Mermaid Madness

Honestly, I didn't have a great name for this, but that's alright. I did this look over my Christmas break with the Urban Decay Vice Palette. 

PLEASE IGNORE MY EYEBROWS. I know they are not cute. I got lazy over break. ;)

So basically, I was just playing around with colors and I felt like I really wanted to do a mermaid inspired look. I started off with Unhinged all over my lid. As you can see, I winged the ends a little bit to give it a more elongated shape. On the outer V, I used Junkie, which is the really beautiful green color in the palette. Under the eye, I look a little bit more of the Unhinged color and smudged that in to the lash line and under that, I used the purple shade, Vice, and smudged that as well. I tightlined my eyes with my Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Perversion and I added a random pair of lashes. Then, I took some of the Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner in Spandex and applied that to top and bottom lashes.

I absolutely love how this turned out! I was kind of bummed that I didn't have anywhere to go because I thought this looked so cool. 

I hope you guys love this look as much as I do! 

Mermaids and Thoughts of Summer,

Catie

Products That Have Won Over My Heart

Hey guys! Okay so here's my little post about what I've been using over the last year. I'll do makeup, skin and some hair.

First things first: Makeup.

Mascara-
As far as mascaras go, I am IN LOVE with the Mega Plush Volum' Express Mascara from Maybelline. It is by far my favorite I have ever used. I love the way it coats my lashes. It makes them look long and thick but not clumpy. I also love that this uses a gel formula and my lashes still feel soft and awesome! Unfortunately, I left this home on a recent trip back to Nebraska... Oh well. :/

Credit for this photo belongs to Maybelline

Eyeliner-

So I had been looking for a new liquid eyeliner and the three-point eyeliners have been catching my eye lately. I picked up the Two Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool a few weeks ago and I have fallen head over heels in love with it! I love it because most days, I don't like to deal with eyeliner and being in college, I generally get up half an hour before my class and have to rush to get out the door. I love this for that reason. It's so fast and easy! I like to dot it along my lash line to create the thickness I want. It still looks so natural though! Love it. Sadly, a few nights ago, the lid got pulled off of mine in my makeup bag and it dried out. I will definitely buy this product again though. 

Foundation-

I ran out of my Makeup Forever HD Foundation that I loved so much while I was in Chicago and decided to try something new. I went to Ulta and had them recommend a product for me and I settled on Lorac Natural Performance Foundation. It feels nice and creamy going on the skin, but when it dries, it stays put! I have an oily T-zone and in the past, I've found some foundations just melt off. This one stays for me and so far, I am really loving it! It has a cool kind of twist up top so I don't need to worry about lids when I travel so that's a definite plus.

So that's about it for makeup. I really like all of those products and I think I will be using them for a long time. So now, on to HAIR!

Shampoo and Conditioner-

When I first moved to Chicago, I noticed a huge change in my hair. My scalp and hair were really dried out and dull looking. This was stressful for me because I am a freak about my hair. I had heard a lot about the Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy shampoos and conditioners but I had never tried them. At the time, I was at a point where I was willing to try anything. I tried them out and within ONE wash, I noticed a HUGE difference in my hair! It felt soft and silky again, it was shiny, it smelled incredible and I didn't have any dandruff (gross, but true!). These have been huge life savers for me and I don't think I'm going to go back to my previous shampoo and conditioner anytime soon.

Nutrition spray-

Another thing that really helped me out when my hair was dried out and unhealthy was the Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Nutrient Spray. This is such a great product. It smells great, it makes my hair super shiny and soft and it helped me bring my hair back to life! I still use it even though my hair isn't so damaged anymore. I put a couple sprays in after I get out of the shower and it really seems to help!

Anti-Breakage Spray

Because I have curly hair, my hair follicles are not as strong and I often have a lot of breakage. The Garnier Fructis Fall Fight Anti-Breakage Spray is a pretty good product to help this. I'm not saying that it's a miracle worker, but I think it's pretty good. Again, it smells amazing and it makes my hair feel strong. I usually put a couple of spritzes of this in after the shower, too.

These products together have really brought my hair back from the brink of total damage! Like I said, I am very careful about my hair. I rarely blow dry, curl or straighten it. When I noticed how dry my hair was, I freaked out and immediately found these products. That was mid-November. It is now February and I am still using them and loving them! As a bonus, they make my hair smell AMAZING!!!!!

SKINCARE!!

Clarisonic Mia 2-

I got this product for Christmas this year and I am obsessed. I love it. It leaves my skin feeling really clean and exfoliated. It feels really great to use and it's quick and easy! I believe that it is safe for you to use twice a day, but I generally only use it at night to get off makeup. When my hair was freaking out about moving, my skin was even worse. I never broke out and if it I did, it was only about two or three blemishes around my face. When I moved, I was breaking out all over my chin and forehead and the backs of my cheeks. This was really crazy for my skin and this product really helped clear all of that up.  I use the sensitive skin brush!

Facial Cleanser-

I have been using the MAC Green Gel Cleanser since this summer and I think it's just awesome. It smells like this soap my grandma used to have at her house when I was a kid and it leaves my skin feeling really nice and clean. This product has also worked the best for me with my Clarisonic. I think it's just an all around great product. My only thing is that I wish it had a pump!

So there's my list. These are all super awesome and I really like them. Check them out if you feel like it and let me know what you think about them!

So, it's been awhile....

I would say it wasn't my fault, but... it was.

I'm sorry that I've been MIA.

I lost the password and email address that I had associated with this account. But I'm back now, I think.

I'd like to start blogging again. I've had a year to try out some new products and can fully give you reviews now. I think I may even start today with some products that I've been loving over the past year and using a lot.

I'll just tell you a little about what has happened in the past year..

First of all, I graduated from high school. Yep. I packed up all my stuff and made the big move from my home of 18 years to the city of Chicago. As much as I love it here, I feel that I haven't really been able to experience everything yet, which really bums me out, but I'm hoping it will get better soon. I'm studying Digital Cinema at DePaul University. I'm hoping this will give me some extra background in film so that I can continue to pursue makeup in the film industry.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get back up and running soon.

Begging for forgiveness,

Catie

SORRY!!!!!!

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I've been lacking on updates. I have been really busy with school and things going on in my personal life, but I'm back now (hopefully). I have some reviews that I'm currently working and I'm hoping to get some of those up soon.

I went to Ulta last night and I picked up 3 of Nicki Minaj's new nail polishes and I'm going to do a review very, very soon about them.

Also, I have a nail trend post coming up, but I'm actually having a lot of difficulty getting my hands on said nail trend..... We'll see how it turns out.

Sorry again for being MIA! Hopefully I'll be able to do some looks this weekend, too.

Pink Friday and sparkly nails,

Catie

Killer Klowns From Outer Space Meets Captain Spaulding

You probably think that I'm obsessed with Halloween... That would be correct. I don't think Halloween makeup should be hidden away until October. It's all year round over in Catie-Land.

This is a look that I've tried doing so many times but decided that I hated the way it was turning out and then ripped it out. Actually, that is sort of a lie. I just wanted to do the mouth thing. The clown idea came from my mommy. She's a great sport. I walked in to her room after I finished this and said, "Mom... I don't think I'm going to make any friends in college..." and she looked at me and said, "Why?" and I said, "Are you kidding?! Look at me!" And she shrugged and said, "So?"

My mommy supports my hobby.

Anyway, I'm not going to go in to all the details, but basically, I built up the mouth pieces with latex and tissues (latex is not my friend today), and I ended up with about 5 or 6 layers. Then I used Mehron 3-D Gel to smooth out the edges. I used Mehron Clown White all over my face and set it with Graftobian Face Powder. Then I used Ben Nye cream paints to shade and color the mouth. For the cheeks, I used Urban Decay's Quickie cream blush. For the eyes, I used the Coastal Scents 88 palette. Lashes are Andrea Lashes #33.

The blood I used was Ben Nye, I think. Be very careful when applying it. It drips on clothes.... I learned this the hard way. I guess this is my new painting shirt....

Clowns and huge lashes,

Catie

P.S., also be careful when covering your eyebrows if you choose to. Normally, I would have put them up much higher, but my glue and latex ripped. That's why they're all messed up looking.

Just for fun....

I have some pretty great insomnia and sometimes, my pretty great insomnia leads to pretty great makeup ideas. I got this look from watching the Lady Gaga Born This Way video. It took me a couple of hours to do because I kept getting severely distracted.

First, I started off covering my face with Ben Nye's Clown White face paint. Then, I used a black eyeliner pencil and placed the basic outlines and shapes. I did the rest of the detailing and filling in with a black cream liner on a synthetic brush. For this, I believe I used L'Oreal HIP eyeliner in Black. I was pretty happy with how this look turned out. I took it with me to show the admissions director at the makeup school that I have been looking at for quite sometime now. She wanted to keep it on file for when I apply.

Skeletons and Gaga-love,

Catie

New Year Haul?

Today, I made a few purchases. I bought 2 pairs of fake eyelashes and one set of permalashes. I'll be very interested in trying them out! I also picked up a few different eyeliners and the L'Oreal Lash Serum. I am really excited to try this out. I will post reviews in a few weeks for all these products!