Thoughts and Happenings

I wanted to post a picture of my naked face.  I don’t wear makeup all that often as of yet (I’m getting better at washing my face, anyway) so to be honest most pictures that exist of me are of my naked face.  At any rate:

This may be the best photo of me to exist, ever.  I do need to re-dye the hair though.



I haven’t gotten around to taking the time to document the seriously absurd amount of makeup I have, but I did have time to drunkenly apply some makeup the other night.  I liked the results I got, but I’m going to try again A: when I’m sober and B: when it’s light enough to take a decent picture.  Oh and C: when I remember.  That’s the important bit.

I am currently using a sulfate free shampoo and I guess the learning curve is a bit frustrating, it takes me forever to shower in the morning because I can’t quite get the shampoo to clean right.  I don’t need it to foam, but if it doesn’t feel like it’s spread where I need it to I have to reapply.  I do like that my hair doesn’t seem to be quite so oily quite so fast.  Normally if I take a shower in the morning it starts getting slightly oily about 8-10 hours later.  I showered yesterday around 11 am (late start) and when I woke up this morning at 9 it still looked fairly fresh.  So there’s been enough of an improvement to stick with it.

I ordered 2 of the Aromaleigh grab bags and I know it’s gonna take her a while to get through all of those orders, but I’m pretty excited about it.  I’d never be able to afford that much eyeshadow in one fell swoop, and it’s the thing I like doing the most with.  I also have a Morgana’s order that I’m excited about too.  So I’ll have even more makeup I rarely wear!

Oh I also bought a Wet ‘n Wild pallette with colors that are really neat but didn’t show up that well when I put them on.  I think I’m not loading my brushes well enough, but my massive Sephora pallette also has some cream eye shadows that I may use to back it up with and see.

One of my struggles with this is I don’t have a makeup, like, station.   I have no vanity in the house, I recently bought a lit makeup mirror (it was on sale) but I don’t have any place to set it up, and most of my setups have been temporary and uncomfortable, so I’m working on getting that done.  Then you can see some of my laughable attempts at makeup, heh.

Google Fu: Advice from the Newb

While watching Pixiwoo on youtube a couple of days ago, she did a neat look with glitter.  (Does anyone else adore the way Sam says ‘mascara’?  I could listen to her say that over and over…)  I think she was using MAC which is kinda in the ‘won’t buy’ price range right now.  20 bucks for one items it a little spendy for me.  Also, the nearest MAC counter I know of… I always get dirty looks from them when I go to look at the pretties.  Don’t particularly want to deal with trying to buy from them.  (There was this really awesome dude who worked there who wore the coolest makeup and always had a sort of goth-biker thing going but I think he’s gotten a better job somewhere.)

So I went to Etsy and typed in Mineral Makeup Glitter.  What the hell, I’ll give it a shot, right?  One of the first results was a big gorgeous eye that was done up in black and glitter.  The price seemed to be pretty reasonable, and it was usable on the eye (which I know some cosmetic glitter isn’t).




So I Googled “[Etsy store name] reviews”.  Hoo boy am I glad I did.  Customer service issues, people asking questions that aren’t answered, evidence of reselling (which is a legitimate enough business model I guess but not what you should be doing on Etsy, Etsy is built to help people sell handmade things).  I decided to take a pass, and am still idly futzing around with the idea.  I can barely bring myself to use a solid purple on my lid, I’m not sure I can handle using glitter.

The same thing happened to me earlier today.  I was looking for sulfate free shampoo on Etsy.  I found one that looked likely, looked at the Etsy shop, thought I might buy it- and Googled the shop.  Found some really bad reviews on the customer service.  Not buying from them.

What’s the lesson?  GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.  Always always ALWAYS research the company and product you’re buying.  Read their website, and go and find out what people are saying about it.  Even if someone you know and like recommends it, look it up.  Don’t just read the first review and think ‘well okay that’s all right then’.  Read several.  You’re spending your money on this, there’s no sense in throwing it away on a bad product or a horrible customer service.

Don’t think this just applies to Indie companies off Etsy.  Remember the big dog and cat food fiasco a few years ago?  Lots of pets got sick and died?  (Oh god that freaked me out so bad, I have three cats and a dog and felt so lucky none of their food was affected.)  Or the problem with some children’s toys?  Big companies screw up too.

You can’t prevent every wasted dollar, and you’re going to try a product you don’t like- it may even make you sick!  But that’s going to happen whether you buy from Walgreens, Dillards, or the internet.
However, you can prevent getting suckered into buying products with known issues, with lousy customer service, or from just straight up dishonest owners.

What Do I Know, Anyway?

Okay, so I’ll admit, I’m not a COMPLETE makeup newb.  I’ve worn makeup before, and I actually have a staggering amount of makeup for someone who wears roughly ten times a year.

I have a bunch of samples from J. Lynne, mostly eyeshadow although I have a few blush, lip, and foundation samples.  I have some NYC makeup, I have some e.l.f. eyeshadow.  I have a huge Sephora palette that my friend bought me to cheer me up after one of my close friends passed away.  I have about a million makeup brushes I bought off e.l.f, largely unused.  I bought the e.l.f. brushes right at the end of my last makeup kick, and recently was delighted to discover I have so many.  (This is an older picture, I just can’t find my camera battery right now.)


However, I really don’t wear makeup that often.  I like makeup, I like the idea of it, and I love playing with it.  I have a pretty good basic understanding of how to apply everything at this point, and don’t feel like a total idiot putting it on anymore.  Except liquid eye liner, I apply that like an over-enthusiastic three year old.
I don’t actually have any kind of beauty… regime?  Is that the word?  I wash my hair, body, and (if I remember) my face in the shower.  If I remember when I get out, I’ll probably moisturize.  I have really quite oily skin as well as constant acne and blackheads on my nose and chin.

I have been using a Burt’s Bee’s facial cleanser which is really gentle.  I’ve recently bought a new cleanser and some moisturizer specifically for my face, I’m going to give that a trial run.

I have really nebulous goals at best.  I’d like to see an improvement in my skin.  I would like to know how to make myself up better- I’ve seen some fantastic eyes done and it always gets me really excited about eyeshadow.  I don’t really know how to style my hair that well- I can french braid it and put it in a bun or just let it dry and leave it down, but other than that I am pretty clueless.  I own a hairdryer and I use it roughly as often as there’s a solar eclipse, and I don’t think I’ve ever owned a curling iron or a flat iron.  The only hair product I’ve used is hair spray- we had gel for a while but I never used it.

So I guess this is my- I don’t know, my qualifications for newb status?  This is what I know.  I can’t pretend to be completely ignorant in the ways of makeup but I’m not any kind of expert, and eyelash curlers look like obscure torture devices to me.  I don’t wear makeup with any kind of regularity and all of my knowledge is mostly gleaned from reading beauty blogs obsessively.  I read Phyrra, Gothique, and Lipsticks and Lightsabers mostly- although they’ll link other people and I’ll read that.

TL;DR- most teenage girls have a better grasp of this than I do, but I can apply eyeliner without jabbing myself in the eye.  Most of the time.