Snowy Eye of the Day

In honor of the ten-foot-tall snow piles in front of my house, I thought I'd post this snowy look I did a while back.

It's not my usual style but I thought it looked so icy and ethereal:


This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Aromaleigh White Wedding applied wet on lid
MAC... something, soft grey shimmer? From the smoky eye holiday palette from 2007, in crease and on lower lashline
Fyrinnae Futuristic Glamrock wet as liner
Lash Blast

The trick to applying those flaky white shades (like MAC Frost) is to smooth them down with your finger after they dry. They can look a little rough and uneven when applied wet or dry with a brush, but after you press down the flakes a little they look nice and sparkly.

Wearing such light shades always makes my eyes look super black. I don't know if I like it =/

Valentine's Day-ish Eye of the Day

After seeing all the pretty pink, red and white Valentine's Day candies and decorations in the store, I felt inspired to do something similar on my eyes...

Sorry about the weird thing flash does to my skin. Everything turns orange and shiny. =/

This was:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC Pink Opal pigment wet on lid
Aromaleigh Tainted Love in crease and on lower lashline
Fyrinnae Cheeky to highlight
The black from the Cargo Wet/Dry Eyeliner Palette, wet as liner
Cover Girl Lash Blast

It looks nicer without the flash, but it was too dark out to get a natural light photo. Pink Opal is a tricky pigment to use, but the end result is worth it. It has that flaky, chunky texture like some of MAC's pigments have, but I've found that the way to make them look even is to tap/rub them gently with your fingertip after you've applied it to smooth down the flakes. What you're left with is an ivory-white with pink duochrome. Very Valentines. The red looked candy-like so it was the perfect match for me. I love that red. No other red compares to it. I'm going to have to try Sugarpill's red to see if it's similar.


Now I'm thinking of a pastel look like those conversation hearts candies I like. The ones that are like rock-hard flavored chalk? Love 'em. I have to eat at least one box every year.

First try with The Falsies....

Well... here it is. First attempt with a new mascara! I usually have trouble when I first use a brand new tube of mascara and then it usually evens out by the third or fourth time I use it. I'm on my fourth try now and it has gotten better, but my first try was pretty scary looking.

This was:

MAC Paint Pot in Painterly
Aromaleigh Viviane applied wet on lid
Stila Ebony in crease
Aromaleigh Mirielle on lower lash line and over Ebony in the crease
Stila Wheat highlight
Milani Liquif-Eye in Gold
Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express mascara

Eek... it looks like I have a grasshopper leg or something coming off of my eye! When I first applied it to my lashes it immediately clumped them together into four groups... like four clumps of spikes... it was odd. I kept brushing through with my lash comb but it was removing too much mascara and made my lashes look skinny and short. So, after fighting with it for ten minutes or so I ended up with this compromise- short but dark and clumpy lashes!

Second time wasn't so good either, I'll post that in a bit. Third try was marginally better but I forgot to take pictures of it!

The eyeshadows were pretty at least. So much beautiful sparkle in those Aromaleigh shades. Shame. *sigh* Oh, and the eyeliner? Milani Liquif'Eye? Phenomenal. I like them even better than Urban Decay 24/7s... they just don't come in as many colors. I've been meaning to review them. They're awesome, total drugstore hidden gem, I can't believe they're under $7!

Fall Colors Eye Look

This one is from Tuesday. I woke up and suddenly it felt like fall, so I wanted fall colors! I think this one turned out great and flattered my eye color, seems like the darkness of the colors was offset by the sparkle on Asphalt so it didn't look too dull.


This was:
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly
Aromaleigh Asphalt applied wet on lid
Stila Ebony in crease
Fyrinnae Dark Magic over Ebony in crease and on lower lashline
NARS Night Fever applied wet as liner (about the only thing it's good for!)
Laura Geller Wonder Wand highlight
Cover Girl Lash Blast

Check out all the sweet multicolored sparkle in Asphalt. It's such a deceiving color. I had a sample of it in a bag and it looked black, but then I decided to order a full size cause, well, it was my last chance... glad I did because it's a really unusual and gorgeous color. Tons and tons of sparkle, my pictures don't even capture half of the rich color and outrageous sparkle of it. It looks black or charcoal but once it's on it looks more copper or even sort of purple-bronze in some lights.

And Fyrinnae Dark Magic is fantastic and perfect for fall. Rich metallic burgundy-red with blue-purple sparkles. Love this color. Going to have to pick up a full size next time I order.

Now I'm trying to come up with some good creative looks using only Evil Shades colors... I've been really digging Heartless Queen, Steele Green *sniffle* and Devil's Bonfire... swatches soon!

Sparkle Grey Eye of the Day

Playing around with some more Aromaleigh... I was in the mood for some sparkles, as usual.


This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Aromaleigh Chantal wet on lid
MAC Black Tied in crease
Aromaleigh Back in Black over Black Tied and on lower lashline
Fyrinnae Finnegan's Wake highlight
Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner in Spandex over Liquid Liner in Oil Slick
Stupid Rimmel Max Volume mascara that I hate and I'm trying to finish instead of throwing it out over Urban Decay Lash Primer


I tried to capture as much of the sparkle as I could... Think I did a pretty good job, but the sparkle in Back In Black isn't showing up the right color. It's mostly blue-green but it kinda just looks silver in these pictures.

I took the plastic stopper collar/rings out of all my Urban Decay glitter liners. They dry out way faster that way but it's the only way I can get enough glitter on the brush! I still prefer Too Faced's glitter liners but I wanted the blue multicolor look of Spandex for this look.

More Aromaleigh Swatches

I think these are the last swatches I'll be able to do before Aromaleigh closes for good (which is in about two days), so if you're thinking of ordering I hope these will help!

So sad.

Anyway. Here's Bette Noire (Bête Noire). Cool name. Even better shades.

Sabine, Solange, Viviane, Jolie, Lisette.


Colette, Mirielle, Bette, Chantal, Ambre, Aurelie, Darcelle, Amarante.

And some random Elemental Lustres and a random Gothic Lolita:


Flash, Blast, Psyche, Teddy Wisp.

Don't forget to click the images to enlarge and view more detail. Lots of cool blue, purple, copper, gold and pink sparkles in these.

I'm also currently working on these:

So stay tuned for that :D

Aromaleigh Swatches

These are all of the Aromaleigh shades I currently have. I ordered some last week when they re-opened, but they haven't arrived yet! If they arrive before they close for good, I'll try to get at least jar pictures posted.

I'm pretty sure the whole Sonic Eyes line is long gone, so I supposed I'm swatching them for posterity. They were really great. I regret not buying the entire line. Though, in my defense, when they went on clearance, Aromaleigh said that they were clearing them out so they could re-formulate them to be better. I know. Ugh. I'm still pretty upset about that. I held out for the better versions. *sigh*

Please click each photo to enlarge it. I leave them huge so you can see all the detail and different colors of shimmer and glitter and all that good stuff. Oh, and arm hair. You can see my arm hair. Isn't that awesome?


Without flash and with. Left to right: Oberon, Brownstone, Allspice, Concrete Jungle (blue sparkles!), Twinkling Lights.

Left to right: Re-Gifted, Party Dress, Swelter, Spiked Punch, Flirt A Little, Mulberry, Almost Midnight.

Left to right: Rocks! Glam Glitter in Masquerade, Girl's Night Out, Amethyst, Mirielle, Colette, Shadow Witch.

Left to right: Chocolate Heart, Lovelorn, Ambre, Rocks! Glam Glitter in Spooky, Trilium, Coney Island, Cosmos.

Left to right: Sylph, Snow, Moth, Latte, Fervor, Nasturtium.

And the Rocks! Sonic eyes:



Left to right: Bad Reputation, Ring of Fire, Tainted Love (best red ever), Pretty in Pink, Coralfang, Death Valley, Greenhell, Lazy Sod.


Left to right: Vampira, Vive Le Rock, Raspberry Beret (I hate this song SO MUCH), Lady Stardust, Hit or Miss, Lookin For A Kiss.

Left to right: Black Sunshine, Back in Black, Space Oddity, Body Electric.

I suppose that's it... *sniffle*

Two Aromaleigh Looks

Like I mentioned in the last makeup post, Aromaleigh is closing this week... Sadly, I just discovered them about a month ago... maybe two months? I had been intentionally avoiding them for a while (along with most indie makeup companies) and finally gave in to ordering when the Sonic Eyes line went on clearance. Now I'm kicking myself for not trying them sooner, cause now I've missed out on a lot of amazing colors. I'm actually kinda sad... Their stuff seems head and shoulders above all the indie/mineral/loose makeup brands I've tried.

I'm still editing the swatches I did of all the Aromaleigh colors I currently have, but here's two looks I did using their colors:


This was:
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly
Aromaleigh Re-Gifted applied wet on lid
Urban Decay Zero in the crease
Aromaleigh Ambre over Zero in the crease and on lower lashline
Fyrinnae Finnegan's Wake highlight
Kat Von D liquid liner in Black Metal Love
Urban Decay Zero 24/7
Cover Girl Lash Blast

Who knew that gold+black=green? I knew I wanted a monochrome look and I thought that adding black and then purring a gold on top would make a blackened gold, but nope, it made... green? Oh well. I love green at least. Re-Gifted is an amazing shade, it's rich and SHINY and metallic. I mean, it's really, really shiny. It has a nice chrome-like quality that stays all day. And, as an added perk, it sparkles too! I need sparkles. I'm addicted to sparkle.



I tried to get some blurriness to pick up the glitter... sorta works... can you see the silver and gold and red glitter?

This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Aromaleigh Spiked Punch applied wet on lid
Make Up For Ever 92 in crease
Aromaleigh Almost Midnight over 92 and on lower lashline
Fyrinnae Finnegan's Wake highlight
Kat Von D liquid liner in Black Metal Love
Urban Decay Zero 24/7
Cover Girl Lash Blast

This was yesterday's look - 08/09/10- so I had to do something special! I think this turned out great. The pictures show some really patchy unblended looking spots but they weren't as obvious in real life. I've learned that with loose and mineral shadows, if I want to use them in the crease and still keep them true to color I need to apply them over another traditional/commercial eyeshadow or I need to use them wet, but wet in the crease is usually a big pain in the ass so I try to layer mostly. Almost Midnight is a gorgeous vibrant blue purple and I might be able to use it alone, but it does seem really patchy. It kept trying to wipe off the MUFE 92 when I was patting it on top. I've encountered that a lot with these types of shadows, the base and shimmer don't stay together.

Spiked Punch is really awesome though, I have no problems with that color. Nice coral-pink-red with a crapload of iridescent sparkle. Goes well with purple. Two thumbs up.

Any recommendations on brands with quality and color selection comparable to Aromaleigh? Preferably professional, reliable, non-drama companies, please!

Sick EOTDs

Somehow I seem to have caught a cold in the middle of summer. It's either a cold or allergies, I can't tell... I'm sniffly and my eyes won't stop watering. Haven't really felt super awesome for the past few days.

And when I'm sick I rarely feel like putting much energy into my makeup, so here's a few of my lazy sick looks from this week!


This one needed a ton of pictures to show all of the amazing sparkles in these shadows. This was:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Aromaleigh Concrete Jungle, applied wet on lid
Stila Jewel Palette- brown shade, or purple shade? I thought it was brown but it really looks purple this time... whatever color it is, it's in the crease and lower lashline.
Fyrinnae Finnegan's Wake highlight
Black matte shade from the Cargo Wet/Dry liner palette
Urban Decay Zero 24/7
Cover Girl Lash Blast

Aromaleigh Concrete Jungle is an amazing shade. It was the first shade I tried from them and I instantly fell in love. It's a light taupe sort of shade with tons and tons and tons of sparkle. Tiny sparkles. Gold sparkles, silver sparkles. And, most importantly, BLUE sparkles. Little mini blue sparkles. This is the only picture I could get to show them, I apologize for the disturbing angle:

See the blue sparkles? Sadly, Aromaleigh is closing in less than a week so you might want to order it now if it interests you at all!

And the Stila Jewel palette shade is perfect for minimal makeup days for me. It has all the sparkle I crave but none of the effort of applying multiple shades and separate glitter. I freaking love that palette. Did I tell you I bought two backups of that palette? Eep. I know. But it's SO AWESOME.


Brown and teal. No-brainer!
This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Fyrinnae Greenman's Forest, applied wet on lid
MAC Go in crease and lower lashline
MAC Teal pigment applied wet as liner
Fyrinnae Finnegan's Wake highlight
Urban Decay Zero 24/7
Cover Girl Lash Blast

Greenman's Forest is a really sweet duochrome. It's light brown and a little goldish brown and a little green. I don't think I did a very good job of capturing the color shift, but hey, I'm sick, give me a break! :P MAC Go is one of those amazing Starflash finish shadows so it's totally buttery and effortless to blend. Starflash was amazing, I really hope they do more of them. I don't think I have them all, I have most I think, butI wish I had gotten the whole set! And of course MAC Teal is the perfect eyeliner for brown eyed girls like myself.


This one I didn't get any daylight pictures of so flash will have to do. You can see the sparkles better with flash anyway.

This was actually a cover-up job! I did one look, realized I didn't like it and immediately covered it up with different colors!
It consists of:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Aromaleigh Oberon (over MAC Vex) on lid
Aromaleigh Ambre (over MAC Club) in crease
MAC Club on lower lashline
Fyrinnae Finnegan's Wake highlight
Kat Von D liquid liner in Black Metal Love
Urban Decay Zero 24/7
Cover Girl Lash Blast

Oberon is another duochrome shade... Can you tell I love duochromes? I do. A lot. I took a blurry picture to show the sparkles of green against the taupey brown base:Blurry pictures show glitter really well. Though this isn't really glitter... it's just smooth shimmer in different colors, no flaky particles that are a different texture like real glitter is.

Ambre is also pretty cool... I used it again yesterday. It's a little tricky to work with but if I layer it I have good luck. It's a really rich smoky looking metallic gold... a little dark... gold shimmer on a smoky base. I'll post that look soon.

I've had a couple people ask me what brushes I use, so I'm going to attempt to remember to take a picture of them. My staples are MAC 219, 209SE (I like the SE way better than the normal one), Studio Gear #37 liner (I don't think they make this anymore, It's over 10 years old!), Smashbox 30, something-20 dual ended (the numbers have worn off but I can not live without this brush) and Sephora brand smudge.

Now I'm going to go make some of that awesome Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat tea... that stuff rocks. Way better than Yogi's throat tea. Random. But yay tea!