On a more philisophical note...

Taking ownership and control of your appearance while loving who you are on the inside. These things are not mutually exclusive.

I got to thinking about this today on the bus ride home. Why do people who put a lot of effort into their appearance do so? Why do some people not at all? Why do some people beat themselves up emotionally about the way they look to a point where it affects how they feel about themselves as a human being? Are people who put a lot of effort into their appearance shallow, or trying to hide themselves?

To address those who are unhappy with their appearance and because of that, don't put effort into it and feel badly about themselves for it - don't! Remember, you have the face God or your plastic surgeon gave you (hey, you never know!) but regardless, every day when you wake up and look in the mirror, that's what you're working with. Period. Wishing won't change it, and what you see in the mirror isn't reflecting the beauty inside of you. I find for myself that no matter what insecurities I might have about my appearance, putting effort into making myself look good reminds me that I'm worth it (to cop a cheesy line from L'Oreal!) and that I'm reflecting the beauty I know I have on the inside, to the outside. There is beauty in everyone, and finding it and expressing it can be a lot simpler than you think.

But this isn't to say that only those who put effort into a more natural look are happy with who they are. Put it this way - no one is born with the knowledge and skills to be a heart surgeon. You have to make a conscious decision to become one, and then apply yourself seriously to becoming one. Just because you weren't born knowing how to be a heart surgeon, does that mean you aren't meant to be one? Of course not! The same principle applies to your personal appearance! If you have dark hair and want to be blonde, do it! If you are pale and want to use self tanners until you're a bronze goddess, do it! If you want to wear a dark smokey eye look every damn day, do it! Just be sure that whatever you are doing to alter your appearance is to enhance the expression and celebration of who you are, not to create a mask or a disguise to hide the true you or pretend to be someone else because you're not happy in your heart.

The power of aesthetics is that you can look inside yourself at who you are and who you want to be, and display that outwardly for the world to see. Next time you look in the mirror, try not to think of who the world wants you to be, or who you wish you could be. Think about who you are, what you love about yourself and what you want to say without words. Then pick up that makeup brush, hair brush, bronzer or box of hair dye - and express it.

Upcoming Posts

Just a teaser post here! I'm away from home right now, but I thought I'd give a hint as to some of the posts I'm planning on doing in the near future! And these are only the planned ones, often an idea for a post will hit me out of nowhere!

• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils Swatches and Review
• Smith's Rosebud Salve Review
• BareMinerals Naturally Luminous Daily Duo for Combination Skin Review
• Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse Foundation Swatches and Review
• more nail art NOTD posts! My next mani should be happening within the next few days!

Keep your eyes peeled for these posts, coming soon!

One Lovely Blog Award

I was lucky enough to receive my second award, from the lovely Sandra!! Thank you so much :). It's so exciting to be recognized!

One Lovely Blog Award

Rules:

• Link to the person you got it from
• Tell seven things about yourself
• Give the award to ten bloggers

Seven things about me:
1. I am aspirationally multilingual. (translation: I only speak one language now, but I'd like to speak more!)
2. I love music that makes me want to dance.
3. Although I haven't played a lot lately, I've been a huge fan of The Sims ever since the first version came out - although I've never been interested in TS3, just TS1 and then TS2!
4. I could live off of fruit of any sort (except cantaloupe and honeydew - yuck!)
5. Even though I am fairly short (just shy of 5'3") I always feel like I'm taller! Sometimes I just forget I'm short and I'm surprised when people remark on it!
6. Even though I'm 23, I still love Seventeen magazine and I'm considering getting a subscription to it again (the last time I had one I was much closer to being seventeen!)
7. My favourite place in the whole world is Disneyland!! I went twice as a child and I am dying to get back there again!! I'd love to take my boyfriend because he's never been!

Pay It Forward
1. rebecca likes nails
2. Scrangie
3. LC Makeup Blog
4. The Girly Enthusiast
5. Heather Does Makeup
6. Delyteful Speaks
7. emmabovarybeauty
8. Cheryl's Beauty Blog
9. don't call me jessie
10. Steal My Heart Lovee

NOTD July 21/11

Holy guacamole! I just browsed back and realized that in the past month alone, I've changed my nails a whopping eight times! And only one of those times was just straight polish, every other time was nail art! I hadn't realized it was that much, but to be fair I do type all day at work and then at home I type on the computer a lot too - not too easy on the nails! And changing it up is fun!

Here's the latest look! Leopard print!! Light chartreuse green background with muddy greige and black dots!

Review: Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

The fabled Shu Uemura eyelash curler is up for review today! I recently purchased it on a whim at Sephora (haul post here) after thinking about purchasing it for years.

So here's the thing.... I'm not too crazy about this lash curler. But I don't think that it's a bad lash curler. I think I'm just spoiled because by total fluke I happen to already own the best freaking lash curler ever, and nothing - not even the Shu - can measure up to it for me. The curler I already own has no brand name on it, I received it in my kit when I attended makeup artistry school several years ago. It's got pink cushioning on the handles for a softer, easier grip, so in my mind I call it "Pinkie"! I pray I never lose it because I wouldn't know where to buy it. I'd probably have to resort to calling the school up to try and figure it out.

In any case, here's the lowdown on the Shu. I do think it's a good curler (just not the best) and if you aren't happy with the curler you have now, particularly if you're using cheaper ones from the drugstore like Revlon (which is what I used to use before Pinkie came into my life) then the Shu will be a huge improvement for you!

The main thing I've noticed that makes the Shu different from many other lash curlers is the shape of it.

Notice how the part where the pad sits is curved, and then of course the upper part is as well? Most other curlers are straight across. I can see how this can help because it is shaped to the curve of your eyelid, which helps you grab more of your eyelashes. Here's another angle (it looks crooked but it's not, it's just the angle I'm holding it at):

All in all my only issue is that I feel I have to apply too much pressure and hold it too long to get the curl I want. Still definitely better than drugstore, but not as good as Pinkie, which has a spring on it and takes only a couple quick squeezes as I walk up the lashes to get a strong curl. With the Shu I would usually have to hold at each spot on the lashes (I usually curl once at the base, and twice more up the lashes towards the ends) for about 5+ seconds each, and without any padding on the handles it can get uncomfortable on the fingers.

I'm not too confident with a number rating system yet, but if I had to give this lash curler one I would probably rate it a 4/5 - good, but not my holy grail - turns out I had that all along!

Here's a shot of Pinkie for those curious. :)

FOTD July 16/11

Main Colours Used

• shade 24 from the Sephora 5-in-1 palette on the lids (light shimmery lavender)
• MAC Print eyeshadow in the crease (medium satin grey)
• shade 38 from the Sephora 5-in-1 palette on the outer V (medium-dark shimmery grey with a veery slight pull towards taupe)
• Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black
• Covergirl LashBlast Mascara in Blackest Black (waterproof)
• e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss
• blush is a mix of the blushes from the Angelic Boudoir palette and the A nod to Mod palette, both from Sephora 5-in-1 palette (a peachy pink and cool fuchsia, respectively)

NOTD July 16/11

The weather has turned muggy, dreary and rainy here... I want my summer back!! I'm brightening up my life the best way I can right now, with a bright and fun nail look - paint splatter! This one was actually requested by my boyfriend when he was peeking over my shoulder at my nail inspiration folder!

Top 10 Award!!

Wheeeeeeee!!! Thanks to the lovely Esther I now have my first official blog award!!! A million thanks to you sweetheart, it really does mean a lot!

Of course, with something as awesome as this you really have to pay it forward! That's part of the fun! And even better, getting this award comes with an activity too... here's the rules!

• Link back to the person who tagged you.
• List your top ten favourite products.
• Nominate 10 other bloggers.

 Done and DONE!


Top 10 Products: (in no particular order....)


Urban Decay Naked Palette - For someone who loves neutral eyeshadows, this palette truly is the mack daddy. Everything you need from subtle to intense, and each and every one is pigmented, highly blendable and buttery smooth. I use this almost every day and I've had it for coming up to a year now.

Sephora 5-in-1 Color Play Palette (Limited Fashion Edition) - This palette is beloved because it gives me SO many options. There are 50 eyeshadows, 10 lipglosses and 5 blushes!! I don't use the lipglosses a lot - not because they're bad quality, in fact they're actually quite awesome! But I'm not a fan of lipglosses mixed in with powder products, or even in a palette in general... I prefer my lip products standalone. But I use the eyeshadows and the blushes ALL the time and I love having such an amazing selection of choices!! And let me tell you, there are more than a few awesome taupes in here!! <3 Review here.

Revlon Colorstay Mineral Finishing Powder in Suntan Matte
Despite what the name might say, this bronzer is not completely matte! It has a bit of shimmer which on the skin translates to a beautiful glow without being anything even approaching a glitterbomb. I use this stuff every single day because it's easy to build from extremely subtle to full on bronze goddess. And because the baked powder forms a dome shape, this pan will last me a looong time. I've had it for a year and it's only just now getting to be about level with the compact.

Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation in Soft Beige
I was in the market for a new foundation and everything I had heard about this stuff led me to believe it was exactly what I was looking for, and boy am I glad I picked it up!! It's got a great medium satin coverage, and it does do a great job of lasting. Love it!! Review here.

NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Glow
This is pretty much the perfect cream blush!! The colour is a very pigmented natural but still bright medium pink, the texture is smooth and soft, and a little goes a loong way!! This has me jonesing for quite a few more of the NYX cream blushes!!

e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in Pink Kiss
Even though I'm not a big lip product person (most days it's just lip balm, thanks!) this is probably my HG lip product. The perfect slightly warm pink with very subtle golden shimmer, it's a my lips but better shade. As a bonus, I LOVE the smell (kind of candy like but not too sweet) and the texture, which I heard somewhere as being almost like a gummy candy wrapping around your lips. It doesn't feel overly sticky nor too slick like it will just evaporate off your lips. Considering the fact these lip glosses are also only around $1, what's not to love?

MAC Eyeshadow in Woodwinked
This was baby's first MAC product!! That's right! And I can see why it's so popular, when I bought it I didn't know a lot about MAC and I had no idea Woodwinked was one of the most popular shades, I just gravitated to it on my own. This shade is amazing no matter what way you wear it, but one of the (many) reasons I love it is because of how pigmented and blendable it is, and how it's the perfect balance between light and dark to make it easy to just swipe on your lids and go on those rushed mornings. It's like eyeshadow for dummies or something!

Maybelline EyeStudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black
When the $12 drugstore eyeliner blows the $23 Make Up For Ever eyeliner completely out of the water, you know you've found yourself a winner!! This liner is unbelievably pigmented and smooth!! A couple quick swipes of this with a bent liner brush is faster and easier than even using a pencil eyeliner, because you don't have to fuss around with the stuff. It's just that good! 

bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for Combination Skin
I first tried this stuff as a deluxe sample from a Sephora.com order, and at the time was having some mysterious and uncharacteristic extreme dryness/roughness on my cheeks. I had tried a couple heavy moisturizers but nothing seemed to be helping at all. I used this literally once and felt a huge improvement within minutes. By the second time I used it, it was gone. Like magic. Even though this is *just* a moisturizer with no tint in it or anything, when I put this on my skin I notice an immediate difference in the look of my skin - it looks more smooth, the colour looks more even... it just glows!! I just bought myself a pack with a small duo of this moisturizer and the matching cleanser! Haul post here.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
I don't know what I even did before I tried this stuff. All the years, fussing over creased or faded eyeshadow, packing less pigmented eyeshadow on my lids in a vain attempt to get it to stick and to show up. Wasted time, because I could have been using this stuff. It grabs your eyeshadow and locks it into place all day long!! On the rare occasion where I fall asleep with my makeup on (bad Kayleigh!) I can often wake up the next morning with my eyeshadow looking no worse for wear, thanks to this magical potion.

My Nominations: (also in no particular order!)

1. Miss Natty's Beauty Diary
2. Makeup and Macaroons
3. very emily
4. nevertoomuchglitter
5. Will Work for Makeup
6. Let's MakeYuUp
7. Frippery Digits
8. Makeup and Beauty Blog
9. The Beauty Bite
10. Pink Sith

It was HARD picking only ten!! Considering I follow 36 and counting!!!

NOTD July 12/11

Sorry for the no updates lately! Work's been keeping me busy and wanting to do literally NOTHING on my down time!! But I have found some time to do my nails! Another one I got the idea for from a Tumblr blog (the manicure inspiration folder on my computer is growing at an alarming rate!) for some flowers on a black background!! I think I still need to get the hang of scaling patterns to the size of my nails... I didn't intend it to be this big or have the flowers overlap! But I still like how it turned out!

Minor facelift!

Hey everyone!! I was playing around a bit with my Blogger display settings, because I was feeling restricted by the width of my blog. I couldn't get images to be as big as I wanted without them running into the nav bar. Lucky for me though, Blogger lets you adjust the width very easily! So I've widened it up a teeny bit, slightly narrowed the nav bar to compensate, and gone through and increased the size of all the images on the blog for your viewing pleasure!

Enjoy! <3