A Classic Look...

So I felt like a classic simple eye (yeah right like I can actually do anything simple) and a bright red lip today. This is what I came up with...

Eyes
Crease: Inglot Matte Dark Brown
Lid: Inglot shimmer taupe
Inner Corner: Inglot light yellow shimmer
Browbone: Inglot gold shimmer

Liner: NYX black liquid liner
Mascara: Smashbox Hyperlash

Waterline: Sephora mini eyeliner pencil in white, layered with Sephora white eyeshadow.

Face
Primer: TooFaced Primed and Poreless
Foundation: Makeup Forever Mat Velvet - Mattifying Foundation
Powder: Inglot face powder
Blush: Smashbox softlights some sorta light pink

Lips
Primer: TooFace Lip Insurance
Liner: Sephora mini lip pencil in red
Lipstick: Sephora Cream Stain in Always Red

I love this lipstick because it stays put, especially when layered over liner and TooFaced lip insurance. I did really try to keep the eye simple... but its me, so it came out more complex than normal. Also, sorry I don't know the numbers of the Inglot shadows...

I took these photos late in the day and I'm very impressed that the white shadow stayed on my waterline all day. I use Urban Decay De-Slick Setting spray as well.

I like this look because its very versatile, especially if you keep the lip simple during the day and only crank it up at night for party time. I mostly used a sheer red lipgloss from Toki Doki while I was at work.

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Smokey Wednesday

I was in a hurry this morning. Went for a run that ran long. Ha! Smokey eyes are easy to do in a hurry, thats why I like them. Lots of shadows to hide your mistakes! Sorry for the picture quality. The lighting in my office is so freaking terrible and I don't have time to photoshop the hell out of these today. 

Eyes
Base: Two faced Shadow Insurance, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil... the black one, dunno what the name is.
Outer corner: Inglot sparkly neutral (sorry, at work and I don't know remember the number)
Inner Corner: Urban Decay Naked 1, Sidecar
Crease and Lower Lid: Inglot matte chocolate brown
Liner: Kat Von D liquid in Puro Amor, Urban Decay 24/7 Eye pencil in Perversion, set with black shadow
Mascara: Smashbox Hyperlash mascara in jet black


Face
Primer: Cover FX primer for Oily skin
Foundation: Makeup Forever Velvet Finish foundation
Concealer: MAC something or other (sorry, again at work and I don't remember, its in a squeezy tube)
Powder: Inglot Powder
Blush: Inglot Bronzer/Blush

Lips
Kat Von D lipgloss in Rocker


Hey, two posts two days in a row! Go me!!! 

This was going to be a how to...

...but my makeup is nothing to write home about today, ha ha.

Instead I will mention that I went out last night for beers at a super cool place called Pub Dog in Columbia, MD. They have a great and cheap beer special, which I took full advantage of and am now suffering a teeny tiny aftermath. New job requires me to get up at 5am in order to be at work by 8am (since as a beauty addict I have to have perfect and unique makeup every day and it takes time). So I went to bed last night around 12:30, and got up at 5. Note that that is not a lot of sleep. My eyes weren't puffy or anything, but I was having trouble keeping them open all the way, and they're still kinda red. So I decided to whip out what I'm told is a drag queen tip, white eyeliner on the waterline, set with white eyeshadow. I extended past both the inner and outer corner to get a little panache as well. (Do I get bonus points for the word panache?) I also used a bright blue/purple under the lashline, which helps make the whites of your eyes look whiter, giving you more of a bright-eyed and bushy tailed look. Between the white liner and blue shadow, you can't really tell that I only got 4.5 hours of sleep, right?

Again, apologies for the office lighting and my work computer built in camera, both conspire to make me look very dead-alive. I also ran out of my Inglot powder, so I'm using some bullshit Maybelline crap. Its from the FIT collection and it sucks, don't buy it.

In case anyone wants to know, stuff I'm wearing on my face is:

eyes: inglot shadows (sparkly darker taupe, lighter matte taupe and sparkly dark purple in the crease), MAC shroom on my browbone, NYX liquid eyeliner, Smashbox mascara (which i epic failed in putting on today, i have crazy spider lashes ha ha), Sephora white eyeliner mini on the waterline, set with a shimmery Sephora white shadow
face: UD setting spray, CoverFX primer, Gorgeous cosmetics foundation, UD concealer, Maybelline FIT powder, MAC blush in Rhubarb, UD setting spray again
lips: UD Pocket Rocket lipgloss in James

Tutorials will happen. I will make it happen. I want to finish my color relationships series, and I want to make a Game of Thrones series as well. I filmed one tutorial in my Game of Thrones series, but I haven't edited it yet, because... well, i'm lazy. Ha ha. Happy Friday everyone!

NYX Liquid Liner Review

So, I had been using Kat Von D liquid black liner, and then it ran out. And I was broke. So I bought this instead, because its way cheaper. I can't remember exactly when I bought it, but it was quite a while ago, Summer 2012 at least, so there's a plus. Shit lasts forever, but I guess that depends on how much you're putting on each day. But I put on a small-medium amount EVERY day, and only now am I starting to need to shake the bottle to get product onto the brush.

It goes on smoothly, and I find I don't have to stretch my eyelid out to get a smooth even line. It also stays put through most things; its not waterproof, but I've cried with it on and it stays in place. Same with small amounts of moisture, like light drizzles. I only put it on my upper lid though, and I wear glasses, so that might be why. Its also a super dense black, which is nice.

Now... I'm not a liquid liner extraordinaire or anything. I'm pretty handy, but it has taken me almost the entire time of owning this liner to get any kind of decent at applying it. I was pretty good right off the bat with the Kat Von D that I was using previously, and the MAC felt tip pen I had before that. And the MAC gel liner I had before that. But... this one, I kinda feel like a moron. I suspect its the fact that the bristles of the brush are long. This can work to your advantage, but coming from the Kat Von D, it took a lot of getting used to. I also have a lot of trouble getting just a razor thin line, like I'll get one eye done and completely fuck up the other one, and thus have to make the line really thick to cover up the mistakes. I really don't know what the deal is. Although, I suspect when I eventually go back to one of the above eyeliners, I'll be really good at applying liner.

Overall, I'd say I recommend it, but be prepared for a learning curve. I think its like $6 at Ulta, but I couldn't find it on the NYX website, so it might be discontinued and they're just selling off the rest of the stock. For the price, its pretty good stuff.

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Day Long Review: Moisturizer

So, all of last year I was unemployed. And it was awful. Being unable to afford decent moisturizer (and not wanting to slather mineral oil laden drugstore brand all over my face) I made do with whatever samples I had lying around. There was Algenist, Origins, Philosophy and others. I actually managed to make do without doing any damage to my skin. 

Now that I have a job, I've set out to find a new moisturizer for my terribly oily skin. After doing some research, I decided I'd give Clinique another go, despite my hatred of their "Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion". Apparently the gel version of the same is a completely different story. I tried it on my hand in Sephora and actually liked the finish it gave once it dried. But I asked the very nice and personable sales lady for a sample first, since I don't want to commit to something and then hate it. 

So today I'm doing a day long review. Before starting, I'll mention what I'm also wearing as far as makeup:
Eyes: Inglot eyeshadows in various shades, NYX liquid eyeliner (look for a review on this soon), Smashbox Hyperlash Mascara.
Lips: Sephora + Pantone Universe Gloss Brilliant Dazzling Lipgloss in Peony
Face: Urban Decay Setting Spray - Deslick, Cover FX mattifying primer, Gorgeous Cosmetics foundation, Urban Decay concealer pencil, Inglot powder and blush, Urban Decay setting spray (again)

6:10 am: I like the gel consistency. I apply moisturizer with my fingers and tend to rub it over the pads of my three middle fingers on each hand in order to apply it evenly. With most lotion type moisturizers, this action can cause my usually dry hands to soak up some of the moisture, with the gel, that didn't happen, so I got the full dose onto my face. This probably means the stuff will go pretty far and I won't need a ton. All the tightness from cleansing in the shower was gone, but I didn't feel greasy or the need to really rub it into my skin.



8:08 am:

I put my makeup on at about 6:30 this morning, and its holding up pretty well. You'll have to forgive the terrible office lighting making me look a little like a corpse. What I'm looking for is for the moisturizer to not make my face feel like an oily mess by the end of the day (like the last sample I was using, handed to me by some lady at a kiosk in Arundel Mills Mall. Think its called Vivo or something like that. TERRIBLE) 

11:00 AM: Makeup's been on for about 4 and a half hours now. Weird to think I'm one of those people who gets up that early... But whatever. The picture is not really doing a good job of showing it, but the amount of oil is pretty low. I can see it starting to build up on my nose, but it seems to be staying put on the rest of my face. And considering I think I forgot the second round of my setting spray today... thats pretty good. So far digging the moisturizer.

3:00PM: Starting to get a bit shiny, but my face doesn't feel oily or greasy. Ok, my nose a little bit, but usually the oil in my face would have eaten through my makeup on my cheeks, forehead and nose by now and I'd be a hot mess. Considering this makeup's been on for almost 9 hours now... It's doing pretty well. I feel like I've been giving Clinique a bad rap for a while. Note that the headphones are now in both ears, showing that I've given up on any real work getting done today...

6:00pm: I didn't take a photo, as I was in the middle of something, but everything about my makeup still looked awesome, and my face felt lovely and not too oily. I think I actually like this moisturizer, but its still day one. I'll give it a few and see if my skin reacts strangely.

On a side note, I just gooped a bunch of Vaseline on my face so I could make plaster masks with a friend. Can't WAIT to see the breakouts I'll have tomorrow...

Have a good weekend everyone!

Look: omg is it spring yet??

Mostly makeup forever shadows, star powder for the blue, pressed shadows for the rest. Kat von d lipgloss in party animal.

Enjoy and have a good night!

Color Relationships: Complimentary Colors 1

So... First look of the new Color Relationships series!! I started with complimentary colors, these colors are opposite one another on the color wheel. I started with Yellow and Violet (that's right, not Purple. The "correct" color name is Violet.) I also painted my nails with China Glaze Happy Go Lucky for the occasion. Its a creme yellow.

Complimentary colors by their nature make each other look more intense, and therefore, more noticeable. Those drug-store eye palettes that are made specifically for your eye color?

They work off this principle. Blue's complement is Orange, Red's compliment is Green, Yellow's compliment is Violet, and so on. They also will "vibrate" against each other if they're both super saturated hues. Don't believe me? Well, I

have an art degree, so... I know these things. Also, look here

See how the colors sort of "bounce" off each other? Told you I was right about vibration.

Anyway, here's my look!

Eyes

• Primer: Two Faced Shadow Insurance
• Base: NYX Jumbo Eye shadow pencil in Milk
• Outer half: Makeup Forever... lemony yellow. I forget the name. Its super bright and matte
• Inner half: Inglot light yellow shimmer pressed shadow, forget the number, but its sort of lemon-meringe-y
• Liner: NYX Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Purple (metallic)
• Lower Lid: Inglot Matte Violet shade, forget the number, but its a violet hedging on blue-violet
• Browbone: MAC Shroom
• Waterline: NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk, set with MAC Shroom
• Mascara: Maybelline One By One (god I can't wait to finish the damn tube, its really terrible)

Face

• Primer: Makeup Forever HD Primer
• Foundation: Smashbox High Definition Healthy FX Foundation in Light 1
• Powder: Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Powder Foundation (yes, I wore two foundations today, but I'm out of all other powders and broke, lol) It was actually quite effective at staying on in this terrible rainy weather we're having
• Blush: MAC blush in Rhubarb (its a Pro color I got in Chicago. SOOO bright and a perfect contrast for this look)

Lips

• OCC Lip Tar in Memento, set with a translucent setting powder that kinda tasted funny, I might not use it again...
• Tarina Tarantino lip gloss in Parade just in the center. Its a sheer pink gloss with SO MUCH GLITTER in it. I love it.

So, thats the first look in the Color Relationships series. I will probably go bolder as time goes on... I kinda did the look and then decided to do the series, lol. I think it came out really well though, although I'm not super thrilled with the applicator on the NYX liquid eyeliner. I may have to invest in an eyeliner brush.

Keep an eye out for my next post!!