A few of my favorite things

Things have still been pretty quiet. I never thought I'd be one of those people whose lives were ruled by drama but that is pretty much what it has become. That line from Meet the Robinsons "Well it's been a long, hard day filled with emotional turmoil and dinosaur fights." has me nodding saying, "yeah that's accurate!"

What that means is that I haven't really had any creative inspiration whatsoever, which is sad because it has really been my whole life the past two years. When you are sad and then lose interest in things you love it makes you even more sad. It's a spiral really. I'm working on it. I'm ordering Pollyanna on DVD today so maybe that will help.

In the meantime, since I haven't really done any projects I thought I would share some of my favorite things I've been using lately.

I love coloring my hair and I love straightening my hair which means I have a lot of damaged hair. I was reading Mandy's blog Prettymaking and she recommended this product which I bought and have used like crazy since.

Now that I work within close distance to a Rite-Aid I find myself buying all kinds of silly things. Like....

I have bought Wet n Wild polish for years and it usually lasts two days before chipping. But these little bottles of "megalast" last a week. I have a job where I use my hands a lot so my nails get a lot of abuse. At $1.99 a pop, I don't mind buying in multiple colors. Actually I think they've changed the bottle design since I got these but the product is still nice.

 Deep sparkle "Disturbia"

Soft and creamy "Bite the Bullet"

I also spotted these fun lip colors by Revlon. They look both retro and modern and I found not one but two colors I liked? Have I ever bought a drugstore lipstick? Um...I don't actually think I have. Lipgloss sure, but never a lipstick-like product and it is always because there's never been a color I liked.

One is a shade of pink that actually goes with my skintone ("Pink Frosting") and the other is purply ("Gumdrop") which I was ridiculously excited about.

They are smooth, not sticky and sheer, which honestly is how I prefer my lip color.

I'm always hunting for a lipcolor and very frequently not succeeding.

My baby tote of lip products. I have problems.

We had two days of super warm sun and it was enough for me to break out my bronzer. I am quite pale so normal bronzers do not work for me. However, "Maracaibo" by local company Alima Pure is p-e-r-f-e-c-t. The only bronzer I've ever seen that pale people can wear with ease and avoid looking tacky.

Put a bird on it.

And I finally bought some of these:



That are thick enough and will stay put enough, for me to do [this].

And not at all beauty-related but if you haven't tried this

You are missing out!

Totally Random Thursday - news of the weird

Yes this is on a Saturday.

I came across these photos on my phone and I had forgotten about how hilarious they are. You know when you go to Oil Can Henry's and all those good looking guys in uniform come out and you hold out dollar bills for them? Oh wait...that was just a fantasy of mine. (Kidding. As far as you know.) I meant when they give you a newspaper to read while you wait...well this was a real article in the paper and it made me laugh so hard I had to take a photo and text it to everyone I could think of. It's easily as awesome as the story about the guy who was arrested in the toy aisle attacking people with a "light saber" Am I too easily amused?

Come on, tell me that isn't hilarious.

Lollipop Lips - Wet 'n Wild Juicy Balm

I'm fairly certain I've shared this song before, but in any case it's what came to mind when thinking about this post so if you want music to listen to while you read, try Lollipop Lips and try not to get it stuck in your head.

Was at the drug store/ variety store the other day and spotted a series of brightly colored lip balms by Wet 'n Wild. This brand has impressed me lately with a few nail polish purchases I've made that have really held up even with my work.
I admit with the balms it was nostalgia that really caught my eye, it looks like something I would have had in junior high.

It's in a giant tube and with fun, bright colors and fruit "flavors" all I could think was how much fun it would be to have this fun smelling balm.

However, the color frightened me a little. Was it going to color my lips? I got to looking at them...there's a bright green one...it seems unlikely they'd make these a tinted balm if one of them was green. Plus it doesn't say they are tinted anywhere on the tube that I can see.

I pulled this out when I needed some moisture on my lips, popped off the cap with gleeful anticipation and....

Yep. These things are tinted.

My reaction was something akin to this:



I honestly wasn't able to wear it long enough to tell if it moisturized or had any other benficial qualities because it looks so hideous on me. I know that some people could easily wear this as a tint...I'm just not one of those people.

Instant relatives

At a shop in Sisters, Oregon I spotted a few packages of photos. I love old photos so I browsed through the collections. One had a woman and a horse and I knew I had to buy the packet. Turned out to be the perfect choice as it was women and outdoorsy activities and nature shots. For $4.00 here is what I got:

I still haven't decided what to do with them, but I completely love them. And let me tell you I have NEVER looked that stylish in the outdoors. Ever.

More thrifted and recycled bathroom goodies

I needed a soap dish for my facial soap. I've been using a little blue and white saucer but it didn't really go with my aged steampunk direction. I walked to Goodwill again and dug and dug through the dishes. The one near my work is not a large shop and I began to give up that I'd find anything I could use when I spotted a short stack of these little off-white, shallow bowls.

The price sticker was covering the stamp on the bottom but it was only .99 until I realized it was the half price color of the day and I got it for .49 cents. I went home to clean it up, removed the sticker and discovered I had some ironstone!

It does the job perfectly and looks nice (and simple) as well.

Then I needed a solution for my moisturizer. I love Cetaphil but that gigantic blue and white bottle? Not so much. I recently finished using a bottle of organic yummy scented hand soap and it had the perfect "old brown bottle" look. I thoroughly washed the bottle, peeled the label, used some Goo Gone on the residue and transferred my moisturizer.

Granted, when I get a new bottle, this one won't hold all of it, but the look is much more cohesive.

.49 cents and 2.75 new but recycled - my budget barely budged.

See what else I made for my simple steampunk bathroom project. Although I'm starting to wonder if this isn't so much steampunk as just....aged. Oh well, I like both!