Time for Fall Nails!

Fall is finally here. This week started off rainy and blustery, just like any proper autumn Monday should.

Since it’s cooler and wetter out, it’s officially time to make the switch to darker, more edgy nail colors. Since I don’t believe in getting manis at spas, I’m back to my routine of doing my nails at home on Sunday nights while watching TV (in bed…because lazy is what’s called for on Sunday nights).

Sorry for the blurry, not-so-awesome iPhone photo.  And the weird claw pose.  Getting a decent shot is tough.

This week’s nail color is Jitterbug from China Glaze. It’s a nice silvery gray with enough shine and metallic in it to make my nails not look overly Gothy. Not that there’s anything wrong with Gothy. Hell, Goth was my look in High School!

What nail color are you rocking right now? And, do you prefer dark nails, colorful nails, or lighter, more neutral nails? My choice? The darker colors of fall/winter.

Things I need: hair cut & color, pedi, waxing, new fall wardrobe, money to pay for it all and time to get it done. Eesh! Life is crazy. What do you need?

Just got an invite to a product launch in London. Oh, if only I didn't live in Seattle. Sigh...(London is my favorite city!).

Don't Bring Me Down

When it comes to beauty products, I am relatively jaded.  I've tried almost everything and there is very little that comes out that gets me all worked up.  I'm not one to buy into product hysteria.  But this month (or was it August?  Everything's blurring together these days!), I was flipping through the Sephora Autumn 2011 catalog and I fell in lust at first site with a palette from Too Faced.

Sparkly vampires love glittery eyeshadow.

This palette, the Too Faced Matte Eyeshadow Collection, had Lydia written all over it.  I hate super sparkly eyeshadow.  I don't think it's flattering or appropriate for a woman in her mid-30s (god, when in the world did I get so freaking old?!) to go through life with eyelids covered in gobs of glitter.  Sparkly shadow is fine for tweens, teens, and people dressing up like vampires on Halloween.  For me?  Yeah, no thanks.  I need something slightly more refined...and a little less Edward Cullen in the sunlight....than that.

No truer words have been spoken, Kiefer.  Your Lost Boys, though cheesy, were so much better than Twilight.

When it comes to shadow I am a matte fan.  I like color and shading that doesn't look like I lost a fight with a glitter-filled pinata. One of my chief complaints with Urban Decay is their tendancy towards the sparkle.  The Too Faced palette jumped off the pages of the catalog and straight onto the top of my MUST list for Fall.

Nine colors for three distinct looks.  Certainly ONE look has to be a winner...right?

I bought it, tried it, and I am so underwhelmed.  Like other Too Faced collections, they provide three sets of shades to create three unique looks.  In this case it's Day, Classic and Fashion.  I tried the Day combo and the results were "meh."  The neutrals were too dark for my liking, and the matte-ness of it did not produce the desired effect.  My lids looked heavy. 

Handy dandy guides to create the suggested looks.

Hoping for better results, I tried the Fashion shades, which are very purple.  They made me look tired.  Then I tried the Classic...and that really sealed the deal for me.  The color combo was much too harsh: bright white for the upper lid combined with odd blues that were much to heavy and gave much too much contrast.  I looked ridiculous.  So ridiculous that I removed every layer of shadow and started over again (using the kick ass Stila collection I told you about last month).

Too Faced's Matte Eyeshadow Collection could have kicked ass.  It should have kicked ass.  But instead, it made me LOOK like ass.  I am not impressed.  I normally like Too Faced, but this collection is a huge let down.  Save yourself $36 and skip this one.  Or, better yet, spend $39 for the far superior Stila In the Light Collection.  You'll thank me in the long run.

Waxing and Waning

I should say I'm sorry for not blogging so much lately.  I should call myself a bad blogger, but I won't...because I'm not.  I'm just like the rest of you: I'm a busy woman trying to do too much with too little.  

It's funny. I've been writing this blog since 2006.  I remember so clearly the day I decided to start writing here. I had a spark that sunny, warm Seattle day.  Blogging was so new, so exciting.  Since then, I've been a fairly consistent beauty blogger.  Sure, there are bigger, better, prettier, fancier beauty blogs out there, but (I hope) Kiss and Makeup has been plugging along, churning out beauty news and information at a pretty steady clip.

Just one of the many bags filled with beauty products I need to try.  An embarrassment of riches?

Then 2011 hit.  I am not sure what's going on with me this year, but I am experiencing a level of fatigue.  I'm weary of all the stuff associated with blogging: the bags of products to try; the email inbox filled and neglected.  There's just too much.  But if I entertain the notion of shutting down my blog and walking away from it all, I get a little melancholy.  The freedom of not blogging is appealing, but something always pulls me back to wanting to write.

This is my roundabout way of saying I am not giving up on my poor, neglected blog.  I still like writing about beauty products, style, and the fun, frivolous stuff that is part of being a woman. I still think about blog posts at weird, random times.  I'm just having trouble finding time to actually sit down in front of my computer to get everything out.

I don't get enough time in front of these damn keys!

This blog will continue, but I may ease up on myself a tad.  Instead of posts 4 times a week, I may crank out one or two or ten posts a week.  There may be long stretches of silence, but I am not going anywhere.  It's not time for me to close this puppy down, so for now I'll try to find bits of time to update.  Hang in there....I'm not done yet!