Recessionistas and Urban Cowboys

I refuse to get into politics on this site (or any other, for that matter), but there's no getting around the fact that the economy has gone down the proverbial toilet. Every penny counts these days, so today's post is brought to you, in part, by savings.com. They have a wonderful list of ways to save and/or reuse old cosmetics and makeup tools. 

1. Use one of your old smaller makeup brushes to clean off nail polish on your skin when doing a manicure. Just dip it in a little bit of acetone and wipe around the edges of your nails.
2. Got a bunch pigments and lipglosses that you don't use anymore? Try blending them together in a small pot to make your own custom colored lipglosses. You can also clean up old lipgloss wands and use them as an applicator.
3. Instead of throwing away old mascara, wash the brushes thoroughly and use them to tame unruly eyebrow hairs or to separate and clumped up eyelashes.
4. Save broken face powders and powder blushes and use them as loose powders. If you've dropped your compact, or even worse it cracks and gets all over your purse, save what's left of it in a small container. As long as you have a brush, you can still use it as loose powder.
5. If your foundation doesn't match your skin tone, you can mix a little bit of it in your moisturizer or body lotion to give it a slight tint. Also, if the foundation is slightly darker than your skin tone, you can use it as a contour shade on your cheek bones to give it some more definition.
6. If you've bought a conditioner that just wasn't cutting it for your hair, keep it on hand to reuse as a shaving cream. It works just as well and moisturizes your skin as you shave.
7. Try using eyeshadow to temporarily touch up roots. Spray your hair with a little bit of hairspray then pat on eyeshadow on the roots. Browns help cover up gray hair and gold, shimmery colors work with blondes.  --From savings.com

Those are brilliant. There also common sense enough to make me kick myself over some of the stuff I've thrown out. 

Alrighty! Today's dip into the old magic bag o' samples brought out Urban Decay's Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Midnight Cowboy. And yes, before you ask, the first thing I thought of was, in fact, John Travolta. 

According to Urban Decay:

Get hooked on shine, without the sticky hangover. Lip Junkie features a soft, luxe texture, stay-put shades and tastes like wedding mints. Addicted yet?
You want a super-shiny gloss, but can't stand the sticky texture, right? Wait till you feel the soft, cushiony texture of this gloss! Lip Junkie stays put longer than other glosses, but never feels gummy or gooey. It comes in a range of pretty amazing shades (if we do say so ourselves), and the color payout is amazing. Take your pick from sheer pretty neutrals, kick-ass brights, or glimmering near-black. And the flavor? Think yummy wedding mints... a sweet mint with a little zing that makes breath feel fresh. 

Photo Credit: Urban Decay

Midnight Cowboy is a neutral beige with a ton of silver sparkle, which gives your lips a frosted nude look. Personally, I love it. I think it's a gorgeous gloss, and one of the few nudes I can actually wear and not look like a cadaver. It's not sticky, but it is a little tacky. I can live with that, but I wouldn't recommend showering your significant other with kisses while you have this on. The gloss is mildly plumping (they recommend a month of daily use for full effectiveness), and has a pleasant, cooling tingle. The vanilla mint flavor is yummy, and helps freshen breath--though not enough to toss out your Tic Tacs. Mine main gripe is that I had trouble with too much coming out of the tube. Granted, this was a sample, but the full-sized tube uses the same application method. All in all, this is a beautiful gloss with some extra perks, and not a bad investment at $19. Available at Urban Decay and Sephora.

Final Verdict: 8 out of 10. Nicely nude and sweetly sparkly. 

Cheap Tricks: E.L.F. Beauty School

Photo Credit: E.L.F. Cosmetics

This just appeared in my inbox this morning, and I have to say, I love the concept. E.L.F. Cosmetics (you know, the nice company that sells decent makeup for really cheap) now has what they refer to as "Beauty School". For about five bucks, you get either a face or eye palette, and step-by-step instructions that show you what goes where. There's even a place for you to record your favorite looks, so you don't forget which products worked the best together--not that I'd ever forget...no, sir. I have a mind like a steel...what were we talking about again?

As these have just come out, I've not had a chance to try the sets. I have, however, used E.L.F. for quite some time, and am familiar enough with the products involved to give you a fair analysis, especially since these are not new products. These are existing products, repackaged with how-to guides.

The eyeshadow collections (there are four: Bright, Everyday, Natural, and Smoky) each come with twelve shades, one eyeliner pencil, one shadow applicator, and instructions, and comes housed in a mirrored palette. For five bucks, it's not a bad deal. In fact, for a makeup novice, I'd say it's worth the five bucks for the instructions alone. E.L.F. eyeshadows can be a little hit or miss with pigmentation, but for normal, everyday wear (or for younger makeup lovers), they're workable. The same can be said for the eyeliner pencil. It's not super creamy, but it'll do. Again, remember that this whole thing is only five dollars.

The face collection (there's only one) consists of four shimmer creams, four concealers, one blush, one bronzer, and one face brush, plus instructions. There's no mirror with this palette. Again, the instructions are worth the money. They're practically paint-by-number. The shimmer creams are lovely, and make your skin look dewy. E.L.F. blushes tend to be pigmented enough for a nice, natural finish, and the bronzer's not bad in moderation. I've never been a huge fan of their concealers, but only because they're too dark for my fish-belly white skin. The brush can be chucked, though. E.L.F. makes some fantastic brushes, but this isn't one of them.

These are great to learn with. I highly recommend them for young teens, as they're instructive and a great--inexpensive--way to experiment with color. I've got to say, there's nothing more irritating than spending fifteen or twenty bucks on an cool looking eyeshadow, only to get home and realize that amazing green looks way better in the container than it does on your face. I would suggest, though, adding a few nice brushes, an eyeshadow primer,  mascara, and an eyeliner pen into the mix--all of which are conveniently listed under the Beauty School collection. Gee, I wonder how that happened...

Bottom line, for practice or experimentation, you can't beat this collection. Think of them as training wheels; learn on them, then use those skills with your favorite products.