Totally Awesome Make-Up...

I thought I would take a break from my usual love of decor and talk about another passion of mine that I have had ever since I was a young girl...make up. I LOVE MAKE UP!!! Now I came of age during the most wonderful decade ever, the 1980's (not too biased am I? LOL), a time when people normally wore make up and some wore a bit too much. I always leaned towards make up is meant to be seen. I never went for the whole "natural look". Too me, the more unnatural the better....I loved purple eyeshadow, hot pink lip gloss,electric blue eyeliner etc. Not too mention, I also had big hair...at times very big hair.

Examples of my love of big hair and make up. circa 80's- early 90's

So now you can clearly see why I adored the 80's!! Anyway, since the time I was a young girl,perhaps even younger I was always fascinated with glamour and beauty,sparkly things(rhinestones,glitter), make-up, jewelry,hairstyling,high heels, and clothes. I think I might have inherited it from my mother. She loved all those things as well. She however didn't wear very much make up and didn't fuss with cosmetics like I did/do. She wore maybe face powder, red lipstick, sometimes mascara,eye shadow maybe if it was a very fancy occasion,rouge and she always lined her eyebrows. My mom was very glamorous and I would like to think she passed that on to me.A cousin of mine, once told me stories of my mom before I was born, when my mom was young and single. She told me how very stylish my mom was,like Audrey Hepburn she said and she also told of how photogenic she was. I know that to be true,as I have seen the proof in boxes of old photos of my parents on vacation:pictures of my mom in her bathing suit posing with a beach ball or her sitting on a rickity fence in a cowgirl hat, just to name a few.

My mom stood out in the first pic with her family.(she is the one in sunglasses) No offense to my family, but they look like country bumpkins standing next to my mom in her shades. And in the last pic, Mom is wearing a very chic black and white gown.

Anyway,my mom was quite the inspiration to me. However, we had our differences...anything too over the top or overtly sexy was not her cup of tea. She also didn't agree with me wearing make up at an early age. But, it never stopped me from sneaking out wearing it. 

I loved playing dress up. I loved playing with my Barbie dolls. I even had a Farrah Fawcett styling head that you can style her hair and do her make up. I very much enjoyed that and thought that when I grew up I might want to be a cosmetologist. Turns out I would much rather be on the receiving end getting my hair/make up done. I still like to experiment with new colors and looks. As for brands of cosmetics,in my teen years, my pocketbook could only afford drug store brands like Revlon,Maybelline, Cover Girl,L'Oreal. I preferred L'Oreal because they seemed to have more vibrant, dark colors and if felt like a more "grown up" brand. Maybelline was ok but seemed too "girl next door" and I was a bit punk and in a hurry to grow up. 

In my 20's, with a credit card and no real responsibility, I fell in love with dept. store cosmetic brands. I used Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and clinique.However, Lancome was my all time fave. It had the same qualities I liked about L'Oreal. But it costed 4 times as much. Maybe it was all the French pretentiousness of the brands images that I liked. I was a make up snob! LOL 

Well, in my 30's reality set in.I no longer used credit cards and now was paying rent and car insurance etc. I loved the quality of the department store brands, but could only afford the drug store brands.My cosmetic bag was a hodge podge of really old  make up and whatever odd and ends I found that I liked at Walmart.

 Now in my 40's, in the age of the internet, I have discovered a new favorite, BH Cosmetics. It has the coolest products and the greatest color selection I have ever seen. Especially if you need true bright primary colors. Not many people use red,black,white,green,aqua but if you ever require them, BH has them. And they are very reasonably priced and have many sales throughout the year. They sell quality products with very pigmented colors. They have 5 different eye shadow sets that contain 120 colors a piece. The rest of the full size eye shadow kits contain 90 shadows and are available both in matte and shimmer.They also sell individual colors and mini kits, some with blush included. They sell lipstick and eye liner for under $5 a piece, all in a good variety of shades. Eye shadow seems to be their forte, since they have more of that than anything else on their website. I have been happy with all my purchases from there and I own a LOT from them. I can whole-heartedly recommend BH Cosmetics for all your cosmetic needs. Below is just a sample of some of the wonderful products sold by my new favorite cosmetic company, BH Cosmetics.

Delays!!

Sadly, my console table, the one I was planning on using for an entertainment center to hold my new flat screen tv has not shipped out yet. It won't even be picked up until next Thursday I believe and delivery is set for sometime in March. I have been waiting over a month for this thing and I am anxious!! 

The lady I purchased it from on Ebay was a bit snooty with me when I complained how long it was taking. She said if I chose curbside delivery I would have had it in 10 days but since I chose "white glove service" it would take longer. First off, I don't know what difference that would make either way what kind of delivery I had as to how it would affect delivery time and secondly, I did not simply "choose" white glove delivery. They informed me my shipping cost (which was outrageous by the way) was for curbside delivery only. It was costing me extra for being a  residential  delivery, plus extra for a lift gate, but they would not bring it in my house. I only paid the high delivery price because I wanted that cabinet so badly.

 She then gave me an even higher quote for them to carry my item upstairs to my apartment and inside one door and drop it and go. I don't believe they unwrap or place it anywhere special for you but yet I was "choosing" white glove service. I just wanted it upstairs and preferably in place that's all because I can't carry it. I didn't ask for anything fancy, just what you would expect from a furniture delivery.

 Next thing you know she changes shipping companies and said she thought it was for the best and she said the price was slightly higher but she paid the difference.I thought that was nice of the person. But now I don't know because after I complained and I was very polite and nice about it,suddenly it was my fault it was taking so long as the shipping was out of her hands. (Because they do not do the actual shipping, they hire the shipping company.)Then she acted so put out because she is going to work a whole hour early to accommodate the shipping company's schedule. If I ran a business of my own, I would expect no less from myself. That is what you do when you run a business...sometimes you have to go out of your way for your customers to make them happy by following up on things, not just assuming things. You do what you have to do. It is not even really go out of your way, it is good customer service. Anyway, sorry for the rant I am just frustrated. I wanted to take the opportunity to let you know the major decision I made for the living room but I ended up going on about the cabinet. Oh well, next time!!

Project Living Room: part 2

I found out today that my beautiful mirrored console cabinet will not ship out until Valentine's Day. Actually, the shipping company is scheduled to pick it up then, so I am assuming it will be shipped out then but I am not sure on that point. That news disappoints me big time!! I was so looking forward to it. Plus, the apartment complex I am living in is having an inspection on the 12th and I was hoping I would have it in place by then. Oh well!                                                                         

There have been some changes to my original plans for the living room. The sofa that I was planning on purchasing I changed my mind on it. It looked nice and the chair felt comfy but there was no oomph! to it. When I thought about it I realized that I am a passionate person and I just wasn't passionate about that sofa set. The color was gorgeous and I have always wanted leather but it really didn't do much for me. I heard myself describing as a "nice red leather sofa" but there was never really any excitement in my voice when I described it. And if you know me, you know that is just not me. When I am pleased with something my excitement is contagious.( I was told that once by my boss when I worked at Lowe's.) Anyway, it boiled down to I needed a place to rest my butt and that fit the bill...plus, it was cheap and locally available. That is not the reasons I want to buy a couch!! I decided maybe I need to spend a little more and actually get something I am really happy with...something that might last a little longer than a furniture outlet sofa. So I thought about what else might look nice with what I have planned. 


I realized what I like is very stylish in all the design magazines but not actually in the furniture stores...only in very,VERY expensive boutiques where the love seats are a few thousand dollars!! I also realized that I am starting to hate the color brown!!! It is EVERYWHERE!!! Cocoa,beige,cappuccino, espresso , mocha, chocolate,mushroom,coconut, tan, khaki, buff,chestnut, mahogany, toast, ecru, coffee ...... AAAHHHH!!! Not only is brown now the only color most things come in but sofa styles all are kinda the same....overstuffed,puffy microfibered cookie cuttered sofas!! I liked the style at one point but I am just not feeling it when it is in every store in some form of another in some shade of brown or another!! Enough already...what happened to creativity?? Well, that's just my opinion. 

I decided I wanted something a bit different. Something possibly vintage styled but not necessarily vintage itself. It had to work with my Hollywood Regency look I was going for so I couldn't really do this big puffy modern looking recliner type sofa. Even though I did want a recliner style sofa, but it turns out I do not have enough room for them in my matchbox of a living room. My dream would be an old school sectional, the kind that wraps around the room, not those L shaped ones with the chaise,that are popular today. I do not consider them a true "sectional". It is not a "section", it is one whole sofa so I don't know where they got that it is a sectional!! lol But anyway, we know I am not going to be able to fit one of those bad boys in my living room any time soon. So they are off my list for now. I love contemporary usually but I was thinking something modern yet traditional. I absolutely fell in love with something from Macy's. But I am not sure if  I can afford or justify spending almost $2000 on new living room furniture when I spent so much on the mirrored cabinet due to the high cost of shipping. But here is what the sofa set looked like.

The good news is the set is on sale. :)And we all know how much I love a good sale??!! lol The fabric is a luxurious velvet and the set is all on sale, plus an additional 10% off but it is still Macy's so it is still expensive. The sofa alone costs what the original red leather sofa( that I was going to get) AND the loveseat cost!! I love the styling of this piece. Especially the rolled arms...so classy. And I love the fabric but again the price is a bit much. We all have to have a budget, right??  (Can you hear me whining, "But I LOVE this one!!"?? lol) I splurged on one gorgeous piece of furniture...one that is versatile and that I love, so I have to compromise a bit here on the sofa/chair etc. I managed to find another slightly similar piece, also gray, also velvet and also with the terrific tufted back, but just not the rolled arms which sadly, was one of my favorite parts of the sofa!!:( I kept my eye on the, let's call it the Macy's knock off (lol) and kept doing more online research. The price on this was reasonable = way cheaper than Macy's. Then I do a search on my local craigslist and find the identical twin to the knock off!! It may be the same sofa. I don't know. It may be the knock off of the knock off but it was half of the price and only 5 mos. old and appears to be in excellent condition. I am planning on going to check it out very soon in the future. To give you an idea, of what it looks like. I will attach a photo.

It is similar, not identical to the Macy's style but it is very nice and I do really like it from what I have seen. I am very anxious to go see it in person and "test it out". Sorry this blog has been so long but so much has been on my mind lately concerning this project. It means so much to me to turn my home into something to be proud of. I never had much opportunities to do this before. Either I didn't have the time,money or space. Not that I have that much space or money but I have time and a huge desire to transform my little corner of this planet. We shall soon see. I will let you know how it goes when I visit the sofa. Keep your fingers crossed that no one gets there before me!!!