All I Want for Christmas

As I look for Christmas gifts for my friends and family, I'm finding some great products that I'm longing for. And, since I know you are DYING to know what I want for Christmas, I thought I'd share them with you.

I'm lusting over my Mom's wireless printer. It is so beautiful.
Meet the HP 8600 Office Jet Pro

This bad boy is the best wireless printer on the market and I want it!

I want a great print shop - and here's the one I want: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5. (Pssst it's on sale today on Amazon - $99)

The FULL Twilight series in one set ($40 on Amazon)

Mortal Instruments (Digital + Ultraviolet $18 on Amazon - releasing Dec 3)

Also Big Bang Seasons 5 & 6 ($11-20 on Amazon)

I want this Tarte Off the Cuff Blush Palette!!! ($36 at Sephora and Ulta) 

But...I think it's sold out :(

The Balm: 
BALM VOYAGE Palette ($42 at Kohls.com)

While I love theBalm, I want Lorac more!

Lorac: (which is Carol spelled backwards - a woman named Carol created it)
The Pro Palette is an amazing set of matte and shimmer eyeshadows

($42 at Ulta or Sephoa)

This eye shadow set is at Kohl's and is so cute! ($36). I might have to buy it if I don't get it as a gift!

While I'm at it, the Lorac Pro to Go palette is also amazing!

Urban Decay - 

There is a ton of Urban Decay stuff I want. Like, the Vice 2 Palette ($59 at Ilta and Sephora)

And let's take one minute to talk about the ultimate Urban Decay shadow set. Out of this world cost but I would die for this. It is EVERY shadow they make! ($595 at Sephora)

But, the one I want the most is Naked 3: ($52 at urban decay.com)

Now, onto lips:

I am dying for the Nars matte lip pencils! ($25 at Sephora)

I'm especially going crazy over "Cruella" (which I own and it's shown below)

Other great colors are "Dragon Girl" and "Damned" that I'm longing for

Now, I'm a huge Sigma Beauty fan!

I would love the cleaning glove in pink ($35 on sigmabeauty.com)

Also, I'm wanting the perfect blending set ($63 on sigmabeauty.com)

Those are the most wanted items! Hope you enjoyed my wish list! 

24 days to Christmas!!!!

Makeover Monday - Adventures in Foundation

I'm on the hunt for a great liquid foundation...and I'm having a rough time finding one.

For a bit of a back story, I have tanned since high school. Yep, full on tanning bed, bronzed tan. And, I look AWESOME with a good tan. AWESOME.

However, in the last couple of years I have gotten Rosacea. The type I have is the really red, blotchy, dry Rosacea. Thankfully, I didn't get the bumpy kind, but it still totally sucks.

For a couple of years, the tanning would fix the Rosacea. While tanning dries out some skin, it actually is quite hydrating on mine - something with natural oils, blah, blah, blah.

Anywho, the tanning is no longer working. I'm pretty sure that it is actually making it worse and some studies say that the Rosacea might even have been caused by sun damage. So, I stopped tanning about a month or so ago.

Wow - that was a really long explanation of why my foundation no longer matches my skin. But, that's it -- I'm lighter, so I need a lighter foundation.

Well, they no longer make the foundation type I was using, so I'm testing out new.

On Friday, I purchased some Urban Decay Naked foundation. TERRIBLE. It didn't blend well, really flaked my dry areas, and was a bit too yellow. So...I returned that on Sunday.

Now, I'm trying Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation. The color is dead on. (YES, of COURSE I had the guy at the Ulta counter match my skin - that is most certainly a skill I do not possess. I would have walked away with a way wrong shade) It didn't blend as well as my old kind did and there was a tiny bit of flaking, but I actually going to try it a few more times. I'm pretty sure that I'm a bit dehydrated, so I'm going to drink a ton of water over the next few days and see what happens.

Ultimately, I'm up for any recommendations. I am combination skin, I like a matte to dewy finish, want something that is long wear and full coverage.

Do you have any foundation recommendations?

This and That and Some Bra Shopping with Grandma

I have a new obsession, and I mean OBSESSION -- Beauty How-To Videos on YouTube.

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them. If you haven't watched Lauren Curtis (Lauren Beautyy) or Jacklyn Hill PLEASE go watch them! Do it! They have the best eyebrows ever!

Speaking of eyebrows, I'm getting mine reshaped tomorrow. I've waxed my own for years, but I've really lost my arch. I could really use a professional fix. Then I can start using all my brow filling techniques I learned from Lauren! (I like her brow tutorial better than Jacklyn)

All my beautiful tools fit in my awesome new organizer

This is the Winsome Halifax Cabinet. I loved it so much I bought a second one!!! The second one was $10 cheaper. Both purchased on Amazon. Once I get the second one put together, I will take a pic. 

To jump topics, I'm really mad at myself. For months I have been training myself to be a morning person. I am NOT naturally a morning person so this has been quite an ordeal. Lots of sleepy days and wake up calls from friends (true story). But, I finally did it. I was consistently waking up on time - swimming day ring a bell? One day I actually woke up at 4 am to workout before I had to be to work early at 7am. So...we just had a 3-day weekend. I figured I could sleep in one day (Saturday) and even if it messed me up a little, I'd have 2 days to fix it. WRONG. I completely jacked up my sleep schedule. For the days following, my body kept me up at night and wouldn't wake me up in the morning. I'm pretty bummed, but I'm determined to fix it!

For that reason, I'm going to finish this post in bed from my phone. I love technology. 

Ahh! That's better! Well, sort of. This is my current situation:

Every time I go to type, she pushes my phone with her face. So spoiled. It was apparently rough for her that the long weekend was over and I had to go back to work. 

So, what did you do this weekend? 

The highlight of MY weekend was bra shopping with my Grandma.

Truth.

Long story short, I joked that I would buy her a bra for her birthday, which turned from her saying "you can't pick one out", and me saying "then I'll take you shopping" to her asking "do you think your Mom would come?"...

...and next thing you knew, Mom and I were taking her bra shopping.

Do you think she'd kill me for posting this? 

I snuck one in as proof but I had to be a ninja about it, so it's blurry.

What was the best part about bra shopping with Grandma?

Was it Mom buying her a bra and me buying her blue shape wear for her birthday? Nope

Was it saying Happy Birthday and having the clerk look at us funny? 

How about her wanting all 3 of us in the same dressing room to try in and model together? Or after I said no to same dressing rooms, she still modeled for me? Not likely but hilarious. 

All of those were great and I think Grandma had a blast shopping. We wore her out but she found a great bra.

My most favorite moment of bra shopping was Mom and I pointing out matching sets for her to try on. While another shopper was looking, I turned to my 84 year old Grandma (85 on the 7th), and said, 

"Ohhhh Grandma, these are see-through! You should buy see-through panties!"

The look from the other shopper was priceless. 

And, that's how I roll. Now, it's off to sleep to hopefully wake up early to work out. Wish me luck!!!

But, seriously, the set was cute.