SDCC 2015

A week ago, the world's largest comic convention took place. If you don't know what SDCC is - It is the San Diego Comic Convention (also known as SDCC or Comic Con) and it is held annually every summer in San Diego, CA. Originally, this started out as just a convention for nerds and comic lovers, but has since turned into an all out 4 day event for cosplayers, fans, producers, writers, artists, nerds, collectors, and just about any thing you can categorize into pop culture.

I have been to quite a few conventions, but this was my first time at SDCC and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. What I discovered was that it is a massive city-wide event! You literally can find something to do with the convention or comics or pop culture throughout all of SDCC. The entire city puts on costumes and decorates for it. I was just really happy to be able to see my favorite collectibles there- My Little Pony, Tokidoki, Funko, and Hello Kitty! I also had the opportunity of seeing a live panel with the living cast members of Babylon 5 (yeah, I never said I didn't have a nerdy side)! As for make-up and beauty, there was plenty of beauty, but not much for me to report on make-up. In some ways that is good. I think, we all know how make-up can be both positive and negative, especially for women. There were live models being used for prosthetics and costume make-up; these models were turned into monsters, which is really not my cup of tea, but can be an interesting process to see. I personally enjoyed seeing cosplayers with little or no make-up. It's a freeing feeling to be able to feel like you can go out in public and still feel beautiful or amazing without having to "put on your face". Don't get me wrong, I love make-up and wore it at the convention, but it's nice to see that many people do not feel it is necessary. I certainly do not wear make-up every day of my life. If you pay attention to comics, most Super Heroes and females included, do not wear make-up and so it's nice to see people staying true to the characters and even better that the public embraces these women to be natural! - Women in comics and female super heroes have always been a subject of controversy, because in the past they were usually created and drawn by men, thus giving them a more desirable appearance for men and not a true or accurate account of what a female is or would want to look like. While this is changing all the time with people campaigning for women's equality and more and more women are entering the field, it's still highly debated and at times frowned upon by women, feminists, and groups who support equality. This is a completely different topic and something I may touch on later, but I feel it's something that cannot be ignored, especially when the beauty community is attacked constantly.

On a more positive note- I'd like to share my make-up looks with you for the 2015 SDCC. Enjoy! All products used are listed below.

Day 1

• Foundation: Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Airbrush Foundation in "Light-Medium Neutral"
• Contour Shade: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer
• Blush: MAC Cosmetics Sunset Beach Blush Ombre (Proenza Schouler collection - limited edition)
• Lipstick: Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipstick in "Queen Supreme"
• Eyeliner: Buxom Lashliner in Leatherette
• Eyeshadow: It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Volume 1 Matte Luxe Transforming Eyeshadow Palette - all over Lid (Warmth), Crease & Outer V (Java), Shading & Crease (Sunset), Highlight & Inner Corner (Sheer Joy)
• Finishing Powder: bareMinerals - Mineral Veil in "Original"
• Eyebrows: Tarte Tarlette Palette in shades "Dreamer" & "Fashionista"
• Eyelashes: It Cosmetics Hello Lashes

Day 2

• Foundation: Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Airbrush Foundation in "Light-Medium Neutral"
• Contour Shade: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer
• Blush: MAC Cosmetics Ocean City Blush Ombre (Proenza Schouler collection - limited edition) & Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in "Natural Beauty"
• Lipstick: Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipstick in "714"
• Eyeliner: Buxom Lashliner in Leatherette
• Eyeshadow: all over Lid - Urban Decay Electric Palette in shade "Thrash", Outter V & Crease - MAC Cosmetics "Green Room" (Moody Blooms collection - limited edition), Crease & shade color - It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Volume 1 Matte Luxe Transforming Eyeshadow Palette in shade "Sunset"
• Finishing Powder: bareMinerals - Mineral Veil in "Original"
• Eyebrows: Tarte Tarlette Palette in shades "Dreamer" & "Fashionista"
• Eyelashes: It Cosmetics Hello Lashes

There's my SDCC looks. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below. I have at least 2 more conventions I'll be going to later this year and I'll be posting about them too! Hopefully, it will be posts of my cosplay that I am working on now!

Fashion Look: LC by Lauren Conrad Sweater

I'm sharing a *Fashion Look* today. I always say this is a fashion and beauty blog and in the 50+ posts I've created on this blog, I have yet to really show any fashion. This is something I recognize I need to work on and progress is going to start right now!

This is an Early Spring Look featuring a sweater by LC Lauren Conrad, which is sold exclusively at Kohl's. You cannot buy this sweater anymore, but it retailed for around $40 when I bought it. I believe it was originally $54, but Kohl's is a department store and you know they never sell their clothing at the full retail value that is marked on the tag. The sweater is a mint green cable knit that is very light and leans towards the grey side. It may vary color depending on your screen settings.

I have paired it a pair of ripped jeans by Bullhead, which is sold exclusively at Pac Sun. They were around $45. I feel the ripped jeans give this look a little edge.

As for LC Lauren Conrad- I find her line to be on the vintage side. If you're into the vintage, boho, or classic fashion scenes you'll like her line of clothing. I find her clothing to fit true-to-size in most cases with a few items running a little big. I have heard her dresses run a size small, but I have never bought any of the dresses from her line.

Here is a closer look at the sweater. You can see the see-through lace that is so delicate at the top. I love when you see 2 extremes paired together that set each other off just right. In this case, it's something elegant with something edgy.

Here is a a close-up of the make-up. The eyes and blush are from the New Year's Countdown palette from em Michelle Phan. The foundation is the Amazonian Clay Foundation by Tarte and the contouring is just simply the bronzer from a Few of My Favorite Things palette from Too Faced. The lips are Instigator from MAC.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome, 2014!

I know I'm a week late, but I've been on a mini vacation. I take time off every year for my birthday (which is January-2) and I make the week all about me, so that's where I have been. Also, the holidays were so much more hectic for me this year than ever before! I feel this extra chaos comes from me now living on the other side of the country, apart from my friends and family. I hope everyone out there had a great holiday and that includes the New Year! 

I'd like to share with you my New Year's look. Real quick on the dress- The dress is from Frederick's of Hollywood and I bought it at an actual store out here in California (not online) and I actually bought it in October specifically for New Year's. I believe this one was around $79. I tend to plan outfits far in advance for big occasions.

So, now onto my makeup! I realize my hair is a little frizzy, but it was the end of the night and my hair is naturally frizzy....... Anyway! My look was inspired by Holiday Glam and my dress! I like when make-up coordinates with my outfits and my man loves it.

The way the light reflected it looks like there is something on my eyelash, but I promise you there was nothing. It's not in the other photos either. But moving onto the products-

• I started out with Too Faced Shadow Insurance to prime my eyes.
• I used the silver color called "Ice Bunny" from the Ice Bunny palette from EM Michelle Phan all over the base of the lid for a good base color.
• Next I put "Shellshock" from the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette all over the lids.
• I used "Black Pumps" from the Ice Bunny palette to line the lids and softly define the crease.
• I then took my MAC Cosmetics liner in Smolder to line the bottom lash line.
• I used the "Ice Bunny" color again under my eyes and very sparingly for my highlight color.
• Lastly, I took NYX Loose Pearl Eyeshadow in "Shimmering Silver" all over the lids to give it that extra silver shine!
• On my lips I used "RiRi Woo" from the Rihanna Holiday Collection released by MAC.

For my face I used Tarte's Amazonian Clay Foundation and Too Faced bronzer & blush from their "A Few of my Favorite Things" palette.

That's my look! Hope you liked! Leave comments, questions, and links to your New Years look! 

Cleo Inspired Make-Up

I would like to share a make-up look I created myself to go with a shirt I recently bought. I found a very pretty shirt of Cleo, which is the fish from the Disney movie "Pinocchio", at Walmart. I think it's suppose to be a "designer line" from Disney, but let's face it! Nothing designer is being sold at Walmart. The shirt was around $9.99 and it is a child's shirt. I bought a Large and it seems to fit fine.

The look was created using shadows from Urban Decay and Sugarpill. The purple liner on the bottom is from Urban Decay, also. The black liner is from Buxom. The lipstick is from Maybelline's vivid collection and the foundation is Tarte.

Here is a close-up look of the make-up. Hope you enjoyed! And yes, winter has caused lots of leaves to fall around here.