Return of the Box

Once again, fellow blog diva Daphne of Becoming That Woman a giant box of cosmetic goodies. (For reference, check out the first blog about it HERE. One of my favorites has to be Tarte's True Blood themed eyeshadow set.

I dug into some of the stuff this afternoon. Face of the day featured "telepath" eyeshadow from Tarte's True Blood, No 7's illuminating lotion (highlighting on my cheeks and nose), and a new "lip bomb" from Mirenesse.

Tarte's "telepath" eyeshadow on my lids.

Tarte's "telepath": A light smokey pink/muave with shimmer. Great for a base to work cateye liner over.

Mirenesse Lip Bomb in red: Full color opaque lip gloss with a magenta base. It does smudge easily, but god damn the color is to die for. It's a bombshell red with magenta base. It does stain the lips for a while after wiping it off.

No. 7 Illuminating Lotion: Pink pearlescent lotion ideal for highlighting cheeks for a nice glow in place of blush.

Dolled up.

                                                                 Peace out bitches!

Just Belt It

My favorite fashion accessory  of the moment has to be the belt. Punk rockers looked like badasses in their spiked and bulleted belts. Mid 2010 era Russell Brand looked like a hard edged glam dandy dream with multi-layered belts hanging from his waspy waist. It's especially a friend of women with a more zaftig frame. Flowing dresses and tunic tops can look a bit bulky or plain om fuller figures.
So yes, I admit it. I'm in the cult of women who rock polkadot dresses and a skinny red belts. Belting a flowing blouse right above the waist is another classic.
There are a few other waist cinching trends that have caught my eye recently.
                                                                   Bow Belts

You had me at bow.

                                                                   Technicolor Belts:

Ah, spearmint.

Polkadot dress. Check. Red skinny accent belt. Check.

 Until next time, dear readers.


*First image courtesy of Amazon.com. Second image courtesy of Target.com.

Look Who Got Retweeted By Sugarpill!

Sugarpill retweeted my picture! <3

Impressionistic Nails

When I was growing up my mother was quite fond of impressionistic painters. I remember leafing through books of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas paintings as a budding curious little creative.

"Summertime" by Mary Cassatt

This is part of the inspiration for the latest nail painting, what I call my Impressionist nails. I used a robins egg blue base coat coat, and 4 other correlating shades.

Body Positive and Healthy? *Gasp*

There is a disconnect between the body positive community and the healthy lifestyle community. A fair amount of people assume that those of us who aren't compact gym bunnies sit on our asses all day shoveling Mcdonalds down our gullets faster than the speed of light. I have also seen frustrated plus sized girls post, "I love to eat, so what?" Do most of us sometimes forgo health for comfort food? Absolutely. That doesn't mean healthy folk don't succumb to unhealthy habits. Neither does that mean chubby men and women eat nothing but junk and boycott the gym. In fact, I work out at the gym and usually average 2-3 miles of walking a week via my commute to and from work. Would it be more advantageous to my waistline to hit the gym more and give up sweets? Yes. Am I going to do that any time soon? Given my current work schedule and private life stressors, that would be a hell no.
The point of all this is that we're human. We strive and we err. We may wish for someone else's body type, but what we've got is what we've got. What if that never comes? Are you going to spend your life coveting instead of living? What if heaven is in a size 0 and there is no god? To quote Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. "I'm alive and that is the best that I can do."
To wrap this up, I thought I'd share a semi-healthy pancake recipe. This is also a great recipe when you're scraping a meal together!
Recipe
1 egg
1 ripe banana
Mash together in a bowl
* I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a teaspoon of cinamon
If you like things sickeningly sweet you can add  powdered sugar. (Like I did. Because I have a package of powdered sugar from a previous recipe wasting away in the cupboard.)
This was my first time trying the recipe out. They fell apart a little bit, but tasted great.

Sometimes...

It's okay to wear a naked face.

I've been told that I "have a thing for makeup." The penciled in eyebrows, the rep lipstick, the gold eyeshadow are an aesthetic I choose because I'm a very visual person. They are an extension of my creative side. However, I feel it's important to be at home in your own skin, stripped of the artifice. We are all human, full of beauty and flaws and ugliness.

Playing with Sugarpill

Krampus Santa was kind to me and put Sugarpill eyeshadows under my religiously unaffiliated tree! I was gifted loose eyeshadows in Goldilux and Darling. For those who haven't had the pleasure of hearing about the sugarpill brand I highly suggest you get your arse to the Sugarpill Cosmetics website right now. They specialize in vibrant vegan cruelty-free eyeshadows.
Goldilux has been raved about as the perfect gold eyeshadow. After trying a few other gold colors, I was not displeased. Goldilux has the perfect balance of metallic, bright, and sparkly. For those who want a more vivid color with this I suggest applying wet. Dry is more wearable for those who want a pared down nuanced or natural look. My personal preference while experimenting with Goldilux was a more vivid look. (As you can see in the photos.)

Wearing goldilux

Close up of Goldilux on the lids

Darling is a vibrant turquoise-green shade with plenty of green shimmer. I paired this with Urban Decay's narcotic on the lid, with Darling on the crease.

Darling on the crease