September Cancer Awareness!

Ok, so I had this brilliant idea to try to, each month, raise awareness for the cancers whose awareness month it is by doing makeup inspired by their ribbon colors.  I picked a difficult month to start this idea haha.  September has eight cancers whose awareness month it is.  That's crazy.  So I decided to do this on my blog facebook page (click here to check it out!) and ask you guys to also contribute.  I mean, I can't spread awareness all alone!!

So September is ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, gynecological cancer, and childhood cancer awareness month.  So here are the looks:

Childhood cancer (gold):  This is so important to me because I wouldn't wish cancer on my worst enemy, let alone and innocent child.  If anyone in this world deserves cancer the least, it is a child.  We lose so many children each year to this horrible, horrible disease.  

Multiple Myeloma (burgundy): This cancer is important to me because it's what my grandmother died from.  It's a crazy cancer that attacks the plasma cells of blood and shows itself in really weird ways.  It affects kidneys and bones and other ways I'll never understand.

Leukemia (orange):  Leukemia is a cancer of the blood.  I have known quite a few people who have had leukemia.  This affects people of all ages.  My Uncle Brian had leukemia, he got an infection from having his immune system so suppressed from chemotherapy and that took his life.

Lymphoma (lime):  Lymphoma is a cancer that starts in the cells of your immune system, called lymphocytes.  My husband's coworker had a swollen lymphnode on his neck.  After some convincing, he went to the doctor about it, the doctor said it was an infection and gave him an antibiotic.  When the lump hadn't gone away, my husband convinced him he needed to get it looked at again (this was shortly after I was diagnosed).  So he did.  It was Hodgkin's lymphoma.  Luckily it was caught early and he's ok after chemotherapy and radiation.

Prostate Cancer (light blue):  Researching a little bit, I found out that prostate cancer is diagnosed in 80% of men who reach age 80.  That's insane!  It is the second leading cancer-related death in men in the United States.

Ovarian Cancer (teal):  There is no good screening for ovarian cancer, no preventative screening.  Women need to pay attention to their bodies and listen to any symptoms they may be showing.  Some possible symptoms include pelvic discomfort or pain, loss of appetite or feeling full quickly, changes in bowel or bladder habits, low back pain, etc.

Gynecological Cancer (peach):  This includes ovarian, uterine, cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancers.  Women really need to be as proactive in screening for these as they are in screening for breast cancer.  These cancers are serious and they affect so many women each year!  Go for your pap-smear (I know, they suck!) every year because you owe it to yourself to make sure everything is good!

Thyroid cancer (teal, blue, and pink):  I have read that thyroid cancer doesn't always have symptoms so it can be really hard to find and diagnose.  Thyroid cancer starts with a thyroid nodule, most aren't cancerous, but they could be.  If you feel a lump in your neck, a swollen lymphnode, if you have a hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing or breathing, you should get it checked out.  There's no need to play around with something like that!

There is a lot of information out there about all of these cancers.  I have said it about a million times, but I will say it again.  If something is wrong in your body and you know it, go get it checked out.  Too often we put things off because "it'll get better" (I'm completely guilty of this).  Your life isn't worth risking!!

I did these looks to celebrate everyone who has been touched by any of these diseases and their loved ones.  I think all cancers are important and people need to learn about them!

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!

Navy blue and gold (as requested by Erika)

The other day I asked for suggestions for looks to do and a follower, Erika, said she's graduating on Tuesday (congratulations, by the way!) and wanted to see a look using navy blue and gold.  Normally these aren't colors I'd necessarily pair together but I decided to give it a go!  I hope you like what I came up with!

I blended the gold into the blue, then back into the gold just below my brow bone to tie it together.

What I used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil "Milk"

Gold- Urban Decay "Half Baked"

Navy- Ingot 428 P

Makeup Geek "Corrupt" (black to darken outer v)

Highlight- Urban Decay "Bootycall"

L'oreal Lineur Intense Carbon Black liquid liner

Revlon Photoready 3D volume mascara "Blackest Black"

I think it was a nice smokey look with the unexpected pop of gold when I looked down.  I wanted gold to be as much a part of this look as the blue.  I hope you like this look Erika!  You'll have to send me pictures of what you end up doing!!

And on an unrelated note, I just wanted to post a couple things that fellow bloggers have said recently.  Yesterday Makeup Geek shared the picture of my purple and coral look on their facebook page and there was one girl on there who said, "It's cool but for drag queens.  This is way too much makeup unless you're a performer."  Now everyone is entitled to their opinions but I know this was meant as an insult (which I don't understand, honestly, if you don't like something, don't wear it yourself.  There's no need to go around trying to make people feel bad).  Unfortunately for her, this did not offend me.  I wish that look was good enough to be worn by drag queens.  

I told a few of my blogger friends about the comment and this is what they had to say, which I think is important. 

"I don't understand women using "It looks like a drag queen." or "It looks like something a drag queen would wear" as an insult. That's not an insult honey, that's a compliment. Drag Queens are FIERCE creatures and there is nothing shameful about what they do or what they look like. It's ignorant to think that you can use that as an insult to offend someone and their makeup. Really, get over yourself and grow up. I'm not talking about me and my makeup (which I would be HONORED if a Drag Queen wore!), but a friend (actually a few of them) who have been told this as a means to be insulted. And the women who toss around this supposed insult have to be the most cowardly, ignorant, and unclassy "women" I have ever seen. The internet sure does bring out the stupid in people in the worst way." -Dawn from Makeup by Siryn 

"As someone who gets called a drag queen/transsexual on a regular basis because of my makeup I would like to highlight the two problematic sides to this. A) I have the UTMOST respect for Drag performers. What they do is art, it's amazing and I only wish I could be at that level artistically. This is not an insult to a makeup artist. Period. B) Drag Queens and Transsexuals are NOT one and the same, first of all. Educate yourself. Secondly, equating either of those people with things that you dislike or using their identity as an insult to someone is ignorant, hateful and disgusting. If you do it. Stop. If you don't do it, call people out who do and put a stop to this ridiculous culture of hate in the beauty world. ♥" -Meredith Jessica from Pigments & Palettes

So please, if you're using these terms in a negative way, please stop because being a drag queen is not a negative thing and people need to stop making it seem like it is.

So that's my post for today!!  Thank you as always for checking this out and for supporting me!!

I'm doing a series! Reptile Inspired Makeup: Caiman Lizard

I decided today that I'm going to do a series.  I've seen a ton of bloggers do a series of makeup where they're inspired by a certain group of something and do makeup looks based on that.  So I decided I wanted to do a reptile series.  My husband is really in to lizards.  We have a ton of lizards (and two baby tortoises) in our house and he's always showing me pictures and stuff.  And so often, I say, "no, I don't want that but it is really pretty."

The first lizard I chose is a Caiman Lizard.  They're really neat, they have this green body and an orange head and these cute black eyes.  I just think they're really pretty.  But they require water in their housing so I don't want to own any haha.  So here's what Caiman lizards looks like:

Aren't they pretty?

So here's the look I did inspired by these guys:

I think, if you know what a Caiman lizard looks like, you can tell where I was going with it!  

What I used:

Eyes:

TFSI

NYX JEP "milk"

Inglot pigment 43

Calypso Minerals matte pigment "Envy"

Calypso Minerals matte pigment "Torrid"

Inglot 407 P

Sugarpill "Flamepoint" (orange)

MAC "Vanilla" pigment (highlight)

NYX "Black" shadow

MAC Blacktrack fluidline

L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Face:

Revlon Colorstay combination/oily skin "Buff" and "Sand Beige" mixed

Maybelline dark circles eraser "fair"

Maybelline Super Stay concealer (2nd to lightest shade)

Covergirl professional loose powder "translucent fair"

ELF studio blush/bronzer duo

NYX "peach" blush

MAC "Vanilla" pigment as cheek highlight

I hope you like this!  I was afraid it would come across as "carrot" to people haha.  What do you think of this series?  Do you have any reptiles (it doesn't have to be just lizards) that you think are really pretty??

As always, thank you so much for checking this out!!  I appreciate you so much!

Weekend makeup!

Every weekend I pretty much always forget to take pictures of my makeup because the hubby is off of work and we're almost always doing something.  I did remember to take a few on Friday so here's that look

This picture's kinda creepy now that I'm looking at it haha.
And you can see why almost every picture of a single open eye is usually my left (on the right here) eye.
My right eye is slightly more hooded so my left eye is more photogenic haha.

The purple color is Inglot 392 M

And then I believe I just used black in the crease.  It was a really easy look.  I had forgotten to take pictures early in the day so I have nothing on my lips in these pictures haha.

On Saturday we went down to Charlotte for a reptile show (my husband's lizards needed food) and then we went to a big outlet mall there to do some back to school shopping for my daughter.  I was bored in the car so I started taking pictures haha (I do that A LOT when I have my camera and I'm bored).  My Briana:

 My hubby (because I'm super jealous of the cheekbones, his whole family has them, it's not really fair)

 Oooh, a rearview mirror picture!

 Haha this was of my daughter and I but her eyes were closed so here's the only picture I have of myself from Saturday and you really cannot see my makeup very well.  It's such a pretty picture haha (it makes me laugh at least).

 And we found this really cool decorative license plate that my daughter said, "looks like my friend Sullivan"

What do you think?  I think it's pretty darn close.  Haha I've had more than one person say, "I have a t-shirt with a picture of him on it."  So I thought it was neat to find this.

And then I didn't wear any makeup yesterday or today so that's awesome.  I spent the day painting my walls. We have a flat finish paint and I don't know if anyone else has a child who needs to touch every corner they go around.  Or who needs to hold on to both sides of the stairwell wall when they come down the stairs but I had child fingerprints all over my walls and my parents are coming down for a visit soon (I'm SUPER excited!!!) so I wanted to get rid of the fingerprints and make it look clean again.  

I hope you guys all have an incredible week!  Thanks for taking time out of your life to read this!

A green look. But not a "whoa, green!" look haha

Haha weird title, I know.  I wasn't really sure what to call this.  I like wearing color on my eyes.  But I wanted to do something that wasn't such a BAM look, but still colorful... does that make any sense haha?  So here's what I did today

Oh man, I look so snotty here.  Gosh haha.

My kiddo has been so excited about her swimming lessons and I think she looks so darn cute in her little bathing suit with her hair in a little messy bun that I had to get a couple pictures of us together.  So here we are.

Isn't she cute??  I can't believe she starts school in a couple of weeks.  I'm gonna be a mess.

I don't know why but my favorite greens are yellow greens as opposed to blue greens.  I love green and gold together so I used Inglot 384 M all over my lid and up above the crease and then I threw some 403 P on the middle third to make it a more yellow green.

I used MAC "Vanilla" pigment as my highlight and Inglot 363 M with a little bit of NYX "Black" to add depth to the crease.

My liner is Bobbi Brown gel liner in "Black Ink" and I'm back to the L'oreal Extreme Volume Collagen mascara because after using that, then buying the Voluminous Carbon Black, I missed this one so I bought it again.  I think it's a keeper.

And on my lips I'm wearing mixture of MAC "Myth" and "Viva Glam Gaga." 

Did you hear that Nicki Minaj (love) is going to be the face of the next Viva Glam campaign, I believe with Ricky Martin.  I can't wait to see what she comes out with.  I really like her.  I'm not sure why I like her so much haha.  But I watched a thing about her recently and she was saying how her audience is getting younger and younger so it wouldn't hurt for her to not swear as much in her songs.  Some of her songs are fine but others I can't listen to if my daughter's around.  But she said that it doesn't make her a worse rapper if her songs contain fewer swear words and I really appreciate that.  Especially since Briana really likes her too.  

Haha ok, enough of my little tangent there haha.  That's it for today.  I hope you're having an incredible day!  Thanks so much for taking a look at this!