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    Thoughts on: tipping

    I’ve always wanted to briefly discuss this, but let’s be frank — I have an attention span of ZERO when it comes to money and finances. (Sorry, my lovely finance blogging friends!) So, here’s what will hopefully be a short post on tipping! (Resource for the “standard”: CNN tipping guide and an article from Lemondrop.com)

    (And hey — if you’re like me and will probably just skim this post, here is the main idea: I think that tipping has gotten way out of hand.)

    HOW CUTE IS THIS SQUIRREL?!?!

    Waitstaff

    Recommended: 20%+

    theNotice: recognizes that this is pretty normal, but doesn’t tip that much… 15% is the standard, and 20% is only if the service was standout. Perhaps because Canadian servers make normal wage, unlike American ones?

    Hair


    Recommended: 15-20% for the stylist, plus $5 to the person who shampoos you, and $10 to whoever blow dries your hair

    theNotice: thinks that they have to be joking. This would make sense in a big-city high-end salon if the cut itself was closer to $100 than it was to “sane”, but for normal people, this is nuts! A good cut in my city is $40-60, meaning if you follow these rules, you’re tipping the person who blow dries your hair almost as much or more than the person who actually cuts it. No flippin’ way!

    Think of it this way: your cut is $50. Now add tax (I pay 5% but most provinces have PST, so let’s assume 10% for simplicity,) a 20% tip, $5 for the shampoo, and $10 for blowdrying. Suddenly you’re paying $30 more than the listed price… which is a 60% markup.

    Hotel houskeeping

    Recommended: $2-5 per night

    theNotice: has never heard of this before. What??!

    Food stuff

    Recommended: $1 if your bags are carried out to your car, $1.50 if you have more than three

    theNotice:
    YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING. I do not expect some little ‘old person or someone with a bad back to have to pay for their groceries to go to their car just because they can’t lift them. Not when the person carrying them out is already being paid at least minimum wage. Newsflash — they get hourly. So when they take groceries out to customers’ cars, they are still being paid. I have to say it, hate me if you will: double-dipping much?!

    Recommended: $2 per pizza minimum — 20% recommended — for the delivery person because “food delivery can be dangerous if delivering to crime-ridden neighborhoods or driving in bad weather”

    theNotice: 20% is what you tip a server. Because you are getting service. So unless that pizza boy is bringing you drinks and grinding your pepper, there is no way he or she deserves 20%. I mean, let’s say you get a few pizzas for you and the girls, and it works out to $50. Suddenly, the delivery boy gets $10 just for doing his job. Dude, what else are you supposed to expect when you get a job as a delivery guy?! You deliver stuff! Surprise! *rolls eyes* It’s not like they’re actually in life-or-death situations… they’re in a car. And they should damn well know how to drive it in bad weather if they sign up for the job in the first place.



    Well, my rant is over… so what are your thoughts? I would love to hear your take on this stuff!! Agree/disagree? Think I’m a total stingy nutter?? Share!!

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    Glycerine testing

    Ever wondered how much mediums really matter? Here are some swatches of shadow… I’m a believer, how ’bout you? :P

    Remember: all images can be clicked on to be enlarged!

    Dry / wet with just water / wet with half-water-half-glycerine medium.

    What really sticks out for me when I use shadows wet vs. dry is the fact that they become way more intense. When you add glycerine, the water-glycerine-shadow mixture is thicker/”gooier” than just water and shadow, and gives an even darker, more intense colour, concentrating more pigment in one area. Another benefit? The wear time increases, too!

    Now that I think of it, you could probably manage to do an entire eye with one shadow just by switching mediums. Hmmm… I may try this sometime!

    The effect of water vs. glycerine on the shadow itself

    This is Smashbox Smoke, for the record. It’s a grey shadow with a fairly matte finish, but a touch of fine shimmer interspersed throughout. The shimmer is more obvious if you enlarge the photo! It’s enough to make the matte finish a little less “blah,” but not enough to be very obvious. I like it, but wouldn’t encourage you to hunt it down or anything — it’s just grey; nothing special.
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    Look mom, I’m a mermaid!

    Just another Halloween-applicable look that I’ve done and not gotten around to uploading. I figured now would be a good time to post my “out there” looks! Product listing below the cut.

    To start, the look as I first planned it:


    And now, the mermaid-y edge:


    Half-face:



    Used:
    • 88 palette
    • Scotch tape
    • Annabelle Glitterama liner in Plutonium
    • MAC Blacktrack fluidline
    • NYX Milk jumbo pencil
    • Rimmel Lycra Lash Extender mascara
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    So how does a line famous for oil cleansing fare with eye creams?

    What it is: DHC‘s Concentrated Eye Cream, which is technically suitable for all skintypes, not just ageing skin. Prevention is the best offence when it comes to skincare, right?

    The texture: This is actually quite thick, and reminds me of what would happen if you left a dollop of body lotion on the counter for a day. Kind of lumpy, like the lovechild of oatmeal and lotion. However, once it comes into contact with the warmth of your skin, it “melts” and takes on much thinner properties. (It’s still quite thick at that point, though.) You basically have two choices with this one: tap it into the skin and apply a rather heavy layer, or end up tugging your eye area a touch to thin it out.

    Other physical stuff: This has a slightly herbal-medicinal scent that really turned me off it, but the scent isn’t too strong and dissipates quickly. It feels incredibly heavy when applied, even though a little goes a very long way, but sinks in after five to ten minutes and I forget about it completely. And for the important stuff: on a scale from “one” to “super-moisturising,” I’d put this at a nine! It definitely has a respectable amount of moisture to give.

    Ingredients: (holy crap this is a long list)
    water/aqua/eau, butylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, stearic acid, hydrogenated palm oil, squalane, glycerin, pentylene glycol, polysorbate 60, leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate, cetyl alcohol, sorbitan stearate, alcohol, phenoxyethanol, potassium hydroxide, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, carbomer, magnesium aluminum silicate, dipotassium glycyrrhizate, tocopherol, biosaccharide gum-1, aesculus hippocastanum (horse chestnut) seed extract, sodium hyaluronate, sasa veitchii leaf extract, panax ginseng root extract, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract, royal jelly extract, citric acid
    The verdict? This is a pretty darn good eye cream, but what bugs me is that there is no SPF — and that’s absolutely vital for your sensitive, thin-skinned undereye area! I would compare this to Clinique’s All About Eyes Rich, which is $28.50 for 0.5oz, slightly pricier per ounce than the DHC’s $31.50 for 0.7oz.

    Consider it if you’ll be buying high-end, as it’s of that calibre (in my opinion) but slightly cheaper. However, if you were planning on sticking to a drugstore / low-end eye cream, don’t break the bank for this.
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    The subtle fantasy edge of Halloween

    I finally tried out my 3D Silver (LOVE IT) and MUFE 92… here are the results! I didn’t do a full face because I’m a lazy ass, but perhaps this can inspire you to do one. Product listing at bottom.

    (And yah, in true Rae fashion, I didn’t do this for Halloween. I actually did this about a month ago, just for the hell of it.)

    How to:
    Cover lid in primer, and a white base. Fill brows. Sweep a violet shadow all over the lid, then intensify with a slightly darker one in the outer corner. Line upper and lower lashlines with black liquid liner, and draw in swoops. Fill areas within swoops and lower lashline with white for emphasis. Hilight the inner corner and under the brow.
    Curl lashes and coat with mascara, conceal undereye area. Press glitter onto eye area with fingertips.

    Colour used:
    • NYX Milk jumbo pencil
    • MUFE 92
    • MAC 3D Silver glitter
    • Senna Destiny
    • MAC Vanilla pigment
    Base and boring stuff used:
    • Annabelle Black Out liquid liner
    • Rimmel Lycra Lash Extender
    • Smashbox Brow Tech in Soft Brown
    • MAC 217 and 321, Stila 10, and Smashbox 4 brushes
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    Temporary post

    Cheri did an amazing job on a shoot recently (re: this livejournal post) and it inspired me to play around with photoshop. I only had about twenty minutes so I butchered it in comparison, but this is what I came up with! “Temporary post” because I’m worried this is infringing on rights of some sort and will take it down once asked :)

    Everything is below the cut because I’m SUPER worried about this rights-infringement thing. Eew, legal garble.
    Click -> enlarge.

    Her before/after:
    My attempt to mimic it:
    (I photoshopped the “before” half)

    My before/after, I guess:

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    Going swing dancin’

    Estee Lauder Rosa Rosa All-Day Lipstick. Love it as a lip colour if it’s layered, but I tend to wear it a cheek colour. Gorgeous brown-red, but I wish it was cooler.

    Somehow, the warmth and the finish make me think of a time-period red… not Mad Men-esque, but almost, the kind of red that our grandmothers would have worn when they were our age, going out dancing with the crackling of the record and the “clunk” of a solid heel.

    Edit: whoops, sorry ladies! This is actually the Futurist Full Treatment lipstick in Forward Fig. Which brings to question… where the heck are my Rosa Rosa swatches, and why can’t I find them?

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    Psst — this is worth leaving your Spray de Mode for!

    What it is: Garnier Fructis’ Quick Dry Spray / Shine / Extra Strong Hold mini. That is a lot of names, guys. And I am not sure which one to use.

    The packaging: This is the 50mL mini that I bought to take with me to Quebec. It’s cute, portable, and lets you try out the product before committing to the fullsize! Plus, there’s this cute little nobby thing to push down:

    It’s adorable! Just as effective as a normal spray, easy to apply and release pressure, and basically just super-fun.
    The product: Garnier Fructis has created something that smells amazing (fruity and fresh), gives wonderful hold, and makes your hair shiny like nobody’s business. Somehow, it leaves your hair feeling smooth — none of the normal ratty plastic-head stuff that most strong-hold hairsprays leave you with. I can literally curl my hair, give it a spritz of this, and still have perfectly in-tact curls by 11 o’clock when I turn in.
    The ingredients:

    The verdict: Well, this one’s pretty clear. A+++ from me! Cheap (about $6CAD for the fullsize of 250mL) and effective, with a great finish and scent.
    I’m not kidding around, guys — I’ve been a high-end hair product junkie for ages, and this one is enough to make me leave my more expensive sprays behind. I’d compare it to Bumble & Bumble’s Spray de Mode, with the ability to keep your style in-tact without feeling like there’s anything in your hair. But a lot cheaper, and (if I may say so,) better smelling!
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