Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector: Opal

          Hey girls, guys, makeup enthusiasts! Whether you are here because you are looking at this product for personal use or to add to your professional kit, welcome! This is going to be my own personal thoughts on the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in the pressed form. This particular shade is called Opal. Yes, THE buzzworthy highlight color that every major beauty guru on Youtube is going B-A-N-A-N-A-S over!!!

              Being a mom of 3, I do not splurge on myself very often. Here and there I make an exception when the budget allows. I mostly stick to drugstore products or my own creations. I have a few higher end products in my arsenal. You better bet that I do my research first! I do not like to spend hard earned money on anything that I feel isn't worth it. I honestly couldn't find anything negative when reading reviews other than, "It's too shimmery for my taste". That did not phase me because my face is dry as hell, so I love a strong glowing highlight. I decided that since my 31st birthday was coming up, that is what I wanted to purchase. I headed out to Sephora a couple of weeks ago with my friend and headed straight for the Becca display. Of course Opal was not in stock, so I went with the shade Moonstone. It is a beautiful, more pale shade. My skin tone is light to medium I would say. I feel like I am pale, but I wouldn't consider myself fair. I do burn some, but I do develop a decent tan. Moving on! I wore it a couple of times and although it swatches nicely, it just kind of got lost on my skin tone. It didn't wow me like I expected. I wanted to glow, by gosh! Moonstone would be gorgeous on the most fair skin tones. I will say that the texture of all the shades are very silky and the typical description of creamy, soft, and buttery also apply! They blend out like a dream as well......

               This weekend I decided to go back to Sephora and see if they had the Opal shade in stock. Thankfully there was only one left and I grabbed it and made the exchange. The next day when I applied my full face of makeup, I used this as my highlight and OMG! The hype is the real deal, people! I could not stop looking in the side mirror in my car when we went out for the day. Every time I saw my reflection, I stopped and looked again. It catches and reflects the light so beautifully on the skin. It is not chunky in texture whatsoever like some of the MAC Mineralized Skin Finishes. $38 is definitely a splurge for most gals like me. I'm not sure if anything else is going to stack up to this in my eyes. It is THAT good. If you love a glowy highlight, go grab it. Personally and professionally as an artist, it is an absolute must have and I will repurchase as long as the company continues to offer it.

A fresh, new start!

                   So here I've been behind my laptop for the last hour trying to figure out this blog. I have not blogged in a couple of years because I never really got into it. At that time, I was more into filming reviews and tutorials for my channel on Youtube (link is over there in my bio ---->). With many life changes, I completely fell out of the routine of beauty filming and blogging. You can kind of say I lost the passion for a while. Here's why.........

                  I was living here in the Boston area where my husband and I own a home. It was early spring 2012 and I got a call that my dad's health was declining rapidly and he probably only had a week or two tops left on this earth. We knew he wasn't quite right, but he was a stubborn, old-fashioned man. He didn't like the fuss of visiting the doctor's office. He probably only had his yearly physical because as a truck driver, it was required for his job. At this point he had retired a couple years prior. Within a 7 month period, the symptoms hit him hard. Slowing down, loss of energy, loss of appetite, very labored breathing, coughing fits, and rapid weight loss. He brushed it off as part of "getting old". We suspected cancer or at the very least some sort of respiratory disease. He was driven to the VA hospital and within a couple of days was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He was a life long smoker and had kicked the habit months before the symptoms began. Of course I packed up mine and the kid's belongings and made the trip to Kentucky. My husband came along for a few days, but headed back to Mass to try and put the house on the market. The next week, on a Sunday, he passed away at home. As a child, you know that day is going to come eventually, but no matter what your expectations are, it doesn't fully prepare you! Cancer is a nasty beast. It doesn't discriminate age or gender. It is so incredibly painful and emotionally draining. Not only on the person who has it, but to all of that person's loved ones. I stayed in Kentucky for 2 months, things got very dramatic, and I headed back to Mass with my children. Fast forward.......

                    My relationships with some family members and even my marriage took a negative turn. Some of these relationships are still to this day unable to be mended. Some have grown stronger, including my marriage. Everything happens for some weird reason. We may not be able to wrap our heads around those reasons, but eventually, it's like "Aha!". Late this spring, my niece lost her lifelong fight with a genetic disorder called Cystic Fibrosis or CF for short. She was only 22 and left behind 2 of the cutest little boys on the planet! Needless to say, so much emotional struggle has really taken a toll. So much going on had sucked out some of the passion and creativity for Youtube, blogging, and even with my makeup line. I just did not feel like filming. Didn't feel like sitting in my work area and making eyeshadow pigments or lipsticks. What was the point? I needed to sort out how to feel whole again!

                     Fast forward to now. After having our house on the market for a very long time, we are finally selling! This means a trip back to Kentucky. It's time to settle our roots. To be with people who we love and who love us in return. It's been a struggle for a while now and its time. Time for changes, time to chase dreams...time for some real happiness! I normally don't do personal blogs for public viewing, but you know....I feel like it is part of the healing process. Maybe, someone somewhere reading this can relate in some way. We all experience loss and it feels awful! Most important, we have to cry, we have to scream it out, and we have to find a way to pick up the pieces and carry on. That's what I plan to do! Time to get this move out of the way and get back into what I love! Get my makeup line out there, film videos, blog, and work hard to open a salon of my own in the future!

                    I piddled around with my blog settings and it became so frustrating, I deleted my old blog and decided to create this one from scratch. A fresh, new start!!!