Long Time, No Post

Hey!

I dressed like an alien, graduated from college, moved across the country, and crafted up a storm.
Life is good, and I'll try to start posting again soon.

Where Have I Been?

I'm happy to announce that I turned in my undergraduate thesis on Monday! What a relief.
And because I always have something up my sleeve...
I'm opening a shop on Etsy to sell the pendants I've been making. The shop will open 10 AM Pacific Time tomorrow, Friday April 27.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheVioletToucan

I'll be posting about makeup again soon, now that I'm finally wearing it again!
Thanks for sticking around during my absence :)

Influenster Love VoxBox

Some time ago, I received the Love VoxBox from Influenster. I keep forgetting to post about it here, but I'm finally getting around to it!

The box included tea, chocolate, sweetener, a razor, and nail art.

 The chocolate, a Ghirardelli milk chocolate bar, was delicious. So creamy and wonderful, I want to go buy another one just thinking about it (not that it's hard to get me to want chocolate).
I'm a bit of a tea junkie, and have been enjoying the Stash tea sampler. My tea cabinet has a few boxes of Stash tea in it already, and I was happy to add another box to the mix, especially since it has several flavors I hadn't tried from Stash before. I especially like the acai berry tea.
I haven't tried the Truvia sweetener because most sugar substitutes do not agree with my body and make me quite ill. I plan to pass it along to someone who will actually use it.

And now for the razor.

Check out the massive moisture bars. It came with a handy holder with a suction cup, which keeps the razor safely in place on my shower wall.

The packaging claims that shaving gel is unnecessary with this razor, due to the moisture bars. With my sensitive skin, I was skeptical. And a little scared at the prospect of shaving without shave gel. But I gave it a shot anyway.
I was pleasantly surprised! Usually shaving my underarms is slightly painful, but I didn't notice any pain with this razor- just the nice, smooth shave I've been longing for. I noticed less razor burn than usual afterward. I'm actually quite shocked that this worked so well for me.
This retails for around $8.99-$10.99

The Kiss Nail Dress was my first experience with a press-on nail strip. I've been curious about them for a while, so I was happy to see this in my box.

I was glad that it came with a file, so then I didn't have to search for mine! All I had to do was open the box and apply. The pattern seemed like it would work best as an accent, so I tried it with a silver Finger Paints polish.

The packaging claims that it will last up to 10 days. Within about a day, I noticed some peeling. However, I have a bad habit of messing with my nails if there's something textured on them, so I'm sure that contributed. They're pretty easy to use and I liked them overall, though I never did get used to the feeling of having the strip on my nail. I can see myself using these in the future for special occasions, but probably not everyday. Many of the sizes are far too big for my nails, so I'll need to trim them to be narrower before using them.
They retail for around $6.99

And that's the Love VoxBox! Anything catch your eye?


*Disclosure: this post contains products provided for consideration by PR though the Influenster program. All opinions are my own.*

Adventures in Hair Removal

I have a quite extensive history of hair removal adventures (and misadventures). I've tried it all- laser hair removal, shaving, waxing, tweezing, depilatories, and epilation.
I did the laser about 5 or 6 years ago, and it was pretty much a complete fail. I had it done to my armpits, and despite the dermatologist and the aesthetician telling me I had the ideal armpit hair for laser removal, it was fairly ineffective. Many, decently painful sessions later, I had slightly less hair, but it was far from gone and returned to its full glory within after my final session. Not trying that one again.
Depilatories- I can't get past the smell of chemicals and burning hair.
And waxing...oh, waxing. You'd think I would have learned my lesson the first 10 or so times I found myself standing in the bathroom, covered in sticky wax and trying to give myself a pep talk to rip the wax off my body. I keep thinking that a different kit or something will make a difference, but I've tried several microwave kits, the kits with the wax already on the strips (the ones not requiring heat took off more skin than hair), and wax warmers. I never regretted the waxes from salons, however.
Shaving and tweezing are the old standbys, nothing thrilling or innovative but they work. Mostly.
And finally epilation, my favorite option for my legs. I have pretty bad keratosis pilaris on my legs, but it's finally improving through epilating rather than shaving, and lots and lots of AmLactin lotion. Shaving irritates my skin to no end. I bought my first epilator nearly four years ago, and I'm a big fan. So when I was offered the opportunity to review the new Philips SatinPerfect Deluxe epilator, I was more than willing to give it a shot.

The epilator I've been using until now was pretty simple. No fancy attachments, just a basic epilator. So I was intrigued by all the different attachments for this one. It comes with a basic epilation cap, a "shave, trim, and style attachment", a trimming comb, an "optimal performance cap", and a cap that has "active hairlifter with active massage". It also comes with some nifty tweezers.

 The tweezers come in a little tube that has a small mirror, and the tweezers themselves have a light built in.

So, epilating with this.
I first tried it with the basic epilation cap. I was happy with the results, but was curious about how the other attachments would work. I epilate my legs frequently enough that I hardly notice the pain, but I do still notice it when I'm epilating around my ankles. Cue the optimal performance cap. I'm always a bit of a skeptic, so I had my doubts about how much of a difference the attachment would make. However, I did notice less pain around my ankles when I used it. I also tried the attachment with the active hairlifter and active massage, which also diminished the pain a bit. I found that the fancy attachments required that I use a little more pressure and a few more passes over the area than the basic cap. So, when I'm in more of a hurry, I reach for the basic cap. But I also like the optimal performance cap and prefer it for the ankle area. It would probably also be good for those new to epilation.
One feature I really like about this epilator is the "opti-light". It's a light built into the epilator and makes it easy to see the hairs on your legs (or wherever else, but I generally only use epilation on my legs), and helps you avoid that moment where you're out and about an notice a stripe of hair that you managed to miss while shaving or epilating. I'm a fan. Nice work, Philips.

I had never used an electric razor before, so that was new to me. Please note, this device is NOT for use in the shower. Keep it away from water. I know that some electric razors are waterproof, but this device is not. I like the razor and the trimming comb, they're great for the bikini area. My skin does not do well with shaving in the bikini area with a standard razor- way too much irritation. But the electric razor didn't irritate my skin. Yay!

I'm very happy with this product. I can't think of anything that I dislike, other than that the long instructions seem a bit daunting. But maybe that's just because I'm impatient when it comes to reading instructions.

The Philips HP6576/50 Satin Perfect Deluxe Epilator is a winner in my book. It retails for about $150, though right now on Amazon it's listed at $129.97. The Amazon listing also has a chart comparing Philips' different epilators here. There's a Satin Perfect Epilator that just comes with the basic epilation cap here, which is on Amazon for $84.99. It doesn't come with any of the extra attachments, but it does have the built in light!

I definitely recommend the Satin Perfect. I love how smooth it leaves my skin, and it's so nice to not have stubble appear after a few days. Smooth legs for longer is always good.

Have you ever tried epilating?
Do you think you'll give this one a shot?


*Disclosure: This product was provided to me for consideration by PR through the BzzAgent program. All opinions are entirely my own. I will always be honest in my reviews and only endorse products I believe are worthy of such endorsements. If you have any questions, please contact me at glitter.toucans@gmail.com *

Brazen Spring Cleaning Sale!

Hello, all!
I just wanted to let you know that Brazen is having a spring cleaning sale. They're one of my favorite companies, so I highly suggest checking them out. Their lip gloss is fantastic. If you click the pretty lady below, you'll be taken to the shop!



Let me know if you indulge in anything!

You also may have noticed that Brazen has taken up residence in the sidebar to the left. I'm happy to announce that I am one of the "Brazen Beauties", and that's my affiliate link over there.

Disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link

Obligatory Green Look

Though I didn't do anything particularly exciting to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year (unless an NCIS marathon counts), I did put some green eyeshadow on today.

I really like how green my eyes look with this shadow! I decided to a purple liner along the top lash line so that it wouldn't be entirely green.

I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Blarney- Brazen Cosmetics
Shenanigans - Brazen Cosmetics
Side Show - Brazen Cosmetics

I also transferred some of my potted Brazen lipglosses into some empty tubes I had sitting around. I haven't been using the potted glosses recently because tubes are so much more convenient, but these are such great glosses that I wanted to change that! (Note: Brazen does offer their glosses in tubes now, though they didn't when I purchased these)

A syringe is the fastest way to tube them, in my experience, but I hate how difficult it is to clean gloss out of the syringe between colors. Lola and Peep show were tubed using a syringe, while the others were tubed by slowly transferring the gloss with a cocktail stirrer because I was tired of washing the syringe. The formula is difficult to suck up using the syringe, so I used a cocktail stirrer to scoop the gloss into the body/chamber of the syringe and then pushed the stopper (or whatever it's called) in.

Happy weekend!

Toucan Style

Happy Friday!
Although I have many pages of thesis to write this weekend, I'm pretty relieved to see the weekend arrive. It's been a great, but busy week. I got my cap and gown for graduation...crazy! I checked off a major item on my to do list- my senior recital. I had a blast performing, but it's nice to not have to worry about it any more.

My recital included some American Sign Language to tie in with my thesis work. Now I just need to finish writing the actual thesis.

I took a trip to H&M, and they had toucan accessories! It was difficult for me to contain my excitement, and I ended up with some hair pins and a necklace. I can't believe I didn't have any toucan hair accessories before!

H&M had the hair pins in two styles/colors, and I picked up both of them since I couldn't decide on just one ;)

The necklace appeared to only come in the color design, so I'm glad I didn't have to make a decision there. It's quite large, but I think it'll look great with a basic top.

And with a quarter for size reference.

Anyone have any weekend plans?

Anti-Thesis Glitter Look

Last night, I was sitting in my living room trying desperately to find the focus and motivation to finish another chapter of my thesis. After a few hours of frustration, I gave up and turned to my arsenal of glitter.
Here's what happened:

I am THRILLED with how it turned out.

As always, I applied my trusty Too Faced Shadow Insurance.
I created an outline of the winged design with the black gel eyeliner from the Physicians Formula Brown Eyes eyeliner trio.
Then, I grabbed three of my eyeshadows from Brazen Cosmetics: Karma (purple), Beach Babe (blue), and Cirque (teal). I first applied them dry, but then decided to add a little more oomph by applying them with a damp brush.
Next was the glitter, Reverberation from Aromaleigh. I mixed it with some Sally Girl Gel Adhesive for Glitter, then applied it to the wings and the outer third of my eyelid.
I used the Maybelline Lots of Lashes mascara, and decided to top it all off by putting Karma in my brows.

This look was a blast to create, I definitely need to do more fun looks like this!

Too Faced Glamour to Go- Dream Edition Swatches

I'm alive! Really. Just extraordinarily busy.
But I figured I'd pop in to share some quick swatches, because this fun little platte is on sale right now in the Too Faced vintage sale.
The Glamour To Go- Dream Edition is on sale for $15 here.

Photos taken under daylight bulb.

I was initially disappointed when I swatched these without primer. The pigmentation is definitely lacking without the help of a primer.

But then I used some Too Faced Shadow Insurance and... magic!

The first two shades were more or less invisible without primer, but with TFSI they're actually quite pretty.

And though the purple isn't as smooth as I'd like it to be, it's certainly pretty.

Ooooo, glowy purple.

And one last group shot just for fun.

Annndd, back to homework!

Flapper face!

Hello! First off, I'm sorry for being so absent the past week or so, it's certainly busy in the world of toucan right now. I'm finishing up my first bachelor's degree, and getting things lined up to start my second degree.   I have a chapter of my thesis due tomorrow and a pre-recital performance for the music faculty tomorrow. In the latter portion of the week, I'll be jet-setting across the country for a few days.

Now to the makeup.

Last Thursday night, I went to the city with some friends to a funky, vintage inspired restaurant/lounge. I actually remembered to take some face photos to share!

Photos with flash, and wow- that flash really washed me out. I swear I was wearing blush...

What's on my face:
Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation in Warm Ivory - Rimmel London
Full Bloom Ultra Flush Powder Blush in Who's Your Poppy? - Too Faced
24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Perversion - Urban Decay (smudged along upper lash line before eyeshadow application)
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Eyeshadow shades: Firefly, Cloves, and Up In Smoke - All from the Too Faced Smokey Eye Palette
Eyeshadow in Smokin Hot - Also from the Smokey Eye Palette (used as a liner)
Great Lash Lots of Lashes - Maybelline

I definitely like the way this look turned out. My outfit for the night had a lot of character, so I wanted to keep the makeup fairly simple. I'm thinking of trying this look again but adding a darker, more defined crease.

How's your Monday going?