Finish Five: Fall Edition

So predictable. After all that hauling I did in spring  as evidenced in my purchase posts (see Parts I, II, III, IV, and V), of course I started to feel like I need to do a little purging to balance things out. I’ve been on a slow purge of products for quite a while now, and I set myself back a little by going a bit crazy after Elena was born. Thankfully I got a handle on it fairly quickly before I did too much damage! If you follow me on Instagram, you’d have seen several rounds of decluttering which helped restore the balance – however, there are still products that are ‘weighing me down’ so to speak, but I feel a compulsion to finish these rather than give or throw them away.

I’m going to go into more detail regarding my decluttering/streamlining journey in a future post, but I wanted to get the ball rolling on this new series now (as I actually began the post idea back in the summer, oops). Every season I’m going to choose 5 products to dedicate time to using up – these are products that are either near completion / well on their way to becoming so, or have been in my collection for awhile and are probably coming very close to be being unusable (either from being dried up or well past expiry, etc.).

This month, I’m expanding on a few products I’ve been diligently working at using, as well as adding in a few seasonally appropriate shades that need to get more love before I send them to makeup heaven.

Too Faced Sun Bunny Natural Bronzer – DUUUUUUDES, I’ve been working on this one since Elena was born, especially since the end of spring, and I just wanna hit pan already!!! Gah. At least, it’s kind of a great bronzer – maybe just a touch warmer than I’d like (things easily go orange on my skin though), but it gives an amazing bronzed glow to the skin that is truly a glow, not shimmer. It hasn’t been a real hardship wearing this every day, by any means.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Suspect (depotted) – When I first bought the UD Book of Shadows III palette way back when, this shade got major love – but after a while I forgot about it (all the new shiny pretty things!), which is a shame because it’s a great subtle taupe shadow on me, and taupes and I don’t always get along. I’ve been wearing this a lot lately and I’m having a renewed love for this pretty, wearable shade!

Clinique Airbrushed Concealer in 03 Medium – I got this in a gratis order ages and ages ago, and I do use this with some frequency, but its like the never-ending product! I like it a lot for minimal makeup days for a quick hit of brightening and concealing under the eye, so I’m not rushing to finish it too badly, but I am keen to try Urban Decay’s Naked concealer and I really need to use a few up before I can justify that purchase. SO…yea, I guess I do kind of want to finish this soon.

MAC Mattene Lipstick in Bing – OMG I feel like I keep throwing this shade out there every fall and talking about how I’m going to WERK IT, and then I don’t and here it is STILL in my makeup collection since I bought it in like…2008, or something? GAH. This year I at least am making the right moves toward using this and bought a dark lipliner to wear with it so that it looks better on me (hopefully). Let me make a grand statement now though that if I don’t wear this at all THIS year, it’s absolutely GOTTA GO.

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Shadow in Sandy Gold – I really like to use this cream shadow as a base or even on it’s own, as it’s nicely brightening to the eye area, but I forget to use it a lot…and then unfortunately I started to see that it’s drying up on me! You can see it a bit in the picture below, how it’s pulling away from the sides…ugh. So that means I have to start getting my money’s worth with this, I definitely haven’t used it enough to feel I have yet!

Are there any products you’ve been trying to finish lately?

Holiday 2014 Wish List

 

Holiday 2014 Wish List by xbeautyobsessed

Even though this is the time for giving, you can’t help but be pulled in by all the fabulous gift sets and beautiful holiday products gracing the shelves of your favorite stores – at least, THIS HERE GIRL can’t help but be tempted! While I’ve done well not buying too much for me this month (except for my EPIC DevaCurl haul that I indulged in earlier this week – details on my first professional haircut in over 5 years [I KNOW] plus the whole DevaCurl experience so far are forthcoming!), I have done a fair bit of ogling. All the pretty things!

There are always hoards of items on my ‘to buy’ list, but I feel like a holiday wishlist should be a bit more special, with items that might otherwise be completely out of the question (you never know who might be reading this post to get ideas! *hinthint*). I picked out four products that particularly have caught my eye and given me something to dream about (aside from sugarplum fairies, and the myriad of WHACK-A-DOO dreams you have when you’re pregnant!).

Tarte Dream Come Hue 12 Piece Collectors Set ($210 CAD)

Normally sets like this are a little intimidating to me – so many of one (or two) things! – but ever since the collectable Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes launched years ago I wanted to try them out. Unfortunately, they contain lanolin, which is not my friend, but so do NARS blush, and I wear them fine without issue. I think if I were wearing them every day it might be more of a problem (like I found when I was using a Laura Mercier concealer with lanolin for my undereye area), but I rotate my blush ever day, so… Since I’m way behind in trying these babies out, wouldn’t it make the most sense to just try SIX AT ONCE? And while I’m at it, I can try six of the brand’s Lipsurgence Lip Tints too….I mean, it’s just the most logical solution. Right?

YSL Volupté Tint-In-Oil ($35CAD)

Though I only own two YSL products (both lippies), I am always intrigued by their newest launches. The Tint-In-Oil is a lip color/stain + conditioner that boasts a handful of nourishing oils to keep lips looking youthful and hydrated. Even though the matte lipstick movement is still going strong, as much as I love the way it looks it doesn’t always work out for me in the drier winter months. After seeing a few swatches online, I found myself really coveting the juicy, glossy yet bright shades of these – in particular I’m lemming Pink About Me, a medium purple-tinged pink. Cool-toned pinks will get me every time!

Urban Decay Naked Vault ($336 CAD)

This is another kind of obscene collectors set, but since I don’t own any of the Naked palettes, its like it was made for someone like me, no? Zero to sixty, that’s how I roll. Truth be told, I have no interest in the Flushed blush/bronzer/highlight trios that come in this set, so it might not be the best value for me – as I’m really angling for the 3 Naked palettes, which ring in at $64CAD each, I’d be better off to just buy the three and call it a day at $192. But where’s the fun in that??

In any case, it’s showing as sold out online at Sephora, so THIS particular item really was just a dream…

Fresh Sugar Face Polish ($68CAD)

I snagged a deluxe sample of this when I shopped Sephora during the VIB [Rouge] sale, and I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I love it. It’s got the perfect consistency – gentle yet effectively scrubby, without feeling harsh in the least (likely due to the inclusion of seed oils like meadowfoam, grape, strawberry, and macadamia). My skin feels stupidly soft and smooth after using this, and has a major glow – it would be ideal to use before a party or other special event. I thought it might cause problems because fragrance is kind of high on the ingredient list, but I haven’t experienced any issues so far using it once a week for the past month. I think for me, as long as my daily products don’t contain fragrance, I’m mostly safe. The price is steeper than I’d normally pay for a scrub, but honestly I think I might cave in the New Year – it’s that lovely.

Interestingly enough, though my ongoing wishlist is crazy-long, the number of items I’d actually want to receive (at one time) is fairly low – I like to space out my beauty acquisitions so it gives me time to use stuff up, and also doesn’t get too overwhelming. I think this list would give me a lot to play with – probably more than is sensible, given that there are two collectors sets lol – but what the heck – it IS the holidays, after all!

What’s on your wishlist this year?

Operation Reduce: Eyeshadows, Part III

I’m back with another instalment of my challenge to reduce the number of eyeshadows in my collection! Today we’re going to tackle some of the more neutral shades from the Urban Decay BoS III palette, as well as a couple from the Kat Von D Spellbinding palette (which has also been completely deconstructed and the packaging thrown away, huzzah!).

Let’s dive right in, starting with everyone’s favourite eyeshadow shade, taupe!

Urban Decay Bordello

Ok, I tricked you a bit here, because while I compared Bordello to numerous purple-leaning taupes in my collection, Bordello is actually more of a mauve. It didn’t really have any identicals in my stash, but there were a number of shades that looked close, so I swatched ’em all for good measure.

Left to right: MAC Sable, Urban Decay Rehab, bareMinerals Meteorite, Sephora + Pantone Tuscany, Urban Decay Bordello, MAC Shale, Le Metier de Beaute Corinthian, Hourglass Exhibition duo (pale lilac-taupe side)

Left to right: MAC Sable, Urban Decay Rehab, bareMinerals Meteorite, Sephora + Pantone Tuscany, Urban Decay Bordello

Left to right: bareMinerals Meteorite, Sephora + Pantone Tuscany, Urban Decay Bordello, MAC Shale, Le Metier de Beaute Corinthian

Left to right: Urban Decay Bordello, MAC Shale, Le Metier de Beaute Corinthian, Hourglass Exhibition duo (pale lilac-taupe side)

Swatched on my darker skin, it looks the most similar to the pale shades of Hourglass’ Exhibition duo. This is unsurprising to me, because Bordello doesn’t look very nice on my skin tone – too light and too greyed out – and neither does the Hourglass shade. Since I LOVE the deep eggplant side of the Exhibition duo, I’m not getting rid of that anytime soon, so Bordello can hit the road – I don’t need TWO unflattering shades in my collection!

*On a side note, though I seem to have quite a few, purply-taupes are not generally my friends. As mentioned, if they lean too grey, they tend to wash me out terribly. My favourites from the above are Urban Decay’s 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Rehab, bareMinerals Meteorite, and MAC’s Shale. It is entirely likely that I will be getting rid of the Sephora + Pantone shade, and I’m battling with keeping LMdB Corinthian – it’s much-loved by the beauty community, but on me it looks kind of blah. ~cries~ 

Onwards! Next we have the blacks/charcoals/dark browns from my collection (hint: there aren’t many!).

Urban Decay Perversion & Kat Von D Dark Throne

Left to right: Laura Mercier Espresso, Urban Decay Perversion, Kat Von D Dark Throne

It’s probably strange to compare brown to black, but truth be told – I never use these kinds of shades (sacrilege, I know), so any deep dark shade like this is all one and the same to me. Which is to say, I only NEED one – and the winner here is Espresso, since it comes in the only palette I have left – Laura Mercier’s Artists Palette from Holiday 2013. The other two are fine, but as you can see, Perversion isn’t all that black, and Dark Throne (which to be fair is a charcoal shade, not black) is kinda patchy. Bye bye!

Finally we have a whole slew of pale shimmery shadows from both the UD and Kat Von D palettes…let’s get this over and done with. These shades are the bane of my existence!

Urban Decay & Kat Von D Light Shimmery Blah Blah Blah SMACKDOWN

Displayed together, you can see some similarities, yes, but I bet to most of your eyes there are also quite a few differences, eh? HA, I say to you. Behold:

Left to right: Urban Decay Maui Wowie, Kat Von D Precious, Kat Von D Galore, Kat Von D Instaglam, Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Kat Von D Holy Bible, Urban Decay Uzi

Left to Right: Urban Decay Maui Wowie, Kat Von D Precious, Kat Von D Galore

Left to right: Kat Von D Instaglam, Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy Rides Again 

Left to right: Kat Von D Holy Bible, Urban Decay Uzi

As you can see, these are easily grouped into three separate areas in my swatches, and each section has almost no discernible difference on my skin. In the first, the more golden shades, Maui Wowie stands out the most – but I hate that it has glitter bits in it. The fallout doesn’t look too bad here, but it annoys me when I wear it, so it’s going. The other two were in the SAME PALETTE and yet look almost identical on my skin. I decided to keep one, Galore, which is a hint more rose-gold on me and therefore makes it better 🙂

In the second grouping, Instaglam has better pigmentation than Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, and it doesn’t have that blasted glitter – you can see the fallout here more plainly. UGH. However, truth be told I wouldn’t wear either of these shades much, if at all – too frosty and garish on me – so I’m getting rid of them both.

Finally, we have the frosty whites. I FREAKIN’ HATE these kinds of shades, and I’m dead serious when I say that I will skip a palette altogether (no matter what size) if they have a shade like this in there, because I’ll NEVER use it. I know some gals of darker skin use these to do really dramatic looks, but even at my most OUT THERE in terms of makeup, I still wouldn’t go this all-in. I just can’t, you guys! I guess I’m a more natural girl at heart than I even realized. And so, sayonara to both Holy Bible and Uzi (like I’d keep that fall-out-tastic shadow anyway! BAH!).

Urban Decay Snatch

I was just about to do a recap, stating that I have now finished swatching all the BoS III shades, when I realized I never talked about Snatch. Oops!

I missed this one because I thought I had no similar peachy shades in my collection. However, I just happened to have MAC’s All That Glitters sitting here next to me, and I thought I’d compare the two just for the hell of it.

I sure am glad I did! Though these are exact dupes, they’re close enough for me – and I love All That Glitters so much, that I’d never choose Snatch over it. I was going to keep it by default since I didn’t have a close match, but now that it clearly does – one more down! Yeehaw!

*******************************************************************************************************************************

OK! Urban Decay’s Book of Shadows III swatch-a-thon – COMPLETE. Let’s do a recap thus far: of the 16 shades in the palette, I am keeping a mere 6 (Suspect, Smog, Radium, Haight, Psychedelic Sister, and Rockstar). I’ve also made great headway with the Kat Von D palette, so far eliminating 7 shades (Bukowski, Babe, Gunner, Dark Throne, Precious, Instaglam, and Holy Bible) and keeping 5 (Fallen, Wonderland, 8 Bit, Stupid Autocorrect, and Galore). Only 12 more to go!

I am TOTALLY buying a few of the shadows on my wish list after all this is done! 🙂

Do you have any goals set for an ‘appropriate’ number of particular beauty products (eg. only 20 lipsticks, 40 eyeshadows, etc.)?

Operation Reduce: Eyeshadows, Part II

Hooray for getting on the ball again! After being re-inspired by Maggie and her recommended viewing material (Tati’s Makeup Graveyards), I got back into the swing of things and started going through my eyeshadows and meticulously swatching each to see which should stay and which should go. I was on a TEAR yesterday, you guys! Highly recommended watching these kinds of videos while culling your stash – it made me more ruthless than ever! Continuing on my ‘palette cleanse’ (hehe), I finished weeding through the shades from the Urban Decay Book of Shadows III and started attacking the Kat Von D Spellbinding palette. Exciting!

Check out part I of Operation Reduce.

Without further ado, let’s see what made the cut (and what didn’t)!

Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister & Kat Von D Babe

Clockwise from bottom left: Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister, MAC Paint in Infamous, and Kat Von D Babe

I’m not generally a fan of violet eyeshadow, truth be told. I love deep dark shades like eggplant or plum, but more vibrant shades like these tend to look a bit garish on my skin (at least I think so). I rarely wear any of the shadows above, so it was time to make an ultimate decision – to stay or go?

The MAC Paint is incredibly old and the shade long since discontinued. I keep hanging on to it for sentimental reasons, which I don’t do very often, but it’s like a relic now! And it’s not dried up and crusty, nor does it separate or smell bad, so I’ve been unable to part with it thus far. Perhaps it’s time has come?

Left to right: MAC Infamous Paint (d), Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister, Kat Von D Babe

Upon swatching these, it was immediately clear to me that Babe has got to go. It’s too light for my skin tone, and since I don’t do complicated eye looks EVER, I know I’ll never use it as an accent shade or anything of the like. Psychedelic Sister is somehow both bold yet a touch sheer, a combination I don’t particularly like on my skin tone. I do like having a variety of shades however, so I initially put it in the ‘maybe’ pile. I was gearing up to also let Infamous go, as it does apply a bit patchy, when I decided to experiment by putting that on the eye first and then layering PS over it. BOOM! It paired beautifully with PS and gave it more depth of pigment – win win win! I’m actually excited to wear this combination now 🙂

One down!

Urban Decay Radium

Left to right: MAC Paint in Blue Boy, Urban Decay Radium

There wasn’t any real doubt in my mind about keeping Radium – for a bright eye it’s one of my favourite shades to wear (it’s what I’m wearing in my ‘About Me’ photo, so yea – I kinda like it!). In this case, I was more trying to find a reason NOT to keep my other ancient MAC Paint, Blue Boy – a fun shade to be sure, but one I never ever wear.

Left to right: MAC Blue Boy Paint, Urban Decay Radium

In comparing the two, initially I was disappointed to see that they aren’t the same shade – Blue Boy is more blue, while Radium takes on an almost teal look next to it. However, Blue Boy has really had it’s day – when I tried the same layering trick with it and Radium, it applied WAY too patchy (much more than Infamous) and it doesn’t enrich Radium but makes it somehow less wearable.

I feel no sadness in letting this one go – it’s time has come, and I’m ok with that 🙂 Out it goes!

Urban Decay Kush & Kat Von D Gunner

Clockwise from left: MAC Jealousy Wakes, Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadow in 8E, Kat Von D Gunner, Urban Decay Kush

Clearly, none of these greens are really very similar, but it’s a another shade I find I don’t wear very well, so I put them all into one pot to see which one would come out on top. The rest – sayonara!

Left to right: Kat Von D Gunner, Urban Decay Kush, MAC Jealousy Wakes, Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadow in 8E

Maybe it’s just my bias, but I don’t really think any of these look very good! Gunner wouldn’t be too bad if it had better pigment (and lost the glitter), but if you recall from my original Spellbinding palette review it was one of the worst of the bunch. Kush isn’t terrible, but again I feel like it’s too light for my skin tone – where are the deeper jewel tone shades, huh? – and I’d rather turf it so I can buy a great deep green than hang on to it just because. Jealousy Wakes has a stiff, slightly gritty formula which I don’t like very much, but layered over a dark shadow it’s quite pretty, and I’ve decided that it’s the only green I’m going to keep for now until I find something better. MUFE’s 8E is my favourite SHADE of the bunch, but I’m tired of avoiding this formula because it’s so dry and hard to apply and smudge out.

Three of the four are getting the boot here! Yeehaw!

Urban Decay Money & Kat Von D 8 Bit

Left to right: Kat Von D 8 Bit, Urban Decay Money, Maybelline Shimmering Sea

Obviously, Shimmering Sea is only here for comparison purposes, as there is no way I’m giving this baby up – I love it too much! The other two look similar in the pans, but there are discernible differences (hard to tell in this light – my sun went away :() – are they enough for me to keep them both?

Left to right: Kat Von D 8 Bit, Urban Decay Money, Maybelline Shimmering Sea

8 Bit is definitely more of a teal-blue, while Money is more of a pale sky blue – Shimmering Sea just looks at the both of them and is like ‘Pfffft. That’s all you got? Where’s your GOLDEN SHIMMER DUOCHROME?’  

…ANYWAY, while neither 8 Bit nor Money are the kind of shades I wear often, 8 Bit has such a lovely, smooth formula (while Money is smooth but has gritty glitter in it), and I CAN wear this as a pretty wash of colour easily. And it would probably layer over Shimmering Sea very nicely! So, in this round – Money = 0, 8 Bit = 1.

Urban Decay Last Call & Kat Von D Stupid Autocorrect

Left to right: Urban Decay Last Call, Kat Von D Stupid Autocorrect

I really love the way Last Call looks in the pan – all rich burgundy gorgeousness – while Stupid Autocorrect (what a name!) looks muted and dull by comparison. Nevertheless, I swatched the two just to be sure.

Left to right: Urban Decay Last Call, Kat Von D Stupid Autocorrect

…which didn’t help me much at all! The two are incredibly similar, with Last Call being slightly darker but overall similar in tone. I decided I’d need to try them on my eyes to really see what was up. Surprizingly, I found Last Call to be just a hint too purpley-red and metallic on my eye, and gave me kind of a sickly look, while SA’s more muted tones worked well in it’s favour. I debated on the two for ages, but in the end knowing that I tend to wear more simple eye looks, I went with Kat Von D’s version because I knew it would get more use.

So there you have it! I think that Part II went swimmingly – I’m making real headway with condensing my eyeshadow collection, and I’m even more pleased that I’m taking those bulky palettes and reducing them to just a handful of shades I’ll actually wear. Get ready for Part III, which will focus on the last of those two palettes – I hope to post on that later today.

I’m feeling lighter already!

Are you doing any kind of inventory of your own makeup? What is your ideal size for a makeup collection?

Operation Reduce: Eyeshadows, Part I

You may have noticed that there have been less makeup reviews on Beauty Obsessed over the past few months. Aside from our big push to save money for a substantial down payment on a new home, I’ve also been in the mood to pare down my makeup (and polish) collections, and adding new items to it at this stage would be a bit counterproductive. While I have made small strides toward this goal, this weekend I finally sat down and really started to do some serious clearing  out. The first up on my hit list were 100+ eyeshadows.

My shadow collection, give or take a few.

As I’ve mentioned time and again, I have fallen a bit out of love with eyeshadow – while I still love all the pretty colours, I tend to favour a minimal eye look day to day, focusing more on bold lips to be the star of the show. I suspect over time my preferences will change, as things go, so rather than get rid of previously loved shades (which I’m sure I’ll love again at some point), I’m turning my eye toward removing any duplicates to decrease the number of shadows I have.

I don’t even have a pic of my own palette, because as soon as I depotted the shades I turfed it, TOOT SWEET.

I am not a lover of palettes, nor will I ever likely be – all that choice, all those colours in one bulky place! Nah, too stressful for this here gal. And so it was that I began my weed-through there, starting with my oldest palette – Urban Decay’s Book of Shadows III.

Containing 16 shadows, the BoS III was probably the gateway product that turned me into a full-fledge makeup junkie. The buttery textures and variety of richly pigmented shades was impossible to resist. At first, I used it all the time….but over the years, it fell out of grace due to its bulky packaging. On embarking on my pare-down plan, I decided that depotting was the way to go with this beast, and away I went!

Today I begin with the first five shades from the palette that went through a rigorous swatch- and comparison-fest: Smog (bronze), Haight (bright teal), Rockstar (deep eggplant), Suspect (golden taupe) and Loaded (blackened teal green).

SMOG & HAIGHT

Smog is a gorgeous bronze shade that leans more brown than reddish or golden. On my skin tone its quite complimentary, and has enough depth and pigmentation to be a one-and-done shade for me. Haight is a bright tropical teal that always draws me in, yet requires a little bit more effort to look appropriate on my darker skin.

Left to right: Smog, Haight

Just for fun, I paired the two together in an eye look to see if Smog could ground Haight and make it more wearable:

Sorry for the lack of shots capturing the whole picture – I was bound and determine to be a fuzzy-headed slob yesterday, and I didn’t want to subject you to that horror. Suffice to say, with a bit of liner and mascara, the whole look (Haight on the lid, Smog in the crease) came together really well, and I will definitely be repeating it on a day when I actually leave the house. It’s fun and summery without being too bold.

Clockwise from left: Clinique Rum Spice (d), G.Armani #6 Khaki Pulse, Kat Von D Fallen, UD Smog  

Now for the dupe hunt! Starting with Smog, I pulled all of my bronze-like shadows and swatched each one to see how they’d measure up.

Left to right: G.Armani #6 Khaki Pulse, Kat Von D Fallen, UD Smog, Clinique Rum Spice (d) 

While there are similarities between the shades, none of the above are dupes, and as I do tend to favour bronzy shadows, I am keeping all four.

Moving on to Haight, I only had one shadow in my arsenal that resembled the shade – Kat Von D’s Bukowski:

Left to right: Kat Von D Bukowski, UD Haight

As you can see, these two are extremely similar – if you want to get nit-picky about it, Bukowski is a touch more teal with slightly less shimmer, while Haight is brighter and more blue. Tomato, to-ma-to, they’re close enough for me! As both shades have the same smooth, buttery texture and great pigmentation, I decided to keep Haight over Bukowski because it’s smaller in size (0.8oz as opposed to 1.4oz) since its not a shade I’d wear often. When the time comes (soon!) to depot the Kat Von D palette Bukowski is in (the Spellbinding one from Holiday 2013), it’ll be finding itself a new home somewhere else!

Two down, three to go!

ROCKSTAR, LOADED, AND SUSPECT

Rockstar is a lovely deep eggplant shade that doesn’t veer too blue or too red, and hence is likely wearable by most skin tones. Loaded is a beautiful blackened teal that is a bit more muted applied, but still gorgeous. Suspect, well-loved as you can see, is a super-wearable light golden taupe-y shade that adds a touch of brightness to the eye area without being very obvious. All three of these shades are right up my alley…but the question was, did I have any similar colours kicking around?

Left to right: Suspect, Loaded, and Rockstar. 

Again, for fun, I did a quick eye look using all three of these shades to see how they played together (Fall prep, methinks!).

You can see the neat flash of teal green that Loaded provides; paired with Suspect all over the lid and Rockstar in the crease, I think this ended up pretty decent as well. Subtle, but with interest. Next time I’ll be sure to use a primer, which I think will help the shades reach their full, fabulous potential.

I had several contenders for each of the shades above; let’s begin with the most dupable shade, Suspect.

Clockwise from bottom left: NARS Rajasthan duo (golden shade), Laura Mercier Bamboo, MAC All That Glitters, Urban Decay Suspect, Kat Von D Precious

On lighter skintones, I suspect (haha) that the nuances of most of these shades would be readily apparent. However, on my darker skin tone, I find that they lose their uniqueness quite quickly:

Left to right: LM Bamboo, NARS Rajasthan, UD Suspect, MAC All That Glitters, Kat Von D Precious, Kat Von D Galore (I threw that one in for my own comparison purposes but forgot to take pics first, oops!)

Though you can see the graduation from dark to light, there are a lot of similarities here, which happens to me a lot when dealing with sort of champagne-type shades. Ultimately though, only the NARS Rajasthan golden shade is close enough to Suspect, and for me it’s enough to feel likeI don’t need both.  Let’s take a closer look.

Left to right: UD Suspect, NARS Rajasthan

I can’t believe I never noticed how similar these two were! The shade from the Rajasthan duo up close has more nuances than Suspect, and is actually more pigmented as well, so it should be a no-brainer to decide which one to keep. HOWEVER, there are two factors at play here. 1) Suspect has hit pan, and therefore could conceivably be finished in the next few months with diligent use (and who doesn’t like a REAL LIVE MAKEUP EMPTY??) and 2) the other side of the Rajasthan duo is a blackened teal, much like Loaded up there, and so we’ll need to investigate that first before making any decisions.

On, on!

Clockwise from left: NARS Rajasthan duo (teal shade), theBalm Jealous Jordana (depotted), UD Loaded

Next up in the dupe war is Loaded and it’s dark teal goodness. Though I don’t wear it often, I love this kind of shade – so mysterious and sexy 😉  However, I don’t really need THREE of them. Let’s see how they fare in swatches:

Left to right: NARS Rajasthan, UD Loaded, theBalm Jealous Jordana

All three are definitely in the same vein, with Loaded having the most teal flash of the three. Though the texture of the teal side of the Rajasthan duo leaves me a bit wanting (it’s a little stiff), there’s something to be said for the convenience of having the two shades together. To be sure, I did another set of swatches, this time with the teal Rajasthan shade swatched wet to see if it had more depth of pigment (which is ultimately what matters to me in this case).

Left to right: NARS Rajasthan (swatched wet), NARS Rajasthan (dry), UD Loaded, theBalm Jealous Jordana

Clearly, swatched wet, Rajasthan is a whole different ballgame, and thankfully made the decision easy for me. Bye bye, Loaded & Jealous Jordana! Nice knowing you (no really, it was – we had some good times)!

Left to right: UD Rockstar, Hourglass Exhibition duo (violet side), Kat Von D Wonderland

Finally, we have Rockstar in all it’s plummy glory. In my head, the shades above were all close matches, but upon pairing them side by side, I can easily see that’s not going to be the case. Eh. Let’s go through the motions anyway to satisfy our curiosity!

Left to right: Hourglass Exhibition, UD Rockstar, Kat Von D Wonderland

Nope, no dupes here – not by a long shot. Rockstar lighter than both the other options and by far more frosty, not to mention much cooler than Wonderland. Looking at these three side by side however, DOES make me like Rockstar a little less – it seems almost gaudy by comparison. For the time being, I’ll hang on to it as it seems I don’t have anything like it…but time will tell if I decide to keep it around or eventually let it go.

O-KAY! So, after today’s endeavours, I’ve managed to decrease my shadow collection by three (counting Kat Von D’s Bukowski when I get around to depotting those shadows). Not too shabby. At the mo, my entire collection (palette shades and all) consists now of 106 shades. My goal is to get this down to at least under 100, and I may not even stop there. One thing about paring down is that you can eventually start making way for new stuff! An activity I am wholly looking forward to, I readily admit.

Are you doing any makeup house-keeping lately? How many eyeshadows do you own?

How Convenient That Pantone’s Color of the Year Was Also PERFECT for St. Patty’s Day!

So.  Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day!  7 years ago (OMG how time flies…barf) I was in Dublin for Paddy’s Day (as they shorthand it in Ireland), and yea…it was as crazy as you’d imagine it to be!  Not so much a drunken mess, but just the sheer amount of people…yowza.  It was a fantabulous time, and I’ll never forget it!

As the years pass, it seems the crew of hardcore Paddy’s Day party-goers dwindles in my crowd – job responsibilities, babies, and aging in general all seem to keep everyone at home on one of the most fun days of the year ~tear~  Thankfully, I have an excellent partner-in-crime who I can always count on to celebrate with me!  This year it was just the two of us, so it was more low-key than usual, but I still made sure to dress the part – which includes green makeup (and nails), of course!

I usually do a lot more green on the eye, but since it wasn’t a rip-roaring party I went subdued and just wore a simple flash of green liner on the top lash line.  I used Urban Decay’s 24/7 Liner in Covet (an emerald green with silver microglitter) on top of MAC’s Blacktrack Fluidline – the black gave the green more depth and helped the line look more crisp.  I added MAC All That Glitters shadow all over the lid, as I find it gives the most beautiful shine to the eye without ever seeming like too much, and then a dab of Giorgio Armani’s Eyes to Kill shadow in #6 Khaki Pulse to the crease to add a little bit more depth.  *Side note – anyone notice that I’m trying to grow my eyebrows out?  It’s so frickin’ hard dude!  I want to pluck all the random stray hairs but I’m trying to be patient ~sigh~ They are coming along though 🙂

Since it was going to be a long day, I wore MUFE’s HD Blush in #12 First Kiss on bare cheeks, layered foundation on top, and then added a touch of MAC’s Mineralize Blush in Early Morning to make sure my blush had good staying power.  I quite liked the way it made my skin look kind of lit from within.  I don’t usually layer cream and powder blushers but I really need to get on that!  I topped off my cheekbones and other high points of the face with MAC’s Beauty Powder in Shell Pearl, which gives the best glow – I finally got my hands on the Year of the Snake version last week and I LOVE this product.  Review will be forthcoming!

I finished with a very simple lip using Benefit’s Ultra Plush gloss in Hoola.  I didn’t want anything competing with the green liner, so this gave the barest hint of shimmer and warmth, but that’s about it.

Of course, the look isn’t finished – gotta get some flash on the nails too, right!?  Because I’m not a fan of green nail polish as a whole, I don’t actually own any that are going to give me serious pizazz.  But I have shades with a green tinge… haha.  I made it work, I think!  I just read about sideways manicures, so I tried it out – easiest nail art EVER.  And also my new favorite!!

The shades I used were a-England Tess d’Urbervilles as a base, and Chanel Peridot on top.  This was probably more subtle than I should have gone with – the nature of Peridot with it’s duochrome nature just makes the a-England shade look like a shadow.  Nonetheless, I loved the effect, and loved how darn easy this one (no nail stickers required – freehand works perfectly!), so I’ll definitely be trying this again and again with other shades.  Fun!

I always have intentions to get these kinds of event posts up before the actual event, but who am I kidding?  That’s never going to happen – I’m too busy prepping for the occasion to actually have time to post!  LOL  Anyway, all the other bloggers have got this covered for me 😀  And it’s not like I did anything particularly unique, and both the makeup and nails could be done any time of the year, right?

How did you celebrate Paddy’s Day??  Did you do any themed makeup and/or nails?

Swatching Is Rough (AKA My Eyeshadow Collection)

I was going to leave my eyeshadow collection ’till last to swatch in my ‘find the gaps’ series of posts, but the superstorm (which…is kind of lackluster – yea, there’s lots of snow, but I want some action, darn it!) seemed like the perfect time to just get ‘er done – so I did!  Oh man…for those of you who have larger collections than mine, I feel sorry for you if you attempt to do this – it is a BIG EFFING ORDEAL.  I started last night and got just over halfway through before both (!) arms had had enough.  I continued today and after needing to re-swatch several shade categories to get them *just right*, my left arm is just burning (as you’ll notice in the photos – red spots galore!).  So: enough.  I’m ready to rock ‘n roll.  Now – let’s get into ‘er!

Note: All shades are permanent within their respective brands except where otherwise noted.

WHITE EYESHADOWAvon True Color Quad in Smokey Eyes (satin white)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Uzi (shimmer w/glitter) (LE)

 

‘HIGHLIGHT’ EYESHADOWMake Up For Ever Star Powder in #920 (iridescent)

KATE Real Create Eyes BR-2 Palette (white gold pearl)

MAC Eyeshadow in Vex (frost)

 

NUDE EYESHADOWMAC Eyeshadow in Next to Nothing (Cult of Cherry Tempting Quad – frost) (LE)

Laura Mercier Eye Color Duet in Suspense (matte cool beige) (LE)

Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow in Trench (satin)

 

BEIGE, CHAMPAGNE & PEACH EYESHADOWUrban Decay Eyeshadow in Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (shimmer w/glitter)

Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in #13 Warm Beige (frost)

Chanel Illusion d’Ombre in Emerveille (shimmer)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Snatch (shimmer w/glitter)

Kate Real Create Eyeshadow BR-2 Palette (soft peachy shimmer)

MAC Eyeshadow in Arena (satin)

 

GOLD EYESHADOWMAC Pigment in Melon (frost)

Laura Mercier Illuminating Eye Color in Gilded Moonlight (pearl) (LE)

Clinique Touch Tint for Eyes in Gold Glimmer (shimmer) (discontinued)

 

COPPER & ORANGE EYESHADOWMAC Eyeshadow in Amber Lights (frost)

Ardene Eyeshadow in 8B (pearl)

 

BRONZE EYESHADOWMAC Pigment in Cocomotion (frost) (LE)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Smog (shimmer)

MAC Eyeshadow in Tempting (lustre)

Clinique Color Surge Super Shimmer Eyeshadow in Rum Spice (shimmer)

 

BROWN EYESHADOWMAC Eyeshadow in Dark Edge (Cult of Cherry Tempting Quad – satin) (LE)

KATE Real Create Eyes BR-2 Palette (deep brown shimmer)

Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow in #17 Espresso (matte)

Laura Mercier Eye Color Duet in Suspense (matte burgundy brown) (LE)

 

TAUPE-BROWN EYESHADOWS

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Suspect (shimmer)

NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Rajasthan (beige-gold taupe) (shimmer) (LE)

KATE Real Create Eyes BR-2 Palette (taupe shimmer)

 

TAUPE-PURPLE EYESHADOWS

NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Grand Palais (silver-taupe shimmer)

Hourglass Visionaire Eye Shadow Duo in Exhibition (mauve shimmer)

MAC Eyeshadow in Shale (satin)

bareMinerals High Shine Eye Color in Meteorite (frost)

Le Metier de Beaute True Color Eye Shadow in Corinthian (shimmer)

 

RED & PINK EYESHADOWL’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Golden Mahogany (frost)

Chanel Illusion d’Ombre in Abstraction (shimmer)

Avon True Color Quad in Smokey Eyes (matte light pink)

 

MAUVE & ROSE EYESHADOW

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Bordello (shimmer w/glitter)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Last Call (metallic)

NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Grand Palais (matte dusty rose)

 

PLUM EYESHADOW

NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Habanera (sparkling plum)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Rockstar (shimmer)

Hourglass Visionaire Eye Shadow Duo in Exhibition (eggplant shimmer)

 

PURPLE EYESHADOW

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Psychedelic Sister (shimmer)

MAC Paint in Infamous (metallic) (discontinued)

 

BLUE EYESHADOW

MAC Paint in Blue Boy (metallic) (discontinued)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Radium (shimmer)

MAC Eyeshadow in Blue Edge (matte w/shimmer) (discontinued)

 

AQUA & TEAL EYESHADOWS

NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Rajasthan (blackened teal shimmer) (LE)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Loaded (metallic)

theBalm Shady Lady Eyeshadow in Jealous Jordana (shimmer)

Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadow in 8E (matte)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Haight (shimmer)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Money (shimmer w/micro-glitter) (LE)

NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Habanera (mint frost)

 

GREEN EYESHADOW

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Kush (shimmer w/micro-glitter)

Le Metier de Beaute True Color Eye Shadow in Jade (shimmer)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Mildew (shimmer)

MAC Eyeshadow in Sharp (Cult of Cherry Tempting Quad – satin) (LE)

Lise Watier Couleur Folle Eyeshadow in Folie Pomme (iridescent shimmer)

Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow in #57 Chartreuse (satin)

 

YELLOW EYESHADOW

Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in #24 Yellow (matte)

MAC Eyeshadow in Bright Future (

 

KHAKI EYESHADOW

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Waterproof Eyeshadow in #24 Smokey Copper (shimmer)

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadow in #6 Khaki Pulse (shimmer)

Clinique Color Surge Soft Shimmer Eyeshadow in Autumn Moss (satin)

 

TAUPE-SILVER EYESHADOWS

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Maui Wowie (metallic w/glitter)

Bobbi Brown Chrome Eye Shadow in Pewter (frost) (LE)

theBalm Shady Lady Eyeshadow in Insane Jane (shimmer)

Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in #2 Steel (shimmer)

 

GREY EYESHADOW

Avon True Color Quad in Smokey Eyes (medium grey & dove grey) (shimmer)

 

BLACK EYESHADOWS

MAC Pigment in Dark Soul (frost w/glitter)

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Perversion (matte)

 

….PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you make it??

…So.  To be honest, when I started swatching all my makeup, I was originally just trying to find a way to justify new purchases – if it could be considered a shade I didn’t already own, then I would feel free to go for it.  However, now I’ve discovered that being so fully aware of what I own, has made me really excited to play with my current collection, instead of seeking out new products.  I especially noticed this with this eyeshadow post – there are so truly fabulous shades in there!  While there are still of course colors I’d like to pick up to fill the gaps (namely – a lilac and a skintone [MY skintone, to clarify] shade, among a couple others), overall I’m WELL aware I have a ton of shades to rock out and don’t really *need* anything else at the moment.  I did notice I have a lot less color than I imagined, but that’s actually OK because I don’t tend to wear it a ton and try to avoid buying a lot of it only for it to go unused.  I think my stash is fairly representative of the kind of makeup I wear day to day!  So SCORE for being logical in my purchases 🙂

I am kinda worn out from the work necessary to do this post, so I’m done now LOL.  But – I have questions for you!

Do you see any gaps that I could fill?  What shades make up the bulk of your eyeshadow collection?? Also – anyone bother to count how many shades I have?  I’m too tired now to bother LOL

End of Summer Glow with Too Faced Sun Bunny Bronzing Powder

If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I struggle with bronzers – not necessarily how to wear them, but if they should be worn at all on my dark skin.  The main purpose of bronzer is to fake a ‘faux tan’ and, well…I kind of have that on the regular.  However, they ALSO are used to give one’s skin a healthy glow, and to this end that look is what I’m trying to achieve (I think).  Last year I thought I found ‘THE’ product in NARS’ Laguna Illuminator, however it contains sparkly bits that look unnatural in sunshine and are better left for evening events.  Earlier in the year I snagged MAC’s Refined Golden bronzer (which I think I’ve had before) via swap, but then I went away down South and was too tan for it to do much of anything.  I was hoping to get NARS’ Casino bronzer through another swap, but that fell through.  So all summer long I’ve been sans bronzer, which of course isn’t a big deal when you have 20+ blush to play with instead, but nevertheless, my hunt was not truly over.

A few weeks ago I engaged in a swap for a Too Faced Sun Bunny bronzer, and upon receiving it I was unsure how I’d feel about it.  While I’ve read great reviews about the Too Faced bronzers, they seemed so shimmery and unwearable when I swatched them in-store (hence why I swapped for it!).  I finally had a chance to try it on today, and I was very surprized to find that I really liked it!

ShadeSunFlash

The powder is smooth and finely milled, and feels soft on the skin.  Once on, it actually doesn’t look shimmery but rather imparts a great glow to the face.  I wore the bronze side mainly on the underside of my cheeks, with a light dusting around my temples, and then added a touch of the lighter side on my cheekbones for some extra illumination.  I kept taking photo after photo to see if I could ‘catch’ the shimmer in action, but all that appeared was a natural, warm radiance.

SunlightSunlight

I included an eye makeup shot because I was diggin’ it – UD’s Crash on the top lash line, smudged, and Lise Watier’s Gold Eye Shine underneath – simple and easy!

It’s been a terribly hot and humid summer, and today was no exception.  I applied this late in the morning and it’s still going strong sans primer 6 hours later, without making me look shiny or enhancing my pores.  It’s only slightly muted, and I’m still rockin’ the warm and glowy, without the greasy-shiny.  I’m definitely impressed!  This bronzer is described as a ‘year-round’ shade, and I can definitely see that working – for my skintone as well as others.  Blending the two shades together would create a lighter tone overall that perhaps even the fairest could use; however, it’s *just* deep enough for me, tanned, so it would be more of a highlight to anyone much darker than I (around NC42 for reference).

Flash

I have to admit, I don’t have much experience with Too Faced as a brand, but this bronzer far surpasses my expectations.  I guiltily am affected by packaging, and I find that the line leaves much to be desired – I know some find it whimsical, but I merely find it juvenile.  However, in this instance what you see is definitely not what you get.  The quality of this bronzer is quite lovely and the $36CAD (0.33oz) price tag is fairly easy to swallow, though of course I didn’t pay that price 😛   I won’t go so far as to say I’ve found THE bronzer for me (I have commitment issues, OK?), but I’m definitely going to get use out of this product for the rest of the season and beyond!

What is your favorite bronzer?  Do you go for a matte, or a glow (or more obvious shimmer)?  What makeup do you wear to transition into fall?

Summer Favorites (I Couldn’t Pick Just One!)

G’day to everyone!!  I have been MIA for a while, longer than usual anyway – I have a backlog of photos of products to post, but I can’t seem to get inspired to write anything about them!  Not that they aren’t all great in their different ways, but I guess I’m starting to feel like I’m just pumping out product reviews and not enough substance, you know?  I need some time to do some more FOTD’s with underused products – now THAT was fun 🙂

I’m also doing an overhaul of my makeup stash and letting go of even more products that I just don’t use.  I’ve been obsessing over my wishlist far too much and it’s getting to the point where I’m almost turned off the whole thing (as in, the buy buy buy! cycle).  I updated my swap list on MUA and have been engaged in several different exchanges, trying to acquire things that I’ve been lemming but are core color products of a brand – I want to save most of my purchases for seasonal items or ‘big-ticket’ purchases that aren’t so easily swapped for.  I’m thinking about doing a blog sale as well, though I don’t know how exciting some of the products may be…thoughts!?

In the meantime, I thought I’d do a ‘Summer Favorites’ rundown, versus my favorite of the month, because there hasn’t been just one thing I’ve been loving in July, but there have been a handful of things I keep returning to over and over!

Even though I love brights in the summer – vivid tropical hues that I never wear the rest of the year – I rarely have opportunities to wear them (I sometimes get ~crazy~ at work but overall I try to keep it appropriate).  Often, my palette includes more natural, glowing hues that highlight my tanned skin and healthy glow, rather than being in-your-face.  It’s one of the few times of the year where wearing less usually works to your advantage, and I like to capitalize on that!

I managed to snag Urban Decay’s ‘Lucky’ 24/7 Eyeliner Pencil in a swap last year, and although I loved how it looked, I didn’t wear it too often.  However, this year in my effort to spread the love throughout my stash, I started playing with it more, and I think I’ve found my go-to makeup look: this, smudged over black eyeliner on both top and bottom lashes, enhances my eyes subtly but with a kind of bad-ass twist.  It’s been a staple in my summer routine many days now, and I absolutely LOVE it.  The metallic nature of this liner and the warm coppery hue, toned down a bit by the black, gives a depth to my makeup that is just perfect.

On days when I’m aiming to look even more natural, or to give a subtle glow to my look, I opt for MAC’s Melon Pigment, also another swap find (yay to being economical!), a peachy-gold metallic.  On fair-medium skin, I hear the peach tones help it look particularly striking, especially on blue-eyed gals.  On my skintone, it looks more golden than peach, and is fairly subtle – though it can be built up if need be, or applied wet.  With just this and a whole lot of black mascara, I can create a wide-open eye that catches the light just so.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I think I could even use this as a highlight on my cheekbones (though this probably only works for darker skinned gals).

The Milani Sunset Beach bronzer is one of the most inexpensive items in my stash, yet I wear this every day – the brownish tone is a slightly warm but overall neutral hue that works fabulously as a contour shade just under the cheekbone.  It’s not too orange or muddy, and it’s got a great pigmentation that’s not heavy but just right to work well in layers if needed.  If I’m in a hurry, buffing this on my temples, bridge of the nose, and just under the jawline as well gives me a great warmth and really makes me look polished with very little effort.

Obviously you’ve already heard all about my love of Chanel’s Inattendu polish – it’s just the perfect nude, especially for summer, when the warmer tones flatter skin so nicely.  And because I wear SO many brights this time of year, it acts as the perfect counter-point.  You really can’t go wrong!

MAC’s Lychee Luxe Lipglass is a glorious coral-pink shade with golden shimmer, and is so pretty on that I forgive it’s sticky texture.  I can wear this with a variety of looks, either bold eyes or more natural, with golds and brights and jewel-tones, and it works for each one of them.  On my somewhat pigmented lips and with my darker skin, it looks warm and juicy, giving my lips just enough color without ever being overwhelming or stealing the show.  While I have decided not to buy any more MAC Lipglasses because of the texture problem mentioned, I’ll be genuinely sad to see this one go – and it’s only got about 1/3 left!

While all of these shades work perfectly for day or night, I’ve generally been wearing only loose powder to lightly even out my skintone during the day.  When I’m headed to an event or out for the evening however, I like to look a bit more pulled together, and I’ve been using Make Up For Ever’s Face & Body foundation* in #18 ($40CAD) – a super lightweight foundation that covers imperfections without feeling heavy or like you’re wearing much of anything.  As it’s water-based, its quite thin and is perfect for the hot, makeup-melting days of summer.  It can also be built up to give extra coverage where needed – and can be used on the body as well (I love me some multi-purpose products!).  #18 (for medium skin with olive undertones) is a very good match for my summer-tanned skin, and is warm, not ashy, which is great.  I’m thinking about mixing a bit of this with my Hourglass Immaculate foundation when the cooler months arrive, as it leans a touch light and grey on me, and I think the two formulations will mix fairly well.

Here are some swatches of all the products above (left to right – MAC Lychee Luxe, MAC Melon, UD Lucky, Milani Sunset Beach, MUFE #18):

Artificial lightWith flash

Honourable mentions go to MAC’s Arena eyeshadow (I’m plugging that shade hard, aren’t I?) and some of my other fave polish shades – Essie’s Bikini So Teeny (can’t get enough), MAC’s Mischievous Mint (the bottle is half-empty – seriously!), China Glaze’s Pink Plumeria (look for an upcoming ‘combo’ post with this shade), and Deb Lippmann’s Daytripper (check it out below!).

Artificial lightWith flash

My mother keeps telling me I should be showcasing my polishes with color-contrasting objects, and I just happened to buy this especially pretty pale aqua throw pillows, sooo…

Pretty, huh?  Initially when picked this up, I was disappointed when I tried it on – it’s more of a jelly texture, which is great, but not what I was expecting.  And in artificial light, the shade fell a bit flat.  However, the next day, I totally turned the other cheek – I couldn’t get enough of how lovely it was!  It’s extremely shiny on it’s own, and so juicy – the jelly texture actually really makes it more than your regular coral polish, it just too this ol’ gal a little longer to see it ;P

What are some of your favorite summer items and looks??  Do share, I’d love to get some more ideas!

*Product provided by the PR company/brand for my unbiased consideration.

Summer Looks, 3 Ways: Cheeks, Lips or Eyes

I have to tell you, I have been having a BLAST creating different looks and playing with products that I already have (versus getting sucked into the never-ending *new-New–NEW!!* vortex) – it has been the absolute best solution I’ve found to control my shopping tendencies and appreciate what I own rather than the lust-buy-forget-repeat cycle I’ve been guilty of in the past.  I’m not knocking picking up new and pretty things – goodness knows there’s a (great!!) time and place for that, and I still am buying more makeup than I’ll ever need – but I also get fed up with myself when I go out and pick up new products before giving the ones I own proper love.  It totally suits my new mentality of making sure everything I have is awesome and that’s it’s getting semi-regular attention.  Anything that’s not floating the Latoya boat is getting booted.  End of story.

My ‘no way, jose’ face lol (or just filler…it looked photo barren here!)

Anyway, I’ve been experimenting a lot lately – way more than I have for YEARS, maybe since I was in university – and it’s amazing the combinations and shades you can come up with when you put your mind to it!  I find I was forgetting the whole reason I started the blog, which was because I loved USING makeup, not just acquiring it, and I’ve been pushing myself out of the box and trying new looks and realizing I have some pretty awesome products!!  Does anyone remember the Canadian cooking show ‘The Urban Peasant?’  He used to always say “Use what you got,” and dammit if I’m not following his lead ;P

Good grief I’m chatty.

Ok, onwards to the looks!  I wanted to do 3 different Summer-themed looks to cover each of the main focal points of the face – cheeks, lips and eyes.  I’ve sort of started following a general rule of thumb when it comes to wearing what kind of looks when: I often wear a bolder lip to work, because hey! – I’m not kissing anyone there, and reapplication at my desk is easy-peasy; a strong eye when going ‘out’ somewhere; and a defined cheek for more laid-back kind of days, as it makes me look polished but isn’t too much and doesn’t require any maintenance.  Of course, any of these combinations can be worn at any time, and you could even pair two of them together for a whole different look, but for the purpose of this post I’m going to give distinction between them.

Look #1 – Focus on Cheeks:

In my first look, I focused on an all-over bronzed glow combined with a more flushed cheek to enhance.  This is a super-quick and easy way to wear makeup in the Summer months, as it just builds upon the warmth the sun naturally bestows upon the skin.  If I’m going for a more casual look, this is usually what I lean toward.  The products I used are below.

Clockwise from left: NARS South Beach Multiple, Illamasqua Tweak, MAC Refined Golden Bronzer, Clinique High Lengths Mascara, MAC Crosswires Lipstick, Milani Sunset Duos in Sunset Beach

Left to right: NARS South Beach Multiple, Milani Sunset Duos in Sunset Beach, Illamasqua Tweak, MAC Crosswires Lipstick

And the resulting look!:

Above – In sunlight; Below – With flash

Capturing the strength of cheek products is tricky; it seems like you need to go more heavy-handed than you normally would in order to get the same effect you’d see in person.  While I wasn’t sporting ‘clown-cheeks’ to be sure, my blush was more noticeable in real life, and I actually quite liked it!  By using Milani’s Sunset Beach (the bronze side) as bronzer and then a bit extra under the cheekbones to contour, NARS South Beach to highlight on top of cheekbones (then blended out toward temples and any residual down the bridge of my nose), and Illamasqua Tweak on the higher point of the apples of my cheeks to emphasize (and blending like crazy to avoid any harsh edges), it just looked like I had been out in the sun all day.  Pretty natural actually with just a touch of glam from the highlight.  To finish I dabbed on MAC’s Crosswires lippie as a stain, and added a touch of clear gloss to give a bit of shine.

Look #2 – Focus on Lips:

My next look took me more out of my comfort zone, as I VERY rarely wear pigmented lip colors plus a glossy finish – a matte bold lip is much more subdued and easier to pull off in most cases.  But I had an inspiration from my lookbook (a photo album full of looks I’ve clipped out of magazines) that came to mind and I really wanted to try it.  In it, the model is wearing a rich coral-red lip that has this insane glossy shine to it, while the rest of the makeup is very subtle with just a beachy glow.  As my lip collection is sort of in transition, I didn’t have the exact shade I was looking for, so I had to get creative:

Clockwise from left: Estee Lauder Illuminating Gelee in Shimmering Sands, theBalm Read My Lips Lipstick in Wanted, Sephora She Sparkles lipgloss, MAC Lychee Luxe Lipglass, Ojon Restorative Mascara

Left to right: theBalm Read My Lips Lipstick in Wanted, MAC Lychee Luxe Lipglass, Sephora She Sparkles lipgloss, Estee Lauder Illuminating Gelee in Shimmering Sands

My interpretation:

By combining a shiny red lip color with a coral gloss and adding extra gloss on top of that, I came close to what I was aiming for – and even though it wasn’t exactly the same, I think it ended up being relatively flattering!  I’d never tried theBalm lip product before, hadn’t even swatched it, but it popped into my head and I figured now was the time to try it out.  MAC’s Lychee Luxe is one of my fave shades of gloss (though truth be told I don’t think I’ll buy any more MAC glosses – I’m SO over the sticky texture!), and the pinky-coral tone kept the red from being too cool and Christmas-y looking.  Plus the gold shimmer of Sephora’s She Sparkles gave it a Summery kick, and that extra dose of shiny I was going for.  By keeping the rest of my makeup extremely simple, the bright glossiness of the lips didn’t seem so obnoxious.

Look #3 – Focus on Eyes:

Lastly, I wanted to showcase a Summer look for eyes.  I do tend to wear more eye makeup than anything else, though this is subtly changing over the past few months – I’m trying to break out of the same old of bold eyes and muted cheeks/lips.  For this look, I pushed myself again to play and experiment more than normal, which actually was quite easy once I determined what shade was going to anchor my look – Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Cream #24, the bold canary yellow I reviewed last week!  After choosing a bright shade like that, everything else seemed easy in comparison 🙂

Clockwise from left: MAC Arena eyeshadow, Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream #24, Rouge Bunny Rouge Original Skin Blush in Florita, Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner in Black Honey, Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner in Perversion, Laura Mercier Full Blown Volume Mascara, Ardene Eyeshadow in 8B, MAC Evolution Revolution Lipglass   

Left to right: Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream #24, Ardene Eyeshadow in 8B, Urban Decay Last Call eyeshadow, Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner in Black Honey, Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner in Perversion, Rouge Bunny Rouge Original Skin Blush in Florita, MAC Evolution Revolution Lipglass

Here’s how I made it work:

Above – Sunlight; Below – With flashI applied MUFE Aqua Cream #24 all over the lid, then applied Ardene 8B to the middle of the lid outward.  I added UD’s Last Call to the outer lid and crease, and highlighted the brow and the inner corners of the eye with MAC’s Arena.  Finally I lined the upper lash line with UD’s Perversion liquid liner, and the bottom lash line with Clinique’s Black Honey, and piled on a generous dose of mascara on top and bottom lashes.

As I mentioned in the review, this vibrant matte yellow Aqua Cream is surprizingly easy to use – easy to work with, easy to blend, and didn’t look as garish as I thought it would once applied.  I absolutely ADORED how this look came out overall, it felt SO Summery and warm and fun, and I can see myself recreating this over and over this season, because it was an easy way to inject some color into my palette without being too over the top.  And it got me using another shade that never gets love from me – the Ardene shadow, which by the way has a lovely buttery texture and is probably like $3 at the store.

Also, I can’t deal with how great Florita looked with this combination – it gives the perfect amount of glow for the Summer without being shimmery, which would also compete with the shadows.  Finishing with the pale pink MAC gloss added just the right touch of glossiness and muted quality to my lips to compliment the look best.

All in all, though I think the last look was my favorite out of the three (typical!), I’m going to make every effort to rotate between a focus on eyes, lips and cheeks and continue to experiment with different looks and play with lesser-used shades in order to have more fun with makeup, and be more mindful of what I already own.  I SO enjoyed creating these looks over the past couple weeks, and I truly hope you got some benefit out of them as well!  Its nice to showcase and talk about other products that aren’t brand-spanking new or the most talked-about in the blogosphere.  Sometimes I find I get so saturated with the same old, that when I stumble upon posts that discuss makeup I haven’t heard/thought of, it’s like a breath of fresh air!

…and now I’m done.  Thanks for sticking through this if you made it this far!  Hope you enjoyed!! 😀