Beauty Blogger Challenge

If you head on over to A Girl and Her Shadows, you can see that she has set up the Beauty Blogger Challenge, a fun little weekly questionnaire thing. I promised you swatches with my next post, but I am way too hungover to put that much effort into anything. Before you start thinking I am cool or fun, it was from drinking at my cousin's wedding reception on New Years... surrounded by my whole family... with my boyfriend in Alaska... where I did not do anything but sit in a chair all night and drink fuzzy navels. On the drive back home today, my dad had to pull over so I could puke on the side of the road. Not the best way to start off 2011 :P But I am moving to Texas in less than 3 weeks, and I'm really excited about starting a new chapter in my life. It's nice to know that even when I'm moving 1000 miles away, I'll still have all of you to talk to :) That's really comforting to me, I appreciate all of you so much! The question for this week is: Why did you start blogging about beauty? Do you think you would have blogged about other topics if you hadn’t started beauty blogging? Were you already blogging something else when you started? I started reading beauty blogs because I was following Aromaleigh on facebook, and Miss K sometimes would link to blogs that were using AL products. The first blogs I started regularly following were Phyrra and Gothique. Through them I found other bloggers, and eventually decided I wanted to start a blog too. I also started a movie blog at the same time, but deleted it after a few weeks because I wanted to focus solely on Eyeconic Makeup. I probably would have maintained a movie blog at some point if I never started this one, and I do a movie post over here every once in a while. Movies are my great obsession alongside makeup, so if you ever want to chat about some random film you think no one else has ever heard of, I'm your girl! Especially if it's horrifying/disturbing/disgusting :D I really hope some more of you participate in this weekly event, I think it's really fun and I'd love to see everyone else's answers! Thanks for reading my textwall. Your reward is pictures of my dog, Ginger, who I will miss very much when I leave! She loves to sit outside in the snow :3

I got something awesome :D

Damn right that's a Hello Kitty pillowcase, made for me by everyone's favorite Kathy :D Not surprisingly, one of my kitties really likes it too and curled up on it next to me last night when I went to bed :3 I don't have any fun looks today, because I've been lazy and mostly just doing pretty neutral looks with my BoS3. I DID do my best friend's makeup for her homecoming though. She really liked it and I will try and post pictures of it if she uploads any to facebook. I thought I'd do some blog love, since I haven't for a while and I've found some AWESOME new blogs lately! I really need to update my blogroll one of these days. All Made Up Beauty From Another Planet Bonny Binnacle Cooking Chinchillas Cosmetics and Cats I'll Light the Night with Sparks Lady in a Top Hat- can I just say, this blog has the absolute BEST swatches! prettybottles Samelevennn Shop My Stash- I really love this blog :) Sorta Insane Musings of a Makeup Addict Sparkling Luna Tianne Marie Makeup and Retrography I have a couple random questions that I would love for you guys to answer if you want! :D 1) What is the best concealer you know of for under-eyes? I currently use Benefit's Erase Paste, which really doesn't work for me. I might try the Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer, my dark circles are that bad. 2) I'm going to do a post of my favorite horror movies, since it's October. As you might know I'm a huge movie buff- do you know of any good Youtubers/bloggers/podcasts that talk about movies? More specifically, weird, scary, gross, indie, dark, cult, etc movies. I found one that seemed good but they didn't start talking about the movies until OVER AN HOUR INTO IT. 3) Would you be interested in a post with pictures of my adorable pets? :D I have two kitties, a dog, and two chinchillas. Would you be interested in a picture of my 2nd biggest collection (after makeup), sneakers? I have quite a lot. I'm not going to show you guys my makeup setup until I move to Texas in January, because right now it's pretty messy and awful. 4) When I am off this terrible retainer-related no-buy, I might be interested in purchasing a few MAC items. I don't have any MAC because I think it's overpriced and overhyped, but I think I should actually use some before I keep judging it. I am so overwhelmed by all their products, what are some easily available ones I should try? Sorry for the huge text wall! Just a reminder... Kathy is awesome.

Current Giveaways & link love

Hey guys, I just wanted to make you aware of some really great giveaways going on right now! Mindy's Giveaway Blix's 5 Winner Giveaway Peachy Giveaway You've Got Nail 1 Year Anniversary Giveaway And here are some great blogs I've been reading recently: Principessa Grassa Annamax Beautys Bad Habit Looks Loving It Makeup by Candie Scrubbing Up Well Sorta Insane Musings of a Makeup Addict Swatch Storm I promise, I'm going to post my Darling Girl review now! :) ETA: I just found out MeganChair has deleted her blog :( It was my favorite polish blog, because her personality shone through her writing, and you could see what a lovely person she was. I'll miss it.

Questions & what I've learned from blogging!

Hey guys! I'm bored and don't want to go to sleep yet, so I thought I'd do some of the little survey things I've been tagged in. For anyone who gives me blog awards, I really appreciate it but I am far too lazy to retag people and all that stuff. >:D But here's some questions I've been tagged in! This first set is from Nicole. 1. What is your favorite brand of makeup and why? Could there be a more difficult question? haha. I guess I'd have to say Hi Fi cosmetics, I've placed more orders (big ones, too) from there than any other company, the eyeshadows are just the best. But I do love Urban Decay and Too Faced as well! Milani is a great drugstore brand. 2. What is the most you've ever paid for one single item of makeup or other beauty related product? Does my Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic count, since it's a set? If not, I think UDPP. Seriously. $17. I like my bargains. 3. Hot rollers or curling iron? Neither... I just have to put my hair up most days because of work. If I have the day off, I straighten it. 4. How long does it take you to get ready in the mornings? If I get to take my time and do things how I like, a good hour. I really like to actually get to do fun makeup on my days off, plus the extra few minutes for my hair. 5. Do you have a "beauty budget" each month? HAHAHA as if such a thing exists... my paycheck is my beauty budget. 6. What skincare line can't you live without? I'm not big on skincare products. I pretty much keep it to the basics. 7. Who is your all time beauty icon? This is gonna sound cheesy, but all you beauty bloggers! I don't have any kind of celebrity or model beauty icon, I get inspiration from you guys :) 8. Do you wear makeup and fix your hair even when you aren't going out? Sometimes! I don't need to look pretty for other people, it's fun to look nice for myself. This set is non-beauty related, just 10 things that I like, from Michelle. 1. Feminism. I can't wait for the only course I'm taking this semester: Women in Arts, Culture, and Society. 2. The new show Haven on Syfy. I want to live in Haven. It's so crazy and cozy. 3. The movie Saw. I just watched it for the first time tonight (I know, how has someone so movie obsessed, especially with horror films, never seen it?), and it was pretty cool. 4. Nail polish, which I can't wear because of work. I have around 30 untried bottles that will just have to wait until I eventually leave Arby's. 5. My favorite of the many Asian grocery stores in town, where they will sell me their sushi dirt cheap if I come in late at night to buy it... sushi cravings, man. 6. Buying socks & panties... the cheap thrill of spending money without the sadness of emptying your wallet. Almost every pair of socks I own is argyle. 7. Days off... I don't get enough of them. One a week, typically. 8. My Hello Kitty fleece blanket I'm using right now :) 9. Cool weather, and soon I hope! Pleeeeeeeease. 10. The fact that Shiro Cosmetics just released 8 new colors... shewt. And of course, Charlotte posted today some things she's learned from beauty blogging (I'm sure a lot of you have already seen her post). I thought I'd add a few of my own! .Drugstore makeup in the UK is awesome. .Different types of shadow brushes really do make a difference! .All lipstick does not smell like old ladies! .Face primer is a must. .Amazing websites like Beauty Ticket or Haute Look (when it has good sales) have pricey brand products at good prices. See how oblivious I was before I started blogging in November? :P What are some things you've learned since you started blogging?

Random beauty chatter

Hello ladies! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I haven't worn any makeup since Friday, except a little face powder so I don't seem oily. I've been working during the day, so it just seems like waaay too much effort to get dolled up to wear my Arby's uniform. I had some things I wanted to talk about though! First up, I wanted to list some blogs I've recently started following. Sorry if I've already listed a couple of these before! Liloo and co Just Peachy Sassy Beauty My Tiger Lily Tales from a small town Kiss Prints Also Known As... Make up by redhead nasty girl Unlaced Beauty Wintry Beauty Serafia's Makeup The girl with many eyes lextard- nails, makeup & more In Her Makeup Bag Has anyone been going on ridiculous drugstore hunts lately? I went to three different Walgreens one night so I could find all of the new Sally Hansen HD polishes I wanted. They're gorgeous :D I also just found out about these new Wet N Wild baked shadows and blushes, so I might drive over to Meijer tomorrow- oddly enough, it has the best makeup selection in town. At first I was bummed that I won't have one when I move, but then I remembered I will be in a town with an Ulta, which is so much better :D Also, I saw the Maybelline Falsies mascara at CVS yesterday! I was so excited until I saw the price- $15?! I refuse to pay that much for a drugstore mascara. Has anyone tried this yet? I need to know your opinions! My graduation ceremony is this Tuesday, and my mom's whole side of the family will be here to celebrate on Sunday- that's my grandma, my mom's 7 brothers and sisters, and their spouses and kids. It's gonna be insane, but I'll get cake! Anyway, I'm telling you this because my mom said I absolutely have to clean my room before then. Once I get it clean, I m going to show you pictures of my makeup collection! I know it's surely not as big as some people's, and almost all my shadows are samples, but it's nothing to scoff at. My eyeliners alone are ridiculous, I realized, I have over 20. I'm sure some of you have heard by now, but Stardust has closed, maybe permanently. I am very sad and pissed off by this, because I think Jenna is a nice person who had a lapse in judgment and everyone jumped down her fucking throat about it. I don't want to start another big discussion about everything, I just wanted to let you know about the store closing and my feelings. Lastly, we have a new kitty! A stray had been wandering around our house, and we eventually coaxed him in with some food. We took him to the vet, but he doesn't have a chip. We looked on Craigslist and posted an ad to see if he was anyone's kitty, but nothing so far- and seeing how hungry and tired he was, as well as the fact that he had no collar, we think somebody just dumped him. He's a real sweetie and he's been living in our sunroom the past few days. He has a crush on my kitty, it's so cute. :D Here's a picture of them together, boyfriend kitty is on the left, my kitty is on the right.

Thoughts & blog love

I was going to do swatches of a lot of recent products today, but it's totally rainy and nasty, so that's out of the question. I thought I'd throw in all my random thoughts about some makeup things as of late. I got an email from Urban Decay about their new product, the Face Case. It's called the face case and is only $14, but in the email it says it's smaller than your cell phone. So, that picture has to be pretty close to actual size, right? That's tiny as hell. I'll have to wait and see it in person at Ulta when I move. I decided to have a look at Glittersniffer Cosmetics the other day just to see if anything had changed. I have never ordered because although the owner custom makes a lot of colors, some are just TKB on a base. I don't mind if a company does that, but unless they specifically state it on the product listing, I think it's kind of cheating. However, from looking around, it seems all the colors that were just TKB with a base are out of the shop. It's mostly newer colors, a lot of which are extremely gorgeous. I'll probably place an order soon now that it seems to be 100% uniquely created colors. Morgana Minerals has just released the Get Medieval Shadow Collection! I think I might have to get a sample set of the whole thing, I absolutely love the colors and I'm so excited to try them. Plus I can grab myself a tube of Coraline's Kiss lipstick while I'm at it ;] I thought I'd also include a list of blogs I've recently started following. I love finding cool new blogs to follow and I'm going to assume everyone else does too! DazzleGlam drift closely Fancy Geek Kiss Prints Miss Kinky Lipstick & Eyes One of Beauty's Daughters Rugby Beauty Sparklz & Shine spinster-in-training The Girl With Many Eyes Question: should I get a twitter? I'd use it for talking to you guys and MMU companies and stuff.

Things I Never Did Before Beauty Blogging

I stole this idea from a post in Lisa Kate's blog. Read & follow if you don't already- love her. 1. I had bought a crappy primer from a crappy online repackaging brand one time, and thought primers didn't work. That was before I learned about Detrivore primer and UDPP... now I always use one of the two, usually along with Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. 2. Repackaging, you say? What's this? Almost ALL the online makeup I had bought pre-blogging was from repackagers. I thought Lime Crime colors were so unique and pretty, I was almost willing to shell out the $12 for them. Thanksfully blogging has opened my eyes, It is a lot easier for me to tell if a company is a repackager now. 3. This was technically about 1 1/2 or 2 years ago, right when I first started getting into makeup. I saw L'Oreal HiP colors and thought they were the brightest, most unique colors out there. :P Now I laugh at the thought, they are so plain compared to places like Aromaleigh, Fyrinnae, and Hi Fi. 4. Another one that was before blogging, but still. ONE eyeshadow color. I thought that was a whole look in itself. Now I wear one or two eyeshadows on my days when I don't have time, or I'm going somewhere like my grandma's house, so I don't want to be over the top. Most real looks of mine now use between 3 and 6 colors. 5. Lipstick! I had actually never worn real lipstick (aside from some Hello Kitty stuff meant for little girls) until just about a month ago, after seeing this post on Julissa's blog. Her lipstick swatches looked so pretty I decided I had to start trying lipstick out. I think I have 8 now. 6. Nice, expensive, name brand makeup never seemed like something I'd get. I had barely ever even heard of Sephora, and I had browsed the UD website but just gave up cus it costs so much. I never thought I'd be willing to shell out $17 for a primer. Just recently I got 4 UD products from that Haute Look sale- cost with shipping was only $21! Beauty Ticket has lead me to get products from Too Faced, Stila, and Jelly Pong Pong. My friend just got me a Sephora palette and AMAZING Bare Escentuals glosses. I love indie makeup, but I do love the "nice" stuff, too. I'm sure there's more, but these are what come to mind. And of course, I've tried out so many new makeup and polish brands I see on everyone's lovely blogs. Blogging is a really important thing to me now, reading your blogs and writing my own makes me really happy. I love chatting with people who share my obsession! I <3 all my followers, have a great week!