Latisse - End of week 3

This post is late... sooo very late.  But, I've had a head cold, and I'm still sick, so there's not much more I can say about that.  I took the pictures on Tuesday, so the timeline is still intact.  :)

Something exciting happened this week.  When I put on my mascara to take the "with mascara" pictures, I noticed a definite increase in length!  I've read that some people start to notice a change within 3-4 weeks, and I was hoping I'd be one of the lucky ones who saw results that quickly!  Now that I've been sick all week, I haven't bothered with makeup since, so I'm curious to see if I notice another increase the next time I do my eye makeup.

On that note, I really, really, really, REALLY want to go get my eyelashes dyed.  The tips of my eyelashes are so blond that you can't see them without mascara on, so even now my eyelashes look pretty short when they're naked.  I hate that!  I wanted to wait to see if the Latisse would darken the hairs, but I'm feeling so impatient!

Alright, on to pictures!

End of week three, no mascara:

End of week three, with mascara:

Now, before with mascara compared to week three with mascara (I am wearing different mascaras, so compare the length, see how it's going past my crease?!?)
 Before Latisse

 Week 3

So is it just me, or do ya'll see a difference, too?

Latisse - End of week two

I probably won't be posting again this week, as I have to go out of town, and I don't think I'll have time!

I took these photos yesterday.  I have completed two weeks of Latisse, and I think I see some lengthening, but it could be my imagination!  I haven't noticed any lashes falling out since I started using Latisse.  I was using it on my eyebrows, the part closest to my nose, to try to fill in from overplucking.  It was working, but then I noticed the skin became painful to the touch.  Very, very painful.  You know how it feels when you press on a HUGE blemish?  That is how it felt.  So I stopped using it on my eyebrows, and the pain went away after about two days.  I think I'm going to try Rogain on them, but that is another post for another day.

Alrighty, time for pictures!!!

Latisse, end of week two, no mascara:

Latisse, end of week two, with mascara!!!

Five Minutes and a Sharpie

Ok, so not quite.  But, Cari asked what to do with five minutes and a sharpie, and since it was in relation to makeup and not silly things to draw on your husband while he's sleeping, here we go!

Once again NYC is making an appearance.  I swear to you I have a ton more makeup to review, but dang it, they make good stuff.  And it's cheap.  So it's cheap good stuff.  Today we have NYC Smooch Proof LipStain 16H, in Champagne Stain.  I'm assuming that "H" in the "16H" means "hours", but I can't say that it lasts quite that long.  I'd say you'll get a good 4 hours out of it with regular eating and drinking, and then you'll need to reapply.  But they are less than $5 a pop, and they look a lot like a Sharpie (hahaha! see what I did there???)

I was expecting this color to be a pale peachy pink, but it turns a dark berry on me.  Then again, keep in mind that my natural lip color goes from a plum at the lip line, to a dark berry, to a peachy pink, to a very pale peachy pink.  It's weird, and I'll take a picture one of these days to show ya'll the craziness.  So anyway, Champagne Stain looks like a berry color on me.  I topped it off with a bit of clear gloss.  Apply the clear gloss to your finger, and then smear it on your lips with your finger.  Then you won't transfer any color from your lip to your clear gloss still in the tube. Yeah, that seems obvious, but it took me forever to figure that out.

Here is my five-minute look:

I think it's not so bad.  I used:
Face:
-Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream in Light/Medium
-NYC Sun 'n' Bronze Bronzing Powder in Hamptons Radiance (for all around the edge of my face)Wet N -Wild ColorIcon bronzer in Ticket To Brazil (NOTE: This was a perfect bronzer for me when
I was tan.  Now that the tan has faded out, I use a TINY bit of this in the hollows of my cheeks, and I use it liberally for contouring my nose.  I have a huge nose.)  Today, I also used this as my eyeshadow!
-NYC Blushable Creme Stick in Berry New Yorker

Eyes:
-Merle Norman Luxiva Crystal Eyes in Diamond Girl (brow bones and inner corners of eyes)

-Cover Girl Brow and Eye Makers in Midnight Brown to fill in my eyebrows

-Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara in Extreme Black

Lips:
-NYC  Smooch Proof LipStain 16H, in Champagne Stain
-Body Shop Clear Lip Gloss

Wow, that sure does look like a lot of stuff, but it went on quickly.  Because I used bronzer for my eyeshadow, and I didn't bother with any eyeliner, the eyes went super-quick.  The mascara took the longest, and I think part of that is because I haven't used that mascara before, so the wand was messing with me.

So there are a few more pictures.  By the way, it is a TRUE 5-minute look, because my hair only took 25 seconds to do.  I did a fully-rolled sock bun last night, so I just took down the bun this morning, ran my hands through it a few times (to get any loose hairs out of there), and I was done.  I'm not going to do a tutorial on it, because it wasn't my idea, but here are the links to where I learned how to do it!  It will probably take you a few times to figure it out, and to get the curls to look right when you take your hair down, but you'll get the hang of it, and then you will have an extra hour in the morning!

Watch this one first.

Then watch this one!

And, if you want to watch her do it one more time... watch this one!

Smoky Eye

Cari asked for an eye tutorial, and I aim to please, so here we go!

This one is for a smoky eye.  You can do it up heavy for going out, or tone it down for the office.  So, it's really two looks in one!

First, the tools:

Bare Minerals Glimmer Eyeshadow in Celestine
Bare Minerals Eyeshadow in Skyline
Bare Minerals Glimmer Eyeshadow in 1990's
Merle Norman Luxiva Crystal Eyes in Diamond Girl
Sormeh by Mosha Katani in Black
Bare Escentuals eyeshadow brush for Smoky Eye
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Zero
Rimmel Volume Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black

Ok, start by applying Celestine to the area above your lid, but not all the way up to your brow bone. Go ahead and get the inner corners of your eyes, too.  Now put Diamond Girl below your eyebrow down to where you stopped applying Celestine.  Put a hefty dollop of it at the inner corner of your eye.  Blend lightly.

Now, take a bit of Skyline, and apply to the lid ONLY.  Take some time and really smudge it in there.  You want to have a light layer of this, because the better you can work it onto your lid, the less creasing you'll have later.  I smudge mine for about 30 seconds each side, and it never creases on me.  You want to make it a bit darker on the lid closest to your nose.  Try to not make the very center too dark.  If you leave it a little bit lighter it will brighten up your eyes.  I'm not explaining the effect it gives very well, but just try it, and you'll see.

See how subtle that looks?  We are going to be putting a lot of color on our lids, so we don't want to go all crazy with the base here.  Ok, now take some more Skyline, and smudge it in on your lower lid.  Your ENTIRE lower lid.  For as long as there is a curve, smudge that sucker.  You can make it fade out lighter the closer you get to your cheek, but a fantastic makeup artist guru that I practically worship has advised me to shadow the entire lower lid.  She said do it, I did it, and it looks 100 times better than when I stayed super-close to my lash line.  It makes your eyes look bigger.  Ok, so smudge away.

See?  That's not so scary, now is it?  Alright, now you are going to take that eye pencil in Zero and line your top lid's water line, and push it into the lash line up there.  Then, take your 1990's and smudge it into your outer corner, and blend just a little bit.  (DO IT IN THAT ORDER!!!  You want the pencil to have some cleanish skin to grab on to, so do the pencil first!)  Go ahead and trail the brush through your eye crease, too.  It'll give a little bit of unity to the look.  Try to not blend too much, though.  It'll end up being all the same color if you blend for too long.  You want to blend where the colors meet each other, not the whole eyelid all together.

See how the sections are distinct, but the boundaries are kinda blurry?  That's what we're going for.  Now, I think you can substitute any of the items that I'm using, except for this next one.  It's Sormeh by Mosha Katani, in Black.  There is no substitute.  Trust me, I've looked and looked for a product like this, and this is the only one out there.  It won't crease, it won't run, it won't look harsh, you just have to get it and use it, and that's just the way it is, ya'll.  Ok, so you take some Sormeh, and smudge it into your upper and lower lash line.  Use it on your waterline, too, both top and bottom.  Go ahead and add some more.  No, no, I mean it, don't be shy.  Ok, now smudge it down a little bit on your lower lid.  Now smudge up a bit from your lashline on your upper lid.  This is where we are going from wearing grey eyeshadow to having a smoky eye.

Aren't we pretty?  Ok, add some mascara.  Go ahead and add another coat of mascara if you want.  False eyelashes are fun too!  I'd put some on, but I'm doing the Latisse thing, and I want to not wear falsies while testing it out.  Oh, crap, I have fallout.  Did you?  Well, here is a super-secret trick... wipe the area clean with a baby wipe.  Now take a bit of concealer/brightener (I used Maybelline DreamLumi Touch Highlighting Concealer in Beige) and paint the area back all pretty, gently pat it to blend, and there you go, no fallout!

Now, you see why we didn't go bonkers with those first layers?  Once it all gets on there, we got DARK!  Now it's time for some margaritas with the girls!!!

Oh, wait a second... it's still worktime.  Shoot.  Well, let's tone this down a bit.  How?  Easy peasy!  Take a clean, dry napkin, and wipe once, firmly, from your nose to the end of your eye.  Not crazy firmly, but you are trying to take off a layer of color.  Do not go in any other direction.  Because of the way we put on our colors, if you go horizontally from nose to outer eye, you won't cross a dark color over a lighter color.  If you need to swipe again, USE A CLEAN TISSUE.  You don't want to muddy your colors, just take a bit of it off!!!

So here we go, toned down a bit...

See?  Still super-pretty, still sexiest gal in the office (haha!), but not too dark.  Ok, one more pic...

Just to note, you see that really faint winged effect?  That came from using the baby wipe to clean up the fallout.  Awesome, huh?  It really is the best way I've found to have a super-clean soft wing, and it is almost zero effort to get it.

Review! NYC Blushable Creme Stick in Berry New Yorker

NYC (New York Color) describes their blushable creme sticks:

"Get the glow you'll want to show with NYC New York Color Blushable Crème Stick. It gives a natural flush to your cheeks in one quick step. Soft and creamy colors can be blended to the desired intensity and coverage. This lightweight formula provides sheer, all-over color as well as subtle, shimmering accents, contours and dynamic highlights to your cheeks. Quick, on-the-go and extremely easy to apply – all for a sweet $3.99!"

I got mine from the dollar store for a buck, though.  Score!  I have a recent facination with cream blushes.  I've tried powder blushes for as long as I've been wearing makeup, and I never liked them.  They always looked so fake on me.  I can't believe I just now discovered cream blush, but hey, better late than never!!!

I bought two colors, but today I'll review the Berry New Yorker shade.

As you can see, you get a lot of product for even the full price of $3.99.

I applied the blush by swiping it from my apples to the top of my cheeks (eye level) and then blending it with a damp makeup sponge.  It blended quickly and uniformly.  I didn't notice much product loss, and it wasn't streaky or clumpy.

Now, let's get to how it looks while worn!  A few things to note first.  One, I do not wear foundation or concealor on my cheeks.  I have a natural flush, and it seems dumb to me to cover it up, and then put it back on.  Second, none of my photos are re-touched.  Third, my camera kind of sucks at picking up colors really well, and I'm going to fix that soon.

The first picture is  of the right (my left) with no blush.  Remember, there is no foundation or concealor on my cheek either, so that's just the way it looks naturally.  Big ol pores and all.

This picture is of the left (my right) cheek, with the blush applied.  Again, no foundation or concealor went on there.  Notice how the color matches my natural flush exactly???  It felt like I was applying pink foundation to my cheeks.  Finding that exact match blended and smoothed everything into a uniform tint, without looking like I'm wearing anything extra!  I am SO EXCITED for that!

Finally, here is a picture of both sides, with the left cheek blushed, and the right cheek bare.  I think you'll agree that it isn't just my imagination that the left side looks completely natural, but better.  I got so excited that I forgot to put on some lipstick before taking this photo, so sorry about that.  I'd blush about it, but I think my makeup is doing a fine job of that for me.  ;-)

Latisse - End of week one

It's the end of the first week.  Side effects have included occasional dry eyes, and occasional mild itchiness.  I don't think I would have noticed either, if I wasn't paying attention to it. I stopped using the applicators that come with it, and started using my own brush.  The applicators soak up a lot of product, touch too much of the eyelid, and don't seem to deposit very much product.  In the two days that I used the applicators, it took three drops to do both eyes, contrasted to using my own brush, which used one drop for both eyes.  I'm using an Utrecht fine sable brush (it's an artist's paint brush), and I wash it after using it.  I'm including some photos, but I don't think there is a noticeable difference from the start photos.

Pictures!

End of Week one, No mascara:

 End of Week one, With Mascara:

Review! Real Techniques Stippling Brush

I went to my local Ulta yesterday and picked up a Real Techniques Stippling Brush.
I've recently abandoned powder blushes and have begun a love affair with cream and gel blushes. Powder blushes were leaving my face looking cakey and overly powdered, and it seemed to age me dramatically. I tried out a cheap cream blush (E.L.F. All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonaid), figuring I would get the general idea and only have to spend a buck. Well, I was SOLD! I've been using my fingers to apply it, and while that works just fine, I wanted to get a brush to both cut out the time scrubbing my fingers clean and to branch out to more cream and gel blushes. I think the brush works great. It takes a bit longer than using my fingers (but that may be a learning curve), but the brush is comfortable to use and seems to be very well made.
 
So, for today's makeup, I used:
 
Face: Wet N Wild Ultimate Sheer Tinted Moisturizer in 182 Natural (everywhere except cheekbones); Hard Candy Glamoflauge in Medium (undereye, sides of nostril); Maybelline DreamLumi touch highlighting concealer in beige (bridge of nose, inner corners of eyes, face on sides of nose, bow of lips); Aveda Inner Light loose powder (everywhere except cheeks); Wet N Wild coloricon bronzer in Ticket To Brazil (hollows of cheeks); E.L.F. All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonaid
Eyes: Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero; Sormeh by Mosha Katani; Rimmel Volume Accelerator mascara in Extreme Black; Covergirl Brown and Eye Makers in Midnight Brown;  Maybelline Ultrabrow in Light Brown
Lips: Covergirl Outlast Lip Stain in Plum Pout (425); The Body Shop Born Lippy Strawberry Lip Balm Clean Face: With Makeup: 

Latisse - Week One

And so begins the great Latisse adventure of 2012. I'm hoping it'll be a great adventure, anyway. I started Latisse on Tuesday, August 7th. To start, if I'm not wearing mascara, you can barely see my lashes. I tend to wear false lashes to lengthen and fill out my lashline. I'm really hoping for super-fluttery lashes to come out of this. I'm on day 3, and I haven't noticed any side effects. Before, without mascara: Before, with mascara: