Benefit Big Beautiful Eyes

Baby crying? Yes, mama.
All night long? Yes mama.
 Tooth's come out? No mama.
 Open your mouth. Ha, ha, ha!

Recently, Delightful Glory (names have been changed to protect the innocent) has been the victim of sore gums, tummy troubles, and sleepless nights.
Two of his teeth have come out, a mouthful to go! He looks so adorable with tiny white specks of teeth! Almost a grown-up! Ahhhh!

Teething pains mean that I am constantly tired, struggling to get his quota of solid foods and formula into him, and the nights are worse. Sleep is elusive for both of us.

 Doesn't affect his energy, he is as active as ever, and being a Beautiful Bumpkin of Love and Light, he will never look tired.
Those beautiful eyes will be as soulful, sweet, and mesmerizing as ever.

Me on the other hand....i need HELP. Haaaaaaaaaalp. I look like the before, pasted on any plastic surgeon's office. I need an after! I need an after badly!

Skinwise, it's easy. Come on! There are a myriad of makeup tricks (mixing luminizers into foundation, strategic placement of blush, 3-shape of bronzer) to revive the SKIN.

But the red-rimmed, sullen, tired eyes are the giveaway. It's so hard to brighten them up without looking overdone (the: hello, i am trying to distract you with my blue eyeshadow look) or underdone and not doing much.

This, my friends, my dear, dear friends-Petunia, Jemima, and Delilah S--is where Benefit's glorious Big Beautiful Eyes palette comes in.
Never has a name been more promising. Happily, 'tis also apt.

Firstly it comes with a mediocre concealer, in shade 02. This may or may not work for the undereye circles. My guess is, it won't. It may work as a peachy-orange corrector (under the concealer) depending.

As an eyeshadow base, and to cover up the brownish, purplish, discoloured eyelids that come with being a mother--for that, I say: tis a boon. A blessing. "Jolly useful, wot!" I suggest to use it all over, for a better, brighter canvas. Wot wot.

Now. (Wot). I say! Other shades. Ah. Ah yes. Oh me oh my. The lightest colour goes all over, esp the inner corners. Medium colour to gave extra (but soft) haze of definition in the crease (go a tad ABOVE the crease and blend upwards). Darkest matte colour as a soft liner or outer-V shadow.

The amazing thing about these eyeshadows: the shimmer is fine but not shimmy-and-shake-it shimmer. It is just a glow.

A soft, light glow.
A slight pinkish hue that also manages to seem taupe.
It brings subtle light to the eyes.
Light means life, as the ghost of my neglected houseplant will tell you. Exactly what a tired woman prays for before fainting into a crumpled heap on top of a pile of laundry.


The brushes that come with it are, again, 'jolly useful' in a pinch. There is an eyeliner brush, a small fluffy brush that works for the crease, and a small concealer brush that I use to pinpoint and conceal blemishes. Glorious compared to the stupid Dior applicators, wot.


This can work with various eyeliners. Two I highly recommend: Lise Watier eye shine in Fauve. Luminous taupe that defines eyes subtly if you don't fancy an 'eyeliner' look.
And...drumroll s'il vous plait... Stila Lionfish. This is a pricier dupe of MAC teddy, but lasts longer, smudges out easily for 20 sec, and then sets. MAC teddy never sets.

So. That's about it for the review. I also want to tell you about loads of other things, so expect another post in say...an hour? (If you are heartbreakingly naive).

Thanks for reading, gals and crickets.
And Jemima, please make an organic version of your pancake mix. Thanks, doll. And Petunia, you need to put on some blush, hun. You seem to be withering away!

A Rather Clumsy Review of Sorts

Jotting this quick book recommendation before attending to baby...A Choice of Christina Rosetti's Verse. 

I found a slim copy of Christina Rossetti's poetry, in a dusty used-books shop. Passively opened to a random page, skimmed..stopped. Time froze. Her poetry is just glorious. 

Simple, firstly--exactly to my taste. Elegant, skilful, unpretentious verses.

That was last year, I think, and every time I come back to it, it reads fresh as ever.

It holds so much poignancy with powerful, simple 'strokes,' it's kind of magical. Your brain fills in the gaps, but you aren't forced to navel-gaze, it's an easy jaunt. The mood is often sombre, but that gliding, graceful writing makes it more than bearable, actually quite soothing. When I am feeling desperately down about things, her poems manage to take the edge off.

Teenagers would really enjoy her pieces, I think. I know Emily Dickinson alienated a lot of kids in my class back in the day. Rossetti is what dear E.D. is only hyped to be, and mainly by high school teachers... I'm sure it's littered with cliches, at least in theme. But...so what? Love is cliche, blueberry picking, and kissing my baby's fragrant fuzzy head is too. 

Do people actually enjoy reading biographies of writers? It spoils the work for me, at least for a moment. 

I don't want to delve into their affairs, beliefs, denture bills... It's irrelevant to me. Just want to take the piece and devour it--"you cannot think what figs/my teeth have met in"! Haha! Anyway, for the purposes of this post, I did do a bit of research into her life story, but quickly left it off. 

I really, really don't care. The work speaks for itself and leaves you satisfied. 

(I guess the only poet whose biography I have enjoyed far more than her work, was that Edna St. Vincent Millay. Savage Beauty, I think?)

Polka Dotted Lips and Other Misadventures

This makes me laugh whenever I think about it so I had to save it here...

So I was at the makeup counters, having brought along my little sister to take care of baby, dillying and dallying between Guerlain and Benefit. 
As you do. 

Keep in mind that this kid, despite being a uni student, procurer of awards/scholarship, and supposedly intelligent, is quite excitable and childish. She also finds shopping extremely dull, moreso when it's
MAKEUP shopping, so she was trying desperately to make it interesting for herself.

I look up and there she is at some counter, smiling widely, swiping on testers of EYELINER and eyeshadow on her eyes. 

Me: NO DUN DO THAT GERMS AHH. 

Baby sis -grinning from ear to ear-: Sorry, what? 

Me: You'll get people's germs! And they'll get yours! 

Baby sis: What? Ooooh look at my eyelashes *blinks* Aren't they pretty
! I think mascara is the best makeup. Don't you? Oooh EYEBROW STUFF! Everyone tells me I need to fill in my eyebrows.
(SMEARS PURPLISH EYELINER ONTO EYEBROWS) 
You're supposed to seal it in right? That's what my friend does! Is this it? (RUNS DARK BLUE MASCARA THROUGH HER BROWS)


Me: NOOO! GERMS! *pull her away* 

Baby sis (pouts): Why'd you do that? There's no germs! Don't they replace the testers every time? 

Me: NO! Just try it on your hand. By the way your brows are purple and blue. 

Baby sis: Really? Haha. I thought it would be brown. oooh look at this colour! *SWIPES ON THREE RANDOM DOTS OF A LIP LACQUER--you know, the kind that dries and is impossible to take off?--in a BRIGHT PINK colour.*
Oooh it's so bright. LOOK! -tries to rub lips but the dots have already dried-

Me: Why'd you do that? It's one of those long lasting ones. Now you're gonna have random pink dots on your lips. 

Baby sis: Oh no! It's on me forever?!? -genuinely about to cry- I hate makeup -tries frantically to get it off- This is so stupid! Makeup sucks! 
-i asked the counter lady for a makeup wipe-

Later..

Baby sis: Oooh cheeks! -swipes on a transparent colour-changing gloss from Smashbox.- 
Me: Your cheeks have random fuchsia squiggles all over them.
Baby sis: What no, it's transparent!
Me: -sigh- it changes colour. 
Baby sis: What? Makeup is so stupid! Oh no! Everyone will make fun of me!

Devilish Products and HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK

Fyrinnae as a brand is cool, their loose eyeshadows are my brownies (was going to say drug but brownies are more desirable, n'est-ce pas?).

I may do a further write-up, long overdue, explaining why I am so enamoured with their products. AKA: why, if I had a goat, I would be furious at it, if it swallowed any part my Fyrinnae collection, mistaking it for a can of nails. (Goats don't have the BEST eyesight). Why there is so much ado about them on a certain guilty, geeky pleasure of mine, MakeupAlley (checkittttt)... I can say with full confidence that you can, almost blindly, purchase any three products off their website, and be pleased with them. The price isn't half bad, either.

However.
This post is concentrating on the SOLE failure in their extensive range of eyeshadows. Every brand has them, Fyrinnae only has one....Mephisto! Imagine a gathering storm, a thunderbolt!

I'm sure you have items like this. Products that cause a veritable mutiny against your face, so that suddenly NOTHING looks right...

In this case, my defence is: the swatches compelled me!

Online, swiped on many an arm, it photographs beautifully... Like crushed velvet, the perfect marriageof purple/burgundy. It hit my aesthetic sweet spot. However, I had a rough dozen rounds with it, perhaps more...and didn't fare well.

Mephisto would come out triumphant each time, glowering red eyes raised to the heavens, as it beat its chest, roaring. Then it would return its pitiless gaze to me--handing over a pocket mirror, it would sneer as I, aghast, scrutinized the damage.

Patted on, with or without base, the glitter particles that lend it that lovely complexity, apply and fade off unevenly. It looks patchy. It blends out to an unattractive dark, purplish grey. It makes me look as though I had a rather unpleasant evening at a shoddy restaurant. ("you want a sand'ich? I'll give you a sand'ich! Here...have a mouthful of KNUCKLE!").

However, I decided I would damn well MAKE it work, or perish in the process! So, taking my tube of DuWop Lip Venom, nicely transparent, I mixed in the offending eyeshadow. I now have a perfect dark, extremely pigmented, lipgloss. Which I have been complimented on many times, many a day.

Here is a FOTD from, ohh, ages ago.

Eyes: Fyrinnae Polar Bear, Meerkat, THE MEREST HINT OF MEPHISTO (promptly blotted out with other shades of Maybelline Designer Chocolate and a cranberry from Cargo)

Lips: Mephisto mixed into a tube of clear gloss.

Might add that this was taken a few hours after application, and yes, the franken-gloss lasted through tea.

So: HOW TO SALVAGE COSMETICS - a few ideas:
-If a reasonable colour, try it as a brow product (as I have done in above pic with the brown shade in the Maybelline palette)

-If a pigment or eyeshadow, mix it into gloss, clear or not. (The eyeshadow can be crushed and mixed in, or patted on top)/ or pat on top of lip liner

-If a mascara, try dipping an eyeliner brush into the tube and using as liner. Often this can make for a very long-lasting liquid liner.

-Mix into nailpolish.

-Speaking of nailpolish, you can use it to freakin' DECORATE STUFF. That's what I did a couple of years ago, with my iphone case, a black bland thing. I decorated solely with eyeshadow pigments mixed into clear nailpolish, and a broken necklace.

-If an unflattering eyeshadow, it may make for a highlight/blush (depending on the colour). This is how I use MAC expensive pink. People without babies, may dispense with their free time by going to the extent of crushing said eyeshadow, mixing it into Strobe Lotion or what have you, and creating a liquid cheek colour! Whoo! Exhausts me just thinkin' bout it...

-Melt 2 lip products into one, for a new, more flattering colour (see my lip palette post for instructions)

-Or, the lip product can function as a cream blush (go easy). This is the only way I use my Revlon Suede lipsticks now, they did a number on my poor, unsuspecting lips, rendering them parched as a peach stone. In fact, drying lip products are perfect for cream blush, because once blended out, they last so so well!

-If a lipliner, use it with a balm, blot, et voila: lips...stained.

-If a foundation or concealer that's too matte/cakey, use it with a serum or lotion. (Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair has never done anything for my skin, but it works well to dew-ify any foundation!)

-Or just take the WHOLE LOT of unusable, devilish makeup, and use it to create a BIIIIG work of art (GO CRAZY), before discarding. AT LEAST YOU GOT -some- USE OUT OF IT! (I have done this as a teenager many times....and regret NOTHING).


Ok. That was a marathon, wasn't it. Well.

A motorcycle's going off, my husband. Excuse me as i follow suit...
Snooze or you'll lose.