90's Grunge is a thing again

So i'm not gonna lie, but I really actually like this. I own a wrong amount of flannel shirts, 3 Nirvana albums, and have been smudging my eyeliner. So I decided, since I have been slacking on the blog lately, I would actually do a post about my new favorite look. Now I haven't done anything this extreme before and will not wear something like this out of the hose, But the thought of it is really cool to be honest.

So I started it all off with my Rimmel Stay Matte foundation with my real techniques miracle complexion sponge, which makes me look pale and dead and my stay matte powder and made myself look like a white matte ghost (which if you're really going for the grunge look and not the fake grunge look, is what you should look like).Then I did some light contour to make look sickly, but not enough to make e look like I went out in the dun. I filled in my eyebrows like normal, then primed my eyes to ready for the large amount of medium matte brown shadow I put everywhere, I put a deeper matte brown in the crease and blended it. I also put a bit of both colors under the eye too. I next lined the eyes completely black with an elf eye pencil and did my water and tight line as well. Curl the lashes and put on a ton of mascara! Look like you just rolled out of bed, nothing is perfect.

Then I used my elf moisturizing lipstick in party in the buff on the lips and put more powder over that so that no shimmer is left anywhere on your face. If you're dead, you can't have moisture on the lips. None of that!

 Add cool lighting and some Instagram filters, and you'll be set!

<3 Allison

The Bare Essentials

So hi, again. I'm Allison and this is my very first blog post on this blog and I just wanted to say this before I started just in case I do something silly or make a typo, although I will try my hardest to catch them. Also, I am no makeup artist, and my products might look dirty or sub par, but it's life and sometimes I do lazy things, and I'm sure yours aren't perfect either. So without further explanation,here goes nothing:

So as I was instructed to make a post before I left for a camping trip, I was out of inspiration. Then I got to thinking that we were actually going out in public places where it will be unacceptable to look like you've been camping and that made me worry, so makeup to the rescue!
So this is what I compiled to bring with me. I am bringing only what I absolutely need to survive out in the public world.
So moving from left to right, the first item I picked up was my NYC smooth Skin mattifying BB cream. This (As it says) is a five in one product that is super blendable and easy to apply without a brush. And it has sunscreen in it which is always a plus when you'e going to be outside camping.
Next is my NYC Smooth Skin translucent powder, which is pretty self explanatory and any powder will do.Along with that I have my elf kabuki brush to apply that with.
Next is optional, but it's my elf waterproof liquid eyeliner pen. I would suggest using a waterproof eyeliner if you plan on using liner since you will mist likely be sweating if you're camping.
After that is my elf eyebrow filler stick and my sort of clear eyebrow gel. I cannot go without filling in my eyebrows adn this is just one step no one should be skipping. (Eyebrows are the most important step. DON'T SKIP IT!)
The last product is my Rimmel Scandeleyes Retro Glam mascara. I would also suggest using waterproof mascara, but upon discovery today, mine was dried up, so I will be crossing my fingers and using this stuff sparingly.
I also have a small makeup bag and a travel irror with a normal and a magnified side on it that is perfect for ths trip.
Some other options would be concealer and an eyelash curler, but I didn't really feel like it was necessary since I am camping after all.
<3 Allison

My New "Vase" and It's Matching Eyeliners

All right, this post is mostly so I could take pictures of the new "vase" in my apartment, which is actually a cider bottle from Blue Bee Cider in Richmond, VA. I'm in love with their cider and in love with their label on the bottle so I asked Pete if we could keep it as an addition to our (very) minimally decorated apartment. He said yes and I got to buy a couple sets of fake flowers from the Dollar Tree yesterday to make this cute addition to our little apartment.

It's usually on our kitchen table but he's playing Borderlands at the table (no room for a desk in our little apartment...) so I had to move the "vase" to get a picture. I placed it on my red stool that my friends and I pulled/rescued from the bottom of the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg when I was a teenager. With a little paint, this thing was a good as new and a nice display for my new craft project.

I also dug through my makeup and found some eyeliners that corresponded with the color palette of the label a bit because this is a makeup blog. Just following the theme...

As most of you probably know by now, I'm a HUGE liquid eyeliner addict. I cannot get any other eyeliner right. Ever. So I always use liquid. I can get that crisp clean line I like and a perfect point on my everyday cat eye liner with it.

I usually stick with black but every now and then I go a little crazy and get colorful (or very sparkly). Here are three of my very fun liquid eyeliners that I use.

The teal Wet n Wild Mega Liner is one of my favorites (it also doesn't match the bottle as much as I'd planned but... it's fine). It's super cheap, bright, and fun. I used to wear it daily to spice up my work makeup when I worked retail and would get tons of compliments because it's fun and bright without looking too crazy.

The middle color is Elf Liquid Eyeliner in Copper. I actually bought a three pack of Elf liners at Christmastime in Big Lots just to get this liner. It's perfect for a New Year's look or a little sparkle and layers really well over black liquid liner.

The bottom line is Lush liquid liner/eye shadow in Fantasy. I bought this over Christmas when I went to visit Pete and his family in Bath, UK. I only went in for bath bombs and left with... well... bath bombs and some gold liquid liner. The sales girl really hooked me in and, honestly, this eyeliner was SOOOOOO worth the money. It's so beautiful and shiny, great for parties, and I love to go half gold, half black eyeliner just to add a little sparkle to my everyday look sometimes. The only problem is that it doesn't last as long as my other liquid liners so I do have to retouch it when going from day to night.

Tragedy Strikes

You know, I try very hard to wash my brushes and be very careful with them.

Then something like this happens:

And no, there is no glue in this apartment. I'm just using the sad, handle-less brush until I get myself some super glue or a new brush. Either way, sad day. 

Also, yes, this is a $1 E.L.F. brush. I know it was only a dollar and the brush isn't that wonderful but... I use it everyday so this inconvenience is... inconvenient.

 I'm just going to use this as a sign to upgrade to the $3 E.L.F. studio face brush.