FOTD #5

Long time no blog, yo.
I've been very busy quitting my job, knitting scarves, reading books (I'm going to do a post on all of the books I've read this year. At the end of the year. Not now), rewatching all of Orange is the New Black, applying for so many jobs, trying to write a book, and doing ... not much else otherwise. If I'm being honest I've been in quite the creative rut the last few months.
BUT NO MORE! I'm going to try to get back into blogging so look out for that.

Now! Into my 5th Face of The Day.

This makeup has become my everyday makeup.
I switch out the foundation and mascara, depending on my mood, but the rest has basically been what's on my face every day for the last month or so.
I've done this look so many times I hit pan on the Light Bronze in my Lorac Pro Palette, which is both awesome and sad because now I have to decide if I want to repurchase the palette for that 1 color or just find a replacement.

For Eyes: 

My love for the Lorac Pro Palette is never ending. It's the perfect size, has the perfect colors and I have consistently used it for almost 2 years. Same goes for my NYX brow powder. I just got my hair ombréd so I'm still trying to figure out what color best suits my eyebrows now and I'm sad to say that I might have to switch to a warmer brow powder with this hair color. I love Painterly. I have used it as my eyelid primer every damn day for the last 6 months. It is beautiful and I will definitely repurchase it it I ever run out of it. And for mascara ... this one's ok.  I'm not a tremendous fan of the brush on this mascara, but I really like the formula. 

 For Face:
I got a sample of Smashbox's new primer from Sephora and I am head over heels in love with it. It's Smashbox's version of Benefit's Porefessional. Sadly, it's more expensive and the Benefit primer isn't cheap in the first place. After months of hearing British bloggers rave about it, I recently got the Bourjois Happy Light foundation and I love it! It's great for days when I want long lasting low coverage.
Mac's Cubic and the NARS Creamy Concealers are oldies but goodies. Cubic is one of those colors that looks good on everyone and I've had it for ages. I'm pretty sure it's the first Mac blush I ever bought. And the NARS Concealer does exactly what it says on the tin: a highly pigmented, creamy (but not cakey) concealer.

For Lips:
My lips have been struggling this winter, y'all. I have tried lip scrubs, hyper moisturizing lip balms and the Etta + Billie lip balms are my favorite. I keep the Orange and Ginger one in my purse at all times because otherwise it's cracked lip city. Moving away from lipcare to lip color can I just marry this lipstick? I got it years ago and never really used it up until I did a massive reorganization of my makeup and found this in the back of my lipstick drawer. How could I ever have not loved this lipstick? It's the perfect 'My Lips But Way Better' color for me - it's a beautiful rosy nudey pink and with the Etta + Billie lip balm under it it lasts for ages.

Products Mentioned, and where you can get them:

Lorac Pro Palette - Ulta (this is an excellent gift, btw. The Pro Palette 2 has a lot warmer colors)

Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara - Sephora / Ulta

NYX Eyebrow Powder - Ulta / CVS / Target

Mac Painterly Paintpot - Mac Counters

Mac Blush in Cubic - Mac Counters

Smashbox Pore Minimizing Primer - Sephora / Ulta (see if you can find the mini or travel size, there's a lot of product packed into the minis.)

NARS Creamy Concealer - Sephora

Bourjois Happy Light Foundation - ASOS (Bourjois is not available anywhere near me, so I order everything online)

NARS Lipstick in Tolede - Sephora (currently sold out - so you can try NARS' website or a counter in a department store)

Etta + Billie Lip Balms - ShopAnomie 

Jewelry

I am bad at jewelry that isn't earrings. I own a grand total of 9 necklaces and 2 bracelets. I'm trying to be better, though. I've been buying more 'statement' necklaces and less of the slightly varied, but basically same exact pair of earrings over and over.
Here's the Jewelry I wear on the regs:

Where it's all from:

• H&M (sometimes you have to dig, but I love everything I've gotten from H&M)
• Charming Charlie's (think Forever 21, with the clothes to jewelry ratio stitched and everything is organized by color. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but it's amazing.)
• Francesca's (it's a chain boutique. I think it might just be in the South. I know it's in Oklahoma and Texas. They have great sales)
• Lauren Conrad's jewelry line at Kohl's (I love everything that LC does. I love her clothing line, her jewelry, her instagram, her blog, her 'acting', etc. Her jewelry line is fab, well made and pretty cheap.)
• Target (mostly for earrings. I don't currently own anything other than earrings from Target)

With the exception of 2 or 3 pieces, all of my jewelry was under $25. The ones not under $25 are the gold bar necklace that is from ShopAnomie and the turquoise bead bar necklace from a charity/local goods shop in Oklahoma City and they were both a treat to myself. For being great at being me.

FOTD #4

Welcome to another edition of FOTD. This time: work edition. I work in an office a little over an hour away from my house so I generally do not have much time to do my face in the mornings. I tend to keep it simple and stick to things that will last or are easy to touch up throughout the day.

(silly face because I took these pictures when I got home from work and I was/am exhausted)

Face:
Porefessional by Benefit, Bare Minerals Original Foundation in Fair, Dandelion blush by Benefit, Laura Mercier Highlighter
Eyes:
Mac Painterly Paintpot, Naked 3 palette, Anastasia Brow Whiz in Taupe, Tarte Amazonian Clay Gifted Mascara
Lips:
Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya

(also hey I wore my glasses today because I couldn't be bothered to find my contacts. Also wore my glasses because I think my face looks kind of ... off with my hair up. I'm probably crazy though.)

Can we please talk about how amazing the Anastasia Brow Whiz is? Please? Look at my eyebrows. LOOK AT THEM. I've only had the Brow Whiz for a few days and I am so 10000% in love. Well worth the price, imo.

My Favorite Blogs

I follow a lot of beauty gurus. I mean a lot. I get ready in the morning to OOTDs, GRWMs, tutorials, DIYs and monthly favorites. Here are my favorites. (divided into favorite blogs and youtubers)

Blogs:
ViviannaDoesMakeup (also on YouTube)
It was a tough decision for me to decide if I wanted her on the Blog side of this list or the YouTube side (her weekly vlogs are one of my favorite things) but I chose her for the blog side for one big reason: I love this blog. I love VDM's style and her sense of humor. Her style is very clean and simple and she has been consistently blogging for years and years and it has been really interesting to see how her style has changed over the years.

LillyPebbles (also on YouTube)
Another one that's great for consistency and excellent product reviews, LillyPebbles is good friends with VDM (that's how I found her) and while I've been following LillyPebbles for much less time than these other bloggers, I already find myself looking forward to her posts. She also does EXCELLENT gift idea posts during the holiday season (for different people and different price ranges. So so smart)

EtPourquoiPasColine (also on YouTube)
There's just something about French Style. It is everything I want to be. Coline is one of several french bloggers I've been following for about a year now and I just love her style and it's helping my french skills by reading her blogs and watching her videos (she used to be 95% blog and 5% video, but she's been posting more videos lately and I love it). It's also super interesting (to me) to see how products differ in France.

Keiko Lynn
One of the cutest blogs. Ever. In the whole world. Her aesthetic is part 50s style and part super cool hipster kid. Also, she is the queen of contour. The QUEEN. She posts mostly outfit posts, but every few weeks posts a makeup tutorial or a FOTD and they are always beautiful/amazing. Also, everything is very beautifully photographed, and very clear/clean/pretty. Her intsagram is absolutely delightful, as well.

TheClothesHorse
Homegirl updates almost everyday. I love her hair, her style, how much she travels, her excellent photography skills, etc. When I first started following her, her hair was red and in a pixie cut. Then it was teal in a pixie cut. Then, a teal 'i'm growing out my pixie cut' cut. Then it was back to red with bangs, and now it's strawberry blonde and almost longer than my hair (forever jealous of people whose hair grows quickly). She's another one that has been blogging for years and she does a weekly 'how I've worn this piece in the past' post and it's really interesting to see how her style has changed even if the pieces in her closet have not.


YouTubers:
Essie Button
Ok, so, if you follow ... any 'beauty gurus' on YouTube you probably know who EssieButton is. Homegirl is friends with everyone. She seems like one of the nicest people in the world, and is hilarious to boot (imagine 'boot' in a super Canadian accent. Because she's Canadian. and I am HILARIOUS). She's currently living in London with her boyfriend and their dog and her life just seems so incredible. I love her sense of humor, her style, and how chill she seems. Also, her vlog channel is one of my favorite things in the whole universe. I stockpile those vlogs for whenever I'm sad/have an hour to waste.

DerpinaMode
Ok. I love these 2 girls. I've been following both of their YouTube channels for years (DerpinaMode is a newer thing) and was so hella excited when they decided to launch a beauty channel. Both of them make beautiful videos on their own, but together make some the silliest, prettiest videos. As neither of them are 'gurus' their videos are much less 'i spent 300$ at sephora and am sponsored by Channel' and much more 'other people are better at make up so i'm gonna let them do mine'. They don't post all that frequently, but when they do, I watch immediately.

HeyClaire
Claire's aesthetic is my dream aesthetic. I love everything about her style and her apartment and her hair and her face and her makeup abilities. To top it all off, she is one of the coolest and best editors in the beauty community. She has a recognizable style in how she edits her videos and her humor shines through in those videos. Her vlogs are great as well.

SoothingSista
I've only been following SoothingSista for a few months, but she's been on my radar for quite some time. One of my favorite ways to find new YouTubers is through people I already watch. Because the beauty community is still pretty small, a lot of them are friends and collab frequently. I found SoothingSista that way and I am so glad I did. I love her style (even though it's not stuff I'd ever be brave enough to wear) and her attitude and without sounding super creepy, she has the prettiest hair and skin on any person ever.

ChelseaWears (her shop)
I love this girl. I don't know her but I feel like I'm her friend. She's one of the funniest people I watch on youtube and even though she broke my heart to take a break from YouTube to get her amazing shop Anomie running, she's started posting videos again and I am back in friend!love with this girl. Her videos are generally really long, hilarious and hella informative - especially because she has basically the same coloring as me and recently bleached the crap out of her hair so I've gotten quite a few great tips from her videos.

Other Favorites (non-fashion blogs)
Joseph Birdsong
Joe is a YouTuber that I have followed since ... 2008? 2009? A really long time. He's hilarious, insightful, and hella talented. He's an excellent writer, and I love that he has been focusing on his blog more recently. I love his 'voice' - I don't know if it's because I've been following him for so long, but it's recognizable to me. He also has a podcast that is phenomenal. I don't follow a lot of what they talk about (j-pop, k-pop and video games) but it's very fun and informative.

A Beautiful Mess
I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this blog. Half the time I'm like 'who the hell has time for that' and the other half of the time I'm like 'oh my god I want your house and your life everything is adorable and perfect. Gimme'. I have a lot of their How-To/DIY articles saved for when I have my own place and can decorate all the things.

The Toast
Oh man do I love this blog. It's part news, part HELLA FEMINISM, and part satire. It's everything I've ever wanted in one place. One of my absolute favorite articles is "How to Tell if You Are in a Jane Austen Novel" - the first time I read that article I cried from laughing. It's like a tumblr news page without the whole 'everything is cultural appropriation, you are terrible because you are a white person' thing that tumblr gets into. I love The Toast.


While those are my favorites, that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the blogs I follow. It's slightly ridiculous, to be honest, but I love beauty blogs, ok?
Do you have any favorites?

Shoes.

So. If you've ever been in/near my closet you know that I have a bit of a problem with buying shoes. All the shoes. Why yes I do need that pair of ankle boots. Why yes I know I already know that I own 4 pairs of ankle boots but none of them are that particular shade of light tan and I need them.
Luckily for me/my closet/my wallet, working a full time job has almost completely killed my want to wander around shoe stores for hours. It's partly because I am hella tired when I get home and I hate shopping on the weekend when everyone else is shopping (people are gross and need to let me shop in peace and stop bumping me. Okay - the bumping thing is more due to an anxiety driven need for personal space, but still. don't friggen bump me, bruh. I will have a panic attack at you.)
But if I'm being honest, it's because I only wear ~6 pairs of shoes on a regular basis. These select few pairs are my go to shoes for the following reasons:

1. No matter how much I practice, I can't walk prettily in heels over 2 inches. 
2. I am prone to falling (a lot) and wobbly narrow heels that are not easy to walk in in the first place do not help the whole 'falling down the stairs in a parking garage in front of other humans' thing. Wedge heels are my friend.   
3. My office does not allow open toed shoes. Because toes are very sexy and distracting in the workplace. (as are shoulders apparently, but that's another matter. I don't want to get into male enforced dress codes for women because men are taught from a young age that it is a woman's job to hide the fact that she is a woman as much as possible lest she arouse the men around her and bring upon themselves any sexual advances/harassment caused by shoulders/toes/clavicles/etc. Whoopsie. I got into it.) 
4. I walk quite a bit at my job/have to use the stairs occasionally so anything more than a 2 inch heel is out of the question, comfort wise. 
5. These shoes go with basically everything I wear to work. 

Most of these shoes I've had for ages and ages so I'm not sure where I got them, but it's safe to guess DSW or Target for most of them. I love me a basic, neutral low heel shoe. That's probably pretty obvious, though.

Must Haves for My Bag

Must Haves for my Bag:
Since I've started working a big girl job, I've completely redone the makeup I keep in my bag. Gone are the days of 8 different lipsticks floating around in the nether that is my purse. I keep all of my 'must haves' in 1 bag in my purse so they're easy to find and so I never lose shit in my purse. Hello hyper organization, and hello easily kept up makeup routine for work:
My first must have: blotting papers
This one is first because it's the most important. I am an oily girl. Living in Texas doesn't help that, but having blotting papers in my purse all the time keeps me from being a shine hazard to others. You can buy any ol blotting paper, but my favorite is the Sephora brand ones because they smell like Lavender.
A Quick How-To: Do not drag the blotting paper around your face. That just drags the oil around and doesn't let the paper absorb the oil. Place it on your face and push gently, once it's see-through (gross, I know) throw it away.

My second must have whatever lipstick I wore that morning and Mac's See Sheer
This seems pretty straight forward, but I bring whatever lipstick I put on that morning in my bag with me for touch ups. If I'm not feeling that color anymore by lunch, I just pop on my current favorite: Mac's See Sheer.

My third must have a pair of earrings
Because I am hella forgetful in the mornings and have left the house with 1 earring on more than once. Also, it's nice to have an extra earring back lying around in case you lose one during the day.

My fourth must have powder foundation
This one goes along with blotting papers, but is less important. Makeup fades. We all know that. I keep a powder foundation in my bag for fading reasons. I am constantly battling the shine, and keeping the No 7 Perfect Light Powder in my bag is helping me win battles.

My fifth must have 2 hair ties and 4 bobby pins.
Because it's a smart thing and my purse is a mom purse. Anything you might need, I probably have it. The reason for 2 hair ties: i have thick hair and frequently break them when trying to pony tail my hair. Super cool. The bobby pins are mostly for if I decide halfway through the day that my hair is UNACCEPTABLE and therefore must be braided.

My sixth must have an eyeshadow quad
not a whole lot of reasoning behind this. I just like to be able to touch up, if needed during the day. My current favorite is the Mac quad in Inner Strength.

My last must have a cream blush
Ain't nobody got time for powder blush when you're on the go. Cream blush is my favorite anyways because it lasts longer and can generally double as a lip color in a pinch. My favorites, as always, are the Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes.

The bag I keep all that in is from the online subscription service Ipsy (that I am no longer a subscriber of - more on that in a post to come) and is the perfect size for all my stuff. It probably wouldn't work as well in a dark bag, but I lost my mind and bought a bag that wasn't black for spring. Crazy, I know.

A Note: Hey, you made it to the bottom of the post! Yeah! Go you! But for reals: this post is a bit outdated. Everything I said still holds true, but I no longer use this bag and it is no longer spring. So. Now you know. I write my posts waaaaaay in advance.

FOTD #3

Time for another FOTD/OOTD, but this time it's a bit different: it's Wedding Edition! At the end of May, my college roommate got married in Tulsa, and it was great to see everyone and dance my booty off. 

Makeup is from ... everywhere. My dress is from Target and my necklace and earrings are from H&M. 

FOTD #2

FACE OF THE DAY:

No 7 Beautifully Matte Foundation

Prescriptives Palette

Bare Mineral's Blush in The One

Bare Mineral's Mineral Veil 

Bare Minerals Well Rested

Maybelline Great Lash in Black

NYX Eyebrow Powder in Ash

Josie Maran Argan Infinity Cheek and Lip Cream in Everlasting Honey

PürMinerals Primer

Earrings: Forever 21

How I Make My Makeup Last All Day

Fellow makeup enthusiasts will agree with me when I tell you that hardly any 'long lasting' makeup is actually long lasting. I'm talking hard to get off after 6-8 hours long lasting. Especially drug store brand 'long lasting'. Except for mascara. I don't know what they put in water proof mascara and I'm pretty damn sure I don't want to find out.

But, after being out of the real work force for so long I kind of may have forgotten about how important actual long lasting makeup is. After a few weeks of experimenting, I have found what works the best for the longest for my skin. I've also completely reorganized the makeup I keep in my purse to minimize the amount of time I have to spend touching up during the day - but that's for another post (look for it in a few weeks).

Firstly, I'm not going to tell you that the less you touch your face the longer the stuff you put on it will last, because you know that already.But I will tell you that less isn't necessarily more when it comes to making your makeup last all day long.

For Foundation:
I have a lot of problems with foundation (and therefore blushes, highlighters and bronzers) not lasting all day. Always have, and so long as I have oily skin, always will. The 2 things I've found that make my foundation last 2-3 hours longer are a good primer and a good setting powder. I have tried so many dang primers and for the longest time I thought that I would never find one that does what primers are supposed to do: hold your makeup on your face and keep it from fading, creasing or sliding as the day goes by. On a whim I bought a trio pack of PurMinerals primers and as much as I cringe at the price, I don't think I'll ever go back to using any other primer.
I'm much less attached to the setting powder I use - the Makeup Forever HD Powder, but it does it's job well and will continue to do so until I run out. I probably won't repurchase that one though because I know that the Elf and NYX setting powders are just as good and a fraction of the price. I do love the setting spray I use: Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray is fantastic. I spray it after I've put on primer/foundation and then again when I'm completely finished with my makeup. I'm not really the 'all nighter' sort (I've been going to bed at 10:30 since I've started my job. Partay over hereeeee)



For Eyes:
You really get what you pay for with eyeshadows. Drugstore brands just do not last on my eyes for more than a second, so I'm gonna stick with my 2 favorites: my Mac quad in Inner Strength and my Naked 3 palette. I've had to stop using pencil eye liners because I've yet to find one that doesn't end up sliding down my face within 2 hours of applying. Powder on an angled brush along my upper and lower lash line works well, and lasts longer.
If I'm feeling bold, the only liquid eyeliner I use is the Stila Stay All Day Liner, which does just that. It stays all day. Eyelid primers, like mascara, are really to each their own. I really like Benefit's Stay Don't Stray and Mac's Paint Pots (a shadow and primer in one - it really is worth all the hype). The mascara I've been using a lot recently has been the Marc Jacobs mascara that came in a Sephora Favorites kit. I don't know anything about Marc Jacobs makeup but if the other products are as no nonsense as the mascara I might have to look into them.

For Lips:
Y'all are probably tired of me waxing on and on and on and on about NYX lip products but I'll stop when I find something that works better and lasts longer (that's cheaper). The lip creams have become a staple for me at work because A) there are so many pretty colors to choose from and B) they last a crazy long time and C) they are very easy to apply quickly at my desk. The Sephora brand Lip Creams are to DIE for but they don't have many non-bright/sparkle colors. Same goes for Cailyn Lip Stains. That shit will stay on your mouth for days if you let it - but they're kind of pricey and colors sell out really quick.
For days that I want less color on my lips, I generally stick to a tinted (not sticky) lip balm and reapply whenever. A recent favorite has been the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten. The biggest downside to wearing actual lipstick to work: I feel miiighty awkward putting on lipstick at my desk, so I'm (sadly) mostly staying away from lipsticks. For the time being, though, I'm learning to be sneaky.

What have you discovered makes your makeup last longer? Have any brands you think I should try? Let me know!

OOTD #3 With a Special Guest!

A few weeks back (when it was still cool enough to wear pants) I visited my friend Bliss down in Austin, and these pictures were taken on a day when we had to run a few errands on the super hip South Congress. Super cute (but comfy) outfits were a must. 

Bliss is in a black dress, sandals, and lots of skull jewelry (the earrings are from New Zealand and the ring is from Charming Charlie). And red lipstick. Because I'm a good friend and a bad influence.

I'm in a tied denim shirt, high waisted black jeggings, sunglasses (because my eyes are hella sensitive), dangely earrings from a lovely fair trade store in McKinney, and boots that I stole from my mother.  

And red lipstick. Because I'm addicted.

I'd like to thank our helper, Peanut, for not getting in the way at all and also for licking my ankles any time I stood still for more than 2 minutes. You're the best. (I also want to thank Bliss' backyard for being pretty) (and Bliss too.)

FORMULA X

Just a Quick Thing before I get too deep into this post: I got a job! YAY MONEY! Sadly, this probably means I'm going to have to go back to posting less frequently - but I'll have more things to post about because I'll actually have money to go do/buy things. Happily enough, I write my posts pretty far in advance so I hopefully won't drop off the face of the planet. 

Now, onto the actual post.
Formula X Nail Polish. I love thee. Now, I have to qualify why I don't mind dropping 10$ for everyone of these bad boys: polish is helllla expensive in New Zealand. I'm talking like 20$ for Revlon nail polish. It make me cry just thinking about it. And, to be honest, 10$ for polish isn't even that much in the states (I'm looking at you, Butter London and Deborah Lipman). But good golly miss molly if these nail polishes aren't the best non-gel nail polishes I've ever used. With a top and base coat, they last me well over a week - I've been getting tired of the color on my nail before it starts chipping and cracking.

Formula X is available at Sephora in stores and online, but there are so many colors and finishes that I'd suggest that you go into your nearest Sephora and try some out. I'm not kidding there are probably over 100 colors and so many different types of polish that the little voice in my head that says 'oh you don't have that exact shade of pink' gets louder and louder whenever I'm near the Formula X counter. We're all lucky I don't go into Sephora by myself very often and have people that understand my polish problem and will walk me away from the pretty rainbow colors.

The Base Coat (and top coat that isn't pictured because I couldn't find it when I took them) are great. They make even the super cheapo instachip nail polish last much longer on my nails. The combination of the top and base coat makes polishes last over a week without chipping. Which is SO GREAT.
The Effects polishes: if you know me you know I'm not big on crazy sparkles anywhere near my body but I have made an exception to my anti-sparkle law for these 2 polishes. Because they're MATTE. That's right: Matte Sparkle Polish. These 2 are perfect for parties. Sadly, like most other Matte polishes, they don't last very long but dammit if they don't make me feel like a beautiful princess when I wear them.

For their generic, nonsparkle colors: I am constantly amazed at the range of colors they have. I've gone a little pastel crazy the past several months, so Ignite is the only dark Formula X color I own, but all of them are super opaque with 2 coats, are easy to apply - the brushes aren't quite as wide as Sally Hansen brushes, but work just as well. The pastel colors are almost more opaque than the darker color which is a first in my experience. I love having light nails but haaaaate having to paint 4-6 coats to get any color payoff.
A quick aside that isn't really an aside but I forgot to take a picture of it: the Formula X nail polish remover is amazing for Formula X polishes. I haven't had the best luck with it working on other brands, but it might've been because A) I was trying to take a very bright coral polish off (seen in this post) B) in the dark and was not terribly successful and somehow ended up with coraly fingers the next day. Otherwise it's worked quickly and hasn't dried out my nails.

Now, even with owning 10 of their polishes, I don't have anywhere near a good representation of all the amazing/crazy finishes and colors that Sephora's got out. If you check out their website you can spend a loooong time looking at all of the slightly different shades of red and purple and pink (and orange and blue and green) but the different Effects coats they have are crazy. Someday I'll be brave enough to do a 'leather finish' (whatever that means. it sounds scary.), but for now I'll just keep these colors on rotation.
(if you're interested mostly in the top/base coat Sephora has a deal where you get the Top Coat, Base Coat, a Cleanser, and 1 other nailpolish in ANY COLOR YOU WANT) for 32$

xxKate

**I was not paid to write this post, these are all my opinions and products I have purchased for myself**