Monday, March 12

Personal Treat

I sit here in leggings and with one side of my face done up and wonder who the heck is this person?

Lol, I think a lot of it has to do with all the effort my mom has tried to put into making me a civilized modern human being. I've written about learning more about myself already and recently so we'll skip that part. After all that we've been taking care of lately, the SO was pretty insistent last night that I do something fun for myself.

I brought up the fact that we've gotten yummy snacks and lunches lately...
but he brought up all that we've done for his bike this month...
while I brought up all of my craft supplies collecting for the past year...
and then something piqued my interest and led me to lose the "argument".

So, during our errands today (which included getting emissions testing for the car that I get again forgot to bring something to do while we waited in line- fun fun), I got a mini haul of various beauty-makeup things. :D I told you I have become a tad obsessed.

Keeping in mind that I have virtually no idea what I'm doing and there's only so much information I can gather from reviews online, I'm trying not to go crazy on getting super nice products. There's not much point in going so fancy right now when I'm just going to make myself look like a hot mess.

I've seen some video tutorials about curling with a straight iron and since that's what I have for now, I'd like to try that soon. Here comes in science and technology with hairspray that's flexible. Gone are the days of hairspray helmet hair (mostly)! I got Herbal Essence's Set Me Up Hairspray honestly because it was right next to my usual blue Hello Hydration Shampoos and Conditioners. They keep changing the bottle colors on me. :( To be fair, I've gone for color-treated, straightening, volume, and now hydration focuses. I have managed to avoid using hairspray for years because I could never stand the smell, the amount, and the crusty feeling. I play with my hair way too much for any of that to be good.

While trying some new application techniques, I got a bit frustrated with the fact that I have never owned my own blush, all my eyeshadows had shimmer or fine glitter in them, and I give myself raccoon eyes with my favorite creamy eyeliner pencil when I'm tired. Based on the minimal research I was able to do with video reviews and sites the recommended products for my "style type" before we headed out these are what I got:

Blush: I still don't have a clue what kinds of reds/ berries/ pinks work well on my face in terms of blush and lip color so I was pretty apprehensive about this. I was virtually recommended CoverGirl & Olay's Simply Ageless Sculpting Blush in Royal Plum (220). Another shade was also suggested but I grabbed this one because it seemed to be a more natural color. It SPF 22 and a cream. I've only used a compressed powdered blush before so... I had no idea what to do once I got help opening it. It has a sweet little compartment underneath for its pad and the product is actually in the twistable lid. It's been pretty easy to blend but I couldn't see a big difference right off the bat. I'll experiment more with amounts and get back to you.

Eyeshadow: I sought matte neutrals (browns - grays - purple/plums) for everyday natural look and got Revlon's ColorStay 16 Hour Quad in Precocious. I may swatch it once I've experimented with it more. The dark plum color is meant for the crease that I don't possess and is super rich. The gray that they recommend to use as a wash is not as rich but that's fine with me. The white does have quite a bit of shimmer but it's a highlight that I can just omit. I did try the dusty pink-mauve with everything else on my eye and I can't quite distinguish it. They are a little reflective in a brightening way. I panicked a little and just wanted something to practice with, lol.

Eyeliner: I'm not brave enough to try gel eyeliner (which is a entirely new concept to me), so I wanted a liquid eyeliner. The only one I've tried before was years ago for a performance, super cheap(therefore sticky), and super glittery (and there for scratchy). I grabbed Revlon's ColorStay Liquid Liner in Blackest Black. I have heard good things about it and it was right next to the eyeshadow. I'm getting so brave, aren't I? :P It's really weird getting such a long-handled brush with a tiny bottle. I hope a little bit goes a long way. I have tried it and the brush head was so tiny! A little too precise because my first line ended up in the lash line and hardly noticeable on me, lol. I definitely need to practice my lines with this and not blinking the moment I pull the brush away. Sigh. It did dry quickly, I don't really feel it, it's put up with abuse, and it actually is easily cleaned off.

My last item was somewhat of a side note-afterthought. My natural brows are thick in shape but sparse. I have waxed and plucked in the past to clean them up because they do get a little crazy sometimes (and then there was that one time that my mom was overzealous and took a chuck off with hot wax- hooray for being a guinea pig). It just still doesn't look quite right until I realize that filling them in with powder or brow pencil is actually pretty common. I learned that many people tend to go one shade lighter to enhance the hair versus drawing eyebrows on.

After a very terrible experiment with black eyeliner and rubbing my eye area red, I got CoverGirl's Brow & Eyemakers Pencil in Midnight Brown. I wish I read the reviews a bit sooner. It came with two pencils and a sharpener, it is pretty hard and therefore harsh to use as an eyeliner, which is a shame. I had nice results in terms of filling my brow but I'm not convinced it's the best shade even though the next step would be Midnight Black.It may have been because I was trying it out in the car during a orange sunset but it seemed to be an burnt orange brown with my hair. We'll see.

Sorry no pictures of my actual haul. I was too excited to try them out and was already tearing into the items on the way home in the car while the SO was getting gas and air put into the tires. However, the representations on their sites that I've linked are pretty darn accurate.

While I felt like a bit of a clown today with my experimentation, I'm glad that I've finally started testing things out for myself on myself. Theories can only take you so far. This was partially the SO's fault for encouraging me so he's only allowed to roll his eyes and tune me out most of the way when I start gushing and ranting about this stuff.

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings about becoming a better me. There really is a boost of confidence when you feel that you look good/ nice.

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