Search Halloween and Get...Star Wars?

Today's post can be seen as either an exercise in stream of conscious, or possibly as an ad for Bing! You know, the annoying ads where people suddenly become search engines and start spouting off everything that pops into their heads. Yeah, this is a little like that.

See, with it being eleven days till Halloween, I wanted to do a post on ghosts. Well, I googled "ghosts" and ended up with some haunted house stories. Well, that seemed like a promising avenue, so I decided to run with it. I googled a little deeper, and ended up with fewer hauntings and more info on Bill Murray's Scream Awards appearance, where he showed up dressed as Venkman from Ghostbusters. Okay, let's do a post on Ghostbusters 3. Well...googled Ghostbusters, and ended up looking at Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventurers...and this. Well, this...this was neat.

So, yeah, this has nothing to do with Halloween, but I always love a chance to spotlight enterprising women, and this girl seems pretty darn awesome.

Ashley Eckstein is an actress and voice artist (kindred spirit!) currently working on the animated series, The Clone Wars. Ashley noticed that female sci-fi fans (like herself) were becoming more and more prevalent, but were still somewhat overlooked on the merchandising front. She and her partner, the Araca Group, founded Her Universe, a place where ladies can get their geek chic on. Ashley received a license from Lucasfilms, and has a precious line of Star Wars gear, specially designed for fashion saavy fangirls. She's also working on jewelry, accessories, and beauty products.

This is not your average slap-a-logo-on-a-baby-tee merch shop, folks. Yes, there is a Star Wars logo tee--that's burned out, supersoft, purple, and goes great with skinny jeans. My favorite (if anyone--ahem, Thomas--is looking for Christmas, I wear a medium) is a heather gray v-neck with what looks like a pencil drawing of Han kissing Leia, surrounded by flourishes. It was designed by Star Wars artist Cat Staggs, and was inspired by, oddly enough, cookies the actress who voices Padme brought to The Clone Wars on Valentine's Day. They were decorated to say, "I love you," and, "I know". Heh. The shirt is titled "I Know", and runs $35. All shirt designs (including hoodies!) run between $30-$50 and are available at heruniverseshop.com. She also attends cons, so next time you go to one, keep an eye out for her.

Now, here's the coolest part--and the reason she showed up when I googled "ghost": Syfy has teamed up with Her Universe to create a line of fashion conscious women's apparel based on Syfy's original programming. That's right! We're talking Ghost Hunters, Warehouse 13, Destination Truth, Caprica...the works. All items will be sold under the Syfy Gear banner, and will be available at Her Universe and Syfy.com. You'll be able to find them at conventions through 2011, and in retail shops in 2012. I know where my Comic-Con spending money will be going.

What ho! The magic bag o' samples has reappeared! Well, sort of. Still can't find the bag, but I got in a shipment from Sephora, and with it, some new treats to try. I know, I have a problem. I'm okay with that.

Today, I have for you Buxom's Big & Healthy Lip Stick in Amsterdam. $18, Sephora. According to Sephora:

Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Stick works three full-time jobs—it defines the shape of lips like a liner, fills them in with creamy velvet color, and then plumps them to their full buxom potential. It's a three-in-one lipstick that's quick and convenient for defined, colorful, buxom lips anytime, anywhere.

I'm a gloss girl. Sure, if I'm going to be on camera or on stage, I know to use lipstick (at least under the gloss) because it shows up better, but honestly, I'm too lazy for lipstick. With gloss, you can just put it on--no mirror, no brush, no liner needed. You can be in the process of walking from your car to...wherever...and put gloss on at the same time and it still look good. If it goes out of the lines, you can fix it with a finger. If it doesn't make it all over your lips, you can press them together and fix it. Plus, it's shiny, and I like shiny. I'm a gloss girl.

That said, this doesn't suck. Yes, you do need a mirror, so it's not as easy to apply as gloss, but it's still fairly simple. The stick is really a large pencil, so the tip is pointed to allow you to use the product as a liner. Then you fill in the rest of your mouth. Voila! Done.

Amsterdam is a rosy nude shade that really just accentuates your natural lip color. I paired it with neutral and rose-gold eyeshadows and naturally-flushed blush for a really pretty I-didn't-even-think-about-putting-on-makeup-today look. It's matte, which translates to "a little drying", but applying over a balm really helped. The color is also longwearing, so touch-ups are minimal. Matte's the big look for Fall, by the way.

Does it plump? Eh, maybe a little, but it does have the trademark Buxom tingle we all know and love. All in all, I'd call it a winner. You get the matte look, the Buxom tingle, longwearing (flattering) color and easy application. And hey, who says you can't dab a little gloss on top, you know, just for fun?