Moxie and Candy Yum Yum

As I promised in my last post, I have now played with both my MAC Moxie and Candy Yum Yum and am ready to share them with you. I like both a lot, though I think Candy Yum Yum has the edge for me.

First Moxie. I wore this one to apparently hang out with my stuffed shark? I don't even know.

I was also curious if it would look like my MAC Impassioned or my Tarte Lipsurgence in Lively, but it really doesn't.

(Impassioned, Moxie, Lively)

(Impassioned, Moxie, Lively)

Candy Yum Yum and I made the journey to New Jersey to visit some family friends. I thought it looked nice. The truck next to us on the turnpike thought my chestal area looked nice and kept pace with our car so he could look down my top for a good 10 minutes. Not cool dude. 

And for funsies, a family photo!

(my brother's bf, my brother, my mom, me!)

Introductions

When a door closes, a window opens. Isn't that how it goes? I'd been holding off on posting this because honestly I just needed some time after we lost Angel. A few days before my mom's birthday (7/18) we came home to find an extra little guy chillin' in our ferret cage. My brother and his boyfriend got her a new baby and snuck him in while we were at work. It's something she and I had talked about doing after we lost Angel, but we hadn't been literally thinking the week after. She named him Sid and over a month later, he's fitting in with the others just fine.

(Sid)

(Sid bit me in the head)

(Teddy, Finn and Sid - they have dumb face)

(Sid)

(Teddy)

(Teddy - I love when they do this with their tongues)

(Finn - possibly the smartest one, but that's not saying much)

I have some more pictures wearing my new Moxie and Candy Yum Yum lipsticks coming up, so we shall return to our regularly scheduled makeup talk soon!

The Mascara Chronicles (part 12)

We're heading back to the drug store again today! I get too into the habit of showing expensive mascara and I didn't want this series to become only about that. I actually picked up L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black intending to use it for my friend's wedding last month (I got the waterproof one, but was having a hard time finding that specific formula to link you to) In the end I wound up using Urban Decay Cannonball, though (which I didn't try myself and I gave her the whole tube, so don't expect that one any time soon!) Plan B was to try this one out as a gym mascara. Here is my story.

The Manufacturer Claims:

Voluminous Carbon Black Volume Building Mascara builds lashes to 5x their natural thickness with 2x the intensity of your regular black shade. Get bold, dramatic lashes that are blacker than black!

The Product:

As you can see, the matte-ish black tube on this one is a magnet for fingerprints. I think it's a nice twist on the basic packaging, but not necessarily the best idea for those of us who aren't in to wiping down our makeup with disinfectant wipes every 20 seconds. The brush is nothing too special, the normal tapered small-ish round brush. It picked up what I would consider a proper amount of product, that is to say enough to do each side without having to wipe off excess.

The formula on this one was actually on the wetter side. This is something I myself like, I hate when I feel like mascara is flaking off and I haven't even applied it yet. It does mean, though, more potential to smudge if you don't wait a sec before doing crazy-like things like blinking. It gave a good coat of color and didn't leave anything looking clumpy.

At the end of the day, my lashes looked basically the same. I had a little color smudge under my eyes, but the lashes themselves didn't look like they'd lost any color or shape. In fact I have to say that this mascara actually proved a little difficult to get off at the end of the day. It definitely needed a 2-part removal, starting with washing my whole face with cleaner and warm water and then following up with makeup remover. Even then all of it didn't come off and I had to do this routine again in the AM. 

My Conclusion:

I personally liked this mascara. Especially for the price point, this one is probably going to be my go-to for gym days or days when I'll be outside in the heat a lot. It is not for those who dislike having to work at getting their mascara off (looking at you Larie, this one is not for you) I don't think I'm ever going to think a manufacturer's claim is spot on (Blacker than black? Is that possible?), but I suppose this wasn't any more ridiculous than anyone else's. You should be able to find this mascara at your local Walgreens/CVS/Target/Ulta for about $8.

The Candy Yum Yum Answer

A little over a year ago, I posted about Maybelline Fuchsia Fever which was believed at the time to be a pretty good MAC Candy Yum Yum dupe. Of course I didn't have Candy Yum Yum to compare it to, but I was happy with it and went merrily on my way.

Fast forward to Sunday night, I found an app for my new phone that lets me catalog my books. That basically was keeping me awake and entertained for hours, but I did take breaks in between to check out blogs and what not. On one of said blogs (or more specifically the MAC Cosmetics Livejournal) I happened across a reminder that the MAC By Request collection was launching. This was a highly anticipated collection where MAC was bringing back LE lipsticks, lipglasses and eyeshadows as voted on by their Facebook fans. I had been on Facebook hiatus for most of the voting period, but still had my hopes up that they would bring 3N lipstick back. On that front I was disappointed - Candy Yum Yum, Moxie and Rocker won. Still, I happened to be online when they launched (only the lipsticks launched Sunday, in fact the eyeshadows are still yet to come) and picked up Candy Yum Yum and Moxie with a free 2-day shipping code.

Sometime Monday I was checking back on Livejournal again and started seeing posts cropping up that Candy Yum Yum (I hate the name of this color btw...) had sold out by morning and actually oversold as people were having their orders cancelled on them. I checked mine and it was fine (had a tracking number and everything), but I also ordered early and only one of each of the two colors. Most of the people whose orders were cancelled seemed to have ordered several Candy Yum Yum. The round and round about how poorly MAC handled this collection ensued (as it does every big lunch including the last one Candy Yum Yum was in) and is in fact still going. At this point Candy Yum Yum and Moxie are sold out (with the latter rumored to be pending a restock) and Rocker is still available. All three lipglasses also look to be available still (I don't like MAC Lipglasses AT ALL... OMG STICKY MESS)

Last night I came home from work to find my MAC box waiting for me (outside in the sun, luckily not melted) Both of my items were there and correct and actually super well packed. I honestly have no reason to badmouth MAC over my experience. I do feel a little like a jerk, though, because I only bought these on a whim and not because I was really awaiting their release with baited breath or anything like that. Just right place, right time... ya know? Reading (knowledge) really is power! I wouldn't have been online that late if I weren't updating my virtual bookshelf.

Anyway, enough words - more pictures. I took these both to show you Candy Yum Yum and also to answer my question about whether I had a dupe (or anything close). I would like to point out one more thing - there is now talk that the new Candy Yum Yum is NOT the same as the old release. Again, I don't know. Word is it's darker/less neon and creamier this release.

The goods - I took pictures of both boxes, but will only be showing Candy Yum Yum today:

Next to Fuchsia Fever - Don't judge... I actually USE Fuchsia Fever and wasn't planning to be photographing it again:

(Candy Yum Yum, Fuchsia Fever)

(Candy Yum Yum, Fuchsia Fever)

Aww, predictable little hearts - Keep not judging, this time about my Simpsons PJ pants:

(Fuchsia Fever, Candy Yum Yum)

At this point I was like... bummer. Or not any more I guess, but they look really different. I didn't care about the matte/gloss difference, but the color itself was noticeably different with Fuchsia Fever being more blue based. I thought I had such a good dupe all this time, though, so I was like man... but then:

Wait, they kind of look more similar now. I mean I can tell them apart, but still. 

How about you guys? Do you know which is which and where I applied each? Do you think they're close enough for those who missed this new release? Honestly, I do.

Lazy Bones Baking

I love lemon. For a fat girl, I am surprisingly light on the snacks, but lemon just gets me every time. I was craving something lemon a little while back and came across lemon cake mix. I'm not usually a cake person, but again... LEMON. I also don't usually buy desserts to make from a box, but it wouldn't be lazy bones baking if I had to make much of an effort. Still I decided to fancy up my cupcakes a little. Here is my story:

It all started with this box of Duncan Hines lemon cake:

I prepared the cake mix by the book... err... directions on the back of the box. Once that was all scooped into the cupcake tin/wrappers, I put a generous teaspoon size dollop of these red raspberry preserves in the center:

It sank and settled during baking so that the cupcakes looked normal:

But had a surprise inside:

Then I apparently forgot I was taking pictures because I went from nakey cupcakes to frosted and was like... I missed something in there. The frosting was this recipe, halved (and with a handful of fresh raspberries thrown in for color and a little flavor). I only used this one because I didn't have cream in the house, so I needed one that used milk. I wasn't entirely happy with how it came out flavor-wise (too sweet) and it was soooooo so hot out that it just was melting like crazy. I shoved a couple of fresh raspberries on top to try and salvage it esthetically and called it a night. A very delicious night.

The Used (July 2012)

July left me with a much smaller list of used items, I'm awful and powering through things (because that means you have to spend money to replace the ones you liked!)

Yes To Carrots Pampering Conditioner: First of all can we just talk about how amazing ALL of the Yes to Carrots items smell? While I do find this conditioner makes my hair feel nice enough, it's honestly the scent that keeps me coming back. It's not quite as thick as I would like for the length of my hair (which needs some major TLC) so I tend to mix this stuff with something else for that, but will use it alone when I condition my scalp-area (which I don't do daily, but sometimes it needs love, too)

Yes To Carrots Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15: Again, the smell! So good. This has been my go-to moisturizer for a while now. I had to get another type because of my friend's wedding, though (something with no SPF) so I am currently on hiatus. I'm not leaving it behind, though. I especially love this stuff in winter, it keeps my face from getting dried out from all the cold we get in New England. 

Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion: I like it. I am also fully aware that the second ingredient in this stuff is rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol). Would it be just as effective to spritz rubbing alcohol on my blemishes? I don't know. I do find this one helps a lot when I get deeper (cystic) blemishes, though. It's a little tricky to use. Even though it's called Buffering LOTION, it's actually a straight up liquid. I just squirt a little in my hand and dab on after cleansing for the night. It's not a miracle worker, but tends to dull the roar down within a couple of nights (it says to use every other night, but I'm not that patient)