Month: May 2013

Cleaning Up My Act: Cruelty-Free Facial Cleansers

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I’ve been slowly eliminating non Cruelty-Free products from my daily routine. I started by targeting my makeup, and I think I’ve been doing pretty well, though I’ve had a few slip-ups since making my pledge (I bought Maybelline Color Whispers). I realized that animal testing doesn’t stop at makeup. Facial cleansers are also a part of that. When Wiji pointed out that newer packaging of St. Ives neglected to include “Not Tested on Animals” as it always had, I was compelled to check my skin care, too. Apparently, they were acquired by Unilever, which is a company that tests on animals. I’m currently working through a large bottle of shu uemura’s cleansing oil, which is the best makeup remover I’ve tried, by far. I’m still looking for cruelty-free alternatives, but we have that little bit left from the bottle, as well as a few samples, to tide us over while we look for other makeup removers. Here are cruelty-free facial cleansers I’ve tried so far. Korres Milk Proteins Cleansing & Make-Up Remover Wipes I use …

May 2013 Favorites

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And we’ve come to this point again: my monthly favorites for May! 🙂 I have quite the collection of favorites here, which is awesome for diversification. Or something like that. Products mentioned: — MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study — MAC eyeshadow in Sable — MAC matte lipstick in Mehr — Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light and Mood Light Favorite Lip Combinations this month: — Addiction Lip Crayon in Day Trip + Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crème in Crème Caramel — Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstick in Chestnut + Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crème in Café Crème Other favorites: — Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires in the City — The National’s Trouble Will Find Me — The Mindy Project — “These Days” by Jack Cheng — Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix — Keith Haring iPhone case

Lipstick Week, Day 6 Reject: How to Make Your Lipstick Last Longer

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This was supposed to be a Day 6 post, I think, but then I wanted a space for my mauves and plums, so I was going to make it a “Lipstick Week Special,” but ended up being too swamped to put it up. Here are a few ways to make your lipstick last longer on your lips. 🙂 Obviously, it all still depends on your lipstick formulation. If it’s a glossy, sheer formula like the Revlon Lip Butters or the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines, then there isn’t really much you can do to prolong its wear. Still, it helps to prep your lips for a long day. 🙂 Make your Base Ace. What do I mean by this? Just prep your lips for a smooth ride. You can’t expect your lipstick to perform like a race car if the tracks are a craggy mess. Here are some tips for a great base: Exfoliate! This gets rid of dry flakes and creates a smooth base for your lipstick. You can buy a lip scrub (a good …

Made-Up History: Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Cassius Clay,” 1982

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In this edition of Made-Up History, I’ll be talking about someone who is very dear to my heart. Jean-Michel Basquiat is my favorite artist. It’s really hard to pick one, but if I had to, it would be Basquiat. He started out as a street artist and he would tag his work (then, a collaborative venture with friend Al Diaz) with “SAMO,” which is a hypocoristic name for “Same Old Shit.” The Village Voice published a piece on some of their works. He graduated from street art and graffiti by 1979 and by 1980, he started showing some pieces in group shows. In 1981, a piece by Rene Ricard called “The Radiant Child” was published in Artforum Magazine, which brought him to the attention of the art scene. His works were provocative, a commentary on consumerism, popular culture, and cultural politics, and his style was a new take on primitivism. There were a lot of emerging modern artists in New York during this time, and he was one of the ones who shot up to …

Mini-Hauls: Le Métier de Beauté, Hourglass, Illamasqua, MAC

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Here is a collective haul, most of which are items that I will be reviewing for the next few weeks. Since going on the Makeup No Buy a few days ago, I’ve been seriously surveying my “collection” instead of looking for new things to buy. Here, I have things that I haven’t even tried out so much yet because I have such a huge backlog, still. I think that pretty much shows you how much I really needed to go on that ban. I pay for pretty much all of my cosmetics, except for a few sent here and there (trust me, there aren’t a lot of those), and I guess I just wanted my power over my own money back, if that makes any sense. I still do have some items coming to me, purchased before the ban. So it really won’t be so hard, I think. I just can’t purchase anything new for a while, and that’s OK. 🙂 I am iffy about posting hauls, though I do like watching them and reading …

Quickie: MAC 217, I’m a believer!

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Here’s just a tiny post to quickly address the awesomeness of the MAC 217 brush. It’s basically a fluffy brush typically used for blending out eyeshadow (based on its shape), but it can be used for a number of different things. Here’s Wayne Goss demonstrating the many uses of the 217: Even without all of these other uses, however, the MAC 217 is always praised to the high heavens by everyone and their mother, because it does its job really, really, really well. I didn’t have a lot of brushes when I started out on my makeup journey, and I’ve just really used a MAC 217 and then a RealTechniques eyeshadow brush, which is awesome as well. And then I met a few blending brushes that I didn’t get on with, which made me appreciate this one all the more. I love you, 217.

Link Love Vol. 7

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Here is a considerably shorter volume. No idea why, but I hope you still enjoy them! I also thought I ought to post these a little bit earlier so they can still qualify as “weekend reading,” so here you go. 🙂 Changing the Tone of Foundation by The Makeup Chair How do I choose a flattering eyeshadow palette? by Liz of Project Vanity — a thorough look at how you can choose eyeshadows based on your skin’s undertones DIY Lip Palette by Emily Noel of Beauty Broadcast — Here’s a nifty way of mixing and bringing OCC lip tars and similar products on the go! How has blogging helped you grow as a person? by Tine of Beautyholics Anonymous — a quick survey from bloggers all over the world Liv Tyler by Into the Gloss — Ever wondered what Liv Tyler’s bathroom looked like? Wonder no more! Thursday Poll No. 23 by Elvira of Pink Sith — elaborate nose rings: yay or nay? Celebrity Makeup Artists by Makeup by Francine — A list of truly …