Lust & Envy (A #beautiesonfire Collab!)

Lust and Envy, two of those Seven Deadly Sins! They seem to strike me (a lot) when I am browsing beauty stuff on the Internet. I’m sure I’m not the only one…

For this week’s #beautiesonfire collab, I figured why not share some of those things I’ve been lusting after? So I went on a little virtual window-shopping trip to Neiman-Marcus. I wanted so so much! The list was whittled down to seven items, finally – though I still want the rest.

Come see what I lust after! And follow the links if you find yourself wanting me to envy you because you got them! (And no, they aren’t links I get money from… I wish!) 

Because… Pokemon (A #beautiesonfire collab!)

I’ll admit it – I hopped on the Pokemon train about a week after Pokemon GO was launched. I saw snarks and fun comments on Facebook, so I downloaded it out of curiosity. Then I got Hims to download it. And found out my friend Deanna was playing it, too!

Of course, Pokemon is supposed to be for kids, right? The game app might attract some twenty-somethings, but really – you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone older than 25 playing this.

A Pokemon monster hanging out at our table

Yeah….. no. In the first week of playing, Hims and I ran across mostly women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, wandering around parking lots and places like the American Legion, looking down at their smartphone screens. Some men and women in their 30s would hang out in their car, air conditioners blowing, while waiting for the closest Pokestop to renew, and trying to capture the monsters showing up because someone (usually a business) dropped a lure. After about a month or so of playing, I’ve seen a total of three, maybe four, kids under the age of 16 playing this – including at parks. (All boys.) I love that it’s a fun, active game that people of all ages have gotten into!

In its way, Pokemon GO is in fashion. Not just a fashion for kids-through-Millenials, but for those of us who remember the 90s clearly. (Okay, at least a lot of the 90s clearly… there was alcohol involved, after all!)

 

Another week of the Beauties On Fire collab. Twenty or so bloggers will be posting their takes on “Pokemon” this weekend! Some will be doing makeup and others will be doing fashion. All of them promise to be a lot of fun! Head on over to Elizabeth’s blog right here, and you’ll see the rest of the links at the bottom of the page – but you best read hers first!

Be Bold! Be Fierce! (A #beautiesonfire Collab!)

Here it is, the fifth week of the Beauties On Fire collab. Twenty or so bloggers will be posting their takes on “Bold” this weekend! Some will be doing makeup and others will be doing fashion. All of them promise to be a lot of fun! Head on over to Elizabeth’s blog right here, and you’ll see the rest of the links at the bottom of the page – but you need to read hers first!

This didn’t really turn out the way I was hoping, but then I don’t have studio lighting or anything of the sort!

{{{ I took the photo out because it is simply horrendous! When you wake up in the middle of the night and cringe because of something in your blog, it’s gotta go. }}}

 

I tried highlighting my eyes with the Eyeko Fat Eyestick in Satin from Glossybox, just over the lids and in the crease. Then up to my brow and a bit over it, and down to the middle of my cheeks, and out to the sides on my temples – there I dusted a lot of Sephora eyeshadow in Aspen Summit No. 43. Beneath that, I applied Urban Decay’s Daybreak from their Urban Spectrum eyeshadow palette, from where the silver ends and down to the bottoms of the apples of my cheeks, across my nose (the Sephora shadow is across the bridge of my nose, too), and up under the coloring on my temples. My waterline has a frosty white eyeliner pencil from Sephora to try and blend in, and there’s no mascara. The lips are also Urban Decay – their Revolution High-Color Lipgloss in Bittersweet, done in a stylized lip form.

Unfortunately, the makeup didn’t want to show up that well. I had no idea what to do for my hair, so I just wrapped a scarf around my head (also to help hide the neck of the teeshirt I’m wearing!).

I love this theme, but ouchie – I couldn’t get it to work quite right! Maybe I’m just not meant to be bold?

Okay, maybe just not in this way…

 

Still hungry for more ideas from books and movies? Follow this link to the post on Everything & Nothin’ and see what Elisabeth does with some amaaaaazing makeup! Then check out all the link-ups below – so many gorgeous women, so many amazing ideas!

Twenty Years of This Incarnation! (A #beautiesonfire Collab!)

Here it is, the fourth active week of the Beauties On Fire collab. Twenty or so bloggers will be posting their takes on a “Movie/Book Theme” this weekend! Some will be doing makeup and others will be doing fashion. All of them promise to be a lot of fun! Head on over to Elizabeth’s blog right here, and you’ll see the rest of the links at the bottom of the page – but you best read hers first!

You might have noticed I didn’t make it for the theme last week, which was “Disney Princesses”. I’d actually wanted to do something from one of those amazingly dark movies Disney did back in the late 70s – early 80s, but before I could do anything a toothache struck. And not just a toothache, but one that honestly felt as though someone was slamming the butt of an axe into the left side of my face… and this was AFTER taking four Advil and applying Severe Formula Oragel! Not the best way to spend a weekend, lemme tell you.

All that aside (thank God), I wasn’t sure what to do with this theme. I have too many books and movies I love! I finally had a thought pop into my head, though: Doctor Who. And not just the character, but one specific incarnation of the Doctor: the Eighth Doctor.

Though I remember my parents having Doctor Who on the television when I was a kid (Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor), I never really saw it until a few years ago. Then my introduction happened to be thanks to the actor who played The Doctor in a very-little-known television movie: Doctor Who, from 1996. It was an attempt to resurrect the series, which had been cancelled by BBC in 1989, and bring it to American audiences. From watching it, I personally think they made the Companion, Dr. Grace Holloway, too freakin’ dingy and campy. They didn’t take into account the intelligence of their audience! But out of all this came Paul McGann’s portrayal of The Doctor, and he’s been called the man with the shortest and the longest career in the role, thanks to a ton of audio plays by the company Big Finish that have introduced many more adventures for this Doctor.

So anyway, fangurl activated. Not only do I have Paul McGann in the Horatio Hornblower series from A&E, in Withnail & I, and in quite a few other shows I love, but also as Doctor Who… which means there’s got to be things! Yes, like nail polish!

See? I told you. The beautiful blue with the micro glitter is “Bigger On The Inside”, a reference to the TARDIS, by Nail Pattern Boldness, who also has a great line of television and movie inspired polishes. The topper for my middle and ring fingers is one dedicated to the Eighth Doctor, called “Who Am I?”, from his confusion after regenerating in a hospital morgue and being struck by temporary amnesia. This one is no longer available, but was created by The Lady Varnishes, another super indie polish maker you should check out.

And just perfect for this year – the twentieth anniversary of the Eighth Doctor’s first appearance. (And just because of the great shots of Paul McGann, here’s a fan trailer for it, too… Yesss, I am a goob!)

Still hungry for more ideas from books and movies? Follow this link to the post on Everything & Nothin’ and see what Elisabeth does when (two)faced with Tarzan and Jane! Then check out all the link-ups below – so many gorgeous women, so many amazing ideas!

 

Summer Style! (A #beautiesonfire Collab)

Here it is, the second active week of the Beauties On Fire collab. Twenty or so bloggers will be posting their takes on “Summer Styles” this weekend! Some will be doing makeup and others will be doing fashion. All of them promise to be a lot of fun! Head on over to Elizabeth’s blog right here, and you’ll see the rest of the links at the bottom of the page – but you best read hers first!

I’ve always love spring and summer – mostly summer. No wonder, since I was born in August! I love getting out in the early morning and taking walks, though the weather hasn’t been too conducive for that this past week or so.

I have no photos for this post. Sorry! Time got away from me, and things popped up that were totally unexpected. But I can tell you my must-haves for summer!

1. A hat. I will wear a ballcap when walking, a brimmed hat made of seagrass for hanging out by the pool, a big ole floppy thing for working in the yard. I wear them mainly because I don’t want to squint all the time!
2. Sunglasses. Whether they are silly plastic ones I picked up at Target or my prescription glasses with Transition lenses in them, I hate going out without sunglasses – whether summer or winter! Again, I just hate squinting!
3. A bottle of water. This is actually relatively new to my summer cache, but I’ve become very, very attached to my pink New Balance liter bottle.
4. Facial wipes. I love the ones from Burt’s Bees, but I’ve now really begun liking the micellar water wipes by Simple. It just feels good to be able to wipe off dirt, grime, and sweat without needing to visit the bathroom.
5. Burt’s Bees Garden Tomato Toner. Yes, it has alcohol in it, but that’s the point – I douse a cotton ball or pad in it and run it across my neck under my hair, behind my ears, over my face and neck. It smells so fresh and clean, and it evaporates quickly so it cools off my skin.
6. Lip anything. Again, I love my Burt’s Bees, but I also go for anything with a splash of color that’s moisturizing and protects from the sun if I’ll be outside for awhile.
7. By the pool I always, always have Neutrogena Wet Skin Broad Spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen. It’s a spray, so I can use it without needing Hims there to cover my back. And no way would I ask a stranger to do that! It stays on when swimming, sweating, and in high humidity. Love it!
8. For my face, I use Neutrogena Sport Face Oil Free Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 70+. It’s made for swim and sweat, and it doesn’t clog my pores or do anything nasty to my skin.
9. A hair comb with a rubber band on one end. It’s called a Localoc Bandette Comb, and it is WONDERFUL. Capital letters wonderful. I twist my hair up, slip the comb down between my head and the twist, bring the elastic that’s attached to one end around the hair (putting the hair between the elastic and the comb), and then slip the end of the elastic over the opposite end of the comb. Voila, great ponytail without the headache of a yanking elastic, and it’s easy – even *I* can do it!

Still hungry for more summer styles? Follow this link to the post on Everything & Nothin’ and see what Elisabeth absolutely needs for the summertime! Then check out all the link-ups below – so many gorgeous women, so many amazing ideas!

 

Classic Beauty: 1941 (a #beautiesonfire collab)

Here it is, the first active week of the Beauties On Fire collab. Twenty or so bloggers will be posting their takes on “Classic Beauty” this weekend! Some will be doing makeup and others will be doing fashion. All of them promise to be a lot of fun! Head on over to Elizabeth’s blog right here, and you’ll see the rest of the links at the bottom of the page – but you best read hers first!

When this theme proved to be the winner (and yass, I voted for it!) I was ecstatic. I haven’t been able to post about the Besame lipstick I received last month yet, and this provided me with the perfect opportunity.

The United States didn’t officially enter the Second World War until after December 7, 1941, but for a couple years prior we had been actively taking sides and suffering casualties for it. While tires were the first things to be rationed, only a few days after Pearl Harbor, then a temporary end to civilian auto sales was put into place January 1, 1942, ration books like we’ve seen from then didn’t begin to show up until late that spring. While Europe was already feeling the difficulties of rationing for wartime, it really hadn’t affected the United States for most of 1941. Translation? We could still get beauty items! (Cosmetics kept coming during the war; the manufacturers simply changed formulas, removing ingredients needed for the war effort, such as glycerine, and substituting what worked. The containers saw changes, too – anyone for a paper lipstick tube?) 

Beauties On Fire! Collaboration Introduction

First off…

What is Beauties On Fire?

It’s a collaboration of beauty and fashion bloggers, spearheaded by the amazing Elisabeth over at Everything & Nothin’. Every week there will be a different theme, and the participating bloggers post to that theme, and the posts are shared via Elisabeth’s blog. You can read more about it on her post here, as well as find the other posts for this introduction at the bottom of the page. Would you like to join up? Drop her a line! The more, the merrier!

The first post is an introduction, so here goes!

1.) Tell us a little about your blog and why you decided to start blogging:

This is the second incarnation of my original weight loss blog. I decided I wanted to expand, to share more than just weight stuff. I love makeup, new ideas in skin care, and just being able to talk about my life and ideas. Well, some of my ideas, at least! I’ve been bad about following a set schedule for blogging, which is something I intend to work on. 

2.) How long have you been blogging?

I have no idea – about three years, I think? Before WordPress, I kept an online journal over at LiveJournal. For years. I sort of with Facebook had never gained popularity (and not just because I think Mark Zuckerberg is a bit annoying), because LJ was a good platform to just write.

3.) Do you consider yourself a fashion blogger, beauty blogger, or both?

I consider myself an everything blogger, really. I’d have to lean towards beauty blogger if it was only between these two, though.

4.) List 3 things you love to do besides blogging:

• Visiting historical museums and sites. I am a complete history goob. 
• Writing, though I haven’t been doing much of that for a bit. I need to get back into it, and soon! I have a couple story ideas in my head I really want to write.
• Needlework. Like cross stitch, embroidery, blackwork, redwork. Mom taught me how to stitch when I was little, and I remember her most with either knitting, stitching, or a book in her hands.

For Beauty Bloggers: What style of makeup do you enjoy the most: Natural, Trendy, Glamorous? Show us some of your best looks…you can create a small collage for this (this collage can be used to show readers your beauty style). Also, what is one beauty product you can’t live without and why.

I’d have to say I’m usually tossing on natural, simply because it’s quick and easy. My favorite, however, is… drumroll… historical styles! (Yeah, y’all didn’t even expect that, did you? Pffft…) Seriously, I am in love with being able to recreate makeup from the Teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s… and I love the perfumes from back then, too. 

My one beauty product I can’t live without…. oooh. Perfume, honestly. Assuming cleanser and deodorant and all don’t count! But perfume can just lift my spirits, or bolster my confidence. And I have a few signature scents that just say “Syd”!

I would put a collage of looks here, but I’m a bad beauty blogger and actually don’t have any photos of my looks!

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So come on! Come discover some ultra-amazing bloggers and join in if you’d like! Click on the Beauties On Fire logo up top to go to the blog post at Everything & Nothin’, then read up about Elisabeth and follow links at the bottom of her page to find so many others!

Have fun!!!