Two New Favorite Brushes

My new lovelies. That is all! I use the 222 for blending eyeshadow- works great for softly blending e/s outwards. I use my 130 for applying/blending foundation and concealer. It is so soft and I like it much more than the bigger version because I can control what it does more.

MAC Wonderwoman Collection

MAC finally opened a stand-alone store here in Madison. It's a small space but they have so much stuff crammed in there. They were only supposed to be a seasonal store but when I asked if they were going to stay, the SA told me they were looking for a larger space. I am so excited and hope they do not go away. I went there a couple days ago to view their new Wonder Woman Collection. The collection is super cute because most everything is super-sized. I ended up buying the Golden Lariat Mineralize Skinfinish compact. The top shade is a soft gold with fine shimmer, center shade is a soft suntanned bronze, and the bottom shade is true coral with fine gold shimmer. I especially love the packaging and just how huge the compact is. I will definitely point out how it looks/works when I post future makeup photos.

CCO Haul

I love the Cosmetic Company (CCo) and check it out whenever I can. This store carries makeup from brands owned by Estee Lauder. They also carry fragrances. Most of the makeup are either discontinued or perhaps overstock/unpopular items? I have shopped here often and find that the makeup is always good quality. I don't know how long makeup is kept out in the store so the only products I might hesitate to buy are liquid foundations because they tend to go bad if kept too long. You can usually find this makeup store at most shopping outlets. The ones closest to me here in Madison, WI are in Johnson Creek and Wisconsin Dells. I recently got some more Bobbi Brown Shimmerbricks from CCo courtesy of my friends Robin and Christie. I also had them pick up a MAC blush, foundation, and Estee Lauder Soft Cleanser.

Photo (from left to right):

Bobbi Brown Bronze Shimmer Brick Set (came with little brush), CCo price: $28/Retail price: $38

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Compact in Copper Diamond, CCo price: $28/Retail price: $38

MAC Sheertone Blush in Instant Chic, CCo price: $13/Retail price: $19.50

MAC Select SPF 15 Moistureblend Foundation in NC30, CCo price: $20.75/Retail price: around $30

Estee Lauder Soft Clean Moisture Rich Foaming Cleanser, CCo price: $16/Retail price: $20

Revlon Color Burst Lipsticks

Coral is far left and Lilac is far right.



On my shopping trip to Target tonight, I saw these Revlon Colorburst lipsticks on sale for uber cheap. There were two of the same shade packaged together for only $3.24! That is $1.62 each lipstick. I love these lipsticks and have been going for my Lilac and Coral shade often. So check out your Target and see if you can get them for this awesome deal. I bought mine at the Fitchburg Target. And NO, I did not buy them all so there should be plenty left:)

$3.75 eyeshadow review

I've really gotten into using shimmer eyeshadows (e/s) lately so when I saw this Profusion palette at Walgreens, I thought I would try it out. I normally use my Stila 5 color pearl e/s palette but I was looking to play with more colors. The Profusion e/s palette posted here is actually from one of those holiday sets that come with lipstick, lipglosses, eyeliners, brushes and a little black clutch. I always hesitate to buy these sets because I think the quality will suck. Well, getting this palette definitely taught me a lesson! I will never underestimate cheap looking or un-marketed makeup again! Anywhooo, the whole set was $3.75! It used to be maybe $14, then went down to $7.99 and is now half off that price. I only cared about the e/s and there were 72 little pans of eyeshadow total. I forgot to take pics so no pics here of the whole set but I will post one soon. The e/s remind me of Coastal Scents palettes in terms of packaging and size of pan.


I have to say, I am very impressed. The colors are very pale and not as pigmented as other e/s so you definitely have to use with a eye primer like Urban Decay Primer Potion. Here are pics of me with colors from the Profusion palette. Blending was a breeze and not as much fall out as I expected. I still can't believe I got the whole set for $3.75 so I guess the e/s would be about $1 each palette and there were two e/s palettes with 36 e/s in each making each pan about three cents each. Posted here is a photo of the one e/s palette I actually used on my eyes.


I purchased two sets at the Fitchburg Walgreens. I have also seen these at the Downtown Madison Walgreens here in WI. I stopped at the East Washington/Johnson Street Walgreens and University/Midvale Walgreens too but didn't see any there. I highly recommend this Profusions palette if you just want some nice colors to play with. I probably wouldn't buy at $14 but $3.75 was definitely a good price.

Look of the Day

Just got a MUFE HD Foundation as part of a swap and I love it. So much coverage but so light. Here are some pics. Enjoy!


















































Here's a photo of me showing left eye with eye makeup and right eye without. I always think it's so much more telling the difference makeup makes when you can see comparison photos.

Makeup in 10 minutes!??!

BEFORE- my naked face. Soooo scary!

AFTER- my ten minute face. What I normally do for work.


Okay, so I have to admit...doing makeup in the morning is my addiction. Makeup is to my morning like coffee, cereal and reading the paper is to other people's morning. When I have the luxury of time, I will spend more time on foundation and powder as well as building a contoured eye and face. But as I am also super lazy most mornings and hesitant to wake up until I absolutely need to, I end up condensing my makeup to about ten minutes and applying most products with my fingers instead of brushes. So here is my morning routine condensed to ten minutes for your reading pleasure. It works and trust me, this actually takes me about eight minutes so it's do-able! It looks scary and the list is long but this can be done in ten minutes.


1. Start with clean face.
2. Spritz on MAC fix spray.
*Apply moisterizer if face is very dry.
3. Using hands, massage a tinted moisterizer onto your face.
*This will not give you as much coverage as foundation but it will give your face color and some glow quickly and will demand less blending time.
4. Apply brightening eye concealer to under eye area
5. Dot, pat and blend concealer to problem blemishes, pimples on face with finger
6. Apply bronzer with brush to temples, top of forehead and jawline - may also apply cream bronzer with fingers for quicker application
7. Using fingers or flat top stipple brush, apply cream blush to apple of cheeks
8. Using fingers, apply cream eyeshadow to eyelid and lightly blend upwards into crease
*I use MAC paint pot because I find it will crease less than other eyecream brands. If you tend to have super oily lids, apply primer before any eyecolor- cream or shadow.
9. Curl lashes
*While curling lashes, I place my mascara under my armpits to warm up mascara
10. Swipe two coats of mascara to lashes- top and bottom
12. Top off with lipstick and gloss
*If you've got time, quickly highlight cheekbones, area right under eyebrow, and cupid's bow with highlighting cream or frosty white powder.

The steps I have skipped with this routine is primer, eyeliner, contouring, using thicker foundation and setting with powder and most importantly, using eyeshadows to create a contoured eye. Usually, I will use 3+ eyeshadows when I have time.


Photo (from Left to right respectively): Stila tinted moisterizer, Benefit Brow Zings and Cargo angled eyeliner brush, Lorac Concealer and Highlighter stick, MAC bronzer, NYX cream blush, MAC paint pot, Shu Uemera eyelash curler, Lancome mascara, Smashbox highlighting quad and Paula Dorf lipstick.


Let me know what you do to quickly complete your look in the morning. I am always looking for new tips! Have fun.