Pan!

Yesterday I hit pan on my MSF natural (medium plus).  I got it right before Halloween last year and it took me 10 months of daily use but I did it!

Will definitely replace - I love this stuff.  I am interested in trying out one of Mac's foundations.  I got a gift card for my birthday and I've been saving it for a special purchase!!

Long time no see!!

Wow it's been a while since I posted on here!  Sometimes I wonder whether I should completely scrap this blog & start fresh or whether to keep some of the posts on here active.

A lot has changed in the last 6 months.

I'm engaged.
I'm planning a wedding.
I'm approaching my 1 year anniversary at my first full-time job.
I'm stuyding for the GRE and planning to apply to grad school for the upcoming app cycle (start in Fall 2012).
I moved out of my parents house and fiance and I moved into our first apartment.
It's been GREAT :)
I'm broke wedding are ridiculously expensive :(
And I'm honeymoon cruising to Bermuda in September.
Life is good.  A few things I'd like to change (particularly with the career path and professional development arena), but my personal life is really really good right now and poised to get even better.
PS the wedding is in 67 days.  Eep!!  So much to do but it's coming along =)

Cheeks

Shiny Laptop=Happy Me!

This is so dorky but I totally just wiped down the screen, keyboard and chassis of my laptop and man what a difference it made!  I love this laptop to no end, but it’s hard to show off when it was covered in dust and just looked dirty!  Now it looks sharp and brand-new again!

I <3 mini-victories!

Finding my Blogging Niche…

I need to blog more regularly.  I have so much stuff that I want to cover – products, experiences and life in general, but I can barely find time to sleep and do laundry, let alone blog! 

It is one of my goals though, I have always wanted to have a good an active blog, so I will try to get back into it.  I think my blog needs a focus, although I do not want to limit myself to talking only about one topic.  I feel like this has turned more into my personal journal and a series of rants than an actual informative blog, and that is exactly what I do not want.

Maybe I can revamp this blog with a new/more narrowed focus.  I have several areas of interest…I’m thinking right now that I’ll either revamp this blog or start a new one with a better focus – perhaps something along the lines of “The Informed Consumer” – where I can post product reviews and tips.  Either that or I will pick 2-3 things to focus on.  I do like beauty, but I am by no means an expert, nor do I wish to be.

I would also like to get involved with YouTube and/or update a combined blog with my BF but neither of us has taken the initiative to keep up with it. 

It probably doesn’t help that I consistently get the urge to blog while I’m at work….

I am just trying to carve my niche on the internet; hopefully I’ll be able to soon.

Weekend Haul!

So last night I was patting myself on the back for not buying a bunch of makeup over the last few weeks...then I hauled.

Lol!  But I picked up a few "treats" for myself, including one that I am considering an early Christmas gift to me!

With the exception of a few drugstore NYC items, I really haven't bought much makeup over the last few weeks.  I had the new Urban Decay Book of Shadows 3 (NYC) in the back of my mind and went ahead and ordered it from Sephora only because I found the 20% coupon code (FF2010). 

Then today we took a last minute trip to the outlets which means CCO!!  I was so excited to duck in there and see what goodies they had.  I always get excellent goodies when I go there with Poopadoo because he's great at picking out colors and shades for me and encouraging me to try colors outside of my comfort zone!

Aside from picking up 3 wonderful mineralized eyeshadows, I also got my first Amplified Creme lipstick in Morange and....wait for it...wait for it...the Azalea Blossom blush ombre!!!  This is a LE item from the 2010 Spring Color Forecast and by the time I found out about it it was sold out everywhere!  Well imagine my surprise when Poopadoo points it out to me at the CCO!  That totally made my day.

And I was extremely hesitant about getting Morange but I have to say that I absolutely love it!  It's my new favorite lipstick!  It is flattering on me and goes well with my skin tone and the natural pigmentation of my lips.

My makeup collection has grown quite a bit - here are recent shots of my entire collection, as well as my recent purchases from the CCO.

Wow I have a lotta stuff now.

Too many choices!

Last night, my bf and I went to WalMart to pick up a few last minute toiletry items and snacks for our vacation.  As I mentioned before, we are going on a 4 day Western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel, Mexico.  Well, as I stood in the dental hygeine aisle, stressing out about picking a new toothbrush, I was overwhelmed by how many choices there were!  This is not the first time I have noticed the dilemma - picking out bras, feminine products, electronics....there are so many choices!  And don't get me wrong - I absolutely love it!  Having so many choices and the widespread availabity of substitutes is what keeps competition up, prices down, and allows for nearly everyone to customize and find products that work for them.  But the reality is that sometimes we can get bombarded by how many options there are for the simplest products!

In the end, I picked out an Equate brand soft bristle toothbrush for $1.  I usually use the freebie that my dentist provides, but now that I am no longer a student and on a new insurance plan, I have found myself without dental insurance for the first time...meaning that visits to my dentists will be delayed for a bit.  I'm not stressing though, the main thing is that I have health and vision.  I have two health priorities - feminine health (is there a better term for it?) and vision, and I can happily manage both of these areas with the coverage that I have.

Side note: Last night at the pharmacy, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the difference in prescription coverage from my old insurance to my new.  Prescriptions are like 1/3 of what they were!

<3 it!

Something is always missing...

So, in my apperance, it seems that I am always missing something.
If I fix my hair and makeup nice, my nails are unpolished.

If I have a cute outfit, my shoes are not up to par.

Well today something like that happened.

I set out with a cute outfit:

Bright green linen skirt from Old Navy
Black "puff" sleeve scoopneck t-shirt from Target
(layered over) a white racerback tank from Target
Black reef sandals

White Rosestud earrings from Michele1218
Tiffany's heart bracelet/necklace combo
Claddaugh band, 3 ring puzzle ring, birthstone ring

My nails and toenails are painted green to match the skirt (China Glaze)

Makeup - Over my primer, I used NYX jumbo pencil in lemon as the shadow base and I put light green all over the lid, Gunmetal in the crease and lower lash line, black liner on top lash line and waterline.  I dusted NYC bronzer in the shade "Sunny" on my face and used Nars Portofino as my blush...

As I'm driving in the car, I glance in the mirror and realize what I have forgotten.

Mascara.

Ugh!  I didn't have any in my purse, so I'll have to do without today.  Funny that I finally polish my nails and then forget mascara, which I wear everyday.

Hmm maybe I was distracted by watching last night's episode of Secret Life while I was getting ready?