EOTD: A Smoky Mistake.

I started a smoky eye for work, then they called and said that they were issuing a snow day. So I busted out my indie brands and created this mashup for you. Sadly, I made a huge mistake when I added pink below the eye because now I feel like I look so tired. Whoops.

In this look:

• Madd Style Cosmetix Optimus Primer Eyelid Primer
• Darling Girl Cosmetics Eye Base in Starry Night
• Glamour Doll Eye Loose Pigment in Obscura
• Madd Style Cosmetix Loose Pigment in Revenge
• Madd Style Cosmetix Loose Pigment in Adipose
• Madd Style Cosmetix Loose Pigment in Girl With the Most Cake
• Too Faced 3 Way Eye Liner
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Liner in Perversion
• Givenchy Phenom'Eyes Mascara in Noir

To the best of my knowledge, all of these items are vegan & cruelty free except for the mascara.  Also, don't judge my eyebrows.  They've been growing in for a while, but much like my natural hair color, it's still a total mess.  And yeah, I look exhausted in the inner corners of my eyes.. cause I am.  I work retail and it's the holidays, haha.  One night of sleep will sadly not get rid of that darkness.. it'll be gone soon though.

Last Night's FOTD: goth slash industrial style

Last night j0hn & I were guest entertainers at Acidic Trends presents: Triage.  We both donned nurse dresses, boots, and lots and lots of black paint (j0hn moreso than me).  The colors on my face are mostly from a Revlon cream palette, as well as some Ben Nye.  As far as regular cosmetics go, there some ELF liquid eyeliner, NYX black eyeshadow and a combination of MAC and Beauty Without Cruelty lipsticks.  Oh, and the mascara was the beloved Tarte Gifted mascara.  I think I set my makeup with the ELF HD powder.

j0hn had on lots of black paint, ELF liquid liner, Pumpkin & Poppy foundation, and a combination of Wet N Wild's Panther and MSC's Bitten for eyeshadow.  His lipstick is Black Radiance, for all of you goth kids trying to find good black lipstick on a budget.

FTC:  The BWC lipstick was sent to me for use and review and I received the mascara from work.  j0hn may or may not have gotten Bitten when he was a model for MSC.  He isn't anymore, sadly.  We used these cosmetics because we like them, and these are our honest opinions.

Sephora Lash Plumper mascara ftw.

Inspired by Mo's new post here about her favorite liquid liners, I decided it was nigh time I wrote about my favorite mascara. While I am well aware the liners and mascaras are hardly the same thing, just.. stay with me here.

It was the summer of 2010.  I was approaching my 23rd birthday and I got those emails to remind me, "Hey dumbshit, it's your birthday!  You get free stuff this month!"  Oh, glorious day!  I rounded up the locations where I was entitled to free-ness in celebration of my birth, and headed out the door.

I saved what is almost always the best for last: Sephora.  Sephora had an amazing gift in 2010 (and 2009, and 2011, and though it isn't my birthday yet, as an employee of Sephora I am well aware that the gift is pretty damn cool this year as well) and this gift literally changed my life.  Well.. it changed my life in so much as finding your holy grail mascara can.  I know, epic.

I won't lie, I had to cheat and look online to see what else was in the gift that year (and you can cheat and look here if you forget, too).  It was a silver green nano liner, a tiny size of Aspen Summit eyeshadow, and *cue harps* the Lash Plumper.  They were all Sephora brand, and in a quick rundown for a review:
1. Silver Green nano liner - good liner, horrid color for me
2.  Aspen Summit - I still have this tiny guy and he is doing doing a great job as an inner corner highlight
3.  Lash Plumper mascara - this changed me

This mascara is perfect [FOR ME].  It isn't too wet, it isn't too dry; and it's buildable.  It doesn't flake, it doesn't budge, but I do suspect it is the product at the end of the day that gives me a hell of a fight to remove.  It's okay, I still love it, and wear it every day without hesistation.

Since trying the product for the first time in July of 2010, I have tried other mascaras, always on the quest to try exciting, new things; but I have always returned to my beloved Lash Plumper mascara.  At a measly $12 a tube, it's not much more than what you'd pay at the drug store.  Yet it performs like so many of the high end mascaras that it is constantly surrounded and mocked by.  I don't know if I actually think the two are dupes, but it and the Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! mascaras are the only ones I've ever even considered repurchasing.

I guess there will be a comparison in the new future.  I can't just leave it at that, can I?

For nostalgia's sake: My full size I'm currently working on & the original tiny size I received for my birthday.

FTC:  Although I initially received the sample size of this mascara as a free perk, I have paid for all additional tubes with my own money.  These are my honest opinions.

Recap of October/November!

As November comes to a quick close (what happened to it?!), I am left to reflect on a busy and exciting two months.

October was all about Halloween, both in cosmetics and in the fact that I worked management in a Halloween Express.  Can I just say that the owner of the company is by far one of the nicest, self-motivated and wonderful people I have ever met?  Working for her, and the rest of the Halloween Express team, was a fantastic experience and I look forward to next season.  I already miss my "bosses" and my crew.  Motley as we were, we had a lot of fun as long as everyone was pulling their weight.

I got to attend a couple of Halloween events at local clubs, but I actually avoided house parties this year.  I also attended a costumed wedding (congratulations to Shaun & Jenna! ♥) and met one of my favorite musicians this year (a mister Wednesday 13, who complimented my outfit), so all in all, it was an exciting Halloween.

October gave way to November, and I relunctantly entered a month that only reminds me that the cold and Holiday Cheer are on their way.  If hating the holiday season is so goth of me, so be it.  I am not a fan, nor have I ever been.  Halloween has always had my heart.

With November came one ray of light; I started seasonally at Sephora.  I am working as a seasonal cashier, but I'm hoping that the management will agree that being a permanent member of their team is where I belong.  I already adore everyone I work with, which is not something I expected.  Usually when you get that many fabulous people into one location, at least one person is a little catty.. but that isn't the case at all.  Everyone has been super patient with my n00b questions and have been nothing but friendly to me.  I really hope I get invited to be a permanent member of the team at the end of the season, but we'll see what happens.

The aforementioned Shaun & Jenna comprise Movietown Photography, whom I recently did an amazing zombie photoshoot with.  I played both model and makeup artist, and even taught Shaun how to create face texture for zombies.  He kind of made a prosthetic by the end of it all, haha.

My Nightmare Before Christmas contest and giveaway launched on Thanksgiving, the theme is in honor of both Black Friday and the Holiday Season and all of it's Holiday Cheer.  [Does my use of capitalization on non-proper nouns make the grammar nazi in you scream?  It makes me cringe, personally; but not anymore than the Holiday Season itself.]

I've also started my holiday looks, in true Beth Br00tality fashion; a soft green eye look with dark lips.  It's a very goth Christmas around the Br00tality/1313 homestead.  j0hn's dad called him yesterday to inform him that he bought us a bright pink tree.  Pre-lit and everything; that man is my hero.

Let's back up for a moment and speak some more on the subject of j0hn's father.  Shawn [1313] is a wonderful, considerate, kind man who is honestly just a good person.  He tries to keep the peace and find the good in all.  He, however, is not naive or stupid, either.  He's very intelligent actually.  I see a lot of j0hn when I see his father; many of his good qualities come directly from him.  This is a man who doesn't necessarily "get" why j0hn and I choose to refrain from eating animals, will defend our choice to any and all who dare attack our beliefs, and even went so far as to track down a Tofurkey roast to make at Thanksgiving.  Then, he even cooked it.  And it was freaking DELICIOUS.

So all in all, the last two months have been good.  j0hn and I have also moved into a new apartment, but more on that when I have a house tour ready to debut. ♥

RELEVENT LINKS:
Contest/Giveaway:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HafAMOVTKHQ
O Christmas Tree Look:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyNhYnjfNr4