How to Get the Most Out of Seche Vite (from Pretty Girl Science)

Everyone loves Seche Vite, right? Seems that way. But if you've had trouble getting it to work like the miracle top coat it's purported to be, these tips from Pretty Girl Science will be super helpful.

Rules for buying makeup from e.l.f.

Believe it or not, I have more to say on this subject than: 1. Put money in money slot. 2. Take out makeup. (If only.) I thought I'd write a small post with my advice for how to get your money's worth from e.l.f. since I see that they've extended their 50% off sale for another day.

I know there are people out there who are violently opposed to e.l.f., because "it's all crap" or whatever. That's not true. Some of it is crap. Some of it is mediocre. Some of it is wonderful. That's pretty much the range of quality you'll get from any cosmetics brand, whether it's Chanel, or Cover Girl, or Wet N Wild. You can browse my e.l.f. tag to see some of what is shitty and what isn't.* I was adding things to my wishlist for the last six months or so, and I finally bought it all, so I'll be posting more reviews of e.l.f. ad nauseum for the next while.

What e.l.f. is particularly good for is trying out new things without much risk.  Wondering if you can actually pull off hot pink lipstick? Or if you can figure out how to do winged eyeliner? Or if highlighting is actually a thing that is worth spending time on? Buy some basic shit from e.l.f. Then if you decide it's never going to happen, you're only out $1-2. If you decide that you love it, but you could use some better products, then upgrade. But you might very well find that the e.l.f. makeup you're using works great.

(Note: I realize that some of you are going to be like, "Dude. Pink lipstick, liquid eyeliner, and highlighter are some kindergarten-level shit." Don't be such an asshole, imaginary interlocutor! And don't call me dude. They may be basic for the majority of the people who actually read beauty blogs, but not for the majority of the (feminine) population as a whole. Personally, I've only just mastered red lipstick at the age of thirtCOUGHCOUGHCOUGH.** And by mastered, I mean I've found colors/formulas that I like, and I can apply it with a decent level of competence. I still almost never actually wear it outside of my apartment.)

Anyway, on to the rules:

Rule #1: Always buy e.l.f. online and never for full price.
Don't buy it at Target. Just don't. I know that there's something to be said for looking at the product in person before you buy it. So look at it in Target, and then buy it online. It's always going to be more expensive from other retailers than it is from the eyeslipsface.com website. Sign up for their mailing list, and let their emails go to your spam folder. Check the folder every week or so and see what's going on. e.l.f. has a 40% off/50% off/BOGO sale almost every month. That means that the majority of products are going to be 50 cents to $1.80 each. A very few will cost $3.60.

"Stamping" mascara as eyeliner (a trick for those of us with limited eyelid real estate)

The Beauty Department is a great resource for makeup tricks. They make everything look so fucking pretty, though I've had some mixed results trying out their techniques myself. I'd say they work most of the time, but every once in a while there's a fail. Like this two-toned lip tutorial - I couldn't find any combination that didn't just look like the 90s dark lip liner thing. Even when the liner wasn't really darker than the gloss. Maybe that's why there's no full face image? And even though I do layer my skin care products like this, this post is rife with misinformation (the comments point out many of the problems).

One of the treasures I've discovered, however, is this technique of "stamping" mascara at the base of the lashes to basically do the job of eyeliner. I really don't have much eyelid to work with, so sometimes I have to choose between eyeliner and eyeshadow. With this trick, I can get the thickness and darkness of an eyeliner without taking up any extra space on my lid. Since it works so well, I thought I'd share my results.

Before and after stamping at the base of the eyelash roots with mascara.

It's not dramatic, but it definitely does make a difference. Another way to do this is to dot in between the lashes with eyeliner, but this is much faster and easier. All the instructions are at the link above, but you're not actually applying any product to your eyelid. You're just making the base of your lashes darker. You might end up with a little mascara transferring to the lower rim of your eye immediately after you do it, but that's pretty easy to just wipe away.

Here I used CoverGirl LashBlast Volume in Black-Brown for the first two coats and then Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara (reviewed here) to stamp at the base. There's no real reason why you couldn't use the same mascara for both steps. I just like the separation I get from the CG one and the thickness of the Jordana one. And then I'm left my whole eyelid (what little there is) to play with eyeshadows.

How to reapply sunscreen while wearing makeup (from 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic)

If you're going to be in the sun for an hour or more, and you're using a chemical sunscreen, even in the fall/winter, you'll have to reapply if you want it to keep working properly. Here's how.

But don't use milk of magnesia as primer. Also your sunscreen-containing makeup probably isn't giving you much protection, so don't rely on that.

The Best (And Cheapest) Travel Cosmetics Case (from Maskara)

Spoiler: It's a ziplock bag. I like to use these, because: (1) you can see everything that's in each bag without digging through it or dumping it out to find what you want; (2) if something leaks in your suitcase, it's contained, and you can just throw the bag out and use a new one; (3) you can divide everything up into separate bags (shower stuff, makeup, etc.); (4) you can put your carry-on liquids in one and keep them there; (5) they take up very little space; and (6) they're actually reusable for many, many trips unless you are packing something sharp and spiky (are you?) or something spills.

SO MUCH USEFUL ADVICE! (from The Toast)

So much. Did you know that thing about the gas cap on cars? Damn. This is a very important exception to the Never Read the Comments rule. Read them all.

Never Buy a Razor Again (Or: Where to Get Free Shit)

Disclosure: Affiliate link.
At this point, I have 5-6 brand-new razors in my cabinet, and I didn't pay for any of them. Since I only shave a couple of times a week, those will last me months. Some of them came with refill blades, too. (And remember to use this technique to keep the blades sharp twice as long.) Razors are one of the easiest things to get free samples of online, next to shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, and hand cream. Remember when I showed you my hoard of bath and beauty junk? Most of that was free. I have probably a year's worth of free shampoo and conditioner in there.

Everyone knows about requesting free samples online, right? Or do I only think that because it was one of the first things I did when we got the internet at school in around 1996? I like free things, I like getting (non-junk) mail - perfect. Either way, maybe I can give you at least one source here that you're not already aware of.

Of course you're "paying" for these products with your own time, whatever it takes to find the samples and fill out a form to request them. But if you tend to sit around playing on your computer/device during your downtime anyway, you could do this and get some things in return. You also have to provide some of your information to these companies. I can't emphasize this enough: make yourself a dedicated email address to use for things like this. You will get spam. You might also want to sign up for a Google voice phone number to use. Don't put in a fake phone number - I got multiple calls every day for a few months from spammy sources when someone used my phone number to sign up for something. Not cool.

But enough lecturing, here's where to get the free shit:

How to buy makeup from a blog sale (from Beautiful With Brains)

Good tips! You can get some good deals this way, if you're smart about it.

Tips for building a good makeup collection without wasting your money (from Lipglossiping)

Definitely useful. How to do research and decide what you need most without throwing your money blindly into a pit and just seeing what comes out.

Hair that does itself while you sleep: How to creates curls or waves in your straight hair if you are lazy and/or incompetent (picture heavy post)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I am the fucking worst at doing my hair. Seriously. I still haven't really mastered ponytails and headbands are way above my skill level. To make matters worse, my hair just does not respond to heat styling at all. It doesn't matter what tools I use, at what settings, with what products - I've tried them all. If I use a curling iron or hot rollers to curl my hair, 10 minutes later it's limp and sad and mostly straight.

Luckily, my hair is so naturally stick-straight that I don't really need to do much to it to look presentable. Usually I just wash it, put a little detangling something-or-other in it when it's wet and comb out the tangles, and then let it air dry. That's about it. Sometimes I brush it after it dries, if I want to get all fancy. You can see how straight it is in some of my previous posts.

But it's nice to have a change sometimes, right? Plus, everyone wants hair that is the opposite of what they have naturally, apparently. So I've finally come up with two ways to get waves and/or curls with minimal effort. I mean really minimal. And by "come up with", I just mean that I tried a bunch of things that other people had been doing since forever, and decided that these were the easiest.

Now that you've mastered winged eyeliner (?), try this trick

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
So you've no doubt been spending the last 6 weeks perfecting your eyeliner game (as if you have anything better to do). How's it going? Here's something new for you to try! I call it: Using Eyeliner to Fuck with the Shape of Your Eye.

Create a smoky eye look using eyeliner instead of eyeshadow (from The Beauty Department)

This is good for cheapos who want to try a new technique without buying new products, or for traveling when you forget something or want to limit how much you pack. I like!

How to restore old nail polish.

Don’t throw out your old goopy polishes, and don’t inhale!

How to restore old nail polish.

Makeup Tips for Glasses Wearers

If like me, you have once again given up on the idea that you can ever wear contacts without blinking incessantly and rolling your eyes around like a maniac.

(Though I admit I’m not necessarily going to follow the rules. I’ve worn grey/charcoal/silver eye makeup with my glasses plenty of times without looking like I have black eyes.)

Makeup Tips for Glasses Wearers