local giraffe

Vibrancy

2011-02-20T16:09:00.005-05:00

Remember the Stila Blockbuster palette from last holiday season? There's a color in there that makes my eyes look so fucking vibrant that I don't want to wear any other color again (OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but still!). If you click the link, you can see pictures of the palette. The color I'm talking about is in the first column from the left, third row down.

Normally, my eye color is vague—somewhere between blue, green, and gray—but this eyeshadow brings out the blue, and I love it.

How I made CoverGirl NatureLuxe foundation work for me.

2011-02-14T14:01:00.003-05:00

First of all, let me say that my skin loves the NatureLuxe foundation—so much, in fact, that if I wear it a few days in a row my skin actually starts to look better. The problem is that the lightest shade is slightly too dark and too warm for my skin tone. I've found a way to make it work, though.

First, I mix a bit of the foundation with my moisturizer—the mixture is about one part foundation to two parts moisturizer—and I apply it all over my face and neck. Doing so creates a nice wash of color without making me look like I'm wearing an orange mask. I could stop there, but my cheeks are usually too red and dry to be covered with such a light layer. So, then I apply a bit more foundation to my cheeks. Because the foundation is darker and warmer than my skin tone, it creates a subtle bronzing effect. If I want to have even more of a bronzing effect, I apply more foundation to my nose and chin (I skip my forehead because I have bangs). The overall look is very natural and healthy. It's also too subtle to show up in photos, which explains why there are none in this post.

Radioactive olive

2011-02-04T18:30:00.011-05:00

I'm not sure what to say after such a long hiatus, so I'll just jump right in.

This is a look that I did with colors I mixed myself. I find that mixing my own colors works really well for me because it's cheaper (there are many things besides makeup that I'd rather spend my money on), it's fun, and I'm pretty good at making the exact color that I set out to make.

Inner corner - seafoam green layered over the lime green
Lid - lime green
Pre-crease - olive green
Crease - medium cool brown
Outer corner - dark olive green layered over the lime green
Highlight - matte white
Lower lash - NYC Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in "924 In The Navy"
Mascara - Covergirl Lash Blast Fusion in "Black"

I hope it's clear what I mean when I say "pre-crease;" it's the color between the lid and the crease. Does anyone have a better name for it?

I'll have to do some swatches of the colors I've made so far—especially that olive green. You can't tell from the photos I've posted here, but it has purple, red, and green sparkles.

A Quick Fyrinnae Look

2010-04-19T20:44:00.008-04:00

My Fyrinnae order came today! I wasn't expecting it to come so soon, but I'm not complaining. I actually paid for this order using money that I earned from a get-paid-for-taking-surveys site.

Here's the look I did:

(haha, my hair!)

An unlabeled yellow - lid
Cupcake Sprinkles - crease
Digital Faerie - lower lash line
Otherworld - inner "v" and highlight

Don't be surprised if I find a way to work Cupcake Sprinkles into everything; I LOOOOVE it. I think it goes nicely with my skintone as well.

Promises

2010-04-18T20:23:00.010-04:00

I swear that I'll start blogging properly soon enough. I'm currently overloaded with the extra homework that professors like to give in the last few weeks of a semester. They can't miss their final chances to stress out their students, after all.

Anyway, I've got a small Fyrinnae order coming, so hopefully I can do some pretty looks soon. I don't own much makeup right now because I've only recently become interested in it. And I don't anticipate that my collection will grow very fast, but I'll do what I can with what I have. I am fairly resourceful.

Also, I don't intend for this to be only a beauty blog. I make a lot of things(jewelry, clothes, sculptures, etc.); maybe I'll showcase a few here. I'll try to avoid talking too much about science, but because I'm dedicating the better part of my life to it, some will inevitably slip in--particularly my enthusiasm for elephants and various reptiles.