a life without lipgloss!
12. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all? Or sharpie them in everyday? 
I kind of don't understand this one, either way wouldn't you have no eyebrows? I guess if I had none, I'd have to Sharpie them in. I am not a fan of the "Whoopie" look. (Did you know she has no eyebrows?)
13. Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?
I'm more of a makeup junkie, so once again I have to sacrifice the polish.




Feel free to tag yourself on this one if you want to, it was lots of fun :)