hurl: tarte x grav3yardgirl swamp queen palette

hi guys! this swamp family member was finally able to get her phalanges on the swamp queen palette today!!! it was so close yet so far on saturday...and then yesterday was a holiday.............. i've been watching bunny's videos for maybe a year or two now, and get most of the references to the shade names, except for a few...but i'm not watching her hour-long video talking about the palette...who has time for that, especially since i ordered the palette before that video even went up.. click photos to view larger! ~Lin-chan ^.~
anyway! omg this palette. it is beautiful. fan of grav3yardgirl or not, you should definitely check it out. the pigmentation is freaking phenomenal and will work with fair to medium skintones (maybe darker, but i'm not sure by how much..). these shadows are super gorgeous, most containing some kind of sparkle, and a few satins. the bronzer, i'm a bit on the fence about because of the sparkle, but the rest of the palette makes up for it. the included brush seems like it will be a pretty good, stiff flat shader brush.

believe in yourself, love yourself, embrace your individuality

cheeks

1. sweet tea -- this is a more orangey-brown bronzer shade, with gold shimmer. it does kind of look like iced tea, not gonna lie, "sippy sippy...ahhhh!". but i'm not sure how this will go on me because it's so orange, but i can try using it other ways.
2. does this thing really work? -- this blush reminds me of nars orgasm. now, orgasm is a lot pinker than this, where this is more rosy-mauve, and it also has some golden shimmer to it.
3. gator wings -- this is super pretty! it's reminiscent of becca moonstone, but more yellow-gold, and appears to have multi-colored shimmer to it. 

sweet tea, does this thing really work?, gator wings

eyes

1. #sfs -- well, since i'm on the dupe train... manna kadar's shadow/highlight in fantasy that i got in my ipsy bag is very similar to this. this is a really pretty peachy-pink golden shimmery shadow.
2. natural peaches -- this is one of the satins, and it's a really nice orangy-peach transition shade. i'm not sure with my skintone if i can pull it off full-color, but i can see this working really well sheered out.
3. dogman -- i'm not sure if i 100% feel like this would be dogman's 'color' but i guess, relative to the others..maybe? anyway, this is a really interesting shade. it's a satin finish rusty color with multi-colored shimmer. i'm not sure how much use i'd get out of this shade but if i do, it'll probably be something i blend a lot and will probably lose the glitteriness.
4. big baby -- can you even see this one on my skin?? i had to swatch this one a few times to get it to show up. it is basically my skin color, maybe leaning slightly orange. this is the other satin/matte shade in this palette. which will work really well as a brow highlight.
5. sassy bun -- "so sassy, sassy saaaassy!" omg you guys. this is one of the prettiest metallic coppery golds ever. cannot waiiiiit to use it!
6. sippy sippy -- this is another that i'm not so sure i'd envision as the name...but whatever. this is a very dark chocolate brown, satin finish with multi-colored shimmer. like i said with dogman, if i ever end up using it, the pretty shimmeriness will get lost in the blending probably.
7. haunting -- omg you guys, can i get a larger one of these as a single?? this is such a pretty lilacy-nudey-pink with tons of multi-colored shimmer. this one does seem fairly appropriately named, i mean, it's a ghoulish color!
8. uncommon -- also, can i get this as a hyooj single??? this is probably my absolute favorite shade in this palette. contrary to the fact that i'm not as interested in the uncommon objects hauls--those are kinda weird..but ughhhh! i know why i love this shade so much. it's another take on urban decay's liar (naked 3), and slightly less so, inglot 402. this is such a pretty mauvey taupe shade with tons of sparkle and shine. looooove it.
9. mancat -- this is a very nice deep purple with a satin finish. i don't see myself using it much, maybe in the outer corner or lower lash line, but i'm not sure.

#sfs, natural peaches, dogman, big baby, sassy bun, sippy sippy, haunting, uncommon, mancat (swatched over lorac eye primer)

may 2015 favorites & regrets

it's may favorites time~! yay! ~Lin-chan ^.~

favorites:

bite lavender thistle

mug starry eyed, barcelona beach; laura mercier rosegold; nyc deep brown, jet black

I514, D562, I544, D552, ME302

1. bite beauty limited lab release lipstick for may (lavender thistle) -- i was extremely surprised when i swatched this beaut. i wasn't totally sure when i bought it, if it'd look like death on me or not, but i went ahead anyway and i was thoroughly surprised. i think it really works with it's slight sheerness, plus my mauvy pigmented lips. it's really pretty.
2. laura mercier caviar shadow stick in rosegold -- this is a nice and creamy pencil. i love it! it's similar in texture to the loreal infallible shadow sticks
3. belif true cream aqua bomb moisturizer -- i love the texture of this moisturizer. it's a gel but it feels like water when you spread it out. and it has a really nice citrus scent. i've been religiously using clinique's ddm gel for the past 7+ years, and i've been using this sample like crazy!
4. nyc brow & eyeliner pencils in jet black & deep brown -- i bought these because i heard that they were pretty good brow pencils on the cheap (packs of 2 for $2 -- per color). i haven't tried these as liners, and i'm not sure that i will because they're a little too waxy for my taste. for brows, i love using both of these. the waxiness is perfect and it stays put all day. i recommend using a light hand and have a spoolie on hand.
5. makeup geek 
1. barcelona beach eyeshadow -- i really like this as my matte crease shade. i almost don't know how i survived without this one! it's kind of similar to shades in the naked2 basics palette
2. starry eyed (foiled) eyeshadow -- this is such a pretty color! i love using it on top of other colors to give them a foiled effect since the color (not exactly pigmentation..) isn't super strong for this one, and it looks great when it catches the light.
3. soft dome brush -- i really enjoy using this brush! it's the perfect size as a crease/blending brush and it's very soft and not irritating
6. mufe
1. nude artist palette (particularly the middle column I514, D562, I544) -- i think i like these 3 shades a lot because two of them were in a previous favorites post, and I544 is very similar or in the same family as I548.
2. D552 -- this shadow is like perpetually sold out, so if it's available, you should definitely jump on it! soooo pretty.
3. ME302 -- i like layering D552 on top to soften it up. the pretty blue does blend away to show the brown undertones, but if you pack it on, the blue duochrome is super pretty!

random favorites:

1. zenana outfitters knit open cardigan, with three quarter sleeves and pockets -- i bought this at tj maxx...i think..? or it was marshalls...? ours are right next to each other and they're like the same store............... anyway, this sweater is so comfy and cute with shorts!
2. bubzbeauty teespring shirt for charity -- who couldn't resist this adorableness? it's a penguin with an ice cream cone "unicorn horn". so kyoot. and it was for a good cause too, she donated the proceeds to two charities. the only thing i dislike is that it's kinda long, but i still luff it.
3. kate spade iphone 6 case (from apple.com) -- i really love this pattern. the only knock on it is that it is painted onto a black-based case, so i dropped it and a small chunk of white has disappeared on the corner near the camera (as shown in photo). thankfully this pattern is kind of random, so most people wouldn't know otherwise!
4. online manga: relife -- this is still ongoing as they translate and upload this one..but it's so funny and has an interesting concept. relife is a program where neets can essentially take a pill to look younger and have a second chance by going to high school again and potentially getting better job opportunities when they complete the relife program.

product updates:

left: koh gen do, right: shiseido

1. shiseido facial cotton -- these are a lot better than the koh gen do ones. they're slightly smaller in both size and thickness, but they're at the same level as the sephora cotton rounds. i will probably continue buying drugstore cotton rounds for eye makeup remover, and use either this facial cotton or the sephora cotton rounds for micellar water and toner.

regrets/disappointments:

skone navy, almay purple amethyst, bm stroke of light, it cc cream in medium

1. houston flooding -- we were going to visit our friends this weekend but then the flooding...so we ended up cancelling out trip. i think my relatives canceled their vacation too because their houses got over 12in of water from the flooding. bleh!
2. bare minerals stroke of light -- i've had this sample for who knows how long...but i tried it out as an inner corner highlight...and it was pretty lame. it might work for darker skintones, but definitely not mine.
3. it cosmetics cc+ cream in medium -- this was disappointing because of the color ipsy sent me. my profile has light, so why they would send me medium is beyond me. i was interested in trying it out too.
4. almay intense i-color liquid liner in purple amethyst -- sadface at how pretty this is and the fact that it burned my eyes to all hell while i was applying it. nope.
5. skone cosmetics pretty eyes automatic eyeliner in navy -- can we talk about how this looks navy in the tube and not navy on my skin? either way the color is pretty, but the formula isn't that great. it applies nicely, but it's too creamy and smears like crazy. it definitely needs to be set if you try using this product.

cooking with dog update

chef-san is slowly making her comeback after january's bicycle accident. gambattemasu!!! ~L-c ^.~

voice actors (updated)

hey guys! i don't think the visible posts on here date back far enough, but todd haberkorn came to louisianime a few years ago and showed us a series of tribute videos he and vic mignona made for each other. they are hilarious! vic finally came out with his fourth and final one and i've posted the videos in order of their creation... ~L-c ^.~

there are a lot of references people may not get because they are related to characters they played (todd was italy in hetalia and keroro in sgt. frog), things regarding their interests (i.e. vic loves star trek and, as a kid, pretended he was captain kirk), or their ages (vic was born in '62).

what i'm loving: cookingwithdog & runnyrunny999

hi everyone!!! so i have two favorite cooking youtube channels right now: cooking with dog and runny. unfortunately, due to an accident last month, chef from cooking with dog was placed in i.c.u.. recently, she was moved to the general ward, which is good, but she still has a lot of recovering to do, but please enjoy some of their older videos in the meantime! runny is really funny--no pun intended. but really. everyone who loves cooking with dog tends to love him too. ~L-c ^.~

that brings us to today..well, last night. paul and i decided to make -- mostly paul -- cooking with dog's award-winning custard pudding. so here it is! kudos to teh paul! >w<

 

this is what i made yesterday, for dinner. we couldn't find the baby scallops this time at dinn-wixie, so we decided to try it with bratwurst instead--paul's idea. it came out ok, but i prefer the texture and taste of scallops though. (ps, there's a "hidden" link on there for the ham stock recipe, in the ingredients list. i usually use ham hocks.)

what i'm loving: a ds game and youtube video

hey guys! so it's time for another what i'm loving! probably some, maybe several of you guys don't have a ds, but paul got me this game for christmas and i finally got around to playing it.......after he decided to play it first! >.> i'm super excited to find out that they have made a sequel, to be released in japan next week--so that means i've got to acquire a 3ds within the next year! ....in addition to the fact that nintendo finally decided to release a few more cool 3ds games.

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doorsor as ryan likes to call it: the herman cain game

(wikipedia contains spoilers!) anyway! this is a really interesting game. they call it a visual novel, so the game is very text heavy and not so much about the puzzles. it is cool though, that there are multiple endings to this game: one true and 6 "bad". it is inevitable to get a bad ending your first try--that's how it's designed--in addition to the fact that you must complete a certain "bad" ending immediately prior to the true ending. this gives it it's replay value, and! they let you fast forward through text until you must make a decision/explore rooms--that is, once you've seen said text before. as far as solving puzzles to get out of the different rooms..they're exactly the same each play-through, so it's a little boring on that note, but it does help you get to the different endings faster. ^^; also, if you don't know hexadecimal, you may want to occasionally look up the number conversions while playing. additionally, the game has a lot of historical facts within it that are actually interesting to americans (at least). 1, the titanic. 2, research experiments. 3, myths. 它们都是很有意思！and after playing, you should check out interviews with the director (go to "answers"); he helps fill in the gaps. here's ign's review--if you don't use ign or don't know: they don't give games an overall "10.0".

as for the youtube videos, ok go made a super cool video using a car and instruments arranged on a roadside.

mv trailer

 

music video

~L-c ^.~

what i'm loving: makeup, skincare, and a recipe!

new theme and a couple new songs for you guys. i believe the wallpaper is from a japanese magazine article (i removed the text from the left side) advertising Guilty Crown (link contains spoilers). "My Dearest" is the intro theme for Guilty Crown, and i love Miyavi, so i had to throw that on there; he's playing guitar and kreva is rapping. click for my other miyavi favorites! i also thought that this was funny and decided to include it here.

this section, reposted from a previous post:

i've decided to make a series of "what i'm loving" posts...except, i think i'll make them sporadically rather than on a particular day of the week, every week--sorry guys. so i guess it'll be a 'what i'm loving now'..? lol. i'll create a new tag for these types of posts, and put links and photos on them. i will warn you guys, as i've decided to become an out-of-the-closet makeup junkie, most items will probably be makeup or skincare related. ^^; unfortunately, my camera isn't up to par with newer ones (it's 4+ years old), so for now, most pictures will be from my phone, which has an app with image stabilization for shaky photographers like myself. >.< ~Lindsay-chan ^.~

*note: not all "what i'm loving" posts will be as massive as this one. i spent over two weeks compiling this post.

favorite vloggers: CookingWithDog, TiffanyD, and xSparkage.
favorite bloggers: TiffanyD, xSparkage, and Cosmetics Aficionado.
favorite stores: Sephora & Ulta, Lush

**most of the following items can be found at either sephora, ulta, or others that carry those items. lush only carries lush products and has it's own section below.


Urban Decay cosmetics (UD):

Naked and Naked2 eyeshadow palettes; see swatches here and here. i think that i like the 2 more than the 1 since it's more tawny and has lighter shades and i'm not so much for super dark or crazy-bright colored makeup..on myself. =P
Naked comes with mini Eyeshadow Primer Potion in "Original" (see below) and a brush (older palettes came with a dual ended pencil). Naked2 comes with mini Lip Junkie lip gloss in "Naked" and a dual ended brush.

swatches: perversion, revolver, stila spectrum; primer potion in original, greed, [eden not pictured--seen here], sin

All Nighter makeup setting spray -- travel size & regular. i'd suggest getting a larger bottle for the money. i got the travel size from the urban bride set (now on clearance, link may not work soon after today).
24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner: in "Perversion" and "Revolver". i still haven't gotten the hang of using liquid liners, but as far as the colors: they're amazing. perversion is the darkest black i've purchased (as well as the perversion pencil) and revolver is a pretty metallic silver with some shimmer.
Eyeshadow Primer Potion: in "Original" & "Greed" (travel size) and "Eden" (XL). i have yet to try Sin. if you're looking to get any of these, they are now in regular size, squeeze tubes. original comes in a professional size, should you choose to buy it. of these three, i think i'm liking greed the most, it's got a nice golden shimmer to it and could probably be used alone as your "eye color". original is very sheer and you can barely see it on my arm and eden's a bit of a champagne color..but kind of close to my skin color.

*note: urban decay recently released full sized perversion eye pencils; previously, you could only buy them in certain eye pencil sets. in ordering some, i also ordered the XL sin potion (only $15 right now btw--that's how i got eden). thus, at some later time, i will make another "what i'm loving" post and talk about them.

Stila: Sparkle waterproof liquid eyeliner in "Spectrum" from Sephora. it's a nice dark black with mutlicolored glitter. >w< i really like the applicator for this, it's not a thin bristle--like the UD ones, it's more like..well i'm not sure how to describe it..a stiff, pointed qtip-like [felt] tip that flexes a little, and has a lot less give than thin bristle brushes.
Maybelline: Volum' Express: the Falsies Flared mascara in Blackest Black -- i love how i don't have to curl my lashes with this, the only downside is that i need to be careful of any eyelashes that decide to clump together
Tarina Tarantino: Pearl Glow Primer in Pearl - deluxe sample size (3rd photo, left). this really makes your skin have a pinky-purple pearlized look, very nice.
Too Faced:
→ Primed and Poreless face primer -- i like using toothpaste squeezers (can also be found at walmart on a hanging display in a random place, mom found them on the baking aisle once) for these kinds of things, this stuff is way too expensive to waste! i love how it mattifies my skin and looks great alone or under powder.
→ Pink Leopard bronzer -- it's funny how i've had the deluxe sample size of this stuff for over a year and have only recently discovered how amazing it is. ^^; instead of using a separate blush and bronzer, you can honestly use just this and you're done! there's also a peach leopard bronzer which is more coral.

***A word from the wise*** DO NOT Order ANY Too Faced pressed powders directly from Too Faced. they have shoddy packaging (i.e. placing padding only the bottom 85+% of the box and your purchase is touching the lid (the white thing is my packing slip)) and they ship through UPS, which is known for it's oh-so delicate package-handling. instead, go to your local sephora or other too faced-distributing store and check the item before buying. too faced also "cannot accept returns on damaged or used merchandise". ...so what the hell am i supposed to do with this?! (compare to pink leopard pictured above)

*update 1/16: i received an email from Too Faced today and they are sending me a replacement Pink Leopard. i also asked them to package it better, so we'll see!



AHEM. moving on...

EcoTools makeup brushes -- these are the brushes i primarily use. i'm a pretty lazy person and i don't always use concealer--much less, using the concealer brush for concealer, so i use them for eyeshadow. i really love using this brand of brushes--primarily because they don't shed and they're good, inexpensive brushes.
→ Left to right: mineral powder brush & concealer brush (part of a set), eye shading brush & concealer brush (part of a set), foundation brush, bronzer brush.
Sephora: daily brush cleaner & purifying brush shampoo -- the daily cleaner is great for quickly removing makeup, in-between shampooing. brush cleaning tutorial.

*note: at a later time, i'll talk about my new sigma brushes and dry'n shape.

Clarisonic Mia in turquoise (it looks blue here but is really more green) -- i haven't actually tried the sample bottle of cleanser that came with it, but i've been using my regular facial cleansing products with it and it's amazing. i love it and it's waterproof to go in the shower! the charger attaches magnetically. super cool.
Clinique: Acne Solutions
→ Spot Healing Gel -- acne is a kinda gross thing to talk about..but this is really good on open [acne] wounds or ones that are in the process of healing.
→ Emergency Gel Lotion -- if mt. everest decides to develop, put this on at night (whatever time but..) and see how much the swelling goes down by morning.

*note: if you register your clarisonic online, you will get a $25 off of $50 coupon code for clarisonic.com, expires 90 days after receiving.

Flo refillable fragrance atomizer: currently only in pink at sephora, available on amazon in pink, black, and silver. how to video.
Givenchy "Play" perfume: at sephora


Sally Beauty Supply:

• nail polish & art wheel: i love these things! they're perfect when you can't decide what nail color you want OR you can use them as a better guide for matching with an outfit (rather than holding the bottle to it). when i first got these, i assessed how many of each brand of polish i had. then i separated each wheel (pack comes with 10 wheels, 18 nails per wheel) by brand, plus one for miscellaneous nail polishes. then, i sharpied the backs of them with the brand and numbered each nail. after applying nail polish to each nail, i'd write the corresponding polish names onto notecards.
• i generally used 2 coats of nail color, then clear topcoat for each. for shatter nail polish: paint a clear coat (needs polish underneath to shatter), shatter polish, and clear topcoat. i'm also using the miscellaneous wheel for testing ideas, some polishes look better over a soild color, like black. i got a cheap nail polish at walmart (pure ice: heart breaker) and put 2 coats over 2 coats of black and it looked amazing--it made the black polish look like dark green with shimmer. super cool. >w< (not that you can see it, but the nail to the left of the arrow one is heartbreaker, by itself. the arrow one is black onyx with heartbreaker)
• if you're wondering about the two matte polishes in the left of the photo, the black is opi black onyx with sephora by opi matte top coat and the blue is zoya matte polish in phoebe. (the phoebe link is temporarily broken, if you want to see the bottle: go to zoya.com and search "phoebe")
• d.i.y. nail polish christmas ornaments: http://youtu.be/du1n6MkWTP0

Lush cosmetics:

• The Comforter bubble bar (pinkish purple) -- i hear that it's best to cut these into fours and use one piece at a time. this is actually 1.5 bubble bars, i gave away two pieces. it smells nice when it's a solid piece, but when you crumble it into the tub, the scent dwindles a bit. turns bath water pink, white bubbles.
• Sweetie Pie shower jelly -- this is really neat, it looks like weird, purple glittery jello that you rip off small pieces and lather into a sponge.
• You Snap the Whip body butter (black) -- first and foremost: LOL at it's name, the girl at Macy's couldn't keep a straight face saying the name when my aunt asked. this stuff has the strangest instructions but leaves the skin feeling awesome after using it. you're not supposed to get it soaking wet; apply it to wet skin using dry hands and store it in a dry, cool/room-temperature place..so it doesn't melt, or something. it gives an almost melting-chocolate-in-your-hand feel when holding it. after using, your skin feels nice and moisturized, this gives a light exfoliation (vs. harsh). (tin sold separately)
• all three of these have the same--or nearly the same--scent.

Food:

Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cornish-game-hens-with-garlic-and-rosemary/detail.aspx

• paul and i can't finish a whole chicken fast enough, so we like buying cornish hens (can be found with frozen chickens) and we usually split one per meal with two sides.
• prior to finding this recipe, we'd do a salt and pepper rub (or tony's and pepper) and baste with butter. in trying to find a healthier alternative, we came across this recipe and it's amazing. it uses no butter, and the sauce you make from it is almost butter-flavored. the white wine i use is yellow tail pinot grigio and when i get to step 4 on the recipe to make the sauce, i add a little bit more wine to it. yummmm~!