Jouer

For those of you wondering, I've been interested in makeup since I was a teenager. I used to do my girlfriends' makeup. At the time I was mostly interested in eyeshadow; I still am though my interest has expanded since then to a full range of products, from inexpensive to high end. I got into high end because drugstore brands at the time were not highly pigmented, causing them to be ashy when applied to darker skin. I was reminded of this when I couldn't resist buying one of those 120 eyeshadow palettes at a Ross in El Paso this summer. It cost like $8, so how could I resist???  Anyway, though the colors looked rich in the pan, almost every color looks like metallic silver on me. The palette didn't travel well either - several of them had crumbled into quite a mess by the time I go them home. Luckily, drugstore brands - of all kinds of makeup - have significantly improved since I won't tell you when. I was encouraged to see the wide range of foundation colors at CVS a few weeks ago, and the big high end names have a much wider range of colors than they used to.

I don't always use foundation, but I sometimes wear it if I want a more polished look. One of my Oprah discount purchases was Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint.

It's oil-free and SPF 20.  Unfortunately they don't have a wide range of colors, but their darkest, Dark Bronze worked for me. The moisturizer is a little heavier than the Bobbi Brown and the now defunct Prada tinted moisturizers I've tried, and hides flaws and slight discoloration better. The finish is perfect: not too dry, not too moist, and it really illuminates.

Jouer sent samples, including the small travel size of the color I bought, which are available in sets of four.  I'll be buying more. They also sent a sample of a lighter color what doesn't quite work for me, but I will try to blend it with a slightly darker foundation to make the perfect color. I'd like to try their other products. Jouer's not sold here in DC, but I feel that got so lucky choosing a foundation color, that I'll risk ordering some of their other products.

Penelope

I am knitting.  Yes.  I'm knitting a wool skirt in the round, Penelope, from Perl Grey Studios.  I picked up this kit while on a business trip to Miami a few months ago.  I made it all the way there without knitting project in hand, but I had planned to visit a local yarn shop anyway.

It was a cute little shop - can't recall the name, but the staff was very friendly and helpful.  But I have to say I was amazed that they only seemed to have wool there in June.  No warm weather yarn like bamboo, cotton, or silk.  The lone yarn shop in El Paso, a city known for its hot summers, doesn't carry any warm weather yarn either.  Why is that? 

Anyway, I fell in love with the semi-solid aqua color of the yarn, it's knit in the round, so it's easy.  I'll make it shorter than it is in the photo - probably around the knee.  It's got an interesting hem scheme that requires a provisional cast on then joining it to knit in the round.  I couldn't manage joining 200 some stitches without ensuring that it wouldn't be twisted, so I cheated.  I knit in stockinette until the correct number of rows for the hem were completed.  I purled one row to create the fold, then joined it.  That was much easier.

My guess is the cheat won't be visible since it will be on the wrong side.  If not, I'll have to frog.  I've done that before.  Whole sweaters, in fact.  I don't have as much time as I'd like to devote to it - I'm limited these days to knitting in transit to work.

Did you visit the Urban Decay sale at HauteLook today?  What did you buy?  It was wild - I think the traffic for the sale almost crashed the site.  I scored one of my favorite lipglosses, Gash, and some eyeliners, which are among the best.  I missed out on the eyeshadow primer.  Everyone wanted it and they sold out in no time.  I could have used in primer in Miami...my makeup lasted 15 minutes while I stood waiting for a cab back to the hotel.  Oddly, the only cool place was the beach!  I loved Miami though:  I loved the Cuban food, I got a good Cubano, the best Cuban coffee, and scored some Cuban bread, and mojo.  I'll just have to go back at a different time of year.

Rock and Republic "Tempting" Eyeshadow

It's so frustrating when makeup lines are discontinued.  Prescriptives?  Gone.  Tony and Tina?  Gone.  Tony and Tina made the best brushes.  This Rock and Republic eyeshadow in "Tempting," has become one of my favorites.  It's hard to tell from the photos, but this rich taupe has a hint of mauve in it, and anything that is even remotely in the purple family always captures my attention.  Well, not everything, but this is well done. 

The shadow is richly saturated with a bit of shimmer, but not frosty. I imagine it will look great with a plum eyeliner and plum or purple mascara. I bought it during a two-day sale on one of those online sample sites. It's sold out on the Rock and Republic site, so I'll be keeping eye on eBay.

For those of you who are interested, Stila goes on sale Monday, Aug. 23 on Hautelook and Urban Decay on Wednesday.  (Full disclosure: the Hautelook link is a referral link.)

I have been buying more makeup than yarn lately, thanks to a natural inclination and Oprah's discounts last month.  I bought deeply discounted products that I've dying to try.  I'll post those later as well as the Colourmart cashmere blend that arrived last week.  I'm not sure it matches the Habu but it's beautiful!

Blog Change

I inadvertently changed my blog last weekend.  I wanted to install a label cloud and while tinkering I clicked on "upgrade," not realizing that I would lose data.   Further tinkering recovered many of my links, but my buttons are gone.  I suppose in this Ravelry age, not many of us are collecting buttons and badges anymore (are we?), but I wish I had mine back just for sentimental reasons.  They reminded me of the knitting contests I entered, the knit-a-longs I joined, the first knitters I met online.  Even the bars that showed the projects I never finished!  I know that as I read your blogs I'll find some of those old buttons and I will attempt to recover them.   I won't revert to the Classic Blogger - I've discovered that the newer version has many features I like that aren't available for Classic.  But I wish I had saved my old blog's HTML code before I started playing around.  Be warned.

Tinkering is easier and faster - and more dangerous - now that I have a new laptop.  I'll continue to refine this blog, and hopefully be as pleased with it as I was the last.

I am still knitting.  The shawl is stalled again.  The yarn that I thought was right, wasn't when I took it out into the sunlight.  I need the knit police here to advise me.  I have one more source to try:  Colourmart.  they make an interesting looking silk blend in a colorway called "Lemonade."  They've been out of it forever. 

Decided to check - they had one cone left!  I hope it will be a better match than what I'm using now.  If not, I know I'll use it for something else.  Priscilla made a pair of socks out of it and it was beautiful.  In the meantime, I'm working on a skirt from a kit I bought in Miami a couple of months ago.  Photos will follow later. 

I got some useful make up tips this week.  The first came from Afrobella in a blogpost entitled "Stop the Shining."  I didn't follow every step because I don't have all of the products, but I used the Smashbox primer that's been sitting in my train case for years, which made a big difference in this humid weather we're enduring right now.  So, step by step, I applied  in the following order:  primer, tinted moisturizer, my new tarte bronzer,

then finally loose translucent powder.  The primer improved the look of my makeup and it faded less than usual.  I also have some of those Tatcha Aburatorigam Blotting Papers Afrobella raves about.  I swear by them. 


Rather than apply powder directly onto my oily face, I blot first.  I've experimented with several brands of blotting papers including Shiseido; Papier Poudres, which are so small that I have to use two sheets every time I blot my face in the summer; some drugstore brands and others. The Tatchas are faves these days.  They're bigger than most and don't leave powder behind.  I haven't seen them here in the DC metro area - I bought some in San Francisco a few months ago, and they're available online at Tatcha.com, with free shipping.

By the way, we're entering the last week of Oprah's deals.  Beauty Habit  is offering 25% off its products, code word OPRAH at check out.  They sell Tatcha blotting papers too. 

The second tip came from a woman I met in passing.  Her makeup was lovely and I had to ask what products she used.  Turns out she studied at Barbizon way back when, where she was taught to use flesh-colored (whatever ever matches your skin color) eyeshadow as a concealer.  I thought that was a brilliant idea especially for women of color.  I have dark circles under my eyes these days that I struggle to hide. I've  used several products, most of which only do a so-so job.  I use Giorgio Armani Master Corrector in shade #2, which really does work, but in this humid/oily season, powder eyeshadow might be even better.  I bought Urban Decay's Naked Palette which has a matte color that's perfect for me.  Wonder how eyeshadow might even out skin tone on other parts of my face.

I've also read on a few blogs that if you're having trouble finding tinted moisturizer, you can make your own by adding a few drops of your foundation to whatever moisturizer you use. 

Back to purging makeup and stuff.  I'm having a hard parting with makeup - it's kind of like my attachment to Habu.

Yarn Sale

It's time for a destash.  If you're interested, check out the details here.  There are only a couple of things now - I plan to add more gradually.

Thank you, Oprah!

I got a new Dell laptop and printer, and wireless mouse at 30 percent off via one of O magazine's deals of the day.  I know Dell frequently runs sales, but this offer came in the nick of time.  I needed a new laptop - my old one is at least six years old, ancient by techie standards.  It is impossibly slow and starting to freeze, so it was about time.  My old printer had quit printing.  O's August issue is full of deals and discounts on cosmetics, home goods, clothes, and lots of other stuff.  (But no yarn!)  It's worth checking out if you haven't already.  The offers are good until August 13th, I believe.

One of the deals is at Beauty Habit for 25% off, code word at check out is OPRAH.  I got to try out some products I can't find in DC.  There are other makeup deals too, too many to name here.  I haven't been reading knitting blogs much lately, but I have been reading makeup blogs.  I'm a makeup addict as much as I am a yarn addict.  I can't resist it - from inexpensive to high end.  I will sell some of it periodically, if I can bear to part with it!  I'm running out - have run out - of room for yarn and makeup (Deb, Debbie, and Olga - don't y'all dare laugh!)  But I'm looking forward to the new Giorgio Armani Fall 2010 collection.  Check it out at Beauty Anonymous.  Armani's a little late with the blue nail polish, but I'm glad to see he hasn't given up on polishes in general.  It's one of the best formulas around.

ETA:  Chanel is offering complementary standard shipping on their products until August 8, 11:59pm EST.

Any other makeup addicts out there?