Beauty Thesis

I've decided to get Beauty Thesis it's own domain..

..if you're interested in keeping up with me you can find me here ~~ beauty thesis.

I will be around on occasion though, to keep up with the neighbours. :)

I started going through my makeup stash the other day, and realized that I really want to put some of my quads (and the like) to work.  Quads aren’t something that I collect, but the ones I do have, I really like, but I don’t reach for them very often because I tend to reach for my pro palettes most times.

So.. I thought that it would be fun to do some sort of summer project with them.  I haven’t decided for sure what I want to do exactly, but I’m toying with the idea of doing one or two looks per week from June through September.  That’s 18 weeks, and while I haven’t done an official count.. I think that across various brands I’ve got enough.

Nevermind.. I just did an official count, because I’m funny like that.

• 2 ~ Annabelle
• 4 ~ Lancome
• 5 ~ MAC
• 1 ~ Physician’s Formula
• 4 ~ QUO

For the rest I may pair up some of the HIP duos.. but I’ll have more details when I’ve finalized everything.
I’m excited!

Within every community there are bound to be disagreements and different perspectives, but recently the spotlight has been focused on something that isn’t new: expectations.

Gurus have expectations.  Subscribers have expectations.

Someone speaks on it, and bam pow wham.. it’s chaos.

To those in the role of guru..
If you think it’s a good idea to put yourself out there on the interwebz, then please realize that it would also be a good idea to invest in some thick skin and sharpen your ability to distinguish hate from constructive criticism.  You may be super cute, you may have mad crazy super skills, you may explain things thoroughly.. you may in fact be the best, but the truth is; not everyone is going to love you, like you or even be civil to you.  You are literally putting yourself out on the world stage, which not only makes you a target for appreciation and thanks, but for criticism and malice.  The audience is always a mix of love and hate and for the well being of yourself, focus on the love.. and dismiss the hate.

To those in the role of subscriber..
Interaction is fun, it’s great.. but for the guru with even 100 subscribers it’s time consuming.  It takes you a few minutes to write a question or five.. it might take them the same to get back to you, maybe longer.  So for your 5 minute question.. that’s over 8 hours of responses.. now put that subscriber number up in the thousands and there literally just isn’t enough time in the day.

These words may be useful to remember; you can’t always get what you waaaaaant.  Whether that’s wanting people to read the sidebar or do their own research, or whether that’s wanting an immediate response to your question about foundation or repeating questions for the 38th time.  Everyone has a life, what it revolves around isn't really any of your business.  Just be assured that it doesn't revolve around you.

Adjust your expectations and all will be well.  I promise.

I just finished mixing up the oils I picked up the other day from the organic market, and came up with two mixtures.

For the face:
~ 1 part extra virgin olive oil : 1 part sweet almond oil : 1 part grapeseed oil : 1 part castor oil
+ 5 drops of essential tea tree oil
+ 2 drops of essential grapefruit oil

For the hair:
~ 1 part EVOO : 1 part CO
+ 5 drops of essential grapefruit oil
+ 2 drops of tea tree oil

I'm excited to try both of these, and I'll be reporting back in the next few weeks with some results.

So these are the newest additions to my selection of dazzleglasses.

From top to bottom: Funtabulous, Love Alert, Utterly Posh, Smile and Baby Sparks.

I love them.  There isn't much to say beyond that, they really speak for themselves.

As for the eyeshadow comparison, I found Bitter to be very pale and difficult to build.  It’s hypnotizing in the pan, but swatched on my skin the pigmentation was very poor.  I remember hearing stories about this, but I’ve usually had pretty good luck making MAC’s eyeshadows work, but not so in this case.

It was returned shortly afterwards, so sad.

After finally finding my camera charger, I realized how much stuff I’ve hauled in the past little while.  I’m not sure how to get through all of it, the amount of stuff is intimidating.. which is why it’s better to do things on a per haul basis.  I’ve got to figure out a way to organize this stuff into manageable pieces.

Updates coming soon!

At the end of the swatching frenzy, I walked away with five new glosses:  Baby Sparks (baby pink), Smile (peach), Utterly Posh (coral), Love Alert (red) and Funtabulous (fushia).

Moth to Flame was very similar to Stila's Silk Shimmer Gloss in Kitten, which I already have.  Money Honey was pretty, but it wasn't enough to warrant a purchase when compared with the others.  Goldyrocks caught my attention too, but it was too much like Spring Bean (lustreglass).  There were a few others that caught my eye, but I figured that five was more than enough.

And on a whim.. I also picked up Bitter e/s, which I will be comparing to Sharp e/s from the Tempting quad.

Photos to follow soon.

Shortly I’ll be off to my local counter to browse the newly released Double Dazzle collection.  A lot of hype surrounds these reflective goodies, but I must say that as an owner of four (Pleasure Principle, Miss. Dynamite, Get Rich Quick & Date Night), I do enjoy them in moderation.  Moderation seems to be a contradiction to the ultimate in glitter for your lips, but that’s how they work best for me.  All I can manage is a thin layer, or I get the dreaded white ring of death.. which is never, ever cute.

So while the collector in me, would love nothing more than a full collection to use as a decorative flair.. I won’t be going crazy, with these new colours.  In fact, I’ll be taking my four with me.. to swatch in comparison to the new colours.  Lately, I’ve been focused on finding colours that are different to what I already have.. and since these glosses are mostly glitter, I think that quite a few are  too similar to justify buying more than one in a particular colour family.

When I was in the other day, I was lucky enough to get to look at them before they went on sale.. and came up with a list of colours I’m interested in, which should help bring down the excitement and in turn the dreaded impulse buy.  I’ll be looking at: Love Alert, Smile, Utterly Posh, Moth to Flame, Funtabulous, Money Honey and the legendary Baby Sparks.  There are also a few others, but I think that these will be my main focus, which hopefully I can pare down with my currents in tow.

I’ll be back later with photos, when I can find my camera charger..

• photos courtesy of temptalia.com

Product name ~ Sexy Curves Mascara (003 Extreme Black)

Product Description (from http://www.rimmellondon.com ) ~ Fuller figured brush – fuller figured lashes. Curves in all the right places! The first Triple Plump brush with 3 x the curves for 70% curlier lashes. Voluptuous brush with CurveControl technology wiggles easily through your lashes quickly coating them. Exclusive brush design curves IN to maximize lash loading, curves OUT to curl and de-clump each lash for a complete curved look. Lashes look lusciously curled, plumped and defined. Plump ‘em up! Enriched with proteins, the plumping formula strengthens lashes over time for a continuous lash boosting effect. Rich cream texture instantly amplifies your natural volume x 7 and fixes the curl for 12 hour hold. Fabulously fuller lashes.

The Experience ~ I first hear about this mascara from a good friend of mine, who absolutely raved about it. Usually it’s the other way around with the recommendations coming from me, but I’m glad she told me about it. I’m always on the lookout for THE mascara. Volume, definition and long wear are at the top of my list, but length and curl never hurt.

The packing is cute, a metallic purple tube which I find to be distinctive without being outrageous. The wand is something that’s unique (at least in the Canadian market). It’s long with multiple curves, which at first look very awkward, but in fact I found it very maneuverable. The bulb shape at the end of the wand makes easy work of those fine inner lashes, and grabs the outermost without snagging the skin.

The formulation of the mascara has been great so far. The texture is very smooth without being too wet or too thick. My experience has shown this mascara to be very build'able, while still maintaining definition. In terms of scent it is very mild, which is a nice change from many of the heavy chemical scents of other mascaras.

Length, volume, definition and a slight curl were all achieved with this product. The curl was not huge, but I probably wouldn’t curl my lashes separately when using this product. For the first time I experienced the false lash look, without using false lashes. Building up the layers (I did not let it dry between) allows for some major lashes, and I was very, very pleasantly surprised. My only negative for this product is that I did experience the dreaded raccoon eyes when I wore it on my lower lashes.

Price ~ $5.99 CDN (on sale at SDM - regularly a dollar or so more)

Pros ~ volume, definition, mild scent, price

Cons ~ not long wearing on lower lashes

Rating ~ 4.9/5

It's been a minute, but I had to throw this out there.

Down through the makeup network, I came to find out that MAC is having their friends & family sale from January 6th to January 8th.  It applies only on their website - http://maccosmetics.com - and it's 25% off everything!

Just thought I'd pass on the good news.