red/gold Holiday glitter look

                                                       Hey all!

 
In a previous post, I mentioned I was on a glitter kick, so with the holidays here, I decided to wear a gold glitter with some red shadow.  The pics are horrible, I know, but hopefully you get the idea and can use your imagination to fill in the rest. 


 This was a very warm, golden glow-y look.  I used a warmer blush than I normally do with a gold shimmer as my highlight on my check bones.   Then on the eyes, I used a gold loose powder from Maybelline, I think, with my glitter glue (anything can be used to help it stick)  and a red loose powder ( Gosh Effect Powder in Rosewood) on the outer third of my eye.  Then I dipped my brush into my Hard Candy glitter glue and then into the glitter itself, and with a kleenex covering my face, under my eye, as to not get glitter everywhere, I patted the glitter over the gold shadow.  Topped it off with a black liquid liner and mascara.  On my lips I wore a shimmer/metallic copper lipstick from MAC            called Look At Her.  It was a hit at work, and these pics don't do it justice.  




Happy Holidays Everyone!

Merry Christmas with Cupcakes!

Twas the night before christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring... only me icing cupcakes!  


Tomorrow my whole family will get together for a pot luck style feast, and my contribution is cupcakes.  I am so proud of these little guys.  I am not a professional baker or anything, I used a boxed cake mix and pre-made icing, but darn these look good... like from a bakery!  I made mini sized chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.  Iced with some buttercream frosting, and piped with my new toy.. a piping bag and a large star tip.  Some pearlized white sprinkles, and  a raspberry to top it off.  Mmm Mmm, can anyone say sugar high? :D  I hope that whatever you and your family does over the holidays, you enjoy yourself and the time you have together.  Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays Everyone!

Holiday nails

Happy Holiday Time!  Only 3 days til Christmas. 

This year I fell in love with everything sparkle, shimmer, and glitter.  This is totally on trend, with the MAC Glitter and Ice Collection, the OPI Holiday Muppet Collection, and the Essie Luxe Effect Collection.

On my hunt for everything glitter, I came across a few products I am loving these days to create different holiday looks.

Hard Candy at WalMart!  Show Girl Loose glitter.  I bought the gold one, but once applied it looks like it has specks of gold and copperish-red.  Along side this I picked up the Hard Candy glitter glue, helps to hold the glitter together instead of falling everywhere.

Lise Watier at Shoppers Drug Mart, they have a Cream Shadow/Loose Glitter Duo.  I bought the "Golden Taupe" I think it is called.  The Cream Shadow looks very similar, maybe a little warmer, than Mac's Morning Frost Paint Pot.  The Glitter is a Brown Taupe.  I didn't find the cream base made the glitter stick very well, works much better with the glitter glue.  I thought about picking up a liquid glitter eyeliner and just using it all over my lid, but opted for the loose glitter instead.

My favourtie glittery lipgloss is YSL Golden Gloss. I have had mine for a while now, but they are sheer coloured glosses with gold shimmer/glitter in it.  The gloss wears like most other glosses, but the glitter stays behind.

Nails.  I was inspired by Katy Perry's Disco Ball Nails. They were freaking amazing.  Silver polish covered with silver rhinestones.  So unless I wanted to pay for that time consuming mani from the salon, I had to find a way to get the same effect myself.  I looked everywhere, except the BSO (where I would have probably found what I was looking for, oh well)  for small rhinestones to apply to my nails.  I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I opted for Revlon's TopSpeed Silver Polish covered with Essie LuxeEffect Glitter Polish in Set in Stones.  This glitter is amazing, different sizes and shapes of sliver glitter.  Right now I am wearing a red polish from OPI with the silver glitter on the tips.  So festive.

What holiday trends have you been caught up in?  Any great glitter products you have tried?

Happy Holidays!

Un-Inspiring Times

Good evening,

So, lately I have been feeling a little uninspired when it comes to my makeup routine.  Could it be because I work in retail and there is two weeks til Christmas. Ho Ho Ho.
So my go to look has been:
Face:
-Vichy Foundation
-Mac Blot Powder
-Clinique Blush (warm pink for contouring)
-Lighter shimmer powder for highlight on cheek bones and nose

Eyes:
-Mac Morning Frost Paint Pot all over lid
-Mac Blanc Type Eyeshadow as a highlight under brow and inner corner
-Either a dark drown or black as a crease shade, blended well into the crease and outer third, and up
-Either a brown or black eyeliner
-Clinique Mascara

Lips
-Depends on the day, my mood, my outfit.
-Options- Mac Viva Glam 2 or Mac Nymphite lipgloss or Mac Rebel Lipstick or one of YSL Golden Glosses (so shimmery!)

Hopefully I can get more holiday inspired soon, and I will post some holiday looks.

What is your go to, quick fix, make up, when you feel uninspired?

Have a great night!

TWILIGHT inspired

Hi there,


First off,  I would not call myself a "twi-hard" by any means, because I don't have any posters or other Twilight memorabilia, but I have read the last book and seen the movies.  So needless to say I am super excited to see the Breaking Dawn Part one, which I happen to have tickets to see, tomorrow night at 10pm!  I finish work at 6pm, then going straight to line up... I am not sure if 4 hours is early enough lol.  


So, because I had time on my hands, I put together a Twilight inspired make up look.  Now, Twilight vampires differ in appearance then traditional vampires.  They don't have fangs, their skin sparkles in the sunlight and the Cullen's eyes aren't red because they are "vegetarians."  So no special effects needed.  Also their make up is not over the top, so this is totally a look you would wear and not seem like you are trying to mimic a vampire lol.


Face:


I used my regular foundation, because even though the Cullen's are very fair skinned, I do have to go to work for the day, and I don't want to look like I am wearing a mask (and plus I am super pale anyways).  I contoured my cheeks and nose more than I normally would (It doesn't show up much in the pics though) and I did not use any blush or bronzer.  For contouring I used a matte brown eyeshadow darker than my skin tone under my cheek bone and on the sides of my nose, then I used a shimmery almost glittery white eyeshadow as a highlighter.  I didn't put much on the day I took these photos, but tomorrow i will load it on to really make it seems like I am glittering under the light.  


Eyes:


As a base I used a light wash of Morning Frost paint pot all over the lid, up to the brow bone and under.  This paint pot will give some sparkle to the eye.  All over the lid, and under brow as a highlight, I used MAC Blanc Type eyeshadow, which is a matte creamy white.  In the crease I used a Matte Black eyeshadow that has silver glitter running through it (if that makes sense).  Then I blended them really well in the outer v and under the bottom lash line.  And for a pop I used a metallic, super shimmery white shadow in the inner corner of your eye and a little under.  I used a liquid black liner on the lid (I went into the inner corner closer than normally) and a smudged out black liner on the bottom, and black liner on the upper and lower waterline.  Finish with layering on your favorite black mascara.


                                           Lips:


Any red lip color that will give your lips a "just bitten" or in a vampires case, just bit, look.  A red lip Stain would work really well.  I used a Stila Silk Shimmer Lipgloss in a metallic red, and then blotted it just so it looked like my lips were stained.







Hope you like, I know it isn't very vampire -esque but this is how I was inspired.  


Enjoy your day!


How many of you are excited to see Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1?  

Eyelashes

Hi there,

I will make this short and sweet.  I love my eyelashes, I am blessed (for now) with a full and thick set.  But I do think that without the help of my mascara they wouldn't look half as good as what they do.   Alot of people at work and just around ask me about my eye lashes, if they are real, how do I get them to look like this, what products I use, etc.  So maybe I can help, if I could recommend one mascara would be Clinique High Definition Mascara.  I have used the regular one and the one that has a brush on one side and a comb the other.  Right now I am using the one with the brush and comb and I love love love it!  First use the brush to coat your lashes, then use the comb to lengthen and separate.  And I do use mascara on the top and bottom lashes.  See pictures below.

Has anyone else tried Clinique Mascaras?  How do you like them?  Do you recommend anything different?  Hope this helped someone!

Thanks for reading.

Have a good evening.

MAC Berry Dazzlesphere

I was looking forward to getting this dazzlesphere the minute I saw it!  I know alot of people weren't particularly excited for the gift set launch, and to be honest, nothing of the other sets really interested me, but these colours are beautiful.   For PICTURES keep reading!

In the first picture the pigments are stacked dark to light, so I will describe them top to bottom.
Roasted Chestnut- This shade is a dark reddy warm brown metallic base with a gold glitter.
Smoked Berry- It looks very cranberry in the pot, but when applied it looks coppery, again very metallic, but no glitter.
Light Rose-  Light metallic pink with a white/gold warm shimmer.
Pearl- Looks darker in the pot, when applied is a shimmery white, great for a highlight if you are doing an all out metallic eye look.

So, first off, I have never used these "crushed metal pigments" before, so I have been playing around with them for a couple of days.  They look fairly chunky in the pots, but they actually apply very smoothly wet and dry! And, I applied a paint pot first so the pigment would have something to stick to.  I have done two looks so far with these, one with the brown all over the lid, pearl as a highlight under brow and inner corner and the light rose above the crease, to blend the dark brown into the highlight color.  The other more of a gradient, using pearl as a highlight under brow and inner corner, light rose, inner third of lid and under eye, berry outer corner and then chestnut outer v, crease, and under eye.

They look so warm and great with any eye color!  Green eyes looks greener, Blue eyes look bluer, Brown eyes look warmer and pop!

Ornament with stacked pigments

With flash 

Without flash

Swatched dry (when applied wet, they are much more pigmented and opaque)

Did anyone else buy this set or anything else from this collection?

I look forward to playing with these more and will post some looks at a later date.

Follow me to read more, and leave any questions or comments below.

Thanks for reading! Have a great night!

My Favorite Foundation Review

Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation

Today is 11-11-11 Remembrance Day or Veterans Day,  today we take a moment of silence to remember our military past.  Thank you.

This is how the Vichy website describes the foundation:

"Provides twice the coverage of a traditional foundation with a natural, lightweight finish. For minor to moderate skin flaws. Long-lasting wear. Also with SPF 20 for daily UV protection."


"A smooth blendable texture that glides on evenly leaving the skin with a natural, lightweight flawless finish. Recommended for minor to moderate skin imperfections such as redness, acne scars and pigmentation disorders. Moisturizing all day long. With the soothing properties of Vichy Thermal Water. SPF 20 Sunscreen. 12 hours of long-lasting flawless wear (16 hours with Setting Powder)Dermatological Standards: Allergy tested. Tested on sensitive skin. Tested on sensitive eyes and contact lenses wearers. Fragrance free. Dermatologist tested. Ophthalmologist tested. Non-comedogenic."


Alright, so that is the official description.  I would agree with most of it, although I will go though it bit by it.  Like I said in the title, this is my favorite foundation I have used lately.  I have combination skin, mainly, my t-zone is oily and gets slick by the end of the work day, yet my cheeks are on the normal-dry side.  And to add to that I have hormonal acne on my chin and jawline, it isn't terrible, but it is noticeable.  One other thing is that I love that this has SPF 20, one less layer to pile on!


I agree that this foundation does pack alot of coverage, maybe even double the coverage of another foundation, all foundations have some coverage, that is why we use them, and you can still see some blemishes through this foundation, but they are noticeably muted, and no need for concealer with this foundation.   It does even out your skin tone though completely, i don't have rosacea but I would image that this foundation would be perfect for this type of skin.


 As for the "natural, lightweight finish."  Okay the "natural" part for me is off, I mean you can definitely tell that I am wearing foundation, but I would like to think that in a perfect world, my skin would look like this naturally.  But I will agree that for such a high coverage foundation it does have a lightweight finish.  I have tried CoverFX compacts before  and that is a heavy feeling foundation to me, too heavy.  Once everything is applied, my skin does look healthy, not overly matte, and it does not dry out your skin, like some high coverage foundations will do, it is actually hydrating if anything.


"Long-wearing"  is an accurate statement, as this will last me through my entire 9 hour work day, with minor slipage.  Just to make sure, I do use an oil-free mattifying lotion before hand as a primer and let that soak in for a few minutes, and i set it with a blotting powder.  Some days I will need to use the blotting powder on my t-zone half way through my shift to control some shine.  But at the end of the day when i wash my face I do still have a full face of makeup, it is incredible.  


The texture of this foundation is definitely creamy and smooth, which makes it easily blendable.  Like I said I do apply a mattifying lotion first, to help the foundation glide evenly over imperfections, such as blemishes, dry patches, scars, etc. I used to apply this foundation with a sponge, but I found out I end up using/wasting so much product, and it is not a cheap product, even though you can buy it in the drug store.  So I invested in a MAC brush (130) and have been using that ever since.  It is the perfect brush for me because you can control the product so much more and you need literally half the amount you would use with a sponge, meaning that bottle will last you twice as long!


I will say the only downfall is the lack of shades available, I happen to be the 15 Opal shade and it suits me just fine, and you could always mix two shades to make one that was perfect for you too.


Okay, so that ended up being longer than I had intended it to be, but it is better to be thorough I suppose.  I hope you were enlightened and if you have considered using or trying this product, I say give it a try for sure, in my experiences you will not be disappointed.  Give it a couple of wears so you can really get the hang of how to apply it the way it will work best for you and your skin.


Thanks for reading and please leave any questions or comments below.
Have a great day :)  

Experimenting with colours

Hi there,
Finished my TV lineup for this evening and thought I would play around with some swatching.

To the right are 3 MAC paint pots.  No Flash.  L-R Nubile, Idyllic, Imaginary.

To the left here is a paint pot from the Glitter and ice Collection.  I swatched Morning Frost  (L) next to Nubile (R).  The reason being is that both of these are supposed to be frost finishes, but to me, Morning Frost is more frosty or shimmery than Nubile.

And to the left here, I wore this look to work one day, and it was actually such a simple look, paired with a bold lip.  Nice.

Lid-Morning Frost PP
Highlight under brow and inner corner with a shimmery white
Black pencil liner with some mascara.

To the right, top pic no flash bottom with flash.  I was trying the GOSH effect powder in Rosewood over different paint pots and here is what I got.

Rosewood over: L-R Morning Frost, Nubile, Idyllic.

I actually really like it over the Morning Frost, looks a little more muted than over Idyllic and gives a nice shimmery glow.

To the left, Top with flash, bottom without.  So the base for all of these is Imaginary.  Different colours over it give it such different looks.

L-R Silver, Navy Blue, Purple, Black

 To the right, last, but certainly not least, 4 different shadows over Morning Frost.

Top no flash, bottom with.

L-R:  Mac Pink Frontier
         Lancome Mannequin
         Maybelline Silver
         Clinique Pink in 02Spicy Quad

I will keep playing around with colours, and maybe add some of my lip colours at a later date.  Post below, comment, ideas.
Have a great night. 

GOSH effect powder

Hi again,

I love these days off work when it is raining outside. *Sarcasm.  It gives me time to catch up on household stuff and also writing.  I tried to post the other day and I think something was wrong with my internet as every time I hit save, I would loose the connection.  So here I am now.

I went to my local drug store the other day and I found some GOSH cosmetics on sale for 50% off, so as I was looking through the selection, I found some "effect powder".  Which to me looks like a small jar of loose pigment.  I have never used any of the MAC pigments because 1 they are expensive 2 they give you such a huge amount, I don't want something to sit in my makeup case for years.  So I thought I would give this little gosh pigment a try.  I bought just one (in Rosewood) to see how it would preform first, and I was surprised!    I actually really like working with loose pigment.  The colour payoff is great and I did use it wet, so I didn't have an issue with any fallout. I think I might go back and get another little jar, and maybe, just maybe, I will look for a MAC pigment if I find one that I will use often.

GOSH effect powder in Rosewood.  How I wore it.

I wore this look to work,  great thing about working retail (yes there is an upside lol) you can wear as much makeup as you want and whatever colours you want. ( The florescent lights make your colours look lighter anyways)

GOSH Rosewood/BodyShopPink/MAC ES PinkFrontier/MAC PP Idyllic/Nubile

*I know quality of pics aren't great, but if you know the products/colours used you get the idea, and if you don't know them, Google it?! :P

No flash inside

MAC Nubile PP all over lid.
MAC Idyllic PP outer V and crease.
BodyShop Duo Shadow in 01HotBrights Eye Colour, the light pink side as a highlight. Inner corner and brow bone.
MAC Pink Frontier first third of my eye, closest to tear duct.
GOSH effect powder Rosewood other two thirds of eye.  (Over the Nubile and Idyllic PP)  Looks different over the different PP.
Dark red brown in the outer V, crease and smudged under eye .

MAC dipdown fluidline as a liner.
Brown eyeliner on waterline.
Clinique mascara.




Hope you like! Got compliments at work on this eye look and it made the colour of my eyes seem brighter. (green/blue eye colour)


If this is too dramatic for some people during the day, just skip the dark brown on the outer v and don't smudge the dark drown under the eye.

Leave comments, suggestions, look ideas below.

Have a great day... I will now too as the sky has cleared and the sun is coming out from behind the clouds.

Everyday Me: MAC Posh Paradise writing on a rainy day

Everyday Me: MAC Posh Paradise writing on a rainy day: Rainy Day. Good day all. I happen to have the day off work so I decided to give this blogging thing a go. I want to write about beauty m...

MAC Posh Paradise writing on a rainy day

Rainy Day.


Good day all.  I happen to have the day off work so I decided to give this blogging thing a go.  I want to write about beauty mostly as this is what I am interested in.  I know there are a million beauty blogs out there already, as I have read many of them, so I thought why not put myself out here too.  I am not a make-up artist nor do I work for any cosmetic company, just enjoy trying out different products and looks.  


MAC just released their fall 2011 Collection Posh Paradise last week, so I was super excited to go to the launch party at my local mall to pick up some goodies.  The colors for fall were amazing, I am sure all of you have seen by now the swatches and what not.  I have read alot of peoples comments about buying from collections as most products will be limited edition, I don't mind because by the time you use the whole product up, you will be ready for a change anyways, at least I think I would be. Anyways, the products I picked up from the collection were Imaginary paint pot (my first paint pot ever.. loves) and the pro longwear eyeshadow in Pink Frontier, love the golden pink.  Now that I know I love paint pots I think I might go back for the Idyllic.  I also got a few items not from the collection, DipDown Fliudline, and Nymphite Lipglass.  


When I got home I couldn't wait to play!  If you want pictures just ask and I will post.  I haven't found many pics of how people are wearing Imaginary yet.  *Note I do not have a high quality camera, so the pics will decent but not perfect.


Imaginary looks great as a base for a smokey eye, it is described as a blackened navy.  I highlighted under my brow and in the inside corner of my eye with Cream Base in Pearl, then covered my lid just over the crease with Imaginary, then used a navy pigment from L'Oreal over it, and really packed it on in the crease and outer corner.  Also this paint pot has a really thick opaque finish, so i lined my eyes with a black pencil liner then went over it with the paint pot and it really made the color pop.  Then finished with my Clinique dramatic mascara in black.  Nice look, I wore it to work, because I can lol, with a nude lip which comprised of MAC's cremesheen lipstick in cream cup i think it is called with the Nymphite Lipglass over.  


Alot of people wouldn't suggest a navy smokey eye with a greenish/bluish eye color, but that is what I have and it just made my eyes look more green.  I say just go for it!


I feel like I want to write about so many different things, but I dont want to overwhelm the first post, so I will post this and see how it goes then I will write more later.


Note:  If future posts are written, I would like to write about :


~Using my 130 MAC brush with my Vichy Corrective Foundation.  Both took some time to get used to as the brush is small and the foundation is thick.  But now I love it.


~Konad nail stamping.  I have the M57 plate and black special polish.  I like the way the zebra looks over Essie polish in Chinchilly.  Everytime I wear this polish I get compliments on it, what a wonderful color. 


~Using the Pink Frontier eyeshadow with the dipdown fluidline.  Great for a simple, understated yet striking eye, worn with a nude or bold lipcolor looks great.


OK i am done rambling now lol.  Leave a post.  What products did you get from the Posh Paradise or Styledriven collections?


Ciao