SHE SAID - How To Know When To Buy (Part I)

Two Maybelline pretties
I bought this week

There's about 45,000 cosmetic products out there.  And if you're like me, you want about 43,961 of them.  Seriously.  So how do you decide when to pull the trigger and spend some cash?  To each his own on when/how/why you want to spend your money, but I want to tell you how I decide to spend.  I've decided to break this up into two posts so I can say everything I want to say on this subject...which is quite a bit!

As you already know from the origination of the blog, Derek and I are Dave Ramsey enthusiasts.  AKA we're stingy with our money.  Kind of.  Basically, we try to budget and not waste money.  Within our budget, we're each allotted $65 of "blow money" every month.  No, that's not drug money, hah, that's blow as in spend-on-whatever-you-want-moolah.  We include eating out individually in that category, so $65 really doesn't go too too far for each of us.  With such a small budget I must choose what I buy very wisely! 

For starters you should know that I do not include my "must haves" in this budget (don't worry, Derek has OKed this!) - for me this means mascara, concealer, and foundation.  If I want to buy additional mascaras, concealers, foundations that DOES count as a blow-money purchase.  Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you the 3 steps I follow when I'm deciding what I'm willing to blow my money on:

1) I think about it - I mean really think about it.  How often will I use the product?  Will it go bad before I use it up?  Do I have other products like this already?

2) I weigh the price against other things I may want to spend my money on - This is going to sound like a joke, but I often times think of money values with the scale of "how many Subway sandwiches will this cost me?" - seriously.  I love me some Subway!  I now also use the weight of 'how many lipsticks could I buy instead?"

3) I stalk the product - I watch multiple YouTube reviews, read articles, gaze longingly at it a few times in stores.

Those steps may sound extreme, but it keeps me from making impulse buys that I'll later regret.  In Part II of this post I'll further discuss how I decide when to spend, and discuss how I choose colors of whatever items I buy (credit to Leah Graham for requesting this topic!)

SHE SAID - Wanna Date Me?

Ok, maybe you can't date me since I'm married - but I can show you a look I'd possibly wear if you did take me out. :)  The main product used in this tutorial is the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette.  Of course, if you don't have this compact you can definitely use any eyeshadows that are similar tones and get the same eye look.  

 

SHE SAID - Sock Bun Magic

Ok, maybe the sock bun isn't magic, but it's pretty amazing.  This hair-do is the quickest trick I know and a definite go-to for dirty hair or days when I'm feeling lazy.....so basically I wear this all the time.  Here's a video on how to do it!

SHE SAID - Gameday Makeup

Let's Go!  Hokies!  Let's Go!  Hokies! 

If you're a Virginia Tech fan like me, then you can easily hear that chant roaring in your head, see the excitement in the stadium grow as "Enter Sandman" beings, and view a sea of orange and maroon bobbing up and down as the crowd stars jumping.  There's truly nothing like Tech's entrance if you're a Tech fan.  

But you don't have to be a Tech fan to appreciate this gameday makeup tutorial - switch it out for any team colors you choose!  Just watch and learn the strategy!

SHE SAID - Cheap Lipstick Goodness

As I mentioned in my last video, I don't own a high end lipstick.  It's true, believe it or not!  Now, I won't promise that I'll never buy a high end lipstick (I can feel that purchase coming on in the next few months...)  Let me explain a bit why I've yet to make that purchase plunge.  I once watched a video/read an article (honestly can't remember) of a source I apparently trusted that explained that lipstick is super cheap to manufacture because it's mostly wax.  Since it's so cheap to produce, there's honestly no need to pay the big bucks for it.  All drugstore lipsticks I've purchased have been between $0.99 and $6.00 = very affordable.  Often you can find them on clearance for significantly less than their original price.  Do some of them smell cheap?  Yes.  Do some of them need a bit of gloss over top to not feel dry?  Sure.  But each time I buy a drugstore lipstick I'm saving nearly $10 bucks.  So wanna see the goods?  Below is a picture and swatches of the drugstore lipsticks I have.  And honestly, I've gotten great results from every single one!

SHE SAID - Mascara Tips and Bold Lips

There's about 874 bajillion types of mascaras out there to choose from - how do you know which one to pick!?  Don't they all do the same thing?  NOPE!  Who knew?!  So seriously, how do you decide?  Well it depends on what you're looking for in a mascara.  Are you looking for length, volume, or both?  Are you looking for a bold black color, or a natural brown?  The main thing is you have to shop around - try out a few to decide what formula, brush shape, and color you prefer.  One thing to keep in mind is some mascaras have interchangeable wands.  If the brush will fit in the container and will seal closed, you can switch out a brush you don't like to one you prefer more.  Test it out next time you find a brush that you love or hate! 

Ok, now that we've discussed mascara, let's talk about bold lips!  Anyone can pull them off!  All you need is a little courage and a dash of confidence.  So go on, pick out a bold color and WEAR IT.  Don't just let it sit in your makeup box - wear it!  Let me show you how!  ((Just ignore the botchy editing at the end of the video, hah.))

SHE SAID - Brighten Your Eyes Girlllll

Want your eyes to look brighter and more alert?  Let me show ya howwwww.

SHE SAID - My First Time

Some girls fantasize of their first time years before it happens.  Some girls, like me, obsess over it for a few months before biting the bullet and giving in to temptation.  I wanted my first time to be special.  I wanted it to be perfect. I planned out exactly what I was going to do.  Then I finally DID IT....I bought my first MAC makeup.  

I'd heard of MAC makeup growing up, but never got around to buying any.  In 2009, Derek and I moved to Lexington, Kentucky.  Since we didn't know anyone, we spent a loootttt of time online.  This was when we discovered the process of subscribing to people on YouTube and following their video posts.  I learned there was such thing as a 'beauty community' on YouTube - a place for people to review makeup, do tutorials, and share their love of makeup/beauty.  Whhhaatttt?! - I never knew such a place existed!  I would watch beauty videos for hours.  Literally, hours.  After watching so many of these videos, I was craving purchasing some MAC eyeshadows.  

I thought long and hard about which ones I'd purchase first.  Department store makeup isn't cheap, so I wanted to spend my money wisely.  I finally decided on three colors: Carbon (black), Cork (medium brown), and Sketch (darker purple).  With these three colors I can create a plethora of eye looks.  I'll make a video dedicated to these variations if you'd like!  Just let me know!  

SHE SAID - My Daily Makeup Routine

So it's 5:08AM on a week day - where are you?  Well, hopefully most of you are lucky enough to be sleeping.  But not Derek and I - that's our wake up time!  It's really not so bad once you get used to it, and I'm honestly a morning person, so it's pretty easy for me to wake up that early.  But what's not so easy is making myself look presentable at that time of morning!  So I stick to the basics makeup-wise throughout the week. 

Let me start off by saying the job I currently have is definitely not a job I need to look fancy for.  Most of my day is spent crawling/climbing/contorting around in a lab/office/hallway/closet floor looking for serial numbers on equipment.  Seriously.  Obviously I would look out of place in this line of work if I had makeup/hair to the nines every day since it would get disheveled very quickly.  So I don't.  I keep it pretty simple:

• Bare Minerals face powder (been using it since 2005 and am still a fan)
• Blush of choice
• Concealer
• Fill in my brows (most days)
• Eyeliner
• Mascara
• White highlight for inner corner

Now, I do add a little flare almost every day....I make my eyeliner winged.  Sounds fancy right?  That's my little bit of extra primping I allow myself in this position.  It's super quick and easy to do, so it doesn't add much time to my morning routine.  And honestly, I feel most confident when I have on winged eyeliner.  (The italics and bold font are totally necessary). 

I know I could wake up a few minutes earlier and do nicer eyeshadow or attempt to contour daily...but I like to save that up to do on the weekends when I feel I actually have time to 'play' in makeup, because Lord knows I'm NOT waking up any earlier that 5:08 on the week days.  

The video below explains exactly how I wing my liner!  It's easy!

SHE SAID - Makeup Brushes

For some reason when I was little I was reeealllyyy into lipstick brushes.  I was such a little diva! - an elementary school kid obsessing over lipstick brushes?!  Ok, ok, do you remember the cheap-o brushes you get with waterpaint sets...well, that was my "lipstick brush".  I would NEVER use it in paint - it was used solely for applying lipstick/chapstick.  I remember this one pot of coconut chapstick that I loved to apply at bedtime using my lipstick brush.  It went on so smoothly!  One day, I couldn't find my lipstick brush.  Ends up, my brother had taken it...and used it....and used it....and used it...in PAINT!  (the horror! didn't he know that was NOT a paint brush?!)  I remember crying to my mom "HE RUINED IT! HE RUINED IT!"...seems so silly now, but it paints (pun intended) perfectly how my makeup addiction started early on.  So speaking of brushes...let me show you a few of my current favorites!

SHE SAID - Makeup Journey

Take a journey with me down memory lane...a makeup journey.  It's probably one of the worst best memory lane strolls many of us could make!  

White Eyeliner - Many of my fellow makeup lovers probably know that white eyeliner can be extremely useful!  I use it almost daily to brighten my inner corner or rim my waterline.  However, in 8th grade, I hadn't learned those nifty lil' tricks yet.  I just used it as normal top-of-the-lash-line eyeliner.  As you can imagine, it looked a bit...odd.  

Not-Exactly-A-Wing-Eyeliner - Yes, yes, another eyeliner mistake.  Years before I comprehended what winged eyeliner was, I was apparently attempting to do it.  Kind of.  All I would do is take a black eyeliner and draw it out past the end of my lash line--just straight out--there was no triangle/wing shape, it was literally just a singular line.  In 10th grade, a boy said to me "Why do you draw those lines on your face?"  I think that was the last day I ever did that.

Black Eyeshadow Blobs - In high school, I remember thinking if I added a bit of black to any makeup look it would make it more dramatic.  I'd do a lighter color on my lid, then just pop some black in the outer corner with my finger.  Looking back, this would have been fine if I'd just blended out the black into a gradient instead of a blob.  But who knew eye makeup brushes existed?!?!  Not this girl!

There, I've told you some of my embarrassing stories...anyone else willing to spill?

SHE SAID - Parts of the Eye

This title is really boring...but it's exactly what this video is about - parts of the eye in relation to makeup terminology.  Many of you will already know these terms, but hey, it's my first video, so watch it anyways just for kicks! :)