Woodland Park Zoo :: Date Day

A little while ago, (ok, like 2 months ago!) M and I went to the Woodland Park Zoo. This is one of our absolute favorite places to go on a date. We love it so much, that we have had annual passes for the past several years!

If you are ever in the Seattle area, you must go! It is easy to walk through the entire place in probably 5 or 6 hours, so it doesn't feel too overwhelming.

Our absolute FAVORITE exhibits to go to every time is the Willawong Station, the penguins, and the whole Northern Trail section.

The Willawong Station is so much fun because it is just a building filled with a ton of budgies, cockatiels, and rosellas. You go in, pay a buck for a seed stick, and you get to feed as many little birdies as you can reach! Now, I am quite scared of birds to be honest, but I feel like going in there helps me combat my fear and it is just so much fun! The birds are so sweet and friendly!

I am going to stop rambling now, and just show you a sampling of cute pictures of cute animals!

xoxo

Makeup Routine :: Face

As I mentioned in my last post, I have continued to realize that if I try and box myself in, or force myself to only talk or write about a certain genre (i.e. crafty stuff), I get B to the O to the R to the E to the D!!! Not to mention uninspired, hence the huge gaps in my writing.

Recently, I have re-ignited my passion for makeup and, since I have decided to stop trying to limit myself, I wanted to share with you all my makeup loves!

I used to never wear any face makeup; no foundations, powders, blushes, nothing. I never felt that I needed or wanted to schmear creamy crap on my face. A couple of years ago, I was watching infomercials (oh yes, I got sucked in!!) and decided I HAD to try one of the bareMinerals mineral foundation starter kits. My mom and I went to Sephora and I picked one up. This super cool kit also came with a bronzing powder, Mineral Veil (a finishing powder), and a couple of brushes. Oh yea, and an instructional DVD (which I made M watch with me, teehee!). After using it, I realized my skin, and my entire makeup look, could be so much more finished looking. What a shock, I know!

I still didn't think I needed anything major until recently. I have a lovely natural blush to my cheeks... *cough, cough* ok let's be real.... my cheeks are red as Rudolph's nose, like, all the damn time! It started to annoy me more and more so I figured I should up my face makeup game. Which finally brings us around to the point of this post!

A couple of weeks ago, I started to use a couple of the products I am going to mention in this post, and for the first time, probably ever, a complete stranger told me I had the most beautiful skin! Well, needless to say I went home after work, built a shrine to these new miracle products, and have knelt before them, pledging my everlasting devotion ever since.

Ok, ok, let's get on with it!

The first product that I use is the new Dream Pure BB 8-in-1 Beauty Balm Skin Clearing Perfector (holy crap, that's a mouthful!) from Maybelline. I feel that it gives me light to medium coverage, which I love because it really does look natural but it still tones down the redness a ton! And it also feels very hydrating. It did take me a couple of times to find the right amount to use, which I determined was about the size of a pea. Anything more than that still blended nicely, but felt a little too heavy for my taste. I also found that it made my face feel a tiny bit itchy throughout the day.

I have the lightest shade, Light Sheer Tint.

Once I have blended this all in, I use my Full Flawless Face brush (it came in my bareMinerals starter kit) and "swirl and tap" in my bareMinerals Matte Foundation in the shade C10 or Fair. I buff this around my whole face using circular motions, and go down onto my neck just a bit as well. If I have particularly stubborn blemishes, I will press a bit of the powder onto them with the bareMinerals concealer brush, and then buff a little bit more to blend it in.

Now, this may seem weird, but I actually put my concealer on under my eyes AFTER I complete my eye makeup look. GASP! I learned this little trick from a YouTube beauty guru named Claire Ashley and I believe it has made a huge difference! When you put it on after your eyes are complete, it helps to clear away any fall out from your shadows. Additionally, it sculpts your eye look, providing a clean edge along the bottom lash line as well as up around the eye area and into your temples.

For this step, I use my new fave concealer. It is the Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer from Maybelline (lovin' me some Maybelline, probably my fave drug store brand!) This concealer has the coolest applicator! It is a little sponge tip that feels so nice under your eyes, so soft and a little cooling. I use the Brightener shade because my skin is so fair, and I want to brighten up the skin under my eyes. I also blend it down along the edges of my nose as well. I just use my ring finger to blend it all out. I have learned to tap tap tap instead of schmear schmear schmear... it took some getting used to, but only because I am a little impatient and it takes longer. Ha!

The final step is to brush a bit of the bareMinerals Mineral Veil powder to set everything. I mostly concentrate this under my eyes, over the concealer, to mattify and set it, but I will brush it lightly over the rest of my face as well. I either use my Flawless Face brush (a bit smaller than the Full Flawless Face brush) or the concealer brush, which works great under the eyes.

So this is it! I know this may sound bizarre, but it makes me feel so much more girly to use face makeup... whatevs, it is super fun either way! And I love that my natural skin color, texture, and freckles still show through just enough to not look like a creepy mannequin. 

I will probably start talking more about makeup, or really, whatever else I feel like at this point! Screw rules! I am going to stop "should-ing" on myself and do what I want! :)

Let me know if you want to see anything specific, like my every day makeup look, or anything like that!

Thanks for hanging on through this sharp right turn, and hopefully I haven't totally lost you! :)

Ta ta!

Personal Revelations

Hello there lovelys! Long time, no talk!

Ok, so I feel like I say that in every other post, and I am pretty sure I just need to knock it off! So what if it has been a while? I know there are certain "rules" for blogging and what not, and I definitely agree with most of them, but I am trying to remember that I don't do well when I am "restricted". :)

I am a pretty creative person, and it is hard for me to stick to doing one thing over and over again, which is why I love making my keshis. They are all OOAK, so there is always something new to discover, even if the basic principles are the same each time. This is how I feel about blogging. The same basic principles are there... engaging content, striking photos, good grammar and spelling, etc. But I need my posts to have that "OOAK" feel, or I will get real bored, real fast.

This is not to say that I won't have some sort of continuity and consistency, but I thought that when I started this blog I had to stick to craft-related items since that is what my "business" is all about. However, I have come to realize that I enjoy more of the "lifestyle" vibe. This way, I can write about whatever the heck I want, as long as it is somewhat interesting and can have a nice picture or two to accompany it. :)

I know that I will still want to have some structure, and I will only write about things that I actually like, so there will be a relatively short list of things I blather on about here. But I wanna blather on about more than just craft-related things! We all grow and change and there is nothing wrong with that, so why not create things that reflect those changes?

The whole point of blogging for me has become more than just getting my keshis noticed by a few more people. It has become something that I want to do in order to connect, explore, inspire, and be inspired by.

I do hope that you continue to pop in and enjoy this crazy thing I call life right along with me. We are all just a bunch of friends, sittin' around a table, sipping yummy drinks, eating yummy snacks, and chatting away for longer than any of us realize. And I can't wait to see you next time! Bring along some of those scrumptious chocolate chunk cookies of yours, won't you? ;)

xoxo