First and foremost, if you’re part of the indie makeup community, you’ve probably heard. If you are involved, but haven’t heard what’s been going on, you can check these links. Otherwise, if you’re not involved and have stumbled on this blog by a happy accident, ignore the drama and just enjoy the sparkle below.

It’s the first Mani Monday in a long time, hey! Not that I haven’t been doing my nails – I have. But I haven’t been doing a fantastic job at photographing the evidence before I wind up destroying the edges. This one I actually snapped, though, and thought I might share, since flakies are all the rage at the moment.

It’s interesting how the blue polish underneath has turned the coppery-orange into something of a burnt pink to the naked eye. I like it!

I don’t really brag about my hauls on here unless I know I got a slammin’ deal. Today is just going to be one of those days. Bear with me, folks!

First off, Rite Aid is having a sale on all Revlon eye cosmetics, including the new Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eye Shadow quad, which regularly retails at $7.49. Less 40% off comes to $4.49. Smack a $2 off Video Value coupon on top of it, and you’re talking about a fresh-on-the-market eyeshadow quad for two-fifty.

Next, I move to N.Y.C., which while it isn’t on sale, is part of a special deal where any single piece $1.99 or over earns you $1 back in +UP Rewards, which is essentially a coupon good towards your next purchase. I bought four of these, rolling my coupons on to other purchases.

They’re also running a sale on all Wet n’ Wild cosmetics – 40% off. Now, I needed some new eye makeup remover after I dropped my last bottle in the loo and was terrified of it even after I immediately threw it away. Nothing haunts your dreams more than eye things that have been in the toilet. So yes, check, we pick up some new eye makeup remover, for a sweet $1.19. Then we amble over to the Megashield Lip Color SPF15, which generally retails for $2.99 per piece. This is also included in the 40% off sale, plus each piece has a $1 off coupon on it, bringing the price down to just $0.79 per lipstick. I used three of my four +UP coupons on these, which means I only paid $0.04 for each lipstick before tax.

We round out our trip with a Physician’s Formula blush, already clearanced at 75% off of the original $11.95 price tag, and used my final +UP coupon, bringing it down to just $1.98. Score.

Grand total for this drugstore spree, tax included, came up to $15.21, for a total savings of $26.51. I did wind up going to three different stores – the first one did not have the Wet n Wild Megashield lipsticks, and I simply wanted to see if the last store would have anything the first two didn’t (which is where I found the blush). I consider the store-jumping to be pretty well worth it, though. Especially considering none of the locations were too far out of my way.

These sales are still good tonight and tomorrow, so if you’re jonesin’ for some new eyeshadow, or want to stock up on some new lipsticks, you know where to go!

One of my favourite bloggeristas just hit the 1000 subscriber mark! Congrats, Wendi! To celebrate, she’s thrown together a rather epic amount of win to put in a box and mail off to one lucky winner. Snowball’s chance in hell? Maybe. But you don’t have any chance if you don’t enter. So why not give it a whack? Click the image below to enlarge, or just goggle the goods when you click here to enter!

Epicness includes selections from Darling Girl, Beauty from the Earth, Whimsy Beading, One Hand Washes the Other, My Pretty Zombie, The Striped Straw, Morgana Cryptoria, and very probably mostly likely even more. You know, a nice smattering of classic favourites from the indie blogosphere.

And don’t forget to actually give her posts a read! I wouldn’t follow it if it weren’t an awesome blog. Fact.

As well spoken as she is, and as much as I applaud her strength in standing up for what she believes in, I cannot abide this campaign of sheer bigotry. I’ve already ordered my Girl Scout cookies a while ago, but after seeing this, I’m going to put in an order for more. Let’s raise cookie sales to their highest level ever, to show the Girl Scouts that we support them in admitting transgendered youth to their organization!

Unless recipes have changed since last year, the following cookie options are vegan-friendly: Thanks-A-Lot, Shout Outs!, Lemonades, Daisy Go Rounds, and Peanut Butter Patties. To be for certain, you might want to wait until the Spring months, when you can easily find Scouts posted up outside every bloody store you can imagine. Bless their sugar-peddling hearts.

During my time of studiousness in the Fall semester, I acquired quite a few new pieces in my makeup stash. One company which I bought from with somewhat regularity was Madd Style Cosmetix. This isn’t everything I purchased – I nabbed two more Lip Bombs and four other “piggies” which were previously swatched from samples (just in case you’re wondering, I repurchased full-sizes of TRON, Bam Rock!, Outlaw Star (now discontinued), and Nana’s Tea Party).

Ready for some swatch porn? Let’s do this. All swatches were taken over TFSI, with special attention given to three shades, detailed in the pictures.

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