I am! :D I don't know what it is, but I don't remember being this excited about a birthday since I turned 16.
My mom and I got a bit of a head start celebrating by going to MAC yesterday where I got myself a birthday gift! I had posted a video a few weeks ago asking for help choosing eye shadows to fill my new palette! Thanks to all the wonderful advice I received, this is what I came up with...
No Flash
With Flash
It was so much fun swatching and choosing! I can't wait to do my makeup tomorrow.
Oh, and I got the nice template for the label on the inside cover here. I'll probably do a video to swatch these and the VERY pretty ombre blush I picked up from their Daphne Guiness collection. It's SO gorgeous!
I'd gotten some questions on my YouTube channel about what I do to battle dry skin in the winter. Here is my routine and my review of my first experiences using Skin79 Super+ Beblesh Balm BB Cream (Gold Collection).
*** Since I recorded this I've also started using MAC Strobe Cream under the BB Cream and have been VERY happy with the feel & finish of my skin. It feels even more moisturized without being oily and gives a very subtle brightness.
I also try hard to drink enough water to stay well hydrated and use humidifiers to battle the drying effects of the central heating in our home. Also, regularly working up a sweat is not only good for our hearts, but a great way to keep skin healthy and hydrated too!
I hope some of these products/ideas are helpful to you. If you'd like to share your favorite winter skin care products or tips, please feel free to leave them in the comments.
This look was inspired by a request I received to feature the shadow "Bootycall" from the Naked2 palette and this article about frosted lashes from Beautylish.com.
Products used for this look:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay Naked2 palette
Anastasia Brow Express kit
Physicians Formula 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eye Liner
Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
Elf Tone Correcting concealor in Apricot Beige
Milani Mineral Blush in Luminous
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in San Paulo
For the night version add:
NYX Glitter Mania in Crystal
Revlon Colorstay Lip Liner in Red
Revlon Colorstay Liquid Lipstick in Top Tomato
Milani Lip Flash in Hot Flash
Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! If you use any of these ideas or recreate this look, I'd LOVE to see pictures if you want to share. Please feel free to email them to fibercrazedbeauty@gmail.com or post a video response on YouTube.
And another week goes by before I know what's happened and I haven't posted anything here. <sigh>
I've posted a few new tutorials on my You Tube Channel using this year's Limited Edition Wet N Wild palettes. If you haven't seen them, make sure to check them out if you like Wet N Wild because you may have a chance to win them!
I also filmed a tutorial for the Mardi Gras EOTD I posted a while ago. I'll update that post with the video.
If you've been anywhere in the online makeup community in the last week or so, chances are you've heard about Urban Decay's latest palette, the Naked2. Their Naked palette last year was a HUGE success and it took many Urban Decay fans several months to get their hands on one. This year's palette promises to be almost as elusive. Since it's release on Thursday (Dec. 1st), it's sold out on the Urban Decay site at least twice to my knowledge, the first time being Thursday afternoon! Thankfully, like many others who hunted for the Naked palette last year I learned my lesson and grabbed up two on Thursday morning. I'd only done a quick bit of research before buying which is pretty unlike me, especially for a $50 palette. But I knew Urban Decay's shadows have never disappointed me and the palette seemed different enough from the first one that I didn't hesitate. I'm glad I didn't.
Here is the video I made when I received the palette. Incidentally, my package arrived Monday - only 4 days after ordering!
And here are the swatch pictures as promised. I don't do swatch pictures often for many reasons, a few being that I don't like doing them (weird for a beauty blogger, no?) and I'm TERRIBLE at it! But, for what it's worth, here they are:
No Flash, Indoor Fluorescent Lighting
With Flash - Indoor Florescent Lighting
With Flash - Indoor Florescent Lighting
If you have any suggestions to improve my swatch pictures, lighting, etc., please feel free to leave a comment. I am always interested in trying and learning new ways of doing things.
I DID film a tutorial for the first Bake Off Contest look which I will edit and post tomorrow. But I LOVED the dark blue in that palette so much last week that I really wanted to do something to show it off. So today I used only that on the outer half with Urban Decay's "Sin" on the inner half, a touch of "Naked" in the crease and Wet N Wild's Brulee as a highlight. I used the dark blue dry with an angled brush first, the patted a bit of it wet in the middle of the blue part to allow it to fade out around the edges.
This would be a great way to feature your favorite color shadow. If it's not a baked shadow or one that can be used wet/dry, you could use a slightly darker shade in the middle of the colored area or mix the same color with a tiny bit of black.
On my cheeks I just have a bit of Milani's baked blush in Luminous. No foundation or BB cream today. And NYX's Soft Matte Lip Cream in Amsterdam topped with their Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Cosmo.
If you like Wet N Wild's Bake Off Contest palette and have not been able to find it, make sure you're subscribed to my You Tube channel before the tutorial goes up. Trust me. ;D
Did you ever have a day when you hadn't planned on leaving the house, but your makeup came out really nice? That's what happened today after playing around with one of my baked palettes from Wet N Wild, "Bake Off Contest". I wanted an icy blue holiday look and I really like the way this came out. I used the lighter marbleized shade and the lightest shade in the palette wet (with some of MAC's Fix+) on my middle and inner lid, respectively. I also added a bit of silver glitter on the inner corner. On my lips I'm wearing a GORGEOUS gloss from Femme Couture called "Angel Kisses". It's a lovely glittery gloss that tastes like vanilla cake batter!
And once again no foundation! Just Skin79's Super+ BB Cream Gold! I really didn't plan on jumping on the BB Cream bandwagon. However, I was struggling with my skin as the seasons changed and having difficulty finding a foundation that worked for me. So I ordered some from Amazon about 2 weeks ago and am a convert! I plan to do a review/video about it very soon! If you've been on the fence about trying it, I'd really recommend giving it a shot. It may not replace foundation depending on the coverage you want, but it certainly seems to have improved my skin's texture and no breakouts!
Now I just need to decided where to go!
I think I'll record a tutorial for this as the next holiday look on my YouTube channel. If you have any ideas for holiday/party looks you'd like me to create (or try to), please let me know in the comments.
Okay, so blogging is not really something I'm all that good at. I've been neglecting it terribly. Sorry. It's gotten to where I feel weird inviting people from You Tube to come read here when I really suck about updating.
That said, it is what it is and I can't add this to my laundry list of things to feel guilty about, you know? Neglecting my children? Worth feeling (deservedly) guilty about. Neglecting a blog about makeup? Not so much. :D
I'm hoping that maybe in the next few days I will be able to post some pics and write about some things since I seem to have run out of videos to edit and don't foresee any time until next week to record any new ones. I typically try to record when my little one is at preschool, but she was ill today and didn't go. I have a HUGE list of things I want to do videos for, but perhaps I can share some of those things here instead.
Seeing as it's already December (good GOD, how'd that happen?!) I am planning on doing several holiday/party look type tutorials on my You Tube channel so please check them out if you'd like. I'll try really hard to remember to take some still pics and post them here as well.
Right now I need to go wash my face (again) and attempt to get lip gloss out of my eyelashes without getting it on my contacts. Yes, you read that right. It seems my youngest is never too ill to give Mommy a makeover...
I've been trying to decide what I wanted to do with my nails for Halloween. I finally settled on this - for now. I was inspired by Sokolum79's Slime Nails tutorial. My hubby laughed at me that I'm such a glitter freak I used red glitter polish for the "blood". As I always say, everything's better with glitter! Even gross, gory manicures. ;D
I used a matte white duochrome that I got from MAC last spring(?) as a base and a sparkly red from Ulta. The MAC polish is not my fave as it chips like mad, but I thought in this case it might add to the effect. And I like the pink shift the duochrome gives off next to the red. Of course, it's not matte anymore after applying a top coat...
I just followed Heather's tutorial to get the effect. I love it! It even makes me feel better about having to cut my nails so short after they were ruined by Nutra Nail's Gel Perfect that I tried a few weeks ago. But that's another post....
Smile & Be Beautiful (or Gory, or Scary or Silly or WHATEVER you want to be) and have a Happy Halloween!
Time's gotten away from me - again - since the last time I posted. Here's a quick EOTD featuring the Burning Heart and Sweetheart palettes I got last week from Sugarpill Cosmetics. I've been waiting a LONG time to purchase these palettes, though now I realize I was a fool not to get them sooner. They are THE brightest, most pigmented, totally matte shadows I've ever seen. Simply amazing. I also ordered one of their Chromalust loose shadows (Magpie) and it's equally amazing.
Apparently any day can be Mardi Gras in my world. ;D
I also used "Schizophrenic" from Glamour Doll Eyes' Super Shadows collection (center of lid to blend and highlight and inner lower lid.) Look out for a whole post/review of them coming in the near future because they're another of my fave companies.
Physician's Formula Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum (my FAVE) and L'Oreal's Voluminous False Fiber Lashes mascara (which I've used for a week and am still trying to decide if I like it or not.)
Thanks so much for stopping by! There are some new videos on my YouTube channel so check that out if you'd like.
**Update**
I created a tutorial on my YouTube channel for this look so please check it out, if you'd like to see how I got this look.
"The opposite of war isn't peace. It's creation." ~"Rent" by Jonathan Larson
A late night conversation with a new (and wise beyond his years) friend led me to the Illamasqua website today. I was vaguely familiar with some of their products and have seen in their collections how they represent makeup as art and self-expression. I've always thought their campaigns were "edgy", "out there", "dark" and "cool". I was completely unaware, however, about their roots in subculture and their work to protect people in it. I came across their page about S.O.P.H.I.E. and my heart broke.
I express who I am inside and how I feel in my makeup and what I wear. I encourage my children to learn who they are and share it with the world. I'm so proud when they hear "a different drummer" and aren't afraid to march to it.
Then I read about Sophie and I'm terrified. And sad. And tired. I'm tired of fear. I'm tired of hate. I'm tired of intolerance. I'm tired of people telling other people they're "less than" because they're different. We're ALL different. I want to scream it from a rooftop, "WE'RE ALL DIFFERENT! AND WE'RE ALL HUMAN! AND WE ALL DESERVE RESPECT! STOP BEING AFRAID OF WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"
And that's the crux of it, isn't it? People often hate what they fear and they fear what they do not understand. What's more, people are afraid to learn about and try to understand the unfamiliar. Why is that, I wonder? Is it because they're jealous of someone who seems more in touch with their "authentic self"? Are they threatened by those who have the confidence to honor and express their uniqueness? Does it piss them off that someone else feels they have the right to be real, when they themselves feel they have to conform?
I don't know. But what I do know is that Sophie could be one of my children someday. Or yours. It's terrifying to think about. And it's wrong. Plain wrong.
We HAVE to stop the hate that's tearing at our world. Renting it, if you will. It IS war. And we have to fight it with creation.
I've been indulging a bit in some of MAC's newest collections. Something about these two really caught my eye. I posted a video about my experience getting my makeup done there for the first time and a Show & Tell of what I picked up. Please go check it out if you'd like!
I actually went back and grabbed a few more items a few days later!
Hi everyone! Hope you're having a great day! I just posted a review video on my You Tube channel if you'd like to check it out.
In short, The One Sweep Sculpting Blush Duo's from L'Oreal really surprised me. I bought the first one on a lark just to see if it worked any better than their One Sweep eye shadows. (Mind you, that's not setting the bar terribly high.) I think they do. The sheerness is frustrating but it does lend to the products blending without producing a harsh line where the blush and contour color meet. Since I like sheer blushes and am pretty fair I think these will work for me. However, those with darker skin tones or who prefer a more richly pigmented blush will probably not be happy with these.
I recently stopped into one of my local drugstores that I haven't visited in a long while. I was happily surprised by the selection in their cosmetics section and found what I went for and more.
Wow! Long time no blog... or video... or tweet. Sorry about that. A whole mix of things (both technical and personal) happened, including the deletion of my You Tube channel. (Yikes!!) But I hope my long hiatus is over. I'm going to be working on recreating my YouTube channel and fixing the missing links here on the blog. I'm getting back on Twitter so come follow me there if you want. And I'm also going to be working on beefing up my page on Beautylish, which is a very cool site. Check it out if you haven't yet.
I have been trying and using a lot of new products and some old favorites over the last few months and I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you! In the meantime, here's a quick Nail Of The Day.
This is two coats of Ulta's "Army of 1" topped with 1 coat of Orly's "Prisma Gloss Gold". The Ulta color is new, I believe, and it was only $2! Gotta love that! I've had the Orly FOREVER. I think they came out with it about 3 years ago. You can still get it online. It's the coolest holographic polish. The photo doesn't do it justice - plus I used only a thin coat. You can really play it up with a heavier or multiple coats if you want.
Just a quickie today. I took a few minutes to visit some of my favorite sewing and craft blogs and this popped up!
Photo from Sew, Mama, Sew!
I still am "fibercrazed" after all. I just haven't found much time to do anything about it lately. If you're similarly crafty and want to stitch up a few of these cuties, here's the free PDF download. Or if you've never sewn before but want to try, give them a shot! Zippered bags are a great way to learn the basics as well as how to install a zipper. Either way - Happy Stitching!
I have loved to wear makeup since I was a little girl. And I mean LITTLE. I can remember, even as young as four, waiting excitedly as my mother and grandmother cleaned out their makeup bags because I knew that some of the eyeshadows, blushes, etc. that they no longer loved might become mine. They never discouraged me from watching them or experimenting on my own. I knew makeup was not for little girls to wear out or to school (though I sometimes tried. lol) It was just fun to play with different color combinations and see how my face looked different before and after.
I've adopted the same sort of attitude with my girls - and my son for that matter. He asked to wear nail polish when he was about 4 and I obliged. He lost interest pretty quickly, but I was (and would still be) supportive of his desire to try it. Most people would agree that 9-12 is a bit too young to wear makeup regularly or to school, but I really believe it's a great idea to introduce kids to some good techniques for applying it so they've had lots of practice before they ARE old enough to wear it out into the world. I sort of think about applying makeup at this age like learning to paint but on a mirror image of a 3D canvas. Painting on a flat surface takes practice and makeup is no different. It takes practice and trial and error. But the end result is 1) a teen that can express themselves through makeup with confidence and 2) parents that are confident in their teen's ability to wear it tastefully and in an age-appropriate way.
I really like doing these videos. Not in a "you have to go out and buy this product" kind of way, but more of a show & tell/ "this is my opinion about this stuff to help you if you were considering it anyway" type thing. It's fun to think back over the last month and pull things out that I've enjoyed a lot. It brings back memories of what I did those days, who I spent time with, or what was generally going on in my life. It's like a little 30 day time capsule! The days and weeks go by SO fast it's nice to look back, even if it's just via the makeup table.
Here's a run-down of all the products I mentioned. I've listed where *I* got them, but most can be found in other places as well:
Welcome to the second part of my Body Image Makeover series! In this video I share what I've found to be true about the importance of moving your body with some type of exercise or activity. The focus is not on weight loss or being a certain size or even the health benefits of doing so (which there are LOTS) but on how it can boost your self-image and confidence by reminding you how strong your body is and how it can rise to the challenges involved in elevating or maintaining a fitness level. Whether you can walk five minutes or run five miles, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you celebrate your accomplishments and what your body can do for you when you work WITH it instead of against it. I hope some of you find this helpful! (Re-posted from my YouTube video.)
A Tibetan monk, a passionate woman, and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee all walk into LUSH....
Sounds like the beginning of a strange (and possibly distasteful) joke, doesn't it? But it's no joke at all. These people and others figured prominently in some fascinating stories of LUSH history that I was privileged to hear recently at LUSH-Tuttle Crossing's Blogger Event. Other stories featured perfumers with the souls of musicians, a company big-wig who began her career washing soap molds in the factory and "master compounders" who are capable of making, by hand, every product LUSH carries.
LUSH's product line is innovative and exciting. The products are pretty amazing. They are beautifully and thoughtfully made with not only the customer's, but the entire planet's needs in mind. They smell intoxicating. They're good for our skin. They require minimal packaging. They work as promised. They make us feel good about buying products that have a lower environmental impact. They make something as mundane as washing our hair fun. They make taking a bath an event.
I could go on and on about LUSH's products and give you a review of the ones I've tried or tell you more about its history. Much of that information, however, is on its website. (I HIGHLY recommend you go there and read more about this unique company.) But I believe it's not just the products themselves that transform a curious new customer into a rabid "Lushie" in one visit. Anyone I hear speak about LUSH beams when they talk about it. While the products are certainly worth raving about they simply cannot account for the giddiness that overcomes a LUSH customer at the mere mention of it's name. There's more to LUSH than bath bombs and bubble bars.
Last week I purchased some items from Forever 21. I've never shopped there before but on that particular day I saw a tweet (yay Twitter!) that the owners were going to donate ALL of the day's online sales (not profits, but total sales)to the relief efforts in Japan. I've seen hauls from other YouTubers and knew they had cute accessories so I decided to check it out. After all, accessories almost always fit and they're not makeup (which I gave up buying - kinda - for Lent.) ;D
I ordered with about 10 minutes to spare that day (March 18th), got free shipping and received my very nicely packaged order the following Friday. The items are cute and affordable and decent quality for the price. Are they going to last me for years? Probably not. But they'll certainly last me for the season and probably beyond. The shoe sizing for the pair I bought was right on as was the belt sizing. Yes, my plus-sized beauties, there is a Forever 21+ for us! Overall, I am very impressed with the experience and will no longer be overlooking this store when I'm shopping.
I forgot to post this video here the other day! This is another look from Kat Von D's Truth palette. I had so much fun with this one! I hope you enjoy it!
This is the first of two looks I plan to do with this versatile palette from Kat Von D. Hope you enjoy it! A full product list is on the video page on YouTube.
I began a new series yesterday on my YouTube channel. I think it's a really important topic. I'd love to write more about it, but at the moment I'm more comfortable just speaking about this rather than trying to write. So please check out the video if you'd like to hear more about the purpose of the series and the first step in the body image makeover - learning to accept a compliment.
After all is said and done with the introduction, the bottom line and first challenge in this series is to re-train ourselves to accept compliments graciously. Rather than rejecting someone else's admiration - that they've taken the time and effort to share with us - a simple, genuine smile and "Thank you" can make a tremendous difference in the energy around us. After the initial awkwardness has passed (no different than adopting any new habit) it feels wonderful to accept and internalize the positivity that someone has offered and it makes them feel good too!
So the next time someone says something kind to you, rather than brushing it off or diminishing it with some self-critical response, smile and thank them! It's a beautiful thing!
Last post for the day! I just wanted to share some pictures and swatches of the rest of the things I picked up from Sephora and MAC during my Fat Tuesday "beauty binge". If you'd like to hear more about these thing please watch my YouTube video.
Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Illumintaing Serum, Michael Kors Leg Shine, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, Paco Rabanne Lady Million, Kate Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Truth
MAC Lipglass in Docile & Nail Lacquer in Frayed to Order (from the Jeanius collection), Wonder Woman Eye Shadow X4 in Defiance, MAC 217 Blending Brush
Whoa, mama! I am IN TROUBLE. As I mentioned in my last post I found my local LUSH counter/store. My makeup buying budget is going to take a serious hit as I use those funds to finance my newest obsession. I know obsession is a strong word, but I am seriously smitten with this place and it's products. I've posted a haul video on YouTube so go check it out (that is if you can handle 17 minutes of me gushing uncontrollably over this stuff. lol)
I visited LUSH for the first time yesterday after hearing about it from several people on YouTube. I happen to live near one of the only three in the entire state! Lucky me!!! I have SO much to say about our visits (yes, multiple. We went back later last night for more!) But for now I just want to share about the first product I tried. Not only was Morgan kind enough to give us a tour of their products (and was totally sweet and cool to my daughters), she gave me a VERY generous sample of their Hair Doctor hair and scalp treatment. My scalp tends to get very dry and itchy. Whether it's just dry scalp or true dandruff, who knows? What I do know is that I am always on the look out for ways to calm it. Dandruff/dry scalp shampoos are pretty much a no-go for me since they 1) dry my hair out badly and 2) suck the Manic Panic out of my hair faster than I can apply it. So sample in hand (along with a nice little purchased haul) this LUSH newbie went home to see what would happen.
A few people have requested some more tutorials using the new Wet N Wild Color Icon Palettes and I'm happy to oblige! I hope you like it! This is the look I was wearing in my February Favorites video.
Is it really March already?? February seemed to be a really great month for me makeup-wise. I was able to try a lot of new stuff and pretty much liked everything I tried. Here are some of my favorites...
Clockwise from bottom left:
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Medium
Everyday Minerals Blush - Tea Time
Wet n Wild Color Icon 8 Pan Palettes - Petal Pusher, Blue Had Me at Hello & Comfort Zone
New tutorial up today! It's an Arabic inspired look that I did using only the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils. I got the idea to use only the pencils for an entire eye look from gossmakeupartist. (Thanks, Wayne!) I hope you enjoy it!!
"If you can't love yourself, how in the HELL are you gonna love somebody else?"
~ RuPaul
Anyone who knows me in person knows how strongly I believe that our society's current definition of "beauty" is unattainable, unhealthy and ridiculous. In an age of digital photography and Photoshop, the pursuit of "perfection" has become absurd. Gorgeous women, who even in person conform most closely to that narrow definition of "beautiful", are enhanced, retouched, airbrushed and "perfected" until they barely resemble themselves. Women and girls look at that photo, believe THAT is how the model or celebrity really looks and wonder why they will never look the same. Men are made to believe that is what they should want. And what about the subject of the photo herself? How would you like to be, in effect, told despite the fact you live on half a rice cake a day, have had your hair colored, your teeth capped, spent hours working out and having your hair and makeup done so you can look like the "ideal", that you still aren't good enough? It's complete madness.
So given the fact I feel this way, WHY in the world have I started a blog about make-up and nail polish? WHY have I started making "beauty" videos on YouTube? Well, I have a lot of reasons - both simple and complex - but the most basic reason is because I love it. I love wearing make-up and nail polish, coloring my hair and playing with my appearance. I enjoy making myself look different each day. Not better, just different. I like sharing with others and I like passing on what I'm learning.
