Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Urban Decay Anarchy Face Case Review and EOTD

I know that I had done a quick review of this latest acquisition but I've had time to really work and play with it so I can now do a better review.

The Anarchy Face Case contains 5 eyeshadows, two blush, a highlighter, 24/7 eye pencil and a Super Saturated High Gloss lip color.



I don't use eye liner pencils so I can't really review it. The blush are nice colors which are wearable for me and while I don't normally use highlighters, I do on rare occasions. I love the Super Saturated High Gloss lip color and I have it in Lovechild. The one included with this set is Scandal, which is quite a bit darker than I normally wear.

Going from let to right on the eyeshadows, Redemption, a deep gunmetal satin; Fray, warm mauve matte; Vaporize, a deep metallic gray-taupe shimmer; Provocateur, a light metallic mauve shimmer and Revolt, a bright metallic silver shimmer. The last two colors also have micro glitters in them.

I have been reaching for this palette on a regular basis and it has quickly become a favorite. I use all of the colors except for Fray. All of the colors are buttery soft and nicely pigmented. The only "problem" shadow is Provocateur. This shadow crumbles easily so it's best to tap the color onto your makeup brush and not swipe it on.

This is the first look that I did with Anarchy:

Products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Redemption, Vaporize and Revolt eyeshadows
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner Pen
Fetish blush, which is the mauve-pink blush
Scandal High Gloss lip color

Eyes done with Revolt on entire eyelid from lash line to just above the crease line. Vaporize is on outer eyelid blending it in toward mid eye. Redemption is blended in on the outer "v" and lining the lower lash line, fading in toward mid eye. Lined the upper lash line and outer edge of lower lash line with K-Palette.



Cheeks are lightly brushed with Fetish.


Lips are lightly colored with Scandal.


EOTD 2

Products used:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Redemption, Vaporize and Revolt eyeshadows
K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner

Using the same application method above, I used Revolt instead of Provacateur. This 3 shadows are my go to colors. It doesn't look much different in the pictures but this look comes out a little stronger in color than the first one.



I am really liking the eyeshadow colors. I am hoping they get released as singles. I also heard from my Sephora SA that Anarchy was going to be permanent, although the website still says it's limited edition. If it's going to be limited, I am going to have to pick another one up. I am liking it that much.

*Kat*

Monday, October 28, 2013

NOTD--Another Gel Nail Manicure

Just before I left for my trip, I had to redo my manicure. I have always either traveled without any manicure or with a very toned down manicure in case of any chipping or tip wear. I had read on another blogger's blog that she had done a very simple gel nail manicure using mainly clear polish with gold glitter at the tips. I decided that it was perfect to do for this trip.


By the time I managed to take this picture, this manicure was already almost a week and a half old. Sorry, the color also is a bit off, don't know what happened.

I love doing gel nail manicures. It is easy to do at home and no wait time for the nails to dry other than when you put it under the lamp. It is very long wearing on me despite the fact that I am very hard on my hands and nails. My nails are also very soft and they bend and rip easily. Although you have to buff your nails, which weakens it, after applying the gel polish, my nails are much stronger.

The downside to gel nail manicures is removing it. Being the lazy person that I am, I decided to try to just buff/file down that current manicure, paying close attention to the cuticle areas that had lifted a bit. I then went ahead and started the whole application process and did a new manicure. I was curious to see if it would work and it did!


The end result is great and my nails are even stronger right now because of all the layers of polish. I actually have never had my natural nails this long before, I was going to cut it down but I am interested in seeing how long they will get before I have to redo the manicure again. Hopefully I can hold out because I am finding it very difficult to type with the longer nails. I keep making typos.

When it is time to remove this manicure, I will take a break from doing gel nail manicures to let my nails rest and recover.

*Kat*

Friday, October 25, 2013

Early Morning Routine Shortcuts--Not For Every Day

When I travel to Las Vegas, it's usually with a package deal that includes airfare, meals and transportation to and from the airport. It's a great way to travel. The downside is that the flight leaving Las Vegas is usually an early morning flight. Baggage pull is at 4:30 a.m. so you need to be up and have your bags packed. Meet up is usually at 5:30 a.m. to get ready to take the bus to the airport.

I am not one of those travelers who can go sans makeup and my normal morning routine is actually quite time consuming. I think that prepping my face takes way longer than the actual makeup application. Getting up at 3:30 a.m. and being ready before 4:30 is a challenge. Only with this last trip did I think up some early morning, time-saving steps to help.

My normal morning routine does not include washing my face with a cleanser. I feel like I'm washing off all of the skin care that I applied the night before to a clean face and all I did was sleep so I usually just rinse my face off and use a cleanser on my eyelids and eye brows. These are the two areas that I need to have absolutely clean and free of any oils. I have made it no secret that I use mezaik stretch fiber to help make and keep my eyelids double. To save time, I applied this the night before. It is waterproof so I can rinse my eyelids in the morning and not use any soap. It is an absolute must for me to draw in my eyebrows. I found a product that is pretty much budge proof. I also applied this the night before and just needed to do some touch ups. I did my regular night time skin care routine and instead of rinsing my face in the morning, I just applied the remainder of the normal morning skin care routine. It is not something that I would do on a regular basis but for those times when you're really pressed for time, it works. It probably shaved off a good 15 to 20 minutes of my normal morning routine.

Any other ideas that you have implemented?

*Kat*

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Travel Makeup Hints for Me to Remember

This is part 2 of Travel Makeup that I posted in the previous post.

Normally I like to travel with sample packets of skin care products because it is less bulky. One thing that I don't like about doing so is having to work out of the packets because depending on the item, one packet can last me through a whole 5 day trip. I have cut them open and placed them into a little Ziploc type bag but it can still be awkward to work with. I decided that this time I would take along a few empty containers. I find that contact lens cases work well. They are inexpensive and you can just dump them before coming home.


I usually look around for the contact lens cases that are pliable so that you can cut them in half. I used one for eye cream, one for primer and a container for serum. The container that I used for the serum was actually a travel container that I found at KMart. It came in a set of two. I really like it but haven't been able to find more. I decided to keep that and can wash it to reuse.

I tried using the hotel shampoo and conditioner the last time I traveled and really missed my regular hair care products. This time I used a couple of small plastic containers, recycled from some other product that either I or someone in my family had used. I had planned on just dumping it before I came home. Unfortunately I had so much product left in the containers and my mom thought it was wasteful but I dumped it anyway.

After coming home and thinking about it some, I decided that I should try packing it into little Ziploc type bags. It would be best to use a clear packing tape to seal the zipper end of the bag to prevent it from unzipping with the airplane pressure. You can cut open a corner of the bag to squeeze it out. I tested one out by putting in some shampoo that I thought was about the amount of shampoo I would use for a night (normally wash my hair two times and condition once).


It worked out great and the amount of shampoo that I had put in was actually enough to shampoo 3 times. I must remember to put in a little less shampoo. Empty bag:


One thing that I would like to highlight is the facial soap that I used this time. It is by DHC and is a film type of soap. It's really paper thin and took up so little space.


It seemed like it was a really popular item but unfortunately, DHC discontinued it. I happened to catch it when it was on clearance sale. I hope that they come out with something similar to replace it as it's really handy.

A couple of weeks before I left on this trip, I received some items that I ordered from a blog sale and my Sephora order of the Urban Decay Anarchy Face Palette came in. In the blog sale package, was a SUQQU eyeshadow palette. I've been totally obsessed with both the SUQQU and Anarchy palettes that I decided to take it with me to Las Vegas. I normally travel with just the magnetic freestyle palette that I've filled up with eyeshadows, blush and contour colors. It ended up being a bit more bulky than I'm used to bring the SUQQU and Anarchy palettes as well as another container which had the other additional eyeshadow, blush and contour colors. You can see the difference in this picture:


This is how I had to pack he container with the additional items that I needed:


Normally the Canmake Shading Powder is depotted so that it'll fit into the freestyle magnetic palette. As much as I loved having the two palettes, I like having less bulk so I'll have to remember to just bring the freestyle palette. I will be doing reviews with EOTD posts on the two palettes in the future.

I will have to retired the Sephora makeup bag that I love so much. I have been using it for several years in my hand carry bag. Unfortunately, the zipper doesn't work any more. Which ever way I zip it, it stays open. I'll need to replace it before my next travels.

I thought that I would get everything into 2 posts but I will need to do one more for my "early morning rush" tips.

If you have any packing tips and ideas, please be sure to share them with me. I tend to travel with a load so any ideas to help lighten it will be appreciated. There will also be one last post, which will be with the "Using My Stash" post which will appear at the beginning of next month.

*Kat*

Monday, October 21, 2013

Travel Makeup and Las Vegas Haul

I recently spent a few days in Las Vegas, as I do every year. This trip I had changed up the way I packed my makeup, came up with some new ideas after the fact and decided to do a write up on it. This will be done in two parts with the 2nd part mostly for me to look back and remember what I came up with and the dos and don'ts for next time.

I normally like to pack 90% of my makeup in my hand carry bag. I've heard many stories of how luggage has been misplaced and how people had to do without for a day or more. I could do without clothes as I normally pack an extra set in the hand carry and have found that most items can be hand washed and will dry overnight. I cannot do without my makeup though.

My TSA approved items:


Other items that I put into my hand carry:



This is what was inside the TSA approved bag:


Items packed into suitcase:


Now for my Las Vegas haul. I don't have it pictured here but I did a big haul at Trader Joe's. I bought mostly nut mix, wasabi nori snacks and kitchen towels. At the outlet mall, I found a couple of bargains at Loft Store.


I was really disappointed that I didn't find anything of interest at the two CCO stores. I was looking forward to buying some make up there. While I was in Las Vegas, Urban Decay was running a 20% off sale so I ended up purchasing from them. I hadn't originally planned on purchase Vice 2 but since it was 20% off...


Does this count as part of my Las Vegas haul since I did online shopping while in Vegas?

Stay tuned for part 2 of this travel makeup post with reminders of dos and don'ts for myself. Hopefully you'll find some of it useful too.

*Kat*

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Think Pink, Supporting National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Every day, many people throughout the world are diagnosed with breast cancer. This disease affects both women and men from all walks of life. I am sure it has affected someone you know. October has been designated as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). The purpose of this annual campaign is to promote awareness of breast cancer, as well as its detection, treatment and research for a reliable and permanent cure.The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness.

I know that there are other bloggers out there doing similar posts and tags in support of this cause. Some, like SlowBro-Gal is doing it on several social media platforms and is doing a post a day, which is too ambitious for me to do. I still wanted to do a post but it will be only this one post. I will also be wearing pink every day for the remainder of this month to show my support and post pink items.

So, onto my pink items:



Going clockwise, starting in the upper left corner is a reader eyeglass and lighted magnifier set. There was actually two pairs of glasses in this set although I have only one in the picture. I love that the frames have a pink undertone with the pink ribbon design on the frame templates (aka arms).

In the upper right corner is Skechers GoWalk Deluxe sneakers. This is the special pink ribbon edition. There were actually 2 different styles, one was this slip on one and the other a lace up one. I really preferred the lace up one but they didn't have it available in my size.

Next in the bottom right corner is a pink t-shirt. All of the items in this post happen to be pink and connected to pink ribbon, supporting breast cancer awareness except for this item. This particular t-shirt does happen to be charity related though. This is actually the charity t-shirt for this year's 24 Hour Television "Love Saves The Earth" charity. It is an annual telethon in Japan which raises funds for various organizations that aid the sick, handicapped, natural disasters around the world, etc. In fact in 2011, the proceeds went to helping rebuild various prefectures who were damaged during the Tohoku disaster.


In the bottom left corner is the Brush Away Cancer brush set from Crown Brushes. It's a nice set with good quality brushes at a very reasonable price.

Last, is a pink ribbon ball point pen. It's a nice pen which I think is good quality. The weight of it is a bit heavy and it writes really well.

In total, I have 5 items. In Japanese, the word for 5 is "go". With this in mind, let's all get pro active and get up and "go" and do something this month in support of breast cancer awareness. Some things that I have done in the past include making purchases in which a portion of the proceeds will go towards an organization that helps fund breast cancer awareness, set up fund raising efforts at work and have participated in the Susan G. Komen walk for a couple of years.

If any one is interested in doing this, I tag you to do it. Please make sure to comment here and post your link so that I can see your beautiful pink items. Although I was going to post items that were pink and hadn't intended to have all the items that I posted to be charity related, it ended up being that way.

*Kat*