Thinking Spring

In 2013, I hope to really find a true purple and a true orange lipstick that I feel comfortable wearing out in public. I know that's not much of a 'resolution', it's not even so much a very good aspiration, it just happen to be one of the things on my To-Do list that gets passed down like a family heirloom. 

I've always been on the lookout for a purple lipstick that I can wear straight out the tube. So far, that hasn't happened. I've learned to mix my purples and even use my own palette of colors that I made. Same goes for orange, except I haven't needed a palette, yet. 

Lucky for me, and unlucky for my wallet, Maybellline made a new line of Vivids lipsticks just in time for spring! 

It's a really good set of colors in every hot pink, coral and red a girl could need. They also have 2 true oranges and 2 purples. So naturally I grabbed a purple and an orange for $5.50 each at Walmart. Ok, so not terrible on the wallet. It could be worse!

 Maybelline Vivids in Brazen Berry #905 Vibrant Mandarin #855

The Vibrant Mandarin is really orange, and this is the darker, redder of the two, so I don't know what Electric Orange looks like but I'm so very curious.
The Brazen Berry is very similar in color to Cover Girl's Lip Perfection Lipstick in Divine #330 and Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Berry Haute #660.  But this Maybelline one is slightly more true purple and less pink based than the Cover Girl and Revlon, but it goes on much sheerer, so you have to build up the color some and that also makes it much more glossy and shiny than the Cover Girl or Revlon counterpart.

As for the Vibrant Mandarin, I can see myself mixing this with some of my many red lipsticks to make some custom colors for myself. Or maybe I'll finally get enough to make a better palette for this upcoming spring.

Hmmm....always a possibility.

There's some really great pinks and corals in this line that I would love to get my hands on! But I personally like more matte versions of strong colors, but that's just me. If you're a newbie to brights, then this is a great line of lipsticks to start with. The color is buildable and it's not heavy. So you can start out using it more like a stain and work your way up to full color. And it's also thin enough to layer with some other colors, glosses etc. I mean, for $5.50, these are worth the to change up your spring style when it gets warmer out.

If anyone buys these and wants to send me some swatch photos that I can post up for other people to see, send them along to ICouldBlush [at] gmail.com ! Sharing is caring! 

Glamour Drugs

So I've heard in the past that some women take Prenatal Vitamins as a way to help their hair grow faster and thicker. Some women swear by it, some say it doesn't work, but me, I just can't bring myself to buy them on principal alone. I've already gotten dirty looks while purchasing beer and diapers for my niece at the same time from a woman who clearly thought I was the next disaster on Teen Mom by my outfit that day. 

So after disregarding that idea, I heard that people were trying Biotin instead. 

It's an over the counter vitamin. Nothing illegal you have to bring a hard boiled egg to. This bottle I picked up Target for about $6, sans dirty looks. 

This is one of those, you're just going to have to trust me things. I am not a scientist and I have zero factual evidence to prove any of my claims but I'm pretty certain this has been helping me out. 

I started around the summer of 2012, but I'm terrible at remembering so I missed quite a few days and even went weeks without it. But because of that, I could tell that the weeks I took it regularly, I had significant less hair falling out in my shower. I also noticed that my skin feels more hydrated and generally looks better when I remember to take it than the weeks I forget. 

 Thankfully, it's a very tiny pill and very easy to take.

I take 1 2500mg pill with breakfast as many days as I can remember  And from what my very expert and elaborate research shows, it's been helping my hair shed less, keeps it shiny, and seems to be making my skin look healthier. 

I'm not sure if this is a gateway vitamin, so check with your doctor if you're on a ton of stuff already or are the type to be riddled with ailments. 

I can't say for absolute certainty that this will change your life, but it's a tiny pill that airport security won't throw me to the ground over, so why not, right??

The Dark Times

There's only a few weeks left of winter, despite what the mounds of snow outside say. So with that in mind, I have to get my dark lipstick days in before it's too late!

Perhaps it's the 90's kid that spent all those minutes in front of the Wet 'n Wild station picking out the darkest color I could find. But it's no longer the 90's and I'm no longer subject to strictly $3 and under makeup purchases, although not above them.

I'm not going out looking for edgy punk rock makeup. It's just that dark lipstick makes me feel....cooler. In a very super villain kind of way.  But since I'm not living in the 90's and I'm (unfortunately) not a super villain, I keep the dark colors for fall and winter.

These are my 2 favorite dark colors to go to. 

Revlon Matte Lipstick in Wine Not  $7 on Amazon

Stila Long Wear Lip Color in Daring $20

Stila's Daring on top, Revlon's Wine Not on bottom

Stila's long wear lip color is really great. It's an easy creamy formula that goes on very smooth, not like the old long wear colors of the 90's that were like rubbing off brand crayons on your lips. It goes on glossy and easy and sets into your lips for exceptionally long wear!  I love this color because it's a really true burgandy, very red based and not orangey at all. It's a shiny creme formula, but Stila also has some mattes in this line. 

Revlon has apprently stopped making their Matte collection, which saddens me because I absolutely love matte lipsticks regardless of current trends. You can still find them at online retailers though.

Revlon's Wine Not is actually my favorite dark lipstick and I know I should stock up and buy some online, but that would mean I'm admitting that I may never see it again. So far my solution has been to not wear it as much so that I can hold on to it, but I'm pretty sure that's not a good choice on my part. 

The swatch above looks very brown, but in person it's a very true maroon. Like Crayola maroon.  For a matte lipstick, it goes on surprisingly smooth and actually lasts extremely long. I love the way it feels on my lips and I love the matte finish. Combined with the color, this is my favorite child.

Maybe it's because it takes a certain personality to pull off very dark lips, but once fall hits, I love my dark villain-y lips. Now I just need the huge fur coat and hat to go along and make my super villain transformation complete! 

Back To Black

Never thought I'd say this, but it got pretty exciting here in Hamden, CT the last few days! You probably heard about The Great Blizzard of 2013 that swept the Northeast last Friday night. Well Hamden's been getting some major press because it turned out that we got hit the hardest with 40 inches of snow! Which only sucked slightly. For me anyways. I was snowed in from Friday until this Tuesday morning, but I had heat, hot water, internet, cable and a ton of projects to work on!  It's amazing how much you can get done when you know you can't go anywhere even if you wanted to. It was fun, for a while. But I'm certainly not going to go full Lohan and attempt to get house arrest anytime soon.

Now that I've been busted out the big house, life has to get back to normal. And by life I mean my hair.

See....what had happened was....

 I cut off the majority of my ombre hair but was left with some icky ends that didn't make the cut. (pun totally intended) 

So after a few weeks I was left with this lovely stuff on the ends of my hair. 

 So I picked up this. L'oreal Root Rescue in #2 Natural Black on clearance for $5.08 at Target. 

It's been decades since I've bought anything that came with gloves attached to paper. Sigh....memories.

The product itself was done well. You mix the color right into a thin bottle that has a plastic bristle brush on the top. That brush made it a breeze to apply to my ends and really cut down on the mess and time. I imagine if you were doing your roots a contraption like this would be ideal.
I considered saving the bottle for future use, but then I realized that I've basically given up on coloring my hair because I'm too lazy to do the upkeep, so it got recycled. 

The instructions called for 10 minutes and I did that and washed it out and all was well in the world. My hair was back to all black again and I felt good about life. (Sorry, forgot to take an after photo. I guess i was too busy feeling good about life)

That is until a week later when my ends began to fade. I was actually shocked at how fast it was fading. I could tell the difference with each shampoo.  Maybe now I know why it was on clearance. Should have known, but those bright orange stickers just call to me!

About 4 weeks of procrastination later, I'm left with this lovely dirty pond color. 

Clearly, something needs to be done. 

 And since the Blizzard of 2013 has ruined my sleep patterns, 

I decided to use this Revlon Colorsilk #11 Soft Black $3 at Walmart at almost midnight. 

This didn't come with a fancy brush top applicator. But I did get my gloves attached to paper!

 20 minutes, a shower and blow dry later, my end match my roots and all is well again!!

I'm really hoping this one doesn't fade as fast as the L'oreal did but I am expecting at lest some fading. Which is fine, I'm just hoping for no more swamp colors strands. 

Currently my hair looks great and I have a really good blow out going! Unfortunately, I'm going to eventually have to go to bed where my hair will be shamelessly attacked by what I only imagine is some sort of secret pillow army that comes while I sleep and makes my hair look like a dollar store wig.

Damn you pillow army. Daaaammn you!

My Conair Hair

 This is my hair brush. 

We've spent some really good years together. Sure we had some rough times together, but those were greatly outnumbered by the amount of great times we had. 

We've learned to work together. We've learned to play together. And we've traveled all over the world together. 

Sure there have been other brushes in my life, but not like this one. Oh no, not like this one. This brush in particular has bristles that are strong enough to hold and straighten large sections of my hair, yet the bristles are short enough not to get tangled in my large, dry summer mane. 

The ceramic base that lay just below the bristles heats up by the air of the dryer, straightening, smoothing and shining my hair in a way no other brush ever could. 

The large vented barrel brings airflow and volume to my tresses at any length, day or night. 

And all of this, just above a rubberized handle for a well cushioned grip. 

We are perfect together. And though I've wavered in the past, sewing wild oats with other high falutent brushes, it is this Conair Tourmaline Shine Brush that my hair belongs to. 

That is....until tradgedy struck on a late Monday morning. 

CAUTION: GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW

2/3's way through a normal weekday blowout, my brush broke from it's handle.

At the moment, she's in another room healing from emergency super glue surgery, but during the break, a piece not shown in the photo above went missing. A crucial piece that could make or break her recovery process. Her chance of survival is 50/50, but even so, her quality of life is greatly diminished. 

It is with a heavy heart that I go about town in search of her replacement. But it is something that needs to be done. Unfortunealy, Conair doesn't sell directly from their site and I have yet to find this particular model from a reputable online retailer but the search is on. 

Hairbrush, you lived a valiant life and brought much joy to my follicles. Though your demise did not come during battle, I shall tell stories of your brave fight with my hair for generations to come. 

Thank you for your service. Thank you for your time. Thank you for not breaking while I was overseas. 

Rawr. Hiss.

Everyone knows that MAC just one of those brands that doesn't get it wrong. Even those who don't wear makeup know this. It's undeniable. They're consistent in bringing us quality products that run the gambit from easy breezy day looks to the wildly over the top.. 

What MAC does the best, in my opinion, is their ever evolving muses and limited collection runs. They're always ahead of the curve with styling and colors and it makes it so exciting! And in a sense, this is simply marketing genius! Nothing makes something awesomer than being limited. 

In this vain, MAC added to some of their limited run collections a Kohl Power Pencil in the color Feline. It instantly became a makeup hoarder's must have! After selling out time and time again, MAC finally decided to let us all relax a bit and put it in their permanent collection as of the end of 2012.  (insert angels singing) 

MAC Kohl Power Eye Pencil in Feline $15

Sure on the surface, Feline looks like a regular eyeliner pencil. Nothing to be gawked and fawned over. That is, until you see the color. And oh....what a color. When you look at this on your hand or eye, it's as if you never knew what black actually looked like before. It makes the night sky look like dawn and ash look like snow. I now know how those people in Pleasantville felt when they began seeing colors. 

Based on color alone, I was determined to make this work. Even if it ran down my face at warp speed or made my skin look like I slept with a poison ivy mask on, I didn't care.Fortunately for me, it did neither. 

There seems to be no middle ground for loving MAC kohl pencils, however, everyone agrees that the application is great. It goes on extremely smooth and soft. Even when it's extremely cold, it doesn't get that waxy film that makes you tug and tug. Nope, just smooth sailing! But, this is a kohl, and with that in mind, it is a very soft eyeliner, which means tons of blending power! That means I can go from bare to smokey eye in 3 products and 2 brushes. Feline, a shadow and mascara, 1 smudging brush and 1 blender and I'm out the door without anything budging all day! 

Smudging comes so easy to Feline. There's no heavy push and pull, it just seems to conform to whatever you want it to do . Well, whatever except my lower waterline. But then again, nothing seems to really stay on my lower waterline. I think I have my contacts and watery eyes to blame, but because this eyeliner stays exactly where I put it, I can come right up to my waterline to give myself the same look, and bonus, this method makes my eyes look bigger! 

The waxiness of this really makes it a breeze to smudge or to use a brush on top to create a crisp liquid line effect. The waxiness also makes it really stick to your skin. This is not a product I can just wash off with my BE Facial Cleanser, I actually have to break out the remover on this stuff, but it comes off easily and doesn't leave me looking like an MMA fighter. 

Hands down, if you're going to buy one eyeliner this year, or one MAC product this year, make it Feline. Because, hello, it's called Feline. And isn't 2013 the year of the Sex Kitten?  No? I swear I read that somewhere. 

Still In Action

I love that Bonne Bell products are still in stores. Though I've only seen very few girls actually purchasing anything, I imagine there's a whole new generation out there having very deep inner discussions about which flavor makeup to buy.

If only 'flavor' was the only prerequisite now.

So when I saw this lip gloss hanging in Walmart a few days ago, I had to buy it. I had to at least give it a try.

Bonne Bell LipLites in Mocha Mousse $3 at Walmart

 The color is a neutral brownish pink. The type of pink that would look good on any skin tone. 

It's a great color for spring, which is apparently around the corner according to one groundhog. 

There is some very fine frosty elements to this gloss, so on someone like me with darker lips, this gloss can easily go way too 80's frosty lip. I learned that when I put it on very heavy handed and realized that there was no way I could be in public like that. But after a few more attempts (I'm not quitter!) I was able to figure out that using the slightest amount gave me a really nice color.

It evened out my lip color but still gives it a nice pinkish tone. 

A really good nude with a lot of sheen. And only for $3!

Yes, it's the right amount of color when you can figure out the amount.

Yes, it's very smooth, shiny and not sticky at all. It feels great on!

Yes, it feels good on my lips even with no balm.

Delicious?? Negative. 

I don't know if it's the tube that I have, the color/flavor or what. I can't quite place the scent but it definitely smells like something I had as a child, go figure. It very well be the 'mocha mousse' flavor, but personally, I don't care for it. It's not...bad.  And thankfully it doesn't linger, but it's definitely there. Not bad enough to be a deal breaker, but enough for me to comment on it and give you all a heads up. 

All in all, for 3 bucks, this is a good pinky nude gloss that I can see myself mixing with other products and even wearing on it's own.  And I'll definitely keep it around for my fair skinned friends who want to use my makeup but don't feel like going out in one of my many very hot pink or purple lipsticks or glosses. 

It's nice to have Bonne Bell back in my makeup game. I just need to make sure this doesn't create a snowball effect of 80's glamour. If I start blogging about teasing your bangs, please send an adult my way. 

DIY Knob Hooks

It's a DIY Friday!

Here's how to use pretty cabinet hardware to make a hook for your things rather than the standard Drunk Octopus. 

/\/\ Drunk Octopus...eehh

\/\/ Pretty crystal knob...yuuus!!

Here's what you need:

1. Knob of choice. Crystal knob seen here $2 at Home Depot
2. Loctite Super Glue $6 if not on hand
   (ps. you should buy this anyways. It's crucial to your glue collection. What, doesn't everyone have a glue collection?)
3. Wall Anchors (link is for the 50 pack) $4
   NOTE: there are many types of wall anchors. You're looking for a self drilling wall anchor with a wide base like the ones in the link. I chose these because they were metal and I figured it would be better to glue metal to metal. 

Instructions:
These are very hard and extensive, so bare with me.....

1. Glue the wall anchor to the back of the knob
2. Let dry overnight
3. Screw newly made Knob Hook into wall

PHEW!!

Result: Organized things with no hook marks!

I keep seeing knob hooks all over the interweb but never really found out how they did it. This is my version. So far they've been up for a few months and seem like they aren't going anywhere. 

Disclaimer: If you are a renter, the wall anchors will leave a significantly larger hole in the wall than a picture hanger. Like, a for real hole. So please keep that in mind if you're not a Handy Andrea. 

If you're really set on this look but can't afford the wall holes, then I suggest using a piece of wood to screw the knobs into to make a hook rack. If you do that, you can just screw the knobs on from the back sans glue and attach the rack on the wall as usual!