Free at last, free at last!

It appears we're all finding minor breakthroughs. Yesterday I deleted MUA from my bookmarks, so it won't be as easy to compulsively click to the site. Sweet. When I'm away for long enough it's like I get my head back. I can look at my case of makeup and think, what the hell!? I have more than enough. So I've returned to my roots - reading and music.

Some friends and members of another message board have this ongoing weekly music challenge. It's been going on for a year. Someone picks a topic and then everyone has one week to write and record a song that relates to it. It could be as vague as a picture or as specific as a topic, song structure and chord progression. Then we all vote for a winner, who chooses the next week's challenge. It's so fun and inspiring and motivating. Even if you churn out complete crap (which is almost all the time), you're engaged in the process and practice makes perfect. I haven't gotten involved in at least a few months but I thought this weekend would be the right time. So I wrote and recorded a little something in like 5 hours (just in time for the deadline, of course -- Queen of Procrastination, and speaking of which, I still have to send yalls packages!).

This week's challenge was a cartoon called "Storm Ponies". Write the theme song for a fictitious cartoon about three crime fighting ponies named Rain, Thunder and Lightening. Here's my contribution (heh!!) - understand that it is completely retarded! But on another note it won this week's challenge! ha. In 50 weeks it's also the first time a girl has won.

Download: Storm Ponies!

Break Through...! Woohoo!

Hi everyone. I hope weekend was useful to you all. This weekend and last I have spent Sunday going through a lot of my stuff, especially my closet. I keep trying to find better ways to organise it all. I have too much stuff and not enough space. I like to buy things my family uses on sale, so I end up with 3 and 4 of everything. I have about ten toothbrushes for myself, but I must contend that they discontinued making them and so I bought the rest I found on my last trip to the States. I haven't seen them in California or here in Ontario the past three years. So I have all this stuff, it does get used and I restock when I see these items on sale. I have learned over the past two months that all the stores I shop at rotate their sales and at some point in a five to six week span have the same sales on the items I use.

I have a form of OCD, my dad has OCD but in a different area of his life. I never saw it in myself until last week. I thought it was hoarding or keeping things I would need. Confession: I have been keeping my receipts to everything for the past four years. I didn't know if I would need them to show the court that I paid for everything for me and my daughter and that I actually did things with her or to show immigration that my life with my husband is real. In regards to court I was granted my move in April of 2008, didn't need the receipts and immigration only took four months and we didn't even need to have an interview, I sent them sufficent evidence and yet had lots to show if they wanted an interview.

I got rid of a lot of things before I moved, I donated boxes of books, CDS and movies to the library down there. I gave away a lot of makeup/bath & body items to my friend. I threw out all the things my mom wouldn't let me that belonged to my daughter that was broken or missing pieces. I had a garage sale to sell all my daughter's out-grown clothes that my mom wanted me to keep (I had 8 years worth of clothes) and toys and stuffed animals that she didn't play with anymore. I also got rid of clothes that I never wore and threw out things that should of been tossed out. We moved up here and still both of us had a lot of stuff and a lot less space since we share the house with my husband, his son and my mother-in-law. I did a lot of purging of my old life to get ready for my new life here. We got up here and I still have a lot of stuff. I go through my stuff all the time and get rid of some each time. I am still in the process of finding a way to pare down.

I say this all because I am at a point where I know I have too much stuff but always want to make sure I have enough. I could give away boxes of makeup/bathroom items and still have enough for myself for a year. lol. So besides the no-buy for makeup, I am now on a no-buy for everything else, except to rebuy items that my family get down to the last one. I would like to make space on my top two shelves of my closet to use for something other than bathroom items.

I think I am ready to move on

I am back from my holiday, 2 weeks and few days without buying makeup. I have no whish to run around shops, or look at internet sellers to buy stuff I don't need. At all. I spend way less time on the makeup board (2 minutes a day), and I have no lemming.

I have few swap requests, and I am not sure I want to swap at all as I really don't need more stuff!

i feel so freed.

Nail Polish and Stash Clean Up

Hi all,

This week has been extremely busy. Nonetheless, yesterday I spent a half-hour or so pulling all of the nail polishes from the nooks and crannies of my stash and setting them aside in a night table drawer. It's wonderful to have them all in one place! I can finally see everything, so I know exactly what I have. A much better arrangement!!

I found three Revlon matte eyeshadows that I will probably never use--they are Vintage Lace (a bone-cream color), Aubergine (deep purple) and Riviera Blue (dark navy). If anyone wants all three, let me know in the comments section and I'll send you the lot. They've each been used a few times, but there's loads of product left. I'll send them out in about a week (too busy to go to the PO until next weekend), and only to someone willing to take all three. I'll throw in an Awake Sphynx eyeshadow too (used a few times), which is a shimmery mossy green.

Thanks to all of you!! Rivoli

x-post ROAK from the lovely Gingitsune

Last week I received a lovely RAOK from gingitsune, in response to my last ranty/whiny post. Gingitsune was an absolute sweetheart and doubled my lipstick stash in one day! I was totally floored by her generosity! So glad to have met such wonderful ladies through MUA and this low-buy union. Gingitsune and I have also bonded over dwarf hamsters (I got one to try and curb the makeup lemmings, and then she got one too LOL - they even look alike). :D

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipsticks in Dizzy, Drop of Sherry, Dare, Amethyst Shimmer, Metallic Seduction

Dizzy, Drop of Sherry, Dare, Amethyst Shimmer, Metallic Seduction.

L'Oreal HIP Intensely Moisturizing Lipcolor in Royal, Vivacious, Fervent, Fearless

Royal, Vivacious, Fervent, Fearless

I'm so impressed with these! Especially the Rimmels! I actually didn't own any drugstore lipsticks before these. Since my lips are extra dry and sensitive I'd just never really tried any, preferring to stick with well-known HE lipsticks specifically popular for their non-drying properties (MAC Cremesheens and Lustres, Dior Addict HS & Lipcolor make up most of my collection) that I could try in-store first. Though the Rimmels are less moisturizing than my other lipsticks, they're not particularly drying and the pigmentation is so beautiful! These are definitely the brightest, most fun lipsticks I own. They also wear down evenly and leave a nice stain much like my Diors do. :D The HIP lipcolors are much more moisturizing and I think every bit as nice as Dior Addict High Shines... with just a bit less staying power.

I'm still in the process of trying everything out, but here are some FOTDs I've done with these new beauties. :D

So of course I had to try Rimmel Amethyst Shimmer first. I was actually convinced it wouldn't work on me but it does and it is gorgeous! It's totally unlike anything else I have in my collection - I don't think I'd ever have picked it out on my own but I love it! It's a tad brighter than in the picture, a real hot pink if I ever saw one. I am wearing KvD Beethoven purples on my lids and MAC Dainty on my cheeks to go with the cooler-toned lippie. Erm... I look extra ridiculously pale because I also used my new sample of Everyday Minerals lavender color corrector. I've never used a color corrector before... and I think I went a tad overboard lol. Anyway, adore this lippie and this look. =)

Then I tried out L'Oreal HIP Fervent - the most bricky red, in a very Autumnal FOTD. I think this look screams Fall haha. I used TBS Shimmer Cubes 06 gold on the lid and Laura Mercier Midnight Sun trio gold on the outer corner. Then I wore Laura Mercier Apricot blush and MAC Nuance on my cheeks to compliment the gold/red tones. Definitely going to wear this combination a LOT come Fall. (I also think the difference the lavender color corrector makes is a tad ridiculous. I mean seriously - it made my skin a totally different color! Which is cool... but I think I rather enjoy being a tad yellow.)

Here I'm wearing Rimmel Dare with a very neutral/simple FOTD. I used TBS Shimmer Cubes 06 light pink and brown for the eyes and Laura Mercier Apricot blush with Cargo Plantlove Peony as a highlighter. This FOTD was much, much more striking in person, I think, than the picture shows. Dare is a beautiful BRIGHT coral red. It is very dramatic and sexy and it is possibly my new favorite color of all time. =)

And then here's me wearing Rimmel Dizzy, which is just such a fun pretty color that screams SPRING! Wearing a very neutral TBS Shimmer Cubes 06 eye and MAC Dainty. I think this color is so versatile though - I can see it looking great with purple, blue or green eyes. This was my second attempt at using the EDM lavender corrector - much better this time I think, as my neck isn't totally off from my face. It's amazing how little goes such a long way. o_o;

Thank you, thank you, thank you Gingitsune!! You really, truly made my entire month! I'm going to have a whole lot of fun trying out all the rest of the colors - too (I wanna try Fearless next but I have a lunch date with a strictly platonic friend tomorrow lol). Now I really have to get off my butt and put together that lipstick collection post lol!

Blog Sale Temptations!!!

Okay. So, I've been good in keeping myself away from drugstores and haven't been tempted by any sales lately.. but, I've encountered a situation. I love watching YouTube videos, and a lot of these beauty youtubers have haul videos. I came across this guru that was complaining in one of those haul videos about how much MU she has and she needed to get rid of. So, she set up this blog sale and I have to admit... some of that stuff looks nice. A cream blush and lipstick for $30 (including shipping) have been catching my eye. I really like the colors and have had good experiences with those products before.

I went to the company's website and put them in my shopping bag just to compare the prices with tax and shipping fees. It came to about $50!!!

Darn it. I am supposed to be on a no-buy right now. The last thing I bought was one of MAC "Look in a Box" Nordies exclusives... about a month ago. So yeah, that's not even anything to celebrate about. I want to stick to my no-buy (or make minimal purchases) until Christmas.

Tell me anything that can make me forget about the blog sale! :(

Thank you!

my blushes and a low buy question

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA from the blog for a bit - no excuses, LOL. Here's a picture of my blushes! No labels but I probably know what they all are. Maybe. This doesn't show blushes in palettes - I probably have another 10 or 15 in those.

*cough* I guess I like blush. :-x



OK! I've been doing pretty well with my low buy. I'm giving myself $5 a week and I have $42.50 saved up with another $5 coming tomorrow. Whee! I'm plotting on spending about half of it on the It Cosmetics concealer (Bye Bye Under Eye) from beauty.com, but I'm still hammering out the rest of my order.

I did succumb to the Zoya code but I'm afraid my order will be canceled. I got two np and the 8oz bottle of Remove+... the code was only supposed to be for np. Oh well, I guess we'll see what happens! My low buy doesn't restrict np or skincare since I don't tend to go nuts in those categories.

And now on to the question! At work, I just took over the awesome responsibility of taking all our bulk mail to the post office. This requires me to - gasp - drive. LOL I know that sounds strange but although I've had my license for about 8 years, I've probably only driven a few hours. I never practiced so I never got used to it. For a long time I had no access to a car... then once I did, I was too psyched out to want to drive. Anyway so this is a good thing because it forces me to get into the car once a week.

Another good thing about it is that I'll get a little extra cash! My work is paying me $5 per run - $20/month. Now the dilemma - DH suggest I use this money for MU. I know, right??? The drive hardly takes any gas (it's less than a mile round trip) and we already insure and maintain the car (DH takes the train to work but we use the car for trips and errands).

BUTTTTTTT... the reason I'm on the low buy isn't so much to save money... it's more to resist attaining more and more MU that I won't use. Clutter. Excess. So I think maybe I SHOULDN'T use the money to supplement (double!!) my low buy allowance.

Thoughts? Advice?

So that was my first blog post! I hope I did OK!

~ Anna / snickersforsnuggles