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!

Dark lips and natural eyes

I've seen looks around where people do these amazing dark lips with natural eyes.  Well, I've done dark lips and dark eyes and liked the way it turned out so I wanted to try the dark lips with more natural eyes and see what I thought.  I took inspiration from Meredith Jessica's Gothic Pin Up look and also a user on Makeupbee, Viola H., who wears amazing lip colors.  So here's my look!

This picture was taken with the flash on

I used L'oreal Le Kohl eyeliner in "Le Plum" to line my lips and then topped that with Lime Crime's "Kaleidoscope" lipgloss.  And on my eyes, I just applied MAC "Blanc Type" shadow all over my lid up to my brow and then added a bit of Urban Decay "Naked" shadow from the Naked palette to my crease for the slightest bit of definition.  The liner is MAC Blacktrack fluidline.  My mascara is L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black.

On me, this look is far from a favorite.  I can dig the eyes but the lips are a bit much haha.  My daughter told me I looked scary and people wouldn't like it.  I feel like my bone structure isn't strong enough for this look.  I don't know, something isn't right.

Here's a look I did the other day that I never posted (I've been doing that lately... whoops!).  I was kind of inspired by a 60's smokey eye, where they're a more elongated shape as opposed to being rounded like I usually do.  

On my eyes:

Lime Crime eyeshadow helper

Lime Crime's Magic Dust "Medusa" (applied wet on lid, this color is GENIUS when applied wet, and blended up dry from there)

Naked Palette's "Buck"

Naked Palette "Virgin" as highlight

On cheeks:

ELF studio blush/bronzer duo

Anastasia Beverly Hills Highlighting Creme Duo in "Aspen" (this thing is GORGEOUS!!!)

Ulta powder blush "girlie"

Lips:

Calypso Minerals Lipthix (a super light pink color)

MAC Viva Glam Gaga lipstick

MAC "Right Image" Cremesheen Glass

So that's what I have for today!  I hope you all have an incredible week!  And as always, thank you so so much for checking this out!  I apprecaite you so much!

Lime Crime and Makeupbee Collaboration (Part Two)!

This is my second installment of Makeupbee's collaboration with Lime Crime cosmetics.  Today's look is done using primarily the "Empress" magic dust eyeshadow.  So here's the look!

What I used:

Lime Crime's Eyeshadow Helper

Lime Crime's "Empress" magic dust (which I used wet on my eyelid and blended it up dry from my crease)

Kat Von D "Redemption" shadow (in outer v and on top of liner)

theBalm "Promiscuous Pearl" shadow (highlight)

L'oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense

L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black

Lips:

Lime Crime "Coquette" lipstick

I'm very pleased with the way this look turned out.  I think if I needed to choose one type of look to do for the rest of my life it would be something like this because it's colorful but it's not overwhelming.

I am really liking the Coquette lipstick.  I really think it's an excellent nude color for me.  It reminded me a bit of MAC "Myth" lipstick, which I love. 

 I know this is hard to tell how the colors compare because of how little "Myth" I have left haha

 The swatches:

As you can see, "Myth" is much closer to my skin color than "Coquette"

And on me:

"Coquette" is on the left "Myth" is on the right.

I really prefer the way Coquette looks on me.  I don't feel as though I need to top it with anything.  With Myth, I feel like it's just a touch too close to my skintone so I always layer something on top of it.

The lipsticks cost $16 from Lime Crime, MAC are $14.50.  I do love my MAC lipsticks, I really really do.  But I just LOVE the color of Coquette, I smelled it when I first opened it and it smelled like a lipstick.  Then I applied it and it smelled funny.  It's not horrible or anything but it's not something I want to go sniff, it's not a pleasant smell.  The color applied smoothly and opaquely and I didn't have any issues with it drying out my lips at all.  And if you check out Lime Crime's website, they have a ton of super unique colors.

Now, the packaging... is not for me.  I know some people LOVE Lime Crime's packaging but it is just not my thing.  This is not a lipstick I'm going to want to whip out in public.  There's a holographic unicorn on my lavender lipstick tube.

As I said, though, some people LOVE this packaging and that's fine, to each their own!  So would I repurchase Lime Crime's lipstick?  Maybe.  I really like the color.  However, if I could find a very similar color at MAC, I'd probably go for that.

This is how my package came (though the products were protected by lavender tissue paper):

So cute!  I can appreciate the effort and uniqueness of the packaging, it's just not my favorite.  I prefer more sleek, subdued containers.

Here's the Eyeshadow Helper (retails for $17):

This product really is great.  It REALLY intensifies the color of the product.  Check out my Lime Crime Collaboration Part One to see swatches of shadows over this versus other primers.  It really makes a big difference.  I definitely think I'd repurchase this, as long as it doesn't dry out at all.

The lipgloss (retails for $17):

While I like the effect I got using this gloss (the color is "Kaleidoscope"), it just took me way too long to get my lips neat looking.  And it was a very sticky gloss.  I don't care for sticky glosses.  I'd pass on these but if you don't mind sticky lips and like lip colors that are out of the norm, then take a look at these.

The magic dust eyeshadows (retail for $14 each):

"Medusa" and "Empress" both swatched over the eyeshadow helper

I think these both are really pretty colors!  I really do.  I like how they're not as metallic as other loose colors I have (like the NYX Ultra Pearl Mania) however, I don't feel that they're special enough to justify spending $14 per shadow.  I mean, if you have the extra money to spend on this, go for it.  I just think there are similar products that you can find for less money.

So all in all, I LOVE the primer, like the lipstick, and would probably pass on the shadows and lipgloss.

*Also, after a comment I received on my last Lime Crime post, I do feel I should at least address this.  I am not here to spread gossip but I don't feel like I'd be being honest with you if I didn't at least put this in here.  There has been speculation that Lime Crime repackages TKBTrading products.  I did quite a bit of research and nowhere could I find proof of this.  But you can feel free to google it or check out this link if this is something you're against and draw your own conclusions:

http://www.lipsticksandlightsabers.com/2010/01/lime-crime-beneath-glitter.html

So I hope that helps someone out there!  Thank you to both Lime Crime and Makeupbee for allowing me to be part of this great collaboration!!!