Ms. Amy Stewart's Giveaway

Amy at junghwabyamystewart.blogspot.com is having a great giveaway, you can find the link here:

http://junghwabyamystewart.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-of-day-is-g-for-giveaway.html
(sorry Im new to blogging and having trouble posting a link :/)

The giveaway is this SUPER CUTE necklace




So head on over to junghwabyamystewart.blogspot.com and follow thse directions:

The winner will be chosen at random on May 4th at 5PM. If your email address is not visible in your profile, please leave me an email address, so I can contact you if you win. The winner will need to provide their address. Your address will be kept confidential.

DEADLINE : May 4th at 5PM PST!!!

Here are the rules for entering :

1. PLEASE be a follower of my blog and if you already are, let me know. If you're not yet, then go to the right panel and click follow. I will be checking every single entry.

2. Leave a comment telling me what you are looking forward to the most about summer.

BONUS entries...

1. This counts as THREE extra entries. Post this giveaway on your blog as it's own separate post or have a link on your sidebar. Leave the link in a separate comment, otherwise it won't count.

2. OR for ONE extra entry, post this giveaway on twitter. Leave the link in a separate comment, otherwise it won't count.


Good luck everyone!!

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Preferences

Since I'm going to be posting a bunch of swatches and what not I wanted to comment on my makeup preferences and skin type.

First and foremost I'd like to note that I'm no professional, everything I know about makeup is self-taught. When and if I do tutorials they will be simple and straight forward. I get a little overwhelmed when I see other beautiful FOTDs then I scroll down and read that they used 10 different products for their lips alone.

Oh and another thing about my posts that I want to note is that this is my personal blog that I want to share with my fellow makeup lovers. This is for makeup purposes only so I'm really not going to put thought into grammar or spelling, I'm just writing whatever I deem necessary and relevant to the post. So I apologize in advance for any grammatical and spelling errors. Im a bit of a perfectionist, if I proof read all my posts I would be constantly re-writing them and then they would never ever get posted lol

Okay on to my preferences

Skin Type:
I have combo skin. Dry cheeks, oily t-zone. I combat this with exfoliating scrubs and moisturizers. I rarely break out, but when I do its on my forehead, nose and chin (and its those horrible cystic pimples!). I don't have this best skin, but Its not bad enough to really complain about it. Since my t-zone is really oily, I prefer to use long lasting makeup, and matte finishes. Even though I have combo skin, I usually gravitate to makeup better suited for oily skin overall as opposed to dry

Makeup Preferences:
Now Ill be the first to admit that I'm a CHEAPO when it comes to makeup (actually when it comes to everything) but my standards aren't unreasonably low. I believe that there are 2 groups of makeup, one you can go cheap on and one you should splurge on.

Here are some of my requirements:
- Long Lasting
- No ghastly odor
- Eye shadows must be pigmented or easily made pigmented by use of primer
- Most Important: NO ANIMAL TESTING!!!!!!! I'm extremely passionate about that

As I mentioned above, I try my best to stay away from brands that test on animals. I'm not perfect, there are items I have purchased that were made from such brands but of course upon discovering that they test on animals I quickly threw them out. If you see a product on here from a brand that does test on animals, please let me know

My fave looks are the smokey eye and barbie look. I'm not for the "natural" look at all haha. I actually like pornstar-Pam-Andersen makeup look over the natural-Natalie-Portman makeup look. Call me vain but I'd rather be called "sexy" than "pretty" (Not that I think of myself belonging to any of those categories, Im just sayin...)

I also tend to stay away from bright eyeshadow colors, the brightest Ive gone are pinks and purples. Ive tried teals, baby blues and failed horribly. I also could never do orange or yellow, I just don't have the face for that. I love it on other ladies, just not on myself.

Anyhoo, that's all could think about for now, hope this helps

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Eye Primers

Here are some primers I use. In order they are:

ELF mineral eye primer
ELF Primer Duo
UDPP
MAC Bare study




ELF mineral eye primer: I would say this is very comparable to the UDPP (which I wont even go into detail about that because I think everyone and their moms know whats up already) except that it is not shimmery. Lasting power is the same but the consistency is a bit more runny than the UDPP. Also, it doesn't dry too quickly and can be difficult to work with if you've never used a liquid primer before. Either than that, its great and a steal at $3

ELF primer duo: One side is the primer and the other is a wand that you dip into any eye shadow to turn it into a liner which I have not used. This primer is very thick and can be cakey but it is good for oily skin and it is very pigmented. In my experience eye shadow colors are more evident with this primer as opposed to the mineral and UDPP mentioned above

MAC Bare Study: I know this is a paint pot but I use it as a primer. Its very sheer and from the swatch you can see shimmer but when put on the eyes it is not that noticeable. Its okay, its not bad by any means but definitely nothing to rave over

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Pink Lippies

Here's some random swatches of some of my fave pink lipsticks. I LOVE the doll pink barbie look so I'm always on the hunt for cute pink lippies. In order, these are:

NYX fig
NYX tea rose
MARK crush
MAC pink noveau




NYX fig and tea rose are very similar. The difference I find is that tea rose is more for everyday wear, and has muted undertones. Fig is a lot brighter, which you can soften it for a daytime look, but I usually use this one at night. The consistency of these are very creamy, and they are somewhat long lasting. They are also very very pigmented

MARK crush is a very sheer lipstick. Its the perfect pink for everyday wear but it is very small for $6. Some things to note is that it is very sheer and has a minty taste/scent

MAC pink noveau is a very bright a pigmented lipstick, I would only recommend this for night looks

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ELF Swatches. Makeup Removing Wipes

ELF: The Beauty Encyclopedia, Eye edition $5
I love this little booklet, and it was only $5!!! I'm a big fan of neutrals for everyday wear and this has all my fave colors. It comes with a pencil eyeliner and brush. Ive tried ELF pencil eyeliners before but they're not that great, even though they're just a buck I still see no real use for them. The booklet also comes with 2 shimmery cream shadows which I don't see myself using but you never know...





The eye shadows (no base)


The cream shadows


Here are the eye shadow swatches separated in rows of 4. Some are extremely similar to my skin color so you cant see them very well. I separated them with the eyeliner that comes with the set





Here are the cream shadows, one light and one dark but on my skin they show up the same




ELF Makeup Remover Cleansing Cloths $3
I love these, they are good for when you're on the go and need to take your makeup off quickly, you can use this daily but personally I prefer a liquid cleanser.

Here I used it to take off the eyeshadow swatches, you can see traces of the eyeliner, which could be a testament to the eyeliner's lasting power or the quality of the wipes haha

Everthing eventually came off but only with a good rubbing

PROS:
- Does its job well
- Doesnt leave a weird scent, but it is scented
- Moisturizes
CONS:
- Can be sticky
- Not good for waterproof liners or mascaras
- Might require a good rub down depending on the makeup
RATING:
- 4/5 (This is a staple for me)

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Insanity sucks, quick FOTD

Still on it, still sore but its getting better and I lost 4 pounds. I'm supposed to be on this insanity thing for 6 days on, one day off but I'm just popping random DVDs from the set in 3 days on and 1 day off. I cant keep up with that shit like I'm supposed to. I figured Id stop writing (and by writing I mean bitching) about Insanity and finally turn my blog into a makeup blog. Same shit every time I work out anyway, its hard, I get sore, I feel like dying, and I still want a fucking cheeseburger lol



So here's a look I did when I went to a casual family party last week. Its in horrible quality cuz I took it w/ my blackberry but I'm gonna post some swatches of my makeup right after this. (with a real camera)

Here I used:

Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in zero
Eyeshadow of some ELF set (will swatch next post)
Mac studio fix in nw25 (I know I look like I'm nc35 or something but for some reason this shade works)Nyx tea rose
Milani blush in Luminous
ELF eyeliner in Ash (for my brows)

Now I'm going to gather up my fave makeup for my first swatch post!

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Day 3

So I was supposed to continue working out today but I am WAY TOO SORE. EVERYWHERE. My back, hips, neck, shoulders, ass, thighs, calves - you name it. Not even that feel-good sore, its borderline painful. So today I took it slow with a nice long bubble bath which did help but only for awhile. I'm anticipating Ill be at least 70% healed by tomorrow in which Ill continue the workout. Sunday was supposed to be a rest day according to my insanity calendar but Ill probably workout that day to balance this day out.

On another note, my ELF order came in and I think Ill do some swatches. I buy so much freaking makeup might as well share it on here because God knows I only use 30% of what I really have. Its an horrible habit.

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Day 2

So yesterday was day 2 of Insanity and it was plyometrics and cardio. First off, I must say that plyometrics sucks ass! Its a whole bunch of jumping and squats and shit. Its a 40 min workout but it took me almost an hour to complete because I had to pause it so I could gasp for air. Ive done tae bo, p90x, and a bunch of random other workouts but this one by far is the hardest. I didn't think anything could beat p90x's plyo but this one blows it right out the water. I'm super sore right now so I'm debating whether I should move on to day 3 or just do some light jogging instead. Its so hard getting back into shape, I cant wait til I get to the point when I'm working out and feel the burn but don't feel like I need medical attention after :)

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Day 1

Day 1 of Insanity was the fit test where you do a series of exercises in one minute intervals and track down as much as you can do. You are not expected to finish or do well per se, you're just expected to do what you can.

I must say that it was very difficult, I didn't too bad but I certainly didn't do well either. 15 minutes into it my legs felt like they weighed 2 tons each! Theres a lot of squats and jumping so I'm sure I'm going to be feeling sore in the morning. To top it all off as soon as I got out the shower I went out walking around the city with my family and they decided they wanted to take the stairs everywhere. The more exercise the better though I guess. Ill try and get some good sleep tonight because day 2 is when the real workout starts and after today, I have a feeling I'm gonna need all the energy I can muster.

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Insanity

So just like the next girl, I'm about to embark on yet again another "Monday Diet." Well actually its a more or less "lifestyle change" I guess. I'm going about it the good old fashion way, no pills, just healthy eating and exercise. I'm starting the Insanity workout. Similar to p90x but 30 days less and without the extra equipment. I find I respond very well to at home work outs as opposed to the gym. This work out claims to be one of the hardest ever made so I hope it boasts good results

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