019. almost done!

This is going to be the second to last look in my Disney Princess series. You can view my others here. I am saving my favorite, Belle, for last! Today we have Rapunzel from Tangled. I love Rapunzel so much! She's strong and adventurous, just like Belle. Anyways, on to the makeup.

Products Used:

Too-Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

Rockeresque Beauty Company in Hula Hoop

Rockeresque Beauty Company in Misshapes

Rockeresque Beauty Company Hollywood

Rockeresque Beauty Company in Platinum Blonde

Virus Insanity in Faerie Knoll

Virus Insanity in Battered (for brows)

Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner Pencil in Perversion

Maybelline Colossal Lashes Mascara

018. bad at blogging.

I know. I suck at keeping up, but dammit, I do what I want! In all reality I've had a pretty busy past couple of weeks, though. I got a promotion at work, went down to visit Sara and sold a bunch of stuff at her garage sale, my Aunt died, and I went to Chicago for LeakyCon. Lots of stuff. So, I guess I'll start off with my picture of the day.

Day 04 - A picture of your night.

I've been sick all day so I've mostly just been playing Portal 2 and eating Skittles. I did take a break to watch The Hunger Games, though. And right now I'm downloading Cabin in the Woods and I'm SO EXCITED because that movie was fantastic and I feel like I've been waiting forever for it to come out on DVD.

Anyways, I have to say this past weekend was one of the best I've ever had. I went to LeakyCon. For those of you who aren't aware, LeakyCon is an annual Harry Potter convention that's been going on since 2009. This year it was in Chicago, so I was finally able to go. And it was amazing. I met a few of the more minor actors, I danced all night with fellow Potterheads, I had the most amazing butterbeer flavoured truffles, and I met my second favorite author of all time, John Green. Me and my sister both agreed that we absolutely HAVE to go to next year's Leakycon in Portland. Hopefully Sara will be joining us. Now, for a few pictures.

 

 Me in my Ravenclaw robes.

My badge with my collected ribbons.

 

My signed copy of Looking for Alaska.

Me in my Ravenclaw hair rosette.

I should get to sleep, since I'm sick and all. Talk to you later, muffins! ♥

017. 23 in 23!

So, I stole this idea from Sara. I'll be making a list of 23 things I want to accomplish in my 23rd year. Some of you may know I turned 23 last Thursday, the 19th! Yay me! Some of these will be easier than others, but hey, realistic goals are a good things! Here it goes.

01. Stop drinking soda.
02. Visit three new places.
03. Get a new tattoo.
04. Read the whole A Song of Ice and Fire series.

05. Wear my first cosplay to an anime convention.
06. Make a recipe from my Pinterest Foodspiration board once a month.
07. Lose 40lbs. by exercising and eating healthy.
08. Save $10 a paycheck.
09. Write one chapter of my novel a month.
10. Start making my own eyeshadows. Maybe start selling them.
11. Go on a road trip with people I love.
12. Dye my hair an unnatural color.

13. Read ten new books.
14. Move into my own apartment.
15. Get a husky to keep me company in said apartment.
16. Create moss graffiti somewhere.

17. Play the Assassin's Creed series in its entirety.
18. Sell/donate my old clothes and get new ones.
19. Get my WoW hunter, Katnysse, to level 85.
20. Bake a new flavour of cupcake at least once a month.

21. Be vegetarian for one month.
22. Complete my Rockeresque Beauty Company eyeshadow collection.
23. Get a paid makeup job for a wedding or photo shoot.

016. we left the old world.

It was just announced that the Vampire Diaries won't be coming back until October 11th. So far away!!

Anyways, I think that this summer I'm going to continue writing by book. I took a novel writing class about two years ago and got three chapters in to this really neat story that I was really excited about. But, for some reason, after the class ended I had no idea where to go with it. After talking to my dear friend, Cody, I've gotten some inspiration and I think I know where I want the story to go. If anyone is interested in reading the first three chapters and giving me some feedback, please let me know. I really need input. Also, last night I was struck by what I want the cover to look like if I ever finish it and get it published. Maybe if Sara would like to make it for me it would give me a little extra motivation? =D

Today's daily photo challenge is Day 04 - A picture of your night.

Workin' at the Blockbuster with my hipster owl sticker.

015. lost in the echo.

I really missed Linkin Park. I've loved them for 10 years. Their new album, Living Things, came out today and I just love it so much. I wish I could go see them in Chicago this coming August, but tickets are ridiculously expensive.

Anyways, today is the first week of project52. I'm using Sara's theme list and today I chose the theme: egg.

I was making a bagel sandwich this morning and I kind of killed it... But it still tasted good. =]

014. baby you light up my world like nobody else.

Yes, internet, I'm aware I used a One Direction lyric in my title. I can't help it, I just love that song! Anyways, tonight I'm going to see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which I'm pretty excited about. I was hoping to read the book before it came out, but it snuck up on me and I wasn't able to. Maybe I'll read it after I see it. I've really been slacking on my reading this year. I'm pretty sure the only books I've finished are the Hunger Games trilogy. Which were amazing, of course. But I really want to get reading A Song of Ice and Fire. Game of Thrones took over my life from April to June, but there's going to be a year break so I REALLY want to read the whole series in that time. I also want to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower before that movie comes out, but we'll see.

I've been REALLY excited about Sugarpill's new Heartbreaker palette that came out a couple weeks ago. I just couldn't resist and I bought it. It came in the mail yesterday so I did a look that was inspired by one of my favorite MUA's, xsparkage.

I used 2AM in the inner corner, Velocity on the lid, Mochi in the crease, and Acidberry above that. Then I used Tako as a brow highlight and VIE's Abbey as an inner corner highlight. I couldn't stop looking at it all day.

I'm now on Day 03 of my photo challenge, and today is a picture of the cast from your favorite show. I have several favorite shows, but there is one that sticks out above the rest.

The Vampire Diaries!

013. adventures in baking.

Today I made a Red Velvet Cheesecake. A few months ago my good friend Elysha brought home Red Velvet Cheesecake form the Cheesecake Factory and I've been craving it ever since. I've never made a cheesecake before so this was definitely something new for me. I used this recipe from from Recipe Girl. I made everything from scratch except for the actual cake, which I used a box mix for, because the last time I tried to make red velvet cake it was a complete disaster. I also made some whipped cream to put on top because yum. Here is my finished product!

And now here is day 2 of my photo challenge: A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.

 

This is me and my little sister. I was going to post a picture of me and Sara, but we apparently have no pictures together. My sister is 8 years younger than me and, until she turned about 13, we didn't get along at all. But now we're pretty much best friends!

012. the triumphant return.

Hello, lovelies. I know it's been a while, but my best friend Sara has given me the motivation(in the form of a pretty new layout) to get back in the swing of things. I'm going to start this off by giving myself a schedule. Every Monday and Friday I'm going to post a makeup look. Every Tuesday I'm going to make a project52(I'll explain more about this later) post. I'll try to do a couple reviews a month, but that depends on how much new makeup I get. I'd like to do a recipe a week, but we'll see about that one, too. And EVERY DAY for the next 31 days I'm going to be doing a photo meme post. I have a list of 31 things to post a photo of and I'll add an explanation along with the photo. Today we have "Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts."

01. My name is Courtney, but you can call me Cupcake.

02. I'm one of the 3 biggest Harry Potter fans I know.

03. I work at Blockbuster.

04. I have two kitties, who I love dearly.

05. My favourite colour is purple.

06. I like to take photos.

07. I drive a Prius. No, it is not gay. I'm a girl.

08. I was born in Chicago, IL and I intend to die there.

09. I love playing with makeup.

10. I'm going to own a cupcake bakery someday.

011. I'm BAAAAACK, with a review!

Hello, readers! It has been a while, I know. I kind of got out of the swing of things, but I'm hoping to get back in! Lately I've been obsessed with a few indie makeup companies, and one of them is Virus Insanity Eyeshadow(VIE). Owned by the lovely Jennifer, VIE's tagline is "Eyeshadow so bright, it's insane!" And boy does she deliver! She offers a VERY wide variety of high-quality, high-pigmented shades. However, I'm not here to talk about her eyeshadow. I'm here to talk about her BRAND NEW VIE Crazy Eye Primer.

The description from her Facebook says:
"The VIE Crazy Primer is made with moisturizing butters to help improve the condition of your eyelids while keeping your eyeshadow in place. Waxes help hold your eyeshadow (and glitter!) all day and night without creasing, while making your Virus Insanity Eyeshadow crazy bright!"

I purchased some as soon as it was released and got in the in mail a couple days later. In this review, I'm going to be comparing it against Too Faced Shadow Insurance, because it's my primer of choice.

Here's what the packaging looks like.


And here's when you open the jar. I am reminded of a depotted NYX jumbo pencil, but when I put it on my finger, it feels creamier and lighter.


Here I have applied a VIE shadow called Fishy over the VIE Crazy Primer on the left, and TFSI on the right. Photo was taken in direct sunlight. Just at a glance the VIE side looks more pigmented and glittery.



I wore the swatches on my hand for several hours and took some after photos.


Here's after I ran water over both swatches for about 30 seconds.


So far, the VIE Crazy Primer is looking pretty great! The next day, I decided to give it an eyelid test. On my left eye, I applied VIE Crazy Primer. And on the right I applied TFSI. I did the same look using the same shadows (VIE's Sweet Dreams and Shiro's Lance the Dragon Trainer) and wore them for work for about 7 hours.
Before work:
VIE Crazy Primer

TFSI

After work:
VIE Crazy Primer

TFSI:


Overall, I am extremely impressed with VIE's Crazy Primer. It offers VERY similar results to a high-end brand primer at a fraction of the cost at $6.50 for a 5 gram jar. I would definitely recommend the primer, as well as all of her other products.

010. The Drunken Turtle EOTD

Here are a few EOTD's I've done in the past week or so. The first one I like to call the Drunken Tutrtle because... well... you'll see.




Lid: Sugarpill Tipsy
Crease and Lash Line: Shiro Squirtle
Highlight: Lime Crime Nymph

This next look was just me playing around. Not gonna name the colors because they're all Lime Crime and it really doesn't matter. I would like to say that while I don't buy from or support Lime Crime anymore, I used to a lot and so her shadows make up a good majority of my collection.




Annnd my Mardi Gras look. Pretty generic, but I like it. I may do a more extravagant look in a couple days.



As a side note, I LOVE SHIRO COSMETICS.