Lord of the Rings Live Symphony

Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd/geek who loves science fiction, fantasy fiction, and all of the sort. Lucky for me, so does my boyfriend :) Last weekend we attended the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Live Symphony performance, which was Ah-maze-zing! If you're not familiar, it's where you watch the film, but all of the music is performed live, and I mean ALL the music, from the instrumental to the choir. It was fantastic. I hope they intend to show the other two movies as well because I'd love to go. Here are a few photos from our outing.

I wanted to take more than one picture of the two of us, and he said, "but it'll just be the same as the other one", so I made a face to prove him wrong. He loved it :)

I don't remember everything I wore, but I remember my eyeshadows were Tarte and Smashbox, with a little Kat Von D thrown in. My blush was Smashbox and mascara was Tarte. I know the pictures aren't great but I had a blast!

Tarte Vitamin-Infused Lipgloss Review

I've started getting more use out of my Tarte Vitamin-Infused Lipgloss in Serenity lately so I wanted to take a moment to share it with you. When I first picked up this color, I wasn't very bold with my makeup choices, and to me this was bold, so I rarely wore it. Now that I'm experimenting more with a variety of colors, shade, and styles, I've been going to this lipgloss more and more often.

What they say about it:

"Vitamin-Infused Lipgloss

What it is:

The first-ever lipgloss that beautifies from the inside out.

What it does:

Tarte Vitamin-Infused Lipgloss nourishes and conditions lips with nutraceutical properties that rejuvenate lips, helping to protect against environmental attack. The gloss includes natural ingredients from BORBA's Age Defying, Replenishing, and Clarifying lines. 

What it is formulated WITHOUT:

- Parabens

- Sulfates

- Synthetic Fragrances

- Petro-Chemicals

- Phthalates

What else you need to know:

This gloss contains Skinvigorating™ ingredients such as grape seed extract, which helps accelerate production of natural elastin to restore the skin's clarity, and vitamins A and C, antioxidants that help prevent premature signs of aging and free radical damage. It's also formulated with acai extract, an antioxidant-rich super fruit that promotes cell regeneration and has known anti-inflammatory and skin softening properties, and chamomile extract to treat and heal dry skin. Dermatologist-tested." (Source link)

My Opinion:

It comes in a 0.20oz round tube, with a brush applicator. It seems a bit tacky when applying, but it doesn't feel tacky when you're wearing it - if I part my lips there aren't trails of lipgloss threatening to keep my lips together, if that makes sense. It's also extremely pigmented, so a little goes a long way. I only have to apply one coat for full coverage, and by one coat I mean opening the lipgloss, removing the wand and applying, without reinserting the wand for more product. I like that it has a long wear time; I only needed to reapply after eating. I agree that it leaves my lips moisturized. As a person who was severely addicted to chapstick for many years, I can say that this gloss doesn't leave my lips dried out, I don't feel the need to reapply every couple of hours to keep that moisturized feeling some lip glosses can cause, and I also don't need to use chapstick or any type of base to get the full effect.

The only real downside, in my opinion, is the applicator tip. Since it is like a paint brush, sometimes the bristles get flayed out or bent in a weird way when inserting the wand in the tube, resulting in a permanently bent piece that sticks out from the rest (as pictured). If you can avoid that, I would say absolutely try this lipgloss out.

My First Outing with False Lashes

Last weekend I went out to a Karaoke bar with some of my friends here in downtown Sacramento called Pine Cove Tavern. It was definitely a hole-in-the-wall type place, but it was very friendly and everyone seemed to be having a genuinely good time. I'm not one to sing, I'm way too easily embarrassed, but it was great hanging out with friends and watching them rock Wake Me Up and It's Raining Men. Since I wasn't bringing anything to the table vocally, I wanted to make sure I looked good just sitting as an audience member, so I decided to wear falsies out for the first time since I was in high school. It took me about an hour to get my makeup done because I wanted to make sure the lashes looked decent and weren't going to start falling off halfway through the night.

I decided to go with nude toned shadows since I have very fair skin. A dark smokey eye doesn't look great on me, it really washes me out, so I wanted the lashes and liner to be my focus. I used the Tarte Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palette in Soft & Smokey for my shadows (review coming). I used buff for my lid, shimmering sable in my crease very lightly, just for some definition. I forgot to take a photo of my own palette, so I had to find one (picture from google images) so I apologize for the quality.

Buff, Shimmering Sable, Shimmering Cocoa, and Matte Coffee Bean

I didn't manage any good pics of my whole face, so you're left with this one shot of my left eye, but overall I think they turned out very well. My boyfriend liked the look as well which always makes me smile :). I don't remember the brand of the falsies since I've actually had this pair since I was in high school...lol. I'm not one to throw things out when I know there's a chance I'll use them again. (I actually have about 10 pairs of all different varieties - hmmm maybe I'll do a post on them?).

I used 3 different liners to help blend in the lashes. I started with the e.l.f. cream liner in coffee and drew a think, winged line. I used Matte Coffee Bean from the Tarte palette to set the cream liner. Too Faced LashGasm mascara worked really well since the black shade matched the lashed almost perfectly and it didn't make my lashes clump, which helped to blend my lashes into the false ones. Once I applied the lashes I used e.l.f.'s liquid pen liner in Coffee to go over the liner and band from the lashes to darken the area and hide the band.

I think the look was a success, at least I was really happy with it! Will definitely have to do this again.