Countdown to Gorgeous Day 24: Thankful and Christmas Eve FOTD

Hard to believe that Christmas is finally here. In some ways it seems like it will never come when I'm in the midst of work projects/end of semester hoopla, and in others it is here and gone in a flash. The last day of the Countdown to Gorgeous advent calendar by bareMinerals wants me to "Be Good", so I'll give it a shot.

Day 24 brings a rosy brown loose powder eye shadow with a satin finish called Thankful. All of the shadows from this series haven been easy to work with (beyond the messiness of being loose powders), and it reminds me how much I used to love and use loose shadows from bareMinerals in the past. Yes, I managed to spill a fair amount of Thankful into the wicker of my makeup table, but it's nothing that a vacuum cleaner can't handle :-)

Here I'm wearing Thankful up to the crease, with matte shadows Fringe and Silk from the MetalMatte Kat Von D palette as transition shades. I also tried out the Mr. Bing eyeliner from the Kathleen Lights + ColourPop collection for the first time. Still forming impressions on it, but it does work nicely to softly deepen my lash line and meld with Thankful.

On my lips I went with a soft nude look featuring Nude Pop Lip Oil Balm and the Marvelous Moxie gloss in Daredevil.

The dogs and I enjoyed our Christmas eve at my mom's, and today is Christmas dinner. For the last few years we've gone with nontraditional Christmas meals, and this year will be barbeque ribs with all the fixin's. Yum.

The dogs definitely enjoyed Christmas eve, and Lulu has turned into the best present opener of the bunch. However, she tends to want to open everyone's presents.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Countdown to Gorgeous Days 22 and 23: Lola, the Girl Next Door FOTD

Days 22 (Be Nice) and 23 (Be Family) of the Countdown to Marvelous advent calendar from bareMinerals bring the Marvelous Moxie lip gloss in Girl Next Door and the blush Lola. When I opened Lola I thought "is this a blush or an eyeshadow?"

Well, I imagine you could use it for either, depending on your skin color. Since I'm fair and thought it wouldn't look right on me as a blush, I used it as an eyeshadow. It's quite pretty!

Girl Next Door is a sheer peach with fine gold shimmer. It reminded me of an earlier gloss from the calendar called Crowd Pleaser, so I pulled it to compare.

Crowd Pleaser is definitely more pink, so they are not as similar as I thought.

For this FOTD, I'm wearing Lola up to the crease, with the matte shadows Peachy Keen from Le Metier de Beaute and Fringe from the MetalMatte Kat von D palette as transition shades.

Blush and highlighter are from Makeup Revolution's Golden Sugar 2 Rose Gold palette. The individual pans don't have names, but here is a picture of the vanilla gold highlighter and mauve bronze blush. This is a really nice palette, I need to get around to posting a full review soon.

This blush makes me look tanned, and while I am using the Clarin's Radiance Plus self-tanner on my face and neck, the blush definitely adds that 'day in the sun' vibe. Which considering today is partly sunny and 75 degrees, I could actually have.

I spend Christmas Eve at my mom's house, where the dogs will be wearing their jingle bell collars and opening presents. As soon as I get those collars out they know it's a special day, and I hope yours will be as well :-)

Countdown to Gorgeous Day 21: Be Naughty with Daredevil

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

Day 21 of the Countdown to Gorgeous advent calendar by bareMinerals is telling me to be naughty with Daredevil, a Marvelous Moxie sheer plum shimmer lip gloss.

I've enjoyed trying all of the Marvelous Moxie glosses, as these remind me of my favorite Buxom glosses. They have a similar cooling sensation on the lips and I find the formula to be comfortable and hydrating. These are more sticky than the Buxom glosses, but they also last a good 3-4 hours sans eating, which is pretty impressive.

I'm more of a gloss than lipstick girl so the sheerness of the colors is something I can live with. Plus, I can always use them as a lipstick topper for an added bit of shine and shimmer.

If the forecast is right, we are in for a warm Christmas eve day at 75 degrees. Not complaining, but a bit more balmy than I would like for this time of year. OTOH, it does make taking the dogs for a walk quite pleasant:-)

Countdown to Gorgeous Day 20: Be Sweet and FOTD

Day 20 of the Countdown to Gorgeous advent calendar by bareMinerals brings Vanilla Sugar, a peachy beige shimmer eye shadow. Another well thought out selection considering the "Be Sweet" moniker.

Vanilla Sugar applied nicely and gives a low level shimmer that brightens the eye without looking frosty. Quite work/everyday appropriate.

I paired Vanilla Sugar with the bright green liner Graffiti by Urban Decay. In my crease I used the burnt orange Cleopatra from the Kat von D Ladybird palette.

On my lips I paired a very light coating of the metallic pumpkin lipstick Masquerade and the Marvelous Moxie gloss in Crowd Pleaser. On my nails is Sagrenna the Teenage Witch by Wet 'n Wild, which is a lovely Christmas green. I needed 3 coats to get opaque color, but it is going strong after 4 days of wear.

I'm looking forward to a low key day of wrapping presents and finishing part 1 of season 4 of the Vikings. So, I'll leave you with the haunting lyrics from the opening song of the Vikings, which I've been singing for the past few days. It's a nice counterbalance to all the Christmas carols :-)

If I Had a Heart by Karin Dreijer Andersson

This will never end
Cause I want more
More, give me more
Give me more

This will never end
Cause I want more
More, give me more
Give me more

If I had a heart I could love you
If I had a voice I would sing
After the night when I wake up
I'll see what tomorrow brings

If I had a voice, I would sing

Dangling feet from window frame
Will I ever ever reach the floor?
More, give me more, give me more

Crushed and filled with all I found
Underneath and inside
Just to come around
More, give me more, give me more

If I had a voice, I would sing

Countdown to Gorgeous Days 18 and 19: Be Natural and Colorful

Disclaimer: I purchased these.

Is it possible to be both natural and colorful when it comes to makeup? I'm not so sure, but I'll roll with it for now.  Day 18 of the Countdown to Gorgeous advent calendar by bareMinerals brings another Marvelous Moxie lip gloss, this time in the sweet pink shimmer Smooth Talker.

Smooth Talker has a fine gold shimmer in the mix, which makes it slightly warmer in tone and something I will happily wear.

Day 19 brings the Plumberry Pop of Passion Lip Oil Balm, which is indeed quite colorful. Plumberry is the most vibrant of the Pop of Passion balms I've received thus far, but still within my comfort zone.

The oil rich formula of these make them especially nice now that the weather has turned colder and my already dry lips need even more moisture.

Hmm, I need to layer Smooth Talker over Plumberry and see what that looks like. Maybe tomorrow, which will be the beginning of my Christmas break!

I have an exciting trip to the pet store planned to wash my Westie Lulu in their DIY Pet Washing station. It's only $5 on Wet Dog Wednesday (usually $10), which is a steal considering they provide shampoo, towels, and everything else you could need to bath and groom your dog. I think Lulu actually likes it, and I love it :-)

Countdown to Gorgeous Day 17: Be Calm and Ethereal FOTD

Day 17 of the Countdown to Gorgeous advent calendar brought a timely message and another loose pigment eyeshadow: be calm and Ethereal. This time of year can be chaotic, especially the closer it gets to Christmas. Anything that helps to promote a calm and in the moment frame of mind is always welcome! I find aromatherapy/scent helps me feel centered and calm, and have been diffusing rosemary and clove essential oils in my bedroom at night.

Ethereal is a soft peachy pink shimmer that could also work as a face highlighter, IMO. This is definitely a color I gravitate towards as an easy eye shadow base color, as it pairs well with browns, greens, plums, or navy.

Here I've paired it with plum, specifically Urban Decay's vintage 24/7 eyeliner in Crash and the matte burgandy Fur Elise and taupe Reinholder from Kat Von D's Ladybird True Romance palette.

I also used Ethereal to highlight my cheeks, cupid's bow, and nose, although the photos don't really pick up much shimmer. It was a warm (79 degrees) and soupy day in Mobile when I took the pictures, so lighting was a bit lacking.

I topped the Rose Passion lip oil tint with Ethereal, which gave it a diffused glow. Pretty.