Liriope - Littleflower - Dirty Snow

Snow snow snow!!! We're having major snowfall...more on that in another post.

Face
cream concealer in pink under eyes
Illamasqua Cream Foundation in CF105/CF115 mix (115 to minimize redness)
Aromaleigh Finishing Powder in Metamorphosis

Eyes
UDPP
Aromaleigh Lost in Faerie Liriope in crease, under eye
Aromaleigh Angels Littleflower in lid, above crease & outer 1/3 of browbone
Meow Dirty Snow inner 2/3 of browbone & near inner tear duct
Rimmel black mascara (forget which one)
Meow Brow Beater in Black

Lips
Fyrinnae lip lustre in Shiyuba

Outside no flash, insanely happy due to snow!




Inside with flash




It may have been a bit much for grocery shopping, but that's not something I normally worry about. I think I was the only happy person shopping! My friend warned me it was a madhouse but I couldn't put it off another day, so I went. It wasn't snowing when I left the house at 11am. Got a great parking spot, got everything I needed in 20 minutes (loads of stuff, Ian stayed home w/John so it was easy to zip up & down the aisles). Checkout was fast, except the woman ahead of me spent about 10 minutes digging through her purse for her credit card. The snow was coming down when I left at 12 noon, and sticking to the road. But at least now I don't have to try and get out tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!

NORAD Santa Tracker

We follow Santa's status using NORAD's Santa Tracker. Here's an article that gives a little history on this great tradition.

http://www.noradsanta.org/ allows you to track Santa's whereabouts in several languages. Click on the little camera and a short video clip will play. The kids love it!

Hats off to all the folks that are involved with the Santa Tracker. Here's a couple of facts from the article.

"It takes four months of planning to marshal the 1,200 volunteers, 100 telephones, 30 laptops and two big projection TV screens the exercise requires, NORAD spokeswoman Joyce Frankovis said. All the labor is volunteer. Google, Verizon, Air Canada, defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton and others chip in."

"NORAD Tracks Santa, the official name of the exercise, began in 1955 when a Colorado Springs newspaper ad invited kids to talk to Santa on a hotline. The phone number had a typo, and dozens of kids wound up dialing the Continental Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, the predecessor to NORAD.

The officers on duty played along and began passing along reports on Santa's progress. It's now a cherished ritual at NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canada command that monitors the North American skies and seas from a control center at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

Last year, volunteers answered 74,000 phone calls and 3,500 e-mails from around the world last year, all asking for Santa's location."

Enjoy!

Morgana Morta, Snowball's Chance w/AL Moth

Since I had to get up at the completely ridiculous hour of 7:30am, I was not in a good mood. But since I was also going to run into some of the morning preschool parents who don't know me, I didn't want to look like a complete angel of death..... I opted for a compromise - a red silk cami with black lace trim, Heavy Red black and red English netting skirt, Docs, and a modest black eye. If there is such a thing, anyway. Hey, did you notice that, I wore color!

Face
Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF105
Aromaleigh finishing powder in Metamorphosis

Eyes
Morgana Snowball's Chance inner 1/3 of eye, browbone
Aromaleigh Moth middle 1/3 of lid, above crease to blend
Morgana Morta outer 1/3, under eye
gel liner in Black Out
Meow Brow Beater in Black
L'oreal Double Extend mascara in Carbon Black

Lips
Fryinnae lip lustre in Type A

No primer, taken end of the day so there's a little creasing.


Sunglasses strategically covering roots....outside no flash




Closeups inside with flash






The Heavy Red skirt - photo courtesy Heavyred.com.

It's no longer available in the red/black combo, but you can still get a white/black one. It's in the "last chance" section, so grab one fast. I have this in the red/black, white/black, black/black, and an old one in purple/black. I love love love this skirt!

Thanks for looking.

Aromaleigh Alina and Rosina

These are two of my favorite Aromaleigh shades. Remember the Vault Sales close today, so you can still order Astronomical, Spells, Wonderstruck, and Mythos collections. Don't forget to list alternate color choices in case your selection is sold out!

Face
cream concealer in fairly light under eyes
Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF105
LORAC Breakthough Performance Foundation in SMS1 (to counter redness)
Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Clear

Eyes
no primer, just a dab of foundation on lids
Aromaleigh Lost in Faerie Alina in crease, under eye
Aromaleigh Lost in Faerie Rosina on lid, browbone
Meow Brow Beater in Black
Rimmel the Max Volume Flash mascara in Extreme Black

Lips
Morgana vegan lipstick in Azalea
Fyrinnae lip lustre in Puppy Love

I didn't have on any liner but my mascara smudged a bit and it sorta looks like I have it on. Oops.



Outside no flash




Inside with flash




I didn't realize my roots were that long already. That's one more thing to put on my "to do" list.

Winter Solstice

Just in case you've been under a rock lately....in addition to a full moon on the Winter Solstice, there will also be a total lunar eclipse. Some areas will also get to see the Ursids meteor shower.

Winter Solstice is always a wonderful event, but all these extras really put this one over the top. There's been enough darkness this year, I'm looking forward to a little light.

Obviously not everyone will get to enjoy all of these events, check your local area forecast to find out what you can expect to see.

Meow Fairy & Spellbinding w/Aromaleigh Hearts a' Plenty

Wednesday's look. I wore Fairy with a different pink on Tuesday, didn't get to snap any pics. I wanted to try again but chose Hearts a' Plenty this time. It's slightly warmer than I'd normally wear, and even has a hint of gold, which I normally avoid. I liked it though, it worked with this combo I think.

Face
cream concealer in pink under eyes
LORAC Breakthrough Performance foundation in SMS1
Illamasqua Rich Liquid foundation in RF105
Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Clear
Illamasqua Gleam Cream in Flex on tops of cheekbones

Eyes
UDPP
Meow Sugarplums Fairy in crease, under eye
Aromaleigh Wonderstruck Hearts a' Plenty on lid, outer 1/2 of browbone
Meow Halloween Dance of Death Spellbinding on browbone
gel liner in Black Out
L'oreal Double Extend mascara in Carbon Black
Meow Brow Beater Black

Lips
Morgana vegan lipstick in Valentine

Sloppy application, sorry.










I'm trying to finish up the LORAC foundation, so I added a squirt today. It's a bit yellow/beige on me, but helps tone down redness. It looked better in person, it looks a bit weird in the outside pics.

The Illamasqua Gleam Cream - I fear this is going to be highly addictive. I've added a squirt to my foundation a couple of times. It gives a faint iridescent glow to my skin without looking like glittery powder. I like putting just a touch on the tops of my cheekbones to give me a bit of glow. It helps make my rosacea look like carefully placed blush!

Thanks for looking.

Meow Ghosts of Christmas Past - 7 swatches

Seven swatches from Meow's Ghosts of Christmas past collection.





Meow's Color Descriptions
Vixen - sparkling pure white with red glitter, silver glitter and metallic gold sheen gold sheen
Cheers! - platinum with bright flashes of red sparkle and metallic gold sheen
Fancy Feline - ultra rich pure platinum with silver sparkle
Winter Coat - complex and sophisticated soft lilac with pink sheen
Santa Baby - metallic sparkly magenta
Fruitcake - Gilded grape fused with pure metallic gold
Midnight Kiss - a holiday explosion of color and glitz! A dark grey/black base sparkling with red gold, pink and silver glitter.

Hope you find the swatches helpful.

Meow Cosmetics Sugarplum Collection Swatches

I received my Meow Sugarplum Collection samples in the mail yesterday. 5 samples for $5, in a cute little gift bag. The full size collection includes a mineral lip gloss as well, $49.





Meow's Color Descriptions
Sugarplum Blush - mid-toned neutral plum / rose
Ballerina Blush - ultra soft neutral toned pink

They don't have descriptions listed for the shadows. My thoughts - keep in mind I suck at describing color, and if you heard the ridiculously loud banging going on at my house at the moment, ughhhggg, no wonder I can't think! (more on the banging later)

Fairy - it's more reddish/violet/berry than the other two shades, not quite metallic, sorta jewel toned, loads of multicolor shimmer. It looks cooler in my picture, but warmer on my skin. I think it's a "Still in Hollywood" shade that both warm and cool ladies will be able to wear.


Vision - more blue compared to the other two shades, multicolored shimmer. It's one of those shades that could work well for those who like blue or purple. I'd definitely try to use other shades to coax out the purple, since I'm not a blue lover.

Nutcracker - nice solid purple with multi shimmer. This would look great either applied delicately with a fiber optic brush or darker with taklon brush.

Sugarplum - I know it says "plum / rose" but I'm just not sure on this one. I don't know whether it's the shimmer or the base, but it's a bit warmer than I'd normally wear. The shimmer looks slightly darker pink, possibly red, also a hint of yellow & green in there. The again, I could be hallucinating after staring at it for so long..... I think this shade would look good on neutral ladies.

Ballerina - it's hard to see on my swatch, but that's what I like about it. I prefer a super soft sweep of color, and this is a very delicate pink with a little light pink shimmer. I have fewer and fewer days that I can actually wear blush (due to rosacea) and when I do, I want a light shade that doesn't scream "Hey, rosacea, front and center!" - I want a pale hint of color to dust on top of my cheekbones to reflect light. This shade might be hard to see as a regular blush on anyone with a regular skin tone (ie, not the angel of death shade mine is) but try it on the tops of your cheekbones instead.

Hope you find the swatches helpful.

Aromaleigh Neutrino & Ephemeris

Thursday's look. I wanted to try some of the neutral shades from Aromaleigh's Astronomical collection. You also get a rare shot of me with my hair brushed. Well, mostly brushed. I had a major knot on the left side, and figured I'd try to brush it out, since it was just too big to cut out. Since it's cold out, it didn't pouf to ginormousness.

Face
cream concealer in pink under eyes
Illamasqua Cream Foundation in CF110
Illamasqua Cream Foundation in CF115 (a little on cheeks to minimize redness)
Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Clear

Eyes
UDPP
Aromaleigh Astronomical Neutrino in crease, under eye
Aromaleigh Astronomical Ephemeris on lid
Aromaleigh En Pointe Sylph browbone
Aromaleigh Satin Petals Petunia browbone
Meow Brow Beater in Black
L'oreal Double Extend mascara in Carbon Black

Lips
Morgana vegan lipstick in Very Cherry

Outside no flash, sun setting.








Inside with flash - sorry it's a bit blurry. I have a hard time taking a clear photo with the flash.




Color Descriptions
As usual, borrowing Tanya's color descriptions for the new shades!
Neutrino - borealis twinkles in a base of warm milk-chocolatey brown plush *primer recommended
Ephemeris - semi-metallic cool taupe exhibits pinky-gold highlight and aurora borealis twinkles
Sylph - brilliant sparkling jewels in a white plush matte base
Petunia - baby pastel pink with a frosty pink highlight

On its own, Ephemeris' golden highlight would make me hesitate, but I liked it with Neutrino. The Neutrino seemed to have the faintest trace of purple/brown to it...but then again, I see purple in everything, don't I? I liked it. It seems I'm always searching for a brown/neutral combo and this one worked. I used Sylph at first, but then thought I needed something a tad less sparkly, so I put the Petunia over it, heavier over the outside 1/2 of the browbone to help blend it. The slight pinkness was the icing on the cake.

And a reminder, Aromaleigh will stop accepting orders on December 13th.

Thanks for looking.

Meow Debt & Prowl with Aromaleigh Amarena

Wednesday's look. Another "didn't get home in time for outdoor pics" day.

UPDD
Meow 12 Pains Debt in crease, under eye
Meow ModernEyes Prowl on lid
Aromaleigh Ciao Italia! Amarena browbone
Rimmel the Max Volume Flash mascara in Extreme Black
Meow Brow Beater in Black





I didn't have any liner on, but somehow the mascara smeared a bit and it sorta looks like a bit of liner. I've used this mascara a few times and am not sure what to make of it.

Amarena probably seems like an odd choice for a browbone shade, but I used a fiber optic brush, applied quite sheer, and I like how it turned out. I wasn't crazy about the Debt / Prowl combo, the purply shades really didn't "go" together. I was going to take it off and start over, but had to leave and just didn't have time to redo it. It did grow on me as the day went on, but not a combo I'd wear again. I do like both shades, just not together!

Thanks for looking.

Meow Glacial Grove 7 swatches

Seven swatches of Meow's Glacial Grove collection.






Meow's color descriptions:

Permafrost - pale peachy mauve with silver sparkle
Icebound - shimmering icy pale lilac
Wild - medium toned silver shimming plum
Brisk - demure pink with silver shimmer and silver undertone
Gloaming - glistening magenta with russet undertone and silver and gold sparkle
Howl - light milk chocolate beige with pink and silver shimmer and iridescent shine
Woodlands - deep cocoa with rose iridescent undertones and pink and silver shimmering sparkle

I think Icebound and Woodlands will be good shades for me to use in a neutral look. I like Gloaming too, one of those deep berry type shades that I tend to use often.

Hope the swatches are helpful. Thanks for looking.

Meow Noise w/Aromaleigh Showy & Rosina

Tuesday's eye. Another uh oh we have to leave in 20 minutes and I'm still in my pajamas day..... since I got home after dark again, no outside pics. And I didn't realize my lipstick was nearly gone when I snapped some fast pics, I didn't post them. I must've eaten it off with the gigantic Toblerone candy I gobbled down on the way home. Long story short, it was a run here there and everywhere day today.

Eyes
UDPP
Meow Xmas Rant Noise in crease, under eye
Aromaleigh L'Orchidee Showy on lid, outer 1/2 of browbone
Aromaleigh Lost in Faerie Rosina inner 1/2 of browbone
L'oreal Double Extend mascara in Carbon Black
Meow Brow Beater in Black



Thanks for looking!

Aromaleigh Big Bang, Milky Way, and Moth

Monday's look - yes, I'm smiling like a complete idiot because we had lovely snow flurries on and off throughout the day. Ian informed me that when the clouds are happy, it snows.

Face
L'oreal Studio Secrets base
damn I forgot the under eye concealer
Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF105
Aromaleigh finishing powder in Metamorphosis

Eyes
UDPP
Aromaleigh Astronomical Big Bang in crease, under eye
Aromaleigh L'Orchidee Moth on lid, outer 1/3 of browbone
Aromaleigh Astronomical Milky Way browbone
L'oreal Double Extend mascara in Carbon Black
Meow Brow Beater in Black

Lips
Fyrinnae lip lustre in Ryo Pinko

Outside no flash






Inside with flash






Big Bang - lovely Tanya describes it as "sheer, velvety smoked violet embellished w/a faint silver highlight and a riot of rainbow iridescence" (yup, dead on description). But those of you who look at darker shades and think, ooooh, that's too dark/scary/bold for me, remember you can apply it with a fiber optic brush and it will be far more subtle. That's what I did here - normally I'd go crazy with a dark shade, but figured it'd be nice to show the softer side of Big Bang. So get yourself a sample at the very least!!


Moth - frankly, I'm shocked that this shade is still available. It's another one of those "you've got to see it to believe it" shades. The description says "Pale and delicate iridescent tones appear softly grey, always changing" and that's the truth. The shimmer can appear slightly greenish, slightly pinkish, a bit of everything in there. I **love** this shade. Another one that you ought to go and grab before it's too late. Moth and Showy (also L'Orchidee), get them both!!


Milky Way - ok, it's safe for the rest of you to order it now. I ordered another 10 full sizes, which will give me 11 plus my sample. Call me greedy, but need I remind you all how ticked off I am at myself for not grabbing enough Rosina (Lost in Faerie) before it sold out.

I'm also wearing one of the necklaces with pendant that I bought at a recent Silpada demonstration. I went from only wearing latex necklaces to having a plethora of jewelry!

Thanks for looking!

Meow Holiday WIshes 4 swatches

Meow Holiday Wishes swatches.









Huge thanks to Phyrra, technical extraordinaire, for helping me with yet another round of dumb questions. She's always ready to help me out even when she's got a gazillion things on her plate. Love you, sweetie pie!!!

Now I can go fix my older posts, label everything, and hopefully keep playing around to make the photos a wee bit bigger without having major screw ups again.

Meow Xmas Rant and 12 Pains Swatches (4 of each)

**Apologies for the constant screwing around w/ pics, trying to get this to work. I've deleted the pics with the text and used the originals. **

A few shades from Meow Cosmetics XMas Rant and 12 Pains collections.

Xmas Rant




12 Pains





Grab bag and Drunken Relatives are much more blue than I thought they'd be - very pretty colors though! I'll wear Grab bag with other purple shades to enhance the purple, but Drunken Relatives is a bit too blue for me.

Noise is a really pretty soft pink, which I love. Debt will get plenty of use as well.

Thanks for looking!

Fyrinnae Lip Lustre - 11 swatches

I received my Fyrinnae order on Friday. I ordered 11 lip lustres, a new Pixie Epoxy, full sizes of Immortality and Dinosaur Plushie, and received a free sample of Moon Child (another of my faves!). Yet again, I didn't get home early enough to do daytime swatches, and I know my weekend will be swamped.

Wrapped in adorable tissue paper! My last order arrived with the same paper, but I forgot to take a picture of it.


Indoors with flash, click to enlarge.





Sorry for the shadow in the last pic. Will try to redo this week.

I took pics with similar shades together - but between my indoor pics with the flash and my iffy picture taking, the pictures didn't clearly show differences in the shades. There are differences - you can see them in person when they're swatched side by side. I felt it would be an injustice to Fyrinnae - didn't want people to look at my pics and end up NOT ordering a shade because they thought shades were the same.

I am going to begin the hunt for a new camera. I usually buy a new one every 2 years or so. I don't buy expensive ones, and always pass my old ones to family members. A camera buff friend let me borrow one of his last year, but it was just too complicated for me. When I look at his pics, I'm amazed at how crisp and clear they are compared to mine. So it's time I learned how the hell to work a camera! It may take a while before I buy one, but it is in the works.

Meanwhile, hope these swatches help. Really though, you all need to buy all the lip lustres. They're all fantastic.