I'm back, baby!

Sometimes, I'm a little optimistic. Last Monday, I had surgery, and told myself that while I was laid up, I'd be able to update every. day. I didn't count on that it was going to take me four days to feel like anything resembling a normal human being again, though!

At any rate, I'm here! AND, I decided to be adventurous this afternoon, and I tried my hand at recording a Youtube worthy video. I'll share it here, because otherwise how would you all know about it, but also, I realized afterward that there were a few things I wanted to speak to in the video, and didn't, so sharing it again here gives me a chance to address those things.

One of the things I wanted to address, that I didn't remember to:

When to use it. I've heard some people say that they apply foundation, and THEN apply primer, because they like the pore blurring effect of it. In my own personal experience, applying foundation and then primer over the top, number one - won't get you the nice, even surface, and two - it's only tended to draw attention to my pores. Like the silicone or whatever is in the primer, kind of broken up my foundation a little. The coverage wasn't as good or as smooth afterward, and the powder cosmetics I applied over the top, tended to grab really hard.

In my own personal experience, not all primers are created equal. I've got several primers in my bag right now (and my eye on a few more that may be joining us with some Christmas money after the holidays!!), and they're not the same. But Maybelline Baby Skin is a goodie. Goes on nice and silky smooth, evens out skin - without creating any sort of mask like feel, doesn't settle in to any fine lines or wrinkles, and that little bit you get in that container goes a long way! For $9 US, you'll get a lot of milage out of that little green container! I'm not shy about telling you guys if I wouldn't buy something again, but in this case, I totally would. If you want to talk about really getting some bang for the buck in the drug store, this guy fits the bill!

There is a second version of Baby Skin, which is supposed to give a more luminous finish, but I don't believe that version is for sale in the US just yet.

Ipsy, Ipsy, Ipsy!

Like any good beauty blogger, I recently subscribed to Ipsy, and I've recently mentioned Ipsy to several people who really didn't know what it was. And, like any good blogger, I'm here to solve that problem

Ipsy is a subscription based service. For the low cost of $10 a month, you receive a small makeup bag full of five new treats to try, every month! You can subscribe from month to month, or you can buy a years subscription for $110, which gives you one month for free. When you subscribe, you take a quick survey that gives them your product preferences, and even allows you to talk about your brand preferences, and then every month you get a new bag, that comes in a cheerful pink envelope!

The bags are each themed to the season - July was my first bag, and it was themed for "fun in the sun", so my bag included a bronzer, a tanning oil, and a beach spray for the hair, along with an eyeshadow and lip pencil. This months theme is "back to school", so I received a makeup primer, eyeliner, mascara, blush and lip balm. Some of the products are sample size, and Ipsy has negotiated for you to get a sale price if you buy the item full size.

I only just received my August bag on Saturday, so I'm not ready to give super detailed reviews on any of the products in it, but I can speak to each of them a little;

My treats! Included in the bag;

A sample size of Urban Decay Perversion mascara, as well as a small pamphlet on the virtues of the mascara. I'm not 100% on it yet. It lengthens considerably better than my current mascara - which is nice, my lashes aren't what they used to be, I could use the help. But one of the big selling points behind Perversion is how pigmented it is, and I'm just not convinced on that point yet. Don't worry, I'm not giving up on my research!

Dr. Brandt "Pores No More" pore refiner and primer. I've currently got multiple pore refining and priming products in my makeup bag, at a variety of price points, and I pretty instantly noticed a major different between those and this one. They go on much thicker than this - they dry to a silky soft finish, to be sure, but they start out much thicker. This one starts thinner, it feels much more like a foundation than a primer. So if you've never been able to get on board with a primer because you didn't like the thickness, you might actually like this. It's also tinted, which I think I like as well. If you were going for a nice, no makeup look, this could make a great foundation. Supposing, I guess, that you were light/medium skinned, because there's no mention of color.

Coastal Scents "Forever Blush" sample. I really wish these were full sized! These colors seem really nice, if a bit cooler than I might pick otherwise, but it's hard to judge for sure, when the sample is so small!

Lord and Berry Silk Kajal Kohl-liner in black. My membership is new, but I've gotten a couple of really pleasant surprises so far, and this is one of them. Goes on really smooth, lots of pigment, and long lasting. This would be another that I would have to consider buying full sized!

And lastly, Absolute New York "You're The Balm" lip balm in green apple. This balm comes in a pot, which not everyone likes, so that might not be something you're in to. But it's got a great green apple scent that will take you right back to your Bonne Belle days. It even layers well - I tried it over the top of a lip pencil to give it a little more shine, and it works great! My only wish would be that the shine and moisture lasted longer - it's all gone too soon! :D

If I've said enough, and you're kind of intrigued, please click this link: Ipsy! I get credit for referring you, so we both win!

I do greatly recommend Ipsy, for the makeup geek in all of us. I am not certain if they ship outside the US however, so if you're from outside the US and reading this, that's certainly something to look in to as well.

And as an aside to any Sinful Colors nail polish fans, of which I'm clearly one; they're on sale for 99 cents this week at Walgreens if you have a Wellness Rewards card! All the colors, even the new summer collections. Go stock up! :)

Almay Intense I-Color Liquid Shadow Reviews...

...can we all just agree on something?

Almay markets their colors as being specially formulated and selected for your eye color. Can we just all agree that that's as much a smart marketing tactic as it is anything else? Because if that was the way to do it, that'd be the way everybody was doing it, right?

And can we agree on something else? That these don't take great pictures. They really don't. In fact, I wore the shadow for green eyes one day, and the shadow for blue eyes the next, and my seven year old asked me if I'd even changed my eyeshadow at all. Awesome.

Thanks to some savvy couponing, I actually had three of these to try - the color for blue eyes (a silvery blue), green eyes (a gold), and the color for hazel eyes (a darker gold shade. Like...gold, but almost an olive tone?)

There's little variation from one to the other, formula wise.

The product comes in a tube applicator, with a doe foot at the end of the wand - the packaging is actually really similar to the average lip gloss. Color goes on silky, soft and light. It doesn't layer particularly well - by the time you apply, and then blend out, you've lost pretty much all the color. You'll see the swatches on my arm that are applied to a small area, and completely unblended.

Almay markets that this color can be used as a primer as well, and it's actually not bad there - if you like their Shadow Softies, but wished for a bit more color payoff there as well, you'll find good luck using these underneath.

As just a shadow - not as a primer - the wear time is pretty good. I've had mine on about 12 hours now, minimal fading, no creasing!

A few beauty shots!

Swatched on the inside of my wrist (in bathroom lighting). Hazel eyes, blue eyes and green eyes, from left to right. The green eyed version is probably the most universal of the group - everybody can rock a nice delicate gold, regardless of your actual eye color - and the hazel eyed is the most pigmented of the three. The blue eyed one looks nice on - it's a nice, delicate wash of color - but would be the most challenging to use as a primer, I think. I've even tried it, and only did it with blue eyeshadows - it would really cool down the look of any shadows you use.

Hazel eyes, blue eyes and green eyes, from top to bottom. These aren't super stellar pictures - but then, they don't take super stellar pictures. They look very similar in photographs. A nice, delicate wash of color. I reach for these not as a shadow primer, but in one of those moments where you've overslept, and need to get out of the house looking reasonably pulled together, in about 10 minutes. Or, when you don't want to wear a lot of makeup, but you want a little polish.

Will these change the world? Of course they aren't. They aren't high octane enough for that. But they do give a nice wash of long lasting color that will keep you looking nice - or your eyeshadow looking primed - all day long, which is all anybody wants from their eyeshadow! So...I guess, I don't know if I recommend it exactly, but I don't think you'll hate owning it either? That's not a super glowing review, is it? Haha...