Do You Speak MU?

I finally got a decent picture of the calavera roja plate in a little bit of natural light so that you can see some of the color variation. I'm digging the red hair.

Valentine's Day

I didn't do much for Valentine's Day, of course, being no one's valentine. Dave and I did exchange gifts, which we never do, but that was only because I found a great gift for him and Valentine's Day was the closest gift-giving holiday. What was it? Well, when we went to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History a couple of days ago, I found a Geiger counter for sale. He's wanted one for a while, so while he was talking to a docent, I went to the gift shop, bought it and stuffed it in my bag. In exchange for the Geiger counter, I got a lighted makeup mirror (that I picked out myself, of course) and an eyeshadow quad.

Oh, here's something most people don't know about me: I'm kind of a makeup junkie. Seriously. I can spend hours watching makeup application tutorials on youtube. I check in on various makeup blogs and boards. I have maybe thirty different eye shadows and a dozen lipsticks, a handful of foundations and face powders, and eyeliners, mascaras, and so on. (It is actually not a lot compared to some of the women I see online--but it is actually a lot considering that I don't really wear makeup.) Most of it is drugstore makeup, but there is a scattering of MAC in there, too.

There's a kind of code that makeup (MU) collectors use, like code words and abbreviations that mark them as being in the know. There's e/s, which is eyeshadow, and l/s, l/g, l/l (liquid liner). Lipsticks are sometimes "lippies." Foundation is sometimes "fnd" or "foundies." There's d/s, for example, and h/e (drugstore and high end). It's common for someone to be looking for a d/s "dupe" (duplicate) of an h/e product. Le is a limited edition product. A "haul" is when someone buys a bunch of makeup at once to add to their "stash." If you want something really badly, you're "lemming" it but maybe you won't get it because you're on a "low buy" or a "no buy." Some women post pics of their FOTD (face of the day) or their EOTD (eye of the day).

Ay yi yi.

My own description of my favorite face runs something like: NW35/C4 (MAC F&B), fave e/s PF neutral palette over UDPP, Kat von D l/l puro amor,  Rimmel Sexy Curves, MAC perfect cheek, and Rimmel Airy Fairy or Milani whisper l/g.