Liquid Eye Liner

I have always been a big fan of liquid eyeliner ever since I first discovered it's wonders in middle school, and have used it almost daily since high school. I can't recall all the different ones I have tried, but I do know the ones that were my favorites and I wanted to share a bit.

My first all time favorite liquid liner was Physicians Formula EyeBrightener eyeliner when I first discovered this product it was something I had never used before it had a sponge tip brush instead of a regular brush tip, it had a slight metallic shimmer to it so it doesn't show up as a true black.

Though the Physicians Formula was great I used to swim a lot and go to the beach a lot, and play soccer a lot and well it just would not hold up. So I worked at Dillards for a few years and while there I made friends at the Clinique counter and she turned me on to this product...Clinique's Water Resistant Eyeliner in Natural Black...this stuff was amazing! now I know things have changed a lot but it was probably 8 years ago at least that i tried this product for the 1st time... anyways it was a dry powder cake and it came with a brush, you got the brush wet and mixed in the powder and painted on the eyeliner. And these cakes were a fairly good size so they lasted a long time, but because they were a dry powder it limits bacteria growth, and I say limits because you do get it wet and mix it. Similarly to the physicians formula one it is not a true back its more a charcoal grey/black...but I loved it! Then one day I go to buy a refill and I am told they don't carry it any more (this was probably 4-5 years ago) I was devastated.

I was then introduced to gel liner...but that's whole other topic...but today I was doing some research online and I found it again! So I don't know if they brought it back or I was misinformed. I think I may have to go buy some more of this stuff for my kit.

So from there I went to Gel Eyeliners for a while and they are great and like I said that's another post for another day but the downside to gel liners is they take time to apply and you need to have a brush and you wanna clean that brush right after or it gets gross and crusty. I needed to find a new liquid eyeliner to use too...I found this wonder by Covergirl. It's their line exact liquid eyeliner, its small compact self contained its like a felt tip marker you shake it up and the eyeliner comes out the tip and draws on smooth and quickly love it! will always keep this little treasure in my purse.

A recent find that i'm loving is this one by L'Oreal Paris it's their Lineur Intense. Right now I have it in Black Mica and I am hoping to get it in carbon black soon as well this is also a felt tip eyeliner great fine tip point does wonderful cat eye's and very easily controlable

and my last on my all time favorite liquid eye liners list is Urban Decay 24/7 liquid eyeliner in perversion. This is a super fine tip brush applicator, super stay liquid eyeliner. Not my favorite for super quick easy everyday use but wonderful for long lasting applications

So thank's for stopping by and hearing about my favorite liquid eye liners, I would love to hear about yours, I am always looking for great new products to try out, either for my own personal day to day (which is quick and easy since my work day starts at 5 am, or to add to my professional kit which is mostly for bridal and special occasion)

I am also working on a HUGE Mascara comparison project I hope to share with you soon.

but for now,

Love and Beautiful inky eyes,

Lindsay

New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolutions Time!

Hi! This is me...27years old and over weight me...

I have never been big on New Years Resolutions but this year I look at where I am at and I am so far from where I want to be. I am married and have a house and 2 dogs and 3 cats and I am so happy with that part of my life, But I am struggling with my weight, Struggling with trying to have a baby, hating my day job... and coming up on my 10 year high school reunion. So I think this year is the year for me to start caring about Resolutions. So I sat down and made a list of this years BIG goals, and then I will take each week one at a time to accomplish them.

1)Eat Healthier!

I know it wont happen over night, and I know it is hard to break bad habits, so I have started off the 1st few weeks of this new year small, not starting a drastic diet that I will fail miserably at again, but rather with one goal in mind....MAKE BETTER CHOICES... so far so good and each week I plan to adjust and modify that goal. So far I have made sure when we went out to eat one night I got soup and salad to start me off and absolutely NO desert, yep everyone else at the table got the 3 course meal kind of deal at mimi's cafe and i opted no desert, last night at a family bbq/party... half my plate was filled with salad the other half had a piece of steak and broccoli casserole (had rice and cheese in it an stuff)...but then....absolutely no desert! so these have been small victories for me, but they are getting me going in the right direction. so far I am down 4 pounds!

now I need to add in taking my vitamins every day

I also joined a free site called loseit.com and they even have an app for my phone, this week starting today my goal is to track track track, even if i go over my daily calories even if i don't make good choices, even if i gain a pound or 2 back. I need to hold myself accountable for what I put into my body and I need to track it on my app every day...I'll let you know how that goes.

2) Exercise Regularly/Be More Active!

Yep I was always active I plaid soccer went to the gym and loved the beach and now I don't do any of the above because I hate how I look and feel. And yep that is me on the left holding the body board in the photo above and me riding a wave in the photo below (red hair is the give away lol) So for Christmas I bought myself P90X I haven't started yet because I am still working crazy overtime hours at work I haven't had the energy, I have been walking a few times a week though last week to get myself started and this week my goal is to start and stick to my p90X, because I would love to be able to go to the beach again for my birthday this summer and actually be able to enjoy myself...not even saying bikini, a flattering one piece would be great but to a manageable weight and fitness level where I can go out and body surf and enjoy myself and not feel so self conscious

3) Take Pride in Myself!

What do I mean by that? I mean take better care of myself, for myself. and yes this encompasses the above 2 resolutions as well but for this one what I mean specifically is take better care of my skin and hair. Do my hair and makeup daily. I feel better about myself when I do and right now I think I need a confidence boost, I always did my hair and makeup before...always, I always dressed nicely and took pride in my appearance, these days I think I gave up hope because my weight brought me down. And it doesn't help that I have to get up at 4 am every day for work, and the past few months I have been working 10 plus hours a day 6 days a week because of mandatory over time at work. So I used a photo from my high school graduation for this resolution, because as i said before this year will be 10 years! OMG! and back then I was healthy and active and happy and I took pride in myself and my appearance and it emulated, and I want that part of myself back.

4) Put me First!

and I don't mean that in a selfish way...

I mean I am going to track my progress and do what I need to do for myself make myself feel better about myself. I want to find more time to do my blogging for myself, more time for me and my husband to be together and enjoy being married. Get the work that needs to be done on my house finished so we can enjoy our home. And make time for the things that make us happy, that we never get to do anymore, like going body surfing, going to Disneyland, going camping and hiking, going out to the desert for him to ride his dirt bikes... put me/us first. The below photo is of us on our 1 year wedding anniversary a few years ago at Disneyland, back then I had a job I loved we didn't have a fixer upper money pit of a house to worry about I was overweight but no where near as bad as I am now, and we could just enjoy being together

I would love to know what your new years resolutions are for 2012 if you want to share, and I wish you all the best of luck on all your new year resolutions as well!

So Be Beautiful, Happy and Healthy in this new year!

Lindsay

Kirkland/Costco brand cosmetic brushes review

Well I am back, I don't know that I have anyone even reading or following me at present anyways so I am sure no one really missed my absence lol,

but none the less I am back and I have lots of posts to schedule!

But for starters, last time I posted I shared all sorts of Urban Decay goodies I got under the Christmas tree this year, but I also mention brushes....

Now the Upside to this taking so long to post if that I can now actually do a review on what I think of these products too!

SO first just to let you know where I stand with makeup brushes I do not own an expensive high end makeup brushes at the present time. The brushes I presently own are Mark Kay, which I do love they have beer great for every day use they are natural hair brushes. I also own a large "Mac" set, 2 small "Mac " sets and a large "Victoria's Secret" set. Now you may be wondering, I thought she said she doesn't own any expensive or high end brushes....I don't before I knew any better when I was starting to get into making and doing friends weddings etc I needed brushes so I shopped on ebay... So I thought I was getting amazing deals on brushes and it turns out I am almost 100% positive they are all knock offs, but they work ok, and have gotten me by until now and I am going to work on building a better collection of brushes over time. I also have a few other miscellaneous brushes I got at Imats like 2 years ago that have been great to me as well, and next on my list are some sigma brushes... but for now I have the Costco Kirkland brushes just added to my collection.

(I am having camera issues so these photos were found online so I claim no rights to them)

So this is a 10 piece brush collection and a brush roll. It was $25.00 in store before the Holidays (make sure to read through the bottom for a great deal)

This brush set has a combination of synthetic and natural hair brushes.

so looking at the photo above we will go through them from left to right then the 2 at the top.

1) Powder Brush: Natural fibers, plump domed fluffy brush

Very soft bristles nice density for loose powders. I have been using this brush for setting powders and HD silica powders etc and I am loving it! It is one of the largest brushes I have in my collection, but I am loving it with the loose powders

2) Finishing Brush: duo fiber stippling brush

very soft, but a little large for my taste for applying liquid foundations on their own, I could be wrong since I haven;t used it that way yet, but what I am loving it for it, I have been using the new L'Oreal Visible Lift foundation with the brush top applicator. I love that foundation right now for winter, but it does apply it a little heavy and it is a shiny finish foundation for me. so after I place/apply the liquid foundation where I want it for the coverage I want I go in with this brush and I buff using a swirling motion and it blends out the foundation and gets rid of any extra product and leaves with a more matte super smooth finish to the foundation, this is by far my favorite brush of the bunch!

3) Foundation Concealer Brush: paointed/tapered synthetic brush designed to get into all the knooks and crannies of the face and eye area. Now at first I thought this may be too large and it still may be as I think I use more product that I would like but when using concealer under the eye it does work the product into the fine lines and allows you to buff and blend it out so it doesn't look thick and cakey

4) Cheek Brush: a flat topped natural hair brush

I love flat topped brushes for just about everything from mineral powder application, contouring and cheeks... I have a flat topped brush from MK i use for my MK mineral powder foundation which is great so this one I have been using with bronzer to contour my cheek bones and jaw line, and I have been using with my cheek colors as well. Very little product goes a long way with this baby! and it buffs and blends out the product so nicely

5) Crease Eye brush: not specified on the papers if this is natural or synthetic but I am almost positive it is a natural hair brush, soft fluffy large blending brush. this is the largest of the crease brushes I own and I love it! its wonderful with blending and buffing. I have also used for some soft contouring around the nose and eye areas and its great!

6) Angled Eye Brush: natural fiber angled brush very soft and has a good density for applying eye shadows, does have a "flat" top so to speak I used it it was nice but I don;t find myself reaching for it much.

7) All Over Eye Brush: soft dense tapered shadow brush natural fibers, great for packing on colors , just an all around great eye shadow brush

8) Liner Brush: synthetic flat liner brush, I love that the bristles are not too long on the brush they are a good length and goo density for cream, get or powder products

9) Highlighting Brush: this the the synthetic fiber half moon brush on the left at the top, supposed to be great for contouring and highlighting and travel etc I haven't really used this specific brush yet, but feels like it would be a great all purpose face brush for my purse

10) Contour Kabuki Brush: I love Kabuki Brushes great small handheld brushes that you can do practically anything with for the face. Blend out liquid or cream foundations to soften the application, apply powders, bronzers, blushes etc of the few different Kabuki brushes I own I do not have a single angled one. This one is angled and shaped. it doesn't specify natural or synthetic but i am sure it is synthetic. It's great for contouring to get in the hollows of the cheeks and blends out beautifully, and cheeks gives a great soft blended blush

Over all I think its a great brush set. they have acrylic handles with an aubergine color core. Because they are acrylic you don't have to worry about damage if they get wet, and they are easier to clean and sterilize as well, which may not seem important to everyone to have sterilized handles on your brushes but when you do make up on other people the less bacteria you come in contact with and spread around the better. The ferrules of the brushes are firmly attached, and all of the round brushes are perfectly round not pinched in this allows for the brushes to maintain a great shape. All of the brushes are soft and full, the bristles and well packed and balanced evenly.

The last piece of the set not included in the count is the makeup brush roll, also in an Aubergine/eggplant/plum color vinyl with a alligator skin texture. The exterior is easy to wipe clean. Once opened there is a place for each brush a protective flap to cover the brush heads and keep them clean, and a removable zip closure mesh pouch that you can use to hold the travel brushes or take a specific brush or 2 and a few cosmetics with you on the go.

Overall I love this set and for the price of $25, or 27.19 after tax here in Southern California that is 2.72/brush not including the brush roll, that is a great Deal! good quality for a great price. And it gets even better... yesterday I was at my local Costco and they still had half a palette left! and the price was cut to 19.99! I of course bought a 2nd set! so now one for my personal use only and one for my Freelance Kit only... So I have decided if next time I go to Costco if they still have them I am going to buy at least one or 2 more...not for myself but rather for this site! I think I will have to hold some sort of raffle or contest, but I don't know yet I will have to wait until next Friday to find out, so if you are out there and reading sign up to follow my blog here and I will keep you updated if we will be having a give away soon.

Stay Beautiful,

Lindsay