White Wedding: Happy Anniversary, Husband!

Four years ago, Husband and I were married!

We had a lovely ceremony at a historical meeting house followed by an awesome reception at Fox Hill Inn in Brookfield, Connecticut.

(I debated posting the location of our reception site, but finally decided to go ahead and do it because (1) we live nowhere near it and (2) I want to prove Husband wrong that none of my readers are crazy and will now build a time machine solely for the purpose of going back in time four years to the Fox Hill Inn to somehow prevent our wedding reception from ever happening.)

We originally picked our wedding date more than a year earlier (in January 2006); however, in September, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. For a few days we considered postponing the wedding because we were unsure of whether she'd be healthy, but in the end kept the original date. This turned out to be a good thing since it was the healthiest period she had following her diagnosis.

Since Husband refuses to allow me to post photos of him, it's hard to end up with a photo montage that isn't just completely of me, but here are a few other shots from the day that hopefully he'll approve of!

The kiss! I sobbed through the entire ceremony, but luckily managed to get it together

for the good stuff at the end!

Me, Husband, and my parents after the ceremony.

A family favorite: me and my awesome sister and best friend, Suzanne.

Getting ready to bust a move on the dance floor.

So many people told Husband and I during our reception that they loved how we were having a good time. We were so puzzled. Do most people not have a good time at their own wedding reception? I guess if you allow the stress of creating the "perfect day" get to you, then it might be difficult to less loose and have fun. Husband and I were totally not worried about that and had a blast dancing the night away with friends, reconnecting with family who had traveled shocking distances to celebrate with us, and chowing down on the post-dessert Venetian table (best wedding idea ever!)

Husband says that his one regret with our wedding was that he didn't ask for a "Surf and Turf" dinner option. We had selected crab cakes and fillet mignon as our entrees and he's sure that if he had asked the Fox Hill Inn to put one of each on his plate, they totally would have. He's managed to turn his own mistake into a positive thing for other couples and now many of our friends who have subsequently gotten married have asked for, and received, the Surf and Turf option.

We're celebrating tonight with dinner at a super snazzy restaurant and then showering each other with gifts of the Fruit and Flowers variety (the traditional gift for the 4th anniversary). We both like to be a bit creative with our presents so hopefully we don't end up with forty pounds of apples sitting in the kitchen tomorrow morning!

I'm very lucky to have Husband and don't tell him nearly enough how wonderful he is and how much I love him! These four years have flown by and I can't wait for what the future has in store for us!

Happy Thursday!

tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Shadow Pot with Brush Review

My obsession with cream eye shadows continues. I originally started experimenting with cream eye shadow when I purchased Smashbox Cream Shadow Liner in Starstruck for $5 at Sephora! The product is mislabled on the website as Jet Set Eyeliner, but it is definitely the cream shadow liner. I immediately loved it and began wearing it at least once a week to work in combination with a variety of different eye liners.

Back in November, I spotted tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Shadow Pot with Brush on QVC. I was intrigued and added it to my Christmas list. My sister-in-law purchased it for me in Slate and I finally received it when we celebrated our late Christmas a few weeks back.

Since then, I've worn this shadow several times, including to my first session with my new psychologist. Let me just say this: they aren't kidding when they say "waterproof". Once this stuff is on, it's on until I remove it at the end of the day with my philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser.

Here I am wearing only the tarte eye shadow.

As you can see, the Slate color is actually more of a bronze-gold, which I love. My favorite powder eye shadow is Clinique's Colour Surge Eye Shadow Super Shimmer in Rum Spice and this tarte shadow is the perfect cream counterpart to that lovely shade.

According to the tarte website, their "high-performance natural™ Amazonian clay is nature's most perfect ingredient, lending deep color pigments while nourishing skin, reducing surface oil and improving overall texture for smooth application."

I have to admit, that they're description of what the Amazonian clay accomplishes is pretty accurate. This product reminds me of a talc in that it goes on creamy and then dries enough that it doesn't smear. However, it also manages to not dry out so much that my eyelids get cracked or dry.

The brush is great and part of the reason why I wanted this specific product. Up until receiving this brush, I'd been having difficulty applying the cream shadow to only my eyelid. No matter what I did with the prior brush, I'd end up with cream shadow in my crease and creeping up towards my eyebrow. Not flattering. I do wash my brush after every use so the cream shadow doesn't get the brush all crusty and clumpy.

Because I'm never one to be happy with wearing just eye shadow, here I am with my finished eye look.

Products and tools used:

Bare Escentuals Dark Brown shadow from Meet the Browns

bareMinerals Eye Defining Brush

Smashbox Jet Set Liner in Dark Brown

Smashbox Arced Eyeliner Brush #21

The lady at the Bare Escentuals store that I visited a few weeks ago showed me how to use a dark color in my crease and I'm so glad she did! I'm such a fan of this semi-smokey look! The already ridiculously cheap Meet the Browns kit was an additional 25% off during a Sephora promotion right around New Years and I just couldn't stop myself from picking up these three full sized brown shades!

And the Jet Set Liner is fast becoming one of my favorite eye liners ever: I clean my brush every day and make sure the cap is tightly closed and mine has lasted for months! I wish I could wear it on my inner rim like the models do, but unfortunately my gas permeable contacts make that rather uncomfortable.

Is it weird that I'm seriously considering Lasik surgery so that I can use a specific eye liner technique? 

My biggest complaint about the tarte cream shadow is that I can't find it available anywhere without the brush. I didn't mind the $22 price tag when a brush was included, but I don't want to have to rebuy the brush just to get the other shades! I couldn't even find the cream shadow available on the tarte website!

I'm hoping that means that the product was a QVC exclusive and it will start appearing elsewhere soon because I really would like to pick up a few additional colors of this cream shadow. I'm definitely a fan!

Happy Tuesday!

Bare Escentuals Makeup Review

After my review of Bare Escentuals High Shine Eyecolor last week (click here), I received some questions about Bare Escentuals foundation.

I've been using Bare Escentuals foundation since June 2010. A co-worker (and QVC-obsessed partner-in-crime) brought a small sample of Warmth and full sized versions of Original SPF 15 Foundation in Medium Beige and Mineral Veil for me to try. I was immediately impressed and ordered the bareMinerals Makeup Revolution 6-Piece Starter Kit in Medium Beige.

This starter kit is great. It comes with a foundation, concealer bisque, and mineral veil along with two brushes and a lip gloss. It lasted a rather long time (through the fall of 2010) and my only complaint is that the lids were too small for the swirl, tap, and buff method that you're supposed to use to apply the makeup. Luckily once I got full sized versions, that problem was resolved.

As to the color, I never in a million years thought that I'd wear a shade as dark as Medium Beige. The description is "for medium skin with neutral undertones" so even though the shade appears to be in the middle of the foundation spectrum, it really is the color that is designed for most people. The lighter shades in the Bare Escentuals line are really light and in my opinion foundation that is a shade too light looks more ridiculous than foundation that's a shade too dark. With Bare Escentuals, you can also control how much of the foundation you use so I've managed to continue using Medium Beige into the winter by just using a light touch during application.

So here I am without any makeup on. I washed my face using philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash and applied philosophy Hope in a Jar and Hope in a Tube. Then I waited at least fifteen minutes before applying any makeup (this is a tip I've heard from a few different sources. Your moisturizer needs time to absorb and if you apply your foundation too quickly, it ends up absorbing into your skin along with your moisturizer. Yuck!)

First, I use the Maximum Coverage Face Brush to apply Bisque concealer. This part is the most important step as far as I'm concerned. I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and one of the side effects is acne so I tend to get small blemishes and scarring that I need to cover. My problem areas are on my chin and along my cheek bones. The brush does an amazing job of covering up every discoloration. Because of the high concentration of makeup that goes on this brush, I wash it every few days. The good news is that Bare Escentuals brushes dry overnight!

Here I am after using the Bisque concealer.

Second, I use the Full Flawless Application Face Brush to apply Original SPF 15 Foundation in Medium Beige. The proper method to apply the foundation is to put a bit of it in the lid of the container, swirl the brush in the lid, and then tap the excess off the brush. The new invention is a locking sifter lid which I highly recommend. It's never nice to be able to tap out what I need and then close the sifter so it doesn't spill out all over the place. When it comes to Bare Escentuals foundation, it's really trial and error to figure out the right amount to use. If I tap out too much, I just tip it back into the container and use it the next time.

After I'm happy with the coverage of the foundation, I finish off the look with Mineral Veil. In a perfect world, I'd have a second face brush, but I don't so I use the same Full Flawless Application Face Brush which seems to work just fine for now. Mineral Veil doesn't have any color to it: the idea is that it minimizes lines, absorbs oil, and softens your complexion. I'm not posting that picture because since Mineral Veil is translucent, it looks basically the same as the previous picture.

Finally, I applied Warmth with the same Full Flawless Application Face Brush. I still use the same small container of Warmth that my coworker gave me last June. I use it very sparingly and not every day. It ends up looking like a mild bronzer, not too dark but a bit of color across my face.

Here's the finished look.

Once I'm done applying my Bare Escentuals foundation, I apply the rest of my makeup. The whole process takes some getting used to and in the beginning, it took me nearly twenty minutes to apply everything to my liking. Now I'm down to about five minutes total, which isn't that bad as far as I'm concerned.

Here's the first photo and the last photo side-by-side for comparison purposes.

It's hard to really tell the difference from one picture to the next and honestly the entire look ends up being really subtle, but frankly that's why I like it. I've never been someone who liked heavy foundation so this works perfectly for me. And it's so lightweight! I don't feel like I'm wearing any foundation at all which is great, especially in the summer when the idea of a lot of makeup just feels miserable.

I definitely recommend going to a Bare Escentuals store if you are near one. They'll do a consultation with you, show you how to apply everything, and help you pick out the perfect shade. If you don't have that as an option, get a small starter kit, like I did, so if you end up with the wrong shade or it just doesn't work for you, you aren't breaking the bank.

Good luck and happy shopping!

Bare Escentuals Review: High Shine Eyecolor in Glisten

Last week a girlfriend and I stopped in at the Bare Escentuals store at our local mall. I've used the foundation for about six months and was raving about it. My friend was curious and made an appointment with a consultant to try it out. Never one to turn down a makeover, I met with a consultant as well for some tips on using Bare Escentuals eye shadows, which I've been dying to try.

While we waited for our appointments, I spotted the High Shine Eyecolor and thought it looked pretty great. Ultimately, I ended up buying another product, but when later that evening I needed to spend an extra $15 at Sephora to get free shipping, it seemed like a great idea to add this particular shadow to my cart. I picked the color Glisten, a bronze shade, because it's unlike anything I currently own and I'm always excited to try new makeup looks.

My Sephora order arrived on Tuesday and I was eager to try out my new products right away.

Here's the final results. To make sure that the focus is on the eye shadow, I'm not wearing any other makeup.

Products used:

Bare Escentuals High Shine Eyecolor in Glisten

Bare Escentuals Dark Brown Eyecolow from Meet the Browns Shadow Kit

Mally Milk Chocolate Eye Liner from Prime Time Evercolor Starlight Liners

My biggest complaint about the High Shine Eyecolor is that it's a freakin' mess. Seriously. Can you see the little gold speckles across my cheeks? The only way I could ever wear this in public is if I did my eyes first, used makeup remover to tidy up, and then put on my foundation afterwards.

I think part of the problem with this product is that when it's brand new, the product just collects on the applicator. You can see that the color extends far beyond the sponge applicator tip. In the store, when I was trying out this product, it was less messy which I can only assume was because the product had been opened for a while and was less full. If you can get past the initial messy stage, it seems to get slightly better.

The product goes on smoothly and the color is bright without being too glittery or young looking. In retrospect, I wish I had chosen a darker color because the gold isn't really doing much for me. To try to give my eyes more emphasis, I blended some of the Dark Brown eyeshadow into the crease and used my Mally eyeliner.

The final look is nice enough, but it really didn't wow me. If I'm going to alter my makeup routine completely to account for all the mess that this product will make, I want the results to be fabulous. Perhaps a different color would win me over, but Glisten is going back.

I did receive some other goodies in my Sephora order that I'll review soon!

Happy Wednesday!