I spent the rest of my Saturday doing what so many beauty bloggers do: swatching things. I've got eyeshadows swatched out through the end of August, so I got a dozen more lipcolors queued up. I like the laquer and matte balm colors well enough, but I really wish that they had kept the “stain” part of the equation! (Hey Revlon, how about expanding the color range of your Colorstay Balmstain line with actual…oh, I don't know…colors that stain, and thus stay put a lot longer?) That said, the very nicely inexpensive Jordana Twist & Shine Balmstains, which I briefly raved about back in the 2013 Beauty Blog Advent Calendar…actually do stain. Well, the non-nude shades do. I can't really tell if Nude Chic stains or not. But 1/3 the price and they actually stain? And there are a few shades that are similar to, but not the exact same as, existing Balmstain colors.

I seem to be headed into a “tan and taupe” phase, with my lipcolors. I think it has something to do with a) actually finding more lipcolors that aren't ridiculously expensive; and b) dyeing my hair auburn, which means that I have to warm up my lip and cheek color choices so that they don't clash. I'm liking the auburn hair color, but it appears to fade fairly quickly. Or maybe it's just more noticeable because I'd previously spent five years dyeing my hair colors that were fairly close to what my hair color used to be, in the naughts. But at any rate, the warmer hair color means needing to tweak things…mostly my lip and cheek colors, though my eyeshadow choices need occasional readjusting as well.

I'm settling in with the new job, getting my financial feet back under me, and overall feeling a bit more calm. I've had a bit more time to visit some other blogs and comment a bit more than lurk. I've been a longtime reader of Gianna's - which is where I saw the first pictures of the summer Sally Hansen CSM brights. Sheila posts eyeshadow looks that are very much in line with what I tend to wear (both in terms of style and color choices) so it's great to see those regularly turning up in my RSS feed. I've been visiting Silvana off and on for quite a while - almost since the beginning of my blog, when I was (very briefly) in a blogging group whose name I now forget utterly - and I enjoy her take on budget and prestige beauty. Olivia has great posts about how to place eyeshadows to brighten and lift the eye…very useful to folks who have hooded lids! (While I love seeing lots of the eyeshadow artistry that many others post, I can't duplicated it because of my eyelids. But with Olivia's posts, I can learn how to wear pretty eyeshadows and actually have them be visible, without looking clownish.)

It seems like a lot of the less-huge blogs that I used to visit daily, have gone dormant or disappeared altogether. And things change, interests change, life gets in the way, I completely understand. And a blog (any kind of blog!!) is a lot of work!! Just like anything else, no two people will handle it exactly the same way, and it's not everyone's cuppa. I have reached a pause-point in my own Massive Eyeshadow Swatchathon, and can't seem to work up the mojo to restart…which means that I'll probably space out the products that I do have swatched, and will have plenty of swatch-and-review posts on deck for 2015. (Geez…2015??? That'll be Sparklecrack Central's sixth year of operation.) I'm buying a lot less makeup, which is both good for my budget and good for my house, which has a distinct limit on storage space. However, I'm also using more of what I have, which has been kind of fun. I need to start actually posting those looks, because while my “daily” look is pretty basic (foundation, brows, lashes, lips) when I do get a chance to wear eyeshadows, I'm happier with what looks I create.

What were your weekend activities? And what beauty and makeup sites have you been enjoying visiting recently?

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