Thursday, January 26, 2012

My Daily Makeup Routine

Daily Makeup

This is pretty much what I've been wearing lately. Sometimes something will change because I want to test a product, but these are what I've been reaching for the most. My brow powder from Billion Dollar Brows isn't on Polyvore and I couldn't get their clipper thing to work so sorry, brow powder, you don't get to be in the picture. :|

Face: Tarte Smooth Operator Illuminating Serum all over, applied with fingers. Then ELF Complexion Perfection powder (from the ELF Studio line) applied all over with a fluffy brush. Mine's a Sigma knockoff of the MAC 138. The brush sheds (ALL OF THEM DO GRRRR) but it's the best fluffy brush I have for this purpose right now. After I'm done with the powder I use TheBalm Time Balm concealer on any spots that I'd like to.

Face/Color: Once my skin tone is all evened out and imperfections covered, I grab NARS Laguna bronzer and do an eensy bit of contouring, and also dust it over my eyelids to add a little warmth and color. I like to wear both NARS Dolce Vita and Sex Appeal blushes. Dolce Vita looks like a scary red in the picture but it's more of a dusty rose, and I apply it on the bottom edge of my cheekbones, with Sex Appeal on the apples of my cheeks. 

Eyes: I go around my dark eye shadows with Benefit Eye Bright, which I love. I don't have a whole lot of darkness issues so this pink brightener is pretty much enough. It's great for the redness I get at the outer corners of my eyes, too. Usually I don't need an actual concealer in that area but for the times I do, I use some more of TheBalm Time Balm. Then it's time to curl my lashes (I use a Shu Uemura curler, which is fine but I don't love it) and load up with L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes in carbon black.

Lips: I've been obsessing over Rimmel's Stay Glossy lipgloss in Captivate Me lately. It's sort of a berry color but it's not very dark. It's very flattering, and the Stay Glossy formula is SO nice. It's moisturizing, only slightly sticky, and lasts a long time. I keep this gloss in my purse and wear it almost every day.

Buy My Face - If you want to get these products, here's where you can go:
Shu Uemura eyelash curler - Shu Uemura
Tarte Smooth Operator Illuminating Serum - Sephora
NARS Blushes in Sex Appeal & Dolce Vita - Sephora
NARS Bronzer in Laguna - Sephora
Benefit Eye Bright - Sephora
ELF Complexion Perfection - Target
L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes mascara - Target
Rimmel Stay Glossy Lip Gloss - Ulta
TheBalm Time Balm concealer - TheBalm



Bath & Body Works Supercharged Body Scrub

I was getting closer to a problem. The sugar body scrub from Bath & Body Works in my shower was getting very close to empty, and the formula had been discontinued, and I wasn't able to find something I liked as much.

Until now.

I wandered into my local Bath & Body Works last weekend, coupon in hand. The coupon was for a free mini bottle of lotion in their newest scent, Pink Chiffon. And at the front table was a new scent that grabbed my attention: Coconut Lime Breeze. Oh hell yes. I love anything lime-based. B&BW describes Coconut Lime Breeze as coconut water, lime blossom, and bergamot. There are base notes of musk and vanilla, too. Truthfully, it's not super lime-y. But it smells fantastic. It's a fresh, citrus outdoorsy beach smell. Do I wish it were a touch more lime-y smelling? Yes. But I really enjoy this fragrance anyway. I grabbed a body mist, and then noticed something new to me: supercharged body scrub.

Say what now? Body scrub = good. Supercharged? Uhh.

I'm still not really sure why this body scrub is considered "supercharged". It does have "visible foaming action" (which by the way just means you can see it foaming up as you scrub with it). There's aloe and jojoba oil and all that good stuff too. The consistency is pretty much a squeeze tube version of my beloved old sugar scrub in the jar (except slightly less oily) - basically that of toothpaste, but with scrubby granules.

Reviews on the B&BW site are mixed, but I'm on team "yes" rather than team "no". I like that this scrub isn't super oily and messy, but still moisturizing and definitely very scrubby. The scrubby granules do dissolve, and the scrub rinses cleanly and quickly. My skin feels moisturized but there is no residue, which is always a plus. 

The foaming/dissolving action is effective. I read one complaint that it happens too quickly, but I didn't have any issues with that. I'm picky about a body scrub. I expect it to really SCRUB and I get annoyed if a body scrub doesn't have enough 'tooth' to it. This fits the bill to a T. It's on the pricey side at $14 a tube (which contains 9.5 oz), but with Ebates and all of the sales B&BW has so often, you usually won't end up paying full price anyway.



Monday, January 23, 2012

Life, Dreams, Etc.


Oh hello!

Remember me? I'm Alyson, and I used to blog here. Well, a lot has changed over the past few months, and my blogging has been sporadic at best. So, let me run down things quickly for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter (or just in case you missed some tweets that might have been meaningful amid the endless stream of thought-vomit).

November was spent mostly preparing for The Holidays, but also working. I was blogging furiously for Stylebell, which is a wonderful site you should definitely check out if you're going to do any hair product purchasing, or looking for information about hair. At the beginning of December, Mr. Boyfriend and I hit a very rough patch. I don't think it's really all that appropriate for me to get into the personal inner workings of our 4-year+ relationship on the blog, so I won't, but needless to say I place my personal issues with him before The Gloss Menagerie. I just wasn't feeling much like blogging about makeup when I didn't even think about it most of the time since I was so distracted with other stuff. He and I are working on things and they're moving in a positive direction, though. :) A lot of you have said very nice things to me about it on Facebook and Twitter etc. and thank you so much.

Then The Holidays happened. And I got sick. It hit me like a ton of bricks on xmas eve-- bronchitis. Woo! I am fairly severely asthmatic, so any sort of respiratory anything is always a concern. I was pretty sick and even had to visit urgent care (yeehaw) a few days after xmas. Luckily I was well enough by New Years to hang out with my bestest friend in the world a few times. She lives in Jerusalem and was visiting. Since she lives so far away I hardly ever get to see her or even talk to her in real time. Hanging out with her was super fun and amazing and I miss her so much already. (*waves* hi Sydney!)

There's a lot of stuff in the universe, but there's only one Sydney.

And THEN! I got a new job. It all happened very quickly; the company found me on LinkedIn and a week after I first called them back I started working for them! The interview/hiring process went by so fast if I blinked I probably would've missed it, but I'm glad I didn't! I really love my new job, working a marketing and production co. The coolest part is the account I manage is Caboodles. Yes, those Caboodles. The cosmetic organizers you remember from the 80s. They're still around and they make train cases, makeup bags, and those nifty acrylic organizer trays us makeup junkies love. So I'm fully immersed in beauty & fashion related goodness all day at work. I'm very busy, and still not 100% better (still coughing and sniffling every so often *joy*), but I love it.

Which brings us to today. Or rather, tonight. Since it's almost bed time. I'm no longer blogging for Stylebell, which I am kind of sad about, but it was a matter of being stretched too thin having a part time job in addition to my new full time job. A girl's gotta eat (and keep herself in lip gloss), and the new opportunity is one I just could not pass up. 

I'm still here; I'm still going to be blogging on The Gloss Menagerie in addition to my new gig (and another project I haven't even told anyone about yet, ha!). I have some fun reviews coming up soon too, so be on the look out for those. 

But the point of this blog post is to say...

Since last summer I've been able to realize one very important dream: I can honestly say I'm a professional beauty blogger. I've reached a milestone goal, to be in a position to support myself doing what I am passionate about. There really is no greater joy, career-wise. I owe much of that to the amazing people I've met since I started blogging. The connections I've made and relationships I've formed have made my dreams possible. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for reading, tweeting, commenting, and supporting me & my little blog that has become so much more than something fun to pass time. 





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