Makeup Hoarding, It's 1st World Problems

Does anyone else hoard makeup like I do?

I know makeup has an expiration date, I've read allll the articles about it from Allure to InStyle to beauty blogs but sometimes, you just gotta hoard it. Not only is it expensive at times but you just never know when you will need a makeup pallet with 200 eye shadows and neon lipstick. Or if your like me, you hoard products that you spent a lot on and never use but because of the price tag you HAVE to keep it. This happened to me with NARS Orgasm blush, I bought it without trying it on because I was duped into thinking,"it's universally flattering." Flattering my ass, I looked like Tammy Fay Baker's orange cheeked sister.

Often times it can be sentimental, a lipstick you've had since High School or a perfume bottle that has one spray left, they're all tied to memories you don't want to throw away. Often times for me its a makeup that been discontinued and I'm scrapping the edges to get what's remaining.

                The Dresser in our small one bedroom apartment 

Palettes 

Bucket o' Lipstick

Crap Loads of Stuff

So Much Makeups

Flower Crowns

Flower crowns are not just for Coachella or whatever crappy hipster concert is popular, governors ball i'm giving you the stink eyes...

Nor are they just for weddings, there is a medium between crappy, dirty, hipster concerts and uppity weddings.

I like to think I have found that medium. I probably haven't but i like to think I can pull of wearing flowers in my hair, if not a wreath, a single large one. For some reason they give everything a romantic feel, I'm forever combing through Pintrest photos of flower wreaths if only for the shear beauty.

Some inspiration below and photos of my own.

Me and my niece Felicity

the red lip

Red lips are my go to whenever I need to be pulled together when I'm not feeling so pulled together. Also, for the record,  it is not just a holiday look! Every Christmas the same red lip 'get the holiday look' story comes out in every fashion magazine paired with gold eye shadow. Its not just a holiday look okay? I can not stress this enough. Even if it was, why can only the holidays be a fancy time? I want to be fancy all the time or whatever 99999,0000 reasons I want to rock red lips. It's a classic look that is easier then a smoky eye (to me). My smoky eyes looks like someone took a fistful of dirt and threw it in my face and hoped for the best.

Red lips CAN have a bad rap by certain people. Chelsea handler described a girl she didn't like in one of her books as wearing "whore red" lipstick (still love her). Paris Hilton describes it has 'clown makeup,' (still hate her).  It's not for everyone and certainly one needs the confidence to not wipe it off after glancing into the first reflective surface after applying it. Besides who cares if people don't like it, as Dita Von Teese said, “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches.”  You do you. 

Any skin color, hair color combo can work this look, there is a shade for everyone.

To ease into the look, one can always start out with simple, slightly red color to get used to the look. Try Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, it's a universally flattering shade and my very very first purchased lipstick.

Something to keep in mind, your skin color changes, it gets tanner in the summer, lighter in the winter. So a variety of colors might be needed or you can match the lip color to eye color since that tends to stay the same.

According to Allure:

1. For light brown, hazel, or green eyes: orange-ish red, or blue based reds (my choice)

2. For blue eyes:  true red, or deep red

3. For dark brown eyes: Berry-red lipstick 

3 great Maybelline Lipsticks left to right Very cherry, Ravishing Rouge, Bottom: Are You Red-DY 

Kat Von D lipstick stain in Outlaw (very Matte, very red), Bite lip pencil in Pome-Granate  

Its also great to have a boyfriend to blot lipstick on when you don't have a tissue.

A Trip to Rickies

Rickys is one of the best beauty emporiums around. Its a step down from Sephora but a step up for  strange, cult classics.  

I was holding this jar below, Aztec Secret, debating it's ten dollar price tag. I was also telling Cory we can put it on together while he looked at me like I was nutty, when a girl walked by and said, "I love that stuff." That was all i needed to buy it. 

"Men Love It, Too"

Pre de Provence is a stuffy name for a great project. I use it on the ends of my hair, décolleté, cuticals, my eye's at night, pretty much everywhere and anywhere.

 

I like sugar a lot, too much. It sounds a bit crack head but I like sugar available at all times, what better way then to have it on my lips? 

A once in a while good body scrub, NOT face scrub, is St. Ives. Its a little rough, so i have to be careful not to over use.  My dermatologist told me, 'it's too harsh (apricot seed particles) on your face. It gives you micro-tears that later develop as visible, larger pores.' 

Side note, I love my dermatologist Dr. Channing R. Barnette  I found her through Zocdoc and go back once every six months for retinal cream and mole checks. 

So yes for body scrub, no for face.

Mail order Beauty

As someone who likes beauty products (really obsessed), getting to try new products each month is like getting Christmas present each month that makes you prettier. Win win win.

BirchBox

I heard about Birchbox after a magazine article mentioned mail order beauty products on the rise. To sign up ($10 a month), you must request an invite from Birchbox and they will email you as soon as the subscription is ready (usually 2 or 3 weeks).

https://www.birchbox.com/shop/join

After you get an email inviting you to join Birchbox, it will ask you to fill out a  questionnaire about what products you use and more specifically, what brands. A lot of the Sephora brands I love, Benefit, Too Faced, NARS, Lorac etc. are available for pickings and to get samples!

It comes in a cute, reusable box with a description and full size price of each item in case you wanted to buy it after using the sample.

Ipsy

Ipsy is a lot like Birchbox, also $10.00 a month, except the companies of the products are a bit unknown. The quality is there but name recognition is not.  So if your looking for name brands, stick to Birchbox.

It does come with a cute makeup bag each month and as someone who is constantly buying makeup bags since my old ones get so cruddy with old makeup, its a big plus. The products are also 'full size' unlike Birchbox that calls their sizes 'large sample sizes.' 

When signing up, you also fill out a questionnaire about products you prefer, any skin struggles and what you use (makeup wise) everyday, it's tailored to each individual!

Websites

http://www.ipsy.com/

http://www.birchbox.com