Brief Update & Giveaway

I know I've been pretty silent so far this year. I've been working hard on my goals for this year. I was also hard at work rehearsing a dance that my troupe performed last week. Now that's out of the way. I might actually get some blogging done. I'm really getting into my Arabic studies though and I'm having a serious Mass Effect relapse. So after my normal bellydance schedule, studying Arabic, and saving the Universe, oh yah and working full time+  there isn't much time (or motivation) left.

Since the response was so positive to my post about How Belly Dance Changed My Life I decided to share a new video. This is just a fun dance we put together for this event.

January 18th marked the one year anniversary of Bat An Eyelash. To celebrate, I'd like to offer a giveaway of a few of my favorite products. Open internationally.

Pardon the phone picture. My camera decided to be a jerk.

• Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment I love this stuff. My hair isn't very dry or damaged so this just adds a nice shine. It smells divine!
• Maybelline Studio Gel Liner in Charcoal I use this mainly in my waterline.
• Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie I'm a sucker for berry shades.
• NYX Blush in Pinched One of my favorite blushes. It's considered a dupe for NARS Orgasm. I have both and I tend to reach for this more.
• NYX Cream Blush in Boho Chic My favorite cream blush! I'm wearing it today actually.
• MUA Heaven & Earth Palette Oh MUA please come to the USA! This palette is so fabulous. I keep buying them for other people when I make a MUA order.
• EOS Lip Balm in Sweet Mint This is always in my purse. 
• OPI Nail Lacquer in Bubble Bath I tend to only wear neutral shades on my fingernails. This is the perfect neutral.
• Tea Tree Oil Foot Repair Balm I keep this by my bed and try to remember to use it every night. It is really moisturizing and my feet don't look as awful.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

e.l.f. 50% Off Sale Haul

Around Thanksgiving e.l.f  had a 50% of sale. You had to spend $20 or $25 to qualify which is a pretty decent sized haul of e.l.f products.  I needed a new bottle of the Mist & Set and the Lip Exfoliator was finally back in stock so I went in search of what else I could through in my cart. Admittedly, e.l.f. products are hit or miss but at half off their already low prices, I'm willing to take some risks. 

• Beauty Wedges Price $1.00  $0.50 You can always use more sponges right?
• HD Blush in Headliner  Price $3.00 $1.50 I'm a fan of cream blushes. I've never tried a straight up liquid blush before. I was intrigued. 
• Cuticle Pushers Price $1.00  $0.50 I've been trying to pay more attention to how my cuticles look lately.
• Brush Shampoo Price $3.00 $1.50 I'm almost out of my MAC brush cleaner. I have the e.l.f. Daily Brush Cleaner which I kinda like so I figured I'd give this a try.
• Maximum Coverage Concealer - Oil Free in Porcelain Price $3.00 $1.50 I've been really interested in finding the perfect concealer lately.
• Makeup Mist & Set Price $3.00 $1.50 I've been using this for almost a year now and love it. I notice a difference when I don't use it.
• Lip Exfoliator Price $3.00 $1.50 I've been dying to try this but it was always out of stock. I was so excited when I got an email letting me know it was back in stock. I just gave this a test drive and I love it. Full review to come.
• Moisturizing Lip Tint SPF 8 in Berry Price $3.00 $1.50 I have this in Rose and I really like it. Good pigmentation. Long lasting. I hope this one follows suit.
• Matte Lip Color in Rich Red  Price $3.00  $1.50 I'm forever on the search for the perfect matte red.

I also purchased a concealer palette ($1.50)  for my Mom's box of holiday goodies. Overall, I got ten items for $13.00 plus shipping. That feels like a good days work of bargain shopping to me.

October Favorites

I didn't get around to doing a September favorites so this is more of an September/October favorites post. I haven't been wearing a lot of different makeup the last few months. I did perform with my troupe a few times though. We danced a 1940s Golden Era Bellydance piece so I've been doing a retro look a lot which is where most of my favorite products come from.

If anyone is interested in a tutorial for this look let me know. It's pretty easy and always looks glamorous. Anyhoo, on to the October favorites!

Eyeko Skinny Liner, Ardell Wispies, Besame Crimson Rouge, e.l.f. Tinted Lip Moisturizer, & Benefit They're Real! Mascara

• Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Black I got this back in my July Birchbox it was one of the few items I got from Birchbox that I absolutely loved and one of the very few full sized items I ever got. Anyhoo, this is a felt tipped liner that glides on smoothly and is long lasting. It makes it really easy to achieve that winged liner look. It comes in several different colors. There's a purple I keep talking myself out of buying. It's gorgeous but I don't know when I'd ever wear it. You can buy it at Sephora or Birchbox for $15.
• Ardell Wispies Love love love these falsies. They're big and dramatic but still give that soft wide-eyed look. You can find Ardells in most drugstores and Target for around $4.
• Besame Crimson Rouge I got this is as a sample in my August Beauty Army kit. Besame Cosmetics is all about the vintage retro look with their products and their packaging. This cream blush is much drier than other cream blushes I've tried. It works great though. Just dab a little bit on and blend it out and you have the perfect vintage looking flush. The full size of this is $22 and you can find it at Besame Cosmetics or Beauty Army.
• e.l.f. Moisturizing Lip Tint SPF8 in Rose I usually carry around a ridiculous amount of lippies in my purse. So I've been trying to use up some products and cull the herd. I rediscovered this and have been wearing it a lot. Rose is a darker pink color. I find it much more pigmented than other tinted lip moisturizers/lip balms that I've tried. Fairly well moisturizing and the color is long lasting. These are $3 on the e.l.f. website and I think you can find these in Target.
• Benefit They're Real! Mascara I got this sample in my September Little Black Bag. I really didn't want to love it because the full size is $23. I have a hard time finding a mascara that doesn't give me panada eyes even though I only wear mascara on my top lashes. This mascara delivers length and stays put all day. Love it! I have about $10 worth of Birchbox points to cash in so I'll probably buy this. You can also find it pretty much everywhere... Benefit, Sephora, and Ulta.

I don't normally talk about music but the eagerly awaited new album from The 69 Eyes is finally out! The 69 Eyes are a Finnish Goth rock/metal band. The new album is so good. I've been listening to it two or three times a day. Here's the video for the single "Red."  My favorite track is actually "Black." You can buy this on Amazon as a CD or download. The Itunes version features a bonus track which is a duet with Kat Von D.

DIY: Sample Society Box Lippie Organizer

I use products more if I can see them. Otherwise they get banished to the makeup drawer and who knows if they'll ever be seen again. So I have quite a few lip products on my counter. I was keeping them in a small round cardboard container but they kept falling over. I was also running out of room. I was in the process of upgrading them from their round container to a Sample Society box when I was inspired to make dividers.

I opted for a Sample Society box because it's deeper than the Birchbox boxes and I wanted the lip glosses to have more support. It's not that prettiest craft project ever but I took the sides off the lid and made dividers. I just glued these down with a hot glue gun.

OK so the aren't exactly straight either but it gets the job done. I made the lipstick sections a little wider than the gloss sections. I lucked out and had a slot for shorter pencils and tubes that won't stand up.

There's also plenty of  space left if I were to ever clean out my purse! This was a quick and easy project. I didn't measure anything. I just eyeballed the length to cut the dividers. Perhaps, one day I'll get inspired to redo this and clean it up a bit. For now though, it's a vast improvement.

June Favorites

It's hard to believe June is over already! I really haven't been wearing that much makeup this summer.

Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush, Holika Holika BB, Revlon Lip Butter, Balenciaga Perfume

• Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Peach Satin.  I had forgotten about this blush until I found it again while digging through my makeup drawer. I love this blush. I'm so sad it's discontinued. I do have an unopened one in my secret stash. I find this blush gives a nice peachy glow.
• Holika Holika Shimmering Petit BB Holika Holika is a Korean cosmetic company. BB stands for blemish balm. These are like a somewhere between a tinted moisturizer and a foundation. They also usually have some skin nourishing ingredients and sunblock. I am so in love with this. I hardly ever wear foundation any more. I will do a full review of this soon. I promise.
• Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie.  When I first bought this, it just didn't live up to the hype for me. I decided to give it another shot and now I can't put it down. This gives a nice berry color to the lips. It lasts a decent amount of time and isn't sticky.
• Balenciaga Essence Perfume Someone sent this to me as an extra with one of my trades. The funny thing is that I just added to my wishlist because I wanted to try it. I'm so in love with this perfume. I'm starting to not wear it every day now because I'm running out. I may have to break down and buy the full size. I suck at describing perfumes so just look it up. :)

So those are my June favorites. Not a whole lot as I'm going for minimal effort these days. I've also spent most of June on the quest for the perfect mascara. I haven't found it yet. ;(

Question Wednesday: Holy Grail Products

Thanks to Nykki for Question Wednesday. Check out her blog Nykki's Mane Blog

Today's Question Wednesday comes from Aly over at Wonderland Beauty!!

Today's Topic from Aly over at Wonderland Beauty is: Holy-grail products


What is your go-to eye makeup look? What products do you use to achieve this look?
Neutral Eyes. Using my Inglot palette. #337, #341 & #353

What are your top 3 favorite lip products for summer?
EOS Lip Balm in Sweet Mint, Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie, and Guerlain Extrait de Rose

What is your favorite liquid face product?
Holika Holika Shimmering BB (the pink one)

What is your favorite eyebrow product?
MAC eyebrow pencil

Lastly, what are some of your holy grail makeup items?
My Inglot palettes, Milani Luminoso Blush, Benefit Porefessional Primer

Happy Birthday to Me Haul!

So I tend to buy myself pretty indulgent birthday and Christmas presents. No one knows what I want better than me right? So this year for my birthday I gave in and bought myself my first high end cosmetic purchase. I went for the Guerlain Meteorites Powder in Teint Rose (#10). I also picked up a cute little set of brushes that is going to work out great for throwing in my purse.

I can't wait to try out this powder. I'll post a full review in the future. The packaging is beautiful!

 Sephora also sent me a large batch of goodies for free. The Beauty Insider free birthday gift is a small duo of Sugar Lip Treatment and a Tinted Lip Treatment. I've heard really good things about the Sugar products and I love tinted lip balms!

Sephora Freebies

 In addition to the normal three free samples with purchase, Sephora was offering six perfume samples in different themes which I got a booklet about in my last Sephora order. The choices were addictive, casual, playful, and chic. I chose addictive because I really liked the two fragrances featured in the booklet. They were Balenciaga and Angel by Thierry Mugler. Sadly, I didn't get samples of either. The perfume samples came in nice black pouch which I wasn't expecting. This would be good to throw a few makeup items in or maybe to throw some jewelry in for travel.

List of freebies:

• Sugar Lip Treatments
• Shiseido BioPerformance Serum
• Dr. Dennis Gross Daily Face Peel (this is a substitution. Pretty sure I selected the Ren mask because I love it)
• Amore Pacific Tinited Moisturizer (this came with four shades to sample)
• Hanae Mori perfume sample
• Prada Infusion D'Iris
• Betsey Johnson Too Too
• Michael Kors perfume sample
• Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb
• Calvin Klein Euphoria (not pictured)

e.l.f Haul and Leap Year Mystery Bag

e.l.f. was offering a Mystery Bag on Leap day valued at $20 with any purchase of $20 or more. Even though I was technically cut off for the rest of the month of February I let this one slide.  I mean it was Leap Day so really it was more like March anyway. Besides $20 of e.l.f products goes a long way! Some e.l.f products are really great finds and others are pretty much worth the $1-$3.

So first the stuff I bought:

Lip Tint in Berry $3
Contouring Blush & Bronzer Powder I don't contour or use bronzer but it's something I'm curious about. For $3 I can afford to experiment.
Makeup Mist and Set  $3 Can this live up to the standard set by my MAC Fix +?
Nourishing Cuticle Pen My cuticles aren't as bad now that I don't work with my hands everyday but they still need some lovin'. $1
Eyebrow Lifter & Filler in Ivory/Medium  I really don't pay as much attention to my brows as I should other than keeping a basic shape.$3
Studio Stipple Brush I don't have a stipple brush. $3
Mineral Angled Blush Brush No angled blush brush either. This is the big ticket item in my order...$5

Now the free stuff! So much stuff I wasn't quite sure how to arrange it to get it all in the picture.

Shimmer Palette These are all creams so you can use them on the eyes, lips or face. Retail value $3
Silver Box Duo Eyeshadow Collection  Four duo eyeshadows plus a brush. These look like some good color combos.Greenish Silver/Purple. Matte brown/bronze. Shimmer Pink/Matte Light Gray. Sparkly Black/Matte Silver Gray. Retail value $5
Minty Lip Gloss In Miami. This definitely smells minty. Retail value $3
Single Eyeshadow  in Butter Cream  This reminds me of a color I have but I can't quite put my finger on it right now.  Retail value $3
Mineral Concealer Brush  Feels soft Retail value $5
Hypershine Lip Gloss  in Sugar Plum Looks like a nice plum color. I'm not really into brush applicator lip glosses. Retail Value $1

So quite the mountain of stuff. I'm not even really sure where to start! e.l.f. usually has some good deals. It's worth it to sign up for their emails.

Tinted Moisturizer

Since I've been recuperating, I haven't wanted to bother with putting my full face on.  If you're on the go or just not used to wearing a lot of makeup, give a tinted moisturizer a try.

All you need is a tinted moisturizer you like and a tinted lip balm or lip gloss and you are set! You will look more polished without looking too "made up".  It also doesn't require much effort. I know for us desert dwelling women, moisturizer and lip balm are a daily must have! So you're really not adding anything to your daily routine.

In addition to a lip gloss or a lip balm you can add some blush or mascara but this is completely optional. I add a little blush because I'm so pale. It's nice to get a little color back in the cheeks. If you have combination or oily skin you may want to apply powder to the T zone area.

I have my favorite tinted moisturizer but I'm always on the look out for a new one.My favorite is the MAC Studio Tint.  I also tried the e.l.f Studio Tinted Moisturizer and the Cover Girl Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer.

 

Cover Girl Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 ($6-8) In Fair to Light is extremely sheer. It works OK as a moisturizer but did not have nearly the pigmentation or the coverage I expect from a tinted moisturizer. The texture was that of a thin liquid. Bat's Rating: 4 (only because it does actually moisturize)

e.l.f Studio Tinted Moisturizer  SPF 20 ($3) In Porcelain Works well as a moisturizer. The coverage was fairly good. If your skin is pretty even toned this may work for you.  The color of this was too dark and too yellow for me. The texture is similar to a foundation but it wears very light.  Bat's Rating: 6.5


 MAC Studio Tint  SPF 15 ($30) In  Light  Works well as a moisturizer. Full coverage without feeling heavy on the skin. Texture is similar to the e.l.f.. It's firm but it applies easily.  It is the most expensive but this is one of those times, I feel you get what you pay for. One tube goes a long way as well.  Bat's Rating: 9

MAC Studio Tint, e.l.f Studio Tint, and CG Aqua Smoothers is the shiny line to right of the e.l.f

You can see in the above picture just how sheer the Cover Girl is. No coverage at all. It was a big disappointment.. Here I am with the MAC Studio Tint and Estee Lauder Lip Gloss in Berry.

Trying not to sneeze!

The day I shot this video I picked up Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Hibiscus for $7. I love it! If you're a fan of Burt's Bees you'll like this product. It glides on smoothly and doesn't feel heavy or sticky on the lips. It lasts about two hours.