Rescue Beauty Lounge - IKB: 2012 and Underwear, a preview...

This is a quick peek at the latest snag from the Rescue Beauty Lounge presale for the latest collection dedicated to Ji's biggest fans. It was a pretty neat contest - Ji asked her fans to submit their ideas for their fantasy nail colors. Almost equivalent to an essay writing contest we did as kids. She picked four winners.

Take a look a look here for the color lineup. I only had enough in my budget for just one color. It was a tough decision!

I thought I was done with blue polishes...again I THOUGHT....well that was until I stumbled upon IKB: 2012

(rescuebeauty.com)

IKB stands for International Klein Blue or Yves Klein Blue, a deep blue hue that the artist Klein used exclusively to convey his artistic concepts. in 1961, the French artist teamed with chemist to create his own particular brand of blue by mixing pure color pigment with a binding medium, polyvinyl acetate.

To the untrained artist eye (mine), it's a blurple (bluish-purple) and it's stunning. A nice alternative if you are not into bright summer tangerines/oranges. I also picked up Underwear, a white that turns most shades into almost neon shade when used as a base coat. I cannot wait to play and experiment.

Here's a quick swatch:

I apologize that IKB:2012 isn't as vibrant in my picture as it is in the picture from the RBL site. Hopefully, I can capture this in the sunlight as I plan to have this as my next pedicure shade. My only complaint is that it was streaky after two coats - I needed a third coat for even coverage.

Underwear is on my ring finger, obviously and I will show you what it looks like when layered with a bright pink and orange. The beauty of this 'liquid paper-esque' shade is that it gives the effect of a lit within nail shade when used as a base coat. I only needed one coat for opaque coverage.

Here are more bottle pics:

ikb:2012 looks like a navy blue so here it is in a flash photo:

You can see somewhat of it's vibrancy. Yes, I know I need to do more natural light photos.

ikb:2012 is already sold out but her fans are hoping that this will make another appearance. Underwear is part of the permanent collection but I think Ji hinted that once supply depletes, this color will be retired. I took that as a hint to grab this one now.

These were purchased by yours truly at http://www.rescuebeauty.com/

The Fan Collection shades are $20/USD
Underwear and older shades - $18/USD

How Many Black Eyeliners Can One Own?

Not enough! I review my latest black pencil find for M.I.S.S.

Read my thoughts and the reason why I have so many. Another reason I forgot to mention is because I have a rockstar and/or a roller derby girl stuck inside me!

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion and Why I Need Another Black Eyeliner

Birchbox: April

One word: BLAH

This month's theme is 'Natural Wonders' featuring skincare made with ultra nourishing natural ingredients. Yes, natural is a good thing but even sometimes too much of good thing just gets boring. I am actually excited about the full sized Pangea Organics Ecocentric Lip Balm, Egyptian Fennel with Grapefruit and Sweet Orange. Another item that looks promising: J.R. Watkins Foot Repair Salve, Peppermint. It's almost sandal season and who here DOESN'T need to moisturize those ashy heels?

Yes, I love trying new skincare but when you have sensitive, eczema proned skin you can be a bit leary to try so many new moisturizers and cleansers at one time. I think my monthly boxes are skincare heavy because of my profile.

There have been hits:

and

(Both images from Birchbox.com)

When asked if I were to spend big bucks on item what would it be - I answered 'FACE CREAM'. If this moisturizer and serum were not over $94, I'm pretty sure I'd own them both right now. My skin drank this stuff up. Right now I'm using stuff from the bonus Vichy Skincare box I was sent. It's not as great as these two items.

So I'm going to do a little experiment. I am going to change this answer monthly just to see how much my box will change. I changed my answer to 'FRAGRANCE' to see what I will get for May. Since I have been discovering more and more niche type fragrances, I'm curious to see if I'll get anything better than what I have gotten in the past. This month I received a sample of Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck. It's girly and I think much more suitable for a teen, young woman in her 20's or a young spirit woman of any age that loves a Freesia, Apple Blossom, Vanilla scent. I just found it too sweet for my liking and that's just from a whiff from the test bottle.

I am crossing my fingers that May's Birchbox is more exciting, if not more fragrant. But I won't be holding my breath!

Any other Birchbox subscribers bored with their boxes? Or is it just me bitching and complaining as usual?

Where Have I Been?

I know it's been a few days since I posted and for the first time it was not out of sheer laziness (shocker for me, actually). I have been spending time with my theater group acting as makeup artist for our latest show:

A quick story synopsis: Three homeless young adults are on the streets doing what they can: panhandling, performing at drag clubs and hustling with married men in order to raise money to avoid another bitter winter on the streets of Chicago for a new life in San Francisco. The story is also loosely based on Shakespeare's "Pericles".

It may not sound like a whole lot of makeup is needed and yes, that's somewhat true but I do need to make the characters look tired with my new favorite stage makeup item: Kryolan's Bruise Wheel (see below photos) and I get to apply artificial facial hair! This requires applying and removing spirit gum adhesive so needless to say, I will not be getting a manicure till the show wraps next month.

Here's where I've been hiding all last week after a long day at work:

You think packing makeup for travel is challenging - try editing your palettes, brushes, lipsticks, glosses and pencils for actors. It was trial and error but I will say that I have been having lots of luck with Urban Decay shadows, NARS blushes/lip palettes. I have also discovered the wonders of NYX lip liners and fake lashes. Of course there's a few MAC products thrown in for good measure. I am so glad I purchased that jumbo sized MAC makeup remover wipes there on the far right - the actors grab them right away after curtain call to let their skin breathe freely again. Another good purchase: spray bottles - one filled with water and the other filled with MAC Brush Cleaner. I am constantly cleaning brushes with these two liquids.

Both NAKED 2 and Ammo Palettes from Urban Decay have been getting lots of play on my actors' faces. I have gotten great color payoff under stage lighting with these shadows and yes, I do apply with a heavy hand!

Here is the Bruise Wheel I mentioned earlier with some other Kryolan base shades I purchased at the Kryolan shop. They are activated with water so I like to keep a water spray bottle handy. Also, there a black stippling brush up top there (propped up against the L'Oreal foundation bottle up top). That's been great to use with a matte black aqua color also from Kryolan to mimic a man's heavy 5 o'clock shadow. I am also happy to announce that I no longer have a fear of applying false lashes on another person. You just have to go for it and remember to let the glue dry for at least 15 seconds.

The delightful Will Dao as the transsexual character Gil. He asked me if we could try different eye shadows every performance - seriously, how could I say no to that? It's been such a blast doing makeup for him. I am sure my drag makeup could use some help but I am having so much fun learning along the way and I'm so thankful for Youtube tutorials to guide me!

The show just opened last weekend and we did well - we even got reviewed by online Asian American magazine, Hyphen.  The show runs till May 5, 2012.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area from now till then please stop by, support small local theater and allow to let you mind and heart open to this intense but truly wonderful story.

For tickets, click here.

I promise to try to post here and there. Maybe I'll update you with more looks I did for Will. So far we are loving Shattered (UD) on his lids.

M.I.S.S. Beauty Tip of the Week: Recreate the Runway 3.1 Philip Lim Fall 2012

My last recreate the runway post for Fall 2012:
M.I.S.S. Beauty Tip of the Week: Recreate the Runway 3.1 Philip Lim Fall 2012

These posts were pretty challenging but I had so much fun along the way!

Okay now that I'm done with Fall looks, I can go back to Summer gold/bronzey looks!

Sephora Sale Loot...

Today was the last day of the 15% off sale at Sephora stores and online. I just wanted to share just some of the items I purchased:

It's pretty modest but I did get some items I normally don't seek out when I'm in Sephora.

Lancome's Rouge in Love Lipstick, Violette Couquette (love this for the name alone, deep violet - a lot brighter than the picture. SORRY)
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil, Perversion (blackest black matte)
Make Up Forever Aqua Liner, #15 Iridescent Anthracite (gunmetal gray)
Sephora Healing Eucalyptus Cuticle Oil pen.

The item I'm most excited about is the Lancome lipstick. I have history with the brand - it's my first luxury cosmetic brand. I used it when I was in high school - I was lucky to have a mother that was obsessed with buying high end cosmetics. I blame her for my addictions (plural because she also love buying fragrances, like me).

I'll be posting on these items soon - more to come! Did any of you partake in this sale? Is your loot bigger or more modest than mine?

I Test Out Hand Lotion for missomnimedia.com

Here's my latest reveiw for missomnimedia.com. Want a hint of what it is?

Okay you win:

It smells really purdy!

March Favorites

I know, I'm late but this is not news to anyone. I got caught up with the Season 2 premier of Game of Thrones. Anyone else obsessed with this show?

Just me? Well I'm just pleased that this come along to distract me from waiting for The Walking Dead to start up again. Mad Men? Yes, of course I love Mad Men but I'm so far behind that I'm trying to catch up to the current season so unfortunately, I'll probably miss this season but by the time I'm caught up I can catch reruns on demand.

Okay, so now you know why this post on what I was loving in March is tardy.

Here we go:

From bottom left corner -
Chanel Soft Touch Eye Shadow single - Safari, taupe shimmer
MAC Cremeblush - Florida (bright fuchsia pink)
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer (reviewed here).
Chanel Jalousie Glossimer (bright fuchsia pink)
NARS Pure Matte Lipstick (raspberry, reddish pink)
MAC Cremeblush - Optimistic Orange (true orange)

As you can tell, I am craving bright summer colors and not a whole lot of makeup.

The creme blushes were a score for me from my local Company Store. These were featured in the MAC/Lilly Pulitzer collection - MAC in Lillyland back in January 2010. It was re-released for the Spring in the Shop MAC, Cook MAC collection. These are fun and I'm glad I was able to find it at a discount. I do love fun packaging but I love saving money more!

Optimistic Orange (left)
Florida (right)

Fun colors, right?

Here's a look I did using both Safari shadow and Jalousie gloss:

I apologize that you cannot see the shadow to clearly but I do like that it's not too plummy on me. Taupes tend to lean on the plum side with my skin tone. As far as the gloss goes - it's lovely and like with all Glossimers, it lasts for a good three hours. And it leaves a wonderful stain. I didn't find it settling into my lip lines - bonus!

You probably noticed that my hair is darker- I recently went back to my natural color and I am so happy that I did! I've had light brown/blonde J.Lo highlights for over a year. My hair was starting to show wear and tear - it was time to just give my locks a break. My hair looks healthier, I'm using less eye makeup and I can confidently wear bright colors on my lips again.

Here's a little compare and contrast with Valparaiso (NARS Pure Matte Lipstick):

And with dark hair:

I just felt that the lighter hair required more makeup just so I wouldn't look washed out. The dark hair tends to allow me to walk out with just berry cheeks/lips.

Also, I'll just be happy to save money on highlight maintenance - it gets ridiculously pricey!

I would like to announce my project for April:

I really didn't want to share this photo but I need to come clean. I'm currently addicted to purchasing fragrance decants and samples. The recent bottles of Frederic Malle and L'Artisan (bottom left corner) are current finds from ebay. EVIL.

I need to work my way through my stash and stop purchasing and going in on splits. That would mean I would have to stop reading my favorite fragrance blogs and quit associating with my fragrance buddies on Facebook.

I can't give that up - they would all kill me!

What are some of your favorites? Any new goals for April?