Beach Plum Shadow Tutorial

   As I've gotten older, my skin care routine has gotten more complex, and my makeup routine more simple. I used to wear all kinds of crazy shadows and mascara colors when I was in junior high. At one point I rocked some MAC pink mascara. Not a good look. But towards high school, I became more low key.

  That being said, I work in cosmetics. So, I do need to wear different eye shadow looks every now and then. Usually I just wear a nude shadow with a liquid liner cat eye.

  When I wear eye shadow, other than a nude or grey, I am usually wearing Beach Plum by Clinique. It's the only purple I can wear without it making my dark circles even darker. It is probably the color I apply the most at work, because it comes with a great gold (I wear the almost gold everyday), as well as a pop of color with the purple. I would recommend Beach Plum for people with a gold, or neutral undertone.

  Before I start with the pictures, I want to give huge props to the beauty bloggers out there. It's difficult to do your makeup while trying to take pictures!

 First, prep your face. For me this includes eye cream, foundation primer, foundation, finishing powder and filling in my eyebrows.  Products used from left to right: All About Eyes from Clinique, City Block SPF 25 from Clinique, Everlasting Foundation from Clarins, Blended Face Powder from Clinique, and Brow Tech To Go from Smashbox.

 Prep your lids with some primer. This makes a big difference! It gives your shadow something to stick to, and helps prevent it from creasing. I used Clinique's Touch Base in "Canvas Light." Note to self: tame those eyebrows. 

 Sweep the gold shadow all over your lid, just above your eyeball, but not up to your brow.To do this, I used the Eye Shader Brush from Clinique.

Next, using a contour brush (I'm using MAC's 219 Pencil Brush) place the the purple shadow in your crease. Blending the shadow into your crease, stop when you get to the middle of your eye. Then place shadow from the outside corner towards your lash line. I like to tell my clients to make an inverted triangle, with a point on the outside corner.

Bring a little of the purple to the bottom corner of your eye. I like to apply shadow to only about 1/3 of my eye. Darkness around my eye area is a problem, and too much dark shadow makes my dark circles more noticeable. If this isn't a problem for you, and you want a more dramatic look, bring the shadow halfway, or even all the way if you're feeling crazy.

Should look somethin' like this when open. 

I sometimes like to give my eye a little more definition by taking a darker purple, and applying it to the very outer corner of my eye. I used Clinique's "Midnight Plum" pictured above. For some reason, I don't have a picture of me doing this...sorry! Just focus on the outer corner, blending it into the lighter purple.

Next, we are gonna add a little bit of liner. I used Clinique's Cream Shaper in "Egyptian," pictured above. This is my favorite color eye liner, it's a very unique blend of black, gold and green!

Using one hand to pull my lid outwards, I line my eyes from about halfway all the way to the outside corner. I don't have a very large lid, but if you do you could line your eye all the way to the inside corner. I like to take the liner a little past my outside corner, which makes them look larger.

If you wish, line the bottom of your lid as well. As you can see, I went a little further than halfway.

Now some mascara to the top and bottom. As you can see, I used Clinique's High Definition Mascara in "Black."

Ta da! To finish, I used a bit of Blushing Blush Powder in "Aglow" from Clinique, as well as a a bit of Clinique's Long Lasting Glosswear in "Clearly Pink."

Places I'd Rather Be

I'm going a little crazy laying around all day. Today I was supposed to work, and I will probably have to call in sick tomorrow as well. One can only be on Pinterest for so long.

Sweden.source.

Central Park. source.

Barcelona. source.

Blue Lagoon, Iceland. source.

 Kawachi Fuji Garden Wisteria Flower Tunnel Walkway, Japan. source.

Cinque Terre, Italy. source.

Mykonos Island, Greece. source.

Thailand.

The Emerald City. source.

My Room

Besides going to the kitchen for some food and water, and the bathroom a few times, I have been in my room all day. It's nice to have an excuse to do nothing, but I wish I could have enjoyed the beautiful weather we had today. The foot is feeling alright, the pain is manageable with a few large ibuprofen a few times a day.

Dangerous Blogging

 Yesterday, I had totally planned an adorable outfit post, with purple tights and a silk bow-tied blouse. I take my pictures in my backyard which is comprised of a small amount of grass, as well as a covered patio. This patio is where we keep our recycling containers, which are very full due to a few weeks of forgetting to take it out.

As I was moving these out of the frame, a beer bottle dropped and smashed on the ground. This happened as I was stepping down, and I managed to step directly on a shard of glass. This gnarly piece of glass went right in between my big toe, and sliced my foot clear to the bone. Tommy raced out to get me, and took me to the doctor. After removing two large pieces of glass from my foot, I was stitched up. Eleven stitches later, I am home with a very sore foot and sadly, no update. I will probably be unable to create any new content for the next day or two.

Please excuse the very unblog worthy photo, but it gives you an idea of what I'm working with. A picture of the wound without the bandages would have been more interesting, but I'll spare you the gore.

Have any of you had stitches? Where did you get yours, and how many did you have? I had never gotten them before yesterday. Eleven sure seemed like a lot!

Missed the Ark

  I love unicorns. When I was little I my mom bought me a stuffed unicorn who I named Moonbeam. I carried her around with me everywhere. One year on a trip back home from California, we somehow left her at the hotel. There was no way I was going to survive the rest of my young years without her, so we drove two hours back to get her.

   I fed my unicorn obsession with numerous viewings of The Last Unicorn , Lisa Frank and of course just hours of pretend. My dad used to tell me a story about when he was a boy, he was climbing a tree when he looked down and saw a unicorn walking through the forest. He jumped from the tree onto its back and rode the unicorn all day long. Of course this story earned my dad too many awesome points to even count.

When I see a product with a unicorn on it...I usually don't leave without it. Do you have an animal (mythical or not) that you just can't get enough of? Here are a few of my favorite uni things!

 I must own this print! Unicorns AND the ocean. Yes and yes. Find it here.

 I know what I will be decorating my tree with this year! Find these unicorn ornaments at ModCloth.

 Jessie Oleson at Cakespy makes some really awesome cards, totes, shirts and magnets featuring cupcakes, unicorns and other cute things.

 This mounted unicorn is so adorable! Buy it here. Of course I do not approve of the slaying of unis.

I know what my future kid is going to be for Halloween! Or maybe just everyday. This particular hat isn't for sale anymore, but you can check out the shop here.

This dainty unicorn necklace is something I would wear all the time. Find it here.

Daisy

   Last week I was able to go home on Saturday and spend time with my family. This rarely happens on the weekends because I'm always working. It was so nice to be able to see my mom, who is has recently started working a Boeing as a mechanic. A modern Rosie the Riveter!

   I'm not really a dog person, nor a cat person. I like em' both. The great thing about my mom's dog Daisy, is she acts like both. She barks at you when you come into the house like a dog, yet uses her paws like a cat. She goes nuts over a ball, but is content to lay on your lap during a movie.

   Her white hair would be way too high maintenance for me, but she is a nice dog to visit. I imagine visiting Daisy to be like visiting a grandchild. Play and feed them treats, then hand them back over to the parents while skipping out on the poop and crying.

   She really is a great dog though. All she wants to do is love you!

I also had to add this photo of Daisy as a puppy. It's so cute and kinda pathetic.

 Hope your weekend is great! I will be workin' and studyin'! Only four more weeks of the quarter...that thought excites me, but stresses me out as well.

 As graduation becomes closer everyday, part of me wonders if I chose the right path. Don't get me wrong, I love psychology. I have always been fascinated by the behaviors and thoughts of others. I also want my career to be one in which I have a positive impact on individuals and my community. But as graduation becomes increasingly tangible, I become more and more doubtful of the choice I have made. Why didn't I take a risk by going to culinary school, or pursuing something more creative?

  I feel so fortunate to have been born with so many resources and opportunities. Being able to go to college is something few people are able to do, and I feel so lucky to have received such an amazing education. But I have been a student my whole life, and am scared to no longer carrying that title.

Part of me wants to go to graduate school, but I'm not sure if it is because I truly want to, or because I feel like I have to. I'm afraid a bachelors degree in psychology might not carry much weight in this job market. The thought of another two years of graduate school is both comforting and head-ache inducing. Comforting in the fact that I will still be a student and able to get a good job, and head-ache inducing in that I'm feeling a worn out. Then of course there is the cost factor of furthering my education.

As of now, I'm trying to not let this doubt bother me. I can see light at the end of the tunnel that is my undergraduate education, and overall I feel like my future looks pretty bright.
 

Favorite Find of the Moment

  Do you have a favorite place to find vintage goodies? Here in Bellingham there are plenty of college kids scouring the thrift stores, so Goodwill and Value Village are usually pretty picked over. One of my favorite places to shop is Labels, a local consignment store in town. The prices are reasonable, and new stuff is always coming in so I rarely leave empty handed.

  I found this vintage coat a few weeks ago, and can't wait to wear it more this winter. I think my favorite part other than the chevron piping on the front and back, is the hood! Having to carry around an umbrella can be a drag. Not to mention, carrying an umbrella in Washington is a no-no. Seriously, people might scoff at you if you have one. I still do all the time...I can't let the rain dictate what I wear everyday but I hate walking around with wet hair. So scoff away fellow Washingtonians. See if I care! Plus, umbrellas are adorable.

 Coat: thrifted

Blouse: Urban Outfitters

Shoes: Urban Oufitters

Earrings: thrifted

Tights: Target

Shorts: Gap. Although you can't see them, I assure you I'm wearing pants.

A Stroll Around the Bay

After class, Tommy and I decided to go have some lunch and take a little stroll by the water. It has been so beautiful the past few days...no rain! Getting really chilly though, we finally gave in and turned on the heat in our house.

I hope you had a great Halloween! We had way more trick-or-treaters than last year which was fun. Tommy and I ended up watching Cronos, a film by Guillermo del Toro. Not nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be, but I'm not a big fan of scary movies anyway. After I watch a scary movie, I can't stop thinking about it and freak myself out.

I signed up for a month of Birchbox a few days ago, I'm excited to get it in a few weeks! For those of you unfamiliar, Birchbox is a company that sends you beauty samples for a monthly fee. I only signed up for one month, just to see if it's worth it. Anybody already subscribed? I would love to hear your opinions about the service! It seems like it would be a good way to try new products, although I'm curious to see how big the samples are.

Don't forget to email me to get sponsored! I would love to hear from you! The lovely Hannah at A Cup of Subtle Tea might be feeling a bit lonely! If you haven't checked out her blog before, you really should!