Sunday thoughts

Word on the street is that EcoTools are on sale at Rite Aid- buy one get one free. I won't be taking advantage of this deal because I really don't need any more brushes. But EcoTools are by far my favorite brushes.

(All the bamboo handled ones and the silver handled ones are EcoTools)

I've been having a blast making necklaces recently.

My computer keeps making strange noises at me. I am, in all honesty, a little scared.

We all need to take a minute to drool over this shadow and these looks: http://www.scrangie.com/2012/01/obsessive-compulsive-cosmetics-loose.html

Blog Sale is Up!

I have plenty of pretties that are simply not getting used, so I'm offering them for sale in hopes that others will get some use out of them. It seems like such a waste to have these things sitting on my shelf if I'm not using them. If you'd like to check out what I have available, you can click through to http://glitterandtoucans.blogspot.com/p/blog-sale.html or click the "Blog Sale" tab near the top of the blog.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions :)

Zero to Perversion in One Swipe: Urban Decay Zero and Perversion comparison swatches

As you might recall, I was quite excited that Urban Decay released their 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion for spring 2012. I already had Zero and while I liked the smooth, long-wearing formula, it just wasn't the deep black I was looking for. Enter Perversion, stage left.
It was love at first swipe, but Perversion was tied to another. Or rather, many others. Perversion was first released in the 15th Anniversary 24/7 Eyeliner Set, which comprised 15 eyeliners and sharpener for $92. I know that people love these eyeliners, but spending $92 at once on eyeliners? Not for me. So, I waved Perversion away. Fast forward about a year, and Perversion and I meet once again. This time, Perversion's crowd of cohorts that kept me away last time have shrunken significantly, as has Perversion. A lively group of five travel sized liners (one of which being Perversion) were released in the form of the Electric 24/7 Travel Set of 5 ($32). Perversion flirted with me once more, and I thought about it. At the end of the day, I decided all those extra friends that would come along with Perversion weren't what I was looking for.
A few months later, I learned through facebook that Perversion would be on the prowl soon, in full size and independent! Finally!
A word of warning: Perversion commits. Perversion is clingy and a challenge to get off your face at the end of the day.

On to the pictures, all under a daylight bulb.

Perversion (top) and Zero. I really like the black cap and tip on Perversion.

Perversion (top) and Zero

Swatch time!
Left to right: Perversion, Zero (swatched heavily), Perversion, Zero (one swipe)

I find that Perversion gives me the intensity I crave in one quick swipe.

Comparing blacks makes me think of the scene in Legally Blonde where Elle asks Warner what kind of shoes she's wearing and his response is, "Uhhhh...black ones?"

I'm glad to have Perversion joining my arsenal, and it can be found at urbandecay.com for $18. I definitely suggest keeping it in mind next time you're looking for a black eyeliner.

What do you think?

Monday Musings Vol. 9

Another Monday! It's already proven to be an interesting one. I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm a bit out of it.

I've been doing more sparkle science, so expect to see more posts on my random experiments. I will finally swatch Perversion next to Zero for you today, so that's coming up as well. I'm also planning on doing a project 10 pan, though I want to see if there are any limited edition Valentine's things I need in my life first...I'm working on gathering up products that I need to use up. Regardless, I have definitely banned myself from purchasing any more lotion, body soap, body wash, body spray, or perfume until I make a significant dent in my stash. My stash of body products doesn't hold a candle to what I've witnessed in many teenage girls' bathrooms, but I should probably start focusing on using one lotion consistently until I use it up, instead of having so many partially finished ones all over the place. I've been gathering up things for my blog sale, which should be up next week. I just have too many products that I am not using/haven't used, and hopefully they can find their way to people who will enjoy them!

Now time for swatching, food, and preparing a presentation. There are definitely a few signs I need to look up before I give my presentation, as I find that sometimes my ASL vocabulary is a bit more limited than I'd like. And on that note, I suggest you watch one of my favorite videos from the Deaf Professional Arts Network (also referred to as the Deaf Performing Artists Network) -

Re-Pressing and Depotting Wet n Wild Eyeshadow- Sparkle Science Vol. 1

Welcome to my first Sparkle Science post! I've been inspired by the amazing Just Peachy, who does great DIY posts.
A few days ago, I was going through my palettes (which I don't use nearly often enough, except for the Too Faced Smokey one) and realized that one of them had a broken eyeshadow. It had been that way for some time, and had gotten pushed to the bottom of the palette stack despite it being a great little palette. I remembered seeing various people re-press broken pressed products, so I decided to give it a shot.
I started by gathering up all the little pieces of broken shadow that were floating around inside the palette and placed them back in the eyeshadow pan.

Next I used one of my metal spoons from TKB to scoop out all the eyeshadow and put it in a clean 3 gram jar I had on hand.

I decided it would probably be easiest to work with the pan not in the palette, so I removed the now empty eyeshadow pan. I simply placed it face down on my counter and heated up the back with a hair dryer until I was able to pry the pan out. I used a safety pin to pry it out. It was actually much easier than I expected.

Next I added some isopropyl alcohol to the powder, just adding a little bit at a time until I had a fairly uniform, thick paste. I initially tried to use my metal spoon to mix it, but then opted for a new cocktail stirring stick instead.

Then I transferred the paste to the pan, using my cocktail stirrer. I tried to squish it in the pan in a fairly uniform, flat way. I really enjoyed the squishing part of this project and probably spent more time than I needed to squishing the eyeshadow into the pan.

I let it sit and dry for a few hours until it seemed dry to the touch. I then placed a tissue on top of it and gently pressed the shadow with my fingers, continuing this until isopropyl alcohol no longer surfaced on the tissue.

I then let it dry overnight, and it seems to be good as new! I was surprised by how simple the process was, and quite pleased that I now know how to re-press my broken pressed powder products. I found it to be a fun process, and was almost a little disappointed that I didn't have anything else I needed to re-squish.
If you have any questions, let me know!

Monday Musings Vol. 8

Hello!
I have an eyeshadow drying from a rescue mission and a new Perversion eyeliner pencil. This week is looking okay, though I took a bad fall yesterday on the ice. Ouch. Trying to take it easy tonight because moving around hurts. I depotted an eyeshadow pan from a palette to re-press it, and now I want to depot everything! But I need to lay off of the new projects until my thesis and recital are finished...
I'll let you know how my eyeshadow rescue mission turns out, I've never tried to press or re-press anything before!
This week you can expect to see a post on Urban Decay's Perversion and my eyeshadow pressing and depotting, so stay tuned.
Now to go list some textbooks on half.com - I really need to start clearing out things I don't want/need to move 1,400 miles in June.
Any tips for minimizing unnecessary possessions?

Too Faced Smokey Eye Shadow Collection swatches

My go-to palette these days has been the Too Faced Smokey Eye Shadow Collection palette. I haven't had the time or energy to put a lot of thought into my makeup, so it's been great to just grab this palette instead of staring at my collection of indie shadows in the morning. 5 months from now, I'll be able to let out a huge sigh of relief as I will be finished with my thesis (Only 5 months?!?! I have so much to do!!!) and will have my bachelor's degree finished. But right now, mindless makeup is the name of the game.

For $36, you receive nine shadows housed in a travel-friendly palette.

The shadows are categorized into three looks: Day, Classic, and Night. I like that they're set up this way because it makes it easier for me to mindlessly create a pretty look. Obviously, you can also mix and match shades from the three categories.

I'm quite impressed by the formula of these shadows- they're smooth and pigmented even without the use of primer. Though I always use primer on my eyes when I wear these, I've swatched them dry, without primer to show you what I'm talking about. The matte shades (particularly Smolder) aren't quite as smooth, but that's matte for you.

No primer, natural light:

Impressed yet? I have more swatches for you either way...

Left to right: (Day colors) Firefly, Cloves, Up in Smoke  (still no primer, in natural light)

I wear these shades A LOT these days.

Left to right: (Classic colors) White Lie, Nice Ash, Smokin Hot

Left to right: (Fashion colors) In a Flash, Smoking Jacket, Smolder

All together now!

I'm definitely glad I have this palette at my side- what do you think?

Another Perversion Update

According to the Urban Decay facebook page, Perversion will be available on UrbanDecay.com January 10, 2012! Yay! I'm glad that this "spring" release will be here soon. Sorry I don't have any pictures or swatches of it for you yet, but I'll be picking it up and reviewing it soon!

And so this post isn't naked/photo-less, how pretty is Lola from Brazen Cosmetics?!
(my lips, natural light)

Perversion in Spring!

Hello, all!
Sorry for being a bad blogger, I'm working on getting over a stomach virus and have started doing classes and research at a local(ish) school for the deaf.
I just heard some exciting news, and figured I would share it with you all! According to Temptalia (http://www.temptalia.com/), the Urban Decay spring launches will include the 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion! Perversion will become a permanent shade. I was thrilled to hear this, as I had swatched a mini Perversion liner in Sephora about a week ago from this travel set (Electric):

image from here 

I loved how rich and dark Perversion swatched- much blacker than Oil Slick or Zero from Urban Decay. However, since I didn't feel like the other shades in the set were ones that I needed to add to my current arsenal, I passed on the set. However, I was hoping that Urban Decay would release Perversion on its own. I'll definitely be picking one up once they're released! I'm not sure exactly when it's supposed to be released, but I'll keep you posted.

Is anybody else excited about this?