The mystery of make-up

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 13, 2009 . 2:27PM

The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.” — Yves Saint Laurent

Women wear makeup for other women. It’s true and it’s not a secret. I’ve said it before, here in this blog. Men, it may come as a surprise for you and a small blow to your ego, but we aren’t competing with you, are we? We’re competing for you and your attention. For those married folks, we’re competing to keep what we’ve got or gain something new. For those who are single, they are shopping their options and the goal is to be the prettiest peacock on the block.

Over the summer, a friend of mine in my program at school, Susan (Not her name), mentioned to me that she thinks I’m beautiful. I mentioned to her that I’d pay her to say it all day long. She laughed and said that because I’m a white woman, and a large woman, that she gets it. And I think she does. I’ll talk more about this tomorrow. She stated that she noticed that I have more confidence on the days that I wear makeup and the days that I do my hair (instead of my favored ponytails) and pop some earrings in or wear jewelry. Adorning my face gives me confidence.

“She has such a pretty face, if only she’d do something about that body.”

Fair enough. Last week, I tested it. True to form, I get a different reaction from people when I “do my face.” Either, I’m projecting more confidence or I’m looking good and it gets a different reaction. I’m assuming it’s a little of both, but more the latter. Research has shown that attractive people tend to get more favorable reviews when asked how they are viewed by observers. We like pretty people. There is a reason the cosmetics corporations make billions of dollars.

Women want to look good and they like the way people respond.

I liked the way people responded to me last week. They were quick to meet my needs. They were complimentary. They were interested. It conditioned my response. I spent a good 20 extra minutes a day on hair and make-up. What? I’m still low-maintenance. You can’t pay me to spend more time than that on looking good.

You should see the responses I get when I don’t wear my wedding rings. That’s another post for another day.

Have any of you had similar experiences?

Giveaway #3: Stila makeup and THREE winners!

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . July 20, 2009 . 11:00AM

It feels like forever since I did my last giveaway, but it’s really only been a little over two weeks. You guys make these really enjoyable for me. Since I hate waiting, I will probably step these up and do them more often for little items, as opposed to once every now and then for big ones. I’m still mainly providing them myself, so I do them when I can afford to do so. If anyone wants to sponsor a giveaway by providing goods, let me know. I’m down and I’ll disclose. All you have to do is follow through.

Leon and I sat here and pondered what my “theme” should be this go around. It is actually the hardest part of doing a giveaway, honestly. As I was pondering, Leon mentioned that he’d bought me a surprise recently as an “I’m sorry gift” for some recent “toolish” behavior. Said toolish behavior was getting himself a new blackberry with our only available phone upgrade when he knew good and well that I’d been waiting for a blackberry flip phone for over 5 years.

I make butt calls like no one you’ve ever seen. He’d been waiting on the blackberry tour. He was sneaky and got his phone. I may have said I could wait for a phone, but I DIDN’T REALLY MEAN IT AND HE KNEW IT. So, I wasn’t happy and he kept saying things like “look what this will do” and “ooooh” and “it goes so fast.” As my head spun like Linda Blair in the exorcist, I think he realized that perhaps repairs should be made. As such, a surprise was in the making.

Back to this weekend. Leon mentioned that he had a surprise on the way and that I’d like it. He wanted to know if I wanted to know what it was or wait. Anyone that knows me knows that I cannot wait on surprises. Seriously, I will buy someone a gift 2 months early, wrap it, and then have to give it to them right then. I can’t wait. I can’t I can’t I can’t. I have no self-control. Leon’s eyes had that “happy crazy husband” look when he said, “I bought you a kindle!”

I whooted.

Literally. I whooted! I’ve been waffling on whether or not I wanted one for years. When he said those magic words, I wanted one so badly that I could taste it. Soon, I’ll have one in my hot little hands. I’ve always loved reading. Most nights, I have to read for at least 2 hours or I can’t sleep. A.J. is the same way. We enjoy it so much.

To celebrate my new happiness, I’m going to share my favorite brand of makeup with you. I know, guys get the shortshaft at this blog. I’m going to try to do better in the future, but it’s hard because I don’t know what you want. Someone tell me! I can tell you this, if you win and give this stuff to a woman, it will get you fun happy time. I cannot promise you fun happy time, but women love Stila.

AND, there will be 3 winners this go round! THREE!

Prize 1 – stila silver clutch, eye shadow in shore, vanilla lip glaze, luminizer, black mascara and large pencil sharpener.
Prize 2- eye glaze in honey, vanilla lip glaze and black mascara
Prize 3- monmarte eye palette
Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment before July 25, 2009 at 5pm CST telling me your favorite books and a one sentence descriptive reason for why you like the book.

For example, “I like the book The Da Vinci Code because it has an interesting Catholic conspiracy plot that kept my attention. NOT “The Da Vinci Code Rocked!” Notice how the second one tells me nothing about the book? The second one wouldn’t count.

You can leave up to THREE favorite book comments. Yep, that’s three chances right there.

2) You can tweet this giveway and/or link it on facebook or your own blog for extra chances to win! Make sure you leave individual comments so all of your entries count. (That’s an extra 2 chances!)

Things to know:
**Anyone may enter as long as I can read your post (must be in English).
**You can only win one time per giveaway. So, if your comment numbers get drawn twice, you’ll still win once for the higher level prize that you’ve won.
**Comments posted after the deadline won’t be included in the drawing.
**If you win, you must email me your mailing address within a week of the drawing end in order to receive your prize. I am not responsible for anything that happens once this stuff leaves my hands. If it melts, gets lost, etc., I’ll feel really bad, but I can’t replace it.
**I will be using a randomizer to choose the two winners of the giveaway. As long as your answer fits the criteria, you are eligible (unless you are me, Leon or A.J.).