We Will Miss You Sue

This is going to be a hard one. I've been purposely procrastinating doing this or even leaving my condolences because I have been having a hard time mustering up the strength to do so. I will be writing this with a heavy heart, but it's the least I could do to pay tribute to a special girl that brought so much joy to myself and so many others on a daily basis.

Sue was the beloved fur-baby of friend and fellow pug nut, Trisha (@trisherpie on Instagram), and I have known and followed for over a year now. To be honest, I initially loved Trisha and her account because of Sue bear. I couldn't resist that face and fell in love instantly. Over the course of our friendship, I've gotten to know Trisha and her pug family and have been attached to them all. Besides Trisha being awesome and one tough cookie, I've always admired her for her crazy love for her pugs and others. She often leaves messages for me and others in our wonderful pug community on Instagram and it wouldn't be the same without her.

I am always so grateful for how much Trisha shares with us, especially when she shares her precious pugs and their adventures. Piggy sue was the eldest, followed by twin trouble Rudy and Penny and a Pomeranian somewhere in the mix too. I always look forward to seeing them everyday, especially photos of Sue and I am so thankful that she understood how much and how often we needed to see Sue in her last weeks. Trisha did a beautiful job of making and sharing special memories, showing us a happy and very loved Sue bear.

Sue was incredibly loved and happy all the way to her last moments, you could tell how much she loved her Momma and her family. She looked like she had an amazing life and she was blessed to have a mom and family who would do (and did) anything for her. I also truly believe that Sue was a blessing in Trisha's life and their bond was a very special one. Sue was a very special girl and lived the life any dog would be very lucky to have.

I just want to pay my condolences and hope that Trisha and anyone who knew Sue, know how truly sorry I am. My heart has broken for you, I can only imagine how hard this must have been and how difficult it must be to remain strong and positive. I just hope that you take solace in knowing that although Sue is know longer with us, she lives on in so many of our hearts all around the world. We, the Pug Nation of the World, all shared an immense love together for your little piggy Sue. We can't thank you enough for sharing her with us, but more importantly - doing such an amazing and beautiful job of preparing us to say goodbye to Sue. It was perfect and I'm sure Sue wouldn't have wanted it any different. We could always tell she was proud to have you as her mom, as I'm sure she still is now. We are grieving with you and send you lots of prayers during this hard time.

We love you little Sue bear. We will miss you dearly.

R.I.P. Piggy Sue 10th May 1998 - 10th November 2013

She will always be loved, never be forgotten.

xoxo
Ashley, Babii, Tuna and Maggie

Happy Halloween!

*Major technical difficulties are going on, on my end with this post. Will have everything rectified shortly*

There's no way(in HELL ;) :[ :[ :[ ) that I could not celebrate and honour my favourite Holiday with it's very own post! Halloween is the major reason that I love Fall/Autumn so much and I always look forward to it every year. Just something about the air at this time of year, around this Holiday that gets me excited and want to do festive things.

Of course, the festivities don't start until we have carved this years jack-o-lanterns! Every year I try to push myself harder and go bigger with my jack-o-lanterns, and this year I kept to tradition by carving one scary jack-o-lantern and one creative design. We decided that I would carve a scary jack-o-lantern (as scary as I could create) and my partner would carve the other pumpkin as the 'Death Star' from 'Star Wars'.

For my pumpkin, I just carved it traditionally - gut the pumpkin, hallow out the inside and scrap the walls, and cut out the design. I drew out a couple of designs and this was the spookiest one that I could come up with (it looked much scarier on paper than on pumpkin, but I think I captured the essence of scary lol). I named him 'Razorteeth Rick'.

For the 'Death Star' pumpkin, we gut the pumpkin as usual, but there wasn't much scraping needed because the technique is not to cut out the lines, but to carve them out. This keeps everything intact or else you would have a checkerboard pumpkin. We used chopsticks to carve out the lines horizontally first and the vertically, but used spoons to carve out the circle first. This took about 4 hours from start to finish, but quite the accomplishment!!

Love how they both turned out and I am already thinking about next years pumpkins!

We decorated out house again this year with spiderwebs, skeletons and tombstones. We added a little bit more this year to our Halloween decor (which makes my little black heart happy). Here's how it looked on (a gloomy and wet) Halloween Day.

This year I had to work most of Halloween, but lucky for me that I have to dress up for work! This years theme at work was 'Dead Dolls', not my vote but still lots of fun to do! I couldn't believe the designs and art that everyone came up with, it was all so good! I had lots of fun creating this 'Cracked Doll' makeup and I was surprised that it came out so well without having to white out my entire face. I only used a white pencil as my base all around my eye and to coat my bottom lid and waterline. I still wanted it to be pretty and I loved playing with false lashes this way! So fun! What do you think about my rendition of this classic Halloween 'Cracked Doll' makeup? Be nice - no tricks! It was my first time and these pictures are after it was already 9hrs+ old ;)!

By the time I had come home from work, we had just given out our last piece of candy. But at least I came home to a pack of wolves, some blood(wine) and a few scary movies to finish the days festivities. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way :[ !

Do you love or hate Halloween? How do you celebrate and what are some of the ways that you are festive today? I would love to know in the comments box below, or email me at makeupmasochist@gmail.com and I might even try some of your suggestions next year! What did you think about my Halloween makeup? Did you like the 'Dead Doll' makeup? What were you for Halloween this year? I would love to know and tag me on Instagram #makeupmasochist so I can see and don't forget to follow (@fernonje), if you dare!! :[

Don't forget to subscribe to my blog if you like Halloween too. That probably means you're awesome. Let me know how awesome, by entering your email into the box at the top right corner of this page and I'll let you know every time I post next! You can also follow my blog on Bloglovin' - just click on the icon above or search my blog on the app and follow!

Happy Halloween!!


xoxo
Ashley

Maven Manicure: My Julep October Box

Hi dolls,

I've just noticed that my last two posts are looking funny live (if you can see them at all!), and I am currently trying to fix the issue. Sorry for the inconvenience, I'll have them up and fully functional by today hopefully, because I have some new posts to share!

Well October is just flying by now isn't it?

I got my Julep Maven box a little while ago, sorry for not being able to post about it sooner. Halloween is approaching and its one of the busiest times of year for us MUA's. I'll be doing my best to keep up with posts until then, hopefully all will be back to normal once Halloween is over!

The reason I chose the 'Classic with a Twist' box (again!) this month is because I really love the blood-red colour that comes with it. Honestly I wasn't too impressed with this months selection, I thought they would do more of a Halloween theme. I was expecting dark Halloween colours with maybe some black glitter coats or come crackle top coats... but not so much. This blood-red colour was the closest 'Halloween-y' colour I found within the choices, so that's why I chose this box.

This month, Mavens got to receive Julep's double ended Eye-Kohl Pencil with their Maven nail colours. There was also a Volcanic Ash Mask available with the Beauty Box, but no nail colours are in that choice - just beauty products (I added on the mask to review it up against MAC's 'Volcanic Ash Exfoliator', stay tuned for a review on that soon!). I am actually looking forward to using and testing the Eye-Kohl Pencil, I have been on an eyeliner binge lately and most recently have been turned on to brown eyeliner. I will be doing a review of this lovely as well once I am able to give both colours a good try.

Besides the beauty pencil, this month I received an olive-griege nail laquer ('Winona') along with the blood-red colour ('Anisa'), and I also choose to add on a colour from the 'Bombshell' box - 'Valerie'. It was hard to choose from the 'Bombshell' box and 'Classic with a Twist' box because I love this teal colour! It's super pretty with gold shimmer! Super excited to try this classic fall colour!

I decided to use the red for this months manicure with no accent nail, this time. The reason I chose to use this colour first, because as mentioned, its the perfect blood red and Halloween is coming up. Blood, Halloween, nails... it just made sense. But as a little side note, I have to say I am a little disappointed in the formula for this colour, because after 1 full day of wear there was noticeable edge wear showing and by the next day I had full chips. This is surprising as Julep nail colours usually last me a couple days before showing signs of wear and chipping. :(.

Let's get into the manicure, shall we!

First, I always start by making sure my nails are well groomed and scrubbed clean of debris before applying Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) to the skin around my nail beds. This helps me colour in the lines and makes clean up easier and faster later. Although, another side note, this red colour did stain my skin and was surprisingly difficult to remove off the skin even with the Vaseline.

I start with the first coat...

and apply a second...

I felt that a third coat wasn't needed as the colour applied pretty evenly and was opaque with two coats. Usually two coats with Julep nail colours is enough, and this was true of this colour. I decided not to apply a top coat, because I didn't want my blood red nails to be too glossy or shiny. This could have been one of the reasons the nail colour chipped so early on me. If you're trying this nail colour for this first time and need it to stay, don't skip the top coat. It may be what makes this colour last on the nail. I will be using a top coat next time I use this colour, for sure.

and voila!

Just simple, easy, perfect for Fall or Halloween - blood red nails. I love that I kept it nice and simple this month and painted all my nails this colour. It's been a while since I've had my nails be all nice and uniform with one colour. What did you think of October's Maven choices? What did you chose this month? Are you loving your Maven selections? Not so much? I would love to hear all your thoughts and what you think of this months Maven Box and manicure, in the comments box below! You can also email me your opinions and suggestions to makeupmasochist@gmail.com !

Love manicure and nail posts? Then don't forget to subscribe to my blog for more! Its easy! Just enter your email into the box at the top of this page and you'll get notified by email every time I post! Or you can follow my blog along with all your favourites on Bloglovin'! Just click on the icon at the top of this page, or search my blog on the Bloglovin' App and follow! For more beauty posts and a look into my daily life, follow me on Instagram (@fernonje) and don't forget to tag me with #makeupmasochist so I can see all your lovely manicures!!

For more information on Julep and thier Maven Subscription program, please click the link below:

http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/230456/

Have a safe and Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Boo!

xoxo
Ashley

RiRi Hearts MAC Fall 2013 Collection - Haul & Swatches

I know this might seem a little late, but I have a good reason as to why. I was still searching for two crucial pieces that I needed to have from this collection, or it would be a void in me that no other lipsticks can fill! I finally got 2 out of the 4 items that I didn't catch before they sold out online (I ordered the hour it came out online, and the 4 items I ABSOLUTELY had to have were sold out. It. was. crazy.), so I am still on the hunt for two items. I figured that this would suffice for now and if I happen to get my hands on what I am missing, I will add that to this post. So check back to see if I was successful in finding the missing pieces ;).

This collection released in-store first in North America on the 26th of September and released online on the 30th of September, and remarkably selling out most of the product in 3 hours after their online launch. Same story as their previous online exclusive collection launch of Riri Hearts MAC Summer 2013 collection (consisting of 3 lipsticks, Lustre Drops and one blush/bronzer combo), there was a huge wait time to get through the initial page to make your order. It took me almost an hour and as mentioned - the most anticipated colours had already sold out. This forced me to wait it out to see if they might ever restock (which was unlikely) or try to buy it off of someone on eBay for a ridiculous amount of money. I'm glad I didn't do the latter because a week ago, my MAC store got a few tiny boxes of more product and I was able to score 2 lipsticks, 'Nude' and 'Talk That Talk'!! Woo! Now I am on the hunt for backups of these colours ;).

Without have to elaborate further, I'm sure you get that I'm trying to say that this collection was in CRAZY high demand. I'm lucky to have gotten out of it unscathed and with the majority of the products. I'll go into more detail later as to what I'm missing and why.

So here is the round up of my (almost complete) Riri Heart's MAC Fall 2013 collection along with swatches:

Lipsticks

Nude Matte Lipstick - This is a medium brown gray-tinged, creamy colour with tiny traces of rose in certain lights and a matte finish. I love this colour and I especially think its on trend with the whole 90's inspiration fad that's been hanging around since last spring. I love that I can wear this everyday, and play with the tones using different lip liners. To play up the gray, I use 'Stone' Lip Pencil, to play up the brown and warm tones, I use 'Cork' Lip Pencil. The limits are endless with this one, I especially love that darker skin tones can pull this off without looking chalky!

RiRi Woo Retro Matte Lipstick - This is a blue toned, bright medium red lipstick with a (super)matte finish. I put the word 'super' in brackets because I feel like the Retro Mattes are the matte-est of the Matte! They're super Matte! I love that I get almost 8 hours of wear with this Retro Matte formula, with very little fading by the 8th hour. This is the red that everyone needs in their lipstick collection. If you have only one red, make sure it's this red (or its twin 'Ruby Woo'). When I tell costumers about this colour, I always like to add that the blue tone makes teeth look whiter. Definite bonus!

Talk That Talk Retro Matte Lipstick - This is a dark burgundy colour with deep berry tones and a matte finish. Again, huge bonus on the wear time with these Retro Matte lipsticks, this one wore on me for 7 hours and 45 mins with the last twenty minutes with noticeable fading and stain. I love, love, love this colour for Fall, and its super pretty on all skin tones. Dark or light, this colour works as long as you have the confidence to wear it like Rihanna would want you to! This is going to be one I will be reaching for a lot this Fall and Winter.

Who's That Chick? Frost Lipstick - This is a medium vibrant orange, with orange shimmer and a translucent, metallic finish. I typically don't have luck with orange lipsticks - let alone frost finish lipstick, but I picked up this colour mostly to layer on top of others. I like certain colours and lippies, not for the colour on its own, but more for the colour it could be when layered. I love to layer this one on top of pinks to make a nice coral and its actually really nice on top of 'Riri Woo'. Since its a frost, it wore 5 hours on me. So many fun lip recipes to try with this baby!

Here are some more swatches I got from Google.

 Pro Longwear Lip Liner Pencils

                        

RiRi Woo - This is exactly the same tone and colour as the lipstick and lipgloss, a perfect bright red with blue undertones. I love wearing lip liners with reds and dark colours, so this purchase was a must. MAC 'Cherry' Lip Liner is very very close, just a smidgen deeper - but this is a perfect match!

Talk That Talk - This is exactly the same tone and colour as the lipstick, a deep berry burgundy. I love that I can use this lip liner on its own, with 'Talk That Talk' lipstick and with other MAC colours like 'Diva' and 'Dark Side'. Makes a perfect dark purple pout when matched with the lipstick!

Veluxe Brow Liner

Deep Brunette - I can really go either way with this colour or 'Deep Dark Brunette', but I found that this one matched me just a touch better. I actually got a back up of this one because I've been wanting to switch to this brow pencil for awhile now. I'm just waiting for the shadows that I am currently using in my brow routine to finish first. Well that didn't really work out as planned since I got this baby and still have quite a bit of shadow left before I can break her in. I love that this formula gives a nice soft finish, almost as if you were using shadow but more precise like a pencil. I got 2 because its just so much prettier in this packaging!

Brushes

282SE Duo-Fibre Shader Brush - I had to get this one, I wish it was full sized! But it's so cute that I don't even mind! I love duo-fibre brushes, I just find that they perform the absolute best, so why not get a cute little pink one? It's perfect to fit in my purse or case and I love that its sooo girly! (insert girlish giggle here).

That's it, so far, for my Riri Hearts Mac's Fall 2013 collection. I am still on the hunt for 'Diamond' Creme Blush and 'Bad Girl Gone Good' Blush, not to mention backups of 'Talk That Talk' and 'Nude' Lipsticks. So if you know where a girl can get her hands one some, hook a sister up. I am still on the fence whether to pick up the 'Giga Black Lash' Mascara, 'Riri Woo' Lipglass and the Liquid Last Liner, just because it's all so pretty and I'm kinda anal.



All in all, I loved this collection! The packaging is absolutely beautiful, and that's what initially drew me to this collection, but the colours made me love it. I am not disappointed one bit. I say that because I have read that people are disappointed with this collection, for whatever reason. I think that this is a true interpretation of Rihanna in a makeup collection, that only MAC could possibly do. I truly believe that no other company could have composed a collection so true to RiRi and what she represents. Kudos! I'm super ga-ga over it!


Make sure to check back soon to see if I complete my collection, and for more future MAC Collection Hauls and Swatches, be sure to subscribe to my blog by entering your email in the box at the top of this page. Did you get anything from this collection? Are you loving what you got? Or are you like me, in desperate search to complete your collection? Let me know your thoughts in the comments box below, or email me at makeupmasochist@gmail.com !



For more information on this collection, or to purchase whatever is left, please click on the clink below:

www.maccosmetics.com

Lipstick Swatches are credited to Temptalia.com

You can also follow my blog on Bloglovin' along with all your other favourite bloggers! Simply click on the icon at the top of this page or search my blog on the app and follow! For more makeup looks and posts, follow me on Instagram (@fernonje) and dont forget to tag me #makeupmasochist so I can see what you got from the collection and all your RiRi looks!

The Mission continues... Wish me luck!

xoxo
Ashley