Blaq Vixen Beauty

Can I just say that I cannot wait until my two classes are over? I have a massive headache so I decided to rest a bit by sharing what I bought this past weekend (not pictured: Kiss Lashes with Application Strings; Essie Nail Polish in Beach Bum Blu):

Lipstick at Target

I think out of everything I purchased, I was really excited to buy the CoverGirl LipPerfection Lipsticks in Divine and Spellbound (from the Fort Lewis Exchange):

I was inspired by Danielle's post "Weekend Makeup Idea: Purple Lipstick" over at the Fashion Bomb. I bought Revlon's Berry Haute last year and was wearing that on a fairly regular basis but decided it was time to try out some new purple shades. When I saw that she recommended CoverGirl LipPerfection Lipstick in Divine. I immediately went out and grabbed this shade. Do you know that I have yet to see any of the new CoverGirl Queen Collection Lip Colors in stores? I couldn't even find any of the old shades (I really wanted to pick up Ruby Remix). I couldn't even find them in clearance! I guess if you're having the same problem, you would have to buy them from drugstore.com.

Anyway, here's what Divine looks like on my lips - I like how it is moisturizing and cream and how I don't have to apply my EOS Lip Balm as a primer:I just love purple lipsticks now - I count Divine as one of my top five of all time. From this picture, it seems like Divine is a dupe for MAC's Up the Amp Lipstick. Revlon's Berry Haute is also a dupe. Yet, out of the three, Divine is the only one with silk therapy that helps to improve the condition of your lips. I told myself back in January that my signature look would be a purple lip with a cat eye. Still working on the cat eye but now I have two purple lipsticks to choose from! I cannot wait to to see how it will look with NARS Downtown Lip Gloss!

Here's how Spellbound looks on my lips as well:

This picture definitely doesn't do Spellbound justice. It's an intense hot pink that reminds me of what MAC's Girl About Town might look like (Spellbound is darker in person). I wear this shade in heavy rotation as well.

I think the best feature about both of these lipsticks is the fact that they leave a nice stain behind after three hours of wear. At that point, you can either reapply the shade or follow up with lip gloss. I also like that lipliner is not necessary - these lipsticks don't feather in the corners or outside my lip line.

Have you tried any of the new CoverGirl LipPerfection shades? Any shades I just have to buy next time?

Editor's note: This post is under construction as I am taking better photos!

I can't even express how happy I am right now! This feels like homecoming to me! I never realized how much I loved face-of-the-days (actually, this was my face I did last night so it's actually a "face-of-the-night") until I took pictures. Believe me, I took so many pictures until I found one that I wouldn't mind showing on the blog. I used my beautyblender but I forgot to do the first step: Dampen your beautyblender with water and then towel dry to remove access water. I used mine dry and here's how everything turned out.

Want to know what I used in my first face-of-the-day (FOTD) of 2010? Want to see more photos? Peep the details!

Enough with the advertisements and promotions...let's get down to the good stuff!

Today, I received an email from Kush Magazine, which is a publication for women of color in the United Kingdom. I'm the new resident writer for their Beauty Buzz section! It seems so surreal to say that but it's true. This is the first offer that I've received that's actually gone through. I was supposed to write for the beauty section for a local newspaper but that is still in progress.

Next, on August 24th, I'll be attending St. Philip's College in San Antonio. I recently changed my major from pre-nursing to journalism. This will be the first I've stepped into a classroom since high school. For my first and second semesters, I took classes online at Kansas City Kansas Community College. Now, for my third semester, I have four subjects that are in a classroom setting and one online. One of the Airmen from my unit is in my class. I'm excited but at the same time I am nervous as hell. I have Speech this semester and when I'm nervous, talking isn't one of my strengths. We'll see how that goes.

Recently, Tia Lanell and I have teamed up for Brush Talk here on Blaq Vixen Beauty. I don't talk too much about my brush collection but since I'm planning to buy some more soon, I'd figured now would be a good time. The latest brushes I bought were back in April, when I was in Mississippi for TDY. I bought the Face Powder Brush with Folding Mini Brush from Elizabeth Arden as well as their 5-Piece Brush Essentials Set. I didn't bring my ecoTOOLS brush set because I didn't think that I was going to buy any makeup. Since I'm not a morning person, I didn't think that I would be waking up early to apply makeup. I should've known better because I ended up buying makeup! I bought a two lip glosses, six brushes and a foundation. That's not too bad, right? :) Anyway, the first installment is in draft. Stay tuned for that! We'll be talking about brushes that we own, have tried and our favorites. We will also spill what we use to clean our brushes. Just today, Tia told me that she was on a beauty forum when she read that one member uses extra virgin olive oil (yes, the type that you get from the grocery store) to clean her brushes! I knew extra virgin olive oil was good for the hair but didn't know that it was great for cleaning brushes. I hope to have it up either today or next week. But I'm shooting for today though.

Yesterday, I was contacted by BeautyTicket to do a giveaway here on Blaq Vixen Beauty. Now, before, I was swearing off of giveaways for a while, since my last handful of giveaways proved to be a hassle. However, I've changed my mind! For my latest giveaway, I'm giving away a 8-Piece Living Water Spa Set from Borghese. Worth $189, you can snag this luxurious at-home spa set for $49.99 for a savings of $139.01! You can save even more by using my special coupon code for all my lovely blaq vixens! This giveaway starts on Monday so don't forget to stop by and enter your name for a chance to win! For those of you who won my Suave giveaway, trust, I haven't forgotten about you!

Lastly, I volunteered to do a guest beauty review on A Girl's Gotta Spa! I'll be reviewing Freeman's Bare Foot Peppermint and Plum Creamy Pumice Foot Scrub. This isn't the only scent available, as I recently learned. If Peppermint & Plum doesn't sound appealing, you can choose from Iced Teaberry and Mint or Lemon and Sage.  Although it's not as popular as Olay Thermal Pedicure, it is formulated for us who stay up on our foot game. If you have minimal dry skin on your heels and between your toes, you'll benefit from this. If you need something heavy duty, please get the Thermal Pedicure! However, Freeman also has a self-warming version of this product if you're interested. You know, I am instantly reminded of what happened when I went shopping with my best friend. We were at Wal-Mart in the bath aisle. I told her how much I loved Olay Thermal Pedicure and how much I loved the warming sensation. When she saw that it cost about $8, she instantly grabbed the Freeman version. She told me, "$8?! I don't have money like that!" How ironic, when she can easily drop $100+ on sexy lingerie at Victoria's Secret! Let me stop!