I’ve always loved red lipstick. My grandmother, Doris, always wore a nice red lip. She preferred Fire and Ice by Revlon. Growing up, there were different trends in lipstick- the super gloss of the 70’s, the frosted lip of the 80’s, the nude and chocolate lip of the 90’s and so on. I tried them all, but I love coming back to the classic red lip.
Fire and Ice has too much of a warm undertone (yellow tones in the red) for me. I prefer the cool toned reds (blue tones in the red). How do you know which red is for you? Best way is to try them on in store. Take selfies and then compare them. Warm tones tend to work with people with darker skin, but the photos you take will show you which one is better for you. Take a look at the pictures below for examples. Russian Red is the cool toned red and Lady Danger is the warm toned red.
Once you know if you prefer warm or cool, then it is way easier to buy a red from any brand. Then you need to decide if you want matte or gloss finish and the level of pigment. That is purely a matter of preference.
I have some links in a variety of price points below. These are all cool toned reds, for reference.
We have had a lot of requests recently for what make-up and skin care products we use, so I’ve compiled a list here with shopping links, where available. I’ve also included information if a product is a good dupe for something more expensive, and vice versa, I found good less expensive dupes. All products are products that we currently use.
Obviously, everyone is different, so please bear that in mind when trying out something new, particularly with skin care. My skin is very dry, same as most middle-aged people. Benji’s is oily, same as most teenagers. So, keep that in mind and get shopping!
Skincare
All Photos: amazon.com
Benji uses ProactivMD, which is the stronger version of Proactiv. He’s particularly fond of the gel treatment. You can find it on Amazon here. I do recommend subscribing to this program from the get-go. First, you get free stuff. Second, if you don’t like it, it is super easy to cancel the subscription. It is a quick phone call.
Benji loves using this contour kit and this nude lipstick. He keeps it pretty natural, so that’s all the product he uses. Click on links to buy.
I am a “little” more complicated. I start with this great moisturizer from Trader Joes with sunscreen. I wear sunscreen every day, without fail. Obviously, this moisturizer is not expensive at all. I found this link to buy on Amazon if you do not have a Trader Joes around you.
Then I use a wonderful stick foundation by Wet N Wild. This is also very inexpensive and available at all drugstores and big box stores. I’ve used more expensive brands, but to be honest, this is the best one I have ever found. I wear the shade “classic ivory”. Click on link to buy. I blend with this blender dampened with this coconut water primer, also by Wet N Wild. All of these products are available at the drugstore, but click on the links to buy them online.
For the rest of my eye make-up, I use various palettes depending on what I’m wearing. My go-to, is this one by Revlon in “avant garde”. My brushes are by E.L.F. which are a good dupes for the ones from MAC.
For lipstick, I have four shades that I choose from for everyday. I have a burgundy red, bright red, light pink and hot pink.
We finish with our hair care products. Benji doesn’t have a tried and true shampoo really, and he uses my finising products, so here are our go-to’s for both of us:
I use WEN to wash my hair and have used it for almost a decade now. I refuse to use anything else on it. After one try, I never went back to sudsy or foaming shampoos. It works the same as the first day I used it too. In short, I’m a believer. Get yours here. Like Proactiv, I recommend you subscribing for the discounts and free stuff. It is also really easy to change anything or cancel. A quick phone call.
Finishing products I use are the non-frizz gel from WEN. I love to use this men’s product from Redken’s “Brews” line. I’ve found that finishing products like wax and pomades, go with the men’s lines. They have more formulas and are usually cheaper.
That’s it! If you have any recommendations, let us know in the comments. We love hearing from you.
While I wait for everyone to see “Avengers Endgame” this week, I thought I would highlight some great new products available at Ulta, in stores and online.
They released a great make-up line inspired by “Avengers Endgame” with an eyeshadow pallet, four lip glosses, four matte lipsticks and three make-up bags.
I got two of the make-up bags and love them! I got the smallest one for my purse and the medium sized one for travel.
I didn’t have an opportunity to try the eye shadows or the lip glosses, but the good word is that they are both great.
I did get two shades of matte lipsticks. Both have a nice feel, good amount of pigment and aren’t drying. I tried them both, and they lasted all day.
We have made a big change to the site, in case you haven’t noticed already!
We didn’t come to the decision to change the name lightly, but because it was so long, Benji is being raised pretty well so far and we wanted to change our focus a bit, we decided to make the leap. We really wanted to focus on everyday living as a nerd.
How to integrate your fandoms into your everyday life. Not with just everyday cosplay, which is fun to wear for sure, but also more subtle ways, bounding, dapper looks, pin-up style and the like.
We hope you like the update! Please share your thoughts with us. We love to hear from you!
A lot of people ask me how I do my make-up, specifically, my eye make-up. I decided to do a quick tutorial for you all. It is pretty simple and will take you about 5 minutes to apply.
*Update: Pinrose will no longer be offering this kit, but I feel the discussion should still be had.
There has been a lot of talk recently about Sephora‘s latest offering. In October, cosmetic company, Pinrose, will be offering a Beginner’s Witch Kit. The kit includes tarot cards, rose quartz, sage and a variety of essential oils. The link above is to Sephora’s website, the kit isn’t up on the site just yet. Just do a search for Pinrose in October to get your own online.
Pic: quartzy.com
When this was announced, my fellow witches (I’m an ecclectic urban witch, fyi) had a collective fit about it. While I respect their opinions, I don’t understand the ire. I think, and this is just my assumption, is that they feel the practice of the craft is not being taken seriously by this company. I can see where that assumption could be made. However, I think we are getting into “fake witch” shaming territory here, which could take us into a very negative direction. I’m reminded of all the times I’ve been accused of being a “fake geek girl” because I didn’t know the minute detail that this particular person was talking to me about. I feel shamed everytime this happens, and I don’t want to be “that witch” that shames someone for reaching out and exploring the craft for themselves.
Spell Kits from Psychic Eye Bookstore
Hear me out. If someone is alone in their desire to learn more about the metaphysical or magick or whatever spirituality, they may not know where to start. Perhaps they feel comfortable shopping at Sephora. They see the kit. They want to know more. They buy the kit, take it home and then once they feel more comfortable, then they go to their local metaphysical store to ask questions. Now they know what questions to ask! They buy books and become more schooled in things. Their friends notice a positive change in their energy. They ask about that change. This new witch passes on her knowledge and so on.
Kit available on Amazon
Now, I realize that the preceeding paragraph was a “best case” scenario. Will there be people just embracing this as a fad? Absolutely! You have people jumping on bandwagons for pretty much everything. There’s no stopping that. I just hope that my fellow witches don’t throw out beginners that really want to explore and learn magick for themselves. I don’t think anyone can say that there is only one right way to get started. Just get started. After all, there are beginning witch kits available everywhere from metaphysical stores like Psychic Eye to Etsy and Amazon.
Kit from Etsy
I do have a recommendation for those of you that are interested in the craft and how to practice it. This wonderful book. It is available on Amazon.
Photo: Amazon
“Wiccapedia” has tips from everything from setting up your altar, minerals and their uses, oils and herbs and their uses, basic casting and a history of Wicca and Paganism as a religious practice. This book is something I revisit on the regular to get answers to questions or to just reconnect with the practice.
So, if you see someone purusing the shelves at Sephora and pick up a kit, don’t give them a hard time. Don’t be a gatekeeper. It might have been really hard for them to do that. Encourage their curiosity and embrace them as your sister/brother in magick. So mote it be!
As you all know, I love being a platinum blonde! Since discovering the platinum assymetrical pixie cut, I’m hooked for life. Finding your ‘do is kind of a big deal. We all use our hair, or lack thereof, to enhance our look. Hair is an important accessory, so like make-up, it is a lot of fun to play with it and try new things. Also like make-up, your look is temporary because hair magically grows back and colors fade over time. So, if you don’t like how something looks, change it!
To cut the brassiness of my bleach-blondeness, I use a purple-hued shampoo recommended by my stylist. If I used it enough, I would get a slight pastel purple hue to my hair, which I liked, but I also like going back to blonde as well.
Recently the kiddo and I went to Ulta to get some supplies, like ya do, and saw this shampoo and conditioner by Brite Organix…
Photo: briteorganix.com
I was intrigued. Since it does not require a commitment, I thought, “Why the heck not?” So, I gave it a go. Here are some pics, not filtered, after one wash…
As you can see, it really gave it a nice silvery pastel purple hue. I really like it! Also, it will fade with each wash of my regular cleansing conditioner by WEN, so no committment. Just a fun thing. Also cuts the brassiness right out, so win-win.
I did a little research on Brite Organix. Their products are vegan, which is great. They also have a variety of different products, hair colors, shampoos, etc. Check out their website here. They are an Australian company, but if you want to check out their products in person, just visit your local Ulta store.
NYX has some beautiful new palettes in a collection entitled, “In Your Element”. As suggested by the name, each palette is inspired by an element of nature.
Photo and Lead Photo: www.suslusozluk.com
I picked up the Wind palette. As per usual with NYX, the pigments are rich and long-lasting. The colors are beautiful.
I used two of the blues on my eyes in this picture. Just a quick swipe of color over the lid from the crease to the lash line. I finished with the sparkly light blue over the whole lid. the lipstick is also from the Elements collection, from Water. It is a metallic/violet/black shade that I love!
To celebrate the big screen release of “My Little Pony” the movie, Ulta has an exclusive eyeshadow palette, that celebrates the beautiful colors of the series.
The colors are gorgeous! The pigments are rich and last all day.
I took the palette out on a test run:
To get this look, I applied an eyeshadow base and then applied Rainbow Dash from the crease to the lash line. Then I applied Twilight Sparkle over the whole lid. That is it. Really simple, and it gives you such a pretty glittery look that lasts all day.
Get your own palette here. It is a limited edition, so best get on it if you want these great colors.
“My Little Pony” the movie opens in theatres this Friday, October 6th.
Whenever I’ve tried a cat-eye eyeliner, it always ends in disaster or hilarity, one or the other. So, when I saw that Beth Bender Beauty had eyeliner stencils, I had to give them a try.
Basically, you stick on the stencil on your eye like this:
Then color in the eyeliner like this:
Let the eyeliner dry and gently lift off the stencil:
And….it looks great!
Here are the products that I used:
The Beth Bender Beauty stencils are available here.
