Make-up Shopping!

Dress: Agnella Maxi Dress from Igigi via Gwynnie Bee (click to get a free month)

Top: Angel Shirt from Love Your Peaches

Sandals: Børn

Necklace: A Luscious Thing

Earring: Wendy Baker

Photography: Angie, Super Boo, & Me

I decided to wear this Igigi dress on Sunday to go make-up shopping. I had planned on wearing it to an outdoor play Saturday night, but opted not to because it rained and there didn't seem to be any point in looking pretty. I love the flower garden on this dress! It inspired me to dig out this lovely flowery necklace that I bought over 5 years ago, but had never worn (I lost count of how many people complimented this necklace throughout the day...including a teenage boy). I threw this shirt on over the dress and I don't love it...but I was in a hurry and the halter dress showed my bra straps so I felt it needed covering up. I own a strapless bra but I don't know where it is and it doesn't hoist those sisters up as much as I'd like. 

My friend Angie asked if I'd like to go make-up shopping with her because the world of make-up is something she has just recently begun exploring. Would I like to go make-up shopping?? Yes! Of course! So Sunday afternoon we started off at the MAC counter & we both agreed later that as nice as everyone was to us all day, the woman that helped us there was our favorite. She showed me some things that would not have caught my eye otherwise, & I left there with a sparkly pink lipgloss. I don't normally wear pink or lipgloss.  But it looks fantastic layered over any lipstick. 

This photo above is of me after our makeovers at Sephora. Why have I never done this before?! It was really fun and now I want to go back every week! It was so easy too...I just made us appointments online. 

I told the girl doing my make-up what I normally wear and asked her for something completely different and left it up to her to chose. She was really excited to try a brand new eyeshadow palette that the rep from Anastasia brought with her (she was in store that day), so purple eyeshadow it was...not a color I wear. I LOVED it! She also applied not only blush (I last wore blush in 1989), but bronzer all over my face...I was soooo colorful! I like the idea of re-introducing blush into my make-up routine, but not the pink she used here and probably not bronzer. 

She used some skin care on me that I liked, but I forgot to write down the brand. The wipes she used first were called Un-Wrinkle Peel Pads by Peter Thomas Roth that I may try in the future. I do not currently have skin care products that I love. I used Lush for a few years and am using Kate Somerville right now. My formerly grease-slick face has turned combination and I'd like to find the perfect skin routine before the flakey dry patches on my cheeks get out of hand this winter. 

They had this nifty machine that she put up to my neck, cheek, & forehead and it returned 60-some perfect foundation matches for my skin. It turns out I needed a slightly darker foundation than I had been wearing and I am more neutral skin toned than the yellow I had been buying. 

When it came to doing my eyebrows (which are basically nonexistent. I have had them tattooed on 4 times, but it fades extremely quickly) she had the Anastasia rep come over and she started out using a stencil, but when I looked in the mirror, my eyebrow was shockingly thick, so she took some away before letting the make-up girl freehand the other brow. Apparently, she had used the thinest stencil. I ended up really liking them, which surprised me. The color was a bit too ashy for me, but they looked much more natural and not as harsh as I usually do them. She used a pencil to outline and powder to fill them in. I like the idea of having a work/day appropriate brow look, so I am going to try out the products she used even if they aren't as warm as I'd like. I could have went warmer, but darker and I didn't want that. I was hesitant to buy things I wasn't completely sure of, but she pointed out that I could try it for a few weeks, and if I decided I didn't like it...Sephora has an excellent return policy. Sold. 

Now for the spoils of the day! If I had to pick a favorite make-up brand, it would be MAC. I adore their lipsticks & eye shadows. My only goal for the MAC counter was to replace my work lipstick. Just last week, for the first time in my life, I used up an entire tube of lipstick,Viva Glam V. I bought it to wear to work so I could have something more neutral & light on my lips. Normally when I wear lipstick, I use something darker and end up with mostly lipliner with a smidge of lipstick. Even though I used up the whole tube, I wanted a different shade. I went with another lustre finish in a mulled brown berry, Spice It Up! It adds a nice amount of color and is as dark as I'd go without using a lipliner. I also picked up a Lipglass in Viva Glam VI which is a sparkly warm plum that looks great on its own & layers well over other colors. Finally, I couldn't resist getting a few new lipliners...Auburn, a warm orange-reddish brown & Chicory, a soft muted peachy-brown.

At Sephora, I went a bit crazy. I intended on getting a new foundation and some blush, I ended up with...more. First, I tried several products by a brand I hadn't heard of before, Anastasia. This woman is known for specializing in eyebrows, so I don't know where I've been...I need to get out more. I got the Lavish set because I loved the combination of Pink Sapphire & Rum Cake that my make-up girl used on me. The kit comes with tweezers, black eyeliner, an eyeshadow brush, & a brow pencil. I also got Anastasia's brow pencil, Brow Wiz in Caramel; Brow Powder Duo in Caramel; & an eyebrow brush. I am trying a new to me foundation by Bobbi Brown & for the first time ever I bought a CC Primer from Dior. I've never used primer under my foundation, but it's my new favorite thing. I had planned on trying Nars blush in Orgasm or Urban Decay's Naked Flushed, but I ended up going with Smashbox Halo Blush in Warm Glow. Finally, because I ran out, I got another Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original. Since I ran out of the original, I've been using Eden, but I don't always want sparkly eyes so it is nice to have the nude color again. 

The end.