Hocus Pocus! Sunday was the annual Hocus Pocus party! Second movie this year was Cabin In The Woods. Unfortunately, Jason got last-minute slammed with work, so he missed the party entirely. Down one host, I feel like I didn't really get the chance to enjoy my guests' company. And then there's the fact that I've been eating sweets and baked goods sparingly-- I tried a little bit of everything, and while everything was damn tasty, this did not play well with my stomach. By the end of the party, I was quite ill. I am still not feeling very well, and am partaking of the flannel pjs and the tea. Which isn't at all to say the party was not a success-- we had twice the amount of guests that we've ever had previously. So that's good! But next year, I'm going to rearrange things for better seating and also not sabotage my intestinal tract. I want to do another post with all of our Halloween decorations (we take Halloween seriously in my house!), but until then, this is my annual batch of Halloween cupcakes. I dyed the cake purple, and made frosting in blue, green, and purple!



Blogging Elsewhere: I have been reasonably keeping up my makeup blog. I still have 2 more recaps to do on The Quest. They started doubling up on episodes halfway through, and I didn't have the chance to keep up with my busy season started. I mostly blow off steam on Tumblr.

Labradorite! I photographed all of my available labradorite (and a piece of moonstone). These are available for commissions, otherwise they will be turned into things for the Winter update.



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I spent my weekend figuring out how Wordpress works. I migrated the Sihaya Designs work blog over there:

http://sihayadesigns.wordpress.com/

I also set up a makeup blog:

http://enchantedmirrorbeauty.wordpress.com/

The first week or so will be repeats for people who follow my blog here, but overall, I think it will be a better platform for those types of posts than LJ. You can keep up with it through FB, Twitter, or RSS if you don't want to visit it directly. I will probably link to posts there over here, but considering I have a posting queue set up there, there will be a delay.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to curl up with hot tea and ibuprofen.

(Plus some bonus YSL and my Feb 2013 Popsugar box! Warning! This post is very picture heavy.)

Today, I have some drugstore lovelies to share with you. Some I've had for awhile (the balm stains and lip butters), and some are newer.

When talking about makeup, I generally think that there are items where you should ONLY go high-end (eyeshadow!), and then items where there's not much difference between the high-end brands and their drugstore brethren. Mascara usually falls into this category (Maybelline makes some of the best mascara on the market, perfectly comparable to Diorshow, imo).

If you'd have asked me a few months ago, I would have scoffed at the idea that there'd be a cream eyeshadow that would hold up to high-end versions. MAC's Paint Pots have been generally well-regarded since their release, and Benefit's have also gotten high marks. Then came Maybelline. They accomplished two pretty remarkable feats with their release of their 24 Hour Tattoo by Eyestudio cream eyeshadow line: one, this stuff is actually pretty damn fantastic for $6, and two, the color range has some colors that you usually only see in some of the riskier high-end lines, like MUFE, Illamasqua, or Urban Decay. Like, there's a FUCHSIA. Fuchsia. Anyhow, when I saw these on 1/2 price sale at Rite Aid, I pounced.


Clockwise from top:
Audacious Asphalt, Inked In Pink, Tenacious Teal, Tough as Taupe, Fuchsia Fever.

( Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eyeshadows.Collapse )

( Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters and Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains.Collapse )

( L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Stains vs. Yves Saint Laurent Glossy Stains.Collapse )

( Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express Mascara.Collapse )

( Yes To... Facial Wipes.Collapse )

I also got my Popsugar Box for 2013 yesterday. As ever, here is my referral code, and get $5 off your first box with the REFERFRIENDS coupon code.

( Popsugar Must Have Box, February 2013Collapse )

Before I go, a few final random shots!

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I didn't meant to spend $125 at Ikea. Looking back on it, it was bound to happen. I was starting to have too much stuff in my studio, and not enough ways to organize it, so piles were forming. I ended up getting a white box shelf and lots of small organizers to fill it. Now my art supplies are neatly stacked on their shelves, and my makeup collection/nail polishes are sorted in their organizers in the box shelf, with two bamboo bins that hold scarves and hairbands and dance odds and ends. The printer has a place to be other than the dining room table. SO much cleaner. Happy Virgo is Happy.

Saturday morning, I was supposed to deliver a wholesale order to a boutique who'd requested one, but when we got there, the shop was closed due to flu. Poop. Turned lemons in to lemonade and struck out to scout out other boutiques to carry my work. I found two potentially interested in Ellicott City. I have two weeks to throw together sample kits that work for their aesthetic.

Missed out on Kallisti dancing at Moonlight Tribal, and was sad about that.

Today, I have resin projects to finish for custom orders. Having a hard time getting warm, though, so I might treat myself to a hot bath tonight.

So I have decided that I *am* going to start a beauty blog. I'm going to transfer a couple of more recent makeup posts from here over to there, and I have a post of drugstore beauty favorites post ready to go when I do. The only thing that's holding me up is the name. I want something that evokes illumination, or glitter, or glow, or iridescence. So far, I've had little luck coming up with something I'm satisfied with. Ironically "Addicted To Glitter" is already taken by someone named Christina, and there's a beauty blog that uses Sihaya, as well. I keep waiting for inspiration to hit, but so far no dice.

I am also growing far past impatient for Sephora to offer a 500 pt reward item that is actually interesting. Right now, all they have is a Josie Maran argan oil kit, and I AM GETTING SO TIRED OF THE OIL TREND. Like, I get it. Useful product. But one can only try so many hair oils. There has been no new 500 point reward for about three weeks now, and I am one of those people who will hold off on a purchase until I can get the most bang for my buck. And right now, I am eyeing one of the Urban Decay build your own palette kits. As much as I love my Stila In The Light Kit, I am out of the color I use most (a matte ivory), almost out of my preferred crease shade (matte fawn brown), and running low on the other two neutrals I use a lot-- but half the palette remains mostly untouched. I thought about Urban Decay's Naked palette, but it has no matte ivory, and their Naked Basics, but three of the six shades look damn near identical. So I think I'm going to build my own. At the very least, if I run out of something, I can just replace that shade rather than buying a whole new palette.

For Palette 1, I am thinking basic neutrals. The stuff I use every day. The palette I want already comes with an ivory matte, so I was thinking of adding Buck (a warm matte medium brown), Blunt (light metallic gold, my go-to shade for my lids), Half Baked (golden bronze), Twice Baked (a dark brown with gold highlight), and Snatch (light golden peach). There are a ton of other colors I love in the more theatrical range, but the need to have them isn't as burning as it is a good compact neutrals kit.

But that's like, $60 more than just getting the Naked palette and a plain matte neutral ivory, so I don't know. INDECISION.

Aaaaaanywho. Got stuff to do. Back to it!

Since I've been huddled in my studio working nonstop this month, you are basically getting three weeks' worth of posting all at once. Makeup reviews, PopSugar reviews, stuff stuff stuff. Warning: image heavy!

Woe, USPS: Yesterday was my first full day off in a long, long while. Well, mostly-off. I spent about a 1/2 hr adjusting shipping profiles on my store, as Monday USPS prices go up. It's not that big a deal for US residents, but it is fairly dramatic for international customers. Prices are pretty much doubling there. I am a bit nervous about how this is going to affect my business, and basically I'll be eating costs on international orders (custom and club) that have already been paid where shipment is ongoing. Lovely.

However, I am now using Etsy & Stamps.com for shipping instead of going to the PO with everything. This means that the savings I am getting for free delivery confirmation alone should offset the cost of printing labels and then some. Yay for efficiency-- I'm saving a lot of time this way, and time is money when you own your own business.

Woe, my own stupidity: I forgot my phone was in my back pocket. My phone is now in a bowl of rice. I may not have a phone for the next few days. Crossing my fingers.

Reading: I haven't had solid chunks of time for reading, which is what I prefer when reading long-form narrative fiction, so I've been reading Michael Farquhar's A Treasury of Royal Scandals, which is largely entertaining and very good for the 30 mins or so I can muster before I pass out at night. It does, however, cause me to ardently wish that there is a special hell in which several Roman emperors are burning eternally. I had to skip a few pages here and there because oh hell no. I have tonight basically free, so I will be cuddling up to finish The Night Circus, which so far is entrancing when I can find the time for it.

PopSugar: My January box came! ( Cut for spoilers.Collapse )

So overall-- for the theme, it's a good box. Even if it's not my favorite theme, I will get plenty of use out of it, especially the big ticket item. If you're interested in joining up, here is my referral code!

Makeupland: Now that I have had some time to play with stuff I got in the latter part of last year, I wanted to show some photos and do some reviews. Plus, my nail polish collection continues to grow. ( Lots of sparkle.Collapse )

Hair: My hair indeed lightened up after the last round of washes. It's now fuchsia on top, medium purple underneath. Here's a shot plus a rainbow clip-in I bought from IKickShins on Etsy.






I AM RAINBOW BRITE, Y'ALL.

Okay, technically, I'm like a Stormy/Starlite mashup, but most of you wouldn't get that reference.

In less-fun news? I didn't blow dry my hair for like a week while I was working on the latest update, and that combined with SERIOUSLY DRY CONDITIONS in my house = the first bout of dandruff I've had since adolescence. I did a coconut oil masque because dandruff shampoos SERIOUSLY strip color, and it's a little better, but I looked like a serious grease ball afterwards. Next up is gonna be apple cider vinegar + rosemary EO. And we got a humidifier. Ugggh, I am ready for my scalp to stop freaking out.

Retail Therapy, Non-Makeup Variety: ( Under the cut.Collapse )

Other things: Really, there's not a lot else to report. Husband is good, preparing for a ski trip. He bought me an orchid. It's lovely. The weather is bitterly cold, and the 1" of snow on the ground hasn't melted in two days. Cats are mostly fine, except Olive has had an all-caps ATTITUDE lately. She cannot abide Nox or Mim getting any attention. Period. We are trying to break her of that, but she is being difficult.

So. Yep. That's about the it, minus my political rantings, which are mostly on Facebook. Enjoy How to deal with a mansplainer, starring Hillary Clinton in gifs, if you haven't seen it already. How Faux News ANYONE could have watched that hearing and decided that she didn't stand her ground and then some is totally beyond me. Rand Paul is a fucking disgrace, and I'm surprised he can tie his shoes, let alone sit in Congress. I'm not saying that there shouldn't have been an official inquiry about Benghazi. There absolutely should have been. What I'm saying is that nobody talks about the other consulate attacks pre-Obama, where far more Americans have died and been injured than the Benghazi attack. What should have been a routine and necessary investigation into Benghazi has been turned into a three-ring circus of conspiracy theories and condescension by the Tea Party and their bankrollers at Fox. It's political opportunism on display. These are, of course, the same people who say the left politicizes tragedy after mass shootings. Hypocrites, the lot of them.

If you made it this far, congrats. Gold star. Here are some pretty pictures to finish this massive post off!

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Ciao, y'all. Off to read.

Just a bit.
( There is a serious crap-ton of nail polish under this cut.Collapse )

And there you have it: my monster nail polish collection. However! I can honestly say I have worn EACH of these polishes in some way (alone or layered) in the last year. I work with metal and have to change my polish on average every three days.

Favorite Brands: Essie's cremes. Zoya's shimmers. Nicole by OPI for glitter.

Overrated Brands: I can't say overrated per se, but I find that Butter London's polishes chip quickly on me. I know that's not a common sentiment. But they are very expensive, so I only purchase them when there's truly unique color I want to try.

Favorite Polishes: Ozotic 505, Essie A-List, Essie Eternal Optimist, Essie Go Overboard, Zoya Adina, Zoya Faye, Nicole by OPI Nicole's Nickel

Polishes On My Wishlist: ( Wishlist.Collapse )

Aaaaaah, finally a weekend where I could come out of the studio and take a breather! An eventful weekend, still.

Husband & Date Weekend

Jason has been doing well, aside from fending off a cold that I am trying valiantly to not also acquire. After a month of nonstop work (and not much quality time), date night and spending the weekend together has made me very happy. Friday night, we went to Midnight Madness in Ellicott City. It lived up to its name. It was total craziness. Took us 45 minutes just to park, and every shop we browsed was packed elbow to elbow. It was our first year-- next year maybe we'll make a point to get there quite early, take advantage of the free wine and cocktails, and generally be less overwhelmed by OMG ALL THE STUFF.

Saturday, we went to the Pennsylvania Dutch Amish market in Hunt Valley for brunch, and shopped about for tasty cheese (smoked horseradish) and tasty jam (strawberry rhubarb) and basically tasty everything. From there, we went to Valley View Farms, which again was packed elbow-to-elbow, but we made it out with an armload of little wicker bird ornaments for our tree. We had family time with Jason's people, and came home exhausted.

Today, we returned to Ellicott City so I could buy the cool poncho-sweater from Vintage Bliss Boutique that I'd seen during the Madness, but the line at the register had been far too ridiculous to contemplate purchasing anything. It's basically like a hug in sweater form, and I adore it. Anyway--really adorable little store, one of my new favorites. The whole place is basically Christina-bait. Glittery, glittery, Christina-bait.

From there, after a quick trip to Bean Hollow for coffee and sandwiches, we had to make a pit stop at Home Depot for supplies to finish our holiday decorating. Afterwards, we met up with my brother Daniel to see Lincoln. Verdict: fine acting and a slightly overlong but effective screenplay, but omg, how was there a 2 1/2 hour movie about the passage of the 13th Amendment without ever once mentioning Frederick Douglass? How and/or why was that a thing that happened?

Tree goes up tomorrow. In related news, we have decided not to go anywhere Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day. Ever since I was a little girl, I have found Christmas day to be very stressful. I have never in my life had one single Christmas where I was not a) shuttled from place to place while my parents either bickered over whose turn it was to have me, or b) had to hustle about to try to fit both families in as an adult, PLUS an addition of Jason's family. So this year, after a particularly stressful and un-restful December, we are going to have a Christmas for two. (Well, five if you count the cats.) We are going to sleep in, we are going to cuddle on the couch, we are going to make hot chocolate, we are going to cook a spectacular meal together, and we're going to do a movie marathon. But absolutely under no circumstances other than medical emergencies will we be leaving our cozy little nest. I am feeling very good about this decision.

( CatsCollapse )

( WorkCollapse )

( Retail Therapy and Other FripperiesCollapse )

Okay. Bedtime. Very sleepy!

So, like rat bastards, Sephora decided not to have an open Friends and Family sale this year. For non beauty-junkies, every year prior, they'd had a 20% off coupon available to pretty much everyone on their mailing list. People save and wait for this sale every year. Well, this year it was for employees and VIBs (shorthand for 'people who spend more than me at Sephora') only. Now, I qualify as a "Beauty Insider," and they've said not a word about whether or not we'd get any sales this year.

There was outrage. Much outrage. People are pissed.

FORTUNATELY, they gave each VIB a 20% coupon to share with a friend. And marinatempest? She is something of a Sephora addict, and also a kind soul.

I had a very short shopping list. One was for a new foundation. I've used Makeup For Ever's HD one and liked it before in winter (as I wear full-coverage in winter and either light or medium coverage in the summer). However, when I saw this review for Kat Von D's new Lock-It Tattoo foundation, I knew I wanted to try it. It's not that I have heavy blemishes or anything. It's that my skin gets super oily in the winter (it apparently thinks we live south of the equator), and this pink hair pulls out every single red/pink tone in my skin. As I do have pigmentation issues around my nose, unless I have full coverage there, I tend to look like I've been sniffling and sneezing. So I went ahead and ordered shade #48, and I'm praying it was the right one.

#2 on my shopping list was sadly sold out. I wanted the Lorac Pro Palette for its fabulous mix of mattes and shimmers, and for its neutrals and stage colors. SAD TROMBONE. Now, I am picky picky picky about my palettes. I'm pale, and I don't like to wear a lot of dark eyeshadow. I know that in any given palette, I'm really going to only be able to wear about half of the colors. As much as I ADORE Stila's In The Light Palette, I only use 5 of the ten shades regularly.

I thought about Urban Decay's Naked I, but honestly, I would only use half those shades, and it's missing a truly matte light color. Part of the appeal of the Lorac palette was the matte white and cream... you don't use matte white a lot in regular makeup, but it comes in very handy for photoshoot and stage makeup. The closest I could find to the two specific shades I was looking for was the NARS Portobello duo, but crapballs! $34 for TWO EYESHADOWS. DAMN.

#3 on my list was a little splurge. MakeUp Forever Holodiam Powder in Plum. Why did I splurge? Because it's really a multi-tasking product. Primarily, it's a glittery eyeshadow that will rock on stage. But beyond that? It's a powder. Which means you can use it to make highlighting lotion, nail polish (mix some in with some top-coat), and I have even used pigment powders in jewelry applications before.

Also? ( Lookit. JUST LOOKIT.Collapse )

So... foundation and super sparkly stuffs. 20% off. Like rat bastards, though, I couldn't use both the coupon AND my coupon code for a deluxe samples kit. HUMBUG. On a positive note, I *FINALLY* reached 500 points on my account, after YEARS of points-hoarding, so now I get something potentially awesome for free just as soon as I see something I want (points rewards rotate).

I may get a few specific matte neutral shades from MakeupGeek, or I might give Inglot a try, or I may just wait until the Lorac Pro Palette comes back in stock. It really does look like the most bang for your buck.

Also? I now have a jar of MarketSpice tea as big as my head. Life is good.

While I am an avid follower of beauty blogs, I rarely make impulse purchases when it comes to makeup. Well, unless you count my compulsive lip balm habit, which means I own about 20 lip balms that include Burt's Bees, Firebird Bath & Body, House of Gloi, LongWinter Farm, and four Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters for when I want a little bit of tint.

I would say I own about 15 lipsticks. A couple of Revlons, a few NARS, and three or four MAC. The truth is, I don't actually wear lipstick very often. Maybe once or twice a month. I wear it if I'm onstage or for photos, but overall, I just find it too much of a fuss. If I'm out all day, eating, drinking, etc, I don't want to have to worry about if my lipstick is fading unevenly, or giving me a serious case of fruit punch mouth. (My favorite red, MAC's Dubonnet, is so, so guilty of this.) I also have a nervous habit of biting and rubbing my lips when I'm thinking, so basically what I'm saying is that I am practically lipstick-repellent. Tinted balm is safer, and I don't need a mirror to re-apply.

But lo. I have found a product that is a GAME CHANGER.


Behold! The Yves Saint Laurent Glossy Stain!

( More on the YSL Glossy Stains.Collapse )

The other thing I bought recently was Too Faced's Ultra Flush Blush in Cocoa Rose. I am also not a blush person, really. Before this purchase, I only owned two blushes-- both cream blushes in the coral family (Revolution Beauty Balm in Sunkissed and Stila Convertable Color in Gerbera). I don't really like to wear blush, because it tends to make my pale ass look clownish or feverish, especially pink blushes. I prefer cream formulas because they take ten seconds to swipe on and blend out with my fingers. Considering Cocoa Rose is both matte and powder, it is a real departure for me.

I don't really tend to be a matte person. Matte lipsticks emphasize dryness in my lips. I'm only NOW starting to get on board with matte eyeshadows, because my eyes are more opaque than they are translucent, and many matte shades just make me look sunken in. (I have found a few matte neutrals that work on me recently, however). And because most cream blushes have a dewy finish, I'd never bought a matte blush. That said? I really like Cocoa Rose, which I purchased at ULTA after a MUA used it on me. It's a nice subtle fall shade that gives me a very finished, sophisticated look. I am also still dithering about NARS's Sin, as I'm worried that purple undertone is just a titch too cool-toned for my skin.

Also: I know I have had issues with Aromaleigh in the past. The former owner was... extremely unprofessional. It went dark for about a year, and came back under new ownership. (The former owner is now solely behind the scenes, blending colors. This was always her strong suit.) I had the chance to try out some of the shades in the Earth Sea Sky collection, and they are gorgeous. I particularly like Spiritmist, Gildedoak, Holyground, and Fairfauna. Nice neutrals with unusual lustres, and some duochromes. Can't wait to try some of the others, and they are on sale. If you're looking for a cheap way to shake up your fall makeup routine, their samples are $1 a pop, and last for awhile.

And on a final note, omg, how beautiful do Butter London and Zoya's holiday collections look? Soooo pretty.

Today started out really slow. Woke up to a power outage. No electricity = can't pack orders, can't work on custom orders (as I keep all info in Google doc file). Couldn't even make coffee. Sat around idly twiddling my thumbs and trying to read, but I kept getting distracted and feeling guilty because I have so much to do, dammit. Relaxing, it's not my strong suit. At least not at home. When I'm on vacation, I am content to sleep in and laze about and read for hours and go out into the world and let my hair down. When I'm home, I always feel like there's something I ought to be doing.

But now that I've packaged 20 orders, most of which are from the Anniversary Sale, I am taking a bit of a breather. For me, a breather means trawling my suppliers for the best labradorite (labradorite purchased today: 11 pieces-- blue, rainbow, rose, purple), giving a tricky spot in a choreography edit a second look (verdict: still stuck), and posting to LJ about trivialities.

So. Trivialities. It's that time of year-- almost July means that my body is already daydreaming about Autumn. Happens every year, like clockwork. Though this has been a regular occurrence since my teens, it's been stronger in recent years-- now is about the time I start brainstorming my Fall & Halloween jewelry collections, so I already have warm tones on the brain.

I decided that this Autumn will be the Autumn in which I dress like Stevie Nicks. Long tiered skirts, velvet jackets. I had hoped to buy a few more wardrobe pieces last fall, but money was tight, so this time I'm planning ahead. Also stalking ebay. Another thing I want to add to my wardrobe? Granny boots. But not calf-high ones-- they always look funny on me. I'm looking for knee-high, and I can be very particular. These are pretty much perfect:




(Note: I am crying on the inside that the second pair are one size too small for me. If you're a size six, they're only $88. Attack!)

I am also contemplating the next hair color I want. It's been a light auburn-y copper since March, and somewhere in the red spectrum for longer than that. If I keep with the red, I think I'm going to switch to Adore brand. My friend Jane Wynn swears by them, and she always gets the most bright, vibrant orange-reds, so I trust her recommendation. But I am also really wanting to go back to pink-- well, not the hot pink I've done in the past, more of a deep, moody magenta. Like so:





I think my skin tone is neutral enough that I could pull it off, if I don't go too cool-toned. Also woe that my natural hair isn't dark, or there is no force on this earth that could keep me from doing this-- with my natural dirty blonde, it'd just be way too much fuss and hair damage-- plus brown looks weird on me.



Also, in the final trivial-but-sparkly note: I was in Ulta this past weekend and splurged on a Lorac Multiplex Lipgloss in 3D. It's a bronzey color with pink to gold duochrome shimmer. It is AMAZING. And I say this as someone who generally detests lip gloss. But once I'd swatched it, I had to have it. OMG. Plus apparently Vivid is a pink-to-green duochrome? Aaaagh, my wallet.

Ok, back to the grindstone.