I've Survived. And I Have Swag.

What? Didn't I tell you I was going to open a salon out of my house? No? I have more product than I know what to do with so tonight is a fun one. And by fun I mean I am going to go pick up some sushi, stare blankly at my off TV for minutes at a time, shower, spend upwards of 15 minutes in hot water deciding which of these products to use and then go to bed early. Clean, soft and happy that I have a comp day tomorrow.

Also, I will be doing a giveaway. I have a full American Crew collection for men, a full TIGI collection men, a full TIGI collection for women and a full Joico collection for anyone. Plus some hilarious odds'n'ends. Like Stamp-On eyebrows. I'm going to take the night to think of how I can do this in a way that will be fun and fair for all involved. Normally I would have thought of something by now but my brain is operating at half-mast.
I'm done. And it's Glorious:)Reviews will be trickling in...

I'm a sucker...

For a cute kid and great make-up. Jocelyn at Make Her Up nailed her post so I'm not going to try to improve on it. Just be happy that it looks like Amanda Peet (the main reason I miss Studio 60) has a kid as cool as she is.

And speaking of babies and clever TV- I'm going to highly recommend Notes from the Underbelly. It's Mondays, 8:30 CST on ABC. Light, funny and "Cooper" (Rachael Harris) is possibly the funniest woman on television since "Karen" on Will & Grace- holy cow she is also from Worthington, OH!

Maquillage

How did the shopping trip go, you ask? Oh, brilliant. I'm a budget genius- did you know that? I'll have to mention my lack of self control in the "meme" Susie and Jenn tagged me for (sounds like a good hangover activity to me). Anyhow, I'm now fully stacked and in my defense, I did get a couple good deals due to "Friends & Family" sale season. What's that? You want inventory? Well, only because you asked so nicely... Details Sunday because for now I feel like I just got my make-up done and am gonna go for dinner at Opera then to State- not my usual scene but Gina's here and Kate dressed me up!
*Details now added. Click on the pics for more info.

Me after being "re-worked"...a good time to clarify that no, I do not wear a whole lot of make-up on a daily basis but for the same irrational reasons that I love Whole Foods and cute unders, my shoestring life feels a little more velvet ropes when the details are of a certain quality.
Best of Benefit Essentials: Adorably packaged (no surprises there) and with three great picks. Bad Gal Lash is the item that I most needed. I switch off back and forth between DiorShow and Bad Gal and recommend both highly. Dallas is a nice, light sunny blush, aptly named. Eye Bright is for those of us with a tendency to go a little Millay and burn the candle at both ends. As of this morning, it has made over my multi-cocktail dishevelment to look more like 1 glass of wine, a tall glass of water before bed and 9 hours of sleep.Silky Finish Lipstick in Guilt Free: I swear I liked the lipstick before I saw the name. But now I love it even more- a nice rich berry that goes very nicely from polished day to nighttime.

Shu Uemura Synthetic Brush 10: A beautiful brush to add to the collection (my third after a Nars powder brush and a Trish McEvoy eyeshadow brush). Should be with me about as long as the massive Kevyn Aucoin concealer below.

Kevyn Aucoin The Sensual Skin Enhancer: I tried this stuff on at CO Bigelow a year and a half ago and they ended up being sold out of the right/perfect color. We were reunited yesterday and it's just as good as I remember. And man alive...this stuff is built to last, the girl said it should last about 3 years (it doesn't take much) and looking at how much is in there, I could see where that might be a possibility. On the man himself, I love Kevyn Aucoin and was genuinely sad when he passed away in 2002. I used to get stuck looking through his books in Borders and his whole approach to transformation was just really really cool. In my early days of beauty junkie discovery, here was a man that was unafraid of letting his hands translate his imagination's conversations with the rest of us. Check out "Making Faces" and "Face Forward."

Benefit Lip Sketching Pencil in "Posh": This is my second Posh pencil. It's ideal for those of us with no natural pigment in their otherwise pleasant lips. I look a little like a Deatheater without something on and this has led to a bit of a fixation with chapstick (Burt's Bees), lipstick (Chanel Hydrabase Creme in Metal Garnet), gloss (Nars in Metis or Orgasm) and my ever-present hybrid (Aveda Lip Tint in Spice). Posh is very very neutral and just helps color to stay without being noticeable.

I Never Win Anything...But Mes Amies DO!

We Love Beauty is one of my daily fixes- Ben has great taste in starlets (Natalie Portman & Wei Tang anyone?) and serious in's with the best in the beauty biz like my crush Adir Abergel and my pretend besty Kate Somerville.

Well he's also pretty good at giving out fun product. Let us all put our golf claps together for the divine Molly McG Wynn and her new beauty booty, to be received en Rennes (her new home). Vive la France, vive la Benefit et vive la McGulliver!

Siren Song

So it's no secret that I'm a NARS junkie. My one complaint is that it takes me an extra 5 minutes to put my face on in the morning because all of those little black cases are identical apart from the type size 6 label on the back. That nit aside, new collection from Francois contains a lipstick you can expect to see me in by the weekend and even an allusion to Greek mythology. I think new make-up may be fourth only to big sweaters, being in heat and pumpkins on the long list of why I love Fall!

Call me Odysseus but I'm hearing some singing and it makes me want Viridiana lipstick. Front and center in this decadent little promo shot. Make-Up Bag has a more thorough review if you're in the mood for something delicious.