Bailaoragaditana's Aventuras

No time like the present to get caught up, right? This was vaguely inspired by this look from Urban Decay, but mostly the result of smearing on a combination of green and gold shadows, to match my green tee :-p When I was first putting it on, I was scared it was going to look really terrible (it did, I swear!) but it actually turned out pretty decently!

Base: Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base; MAC Oil Control Lotion (on T-zone only); Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream

Face: MAC Studio Sculpt foundation in NC15; MAC Studio Sculpt concealer in NW15 (under eyes)

Brows: Bobbi Brown Eye Shadow in Mahogany (deep matte brown)

Eyes: Too Faced Shadow Insurance; MAC Goldmine shadow on inner half of lid; UD Vert on outer half of lid; MAC Humid in crease; MAC Gorgeous Gold up to the browbone and as blending shadow; Bobbi Brown gel liner in Black Ink on upper lashline, and topped with Sephora Nano Eyeliner in Forest Green; tightlining on upper waterline with MAC Feline pencil, and lightly on lower waterline with the Sephora Nano liner

Lashes: BE Buxom Lash mascara (black)

Cheeks: MAC blush in Peaches (sheertone)

Lips: Bobbi Brown Creamy Lip Color in Nectar

Also, a gratuitous shot of my new glasses! (I don't need them for close-up stuff, but I was struggling to see the writing on the board, so I knew it was time to go see the optometrist...) I was actually somewhat concerned that my penchant for crazy eye makeup (on occasion, anyway) would be crushed by my new glasses, but I'm happy to report that I experienced no real difference. Yay!

I did, in fact, take that shot in the car on the way to get delicious, delicious Thai food with khorshid khanoom, in case you were wondering:

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! (Apologies if you are now craving Thai food :-p )

You guessed it - I've been up to my old tricks again! I took advantage of the MAC Friends and Family Sale (ages ago, I know!) to stock up on some staples and expand my collection of basics; picked up some things from Bobbi Brown's new nudes collection for fall; and bought a couple of Benefit lipsticks that I have been wanting *forever*. (Or, at least, since I saw Temptalia's review of them ages ago!)

MAC Friends and Family:

- Eye Shadow refill pans in Silver Ring and Parfait Amour

- Eye Kohl in Rosemary & Thyme

- Powder Blush in Plum Foolery

- Pro Palette (15-pan)

- Eye Shader Brush 239

- Mini Shader Brush 228

- Oil Control Lotion

- Cleanse-Off Oil

- Green Gel Cleanser

- Brush Cleanser

- Bulk Wipes

Bobbi Brown:

- Nude Eye Palette

- Rose Bud and Twilight Creamy Lip Colors

(Broom and dustpan not included! :-p You may laugh at my photo-taking abilities...)

Benefit Full-Finish Lipsticks:

- Lady's Choice, No Competition, and Wild Card

I need to get off my lazy bum and put together some looks with this stuff, but somehow I keep getting sidetracked by academic work. Insane, I know. But I'm going to try to do maybe one look a week for the rest of the summer, as a bare minimum, because I have been seriously neglecting this here little blog :-/ Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon!

This is, without a doubt, the best thing EVER in the history of the internet.

And it makes me miss Buffy so very badly... *sigh* the 90s were so fab!

So it wasn't exactly a tea-party, but more of an afternoon garden party, but that doesn't have such a nice alliterative sound, does it? Anyway, I wore a teal dress, and while I wanted to keep my makeup fairly natural (it was a teacher's retirement party!), I felt like the nude eye look I started out with was a bit... bland. So I added a teeny little bit of teal shadow at the lashline to liven things up a bit.

Base: Bobbi Brown Vitamin-Enriched Face Base (all over), with MAC Oil-Control Lotion on nose, forehead, chin, and upper cheeks

Face: MAC Studio Sculpt foundation in NC15; Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil (as setting powder)

Eyes: MAC Studio Sculpt concealer in NW15 (under eyes); Too Faced Shadow Insurance (all over lid); UD matte shadow in Naked (up to and slightly above the crease); UD matte shadow in Foxy (browbone and blended at the crease); MAC shadow in Cool Heat (smudged at the lashline with a 219 brush)

Brows: Bobbi Brown matte shadow in Mahogany

Lashes: BE BuxomLash (black)

Cheeks: Bobbi Brown blush in Desert Rose

Lips: Bare Minerals natural lipgloss in Wild Honey

This look features three of my new favorite things: Vitamin Enriched Face Base, which is seriously the most incredible stuff on the planet (how did I live before I discovered it?); BuxomLash, which is pretty damn close to overtaking my beloved Plushlash in the favoritest-mascara race; and Wild Honey gloss, which is kind of similar to my go-to MAC gloss (Nymphette), but with more gold and less pink. In retrospect, I think maybe I should have added a bit of eyeliner to the upper waterline, because my eyes still need a bit of definition. Or possibly a teeny bit around the lower lashline? Maybe a medium-brown shadow smudged close to the lashes? Hmm...

Overall, though, I was pretty pleased with how this turned out, and the fact that it lasted, in perfect condition (okay, I had to re-apply the gloss after eating, but who really wants basalmic vinaigrette-flavored lipgloss? not me!), until the moment I took it off (more 9 hours later). And also that I didn't go massively oily, despite a pretty rich moisturizer as a base. In Washington summer heat. Which is a fairly impressive feat, if you ask me. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll try to get some more looks together soon - I've got tons of academic work, but there's no better break than smearing makeup all over your face :-p Plus I have a ton of ideas that really need to be tried out... Ciao for now, and enjoy!

Oh yes, I am back from Spain, and loaded down with goodies! I may have been a good little girl and resisted my makeup-buying urges whilst in Granada, but you can bet your boots that my will to resist temptation is now thoroughly broken.

Which is why I can't decide whether Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 is the seventh circle of hell, or an earthly Paradise. The security check area is a suitable setting for Dante's Inferno, but once you clear those machines, you enter into the Heavens of Consumerism. You can buy anything, including cars. No, I have no idea what you would need with a car if you're about to get on a plane, but... maybe I just don't have enough money to understand? There's a branch of Harrod's. There's electronics stores, clothing shops, restaurants, and all manner of ways to fritter away money on duty-free purchases large and small. But my eye was caught by the familiar pink-on-black lettering of one of my favorite brands.

Yes, that would be Victoria's Secret. In Heathrow Airport.

Top row, L-R: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Redhead and Blonde; MAC Powder Blush in Pink Swoon and Peaches (both Sheertone)

Bottom row: Urban Decay XXX Shine lipgloss in Guys Love Betsey; MAC lipglass in Quick Tease; MAC Select Cover-Up concealer in NW15; MAC lipstick in Lady Danger; MAC lip pencil in Redd; MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy; NARS lipgloss in Bloodwork

As you can see, I am having a major issue with red lips. *sigh*

It's been a while since my last post... oops. Life, and stuff. You know how it goes. Anyway, this past Saturday, I needed a very quick, simple, and relatively natural look for a last-minute dinner date with a friend. I decided to use some of my new MAC stuff, from the Redhead color collection.

Base: MAC Oil Control Lotion and Prep+Prime SPF50 primer for face

Face: MAC Studio Fix Fluid founcation in NC15, MAC Select Cover-up concealer in NW15, MAC Blot Powder pressed powder in Light, Make Up For Ever High-Def Finishing Powder (translucent)

Brows: Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Mahogany (matte dark brown)

Lids: MAC eyeshadow in Flip (peachy-gold shimmer, from the Redhead collection)

Liner: MAC Eye Kohl pencil in Teddy (bronzy brown) on lower waterline and lower lashline

Lashes: Urban Decay Big Fatty mascara (black)

Cheeks: MAC Sheertone Blush in Peaches

Lips: MAC lipstick in Marquise D' and MAC lipglass in Live & Dye

It's a very wearable neutral look, I think - pretty much appropriate for any occasion, by any standards, and certainly the colors don't flatter only redheads.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and enjoy!

As you all know, I'm in Spain for several months. Obviously, me being me, I was not about to go anywhere without at least the bare essentials of a makeup collection for such a long period of time. A weekend, maybe. A week, possibly. But several months? Not bloody likely. But RyanAir (the world's worst airline, in my utterly unbiased opinion) has seriously draconian luggage limits - 15kg of checked luggage, and not more than 10kg of hand luggage. So I had to do a lot of consolidation... as much as it pained me... This was the result:

Yes. That is ALL the makeup I have with me in Granada. At the top, MAC Tinted Lip Conditioners in Soothing Beige and Plum Perfect, and MAC Tendertone in Hush, Hush. VS Pink lip balms in Fresh and Ripe, and Bobbi Brown Tinted Lip Balm in Desert Bronze, and a MAC Studio Fix pencil in NC15. MAC Kohl Power pencil in Feline and VS eyeliner in Dark Chocolate, followed by MAC blush in Pink Swoon. Face products are Stila tinted moisturizer SPF30 in Shade 01, MAC Oil Control Lotion, MAC Blot Powder in Light, MAC Studio Select concealer in NW15, MAC Plushlash mascara in black, and Urban Decay Primer Potion. Also, a Bobbi Brown concealer stick in Alabaster. (Or possibly Porcelain, I don't remember.) In the top palette, I've got MAC Goldmine, Humid, Carbon, and Dark Edge shadows, and in the bottom palette, MAC Ricepaper, Era, Patina, and UD Smog.

And that, my friends, is all the makeup I've got with me in Spain. Crazy, isn't it? I've got some brushes as well, but there's only so much you can do with the limited color palette I'm working with - thus why I won't really be posting any looks while I'm here. (Although I am totally planning to go hog-wild when I get home, let me tell you!)

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed this post - let me know what you think, and share your makeup travel horror tales in the comments...

(Although - *whispers* - I have already visited the one MAC counter here in Granada. And may possibly have bought some non-color products. And may possibly be going back to play with the pretty makeups.... )

Hello everyone!

As you may have noticed (or not), I've decided to put my posts back up. I got a lot of really lovely, supportive messages from different people here on Sugar, and after about a thousand conversations with Khorshid khanoom, I decided that I was, in essence, "letting the terrorists win" by taking everything down. (And I hereby promise that you will never ever hear that phrase from my lips, or rather, my fingers, ever again!)

I'm writing to you now from the semi-sunny but warm city of Granada, in the southeast of Spain. I'll be here until July, just before my 21st birthday (honestly, there's no point to turning 21 in Spain!), taking Spanish and flamenco courses. If you speak Spanish, you'll wonder why someone whose username is "gaditana" (from Cádiz) is in Granada, but the simple answer is that there's not really any flamenco schools in Cádiz. Lots of flamenco, but precious few actual schools.

However, despite my greater love for western Andalucía, Granada is pretty nice. I can see the Alhambra (a 14th-century Moorish palace) from where I'm sitting right now, as well as from my apartment.

I took this one from down by the river. I live much higher up in the Albaicín neighborhood, which is like... on the side of a mountain. It was also raining for the entirety of last week, which is why it doesn't look sunny in that picture at all.

I haven't done anything much yet, because of the rain and general ickiness, as well as the jet-lag. But there's loads of cool things to do and see, especially if, like me, you are borderline-obsessed (or possibly just completely obsessed) with medieval Spain, Moorish influence, and Spanish (really Andalusian) popular culture. Plus, I'm going to visit some other cities in Spain as well. So this will be more of a travel blog than a makeup blog for the duration of my time in Spain. (Except for when I'm drooling over the new MAC collections, of course :-D)

By the way - you will probably all be absolutely SHOCKED at the itsy-bitsy amount of makeup I brought with me. (It will be the subject of my next post, so brace yourselves...)

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon! (In a figurative sense...)

*bailaoragaditana*

P.S. Being vegetarian in Spain? Is a really, really dumb thing to attempt. But I'm soldiering on, for now.