April Boxycharm Unboxing!

It's that time again!

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).

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.