August Favs and Flops

Hey there geekonistas!

Well August seems to have wound to a close, pitching us headlong into fall, and apparently in the case of most makeup companies, straight into the holidays? Seriously though Urban Decay, you need to let me chill out with my apple cider for a bit before you make me start panicking about spending all my holiday money. For today, however I thought we could try to squeeze one last bit of summery-ness in and talk about my August Favs and Flops!

Favs

Favorite Hype Train Palette:
Anastasia Beverly Hills "Modern Renaissance"

If you watch YouTube at all, you're probably already sick of hearing about this palette. Every YouTuber and their mother are all raving about it, so of course being the easily excitable rabbit of a consumer that I am, I had to check it out for myself to see if it's all that. And it is. It actually is. It helps that it's a palette made of warm tones, which are my favorite, but the quality on these are really really good and the colors all work together beautifully making it easy even for a color dullard like me to pull looks together out of it. Everyone gushes about Love Letter and Venetian Red, but I actually think my favorite colors are Antique Bronze and Realgar. And the best, best part? Well, aside from the rumor of a cool toned edition of the palette to come out at some point, the best part is that it's not limited edition! That's right, if you want this palette now or six months from now, you can still get it. No. Stress.

Favorite Venture WAY Outside My Comfort Zone:
The Sabakon Fashion Show

 So if you've been following my blog, you may remember that I somehow managed to volunteer myself to be a model in a fashion show that was taking place at an anime convention here in Las Vegas. Well to be honest, I mostly volunteered because I just adore the designer, Darling Army, who was the one calling for models. Darling Army, run by Amanda Marin, is just an amazing shop that specializes in "cute, easy cosplay". They have pinafores (like aprons, but not for the kitchen), kimono dresses, and printed items like leggings and skirts, and yes.. there are many things for plus sizes! I may have... a few items in  my personal collection... ahem.

The fashion show was fun - I didn't succumb to my anxiety or faint on stage, and I was happy to be there representing plus size cosplay, but the best part was getting to hang out with a group of really cool people and just be goofy nerds. I got to wear a cool Vegeta dress and finally put that Scouter I received in a Loot Anime box to good use, so all-in-all I consider it a win!

Favorite Show I Didn't Think I Could Love This Much:
Stranger Things

Apparently, everyone but me knew that this show was going to be awesome long before it premiered on Netflix. My husband told me about it at some point but I think I just shrugged it off or got distracted or something. But wow, once we started actually watching it I was 1000% hooked. I love each and every one of those little weirdos like they were my own best friends. I'm still kind of exploring what my limits are with horror - when I was young I did myself some irreparable damage by watching some stuff that freaked me out too much (I'mlookingatyouTheGrudge) so I try to be more careful nowadays with what I consume. This show skated the perfect edge for me, being scary and suspenseful without sending me into a total breakdown. I also loved the authenticity present. Not just the 80's feel without being all crimped hair and blue eyeshadow, but the authenticity of the characters and how they interact with each other. It's just... really good and you should watch it too.

Favorite Drool Inducing Blog:
Pretty Cake Machine

Speaking of "Stranger Things", one of my absolute favorite bloggers over at Pretty Cake Machine just posted a tutorial of "Waffles from the Upside Down" and they look absolutely amazing and horrible at the same time. Which is just how they should be! Katharina is an incredibly talented and hard working pastry chef, who comes up with some of the most amazing fandom recipes I have ever seen. I mean, I love fandom food in general, but she draws from an extensive classical pastry background to do some things you have got to see to believe. Be extra certain to check out her Sailor Moon series and her Steven Universe series... you will not be disappointed!

Favorite Weird Beauty Tool:
Kiss Wing It Eyeliner Kit

I first found out about this product from Zabrena's YouTube channel and I just had to try it out for myself. Honestly, no matter how many times I've tried, I am terrible at making matching wings on my eyeliner. They will both look great, but never match each other and its very frustrating. Now that I have my hands on this I feel like I'm cheating. It's just so easy to do my wings, and to be honest it takes me a whole lot less time since I don't have to keep going back and fixing things. It's also really cheap, so if the stencil hadn't worked out I wouldn't have felt bad about throwing it away and just using the eyeliner and brush.


Flops (But Not Really)

Well, I don't actually have any flops for this month, so I thought maybe I would tell you what I'm currently "reading" instead. I put reading in quotes because I'm actually listening to it on audiobook while I'm at work. I picked up "The Raven Boys" by Maggie Steifvater, and wow, it's really really good! For some reason I thought it was going to be a fantasy novel, but it's actually more.. urban fantasy, I guess? The narrator also surprised me with his Southern accent, but it actually fits the book really well. I'm definitely hooked and I'll be picking the next one up as soon as I'm done.

That's it for this month's Favs and Not Flops! Did you have any favs or not-so-favs for the month of August? Let me know in the comments!

And thanks for hanging out!