Gift Guide: Charitable Donations

This holiday season, some of you may have the desire to extend your giving past your circle of friends and relatives. With that in mind, I thought it pertinent to remind my readers that there are many reputable charities you could donate to this holiday season. And remember, if there's someone in your life who isn't into gift-getting, making a donation in their name is always a nice option.

Whether you choose to give to a humanitarian organization, animal welfare group, medical research institute, or any other non-profit, it's important to do your research and make sure that your dollars will provide the greatest possible benefit. It can be overwhelming, as many organizations have overlapping goals, so start with a cause near and dear to your heart, perhaps. In addition to national organizations, I'm sure many local charities in your area do beneficial work for the community, so check into that, too! If monetary donations aren't your thing, perhaps look into donating some clothes or food.

Many donations to charitable organizations are tax-deductible, so don't forget to keep track of your giving this holiday season. If you'd like to get started on your research, here are a few links to the websites of non-profits accepting donations:

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Freedom from Hunger

Goodwill

Human Rights Watch

National Council on Aging

Reading is Fundamental

Save the Children.

The Y (formerly YMCA)

I hope you're all enjoying this holiday season. There are plenty of ways to make sure everyone else enjoys it, too!

Gift Guide: Beauty Stocking Stuffers

Hey everyone! After taking a week off from my iPad, my migraines have definitely gotten less severe, so I'm feeling much better today than the last time I wrote. I also turned 26 on the 2nd! I am not at all sure where the last three years of my life went, but I finally cleaned my room yesterday, so I've accomplished something.  ANYWAY, this week, I thought I would take a break from my normally scheduled NOTHINGbecauseI'mtheworstbloggerever and bring you some gift guides! These are all gonna be pretty reasonably priced, since I'm barely an adult with money and most of the gift guides in the magazines are geared toward functional adults with high credit limits.  Onward and upward!

Bioré Self-Heating One Minute Mask $6.99 at drugstores Who doesn't like a little pamper at the holidays? If you're anything like me, you've been hitting the makeup game pretty hard for the holiday season, so getting a little extra cleaning in can't hurt!

Color Me Essie Mini Polish Set Walgreens I'm sorry I don't remember how much this costs, and it doesn't appear to be for sale online anywhere, but I remember it seeming really reasonable for such lovely colors from the range. It's got four classic Essie colors, plus a glitter topper from their Luxe Effects collection.

Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balm $9.49 at drugstores A quick pop of color for the lips that feels absolutely lovely while you're wearing it, plus it's that fun twist-up crayon thing that pretty much every brand is doing these days. I think it'd look nice and cheery peeking up over the top of a stocking.

Sephora Sheet Masks $6 at Sephora I haven't tried these, but they just look like fun! Again, a pamper is always necessary around the holidays, and during the winter in general, and these single use sheet masks make it awfully easy. I almost bought one not too long ago, but I had just had an MRI that left me feeling claustrophobic and the thought of putting something over my face made me feel a bit panicky :/

L'Oreal Paris Infallible Silkissime Eyeliner $8.99 at drugstores Smooth application plus a wide range of colors make these eyeliners perfect for some makeup fun this winter. Check out the full range in drugstores and pick one for a friend that you think will compliment her eye color perfectly.

L'Oreal Miss Manga Voluminous Mascara $7.99 at drugstores This has been my favorite mascara release of the year for the long, fanned out lash look it gives. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of a dramatic eye!

Real Techniques Duo Fiber Collection $19.99 at Ulta and Kohl's Real Techniques brushes have been an excellent addition to my makeup tool collection. Created by Sam and Nic Chapman of Pixiwoo on YouTube, they're so reasonably priced, they wash beautifully, and they're all synthetic for those who prefer to avoid animal hair brushes. This collection features duo fibers, so they're great for the friend who's just getting into makeup application or suffers from a bit of a heavy hand with the blush.


I hope this gives you all a few ideas for your holiday shopping. The drugstore is a great place in general for little gifts all year round, and most brands have stepped up the quality of their offerings a lot in the last two years. Happy holidays!

Just Another Mani Monday #4

Hey, hey, hey, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty medium myself. Been having some mighty awful migraines lately, which sure doesn't make me feel like staring at a computer screen to write posts. You know, though, that I've always got my nails all lacquered up. Look good, feel good, right?

I'm trying, anyway.

Julep Winnie came in the Fa La La Trio from Julep for Holiday 2015. Since I love the shit out of Christmas and shiny things, this set begged me to get it. Seriously, it would have been wrong to leave it. So I got it. Winnie is described on the site as a "rose gold metallic" and I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Application was totally cool, good opacity in two coats. The only reason my pointer finger looks janky is because It's gonna be great as an accessory for the holiday season, and even better than a piece of jewelry since it's much harder to lose your nails than you bling when you've had a bit too much champagne (not impossible, though, I would say). On that note, enjoy your Monday.

Just Another Mani Monday #3

Please excuse the terrible, terrible quality of this photo, but sometimes ye olde iPhone 4s just really hates the shit out of me. How long until my next upgrade? Sigh. Someday I'll be able to invest in a real camera.

Revlon Nail Enamel in Confident (Limited Edition for Fall/Winter 2014) It took so long for this to show up in the stores near me that I totally forgot about this collection, no joke. It's the Boho Chic Collection by Gucci Westman for Revlon. Whenever I hear the name Gucci, naturally I first think of Gucci Mane, but they are obviously very different people. But back to the matter at hand, I decided to go with this instead of the LE purple shade because I'm gearing up to go as Morticia for Halloween. I know now that this was a mistake and I should have just gotten both #REGRET. Anyway, this picture doesn't do justice to HOW AWESOME THIS COLOR IS. It's a red jelly base with red hex glitter in the exact same shade and it makes your nails look like the ruby slippers and I am in love. I'm gonna wear the shit out of this for Christmas, you better believe it.

Gonna have to go back for that purple, though.

MAC Pro Palette for Blush and Eyeshadow

This Christmas, one of my beloved cousins gifted me something that approximately blew my mind: a MAC Pro Palette with fifteen eyeshadows and six blushes, as well as three new brushes, including the fabled 217, after which I have lusted incessantly for the past three years.  Since we're into April now, I can share with you my favorites from my new collection (sorry if I faint from giddiness).

This is the real life awesomeness...

...and these are some handy charts I made on MAC's website so I don't have to keep pulling the pans out to remind me what's what.

You'll notice there's a blank space in each one, which is because the colors available online don't always match up with what's in stock at the store. Still, this is handy enough. The missing eyeshadow is Brown Down, and the missing blush is Pinch O'Peach. I did each chart based on how they're arranged with the hinge facing up, FYI.

As you can see, the colors look TOTALLY different in real life than they do online.  That's about as strong a recommendation I can give for doing first time makeup shopping in person.  No way would you think Expensive Pink looks anything like it actually does based on the website color, and the blushes?  Fuhggedahboutit.

I'm sure you can tell that some shades are more loved than others, though they are all beautiful and have pretty uniformly great texture and payoff.  My only disappointment would be Blackberry, which seems like it would have some nice purple/red tones to it, but mostly reads brown on me.  If I had to pick three faves, Twinks, Amber Lights, and Contrast beat the others by a nose.  Twinks is a maroon shimmer that's been serving me well as a crease color, as its warmth and subtle shimmer go beautifully with a wide range of colors.  Amber Lights is a bronze-gold shimmer that really packs a punch as an all over lid color for a night out, and provides a nice accent on the lower lid when you want to keep it more toned down.  Contrast is a satin navy that reads a little purple in the pan, but goes on straight up traditional pea-coat on the eyes; its awesome depth goes great in the crease and it also makes a fab eyeliner when applied wet for something just a little different than traditional black or brown.

Where the blushes are concerned, the variety of finishes MAC offers in their powder blushes gives a crazy number of options in application.  Hands down Blush All Day gallops past the finish line as my go to in this palette.  It's a dusty rose that leans quite a bit browner than I'm used to, but I love that it gets me out of my comfort zone.  I reach for it most often when I'm having a natural makeup day, as it suits my skin tone in a way that just makes me look healthy. (Side note: Temptalia hated this, which just goes to show that sometimes you won't know if you like something until you try it for yourself.)

Now for the brushes!  In addition to the overwhelming color boost my collection received, I added three more brushes: 129 Powder/Blush Brush, 217 Blending Brush, and 219 Pencil Brush.  Though the 129 does a fairly good job picking up color and has a great shape for easy blush application, I find the texture of it really rough.  It feels like it's scratching my face every time I use it, in addition to which it seems to have some difficulty maintaining it's shape after a wash.  The 217, on the other hand, is everything I've ever dreamed of and more. It's the perfect shape for blending out your crease, but I most like it for softening out the edges of your shadow so that nary a harsh line mars your look.  Add in absurd softness and it's basically the perfect eye brush.  Last but not least, the 219 makes packing a dark color into the corner easier than a hooker at Mardi Gras; it's also great for a quick smudge of color beneath the lower outer lashline when you've got to do your nighttime makeup in a hurry.  I actually have a Special Edition travel size of this brush that I got in a set an alarmingly long time ago, but I find the longer handle makes it mush simpler to use, so I'm sold on the full-size.

Phew!  That about wraps it up, I hope you enjoyed this peek into my newly enlarged color collection.  If you have questions about any of the other shades, please leave a comment on the post and I'll be happy to give you an answer.

Happy Monday!