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!