Editions of Me

- UDPP - WnW's Petal Pusher palette, right side: lid, crease, and browbone shadows as marked - UD's Naked e/s to blend out the crease - UD eye pencil in Rockstar all around the lash line - UD Supercurl mascara Face - Usual primer/foundation/powder repertoire (yeah, getting lazy about typing it all over all the time) - Tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Blushing Bride - Revlon lipstick in Berry Haute

Payday can't come fast enough. I've got my eye on their new Ocho Loco pencil set - 8 FULL-SIZE eyeliners for essentially the cost of three, and four of those colors are exclusive/brand new. Also, Urban Decay has a double-ended eye pencil set that also comes with an exclusive color, that I'm considering, but I'd probably want to split with someone. There are a few other things shown here at Makeupandbeautyblog.com - it looks like they're releasing new versions of their Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun palettes, but since I already have every single one of those shadows, there's really no need for me to get them. The new Build-Your-Own-Palettes are interesting to me solely because they come with exclusive shadows - can you tell, I'm a UD collector, but for reasons I've already discussed , I'd never actually use their BYOP system because I've already got a great system - it's called Z-Palette. Still love you though, UD. <3 Can't ...

I've had Wet 'n' Wild's 8-pan palettes for a while, but never actually used them. I know they are quite beloved all over, and they're reportedly of wonderful quality, but you know, when they're sitting in a drawer next to my UD or Sugarpill shadows, guess which one I will reach for, every time? NOT WnW. So yesterday, I woke up late and was in a super-hurry to get my makeup on, and sitting right on top of my "Maybe I'll get rid of this?" pile were my WnW palettes. Being pressed for time and not able to go digging around for combinations of colors in my makeup drawer, I shrugged and said, "Why not?" and grabbed the Comfort Zone palette: And of course, I discovered what many have known for a while - that the shadows in the palette are lovely and pigmented and quality . They're QUITE fabulous. So, I feel encouraged to remove these from the give-away pile and give them a second chance. Er, and a first chance too. Sorry, probabl...

Because no first day is complete without a makeup post. Eyes: - UDPP - UD e/s Mushroom on the inner 75% of the lid - UD e/s Verve on the inner 25% of the lid/tear duct area - UD e/s Deep End (from the 15th Anni palette) in the outer 25% and slightly into the crease - UD e/s Naked from crease to browbone - UD e/s Bootycall on the browbone - UD eye pencil in Binge along upper and lower lash lines, with UD Evidence e/s patted on top all around - Tarte's Lights! Camera! Lashes! Face: - A couple spritzes of UD's De-Slick spray - Tarte's Clean Slate Poreless primer - BeneFit Boi-ing concealer under the eyes - UD Naked Skin foundation applied with the Optical Blurring brush - UD Razor Sharp HD powder to set - NARS Orgasm blush - A couple more spritzes of UD's De-Slick spray on top Lips: - NARS lipstick in Love Devotion

I'm not going to deny that I've kind of fallen out of love with my job over the last few years. Like so many others, I began my career all bright-eyed and wanting to be like Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society  (you know, before all the bad stuff happens). Instead, 7 years later, I find that I'm getting dangerously close to becoming Mr. DeMartino from Daria . I'm not going to make excuses for myself either, however. I know that I have not done all that I could do to be the best teacher that I could be. Every year, I hope that it will be a different year. A better year. One of the beauties of being a teacher, in my opinion, is that every year is a chance to start over - new batch of students, new chances to make things right. New opportunities to rediscover why I got into this racket in the first place. This year really will be different - I'm teaching honors freshmen again for the first time in about four years. And I have three sections of them. I me...

You know, I recently bought BeneFit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow! foundation and I love it to pieces. I thought I'd found my perfect foundation... until my insatiable curiosity took over and I got myself a bottle of Urban Decay's new liquid foundation, Naked Skin , along with their brand new Optical Blurring brush: I'm shade 7.0 I won't go into all the crazy details of the formulation, because there are lots of other, BETTER reviews that can discuss the ingredients and stuff. But I WILL say that with 18 shades to choose from, I was able to find a perfect match, and true to its word, Naked Skin really does feel weightless and clean, and the coverage is buildable, so I can just as easily achieve the your-skin-but-better look as I can a more dramatic look. In the above photo, on the right side is my natural, clean face, and the left side is my face with Naked Skin over Tarte's Clean Slate Poreless Primer. Not bad, huh? I mean, I know I am blessed enough ...

This is a repost of a note by Kinetic Rage on Facebook - I am posting it on my blog so that I can share it more widely, because it's a message that needs to be heard. Roller derby is the only place I know where we are all different and yet still manage to accept and support each other. We are:  gay, straight, bi, or nearly asexual; virgins, sluts, poly, monogamous, kinky, married, single; heartbroken, madly in love, or simply alone. We may have never had a significant other, or we may be in committed relationships that have lasted several decades. We are tattooed, or not. We are pierced, or not. We come in every shade of skin imaginable. Regardless of our “upholstery”, we all bleed red. We are religious, or not.  We are Jewish, Catholic, Mormon, Christian, Muslim, Pagan, Atheist, UU; not interested, in too deep, confused, seeking,  or just trying to recover from any of the above.  We are parents, or not. We may have a house full of kids. Some of our “ki...