Brushes Brushes Brushes

There are so many brushes to be bought out there, and honestly, you cannot have too many. And you cannot have too many nice brushes.

BH is the cheapest route, but also the lower quality. I highly suggest getting brushes from a make-up store rather than a Target brand brush. Now, I know they are more expensive, but brushes are worth the splurge.

Before I really go into the different brands that you should look into, here’s why it’s important not to skimp on brushes.

1. Brushes make your look – If you buy yourself a really nice eye shadow or contour to treat yourself and all your brushes are shit, your nice make up will look like shit when it goes on. It will be a waste of product and time. It might look fine, but your make-up will never be as good as you can do with bad brushes. On the other hand, less expensive eye shadow will look better when applied with a nice brush.
2. You need to clean your brushes – Brushes need to be cleaned after use to keep from growing bacteria, I’ll get into that in another post, but if your brushes are poorly made cleaning will cause you strife. The glue is a lot more likely to wear, and your brush head will come off the handle.
3. Soft brushes are your skin’s friend – Using a soft, nice brush to do your foundation will help prevent wrinkles. And I like that.

Now, to the kind of brushes that I recommend.

Real Techniques and BH Cosmetics Brushes 

Both are reasonably prices, Real Techniques will run you a bit more but they are of a higher quality. This pink set is the one I own (I just nabbed a picture off the google for both of these) and I am currently scouring local stores in search of RT brush sets. I need some. So badly.

These are perfect if you are trying to do more with your make-up but don’t want to shell out the big bucks for brushes.

Real techniques were created by Pixiwoo on YouTube and (at least when I first started following them) work(ed?) for MAC as make-up artisits. And the brushes are about $4-30 depending on if they are in a set or part of the holiday collection. The ones pictured above (left) are all about $4-8 each.

BH is a pretty new company and is really reasonably priced, when you get a set the brushes usually are about $1-2 a brush, which is amazing for the quality they have.

Morphe Brushes, Sigma, and MAC Cosmetics brushes

Now, these brands are the best. Make-up artisits like Jeffree Star, Nikkie(tutorials), xsparkage, and basically ALL other make-up guru’s use.

Now, these brushes… are the best. They are amazing, and they are a perfect thing to ask your rich grandma to get you for Christmas. I have 3 whole MAC brushes and one of the cheaper Morphe sets from their Black Friday sale.

But, the cold truth is they can be $25 a brush, which is, a massive amount! I love my mac brushes though, they are my ride or die. Sigma is on my maybe someday wish list, but right now I can’t spend $25 on a brush.

HOWEVER, if you are really serious about make-up and you want to treat yourself, watch some tutorials by Jeffree, or Pixiwoo (the sisters that made Real Techniques) and see which brushes you want. Get yourself one or two.

For me, the MAC 217 is my favorite brush that I own. It’s a blending brush and my soul brush.

 

Make-up and Money

In the make-up community of social media there is a lot of glamour. A lot of people seeming to live fabulous lives with oodles and boodles of money to dispose of however they want to.

If you don’t have a huge stash of make-up, you obviously aren’t very good at what you do.

Make-up YouTube guru Shaaanxo has a personalized storage ROOM for her make-up and vanity. This is just ONE of her many drawers of lipstick. This was made just for her and a video on it can be found on her channel.

Now, I by no means am trying to say that this is bad. If I could afford that much make-up, I sure as hell would own that much.

To give you some perspective, on a small bookshelf from Target my make-up takes up less than the top shelf. (I like to arrange it pretty so it sits on more than that.) That less than a shelf is worth about $700, and each of those lip sticks is about $10 – $20, and she has 2 and a half drawers like that.

I’m jealous, oh yes I am, but in social media unless you are perceived to have make-up in this crazy amount you aren’t successful. This can go a number of ways, always wearing new products or pictures of a lot of make up. Which is really hard to do if you are just starting out or you have a lot of other expenses.

Make-up racks up a total faster than a lot of people think.

This picture right here is worth almost $200.

As a young mom I just don’t have that kind of money to burn. If my life had gone differently, namely I hadn’t met the love of my life and I hadn’t given birth to the best person in the whole world I would have a lot more money for make-up. But I don’t, and that’s okay.

This bottom left drawer might look like a lot that you can get at Target, but there are also some high price items thrown in, that drawer alone is worth anywhere from $600 – $1,000. The bottom right is worth even more.

Each of those MAC blushes costs $22. Plus I see palettes and NARS on the side. NARS is pricey stuff, worth it, but a small contour and highlight will run you $50.

When you start thinking in numbers make-up bloggers spend crazy amounts of cash on their products. Again, that’s completely fine. But when you are unastablished and only have one source of income, this seems impossible to aspire to.

I recently read this long-reads on word press: YouTube Middle Class about how YouTubers are often struggling to make ends meet. There are people like Pewdiepie, who is worth about $12 million and channels like Good Mythical Morning who manage to get sponsored episodes and events and pay themselves as well as another handful of people that work on their team.

And I can’t help but think about how there must be a lot of similar situations for make-up artists. There are those who are doing amazingly, those who can’t get a foothold at all, and those who are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You need to buy more make-up to make your fans happy, but you need more money to be able to buy more make-up.

This is one reason that I will never be famous, not only am I still learning (but really, isn’t everyone?) I will never be able to fork up the dough to make it big. I can’t pretend that my life is glamorous. It just isn’t.

I clean poop off of a small baby’s butt while she insists that it is time to roll over and crawl around. I got to take a bath with her and when I remove the diaper she has pooped and I have to just hold her over the tub and do her dirty diaper.

My husband can’t always get up by himself because of his fibromyalgia. Sometimes I need to help with his shoes or pants because his arthritis is so bad he can’t clench his hand.

My daughter burps and farts like a trucker and would prefer to be naked indefinitely.

I can’t afford the money or time to have a beautiful breakfast and smoothie every day, or a beautiful and intricate dinner.

My wee make-up collection will likely never be brawny enough to play in the big league, but that’s okay. Not everyone can be famous, and not everyone can be rich.

But I’m still going to try hard and hope that I can get somewhere, anywhere. I love writing, I love make-up and I want to keep sharing. My make-up brings me joy, and I hope that other people just want to see that. Not hundreds of dollars, but make-up making people feel good.

I think that there is a lot of space for make-up on a real budget. Because so many videos use hundreds of dollars of product, and they’re so beautiful, but in the next few weeks I want to do a lot about what to splurg on and what is the best product to save money on.

Sassy Posh Spice – A nude

Posh spice is a beautiful nude color great for this Minnesotan winter that feels like fall still.

At first when I was this color… I didn’t like it. At all really. I thought it would be one of those colors that looks unique so I get it, but then never wear it. Like that dress in my closet from a year ago.

Every time that there was a new look that Jeffree Star Cosmetics reposted, I wanted it a little more. Eventually, I decided that I had to have it. So when I order my holiday bundle from Beautylish I added it on. It had grown on me.

I love nudes.

But I usually don’t love wearing nude lipsticks, I usually prefer something more bold. Red, Crimson, Black, Brown, and crazy colors like green and blue. I think why this nude won me is that it is just different enough that it is still pronounced and sassy on the lip.

The left is when it was just applied and still a little wet, and the right is after a bit of drying time. I love this color because it doesn’t scream at you, but it really isn’t that subtly there. I don’t see pictures of this color and wonder if it’s lipstick or just their lips, it’s definitely lipstick.

Not only did I like this color for fall, but with pastels being so big in make-up for winter this would be great with some pastel eye shadow. Plus it still feels like fall in Minnesota right now.

Tangent! – I’ve been distracted.

Lately I’ve had a lot more on my hands around the house because we went gluten free. This is something that I mostly talk about my co-workers who are also gluten free for various reasons.

My reason being that my main squeeze has Fibromyalgia and we are hoping this helps with the pain a little. There are days he can’t take baby Indi out to play, and instead has to sit in her room while she plays in her crib, there are days that I wake up at 3 AM because he is in shambles, in too much pain to sleep.

I wasn’t really sure about how much of my personal life to stick in here, since lets face it, if you’re following me chances are you signed up for make up blog.

I just want to try and post everyday, but that’s really hard when you suddenly cannot eat unless you cook yourself. There is basically nothing ready made that is not gluten free.

I did sneak some, and it made me feel awful. I also haven’t had any small patches of hives on my chest anymore, so this has been a good thing. But oh my gosh it’s so hard.

 

To top off all that cooking the little one is also able to take one step by herself, I’m sure that she could take more but doesn’t want to. It kind of scares her.

So then you get to top off all the cooking with the cleaning to make sure she won’t be able to reach everything and make sure everywhere she will be going is clean.

I think for the time being I’m going to try and post 5 times a week, including weekends. Then tackle the issue of trying to do that M – F.

So anyway, my make-up this week has mostly just been some BB cream to moisturize and add a little color to my pale face, and getting my make-up organized. I haven’t felt well enough to get up very early.

However, I think I’ll be doing at least poor selfies and how I did my make up that day, because it’s Christmas less people are in the office to judge my colorful make-up.

And I’ll be re-dying my hair soon, so there will be that.

Now, you can go ahead and think I’m crazy since I only have 3 followers and this isn’t necessary. That’s fine. I wanted to post and this is really all I can manage at the moment.

I suck. It’s okay.

Sneak Peek of what I’m going to talk about tomorrow.

I might also be doing some wishlist items and why I want to get this vs that because my budge is super tight and I have to get other people presents right now, as well as some real talk about make-up and DIY on a budget. Where I splurg and why. That kind of thing, because I just can’t get new make-up everyday. That’d be crazy.

(I can dream though)

Eyes on the 80s Palette

Eyes on the 80s is a colorful palette by BHCosmetics. It ran with two sister palettes which were the 70s and 60s palettes. If you want one now I think your best bet is Glambot, which is a website where you can buy and sell gently used make-up, but there is a middle man. So you aren’t getting crap and they will clean off the make-up before sending it to you.

Or you can get the Take me to Brazil palette or one of the 120 color palettes, which I will be getting soon because they’re almost always on sale. Right now they’re only $10 for 120 colors. As you can see, you have a lot of Really reasonably priced options to choose from.

Anyway, I love this palette mostly because I love BHCosmetics. The colors are pigmented and blend-able, but they can be calm colors if you apply them that way. The make-up they sell is always incredibly reasonably priced and you get a higher quality at a drug store (or lower) price basically.

This palette has the right colors to do rainbow eyes, and the right colors to do something more subtle and nude.

Each of these colors comes out exactly how it looks in its color pot on the palette, and you don’t have to make a big dent in it to get it onto your brush.

I highly recommend one of their palettes if you want to play with color, you can get a good feel for blending and looks you can do with brights without getting something really expensive. Inglot (right) is a great brand, or Make-Up Forever (left) if you want incredibly pigmented bright colors, but it’s going to run you a lot more money.

This palette does have a thin plastic sheet which folds over it because of the heart shapes on it and I am very grateful for that. There is perforation on it, so I would guess that some do take the cover off. I don’t recommend that.

You shouldn’t keep your make-up in a damp place like the bathroom, but if you do you really should not remove covers like that. Without a cover the moisture will do even more damage to your make up.

I did a colorful look with this palette and Jeffree Star’s Masochist. At first I did it with 714 but it just screamed SPRING TIME at your face as if to somehow emphasize that it is not spring. It is fall, and it is cold as balls outside and that will not change for months. So I changed my lipstick.

 

I’m going in Hard – Weirdo’s Birthday

On my birthday, which was also Black Friday this year, I went really intense on the make up.

I love dark lipstick and since I got Weirdo by Jeffree Star Cosmetics I haven’t had a chance to wear it on my lips, only on my eyes when my Urban Decay liner had run out. Since, you know, black isn’t exactly a good color to wear to work.

I love this lipstick so much. I needed this lipstick when I was still in school and wearing crappy, awful black lipstick from Hot Topic. I could have ruled my halls with this look. I know selfies, especially on my phone for some reason, do not do my make up justice but my face was a perfect punk resting bitch face and it was amazing.

I went to Potbelly with this on, and I ate a Big Italian and barely had to touch up.

This black lipstick is life.

Sephora Birthday – NARS

This year the Beauty Insider birthday gift was two NARS lip pencils, one red matte and one pink satin finish. When I ordered my new Perversion liquid eyeliner I added my birthday gift to my bag, and I’ve been pretty excited about it.

For one, the packaging is simple and nice. The best part about it though is that the top of the pencil has an air cushion that makes it harder to stick your pencil too far in and ruin the tip, which I for one appreciate.

They’re really pigmented and soft. And the swatches I did on my hand are still visible today and I even took a bath with them still on my hand. So far I’m pretty impressed since it’s a lip pencil.

Regardless I never really use a lip pencil for staying power or anything like that. If I want my color to lock I use a liquid to matte lipstick, but still it can be nice to have something so silky on your lips.

I’ve also been pretty curious about NARS in general. I mostly want to try their foundation, but this was still a great way to get some of their products for free.

If you haven’t signed up to be a Beauty Insider, one, you’re insane, and two you need to. Even if you aren’t making it to VIB every year or ever getting something free on your birthday is pretty awesome. And if you’re thinking that it’s just some too small to matter samples think again. I still have and use my 2013 birthday gift.

Organix – First Impressions

I know that hair products are not make-up, but they fall under a pretty similar realm.

Organix makes this hair line with Moroccan argan oil, which, I have to wonder how it’s different from any old argan oil.

I’ve read a lot of mixed things about hair and argan oil. Just looking this picture up to show you what I’m talking about I saw some girl with a weird smile holding them up and giving them a thumbs down. Which is fine. It is just another example of how I seem to hear only two sides of the spectrum about this oil for your hair. I’ve seen people say it’s amazing and I’ve seen people say that it will just make your hair oily and look like it hasn’t been washed, and I’ve also seen people saying that oil is out right bad for your hair.

I really want to stress: Oil is not bad for your hair. Your scalp produces oils for a reason and that reason isn’t just to make it look greasy. Oil helps smooth and protect your hair. The problem lies with Too Much oil, not just oil period. And a shampoo isn’t going to give you too much oil, showering too often is. By washing your hair everyday you are telling your body that it needs to make more oil, which in turn makes you keep showering. A good balance is only washing your hair three times a week. I’m serious. It’s science. Google it. Or don’t, because google lies.

Anyway, one of my friends used this shampoo and I’m not kidding their hair growth doubled in speed. It looked like it was growing an inch a month. It was crazy, and since then I’ve been pretty curious. I also didn’t really want to try this since I’ve been on a get healthy and go natural kind of kick lately.

I don’t like chemicals, and I’ve tried everything to get away from them. Baking soda and Apple Vinegar did nothing for my dandruff, caused by baby hormones, but that’s for another post. I’ve tried Lush shampoos. I’ve tried head and shoulders. I’ve tried Garnier or whatever. I’ve tried everything. So I decided to try this too.

My hair. Is so. SOFT. HOLY SHIT. My hair is so soft. And so far it’s been helping with my scalp caused by baby. So overall I really like it. It smells good, my hair is like silk, it doesn’t get knotted as quickly during the day.

I’m not sure about the product, I usually try and stay away from sulfates, but nothing without sulfates has been actually making my hair feel healthy. So here I am. Back with a normal shampoo.

Stuff Your Face, Stuff it Real Good

The time has come to unbutton your pants, leave your belt at home, or just wear sweatpants. Or no pants at all if your family is like that.

It’s Thanksgiving.

Now, since I’ve had a baby I get food babies like most will not understand. My tummy muscles can stretch and relax down there really easy, and let me tell you, when I have a big dinner I look 3-4 months pregnant. Which, actually, isn’t that pregnant. I just get this tiny little bump that is exactly what i had when baby Indie was so small that I couldn’t really feel her kicks. Just her occasional extreme sport summer-salt.

My work had a potluck on Wednesday, so I already have eaten a lot. Plus on Tuesday we got a department lunch for meeting some yearly goals, and it was on Taco Tuesday, so needless to say, I stuffed my face.

Most people have Turkey, Potatoes, Stuffing, all that. We… aren’t? At least mostly. We have potatoes and cranberry stuff and green bean casserole. My main squeeze is trying to start a briar pipe business and it’s been quite the money zapper. Plus, you know, I got my birthday make-up for myself already. So I didn’t really want to go all out, but I did want to cook for my family.

I have a lot to be thankful for. Even if we aren’t having the full on typical dinner tonight. We will be with family this weekend, just not tonight.

I hope that everyone is having a good night, whether it’s with a big family or not, eating food and enjoying another year seeing people be stupid. I don’t really believe in seeing family you don’t get along with simply because you should, so I hope you’re with people you want to be around this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner

Best shit ever.

This stuff completely changed my eye liner game when I was in high school, and while there are others that I have used and there are others that I still want to try it always comes back to this eye liner. I love how tiny the applicator is, I love that you shake it first and it has a little ball in there to mix up the formula. Do you know why? Because make-up, almost all of it, separates. Sometimes this doesn’t happen quickly, but especially with things like liquids they are going to separate.

I think that this problem is specific to mostly liquid eye liners and liquid lipsticks. I know that this also varies by brand. Now, I’ve used this without shaking it plenty, especially when it’s new. These last few months though while it’s been dying that shaking has saved my life. Without that little ball to move everything around in there it wouldn’t have kept working. All the remaining product would be stuck to the walls of the tube and I would have none on my eyes.

To me, this is hugely important. I just got a new one delivered last night, and the last time that I got one delivered or bought one you wonder? Freshman year of high school. I bought Perversion (matte black; the far right) and El Dorado (shimmery Bright gold color; the second from the left) and let me tell you, best $40 bucks. Well, maybe not the best. There is this one Indian restaurant that I was craving my whole pregnancy and when I finally got it my daughter was 2 months, so it had been basically a year coming and that might have been a more instantly enjoyed $40. But seriously, I did cat eye liner religiously in a lot of high school, and it hasn’t run out until now. Which is crazy to me and must be out of the norm. The Golden El Dorado is still going strong. I don’t use it too much, but it is such a beautiful golden sparkly color, and once it sets it is there to stay.

Lately I’ve seen a number of people swearing by Stila’s liquid eye liner, and I think that may be what I try out next. If anyone has ever tried it and can attest to this awesome-ness let me know! I’ll post a review once I finally get my hands on it, but seeing as I have a baby and it’s the holiday season who knows when that will happen.