Festival Grime: My Music Festival Makeup Bag and Essentials

     Greetings! My best friend, Maggie, and I recently spent about four days camping and attending Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware. We slept in the car for the first two nights, and the tent the second night because Big Blue's (Maggie's Expedition) battery died so we thought we'd give it a rest from constantly opening and closing the doors, which activated the lights. The weather was about as hot as how I imagine Satan's sauna to be, except for the day of the solstice, which was cooler and overcast. Weather aside, we had an amazing time (highlights for me were Arctic Monkeys, Sleigh Bells, and MS MR), and managed to look fairly cute doing it. Take a peek into my makeup bag! 

This was my first time going to an overnight music festival, so I had issues paring down the essentials. Here is everything beauty-related I brought: 

It's a bit much, huh?  

Here's everything that got used:

2 eyeshadow palettes, 2 single eyeshadows, 2 powder compacts, 2 eyeliners, 9 brushes, 1 blush compact, 1 brow powder duo, brow wax, lip stain, a concealer stick, 1 tube of primer, 1 tube of eyeshadow primer, 2 containers of dry shampoo, makeup setting spray, mascara, hairspray, makeup remover, sunscreen, and a spray bottle full of water. Still a bit much, but I was glad I had it all! 

And now for the things that were truly essential to me:

• Baby wipes: we were incredibly filthy the whole time. Ya need these.
• a plastic spray bottle from Giant: spritzing yourself with water feels like such a luxury when you're sweating your skin off. It also worked really well for wetting our toothbrushes without wasting valuable drinking water. A dark horse that was so worth it. 
• 2 of my Ecotools kabuki brushes: You know me. I love Ecotools, and these two brushes are perfect for applying blush and powder foundation.
• Smashbox's HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder in "fair": I've been trying to let my skin breathe more lately, so I haven't been using much liquid foundation. This powder is amazing-- it doesn't crease and hydrates as well because it's got amino acids and other nice things in it. It's marketed as an anti-aging powder, but the lovely fellow who sold it to me said it was wonderful for everyone. Now for the best part. Instead of being a loose powder, or a pressed one that's easily broken, it comes with a mechanism over the powder to shave off as much as you need. It looks like this: 

  

  photo from beyondbeautybasics.com

  I can't get over how ingenious that is, it's protective and saves product. Agh!!
•  Benefit's Dandelion blush: I had forgone this blush a while back because I thought it wasn't intense enough. That was dumb. This blush gives me an adorable peachy glow without being too dark, and has the liiiiightest shimmer. It's so great for vampire pale humans like me. 
• Pond's exfoliating makeup wipes: Your face gets gross too, but you still want to treat your face skin differently than your body skin and also remove makeup. Enter: these wipes!
• Batiste's dry shampoo: This dry shampoo gives great texture, smells lovely (I have the "rich & elegant" scent), and most importantly removes grease. They also have colored ones in case you're nervous about getting white streaks in your hair. Love it.  
• Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer and Beach Defense sunscreens: PROTECT. YOUR. SKIN.
•  a mini Purell bottle: the portapotties aren't always stocked, and you never know when you're going to have to do an emergency surgery. Gotta be sterile. 
•  Shiseido's refining makeup primer with SPF: This little guy is tinted, minimizes light imperfections in skin tone, and makes my skin feel soooo soft. 
• Old Spice deodorant in Foxcrest: Old Spice makes fantastically strong deodorant. Foxcrest smells yummy-- I also recommend Denali and Swagger. My only regret is that I wish I bought the gel instead of the white solid. 

  

  Photo found on Reddit, but there's a watermark, sooo

• my SHANY spoolie: Gotta have nicely combed brows. 
• NYX brow wax: I HEART BROW WAX. I removed this from the pencil it was in and put it in a jar because I didn't have a sharpener big enough for it (so resourceful!).
• a Revlon eyeshadow single in "Taupe": Revlon now has these adorable little single eyeshadows that you click together to form your own palette/line type deals, and they're so small. UGH I LOVE IT, and I'm a sucker for a satin finish taupe shade. 
•  Pacifica's Stellar Gaze mascara in "Supernova": Target has started selling Pacifica, mineral makeup with a cool oceanic and stellar theme. I'm into it, and this is a great basic mascara that isn't horrible to sleep in. 
• e.l.f.'s eyeshadow primer in "Sheer": I may or may not have been using this as an undereye concealer. And it may or may not be working pretty well. 
• Firebird Bath & Body's glossy lip tint in "Sangria" (not pictured in other photos, oops): This is a really great, natural plummy red tinted balm from an indie shop based in Baltimore. You can find the shop on Etsy! She does wonderful perfumes too (I'm partial to Pomegranate Rose and Lavender Wood)

The looks I did for Firefly were pretty eye-heavy and glowy, though my love Maggie whipped out the purple lipstick from time to time.

The heavy shadow was an accident, but a happy one.

I'm a sucker for a golden hour selfie. 

The lovely Maggie inside Big Blue.

 Despite these adorable photos, I did eventually look like this:

Baby needs her spray bottle, man. The grime and the exhaustion is inescapable, but I hope this post helped or entertained you in some way! 

xx,

Baby's First DIY Crop Top: A Five Minute DIY Tutorial for Summertime

You've caught me, this is not my first crop top. But it could be yours! And it is crop top season. Just kidding, it's always crop top season. Personally, I hope this trend lasts a long time. Like skinny jeans. Anyways, this is mostly a teaser tutorial before I do more DIYs--I ruined a favorite dress of mine and now I'm a bit wary of doing more intense alterations. Let's get started!

First, start with the CLASSIEST t-shirt you can find.

The little fella behind me is my dog's toy. He says hey.

I recommend marking where you'd like the shirt to fall when it's cropped while you have it on, and then laying the shirt out flat on a table.

Like so.

Cut along the line you marked! You could stop here. You could continue. You could do something totally different than what I did next. 

It looks crooked, I swear it's not!

What I did next is cut the neckline to create an elegant scoop neck, so that I could show off my collarbones and be rid of the small stain on this shirt's collar ;)

So elegant.

If you'd like to make your top EVEN FANCIER, you can cut the hems of the sleeves off and roll them:

Et fini.

This tutorial may have been totally useless. That's okay though! Do you have a preferred way to make your DIY crops more interesting?

My Makeup Brush Collection & Essentials

All of my goodies after cleaning.

     I'm still not sure where I stand on whether it's the product or the application of said product that makes more of a difference when it comes to a successful makeup look. What I do know is that I've splurged more on makeup, but have quite the brush collection. Today I'll be going over my favorites/essentials and sets. Most if not all of these brushes have synthetic bristles, and can be found at your local drugstore (failing that, Amazon). There are a few higher quality brushes here that my mom gave me, so I'm not entirely sure of their material/availability. Keep in mind these are reviews are just that-- my reviews, and everyone applies makeup differently. That being said, I hope this post is informative and fun to read!

I'm organized, I swear!

To save your precious fingers scrolling time,           here's how this post is organized:

         -Sets

               -SHANY 12 pc pink vegan set

               - Ecotools Essential Eye set

               - Ecotools Kabuki set

               - e.l.f. Professional Essential set

        -My Everyday Essentials

        -Extra Little Buddies That Still Deserve                  Mentioning

Sets

SHANY 12 Piece Pink Vegan Mineral Brush Set

      This is definitely the coolest set I've bought. It comes in a little pink clutch, THE BRUSHES ARE PINK, was pretty cheap, and all of the brushes are easy to clean. My only complaints are that the eye brushes don't hold as much product as I'd like and that all of them take a while to dry. The drying thing, however, is what you get with a dense brush, which I like. Each brush is numbered at the bottom so you can keep them REALLY organized.  The little flap at the top of the clutch also keeps the bristles safe. I bought these on Amazon, but you can find them here http://www.shanycosmetics.com/makeup-brushes/12pc-vegan-mineral-brush-set !

Out of all of these, my favorites are the brow comb (1), the liner brush (4), the smaller blush brush (9), and the contouring brush (12). The other brushes are a spoolie (2), a smudger (3), a brow brush (5), two eye brushes (6 & 7), a concealer brush (8), a larger blush brush (11), and a powder brush (12).

I think the favorites outweigh the disappointments (3, 6, 7, and 8), and dang, does the clutch feel classy and keep everything in order.

Ecotools Kabuki Set

I LOVE Ecotools. These kabuki brushes do not disappoint, and are also small and cute. They're officially advertised as (from left to right) a bronzing brush, a contouring brush, a concealer, and a buffer. I use the bronzer and contouring brush for blush because I don't bronze unless I'm contouring, and I use the SHANY brush for that. The concealing brush I like to use for liquid foundation, and the flat topped buffer for powder foundation. These brushes clean so easily and are soft and perfectly dense. I totally recommend this set, especially if you travel and use a lot of powder projects. You can buy these on Amazon, and at Ecotools' site, http://ecotools.com/brushes/brush-sets/limited-edition-kabuki-set.

                                                           Ecotools Essential Eye Set 

If you want my recommendation for any of these pre-made sets, buy this one. The brushes, like the ones before, are easy to clean, dry fairly quickly, are short and come in a little plastic travel case. The only, ONLY downside to these is that I often use eyeshadows in the color of the bristles, so it's hard to tell when they're dirty. I use all of these brushes frequently, no disappointments here! The first one I like to use as a blending brush, but I've also been using it my crease lately. I think it's really supposed to be a highlighter. The fat one is to sweep a base color over your lid and is perfectly sized. The third one pictured is for accenting the main look, such as the outer corner, and the angled brush is a great crease brush. The final one is perfect for taking darker colors and smudging them on either of your lashlines.

You can get them here http://ecotools.com/brushes/brush-sets/essential-eye-set !

e.l.f. Professional Essential Set

Okay, so this set is supposed to have 12 pieces. I only have nine, because they've all broken or have been lost. This set has been the most disappointing, but was my first set and has gotten a lot of use because of that. Each brush is labeled with what it's supposed to be used as. The ones pictured, from left to right, are an eye shader, a small concealer, a foundation brush, another concealer brush, a blending brush, a smudger, a small eye shader, a contouring brush, and a powder brush. Out of all of these I'd say I use the first shader, the small concealer brush, and the blender the most. The blending brush is still one of my favorties because it's not too long and I've got it nice and soft. The concealer brush I use as a lip brush, and the shader for, well, shading. I wouldn't recommend buying this set, but it gave me the boost I needed to get further into makeup. And it's pretty cheap, so if you're just starting out and don't want to spend over 15$ on brushes, you can buy them here http://www.eyeslipsface.com/elf/brushes/brush-sets/e.l.f._professional_complete_set_of_12_brushes.

My Everyday Essentials

I admit, I don't use all of these every day because I like to mix up my look and that sometimes requires other tools, or more tools. These are, however, the most important brushes in my arsenal. From left to right/top to bottom:

                                  -essence of beauty brow/liner brush: I would be lost without this double-ended baby. It's been through a lot, obviously (the teeth are missing!), but the angled end is just thin and long enough for me to get my eyebrow powder just right, and the other end is great for combing my brows. In a pinch, this end is also great for making your mascara less clumpy. I bought this at CVS.

                                  -Ecotools flat-topped buffing kabuki brush: I use this one to buff my powder foundation in.

                                  -Ecotools slanted contouring kabuki brush: this is my favorite brush to use for sweeping blush on, as it's nice and soft and holds just the right amount of pigment.

                                  -beautyblender: I actually have two of these (this one came in a Glossybox shipment). This has been a cult makeup sponge for a while now, and really upped my liquid foundation game. It's great on days when you want fuller coverage, and gives a seamless finish. I love the beautyblender, but sometimes still prefer to use a brush for my liquid foundation. I recommend wetting it slightly before using it, as it says in the instructions when you buy it. It also can be bought with the cleanser made specifically for it, which works really well. The stuff I use, as you can see, doesn't do as great a job. Cute fact, the little info sheet you get with it refers to it as a 'her' and gives you the address for where it can be sent to for recycling when it's all tuckered out. You can buy them on Amazon, or, if you prefer the real world, Sephora.

                                 -Ecotools petite smudging brush: I love this brush for adding NYX's eyeshadow in "Sensual" onto the outer edges of my lower lashline. 

                                 -e.l.f. blending brush: this little baby was the golden spot in that bad set, and is my go-to blending brush when I use the Ecotools one as a crease brush.

                                 -SHANY liner brush (4): I only just started using this brush, as I had always thought that an angled one or a flat tapered one was better for my liners. I still use those, but as you can see in my cat-eye tutorial, has an incredibly precise line. Sometimes it makes me think of Spongebob's nose hair brush in "Wet Painters" because it's so thin, but it's especially great for more liquid-y liners. 

Heeheehee. (Image found at memedroid.com)

                                -Ecotools large eye brush: I use this one to shade my lids quickly, as it covers almost the whole area of my lid in one light swipe.

                                -essence of beauty "C" brush: This brush is my favorite crease brush, as it's just dense enough, soft enough, and rounded enough for my crease, and distributes product nicely. I loooove it. You can get this one at CVS, but I haven't seen it in stores lately. 

                                -essence of beauty foundation brush: this is by far my favorite foundation brush. The shape, the width, the density...agh it's great. It was my first foundation brush and hasn't disappointed me since. I left it at a boyfriend's house once and had to buy a new, slightly smaller replacement for it, but it wasn't the same. If you've been applying your liquid foundation with your fingers or something thin, run to CVS right now and pick this up.

                                -SHANY contouring brush (12): So much softer than my shitty e.l.f. contouring brush, smaller than my Ecotools kabuki one, and so cute. It holds product really well and is just round enough to not make your contouring look streaky.

Extra Little Buddies That Still Deserve Mentioning

From left to right, top to bottom!

                    -Pencil liner sharpener: Keep yer eyeliner pencils sharp with this lil baby! Available at CVS.

                    -1 tsp heart measuring spoon: Not very standard, and came from a set of measuring spoons from Amazon. I use this one for mixing foundation to get the right color. It's the perfect size, and wasn't getting much use in the kitchen.

                    -Bobbi Brown eye shader: My mama gave me this one, and I rarely use it on my eyes because it's just so big, but it's extremely soft, and I use it to apply powder highlighter sometimes.

                    -Ecotools foundation brush: Coming in second to my essence of beauty foundation brush, this one is also great, because, well, Ecotools is great. I bought this at Bartell Drugs in Washington, but you can also get it online. 

                    -Revlon small travel tweezers: I bought these as part of a pair when my Tweezerman ones went missing. I ended up liking these the best because they're great for focusing in on those little hairs that you just can't quite get. Also they have cherry blossoms on them. CVS, again!

                    -Bobbi Brown liner brush: Another hand-me-down from my darling mother, I like to use this when I don't feel like using the SHANY liner brush.

                    -Urban Decay Good Karma brush: This brush came with my Naked palette, one of the biggest splurges of my makeup hobby. I love this brush for shading the outer edges of my lids for more complicated looks. 

                    -e.l.f. "C" brush: This is a great highlighting brush, and not as dinky as the e.l.f. set. It also works fairly well for crease-work! CVS, did you expect anything else?

                    -Bobbi Brown eyebrow brush: From mama, this brush has hard bristles like the other brow brushes I have, though this one is small and angled. It introduced me to the world of combing my brows, and I also use it to separate clumpy lashes.

                    -Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage brush: Okay, so this one was not from the drugstore, and was bought by my mother for me on a Nordstrom outing. Specifically designed for Laura Mercier's Secret Camouflage concealer, this brush is great for heavy duty concealing.

                    -realTechniques stippling face brush: This brush is a great buffer as well as stippler, and cleans so well. It also stands on its own, and was designed by beauty vlogger/makeupartist Sam Chapman from pixiwoo. Bought on Amazon, but I've also seen it in Bartell Drugs.

                    -realTechniques Expert face brush: Another one of my favorite foundation brushes (also favored by the excellent Tanya Burr), this brush is great for really blending liquid foundation into your face due to its unique shape. Like the stippling brush, it cleans easily and stands on its own because of the flared base. See above for buying info.

Whew! That was a long one. Thank you SO much for reading, and I hope something in here helped! 

xx,

Monster of the Week: Lost Girl

SPOILERS, but nothing you won't see in the first episode. 

     Greetings! This week's monster/obsession is the TV show Lost Girl, created by Michelle Lovretta and starring Anna Silk. I found it on Netflix, and this is my second time watching it. Lost Girl is a fairly cheesy drama with definite comedic relief about a succubus named Bo, who discovers after a lifetime of confusion that she is part of the Fae world-- an underground population of mythical creatures walking amongst us in the human world!

     I'm a sucker for folklore, so happening upon this show was very exciting for me. Not only is this like Buffy from the inside of the vamp world, complete with a trunk full of weaponry, it's sex positive (Bo sustains herself on sexual chi, from both men and women, shame-free), and fairly feminist. However, not all entertainment seems to be perfect. Its intersectionality could really use an overhaul. The Fae world is centered around a Eurocentric/Celtic power system, at least in terminology, and there's just one POC as a main character, though Bo is ~somewhat~ racially ambiguous. The gang does run into Fae from all cultures, but let's be real, the show is pretty white-washed. Also there are a few fat jokes sprinkled throughout. I didn't say it wasn't problematic. *frowny, exasperated sigh*

     The names of the episodes are cheesy, like "Where There's a Will, There's a Fae," with snarky one-liners a la Buffy, but when are supernatural shows not cheesy? And how is that not a little bit endearing? The show's two main characters are a pair of badass women who do their own thing at all costs, helping humans and Fae alike in the process. Bo's human companion, Kenzi, played by Ksenia Solo, is one of my favorite characters. While not everyone can see themselves physically represented in this show (smdh), it's quite the summertime binge show that doesn't get monotonous. Not to mention the soundtrack is great, featuring music from bands like The Kills.

     Note: I try my best to be considerate of all groups when evaluating a show, but PLEASE tell me if I missed something! I'm a human and still learning. 

(Photo found at http://www.sarahjurgens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lost-girl-poster1.jpg)

Happy watching!

xx,