My last post before surgery!

Hey guys!  So this is my last post before I go in for my liver resection and then I'll be gone for a little bit.  The surgery is tomorrow morning at 7:30 at Duke University in Durham, NC.  I've been anxious about this surgery since I found out about it.  It's kind of a big deal.  I feel like I just got better from having my stomach cut apart and put back together and now I get to go do it again (maybe sometime if I get brave I'll show you guys my scars, I swear I'm going to look like I was part of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre haha).

I think the recovery for this surgery will be about the same as my last surgery (I had a left hemicolectomy in February to remove a mass of cancer from my colon), I should be in the hospital, assuming everything goes according to plan, for 5-7 days.  Then I'm supposed to meet with my oncologist on July 13th to get me scheduled for my (hopefully) final 6 rounds of chemo.  

Now I'm sorry I don't have a better "see ya later" look for you guys but I just bought this shirt from Stand Up 2 Cancer (love this site because it doesn't just focus on just one type of cancer as so many places do) and I really wanted to wear it so this is the makeup I thought worked with it (I'm not usually a yellow girl haha). 

The shirt says "Survivor"

This is my other Stand Up 2 Cancer shirt that I bought

I just did a really pretty neutral look.  What I used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Makeup Geek (MUG) "Pretentious" shadow on lid

MUG "Mocha" with a touch of "Corrupt" in crease

Blended up with MUG "Cocoa Bear" and "Cinderella"

with MUG "Vanilla Bean" as a highlight

On my lips:

MAC "Myth" lipstick

just a smidge of MAC Viva Glam Nicki lipstick

topped with Revlon "Cupcake" lip butter

If you're interested, depending on how I'm feeling, I'll try to update my facebook page while I'm in the hospital, just to let you know I made it through surgery ok.  And if you wouldn't mind sending some prayers or thoughts my way again, I would so much appreciate it!

I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for being so amazing and supportive of me during this time.  I feel so blessed that I am able to have this sort of outlet for my feelings and to talk about what I'm going through.  Sometimes it gets really hard but reading your kind words always makes it feel like not such a big deal.  So thank you all so much.  I love you guys and I'll talk to you soon!

Revlon Just Bitten "Lovesick" Balm Stain Review and Look!

I'm sure by now you've heard about these Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stains but I decided since I bought one, I'd share my opinion about it with you!  I bought mine at CVS one week, they retail there for $9.79.  My CVS was out of most colors so I went with a fushia color called "Lovesick."  It's a pretty color, a bit bolder than colors I usually go for but I figured it was worth a shot.

So here's what it looks like, it looks like a chubby, big crayon:

Here you can see it has tiny glitter flecks in it:

When I put it on, the color reminded me of the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in "Addis Ababa."  They do look a lot alike but the Revlon one is much more sheer, which would be expected from something called a "Balm Stain."

And here's a look I did wearing it.  I'm not sure what it is about fushia that makes me want to wear a black smokey eye.

I used the Naked palette for this look:

"Creep" on lid and above crease

Blended with "Naked"

"Virgin" to highlight

That's all.  Just 3 colors.

I really like the color.  I think it's fun, but it is pretty bright.  I feel like you can't tell how bold it is in these pictures.  I really liked the way it applied, it was very smooth.  I like that it has a slight sheen to it.  I applied it and then tried to wipe it off, just to see how it worked, and it stayed on, which is great and something my husband also appreciated because he's not a fan of wearing fushia lipstick haha.  However, after a few hours and after I ate something, most of the boldness of the color had worn off from the middle of my lips, but it was still bright around the edges, as if I'd lined my lips with this instead of applying it all over, which is not so much a good look.  I did find that my lips were still tinted this morning when I woke up.

These are supposed to be comparable to the Tarte Lipsurgence, which I've never tried so I personally cannot compare the two.  The only thing I can honestly compare is the price.  $9.79 for a Revlon one or $24 for a Tarte one... for me, that makes up my mind immediately, but I'm one who's always looking for something similar but less expensive anways.  I do like this product, I really like the idea of it.  I'm interested to try a more nude one, just to see how the color would hold up.  I was disappointed that the color had faded (though it wasn't completely gone) in the center of my lips because it just looked sloppy.

I can't speak for the less intense colors but I'd recommend this color, just as long as reapplying to the center of your lips after a meal doesn't upset you.  If it does, then pass on this guy!

Have you guys tried these?  What do you think of them?  What color is your favorite?

A look (or two) with Makeup Geek greens

Another suggestion I had received was to do a look using greens (or burgundy) from Princessa so I've played with greens a few times.  I really had a hard time getting a decent picture the first time (and it wasn't super well done) but then I tried again and I really really like the way it turned out.  It had this glowy effect and I just thought it was really pretty.  My husband saw it and goes, "So what was this inspired by?" and I said, "green." haha.  So here's the look I came up with!!

My lighting is a little off because I took these pictures earlier in the day than normal

And here's my color placement:

All Makeup Geek Shadows:
(I number them in the order in which I place them on my eye, starting at the lashline)
1- Ocean Breeze
2- Peacock (with just a touch of Corrupt)
3- Shimmermint
4- Pixie Dust
5- Ice Queen

Here's the other look I had attempted but didn't really like or manage to get any good pictures of (apparently with greens, I like the effect of having a lighter color in the center of the lid!)

And my color placement for this one (again, all Makeup Geek colors):

The top one is much much better haha.  I'm kind of embarrassed of this bottom look, it's not my best work.  But I figure I can show you the good and the bad, right?  

I hope you all have an incredible, fun weekend!  I'm going to Virginia Beach next weekend with the fam for one last little vacation before my liver surgery takes me out of commission for a bit.  Has anyone been there and would recommend going/seeing/doing anything special?  Any tattoo parlors there anyone recommends (I REALLY wanted to get a tattoo before my surgery, but I don't want to go just anywhere, I want it to be a great place!)? 

Thank you all so much for following me and supporting me, it means so so much to me!!

Inspired by Belle from Beauty and the Beast

When I asked for some suggestions of some ideas for looks, Miranda suggested that maybe I do a look inspired by Belle from Beauty and the Beast.  Trying to come up with new ideas for a look inspired by Belle is not the easiest thing to do.  When I think of Belle, I think yellow and brown.  How many ways are there to wear yellow and brown?  I've seen some looks inspired by her before, check out Kassie's look, and honestly,  if I were to do a look without having already seen hers, I think mine would look a lot like hers.  So I did my best to come up with something at least a little bit different!

And my inspiration

I wanted this look to be mainly gold, but a yellow gold so you could still tell who it was inspired by.  I also wanted to tie in the brown (from her hair) somewhere besides the crease so I put it under my eye.

What I used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil "Milk"

a layer of Sugarpill's "Buttercupcake" on lid to make the gold more yellow-y

L'oreal HIP Pigment "Visionary" over the yellow

MUG "Gold Digger" shadow

MUG "Bleached Blonde" shadow

MUG "Yellow Brick Road" shadow under highlight color

MUG "Ice Queen" shadow as a highlight

NYX glitter liner "Gold"

MUG "Brown Sugar" shadow (bronze color under my eye)

MUG "Corrupt" shadow applied wet as a liner

Cheeks:

ELF Blush/bronzer duo to contour

NYX "Angel" blush

Philosophy "The Color of Grace" shimmering face powder to highlight (this stuff is really really awesome when applied with a stippling brush, it just has an amazing glowy effect, thank you so much Heather Crazy Beautiful Makeup for sending this to me!!)

Lips:

Revlon Colorburst lipstick "Soft Nude"

ELF Liquid Lipstick "Perfect Pink" (thank you, Heather, for this too!)

And that's my look for today!  I hope you all are doing well (and staying healthy!) and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week!! Thank you all so much!!!

And a little song to finish up the post!

I made a facebook page!

So I'm totally lame and didn't know how but I finally messed around with it and figured it out!  I haven't posted anything yet but if you wanna check it out here's the link: my facebook page!!

Kim Kardashian Inspired Purple Smokey Eye

I don't know if you guys are all members on Makeupbee or not but I pop on there every once in a while.  I've noticed they've been doing a ton of competitions lately and their newest one is "Celebrity Inspired."  So I figured I'd enter, I don't have anything to lose.  The hard part was trying to pick just one celebrity to be inspired by.  Do I pick someone I at least slightly resemble?  Or do I pick based on the actual makeup?  Well clearly I went with based on the makeup haha.

So I've seen this picture of Kim Kardashian around a lot and I really like the way her makeup looks so I decided I would try to recreate her look.  Silly me chose to do this on a day when my daughter's class was having family picnic day at school so I got all self conscious because I knew it would be way more makeup than any of the other moms had on (I already kind of stand out as the youngest mom)!  I mean, I really like the look and if I were going anywhere but school I'd have no issues wearing it.  But I wore it anyways haha!

I know it's not a perfect recreation (mine's a bit warmer, my cheeks don't have as much color, my lips aren't as light...) but here's the look!

 I contoured and highlighed my cheeks like crazy!!  You can't tell though haha!

What I used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX "Milk" Jumbo Eye Pencil

I laid down a layer of MUG "Unexpected" shadow first so I wouldn't get too much pigment from 

MUFE 92

Inglot 388 M (blue purple)

Inglot 379 M (periwinkle color)

Inglot 392 M (a pinky purple)

MUG "Taupe Notch" to blend purple into the highlight color

MUG "Bling" to highlight

MUG "Corrupt" to add a bit of depth

Inglot 352 M (skin color) to blend edges of purple and make them soft

L'oreal HIP Chrome Eyeliner in "Black Shock"

Revlon Photoready 3D Volume Mascara "Blackest Black"

Some random false lashes I had around (I know they're Ardell)

I used like 5 things to highlight my cheekbones but nothing came off as shimmery as hers!

Lips:

MAC "Myth" lipstick

MAC "Boy Bait" Cremesheen glass

So that's my look!  I hope you guys like it!  If you feel up to it, here's a link to vote on Makeupbee.  You have to click the little heart button that says "LUV" for it to count (if you do vote for me, thank you!).  I hope you all are having a beautiful day!  Thank you so much for your support!

Zazu (from the Lion King) Inspired Makeup!

I love Disney movies.  They're so full of color and inspiration.  I was watching the Lion King with my family and like every scene all I could think was, "Wow, those colors are so pretty together!  I wonder how I could make it translate to makeup."  So I decided to go with a look inspired by Zazu ("that's Mr. Banana Beak to you!" haha).

What I used:

Eyes:

Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper

NYX JEP "Milk"

MUG "White Lies" shadow

Sugarpill "Buttercupcake"

Sugarpill "Flamepoint"

A navy and light blue from my 88 palette

MAC Blacktrack fluidline

Revlon Photoready 3D Volume Mascara "Blackest Black"

Face:

Revlon Colorstay Foundation "Sand Beige"

L'oreal True Match Liquid Foundation "N2"

Maybelline Super Stay 24/7 Concealer "Cream"

Maybelline Dark Circle Eraser "Fair"

Covergirl Professional Loose Powder "Translucent Fair"

ELF Studio Blush/Brozer

NYX "Peach" blush

Lips:

MAC "In Synch" lipliner

Cargo "Aruba" long-wearing lipgloss

I swear it looks better in person.  I've been awful lately at getting good pictures of my makeup.  I did a few looks this past week but I got bad pictures so I've been debating on whether or not to post them.  Maybe I'll do a big post of all of my "bad picture" looks haha.

Check out the amazing color combo options throughout this song!

Enjoy!

I hope you all have an amazing weekend!  Thanks, as always, for checking this out!  I appreciate you all so much!!  Thank you!!!