Editions of Me

Today is Opening Day! And it's no ordinary opening day, either. Today is our first opening day as WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS. There is a buzz going on in the bay area that has never existed before. There is possibility, there is hope, there is celebration. There is a brand new rookie IN THE STARTING LINE UP. There are things to be excited about. Opening Day is all about possibilities and potential. For me, it's also about signaling the approach of summer - of warmer weather, of a long vacation, of FINALLY having something GOOD to watch on TV (games) instead of whatever drivel is currently popular. My life always feels a little bit emptier when it's not baseball season. It's like, all of a sudden, my day has purpose if I know there's a game I can come home to watch. Also, oddly, baseball means more KNITTING - I usually knit the most during baseball season because I knit during games :) And I'm really glad that today, because the Giants are World Champs and they...

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Dangerous Palette this week, which comes with Greed Primer Potion, Rockstar eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Haight, Mildew, Virgin, Oil Slick, Rockstar, and Gunmetal. Here's Day 4: Softly Dangerous - UDPP in Greed - Virgin on the inner half, and on the browbone - Haight on the outer half - Gunmetal applied lightly in the crease - Rockstar eye pencil in a thin line along the upper lash line - Supercurl mascara

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Dangerous Palette this week, which comes with Greed Primer Potion, Rockstar eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Haight, Mildew, Virgin, Oil Slick, Rockstar, and Gunmetal. Here's Day 3: Dark Corners for Doing Dark Deeds - UDPP in Greed - Gunmetal on the lid - Virgin on the brow, and blending the line - Oil Slick in the crease, not too blended out - Oil Slick, applied wet , along the upper lash line as eyeliner - Rockstar eyeshadow applied lightly on the outer half of the lower lash line - Supercurl mascara

I'm a Sephora VIB (Very Important Beauty insider), which means only one thing... that I spend entirely too much money on makeup. Okay, what it also means is that Sephora rewards me handsomely for my loyalty. Recently, VIBs received an email for a gift-with-purchase consisting of trial sizes of products from BeneFit Cosmetics' new line, b. right!  Radiant Skincare , which I was really excited about when I first heard of it, so I was eager to get my hands on the samples. (No, I'm not cool enough to be sent samples for consideration - we beginner bloggers have to pay our own way.) The trial set came with a face wash ( Foamingly Clean , a one-step cleanser, meaning that it also removes makeup), a moisturizer ( Triple Performing Facial Emulsion ), and an eye cream ( It's Potent! , supposed to fade dark circles and reduce fine lines, things I do care about.) I'm a sucker for product packaging, and BeneFit usually never disappoints, so I was not surprised that I total...

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Dangerous Palette this week, which comes with Greed Primer Potion, Rockstar eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Haight, Mildew, Virgin, Oil Slick, Rockstar, and Gunmetal. Here's Day 1: Poisonous Berry - UDPP in Greed - Rockstar on the lid - Virgin blending the line and on the brow - Oil Slick applied in the crease with a pencil brush, then blended out with a fluffy crease brush - Rockstar eye pencil along the upper lash line - Supercurl mascara

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Dangerous Palette this week, which comes with Greed Primer Potion, Rockstar eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Haight, Mildew, Virgin, Oil Slick, Rockstar, and Gunmetal. Here's Day 1: Deadly Mildew - UDPP in Greed - Mildew on the lid - Virgin on the brow - Gunmetal in the crease - Rockstar eye pencil along the upper lash line - Supercurl mascara

Today is Trojan Olympics day, and it's no ordinary Trojan Olympics day - it is my last one, for a very long time, because this year my kids are SENIORS and pretty soon, I will no longer be an advisor :( Trojan Olympics day is THE day to sport class colors, and ours is purple, so here is my power purple eye look that I'm wearing today to support my seniors. Did you know? Sugarpill founder Amy is an MHS alumna :) - UDPP - Sugarpill Weekender , applied wet to the lid - Sugarpill Stella applied to the crease and outer third of eyelid (on top of Weekender) - Sugarpill Paperdoll applied just above the crease, to blend - Sugarpill Lumi on the brow - Tarte emphasEYES Amazonian clay waterproof liner in Plum , along the upper lash line - Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash mascara in Blackest Black Not shown, but I'm also wearing Tokidoki Prisma lip gloss in Diamante.

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Feminine Palette this week, which comes with Eden Primer Potion, Zero eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Stray Dog, SWF, Midnight Cowboy, Aquarius, Darkhorse, and Ecstasy. Here's Day 5: Smoky Soft - UDPP in Eden - Darkhorse on the lid - Aquarius in the crease, to blend the line - Midnight Cowboy on the brow and on the tear duct - Stray Dog along the lower lash line - Zero eye pencil along the upper lashline - Supercurl mascara

Click to buy So I'm finally getting around to writing up some thoughts about these palettes, which I posted about a waaaay long time ago when UD first previewed them on their Facebook. Now that I've had some time to work with them, I can review them. Because I constantly use Urban Decay, I'm not going to comment about the quality of the eyeshadows or swatch them. I've probably used all of these colors at some point, and it's probably obvious that I think UD has the best eyeshadows ever. If you're new to Urban Decay, it probably won't bother you that there are no new or exclusive colors in these palettes. My favorite UD products are their eyeshadows, eye pencils, and primer potion, so any (or all) of these palettes are a sweet treat. Overall, I think they're a great sampling of UD's best, in collections that will suit different color personalities. These are great palettes all around What I have been thinking about in regards to these palette...

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Feminine Palette this week, which comes with Eden Primer Potion, Zero eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Stray Dog, SWF, Midnight Cowboy, Aquarius, Darkhorse, and Ecstasy. Here's Day 4: Cotton Candy Cavities - UDPP in Eden - SWF on the inner half of lid/tear duct and undereye - Ecstasy on the outer half of lid and undereye - Stray Dog in the crease and outer V - Zero eye pencil along upper lash line and lower waterline - Supercurl mascara

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Feminine Palette this week, which comes with Eden Primer Potion, Zero eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Stray Dog, SWF, Midnight Cowboy, Aquarius, Darkhorse, and Ecstasy. Here's Day 3: Cutie Pink - UDPP in Eden - SWF all over the lid and brow - Stray Dog in the crease - Darkhorse applied wet as an eyeliner on the upper and lower lashlines - Supercurl mascara

To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Feminine Palette this week, which comes with Eden Primer Potion, Zero eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Stray Dog, SWF, Midnight Cowboy, Aquarius, Darkhorse, and Ecstasy. Here's Day 2: Minty Sweet - UDPP in Eden - Aquarius all over the lid - Midnight Cowboy on the brow, on the tear ducts, and blending the line - Darkhorse in the crease and winged out at the outer corner - Zero eye pencil along the upper lash line - Supercurl mascara on the upper lashes

Introducing a new series, designed to help you get some mileage out of your palettes! To celebrate UD's new spring palettes (Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun), I am posting five days of  looks using only the shadows in the palette and the pencils and primers they come with. (And UD's Supercurl mascara.) I'm using the Feminine Palette this week, which comes with Eden Primer Potion, Zero eye pencil, and eyeshadows in Stray Dog, SWF, Midnight Cowboy, Aquarius, Darkhorse, and Ecstasy. Here's Look 1: Nicely Neutral - UDPP in Eden - Stray Dog all over the lid - Midnight Cowboy blending the line and on the brow - Darkhorse in the crease - Zero eye pencil along the upper lash line, a thin line - Supercurl mascara on the upper lashes

Haven't had a chance to swatch it yet, but here are some photos. 10 lipglosses and 20 eyeshadows for $25 - if you can't afford the Naked palette (or just haven't been able to get your hands on it), then this might be a good alternative. One of the reasons why the Naked palette is so popular is because of the value - 12 full-sized eyeshadows and a full-sized eyeshadow brush for $48 - and it's all neutrals (not-crazy colors), and UD is well-known for the quality of their shadows. Nude on Nude is also a great value for a huge range of neutrals, of great quality, for very little money. The lipgloss is in a drawer that pulls out

Ta-da! To see the colors individually swatched, please follow my daily eyeshadow blog, I Shadow Every Day . Starting tomorrow, I will be posting up all the Chromalusts, except the three I've already previously posted ( Goldilux , Paperdoll , and Hysteric ). And now you know why my eyeshadow collection deserves its own blog :)

Nothing like fun colors on this gray, rainy day! First up: St. Patrick's Day. I know it's late; shut up. I'm not even Irish, and I don't drink. - UD PP - Sugarpill Tipsy on the inner half of the lid - Sugarpill Junebug on the outer half of the lid - Sugarpill Stella in the crease - Sugarpill Goldilux on the browbone - UD eye pencil in Graffiti along the lower lash line - UD eye pencil in Zero along the upper lash line and lower waterline - Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash mascara on the upper lashes - Clinique Bottom Lash mascara on the lower lashes Look 2: Easter? Mardi Gras? I don't know, but it's a lot of pretty colors! :) - UD PP - Sugarpill Birthday Girl  on the inner third of lid - Sugarpill Darling  on the middle third of lid - Sugarpill Weekender  on the outer third of lid - Sugarpill Magpie  in the crease - Sugarpill Lumi  on the browbone - UD eye pencil in Electric  along the lower lash line - L'Oreal Voluminous mascar...

I got the Even-though-it's-Friday-I'm-miserable-because-I'm-now-getting-sick-after-staying-home-to-take-care-of-my-sick-family-and-I-hate-my-job-but-I-don't-know-what-else-to-do-with-my-life blues. Eyes: - UDPP - UD eyeshadow in Mary Jane (silvery blue) all over the lid - UD matte eyeshadow in Naked on the browbone - UD eyeshadow in Goddess (sheer navy blue) in the crease and along the lower lash line - UD eye pencil in Binge (navy blue) along the upper lash line - Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash mascara in Blackest Black

- UD Primer Potion - UD matte eyeshadows: Heist all over the lid; Shakedown in the crease, and Naked on the brow - UD eye pencil in Oil Slick along the upper lash line - Cargo Lash Activator mascara (I got a sample tube in my March Birchbox !) And you can't see it, but I'm wearing UD's Razor HD powder all over my face, and Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Red Dahlia.

I was on Urban Decay's site, and then I left for a bit, and then I came back, and then it was ALL different!!

 I am a woman of many burning questions, and here's one I can answer for myself: How does Sugarpill Stella compare to Urban Decay Oil Slick ? As you can see by the swatches, Stella is a lot darker, more pigmented with roughly the same amount of product. And as you can't  see by the swatches, Oil Slick is coarser in texture, and has comparatively large glitter. (To be technical, Oil Slick has glitter, but Stella has sparkle. They're two different things, I guess.) I didn't really pay attention to fallout, but I imagine they would be similar, what with Stella being a loose shadow and Oil Slick being a typical UD glitter shadow (lots of glitter all over your face). The winner here? Well, I've never been especially fond of Oil Slick anyway. Stella is a lot smoother and darker. And the sparkles are multicolored, whereas Oil Slick's glitter is all silver. Plus, Sugarpill gives you a full 5 grams of product for $12, whereas Urban Decay gives you 0.05 grams for $17...

Not a very complicated look - mostly I just wanted to show off how beautiful this color is :) - UD Primer Potion - Sugarpill Chromalust loose eyeshadow in Lumi - UD eye pencil in Ransom - Tarte Lights! Camera! Lashes! mascara

Sorry, I did not have my good camera on me today, so I had to use my iPhone. But still, you kinda get the idea. Face: - UD Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer in Bodyguard - NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Glow Eyes: - UD Primer Potion in Original - UD eyeshadow in Virgin on the inner half of the eyelid (available in the Naked Palette and the new Dangerous Palette ) - UD eyeshadow in Sidecar on the outer half of the eyelid (available in the Naked Palette and one of the previous BOSes - can't remember which off the top of my head) - UD eyeshadow in Rockstar in the crease (available in the BOS Vol. 3 , and the new Dangerous Palette , and also as a loose pigment ) - UD eyeliner in Rockstar along the upper lash line - L'Oreal Voluminous mascara in Carbon Black Lips: - Maybelline Colorsensational Lipstick in Yummy Plummy (which I'm told is a dupe for MAC's Plumful?)

I know I tend to blog mostly about makeup, and that makeup is considered by most people to be pretty frivolous. (Let me save my makeup manifesto for another day, but I definitely have thoughts on that.) The truth is, in the world outside of my blog, I've had lots of heavy thoughts weighing on my mind lately. Not the least of which is the huge tragedy that is going on right now in Japan. I've been reading a lot, watching a lot, thinking a lot about the nature of humanity and where we're all headed, and whether we are the solution or the plague, and so far I've refrained from discussing it much (or at all) in my blog because the truth is that I don't have anything coherent to say. What is this life? What is this world we live in? I am confronted every day both by people who inspire me to be a better person and by people who leave me disappointed that we are the same species. For most (dare I say all?) of my adult life, I have lived under a government whom I feel d...

A sweet, minimal-makeup look for an easygoing Sunday with the family Face: - Just plain moisturizer (I'm wearing Philosophy's Hope in a Jar on this particular day) - NYX's Rouge Cream Blush in Natural Eyes: - UD Primer Potion in Original - UD Deluxe Eyeshadow in Ruthless all over the lid - NYX's Super Skinny Marker along the upper lashline - L'Oreal's Voluminous mascara in Carbon Black Lips: - NARS lipstick in Dolce Vita

Smoke Screen, from Ulta

Urban Decay recently started including their new Good Karma shadow brush with their Naked palettes instead of the double-ended liner, and having recently acquired a back-up Naked palette for myself, I've decided to take a look at the new shadow brush as compared to their "vintage" one (that's what they call it now) that I bought a couple years ago. All of Urban Decay's brushes, old and new, have Taklon bristles (so they're vegan-friendly) and lightweight aluminum handles. They are pretty much the same thing - flat, stiff brushes meant to pat shadows onto the lid, not swipe - except for two miniscule differences. One: the new one is tiniest bit narrower than the old one (I'd say, by a couple millimeters): And two: the new one is thicker (more bristles) than the old one: The difference in the widths of the ferrules is probably too small to make a great difference, but the thickness allows the newer brush to pick up more product - it's not just...

One of the reasons why I'm trying to lose a significant amount of weight is because it is hard to find clothes that fit me. I am short, and I am plus-sized, and the fashion industry in general seems to think that if you're short, you're also thin, and if you're plus-sized, then you're tall. I always see an abundance of 6-petite and 14-tall when I go pants shopping. But honestly? I can't say that I would dress much better if I were  a size 6, because the truth is that I'm not sure what my style is at all. I have no style. Or, rather, I am attracted to so many different styles that I have no clue where to put my focus, and my closet is a huge mishmash of all these things. (Not unlike my hobbies and interests and the rest of my life.) Anthropologie's Wispy Cirrus blouse My favorite store is Anthropologie. I love soft, romantic looks and intricate, feminine details - the clothing equivalent of English countryside or French shabby chic. Mind you, I can...

So, in case you couldn't tell, purple is my favorite color, especially when it comes to makeup. It's pretty, comes in a variety of tones, and complements brown eyes quite well. Today's look comes courtesy of Sweet Libertine Cosmetics, an indie mineral makeup company run by a fellow Raveler. I like to promote and support them whenever possible :) I do believe these three colors are permanent shades, so you can buy them if you like them. - UD Primer Potio n in Original - SL shadow in Camisole all over the lid - SL shadow in Raisin Girl in the crease - SL shadow in Striptease   on the browbone - UD eye pencil in Rockstar along upper lash line - BeneFit Bad Gal Lash mascara