Need a last minute Christmas Gift?? - Bonanzle.com!!

Are you still looking for last minute gifts?? lol ... I know I am. Well if your looking for a female who loves makeup .... you could take a look in my Bonanzle booth!!

I have Mineral Makeup Gift Certificates .... so you don't have to pick and choose the colors for the one requesting mineral makeup as their gift!!

I am happy to announce that I am offering Forget Me Not Gift Certificates in my Bonanzle Booth.

You can either choose the denomination of the g.c. or you can opt to purchase a $5, $10, $25, $50 or any combination you like.

The gift certificates will either be e-mailed to the person buying them or the recipient, the choice is yours. I am also offering to print your g.c. on card stock and mail it to and address of your choosing for no extra cost.

I have yet to decide whether or not I will eventually add an expiry date on the G.C. I'll just have to see how things go.

~ Happy Holidays~

Tools for Mineral Foundation

Are you using the right tools?? Do you know which brushes to use with minerals?? Maybe that's why that new mineral foundation might not be working out for you.

I can't stress enough how important it is to use the right brush with your new mineral makeup.

Without the right brush, your mineral foundations is going to be looking a little "cakey" and may not cover well. It may just settle into your pores and fine lines and as a result accentuate them.

Which is exactly the opposite of what it's supposed to do. So if you have used your regular powder brush, you already know what I am talking about ..

Tools for Mineral Foundation:

For Mineral foundations a Kabuki Brush is an absolute must!! It can be a flat top or a dome, that doesn't matter, nor if it's natural bristles or synthetic. What good is your mineral foundation if you don't have the right tools to apply it?? You need the right tools to get the job done!!

Kabuki brushes offer you a medium - full foundation coverage, as it's dense brush, and the bristles are tightly packed & firm. Therefor, it picks up minerals really well and is able to evenly distribute these minerals on your face in light weight layers.

If your looking for a brush that offers a light -medium coverage, you'll want to look into a flat top buffer brush. This one will give you a lighter coverage as it's a little less dense than a kabuki. Still the same idea, and you use the same technique, just slightly less dense bristles.

I personally prefer a synthetic kabuki as I find natural hair brushes can sometimes be a little scratchy& tend to shed. This is only my personal opinion.

I hope someone finds this helpful, let me know if there are any questions or something is unclear :D

Primers and Finishing Powders

Good News, but small problem .....

I have been working really hard this past month to get all my foundations formulating completed, and I have!! (Good News)

However, I don't have the warm and cool listed since my camera has been acting up and decided not to work any more, so no pics!! (Bad News) I'd rather not list the warm and cool foundations till I can also get pic's up.

On the brighter side though, I did manage to get my Primer & Finishing Powder listed along with the Illuminater. I am very excited about both of those, especially the Illuminater. I like the subtle glow it gives me, without looking like a grease monkey or a glitterati.

The whole idea behind the primer & finishing powder combo was the convenience. I can simply dust it on before I apply makeup, and it offers a great canvas for my mineral foundation to adhere to. After I do my makeup routine I dust my primer/finishing powder all over my face again for totally polished and shine free look. I also use it as a primer for my mineral eye shadows as well. I just sweep it over my lids as I prime my face for my mineral foundation. It works great, as I sometimes have a little oily lids. :S Ya I just admitted that ...lol .. but this keeps my shadows on and help them not crease.

The Illuminater .... I use off and on, not daily, just when I feel like it. I do LOOOVE it though. It's so subtle, but you can see the glow on your cheek bones and forehead, it just gives me this radience!! It reminds me of fall when you go outside in the morning and you see the dew glistening on the leaves.... well I feel like that's the effect this Illuminater gives me.

I'm going to work on formulating a light pink, neutral and maybe a little bit of a yellow toned Illuminater and also Finishing Powders. I am always working on more creation and the wheels just can't stop!!!! However this will all have to wait till after the holdiays, as I am going mad with all that I have to do!!

In the works right now:

Multi - Taskers
Blush
Dry Skin Primer
Oily Skin Primer
and of course more eye shadows!!

GRRR!! Darn Camera!!

Warning - a little bit of a rant going on in this post!! :D

Well as my new home - Bonanzle is growing like fire .. I was planning on adding a few of my latest creations in my booth at some point this past weekend to keep up. If you've been to my booth .. you know I didn't update it as of yet!!

Surprise ... Surprise! Something had to go wrong .. I mean, naturally. For some reason my $400 camera decided to have a hissy. Not a little on either, full out hissy fit!! I don't understand ..

The problem is with the lens .. it comes out, when I turn on the camera, but makes kind of like a grinding noise. My DH says it needs oiling .. well anyways, it won't retract back once I shut off the camera. On the screen I get an error message to restart my camera, as an error occurred and it could not shut down. So now I'm going to have a hissy .. because I can't photograph my new creations

Now this would be a simple problem if it happened to anyone but me - as I have an extended warranty. The catch is that I got it for Christmas last year but was bought in Canada as I was still living there!! SOOOOO now I have to return it to the store in Canada. Why does everything turn out to be just a little more complex with me ?? lol Now I don't know how long I will be without a camera!! Yipes :O

Anyway .. I'll make another post - and update on my new creations

Till then .. GO BONANZLE!!

Amazing eBay Alternative!!

I know that I am not the best at keeping this blog updated, but as my early new years resolution, I am going to make a better effort of keeping it up!!

Also, this post is going to be a little different, I want to actually talk about a new venue-Bonanzle, that I happened to stumble on a little while back, that I have just fallen in love with.

With that said ... onto BONANZLE!!!

All I have to say is I friggen LOOOOVEE this place. Simply put, it's amazing.

The design of the site itself is fun, visually appealing, and professional looking. I find that alot of the ebay alternative sites just don't cut it. Their designs are plain and ugly, not at all professional looking. I would not shop there, so why would I expect any potential buyers to stick around or even look around.

Bonanzle is also extremely user friendly. It's so simple to set up your "booth" which is what a store is called on Bonanzle. You just click and drag your photos for your listings, and that's it .. all there is to it!!
As a matter of facet, the whole listing is done on one page, rather than clicking back and forth between pages to add your description, price, shipping and so on. It's a quick and painless process, so you spend more time chatting with your new friends in the forum.

When I joined Bonanzle 2 months ago, it had a little over 6500 members .. or so. I can't possible remember the exact number ... hahaha .. I know I love this place but really .... :D

So my point is, as I write this, people are signing up to Bonanzle and there are now over 13,400 member today and still growing. How many ebay alternative sites have you been to that are growing that rapidly. I can answer that for you ... NONE!!! This is the best chance we have against "you know who"!! Bonanzle is the answer. It's growing and spreading like wild fire, and there is no stopping it.

To top is all off, the fees are pennies in comparison to ebay!! This is the fee structure, and just to point out its absolutely FREE to open your booth, and to list. The fees are final value fees only ... that's it!!

Final Offer Value	Fee
Less than $10	$0.50
Less than $50	$1
Less than $100	$3
Less than $1000	$5
$1000 or more	$10

So there you have it ... now go and look at all the fee's you pay at the bay and weep, then get your butt over to Boanazle.

The best part to me though is the people and the owners!! The owners are just amazing. They are always working on upgrading something, yet never too busy to help you out if you need it. That is though, unless one of the members on the forum doesn't beat them to it!! The people are astounding!! Everyone is like one big happy family. They are helpful, friendly, kind, and always ready with suggestions and tips for anyone who wants it. I can't say enough good things about Bonanzlers. They just know how to have fun, and welcome everyone into their family with open arms.

ok .. I think I have said what I wanted to in this "short novel" I just wrote ... lol ...

Join BONANAZLE!! Be FREE and have fun again!!

New Shimmer Eye Shadows

NEW SHIMMERING EYE SHADOWS!!!!

I just created 6 gorgeous shimmering eye shadows and their up for sale in my Bonanzle and Ecrater stores. Their all vibrant bright colours but more on the sheer side. You can control how sheer you want them by applying one layer or multiple for a deeper and brighter shade. If your really looking for drama, try them foiled (applied wet). WOW, talk about colour!!!

Samples are just $ 1.50 and shipping is always FREE .. can't go wrong with that.

Next, I will be listing cool and warm matte foundations. It took some time to formulate but they are ready to go, I just have to take some photos and they will be up.

I'm also working on some primers and finishing powders ... in the works is a dry girl primer, oily girl primer, a matte finishing powder and a hi-def finishing powder with the magical ingredient silica. As well as am "illuminater" finish powder, which will give you that dewy/glow. I am very excited as I have so many new products in the works.

TUESDAY ONLY SALE!!

I'm having a SALE, TUEDAY NOV. 11 from 12pm (noon) - 9pm MST time.

20% off EVRYTHING ... no purchase limit, just 20% off anything you buy.

As per usual SHIPPING is FREE!!!

Why not take advantage and buy your favourite full size product, or a great Christams Gift!!

Check out the sale at my Bonanzle Booth !!

5 Neautral Foundation Shades

FOUNDATIONS have ARRIVED!!

I have finally formulated 5 neutral foundation shades, in a matte finish!! They are a medium - full coverage, depending on your application technique. Even when layered it feels as though I'm not wearing any makeup. I personally put on 2 light layers for a more full coverage.

These foundations are nice and light and airy yet cover the things you want to hide. The ingredients are as follows:

Mica, Titanium Oxide, Rice Powder, Zinc Oxide, Kaolin Clay and Boron Nitride and of course oxides and ultramarines to create the shades.

I decided to include Boron Nitride because it's a high end powder and it give the foundation a really great feel and almost helps it to kinda stick together, even though it's still a powder form. I just like the feel and it gives the foundation great staying power. I had it on for 8 hours today, without any touch ups.

Don't take my word for it ... try it out for yourself. Samples are just $2. 00 for a 1/2 tsp sample, and Free Shipping!! That 1/2 tsp sample will last you for at least 3 applications, even if you have a heavy hand :D ... like myself.

I'm also in the process of working on a sheer foundation, and some veils/ finishing powders that will give you a glowing effect since the foundations are a matte finish.

Foundation Progress

Ok .. I'm really excited now .... it's all finally coming together. I have been working at this all day and I think I have a foundation!!!

It's a matte foundation, and offers a medium to full coverage with no shimmer, glow or shine just totally matte. It has a creamy, silky airy feel to it, and I have been wearing it all day and it's doing great. I just have to work on the different tones!!

I worked on making a neutral foundation in an ivory type colour, a light and a beige and a tan, today. But I'm having problems with making medium beige for some reason ??? It's coming out a bit too dark for my liking. Then I'm onto warm and a cool tones. I feel so good .. I am still motivated to go tackle that pesky medium beige even though it's not co-operating!!!

I really don't want to come up with names for these foundation shades so they will be nameless with only be know as N - for neutral and then a #. Those names are pointless to me. There is no generic names for the colours, and there are really no generic colours either. Each brand has their own version on "buff", "beige", "tawny" and so forth. So I will skip the naming ... and just keep it simple.

That's it for now .. I'm going back to work while the going is good!!!
Wish me luck

Foundations Bases

I may have a full coverage foundation base!! Which is exciting to me now that I am writing this, it's really sinking in. Yet I still have to work on the sheer foundation base and I'm also at some point hoping to formulate one for oily skin. It just never ends ... geez!!

What a day I had today ... I worked on my full coverage base for my foundation!! Yay !!! Exciting I know, but also frustrating for me. This is my I dunno how manieth batch of reformulated and then only to be reformulated again batch of foundations base. The base is what's going to give it the texture, adhesion and feel.

Personally would like a soft silky feeling foundation with a creamy texture that doesn't drag or feels heavy on my face. So this is what I'm going for, light, airy, silky, and creamy .. all in one powder foundation. Easy Peasy!! hahahaha

However though, I am really liking the batch of foundations base I made today. It's all the things that I was aiming for listed above and it seems to be holding up really well. No streaking, no oily T-zone, ( also thanks to my veil ) great coverage, feels like nothing is on my face, hasn't melted off but rather has been put for the past 7 hours ( w/o touch ups). Now I just need to test it on others ... to get feedback from someone other than me ... he he he Any volunteers?? lol

Can't complain though, I really really enjoy doing this. Some days I just get frustrated after many failed attempts, when I know what I want but I just can't get there. Know what I mean?

Mystery Samples

I started something new recently called .... drum roll please .... "Mystery Samples". I have been giving away samples of products that I sell, with every order. I think it's a nice gesture and it does help me promote my items while giving people a chance to try another product for free. Who knows you might really like that sample you received for free and just have to have it.

Besides, Who doesn't like FREE STUFF!?!? I know I sure do!!

While I think giving a sample of a product I sell is a good idea, I also end up with alot of extra little bits of shiny fun shades that I don't end up selling. This is because sometimes I make something by accident - cuz it didn't turn out how it was supposed to .... lol. Then I can't recreate it and therefor can't sell it, then what do I do with it?? I don't want to just throw it away, or the left over from a requested colour?! I have been putting all these bits in little baggies and they have been sitting and waiting for something, I just didn't know what.

They have finally found their purpose. These little tid bits, sometimes not little but rather lots, have been waiting to be called MYSTERY SAMPLES of eye shadows and blushes. These mystery samples will only be available once, when I sent them to you. Well .... maybe if I have lots of one that you really like, you could make a contact me and make a special request for it. The point is that they are "while supplies last" "no rain checks", what you see is what you get, never to be re-created!!!

I am conflicted though, as I think it's important to give away samples of things I sell, because it is promoting my items. Maybe I will just have to hand out 2 samples, one mystery and one regular sample. Decisions .... decisions ..... decisions....their never ending!

Well Frig!!

I am peeved ... well I was all last week!! Disaster struck my computer. It busted and it was all complex, so I had to take it to the shop to get the darn thing fixed. It would turn on and turn off. So, I had no computer, well most importantly - no Internet for what seemed like eternity. Ok .. it was a week of so. But to me it felt like eternity.

Needless to say, I did not get all that I wanted done. Which includes adding my matte shadows to ecrater and working on my Bonanzle store. Anyways, I am off to do that tomorrow.

Today I was busy catching up on my e-mail and other things on the Internet, since I was deprived and Internet starved. It's crazy how much we depend on the internet, well at least how much I do. I never really realized till now that it was missing.

Halloween SALE!!!

So I finally am starting my first SALE!!!
Here are the details:

- Make a purchase of $13.00 or more from Forget Me Not
- Pay with GOOGLE CHECKOUT
- Enter promo code - Halloween -
- Receive 13 % off your purchase

Sale starts Tuesday, October 14 - Friday, October 31, 2008 !!!

On a side note, I am just working on getting my new matte shades up on Ecrater ... hopefully tomorrow I will have added 6 of them

I just had toooo!!

Naturally I am not done packing yet hehe .... since I am a bit of a procrastinator, when I don't like what I am doing. And I most certainly don't like packing!!! It's so time consuming and I don' know what all to put together in the boxes so that their all organized and easy to find. Geez!!!

Anyway ... That is not what I am excited about. Today, against my better judgement (surprise, surprise) I unpacked some of my mmu supplies and started to make some matte eye shadows!!! eeeekkkkkk I am so excited, I am going to make a whole line of mattes. I only made six shades today, but I am going to aim for at least 12 and then another 12 shadows in a satin line. I love eye shadows!! I am also going to work on my blush line since right now it is next to non existent. So here is a sneak at 2 of the shadows...

So CLOUDY is a completely matte - no shine, no shimmer blue grey shade. And WHEAT is a completely matte yellow tone. It's not a bright yellow but rather more soft and muted. I also made a great green shade which I called AVOCADO and a beige tone which I have yet to name. I am not the best at finding names for my shadows .... Anyways, I am super excited so I had to post at least a few pics!!

MIA

I just realized I have not blogged in forever, well actually like 2 months! Either way, I need to get back to it. There has just been too much on my plate recently and it's still coming. Right now I am in the middle of packing up my house to move - not even sure where to!!! So I am a little bit stressed, to say the least. I just wanted to leave a little note to explain my absence ... it's not that I have give up. I still work on my makeup when I get the chance, which hasn't been too often lately. Once I am settled in a new place I will most certainly get back to it and develop a full line of minerals. I can't wait!! Till then I will have to be patient.

My ingredients list

This is my list of ingredients that I use in my mineral makeup, and each serves it's puprose in the final products.

The following base ingredients are all naturally occuring!
Titanium Dioxide:
Is a natural mineral, and is a great natural sunscreen in combination with Zinc Oxide and also, offers a high coverage in the final product.
Zinc Oxide:
A natural mineral, and when combined with Titanium Dioxide it makes an even greater sunscreen. Zinc is very calming and soothing for irritated or acne prone skin, and helps with rosacea. In addition it give the final product more coverage.
Kaolin Clay:
This is also known as China Clay. Kaolin Clay is a hard worker and as a result it is a great oil absorber, it absorbs 1 and a 1/2 times it's weight. I use it in all my oil control products as well, it really helps to make your eye shadows last and last. I told you it was a hard worker !! :)
Rice Powder(Kosher):
Rice powder (Kosher) also offers oil absorbtion but it is slow and there for it can also be good for dry skin types as it won't de-hydrate your skin. It also offers a silky finish to the final product and gives your skin a porcelin shine free finish.
This is the list of my base ingredients, these below are pigments (colourants).
Iron Oxides:
Iron oxides are pigments that occur naturally in the earth, but for cosmetic purposes naturally mined iron salts are taken in a lab and then oxided since natural iron oxides from the earth have a lot of toxins in them.
Mica:
Mica is a fine rock/mineral that is ground down and somtimes coated with iron oxides to make beautful colours.
Ultramarines:
Ultramarines, also pigments, used to be made from crushed gem stones but now made in the lab synthetically, from natural clays I believe. I use them because , the face is that, there really is no true blue natural pigment in cosmetics (it is really rare and very, very expensive to find natural ultramarine blue).
Manganese Violet and Chromium Green Oxide :
Both of these are pigments as well.

From my understanding, most pigments are lab created/synthetically derived but made from natural ingredients. They are borderline natural, borderline synthetic; depends where you draw the line on what's natural. Most people in the natural industry consider them natural, but critics point out why use iron oxides/ultramarine blue and not D & C colors?
My point of view is that iron oxides and ultramarines do occur in nature, but for safety reasons are made from natural ingredients in the lab, so I consider them natural. Now this is just my own point of view on this, it's quite a debatable topic.

Really Smart Deals

Getting the word out there take time and energy. Yes this statement sounds all too familiar. That's all I hear, promote, promote,promote!!!

I want to and I am dedicated to my minerals, but some days I am just annoyed. I know realistically it doesn't happen over night, but a girl can still hope!! :P

A little while back I stumbled upon this site ReallySmartDeals.com and it's a traffic exchange site. Yes I know, these places spam you and their worthless, useless waste of time. However, I am happy to report I have not been spammed by RSD and yes it does take a little of your time, but it works. I speak from experience. Not only have I had someone buy something but I have also bought something while surfing and clicking. haahahha So if I found something and someone found me, then I must be doing something right. It really does help alot with exposure. Another thing is that it's a manual, there is no auto surf, which in my opinion is a wast of time.

It's soo simple, I like it alot. All you do is sign up which takes like a minute literally, then your set. You just surf the pages of others who have signed up. Well actually, first you would want to set up your sites, to be surfed. Then you want to surf ... the best part is that this is all FREE!!! You can choose to pay for some of their services, but it's not necessary. The lady who runs the site, Deb, is super nice and friendly and very helpful.

I encourage anyone who needs more exposure for their auction or ecommerce site. A little time will give you great results!!

Yahoo 360

Not sure if I am kinda late in jumping on the yahoo 360 bandwagon, but I just got on. Not really sure how I feel about it yet. I'm not really sure if I like it. It almost seems a little boring to me, since it's not very interactive such as like myspace or even facebook.

Anyways I still set up a page, and will give it a try, I'll try anything once.
Check out the page and let me know what you think, and add me:

Forget Me Not on Yahoo 360

So off I go to blog on there and explore that page some more. Like I said before I like to just dive in and not read any sorta instruction, which surprisingly only backfires half the time :)

Mineral Eye Shadow Tips

Mineral eye shadow is a little different than traditional eye shadow, first for the obvious reason, it's made of minerals, and it's a loose powder. The thing about mineral eye shadow is that since it's chemical and toxin free it doesn't contain any binders and waxes to make it stick together. Which also may as a result, help a little more than mineral eye shadow in the adherence factor. It may seem like a benefit, but think about it. Those chemicals and toxins are also seeping into your skin. Now that's not beneficial.

The point I trying to make is that mineral eye shadow, traditional eye shadow alike, need something to adhere to, such as a primer. This primer can be your concealer, foundation, setting powder, oil control powder, or the obvious eye shadow primer. The primer will not only help with the fading factor, but will give you a more vibrant hue. It's almost the effect of wetting down the mineral eye shadow, which in turn creates a more dramatic colour.

Another thing to remember as well, is to gently stipple/push the mineral eye shadow onto your eye lid. This gives you a more true to colour result. The technique makes a huge difference when applying mineral makeup.

If you are using the foiling technique, and if your using your lid to swirl your wet brush with your shadow, allow the lid to completely dry out before putting it back on your container. If your using water to foil you eye shadow, visine also works great, and adds to the staying power of the shadows.

How to apply bronzer

Just a few tips on applying bronzer, to make us all into the bronze goddess, that we are!!

Seeing as we are full swing into summer, and when else is there a better time for bronzing ourselves. I figured I might throw in a few useful tips amongst my endless/useless ramblings.

So here we go:
Bronzers ( if chosen in the right shade) will give your skin a natural sun kissed glow , or even out your tan, or brighten up a pasty/tired complexion. I personally am a HUGE fan of bronzer!!! I use it year round, of course in moderation!

First off ... the most important thing is to apply bronzer with a light hand, and here I speak from experience!! It's easier to go darker then to lighten the bronzer once already applied. I tend to have a heavy hand when applying makeup, so I really watch it with the bronzer.

Choose a bronzer that is a few shades darker than your skin tone, too dark will look unnatural and even make your face look dirty. Now who would want that?? For fair complexion girls, a pinky or peachy toned bronzers are great. If your more of a medium or olive complexion like me, go for the coppers. They will do wonders for you!! :D

Another big thing!! AVOID bronzers with an ORANGE tint to it .. you will end up looking like Jack Lalaine(sp?). hahahaha Anyway the point is you will have an orange tint to your skin and there is nothing bronze goddess like about an orange looking complexion. :S If you are looking for a bronze "glow" look for bronzers with just an hint of shimmer. That will give your complexion a natural looking glow. You don't want it to be too sparkly tho.

Finally ....
When applying bronzer, use either a bronzer buffer, or a big round fluffy powder brush. You can use either brush for mineral bronzer, but I would recommend to use the fluffy brush for traditional bronzers. Always remember whether it's mineral or traditional makeup, to tap your brush to remove any excess product floating on the head of the brush. Now, apply your bronzer dusting the cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin, gently but making sure to blend well. ALWAYS, always blend, blend, blend .. don't leave any harsh lines!!!

Myspace

I am a maniac, and I know it. LOL I just started a myspace page for my mineral makeup.

If you want to take a look here is the link ----> Forget Me Not - myspace page . Take a look and leave me a message, comment, any suggestions or just add me as a friend?! At this point it is still a work in progress, who am I kidding!! hahahah It will always be a work in progress, you and I both know it.



I got motivated because I was on the ecrater forum and saw that all these other sellers had their pages set up all nice. I think it's a great idea, but who knows ... in the end it's another page to keep updated, and that might just turn into a chore. But I do like myspace, I keep my personal page pretty updated, so this might not be that hard. I guess well just have to see ....

New Stuff

I'm not sure what the terminology is for a formulator, however I do not really think of my self as a formulator .. not quite yet, I'm more of a crafter at this point. :D The point is that I am stuck. I am stuck with foundations. My line must have foundations, but I am finding it extremely difficult. :( I'm having a hard time with the colours. Boo on me, I think I need like a mentor, or someone like that!! Where do you get one of those?? How do you get one? So many questions but no answers.

Anyways, I am working things out, I am good with the eye shadow and blush factor ... just not the other thing. My quest is not done yet, I will succeed!! I do have some people on a forum that offer great advice and are super duper helpful. I dunno where I would be without those women!!

I did come up with a few new eye shadows that I do LOVE!!! Naturally you would think that I love them all, but that is not the case. I make shades that I personally would not wear and I do not like, but I'm sure someone else out there dose.


<---- This one is called Rainforest and it's a fantastic vibrant green. The picture just doesn't do it justice. This one is a satin finish, so it's not like a sparkly effect, more of a glow kinda look.






<---- This one is a pure white called Satin and it is a satin finish . It works great as a highlighter or a shadow, it's a nice to even put it on top of your eye shadows, or underneath ... there are many options for this one.







<---- Ahhhh ... Seafoam!! This one you must see in person. It is just a great blend of vibrant and subtle. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but this is an eye catching colour, without being obnoxiously bright. This one is a satin pearl finish so it has a slight bit of a shimmer to it. Nothing super sparkly and shiny, just a hint.





Well just looking at my new beauties makes me feel better, tomorrow is another day and maybe I will have more luck - with the foundation situation.

Squidoo Lens

So this is my lens, and I'm not really sure if this is what it's supposed to be like?? hahahah I didn't really read the instructions .. I'm really bad for that. I seriously need to read instructions, but I get too excited and want to do it now!!!! ok ... back to the point ...I can always use suggestions, and constructive criticism (sp?) so let me know what you think!! Also don't forget to rate it .. much appreciated!!

read more digg story

Benefits of Mineral Makeup

Wondering what all the fuss is about mineral makeup? Find out why it's recommend in so many different articles. This is just one of them.

read more | digg story

Marketing Anyone??

I have been working on my little Ecrater store and I am really enjoying it. I am just procrastinating taking pics of all my mmu that I want to list. Sometimes it takes a while to get some good pics, and then I have to edit them so it takes a while. I would rather just create more eye shadows. That's where my heart is ... *sigh*...

Now about Ecrater, I realize that with any site you have to advertise your site, yourself and your product. But since I'm new to all this, I'm a little confused and not really knowing where to start. I went to the ecrater community, (their forum) and read up on advertising. However, I really didn't find out anything more than I already knew.

I have this blog, which I initially dreaded setting up, I thought it would be another "chore" to keep it up to date. In the end though, I am totally enjoying this experience, I just wish I knew how to make this more popular. I guess since I just recently started this blog, I can't expect miracles. :) Just wishful thinking ...

The other things I do right now are, those traffic exchanges. I signed up for two, but really only keep the one account "active". You have to go and surf so many pages every so many days to keep your account active. I just don't have the patience for it, sitting there surfing page after page. I like those automatic ones, but then I think about it and if it's automatic, then everyone else does what I do. Go and do your stuff in another window while the other window is just surfing by itself. Which defeats the point, no one is seeing my items, so why even bother with the automatic thing. Ahhhh, who knows. I need to like go to a marketing bootcamp for online stores. hahaha


So I also have a squidoo page, which I don't know what good it really does. Really, I don't get that thing. It's a lens about a something you like. Yes that part is clear .. but the ranking system and then all the other things .. hahah.. can't think of the other things I don't get. Anyway, I don't know what to do with it. Do I delete some of my text and add new ones ever so often? Do I just keep adding, but the ones I saw were fairly short. Whatever, maybe I should have read the instructions. I am so bad at that. I just like to jump into things, no thoughts, no fear, no hesitation... just go for it. Then half way through I'm like crap .. what the hell is this?? LOL never fails. Ok.. gettin off topic. The whole point is that the Internet is my oyster, and I should be able to market myself - effectively. But how, what is the key??? That's what's frustrating. How do I get the people??

The Lowdown on Mineral Makeup

Mineral makeup is more than just a new beauty trend – it claims health benefits for skin as well. But is it really help – or hype?

read more | digg story

Google Page

Wow, did I ever log a whole bunch of hours on Google yesterday!! I randomly came across this thing called a Google Page. Maybe I live in the dark ages or something but I never heard of it. Who knows, it could also be new!! hahahah


Anyways, I put in some serious time on my page. It seemed like forever for me to get it to what I wanted it to be. As well getting all the info up, and I am one of those people who like to click all the buttons to see what they all do. LOL Maybe that's why it took me forever to complete.

This page is cool though, I guess you can make a page about anything you want and add pics and links and you don't need to know html. Cuz we know I am challenged in that department. It's fun, it gives you pre-made template to choose from and a few font & colour options for your text. I just figured it would be a great way to advertise my precious minerals. I need to really get my makeup out there, and every little bit helps.

Soooo ... Check it out

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Ecrater

I think I am going to like Ecrater. It's really simple to use and it doesn't require you to do a whole lot more than type in your info and then your item it done, and listed in your store. It's very user friendly. I have been listing on there slowly. It's so friggen time consuming!! I gotta take a picture of my makeup, that's a given. Then I have to edit the pic with the name of the colour, well I don't have to per say, but I want to. I think it makes is a little bit nicer, and more presentable. But before all that I have to DL it to my computer and organize it, ok ... I am just a big whiner right now. LOL I can admit it. It's just that I am havin a hard time with taking these pics. I have to get the right lighting, cuz I want the makeup to look as close as possible to the real life colour. Since I can't seem to manage that I have to edit it and really that's what takes a while.

I should look into those light boxes ... i think that's what their called? But you put your item in it and it's got these bright lights and I guess it doesn't cast a shadow or whatever. I don't really know what their about ... hahhaha ... it just seemed like a better way to take your pics. I guess I should research some more huh?? Geez, it seems like for the past couple of days all I have been doing is sitting in from of this lap top and researching one thing after another.

Now what was I originally talking about?? Oh ... ecrater.com

So hopefully this pans out. I like the site and I'm going to join in on their forum and see what the peeps are all about, and maybe bounce some ideas off them. Who knows, maybe there is more potential there than meets the eye? Better hope so! :D

Selling Online

I don't really know where to start - I mean about selling online. I looked into e-bay but their fee's are really outrageously high. How does anyone even make a profit on there?? I don't understand. I looked around there today and it baffled me that there were people selling MMU for $0.99 + shipping of $2.50. My though on that was that they are using really cheap and low quality ingredients and fillers, other wise that might just cover their costs.

There is so much more to consider than just supplies in the price of the mineral makeup. Sure in supplies you may spend 1.50, but your also spending money on gas, driving to get your supplies, shipping costs, time, energy ( for grinding your minerals), physical energy, sanitizing products, driving to drop off orders, that's all I can think of now. In the end though I would at least like to break even. As it stands I will barely make a profit, but if I can sell just a few products, I'm more than sure people will love them. All my products are nothing short of quality, and I work hard to formulate with help from some great people of course, all my formulas are intended for me, and I won't sell myself short!! Naturally....

Anyway.... back to the point....

eBay.

So ya, I would really have to hike my price to sell on eBay but I also have to pay Pay Pal and in the end I will make nothing, unless I charge a boat load. Don't get me wrong, I think my MMU is worth more than $3.00 for a 5 gram jar, but since I'm just starting out, I can't charge what it's worth till I get some feedback and people backing me up. Otherwise no one will take the plunge and purchase. It's a hard spot to be in. Not really sure what to do, but I gotta start some where. Right??

So I researched a bunch of eBay alternatives, there are alot of other auction sites. The only problem is that their all small compared to eBay so their not even close to being well know. If their not well know it's not really a great start to selling online. But some of these alternatives are free to list and only charge a small final value fee, that is when you finally sell your item they take a percent. It's not bad at all compared to eBay!! Then if I don't have to pay an arm an a leg to sell my stuff, then I can totally still keep my prices low enough to entice people. hahahah How brilliant!! Now I just have to figure it all out.

I started listing on ecrater.com and I set up a little store to test it out and see how I like it.

http://forgetmenotmineralmakeup.ecrater.com/

It's simple enough to use, and user friendly, is that the same thing? lol Not sure, but I like ecrater so far. The thing is tho, that I never heard of it, but then again I'm not really an auction hunter either. I would just eBay once in while. Wish me luck though!!

Formulating Success

It was friggen hot here today, at noon it was 106 F ! So I debated on going outside and working on my tan or staying in and working on my colours!! From the title of this post I bet you know what I did .. LOL.

I was highly motivated today for some reason, not that I'm usually not motivated but I especially was today. I just couldn't wait to make some shadows. The two that I got all ready a took pics of are, Lavender and Antique White.

The lavender is a beautiful medium purple, it's got a satin pear finish, so it doesn't have that sparkly affect. It's more subtle with a sheen, and low/medium lustre. I am using it as an eye liner, and also as a crease colour. I tried it also wet, and WOW it sure has drama!! Antique White is very universal, will look great on almost everyone. It's a subtle white with a yellow undertone and works great as a highlighter as I discovered today. It's great as an all over colour or just in the corners of your eye to brighten up the eyes?! I am really please with these two, the turned out better than I expected, and wear great - been wearing them both most of the day now.

I also worked on a Teal kinda colour that I have to perfect tomorrow, it did start out as a sea foam but then the colour just went the wrong way hahahha but I was able to save it, it's just not exactly what I was hoping to get. It's still a really lovely colour tho, so I'm good.

I'm quite excited cuz my creative juices are flowing again, but my hands just can't keep up. I was a little afraid that I lost some creativity since I haven't used that side of my brain in a while. You know I feel like it's one of those things you'll never loose if you have it. Well I feel like that now, but I thought it was gone a few months back.

I have been testing my fab eye shadow base, to make sure it is a fabulous as I really thought it was. So far it's workin great, it's been staying put for about 8 hours and doing just fine. Needless to say I am super happy.

I have been getting frustrated formulating, because I am so impatient. I just want everything yesterday!! LOL So waiting days just to test my e/s ( eye shadow) base is incredibly frustrating to me, because I really can't do to much in the mean time. I can and do create different colours, but can't put together a product. This is one time when I have to learn to be patient. I realize I can't rush the process, other wise I will be paying for it with a crappy product line. So I am learning. And my husband was impressed with my patience for the e/s base. So I made this really nice med. green, called Moss. It's a satin e/s so it's not super sparkly, but it does have a nice sheen.

So there it is. Right now I am working on a nice med. purple, and I should get to working on it. I think I may make that one sparkly ...

First Batch!!!

I've been busy!!!! All my supplies came and I have my grinder, so I have been hard at work. I am addicted, I can't stop. It's ok tho .. cuz I'm havin so much fun!!!!


First of all, I'd like to point out that it's not at all as easy as I had though it would be. LOL Seriously, I thought that I was going to get it right the first or second try, but alass I finally nailed my eye shadow base. It only friggen took me a week. hahahaha It still didn't stop me from making shadows though. I made a few but they don't stay on as long, only like 4 hours, so those I will have to tweak, which is fine, I'll just have to have them for personal use. :D Oh darn!!






From the pic you would think that I like a lot of browns .. hahahha .... but really I don't. I ended up with a lot of different browns is cuz I made to much brown color and just wanted to use it up and experiment with different shades. I prefer more golds and pink and plum shades. Anyways, I feel great about my first batch of makeup. It's a great start, and now that I mastered (so I think) the eye shadow base, onto more fun colors!!! The only thing right now that is ticking me off it that stupid color wheel. I feel like I get it and then I try to make a colour and it's not the color that it was supposed to be. Grrrr Whatever, I don't need that color wheel ... lol .... I will just experiment some more till I get the color I want!

I have to say tho, that this experience has been unbelievable. I am so excited about my products, and I can't wait till I have a line of eye shadows .. with names .. and jars with my own labels!! Sooo exiting!!

GRRRRR ..... Sunbeam Kitchen Assitant

I have calmed down now, but I was really aggrivated today and yesterday. Two days in a row, and usually I am not an angry person. I'm pretty happy and easy going.

Anyways, what ticked me off was Wal-Mart and the fact that no one seems to know anything!! Also I'm very anti Wal-Mart ... to me it's the devil! But that's another story. hahaha

So I went to Wal-Mart yesterday looking for a blender, the Sunbeam Kitchen Assistant to be exact. There was one on the shelf, but it looked like a return. The box was a little dented and taped back up so that the lid would stay shut, cuz who ever opened the box, didn't put the items back in properly. Whatever ... It took me 5 minutes to just find an employee so I could ask them if they had more. Of course then it took like 10 more minutes for the man to go to the back and look, just to tell me that there is more but he has to get a forklift or something to get to it. He said it would take 20-30 min. Well me being dumb and really wanting this blender I said sure I'll wait. Well half an hour passes by and the man didn't come back ... the another 15 more minutes .. nothing. I just gave up, I really wasn't in a hurry but come on!!! I waited an hour just to get a blender that come to find out today the don't seem to have. That really urked me. So I call today, and spoke with a lady in the department, and she tells me there is two! So of course I got all excited, even though I should have know better. The lady though said that there was no need to put it on hold, as it would not sell in the few hours before I could get there. I really wanted to though, cuz I just wanted to make sure they had two before I went there again!! Anyway she assured me that the two would be there and I stupidly accepted.
To my dismay, when I got there ... again there was only the one returned box!! I was pissed and still am a bit.

If there was some where else I could buy this stupid blender, I would. However, where I live, wal-mart is the only place that sells it. Which also ticks me off. hahahah I am just a ball of anger...geez.

I looked online but then I have to pay extra for shipping, which I don't want to do. Also I have to have this particular blender. I realize I could get the magic bullet, but it's like $20 more and that's not what I want. I have my heart set on this one!!!

Readin over this, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's just so darn aggravating!

MMU Supplies

I am super excited!!! I just want to jump out of my skin. I ordered my supplies Sunday afternoon, so they should be here by the end of this week at the LATEST!! So I hope. I am so impatient, and it doesn't help that I am anxious to get started working on formulas!! Can't wait to creating new and beautiful eye colours and blushes. I am going to try my hand at making foundations and veils as well. I think though, since I'm just a beginner ... maybe I should stick to the easier stuff at first. LOL Who am I kidding!! I like to jump in with both feet, I want to try everything and be done yesterday.

Also, since I have been doing nothing but research for months, and absorbing all sort of information. It makes me so much more impatient to start actually doing rather than just reading about it. At least though, I have a basic understanding of all the ingredients and how they work with each other. So I think. hahaha The jury is out on that one till I actually start to make my mineral makeup.

The only thing that I am worried about is the color theory part. I still have to get a good understanding of that stupid color wheel, it's haunting me. I know I have to learn it but I just don't want to cuz every time I try it de-motivates me cuz I just don't get how it works. People tell me it's real easy, so now I feel all silly cuz I just don't see how it all makes sense. Hopefully though, since I am a hand on kinda learner, as long as I keep good notes in theory, I should with time understand what colors make what. So wish me luck on this adventure, and I will post any and successful colors I have created.

Gram Jars

How much product is really a 5,10,20 and 30 gram jar!?

When shopping online too, it's helpful to know the dimensions of the jars. It sucks to get the product and be disappointed by the size of it cuz your expecting something bigger or smaller.

Not sure about anyone else, but when I first started buying mineral makeup, the jars and the how much product was in a jar confused me. So I figured I might try to clear it up to anyone who is confused.

Ok, so... the jar size means the VOLUME of the jar, and therefor your 5 gram jar will NOT contain 5 grams of product. The other thing too is that mineral makeup varies in weight. Depending on the ingredients, certain ingredients are heavier than others.

So then... how much product is in these jars?

5 gram sifter jar: Holds any where from 1-2 grams of mineral makeup net weight, which is about 1/2 tsp - 1 1/2 tsps.This amount should last you on average any where from 1-6 month, even with daily use. Usually eye shadows & concealers and samples of product come in the size jar.

10 gram sifter jar: These hold about 3 grams of product net weight, that's approx. 2tsp - 2 1/2 tsps of mineral powder. Now this should last from 3 months to a year on average. It depends too, on how much product and how often you use the product. These jars are generally used for eye shadows, blushes as well some ppl like to out their foundation & veil samples in these.

20 gram sifter jar: This sized jar fits about 5 grams net weight of mineral powder, that works out to be 3 tsp-4tsps. Now products in this jar will last you a good 6 months, on average, but also depending on how much and how often you use it. 20 gram jars are often used for blush, bronzer, veil/glow, multi-tasking powders and foundations. Usually though, blush will last a long long time since we only use such a tiny amount each use.

30 gram sifter jar: This jar will hold 8 grams net weight of mineral makeup and that works out to 6 - 8 tsps. This jar usually contains foundations & veils/ glows so on average a 30 gram jar will last 6-8 months. This does really vary though, as some people like a sheer coverage and other more of a full. So basically this one really depends on use.

Measurements of The Gram Jars: how small or big are these jars..?

5 gram - 1/8” diameter & 3/4” height

10 gram - 1 5/8” diameter & 7/8” height

20 gram - 2” diameter & 7/8” height

30 gram - 2” diameter & 11/8” height

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and hope this was helpful and informative to someone out there!! :)

About Mineral Makeup

The latest trend in makeup is of course Mineral Makeup. The fact is though, that mineral makeup has been around for a long time. It's just making a splash now, and everyone is curious to see what the fuss is all about. I just wanted to share the information that I know, by no means am I an expert or anything! So if you don't know much about mineral makeup or would like to what I have know, keep on reading!

First of all, what is mineral makeup? Mineral makeup is just as the name suggests, made up of minerals, These mineral all come form the earth and as a result are all natural. Some of these minerals such as, micas, iron oxides, and zinc oxide, (to name a few) are finely ground together into a soft powder. You then, find a powder in a matching colour to your skin tone, dust/buff the powder all over your face, eyes cheeks or body. This is usually with a "buffer brush" or a " kabuki" brush for your face, and other brushed for other areas, like eyeshadow and blush brushes for eyes and cheeks. For your cheeks a cotton ball also works great, since you only need a tiny bit of powder because it's so concentrated.

Some advantages to mineral makeup. To me, the biggest is that it doesn't contain any chemicals. It is all made of finely ground pure minerals from the earth, so there is a natural SPF factor included. It ranges from 10 - 19 SPF, depending on how much zinc oxide and titanium dioxide is added into the formulation. Some other benefits are that mineral makeup won't clog your pores, it does not expire, since it's all dry powder. In order for bacteria to survive it needs moisture, which commercial pressed powders, they contain moisture as the product needs some kind of bonding agent to make it into pressed powder.

Because mineral makeup is completely dry it's hard for it to support bacteria and it's ideal for long term use. Although, I personally would not recommend keeping it for years or anything, but definitely for up to a year in my opinion is good. Since it doesn't clog your pores, it look absolutely natural, and it won't settle into fine lines and wrinkles. Another thing is that mineral makeup is great in any climate. It won't "melt" in hot and/or humid climates like your regular makeup, since it's all dry powder. Instead it absorbs excess oil/sweat and stays put without looking cakey and doesn't settle into creases. If you have rosacea, acne prone skin or just sensitive skin, the combination of zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and iron oxides have anti-inflammatory benefits and help to soothe your skin. I personally just love mineral makeup as you can tell from me writing a novel here. I'm sure there are many more benefits that I missed and as I think of them I will ass to this list.

Another thing too is that the what ladies want their makeup to look like has changed. I find that more women are trying to go for the "natural" or "fresh" look, you know, like they are not wearing makeup. With mineral makeup, you can achieve a full or a light coverage just by layering you foundation powder. It's always good to go with maybe 2 light layers rather than one heavy one. The great thing is that even with two layer of foundations powder, you will still look like your not even wearing any. It is also way easier to match your skin tone, if you can't find the perfect mineral foundations match. All you do is buy the two that closest match your skin tone and mix a little of the lighter or darker shade to get the right colour. This is also why mineral makeup looks so natural. There is nothing worse than looking like our wearing a mask because it's hard and sometimes nearly impossible to find the perfect shade of foundation or pressed powder.Another thing too is that the what ladies want their makeup to look like has changed. I find that more women are trying to go for the "natural" or "fresh" look, you know, like they are not wearing makeup. With mineral makeup, you can achieve a full or a light coverage just by layering you foundation powder. It's always good to go with maybe 2 light layers rather than one heavy one. The great thing is that even with two layer of foundations powder, you will still look like your not even wearing any. It is also way easier to match your skin tone, if you can't find the perfect mineral foundation match. All you do is buy the two that closest match your skin tone and mix a little of the lighter or darker shade to get the right colour. You can buy just a sample of the colour that you want to use to mix in, as you won't need a lot, and you will have your perfect shade. This is another reason why mineral makeup looks so natural. I thing that there is nothing worse than looking like our wearing a mask, because it's hard and sometimes nearly impossible to find the perfect shade of foundation/pressed powder.



The above mentioned advantages apply to all mineral makeup out there on the market. However, there is always a slight difference in ingredients between each company. Some companies use bismuth oxichloride and talc as an ingredient, which creates a dewy/ shimmery look. The thing about bismuth and talc is that on certain people it causes itching and irritation to their face. Which is certainly something that I imagine we all want to avoid!!
I hope this info has been useful and maybe helped someone out, I'm not an expert like I said, I'm just passionate about mineral makeup. I just wanted to share what I know.

Trying something new!!

This is one of my first products!! I am very excited as I am in the works of creating a line of mineral makeup, amongst other things. The line is going to be called " Forget Me Not".

After sitting around for weeks, trying to come up with a catchy name, and researching how to pick a name for a cosmetic line, it finally came to me. Forget Me Not is this little blue flower ( I will post pics of my logo in another blog) that spreads like crazy! I just remeber my grandmothers garden being filled with foget me nots. As a child, I remeber how much I loved those little blue flowers. So I figured, not only is it sentimental to me, but it also fits as a name for a cosmetic line. So I think!! hahaha

Now the hard part is the product. I don't want to invest a forture to start up, and just want to start out small. It's hard though to peak peoples interest, when you only have a few products. Which is where I am stuck!!! Do I just go for it and invest a bunch of money. To me that's almost going into it blindly, which is something I have a hard time with. I want to test out the waters first, make sure this is something I can do and able to do. Then launch a full line. Ok, so I just rambled on and missed the point. hahah So how do I get people interested in the few products that I do have??

http://www.plunderhere.com/auction/cgi-bin/Shop/Lizzy