I'm Sha-sha-shakin'! Earthquake what?

*DISCLAIMER: This is a personal post, not beauty related*
So, I live on the East Coast and without giving away my complete area, I am in a major US city on the East Coast in a very tall building. Today, we had an earthquake...on the east coast.  I thought I lived over here to avoid them?!?

Anywho, my building shook to the point that my file cabinets were moving and the floor felt like it was "bouncing".  A higher up executive is in an office across from my cube and I just kept saying Oh my god, what is this and he just yelled "GO!".  Cue tons of people running to stairwell.

Enter stairwell.  Mind you I am on the 31 floor.  Meaning, I am now going down 31  You never think going DOWNstairs is tiring until you have to do it for 31 flights.  I ripped off my stiletto by the time I hit floor 28.  And I'm a germaphobe!  But I'd rather have dirty feet than stay in a building.

The problem was my building didn't sound an alarm and we all thought there was either an underground explosion at subway level or that it was some sort of terrorist attack.  No one was thinking "This is an earthquake".

All in all, no injuries.  A building down the street blew out some windows, but my building let people back in.  I waited a fair amount of time before going back b/c I was still shaking!!!  It was incredibly scarey especially if you don't know what happened or what you will face out side.

So, to anyone who felt the quake, I'm with you!  They said the higher up in the building, the more you felt it and that was scary enough for me!!!  Stay safe lovelies!

Wearable Peacock Inspired Eye of the Day

I was bored this weekend and decided to have a little fun with my UD I love NY palette (which I rarely touch...except on halloween).

I used UDPP as a base, then applied Haight on the lid, Loaded in the Crease, and Psychedelic Sister for the inner corner.  I like doing a random pop of color sometimes for the inner corner to liven up a neutral look. Benefit They're Real! on top lashes and Philosophy Mascara (discontinued now) on the bottom lashes. NYX champagne as a higlight

I also used my Mac Feline Eye Kohl, the Urdan Decay Crease Brush (which I highly recommend) and a boots smudger/smoker brush which I used to apply the purple to the inner corner and then drag across the lashline (below)

Note to self: open eye to take picture.  I was trying to show more of the lid b/c my eyes can be a little hooded. Eve Pearl Salmon Concealer in Light for the under eyes.

Overall, I wish I could play around more with the colors in the palette. Some I can use for wor

Urban Decay Sale! and Contest Winner!

First, I am pleased to announce the winner of the Sephora eyeshadow (and a couple of other goodies I picked up) is 99raina99! Congrats girl!  I'll e-mail you soon to get your address and ship out your prizes.

And second!  MASSIVE UD SALE going on now!!! Including loose pigments for a dollar! (I've pressed these into eyeshadows before and they work great).  Other great palettes and lipglosses are low cost as well.

You can get this whole set for $24.  I did! (And it has a full size UDPP).  Free shipping over $50

Benefit They're Real! Before & After and a Review

Possibly one of the most anticipated mascaras of the year, it's Benefit's They're Real!  The package claims dramatic length and volume, base-to-tip curl, visible lift, and long wearing results.

The wand is fairly standard until you get to that spiky ball thing at the end.  It reminds me of Loreal Telescopic in that aspect.  I don't care as much for the ending because a lot of product gunks on there.

Before

After

The results: They're good.  But yes, I still believe those are my real lashes... Also, if you go to apply 3 coats, be careful b/c you may end up with the Lisa Simpson triangle lashes.

That's not to say I don't like the product.  I still like the length and it does seem to curl them a bit (I didn't curl my lashes or put anything on my eye to test it, also wore it for a week straight with no other mascaras).

One of the hugest selling points for this mascara for me is that throughout the work day, I didn't have the transfer onto the under eye area.  I love Too Faced Lash Injection, but damn!  That stuff transfers horribly on me!

Some say they have trouble removing the mascara, but I have been using the NYX makeup remover and it comes off so you may need something more oil based or even baby oil itself.

Price: $22
Grade: 4.5/5
Repurchase: Yes for the no-transfer quality
Recommend: Not necessarily.  If you are looking for 0 transfer and have the extra income, go for it.  But if you want magic in a bottle, it's not magic.  It's good, on somedays it even applies great, but there are a lot of drugstore mascaras that are also great like CG Lash Blast or Maybelline the Falsies.

*Side bar: TOTAL FAIL to Benefit on that gimmicky packaging!  It looks like an "as seen on tv" box.

Smasbox Girls On Film SoftBox Eye Shadow Palette Review and Swatches

The newest Smashbox palette form the film collection retails for $42 (I used my 20% off at Ulta coupon) and is packed with neutral, every day shadows that are extremely wearable.
Colors (l to r): Fizz, Pebble, Minx , 2nd row Vanilla, Ignite, Sienna

There are an assortment of finishes ranging from matte to shimmers.

Fizz (shimmer) and Vanilla (matte) are great options for a highlight color. Ignite adds a punch of color without being over the top.

The only color that could use more pigmentation is pebble, but it is still very good and looks nice in the crease.  Minx is an absolute favorite with a gray, purple look and shimmer finish.  It's not too overboard for day-time wear. Sienna (brown) is the most pigmented in the palette and it's a gorgeous shimmering brown.

The one disappointment is that for the price, I feel like the inside packaging is cheap.  The box itself is nice, but the plastic that holds the eyeshadows in place in my palette is very loose.  Not a huge deal, but again, for the cost, it should have the packaging to match the price.

The shadows are very soft (be careful on first use if you are used to harder shadows b/c you will take too much) and very blendable. I always wear them with a primer, so I don't have problems with them lasting.

Overall Grade: 4/5
Repurchase: I would repurchase minx and the highlight colors.  Sienna is beautiful, but I feel that it's dupe-able.

August Birchbox: Hit or Miss?

Not even a hit or miss.  Just a fail.  Here's what came in my birchbox for August:

1. Carol's Daughter Monoi Reparing Hair Mask
2. Wei Tibetan Chrysanthemum Correcting Eye Treatment Pads
3. blinc Eyeliner (black)
4. Pangea Organics
5. Extra gift, twistband hair tie (not pictured b/c I thought it was packaging

I get that they can't give me a full Laura Gellar product every month, but this month was a huge let down. The only product I'm somewhat interested in is the eyeliner because it claims that it's waterproof but doesn't need makeup remover to take off.  Must put that to the test!

And the extra gift was a total joke.  A hair tie?  Plus, 3 of them cost $5?!?  I know I spend a lot on makeup, but to be honest, my hair ties come straight from the dollar store!  No intention to purchase that in the future.  In fact, I don't think I'd purchase any of these items.

Massive Ulta Beauty Rewards 20% Off Haul

My name is Staci.  And I have a problem. So, when Ulta and Sephora have their 20% off sales...I tend to go a little um...overboard?  In my defense, two of the items weren't for me!

Well, now all set up on the floor...it looks like a bit much...oops?

Here's what I picked up:

1. Physician's Formula Mineral Glow Pearls in Light Bronze (for a highlight) - came with free blush...which looks uber frosty... ($13.89)
2. Physician's Formula Mosaic Powder in translucent/light (both were buy one, get one 50% off, so $6.75)
3. Belli Acne Cleasing Face Wash ($22)
4. Belli Stretchmark Minimizing Cream ($49)
5. Benefit They're Real Mascara ($22)
6. OPI Are We There Yet?
7. OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster
8. OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts? ($8.50 eatch and buy 2, get 1 free)
9. Rimmel Lipstick in Airy Fairy ($5.19)
10. H2O Night Oasis Overnight Eye Complexion ($15 on clearance!)
11. Cargo Air Mail Swimmables Waterproof Pencils ($9.50 on clearance!)
12. Urban Decay Naked Palette (for a gift for a friend, $48)
13. Laura Geller Flawless in a Flash Travel kit ($20)
14. Samy Fat Hair Thickening Serum (for my sister, $1.99 on clearnace!)
15. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed ($25)
16. Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (travel bottle, $11)
17. Ulta Anti-bacs in Simply Clean and Pomegrante ($1.99 each on clearance)
18. Smashbox Girls On Film Eye Shadow Palette - Softbox ($42)

*All prices BEFORE 20% taken off

Great summer coral shades!  And of course, I love my gray polishes too

I don't think the free blush and I are going to be friends

Laura Geller travel set with spackle primer, real deal concealer, mini brush, and Balance-n-Brighten Powder.

Now, the Belli products are technically made for pregnant women, so it's gentle for mother and the bun in the oven, however, I had a few samples of the facewash and I love it, so I went ahead and bought the bottle of it.  Review will be coming soon.

I wanted to try the Belli Stretch Mark Cream as well b/c the back said it was for all types of stretch marks and I had recently lost a good amount of weight and I'd like to diminish them a bit.  I know they will not go away completely, but I'm a pastey white girl and they show a lot!  I'll let you all know in 4 weeks how it went!

Deal of the Day: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick $2.79

 While scanning my makeup aisle in CVS today, I found a great deal.  Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick for $5.79 with $3 back in extra bucks, making it only $2.79!  You also had the option of getting moondrops or something from Maybeline, but I wanted to try something new, so I picked up the Super Lustrous Lipstick in 420, Blushed.

It's a pearl finish and in the category of nudes and browns.  It's definitely that mauvey nude shade, but with a pearlized finished.  Not sure how I feel about the finish yet, but I like the color a lot.

It's more on the sheer side, think of a MAC lustre lipstick, but I like these especially in the warmer months because I don't have to layer so much product on my lips and with the pearl finish, I skip the gloss.

For being sheer, there is a decent amount of pigmentation.  One dislike is the cheap packaging.  It even feels cheap.  Revlon stepped up their game recently with their quilted packaging, so going back and looking at this now, it just doesn't compare.  But, I think with a revamp of packaging, it could be great.  It's not drying at all and feels nice on the lips.  Wear time is around 4 hours I'd say.

Definitely worth the under $3 price tag, so definitely check to see if your CVS is doing this deal.  It was in must weekly ads for CVS.  My store didn't have a sign up next to the lipsticks, so I recommend checking at home first to see which ones qualify.