The Beauty Spotlight Team Takes a Look into the Kit of an Adventuring Rogue! What’s in Syl’s Bag?

Greetings from that moment where your char says ‘too much clutter’, fellow rogues!

The Beauty Spotlight team has been taking a peek into the different members’ bags recently, discovering what equipment and loot they carry along with them on their daily adventures! Now it’s my turn…

I should probably mention that what you’re about to see technically only represents 1/3 of my daily schlep. When you’re an adventuring rogue and a long-suffering grad student and a ballet fanatic, there is some serious potential  for excess clobber. Since you can probably guess some of the other clutter I usually have about me (laptop, pointe shoes, smoke bombs, 6-inch thick stack of journal articles, leotard , extra dagger poison, laser safety goggles, bun-pins, hinge grease, omgetcetera), I’ve boiled it down to the essentials!

And so, without further ado, let us sally forth into the bottom of a rogue’s kitbag!

The *simplified* rogue’s kitbag. Seriously, you would not believe some of the tonnage I sometimes haul about with me… when in doubt, everyone just hands their extra stuff to the rogue!

Ze Bag:

Now, the other Beauty Spotlight Team ladies pretty much all have breathtakingly, envy-inducingly elegant handbags. I have a cotton shopping tote that I got during a conference adventure at the British Museum! 😀 All style here, all the time, right? You have to appreciate its simple, uncluttered functionality though, and it is nice and lightweight. If not waterproof…or rip-proof…where was I going with this? At any rate, I am a big fan of canvas/cotton totes…

I should take a moment to mention the phone here, as I felt it was a bit too boring to photograph separately – it’s a Samsung. Yep, that’s pretty much it really. Despite being a very internetty person,  I am not a very mobiley person – I like to hunt peope down and talk to them in person *sinister grin*. 😉

Ze Gold Purse:

A gold purse. May or may not (let’s be honest, probably will never) contain actual gold. The dragon wouldn’t get off it, even when we asked really nicely. Hmph.

Can’t really go adventuring without gold, now, can one? Or plastic, possibly. Everything is a card these days – cash, credit, dwarven armoury loyalty card, transport pass, you name it. The dungeon loot/e-money converters must be making a fortune! Anyway, this is my wallet, and is my best candidate for leatherbound elegance. Love me some bue/embossing…

Ze Sunglasses:

Despite the amount of time we spend in dark places, sometimes a rogue needs sunnies too…

These aren’t just good for overland adventuring – do you have any idea how bright it gets in the magmadragon’s molten lair? Spoiler alter: it’s bright. These are my preciousss, my Chanel beauties, the only pair of sunglasses I’ve ever even remotely looked good in. They were a gift from my parents, too, which puts an extra shine on their magnificence. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here, wearing them, stroking them, and looking disturbingly fabulous. (Side note: the case isn’t really my taste, actually, but it is damn near indestructible, which is exactly the sort of armour such beautiful treasures need).

Ze Makeup Pouch!

Makeup and Hairties and Flash Drives, Oh, MY! (Warning: may also occasionally contain dagger poison). Do pardon the slight blur – the light at the moment in wintry and absolute arse for taking photos when you have my *cough* limited skills with a camera!

Yes, the stalwart little polka-dot cosmetic pouch you can see in the first pic has been with me for a while now, and it has never failed. The *makeup* contents are on an ever-changing rotation, but it always conceals at least three thesis-related flash drives and some hair ties.

The current makeup consists of:

• A Collection (Collection 2000 as was) concealer in the shade ‘as pasty as possible’ – just kidding, it’s the lightest one, 01. I haven’t reviewed this one yet, as it’s relatively new to me, but I am impressed. It combines variable coverage, undereye suitability and sufficient paleness with affordability, so there you go!
• A Lancome matte eyeshadow single in Tres Chocolat, which does double duty as my portable mirror and favourite eyebrow powder.
• An EOS lip balm in Honeydew Melon flavour. I haven’t officially reviewed ths either, but here’s the gist: it’s OK. The most fun part, actually, is progressively sculpting the dome into a sort of nipple shape that you can amuse/terrify people with.
• A comparatively modest collection of lipsticks (for me, at any rate), consisting of (click the name for a full review/swatches!): Revlon Lacquer Balm in Demure, Marc Jacobs Lovemarc Lip Gel in Have We Met?, Stila Stay All Day Vinly Lip Gloss in Nude Vinyl, Too Faced La Creme Lipstick in Naked Dolly, YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in #17 Rose in Tension and Guerlain Rouge Automatique in Rose Lip!

Bottom line: no rogue can ever have too many lipsticks with them. We have to be adaptable, flexible, and ready to soothe dryness or add shine at a moment’s notice. This is really the bare minimum, people. As you can see, there’s a bit of a pink theme going on there – if you’d like to see some of the other pink lipsticks that rotate through my daily kitbag, you can reconnoitre here…

Ze Miscellany:

I expect you’re probably surprised that an adventuring rogue doesn’t take a full on first-aid kit with her. I do, actually, but most of the sticking plasters, burn cream and anti-necrotic-damage-spray were used up when I went to take the photo…

Painkillers. ‘Nuff said, amirite, ladies/dungeoneers? Also, access card and keys, with the dag end of a promotional lanyard that gave up years ago. Some equipment you never manage to upgrade, no madder how many random loot drops you get.

Well! There you go – that was the essential contents of a rogue’s kitbag. I expect you are enthralled, and I apologise for not posting all the rest of my clutter at the same time. If you’re interested in the ballet stuff, simply holler, and I can post something about that in the future. My smokebomb and dagger collection will have to remain a trade secret for now (very competitive scene, rogueing), and the journal articles no-one but me should have to suffer through! 😉

What are your daily adventuring essentials? Anything you just can’t leave the tavern without…or something you wish you could pitch into the depths of a gelatinous cube, but have to carry anyway?

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in any product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find that your morning hot beverage tastes a little…different than usual. Didn’t the rogue say something the other day about that new poison that makes your inner ear itch maddeningly for the rest of your life? I think she did…

Tales of Adventure from the Beauty Spotlight Team! Shimmering Treasures, Lustrous Seductresses and… WWARD?

Greetings from the feasting table in the tavern, fellow rogues!

Chaos as usual here at Rogue HQ – who would have thought that theses would just literally go on forever, and that it wouldn’t even be within your control? >_<  I apologise for melting back into the shadows a bit recently, but I’ve been posting things regularly on Intagram, if you need your daily dose of rogueishness (or randomness, as the case may be) – you can see the latest in my ramblings down to the right, and I’m using it rather a lot as my micro-adventuring platform during these dark any mysterious times!

Thank you everyone for all your support! ❤

Today though, we have more shinies on ze blog…

What does a group of adventurers do after a long fortnight of successful questing? Why, they gather in the tavern to feast and tell tales of their adventures of course! Grab a tankard of mead, friends, and settle in!

 

Gosh, they’re just falling over themselves to see me!! *fans self*
…oh, wait…

 

Phyrra shares her March Beauty Favorites! See what makes the cut!

LORAC Alter Ego Lipstick in Seductress and Lip Lustre Gloss in Peach Lustre are so gorgeous that Helen from Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog wants to collect many more colors!

Do you have a love affair with nail polish? Beauty Info Zone adores the beautiful shades from KB Shimmer this spring. We think you will too.

Gloss girls out there, rejoice! Sunny shares her first impression and swatches of the new Rouge Dior Brillants on Mostly Sunny!

Jump into Spring with GLOSSYBOX! Pammy Blogs Beauty shares her most recent GLOSSYBOX Box Opening!

Can a concealer be lightweight yet still offer great coverage? Perilously Pale reviews the new Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer including swatches of four of the eight available shades.

The Painted Rogue is confronting some makeup and beauty dilemmas of truly starting gravity this week! As in all tense situations, you’ve got to ask yourself: What Would a Rogue Do? (WWARD?)

15 Minute Beauty shares her favorite beauty products for teens. Are any of them your favorite?

Prime Beauty takes a weekend walk in the country with Jane Iredale’s Country Weekend Collection!
Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

The Beauty Spotlight Team Delves Into Pammy’s Beauty Adventuring Kitbag!

Greetings from the equipment store in the village, fellow rogues!

The Beauty Spotlight Team has a brand new series for 2015, taking you on an incredible journey deep into the kitbags and handbags of our illustrious adventuring team! If, like me, you have an insatiable curiosity for finding out just what others allocate space to in their Bags of Holding, then this is the series for you…

Next up is our champion of every adventuring lady’s gorgeousness and fearless leader of her own growing party, Pammy from Pammy Blogs Beauty! 🙂

 

 

Pammy ditches her diaper bag in favor of a chic-er purse/diaper bag hybrid: the Mommy Bag! Come check out what this busy Mommy of 2 under 3 carries around on a daily basis! How many lip products does a Mommy-on-the-Go need? Apparently way too many, lol!

 

Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

RogueGyver?! WWARD?! The (Ridiculous) Beauty Scenario Tag

Greetings from that place halfway between the shadows and the light, fellow rogues!

Today is a special day. My wonderful Wizard (husband) is submitting his (amazing! Two volume!) PhD Thesis, the bastard. ❤ ❤   😀 Since I am, as you are probably tired of hearing by now, STILL engaged in battling the Thesisbeast – albeit in the very end stages – this means that doing anything academic today has been rendered impossible because of thesis envy. MASSIVE, CRIPPLING THESIS ENVY, with inevitable accompanying feelings of hopelessness and woe. 😀

As you know, however, you can’t keep a good rogue down, and I decided to indulge in a bit of bloggy goodness. Since I am still at work, and don’t have access to all my photos to make a new review post, I am choosing to seize on an awesome tag I just saw over at EyeHeartIt. This is the stronghold of Larie, an awesome fellow scientist and makeup aficionado. She has many wonderful posts, but I’m refusing to stop hugging her at the moment for posting this one. The Internet needs more Laries, is all I’m saying.

Without further ado, then, let’s see what a rogue would do (WWARD?) in these moments of beauty crisis… 😀

Well, What would YOU do when surrounded by green-eyeshadow emitting spiders? Hmm?

1. You have to get rid of all of your foundations and only keep one high-end and one drugstore; which do you keep?

 One of the funny things about adventuring is that, in general, you spend a lot of time in area where the selection isn’t all that great. I mean, sure, your average adventuring general store will be able to hook you up with any number of morningstars and as much rope and lantern-oil as you can carry, but their selection of foundations tends to be pretty abysmal. And that’s if you’re human. Can you even IMAGINE trying to find that right shade of greyish green if you’re an orc?

With that said, the problem is sort of moot for me, as I only own high-end foundations. This is mostly because I’ve never tried any drugstore ones, because they still cost $40 a bottle here so there’s no real saving when you go through as little as I do. My current favourite foundation is still YSL’s powder foundation compact, but recently I’ve been enjoying some excellent skin days, just putting on a dusting of Chanel powder to even things out.

2. You go for an interview, and the lady interviewing you has lipstick on her teeth. Do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?

It kind of depends. If the interviewer seems like the type who might not handle a personal comment, then I won’t mention it. This is most of them, honestly. Either that or the person interviewing you is the lord/mayor/vizier/king/emperor/etc of the immediate area, and probably isn’t wearing lipstick, gender and adventure stereotypes being what they are.

3. You’re not feeling yourself and need a pick-me-up lipstick. Which do you go for?

At the moment it’s Bite Beauty’s Palomino, but really any lipstick makes me feel pretty good. ALL HAIL THE LIPSTICK. *OoOoOoOoOoOo*

Sigryin, staring down the candidates for Best Inoffensive, Battle-Appropriate Lipcolour’. Judging these sorts of things is a true beauty adventuring challenge…

4. You go back in time for a day to your teenage years; how would you do your hair or makeup differently?

Ah, the teenage rogue years. Those halcyon days of missing handholds while scaling eldritch towers because you forgot that you actually have a bust now and can’t get as close to the wall as you could before, and focusing all of your stealth and camouflage skills into your concealer wand. *sniff*

I’m pretty sure my hairstyle hasn’t changed (ponytail or bun), although the length certainly has (shoulder-length to ‘I can use it as a scarf now’). As for makeup, all I wore in my teen years was a bit of concealer here and there, and Estee Lauder Crystal Baby lipstick – if anything. Eye makeup was a completely foreign concept to this rogue, probably because all my RogueMum ever wore was lipstick, with a bit of powder for special occasions!

5. You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott haircut but they hear wrong and give you a pixie cut – what would you do?

A) Smile, say thank you, call your mum and cry hysterically
B) Cry in the chair and things get awkward
C) Complain to the manager and demand a refund

I don’t know who that is… *googles* – oh… a trim to shoulder-length and then a tub of ‘make it look wavy and messy’ wax? (Full disclosure: I don’t even know from hair products).

Anyway, here’s the thing; no-one gives a rogue a haircut they don’t want. It’s one of the benefits of the class, actually. Along with increased DEX and the ability to disappear in a cloud of smoke, you get the innate class skill ‘Hairdressers will listen EXTREMELY carefully to your wishes, and then give you the haircut you want, not the one they felt like giving you’. 😉 Let’s be honest though, why go to the hairdresser when you can, um, ‘encourage’ the wizard to learn a haircutting spell?

Chatting at the office water cooler, Ogg and Grogg suddenly realised that they had fundamentally different views on eyeliner. Their friendship was being tested to the utmost.

6. Your friend surprises you with a 4-day city break and you have one hour to pack. Which ‘Do it all’ palette do you pack in your makeup bag?

I *own* some ‘do it all’ palettes (a couple of Lancôme Absolue Voyage ones), but I don’t use them much for that purpose, actually. As much as a rogue must be economical in her kitbag-management to make sure she has room for all the hempen rope, hinge grease, lockpicks and smoke bombs as well as her makeup, I prefer to just grab a couple of essentials. Besides, pretty much every device of conveyance that I own has at least one lip balm or lipstick in it, so I’m usually covered.

Since we’re going to an actual city (much excite!) on this break, I can probably get anything I forget. Dungeons require a bit more forethought.

7. Your house has been robbed. Don’t worry, everyone is safe, but your beauty stash has been raided. What’s the product you really hope is safe?

This is a bit of a moot question, really, since obviously I caught the thief. You can’t steal from a rogue. It doesn’t happen unless we let you, and if we do that then you’d better worry INTENSIVELY about why we might have allowed you to do that and how short your life is probably going to be from now on. 🙂

Since we’re talking in hypotheticals, however, I wouldn’t mind too much if that was all they took. I have quite a small beauty stash actually, and very, very little of it is LE or discontinued. Probably the only thing I’d really aggro over at the moment is my Tom Ford Stavros!

8. Your friend borrows makeup and returns it in awful condition. Do you:

A) Pretend you haven’t noticed
B) Ask them to re-purchase it
C) Secretly do it back to their makeup

Again: no-one borrows my makeup. If anyone is using any of it, it will be something like liquid foundation/BB Cream that can be dispensed, and they will be using it in my presence. Makeup is not really the sort of stuff I share, partly for hygiene reasons and partly because it is so expensive here and each piece is, in its own way, rather hard-won on my student rogue’s budget. No to mention all the artefacts that I have to literally jump over lava/past dragons/through poison spider groves to retrieve.

With the hypotheticals though: if they messed up my makeup I would confront them about it. Not aggressively, but they need to know that such things are not OK. Knowing my friends though, if they messed up some of my makeup, I would be handed a brand new item with profuse apologies in the first place, because my friends are lovely, lovely people. It’s what I would do too!

Right, well, there we have it! Thank you all for letting me distract myself from thesis envy for an hour or so, and for putting up with my rather shadowy presence as of late! If you would like to do the tag, please feel free! Do remember to go check Larie‘s blog out though, because you can never have too much awesome. 🙂

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find that your morning hot beverage tastes a little…different than usual. Didn’t the rogue say something the other day about that new poison that makes your inner ear itch maddeningly for the rest of your life? I think she did…

Beauty Influencers’ Sunday Column, Vol. 4 – Ambassadors: Time To Level Up Speechcraft and Diplomacy!

Greetings from a stalwart party of beauty adventurers, fellow rogues! 😀

 

If you could be a brand ambassador for a makeup company, what brand would it be and why?

SARA | Germany | Color Me Loud
I haven’t given it a thought if I could be a good brand ambassador but if I would work with one company, that would be one of my top three brands, Tom Ford, Suqqu or Burberry. These are the brands I see growing in the future and deliver consistent quality. I am a little afraid though that everyone who goes before cameras for Tom Ford has to get naked *chuckle* just joking.

SYL | New Zealand | The Painted Rogue
You know what…I don’t think I can decide on one! There are many brands I admire and enjoy for various combinations of reasons, but I don’t actually know enough about any of them fundamentally (their principles, practices, etc) to want to put my own face and name to their brand. I think it would only happen if I had my own makeup brand, actually!

DEE | Canada | How Does Dee Do It
I’ve  been a legitimately big fan of many of Sephora’s recent products and I really like how they’ve rebranded themselves in terms of their quality and variety of offerings in the past 2 years or so. I’ve bought a LOT of their products and I haven’t had a single dud yet! Plus their customer service rocks. So I think I’d have a boat load of fun being an ambassador for them.

ERIN | USA | Clever Girl Reviews
My choice would be NARS. They are cruelty-free and ethnically inclusive! They also offer a range of colors so all tastes are represented!

MELISSA | Switzerland | Kiss & Make-up
Tough question. There are so many brands that I love, all for different reasons. But one brand that I can really identify with is Make Up For Ever. They’re not afraid of color, they don’t shy away from extremes and they think outside the box. I respect that. It’s just a really fun brand, ya know. And creative. And ballsy! I like to think that I too am creative, fun and ballsy. At least when it comes to make-up

JAA | USA/Thailand | Hello Jaa
I shouldn’t have asked this question because I am having a hard time deciding myself! I’d like to say VERSO because I love all the science behind their products but then I realized they are not really a makeup brand! I think I’ll go with MAC Cosmetics because it would be so much fun to present and play with new makeup collections all the time! They have some really nice, good-quality, and affordable staple-worthy products in the line-up, too. Their MUAs are also talented, professional, and friendly which are the type of people I want to be working with.

[Interested in joining BISC Network? Send your request to jaa*at*hellojaa.com]

There you have it, adventurers! If you could be the ambassador for any makeup brand, which one would it be? Or would it be your own?! 😀

Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

 

Syl

Tales of Adventure from the Beauty Spotlight Team! Luxury Loot, Couture Loot and Desert Loot!

Greetings from the feasting table in the tavern, fellow rogues!

Chaos as usual here at Rogue HQ – who would have thought that theses would just literally go on forever, and that it wouldn’t even be within your control? >_<  I apologise for melting back into the shadows a bit this past week or so, but this time we’ve had a re-infestation of the internet-cable-chewing giant spiders. T___T  Here’s to coming back out of the shadows a bit soon, but in the meantime…

What does a group of adventurers do after a long fortnight of successful questing? Why, they gather in the tavern to feast and tell tales of their adventures of course! Grab a tankard of mead, friends, and settle in!

 

This Library is cursed, my thesis is cursed…also I think my hat is cursed… *sigh*

 

 

Rodan+Fields REDEFINE Skincare Line is luxurious, effective and joyful to use. Learn why Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog thinks this is a top-notch anti-aging line worthy of your attention!

Love luxury beauty? Check out the Luxe List at Phyrra!

Prime Beauty is crushing over the POPSUGAR Must Have Box for March: spring freshness, great snacks & travel goodies–yes please!!

Few things scream spring louder than flowers and a coral pink lipstick. Givenchy made the ultimate spring lipstick by combining the two in their Le Rouge Couture Edition! See just how pretty it is on Mostly Sunny!

How many cosmetic items do you use in a day? Beauty Info Zone and Makeup Wars were commissioned to use just five. Could you do that?

There are some new Dior Rouge Dior Lipstick shades hitting counters soon and Christa from Perilously Pale is showing us 6 of the 7 gorgeous spring shades.

Need a new scent for Spring? Pammy Blogs Beauty is loving L’Occitane’s NEW Fleurs de Cerisier!

What if you either lived in a desert climate or visited one? What would you use? Fifteen Minute Beauty shares 13 favorites from a desert living blogger

It’s flashback time here at The Painted Rogue, and this time we’re digging back into that classic dungeoneering manual: the Ultimate Rogueish Guide to Battle-Ready Red Lipsticks! As always, these guides are open to your suggestions, so tell me: what’s YOUR favourite red?

 

Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

Tales of Adventure from the Beauty Spotlight Team! Gold and Bronze, Golden Honey and GOLD!

Greetings from the feasting table in the tavern, fellow rogues!

Although disappearing into the shadows is kind of what we rogues do for a living, you may be pardoned for wondering why a blogging rogue does it, and has only published weekend posts recently! The answer is that, as usual, it never rains but it pours brimstone. And zombies. Essentially, the four (count’ em!) jobs I work while battling the thesisbeast and bouncing from conference to symposium went into overdrive the last two or three weeks, as they’re all university jobs, and the new semester just started!  thus, I apologise for my shadowy-ness, but it will sort itself out soon once the new-academic-year madness dies down a bit. In the meantime, I am still posting adventures and rogueish goodness on Instagram and Twitter, and of course these loot-bags of bloggy, share-y gooness on the weekends 🙂

I have a plan to do some more micro-post type things to tide us all over until I ride the brimstone storm out – what do you guys think? What would you like to see from a rogueish micro-post?

*FOOM!* (disappears back into shadows)

In the meantime…

What does a group of adventurers do after a long fortnight of successful questing? Why, they gather in the tavern to feast and tell tales of their adventures of course! Grab a tankard of mead, friends, and settle in!

 

A Magical Loot Chest of Link Love and Sharing (also lipsticks)! 😀

Beauty Info Zone has been hit by the love bug. They’ve experienced the beauty of Ardency Inn Modster Manuka Honey Eyeshadows and now there’s no turning back.

What do tulips and the colors gold and bronze have in common? Guess you’ll have to look at Mostly Sunny to find out the answer to that.

It’s time to improve your pout with Pur Minerals Pout Pens and Pammy Blogs Beauty.

Prime Beauty is so ready for spring. She thinks Laura Mercier is too. Soft colors are just the answer.

Are you curious about Benefit Roller Lash Mascara? Perilously Pale will squash that curiosity and have you taking out your wallet.

Phyrra is the Beauty Spotlight Team’s resident hair colorist. She knows bright and beautiful and is sharing how to have temporary coloring fun. Live a little!

Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog unravels the secret of the Memebox and let’s us in it. Aren’t you curious?

Spring is only days away and it’s time for a great blush flush. Let 15 Minute Beauty show you the way.

Thinking about blogging? The Painted Rouge shares some advice from bloggers around the world.

Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

Beauty Influencers’ Sunday Column, Vol. 3 – The Mage Can Turn Back Time…What Do You Do?!

Greetings from a stalwart party of beauty adventurers, fellow rogues! 😀

 

If you could start your blog all over again, what would you do differently?

DEE | Canada | How Does Dee Do It
1.I would have made sure to choose a theme that allowed for featured images that were at least 640 px wide. I love blogs with large featured images for posts. 2.I would have networked WAY MORE and WAY SOONER..had I known how! I didn’t know how to connect with other bloggers till I was 6 months into my blog. I believed that the Internet would magically connect us :)) Still not a fan of Twitter but I love instagram, Bloglovin and just good old comments! Can’t stress how powerful a tool, as simple a thing as commenting can be.

AGATA | USA | Her and Makeup
Having been a blogger for less than a year, I still learn a lot every day and with time, I find out what works and what doesn’t. If there is one thing that I regret, it is that I did not start writing it earlier. My blog is my creative outlet, a place on the web where I can share my passion with others and interact with other people. I have never expected that Her and Makeup would bring me this much joy and that I would meet so many wonderful people through it- readers and fellow bloggers.

SYL | New Zealand | The Painted Rogue
To be honest, I’m reasonably happy with how my blog has trundled along! If I had things to do-over, however, I would be taking a serious look at my zany idea of starting a blog while wrestling with the end stages of The Battle of The Thesisbeast… There are so many things I want to do, but I’m forced to think: WHEN YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR PHD SYL, AND NOT BEFORE.

SUNNY | Belgium | Mostly Sunny Blog
“I wish I had/hadn’t…” is simply not a part of my philosophy. With that said, if I could start my blog all over again, I would have joined Instagram sooner. I resisted the idea for the longest time, knowing I am not a very visual person. However, finally joining Instagram has given me the opportunity to rethink a lot of things. What makes a popular Instagram picture? Maybe I can expand on the idea and incorporate it on the blog. As a result, Mostly Sunny has evolved in ways that I could not have foreseen. It’s an amazing ride!

ERIN | USA | Clever Girl Reviews
I wouldn’t do much differently. I often see other people’s layouts, color stories, and fonts with a certain air of jealousy but mine looks different and is more candid. The only thing I would chang is I would have waited to apply for Google Adsense until I was back on American soil, they won’t give me an account.

LENA | USA | Lenallure
Looking back, I can’t say I have too many regrets. There are things that I wish I knew back then, though. If I could start my blog all over again, I would spend time to learn basics like photography, blog platforms, SEO, etc. I would be more careful to form my relationships with PR and brands as well. I would always remember quality is more important than quantity, yet I would be more consistent with my posts. I would make the same efforts to stay true to myself, if not more.

JAA | USA/Thailand | Hello Jaa
I’d start experimenting with portrait studio lighting sooner. My older posts would have been more complete. I’d also make sure to choose a layout that accommodates larger picture size because I believe larger photos create higher impact. Another thing would be to tell myself to not be shy and connect with other bloggers sooner! It is more fun to have someone with the same interest to talk to and you just learn so much from them! Last thing would be to implement a Pin It button on all my photos right away because Pinterest is among the top three social networks that drive traffic to my blog the most.

[Interested in joining BISC Network? Send your request to jaa*at*hellojaa.com]

There you have it, adventurers! What would you do if you could start your blog over? What would you do if you could start a blog for the first time? 😀

Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

 

Syl

Tales of Adventure from the Beauty Spotlight Team! Pastel Bags of Holding, EPIC Lipstick Loot and Monster Bling!

Greetings from the feasting table in the tavern, fellow rogues!

Chaos as usual here at Rogue HQ – who would have thought that theses would just literally go on forever, and that it wouldn’t even be within your control? >_<  I apologise for melting back into the shadows a bit this past week or so, but I’ve had some family things on as well. Can you imagine a whole family of rogues? 😀 Here’s to coming back out of the shadows a bit soon, but in the meantime…

What does a group of adventurers do after a long fortnight of successful questing? Why, they gather in the tavern to feast and tell tales of their adventures of course! Grab a tankard of mead, friends, and settle in!

 

So… when I said ‘Yeah, Ondar’s Guile makes me nearly arrow-proof’…I didn’t mean ‘Go right ahead and test that out’…

 

 

Little excites Helen from Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog more than big events at Barneys New York, but their Love Yourself Beauty Bag Event from March 10-14 has her doing the happy dance! You will want to bookmark this post filled with everything that you need to know about the Gift Bag and Step-Up Gifts!

Perilously Pale has developed a bit of a Rebecca Minkoff handbag obsession. Check out her new pastel purchases for spring and her wishlist fantasy list of items she would love to get during the Shopbop Discount Code sale ending this weekend.

Phyrra shares the Best Beauty Trends for 2015 and her tips for how to wear them!

Prime Beauty needs to drink more water and so does her skin! Quench your thirsty skin with the new Neutrogena Hydro Boost Moisturizer! This gel moisturizer feels like a dream!

Ready for a Spa-Experience at Home? Pammy Blogs Beauty shares her love of Rituals Body Scrub!

Did you hear any quacking? Beauty Info Zone has a giveaway with a brand you don’t know about. Read and enter, you may be surprised. With a quack here and a quack quack there….

Sunny from Mostly Sunny is a lucky girl who got to play with a lot of new Chanel Rouge Cocos! Check out 4 shades in the pink family to see if there is one or two for you!

polish insomniac has some bling she wants to share with you. Are you a blinger?

The Painted Rogue has been forced to lurk in the shadows a bit recently, so to offer some amusements while she gets things back together, pop over to find out what type of beauty-dungeon-dwelling monster you are! 😀 RARGH!

 

Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

The Beauty Spotlight Team Delves Into Lola’s Secret Beauty Adventuring Kitbag!

Greetings from the equipment store in the village, fellow rogues!

The Beauty Spotlight Team has a brand new series for 2015, taking you on an incredible journey deep into the kitbags and handbags of our illustrious adventuring team! If, like me, you have an insatiable curiosity for finding out just what others allocate space to in their Bags of Holding, then this is the series for you!

Next up is our favourite artistic and academical adventuring virtuosa, Helen from Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog 🙂

 

Lola’s Secret Beauty Bag of Holding? 😀

 

 

Have you ever wondered what Helen from Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog carries around in her purse? Well, The Beauty Spotlight Team wanted to know, so now everyone can see what she totes around each day. However, she found it extremely difficult to narrow down the selection to a single purse since she uses more than one each week. Knowing her as you do, can you guess what she ended up selecting? Let’s find out!

 

Until next time, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl