I'm going to go through the suggestions of things to write about given by the entrants into my June contest, starting with the easier ones. Like Geminita's, which said "Blog about makeup! Show us your favorite products, looks and how to pull them off." Seems like a good place to start!

What you see here (and please excuse my poor Photo Booth picture) is my every day going-to-work makeup. I change it up some, but it basically looks like this.

So what do I have on?

Face
Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer; Clinique Moisture Sheer SPF 15 Tinted Moisturizer in Neutral; Clinique Almost Makeup SPF 15 Pressed Powder in Fair; Lancome Blush Subtil Delicate Oil Free Powder Blush in Cedar Rose.

Eyes
Pop Beauty Eye Magnet Primer; Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener; Dior Diorshow Mascara in Black; Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in 1999; The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes Eye Shadow in Palette 16 (Midnight Black and Moonlight Silver only).

Lips
Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey

I know that sounds like a ton of stuff, but it isn't time consuming. My morning routine goes like this:
1. Put on water for coffee (we use a French press)
2. Use bathroom, put on deodorant and perfume; brush teeth, wash face
3. Put on makeup
4. Pour now-boiling water into French press
5. Get dressed
6. Pour now ready coffee into thermos
7. Leave

It's about 25 minutes total, and however long it takes a small kettle of water to boil is how long it takes me to put my makeup on. Less than 15 minutes for sure.

It is midweek, right? Well, close enough.

I really will blog about some of the other issues you wonderful readers suggested, but not until I have time and thought to spare. Which could, at this point, be months. In the meantime, it is easy to blog about makeup. Makeup is very, very simple.

So let me tell you about a product I love. The eye crayon. It's like a pencil eyeliner, only bigger and softer. It goes on like a thick eyeliner, but looks sort of somewhere in between liner and shadow. And it's my favorite eye product. If I am in a hurry, I can just color over my top lash line and be done, no need for shadow or anything. If I have a bit more time, I pair it with shadow and love the look even more. It's very natural, not a harsh line like a lot of eyeliner can be.

My love for the eye crayon started with picking up a couple of Jane Colorsticks Eye Crayons on super-sale at Walgreen's (I think they were $.99 or something). Even when not on sale, these are cheap--only about $4 each. I've tried the Mercury Rising, which is a grayish purple, and the Oh Yes, which is a silvery green, and liked both. The only downside I found with these was that they didn't last all day.

In hopes of finding something more long-lasting, I then tried a high end version: Lorac's Sparkle Pencil Shadow/Liner. At $16, this is a much more expensive option than the Jane crayons, and it only comes in Midnight Sparkle (black with silver sparkle) and Blue Topaz (blue with silver sparkle). I bought the Midnight Sparkle. It goes on the same way as the Jane product, and it does last longer, but I'm not a fan of the glitter or the black for everyday use. I'm holding on to the Lorac crayon, but it's a dress-up event type of product, and at $16, I wouldn't buy another one.

Knowing that what I really wanted was a longer-lasting version of the Jane product that comes in a range of colors, without glitter, I saw Sephora's version on a trip to Sephora for something else, and hit the jackpot. The Sephora Brand Jumbo Pencil is the perfect eye crayon. At $6 each, they only cost a bit more than the Jane version, they are long lasting (especially over eye primer), and they come in great colors. I started with the violet, which I love, but I'm expecting the gray and the beige in the mail soon. Don't be turned off by the boring names--the violet is almost exactly the same color as Jane's Mercury Rising, beige is really champagne, etc.

There are some more eye crayons I'd like to try. If I could learn to love the glittery look a bit more, I think Pop Beauty's Glitter Stix would be fun. Nars Glitter Pencil is expensive ($24), but comes in great colors. On the bargain front, Rimmel's Exaggerate Eye Crayon looks promising--it's less than $4 and has fun, glitter-less colors. There is also Maybelline's version,the Cool Effects Cooling Shadow Liner, which has fantastic colors (I love the Cold Front and the Cool as Cucumber) and retails for about the same price as the Sephora version. Finally, I'm interested in the version by Pixi Beauty (which sells at Target). I'm not sure how much they are, but they have awesome bright colors I haven't seen elsewhere.

I recommend these, especially for those who have trouble applying regular eyeliner or don't like the harsh look. But go with a cheaper one--the Jane or the Sephora--this is one area where so far I see no need to spend a lot of extra cash.

A while back, I posted my daily outfits for a bit. One of the major reasons I did it was because there are a few blogs I really love that do it: What I Wore Today; My Wardrobe Today; Already Pretty; Work With What You've Got; etc. I was also, at that time, really interested in re-defining my style and dressing in a way that felt more authentic.

Well, I'm thinking of picking the habit back up. Clearly, I won't do it every day--I work from home now, and frankly, most days I don't get dressed. However, working from home and not getting dressed most days has made me all the more interested in looking and feeling ood on the days I do go somewhere. So, on those days, I'm going to try to share.

Tonight, Mark and I had a date night. We went out to a nice, but casual, dinner. I wore a knit, empire-waisted black, gray, white, and red patterned top I picked up a year or so ago at Ross (can't remember the brand and I cut the tag out because it itched); black overdyed trouser jeans from Ann Taylor Loft; black suede pointed-toe boots with sequins up the sides from Annie; and a red abalone necklace I picked up somewhere in Austin. I like this outfit a lot--it's stylish and a bit sophisticated (at least the trouser jeans and pointy boots feel that way), but still very comfortable. I felt good in it.

I went fairly neutral with makeup, too. What you see here is Smashbox primer; Korres concealer; a very small amount of Laura Mercier Illuminating tinted moisturizer mixed with my regular moisturizer; Clinique Almost Makeup powder; Cargo blush in Polynesia; Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in 1999; shimmery champagne shadow from this palette by The Body Shop; Lancome Definicils mascara in black; and Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips gloss in Brandi.

There's nothing really spectacular about this outfit or the makeup, but it felt good to me, like a really nice, pretty, natural night out combination. I'll probably wear it again.

I can't resist--I'm a sucker for completion (except for with that whole cleaning my house thing). These are the contents of my toiletries and makeup bags:

From top left: Downy Wrinkle Release spray, Arbonne Intelligence Self-Adjusting shampoo and conditioner, Tom's of Maine Crystal Confidence deodorant in Citrus-Zest, Giovanni Cleanse body wash in Grapefruit Sky, Clinique liquid facial soap, Scope Outlast mouthwash, custom Diablo Canyon perfume blend from Violette Market, rosemary mint body scrub from Flutterby Beauty, Tide To-Go Instant Stain Remover pen, Neutrogena acne spot treatment pen, Crest Extra White Plus Scope Outlast toothpaste , Target brand toothbrush, Yes to Carrots Deliciously Rich body butter, Clinique Youth Surge SPF 15 Age Decelerating moisturizer.

Most of these are not actually things I use at home. I use all of these types of products, but not these specific brands. However, I have some sort of constitutional issue with decanting my regular products into little plastic bottles to travel, so I have a collection of travel sized products that I raid for trips. These come from three places: free samples that come with Sephora orders, bags of unopened goodies I buy at thrift stores (both the Arbonne and the Clinique stuff I'm bringing on this trip were procured that way), or Target (the natural-ish beauty stuff section has great miniatures--the Yes to Carrots and Giovanni stuff comes from there). I actually like using different-than-usual stuff when I travel, based on what I can find in travel size, as it occasionally introduces me to something I really like and start using at home.

As a travel-by-bus bonus for this trip, I tossed all this stuff in my large makeup bag, rather than having fit it in a Ziploc. Yay!

On the cosmetic side, I'm bringing:

From top left: Blinc Kiss Me mascara in Black, Per-fekt Skin Perfection Gel in Luminous, Lorac Perfectly Lit Oil-Free Luminizing Powder in Luminous, Benefit Georgia powder, powder brush, blush brush, angled eyeliner brush, eye shadow brush, tweezers, Tarte LipSurgence Natural Matte Lip Stain in Hope, Buxom lip gloss in Brandi, Buxom lip gloss in Krystal, Smashbox Limitless Long Wear Lip Gloss in Forever, Nars blush in Orgasm, Benefit Lemon Aid eye concealer/primer, Sephora eye shadow duo #8, Stila eye shadow in Kitten, Benefit Boi-ing concealer in Light, Stila Smudge Pots eyeliner/shadow in Black, and Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Stiletto.

This is complete day and night makeup for me, with a few lip color options because I'm fickle that way. Unlike toiletries, I don't have separate travel makeup--the are my regular products. The Per-fekt gel, Tarte lip stain, and Stila Smudge Pot are all new and I'm looking forward to trying them out.

And now you've got the whole picture--everything I'm bringing to BlogHer. Well, aside from the electronics that will be in my shoulder bag: MacBook Pro, iPhone, Canon Powershot digital camera.

Now, the more interesting question--what will I be bringing home?

I hate it when this happens. I have once again fallen in love with a stupidly expensive beauty product.

On a whim, I purchased the sample size of Per-fekt Beauty Skin Perfection Gel on my last Sephora trip. I thought it was a bit ridiculous that the small one (.25 oz) was $17.50, but it promised to go on smoothly and be completely non-oily, making my skin a perfect baby's ass or something. I'll go pretty far for baby butt skin, so I bought it.

It's amazing, y'all. It looks more or less like gel-ish foundation but goes on almost as a powder. It's not heavy duty cover up or anything, but it smooths everything out and gives me that porcelain doll look. It lasts all day (and I'm talking long days), even through sweating, and I can skip everything else (powder and blush or bronzer) if I want and still look polished. Score on all fronts. Plus it doesn't smell. I didn't realize how much smelly cosmetics pissed me off until I realized there was another option.

The larger size, which is actually only 1 oz, costs a hefty $57.50. That's a "wait for a coupon price" for me. I mean, really? However, I'm realizing as I use it more that I can get away with a fairly small amount. The .25 oz size looks like it's a weekend tube, and it's probably more a two-week or three-week tube. That makes the full size tube a two or three month supply (for the daily makeup user), which is still a bit ridiculous, but this stuff is so magical I think I'll shell out.

It comes in four colors, plus clear. The lightest shade, "Luminous" is perfect for me. After a long day, it looks like this: