Dana's Magic and Mayhem: December 2016

Friday, December 23, 2016

Happy Holidays!

I'm taking next week off (starting December 24th) to enjoy the holidays with my family, so I won't be on social media at all if I can help it. I'm going to glut myself on video games until my eyes cross, eat pasta and fish, and pretend work doesn't exist until Monday, January 2nd. That also means that my newsletter will be a bit late since I'll have company visiting from December 30th to the 2nd of January.

I want all of you to have a wonderful holiday, no matter which one you celebrate. I'll see you all next year.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Dana Prism Powers, MAAAAKE! UP!

Hah. If you got the title, I bow to you. You remember Bunny's favorite anime series, Sailor Moon! But I'm not talking about anime right now (though I could, oh, I could). Nope. I'm talking makeup.

Note: If you don't like makeup, check out Crunchyroll. If you don't like anime...um...Netflix and chill? But this post isn't for you.

It's December, the month where I tend to replace my 12 month expiration date makeups like eyeshadow, foundation and primers. (Although I just bought a new mascara, Nyx's Doll Eye, this week, and I'm wearing it today. So far...impressed!) So I'm surfing Sephora and Ulta and I'm overwhelmed by holiday stuff.

God, I need this stuff.

No, really. Now is a great time to buy makeup. With the holiday sales and promos, you can get good makeup that's relatively inexpensive (by Sephora standards, anyway). And Ulta carries both high-end and drugstore makeup, so it's full of win!

I'm still loving my Too Faced Melted liquid lipsticks, and my god the Too Faced chocolate bar palettes are my go-to palettes. I may not buy the Kat von D Shade and Light again, since I rarely use it, but her mini-palettes were really nice.

But this year, like a lot of people, I'm on a budget, so I'll be looking for good drugstore dupes for a lot of these. I'm watching makeup videos on YouTube to find what I want and where I can get it. So far my faves are Tati and Zabrena, because they both do high-end and drugstore makeup tutorials and reviews. And they both like to do dupe videos, which I'll probably be binge-watching before I buy.

Does anyone else have the Grav3yard Girl Tarte palette? Because, LOVE. As in, full on heart boner.

Too bad it's limited edition and won't be in stock ever again. I'll have to see if I can find a good drugstore dupe, but I doubt it. Gator Wings (the highlight) is just too awesome.

As for foundation, I need one that's more hydrating than my current one (the Kat von D Lock-It Primer and Foundation are what I use), so I'm looking at Tarte's Rainforest foundation. I like their stuff, so I'm hoping I'll like that.

Blushes I'm on the fence about. I haven't found one I love, since I like peachy shades rather than pink and they tend to be harder to find. NARS is supposed to be really good, but so is E.L.F., which is way less expensive (and I like the name).

As for skincare, there's only one holiday pack I want, and that's the boscia Mask It All. It has all of the masks I want for less than the price of one. And I checked: the black mask is the same amount of product as the stand-alone. So are the others. A great price for the set.

Are you looking to pick up any holiday makeup for yourself? If not, what are your go-to, gotta have items?

P.S.: Has anyone else played around with contouring? Because I've had mixed results.

Favorite Quotes

"I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability." Ron White

"So let me get this straight. You want me to kill the little guys, kill the big guys, crowd control those I can't, buff the team, debuff the boss, keep myself alive, AND keep you alive, all while waving a stick and dressed in a towel?" - Anonymous Role Playing Gamer

"I think that statue over there is a statement on modern life. The statement is, "Well, shit." - Varric, Dragon Age II

"Why is it all claws and guns? Can't we piss off a fuzzy planet? Still dangerous, but hey. Bunnies." - Joker, Mass Effect

"Last night, I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?" - Dilbert

"Aim at the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you'll hit the bull's-eye of success." - Annie Oakley

"It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly." - Flemeth, aka The Witch of the Wilds, Dragon Age 2

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.'” - George Carlin

"I hear there's a wild bridge tournament down the street. And you know Bridge. It's a lot like sex. If you don't have a great partner, you'd better have a good hand." Barry Weiss, Storage Wars

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." - Marcus Cole, Babylon 5, "A Late Delivery From Avalon"

"I aim to misbehave." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein

“If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” - Henry Ford