Thoughts about Life and Birthdays

So every year when my birthday rolls around, I always remember the Milton poem   Sonnet VII On His Being Arrived at the Age of 23

Now, here I am, just having had my 27th birthday, and I've realized nothing really turns out how you plan it to. My life certainly hasn't. We all remember that high school paper about where you saw yourself in so many years.  I'm not any of those things. I'm not even remotely close to any of those things.  Sometimes I think 17 year-old me had it more together than 27 year old me.  My life has had so many twists and turns. It's like a labyrinth complete with booby traps and false paths. And now, being 27 I have no clear vision of my future. I don't really know where it is that I'm going any more.  I mean, sure, I know some things. Like I'm going to work tomorrow. I'm going on a trip in November. I know things, but I don't have any big picture ideas. Nothing earth shattering or life altering. Just more of trying not to fall in the booby traps and avoiding dead end paths. I think those are the worst. The dead ends. Booby traps aren't too terrible, but a dead end path means you have to walk all the way back to the beginning and start again. Ok, I can't be utterly depressing. I've picked up a few life lessons along the way. And, for being a single 27 year old, I think I'm doing all right.  I've moved out of one career for something else. It's not what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I'm no longer working in call centers.  Still though.  Nothing earth shattering.  Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed my birthday. It was a great day filled with family and birthday happies. To me birthdays are kind of like a Christmas of sorts. You eat a lot of food with family, get some presents, and have a good time.  Anyway, this has no real point, just me rambling to myself about the way things went. Would I change it.  Yeah.  I'd change a lot. So when someone invents a time machine, let me know first so I can go back and fix some things.  Anyway, here's what I always try to bear in mind. 

Shannxo Palette Review

So for roughly a year now I've been watching Shannxo on Youtube. She's one of my favorite Beauty Youtubers. A while ago, she came out with her own palette in compilation with BH Cosmetics. It's a really nice palette that comes with 9 eye shadows and 9 lipsticks. 

Normally it retails for roughly $22.00, but I bought it on sale on $14.50. I felt like it was a pretty good buy, even if I had paid $22.00 it would still only be $1.23 per color. Buying it on sale, I only paid $0.81 per color. 

They're clinically and allergy tested. Non-irritating and paraben free. I want to say, she says it's not tested on animals; but I don't remember. To see her debut palette video click here. 

It comes in a dual sided compact with the lipsticks on one side and lipsticks on the other. I like how small it is, which makes it easy to take with you in a purse. (That's what I did as I was doing my 10 Looks.)  

First well talk about the lipsticks. 

The lipsticks come in a wide variety colors. Pretty much all the colors general you need for nearly every look, unless you're doing something wild, but even then. They have almost a gloss texture to me; rather, it's not like an actual lipstick. You can use your finger or a brush to put it on. Personally, I prefer a brush, just because my I don't like to stain my fingers. (95% of the time I get anything on my fingers on my clothes.) 

The colors don't necessarily have staying power, but they work a lot like a lip stain. They do have a lot of transfer, but you will still retain the color on your lips, especially the darker ones. The lipsticks are supposed to be moisturizing, and I will say yes, they feel really good on the lips and have a nice shine. 

Next the Eye shadows. 

 

These are all pretty pigmented. They're all pretty colors, but I wish there were a little more variety. There are a lot of shimmers and browns. It does have one due chrome. The 8th shadow either has a rust color or a green color, depending on the light and if you have another color under it. This is good for doing a lot of neutral looks. You can get a few more dramatic looks, but I feel like all the warm browns just naturally lend themselves to neutrals, at least they do to me.  

Another nice thing is you can use the second color as a highlight. It's really pretty that way too. So I either use it for that or for the inner corner. So that's a neat little two-for. 

They have really good staying power. I can wear them nearly all day with little wear off--and that's with out a primer. 

So I'm pretty satisfied with this buy. I like how easy it is to transport nearly your entire face with you. I intend to take it when I travel. 

If you want to buy the palette yourself, you can go here. 

Enjoy!

Ten Looks from the Maybelline Brights Palette Youtube video Part 1

Again, just in case you want to see a more step by step tutorial on how I achieved the first five looks. Yes I know I put out the Part 2 first, but that's because quad 1 wanted to be difficult. I had to film it three different times. 

Anyway, At the bottom are the links to the video exact times. (They will take you to YouTube.)

Quad 1--Purple Night Time Look
Quad 2--Green and Blue
Quad 3--Blue and Magenta
Green and Purple Look 
Purple Anytime 

10 Looks from the Maybelline Brights Palette Part 2 Youtube Videos

Just in case any of you wanted to see specifically how I did the videos on my last blog post here is the YouTube Video with five looks from part two.  If you're looking for a specific look, you can click any of the links below. (This will take you to YouTube) Turquoise Pop Smokey Purple Under eye Black and White Halo  Neutral Eyes  Black and Brow Professional Look