Monday, November 17, 2008

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Nov. 17

I found this on a fun blog so I thought I'd play along.

Mood: Happy - 5 more days until Thanksgiving vacation :)
Mascara: Cover Girl LashBlast
Last movie I watched: In a theater - Quantum of Solace, on TV - Center Stage: Turn It Up (reviews coming)
Lipgloss or lipstick: MAC Burgundy lip pencil with MAC Pink Air lustre lip color
Outfit: short sleeved, cream-colored sweater with light brown slacks (both from Ann Taylor / LOFT, which is where 80% of my work wardrobe comes from, 99% of which was bought on sale)
Shoes: Aerosoles brown loafer pumps
Blush: MAC Blushbaby
Eyeliner: Bobbi Brown gel liner in chocolate shimmer ink
Breakfast beverage: 20 oz of water on the way to work
Goals for the week: Go running at least once, pack for trip home, tie up loose ends at work so I don't have to stress about it while on vacay

How about you? Post your inputs below! :) Here's the list -

Mood:
Mascara:
Last movie I watched:
Lipgloss or lipstick:
Outfit:
Shoes:
Blush:
Eyeliner:
Breakfast beverage:
Goals for the week:

Sunday, November 16, 2008

SNL spoof on Beyonce's Single Ladies video

Catching up on last night's SNL... Paul Rudd hosted with Beyonce as the musical guest.

Justin Timberlake stopped by... he did a bit during Weekend Update which was kind of funny, kind of gratuitous. By far, my favorite sketch is the one that combined the talents of JT, Paul Rudd, and Beyonce... so hilarious!


(Hopefully this one doesn't get deleted!)

Update: Make sure to check out Paul Rudd's moves in the last 25 seconds of the clip. I missed it the first few times I saw this - and it was worth watching over and over again.

I actually love this song and the original video (below). I just wish it was available as a single on iTunes. (Update: I just got it! It became available with the release of Beyonce's new album - yay!)

Friday, November 14, 2008

My latest addiction... and possibly the start of yet another blog

(TO MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY: Feel free to scroll down to the pictures - heehee)


So as most of my friends and family know, I have gone make-up crazy this year! I used to be a foundation + blush girl for most of my life. My mom would ask me why I don't wear eyeliner. In the last few years, I would wear some eyeshadow but pretty much the same colors every day, maybe something different at night. My make-up collection could fit in a couple of cosmetic bags.

And then this summer, I stumbled across these YouTube videos of make-up tutorials and I was fascinated! It was like watching someone paint a picture (speaking of which, remember Bob Ross?) You would see someone with their bare face looking pretty drab and then ten minutes later - they looked like a model! I was - and still am - completely hooked. My interest went beyond just the tutorials - there are also product reviews and my favorite, "hauls". Hauls are when people show their new product purchases - and let me tell you, these people spend some serious $$$$. And it's contagious - because then I want to go out and buy all these fun items!

(On a related note: Just to warn you - not all the make-up videos on YouTube are worth watching. Some are quite clown-y, but that's just my personal opinion.)

Anyway, I started practicing some of these "looks" on my own... it was quite scary and embarrassing at first. But slowly I'm getting better. The right kind of make-up and the right kind of brushes help a lot. Since this summer, my make-up collection has probably quadrupled. It's an addiction people! So I'm trying to cut back... but there is still so much more out there that I want to play with *sigh*

Luckily for me, holidays are around the corner - yay, Santa! In my family, "surprises" aren't always welcomed (I can confirm this as both the receiver as well as the giver), so we usually just tell each other what we want.

So without further ado, my Christmas wish list:

MAC Products

Available at
free standing MAC stores as well as select Nordstrom's and Macy's

In general, I love little make-up sets. It's a good way to try stuff! And I have been seriously loving MAC's holiday collection. I'm embarrassed to think of all the products I've already purchased.

But yet - there's more! First off - lipglosses. I'm not a big lip gloss wearer but I like it from time to time. And this is a great deal - you get to try five different colors!


Little Darlings Collection:
5 Neutral Lipglass and Lustreglass
$29.50

Limited edition

* I hear Love Nectar (included in this collection) is to die for!



Little Darlings Collection:
5 Pink Lipglass and Lustreglass
$29.50

Limited edition

* This could go well with the rose lip set that I already purchased.




Up next... eye pencils. On a day to day basis, I stick with my basic brown and black eye liners but I think it's fun to try new colors to spice up a look. Plus you can smudge them on your eye lid (with your finger or a small concealer brush) to act as an eye shadow or maybe even an eye shadow base.

Little Darlings Collection:
5 Softsparkle Eye Pencils
$29.50

Limited edition





Now pigments (loose powder make-up) are something I've been scared to use. So I figure these little samples could be a good way to try them out.

Little Darlings Collection:
5 Warm Pigments and Glitter
$29.50

Limited edition





My two favorite things to buy are eye shadows and brushes. Now yes, it is crazy that I would pay $20-30 for one brush. But I can honestly say - they are worth it! I am a MAC brush addict. Now usually I take the cheaper approach by buying their brush sets but the individual brushes are just a tad higher in quality (handmade vs. machine made). The only full sized brushes I own are the 217 and 208 (yeah, I know the numbers) and I *love* them. Here are some other ones that I would like to add to my collection:

Large Fluff Brush #227
$30.00

* Great brush for highlighting under the brow. Currently, I use my $1 ELF eye shadow brush which works fine - but this one looks more fun to use :)



Tapered Blending Brush #224
$28.00

* Because I don't have as much lid space to work with, this brush should help blend color in the crease better since it has a more tapered end than my 217.


Eye Shading Brush #239
$24.50

* I've been using a cheaper version which is a craft brush you can buy at Michael's. But this is a brush I use all the time, so the more the merrier!




Other Fun Stuff

I love these little cute Benefit sets - they have so many fun products that I want to try but I don't necessarily want to buy a full sized version. What if I don't like it, you know?



Benefit Realness of Concealness
$32.00

Available at Macy's, Sephora








Benefit Justine Case
$32.00

Available at Macy's, Sephora






I've never tried anything from Make Up For Ever yet - they get great reviews online. I definitely want to try their eye pencils. If I was more adventurous, I would try out their eye shadow color #92 (bright purple) which gets raves from the make-up world.

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes Collection
$35

Available at Sephora








I really like my bareMinerals foundation make-up... so I'd like to try out some of their other sets.


Bare Escentuals Face Fashion
$34.00

Available at Macy's, Sephora








Bare Escentuals Ruby Collection
$54

Available at Sephora







And finally... a random product. I saw one amazing review and now I want to try it out. Apparently, it makes any cheap drugstore mascara work wonders. Although I have the skimpiest eyelashes so I might be a hopeless cause.


Shiseido Makeup Mascara Base
$22
Available at
Sephora









So as you can see... I love talking make-up! And based on comments from my friends, they do, too. It got me thinking that it might be fun to start yet another blog... specifically about this new addiction. I would probably send it out as an email since my target audience would be my girl friends who do not use Google Reader to stalk blogs all day long like I do.

Let me know if this is something that might be of interest to you!

Thursday night TV thoughts

Ugly Betty

I am so embarrassed that it took me two episodes to realize Karate Kid plays the councilman! Identifying cameo appearances is usually my specialty. (In my defense, his voice sounds so different to me!)

The Office

Dwight absolutely killed me at the end of this episode! I seriously busted out laughing. You know - that romantic reunion between Jim and Pam... that Dwight cluelessly interrupted. I can see why my sister loves this guy.

Grey's Anatomy


Seriously, where are they going with this Izzie and Denny storyline?


OK, I'm sure there is more to say but I am already up way too late. TGIF :)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Jon and Kate plus Eight wedding commercial

Does anyone else find this commercial funny?



I mean those two bicker and snap at each other all day long. OK, sure, they have some sweet moments but that's once in a blue moon. This is the real life of real people.

But then they throw together this totally staged lovey dovey look at each other / walk hand in hand nonsense... too odd for me!

On second thought, I guess it's similar to all those staged engagement/wedding pictures that couples take. As if my sister would stroll with her husband under a parasol in real life.

Kenny from Dancelife returns to my TV

One of my favorite movies is "Center Stage". One of my favorite shows is (was) MTV's "Dancelife".

So imagine my excitement when I flipped through the pages of my Entertainment Weekly and discovered that there is a sequel, "Center Stage: Turn It Up", featuring my fave "Dancelife" dancer, Kenny!!!

It looks like the only returning cast members are Ethan Stiefel (horrible actor, amazing ballet dancer) and Peter Gallagher. Oh, and it looks like the winner of Bravo's "Step It Up and Dance", Cody Green, also appears in the movie.

I missed the movie debut on the Oxygen network but have set my DVR to record an encore performance Friday night at 7:30PM. They are also showing the original "Center Stage" right before it at 5PM, so I'm recording that, too.

Yay! The review in EW was horrible, but who cares! There will at least be good dancing, right?

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Thursday Night TV comments

Look, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is great and all but I am soooooo tired of the Denny Duquette storyline.

*sigh*

Other thoughts on my must see TV tonight...

Ugly Betty
- Bummer! Why did the cute neighbor dude (aka guy from Cougar episode of 30 Rock) have to make out with Amanda?


The Office

- Loved the sales call simulation with Dwight, Michael, and Jim
- Pam cheering, "That's what she said!"
- The whole Dwight-Angela thing is getting creepy, I mean, creepier

30 Rock
- Oprah!!!

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Movie Review: High School Musical 3

Look, I realize I am way too old to be watching this movie, but I don't care because you know what? This movie was super cute and I totally recommend it to any musical fan.

My cousin had introduced me to High School Musical which I caught on DVD on a babysitting gig (yes, people trust me to care for their children. suckers!!!) It was cute but I didn't think much of it.

Then High School Musical 2 debuted on the Disney channel and I made sure to catch that. Again - cute silly musical. Oh, that Sharpay!

So of course I had to make sure to catch the third one when it opened on the BIG SCREEN. Woohoo! I went with my cousin and our 12 year old niece - she was our cover, but we totally would have seen it on our own. Well worth the $10.50.

The plot is predictable but the musical numbers were awesome! The dancing is amazing and the songs are kind of catchy, too. Several of them are already on the Top 100 list on iTunes. I am very impressed with Zac Efron, who plays the male lead. He is truly committed to this role - as in, he goes all out in the super cheesy musical numbers. You have to see it. And he totally rocked in Hairspray (another fave!).

I will warn you - there is a super cheesy, borderline-cringy moment in the opening musical number where Troy is at a critical moment in a basketball game and looks to his GF to give him strength. Do NOT leave the theater! The rest of the movie is not that bad.

Two funny awkward moments:

1. There was ONE kiss scene between lovebirds Troy and Gabriella (Efron and Vanessa Hudgens) - and right when I was about to think FINALLY! - I was interrupted by pockets of giggles from all the little girls in the theater. Geesh - way to ruin a sweet moment.

2. I liked how the closing credits tried to emulate a live stage performance by having the lead actors bow from a stage. However, they then did a close up on each actor smiling as if they were receiving applause from the audience - except in my theater, no one applauded - so it looked kind of silly. I'm not sure why I didn't clap - I'm pretty sure I applauded when I saw Chicago and Dreamgirls in the theater.

So anyway, if you like musicals - I highly recommend seeing this one. I could even be convinced to see it again.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Reach Out

Have you seen the new Hilary Duff video for her song, "Reach Out"?




I don't buy it. She's 21, she looks amazing, and the song isn't that bad BUT at the same time, I can't help but think - why is this little girl trying to act all sexy and grown up? It looks silly!

Thoughts?