EDM

Last week I recieved my newest sample kit from EDM and finally narrowed down my HG mineral foundation colour for summer YAY!! And just in time to use the Yahoo group coupon code (I'm not sure if we can give it out, I think you have to be a Yahoo Group member.) You can alway sign up at the Yahoo group to search for the code at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/emusergroup/ it ends tommorrow and is for 10%, My summer colour is cool medium, I really find thier colour names and swatches to be innacurate as I'm usually a med/light, so I find that with EDM I really have to take advantage of thier free sample kit.

For the last little while I have been trying out a few different things. I have recently started the OCM and after an initial "purging" my skin is starting to look more "glowy" and is settling down nicely. After trying a mix of 50% mix castor oil and olive oil, I've settled on using closer to 10% castor oil to 90% olive. I was getting dry skin form the first mix. I think that I might try adding some almond oil to the mix after I find some at the grocery store.

I've also started using Monistat Anti-Chaffing gel (Soothing Care, unscented) as a primer and so far I like it. I've only worn it a few times so I can't coment on whether it has broken me out (Lumiere's did, do I'm really crossing my fingers), but I have found that it allows for smoother coverage and keeps the colour of the foundation truer (I find that sometimes when mineral foundation melds with my skin it can turn a bit darker/orangy).

What I'm waiting for in the mail:

EDM starter kit, with siesta blush, cool med foundation, medium concealer (I hope it's lighter than it looks in the swatches), tinted balancing powder & foundation brush.

Lure beauty:
Sample sized Mango face and body cream, Body butter in coconut, Eyebrow Fillers in Espresso and Hazelnut, Mineral veil.

Meow:
Frisky Sphynx FF in a munchkin jar.

What I want after my "no buy":

GOW (in the far future):
Lemongrass cleaner, Veggie base cream, Camellia oil.

TKB (in addition to supplies, when I need them)
Pearl powder sample, lip balm base sample, lipgloss tube x 1, apricot kernel oil sample.

Yay!!!

Yay! I didn't miss the Meow sale!!! I ended up purchasing a Flawless Feline munchkin in Frisky Sphynx and a few samples. I really can't wait to get it!

I was visiting my baby sis in the big city this weekend, and we had a lot of fun. We ended up catching the movie Ratatouille (super cute movie, the audience was even clapping and cheering in different parts, including me) and doing some shopping. My sis is just as addicted to hair products as I am to MMU, so I brought her a bunch of baggies of my creations and she sent me home with a few unused bottled of some hair concoctions (thanks sis). Well when her and I were applying our MU she looked at me and said "That foundation makes you look pale", she made this comment as one might say "oh, look it's sunny out" or "you have a fluff on your shirt" and of course I hear "You now have to start sampling all over again, and have been looking completely foolish all of this time, why didn't someone tell you that you've been looking like a mime, what will you do with all of the complely unusable foundations that you have amassed?". Now that I've come to my senses a bit I have realized that she may not have been completely accurate in her assessment, and since I did most of my sampling during the winter a lot of the colours can be used as winter colours (thank goodness for their long shelf lives). I have been suspecting that my winter colours have been making me look a little pale, so I had already started sampling a few darker colours from EDM.

I have been lusting after everyone's brush sets, I came ----><----- this close to ordering the Lumiere 9pc brush set but I really have to wait until next pay, I already spent way too much on my weekend away. Oh well. :( But now I don't have to worry that I'll run out of things to buy ;)

Lumiere, and patchwork faces

So, I gave Lumiere a better try. I think that last night I got a little carried away and applied it like I do Meow Purrrfect Puss, with a heavy hand. This morning I did my usual routine (moisturize, silica, concealer and foundation) and applied it with a lighter touch. The result was reallt smooth coverage and no "masky" feel. I find this foundation a bit more matte than EDM original glo, but goes on more "moisturizy".
I had a lot of fun last night re-trying all of my foundation samples, every time I get a new foundation in the mail I go swatch crazy and put just about evey half-decent-match-colours on my face in little patches on my face. my poor BF then gets recruited to pick the best match.

Here is a typical exchange:
"Which one matches best"
"I don't know, where are they?"
I point to my jawline.
"Ok, that one"
"Now look in natural light, which one now?"
"Maybe this, one" He looks at me to see my reaction "Well...maybe this one." then looks around me at the computer, I guess he considered that an acceptable answer.
"Your not taking this seriously, are you looking at my neck or my face?"
"Your face" he guages my reaction "..... well your neck....ok both"
Are you comparing it to my overtones or undertones?!?"
"what are those?"
"UUGGHH!" I stomp away, and pick my favourite one anyways.
(so far it's still Frisky Sphynx, boy am I ever hoping that Flawless Feline is my HG formulation).

Have I mentioned how much I love Cheval by Taylor Made? It's makes such a great wet liner! It's a dark browny plumy colour and it's matte and opaque. I have to get myself a full sized version of this, since I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to dupe this without a grinder.

New Colours

I've been on holidays the last couple of days, Yay! That's why I haven't posted a new entry in a little while. But I have been reading and catching up on the message boards, getting new ideas on how to spend my money. Today we took a trip to the city and ended up buying the much touted Urban Decay Primer Potion, (I must say that this stuff had better be good because it sure isn't cheap!) and some cute shoes for $20 (I love a bargain!).
I had some really good intentions to get get a lot done this weekend, although I procrastinated on a lot of chores I did end up formulating a new eyeshadow/liner colour in a dark blue-brown-purple colour and a pretty pinky mauvy blush that goes on pinkish-red.

I still can't get over how much different product you can get from just a few colours. I think that formulating my own colours have slowed down my spending on MMU a (teeny-tiny) little bit. Now when I see a great colour I try to dupe it before I buy, some times I don't quite get it and some times I get pretty close, but even if I get it wrong I still come out with a wearble colour. Now most of my spending is on lipgloss, and trying to find my HG foundation.

On another note, I am really liking wet n' wild lipglosses, I find that they have pretty good colour payoff for the price and they smell pleasant (vanilla maybe? it's definately a sweet smell). Some people might find the gloss a bit sparkly but I like a bit of sparkle for the summer, my fav colour so far is Mega slicks in Rose Gold. I also tried N.Y.C. lipglosses they also have nice colour, and are shimmery but don't smell as nice. You definately can't beat the price!

Money, Money

I've been thinking about how much money I have been spending on MMU. I did an informal tally of how much I have spent on MU in the past 2 months, and even with being generous (I mean, you can't really count brushes, right?) lets just say it was pretty heart-stopping. Especially for someone who's entire yearly budget was around $20 (not I'm not kidding if anything I am erring on the high side). This recent addiction is costing me a few pennies, and my list of "must-tries" is getting longer and longer by the day! I really must go on a "no buy", but every time I do another sale comes up, and then there's the fact that I still haven't found my HG foundation yet, and I'd love too try some MM lippies and.... well you get the picture.

Oh! I almost forgot. I got my travel sized Lumiere foundation in Flawless Face in med/light beige, and a sample of med/light cool. I'm having a hard time telling which one matches best, my face seem to have both pink and yellow undertones, and red overtones, plus my neck is a little bit more yellow. So far I'm leaning towards beige as a closer match. But I'm not sure if it's just becase I have a full travel jar of it. So far I'm finding the feel of it a little masky, but I'm reserving judgement until I give it a fair shake.

Storage and Brushes

I always like seeing other peoples storage and tools. I'm always on the look out for more things to spend my hard-earned money on (aren't we all ). I decided to post up my storage and brushed in the hopes that others will join in with their pics. Here is my storage case, right now I am using a Caboodle that I've had since I was 13 making it about...well let's just say a few years old. The other case you see is a little tackel/craft box I bout at the dollar store, I use it to store my own creations.

Here are my brushes:

On the top row is my Rimmel Kabuki & Lumiere Kabuki, from left to right on the bottom row is my Put Minerals Chisel brush, Clinique smudger, Pur Minerals Powder brush, some random eyeshadow brush, Clinique Blush brush, Everyday Minerals Flat Top, generic eyeshadow, American Painter #6 brush (which doesn't work well for wet application which is what I bought it for), 2 more generic brushes, & an American Painter 4300 Shader (which is awsome for wetlining).Well, there is my storage and tool stash, It's not too big yet but it's growing pretty darn fast!

On a different note;
I can't believe that I missed Meow's Fathers Day sale! I've been lusting after a Flawless Munchkin (what non-MMU people must be thinking I'm talking about )

Here is my current (ever expanding) list on what I'd like to buy:

GOW:

• emu oil
• squalene
• Lemon grass cleaser

Meow:

• Frisky Sphynx in Flawless (Can't believe that I've missed the sale!)

Taylor Made:

• Cheval eyeshadow

Everyday Minerals

• I'd like to sample some cool colours: Fair Med, Light Med, Sunkissed Fair.

TKB

• Extra Bright White mica
• Radiant Gold mica
• Oriental beige
• Sparkle turquiose
• More Soft colours
• Maybe some reflect colours
• And maybe another Sampler kit
  

Wow I've got to start saving some greenies!

Makeup Making Mania mmmmm...

Last week I went a bit loco. I was surfing TKB trading, drooling over their selection of micas,and thought to myself

"Surely I could make my own mineral makeup, It can't be too hard." Fast forward to last Friday, and what did arrive in my little back mailbox, but a huge envelope stuffed with makeup making ingredients. I've spent this weekend mixing up batches of eyeshadows and blushes.To make my colours I used TKB's Matte Eyeshadow Base , TKB's Softcolours (pre-mixed iron oxides, so that you don;t have to use a shearer) and various micas.

Making the eyeshadows and blushes are pretty easy (simply mix up various micas and iron oxides to create your colour and add some eyeshadow base, see this link for info on using the base: link ). The problem was with mixing the colours. It's way too easy to just keep adding colours, and end up with a muddy mess (I like to call them neutrals). I had to keep reminding myself to stick to mostly two primary colours to get the truest colours.

I really had a lot of fun making makeup, and if you've been thinking about trying it I'd really urge you to take the plunge. Now I've just got to find a cheap jar supplier (I'm almost out already).