Category Archives: Tutorials

Canada Day Makeup

Makeup, Tutorials

2010625_canadaday

My general idea when doing makeup for holiday events is basically… “why be subtle?” So if you’re Canadian and/or looking to celebrate the 1st of July and want something a bit different, gather up your red eye shadow and let’s get cracking.

We’ll start this off with the more “in your face” of the three looks I have prepped for this post.

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I *LOVE* how this came out. It was touch and go for a while – 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 Inglot‘s 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 don’t get gunked up.

I then took Inglot‘s 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 doesn’t love glitter?!

Close up the work in progress
Close up the work in progress
Finished product
Finished product

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. There’s nothing else on my face, but on my lips is MAC‘s Strawberry Malt lipglass.

And for those not looking to do actual facepaint on themselves…

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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. :/ )

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Eyes

  1. MAC Crystal Avalanche all over the lid with Illamasqua‘s Beguile on top (use some Glitter Glue!).
  2. Inglot Matte 382 in the outer third.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the crease.

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

  • Foundation: Laneige BB Cushion in Light
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Illamasqua Tweak
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk

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This is the actual look I wore last Canada Day, which is essentially just a toned down version of the look above. I’m pretty sure I also wore Rimmel‘s Big Bang on my lips, but I didn’t take a picture of it.

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Eyes

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk all over the lid as a base, then;

  1. Sleek Pow! on the inner half of the lid.
  2. Inglot Matte 382 on the outer half of the lid.

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!

Challenge Week: Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

Makeup, Tutorials

While on vacation in the US back in March, I picked up Too Faced’s Chocolate Bar – Trying to resist the chocolatey smelling palette was far beyond any kind of self control I personally had at the time! I decided to include it in a weekly challenge (use only this palette for the week), but it turned out to be a week I only wore makeup four out of the seven days! However, I came up with a few looks I quite liked. And, just like everyone else, I can’t get over the smell of this palette. I really wish they made all their palettes smell like this going forward!

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This is really just a regular every day eye look made really eyecatching by the red liner. I love how this one worked out and received a surprising amount of compliments on the liner despite how unconventional it was.

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Eyes

  • White Chocolate all over the lid and on the browbone.
  • Semi-Sweet in the crease.
  • Cherry Cordial in the outer corner.

Inglot Gel Liner in 79 to create the wing with Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronzer Booster in Light/Medium
  • Blush: Illamasqua Tweak
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft and Gentle
  • Lips: MAC Strawberry Malt lipglass

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Cherry Cordial is one of my favourite colours in the palette and I just really love how it looks in the crease. It doesn’t seem to matter what shade you pair it with because it always works out!

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Eyes

  1. Amaretto on the lid.
  2. Cherry Cordial in the outer corner.
  3. Salted Caramel lightly at the top of the crease
  4. Champagne Truffle on the inner corner.

White Chocolate was used to highlight the brow and Triple Fudge was pushed into the lash line to act as a soft liner. On my lashes is  Benefit‘s They’re Real mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Physicians Formula Happy Booster in Natural
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft and Gentle
  • Lips: I didn’t write it down! ARGH! It could be NYX‘s Fizzies.

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These two shades are really the only ones that veer outside of neutral in this palette. I can’t say I’m impressed with the pigmentation of either of them, but it certainly branches the palette out a little bit more.

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Eyes

  1. Strawberry Bon Bon all over the lid.
  2. Candied Violet in the crease.

White Chocolate to highlight the brow and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Cheeks: Illamasqua Hussy
  • Nothing else!

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This is my usual “I don’t know what to wear” look that I usually reach for with my Urban Decay Naked palette. I wanted to see if I could re-create the look using the Chocolate Bar… and I *can*, it’s just a lot more shimmery than the one the Naked one gives off.

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Eyes

  1. Champagne Truffle all over the lid and on the browbone.
  2. Salted Caramel through the crease.
  3. Hazelnut in the outer corner.

Tarte‘s black gel liner for the wing and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: MAC Sea Me, Hear Me
  • Lips: Maybelline Vivid Rose

The Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette can be purchased from Sephora.ca for $59 CAD or TooFaced.com for $49 USD.

What’s On My Face – Volume 18: Pride Edition

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , ,

This year, Toronto is the host city for World Pride. I have loved Pride ever since I moved to Toronto and into the Village. I know Pride gives everyone a different feeling, but to me it’s a time to celebrate freedom, be happy, and wear a metric ton of bright colours and glitter.

I’ve been saving these looks for a lonnnng time. Even before I had a blog I was all “I need to photgraph these because some day… I’ll use them for… something.” Since these are all taken over a year ago (during last year’s Pride Week) the quality may be a little bit different and I definitely don’t have any closed eye shots so I could map out what colours go where. But I’ll do my best to describe!

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If you’re looking to shock people with a neon look, then this one is a darn good place to start. Although the up close picture shots make it look really cool,  just be aware that this is not an especially flattering look.

I wore this during my soccer league’s Pride Parade float last year and it held up through the heat and the inevitable water bomb attacks that happened throughout the parade.

Eyes

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original all over the upper and lower lids.
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk all over the upper lid – smooth out with your finger.
  • Then using the Sleek Acid Palette: Neon orange on the lid, neon pink through the crease, neon yellow in the inner corner and the neon green to line the lower lash line.
  • A touch of Urban Decay’s Buck to blend out the crease and make the pink a touch less harsh.
  • Physicians Formula Eye Booster in Ultra Black to create the wing.
  • L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes

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This is a quick vibrant one that can be done using any two really pigmented colours. The week of Pride, I tend to mix colours based on the rainbow’s gradient and go from there. For example, on Monday I’d wear red/orange, Tuesday yellow/green, Wednesday blue/purple, etc. If you stick to the rainbow gradient, it’s very hard to mismatch colours.

For the above look, I used:

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original to prime my lid
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow pencil in Milk as a solid base – be sure to blend it out
  • Then using Sleek’s Ultra Mattes V1 palette: Sugarlite all over the lid, with Bolt in the outer corner and through the crease. A little bit of Pow! to highlight the brow with a touch of Urban Decay‘s Naked eyeshadow in the crease to blend out the shades through the crease.
  • Maybelline Gel Liner in Blackest Black to create the winged liner
  • And finally, CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara on my lashes

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And my favourite one! This came out so much better than I ever thought it would.  Every Pride I end up wearing this to work at least one of the days of the week. I think it’s really vibrant and beautiful. And it’ll definitely get you noticed!

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original to prime my lid
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to create the base
  • Starting from the inner corner, using all MAC shadows, apply small stripes of shadow, then blend them into the next colour. I used (from inner corner to outer): Coppering, Amber Lights, Goldmine, Bio Green, Freshwater and Parfait Amour.
  • MAC Blacktrack Fluidline for my liner
  • L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes with Ardell 102 false lashes on top.

I hope this gives you some ideas for Pride. Keep in mind that pretty much anything goes throughout Pride so you can feel free to wear whatever you like.

What’s On My Face – Volume 17

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

When I first created this blog, I was really, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to generate enough makeup looks to sustain any kind of regular “makeup looks” posting schedule. Little did I realize just how many eye looks I attempt and even months later I’ve still got a huge backlog of eye looks for upcoming posts!

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Glitter and lashes. You really can’t go wrong. I think this came out really beautifully.

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Eyes

I first applied Makeup Geek‘s White Lies all over the lid as a base, then:

  1. Inglot Matte 334 in the outer corner and throughout the crease.
  2. Inglot Matte 325 in the outer corner to darken it up. Also used on the lower lash line in the outer corner.
  3. MAC‘s Transparent Teal glitter all over the lid. To make the glitter stick, I used Too Faced Glitter Glue as a base layer. I also applied the glitter on the lower lash line as well.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow. Tarte‘s black gel liner to create the wing and Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner on the inner lower lash line rim. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes and Ardell single lashes to add some volume to my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Revlon Colorstay (Combination/Oily) in 200 Nude
  • Concealer: MAC Select Cover-up in NW20
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie

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This one came to me out of nowhere. I often use Sleek‘s Sunrise palette as my mirror of choice, so I often find myself staring at those colours. The blue in that palette is beautiful, but I never really knew how to incorporate it into a look with that palette. This came to me as a spur of the moment type thing and I think it turned out really well. It’s funny because people say not to wear blue eyeshadow if you have blue eyes because it’ll drown out the colour of your eyes… but I have to say I received so many compliments at work that this brought out my eye colour that I really have to disagree with the “norm” to not wear blue on blue eyes!

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Eyes

Using the Sleek Sunset palette:

  1.  From the bottom row, the second shade on the right, apply that all over the lid.
  2. Again from the bottom row, sweep the first colour from the left into the crease and blend out.
  3. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

On the lower lash line, use the bright blue from the Sleek Sunset palette, then smudge it out slightly with Makeup Geek‘s Creme Brulee. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Cheeks: MAC Petal Power
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Lips: Too Faced Coral Fire

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This look’s genius comes from Sharon Farrell. Her Tequila Sunrise tutorial was not only unique, but utterly eye-catching. I definitely do not possess her skill, but I thought I’d give this look a shot because I loved her end result so much.

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Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee very heavily through the crease.
  2. MAC Steamy on the inner two thirds of the lid.
  3. MAC Club on the outer third of the lid. Also applied all over the lower lash line.
  4. MAC Gorgeous Gold on the inner tearduct.

MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow. Tarte‘s black gel liner to create the wing and Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner on the inner lower rim. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Tarte Charisma
  • Lips: NYX Butter Lipstick in Fizzies

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I was rooting through my collection determined to use something I had touched in long time. So this look ended up utilizing a few of my older, limited edition products.

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Eyes

Using the MAC mineralize eyeshadow trio in Blue My Mind:

  1. The lightest shade on the inner third of the lid.
  2. The blue shimmery shade on the middle of the lid.
  3. The black on the outer corner.

MAC Shroom to highlight my brow, MAC fluidline in Midnight Blues to create the wing and Benefit They’re Real mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla
  • Blush: Tarte Charisma
  • Lips: Wet n Wild 903C with NYX‘s Butter Gloss in Tiramisu on top

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Ehhhhhhhhhhh. This one’s okayyyyyy…..

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Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Simply Marlena and Mango Tango mixed together and blended into the crease. I’d say it’s a lot heavier on the pinker shade.
  2. Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean all over the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Frappe and Goddess mixed together and applied to the outer third.

Vanilla Bean to highlight the brow and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Lips: Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar

What’s On My Face – Volume 16

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

You know… I never really noticed just how much white I wear until I started taking pictures of my face for this blog. It seems that nine times out of ten I’m wearing a white shirt!

This entry ended up being highly blue-centric. Enjoy!

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I can’t get over Inglot and their colour range. I wish I had easier access to the brand (they’re nowhere in Toronto) but good grief are their colours ever amazing.

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Eyes

  1. Inglot AMC Shine 33 all over the lid and on the middle of the lower lash line.
  2. Inglot Matte 338 heavily in the outer corner, blended into the crease. Also in the outer corner on the lower lash line.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee slightly through the crease (not pictured).

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow, Tarte‘s Black gel liner to create the wing and BenefitThey’re Real on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Joe Fresh Apricot
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: Wet n Wild 903C with NYX‘s Tiramisu Butter Gloss over top

 

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Seriously love red eyeshadow. My only gripe is that Makeup Geek‘s Peach Smoothiealways does that really annoying creasing thing on my lid every time I wear it on the lid (even with double primers).

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Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie on the inner third of the lid.
  2. Makeup Geek Mango Tango on the middle of the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Razzleberry on the outer third.
  4. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the crease to blend everything out.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloass in Papaya

 

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I haven’t used my Original Sleek palette very much so I pulled it out for this look.

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Eyes

  1. The copper shade from the Original Sleek palette all over the lid.
  2. The purple shade from the Original Sleek palette in the outer corner and on the outer corner of my lower lash line.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my top lashes with Sephora‘s Purple mascara on my bottom lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: MUA Matte Foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: MAC Gingerly
  • Highlighter: Hard Candy Tiki
  • Lips: Revlon Colorburst Gloss in Sunset Peach

 

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If I look half asleep it’s because I was – this was some early morning IKEA run. I had no idea people actually line up outside IKEA before it even opened for the day. o.O

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Eyes

  1. MAC Blanc Type all over the lid and all the way up to the brow bone.
  2. MAC Contrast in the very outer corner.

Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Illamasqua Hussy

 

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Mehhhh not sold on this look – wouldn’t repeat it.

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Eyes

  1. MAC Fade all over the lid (this is so patchy – the name is apt, it fades poorly!)
  2. MAC Steamy in the outer corner.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Bourjois Rose Gold
  • Lips: Nivea – A Kiss of Berry Swirl