On November 9th, I celebrated my 33rd birthday! I received awesome gifts and even bought myself a gift for my aging skin. hahah!

I remember when Strivectin came out in Macy’s stores where I was working at the time, and everyone was obsessed with StriVectin. The product was originally made and sold as a stretch mark cream, but some ladies that received samples of the product thought it was for their face and they saw awesome results. So now, StriVectin is being sold as both a stretch mark cream and face cream.

I purchased the StriVectin Holiday Gift set at Beauty.com for $99. I thought that was a pretty good bargain since I just wanted to try the products and not commit the the expensive full size bottles. Here’s what you get in the kit:

- StriVectin Neck Cream – StriVectin Neck Cream is the first and only StriVectin formula specifically developed for the sensitive neck area (including the decolletage). StriVectin Neck Cream dramatically reduces the appearance of “turkey neck”. . .lifting, shaping and refining as it produces a smoother, younger-looking contour.

- StriVectin-SD Intensive Concentrate for Existing Stretch Marks – Clinically Proven to Dramatically Reduce the Appearance of Existing Stretch Marks (prominent because of their length, depth, texture, and discoloration). Alters the Appearance of Tone and Texture. Significant, Corroborated Results Seen by 93% of Subjects Tested.

- StriVectin-SD Eye Cream – Helps reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and dark circles around the eye. Includes additional soothing agents for the delicate skin around the eye. Same active formula as the original StriVectin-SD? without aromatic oils.

Nothing says Happy Birthday, you 33 year old like a bottle of wrinkle cream! Actually, I am loving everything so far. It seems like I am having minor breakouts, but not sure if it’s from this product. My skintone seems to be clearing up, as in, less red blotches and freckles, in just two days of using this product. The eye cream feels tingly, but the package says that is normal. I do feel like the puffiness is reduced after a few minutes. The neck cream is very moisturizing and although I have no issues with my neck (yet) I am going to continue to use this for preventative purposes!

If anyone has used StriVectin and either loved or hated it, leave a comment about your experiences!

Now on to the good stuff…

Brows

MAC Showstopper Matte shadow (Discontinued, but similar to Espresso) Used Brandon brand eye brow angled shaper brush. I applied Benefit High Brow under brow highlighter pencil BEFORE putting my brows on. It helps the brow powder go on smoother. See my brow tutorial : CLICK HERE

Eyes

I first applied Urban Decay Primer Potion in Nude (UDPP) to entire lid, except where the Benefit High Brow pencil was applied. I used my Mark. brand small, synthetic, rounded concealer brush to apply the MAC Chromaline Black Black Gel to the inner and outer sections of my eyes, only on the bottom lid area, leaving about a half inch blank space in the middle where the copper pigment eye shadow will go next.

I used what people sometimes call the “foiling” technique when applying loose pigment eye shadow. I washed off the above mentioned concealer brush and left it damp. I took a little bit of an old Benefit Cosmetics copper pigment, which looks exactly like the MAC Copper pigment, and applied that to the blank space I left on the bottom lid of my eyes. I used a patting motion to blend in the black edges from the black MAC liner gel. Very lightly! We are going to cover this area with gold glitter, so it doesn’t matter too much if it’s blended in perfectly.

My favorite part is putting the glitter on! (For more detailed info and pics, see my Glitter tutorial!) I used the MAC Gold Glitter, which is a Pro MAC product and can only be purchased at a MAC Pro store location (or ebay.com). Sometimes MAC comes out with limited edition glitter sets that include the gold glitter. You could even find glitter at a craft store, but make sure it’s not huge chunks! The MAC glitter I use is pretty fine. I use eyelash glue to apply the glitter to my lids. It works the best for me and doesn’t fall off while I am out dancing, partying, etc. I use the Ardell lash glue, which comes out of the tube white and dries clear. I made a small dot of glue on the back of my hand, then put a small amount of glitter next to it and mix them up. Using my clean synthetic concealer brush again, I apply the glue/glitter mixture over the top of the copper pigment. I did not put too much on, I wanted the copper pigment to show through just a little bit. I used a hair dryer on a low setting to dry the glitter and glue.

Next, it was time to start doing my crease shading and lining the eyes. I used MAC Sketch eyeshadow in the upper crease, using my NARS Angled Eye Shader brush to blend the crease. I dipped the brush into MAC Star Violet Eye shadow (brown/plum shimmer) and swept the color ever so slightly across that crease just to give it a touch of the shimmer from the shadow. I lined my eyes using the MAC Chromaline Black Black gel liner on top and bottom, then used the MAC 219 pencil brush to fill in the MAC Star Violet eye shadow under the lower lash line.

The mascara used was Lancome Fatale comb wand mascara in black.

Pegasus pendant by Betsey Johnson.

Face and cheeks

For foundation, I used two different brands and formulas. I first filled in my pores and covered blotchy areas with Boots No7 Intelligent Balance Mousse Foundation, in Almond, which is a very thick mousse foundation that leaves your skin a bit dry when used alone. I applied a small amount all over of Maybelline Superstay 24Hr Makeup in Sand Beige. The only powder I used was a very light dusting of MAC Belightful Pressed Powder, which is a heavy shimmer powder, so I concentrated most of it on my cheek area. I applied MAC Pink Swoon blush. (Bright pink, doesn’t look like the picture on the MAC Pro site.)

Lips

This is sort of my signature lip look since I made it up and people keep emailing me about it! hahah! RAD! I used YSL Rouge Pur Lipstick #22 Pink Celebration (Cotton candy pink), over the top of MAC Pinkie Pro lip liner. On top, a coat of MAC Lip Varnish in Polish Me Pink. (Discontinued, neon pink sheer lip gloss)

Hair

I used a huge barrel curling iron (1.5 or 2 inch, I don’t know!) to curl my entire huge head of hair. It took about 20 minutes total. People ask me how I swoop my bangs and it’s SO easy I could die. Instead of curling my bangs under with the curling iron, I curl them up towards the back of my head. First, I spray a very light mist of hairspray that has a light hold. I part my bangs to the side, combing them through to make sure all knots and kinks are out. Holding my bangs straight out in front of me, I curl the bangs up towards the back of my head and hold for about 5 seconds. I let the curl cool off before combing it out. Once it’s cooled off, I start combing downwards and hand-styling them with a little hairspray sprayed on my fingers. I spray everything with a mist and then go!

I had an excellent birthday week, starting off with a great dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in San Francisco. I got some awesome gifts.. check it out!

My fiance gave me an iPod Classic, which holds 40,000 songs. Amazing! Why doesn’t everyone have this??

My mom got me the most comfortable pair of red Cole Haan shoes. They are patent leather red Mary Jane type athletic shoes. I think they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever put on my feet.

This is the Coach Gramercy embossed accordian zip-around wallet, given to me by my lovely close friend who obviously has great gift-giving taste.

Now this is what I call a deluxe makeup gift! My awesome friend knows exactly the way to my heart.. makeup and cuteness! This adorable box set by Too Faced cosmetics, “World Domination”, is too freaking amazing. There are eye shadows on top with powder liners and brow filelrs, lip palette on the bottom and bronzer and blushes that pop out on the side of the box. Not to mention.. it’s a music box! Needless to say, it was one of the best birthday’s ever.

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