Category Archives: Makeup

What’s On My Face – Volume 22

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Another set of makeup roundups!

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Something nude-ish for all your neutral lovers out there!

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Eyes

  1. MAC Ricepaper as the inner corner highlight and to highlight the brow.
  2. MAC Amber Lights all over the lid.
  3. MAC Handwritten on the outer third.

CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Hard Candy – Hula Hula
  • Blush: MAC – Warm Soul

20140818_look3-1

The nude lips soooo do not work with this one!

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Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Mango Tango all over the lid.
  2. Makeup Geek Bitten on the outer half of the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the top of the crease.
  4. MAC Shroom to highlight the brow.

Tarte Black gel liner to create the wing and CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Tarte – Charisma
  • Highlighter: MAC – Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: essence – Nude Love

20140818_look2-1

A fun dark one! As I’ve said before, I usually stay away from dark lid colours but when I do try it out I generally quite like the results!

20140818_look2-2

Eyes

  1. Urban Decay Darkside all over the lid.
  2. Urban Decay Blackheart on the outer third of the lid.
  3. Urban Decay Nooner to blend out the crease.
  4. Urban Decay Strange on the browbone.
  5. Urban Decay Dust to highlight the inner corner.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Wet n Wild – Pearlescent Pink
  • Highlighter: MAC – Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Maybelline – Maple Kiss

 

 

20140818_look4-1

This one doesn’t come across as well in photos as I had hoped. Isn’t it strange how that can happen? I really love orangey-reds on my lids and this was one of the first few looks I ever did that really pushed me into using more and more fiery colours.

20140818_look4-2

Eyes

  1. MAC Gleam all over the lid.
  2. MAC Coppering on the outer half of the lid and heavily through the crease.
  3. MAC Handwritten in the very outer corner.
  4. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Tarte – Charisma
  • Lips: NYX Butter Gloss – Cherry Cheesecake

20140818_look5-1

I had been lamenting how much I seem to fail at makeup looks that involve gold, primarily because I tend to combine them with brown. Kalyn showed me that gold just seems to work way better with black, so I decided to give it a shot the next time I incorporated some gold shadow.

20140818_look5-2

Eyes

  1. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bold Gold all over the lid with Sleek‘s gold shadow from the Sunset palette layered on top.
  2. I used a strip of tape on my outer lid to create the super sharp edge, then swept on Urban Decay‘s Blackout.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee lightly through the crease to blend out the black.
  4. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

I tightlined my upper waterline with the Lord & Berry Black eye pencil and applied Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Revlon Photoready in Bronzed & Chic
  • Blush: Hourglass – Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: MAC – Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: Revlon Sunset Peach gloss

 

Sad Illamasqua News & Haul

Hauls, Makeup

201408_illamasqua1

I don’t normally post mid-month hauls as I generally try to save all of my goodies for a big long post at the end of the month, but I had a slight panic attack today when I read Julie from Swatch and Review’s recent Illamasqua haul. She pointed out that Illamasqua was pulling out of the North American market and that all of their products were on sale at The Bay. If I had waited till the end of the month to haul this stuff, you guys would’ve been screwed!

So, I don’t know where the heck I’ve been, but when I started researching this on Google, I discovered this isn’t apparently news and the information has been out there since February. Colour me totally blind because I had NO idea. I only got into Illamasqua‘s products within the last year or so, and I’ve been a huge fan of their blushes (in particular Tweak and Hussy). Feeling somewhat panicked by the news, I stormed over to the Illamasqua counter at The Bay yesterday during my lunch break (a mere hour after I read Julie’s post) and snapped up a few products. ALL Illamasqua products are 25% while supplies last, which means you’ll be saving a pretty penny since they’re not cheap products to begin with. The woman I spoke to at the counter indicated that they were expected to pack up shop by the end of August. YIKES!

It’s worth noting that as far as I can see, Illamasqua is completely gone from Sephora as well. That being said, The Bay always carried Illamasqua at significantly cheaper prices than Sephora did, so you’ve still got a few weeks to pick up some nicely discounted products!

Here’s the loot I snagged. I may go back for more before the end of the month, but this will do for now!

Illamasqua Skin Base in shade 6.5 (on sale for $31.50 CAD, regular price is $42)
Illamasqua Skin Base in shade 6.5 (on sale for $31.50 CAD, regular price is $42)

 

Skin Base. If there’s one thing that Illamasqua fanatics always talk about, it’s Skin Base. I first heard about their foundation through Pixiwoo, and kind of ignored it over the years because it’s expensive and I’m a cheapo when it comes to foundation. It’s not a product I wear every day, so it’s not really essential like eyeshadow is to me. But goddamn if I wasn’t going to get this at 25% off! (And even on sale, it’s still pretty pricey at ~$32!)

The makeup artist at the counter helped me pick out the Shade 6.5 which kind of surprised me. Despite having a decent summer tan right now, I wasn’t expecting to be so high up the line of foundations (this is good news for the super pale folk out there!). According to Illamasqua’s site, Shade 6.5 is similar to MAC NC25, so it’s not nearly as dark as I thought.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Alluvium (on sale for $19.12 CAD, regular price is $25.50)
Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Alluvium (on sale for $19.12 CAD, regular price is $25.50)

Um hello there pretty! The Alluvium Pure Pigment is stunning in the pot (although the pots themselves are an absolute disaster packaging-wise. What a mess they make.). It looks like an incredibly dark navy blue with flecks of copper and gold sparkle. However…

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Alluvium
Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Alluvium

What sorcery is this?!?! The swatch compared to the pigment in the pot is completely baffling to me. Honestly, I prefer the shade in the pot, and I’m going to see if I can try to pull more of the darker copper sparkles out of this shade by using a brown base. It’s still beautiful though. Despite the rather unexpected blue shade, you gotta admit that is one *stunning* shade of blue.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static (on sale for $19.12 CAD, regular price is $25.50)
Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static (on sale for $19.12 CAD, regular price is $25.50)

The Static Pure Pigment looks an awful lot like Beguile (a Pure Pigment shade I already own), but it has far more of a pink flash to it (whereas Beguile ends up looking like snow although it has multi-coloured shimmer in it). I bought this because I don’t have anything quite like it. It reminds me of MAC‘s Transparent Glitters (teal being my favourite).

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static
Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static

Out of focus shot to the right so you can see the pink flash to the pigment. It’s obvious in person, but man oh man is it hard to photograph straight on.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Raindrops (on sale for $12.75 CAD, regular price is $17)
Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Raindrops (on sale for $12.75 CAD, regular price is $17)

I wasn’t sure what else to pick up from Illamasqua, so I did a bit of research before heading over. One of the things that Christine fromTemptalia recommended highly was their Raindrops nail varnish. It’s a muted grey polish with flecks of silver throughout. It looks like a polish I could wear week after week. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m excited to try it out!

Nemo helping out
Nemo helping out

And what’s a product photographing session without Nemo checking out what’s going on? 🙂

That’s it for this haul – if you’re interested in Illamasqua, you’ve got until the end of the month to pick up some lovely products at some very nice prices. Good luck, and let me know if you got anything!

The essence of Fall Beauty FotD + Giveaway

Makeup, Tutorials

The Canadian Beauty Blogger brand of the month is essence! The brand has been kind enough to sponsor a giveaway for several of the CBB blogs and I was one of the lucky ones chosen to be a part of this fantastic giveaway. Having never tried any essence products before, I was excited to play around with some of their products and find out what I thought about the brand.

First up is my own Face of the Day using products from essence‘s Fall line. See below for giveaways details and how to enter.

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Having never been one for subtle makeup, I knew when I saw the All About Paradise eyeshadow palette that I had to do something fun with it.

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And have fun I did! I managed to use all of the colours in the incredibly vibrant six-pan palette. The end result is exactly what I wanted – something moderately tropical, semi tie-dyed and just all around fun!

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So here’s how I did it:

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Eyes

I first layed down a solid white base using NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to ensure that the colourful shades would pack a punch. I then used essence‘s All About Paradise eyeshadow palette:

  1. Yellow all over the inner corner and around the tearduct.
  2. The pale green on the middle of the lid.
  3. Blue in the outer corner and the outer half of the lower lash line.
  4. Pink through the crease.
  5. Champagne to highlight the brow.
  6. Peach on the inner half of the lower lid.

I then used Tarte‘s black gel liner to create the wing and then tightlined and lined my lower water line with essence‘s Black gel eye pencil. On my lashes is essence‘s get BIG! lashes mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instance Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla
  • Eyebrows: Anastasia‘s Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde
  • Bronzer: NYC‘s Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: essence Silky Touch Blush in Autumn Peach
  • Highlighter: Champagne shade from essence‘s All About Paradise palette
  • Concealer: essence Match 2 Cover! cream concealer
  • Lips: essence‘s Wear Berries!
Possible prize options
Possible prize options
The essence of Fall Beauty Giveaway

One lucky winner will win $100 worth of essence cosmetics! Items selected will be at random, but it’ll be $100 worth of awesome essenceproducts.

Details

  • Open to residents of Canada (you must have a Canadian address that we can ship to).
  • Giveaway runs from August 10th until August 18th at 12:00 a.m. EST.
  • Winner will receive $100 in products from essence, no purchase necessary.
  • Be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

The products featured in this post were sent to me to create this look.

Challenge Week: Sleek Sunset Palette

Makeup, Tutorials

20140804_challengeweek_sleeksunsetpalette

Helllooo stunner! Sleek‘s Sunset palette is a beauty. Every single shade in this palette packs a punch of colour so insane that it’s hard to believe something this good is sold in drugstores in the UK and Ireland (and readily available online too).

The only downside to this palette is the lack of any kind of matte shades, so I had to give up trying to use the shimmery shades as a browbone highlight because it was really becoming far too much shimmer everywhere.

Anyway, six looks this week!

20140804_look1.1

Let’s start the looks off with a bang! This was my favourite look out of the whole lot and best emulates the whole sunset idea this palette was going for.

20140804_look1.2

Eyes

  1. Gold shade on the inner corner.
  2. Orange in the middle.
  3. Bright red in the outer corner.
  4. Light and dark pink mixed together (bottom row, first and second shades from the right) and blended into the crease.
  5. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

Benefit They’re Real mascara is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Revlon Coral Reef
  • Lips: NYX Fizzies

20140804_look3.1

A staple look for me – I always love a really bright red outer corner, but the pinkness of the lid tones down the red and makes it look far more pink, maybe magenta. The black liner helps to alleviate the look of pink eye that the pink shadow can sometimes give off.

20140804_look3.2

Eyes

  1. Pink shade on the inner half of the lid (bottom row, first shade from the right).
  2. Red shade on the outer half and blended through the crease. Also used in the outer corner of the lower lash line.
  3. MAC Blanc Type too blend out the red and highlight the brow.

Tarte‘s Black gel liner to create the wing and Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: MAC Sea Me, Hear Me
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: MAC Viva Glam Cyndi

20140804_look2.1

Odd combo, particularly with the lips, but I do like how it turned out. I’m slowly learning to try lip colours with bright eye makeup and sometimes it works out!

20140804_look2.2

Eyes

  1. Gold shade on the inner half of the lid.
  2. Dark purple on the outer half (bottom row, first from the left).
  3. Black to deepen the outer corner.
  4. Light pink (bottom row, second from the right) to highlight the brow. (Do this lightly or you’ll end up with shimmer overkill!)

Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Extravagant is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Hard Candy Hula Hula
  • Blush: MAC Sea Me, Hear Me
  • Highlighter: MAC Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: Revlon Snow Peach lipstick with Revlon Sunset Beach gloss on top

20140804_look6.1

I think I was going for bronzy-shimmery for a summer evening.

20140804_look6.2

Eyes

  1. Peachy-gold shade all over the lid (bottom row, third from the right).
  2. Pinky-red on the outer half and through the crease (top row, third from the left).
  3. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the browbone.

MAC‘s fluidline in Dipdown to create the wing and Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Hard Candy Skinny Dipping
  • Highlighter: MAC Whisper of Gilt

20140804_look4.1

Another odd/interesting mashup (to me anyway). When the eyes are closed, I wasn’t a huge fan of how this turned out, but when they’re open there’s a huge pop of that blue that I really love.

20140804_look4.2

Eyes

  1. Peachy-gold shade all over the lid.
  2. Blue in the outer corner and through the crease.
  3. Dark purple and black used to darken up the outer corner.
  4. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Extravagant is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Hard Candy Skinny Dipping
  • Highligher: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Revlon Sunset Beach

20140804_look5.1

I didn’t realize this was going to come out looking so similar to some of the other ones this past week!

20140804_look5.2

Eyes

  1. Light pink (bottom row, second from the right) in the middle of the lid.
  2. Pinky-maroon (bottom row, second from the left) on the inner and outer corners of the lid.
  3. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

Tarte‘s Black gel liner for the wing and Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Tarte Charisma
  • Highlighter: Too Faced Candlelight
  • Lips: Too Faced Coral Fire

If you’re interested in checking out other Challenge Weeks I’ve done, clicky below!

What’s On My Face – Volume 21

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Colour me shocked… This group of looks has zero winged liner in it! :O

20140728_look3-1

This one seemed to really play up my tan/slightly sunburned face. Pretty eye combo though.

20140728_look3-2

Eyes

  1. L’Oreal Infallible in Amber Rush all over the lid.
  2. MAC Sushi Flower in the outer corner and through the crease.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the top of the crease.

MAC Shroom on my browbone with Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer/Blush: NYC Fire Island Tan bronzer

20140728_look1-1

A simple one using one of NARS’ vibrant duos.20140728_look1-2

  1. NARS Mediteranee (lighter shade) all over the lid.
  2. NARS Mediteranee (orange shade) in the outer corner and through the crease.
  3. Makeup Geek Burlesque in the very outer corner to darken it up.

MAC Blanc Type on my browbone and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

20140728_look5-1

This was to try out using shades that I wouldn’t normally think to pair together.

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Eyes (all Makeup Geek)

  1. Sea Mist all over the lid.
  2. Burlesque in the outer corner and lightly on the outer lower lashline.
  3. Creme Brulee through the top of the crease.
  4. Shimma Shimma on the inner tearduct.

Vanilla Bean on my brow bone and MUFE Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: MAC Sea Me, Hear Me
  • Lips: Bite Beauty Fig

20140728_look4-1

I did this one mostly to figure out what kind of look MAC’s Mystical lipstick would look good with since it’s more on the brown side than I had anticipated when I bought it.

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Eyes (all MAC)

  1. All That Glitters with Nylon on top all over the lid.
  2. Shag on the outer half of the lid and through the crease.

Blanc Type on the browbone and MUFE Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: MAC Sea Me, Hear Me
  • Highlighter: MAC Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: MAC Mystical with Revlon Sunset Peach gloss on top

20140728_look2-1

Random smoky eye look.20140728_look2-2

Eyes (all Laura Mercier)

  1. Bamboo all over the lid.
  2. Violet Ink in the outer corner.
  3. Plum Smoke through the top of the crease.

Vanilla Nuts on my browbone with Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: CoverGirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory mixed with Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 51 Light Vanilla
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Milani Luminoso
  • Lips: Bite Beauty Fig