Majolica Majorca "Blood On"

(It should be noted that I first read about this blusher in Musings of a Muse's blog, which you should follow if you don't already.) 

I've never really had a relationship with blusher.  My mother uses it religiously, using three different colors to bring her pale skin to life.  If she doesn't, she tends to look like a zombie statue that someone made out of clay and hasn't yet fired in a kiln.  However, I'm half Mexican (and for some of you, I know the title of my blog is just now making some semblance of sense!), and as such, am not nearly as pale as my pure Irish mother.  I never really saw the point in blush.  And when I did put it on, I looked like a circus clown going to her other job as a streetwalker - camp and ridiculous.

But when I read Muse write about this blush, the color looked natural.  I love how I look when I blush, and when I get gussied up for Special Occasions, I pull out a super old school beauty trick and pinch my cheeks until I look flushed.  I get why blushes make sense for most people, but I wanted a natural looking flush.  And oh my god, I think I've found it.  Majolica Majorca, ilu.  Never leave.  ... wait, this is a LE?  KAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN.

It's a pretty generous size for what it is.  I got it off of eBay for ten bucks with three dollar shipping, which is pretty decent.

 Here's what it looks like in the container.  It looks hella red, I know, but give this girl a chance - she applies wicked sheer, so the color is totally buildable (you can put on layers and get your cheeks as blushy as you want them to be).

See what I mean?  And here's what it looks like on me.

These are in natural light, let me show you flash.

And why yes, I'm wearing it on my lips!  You can do that!  It looks okay!  I just look like I've been running around the block (which I haven't, stop laughing, you asshole)!  The wear time for me seems to be about six hours or so, but I usually wear BB cream underneath it.  Maybe that makes some sort of magical adhesion power, I don't know.

I'm probably going to have to buy another five of these and secret them around in my apartment like a squirrel, or an old woman with her costume jewelry, just so I never run out.  It's become a staple in my workday makeup routine.  Madly in love with this one.

What's In My Bag?

I am a snoop.  I rubberneck at car crashes, if I hear people talking loudly through the shared wall in my apartment I put my ear to it, and I love celebrity gossip.  I try to rein it in so it's appropriate, but I admit - I love "what's in my bag?" posts from anyone and anyone and I felt like I should do one myself.

This is my bag.  It's a customized Eula Messenger from Timbuk2.  Timbuk2 makes bags that you really have to work hard at destroying, and this is just the perfect purse size.  You get to pick your fabric - there's solid colors as well as a few different patterns you can choose from.  This is one of the pattern options, obviously, and the fabric is apparently limited, so it cost a bit more, but the whole bag itself set me back about 85 USD.  That's not too bad for something that will last me a couple of decades.  (I know this because I have one of their larger messenger bags that I got in 2001 that looks brand-spanking new.  It lasted me through about twenty boyfriends, and I expect it's what I'll use to tote my shit during the zombie apocalypse.)




She's roomier than she looks!

 But less about the bag, and more about her delicious innards, yes?


LtR: On the left, that purple thing you can barely see is my OG Kindle (I think it's literally the first edition, though it could be the second) with my journal on top.  The white tube to the right of those is my sample of Age Defying Hand Brightener I got from my Julep box of mystery.  To the right of that is my prescription of pharmacy strength naoproxen sodium (migraine/cramp maintenance - I take it twice daily no matter what).  To the right of that is my change purse.  Why yes, it's made from an old Sailor Moon pillowcase.  Below that are my car keys, which leaves further evidence that I love Sailor Mars way too much.  She's a bit of a role model, what can I say.  That black thing to the left of her is my iPod.  I'm still rocking an 80G last gen model, but that iPod case is also by Timbuk2, and it's also from 2001.  And it's waterproof!  That paiselyish thing is my beloved clutch wallet from Target, much beaten up but I refuse to get rid of it.  Just above that is my EpiPen, as anaphylaxis is not sexy or fun.  And in the middle is my makeup bag, and what I assume you're interested in.  The bag itself is the bag that went out with the debut month of my MyGlam.

And it's surprisingly roomy!  LtR: "Hello Flawless" powder by Benefit in "cute as a bunny" Honey, Red Velvet Cake perfume oil by BodyLuminosity, Baby Lips by Maybelline in Grape Vine, Baby Lips by Maybelline in Peach Kiss, MAC lipstick (lustre) in Marquise d', Revlon Lip Butter in Cotton Candy, Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee, a crystal nail file by Julep, Julep Pout Popper in Arousal, Smashbox Hybrid 2 in 1 Color and Shine Lipgloss in Pink Lily, and Mai Coture blotting papers.  Now, onto swatches and reviews!

I didn't swatch the Hello Flawless - if you want me to, just drop a comment.  This is my go-to powder for everyday use.  I use BB cream to cover up most of my imperfections, then maybe a dollop of concealer afterward if I need to, but I always, always set everything with this powder.  It covers way more than you'd expect a powder to, and as someone with acne prone skin, it doesn't cause me to break out or look like I have acne prone skin.  This is my fourth compact of the stuff, so it's doing something right.  I've yet to find better.

Onto Baby Lips.  This is a lip balm, don't get it twisted.  The color payoff from this is not going to be huge.  But it does have some color, and it will be noticable on your mouth.  It's less waxy than Chapstick and a bit more watery than your usual balm, but I do notice when I don't wear it in a while.  After a few days, my lips get a bit cracked and grumpy and then I remember to do less lipgloss and more Baby Lips.




Grape Vine

 


Peach Kiss

 


Grape Vine on the left, Peach Kiss on the right.

  Next is the Smashbox Hybrid 2 in 1 Color and Shine Lipgloss.  This has some glitter to it, but it's fantastically fine glitter -  which really makes some nice multifaceted depth on the mouth.  It's got one of those fuzzy tip applicators that I love - it lets you blend it in like a wand, but you get the benefits of the squeezy tube.  I don't think you can get this from Sephora or Smashbox directly anymore, but there's loads of them up on eBay and Amazon now for hella cheap - I'm talking I saw some for 3.99 on eBay cheap.



Pink Lily



Fuzzy tiiiip~

 Augh, you see that shimmer?  It friggin' slays me.  I wear this on dates or whenever I want to feel Extra Special pretty.  It's goopy, like most lipglosses are, but it's a lipgloss.  Non goopy ones are confusing.

Now, onto something I'm sure you've heard about already or own a million of, that's how much hype it got.  Revlon Lip Butters.  I think the hype is deserving, if only because it filled a niche that wasn't quite out there.  What if someone wants some hydrating protection on their lips, and color?  Before, I used to wear balm on my lips, then layer on some lipgloss.  Now I don't have to.  I can just wear my lip butter.



Cotton Candy



Creme Brulee



L: Cotton Candy, R: Creme Brulee



 It's a subtle color, don't get me wrong, but it's more noticeable to me than Baby Lips, or any other colored balm I've tried.  I also love the shimmer in it.  These are my two favorites, as I've tried some of the darker ones and don't like them much.  Creme Brulee is a "my lips but better" color, and Cotton Candy is just two steps lighter.

Now, I don't wear a lot of lipstick, but when I do, it's by MAC.  I just like their formulation.  It's the least drying and annoying on my mouth, and their lustre formula is >< that close to being a gloss on its own.  However, and I say this while on my knees and crying to the gods - why must everything be LE?  Why!  We're going to buy it anyway, MAC, you know we will! 



Marquise d'



Like this adorable beauty, from the Wonder Woman collection.  Check that cute ass packaging!  You didn't have to make it LE!  I'd have bought it anyway!  I'd buy two more right now if you still made it, you selfish color overlords!  And no, knowing someone who works there doesn't help, I've tried that.  It's like adorably packaged crack.  Just knowing a guy isn't enough, unless you know someone who makes it.

Next is the Julep Pout Popper.  While unfortunately named (seriously, Julep, fucking stop that), it's a product I've really come to like.  I hate the scent - it reminds me of an elderly person who's just trying way too hard - but it fades quickly enough where I'm not too mad at it.  It does plump a little bit, but my lips are already pretty large, so it's not too noticeable.  I do like that it's thick like a gloss, but smooth on the mouth - you won't get that one random string of gloss between your lips that makes you look like a sludge mosnter.
 


Arousal (no, seriously, Julep, fucking stop it)

 



L: Marquise D', R: Arousal

So, that does it for what's in my bag.  But lastly, I want to give a shoutout to my shoes.  They're the most adorable, comfortable heels I've ever owned, and they're by friggin' Tom's.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a Tom's hater.  I think their flats are adorable.  But I didn't think they'd be able to make cute heels.  I'd like to be the first to admit that I stand corrected.


Fucks to the yes houndstooth!  They're about three inches, super easy to move in, and I've already gotten loads of compliments on them.  They've sold me, and now I've got to hold myself bax when I get paid from getting the glitter wedges, just because the words 'glitter' and 'wedge' go so well together.

Got anything you have questions about?  Want new swatches?  Have questions about my cats?  Want the meaning of life?  Ask.

Julep - Box of Mystery

I love Christmas.  Now, lots of people may suspect the opposite.  This is probably largely based upon my hatred of Christmas carols (which I blame on being in a children's choir for a few years - sing those fuckers about five hundred times and tell me if you like good Saint Nick).  Or possibly my hatred of Christmas decorations (I GET IT, LIGHTS BLINK, THAT'S FANTASTIC, GOOD ON YOU).  But I love presents.  I love giving them more than anything else in the whole world.  To me, giving gifts is as close to the hunter/gatherer instinct as we can get in this day and age.  Plus, it means I can buy one or two things for myself and not look like a prat.  Which brings me to today's post!

Julep is a nail polish parlor up in the Pacific Northwest that also makes their own products.  They have a 'polish of the month' club that they call the "Maven" program (which is not the point of this post, but I'll explain in case you don't know).  Every month for 19.99 USD, they send you a box at the beginning of said month that includes at least forty USD worth of product.  They have little fashion "profiles", one of which you're put into when you sign up.  But if you hate your box for your profile that month, you can switch.  You can also skip the month, or just have the whole shebang sent to a friend as an impomptu gift.  I love Julep.  I love my Maven boxes.  It's like a gift every month, and it has cute packaging, and Julep polishes have one of my favorite nail polish formulas out there.

So when they announced they were doing a "Box of Mystery", I jumped all over that.  They described it as a box containing at least 60.00 USD worth of product but might have up to 200.00 worth.  For 19.99?  Yeah, I got myself one while I was shopping for other people's gifts.  It came today, so I took pictures at work.  (I'll put more up when I finally get a chance to use the polish!)

I squealed when I saw it had come in, not going to lie.  Happy flaily arms abounded.

This is what I got.  I got three polishes, a lipgloss (which they call a "pout popper", but I refuse to ever say that again unless someone A) has a gun to my head, or B) I've recently had a lobotomy), a nail file, and some pretty generous (30 ml) sample sizes of their glycolic scrub and age defying hand cream.

The age defying hand cream isn't really that special to me.  I've gotten samples of it in my Maven boxes before, and it's ... hand lotion?  It didn't really do anything that made me think "hot damn, I should spend 32.00 USD a bottle on it".  Now, the "Facial for Hands" glycolic hand scrub is totally a different matter.  I have debated spending that much on it, if only because that combined with my argan oil has been giving me baby soft hands.  The scrub smells like a fruit smoothie and feels like most facial scrubs.  I use it in the shower and slather my elbows up with it too, and that actually does make a difference.  It also just feels good - I'm an exfoliation junkie.

Onto the polishes!

This is "Jodie" (Julep names all of their polishes after girls).  It's a dusky rose color with a lot of bronze shimmer to it.

This is "Carrie", a lighter than bubblegum pink.  I normally wouldn't go for a color like this, but it's just bright enough that I'm excited to give it a go.

This is "Christina".  At first I was bummed out because it looked like a boring red in low light (and I actually hate red nail polish), but then I saw it had a buttload of gold shimmer in it, and now I'm stoked.

And lastly, I got a lipgloss.  I admit, I was pretty dubious about trying lipgloss from a manicure place, but I'm wearing it right now, and it's not awful!  It's not super sticky, almost feeling more like a lip cream than a gloss.  It's shiny without being glittery, so you won't look like you just took a moneyshot from an elf.  I dislike the smell (it's like they were trying to duplicate Chanel's lipstick scent, but way more floral), but it goes away once it's on your mouth.

This was a full size in the color "Arousal".  It's a pretty color, very close to my own lip color but better.  I can't find this exact color for sale on their site, but they do have some other colors available for 18.00 USD each.  They claim that this is a plumping gloss, and maybe they're right; my lips do look a little bit fuller.  But I'm also filled with Cepacol cough drops, and they do the same damn thing.

I also got a nail file, but nobody cares about that.  It's a nail file.  It files nails.

All in all, I'm super stoked to use all my loot over the next few days.  For 19.99, this was a great deal (the polishes retail for 14.00 USD alone).  And if you're interested in the Maven box, click here to sign up.  (Under the promo code, be sure to put down INTRO5 - you'll get your first box for five dollars, which ends up being about eight or nine bucks with tax).