Nothing new...just a slight bronze eye look and I'm on a trip again

I used a couple of the new MAC shadows I bought the other day and this is the look I came up with...



I LOVE the MAC Bronze eye shadow I got which is what I used all over my lid here. I put some MAC Kid eye shadow around the edges to soften the harshness a bit (I love MAC Kid too!). For the inner corner of my eyes I used Cargo's Bronze eye shadow (not as flaterring on me as MAC bronze). And then I used MAC Stately Black (from the HK quad) on the outer V.

Forgive the picture - I just look like I have a huge bruise around my eye. Terrible quality photo I must admit LOL

I've been busy packing and booking my trip this week.

I had a four hour flight this morning and I'm now out West again in Calgary. Hey it's Grey Cup weekend! And this time I rented a condo for my stay instead of hotel suite. And I must say I really do like the condo I rented ;) I decided to share some pictures of the condo I'm in for this week.

This is the small dining area:

This is the living room. The view just overlooks some office buildings.

I think what I love most about this place is the fire place (electric of course). Gosh, I want one for my condo!!! Do you like fireplaces?

Oh and this is the kitchen area with ensuite laundry behind the door on the left:

And the bedroom!

I skipped the washroom picture LOL. But it's nice a cozy here which is important since I'm spending eight nights here ;)

How's your weekend looking? Are you going to do anything fun or exciting or are you just going to relax?? =)

Karen

A few more MAC eye shadow purchases

I'm at my parents house for a couple of more days and I've been trying to manage without my makeup brushes. I left all my makeup brushes at my condo.

Let me tell you - I can't get around putting on eye shadow using my fingers only. I can sorta slap some powder blush on using my fingers and using foundation with my fingers is a piece of cake.

But eye shadow with my fingers? Nope. It's a mess.

Have you tried to apply eye shadow using only your fingers?

So I haven't been able to try any new looks yet with the new eye shadows I bought. I went to MAC to pick up a couple of supposedly staple MAC eye shadows like MAC woodwinked and MAC sable....I left with a few more.

In the picture above, on the left hand side going down we have MAC Girlie (a gorgeous pink colour), MAC Bronze (I've seen a few beautiful bronze looks lately and I want to copy it!) and MAC Beautiful Iris (a beautiful lavender colour that I couldn't pass up).

Then on the right hand side going down we have MAC Sable (I'm sure this will live up to my expectations - it's such a pretty brown/bronze metallic colour), MAC Kid (oh gosh, this beige is sooo pretty I had to get it) and MAC Woodwinked (pigmented and metallic like MAC sable but it has more gold bronze in it).

Here are swatches:

Top row swatches left to right: MAC Woodwinked, MAC Sable

Bottom row swatches left to right: MAC Bronze, MAC Girlie, MAC Beautiful Iris and MAC Kid.

I'll have to post an FOTD using these eye shadows later in the week!

In the meantime, what are your favourite eye shadows you can't go without?

I hope you're having a lovely start to your week :)

MAC's Velvet Teddy: A more beige-y nude lipstick

Wow it's almost the end of the week! Is it just me or is time flying by rather quickly?

I've been at my parents house all week helping out with my family - that's the only new thing in my life right now. Is anything new with you this week?

Oh and it rained all day today. It hardly rains all day...usually after a bit of rain it clears up. I went out for a short walk today and took this picture which is the street my parents live on...nothing special. I'm just not too fond of rain all day long LOL

Lately I haven't used my usual nude lipsticks (MAC Myth, Gosh Darling..etc..) and have stayed with pinkish toned lipsticks (MAC Snob, MAC Creme Cup..etc..). I guess I don't fancy a washed out look at the moment! But I picked up a MAC lipstick last week and I quite like it :)

It's MAC's Velvet Teddy lipstick.

The swatch on the website is misleading I would say since it looks rather pink on the website swatch. MAC says it's a deep-toned beige. I would say it's much more of a mid-toned beige than a deep-toned one but I guess colour is somewhat subjective.

Left is MAC's Velvet Teddy lipstick and right is my DiorKiss gloss in Pineapple cocktail. I love the Diorkiss gloss by the way ;)

Above is the swatch of MAC's Velvet Teddy lipstick. Since it's a matte lipstick, the colour comes out very well. I would say MAC's matte lipsticks are probably my favourite finish because I like a lot of colour payoff and I almost always pair my lipstick with a gloss so I don't mind the lipstick being a bit drying alone.

And since the rest of me looked gloomier than the weather here, it's just pictures of my lips only for this post! LOL

Above is a picture of my bare lips.

I'm wearing MAC's Velvet Teddy Lipstick above. Gosh, pictures of lips alone up close look kinda scary! LOL

And I'm wearing my Diorkiss gloss in pineapple cocktail on top of MAC's velvet teddy lipstick in the picture above.

And I quite like how this nude lip doesn't wash me out like MAC Myth does -although MAC Myth still has a place in my heart ;).

Have you tried MAC's Velvet Teddy before? What's your favourite nude lipstick that doesn't wash you out too much? Or do you find that all nude coloured lipsticks wash you out LOL?

I hope you're having a lovely week =) Do you have any plans for this weekend?!

Karen

Marcelle Satin Matte Mousse Foundation & a headband I want!

I hope you've had a lovely start to your week :)

Have you heard of the brand Marcelle? I think it might be sold only in Canada at the moment but I wanted to note that I really like their Satin Matte Mousse Foundation.

This is the colour Natural Beige which works with my N30 -35 ish skintone.

My skin sucks! I have a lot of redness and during the course of a month, I'll have several zits on my face all at once (like now!). This is the side of my face without any foundation on to show you what I mean about redness & zits:

And this is after applying the Marcelle foundation (no powder or anything):

Okay, in case you can't get your hands on Marcelle I'll note what I like about this product and maybe you can share a foundation of yours that you really love for the same reasons too (and maybe I'll try out that foundation next):

Pros:

-easy to blend. I love the "mousse" consistency. It's not sticky or damp like hair mousse or a lousy mousse blush. It spreads evenly.

-coverage is very good. Medium coverage I would say.

-I don't need a powder after this foundation - it sets into a powder like finish

-gives me a matte look. I like a matte finish on skin

-staying power is pretty decent. If I don't rub/touch my face it stays on pretty much the whole day

-it feels nice on the skin. You can't "feel" you're wearing foundation.

Cons:

-it's drying out a bit after having it for several months (I know, I neglected it for awhile and forgot about it!). So now it's slightly crumbly when applying it. It was perfect consistency when I bought it and for the next few months after that.

-similar to a powder foundation, I would only recommend it to those that don't have very dry skin or else it'll look patchy in dry areas and make the dry areas on your face more obvious.

-it will rub off like any other foundation if you vigorously try! I think liquid foundations like Revlon colourstay actually has better staying power because it absorbs into your skin whereas this mousse one kind of sits on the skin more than anything

I would definitely repurchase this foundation at a later date when I'm finished up using some of my other foundations.

What is your favourite foundation to date? On the other hand, are there any foundations that you really did not like?

Oh, and have you started thinking about Christmas gifts yet?! My sisters have asked me for my wishlist and I haven't quite came up with one yet BUT, there is this Swarovski headband that I've been eyeing since last year LOL. It's the Swarovski Beautiful headband retailed at $210 CDN:

It's in the bridal section for some reason...I'm not getting married BUT it would look awesome for a nice evening out at a nice dinner or going to a club - don't you think?! I'm not keen on spending $200 + on a headband so let me know if you see a lower priced version of this LOL. Yes, I'm on the lookout! ;)

Have a lovely day!

Karen

MAC Reflects Transparent Teal Glitter

I love glitter. Have you seen the Holiday Sephora ads?! I think the glittery makeup on the models look gorgeous.

My version would be much more toned down though unless I'm at a informal party like a Christmas party or New Year's eve party.

So I did pick up a couple of MAC's mini pigment/glitter sets from their Mischief Makers collection. One that I'm really loving is MAC Reflects Transparent Teal Glitter. It came in the Cool Capers Mini pigment/glitter set and it's on the left in picture below.

The other glitter I put up for comparison is MAC Reflects Gold Glitter which came in the Haute High Jinks Warm Mini pigment/glitter set. It's on the right in the picture below.

MAC reflects transparent teal (left) and MAC Reflects Gold (right)

Swatches: MAC reflects gold (top), MAC reflects transparent teal (middle) and MAC Blue Flame eye shadow (bottom).

I know the swatch of MAC reflects transparent teal looks like regular silver glitter but it's not - the picture doesn't do the colour justice.

It has like a pinkish, tealish, whitish pearl irridescence when seen on different angles. It's such a pretty colour that I wanted the full sized version right away.

I called my one local MAC pro store to see if I could get the full sized version - and I was told it was sold out and they wouldn't get it in stock for at least two more weeks! Grrr!

So this was a look I came up with a couple of days ago using MAC Blue Flame eye shadow (which has pretty blue glitter in it - somewhat visible in the swatch) and MAC reflects transparent teal glitter layered on top.

Do you like glitter too? What's your favourite colour for glitter?

I hope you're having a lovely weekend ;)

Karen

Over the knee boots :)

Over the knee boots seem to be in bigger fashion this fall/winter season than in the past -at least to me...but then again I'm often out of the fashion loop :\

I do have quite a number of knee high boots but I did not have a pair that went over the knee.

My dream over the knee boot was the Stuart Weitzman boot at Browns for $868 CDN .

Oh yes, lovely but over my budget :(

Then I remembered these Funke Guess boots that were selling at the stores last year. They retailed $350 CDN and I remember staring at them at the store because I really liked them. BUT I waiting a couple of weeks to decide if I wanted to really get them because after tax it would be nearly $400 CDN.

And then they sold out of my size before I could get to them!

But, good news. I found the Guess Funke Boot on ebay for like $220 CDN and I ordered them early last month from ebay. It's the first pair (and probably the last pair) of shoes I'll get from ebay because well, I don't want to take a chance that the shoe won't fit but I know my size for Guess shoes:

Yep the box took a bit of a beating in the mail.

Of course my picture of the boot isn't quite as nice as the picture from Amazon up above:

It has buckle detailing at the top:

And they're so comfortable! The sole is rubber material so it's pretty much non-slip which is awesome. There's a zipper on each shoe in the inner calf area as well.

And this is how it looks on me:

Do you have any over the knee boots? Which one (s)? Or are you eyeing any at the store?

I hope your week is going well =)

Karen

Remembrance Day

I wanted to make a post today to commemorate all the war veterans - to all those men and women who served in the wars to fight for our freedom.

I think all of us have studied at one point or another, the sacrifices that were made to earn the freedom that we have today. My freedom is something I take for granted everyday, but I shouldn't ever forget the price that it came at. Thank you for those who have served in the wars and may all those who have passed on serving in the wars rest in peace.

Hey I baked for the first time!

Oh, this is a bit pathetic but I had to share it with you! I baked alone for the first time today! =)

Yes it was sooo easy thanks to this Quaker Low Fat Muffin mix.

I rarely peruse down the baking aisle in a grocery store but that's where I found myself today. This muffin mix was on sale and I picked up it to glance at the instructions:

I had to read the instructions like five times before I realized that all I need was water in addition to this muffin mix. I thought baking required waaay more work and ingredients (and it does if you want it to taste good or want it to your liking). But low and behold, Quaker had a fool-proof version for newbies like me :)

Okay, the word Low Fat is really misleading. The thing has more than enough sugar to make up for it...but oh well! This is what it looked like after adding water and stirring:

And I just scooped it and dropped it into a muffin tray.

I only had one muffin tray and a bit of extra muffin mix so I made a couple of cookies out of it and tossed some raisins for fun!

And, 20 minutes later it came out like this:

The muffins weren't bad! I've already scarfed down three of em! Would I buy this mix again? Hmmm...maybe in the Carrot mix flavour since I love carrot muffins :) But honestly I'd rather buy a really good tasting full fat muffin at a bakery rather than have three or four of these home cooked "low fat/high sugar" muffins because I'd probably be more satisfied with just one regular yummy muffin.

I must say the cookies were a bit overdone. I should have known better since they're thinner than the muffins but hey, it was my first time baking! LOL. And at least someone enjoyed the cookies more than I did:

That's my cute pet gerbil Mousie eating a piece of cookie I baked :)

So have you baked on your own before? What's your favourite flavour for muffins/cookies?

Have a lovely Saturday!

Karen =)

A bargain camera and a bit late but... Halloween pics

Hey! How is your week coming along?!

I got a new camera at the mall two days ago...a friend of mine gave me a $100 gift certificate to the mall and I decided to get a decent (but low priced) camera. I settled for the Casio Ex-z280 which was $149.99 at Best Buy.

I was mainly concerned about how thin the camera is. As long as it took decent pictures for emails/internet I'm fine with it and this model came with a case as well as a 2 GB card. It's easy to use - and I have had a Casio exilim camera before so I'm familiar with the functions. So far I'm content since all I wanted was a basic camera.

Oh I know I'm so late with posting Halloween pictures *sigh*

First, it took me a few days to recover from that night! Some crazy shit happened which I won't get into here...but also, all the pictures were taken on my friend Mandy's camera so it took a few days for the pictures to get to me. See, this is where my new camera should now come in handy :)

On Saturday night I was flanked mainly by my two beautiful friends Jasmin (left) and Mandy (right). Both of them were gangsters:

With a bit of my guidance, Jasmin did Mandy's makeup which I think turned out really well -it looked better in person than in the pictures.... and here's the three of us in Jasmin's condo lobby before we left to the club:

At the club we met up with two of Mandy's friends: Narissia (left) and her fiance Adrian (right). Narissia was Robin Hood (female version I suppose?) and Adrian was a gladiator.

Mandy and myself at the club:

And here are a few pictures of random dudes with Mandy.

Gotta love a captain. Don't you?! Captains..pilots...idunno, I find men in those uniforms very attractive ;) I'm always gawking at handsome pilots while waiting for a flight at the airport.

I don't even remember these two fellas...Bush looks like he has jaundice doesn't he?

Oh, I saw quite a few guys dressed up like they're in the army. Yah, I like that too!

This guy just looks scary to me....it's cute that Mandy's trying to kiss him but I'm really easily scared of people wearing masks. Do you have the same issue as me?!

Oh I thought this was funny and cute at the same time. No, I don't have a thing for new fathers... LOL. I'm not even sure who he's dressed up as ....

OH, and look at that guy's mask to the right of Mandy..isn't it scary? Gosh, seriously that one scared me.

I know Jasmin and Mandy must be braver than me. I was scared of this bull guy too! LOL

Okay, I don't know who that dude is and I don't think any of us girls look great in this shot but well, I guess you can see our makeup quite well? LOL.

I hope you're having a lovely week! :)

Anything planned for this upcoming weekend?

Karen