Fortunately, the Birchbox came first this month, since last month I got so busy only the Ipsy blog made it out. Wedding season is really cramping my blog-style. I’ll try to do better, ladies and gentlemen. I can make it up to you with a picture of Zuhl with the Birchbox.
We’re cool now, right? 
So I’ll dive right in!
I have a bit of a hoarding issue with pens and notebooks and journals. There are approximately 1 million of each floating around this house – and now I got a pen in my Birchbox! It’s a Pilot Acroball, mine writes in turquoise ink. I didn’t find it to be anything spectacularly special, but, you know, it’s a pen. With these little additions of Birchbox finds, I feel like it’s likely there will be a separate subscription service started at some point here, depending on how well these little goodies do.
I received a Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner in Saletti, which is sort of a bright navy, if there is such a thing. It’s a gorgeous color, it’s fairly waterproof, and goes on creamy and smooth. My one complaint was that it did seem to sort of get everywhere after a while, so maybe a slimmer line smudged out is the way to go. This brand is SoCal based, and seems to have some interesting brow products, so that may warrant further exploration.
There was a fragrance this month, the Folle de Joie eau de parfum. I’m always excited to try scents, but it nearly never works out for me, and I’m sad to say that is the case with this bad mamma jamma as well. To be fair, it’s totally me and not the fragrance – I have a mutant-freak nose that could rival a pregnant woman’s and battery acid running through my veins that seems to turn every scent (except for the handful that I’ve worn for years) into something vile. I sprayed this sample onto a card held an arm’s length away and was rewarded with an insta-headache. Whomp whomp.
And then a decent sized bottle of Beauty Protector Protect and Detangle, which, in all honesty, I haven’t used just yet. I re-purpled my hair this week, so it’s been a struggle enough to use just the smallest amount of product necessary to keep my hair from being a hideous mess without saturating it so that I leak violet all over the world around me. Sigh. But this product is can be used before styling as a heat protector and also a detangler, and I love the packaging. When I do actually put effort in, I am a straightener, so I will use the bejeesus outta this.
Finally, there is Coola Cucumber Facial Sunscreen, which is a 70% organic, non-chemical sunscreen. I’m intrigued, and I love the cucumber scent. I’ve been needing to amp up my sun protection for summer, so I’m excited to give this a whirl.
And, just to give you a thumbnail about last month’s box, the theme was “Tiny Tweaks, Big Results,” but they could’ve called it the “Catherine Haz an Oldz” box. There was a free magazine subscription to Women’s Health, a Kiehl’s Line-Reducing Concentrate (which I used this morning and like), Simple Revitalizing Eye roll-on, Nexxus Youth Renewal Hair Serum (OLDZ, but I do like this as well), Supergoop CC Cream, and a bergamot body wash from Malin + Goetz, which smells yum.
What’d you get?
This offers a fairly accurate picture of what I’m occasionally up against. LOVE IT!!!
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2013/05/my-wedding-hair.html
One of my Saturday clients got all dolled up for a Mad Men-themed party, and sent me some pics in her dress. How swingin’ and swank are she and her feller? I <3 retro!
One truth about my job is that I very often work through entire weekends, which generally works out fine for me (it keeps me out of Target and the grocery store on Saturday – sheesh!), but this weekend I was really kicked into high gear.
Thursday, I schlepped to Malibu for a fun shoot with one of my favorite photographers, who is actually an old friend… from high school (she’s transitioning her business at the moment, but check out www.ambitiousmisfit.com – AMAZING!). We were at a gorgeous location shooting some personal shots for a beautiful girl (who happens to be a famous-type) who is also married to a famous type (woohoo!) as well as some looks that may be used for the new booze company they’ve started – it was such a total blast to hang with these girls – it feels crazy to call it work! – and completely worth the six hour round trip.
Friday I was back in LA for makeup and light hair for a young (and totally adorable) recording artist – check her out at www.zoeannmusic.com. She’s in town from Texas and has all kinds of gigs lined up for the coming weeks, so I may just get to drop in on her again before she heads home – those eyes, right?
After leaving Zoe, it was off to Long Beach for another friendly session with two different girls from back in the 90′s, so we could collaborate on business photos for tax preparation – trust me, it totally makes sense – and once Miss Shannon’s company is up and running officially, they’ll be clamoring for her glamour. Duh.
Saturday was the wedding for Grace in Redondo Beach – I can’t wait to see the real pics for this, because I’m pretty sure this already beautiful girl transformed into the Asian Grace Kelly – her hair, makeup, dress, jewelry and flowers (!) were perfect. and I had a wonderful time dolling up her mom, sister, and one of her bridesmaids. Of course I only got this one wonky photo myself…
Which brings us to Sunday, where I completely dropped the camera ball when styling Yvette for her retro engagement session at Disneyland! Um, oops. Well, you’ll just have to take my word for it that she looked unbelievable and was happy (we kept her stashed away so her fiancee didn’t see her until she was in her Bettie Page Clothing dress and heels for a total look – he was blown away!). Instead, here’s another pic of Shannon the Taxeter (taken with a camera phone, if you can believe it!).
And we’ll finish with the purchase I made later on Sunday – which I’ve been hunting for non-stop – that will be handed off to its rightful owner this week, the rightful owner being my good friend whose daughter is a the cookie-pushing Daisy Scout who keeps the monkey on my back in carbohydrates. Those damn Samoas.
Hooray for pinkiness.
This month’s Ipsy bag is a celebration of that rosy color, and as such is chock full of pretties.
First up, a fabulous true pink blush Sweet Cheeks from Be a Bombshell, which is one of the most fun little brands Ipsy has exposed me to. I’ve previously received their Onyx felt-tipped liner and a very sheer, true red gloss, and I adore them both!
When I sneaked a peek at this month’s bag, I was hoping for the Big Sexy Hair Powder Play, since I’m OBSESSED with volumizing/texturizing hair powder, but instead I got the Soy Renewal treatment, which is pretty awesome and smells delish.
So the Mica shimmer that’s a warm pinky shade is not so hot. It’s a bit sheer for my taste, but I’m also a pigment snob. I’d use this to layer over the awesome pink blush for just a hint of sparkle, or even as a warm-toned highlight on cheekbones. I may also mix up a bit with clear gloss or nail polish – it may lend itself to fabulosity that way.
The big giant winner for me this month, though, was this (I thought) awkwardly peachy-pink-toned nail polish from Sation called Love at First Byte. When applied, this is an awesome neutral nail color that wears like iron – I’m so happy with it! It’s one of those nudey colors that I am so easily bored by, but it’s so NOT a bandaid-y shade that I adore it. It’s up there with my very pricey Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge, which is like a greyed out nude.
This was a great bag overall! I feel like Ipsy had struggled to find her footing for a while, but now it’s kind definitely keeping step with Birchbox. Three full-sized products, and even the sample size was generous. The bags are even getting more impressive! And as always, it’s packed to the gills with great coupon codes. I do enjoy Birchbox’s points/rewards system, but there’s something to all these delightful coupons, too.
So now the question remains… is it time for me to add another subscription to my roster here? Beauty or otherwise? I’ve sent out Papirmasse to both my boyfriend and my sister, but what are some other fabulous ones?
I recently had the pleasure of working with Ann Lauren from www.bellapetite.com. She got all dolled up for a red carpet situation during LA Fashion Week, and here’s what I’ve got!
In case you missed – click below and have a listen!
The guests (including moi) are brought in around minute 25 – you’ve gotta hear our intro! It was so much fun!
Your friendly neighborhood Goddess of Makeup and Hair will be a guest on Happy Hour with Ben and Alexander TONIGHT from 6-7PM PST! You know you wanna listen, watch, and call in… (323)-284-7826
We’ll be dishing about the makeup biz and reminiscing about high school (Alexander and I were Catholic school refugees together) – what could possibly go wrong? (see the fabulous promo below they’ve created just for me – oh boy!)
In case you miss it, check out the archives HERE.
I’ve been presented this picture of this hairstyle as an inspiration photo a number of times, and just this last weekend I recreated it for the extremely adorable cousin of one of my favorite former brides who was heading to prom – in a fabulous custom copper gown, no less.
Feast your eyes on the super cute Adriana and her retrolicious waved updo – I LOVE how the blonde streaks peek out of her dark hair!
Posted in beauty, hair, pinup, prom, retro, vintage
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Tagged beauty, hair, pinup, retro, updo, vintage
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I’ve received a few things from Juice Beauty in previous Ipsy bags as well as through Birchbox, and I’ve found them to be a bit hard on my skin (although I keep trying with the Green Apple Peel – I want it to work so much, but I end up looking like I have a face full of prosciutto). But this gloss is fabulous! It’s a bronzey shade, which is sort of an out-of-character color for me, but I love it. It’s got just a bit of color, and a little tingle on the lips. It’s awesome, and I’d love to check out more of the shades.
I’m a long-time fan of Zoya nail polish, and I was super excited to receive the fabulous minty green Neely – which I immediately put on and have been getting compliments on ever since. The one thing I will say about Zoya polishes is that they wear like iron when applied with their own color lock system of base coat, top coat, and drying drops, but are much lower performing with a different brand – they do have an unbelievable color selection and the bag this month came with an awesome coupon (subscribe to Zoya’s twitter and/or Facebook for lots of good specials), so it’s totally worth the investment. PS: Can we talk about the name? All I think of is Patty Duke as Neely in Valley of the Dolls. 
Oh, you haven’t seen Valley of the Dolls? That needs to be remedied immediately. I mean, look at that hair! And GORGEOUS Sharon Tate.
The final goody is a little concealer refill from Yaby. I do love Yaby, but this concealer is prolly gonna go to work or get handed off – it’s not quite the right shade for me, so I’ll have to report back on its concealing properties. :)
