Happy Friday - Week in Review 11.22.13

Quickie Review - e.l.f. Small Stipple Brush & Mascara/Shadow Shield

I completely forgot to put this up the other day when I posted the video! Sorry!

AJ's New Hair!

After much monkeying around, editing, re-editing, cursing technology (and having a beer or two), I was able to get this video up! Hope you enjoy!

Happy Friday! Update, Channel Changes, and Links!

Revlon Colorstay Nail Polish ~ First Impressions

I know. I suck at keeping up with this blog thing. I've been doing a pretty sucky job keeping up my You Tube channel too lately. Motherhood, "in-person life", etc. seem to keep getting in the way.

It doesn't stop me from *buying* new stuff quite as easily though. Lol Today I picked up a few of Revlon's new Colorstay polishes. CVS has them buy one, get one 50% of this week so I grabbed a few "spring-y" shades. On the left is "Sorbet" and on the right, "Buttercup". Both took only two coats to achieve bottle color, which I consider to be very good given that they're lighter shades. The one that REALLY impressed me (enough to make me run to the blog) was Buttercup. I loved the color in the store, but debated about purchasing it. Light shades like that are notoriously streaky and hard to worth with, but this one was a dream (at least on the swatch wheel). The brush is a medium width and slightly rounded at the tip, which was easy to work with. Not too large and the rounded end will help get a nice edge at the cuticle.

The true test, of course, will be how they apply on actual nails and, because it claims to be a "longwear nail enamel", how long it lasts before chipping. Once I get a chance to do a full mani and test it, I hope to do a review video and/or updated blog post. So far, I have high hopes for these..

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

So I was all set to get back to it and upload some new videos this week. Then gremlins came in the night and apparently attacked my laptop. After two days of trying to find and repair the problems it's time to take a break and accept that the videos I've recorded aren't going to get edited anytime soon.

Thankfully I can blog from my phone. (Yes, there's an app for that!) While it's only slightly less frustrating than playing amateur tech support with my laptop, it's a LOT more productive.

The video I have ready to upload will accompany the next blog post (when I can retrieve it and upload it) so stay tuned! I've got some fun stuff from Nails Inc to share....

Smile & Be Beautiful!
(And appreciate working technology, but back up your files just in case!)

NOTD

Just wanted to post a quick look at the polish I've been wearing. This is Wet N Wild's "Ready to Pounce" (2 coats) topped with Nails Inc's Overglaze Top Coat from the Donmar set.

The WnW polish is from their On The Prowl collection (Fall 2011) and no longer available. Sorry. The topcoat, however, is available at Sephora.

I should add that these are NOT my nails. These are glue-on Broadway nails. It was my first time trying them and I really liked them. I think I'll do a full review on them sometime.

Glamour Doll Eyes & Sugarpill Go To the Circus

and get Lit? Yeah, I took that too far, didn't I? Oh well. After a MUCH longer break than I had intended, I FINALLY had a chance to edit a leftover "holiday/party" look that I recorded in December. I like the look and I haven't done anything with GDE's Circus collection yet, so I still wanted to post it. Here's the look:

Sorry for the Cybil Shepard "Moonlighting" focus, but I grabbed these pics off my video. (Please someone say they get that. Lie to me.)

Here's the tutorial:



And here's what I used to create it:

Urban Decay Primer Potion - original
Rimmel Brow Pencil in Hazel
Sugarpill Pressed e/s: Tako, Poison Plum & Dollipop
Glamour Doll Eyes e/s: Fiji Mermaid, Electric Chair & Bearded Lady
Sally Girl e/s in Fairy Pink
MAC Chromographic Pencil in Rich Purple
Physician's Formula 2in1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum in Ultra Black
Tarte MultiplEYE Lash Enhancing Primer & Mascara

Lit Cosmetics glitter in Nightlife (mixed with their glitter base)
Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Eye Roller
Revlon Age Defying Foundation in #20
Physician's Formula Happy Booster Blush in Rose
Revlon's Colorstay Liquid Lipstick in Prime Pink
Femme Couture Lip Luster in Pink Flash

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 40!!

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!

Smile & Be Beautiful!!

Winter Skincare - Morning Routine

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).



These are the products I use:

Rare Minerals Renew & Reveal Facial Cleanser
LUSH Tea Tree Toner
Skin79 Super+ Beblesh Balm BB Cream (Gold Collection)
Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream

*** 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.

Smile & Be Beautiful!

Day to Night Holiday/Party Look feat. Naked2

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.

Smile & Be Beautiful!

New Videos!

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.

Hope you enjoy them!

Smile & Be Beautiful!

Urban Decay's Naked2 Palette!

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.

Smile & Be Beautiful!

Another FOTD featuring WnW's Bake Off Contest

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

Smile & Be Beautiful!

FOTD - Wet N Wild's "Bake Off Contest"

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. 

Smile & Be Beautiful!

Blog Neglect

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...

NOTD - Glam Gore

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!

EOTD - Mardi Gras Anytime

 Hey all!

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.

Smile & Be Beautiful!

Create Beauty - TeachTolerance

"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.

Create beauty.

Create love.

Create tolerance.

Please.

MAC Fall Colour and Posh Paradise

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!

Smile & Be Beautiful!