Lucy2s

Friday, March 1, 2013

The Virtues of Purple Eyeshadow

Today I am writing about the virtues, yes I said virtues, as in morally excellent almost supernatural power that purple eye shadow has to transform any eye color into something to behold and any day into a magical cornucopia of fun every time you look in the mirror.

Purple is so magical in fact that it is able to bring out the best in any eye color. See below.

I know what you are thinking... "purple, but I don't even wear purple clothes?!?" The good news is that you don't need to wear purple clothes to wear purple eyeshadow. I would suggest that you don't match your shadow to your clothing, but if you feel compelled to have things color coordinated perhaps you could tote a purple bag or shoe!

It has to be said that there are certainly pitfalls that can occur from applying an amethyst hue to one's eyelid. There is the ever present potential that your look might tail spin out of control into something resembling a cross dressing circus clown. I don't have anything against drag queens or clowns but we both know that they wear A LOT of makeup and that might not be a good look for the grocery store. If you follow my tutorial below you will not be ready for barnum and bailey... I promise.

Then there is the other danger that after perfecting the shadow on your upper lids you realize that you quite miraculously must have transformed into a raccoon while in the bathroom. Hmmm, I can tell you how to fix that too.

Now that I have convinced you that purple eyeshadow is beautiful, wearable, fun and possibly imbued with magical powers you just need to put some on! Let's go!

1. First you need to start off with a clean face!

2. I like to use a really good primer to make sure that my shadow goes on smoothly and stays where I want it all day. Today I am using Clinique Touch Base for eyes in Canvas.

3. Using your lid or smoker brush apply the lighter of the purple shades to the whole lid. Today I am using Heliotrope from MadisonStreetBeauty. I can't say enough how much I love her products. They are vibrant, easy to use, vegan and affordable. You know if frugal McDougal over here bought 10 shades... it's good stuff!

4. To prevent the raccoon eye look that we all fear clean up any stray specks that fall off the brush under you eye by gently wiping the area with a cotton swab and repeat this as necessary throughout the make up application.

5. Make a trapezoid shape with the darker color at the outside of the upper lid with your smoker brush. Today I am using Blackberry also from MadisonStreetBeauty.

6. To add a little oomph take your smudger or liner brush and add a little of the darker shade just under the bottom lashes.

7. Apply a sparkley neutral in the crease with your blender brush to make this look day appropriate and soften it. Today I am using Magic Carpet also from MadisonStreetBeauty.

8. Use your black liquid liner to make a thin line across the lid and a slightly winged tip.

9. Add mascara and revel in the joy of wearing beautiful make up! You are no longer a slob kabob!

Go forth and conquer your day you fun, sexy mama! Comment below!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Funniest Comment gets a gift!

I had originally planned something much more thought out and in depth for today's post, but then fate intervened through my cousin in law. Lauren, serendipitously posted an image on facebook last night that I simply cannot ignore. Since the image is now forever seared into my brain and inseparable from my memory I have decided that the best course of action would be a complete and thorough discussion of this pure travesty of an outfit. And to encourage the spirit of the discussion I will be giving gifts to the wittiest participants! Rules later... lets dive in!

Lauren quite accurately captioned the photo "hooker daywear". It's like all three of the Kardashians melded together to form one style and destination confused street walker. I mean where is this harlot headed? to the beach with chains and leggings, on a safari with a band of pirates, to a bondage conference on Plymouth Rock (pilgram booties???).

This ensemble breaks so many style guidelines I'm not sure if you could count them all... but let's try. If I get 20 comments on this blog post I will give a completely FREE gift to the funniest comment. I will judge this by which one makes me laugh the loudest. It's all very scientific. Additionally if any of you want to go the extra mile and drive out to Triangle Town Center, locate this mannequin in the Crush store front, and take an amazing photo with the mannequin your efforts will be rewarded with $20 worth of Lucy2s bucks that you can use at any craft fair that I am in! You have until Friday at midnight. GO!

I know you wanted to see it again. You're welcome.
Comment!!!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Re: Beanie Nation by ManRepeller

Being a follower of Leandra Medine and her blog ManRepeller, I am always excited to read her thoughts. I was especially excited on Feb 21 to see that she had devoted an entire post the beanie (or if you're from Dudley the toboggan, and yes I am aware that northerners consider a toboggan a sled... all that nonsense aside). I have always been of the opinion that the multifunctional beanie was the perfect way to top of most outfits. I personally rock a beanie every single chance I get from September to April and on any unseasonably cool day in between and have for most of the fashion aware portion of my life. I think she was absolutely correct with her assertion that "Beanies are not about snow, they are about our inconspicuous search for the right dose of cool." That's why I own like 27 in all varieties (except the cat ear type she referred to. Not a cat person... They go potty in your house, ewww. Anyways, I digress). What I was confused about was that this was suddenly a trend. I think the mysterious appearance of the beanie as the new must have accessory begs the questions, was the beanie ever not a wardrobe staple for the cool and uncool alike? I am almost certain that while hipsters were still embryos the beanie was making appearances, providing that sometimes illusive "dose of cool" to rock stars, movie stars and regular folks alike. Lets explore a little history shall we...

Late 60's - Patti Boyd with George Harrison. She was married to a Beatle and a model so I'm going to guess she was pretty cool and liked beanies.

1970's - Ali MacGraw wore a crocheted beanie to the Academy Awards. seriously.

1980s - So I couldn't find a lot of evidence for the 80's. I'm going to wager a guess that sky high heat damaged bangs just don't mesh stylistically with the eclectic cool of the beanie and instead I'm going to cite Axl Rose with his infamous headband/hat combo... it's beanie shaped. kinda...

1994 - Kurt Cobain, the late reluctant leader of the grunge movement and El Capitan of cool for the early 90's if you ask me, wearing guess what? a beanie in 1994 at a concert in Milan. It appears as though he might also deserve credit for another trend, the oversized cardigan (a.k.a. the boyfriend cardigan that was reintroduced to us a couple of years ago.)

1998 - Britney Spears - She was the height of cool in the late nineties and early 2000's and she wore beanies.

2002 - Season 5 of Sex and the City... really, do I even need to continue. Carry Bradshaw was the voice and embodiment of all of our fashion fantasies and she wore a beanie.

2003 - Gwen Stefani - I'm certain I could have found a photo of her wearing a beanie for each year, but I picked this one because it has sequins... and I like shiny things.

2005 -Brad Pitt - beanie... lots of beanies.

2007 - Versace runway - yup beanies on the runway back in '07.

2009 - Beyonce beanie.

2011 - Jared Leto - Far superior to the silly cat beanie. A. it's pink, B. it has ear flaps and huge pom poms, C. It's not a cat.

2012 - good old K-Stu - It was hard to find a picture of her without a beanie.

In short, beanies have always been around and they've always been cool. To call them a trend is like calling wearing shoes a trend, or eating green beans with dinner a trend. Somethings are just always awesome. In the words of the formidable Aretha Franklin "Don't say Aretha is making a comeback, because I've never been away!”

And yes, I wrote this while wearing a beanie. What do you think? Is the beanie a trend or an accessory with overlooked staying power? Comment below!

p.s. If you want to see where I got these images just click on them and follow the links (lazy way to not plagiarize. don't shoot me.)

Friday, February 22, 2013

Prabal Gurung - Part 2: The Good,The Bad, The Lumpy.....

Well, I finally made it out to the local Target the other day and I have to say that I left feeling slightly deflated. Perhaps it was the fact that I was so ready to purchase that any thing less than apparel perfection was going to seem like a let down, or it could be that my local Target only got in a fraction of the collection which was already picked over by the time I made it there..... Never the less, here is my review of what I found and some quick pics to go with my experience.

First the Good: The color palette was as crisp and lovely as it had appeared in the photos. The floral abstraction prints were intricately detailed and yet graphically provocative. The red and black dress that I featured as a date night look was well made with a quality structured fabric that has a sumptuous sheen. The shoes appeared to be of good quality (at least good enough to make it through a few seasons).

The Bad: The overall quality of the garments was on par with what I would expect from a mega chain... like k-mart, and not what I would expect from a collection with an impressive designer label attached to it. Being that I am the honey badger of bargain hunting, I have clothing shopped at Target for years and have seen much higher quality from other collections and even their regular stock. The construction was sadly sloppy. I saw lots of hanging strings. Additionally we experienced a bit of a sticky situation... with the zippers. I heard a proverbial "whomp, whomp, whoooommmp" resounding in my head as I struggled with the second faulty zipper out of four dresses. Then there was the issue of fabric choices. One touch and I was instantly transported to goodwill, yes I said it, goodwill.... The land of super scratchy cast off polyester creations, exactly where some of this fast fashion will end up next year. Couldn't have felt any cheaper. Insert sad face here.

The Lumpy: If you happen to have any lady lumps, or in my case lady mountains, prepare yourself for a journey, a journey up a couple of sizes. For most that self esteem crusher alone is reason enough to leave the clothes on the rack and keep it moving.

Here is the photo of my strangled lady lumps... I still love the colors though!

Comment below and if you enjoy what you're reading remember to subscribe or follow with Bloglovin' to keep up with all your blogs in the same place!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Prabal Gurung is in Target!

Well, if you've seen my facebook feed you know that I'm in lust with the Prabal Gurung collection, quite aptly entitled "Love" that hit the mega chain on February 10th. The color palette is a crisp modern take on the florals that will come to life very soon to wake us from our winter stupor. The dresses are all cut with figure flattering feminine lines, a bit reminiscent of the 1950's but with a shorter hem and modern details like black mesh, virtually neon lace, and abstract floral prints. Expect to find a lot of color blocking and interesting play on hard and soft through out the collection.

I have pulled some of my favorite pieces from this collection and combined them with items from other retailers to create four looks that I know you're gonna love. They're full of colorful whimsy sure to brighten anyone's day no matter where you're headed. Let your eyes feast on these and let me know what you think!

Casual Work Look -
If you have to go to work you might as well look awesome and feel comfortable.