Beauty Tuesday: It's Called A Spoolie- Eye Makeup for Beginners

     In my many years experimenting with makeup, I haven't come close to perfecting eye makeup. Mainly, I have a jagged hand when it comes to eyeliner (thank got for liquid versions). Furthermore, I cannot get my eyes to 'pop' with mascara. On an average weekday, I wear the next best thing to mascara, tinted lash primer. When I go  out, I attempt to 'do it up' with my eyes and make them stand out despite having smaller eyelids. Sometimes I'm lucky, the eyelash curler curls and spoolie brush coats easily. When we throw brows into the mix, my sparse eyebrows may get an even coloring.


via GIPHY
   

    THE CHALLENGE:
 Here is my main problem. The majority of the time, it looks like I have the Minnie Mouse-like three eyelashes. I used to have a hat with Minnie's face where the lashes popped out like the above image. I'm a low maintenance girl when it comes to eye makeup. As long as it looks like I have lashes and they are not the color of my foundation, I let it go. Recently I tried to take it up a level and wear mascara during the day AND night. This was a bold choice because I am always touching my eyes and adjusting my contacts. 

Upping my subtle eye game. (C)PipPepPop

THE RESULTS: 
     Over the course of a week, I attend a concert, a holiday party, a work lunch, a chiropractor appointment (face-down). I also applied my makeup at the gym after working out. I dropped the spoolie wand of my tinted eyelash primer after doing one eye. I rinsed the brush with soap and finished the second eye, then promptly threw out the near-empty bottle because it touched the gym locker room floor and I'm a germaphobe). Overall, the experiment went okay. I wouldn't be able to keep this up on a normal basis, but I like to think I looked a little more awake. I also had to trudge through cleaning my eyelids with 3-4 micellar* water-soaked cotton swabs, after first treating the eye area with a makeup remover wipe. One night, I got so bored/tired of wiping off my eyes that I went to bed with a vague raccoon eye. I also learned a valuable lesson that not all eyeliners (NYX Vinyl Liquid Liner) are created equal when it comes to removing the product.

I'll keep updating my mascara prowess over the next few months. Cheers and may your shimmer eyeshadow not shatter inside its case! (True story)

*Micellar water is 'the bomb.com.' I know this phrase is still relevant because my friend used it the other day. It's a french-inspired product with little balls of cleansing oil suspended in water. You can shake it like a Polaroid picture (or a vinaigrette dressing) to activate it. 

Buffy board game

Happy Halloween! It's time to talk about spooky things! A friend who knows me well gifted me with the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game! I can't wait to play it. I own a much earlier version of the game, which came out in 2000 while the series was still on the air.  In the original game, there were 4 possible stories to play, each one fighting a different villain, a.k.a. the 'big bad.' 

Through the phases of the moon, the vampires and wolves got different powers and the good and bad guys delivered damages. It was elaborate! Check out more information about the original game here. I can't wait to play and report back on the new updated game (with stories and characters for all 7 seasons). 

The Pianoman: Too Old to Be a Dad

Sara (No H)! EWWW

    The 'Pianoman' Billy Joel is 68 years old. I admit, he's a great singer and I would love to sing 'We Didn't Start the Fire' with him. But truthfully, he is getting up there in age. Billy and his 4th wife, Alexis, 35, announced they were having their second child about five days ago.
   
Today, baby Remy (a girl) was born to a man that could be her grandfather. Joel has two children already. Remy joins sisters Della (2) and Alexa (31). As a contemporary of Alexa, I'm taking a stand on this issue. I understand that when you're on to wife number 4, you just want to have kids. At a certain point, your previous children should be allowed take a stand and weigh in on their older parents from having more children. What quality of life is this kid going to have with a dad who is about 70? You can't be a full time caregiver for an infant, nor do you want to (although I'm sure they have a nanny).  Also for poor Alexa, each of her parents have been married 4 times; they met on a second marriage. Alexa's had 2 stepdads and 2 stepmoms. Aside from her two baby sisters and stepmom who is a few years older, Alexa has siblings Jack, 22, and Sailor, 19, from one of her mom Christie Brinkley's 4th marriage. This is a different situation because Alexa grew up with these two kids in the same house and they were closer in age.

In conclusion, If I were Alexa, I would be majorly creeped out if my parents had more children at this point in my life. I once went on a date with a guy that said he was pretty sure his parents weren't having another kid. He was well into his 20's and we did not have a second date. As Jimmy Fallon's Sara (No H! H's are gross) says, "EWW!"

Another GIGSoup Concert Review: Gavin DeGraw at the Wellmont Theater

(c) PipPepPop

I've been to many Gavin DeGraw concerts in a selection of intimate venues. These concerts are special and standing room gets you close to the stage. I love being close to the stage and up in the action, but there is one more thing I enjoy at a concert: sitting in the seat I paid for. Gavin DeGraw's RAW tour blended the intimate, stripped-down in front of the stage experience with the joy of sitting in my seat in the balcony. Check out my GIGSoup concert review to learn more about his stop at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, N.J.

Another Concert Gig Review: John Mayer Concert

I had the pleasure of reviewing John Mayer for GIGSoup last week. This was the first summer tour Mayer had launched since 2013, a sort of homecoming for the Connecticut 'Born and Raised' singer. The 'Search for Everything' tour came together with singles released in 'waves.' Check out my concert photos and the review link for the August 18th gig at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ.

 

Images: The crowd from Mayer's view (L), an acoustic set(C), and a quiet moment (R). 

All photo captions (c) PipPepPop.