This post is looong overdue! I had meant to get it up shortly after we got back from our vacation but time escaped me. So, a month later, please enjoy some pictures from our trip to Wisconsin for Christmas and New Year’s. đ
Not pictured: Â the 12 hour drive on both sides of this trip! đ
I got a cute text from Bell Canada this morning informing me it is actually Canadaâs 148thbirthday today! While I donât have any exciting plans for the day, if you do, maybe take a look at my Canada Day looks post from last year! I promise lots of red eyeshadow! 😉
As I mentioned in my previous Halloween post of the year, I, along with several of my friends, are going out as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Iâm one of the lucky ones out of the group and managed to buy my outfit on Ebay. The big issue with my outfit was going to be turning my skin colour green. Iâve never worked with full body makeup or anything of that ilk, so this was going to be super interesting for me!
So this was my first time trying out this kind of makeup. I picked up MACâs Landscape Green Chromacake a few weeks back after doing a little bit of research. Itâs a water-based cake makeup that applies quite easily to the skin (as I quickly discovered). I did find I needed several layers (roughly three in the last photo on the bottom right) to get a somewhat even texture. Iâll probably do an extra layer on the night of Halloween just to make sure itâs extra smooth.
The Chromacake pigment does feel a bit tight on the skin. It doesnât feel as emollient as foundation does. In the hour that I wore the pigment, it didnât crack on me, but it never really felt completely comfortable. (As a side note, foundation itself never really feels âcomfortableâ on me either, so ymmv.)
Since the green on its own would be too flat, I had to add in some shading. I used MACPrint eyeshadow to carve out a bit of my cheekbones. I found that blending was somewhat difficult: If I blended out too much, I ended up removing some of the green Chromacake. I also used Print to fill in my eyebrows. For highlighting, I used MACâs Whisper of Gilt Extra Dimension Skinfinish on the tops of my cheekbones and down my nose.
My lips turned out to be a bit of a disaster. Gamora has darker green lips but I didnât have anything that would really work. I tried using a dark lip colour mixed with gloss but I donât like how it came out, so Iâm going to have to try something else.
Those silver lines were created with eyeshadow and didnât turn out so hot either. Argh!
Lastly were the eyes. The promo shot seems to show Gamora having a dark purple outer corner of her eyes. I deepened it up with some black, but like the contouring, I had a heck of a time blending on top of the Chromacake. I also had a heck of a lot of fallout from the shadow â something to be aware of the next time I try this! Iâll definitely throw on a pair of huge false lashes for this when I wear it out on Halloween â that should help cover up some of the terrible blending!
So in the end, it was a decent first try. I primarily wanted to get a feel for the Chromacake and what I would have to do with it on Halloween. It seems very easy to apply to the skin, although blending is still my major problem. If you have any suggestions for me â either a great silver liquid liner, or a way to blend out the shadows better on top of the green paint, Iâd love to hear them!
And no, this stuff was not fun to take off!
My general idea when doing makeup for holiday events is basically⌠âwhy be subtle?â So if youâre Canadian and/or looking to celebrate the 1st of July and want something a bit different, gather up your red eye shadow and letâs get cracking.
Weâll start this off with the more âin your faceâ of the three looks I have prepped for this post.
I *LOVE* how this came out. It was touch and go for a while â drawing that maple leaf with gel liner was no easy task, so make life a bit easier on yourself and use a stencil. I printed out this one, and cut it up. Using Inglotâs Gel Liner in 79 (red) with a small liner brush, I traced around the stencil. Go incredibly slowly and clean your brush off often so that the edges donât get gunked up.
I then took Inglotâs Matte 382 eyeshadow on a pencil brush and starting at the points of the maple leaf, I feathered the eyeshadow in towards the center. This was done SOLELY to make the darn stencil not look so tatty, and I think it turned out rather well.
I free-handed some black swirls with my MUFE Aqualiner in 13 Black, applied some small clear crystals I got from a craft store with eyelash adhesive and finally tapped some silver glitter in random places all over the entire drawing because really⌠who doesnât love glitter?!
On my eyes is Virgin, Buck and Smog from the Urban Decay Naked 1 palette. MUFE Aqualiner in 13 Black for the winged liner and MUFE Smoky Lash Extravagant. Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde on my eyebrows. Thereâs nothing else on my face, but on my lips is MACâs Strawberry Malt lipglass.
And for those not looking to do actual facepaint on themselvesâŚ
I actually wore this one to the pub for the England vs Italy World Cup game, but with the full realization that this would work equally well for a Canada Day look. (And my bubble got kind of blown at the game, not only by England losing the game, but also by their jerseys being suddenly white and blue for some odd reason. :/ )
Eyes
MAC Blanc Type on my browbone, Tarte gel liner in Black for the wing and MUFE Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
This is the actual look I wore last Canada Day, which is essentially just a toned down version of the look above. Iâm pretty sure I also wore Rimmelâs Big Bang on my lips, but I didnât take a picture of it.
Eyes
NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk all over the lid as a base, then;
MAC Shroom on the browbone, Maybelline gel liner in Blackest Black for the wing and CoverGirl Clump Crusher on my lashes.
Happy Canada Day everyone!