May GlossyBox!

Today I got my 3rd Glossybox and it continues to make me happy! I usually don’t know many of the brands in my box and this month was no exception to that,haha. I was familiar with 2 out of the five,those being Benefit and Estee Lauder. I was super excited for the Estee Lauder bc I had not seen a spoiler of anyone receiving that. There was many a preview with a self tanning lotion and I was grateful they skipped me on that. I believe that everyone got the benefit Roller Lash and I hope you all are as pleased with it as I am! Anyway…let’s jump in!

Glossy Box is a $21 a month subscription service that sends you 5 beauty products monthly. Most seem to be full size or very nice deluxe samples. The packaging is amazing. It’s honestly like a gift I give to myself. Unlike Ipsy,I’m never sure what exactly I will be getting in my box.

•  Benefit Roller Lash Mascara. Full size retails for $24.00,this is a deluxe sample size which retails for $12.00

  This is the first product I see. I’m curious about this bc I have not tried any Benefit cosmetics before. I’ve seen on youTube that the gals like this mascara a lot so I slapped it on really fast. AND let’s just say that I will be indeed purchasing the full size. I usually don’t feel like the brand named mascaras do anything different for me than say Cover Girl. Smash Box is good but it doesn’t blow me away. This one blows me away. The wand literally grabs onto your lashes helping to separate and lift them up. It’s the magical unicorn of mascaras. The photo below is one swipe.

• Talika Photo-Hydra Day.  This is the full size that retails for $29.00!!

This moisturizer is awesome. It feels amazing on my face. According to the card enclosed it’s supposed to recreate the effects of natural light on the skin giving you a healthy sort of summer glow.Since I’ve only used it the one time Idk about all of that. I do like the feel and the light scent. As long as it doesn’t break me out we are golden 🙂

• Rituals Cosmetics: Shower Foam In Zensation. Full size 6.7 flo oz retails for $15.00 This is a 1.6 flo oz sample which I have seen on eBay for around $9.99

This is a nice foaming shower gel that has organic rice milk and cherry blossom as key ingredients. It really has a great scent to it! the scent lasts even after your bath. I just used this as a shaving cream and it left my legs feeling slick. A little goes a long way with this product so I believe the price tag on the full size is worth it. I am obsessed with bathing items 🙂

• Estee Lauder: Revitalizing Supreme Global Anti-Aging Creme. Full size starting at $50.00 This is a deluxe sample retailing for around $12.99

Yes please haha. I am super excited to have this in my box! I have never tried anything from Estee Lauder but I’ve always wanted to! It’s a super cute bottle and smells amazing. I’m super happy with the skin care items in this box. I was in desperate need and they provided!!

• Nioxin System 1 Cleanser And Scalp Therapy Conditioner. Full size retails for $49 and this deluxe sample kit I found going for around $24.00 on ebay.

So this is one of the items I saw could possibly be in my box. A lot of people were unhappy about that bc it says it’s for thin hair. BUT it doesn’t say that. It says it’s for normal to thin looking hair. The product card explains the product as : “Removing oils that clog the scalp hair follicles and environment residues from the scalp,Nioxin’s therapeutic cleanser and conditioner will balance moisture levels and help your locks appear thicker.

I have very thick hair but I am super excited I got this bc I wash my hair about once every 2 months. It’s just too much to deal with otherwise bc it’s also super crazy curly. I noticed a while back that my hair seemed to stop growing. I started paying closer attention to my scalp and noticed it was clogged. So lately I’ve been super focused on correcting that issue. I think this could be extra helpful! And yes…I’m trying to wash it more often. Blah! Super awesome that they included both the shampoo and conditioner!

 

So that’s the box. I was super impressed with mine! For $21 I got approx $88 in product! You cannot beat that! I discovered some new brands I love and a mascara I don’t think I can live without! That’s a good day!

As always,if you want to sign up and get cool stuff like this monthly then use my link! I get points! 🙂

https://www.glossybox.com/referal?CI=MjU0NzAx

~Moonkitty

Sephora Play! Box

I’ve been waiting for the box all of my life…well it feels like it because I have been on the wait list since Nov of 2015. Finally last month I received the e-mail invite to join! They had FINALLY opened the service up to more states. I was SO excited bc I had been watching unboxing videos for months on youTube. All the boxes had amazing products in them,how could I say no? I LOVE Sephora so much,I’ll take anything from there.

For those not familiar with Sephora Play! It’s a monthly subscription box where you get 5 beauty samples and one perfume sample monthly for $10.00

So this is what it looks like: Super cute packaging. The bag it comes in may be my favorite part. You also receive a booklet with information about each product and a Sephora play pass that,when used during a purchase at Sephora stores,gives you 50 xtra Beauty Insider points.

So the first thing I notice is that everything inside is MUCH smaller than I had envisioned. I don’t recall the other boxes I had seen being filled with tiny samples. Hell one had even had a beauty blender in it. But whatever,let’s go with it.

The first thing is a perfume vial from Atelier Cologne in the scent Orange Sanguine. It is amazing. It’s orange so I felt like that would be just odd to wear. BUT it’s orange and floral and amazing. I’m in love. The back of the Play! Pass tells me each item and it’s corresponding full size price. It’s $110 for this guy. Which means I will probably never own it. This tiny vial will have to last me the rest of my life 🙂 The postcard is cute. I love postcards so I hung it near my vanity 🙂 These vials are $3 on Atelier’s site and you can get them in 31 different scents!

Next up is the worlds smallest lip crayon. When I tried this on…I used it as a lip liner bc I thought that was what it was. But it’s not so then I filled in with it. It’s was difficult because it’s so small. I will use it as a liner instead. I love Tarte products but I don’t feel I was able to use enough of this to say it’s great or it stinks…it’s just so small. The color is Latergram which I think would work well for me. It’s a shade I like. Full size product retails for $18 and I have no clue how much a tiny lip crayon would go for…maybe $3?

Then there was an empty box of Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche in Kimchi. I contacted customer service about this and shockingly they refunded my whole box due to the error. So …they obviously have amazing customer service. The sample size of this had to be tiny due to the size of the box. So I’m going with $3 on that too with full size being $26.00

Next up was something I was really excited for…until I saw ,again,how small it was. It’s Origins Maskimizer spray + Drink Up and Clear improvement masks. Tiny buttt it’s a cute little sample set. I feel a little jaded bc with Ipsy and Glossybox I’ve been getting deluxe sized samples of these type products and some even full size. I can’t tell if I’m going to want to spend $25 on something if I just use it once. Again probably $3. Most of these samples seem to be like the redeem 100 points at Sephora stuff or maybe free samples with purchase.

Next product is Korres Wild Rose Sleeping Facial which retails for $48 in full size. $3 for sample,I suppose. I used this last night and really liked it. It smells and feels amazing. I’ll have to give it a few days to make sure it doesn’t break me out. The size on this is good. I feel like with a skin care item it needs to be able to be used at least a week.

Last we have Briogeo : Don’t Despair,Repair! Which is a deep Conditioning mask. My hair is always in need of that so I love trying these. In the shower it didn’t seem to do anything special. My hair didn’t feel any better after using this so I rewashed using my Hask Argan and went on with life. Full size is $26 and I think I paid like $3.50 for the Hask at Harris Teeter when it was on sale. This is a decent sized sample though. You could get several uses of out it. This 1oz sample size of this is $9.00 making it the best value product in the box,I believe.

So….all and all here are my random thoughts. I think by opening up the program to more states they have sort of downgraded what they put in the box. or maybe it was always this way and my eyes glittered more bc I couldn’t obtain it. Also…the box isn’t an actual box now like the previous ones. It’s just a cardboard shipping box. Now that being said…there was a super cute bag. So maybe they changed that up? I don’t hate that. It was just surprising. A ton of us have been on this waiting list for 6 months or so…so this needed to be exciting. It wasn’t. Not at all. I’m hoping that this one was just a dud for me and going forward the next one will rock. I’ve never received a box I didn’t really care for..until this one. I think it was the wait time! I was also immediately disappointed bc the lipstick was missing. They issued a refund the same day so that was great. A+++ on that.

I’m giving it one more month. The value of this box seemed to be about $21 as best I can tell. It’s difficult bc as I mentioned before most of these seem to be the sample sized ,gift with purchase, type products. I’ve never had an Ipsy bag valued at less than $45 and that had no full size products so I expected more from this subscription service. But again,the next one could be great. I’ve heard many people say that Ipsy or Glossybox was horrible for them ,while I’ve only had great experiences. Maybe this is my suck box. Haha. Either way,it’s fun to try new things. I don’t need to have ALL the subscription boxes though. Feel free to leave comments and opinions on your box experience (s).

~Moonkitty

May 2016 Ipsy Glam Bag

So….I have to say…this month Ipsy ROCKED IT for me. Every single item in this bag is an A+++

For a few months now the bags have been great,no doubt,and I have mostly no complaints. My only issue is with the lipstick colors they kept choosing for me. I got three bright pink/reds back to back. Def not my color choice…although I have used them regardless for some modeling and a few selfies. They aren’t anything I would wear on the regular. This month that changed!

Anyhow let’s jump in!

• Hikari Cosmetics : Shimmer Bronzer

This first item is the one I was MOST excited about. In my first or second Ipsy a year ago I got a Hikari blush that is my absolute favorite. Getting their products in my bag is always awesome. This guy is like a highlight,blush,bronzer all in one amazing product. Super beautiful colors! This is a full sized product that retails for $17.00 With that the bag already more than pays for itself! Woot! Swatches in photo below show each individual color and the bottom is all colors swirled together 🙂 Makes a perfect rose gold!

• Mellow Cosmetics : Creamy Matte Lipstick in Nude.

There were two color options for this and I was SO happy when I found that I had received the Nude color over the orange/red. This is my perfect color. I would choose this for myself. It feels amazing when applied and lasted for hours. It’s also a full sized product retailed at $13.00 Ipsy is totally winning right now!

• Smashbox : X-Rated Mascara

I love Smashbox mascara. This is the second deluxe sample of a type of their mascara that I have received from Ipsy and you won’t hear any complaints from me. This one,though, may be better than the Full Exposure I got in a bag around 6 months ago. t claims that one swipe is all it takes but I have two swipes in the photo below. I wore it all day…no flaking,no smudge. Great! Full size retails for $22.00. This is a deluxe sample that sells for around $9.00 online 🙂

 

• FORMULA 10.0.6 : Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mud Mask

I have a Formula 10.0.6 mask already for detox so it was fun trying a different one! I actually think I like this one better. I just tried it and it really made my skin feel great! We’ll have to give it a few days to make sure it doesn’t break me out,though. The full sized product retails for $6.99. This is a deluxe 1.0 fl oz sample that will last quite a while. There is no price I could find for the deluxe sample so I would value it at around $3.00

 

• Vera Mona : Eye Smudger Brush

Lastly,this lovely brush. I LOVE WHEN IPSY SENDS BRUSHES. I have no idea why people complain. Well maybe I will be too once I have 100 or so…maybe. Haha. But right now,I do not have the largest collection of nice quality brushes and I’m a happy gal 🙂 I couldn’t find a retail price for this brush in particular but the other brushes were $9.99. I would put it in that price range. And it’s a fantastic brush. It has replaced my favorite go to ELF smudger. It’s also cute and purple 🙂

 

Totally worth $10.00! If you want to jump on board and get cool products like these, monthly, then use my link! It gets me points 🙂

https://www.ipsy.com/new?cid=p_share_ref&sid=link&refer=32fwu

~Moonkitty

 

Victorian Inspired Ariel

In my world I get commission requests for so many variations on Disney princesses. Some people want to throw down a grand…some want to keep it under $30. Well,I have a game I play against myself,a challenge if you will,to see what I can accomplish (for myself) for  under $20.00 🙂 All photos except group shot are from Paul Cory Photography.

I’m lucky,I know,bc I do have lots of material to pull from. Most everything for this costume came directly from my supplies. The only items purchased specifically for this look are the wig and an XL green dress by Kathie Lee from Goodwill. I also picked up some white fabric needed for various costumes and brown spray paint for the shoe fins. So My total for this costume was right at $18.96 ( I will break this down later in the blog). And here is the final result :

 

And here is the breakdown for me with photos:

• The first item I found that made me want to make this costume is this bright green (photo doesn’t do it justice colorwise) Kathie Lee dress obviously 90’s style 🙂 I was drawn to this bc it’s an XL so it has loads of great fabric for use. Also…the details are amazing. I immediately knew that I could make some killer spats from this sucker. I found it at Goodwill for $5.00

• I knew I wanted “shoe fins”. I wasn’t too sure how I wanted to make a first version of these …but as I was cruising Walmart I walked by the paint aisle and saw paint stirrers. Magical. The perfect thing. Since they go with paint…Walmart can’t charge you for these. I tried to pay for them,I asked two different people…but NO. So yay! FREE. I picked up Brown paint on sale for $2.99 and a lot more white fabric than I would need for this haha. I had other projects to do 🙂 So the cost for that was $2.97

It’s probably obvious how I made these once you look at them again….haha…. Paint stirrers painted brown,hot glued to fabric. This is also a shot of the spats I made from the dress. Literally just cut the pieces off and tied them around the shoes. the good thing is…with spats you don’t have to use Victorian boots (I am though) you can use any boot and make it look snazzy with this extra fabric piece.

So my total for this is $18.96

• Green dress for materials: $5.00 Goodwill
• Shoe fin materials: $5.96
• Red wig: $8 from Ebay

Other items used in this are:

• Black gloves I sewed some of the green material from the dress onto as well as little white buttons. These are not necessary but if you wanted to go that route you can pick these up for as little as $3-$10
• The corset purchased previously for $9.99 on Ebay
• Ruffled purple shirt from Goodwill $3.75
• White ruffled bought at a thrift store for .25
• Striped thigh highs purchased on clearance at Spirit Halloween $1.99
• Victorian Boots: Ebay $9.99
• Black top hat from Party City $9.99 which I glued every random piece of crap lying around on my coffee table. I mean that literally. My boyfriend chews on things so there were bottle tops and weird pieces of plastic hanging out. They are forever on this hat now. I also glued seas shells, empty thread spools,some netting and a fork (dinglehopper) on top 🙂
• The green overskirt was made from the green dress materials.
• I’m wearing a black skirt I already had under the green one for aesthetic.
• Fluffy petticoats bought through various trips to Carolina thrift for .99 each
• The parasol was borrowed.

So total in purchasing everything would be roughly around $60.00 To cut corners thrift stores and your closet are great! Like I said…most of this I had. I wear that purple shirt regularly. Just so happens it works perfect for this.

This was a group shoot I organized at Castle McCulloch. All models made/provided their characters and costuming. I’ll most likely do a separate blog for that event. I have many awesome photos to share of the other models involved 🙂 This photo below was taken by Marie Otero in about 1 minute. She rocked it 🙂 It’s the only group shot I received and she snapped it while she was leaving. #winning I LOVE IT.

Group shot by Marie Otero

Me and the bright red wig didn’t get along. I actually hated it,haha. Idk that Ariel is the character for me. But for one day,surrounded by fun people,I think I rocked it.

 

People have asked me, “How did you keep the shoe fins on?” The answer is…I didn’t. They are first off hot glued to my boots. That lasted about 30 mins into the shoot. They popped right off,glue included so no damage to my shoes. Luckily I had brought a second costume bc I knew that was going to happen. The second model of the fins uses leather straps and is more of a steampunk look. You’ll see that later though.

Ever evolving,ever having fun….Moonkitty 🙂

My Man Hurt Himself Because Of YOU!

I’m quite familiar with CREEPERS these days. I’ve gotten a lot of just weird things over the years…blah blah SSDD. Every once and a while they will surprise me with a new one though. The newest trend seems to be “My husband/boyfriend hurt himself because of you,bitch!” Oh and it’s rocking my world. Is it true? Are they insane? Wtf? One question I don’t ask is…. Is this MY fault? Nope…it’s on you buddy. Anyway…ta dahhhh…

“Bitch when I have to pick my husabnd of five years off the floor then it’s time for a change. You need to take your damaging shit off the internet. No one needs to see that”

This Blog Disproves This Meme

“I don’t understand what brings someone to post photos like you do on facebook. It’s indecent. Your body is for the lord not my husband. He doesn’t need to see that. WE aren’t friends on here but I will tell you that I don’t need to go up on anyones page and see that. He doesn’t. he won’t get into heaven looking at your page. AND OUR CHILDREN NEED THEIR FATHER AND HIS INTACT SOUL.”

***WOW***

“My boyfriend cuts himself because of you. he says he won’t stop till you go out with him. i promsed him a 3 way for his birthday a few years ago. Maybe you can help us out. Hello. hi hi why dont you help me?????”

“we just got back from the hospital. My hubsand was admitted and I AM SO PISSED. he does nothign but look at your page. you are such a bad influence and i’m ging to have you take down! i’m reporting all your porngraphic photos.”

“My husband cant control his actions. Women did to be better about keeping their clothes on so that men don’t leave their wives for loss women. I am embarrased to be a women. Men cant help it!! Stop bullying them into looking at you. It pains him to look away.”

“My boyfriend says he’s scared of his feelings about you. It’s causing him a lot of pain. Don’t call the cops. Please”

“he’s mine,not yours. He doesn’t need to see you. He doesnt care about costumes. He tells me he has a headache”

***HEEEEEE***

“He put his fist through a wall bc of you,bicth. He was so mad about it.”

***Mad about what? Don’t just drop in with no context,subtext….theme…damn..anything. Help a bicth out!”

Social media is fun???

I sort of feel like maybe these women should move on…

~Moonkitty

 

 

 

SlackPunk Photography

I had been shooting with The NCPG for a while when a few of my friends, who were also modeling, started shooting with Marcus Allen AKA SlackPunk Photography.  I had met him at an event I attended in promotion for Castle McCulloch. It was a zombie themed bar crawl and this was the photo he captured of a friend and I.

Braaaaaains

From the photos I was seeing from the collabs between my friends and Marcus,the looks was very dystopian…urbex awesomeness…gritty and raw. Up until this point I had never modeled in this style. I probably didn’t even know that it existed 🙂 I’m a newbie heyyyyyaaaa! Anyhow I most likely hit him up in my regular fashion and say “Hey I’m me wanna shoot my face?” Maybe not…I can’t recall. But we did shoot,twice in fact,and this was this first round 🙂

Marcus is super cool and knows the most amazing spots. In this shoot we traveled to Lexington to hit up an old abandoned rest home. Creepy much? Oh indeed and so much fun! I wasn’t too sure what to wear. I had been working on the final design of a corset for my line so…last minute I threw it on and added ruffled tanga shorts and boots. I had been gifted a handmade Triskele necklace at Transformus (A Regional Burning Man sanctioned event in NC) and I felt I would break it. I wanted to get it in as many photos as I could. I was sneaking it into everything back then 🙂 Is what it is…haha.

The location made for SO many various styles. There’s graffiti,over growth,crazy decay…walls are falling down..should I be stepping on THIS floor? Just kidding,we are 100% safe,always 🙂

Bitch face in full effect

Super fun shoot in a rad location. I recognized some of the walls from shoots that other models had done with the head of The NCPG. The area was so diverse though that many models and photographers could use it and not get the same shots. I’m pretty sure that Marcus could make any setting look unique though!!

Soon after this shoot the leader of The NCPG decided to release “his location information” about this place and made an event for the whole group to shoot at the location. The problem with that being…this was sort of an off limits type place. No trespassing. We all knew this and it was even stated in the group. Someone from the group decided to call the police though and ask if it would be ok…which NO IT’S NOT. So…that shoot got shut down and then the area was monitored. I don’t recall seeing any photos after that coming out of here.

After the shoot Marcus decided I needed to have real Lexington BBQ so we stopped at a spot there and ate while we looked at photos from the shoot. I have a difficult time eating before I shoot so I was starving by this point! Haha!

The shots above are some of my favorite. Everyone always asks how we did them. Magic,of course! Haha. At the time I knew little about what the photographer was doing to get a shot. I know more now!  I CAN tell you what I personally did. I stood in a corner that had a light set in the bottom of it and acted badass 🙂 And by badass I mean shook my hair around and flipped it,etc. Now that probably sounds ridiculous but if you’ve ever tried to catch a good hair flip on camera….you know that pain. It can look good or it can be really really bad. I have some epic ones in my port due to some amazing photographers and my excess of head hairs 🙂

Seeing these photos come to life online was amazing. It was everything I didn’t even know that I wanted.  I wasn’t exactly sure what I had even expected. A lot of the time I was just shooting for fun and if it turned out good I was thrilled! I didn’t even actually know where we were going until we got there! Btw I don’t recommend doing that unless you know the photographer or ,in my case,you personally know others (not like one random person) that have shot with the photographer. Always verify that you are not going out with a creeper!

So yea,great day…fab location…if you’re on FB look up SlackPunk Photography. You won’t be disappointed.

~Moonkitty