Hubby Update and Urban Decay Goodies

First off - my husband had surgery yesterday and is doing well. I will still not be able to post as often, so my hiatus is being extended. lol. You prolly get tired of all my yapping anyway right? :)

Second, Urban Decay has put together an awesome little eye make-up set. Genius really, and just in time for the holidays.

Yes, it's gaudy and a little blinding to look at, but it's what's on the inside that counts. ;) In two color choices, "Spandex" (black) or "Baked" (gold), this Best of Urban set contains a liner pencil, liquid glitter liner, eyeshadow, (and they have the cutest shadow pots out of anyone!) and a travel sized bottle of primer potion! The potion bottle isn't as cute as the original genie bottle, but it's great to have travel sizes of all your goods, for your handbag, or for, well, TRAVELING! It sells for $32 bucks, and as always, if you spend $75 or more on their site, you get free shipping.

With the country in a financial crisis, i'm all about pinching my pennies, believe me. But sometimes i need a pick me up when times are tough, and for a little over $30 bucks, this set lifts my spirits just looking at it. LOL!

I just so happened to have my camera...

I was at Target last week and saw some new make-up displays. Since i had my camera in my bag, i snapped a few pics amongst the looky-loo's that wondered why i was taking pictures of make up. (See how committed I am to you? looking like a crazy person in aisle 1 of HBA?)

Pixi by Petra Strand: (Love the Shadow pallettes...)

$28 price tags for the palettes.

NP Set by Napoleon Perdis:



JK Jemma Kidd was not displayed when i was there last week but i did see it this morning. I didn't have my camera. They had a very pretty purple shadow though. :)

Anyhoo, this isn't Loreal. Or Revlon. And it certainly isn't Wet & Wild. Prices are between $16 and $40 for the things i actually looked at. Maybe even higher. But this could help you meet the $50 requirement for free shipping on Target.com. My store had plenty of samples and little tissue/q-tip stations for testing the stuff. Fun for sure! It just makes me believe a little more that someday ULTA may appear within Target, the way Sephora does inside JC Penney.

Sorry I'm so Quiet!

I'm still away on vacation. The weather is so weird here in Oregon. It was a comfy 75 degrees the first day, then it got HOT, all the way into the 100's. Today, it's 65 and raining. LOL! my poor hair. i could never pull off this bob if i lived here. It's a frizzed out mess!

when my husband and i made a move to another city a few years ago, i told him i'd be okay as long as i had a Target and a Starbucks near by. Here on vacation, we have both just across the way. And just like at home, i've been to Target every other to every day. LOL! Last night i picked up a cream to powder eyeshadow pallette by revlon. I don't know how i never saw these before but it's a great consistency. i'll try it out today. I also visited Sephora when i was in less of a rush, and received a birthday present from them! A "vanilla cupcake" scented bubble bath. So cute!

So we'll be here for another week and then i'll be back to good ol' California and back to regular posting. TTYL! XOXO

Oregon is Beautiful!

We landed yesterday at 2:45 pm. It was only 75 degrees, sunny and gorgeous. So many trees! Right off the plane we were overwhelmed with 3 kids, 8 suitcases, a stroller, carseat, diaper bag, laptop, and ourselves... A very nice lady named Val was just oohing and ahhing over our boys, offering them snacks and juice and saying "i know how hard it is to travel with little ones..." Well, in a fortunate twist, Val's son, Robert, worked for the airport, and she insisted he help us with all of our things and take us to the car rental window. I got Val's address to send some pictures of her and the boys, how much do you want to bet Val and Robert are getting a thank you gift from us? They saved the day! So immediately, i decided that Oregonians are "good people".

We got to our hotel and it's lovely. Had a very nice HEATED pool which we went for a dip in last night. The kids are having a great time - when i was little, my fave part of vacation was the hotel. They are def. impressed, but looking forward to the zoo. I headed out to the local Target last night for snacks and toilet paper, and they had a much larger Boots No. 7 section than my local Target back home. So guess what i picked up?


The pictures don't really show the beautiful green and purple shadows. And the box isn't as big as the brow box, so this isn't a bad thing to toss in your bag for touch ups. Plus, it's just so dang cute and you know you have to agree with that! PLUS! It was on clearance for $3.98 and was the last one. If your store carries these items, GO NOW!

so day one, a few hours in, i've already managed to purchase a cosmetic. ugh. And i'll not tell the story about how i dreamed of Sephora last night. hee hee!

Basic Eyeshadow Application

For my first ever eye shadow tutorial, I decided to do what I consider the easiest and most versatile eye. This is basic make up application. No smokey eyes, no upsweeping, not a tremendous amount of layering and blending. Just a few colors, some liner and mascara.

It only takes a few minutes to apply, but delivers a very put together look. My usual go-to colors on a busy day are pink & green, or purple & green. The great thing is, you can use your imagination and many color combinations.

For a subdued look, use neutral colors and minimal liner.

For a fun & vibrant look, use bright colors and colored eyeliner.

For a dramatic look, use dark colors such as black and silver or eggplant, add heavy liner and fake lashes.

Here are the items I used in this video:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

NYX Lime Green shadow

NYX Violet Shadow

Urban Decay Last Call (pink) shadow.

Bourjois Eyeliner pencils:

• Duochrome #61 Vert Doré
• Métallisé #52 Brun Inoxydable

Maybelline “Linen” shadow

Loreal Clean Definition Mascara in Black.

Fun Stuff from Dollar Tree

I saw these little boxes and thought they'd be great for organizing my make up collection. Also some LA Color cosmetics that they now carry. If you have a Dollar Tree near you, go get some of these boxes before they are all gone!

I could've been a millionaire

Do you ever have those moments where you say to yourself, "Somebody needs to create *insert invention here* so it would be easier to *insert difficult thing to do here*." I do it all the time. And then one day, somebody does invent it and I say to myself "I could've been a millionaire..."

Well, a company called ColorOn stole another of my brilliant ideas... A nifty little invention that puts your eye make up on perfectly, in one easy step. Or so they say. I haven't tried these yet, but I'm going to have to soon before I'm dead from the curiosity. (These are also available at Sephora.)


Check these out - seriously wild!



As for my last post, I didn't get the video up yet and today is my baby's birthday party. So i'll have it up as soon as i can!

Why Eyeshadow?

Why exactly am I so amused by new make-up purchases or blending the green and purple eyeshadow just right? Well...

I have 3 little boys and a husband. Even my cat, who was supposed to be a girl, is a boy. I am the only female in a house full of creatures that find most of their humor in bodily function. Being a mom, a stay-at-home-mom to be precise, can be hard. lol. am i putting it mildly? We give up a part of ourselves when we decide to bear children. Before we ever lose sleep, or peace of mind, or sanity, we lose part of our self-image. We donate our bodies to incubate children for the sake of a FAMILY. Our husband's don't have to make these sacrifices - we do. We lose our smooth skin (even IF it had a few rolls) to stretch marks. We develop strange blue veins where they had never been before. Our hips change shape in anticipation of birth and for some they never go back to the way they were. We gain weight. Our boobs expand and then deflate leaving nary a glimpse of their former selves. Then the children arrive. We forget what exactly a good night's sleep feels like, and the circles under our tired eyes tell the world "I'm a parent now". It's no strange occurrence to cook and clean the kitchen before we ever sit down to eat, and to "eat" means to inhale bites of food while nursing a fussy baby, or spoon feeding strained carrots to the kid who's learned how to blow raspberries. Sometimes we aren't allowed time to take a shower. Some days, teeth brushing is replaced with Listerine gargling done at the kitchen sink while making a bottle for Screamy McScreamerton. With great disdain, we watch our husband get up, complain of being tired while he gets ONLY himself ready for work, putting on the clean clothes that the laundry fairy washed, dried, folded, pressed, and hung up for him. He leaves to spend the day slaving away free of poopy diapers, projectile vomit and caked-on cheerios, and when he gets home we listen to him complain about his day, his co-workers, his boss, the traffic, all the while feeling a bit green that he WENT OUTSIDE today. The dinner fairy cooks, serves and cleans up for him, and he eventually crawls into bed not to be bothered again except by his alarm at 7am the next morning.

At about this time, i finally have peace and quiet in my life. My brain is finally clearing of the fog and everyone is asleep. the day is done. stores are closed. it's dark outside. And so i sit wide awake, blinking at the TV wondering what has happened to my life.

In order to make myself important (because I am. Moms of the world - WE are!) i make everyday a little more fun and a little more exciting by pampering MYSELF in the smallest of ways. Scented soaps, colored eyeshadow, flavored lip gloss, beauty treatments of any kind make me HAPPY. Painting my finger or toenails means daddy is on duty for at least an HOUR while they dry. *wink* I can't possibly make a bottle or change a diaper with wet nails. Going on family outings on the weekends means I ABSOLUTELY YES get some extra ME time to get ready and this is where i take some extra time experimenting with new make-up or trying something different with my hair. Somehow make-up has this amazing feature in that it tunes out the sighs of my husband, the whines of my children, the fusses of my infant. My make-up has this fascinating bonus where it LOCKS the door to my bathroom, looks me in the eye and says, "CARA, this is all about you babe". How could I ever possibly break off a relationship with something that treats me so special? I'm not saying that YOUR make-up has the same amazing properties as mine. Maybe the magic is in your book collection, or your shoe-store bag, or your closet collection, or your DVR/Tivo. Perhaps for you it lies in new kitchen utensils, a cookbook, home decorating magazine, or *cringe* scrapbook store. Whatever tricks live in whatever bag, find them and use them. I adore my family, and without them nothing else would be as sweet. But i still require the occasional reprieve, and for me, that trick lives in my make-up bag.

Urban Decay Product Reviews

Urban Decay Primer Potion:
I recently purchased the Urban Decay Primer Potion (UDPP) eyeshadow base and I'm in LOVE with it. If you frequent many beauty blogs or forums, you know that this stuff is a MUST HAVE. (I purchased mine for $16 at ULTA, but it's also available at Sephora or Urban Decay's website.)
This stuff is so awesome that one night i went to bed without washing my face and the next morning i STILL had most of my eyeshadow on. LOL! One bit of caution - it works so well, that blending can be hard with the first shadow that you apply over it. So if you plan to do a lot of blending to the first layers, you may want to lightly sweep a neutral shadow on your lid first. This stuff is like an eyeshadow magnet! If you haven't already heard, the bottle that holds this miracle potion can be a little tricky to completely empty. There are many tutorials out there on this, but here is one that is short and sweet. Just be careful! *Rating ~ 4 & 1/2 STARRS*.

Urban Decay Brow Box:
When I had my brows waxed, Stephanie, (AKA Eyebrow Genius) recommended the Benefit brow kit "Browzings" and it was a great little kit. However, when i was shopping the Urban Decay Aisle, i saw this UD Brow Box and fell in love with it. It is adorable and has everything you need to touch up and perfectly style your brows, and it's available in 4 color combinations. I got mine for $29 at Ulta in "Brown Sugar". I take the little brush and dab it - NOT swipe it - in the darkest color, then one dab in the lighter color, then apply. I follow up with the wax to keep my brows groomed all day. The box has a mirror and tweezers if you need to do any small touch ups, and it's small enough to carry in your purse if you want! (This kit is also available for $29 at Sephora and UrbanDecay.com.) *Rating ~ 5 STARRS*


You may remember from the videos during my trip that i desperately wanted a particular eyeshadow color and couldn't find it in stock. I ended up purchasing a similar shadow by Urban Decay called "Last Call". I LOVE IT TO BITS. It is gorgeous and seriously, it's worth a little extra because UD's shadows glide on perfectly. Well, there is a fantastic deal available at ULTA or Sephora, where you can get the UDPP AND an eyeshadow palette that includes Last Call - all for only $39! (I spent $32 on just my primer and ONE eyeshadow.) The Eyeshadow Ammo kit is $34 by itself! This way you get a full sized Primer Potion and an Eyeshadow Ammo palette of 10 shadows for $11 LESS than if you purchased separately. PLEASE BUY IT! Please someone buy it and tell me all about it. I'd buy it but I recently got BUSTED for my last ULTA shopping spree and am on a NO SHOP until the year 2025. :)

Red White and Blue Eyes

Happy Fourth of July!

Face: Bare Minerals with WARMTH all over face color.
Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion, NYX Shadow Pencil in RUST, NYX Single Eyeshadows in Navy and White Pearl. Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner in espresso, and Loreal Telescopic Mascara in Black.
Lips: E.L.F. clear gloss.

My New Eyeshadows

These are the 8 new shadows I got from ULTA. They are all beautiful and I've already worn several of them. (They are laid out below in the same order as they are swatched on my hand):

It's a little hard to see here, but Luna has a hint of Radiant in it, and both have a gold shimmer. So those 2 together with the Gold Leaf made a very pretty combo yesterday.
The only one i really wanted and didn't get after 3 trips to 2 ULTA stores, was the "Flirty", but i did find a very similar shade by Urban Decay and am super happy with it. Flirty is even sold out online, so you can imagine how pretty it is! Everyone has snatched them all up!

Putting My New Eyeliner to Good Use

So I am feeling a lot better today and decided to go do some more shopping. Since it's sure to be a FUN day I thought it would be the perfect time to try out my FUN new Bourjois liner that I got yesterday. (I got the one linked there: "Bleu Cliquant 54")


I LOVE it! So pretty and such a quick way to add a little something extra and different. Plus the texture of this pencil is awesome. Glides on super smooth and creamy. In fact - you have to be careful not to use too much!


Today I used my Urban Decay Primer Potion as a base, then, using a large shadow brush, i swept NYX single shadow in FLAMINGO onto my lids. I used a shading brush to put a light layer of Maybelline Expertwear eyeshadow in ETERNAL FLAME (a bronze-y gold color) into the crease and up toward my browbone. I lined with my new Bourjois pencil, smudged both upper and lower lines with a smudger, and finished up with my Loreal Clean Definition Telescopic Mascara in Black.

DON'T BE A CHICKEN!!! TRY SOMETHING NEW!!!

Turquoise and Purple Eyeshadow

First I used Neutrogena Skin Soothing Eye Tints in PETAL SHIMMER as an eyeshadow base. Using my blending brush, I applied NYX Shadow in OCEAN on my lid, and PURPLE PEARL in the crease. I swept the purple upwards and out towards the end of my eyebrows. I used a Maybelline shadow in LINEN on my brow bone. Then I lined my eyes with a Jesse's Girl Kohl Eyeliner pencil in GRAPE EXPECTATIONS. Then I used my slanted brush and put the PURPLE PEARL over the liner on my upper lash line. I finished off with Clean Definition Telescopic Mascara by Loreal in Black.