Tag: Urban Decay
June Birchbox – Away We Go
I received my Birchbox yesterday, but I had a birthday party to go to, so…good morning post!
“Away We Go” is June’s Birchbox theme – products perfect for a summer getaway. Inside my box: Coastal Scents “Revealed 2 Eye Shadow Palette Set” (4 shades from the 20 shade set – a little birdie told me that this palette is duplicate for Urban Decay “Naked 3”), COOLA “Tinted Matte SPF 30 for Face”, Joie “Folle de Joie” Eau de Parfum (a very mature scent, but better than that stinky Realtree from my Ipsy bag), Perlier Body Cream “Shea Almond” and suki “Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser (I am an exfoliating fiend, so this will definitely get used).
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join. I want that Modern Mermaid box!
Extreme Bathroom Makeover
Makeup. Makeup everywhere. Makeup on the counter. Makeup in makeup bags, stacked and hanging from the towel rack.
Did I mention that this is my husband’s sink? My sink is surrounded by face wash, deodorant and hair crap.
My makeup collection had outgrown the bags and had spilled onto the counter, even after “the purge”. Even though he rarely complained about the fine layer of powders and streaks of eye shadow in his sink, I was much more vocal about the prospect of beard hairs sprinkled all over my stuff. My stuff that was technically in his area…
Last Sunday was a monster trip to Target to take advantage of an additional 5% off coupon that I had been awarded via my son’s frequent and varied prescriptions. (I guess I can thank Impetigo for my coupon?) I decided on a plain white armoire and a cadre of wire mesh baskets, drawers and bins.
The bottom shelf has two large bins. One holds foundations, BB Creams and Primers; the other has powders and blush.
The middle shelf has a compartmented basket, with lip and eye stuff in the front and all of my shadow palettes in the back.
The top shelf is my favorite. I have random stuff in the drawers, like individual eye shadows and sharpeners. The reason that it’s my favorite part is that I get to display my mother’s jar. She used to keep eyeliner and brushes in this jar and so do I. It’s a milky white glass cold cream jar – you just don’t see those anymore. The jar has ELCAYA in relief on the side and ELCAYA NEW YORK on the bottom. Google told me that Elcaya Creme was a fancy cold cream sold in the 1910s and 1920s. It was $4, which is like $50 in today’s dollars.
Every day, I think of a question that I wish I could ask my mother. Today, I wish I could ask her the story of this jar. It couldn’t have been used by her or even her mother. If I had to guess, I’d say that she picked it up at a flea market. Most weekends, we would go flea marketing, looking for furniture to refinish. I never thought about why until now. The “cynical me” says that it was because we were poor. The “whimsical me” says it was because my mother preferred things with a history. The “realistic me” says that it was because of “blue laws” and flea markets were the only place really open on Sundays back then. It’s probably a combination of the three…
It’s not fancy or anything, but it works. My husband gets his side of the sink back…kinda. I still do my makeup on his side, I just put my stuff up after I use it. Everybody wins!
April Ipsy Bag – Beauty Rocks
I get so excited when I see that key in my mailbox – it means that there’s something for me…and today it was that pretty fuchsia bubble mailer.
Ipsy’s April theme is “Beauty Rocks”. The makeup bag is brilliant purple nylon, with a record player on it. Inside my bag: Benefit lollitint in “Candy Orchid”, Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm, Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil Travel Size, City Color White Gold Shadow & Highlight Mousse and KISS Looks So Natural Lashes. Except for the fake lashes, I’m totally jazzed about everything in the bag. I am skeptical about Benefit, but I love lip stain. It’s unlikely that I’ll use it on my cheeks, but I’ll definitely use it on my lips.
All this for $10…the value of what I received is far more than $10, probably more like $25. I don’t really understand Ipsy’s business model, but I like it!
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
I’m a Giver
It doesn’t matter that her birthday is still almost 3 weeks away…as soon as I got the last part of her gift in the mail, I had to give my BFF her birthday present. Mostly because I was afraid she might visit Ulta herself…
She wanted the Too Faced “Boudoir Eyes” Palette really bad…solely based on the fact that there is a color of eye shadow called “Sugar Walls”. I guess she wants to unleash her inner Sheena Easton. The palette came with a free “Better Than Sex” mascara and eye shadow primer.
She also wanted the Urban Decay Naked Palette. She already had Naked 3 and her daughter has Naked 2, so now her life is complete – she can die happy with fabulous eyes.
Free Ulta Goodies
Ulta is so weird. They shipped all my “Gifts with Purchase” in a separate shipment than what I actually paid for. Why would they pay the extra shipping on stuff they’re giving my for free? Whatever…
I got a free StriVectin Age-Fighting Kit – let’s face it, I’m brushing up against the underside of 40. I’m about to have to start buying this stuff for real. There’s eye cream, wrinkle cream and neck tightening cream. Oh my…I wonder what else it will tighten.
I also got samples of Urban Decay Ultra Definition Face and Primer. Everyone is shoving their primers down my throat!
I also got ANOTHER set of fragrance samples. Marc Jacobs “Dot” is alright, but Elizabeth Arden “Untold” smells straight-up Church Lady. Ack. There’s also a Versace sample that I can’t figure out what the name is and another Escada. Speaking of Escada – Lily and I wore the “Especially Escada Delicate Notes” sample today. I wonder if she turned heads as she strutted into the kindergarten classroom? She had to be the best smelling 6 year old there!
Ulta Shipment!
It’s only been a few days since I got mail…my mailbox has been so lonely!
I decided to treat myself and get one of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I was eyeballing them at Ulta last week and took the plunge. Upon Amy’s suggestion, I went with the Naked 2 Palette. She has Naked 3 and said it was okay, but her daughter has Naked 2 and she likes it better. I am so SINGLE WHITE FEMALE.
I also took Beth’s recommendation and ordered L’Oreal Magic BB Cream. Fingers crossed – I’m trying it tomorrow!
I also had an email offer for a free StriVectin Skincare Kit, but that is coming in a different shipment…odd.
The fun thing about Ulta is that you get Samples with every purchase. I chose the Fragrance Sampler and got Especially Escada, Guess Girl and Calvin Klein Encounter. Encounter is for Men, so the husband gets it. I sniffed it for him and managed to spill it all over my fingers. 3 hours later and a dozen handwashings later and I still smell it. To me, all Calvin Klein scents smell exactly the same. It’s GROSS…and I can’t get it OFF ME.
The Purge
After painting my nails, I decided to clean out my makeup drawers…you know, to make room for more makeup.
For years – nay decades, I’ve been searching for the perfect foundation. I scooped up all the failed attempts – Revlon Colorstay, L’Oreal True Match and whatever other liquid, powder and concealer and chunked it.
All the old eyeshadow, blush and lipstick, I put in a box for Lily to play with. There were about a dozen Clinique, Lancome and whatever “Gift with Purchase” lipsticks that my mother had given me. Since she died nearly 9 years ago, I figure that I had held onto them long enough.
I found enough old razors to shave a Sasquatch – gone. I found 3 boxes of Sally Hansen mustache bleach – ha! Gone. A squeeze bottle from when I used to dye my own hair…lord knows I won’t be doing that again. I found an unused pregnancy test…I kept it, but not sure why.
As good as buying stuff feels, throwing stuff away feels even better! I’m not quite back to square one makeup wise, I kept all of the Urban Decay eye stuff, no matter how old. I’m not quite THAT strong.
I also learned something very important today. Don’t ever tag a pic #Purge on Instagram. Apparently, that’s what anorexics, bulimics and cutters use to tag their posts. I clicked on the tag and was treated to pics of bleeding forearms. WTF teenagers? What happened to getting wasted on Mad Dog and Strawberry Hill and giving yourself tattoos with India Ink?