Holiday Eyes- and Oh Yeah- I'm back...

Dang- it has been a year and 5 days since I last blogged! Sheesh, where has the time gone? Okay, enough about that and onto the fun stuff:

Holiday Eyes!
I am generally a minimalist when it comes to eye makeup (except mascara- you know my motto-stolen/borrowed from my beloved Tammy Faye- "Glob it on, Girls!"). Because I have dark eyes and dark lashes and fair skin, my eyes stand out enough on their own and I tend to forget that I have shadow on and rub them... so I generally skip it. But occasionally I like to play and I do have plenty of makeup in my train case to play with for hours, ok days... Especially around the Holidays- it's fun to play with sparkly eyes!

Today I had "Lazy Days" as DH and I call it when we just laze around on a Saturday or Sunday and watch TV, nap, snack, and never leave the house until time for dinner and drinks. I had Lazy Days alone as D had plans, so I watched multiple episodes of Forensic Files, napped for hours, surfed the internet, etc. Then I got some energy around 3 o'clock and showered, shampoo'd my freshly colored hair with my new fave- the Fekkai Glossing line (another blog on that to come), and decided to glam it up for my evening- even if I don't leave (it's 6pm as I type this and we have yet to decide on anything we may do tonight, I am sipping a delicious cocktail I just made up- 1 part Malibu Coconut Rum, 3 parts club soda, crushed ice, and one lemon slice in a highball glass- mmmmm- so whateve- I'm good either way...).

I started with my usual makeup routine:
Shiseido stick foundation applied with a Stila foundation brush, Tarte Tickled gel blush on apples, Sephora Blush Me Twice (just the pink side) over top, lashes curled with THE ONLY lash curler you should invest in (Shu Uemera), some smokey brown cream liner (Clinique) applied along lash line, and finally about 400 coats of L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara- Black Noir. (oh yeah, I also patted on Benefit Lemon Aid before all of this, which is not part of my norm, but I knew I would be playing with shadows so I applied. For me, a primer of some sort is a necessity because even though I have relatively dry skin, I have oily lids...)

Now the 'glam' part:
My sister-in-law who is also my sister-in-makeup-obsession, C, got me a super-fun Urban Decay eye shadow pallette for Christmas last year. It has about 15-20 sparkly, uber-pigmented shadows housed inside of a cool black mirrored pallet, with purple tattoo-y swirls coming out of a gun barrel on the front.
So- I took a slanted Sonia Kashuk eyeliner brush and dabbed it with water and then dipped it into the sparkly black shadow in the pallet called Oil Slick. I applied this like liner- directly on top of the cream liner I previously applied. Then I added a bit 'o Mildew, a pretty, sparkly army green shadow, in the center of the liner and feathered it out on either side. I applied Sin, a peachy shade to my lid, and then a dot of Polyester Bride, a sparkly white-ish shade to the brow. I finished with a grooming of the brows with the sephora brow wax/powder compact and voila- Holiday Eyes!

Mistress of Mixology

I love my beauty 'cocktails' just as much as actual cocktails! You may know about my affinity for mixing up the mascaras to create the perfect blend of qualities. Today I created a fabulous shower gel concoction!

Recipe:
Onto a bath brush (I like the kind with the removeable wooden handle and hand strap with natural bristles), or body pouf, pour a mixture of:

• two parts Johnson's Extra Care 24 Hour Moisture Wash (smells amazing. kind of a baby soft scent, very mild, won't interfere with your perfume but leaves you smelling awesome. creamy and uber-lather-y, your skin will be soft and moisturized, but in no way greasy, after use)

• one part Bath & Body Works Signature Collection Shower Gel in Exotic Coconut. The BB&W website describes much better than I can..."Toasted coconut folded into sweet cream. At once, both fresh and sensuous."

scrub-a-dub-dub, focusing on dry elbows, etc., inhale the warm, tropical, perfect-for-a-cold-winter-afternoon bath-pick-me-up aroma, and rinse thoroughly. Follow with a creamy body moisturizer. Today I chose to continue the tropical theme and used BB&W Signature Collection Classics Body Lotion in Coco Cabana , classic light coconut scent cut with just enough mystery "tropical" scent. It doesn't matter what body lotion you chose as long as you love the scent and it moisturizes like crazy and that you USE it! especially after scrubbing.

Save the Bubbles!

I LOVE CHAMPAGNE!! It's no secret. But often I want to enjoy a nice little sip of champagne without polishing off an entire bottle. Afterall, a bombshell doesn't need an excuse to drink it. Just relaxing on my couch with Mr. Bombshell after a long, productive day, is reason to celebrate. However, Mr. Bombshell, and our kitty sidekick, B., don't drink it, so unless I'm ready to seriously indulge, I need a way to capture the bubbles.

Enter Mr. Bob Sholes from Arroyo Robles Winery in Paso Robles, CA. I recently visited his fabulous shop for wine tasting and, of course, shopping. During the very generous tasting, we sampled two wonderful sparkling wines, a classic California Champagne, and an amazing almond flavored variety. I noticed these fabulous little silver toppers that allowed the sparkling wines to remain, well, sparkling, even after they were open for a bit. And guess what? Mr. Sholes genius-ly sells them in his shop! I found something similar online, Superseal Champagne Stopper. "A metal stopper provides a pressure tight seal to hold in the fizz."

Hurray! Now I can have as much or as little of my beloved bubbly as I like.

Bombshell Body Bubbly!

I love body lotions and oils. My skin tends to be dry, so I'm not afraid to slick it up. Even on my face, I've been known to smooth on some high grade olive oil.

Newest discovery: Vaseline Intensive Care Vitalizing Gel Body Oil, With Brazillian Nut and Almond Oils

-It looks neat in the bottle- all bubbly- like champagne!

-It smells amazing- subtle, but sweet, nutty, warm... YUMMY

-It made my skin feel good! I smoothed it on while still damp from the shower before bed last night. This morning I felt soft all over and my skin smelled delicous!

-It was only $6 for a bottle that will probably last forever...

keepskinamazing.com

Bombshell Battlescars

One of the conundrums of being a Bombshell Biker is loving Las Vegas but hating second hand smoke!

I recently returned from 3 days in Sin City. You cannot escape the cigarette and cigar smoke in this town- it is permitted everywhere! We were lucky enough to have a non-smoking room at the lovely Palms Resort & Casino , but had to sacrafice a King size bed and settle for two Queens to get it.

In order to keep my skin from suffering the carcinogenic onslaught, I was diligent about my skin regime while there and am continuing with the damage control at home.

I've been using the Re 9 anti-aging line from Arbonne for about nine months. Two of the products from this line were especially important during my trip. The toner and the serum. I don't use the toner every night, generally, but while in Vegas it seemed to really help get my skin extra clean and get rid of a (possibly subconscious?) layer of smokey film on my skin. Then the serum... I am a huge fan of serums anyway and use them nightly, but felt like the smooth, anti-oxidant rich gel was really helping to combat any negative, aging effects on my face.

Upon my return home, I've been using Estee Lauder's Advance Night Repair Protective Recovery Complex Serum(just the name makes my face feel younger-looking!) This feels stronger to me than the Arbonne serum, so I usually use it only once a week or so, or after I've been out in the elements. I'll use this nightly for about 3 days before switching back to the Arbonne serum.

The second thing I'm using (actually tingling on my face as I type) is Arbonne's Thermal Fusion Enzyme Masque. You apply this oil-based mask to your clean, dry face and then 'activate' it with water. It starts to get warm, the more water you apply the hotter it gets. It is supposedly a natural alternative to Retin A, Renova, and Glycolic Acid- all I know is that my face always feels exceptionally smooth afterwards and it has a nice glow that lasts a while.

Beyond this, I'm drinking plenty of water, exercising daily, taking my multi-vitamin, and getting TONS of sleep to recover from Viva-ing in Las Vegas. But no matter what- I had the best time!