April Boxycharm Unboxing!

It's that time again!

Tiny Ulta Haul!

A fun little haul! Also, sorry for all my sniffing. Springtime in Memphis means the pollen is out in full force!

As always I want to state plainly that this is in no way a sponsored video. I have zero affiliation with Ulta or any of the brands mentioned, and I purchased all of these items with my own money.

Espionage Cosmetics Backer Reward Part 2: Subscription Box Beta!

Hello Lovelies!

   I know I've been absent a little while, so I have something fun AND informative for you today!

   There was some VERY happy mail waiting for me when I got home yesterday. The second half of my backer rewards from the Espionage Cosmetics But Wait, There's MOAR kickstarter campaign, the very FIRST EC subscription box!!  

 

 

Missing the Warmth

Hello Lovelies!

     It's Friday!

     I don't know if many of my readers are very familiar with Memphis, but Spring here, means some of the most unpredictable (read: DRUNK) weather of our year. You can literally be wearing shorts & flip-flops one day & withing 24-36 hours it's icing/snowing. Our temperatures are CRAZY. I'm told it has something to do with not just our general geographic location, but our position on a bluff and on the Mississippi River. It's "super fun." (Where's that sarcasm font? It's 2015, shouldn't we have that by now?)

     ANYWAY

   Today is one of those gloomy, grey, cloudy days. It's only 43* as I write this. But on Tuesday & Wednesday...OH...it was ~80* of blue skies and sunshine. It was GLORIOUS. So today, my brain is trying to relive those beautiful days until we can get some more.

     If you're already tired of hearing me espouse the awesomeness that is T J Maxx, you might want to move along. If not, read on!

FOTD: Manic Monday - What I do when I'm running late...

Hello Lovelies!

     Hope you all had a phenomenal weekend. I know I did. Saturday, I got to take my daughter to the Ballet Memphis family day at the Botanic Gardens where she got to meet some of the ballerinas in their Swan Lake costumes & watch a few of the dances and do some fun crafts. Then she went to spend some time with my family while I met up with my friend Amber  for the reading flash mob at Overton Park (I'm reading John Green's An Abundance of Katherine's if anyone wants to know).Yesterday we had family lunch (joined by my friend Susan) at Asian Palace for the BEST dim sum in town, and then it was just a quiet, lazy, rain afternoon.
     But now. It's Monday.
     Boo!
     And just like every Monday, I struggled this morning to get my butt in gear, get my daughter & I out of the house & back to the real world. I don't know what it is, but so far I'm 30, and Monday's still hit me like a ton of bricks every single week. So what's a girl to do when she want's to look nice and presentable for work, but she's overslept by almost an hour and still has to get herself AND her tiny human ready? This girl LIVES by the words of Jeremy Renner.
     Yes.
     THAT Jeremy Renner.
     The Avengers' Hawkeye, Bourne Legacy's Aaron Cross, and The Hurt Locker's Sergeant First Class William James. King of resting bitch face. Super cool action dude. He has some thoughts on makeup. What the WHAT?!? Yup. Before becoming an actor Renner had several jobs, one of which was as a makeup artist! In 2012, while promoting (I think?) The Bourne Legacy, Renner was on Ellen, who asked about his biggest makeup tip he would give, and it's one I no live by on my busiest mornings.

That's it. That's all there is to it. Draw the attention to the center of your face and the two big focal points - your eyes and lips, and BAM. Done. Here's my (LESS THAN) 5 minute "Renner Approved" face:

You know what? I'm good! I mean it's a stunningly beautiful Spring day in Memphis anyway, so something light and fresh was already going to be my look, this is just how I did it (basically) running out the door. There are LITERALLY only four products on my face today: Naked 2 eyeshadow from the Naked Basics palette to fill in my brows, H&M clear brow gel to set that, Benefit They're Real on my lashes and MAC Nouvelle Vogue on my lips. That's it. I love a full face of makeup. I love sitting and playing with intricate eyeshadow looks. But hey, some days, a girl's got to just get moving!

March Boxycharm Unboxing Video is Live!

Loving this months box!

Tarte Promo code: BOXYAPRIL for 20% off from 4/1-4/10

Get your own Boxycharm at boxycharm.com OR you can use my referral:https://www.boxycharm.com/rewardsref/... & enter code WHUrVHBVWER4ZnZRSVZPbmhYUk1adGdrcElER0Nh­NEg= which (full disclosure) earns me "Charms" (points I can accrue to trade for bonus box items in the future).

Monday FOTD & OOTD: "The Devil's in the details, but the truth is there too." -Stephen King

Hello Lovelies!

     Okay, so maybe that quotation isn't the most on the nose, but it's one of my favorites & it's close enough. Take it or leave it. Haha. The point is though, that todays Face of the Day & Outfit of the Day both revolve around my love of details. Just those little bitty things that make a person smile, make something larger stand out, or make you stop and take notice. Today's details definitely do all three for me.

It's finally feeling like Spring time in Memphis! AKA: it's around 40* when I leave the house, but almost 80* by the time I get home in the evening. I'm also certain we'll have another cold snap / freeze before all is said and done. But who cares?!? Right now it is GORGEOUS and I am taking FULL advantage. A soft, pink-y, springy face pairs nicely with this awesome fox print dress from ModCloth. 

Read on for details!

Easily Change Day to Night Makeup Look for the Elvis Costello Show

Hello Lovelies!

       Hope everyone's week is going well; I know mine is! 

     SO. My dad's birthday is January 10th. Being so soon after Christmas makes finding gifts that he (a) wasn't given, (b) wasn't given a gift card for and bought himself can be . . . difficult. But this year I KNEW what to do! I got tickets for him & me to go see Elvis Costello. So happy! Dad had seen him several years back, but it was a first for me. It was a really awesome thing for us to do together. Anyway, the show was last night and it was so much fun. I'm a little bit in love with his current opening act Larkin Poe. They're really comprised of a full band, but this is Elvis' solo tour, so only the Lovell sisters (Megan & Rebecca) preformed. But let me tell you what. These ladies are AMAZING. So beautiful. So talented. And so So SO nice! Seriously, go like them on Facebook, then head on over to Amazon & get some of their music on vynil, cd, or digitally. 

     After their set I had to grab up their new (first full length) album on vinyl and a tee. They were kind enough to sign the record for me (as you can see) and they were both complimenting me on my nails. I loved the look on their faces when I told them these were just "cheap" Kiss fakes from Walgreens!! This pattern just feels so on trend for spring. It's geometric and a little bit tribal, and you can never really go wrong with black, white, and gold.

    Anyway, on to the makeup!
    Yesterday was a busy day. I get up and ready for work around 6:30am, and I knew I wouldn't have much time between work and dinner, or dinner and the show, so I had to do most of my makeup first thing, then plan just a couple little tweaks to turn things up for a night out. Cause hey, even Tuesdays can be a fun night!
     I decided my best/easiest/most time efficient course of action would be to spend my morning doing my full face / flawless skin routine.

flawless face 3/10/15 by kirby921

I followed this up with a quick swipe of my Benefit They're Real mascara to my lashes and Billion Dollar Brows Hint of Tint in Taupe on my brows, then I was off to work!

(*This was actually taken after work, but you get the idea)

Thanks to this excellent foundation (hahaha see what I did there ;) ), all I had to do to get ready to go to the show was rim my eyes with a really soft eggplant  eyeliner that I kind of smudged about with my pinky finger, slap on another coat of mascara and dress up my lips with the Rimmel London Show Off Lip Velvet in #307 Meteoric Matte. Annnnnnddddd..

(* Woah my left eye looks wonky here haha)

Tada! That's all! I'm all sassy-fied and ready for an awesome show using only 3 products! Seriously, I think it took me a grand total of MAYBE 3-4 minutes to get ready. So great.

MAC Cinderella Collection 6 Pan Eyeshadow Palette - Review and Swatches

Hello Lovelies!

       I hope everyone is doing well today & that you all had a wonderful weekend. I know I did! I spent Saturday evening out on the town celebrating the birthday of one of my all time favorite people, Amber of History & Pearls. I was also extra excited because I was finally out & showing off a look using the new Cinderella "Stroke of Midnight" Palette from MAC!

     Like so many beauty junkies out there, I was elated when I heard the news that MAC had teamed up with Disney to release this collection based on the new live action version of Cinderella. ALSO like so many others, by the time I was able to try and get items from this collection on the MAC website basically everything was sold out. The collection released in stores and at MAC counters (Memphis doesn't have a MAC store so I have to go to Macy's) this past Thursday and was selling out just as fast. Luckily, when I went, although many things were already gone, they did still have this palette which is what I was wanting most anyway. Read on to get some more details on this product and my thoughts about it.

Skin Care Snow Day

     Hello Lovelies!


     I don't know if you've seen by the news, but the Southeastern US has once again been hit by some ridiculous winter weather. It rained all day Wednesday, then the temps fell and we got (what is for here) tons of snow. There's about 5 inches in my front yard which is just crazy. Since Valentine's day, my daughter has had SIX snow days. Seriously, this is kind of unheard of here. I don't think we've had a winter like this since I was a child. With all that going on, I frankly just haven't felt the need to bother with makeup. BUT I HAVE been making sure to take care of my skin!

Beauty on a Budget

Hello Lovelies!

     I know it may not seem with it with the way the weather has been acting (at least here in the Mid-South), but Spring is just around the corner! If you're anything like me, that means you're starting to think about transitioning your daily makeup routine/looks to brighter, lighter, more pastel colors.

     Of course, I am a single working mother. I can't just go to Sephora or even Ulta & buy up the various collections of new spring/summer makeup. And that's a little bit of a bummer, cause we all love getting/having/using new products right? But it IS possible to find great deals on beauty products, everything from drugstore to high-end. I thought I'd share with you guys  where I find my deals and steals.

Espionage Cosmetics Kickstarter Backer Reward Unboxing/Haul Video! And Tons of Photos!

Here it is!

Comparing! Duochromes from Urban Decay, Kat Von D, & Wet&Wild!

     So, a few weeks ago I was watching a video about the Urban Decay Moonstone shadow singles from the lovely Phyrra Nyx. After seeing her swatches I immediately fell in love with the shade Solstice (described on Sephora.com as a "metallic pink-red w/ green 3-D sparkle and shift"). It looked GORGEOUS! I had to have it, so I popped over to the Sephora site. Sold out. Darn! I set it up so Sephora would email me when it came back in stock. A few days later it did, and I bought it straight away. And I was so glad I did because it sold out *again* that same day. Craziness. 

     The day it arrived, I was so excited. Then I took it out of the box. I'm looking at it, and I'm swatching it, and it really IS beautiful, but all I could think is, "wait, don't I already HAVE this color from somewhere else??" That's when I went looking in my collection. Wouldn't you know it, it seems I was right! I found my Kat Von D single duochrome shadow in  On the Road that I got last fall during the Sephora 20% off sale. And a few days after THAT I watched the beautiful Kathleen Lights' video using the Wet & Wild Comfort Zone palette which I ALSO have and realized the "Define" color from that palette is very similar as well. So I decided I wanted to do a compare & contrast post of all three for you guys!

FOTD 2/24/15

I'm just going to say it: I felt GORGEOUS yesterday! Seriously y'all. And, while I like to think I have pretty solid self-esteem, yesterday was an 11 on the "feeling good" scale.
Here's my face:

Right?....RIGHT?!?

I went for something, that was soft enough for my conservative job, high impact enough to be noticable & beautiful when I saw some people after work, and between those two things, it absolutely HAD to last ALL day, as I put this on at 6:30am and didn't get home till almost 9:30pm. 

I am SO SO pleased with the end result and will make a point to use this one again!

Here's what I used:

FOTD 2/24/15 by kirby921 

I gotta tell y'all, that Smashbox Smokebox II palette is a DREAM! I used my Chanel quad & Espionage Cosmetics anything shadow just as lighter grey transition colors. And I used every color in the Smokebox II except for the bottom left one. I am in LOVE. This palette (I think) was from the Fall 2012 collection (someone correct me if I'm wrong!), it is still available for purchase on Amazon for $37, but I snached it up from a Hautelook President's Day sale for only $15! Oh yeah! But I tell you, it came as part of a Smoke and Mirrors set, that included the palette, a makeup bag, a big eye crayon and their signature O-Gloss in gold-peach. So I absolutely would have spent $37, & it's still totally worth getting if you don't have it.

If you'd like a tutorial on how I did my eye look, or if you have any questions just comment down below.

And keep your eyes peeled, on Friday I'm going to be comparing three popular shadows from Wet & Wild, Kat von D, and Urban Decay!!

xx

K

Trying out Napoleon Perdis for the First Time

     SO! Here's a little confession about Kirby: I *LOVE* T J Maxx. Seriously. Love it. I have bought something from every department the offer at some point in my life. Just this week I snagged a GORGEOUS Rebecca Minkoff grey ultrafine merino wool cardigan (original price tag of $89.95 still attached) for $19.99! But the area I ALWAYS have to check out, is their beauty department. As with anything else at T J Maxx, it's hit and miss. But I pop in almost once a week just to have a quick look-see. Normally, if I get anything it's a brand I know and love, just on a good discount (in December, I snagged a TEN piece Kat Von D eyeliner set for just $6. Seriously. Amazing.), but sometimes I take advantage of their good deals to try out things I never have before. That leads us to the topic of this post!

My first post on this blog! Here's my Face of the Day for 2/19/25

Face of the Day 2/19/15 by kirby921 

Helloooo Lovelies!
Welcome to my new blog! I have some super fun plans for this puppy...: blogs & videos, unboxings & reviews, high-end/drugstore comparisons, I could go on and on!

This morning I wanted to share my Face of the Day with you! I went with plummy-mauves on the eyes and a matte, plum-ish berry-ish lip. It's basically all high-end today (minus the foundation & lipstick), but it's just cause I was in the kind of mood today. Usually my looks contain a more balanced mix. Oh well. I am in LOVE.

Here's the whole face:

And here's a close up on my eyes: 

It's subtle, but gives a really nice effect, I think. Anyway here's what I did:

Actually, first, I have to confide in y'all about something. Skincare. Yes, it is *very* important. However, that said, while I do a lot of steps in my skincare routine at night, I've never found anything that I liked putting on in the morning under my makeup. I have normal skin with an oily t-zone, so I really don't moisturize a whole lot. If anyone out there has any suggestions of products for me to try, leave 'em in the comments below & I'll check them out! I'm not picky about high end or drugstore, all natural & all that (I mean, who DOESN'T want to save money & prefer to know what's going on their face? But still, I'll try just about anything for a bit). 

Okay, now that that's out of the way, lets get down to business.