Author Archives: Rachel

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About Rachel

One-half of the brains behind abadhomance.com here on Wordpress!

Makeup of the Day

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So, we’ve had FOUR thunderstorms today.  SO FAR.  My hair is a frizz bomb and I know if I put something on it to tame it, it will go from fuzzy to flat to my head.  So, before I post my makeup look of the day, I thought I would ask if any of you guys out there know of a product for smoothing frizz that is ACTUALLY for fine hair that will not weigh it down and have it laying completely flat to my head.

But hey, bangs are getting trimmed tomorrow, finally! 

  
FACE:  Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless in Porcelain with MAC 190 brush, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer under eyes blended with Luxie Tapered Blending Brush (thanks Ipsy), spot concealing with NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain, no setting powder (I may regret this), NYX HD Blush in Taupe for light contour with MAC 168 brush, MAC Blush in Pink Swoon with MAC 116 brush.

EYES:  Wet n Wild Fergie eyeshadow primer in For My Primas blended with ring finger, Urban Decay Naked2 Basics palette (I used all the colors!), MAC 210 Precise Liner brush with L’Oreal Infallible Gel Liner in black, Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara and Tweezerman metal eyelash comb (careful with this sharp SOB!) 

LIPS:  MAC Diva-Ish lipstick with Art Deco lip brush.  

I used no luminizer or highlight today…hmmm.  Very matte.  What do you think? 

Makeup of the Day 

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So, I feel off my makeup game today.  I decided I wanted to give MAC Chromaline in Rich Purple another try today, although the last few tries had me feeling this plum-purple cream liner just had too much red for me to pull it off.  I should have known better, because I’m having allergies today already.  Sure, it matches my shirt, but I don’t think it’s doing me any favors.


Yep…off day.  I also used my sample of MAC Strobe Cream under Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation, hoping it would make it look a little more satin and life like and less flat matte.  Well, it did at least a tad…but the color is still a bit too light or something and oh my GOD you guys…the fragrance of the Strobe Cream is not going away!  I did my makeup an hour ago.  No Bueno!  Yeah, I’ll stick to L’Oreal Lumi Primer, thanks.  :-/

At least my NYX lipstick in Hunk looks awesome.  Thanks, Ipsy!

Ok, here I am 5 hours later, at 9:00 pm.  I added Sephora Contour eyeliner pencil in Eccentric Diva, which is a blue purple, which I think looks a bit better.  However, I think I’ve gone from “satin glowy skin” to straight up shiny (hard to tell here since my house is dark).  Not sure how I’m going to like Strobe Cream in the summer (regardless of the scent).  I am just so…combination.  *gets out Blot Powder* I switched here to Wet N Wild Fergie lipstick in Ferguson Crest Cabernet.  This lipstick has such great staying power!


Ever have makeup off days?

$10 off every $50 you spend at MAC Online – perfect time for me to get a few brushes! 

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So, MAC Cosmetics just launched a new website redesign and they’re doing something they’re not at all known for – they have a coupon code going on for $10 off every $50 you spend, plus, you can chose from 3 free samples.  (Hey, with free shipping, why not make separate orders and try different samples?) I had just sold a few things on eBay and decided this was the time to replace the 210 super-extra-skinny eyeliner brush (Ok, I made up that name) and try 2 eyeshadow brushes I always wished I had – the 217 Blending Brush and the 239 Eye Shading Brush.  I picked a sample of Strobe Cream and got $10.00 off my order!


For many of you, these shadow brushes are already staples; however, I still feel I should do a review on these later.  Just feeling them in my hands, they are about 300,000 times softer than the Crown and Makeup Geek brushes I’ve been using – although we know that doesn’t necessarily mean better, so the proof will be in the test!

I had already used the 210 liner brush…for so many years, actually, that I killed it dead.  Welcome home, new 210.  Nobody makes a brush as skinny as you.  I shall never stray again!

Here’s the code!  It’s good until 11:59 on June 22.


What are your go to eye brushes?

How I learned to love the MAC 190 foundation brush

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I’m a former MAC artist…ok, that was many years ago, but I still use some brushes by MAC (as well as many by other less expensive brands).  The 190 foundation brush is a flat, paddle shaped foundation brush that has always vexed me a bit when I try to use it with liquid foundations, especially ones with a texture like Studio Fix Fluid that can be prone to streaking.


The MAC 190 foundation brush is a natural fiber brush (horse hair) and great for application of liquid and creams, but blending was where I was having a problem – this is because I was using back and forth “painting” type motions to work the product onto the skin and continued trying to blend this way.  Eventually, I became disenchanted with my somewhat streaky results and stopped using this brush altogether, which sucks, because it’s expensive ($34.00 USD).  One day I was feeling bummed out about it and started looking around YouTube for some tutorials on how to get better use from this brush.  Low and behold, Wayne Goss (I love him!) had tips including using the side/tip to stipple and pat any streaky texture away once the product is on the skin, working in small areas of the face.  This absolutely works wonderfully!  I feel like I’m having a renewed love affair with an old brush now, as I have gotten my 190 out and have been using it for days.

Awesome!


MAC 190 brush with Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation in Porcelain with MAC 134 brush and Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Powder in Translucent

Have you rediscovered any old favorites or learned to love something you thought you didn’t like?

Makeup of the Day

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Finally felt like wearing a little slap today!  Going to keep this short and just post a pic and a list of what I used.  Happy Monday!

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FACE:  Tarte Clean Slate Poreless Primer, Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation in Porcelain with MAC 190 brush, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly under eyes, NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain to spot conceal, Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Powder tapped on with MAC 134 brush to set, MAC Mineralize Blush in Gentle with MAC 116 blush brush, MAC Lightscapade as highlight with Sigma F25 tapered face brush, NYX HD Blush in Taupe as contour with MAC 168 angled contour brush, ELF Mist and Set sprayed lightly to make the whole look a tad less matte

EYES:  Wet N Wild Fergie eyeshadow primer, Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palette (I seriously used about 6 colors?), L’Oreal Infallible Super Slim liquid liner, Anastasia Brow Powder in Ebony with Anastasia #7 brow brush, Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara.  (I used about 6 different eye brushes, most are Sigma and MAC…no clue what all the numbers are but I shall point out that the Sigma pencil brush is awesome!)

LIPS:  NARS Rikugyen lip pencil (Sephora gives this pencil in the NARS duo for your birthday)

What are you wearing today?

What’s on your nails? Essie For The Twill Of It

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So, I’ve been under the weather, so no posts in a couple of days, but last night I managed a home mani-pedi!  I used Nailtiques #2, Essie’s For The Twill Of It, and topped it with Poshe fast drying top coat.  This nail polish is an amazing multi-chrome with hints of teal, magenta, and silver-brown.  In some lights, it appears gunmetal.  It came out 2 years ago, but if you can’t find it, supposedly Peace & Love & OPI by OPI is nearly exactly the same.

  
I really wish I could capture all the colors in this amazing polish better!

What’s on your nails? 

What jewelry are you rocking for summer?

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I have a deep, abiding love for white metals, always have.  I have a great big bunch of sterling silver jewelry…ridiculous amounts of it, since you can sometimes find such great deals on it.  One of the things I love about the current revival in 90s fashion is that suddenly, my jewelry is back in style.  No, I never stopped wearing this stuff!  

  
All those pieces were found in expensively on eBay…except one.  I bought the thumb ring at a hippie boutique in 1994.  Bringing back the 90s?  Or kept it alive all this time?

So, I showed this photo to Kristin and she said “You know we all wore that stuff!  Oh, and the black cabochon rings with the filigree around it.”  To which I said, “Ahem, left hand,” and sent her this photo:

  
Pardon the swollen hands, but it’s hot as HECK here.  

What jewelry are you rocking this summer? 

What’s on your nails? Do you lilac it?

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Today, I have a nice mixture of spooky and sweet going on – my claw midi ring and this lovely cool pastel purple nail polish, OPI’s “Do You Liliac It?”  

  

I used Sally Hansen Cuticle Remover (blue gel of the gods), Nailtiques #2 as a base coat, two coats of the OPI color, and Poshe quick drying top coat.  Honestly, this color had plenty of shine without the top coat!  

What’s on your nails? 

Seche Restore nail polish thinner – I love you!

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Ok, so see this bottle of Milani glitter nail polish?  It’s dead.  Well…maybe it’s just pinin’ for the fjords.

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No, this bottle of nail polish is not just merely dead, it has ceased to be.

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It has gone to meet its maker!  Bereft of life, it rests in peace!  Its glittery processes are now history!  It has kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain, and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!  THIS IS AN EX NAIL POLISH.  But wait, what’s this…

Enter, stage left:

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Seche Restore is a nail polish thinner that’s made especially to work with the quick dry top coat, Seche Vite.  The awesome thing about this stuff, however, is that it works brilliantly to thin out regular nail polishes that are past their prime.  Seche Restore comes with a glass pipette that is separate from the bottle, since the cap needs to stay extra tight so the chemicals don’t evaporate.  That’s the only slightly odd thing about this product for me, but I don’t mind it, because:

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*choir of angels sings*  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Just add a few drops, or a dropper, or however much your bottle needs to get to the consistency it needs to be to apply nicely again.  Close it up tight and roll the bottle between your hands and then check the consistency until you get it just right.  Voila!  Amazing!

Just a note…Seche Restore does contain tolulene, so if remaining 3-free or 4-free or 5-free with your nail products is a big deal to you, then you’ll want to steer clear of this polish thinner.  Then again, Seche Vite does contain tolulene also.  I had tried to go all 3-free until I realized my nails do just terribly without my Nailtiques strengthener, so I am back off that train until I find a replacement (Citra did not work for me, so I’m open to suggestions).

I did this mani with this glitter polish, though I took it off a day later.  I didn’t do the neatest job, but see that cup of coffee there?  I think I’d had about 4 of them.  😉

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It’s Sunday – time to organize and clean!

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So, if I can get to it, I usually wash my brushes on Sunday (unless I haven’t used them much).  This weekend I’ve been cleaning a lot and today I rearranged my new makeup desk setup (I recently moved EVERYTHING across the room because I decided standing up is for the birds). I’m sure I will keep moving it around because I cannot seem to get good lighting even with 2 lamps and a lighted mirror.  Well…I got the cheap one…not the $200 one…ah, that’s a post for another day.

Last night as I kept dropping things while getting ready to go see Fury Road (holy shit, Kristin, you were right, OMGGGGGGG), I got sick of my desk space being taken up by my brush roll, dropping things, etc, so I went back to my cases and vase filler I put together with supplies from Michael’s.  In no time, I will be sick of dust and random cat hairs…there is no winning when it comes to brush storage.  (And yes, I’m running a brand new air purifier in here!) 

  
That’s an obscene number of brushes.  Some aren’t even shown here.  I take really great care of them, though, and most of my MAC brushes are about 13-14 years old – no lie!!  If you invest in quality brushes and care for them properly, it’s a worthwhile investment.  That’s not to say there aren’t some cheap gems out there – see that $1 ELF concealer brush?  I spot conceal with it nearly every day.  There are some Sonia Kashuk and Eco Tools brushes in there, too, along with the MAC and Sigma.  You might even spot one or two detail brushes from the art store! 

What brushes are your favorite?  Any special tips for how you store them?