Happy Birthday to Me!

I can't quite believe it's already been a year since I began blogging about my journeys in makeup, beauty, & fragrance--and what a "wonderland" of experiences (lovely and frightful both) it has been!  Throughout the past year I have found some wonderful fellow bloggers and several favorite companies both for makeup, bath & body products, and fragrance.

To honor my birthday (which was yesterday, so I TOTALLY took the day off from the interwebs :D ) and blogiversary I have decided to do a little re-vamping around my little corner of the beautynet and added the following new features:

• A page for my favorite companies, categorized by type of product and arranged alphabetically
• A list of my Holy Grail items across all beauty categories
• Forum Link Love: a sidebar list of awesome forums filled with a mixed bag of folks who all love (insert forum topic here), and...
• BLOG SALE PAGE!!!

That's right, folks, throughout my wanderings I have discovered many amazing products--shimmery, smoky, and silky shadows; glowing blushes; fabulous foundations and BB creams; luscious lippies; and fantastic fragrances.  Which means my beauty collection is (for me at least) out of control!

So now I would like to share with you, my dear followers!  Check out the great deals on the Sale page and find some new friends--and perhaps favorites--of your own ;)  Products will be organized by category, company, and condition (new/used) and every purchase will include makeup, bath/body, and/or fragrance samples, so please don't be shy about requesting which you would prefer.

Cheers to wrapping up 2011 with a pretty bow and welcoming 2012 with joy!

Me ke aloha,
Lizzy

First Impressions: Sonoma Scent Studio

Oh, I've found myself a new addiction and it is...PERFUME.

Never thought this would be me, what with my long-standing disdain of the department store fragrance counter, but no escaping it now: first my PBFF (that's "Perfume BFF" to the novices out there) Ki introduced me to the Wiggle (Nani, the proprietress, makes incredible scents including limited edition Rosalba, that was the first scent that ever triggered a "back-up bottle" purchase)--which touched off an exploration of small-scale, artisan perfumers such as The Morbid the Merrier (I fell for Athelia, a dark and edgy fig) and Solstice Scents (Lace Draped Spectre is a beautiful spicy-incensey carnation).  Our online convos also took in the conventional fragrance scene, leading me to the perfume shelves at my local Sephora--and a bottle of Lavanila's Vanilla Passion Fruit plus a rollerball of their Vanilla Grapefruit, as well as the discovery that some "men's" fragrances (Burberry for Men, Tom Ford's Grey Vetiver) smell really, really good on me.

What I did during my (end of) summer vacation!

Hello again, my wonderful and lovely readers!  So sorry to have been away from you so long, but the end of summer is a season all it's own in my little corner of the hula world:

LU`AU SEASON

Which means that my days consist of three phases: work (long), sleep (little to none), and...

HULA

The halau I belong to tries as much as possible here on the mainland to keep to a traditional lu`au, which means we all work together--very hard--to present all aspects of the event, including making our own adornments (fresh greenery lei for head, wrists/ankles, implements, etc.), costumes designed by our Loea Hula and made either by ourselves (if we have the skill) or a seamstress (if we don't--I'm in this category, myself), hours of extra practice every week to get us looking maika`i (good) as a group, digging an imu (underground oven) to cook all the kalua pork and then shredding the roasted meat by hand, cooking all the food, setting up the hall, doing our own/each other's hair, makeup, etc., serving the guests who bought tickets for the event (we had more than 500 this year!!), and of course...

DANCING

From our Dress Rehearsal in mid-to-late August until the event in mid-to-late September, our lives revolve around our hula; for me this entails cutting back on social networking and other online and RL social activity as I squeeze my Lu`au-related commitments into every bit of spare time I can eke out from my work schedule.  After the event, our halau closes for a week for some much-needed R&R and my DH & I take off for Hawai`i to enjoy the break!

Now that I'm back, I wanted to give you all a slice of my RL, Island style ;)

close-up of the lei I wove for my ipu heke, or double-gourd drum, which I had the privilege of performing with during the Kahiko (ancient) segment of the Lu`au program.

Some of my Papa Hanohano ladies & I during the feast--note the gleam off the foodservice gloves we're wearing--sexy, yeah? ;P

Outside just before the show, when the halau gathers for a pule, or prayer, to ensure a good performance.  See the pretty fern lei on my head & wrists?  Yeah, I made those!

On stage with my Hanohano sistahs dancing an `Auana, or modern-style hula titled Akahikuleana A Ka Piko

Me with our alaka`i (class leaders) & aunties dancing Queen's Jubilee, composed by Hawai`i's last monarch, Queen Lili`uokalani, when she traveled to England to take part in the celebration of Queen Victoria`s reign

The Tahitian segment is always the most popular part of our show; here I am dancing the mamaroa "Na Te Moana"

If I managed to look beautiful in any of these pics, it is thanks in part to my much-loved indie makeup companies--my eyes were highlighted by a combo of Thunderpants by MPZ and (later in the show), Meerkat by Fyrinnae, with Fenix (Liquid Kiss Luxe) by DGC on the lips for Kahiko (more neutral and therefore appropriate for performing the "ancient" style hula) and then Nevermore (tinted lip balm) by Morgana Cryptoria with clear gloss over the top.  Mahalo, ladies, for helping me look fab for our guests!

And here's Kaua`i, where the DH & I went for some much needed down-time ;D

Waimea Canyon, often called "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific," as seen through the poor lil' camera on my iPhone 3G o.O

The north side of the island, which is the area where we stayed.

View from our hotel room at the west end of Hanalei Bay the last evening of our stay

Thanks for letting me share this beautiful experience with you all!  Next time, I promise to have more lovely looks/reviews/swatches etc. for your enjoyment <3

Me ke aloha,
Lizzy

More MPZ Goodness (pic heavy!) :D

So I'm finally getting around to posting the awesomeness that is my latest My Pretty Zombie haul--such a slacker, me!  These goodies were from an end-of-July sale that I just could NOT resist o.O

Actually in my own defense it's been a pretty hectic August so far: a rush to learn two chants and two dances for a hula ceremony welcoming six waka that have traveled all the way across the Pacific, getting locked into my office at work for nearly 3 hours with my supervisors & coworkers last Tuesday during a very public standoff with a lolo who took a potshot at the officer (didn't hit him TG) who wanted to question him about an armed robbery (the suspect decided to hide in the apartment complex behind our building >_<), and Tahitian rehearsal today (3.5 hours, nearly 50 dancers packed into a studio the size of my family room, which is maybe 325 square feet--talk about hot & humid, ugh!).

I was feeling like I needed a little fun (& a lot of glamor) today, so yeah--MPZ!! :D Much better!

Here is the haul itself (more after the jump):

Don't you just love the monster teef?  And look, extra love from Andrea <3

And the winners are...

First of all, mahalo to all the lovely women who have followed and supported me both from the beginning and more recently--you are all wonderful!!  Another mahalo to the ladies who chose to take part in this giveaway, I truly appreciate all the love you sent my way during this past week-ish ;D

Second, as mentioned in the giveaway post, all entries were placed into a spreadsheet in the order received and winners were selected using Random.org.  After the first prize winner was selected, I deleted that entry from the spreadsheet and a second prize winner was selected, and so on for the third.

All winners have been notified of their prizes and have 48 hours to contact me and provide a mailing address; otherwise another winner will be selected.

Winner of the first prize is...Christa!!

Christa is the author of Play Hard, Look Fabulous, awesome stuff!

Winner of the second prize is...Ki!!

Yay!!  Ki chronicles her beauty adventures in Ki and Makeup ;)

Last but not lease, our third prize winner is...Nguonie!!

Nguonie is a newcomer here at The Nature of Beauty; welcome!!

Congratulations to the winners of my first giveaway, how fun!  I've got a blog anniversary (and birthday!!) coming this November, hopefully by then I'll have more wonderful things to share with you, my lovely readers <3

MKA (Me Ke Aloha),

Lizzy

50+50+100=Time to Celebrate (CLOSED)

When I began this little corner of beauty blogdom a full 8 months ago *gasp!* I never would have thought it would lead me to a Facebook fanpage and busy-enough-for-me Twitter account.  For the longest time, I had the same "faithful few" followers on the blog and I owe a BIG TIME mahalo to those ladies for their encouragement in those first few months--my sincerest appreciation to my "O-Shit Girls": mNg, Erin, Amanda S., Snarky P, Shelby G, Elyse, Cheryl, Rebecca, Amanda R., Ashley--I would not have done any of this without your kind words and unflagging support!

Today, I have just over 100 fans on the RiverCityLizzy Facebook page, 50+ followers on Twitter, and 46 here on The Nature of Beauty (okay so this last count is not quite 50 but FB has 102 and Twitter, 52 so there's my "final four" LOL!).  Total count: 200 lovely people following my wanderings in (mostly indie) makeup, bath, and beauty.

Honestly, I'm humbled and incredibly thankful.  Over these months, makeup and beauty has been a soother through some truly challenging RL moments and the online community of caring and strong-willed women and men has been an inspiration--and at times, salvation.  Now it's my turn to "pay it forward" and show YOU some love:  GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

I have amassed quite a collection of unused perfume samples, BB Cream & other Korean cosmetic samples,  dupes acquired when I accidentally ordered extra of an item I already had, and a few fun things I received as GWP.  Enough items, in fact, that I am able to put together three (3) prizes for this giveaway!  AWESOME!!

Grand Prize

One winner will receive the assortment of goodies pictured above:
1 pocket mirror with pink satin travel pouch
1 unused, full-size handmade bar of Grapefruit Orange coconut milk soap from DeShawn Marie on Etsy
1 travel size (2.0 fl oz) Redken Shine Flash 02 glistening mist
1 full size (5 mL) Noelia perfume oil & sample vial of 3 Ring perfume oil from The Morbid the Merrier
1 sample vial of Tweedledum from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL)
1 sample vial of Jasmine Verbena from Wiggle Perfume & Sundries on Etsy
1 full size solid scent in Barista from One Hand Washes the Other
1 Milani Lip Flash jumbo lip pencil in #07 In A Flash
1 Wet 'n' Wild lipstick in #521A Fuchsia with Blue Pearl
1 Wet 'n' Wild lipstick in #552A Just Garnet
1 Beauty Friends Royal Jelly facial mask sheet (single use)
1 Charcoal Pore deep cleaning strip
2 Skin79 BB Cream samples (Super Plus Pink BB Cream & Super Plus Gold BB Cream)
1 Skin 79 facial serum sample + 1 mystery Korean beauty sample ;)

Prize #2

A second winner will receive the prize pictured above, which includes:
1 pocket mirror with pink satin travel pouch
1 unused, full size handmade coconut milk & sugar soap in Sugar Lime from DeShawn Marie
1 Vanillology1 Sample Trio of perfume oils(Vanilla Cream, Peppermint, & Vanilla Peppermint) from One Hand Washes the Other
1 sample vial of Dragon Heart from BPAL
1 sample vial of Kumquat & Green Mango from Solstice Scents
1 Wet 'n' Wild lipstick in #505A Light Berry Frost
1 Beauty Friends Coenzyme Q10 facial mask sheet (single use)
1 Charcoal Pore deep cleaning strip
3 Korean beauty samples: Skinfood Mushroom Multi-care BB Cream #2, Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing Oil, and Petit Bijou body wash in Cotton Snow

Prize #3

The third and final prize package will include the items shown in the pic above:

1 pocket mirror with pink satin travel pouch

1 unused, full size handmade coconut milk & glycerin soap in Tangerine Birch from DeShawn Marie

1 full size solid scent in Carnivale from One Hand Washes the Other

1 Wet 'n' Wild lipstick in #520E Hot Paris Pink

1 sample vial of Kumquat & Green Mango from Solstice Scents

1 sample spray of Privet Bloom perfume by Hampton Sun

1 Charcoal Pore deep cleaning strip

2 Korean beauty samples: Holika Holika Smoothie Peeling Jam in Grape Expectation and ElishaCoy Always Triple BB Cream

Please read the following rules carefully to ensure successful entry into this giveaway:

Mandatory Entry  You MUST be a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect AND comment below on which item(s) from the giveaway you would be most interested in trying.  You must include in your mandatory entry your GFC name and a valid email address so that you may be contacted in a timely manner should you be chosen as the winner.

**NOTE**Anyone who does not submit the mandatory entry described above will have all other entries invalidated.

Extra Entries (OPTIONAL)  Please leave a separate comment for each task so I can better track your entries, because heaven knows I rarely have time myself to track all the "extras" plus the mandatory entry for a giveaway in order to enter all in one comment, so I can hardly expect my readers to do what I would not, yeah? ;)

1.  Follow me on Twitter @rivercitylizzy and comment below with your Twitter user ID (1 extra entry)
2.  Tweet about the giveaway a maximum of once per day, maximum of six days during the giveaway (1 extra entry each tweet for a max of 6 extra entries).  PLEASE include the link to your tweet in your comment (found by clicking on the time stamp on your tweet)
3.  Like RiverCityLizzy on Facebook and comment below with your FB name (1 extra entry)
4.  Share this giveaway on FB and include the link to your post (found by clicking the time stamp on your post).  You can post up to once per week during the giveaway (2 extra entries each for a max of 4 extra entries)
5.  Write a blog post about the giveaway and include a link to your post (4 extra entries)
6.  Add this giveaway to your blog's sidebar and include a link to your blog (2 extra entries)
7.  If you are a regular commenter on this blog, you automatically will receive 4 extra entries (no worries, I know who you are ;D )

This giveaway is open internationally and will end on Saturday, August 13 at Midnight PDT.  All entries will be placed in a spreadsheet and 3 winners will be chosen at random through Random.org at which time the winners will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond.  If the first winner(s) fail to contact me within that time frame a new winner(s) will be chosen again at random.

Disclaimers
The items in this giveaway were either purchased by me or were sent to me as free samples with purchase and in no way represent an endorsement of the companies listed or linked to in this post.  PLEASE NOTE that all items are new and unused, however the DeShawn Marie soap boxes have been opened for sniffing purposes BUT NOT TOUCHED.  By accepting the prize as is you acknowledge that you have been advised of this fact.  IF YOU WOULD PREFER A SEALED, UNOPENED ITEM a substitution can be made for the soaps; in this case please notify me of your preference upon being informed of your winning and I will make arrangements for another selection to be sent to you--please allow some extra time for the delivery of your prize.

Have fun, good luck, and most of all MAHALO FOR ALL YOUR LOVE & SUPPORT <3

MKA,

Lizzy

Awards Avalanche & An Apology

OMG this is WAY overdue--I'm so sorry, mNg!!

Was tagged FOREVER ago by the completely lovely (and infinitely patient) mNg of I’m Not Skinny-So What? for the following awards/memes:

& the Would You Rather Beauty meme!  My sincerest thanks and most humble apologies to my friend, who passed along these awards/tags to me in good faith and has had an incredibly long wait for a response from me.  Bad Lizzy!!  No chocolate ;P


So, want to know more about me, as stipulated by the various rules/questions posed by these honors? Jump in with me!

Uhhhggghh...fix it!!

FOTD:  I'm not even gonna put the day I wore this, SO far behind, ewewEW! XP

Point is--there was a day, not terribly long ago, that I came home and wanted to play with the sparklies.  I was in a happy kine mood--which is saying something on a weekday, because I tend to get pretty taxed by the j-o-b.  I had recently received some new-ish samples of the Friday the 13th ("F13") collection by Meow Cosmetics **ducks a thwack from Christa**.  I also picked up a couple of UD 24/7 eye pencils from my local Sephora during my hunt for Dad's Day presents.

I did my thing, primed, blended, patted, blended, buffed...you get the idea.  And the look was just...so...

MEH:

Well, the lip color was pretty alright...

Not that it was an epic fail or anything, it just wasn't what I was going for.  I wanted some flash and wound up with something way more washed-out than intended.  Wanna see how I fixed it?  Jump!

Last Day to Enter: TOXiD-LOTUS.NET 100 GFC Followers Giveaway!

Alright, lovely people, today is the last day to enter Manda's 100 Followers Giveaway over at TOXiD-LOTUS.NET, featuring an incredible array of makeup goodies by My Pretty Zombie, Black Rose Minerals (both of whom donated items to the prize), High Voltage Cosmetics, Morgana Cryptoria, Essence, and Wet n Wild!  You really DO NOT want to miss this ;D

Photo courtesy of TOXiD-LOTUS.NET

This generous giveaway includes the incredible Husbandry Afflictions trio from My Pretty Zombie; this soon-to-be-released (July 16th) set of gorgeous can be seen on Manda's blog here.  The giveaway closes at 11 PM PDT tonight, so y u no enter yet?? Get over there and grab your chance at these pretties!!

MKA and good luck to all!

Lizzy

Giveaway: Glitter is My Crack

The name always makes me smile ;)

Good morning, lovely readers!  Beautiful Blix over at Glitter is My Crack is having a pretty neat giveaway--want to see what's up for grabs?

What a haul!! Pic courtesy of Blix at Glitter is My Crack

Blix is giving away the entire 1920's Collection of lipsticks (in pots) recently released by Morgana Cryptoria!  These shades are so very cool and retro, I know I'd love to have them :D  She's including the lip wands from e.l.f., her fav way to apply these lippies.

But there's more:  Blix is throwing in BOTH the Shifty Eyed AND Murder Mystery eye collections as well as some lovely pale jewels of her own.  Time is running out to enter, so go visit the giveaway post now!

MKA and good luck ;)

Lizzy

Nail'd & Polish'd: Summer Giveaway!!

Summertime, and the giveaways they are aplenty!!

Cindy over at Nail'd & Polish'd (who does amazing NOTDs by the way, so if you haven't already done so, folks you MUST go check her out ;D) is hosting one giveaway of pretty summer polishes:

Photo courtesy of Polish'd Cindy ;)

Photo courtesy of Polish'd Cindy

Pretty, yeah?  I think the lip gloss and the mini with it would be pretty universally flattering and the trio of matte minis just SCREAMS Summer!!! doesn't it?

Go on over to Nail'd & Polish'd and enter to win here!!

My Girls MJ & TY

FOTD: Saturday, June 11 2011

(Whoa, almost a month late, this post...eeuughh)

I finally got a break in my recent streak of working weekends that lasted three straight and decided to play with my recent goods from My Pretty Zombie (MPZ).  I had posted a previous look around the time I first got the order (see that post here), but it used a sample that was a GWP and I wanted to bust out the full sizes ;D  Even better--I got to do this look during the day, so I have pics in (gasp!) natural light as well this time!!

My MPZ girls: Maryjane and TaraYvonne <3 ya sweeties!!

Of course, I had to do the flash pics also, more after the jump!

(not) Making It Up: Testing

Have you seen? Gossip Cat's blog has gotten a makeover! Check it out: (not) Making It Up: Testing

Linnaeus Cosmetics: 9 Days to Launch!

Pre-Launch Festivities and FOTD


A couple of weeks ago I was returning from a lovely dinner at my dads' home when I saw the following in my Twitter timeline:

Alright all you awesome bloggers out there, want free LC samples?

Well, bless my soul, who wouldn't want to get in on that??  Turns out, the lovely and very kind Marin, creator and proprietress of Linnaeus Cosmetics (the "LC" referenced above) was offering samples of some of her yet-to-be released shadows to help promote the upcoming launch of her new website, linnaeuscosmetics.com

First Impressions: Wiggle Perfume & Sundries Part Two

In my first post on the intriguingly described offerings by Wiggle Perfume & Sundries on Etsy, I introduced about 1/2 of the 17 samples that I received in a recent order from this seller, the majority of which (15 of 17) I had purchased.  Here's a rundown on the rest:

Part Deux--read on to find out more about Puanani, Penelope, and more!

First Impressions: Wiggle Perfume & Sundries Part One

I'm going to break down my review of Wiggle Perfume & Sundries perfume oils into two parts, because I ordered a whopping 15 samples (!!) and am afraid that lands firmly into "high risk of TL:DR."

I requested:  Djuna, Anjali, Speakeasy Vanilla, Penelope, Hala, Carmilla, Valdosta, Mathilde, Maya, Orange Blossom Honey, Jasmine Verbena, Coconut Lotus, Mostly Magnolia, Nicosia, and Selene.

A plethora of perfume oils, roughly 1/2 my haul!

Me and my BBs (pic heavy!)

I thought I would pause to do my first BB Cream comparison, though my collection is by no means extensive...

My tools ;)

For a reference point, my skin tone is generally a medium golden-beige but tends to darken in the summer--Meow’s foundations in Korat seem to be a perfect match for me, ranging from Frisky to Fierce depending on season and sun exposure:

Harlow's

FOTD & Gig Look: Sunday, June 5, 2011

Remember the loveliness that was "Goth Rainbow"?  Well, this much more toned-down look is what followed the next day--and what a day that was!!  I began by getting up early (on a Sunday!!  and the second one in a row, no less o.0) to pull together my costumes and adornments for a hula gig in the evening, then getting dressed for our first Tahitian dance workshop of the season.  We worked our butts off for just over an hour learning an entire dance, then went home to do a quick clean-up (no time for a full shower, ack!), put on the makeup, dress in my halau uniform (a yellow Hawaiian print on grass green fabric), make sure everything I needed for the gig was in the car, and hightail it to the venue--`auwe!!

This gig was unique in that it included a pair of kahiko or ancient-style dances; this usually requires two things that separate it from `auana or modern-style--the dancers must have adornments made of natural materials (FRESH greenery and kukui-nut lei in our case) and should not be wearing "loud" makeup.  Here's what I went with:

Smoked it up a little for the stage, lol!

Awards Encore

Stylish Blogger Award and One Lovely Blog Award--Thanks mNg!!

Well, the sun finally came out in Sunny CA--which means my hay fever has undergone a late resurgence and my eyes are in misery.  So no LOTDs for a bit =( but it also lets me catch up on some posting =)  Tragedy and comedy in balance, such is life!

I'm smiling through allergy-induced tears right now because mNg of I'm Not Skinny--So What? tagged me for a couple of awards; mahalo a nui loa, e nani mNg!!  Here's what I just picked up from her:

This one looks like the "shabby chic" version of the award--cuteness!

"Like a Goth Rainbow"

FOTD June 3, 2011

It was Friday, I was tired as heck at work and soooo looking forward to quitting time.  Toward the end of the day, my dad calls to ask: "you have any plans this evening?"  To which I replied, "Ah, no.  Why?"

"Steve & I did the wine pouring thing today and we're having the neighbors over for wine tasting.  About 6:30?"

First, let me decode:  "the wine pouring thing" refers to the California State Fair's annual wine competition, where judges award ribbons for the best wines in the state.  It's a well-documented fact that CA makes some seriously world class wine (though it's by no means the only game in town, it is definitely one of the pleasures and privileges of living here), so there's some kick ass stuff in this competition.  My dad has worked this event for eight years now.  One of the perks: you go home at the end of the three-day competition with about a case or so of opened bottles that were part of the competition tasting.  Bigger perk: a couple of weeks after the competition you get to pick up your "payment"--nearly 3 cases worth of unopened wine!!

"...we're having the neighbors over for wine tasting" refers to what needs to be done as soon as possible with the case-ish of opened wine: drink it up now.  Otherwise you will soon have very sour wine, which unless you have the knack for converting it to vinegar, is a total waste.

Of course I said, "sure, I'll be there"!  I just got a package that week from Andrea of My Pretty Zombie (MPZ), which is a fav of fellow bloggers mNg and Manda, among others.  I decided to bust out the sample of Wicked Crochet for this impromptu gathering, as it has an inky purple base that just said "wine tasting party."  When I posted the pics of this look to my FB page, my friend Erin commented the following:

It's like a goth rainbow ♥

I loved that so much I asked if I could use it for the title of this post, to which she graciously agreed ;)  Mahalo sweetie!!  Here's the look:

Dusty Musket

FOTD & Party Look, May 27 2011

So my friend and hula sister was having her golden birthday this day (27 years old on the 27th, hurrah!!) and to celebrate she had invited many family and friends to her home overlooking a nearby river for food, music, and dancing!  Yeah, I took part in the "floor show," in which the honoree and/or any relatives and friends who are able sing, play music (ukulele in this case), dance (hula, yeah?), or talk story about the birthday girl or boy.  Can you say "hana hou" (encore)?  The other guests certainly did!

Dancing makes me sweat, so it's a good thing I've recently received a tube (well, two really--figured I should lay in a supply lol!) of Pixie Epoxy (PE) as part of my latest Fyrinnae order.  No budging of the sparklies for me, no ma'am!  I didn't want to outshine the birthday girl, who is an esthetician and beautiful makeup artist, so I went for something that didn't scream "look at me!!"

Okay, so it doesn't whisper "wallflower" either ;)  This one's with flash, btw.

I love winging up my eyeshadow like this, it makes me look much more "cat eyed" than I really am, heheh.

Natural light

As this was an evening look (well, I wore it for the evening), I decided to forego the use of BB Cream to tone down the "dewy" factor, especially since I knew I'd be dancing and didn't want to look like I was sweating too much lol!

On my eyes:
TFSI Original + PE
ARC Dusty Rose (lid)--canNOT believe how intense this "mild mannered" pink became over PE!!
ARC Musket (outer lid/corners, crease, & lower lid)
ARC Powdered Wigs (brow bone & inner corners)
Indy by Mixology (brows)
UD 24/7 pencil in Yeyo (inner 1/2 of waterline) & Zero (outer 1/2)
Benefit badGal Lash mascara

On my face:
Benefit POREfessional (apples of cheeks, nose, and forehead)
Meow Equilibrium Balancing Powder (primer)
Meow Pampered Puss Foundation in Naughty Korat

Cheeks: Meow PINK Inc Blush in Flamingo

Lips:  Aveda Nourish-Mint lip color in Sutra topped with a bit of MAC Viva Glam Cyndi Lipglass

Eyes closed with flash to show off the awesomeness that is Dusty Rose over PE <3

Natural light showing where Musket meets Dusty Rose on the middle lid

Once again I bear witness to the power of PE: too tired after the party to do anything but fall into bed I slept with this look on and when I woke up in the morning the shadow was still in place on my eyes!!  Even though I tend to nuzzle into my pillow to get comfortable.  Holy wow!

Your turn to tell the story: what's your favorite party look?

MKA,

Lizzy

Disclaimer:  All content is my own opinion only and should in no way be construed as a paid endorsement or representation of any companies named.  I receive no compensation whatsoever from any makeup or other companies/blogs that are named/linked to in my posts for my looks or reviews.  All of the products used in this look I paid for with my own money (my hubby wouldn't have it any other way, lol!).  I just like to have fun with all the pretty pretty colors...

Never Fear...

...Pixie Epoxy is Here!! ;)

FOTD May 25, 2011

I've been literally dancing my ass off in hula lately (seriously, my clothes are starting to feel loose!), as we have another show coming up the first week in June.  I'm pretty much totaled after 2-3 hours of practice but tonight...oh, tonight we have Pixie Epoxy (PE) in the house!  Also arriving this day were some new shadows from Meow Cosmetics' Friday the 13th collection including the tongue-twisting limited edition Paraskevidekatriaphobia (it means "fear of Friday the 13th").  I was so happy to see them waiting for me at home that I just had to unwrap them and play!

Night-Blooming Orchid

FOTD & Gig Dry Run: May 21, 2011

Well thank goodness we're all still around to enjoy each other's company and to revel in the beauty we find in the world around us!  As my halau hula is performing at an API (that's Asian-Pacific Islander) cultural event tomorrow, I decided a "dry run" to pick out the shades I want to wear would be a good idea, helping me save me time getting myself ready on the day.  The costume I'm wearing is a Hawaiian print dress with a plum purple background and pale purple, dark green and brick red and white in the print.

Here's what I pulled out for the "dry run"

Meerkat + Catrina Cabaret = LOVE <3

Brazen Lolita

FOTD: May 20, 2011

Today is one of the Fridays that I don't work late, so I had some "extra" (ha!) time this evening to play with some of my recent hauls from both Brazen Cosmetics and Mineral Maven--both indie makeup companies come highly recommended by several acquaintances of mine in the FB/blogosphere, so I decided to try a few products from each company.

Victorian Oops! (pic heavy)

FOTD: May 11, 2011

So this week I received my prize from the completely lovely Amanda of Glitters and Bubbles' Aromaleigh "Oops" Giveaway!  I was so very excited to have been lucky enough to win this incredible stash of unique shades--and so very bummed that on the day I plucked them up from my mailbox my eyes were on fire from the nasty-kine hay fever most everyone suffers from around here >.<

Still, the package was a definite lift to my spirits, as Amanda clearly had put a bit of TLC into presenting it:

Completely adorable!  Mahalo, Amanda S.!!

Tagged from A to Z (aka the ABCs)

Hahaha!  Erin, the tricksy girl, went and tagged a whole lot of us to fill out this "fun quizzy thing" (can I say I adore that description?  Too freakin' cute...).  Alright my friend, since you asked:

Blog Awards: Lucky 21 ;)

Blessed heavens, I'm so far behind!!  My kumu would say I'm ho'okano, or discourteous, for taking so long to answer back to my friends Amanda S. (congrats on tying the knot, hun!!) and mNg, who so kindly tagged me three times!

Mahalo, Amanda!

Thanks to both Amanda & mNg for this one!

Giveaway: Linnaeus Cosmetics at Makeup Mama!

Alright, lovely readers, the super-nice Michelle at Makeup Mama has generously extended the deadline to enter her fabulous Linnaeus Cosmetics giveaway!  The prize is the stunning Lovely Cotinga collection:

Image copyright Linnaeus Cosmetics

Participants have less than 12 hours left to enter the giveaway, which will close at 11:59 AM tomorrow, Saturday May 14!  What are you waiting for?  Go enter here!

Good luck to us all ;)

MKA,

Lizzy

Finally, Fyrinnae

After months of reading glorious posts by several of my fellow bloggers out in makeupland about the awesomeness that is Fyrinnae, I finally got the chance to check out this "holy grail" of indie makeup companies and see what the hubbub is all about...

First thing I loved:  the website backdrop is a sea of multicolored sparkles (actually this looks like one of those deep space photos where millions of galaxies and nebulae and star clusters look like spilled glitter)!  Turns out this image is almost foreshadowing, but we'll get to that later.

Antionette's Revolution Cosmetics & LOTD

A few days ago, I was having one of those "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" days.  Really it was that bad: absolute junk at work (weeping on the job?  not one of my fav things to do) and then when I got home--a gift waiting for me from one of my dogs, one that just kept on giving...and giving...and giving  all night long.  Poor puppeh was sick all night from the candy he'd broken a bowl to get into.  


That's about as nasty as it gets without the occurrence of some heaven-forbidden tragedy.  Within three hours of getting home from the work day from hell I had crawled into bed, curled up, and was praying for the day to be over.  I ended up staying with our other dog at home while the hubby took our boy to the vet.  I was so upset I couldn't even eat!  Boo.


The following morning, I checked email including a tracking message for a package I was expecting and what did I find?  "Package delivered..." the previous night!  I was so caught up in the DOTD (drama of the day lol!) that I hadn't even checked the mail.  Wanna see what I practically ran to retrieve from my mailbox?

Lizzy Gets Her First Award :D

As I was browsing my little corner of FB earlier in the week, I happened upon the following post to my wall by one of my fav fans and fellow blogger mNg:

Liz! ♥ I tagged you for an award so go check out my blog entry. Didn't wanna spam your page with the link. LOL.

Ever the dutiful friend, I hopped over to her pretty-in-pink blog, I'm Not Skinny--So What? (which I love) and was so excited to see that she had passed to me The Versatile Blogger Award!  Newbie that I am, I was thrilled to be receiving my first peer-given award, and from someone I greatly respect.

Why, thank you, mNg!

So here's to mNg, and all the other Versatile Bloggers that have come before me ;)

Giveaway: I'm Not Skinny, So What?

So, besides the fact that fellow blogger mNg is a lovely person and beautiful woman, I have to give props to anyone with the attitude to pull off the awesome title of her blog: "I'm Not Skinny, So What?"  I was so happy to see her blogging that I nearly missed this little gem of a giveaway being hosted by her with a very unique prize supplied by My Pretty Zombie--three custom-created, delicious shades of pink that were a collaboration between Andrea, owner & proprietress, and mNg, who was looking for that "just so" shadow ;)

photos courtesy of ohsillymng.blogspot.com

mNg has a big heart, a sharp wit, a very direct communication style, and as I mentioned before, a healthy attitude toward herself and the world in general.  You can pretty much count on her to give her honest opinion about anything she's chosen to blog about--despite her love of all things girly, pink, and sparkly she is no whitewasher (LOL!!).  That being said, she does the best she can to be fair.  She's generous, too, so the winner of her giveaway will receive all 3 of the above "mNg Pinks"--amazing!!

How cute is this??

One of the things I love best about mNg's blog is the threads of RL she weaves into her posts--you all know how I love a good story!  How about you, darling readers?  What are the qualities you look for in a good blog?

And...go check out mNg's blog!  You can enter her "All Pink-ed Out " giveaway here.  It's open for new  entries until Midnight (12:00 AM or 0:00 for the 24-hour clockers) on April 29, 2011.

MKA,

Lizzy

Franken-Shading!!!

Recent tremors in the MMU world have left me (and a great many other beautiful ladies) with more than a few items of mineral makeup of...well, let's just say questionable provenance.  Several have even mentioned in a variety of forums that the quality of these products were also in question, with concerns running the gamut from lack of opacity, depth, or texture to allergic reactions.  Many of us have learned a hard lesson from this experience: caveat emptor--let the buyer beware.  Fortunately in the age of instant access, finding support from those who have similar experiences (positive or not) and banding together to advocate on behalf of ourselves and those who might be harmed in the future is much less burdensome.

One of the wonderful things to come out of this is the practice of "frankening"--taking a product you are less than thrilled with and mixing into it other elements (base, additional shades, etc.) to create something both beautiful and useful.  This can result in a collection of "franken-polishes" (MMU shades mixed with clear nail polish--especially helpful in using up product discovered to be not eye or lip-safe), "franken-glosses" (mixing shades with clear or tinted lip glosses), and "franken-shadows."

I have to say there is something about frankening that I just adore--not the reasons that necessitate it, of course, but "cooking up" something unique and special from disappointing product takes me right back to my early days playing in my mother's makeup...and lotions...shampoo...you get the picture ;)

Giveaway: Glitters and Bubbles

The lovely Amanda T. is hosting a giveaway on her blog of glittery delights, Glitter and Bubbles.  What's so special about this, you might well ask, and you would have a point--there are many giveaways hosted every day by lovely people all over the world.

Here's something that makes this giveaway unique and wonderful: Amanda is offering not one, or two, or even a few, but six jars of shimmery, sparkly, colorful eye candy.  Even more enticing is the fact that the shades included in this mini-haul are in themselves unique and wonderful, for two reasons--first, they were manufactured by the recently closed and much-lamented Aromaleigh (renowned for quality product made by an indie company) and second, these shades were "oops" shades--happy accidents that were not offered up for sale until the company closed its doors (purging its vaults in the process).

This makes them a rarity twice over!

A mini-rainbow of Aromaleigh--six shades for the lucky winner!

Ever the sweet and thoughtful beauty, and mindful of the health and safety of her followers, Amanda has gone that extra mile and repackaged the goods in clean, clear jars:

"All of these eye shadows have been repotted from baggies. In case you're wondering how sanitary this is, I swabbed the jars with alcohol, covered my work area with a paper towel and I wore nitrile gloves the entire time. Each jar has a sealed sifter to prevent product loss."

I love this!!  This is putting the concept of "inner beauty" into practice by looking out for the well-being of others, whether in RL or the virtual world.  Amanda is an amazing role model for this and I admire the example she sets here.

Well enough of my soapbox (heehee!), back to the pretties!!

One winner will get them all!!

Amanda describes these lovely "oops" shades as follows:

Ooops #1 - Silvery gray with copper sparkles and a hint of rainbow sparkle
Ooops #2 - Medium blue/green with rainbow sparkle
Ooops #3 - Golden beige with rainbow sparkle
Ooops #4 - Light pink/purple with aqua sparkle
Ooops #5 - Medium green with green and rainbow sparkle
Ooops #6 - Dark dusty purple with holographic sparkle

Gorgeousness!!  Considering both the awesome that is Amanda T (she is an absolute rock star when it comes to swatches!) and the uniqueness of the prize, I urge you to go check out her blog, Glitters and Bubbles, and enter her giveaway here.  The contest is open until May 5, 2011.  And don't forget to be a good guest, check out her other well-written posts, and share your (positive!) thoughts with her.  I certainly did ;)

Good luck all my lovely followers!

MKA,

Lizzy

Act Beautiful, Be Beautiful

UPDATE: April 25, 2011

Success!  I made it through the whole season of Lent without giving in to the impulse to buy (though I was SORELY tempted, thanks to incredible artisans like Concrete Minerals, Meow Cosmetics, Antionette's Revolution Cosmetics, and Mineral Maven, to name a few ;D ).  Starting on Good Friday, which this year coincided with Earth Day, I began to submit donations using some of the money I saved during this period of abstinence.  To date, I've donated over $200 to my chosen service organizations, including local food banks, Pacific Whale Foundation, public radio, and Aveda's "Water Warriors" initiative, with pledges in to NorCal Boxer Rescue and the American Red Cross.

A great big MAHALO to all my lovely friends, fans, and followers for your positive energy and encouragement (and even the gentle teasing--made me smile all 40 days!!)--you are truly beautiful inside and out!

LOTD: Hukilau

Disclaimer:  All content is my own opinion only and should in no way be construed as a paid endorsement or representation of any companies named.  I receive no compensation whatsoever from any makeup or other companies named/linked to in my posts for my looks or reviews.  I just like to have fun with all the pretty pretty colors...

LOTD February 26, 2011: Hukilau!!

Updated March 20, 2011.  Look using a few "spring colors" (a shimmery pale spring green,  a smoky violet-rose, & a pale lavender-violet)

Having received a trio of lovely shades from a recent order, I decided to play with the colors over this weekend and did a look with them two different ways as I tried to figure out how I wanted to make up my face for a fundraising event I'm attending with the hubby.

First came the trial run:

This is my first time using a bright green on the inner corners, pretty amazed at how it came out ;)

In the trial run I used the spring green shade on the inner corners, the shimmery pale lavender-violet (packed!) on lids, and blended the smoky violet-rose (it totally pulled more violet in the pics!) in crease/outer corner & lower lid, a satiny nude beige on brow bone, and mixed the violet-rose + bit of the lavender-violet mixed with MAC Dazzleglass in Love Alert on lips.  I thought it was pretty, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the look, so I decided to mix these shades up in a different order and came up with...

Hukilau!! (So named for the luau-themed fundraising dinner we're attending this weekend, haha!)

Now that's more like it!!

This time around, I chose to place the shimmery spring green shadow on lid, blend out the violet-rose in the crease/outer corner & lower lid to smoke up the eyes a bit, and blend the pale lavender-violet on brow bone & inner corners (wearing it like this made the highlighting shade look more rosy, hmmm...).  After lining just the outer 1/2 of my upper lid in black liner and lining my lower waterlines with same, I applied a lash primer and 2 coats of lengthening/thickening black mascara to add more va-VOOM! to the eyes ;)  I then mixed the lavender-rose shadow with MAC Dazzleglass in Love Alert and applied to the lips.

This, my lovely readers, is the look I ended up wearing to the event--sooo lovely!!  I completed the look with a luau-worthy blouse in colors that--are you reading, Erin ;)--just happened to match the shades on my eyes, and a gorgeous hair clip of pink silk carnations made by one of my hula aunties (she does amazing stuff, everyone always asks me if the flowers are real lol!!).  You can see a touch of both in the pics.

And a great time was had by all!  I have to say I thought myself a bit daring wearing this look in a crowd of mixed ages and genders (lots of elders at this event, naughty me ;p ), but no one seemed offended and in fact many people came up to me to compliment my entire ensemble, makeup included!  Hooray!!

Just goes to show you that you can live life out loud ;)

MKA,

Lizzy