The Beautiful Life Of The Girl Next Door

Summery neutrals with some sparkle!

2013-05-24T11:51:00.000-04:00

I really wanted to use Makeup Geek's "New Year's Eve" pigment in a look. I was trying to figure out how and I thought it would look really great in the center of your lid. So I went with that feeling and did this look with that as my inspiration.

I recently reviewed the Makeup Geek pigments but if you missed it, here's what New Year's Eve looks like:

The left is a dry swatch and the right is a wet swatch

It's a beautiful light gold glittery color.

And here is the look I came up with! I tried to create depth within my bone structure.

I really need to take glitter photography lessons. This was the best I could get it to show up on camera and in person, I have glitter everywhere haha.

And here's a "paint by number" type diagram to show you color placement:

Color codes

(all colors by Makeup Geek)

1- "New Year's Eve" pigment

2- "Glamorous" shadow

3- "Frappe" shadow

4- "Brown Sugar" shadow

5- "Cocoa Bear" shadow

6- "Beaches and Cream" shadow

I used Milani Liquid Eye Eyeliner in "Black", which I set with Makeup Geek shadow in "Corrupt." My mascara is Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara in "Extreme Black." On my lips, I have a new (well, new to me) lipstick. It's Rimmel's Lasting Finish by Kate in 101. It's a super pretty natural pink color. I topped that with MAC "Right Image" Cremesheen Glass.

I hope you like this look! It's so easy to wear and the golds and bronze colors are great for summer (plus, if you have blue eyes, it really makes them stand out!!)! I hope you all are having a great week and I hope you do something fun this weekend!!

Easy smokey charcoal eyes!

2013-05-22T13:10:00.004-04:00

If you read my review of the new Makeup Geek pigments the other day, you would have read that I couldn't wait to try out "Paparazzi" over a black base. So I got on that haha. This is how it looks!

I like this one because you can see the sparkle!

I kept this look simple by using a white liner (NYX JEP in "milk") on my waterline instead of lining all the way around my eyes with black like I would usually do. I find this to be slightly less intimidating when trying smokey eyes.

What I used:

Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil "Black Bean"

Makeup Geek pigment "Paparazzi" all over lid and a little on my lower lashline

MUG "Graphite" shadow to soften the line of color

MUG "Stealth" shadow to blend up to highlight color

MUG "Bling" as highlight color

MUG "Immortal" gel liner

MUG "Corrupt" shadow to set liner and add a bit of depth to my outer v area

Just an easy way to wear some smokey eyes! I hope you all like it! What's your favorite way to wear smokey eyes?

Makeup Geek pigments! Swatches and review!

2013-05-20T11:29:00.001-04:00

Recently I received a message from a Makeup Geek employee asking me if I wanted to try out their new pigments. This was a no-brainer. I stinkin love pigments. They make me very, very happy. So of course I jumped at the opportunity to try them out! And since they are brand new, I figured it would be a good time to show them to you and tell you what I think about them!

So onto pictures!

Here's the packaging:

It's the normal, cute Makeup Geek packaging, just in blue.

And here are the pigments!

These do not come with a sifter. So be prepared for that because you can make quite a mess! And just a note, some pictures were taken with flash, some without, some with both. I wanted you to see as clearly as possible what they look like in person. All swatches were done with no base. The left swatch is dry, the right swatch is applied wet, just using water.

"Afterglow"

Makeup Geek site's bottom line: "Soft shimmery champagne"

What I think: I think the MUG's bottom line description is a fair one. Definitely one of my favorites. It's got a gorgeous shimmery glow to it!

"Birthday Wish"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Shimmery light gold peach"

What I think: Definitely another favorite! I couldn't wait to use this one! I'd call it more of an orangey-peach than a gold peach though.

"Enchanted"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Light plum shimmer"

What I think: To me, this color comes off a bit more neutral than it appears on the MUG site. Still a beautiful color, though. I was impressed with how well this one applied dry.

"Insomnia"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "A dark chocolate brown duochrome with blue/teal reflects"

What I think: Pretty color. I expected a lot from this seeing as how I have another very similar color from Glamour Doll Eyes called "Dino Spotz." This is a beautiful teal color when applied wet, very disappointing dry.

"Liquid Gold"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "True Metallic Gold"

What I think: It's not a pure gold, it's got a little olive in there. Definitely one of the best performers dry. A very interesting, unique color. Just beautiful.

"New Year's Eve"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Light Gold Reflective Glitter"

What I think: Super pretty. Definitely more of a glitter than a pigment, but not a glitter that you need a glitter glue for. Would be perfect for a sticky base like Lime Crime's Eyeshadow Helper. It's a great way to dress up everyday makeup. The worst one when applied wet, it got very streaky and milky.

"Paparazzi"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Glittery Smokey Grey"

What I think: MUG's bottom line is a very fair description. It's a charcoal grey with glitter. It's super pretty! I can't wait to try it over a black base!

"Prince Charming"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Metallic Cool Silver"

What I think: A true silver. Gorgeous, gorgeous color. I did notice, though, the more I rubbed the color onto my skin, the more apparent the black base of the color became, you can see it in the dry swatch. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of. If you don't want that to come out, be sure not to rub too much.

This color is a good example of why I show some with flash and some without, so you get a good idea of what it actually looks like!

"Sweet Dreams"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "Light flesh toned beige pink with slight shimmer"

What I think: This is the least shimmery pigment of the bunch. This is perfect for everyday wear, as it's a beautiful, soft color. You can wear this anywhere and not look overdone. When applied wet, it really brings out the gold in the color.

"Utopia"

Makeup Geek's bottom line: "A mixture of deep brown and antique gold shimmer duochrome glitter"

What I think: This color is to die for!!! Love love love. In the jar, it's very chunky looking, the more you pat it on, the more it breaks down into a more fine glitter. You need a sticky base for this, or to apply it wet. You will get fallout but it is so worth it.

Makeup Geek pigments retail for $6.99 for 1.4g of product. In comparison, MAC pigments retail for $21 for 4.5g of product, Sugarpill loose shadows are $12 for 4.5g of product, and since I mentioned them, Glamour Doll Eyes shadows retail for $6 for 2-2.5g of product. This chart is from the Makeup Geek site to show you how they compare:

However, I don't think this is a totally fair comparison as the bottom of the MUG pigments say they contain 1.4g of product and they did this math saying they contain 2g of product. You can check out their swatches and descriptions here.

Overall I think they're really great. I mean, it's not hard to sell me on pigments or loose shadows anyway as I just love them, I think they're so versatile! I actually like that they only have 1.4g of product in the jars because it will take me many lifetimes to use up the three MAC pigments I own haha. I will honestly have them the rest of my life and that seems almost wasteful to me.

I did a couple of looks using these pigments (I've done more than what I've photographed, I just don't always remember!). So here they are:

For this I used "Birthday Wish" applied wet on lid. I blended it up slightly with some dry "Birthday Wish." I used a little bit of MUG's "Cocoa Bear" shadow in the crease and I used "Afterglow" pigment as my highlight color as well as on my cheekbones.

For this I used "Utopia" over Lime Crime's Eyeshadow Helper primer (because it's such a good, sticky base). I blended that up using MUG shadows in "Pretentious" and "Hipster" with "Bling" as my highlight color. I wish this picture showed how sparkly and amazing Utopia actually is.

If I had to pick my very favorites that I say you must own they would be Utopia, Birthday Wish, Afterglow, Paparazzi, and New Year's Eve. The only one that I felt kind of let down by was Insomnia and that's just because it didn't apply as nicely dry as I was expecting it to.

I hope this is helpful to someone out there! Are you planning on getting any Makeup Geek pigments? If so, which ones?

A post with a little bit of everything

2013-04-17T12:06:00.000-04:00

So today I guess I have a lot to say haha. Now since this is supposed to be a beauty blog, I guess I will start off with the makeup portion.

I have been doing so much better wearing color. I'm proud of myself for getting back into it a little bit more. Still nothing crazy but I've definitely been playing more. This is just a basic green look that I did.

What I used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

All eyeshadows by Makeup Geek:

"Poison Ivy" all over lid

"Shimmermint" on inner 2/3 of lid

"Envy" on outer 1/3 and outer v area

"Corrupt" to darken outer v

"Latte" to blend up

"Bling" as highlight color

I liked this look. I thought it was pretty and wearable but still had a little punch of color.

Now I don't think I ever told you guys that in January I had a CT scan done. It's always so nerve-wracking to have one done. The last thing you want to hear is that they found something. As much as I felt they weren't going to find anything, especially since I had just finished my IV chemo, you just never know. So I met with my liver surgeon to go over the results and he came back and said everything is good. My CT scan review read, "no evidence of metastatic disease." I was thrilled. And then he told me that I could continue doing my follow-up scans closer to home if I wanted to and that I could forget he ever existed. I told him that it is impossible for me to forget he existed one, because he helped save my life, and two because I have some nice scars from him on my belly.

I'm really self-conscious to do this, but I'm going to show you my tummy so you can see what I mean when I say I can never forget him haha. So here it is:

The top scar is from my liver surgery. As you can see, it's a pretty decent sized scar. It goes up a little more than what you can see. The lower scar is from my left hemicolectomy and that goes down a little farther than my pants line. And then the random other little scars are either from my laproscopic surgery for my bowel obstruction or they're from drains from the more major surgeries. I'm lucky that apparently I'm a good healer. My scars have faded a lot. The lower scar is a little over a year old and it's really not terribly visible.

I am not embarrassed of my scars or of anything I've gone through. I'm just not a belly show-er haha.

Now, on the day I got my CT scan results back, I was so happy. Until I went on facebook to post about it. There I saw that my husband's cousin had lost a friend to cervical cancer that same day. It is unbelievably difficult to be happy for yourself when someone else just lost their fight. And this is something I'm really really struggling with. I'm so so grateful for being cancer-free but I cannot understand why I am and other people aren't. Why did I respond so well to chemo and other people don't? I mean, yeah, I fought, but they fought just as hard as I did. Yeah, my family needs me but their families need them too. I almost feel guilty for being healthy when other people who have been through the same thing I have aren't responding the same way I did.

But I am doing everything in my own personal power to make sure my cancer doesn't come back. As I said in my last post, I've changed the way I eat and have started juicing and drinking a lot of green smoothies. So I thought I'd share one of my favorite juice recipes with you! I'm telling you, it's soooo yummy.

What it calls for:

4 oranges, peeled

1 medium sweet potato (you can peel it if you want, but I leave the skin on for the nutrients)

3 stalks of celery

a chunk of ginger

Juice them all up and here's what you get!

Why is this juice good for you?

Oranges support your immune system, combat cancer, protect your heart, and support respiration. Sweet potatoes protect your eyesight (better than carrots, even), combat cancer, lift your mood, and strengthen your bones. Celery fights cancer, lowers cholesterol, aids digestion, alkalizes the blood, lowers blood pressure. And ginger fights nausea, maintains normal blood circulation, strengthens immunity. All of these ingredients do so much more than what I've listed.

And the main difference between juicing and smoothies is that with juicing, you remove all of the fiber. There are debates all of the time about what's actually best for you. I do both so there's no debate for me haha. Juicing helps you to directly absorb the macro-nutrients in whatever you've juiced since your body doesn't have to break it down. This is great for people who have digestive issues. One of the benefits of smoothies is the fact that it does have the fiber and it slows the rate at which you absorb the sugars and your blood sugar won't spike like it could with a juice.

One of my followers, Sylvia, suggested I read "Eat to Live" and I fully intend on doing that! Any other recommendations are more than welcome! I really feel blessed that I've had support in learning what foods can do for me. One of my friends actually got her certification in holistic nutrition and she has been incredibly helpful to me. I'm always asking her questions haha. I've just been so frustrated with the fact that I specifically have asked all of my doctors and the dietitian at the cancer center if there were foods that could help and they all told me no, that nothing had been proven. I've learned differently. I was not looking to substitute the chemo, I just wanted something in addition to the chemo to help my odds.

I want to thank you all for being so amazing to me throughout everything I've been through. Your support has meant more to me than I could ever explain to you! Thank you all so much! I hope you're having a great week!

Where have I been?

2013-04-02T18:38:00.000-04:00

Gosh, guys, I suck. I haven't blogged in about 3 months. That's not good. But I have to be honest with you, I haven't been paying any attention to my makeup hardly at all. Seriously. If you can see my makeup in this picture, this is pretty much what I look like every single day.

Since finishing my IV chemo treatments, my focus has been on what I can possibly do to make sure my cancer never comes back. Being diagnosed at 26 and finding out you have a 6% chance of making it to 31 really makes you reevaluate some things in your life.

So what have I been doing? I have been researching the heck out of what I can eat or drink to make my body as inhospitable to cancer as it can be. I have watched documentaries like "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", "Hungry for Change", "Forks Over Knives", and "Food Matters." I loved them all. After watching all of them and researching a bit online I have come to the conclusion that having a primarily plant-based diet is the way to go to give myself the best odds to keep this cancer away.

I bought myself a juicer ( http://www.amazon.com/Breville-800JEXL-Fountain-1000-Watt-Extractor/dp/B0002VAFVG) and I juice fruits and vegetables about once a day. I LOVE my juices. I bought myself a NutriBullet (http://www.target.com/p/nutribullet-by-magic-bullet/-/A-13969043#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=nutribullet) and do a green smoothie about once a day. My other meal is usually something pretty healthy, I've found myself loving some quinoa. I eat it all the time as like a substitute for oatmeal with bananas, blueberries, and almond milk. It's so yummy! I've started venturing into Hispanic and Asian markets. I love them. They have so much more produce than the American markets do, at much more reasonable prices.

So lately my focus has been completely off of the makeup scene and totally into the healthy eating scene. I just really feel like my health and my family's health needs to be my main focus. I have learned so much about how food can help or ruin your health and so I'm really trying to practice relatively clean eating. I'm not going to become a full-on vegetarian or a vegan but I don't mind making more vegetarian or vegan choices.

However, I did do something a little out of my norm today for Autism awareness day. So here's what I wore today!

It's not anything super special but it's a lot more color than I've worn in a long time!

I would like to get back to blogging more but I'm not sure if my blog might shift focus a little more toward the healthy eating spectrum and little off of the beauty. I'm not sure. If you have any questions about what I'm doing, please feel free to ask.

Thank you, as always, for hanging in there with me! I appreciate you all so much!

Happy New Year! A fun look and a personal update

2013-01-02T09:42:00.002-05:00

I figure I'll start this post off with the look in case you're not interested in the personal stuff. I actually did this look like a month ago and just never got around to posting it. I did post these pictures already on facebook so I'm sorry if you've seen them already. I wanted to do a cut crease look with glitter because I hadn't used glitter in like a million years. So here's the look

What I used:

All Makeup Geek (MUG) eyeshadows:

Lid: Bleached Blonde

From crease line up to brow bone:

Bada Bing

Mocha

Brown Sugar

Cocoa Bear

Goddess

Bleached Blonde

Bling

Then I topped the lid color with NYX glitter liner in Gold.

Eyeliner: MUG gel liner "Immortal" topped with MUG eyeshadow "Corrupt"

Mascara: L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black

Then I used a Makeup Geek Lipstick too in the color "Darling"

I thought it was a fun look, it was really dramatic and I hadn't done anything so dramatic in quite a while so it was a bit of an overload haha.

So now onto the personal stuff.

I am officially done with chemo IV treatments!!! The more days that go by of me being done, the more excited I get. Because I was going every 2 weeks for treatment so when I'd start feeling good again, it was almost time for my next treatment. But now I'm starting to feel good again and I don't have to dread going for my next treatment because I don't have any more!! I did find out that my oncologist wants me to take a chemo pill for 6 months though. The chemo pill is not supposed to be as intense as the IV treatments but there are still a bunch of side effects that could make me feel like poo. I also could still lose my hair.

If you follow me on facebook, you may have seen that I posted this picture of myself at my final chemo treatment

I posted that on my blog page mainly to let you guys know what was going on because I've been a terrible blogger and haven't updated my blog in a very long time. I also didn't want to keep changing information on you because my treatments kept getting pushed back. I didn't want to tell you I'd be done for Thanksgiving and then come back a week later with a "just kidding!" But anyways, somehow this picture got shared out of control. As of now it has over 255,000 likes and 3,471 comments. Completely out of control. I didn't even know that could happen. I wasn't trying to let random people know I'm done with chemo, I was trying to let you guys know.

What I learned from this picture being shared so much and with so many comments is that there are some really really incredible people out there who really just want the best for someone they don't even know. I got so many comments saying, "God bless you" and "Congratulations" and amazing comments like that. I also learned that people can be incredibly cruel. While the good comments far outweighed the bad, I got sooo many comments telling me that I should be ashamed of myself for posting this picture because it's fake. There's no way I went through chemo because I still have my hair. I look "too healthy" to have gone through chemo. I have makeup on so the picture is fake. I have jewelry on so the picture is fake. I had people calling me names. Some people said the only reason anyone cares is because I'm a, "pretty white girl." Which is complete nonsense!

My integrity was being called into question, it really hurt my feelings, and I really felt like I wanted to defend myself to every mean comment I saw. I realize that I don't have to. But who in the world would make up that they have cancer? Why would I go to a hospital and be like, "can I sit in your chair and take this picture with my fake sign please? Oh yeah, can I have a blanket and hospital bracelet too while we're at it?" It makes no sense. And I feel like if people educated themselves a little bit they would realize that not all chemotherapy drugs are the same. They don't all make you lose your hair. I responded well to chemo. I'm very lucky and I realize that.

But people were saying, "nobody looks that good at chemo." Well you know what? I was feeling good the morning of chemo so I got up, showered, did my hair and makeup because that's what I do. I don't go in public without at least some makeup. I'm sure as heck not going to let my husband take my picture if I don't have makeup on, let alone post it on facebook. If I had my husband take my picture the next day, you would see a completely different girl. I would look tired. I wouldn't have makeup on. My hair wouldn't be done because that's what chemo does to people. I have enough time in between my treatments where I get back to feeling like myself again so the mornings of my chemo treatments I feel fine. It's the next 5-6 days where I feel like crap.

I just needed to get that out haha. Thank you for listening to my little rant haha. I appreciate every kind comment so much. I couldn't understand why these people who have never heard of me or seen any of my makeup before this would care so much and their kindness blew me away.

I feel so lucky and blessed that I get to start 2013 being cancer free with no IV treatments left! I feel blessed that I get to see 2013 at all because things could have been very different. I'm going to ask you, as a personal favor, if you ever see a picture floating around facebook and you might think it's fake, please don't make nasty comments because you never know what someone is actually going through.

I wish you all the best in 2013. I'm so excited to see what it has in store!!

Thank you all for being the best followers ever!!

Makeup Geek Gel Liners

2012-11-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

Makeup Geek recently sent me four of their new(ish) gel eyeliners. I have been playing around with them since I got them. The liners cost $7.99 for 1.8g of product. To compare, MAC fluidlines cost $15 for 3g of product, so they're really quite similar in price per gram. So here are the colors I got:

Immortal:

What the MUG site says the bottom line about this color is, "A true intense black color with a matte finish."

I think this is a great basic black gel liner. I've never had any issues with a black gel liner (I've also used L'oreal HIP, MAC, and Bobbi Brown) and I wouldn't necessarily recommend this over the others or the others over this. It lasted well for me, but I did set it with a shadow as I always do.

Electric:

"True royal blue with a matte finish."

This color, when used as a liner, does not come across as bright. Also this needs you to give it drying time. I used it to line around my eyes and it transferred like nobody's business. I learned that setting it with shadow before opening your eyes is a very good idea. This worked well for me on the waterline.

Fame:

"A dark aquatic teal with a navy undertone and smooth shimmery finish."

My favorite. I love this color. It applied super smoothly and it's just the most gorgeous color. I had no issues with staying power on my waterline. If you have hazel or gold eyes, you NEED this color.

Rave:

"A dark metallic golden brown shade with a smooth shimmery finish."

This is like a silvery-brown color. It's really pretty, I used it as a base, I haven't used it as a liner yet. But it applied nice and smoothly and it's a really pretty, interesting color.

Swatches:

And here are two looks I did using these.

A look with "Electric" as the star of the show.

What I used:

MUG "Electric" Gel liner all around my eyes and on waterline

MUG "Neptune" shadow to set the liner (they need a shadow color that better coordinates with Electric)

MUG "Bling" shadow on lid and as highlight

MUG "Stealth" in outer v area

MUG "Purely Naked" to blend up from Stealth

My second look. Using "Fame" and "Rave"

I used "Rave" as a base on my lid

MUG "Prom Night" on top of Rave

MUG "Latte" in outer v area

MUG "Beaches 'n Cream" above Latte

MUG "Shimma Shimma" as highlight

"Fame" gel liner on waterline, topped with "Ocean Breeze" and blended down into "Mermaid"

I definitely like these liners. I think they make great eyeshadow bases as well, they don't stay creamy like the NYX jumbo eye pencils do, but I didn't have any issues getting shadow to stick on top of them. Have you guys tried these gel liners yet? What do you think of them?

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Thanks so much for taking time out to check this out!!!

Date night smokey eye

2012-11-16T18:36:00.001-05:00

I don't know if I have ever told you or not but I ADORE the Naked palette from Urban Decay. I have both the first and the second ones but I use the first one way more (which I was totally not expecting). I never thought I would use it as much as I do, but I swear I use it like 5 times a week. So if you haven't gotten this palette because you think you'll never use it, I think you're wrong and you should get it. Totally worth the $50 I say.

Today I wanted to do something I thought my husband might like, something good for a date night. So I wanted dark dark eyeliner and to go relatively simple on the rest of my makeup. So here's the look I did.

I've done this color combo a million times before, I just tried to make my liner darker by going over it a few times and then going over it with the black shadow from the Naked palette. The colors I used from the palette are "Creep" (black), "Gunmetal" (grey), and "Naked" (tan). My eyeliner is Avon's Glimmersticks Liqui-glide eyeliner in "black." On my lips I have a mixture of "Interlace" and "Femme" OCC lip tars topped by Anastasia lipgloss in "Barely" (great color, HORRIBLE applicator).

So that's my super easy date night look. According to my husband, "it's cool" so I'm not sure what that means. But I like it so that's all that matters! Well, I hope you guys like it too haha!

I have been gone for way too long!

2012-11-14T11:45:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Thank you if you're still out there and reading this. I know I've been the world's worst blogger and I do apologize. If you follow me on facebook, you'll know that I had to have surprise surgery in October for a partially obstructed small bowel (which is NOT a fun thing to have, by the way, I puked my brains out. I lost 10 lbs of just water weight and it took bags and bags of fluid just to get me peeing again). But I'm healed from that and am back on my chemo schedule.

After surgery I tend to get into a slump because I don't feel well so I don't really wear too much makeup and then I get used to not wearing makeup so I just kinda don't. And honestly, my skin has been a wreck so I figure even if I do good eye makeup you won't notice because my skin is so gross. Darn steroids. So today I decided for the first time in way too long that I would try something at least slightly artistic. I don't have many good pictures of it but here it is!

I used all Makeup Geek shadows for this look.

Product placement:

1. Pixie Dust

2. Peacock

3. Ocean Breeze

4. Appletini

5. White Lies

So that's my creativity for the day haha. I haven't worn this much color or this extreme of a look in a very long while so I feel like I look kinda crazy. This used to be kind of tame for me too. Who would have thought the day would come where it would be a struggle for me to wear eyeliner without thinking it looks like I'm overdoing it?

Well that's about all I have for today. I will try to be a better blogger, but it honestly depends on my energy level and my skin. Because my skin has been a huge deterrence to my blogging.

Thank you to all of you who are still sticking it out with me! My last unhook from chemo is scheduled for Decemeber 22nd so I should be done by Christmas!! Yay! I cannot wait for it all to be behind me and for me to get back to my "normal" life! Thanks guys!

Bright blues and purple using BFTE

2012-10-03T11:11:00.001-04:00

It had been a while since I'd worn any real color on my eyes, I honestly just haven't felt like putting the effort in. Lame, I know. So I decided I wanted to do something colorful. When I do looks, I like to use exclusively one brand of eyeshadow (unless there's a specific look I'm going for or if I really need another color) so if you want to copy it you don't have to go all over the world to do so. So for this look I reached for the sampler set I have from Beauty From the Earth (or BFTE) Cosmetics. So here's the look I came up with (you've already seen it if you follow my facebook page, I did this look like a week ago)!

The colors I used (all from BFTE) were:

Lid: "Blue Bayou"

Crease: "Blue Bird"

Purple part of crease: "Midnight Kisses"

Purple above crease: "Kastra"

Highlight: "Beautiful"

Liner: Avon Glimmersticks Liqui-glide eyeliner "Black"

Mascara: L'oreal Voluminous Power Volume 24H

And this has nothing to do with makeup but recently I did a 5k to help raise awareness for colon cancer. I really want people to know that it can happen to young people too (though that wasn't really addressed, they said, "If you love someone over 50, make sure they get screened"). So I have some pictures that my family, who are completely amazing and drove down from New York to do this with me, took so I thought I'd share them with you!

It was called the Undy 5000 where they encourage people to run in their undies to help raise awareness but I'm not really an undies-showing kinda chick so that was a negative for me haha. I wore leggings under the boxers they gave me haha.

This is the photo of my whole team. My team came in 2nd place for fundraising, we made $2,248! The first place team had 66 members so it doesn't surprise me that they won, we only had 9 members signed up to fundraise so I say we kicked butt!

The shirts my family had made up

My adorable niece's shirt

Me, my sister (to the left), and my cousin

Most of the rest of my team

Me at the one mile marker!

Crossing the finish line arm-in-arm!

Me and my hubby!

With the other 19 survivors, I got really emotional and had a hard time not crying. Who looks out of place haha? They kept looking at me like wondering why I was standing up there, I think they thought I was just confused haha.

Me and my dad with my "survivor" medal.

It was really fun. I didn't realize I'd have a good time walking 3.1 miles just to do it but I really had a good time. And we raised so much money, I'm so proud! My time wasn't very good but I finished in under an hour so I guess that's not terrible haha. Good thing I wasn't in it for the race, I was just in it for the experience and to raise some awareness that this happens to young people too! It is easier to prevent if you're older and get screened regularly but if you're young and something isn't right, get checked out!!

So that's my lengthy post for the day haha. I hope you guys are having a great week! Thank you, as always, for sticking with me through this whole thing. I promise it'll get better once I'm done with treatments and cancer-free! Here I am getting treatment number 8! Four more to go and I'm done (fingers crossed) forever!!

Thanks guys!!!

Super quick look for fall!

2012-09-21T15:07:00.000-04:00

Today I felt like doing something easy for fall, with some dark (well, darker than normal for me) lips and a bronzy fall eye. This is like the easiest look ever but I like it. The lips look darker in person, I swear. The lip color is one of the Revlon Balm Stains in the color "Honey" which is like a natural plum color, it's not nearly as light as it looks on the package so if you like light lips like I do, you may not like this color. But anyways, here's the look I did!

My lighting was super off because the lips look way darker in person!

What I used on the eyes:

Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper

Makeup Geek eyeshadow "Pretentious" all over lid, slightly above the crease, and under the eye

MUG "Mocha" shadow in crease

MUG "Bleached Blonde" to blend "Pretentious"

MUG "Bling" as a highlight

Avon Glimmersticks Liqui-glide Eyeliner in "Black"

MUG "Corrupt" shadow to set liner

I just thought the color "Pretentious" looked like such a fall color, it's a cool toned bronze color, and I thought mixed with the natural plum lip, it would be perfect for an easy fall look. Do you have a favorite fall color combo??

And I just got this Avon Glimmersticks Liqui-glide eyeliner and I really like it so far. It really does feel wet when it goes on, but it glides on like one of the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils. And it does not transfer. I have the biggest issue, because of my eye shape, with eyeliners transferring onto my lid and it drives me bonkers. That hasn't happened yet with this liner. I'll do a full review on it once I give it a bit longer of a trial but so far so good!

That's all I have for today, just a really quick post, but as always, thank you so much for your support!

New post! It's been a while!

2012-09-19T12:03:00.000-04:00

Sorry guys that it's been so long since I've posted anything! My daughter brought a nice stomach bug home with her from school that I caught and it messed everything up. My immune system couldn't shake the bug by itself so I had to be put on antibiotics and fluids and that helped but it pushed my chemo schedule back. I was supposed to be done the week before Thanksgiving but now my new goal is to be done by Christmas so I guess that's better than nothing.

Well for my birthday, I decided to check out the sale section on Sephora's website and I ordered a bunch of these Prisma Chrome eyeshadows because they were only $3 and I figured I couldn't really go wrong (there are only 2 colors left now but there were way more when I ordered). There's an orange one that's really pretty and I wanted to wear a bright pink lip (using OCC Lip Tar in "Anime") so I figured I'd go with simple orange on the eyes and this is the look I came up with:

please excuse the lazy brows, I just filled them in with pencil.

Two of my shadows came broken (the orange one being one of them), they are pretty soft, but here's what the orange one looks like in the pan (they sure made a weird shape with them in the pans, almost like a wave).

From not really expecting too much from this, I was surprised at how much I liked it. I've been using these shadows quite a bit, a lot like how I used it here. Just super basic. I haven't even been adding a crease color lately. Gosh, what is wrong with me?? I need to get back to my makeup doing, I just don't feel like it, you know?

Here are unedited pictures of all of the colors I got:

too bad this is broken because the color is GORGEOUS!!

I did this look probably 2 weeks ago, just between being sick and chemo I've been really thrown off schedule. So I'm sorry for that and I really hope to post some more. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

A reflective birthday post, completely non-makeup related

2012-08-30T14:16:00.003-04:00

Today's my 27th birthday. Because of the cancer I am so so thankful that I've made it here. I know some people don't believe in God but I do and here's some of why. Colon cancer isn't a disease they start looking for in people until they're about 50 years old so when I finally decided I needed to go to the GI doctor to get looked at, they made my appointment about 2 months away from the day I called. I knew I needed to be seen sooner than that.

I really wanted a female doctor because I just feel more comfortable with women. So I called the practice back and asked if they had a cancellation list or something so I could get in sooner. They didn't. So I started looking around for another female GI doctor who accepted my insurance. God sent me to Dr. Jyothi Mann. I was SOOOOO nervous and anxious going there, the preliminary questions they asked me made me cry because I was so mortified about being there and being asked such personal questions.

Dr. Mann was so incredible, she didn't do a physical exam on me at all because she must have known if she had, I would have been so scarred, I wouldn't have come back. I feel like most doctors would have said something like, "well, let's change your diet and see how that goes. We'll see you back in a couple of months." I didn't have a couple of months. She saw me back 2 weeks later for a colonoscopy, the one that saved my life.

I never cancelled the inital GI doctor appointment and when they called to confirm that appointment, I was on my second round of chemotherapy. I had already had surgery to remove the mass from my colon and was on the road for treating the rest of the cancer in my system.

Another thing that has proven to me that God is real is that I am in one of the best locations in the country for cancer treatment. People fly in from other countries to have treatments done where I live. I couldn't understand for the longest time why I got moved from my life in New York (Upstate, not the city) and my family and friends but after finding out about the cancer, I know why I'm here.

I just am so grateful every single day for God putting me where he has. It's not been easy by any means but since this has happened, I'm so glad that it's happened the way it is. The only thing I would have changed is me being stupid and not going to the doctor sooner. I was just too embarrassed. Lesson learned. I may not have made it to my 27th birthday if I hadn't been sent to Dr. Mann, if I had waited and gone to the other doctor, I honestly feel like my issues would have been brushed off because of my age. Luckily Dr. Mann was sensitive enough to my feelings that she must have known if I was there, it was for a reason. She has followed me every step of my treatment and has been such a huge encouragement for me. I can't rave about her enough.

I really just typed this out for myself but thank you for reading it if you have. Things may happen and we may not know the reason for them but there is a reason, rest assured.

BFTE Giveaway Winner!

2012-08-30T13:42:00.001-04:00

The winner has been chosen for the "Get the Look" mini set from Beauty From the Earth! And the winner is Claudia Amaya!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations! E-mail me at starryskies214@yahoo.com within the next 48 hours with your information so I can get your prize out to you or I will move on to the next person!

Come to chemo with me!

2012-08-29T09:25:00.001-04:00

A while ago I had asked you guys is you may be interested in a "come to chemo" post where you can see a little bit of what goes on during a chemo treatment. Well after I asked that, my doctors took me off of chemo so I could have my liver surgery. But I'm back on it now so I figured I could show you how it goes.

So the first thing to really prepare for chemo is to numb my port (also known as a portacath). Now you may not be familiar with what a port is. I know even after they put mine in I was still confused as to how it worked. It's basically a small ball that they place under your skin in your chest that has a catheter tube that they connect to a vein where they can directly put the chemo medicine. They access it by needle, it doesn't remain open or anything. They placed mine quite low or I'd show it to you, I think they placed it so low because I'm young and they figured I'd want to hide it. They give you a prescription for lidocaine numbing cream and you use that and some press-n-seal plastic wrap about an hour before your treatment to numb it so you don't feel them poke you.

Entrance at my cancer center

When you get to the cancer center (or wherever you're being treated) they'll register you and give you what I call "the beeper of doom." Which is the beeper that goes off when it's your turn. Just a little thought on cancer centers: I think it's awesome that people are so focused on curing cancer that that's all they do however, sometimes it makes me feel, when I walk into the cancer center, that I am not supposed to be with the other "healthy" people. I know that's not the case but it has made me feel that way.

The first time the beeper goes off, you go back for "labs" where they'll probably poke your finger for blood and make you pee in a cup. They want to make sure that your blood counts are where they should be and that you're healthy enough to continue with treatment. They'll give you another tube for them to draw blood from your port. And then they'll send you back out to wait for the beeper to go off again and then it's treatment time.

My beeper with another tube for blood attached to it, I have to bring this back to my nurse.

And here's the treatment area:

The first thing that hits you here is the smell. It definitely smells medicine-y. And this smell seems to get worse every time you go back, I think because of the negative connotation that goes along with it. Now they sit you down in your little treatment area and access your port. Then they'll draw that tube of blood (which they check for liver, kidney functions, and all sorts of different things with), and start your pre-meds (which are steroids and anti-nausea medicine).

Once that stuff all gets in, which takes a bit, they'll bring your chemotherapy medicine over from pharmacy (they mix it fresh for every person). The nurse gets to wear an awesome suit that makes you feel like you're contaminated when she gives it to you but it's just so she doesn't get any medicine on her skin.

And then they hook up the chemo and let it infuse for however long your treatment is. My scheduled treatment time is 5 hours, which is one of the longer treatments, but here's what I look like all hooked up!

You can see the patch on my left shoulder, my port is under there in like the top of my boob

There's a tv and stuff, there's a seat for a guest so you don't have to be there all alone. And I personally like having a window seat, it lets me look out and see if there are squirrels or anything haha. They'll bring you heated blankets if you're cold and food or drink if you're hungry or thirsty.

So you sit there and entertain yourself until your treatment is over. Then for me, I have to take a pump with medicine home and let it infuse over the next 46 hours so they gave me a fanny pack but I couldn't deal with that so I got this bag instead. And this is how I walk around for the next two days (I sleep with the pump and everything, no showers because it can't get wet).

Two days later I go back and get unhooked from my port and hopefully my side effects from the medicine aren't too bad. Usually I get sick at least once, I get VERY tired (I sleep about 16-20 hours a day, I'm basically useless), my skin breaks out like crazy, and by a certain day the steroids makes me incredibly antsy, I can't sit still, I can't get up and do something, I can't do anything without feeling anxious. I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything cold for like a week so that stinks but I don't usually feel much like eating anyways because when they tell you not to eat foods you like when you're on chemo, they mean it. I ate pizza my first treatment, I didn't get sick or anything. I cannot touch pizza now. It makes me want to vomit.

That's a little peek into what it's like to go to chemo. I hope it was helpful for some of you who were wondering. If you wear pretty makeup, you'll get lots of compliments! I wore a dark purple smokey eye and got so many compliments, I think they're so used to seeing people who feel sick so they don't feel like getting ready, which is totally understandable because most of the time I feel that way too but I rocked a smokey purple eye and everyone loved it!

I used BFTE "Big Ego" for this with some other colors I can't remember for blending and highlighting.

Again, I hope this helped shed some light on what goes on at a chemo treatment and that some of you found it helpful

BFTE Giveaway!

2012-08-22T19:59:00.000-04:00

When the owner of BFTE cosmetics sent me some stuff, she also sent something for me to give away and brighten some else's day, which was completely generous and awesome! She sent one of their "Get the Look" sets called "Two Faced" which is a collection of 3 of their duochrome colors and a little sample baggie of the color "Walking on Water". Duochrome shadows are so much fun!

They're all new and unopened (hence the lack of swatches haha).
What the website says about this set:

"Don't let these colors fool you, they each have two sides. Each one of these duo tones shifts to reveal another color."

Beautiful- "Gold that shifts to pink" (see swatch here!)

Riddle- "Golden bronze that shifts to green with hints of red"

In the jar this reminds me of Glamour Doll Eyes "Dino Spotz," a gorgeous duochrome color, which you can see here.

Dew Drop- "Pinkish purple that shifts to greenish gold."

I'm only having the giveaway open for a week, starting at midnight, so be sure to enter! I am having it open internationally! Good luck to all! And thank you Beauty From the Earth for sending this for me to give away!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BFTE swatches and a look!

2012-08-21T22:58:00.001-04:00

I checked my email one day and found one from the owner of Beauty From the Earth Cosmetics (also known as BFTE). She had found a post I did a long time ago using some colors from them and she found out that I have cancer and she asked if she could send me some makeup to help brighten my day, which was completely amazing. I mean, makeup is the just about the best thing to help lift my spirits. So she let me pick a few colors and she sent me a 16 piece sample set. She did not ask me to swatch them or even use them on my blog, but I figured since I have them, I might as well.

So a 16 piece sampler is $29 and they come in a variety of either pre-selected colors or you can choose your own. They also come with an adorable little tin to store them in, which I think is awesome. So here are the colors I was sent in the tin:

And now onto the colors.

Dry swatches with no base are on the left and wet swatches are on the right.

Honey:

"Glittery light gold brown (or Golden tan)."

I LOVE this color! It's the perfect mid-toned tan and it's super glittery!

Double Chocolate

(there's no description for this one)

This is a beautiful chocolate color with blue and brown sparkles in it.

Spank Me

"Deep shimmery wine"

This is indeed a deep wine color with purple and wine colored sparkles. Not my favorite applied dry, it really comes to life when applied wet.

Atomic Teal

"Beyond gorgeous silky smooth shimmery blackened teal. Wowza!"

Again, a color that really comes to life when applied wet. It's super gorgeous though and would look beautiful over a black base (like NYX black bean JEP).

Addicted

"Warm red base with cool red shimmer, making this the perfectly balanced ruby red. Looks metallic applied wet, and this is fabulous for the lips."

I would say this is a warmer red, it looks almost orangey in these pictures. Definitely a pretty color, super metallic when you do it wet!

Bubbly

(no description on website, I actually had to search for the name to find it)

The photo on the website for this color does not do it justice at all. It's so pretty! One of my favorites! It looks pink in the container but as you blend, it turns gold. Especially wet, the gold comes out.

Beautiful

"Don't be fooled with how this butter yellow color looks in the pot. Applied wet an interesting and unique pink duo pops out, and yes, it's beautiful."

This is a gorgeous golden highlight color. Honestly this one was the worst one to apply wet, it got milky and streaky. I love it dry but I wouldn't use it wet.

Dragon Slayer

(no description on website)

This is such a unique color! It's like a burnt mustard copper color. SUPER metallic! Pretty both dry and wet but when applied wet, it really really brings out the metallic-ness of it haha.

Kraz

(the label says Kraz but it's on the website as "Kras" and there's no description)

A medium cool-toned green. Pretty, but not one of my favorite colors. Kinda disappointing when applied dry.

Walking on Water

"Teal blue with multi-colored sparkles"

Such a pretty color! And holy sparkles! But they're not the obnoxious sparkles, they're the pretty sparkles. I love this one!

Blue Bayou

"A bright, rich turquoise blue with a satin finish."

Maybe the satin finish is why this one is SOO finely milled. Not a problem, just an observation. However, this one was the most disappointing one of the bunch when applied dry. I'll definitely still use it because I just love the color, I'll just make sure to use it either over a good base or wet.

Blue Bird

"Bright blue with very good coverage."

One of my favorite colors of the bunch. A nice cool toned bright blue. Beautiful applied wet or dry. Love it! I can't wait to see this color over a black base!

Midnight Kisses

"Deep blue-toned purple with subtle pink shimmer."

Pretty color! I'm a sucker for cool-toned purples though. Not the best applied dry but again, I'll definitely use it!

Kastra

(no description on website)

A grey-ish purple. It looks periwinkle when applied wet. I tend to go for either dark or really bright purples so I don't see myself using this too much but it's still a soft, pretty color.

Errai

(no description on website)

I wish this photographed as beautiful as it is in person! You cannot tell but the perfect mauvey pink color. I can see myself using this a lot, especially on neutral days! So so so pretty!!!

Sweet n Spicy

"Frosty light pink-peach."

It looks much peachier than it applies. It definitely applies more frosty pink. Another beautiful color though!

And now the full-sized containers. Here's how they compare in size to the samples. The samples have .5g of product and sell for $2.00 a jar and the full-sized have 1-3g of product and those sell for $6.50 a jar.

And swatches of the colors I got in full-sized:

Big Ego

"Rich, deep dark royal purple with subtle shimmer"

I would definitely label this as a black based color because when you start to blend out, the black base really comes out. GORGEOUS COLOR!!! I love it! When I saw it, the color definitely made me think of Ronnie from Bows and Curtseys, I feel like it's a color she'd really love.

Secret Garden

"Olive green with bronze undertones and golden glimmers."

It's a neutral, but it's an interesting neutral. I think it's gorgeous. I think you could use this on a day when you don't feel like playing with color but it would still make a statement.

Lava Momma

"Bright hot fuchsia with pink iridescence. Not for the faint of heart!"

Holy hot pink! It's brighter than it looks in the pictures. This one was my daughter's favorite. She said especially wet. I like this color but I don't see myself wearing it a lot just because I don't really wear bright pink very often.

And finally, I have a simple neutral look I did using a few of these colors. I can't wait to play around with them some more!

Colors I used (all applied dry):

Lid- Sweet N Spicy

Crease- Double Chocolate

Above Crease- Honey

Highlight- Bubbly (I LOVED how gold this looked in person!)

So thanks, as always, for checking this out! I hope these swatches are helpful! I definitely am in love with some of the colors and would totally recommend them! Do you own any BFTE shadows? Which ones are your favorites? If I had to pick a top 5 from these it would be:

Honey

Big Ego

Errai

Blue Bird

and either Bubbly or Walking on Water.

I know, technically that's 6 but I couldn't choose between the last two haha.

I hope you all have an incredible week!! Thank you so much for your support!!!

A rusty look! And a pretty look using the Naked palette!

2012-08-17T15:02:00.002-04:00

I've had this color from Beauty From the Earth Cosmetics called "Vamp" for a while now, it's a beautiful rusty color with some sparkles in it, and I really was itching to use it and make it the focus of my look today. So I decided to go with something bold but not overpowering. So here's the look I did!

And then I've seen this thing around called, "how much does my face cost?" or something like that where you figure out how much all of the makeup you're wearing costs. So I thought that would be interesting to see. So here's everything I used and how much it all cost (if it's a drugstore product, I'm going to put the WalMart price):

Face:

Revlon Colorstay Foundation "Sand Beige" $9.98

L'oreal True Match Foundation N2 $7.98

Covergirl Professional Loose Powder Translucent Fair $5.98

ELF Studio Blush/Bronzer Duo $3

ELF Studio Blush "Pink Passion" (HIGHLY recommended!) $3

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser $7.94

Maybelline Super Stay 24/7 Concealer $6.48

Eyebrows:

Anastasia Perfect Brow Pencil "Blonde" $22

Anastasia Brow Powder Duo "Golden Blonde" $22

ELF Studio Cream liner "Coffee" $3

Eyes:

Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper $17

BFTE "Vamp" mineral shadow $6.50

Makeup Geek "Purely Naked" shadow $5.99

Makeup Geek "Corrupt" shadow $5.99

Glamour Doll Eyes "Ancestry" mineral shadow $6

L'oreal HIP Chrome Liner "Black Shock" $8.47

L'oreal Voluminous Power Volume 24h "Blackest Black" $8.47

Lips:

MAC "Creme Cup" lipstick $15

MAC "Boy Bait" Cremesheen Glass $19.50 (website price, I got mine at a CCO)

So the total I spent on my face is... $184.28.

Wow. That's a lot haha. Though most of the products I use every day, really the only interchangeable things are eyeshadows and lip colors. So really it's not so bad. Gosh, now I wonder how much money I have invested in my whole makeup collection!

You guys should try this and let me know how much your face costs!

And I wasn't going to add this in but I figured I might as well. This is just a pretty look that I would totally wear again using just the Naked palette for shadow colors!

And here's my color placement on that:

I liked the way the cool grey played off the warm browns.

But that's all I have for today! I hope you all had an amazing week! Don't forget to let me know how much your face costs!

I'm back (with some looks and some other ramblings)!!

2012-08-08T17:16:00.003-04:00

Hey guys! It's been forever since I've done a post and I'm so sorry! It's just been so much harder to bounce back from this last surgery than I thought it would be and then not having a camera didn't make me more motivated to do anything. So I finally got a new camera (a Nikon Coolpix P500, in case anyone is wondering. I got it on Craigslist and saved myself $250!!) and hopefully I'll be able to figure it out so I can post more.

In all honesty, I haven't hardly worn eye makeup at all. Today was my second time wearing an actual colored eyeshadow and it was my third time wearing black eyeliner since my surgery, which was almost 7 weeks ago. So you haven't really missed much. But I do have two looks for you today. A colorful one and a neutral one. I'll go with the colorful one first.

I was feeling the bright blue today so I went with that. I didn't get very many good pictures but I do like the pictures I got.

There's something I really like about just being able to see the color around the eyes, especially if it's such a bright color.

What I used for this:

Eyes:

Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Black Bean" as a base all over lid and under the eye

Makeup Geek (MUG) "Poolside" shadow all over lid and under eye

MUG "Neptune" in outer corner and along the crease

MUG "Mermaid" on center of the lid for a pop of shimmery color

MUG "Purely Naked" to soften the edges of the blue

MUG "Shimma Shimma" as a highlight

L'oreal HIP Chrome Liner "Black Shock"

MUG "Corrupt" to soften liner

L'oreal Voluminous Power Volume 24H Mascara "Blackest Black"

Revlon Photoready 3D Volume Mascara "Blackest Black" to add a little more definition

Eyebrows:

ELF Cream Liner "Coffee" to outline

Anastasia brow pencil "blonde" to fill them in

Anastasia brow powder duo "Golden Blonde" to soften the pencil

Lips:

MAC "Myth" lipstick

Revlon Lip Butter "Tutti Frutti"

And my neutral look. Since I was playing around with my camera, I figured I'd show you the pictures I took of my Naked 2 palette (which I used for this look), even though we all know what the Naked 2 palette looks like haha.

This one isn't as clear but I didn't notice until I uploaded it. Sorry!

And the look I did (sorry it's not the most exciting look ever!).

What I used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

All shadows from the Naked 2 Palette:

"YDK" on inner and outer third of lid

"Verve" on middle third of lid

"Pistol" in outer v and just above crease

"Chopper" above crease color to warm it up a little

"Bootycall" as highlight

L'oreal HIP Chrome Liner "Black Shock"

"Blackout" to soften liner

L'oreal Voluminous Power Volume 24H Mascara "Blackest Black"

Not the most thrilling look in the world but it was pretty and flattering.

And these are just a few more pictures I've taken since I got my camera two days ago haha. They're not of makeup though!

My kiddo and my meatball!

Meatball (her real name is Delilah but she looks like a meatball so that's what I call her haha).

My Sullivan

One of our tortoises. I think tortoises are so cute!

Well that's that! I start chemo again tomorrow. I have to do 8 rounds which puts me, as long as I stay on schedule, to be done with chemo the week before Thanksgiving. It's going to be a long 4 months but I will be SO glad for this to be over with. And I think it's going to make the holidays that much better knowing this will be behind me. You all have been so incredibly supportive of me. I cannot thank you enough for your comments and e-mails and comments on my facebook page. Even if I don't respond, please know that I do read what you write and it means so much to me. I really cannot tell you enough how much it means to me. So thank you so so much!

And hopefully the chemo won't knock me down too much so I can keep posting! Thanks all for reading this!!! I hope you're having a great week!!

Almost 3 Weeks Post-Liver Resection Update

2012-07-11T17:25:00.003-04:00

Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well! I just wanted to update you all quickly since I really haven't since my surgery. It's a little graphic, just to warn you. My surgery went well, they did remove 60% of my liver because the cancer spots were too close to major vessels for them to just cut them out. They took my gallbladder too just because people sometimes have issues with them later in life and they're trying to save me from more surgery later on.

While I was in the hospital, 5 days after surgery, actually on the day they were intending for me to leave, I developed an ileus, which is when your intestines haven't woken up yet from the anesthesia so your food can't go through your system, so you throw up. Throwing up hurts like crazy when your stomach has just been cut apart. They said it was causing my small intestines to swell and that my liver stitches weren't meant to hold up to that. So they said that they would put a tube up my nose and down into my stomach and suction out everything in there so I would stop throwing up. They made it sound much easier than it was. First off, the tube freakin hurts. It's hard plastic and it scrapes your nose and the back of your throat. They also expect you to drink water while they insert this tube to make sure it goes into your stomach and not into your windpipe. However, the tube on the back of your throat makes you throw up.

This was the most awful thing I have ever been through and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. They did that 3 times. The first time the suction wasn't working so they took it back out. The second time, they weren't confident that it was positioned correctly. And the third time they took an x-ray to make sure that it was in the right position because it felt like it was in the back of my throat still, it was making me gag. I cried like a big fat baby while this was happening. It was just awful. About 2 hours after they got the tube in the last time, I started throwing up around the tube so I begged them to take it out and they did. They took me off of food and the problem resolved itself. I feel lucky that it got better so fast because my mom, who's a nurse, said that she's seen ileus' last 5-7 days. I told my husband if they were going to put another tube up my nose that I was going to check myself out. I was not going to willingly let them do that to me again.

So altogether I was in the hospital for 8 days, which feels like forever when you're there. I had a post-op visit yesterday with my surgeon and he said from a medical standpoint, I'm doing remarkably well. He said also that people who respond as well to the chemo as I did often do much better long-term than someone who doesn't respond as well so that was encouraging. I'm still super sore and can barely stand up straight. My stomach looks like I got in a knife fight with someone in a parking lot haha. I'm all cut and scarred up.

So technically, right now my body is cancer free. I will be doing more chemo just to make sure that any remaining cells will be killed off. I cannot wait for this to be over. This surgery took so much out of me. I was not expecting it to be as hard as it has been.

While I wish I had a look to post for you, I'm afraid I don't because I got home from the hospital to find that my camera is no longer working. I honestly have only worn eye makeup 3 times since my surgery anyways (and it's all been neutral and very boring), so you're not really missing out on anything. I'm in the process of researching and comparing different cameras so I make sure I get a good one.

That's my update! Thank you all so much for your encouraging words! They have meant a lot to me! I thank you all so much for your support!

My last post before surgery!

2012-06-20T16:54:00.002-04:00

Hey guys! So this is my last post before I go in for my liver resection and then I'll be gone for a little bit. The surgery is tomorrow morning at 7:30 at Duke University in Durham, NC. I've been anxious about this surgery since I found out about it. It's kind of a big deal. I feel like I just got better from having my stomach cut apart and put back together and now I get to go do it again (maybe sometime if I get brave I'll show you guys my scars, I swear I'm going to look like I was part of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre haha).

I think the recovery for this surgery will be about the same as my last surgery (I had a left hemicolectomy in February to remove a mass of cancer from my colon), I should be in the hospital, assuming everything goes according to plan, for 5-7 days. Then I'm supposed to meet with my oncologist on July 13th to get me scheduled for my (hopefully) final 6 rounds of chemo.

Now I'm sorry I don't have a better "see ya later" look for you guys but I just bought this shirt from Stand Up 2 Cancer (love this site because it doesn't just focus on just one type of cancer as so many places do) and I really wanted to wear it so this is the makeup I thought worked with it (I'm not usually a yellow girl haha).

The shirt says "Survivor"

This is my other Stand Up 2 Cancer shirt that I bought

I just did a really pretty neutral look. What I used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Makeup Geek (MUG) "Pretentious" shadow on lid

MUG "Mocha" with a touch of "Corrupt" in crease

Blended up with MUG "Cocoa Bear" and "Cinderella"

with MUG "Vanilla Bean" as a highlight

On my lips:

MAC "Myth" lipstick

just a smidge of MAC Viva Glam Nicki lipstick

topped with Revlon "Cupcake" lip butter

If you're interested, depending on how I'm feeling, I'll try to update my facebook page while I'm in the hospital, just to let you know I made it through surgery ok. And if you wouldn't mind sending some prayers or thoughts my way again, I would so much appreciate it!

I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for being so amazing and supportive of me during this time. I feel so blessed that I am able to have this sort of outlet for my feelings and to talk about what I'm going through. Sometimes it gets really hard but reading your kind words always makes it feel like not such a big deal. So thank you all so much. I love you guys and I'll talk to you soon!

Revlon Just Bitten "Lovesick" Balm Stain Review and Look!

2012-06-19T14:13:00.000-04:00

I'm sure by now you've heard about these Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stains but I decided since I bought one, I'd share my opinion about it with you! I bought mine at CVS one week, they retail there for $9.79. My CVS was out of most colors so I went with a fushia color called "Lovesick." It's a pretty color, a bit bolder than colors I usually go for but I figured it was worth a shot.

So here's what it looks like, it looks like a chubby, big crayon:

Here you can see it has tiny glitter flecks in it:

When I put it on, the color reminded me of the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in "Addis Ababa." They do look a lot alike but the Revlon one is much more sheer, which would be expected from something called a "Balm Stain."

And here's a look I did wearing it. I'm not sure what it is about fushia that makes me want to wear a black smokey eye.

I used the Naked palette for this look:

"Creep" on lid and above crease

Blended with "Naked"

"Virgin" to highlight

That's all. Just 3 colors.

I really like the color. I think it's fun, but it is pretty bright. I feel like you can't tell how bold it is in these pictures. I really liked the way it applied, it was very smooth. I like that it has a slight sheen to it. I applied it and then tried to wipe it off, just to see how it worked, and it stayed on, which is great and something my husband also appreciated because he's not a fan of wearing fushia lipstick haha. However, after a few hours and after I ate something, most of the boldness of the color had worn off from the middle of my lips, but it was still bright around the edges, as if I'd lined my lips with this instead of applying it all over, which is not so much a good look. I did find that my lips were still tinted this morning when I woke up.

These are supposed to be comparable to the Tarte Lipsurgence, which I've never tried so I personally cannot compare the two. The only thing I can honestly compare is the price. $9.79 for a Revlon one or $24 for a Tarte one... for me, that makes up my mind immediately, but I'm one who's always looking for something similar but less expensive anways. I do like this product, I really like the idea of it. I'm interested to try a more nude one, just to see how the color would hold up. I was disappointed that the color had faded (though it wasn't completely gone) in the center of my lips because it just looked sloppy.

I can't speak for the less intense colors but I'd recommend this color, just as long as reapplying to the center of your lips after a meal doesn't upset you. If it does, then pass on this guy!

Have you guys tried these? What do you think of them? What color is your favorite?

A look (or two) with Makeup Geek greens

2012-06-09T11:17:00.002-04:00

Another suggestion I had received was to do a look using greens (or burgundy) from Princessa so I've played with greens a few times. I really had a hard time getting a decent picture the first time (and it wasn't super well done) but then I tried again and I really really like the way it turned out. It had this glowy effect and I just thought it was really pretty. My husband saw it and goes, "So what was this inspired by?" and I said, "green." haha. So here's the look I came up with!!

My lighting is a little off because I took these pictures earlier in the day than normal

And here's my color placement:

All Makeup Geek Shadows:
(I number them in the order in which I place them on my eye, starting at the lashline)
1- Ocean Breeze
2- Peacock (with just a touch of Corrupt)
3- Shimmermint
4- Pixie Dust
5- Ice Queen

Here's the other look I had attempted but didn't really like or manage to get any good pictures of (apparently with greens, I like the effect of having a lighter color in the center of the lid!)

And my color placement for this one (again, all Makeup Geek colors):

The top one is much much better haha. I'm kind of embarrassed of this bottom look, it's not my best work. But I figure I can show you the good and the bad, right?

I hope you all have an incredible, fun weekend! I'm going to Virginia Beach next weekend with the fam for one last little vacation before my liver surgery takes me out of commission for a bit. Has anyone been there and would recommend going/seeing/doing anything special? Any tattoo parlors there anyone recommends (I REALLY wanted to get a tattoo before my surgery, but I don't want to go just anywhere, I want it to be a great place!)?

Thank you all so much for following me and supporting me, it means so so much to me!!

Inspired by Belle from Beauty and the Beast

2012-06-07T13:37:00.000-04:00

When I asked for some suggestions of some ideas for looks, Miranda suggested that maybe I do a look inspired by Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Trying to come up with new ideas for a look inspired by Belle is not the easiest thing to do. When I think of Belle, I think yellow and brown. How many ways are there to wear yellow and brown? I've seen some looks inspired by her before, check out Kassie's look, and honestly, if I were to do a look without having already seen hers, I think mine would look a lot like hers. So I did my best to come up with something at least a little bit different!

And my inspiration

I wanted this look to be mainly gold, but a yellow gold so you could still tell who it was inspired by. I also wanted to tie in the brown (from her hair) somewhere besides the crease so I put it under my eye.

What I used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil "Milk"

a layer of Sugarpill's "Buttercupcake" on lid to make the gold more yellow-y

L'oreal HIP Pigment "Visionary" over the yellow

MUG "Gold Digger" shadow

MUG "Bleached Blonde" shadow

MUG "Yellow Brick Road" shadow under highlight color

MUG "Ice Queen" shadow as a highlight

NYX glitter liner "Gold"

MUG "Brown Sugar" shadow (bronze color under my eye)

MUG "Corrupt" shadow applied wet as a liner

Cheeks:

ELF Blush/bronzer duo to contour

NYX "Angel" blush

Philosophy "The Color of Grace" shimmering face powder to highlight (this stuff is really really awesome when applied with a stippling brush, it just has an amazing glowy effect, thank you so much Heather Crazy Beautiful Makeup for sending this to me!!)

Lips:

Revlon Colorburst lipstick "Soft Nude"

ELF Liquid Lipstick "Perfect Pink" (thank you, Heather, for this too!)

And that's my look for today! I hope you all are doing well (and staying healthy!) and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week!! Thank you all so much!!!

And a little song to finish up the post!

I made a facebook page!

2012-06-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

So I'm totally lame and didn't know how but I finally messed around with it and figured it out! I haven't posted anything yet but if you wanna check it out here's the link: my facebook page!!