Friday, February 22, 2013

Naked Palette



I finally got the Naked Palette by Urban Decay! I am definitely late to this party. I love the palette just like everyone else! Some of my favorite colors out of it are Naked, Half Baked, and Smog. I really like all of the colors but those are the ones I have found myself using. Strangely enough I had not tried the Urban Decay primer potion before this. That stuff works great!

The only cons about the Palette to me is the brush and the packaging. I am not a huge fan of the brush. I tend to like softer brushes. I guess this one is supposed to be for laying down shadow but I'm just not a fan. And the packaging! I have had it for like 2 weeks now and it picks up everything! I wish they would possibly re-release it with the metal packaging like Naked 2 has.

I do not have a lot of palettes. I have the tarte True blood palette which I do not hear anyone talk about anymore. I love that thing to death. The packaging is huge also. I am thinking about buying a Z-palette to put the eye shadows in so it will be easier for travel. And now I have the Naked! Pretty happy!

 I have a bunch of Birchbox points. I have literally $40 to spend in the Birchbox store and I am so torn on what to get. I think I want the Stila In the Light palette but would that be redundant after I have bought the Naked? Maybe the In the Moment palette then? Let me know what you think!


Emily

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Chattanooga Anniversary Trip

Steve and I went to Chattanooga, Tennessee for our 4 year anniversary. It is hard to believe we have been together for 4 years! It has been wonderful. I can not wait for our next year I think it will be a great as the last 4. I wanted to share some pictures from Chattanooga. I did not get to take a lot of photographs. It was freezing outside. It even started snowing for like 30 minutes. And it was not just a little flurry like we get in Georgia. 

Lookout Mountain 

Neat office building reflecting the sunset 

Steve and I under the Marquee 

I love the contrast between modern and classic architecture in Chattanooga. Everywhere you go there were neat old buildings and then there would be something extremely modern beside it. Also it appeared to me that the recent architecture was thoughtfully done to combine both styles.

We ate dinner at the Public House. It was so good. I had the shrimp and grits. Yummy. Steve had this amazing pork tenderloin that I wanted to steal.
An amazing mural of M.L.K. We were just driving by as I took this photograph. I wish I had been able to get out and get a better photo. Especially without the lamp post.
Also if you did not know Moon Pie's are made in Chattanooga! 


We had a great weekend. I had a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to get away from everyone.


Emily

Photography Prop Example #1

I have been scanning Etsy for a new quilt. I think I will probably be able to find one around here at one of the antique stores, but I thought I would scroll through. It made me think of other props that would be fun to have! So I am going to share a couple. Also I thought this would make a great way to show people what they can bring to sessions. I am completely open people bring props to a shoot. Like I know that whenever I have engagement photographs done (once I am engaged) I will bring my Great Aunt's Wedding ring quilt she made.



1. A cool chair or blanket! Generally you are going to be sitting at one point during a session and why not in a chair that shows your personality. I think that a rocking chair in a field with tall grass could look really neat. If you are into film maybe a directors chair.

I thought starting a series about some prop ideas would be interesting. If you have a favorite prop you use or something that you would like to have in your photographs. I would love some other ideas.


Emily

Monday, February 18, 2013

Skin79 BB Cream!

Hey guys! I have discovered Amazon. I know that means I am late to the party, like really. I have used it for textbooks and like tv shows, but not for just random stuff that I want. Well I am officially amazon crazy. Also I have the free amazon prime subscription for students which is definitely enabling me. Two day shipping, YES please. 

The other day my mom and I were talking about BB creams. We both got the Dr. Jart BB cream sample in our birchboxes. I started to look up the prices for the "higher end" BB creams. I have not really heard anything good about the drugstore ones. It is all mixed reviews. Then I realized that whenever I would watch a review on Youtube or read one on a blog they all said that our BB creams are not as good as Asian brand ones. I remembered that one of the youtubers that I watch said they bought their Asian beauty products on Amazon. Enter Amazon.

I decided on the Skin79 BB. I saw a review by Missglamorazzi from youtube and she loved it. (Watch the video here) I went for an Amazon Prime seller. I thought it would be safer that way. Because apparently there is a problem with people receiving fake Skin79 BB cream. I ordered mine from seller Tokyo Japanese Outlet. And I believe that it is a legit bottle. (Here is the video to help you tell if it is or not) The full name is Hot Pink Super Plus Beblesh Balm and it was $16.69 which I think was pretty affordable. In the middle of the drugstore BB's and the high end BB creams.

And on to the pictures! I will do a review on what I think about it after Spring Break. I was really thinking that this would be really useful for then. 






First impression: When I put this on today I did not feel like I even needed to put foundation on top of it. I just added a little concealer. It looked the same after being at work for 5 hours 

I will do a more in depth review later after I have really been trying it. For more information on the BB Cream check out Skin79's website. Here is the link to this specific BB Cream. There are supposed to be a lot of benefits for the BB cream. I will let you know what I think.

Do you have any brands or specific Asian beauty products you love? This is my first Asian beauty product and I think I might be hooked. 


Emily

Monday, February 11, 2013

The Grammys

Last night when I should have been concentrating on my homework I was distracted by the Grammys. At first I was thinking okay I will wait until after Mumford and Sons had performed. Then they announced that The Black Keys were going to play. So I watched longer. Then Jack White was going to play. Finally, They started talking about The Band tribute. I watched the whole darn Grammys without meaning too.Those performances were awesome though!

 My favorite was definitely The Band. It made me tear up a little. Zach Brown Band, Elton John, Mavis Staples, Mumford and Sons, T-Bone Burnett, and Brittany Howard from the Alabama Shakes all sang The Weight. Everyone Just looked like they were having a great time and the overall feeling of the performance at least to me seemed electric.

 I hope they make that available for download somewhere or I will be extremely disappointed. It would be an awesome idea to make it downloadable and the proceeds could go to the Sandy Hook school. Because Elton John at the beginning of the song mentioned how it was for them and Levon Helm. Or to their MusiCares program. That is my PR side coming out. I thing that would be an amazing idea. However it happens I just want to have this on my Ipod.

You can find a video of the performance HERE.


Emily