I cannot tell you how much I love makeup. I think I spend more money on makeup than I did with clothes, shoes, and accessories. To me, there’s no such thing as too many lipglosses or too many mascaras. Those words put together do not exist in my brain & heart.

So where do I go to buy my makeup? I like to shop at Sephora, Ulta, MAC, and Target.

Did you know that Estee Lauder owns big brands like Clinique, Presciptives, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, MAC Cosmetics, La Mer, Lab Series, and Bumble & Bumble? Pretty cool, huh?

L’Oreal owns brands like Lancome, Shu Uemura, Maybelline New York, Dermablend, Giorgio Armani fragrances & cosmetics, L’Oreal Paris, Keratase, Matrix, and Pureology.

Makes you wonder…is Maybelline’s quality pretty much L’Oreal Paris’s quality? Is Lancome’s quality pretty much L’Oreal Paris’s quality only better packaging and higher prices? I think there is a difference. The big difference is the price and packaging, but I’m sure the quality is different too. The companies probably just spend more time on making the perfect product with the higher priced brands than they do with the cheaper brands [especially skincare products]. They make the cheaper brand because more people can afford it. The cheaper one still being a great and effective product, but maybe not as great and effective as the more expensive one. Maybe the expiration date between the two are different?
Like buying a purse from Payless versus buying a purse from Coach [I just chose these two brands for the heck of it] . Both work just the same way…carrying your stuff. But the Coach bag will outlast the Payless bag because the quality of the materials and stitching put into it. So you end up buying Payless purse after Payless purse because it doesn’t last as long. Next thing you know, you just paid as much as you did for the Payless purseS as for one Coach bag. Should you have bought the Coach bag in the first place? Maybe. Maybe not.
Another example: Volkswagen owns Audi. Are Audi cars just the same as VWs because Vw owns them, or is Audi a more luxury brand within a brand?

Guess it all depends on how you would look at it.
For me? As long as the color and formula works fine, I’m happy.
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My CURRENT Favorites:

Foundation »
Bare Escentuals bareMineral Foundation SPF15 in Medium Tan

Concealer »
benefit ERASE paste in Medium
Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer in Medium Beige

Pencil Eyeliner »
L’Oreal Paris HiP Color Chrome Eyeliner in Black Shock
Rimmel London Soft Kajal Eyeliner Pencil in Pure White
MakeUpForEver Aqua Eyes in Purple 11L & Gold 9L
benefit Eye Bright [used more like a concealer, but I like it as an eyeliner too]

Liquid/Cream/Gel Eyeliner »
Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eye Pen in Blackest Black
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

Blush »
MAC Powder Blush in Mocha
Jemma Kidd Stain, Flush, Blush Concentrate in Masquerade

Mascara »
Maybelline New York Pulse Perfection Waterproof in Black [lasting curl]
CoverGirl lashBlast Waterproof in Very Black [great volume and lasting curl
benefit BADgal Lash in Rich Black [great volume]
benefit BADgal Blue [great volume & great for brightening the eye]
I have very Asian lashes…fine & naturally lies straight, facing towards the ground. The two waterproof mascaras kept my lashes the way that I curled them all day. I curl ‘em with Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler.

Eyebrow Filler »
Anastasia Brow Ex-press in Brunette

Eyeshadow »
bareMinerals Liner Shadow in Humor
all eight shadows from the Too Faced Glamour To Go 2 palette
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in YDK, Twice Baked, Half Baked, Grifter, and Oil Slick

Lipliner »
Rimmel London, 1000 Kisses Lipliner in Natural.

Lipgloss »
stila lipglaze in Cranberry, Starfruit, Kitten, Raspberry, and Plum Fairy
Lancome JuicyTubes in Dreamsicle
NYX Lipgloss in Beige, Natural, La La, and Perfect
DiorKiss Luscious Lip-Plumping Gloss in Berry Smoothie

Lipstick »
Maybelline New York Color Sensation Lipcolor in Mauve-ulous
Maybelline New York Moisture Extreme Lipcolor in Roseberry & Nude Blush

Brushes »
MAC 209, 275, and 217
Artistry Eyeliner/brow [angled brush]
Sephora Professionnel Platinum #12, 17, and 11
Sephora Professionnel #21

I would list my favorite nail polishes, but I think it deserves its own post. ^^ Too many too name.
Along with being a makeup junkie, I am also a nail polish junkie.

Got my blog back up again. I guess it’s pretty common for those who have WordPress to have the same problem as I did. It just kept saying, “Error establishing database connection,” everytime I tried to log on. Got it fixed. ^^
Hopefully, it will stay up this time! Lol. I think I sorta jinxed myself last time.

My blog was down for a while. The reason for that is still a mystery. Doesn’t matter really. I’m just happy it’s back up!
I missed you, blog. Big hug. ^^
I never thought I would miss it. It felt like it’s been down for months, when really just for a few days. I guess it being down made me realize how much I really do enjoy blogging. :] I felt a little empty without it. I only have a few readers, but those few readers have been missing out! Okay, not really, but I do have a couple of things to share that I will post later in more detail.

I just got done studying for 2-3 hours about hair structure, growth, composition, and scalp diseases [gross] for a test tomorrow. I’m really tired, but I thought I should at least let you that I’m still here. Lol.

So what have I been up to since my baby [blog] has been M.I.A? I did a few makeup tutorials [and a lot more I want to do], recorded myself singing a snippet of Corinne Bailey Rae [ughh], playing with semi-permanent individual lashes [a-pain-in-the-ass], enjoying the nice weather [oh yes...sunshine], saw a movie at the theatre [The Book of Eli], and school [perminator]. So…more blog posts on those topics later.

I’m excited for class tomorrow. Half of my classmates graduated from Phase One to Phase Two [they're working on the floor now on real people], so its time for the new wave for students to join Phase Oners. Hopefully none of them are bitches.

y a w n.

Time for bed. I hope my blog doesn’t go done again.
Knock on wood.

I have a lot of random thoughts running through my head that I want to share with everyone. Lol. Everyone has random thoughts. I like hearing about other people’s too. Keeps things interesting. So I’m going to start naming my random posts. :]
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I wanted to share my progress in beauty school. I did this yesterday. As you can see, I did a perm and blow dry style for the first time [first picture]. I didn’t know how I wanted to style the perm, so I just pin that ish up. Haha. It was a mess. The blowout, I just teased her a bit. The second picture is just me watching my girl. =P

There’s a hair show this weekend. I really want to go just to see the makeup & nail sections and what products that have there. Maybe I’ll go. Or I could take advantage of the time off of school to sleep. There will be another hair show in the summer.
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I just ate some garlic cheese pizza from a box. California Pizza Kitchen, frozen food section. It was okay. Fresh from the restaurant is way better. I’ve only lived in Michigan and now, Florida, so I haven’t been to the ultimate pizza place. I used to like Dominos, until they changed their recipe. Yuck. The sauce is all wrong now. I loved it before. Now, I hate it. Anywhoo…thought I share my favorite toppings.

01. I love margherrita pizza/flatbread. Mozzarella. Tomatoes. Basil Leaves. I like it from Crust & Brio.

02. BLT pizza. Bacon. Lettuce tossed in mayo. Tomatoes. Honey-wheat bread. I love this pizza. Obviously, this one is from CPK.

03. Cheese pizza. The more different kinds of cheeses, the better. :}

04. Pepperoni & Sausage pizza. I can’t eat this that much anymore because I get major heartburn now from eating so much spicy & acidic foods my whole life. I love when pepperoni is a little on the burnt side. Yummy.

05. Veggie pizza. Mushrooms. Tomatoes. Ripe black olives. Onion. Green peppers. Deep dish. I like this from Hungry Howies.

06. For frozen food pizza, I like Tombstone Deep Dish Individual Pizzas. Cheese Pizza. Pepperoni Pizza. Only one I like that is store bought.

Other favorite pizza places I like is Pizza Papalis & UNO’s. Those places are dangerous.
I don’t eat pizza a lot. It’s something I can get sick of really fast.
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I really really miss my long hair. I don’t think I will cut it drastically again. Lol. Boo-hoo. I wish I could tug on the shaft of my hair and pull the growth out. I want my hair to be really long again. Maybe a little past mid-back. Then I want a lot of layers in it. Maybe I’ll keep my bangs, but on the long side.
I always wanted to go blonde (a shade that isn’t bad again my tan-olive skin). Maybe even a light brown. But it’s hard to lift my hair. Especially when I’ve dyed it pitch black over and over again. Permanent hair color over permanent hair color. I never did root touch ups, just applying boxed hair color all-over each time, which I learned today in school is a big no, no. We should only permanent our hair on natural/virgin hair once, and semi-permanent on already dyed hair. So yeah, I think I’m going to do a light brown once my hair is grown out.
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I have so many things I want to blog about and so many makeup tutorial videos I want to do.

I want to make videos of myself singing too, but I really hate the way that my teeth look when my mouth is moving [that's why I'm not talking in any of my makeup videos]. I feel like I’m not that bad looking, but my teeth makes me ugly. I really have crooked teeth. If you haven’t notice, I think you will now. You can really see the crookedness from my side. I recorded myself singing a snippet of “Trouble Sleeping” by Corinne Bailey Rae. Haven’t uploaded it to YouTube. Too scared. I know how mean people can be when it comes to people’s teeth. No one is perfect! I’m broke and jobless, therefore, I have crooked teeth. And when I did have money, I chose instant gratification over getting braces [makeup, food, shoe shopping]. Stupid me. I could have had straight teeth by now!
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My heater is broken. Not sure what it is. It’s been really chilly here in Florida in the evening, night, and early morning. I’m still thankful that I don’t have to deal with snow [heard that Michigan got 8 inches], but damn…it is cold here. Weird. Isn’t Florida suppose to be one the warm side, even during winter months?
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I really like my instructors at school. Mr. Wade and Ms. Aimee. They’re both very helpful, cool, funny, and up-to-date. I’m happy that I go to Cozmo for beauty school. I don’t see myself doing hair, but I love to learn. I will know how know to do my own hair a little better now. I’m more interesting in learning about the skin and more about nails.
I like the atmosphere there too. Everyone is pretty helpful with each other. I would say we all act as a team.
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I’m not a huge fan of cakes. Too much cake. I know, I know. I could slice up the portion that I want. I rather have a cupcake, to skip the slicing part. Plus, I think cupcakes are cuter. I love cupcakes. I used to make them a lot, like twice a month. Crazy. I would usually make the boxed cupcakes so I could spend more time decorating. My favorites: Red Velvet w/ Vanilla frosting/buttercream [it's usually paired with Cream Cheese Frosting, but I'm not a huge fan of it]. Chocolate w/ Vanilla frosting or buttercream. Classic Yellow w/ Chocolate Frosting. I don’t make them that much anymore. I don’t even remember when was the last time.
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I like watching infomercials. Right now, I’m watching one about cooking knives. Lol. I never bought from one, but it has convinced me once to go out and buy it. I love makeup infomercials. Because of infomercials, I discovered the Bare Escentuals brand. I got mine at Sephora though. Love that brand.
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I’m tired. Good night.

Dramatic color winged eyeliner» I love this look. Especially with navy or plum. Using  black cream/gel to draw the wings first kind of mutes whatever color shadow you choose to set it with. Try using a different color cream/gel to give you a more vibrant look.