Hi, I'm Liz aka itsliz89 and welcome to my little home on the internet. This is my personal website so I'll be blogging about what interests me which may include, makeup, vegetarian food, feminism, human rights, my dog, random blurbs, and who knows what else. I am a member on Youtube and occasionally post makeup reviews and tutorials there. Quires and commissions should be directed to contact**@**itsliz89.com (please remove asterisks). More about me...
So here’s a taste of what I had in mind as a “personal” entry. None of that “I went to get ice cream today and it was gewd”, not that I’m against it but it’s not for me. You can maybe see why I don’t do them often. I have many ideas, but they are long. This particular entry ended up being about 6 pages double spaced
Being as Black Friday is coming up and people are getting ready for the deals, I figure now would be an appropriate time to have a discussion about the whole controversy about sponsored or paid reviews on Youtube, contests, and Black Friday shopping.
As some of you may know, as of December 1, the FTC requires that [American] bloggers must disclose payments or items received for free when doing a review or risk a fine. I assume this also extends to video bloggers aka “Youtube Gurus”. Some people who have raised the point that major publications, like magazines, do not have to follow the new regulation, which is unfair. It should apply to everyone. I have read that with publications, the products they review are sent back, so no one keeps anything whereas bloggers usually keep the products they receive so there’s personal interest involved. It sounds reasonable now.
Personally, this doesn’t really affect me. I’ve only been offered free products like… twice and have never been paid or given commission to endorse a product. I’m just not commercial and if I were a company, I probably wouldn’t bother giving anything to me either when there are obviously plenty of more people who seem eager out there. Some people are willing to give positive reviews, even if they don’t like the product, in order to maintain a good relationship with a company. I already own more than enough makeup so I have no benefit to do that. If I kiss ass to a company that has crappy products, I’ll just end up being sent more crap, which will just end up cluttering my limited living space. If quality brands like MUFE, MAC, NARS, Illamasqua, Urban Decay, and Too Faced want to send me products, go right on ahead! Now those are free products I wouldn’t mind getting, seeing as I already spend money on them anyway.
Price: $24
Where to buy: Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Sephora, Saks, Neiman Marcus, narscosmetics.com
Personally, I find myself not liking lipgloss anymore. I find that the liplosses I have from MAC give too much of “glass” like look which is what some people want, but I find the finish to be too much for my style. I still use the lipglosses I have, mostly for videos only, but I am no longer purchasing them anymore. However, my exceptions are NARS lipglosses and MAC dazzleglasses. MAC dazzleglasses because I am a glitter addict and NARS lipglosses because they do not feel sticky and give a modest shine, not the intense glass look. I see NARS as the “mature” lipgloss. NARS lipglosses are great if you are in a professional environment or are just tired of insanely shiny lips like I am.
Here is a list of videos that I plan to do/upload in the future to keep me organized and to inform you guys of what to expect. Some of these titles are ambiguous and the fun’s in the surprise I’ll make note of the neutral or sort of neutral looks, meaning consisting of blacks, browns, grays, etc. Those not marked are either “dramatic” or consist of brighter colours. You might have noticed that some are remakes of my older videos as well. I think I’m pretty much covered for the next year. I’ve also decided that I will start exporting the looks I personally like in HD… assuming all that tech stuff goes well. You know how it goes. Lists are not necessarily in order.
I wear this eye look most often and switch up the lip colour. Some lipsticks I use are MAC Viva Glam I (favorite!), MAC Russian Red, MAC Lady Danger, MAC Lady Bug, MAC Impassioned, MAC Girl About Town, MAC New York Apple, and a new favorite of mine, Revlon’s Cherries in the Snow.
Products used:
Skin:
Merlot moisturizer SPF 15
Clinique All About Eyes
Shiseido Sun Protection Eye Cream SPF 25
Smashbox Photofinish Light Primer
Face:
MUFE HD foundation #120
Bobbi Brown corrector #Light Peach (under eyes)
TKB Trading silica powder
Cheeks:
Cargo blush #Tonga
Too Faced Candlelight Powder
Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC pigment #Tea Time (wash on lid) A decent dupe is NARS’ Fez Eyeshadow
Make Up For Ever eyeshadow #139 (lid)
MAC eyeshadow #Blanc Type (highlight)
MAC pigment #Your Ladyship (inner corners)
Clinique Cream Liner #Black
Shiseido Lasting Lift Mascara
Sugar Half Lashes
Lips:
Lipbalm w/ SPF
Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy Lip Pencil Red
MAC lipstick #Viva Glam I
I’ve gotten some crap before over the fact that I will only buy drugstore makeup when there is a sale. I’m pretty shocked because WHY NOT? Drugstore makeup is guaranteed to go on sale eventually so just wait. In my latest drugstore haul video (uploading) I saved almost $50 for not purchasing full price. It’s kind of a no brainer.
I went out to get these items for the intention of using them for Youtube videos since a lot of people whine about artists on Youtube not using drugstore makeup enough. However, the products I got were ones that I genuinely like and I’m not going to purchase whatever just for the sake of videos. One thing that bugs me is when I see people say “Can you do a video of this look but with drugstore makeup?” What some people need to realize is that a lot of us have already established a kit/collection. I think it would be wasteful to go out to buy items to try to replicate a look when you own products that can do the job already. It only takes a tiny bit of effort to figure out a substitute of your own. It’s all about improvising and being creative. If someone uses a black NARS eyeshadow, then use a black MAC, Maybelline, whatever. Upon reviewing my previous poll, it seems that most of you have that down already. If it is that important to get the EXACT same look, then use the EXACT same products *shrug*.
In addition, drugstore products are generally pretty limited to muted down shades, with the exception of maybe L’Oreal HIP, so that just doesn’t fit my niche. Plus I despise how there are no testers for drugstore makeup. I’m not patient enough to do the whole trial and error thing. On a lot of occasions though, I do find items that others have opened and tested so I test them out too. I figure it’s already a damaged product so there’s no harm in using it further. I do still feel wrong doing it though since people still give me weird looks over it. I don’t know why brands just don’t have testers out. People are going to test the products regardless, so might as well have just one labeled tester instead of people using all of your products. Not everyone is going to be like me and find an already tested product to try out. On many occasions, I have found all products to be tested and you couldn’t purchase it even if you wanted to! Regardless, if you do find an item that appears to be unused but it not sealed, I’d still disinfect it with alcohol. The woman working at Walgreens told me herself that she disinfects all her cosmetics just is case and I trust her since she probably witnesses what happens with the cosmetics. Sucks that you have to do that though since you should be buying new cosmetics ya know?
Top: Sally Hansen Sweet Pink lipgloss, Rimmel Airy Fairy with Sally Hansen Sweet Pink on top
Bottom: Rimmel Airy Fairy lipstick, Urban Decay Naked lipstick
Airy Fairy and Naked are incredibly similar, with Urban Decay giving a slightly more glossy look.
It’s been over a year since my first post on acne and I still get questions sometimes regarding acne. I can’t give advice on acne other than my personal experience because I am not a medical professional. Honestly, I don’t know what more I can say. I never had acne before and, in reality, only had it for a couple months, but to me it felt like such a long time. Fortunately, in my case, my dermatologist and I knew the exact cause for my acne, the issue was targeted, and in less than a month, my acne went away… that’s it. That was the end of my journey. I do still have scars left over that are fading. There’s no miracle that will make scars go away over night. Even with scar ointments and Retin-A, scars need time to heal. It can take months, even years. I also get pimples every now and then usually during menstruation, but I don’t have acne anymore.
I spent the longest time avoiding the dermatologist because I thought insurance would not cover it and out of pocket medical costs are extreme. I wasted so much time and money on OTC products; I was better off going straight to the dermatologist. What I think a lot of people fail to remember is that acne is a skin disease. Just because it happens to be common doesn’t make it any less of a disease. You’d go seek medical help for other diseases so why not acne? Trust me, insurance would not cover acne treatments if it wasn’t a disease! Everyone knows how cheap those bastards get. If you have health coverage, go see a doctor. They will be able to give you personal professional advice and try to figure out what can help cure your acne. Like with other medical treatments, they may not get it right the first time but it at least beats trying on your own. Sometimes it takes additional tests and trials.
So this will be my last post on acne since I don’t have it anymore. If you have any questions that weren’t covered in my acne posts, I really can’t help you any further because I’ve explained all that I can. Beyond that, I can’t give any further advice other than to go see a professional. If you don’t have health coverage, I’m sorry. I’m for health care reform. There are different types of acne and causes for them. In my case, my acne was hormonal so I really couldn’t cure it on my own without medical aid.
Hi, I'm Liz aka itsliz89 and welcome to my little home on the internet. This is my personal website so I'll be blogging about what interests me which may include, makeup, vegetarian food, feminism, human rights, my dog, random blurbs, and who knows what else. I am a member on 
Now those are free products I wouldn’t mind getting, seeing as I already spend money on them anyway.
