Month: November 2013

Nosy Beauty Vol. 19: Maria

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Hello and welcome to this week’s Nosy Beauty! Today, we have Maria, who is one of the most talented makeup people here on WordPress. Her eye looks are always so creative and elaborate. 🙂 She actually recently made a 3 Product Face, though managed to look stunning, still. 🙂 As you know, my name is Maria and I blog at http://www.amriaa.wordpress.com . I am a med school student in my fifth year and that takes 80% of my time, but I do find moments to blog and talk about what beauty products I use. I also enjoy reading other people’s blogs and I tend to fall asleep doing so nearly every night. I am interested in all things beauty, especially makeup, as I find it makes me look and feel like a whole new person when wearing it, and the best thing is you can look different every time your wear it. I love colours, they make my every day better and that’s why I try to wear them on my eyes as often as …

FOTD: Daytime Smoky Eyes with Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscope Eye Kit in Gravité

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As promised, here is a closer look at Gravité, one of Le Métier de Beauté’s most recent Kaleidoscope releases. This was a GWP for onsite purchases for a while, which is why I jumped at the chance. I had been wanting another kaleidoscope (my last purchase was a few months ago), and this seemed to be the perfect one. Aside from it essentially coming as a free gift, the colors were also attractive to me. For more information about the Kaleidoscope itself, check out my swatch post here. For this look, I tried to follow the instructions posted on their Facebook, where the Dualistic Eye Pencil in Tamarack was used as a base. I put it all over my mobile lid, then proceeded to use the couches de couleur technique on the mobile lid, like a traditional smoky eye where the pigmentation is concentrated near the lash line, as well as on the lower lash line. Le Métier de Beauté’s trademark technique is used to bring attention to the beauty of the wearer’s eyes, as …

Drugstore Finds: Maybelline Clear Smooth All In One Shine-Free Cake Powder*

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This product’s name is a mouthful, first of all. I got the Maybelline Clear Smooth All in One Shine-Free Cake Powder* from a BDJ Box last month, and I got the color Sand Beige, which is a pretty great match for me (at least, my skin-tone pre-beach tan). It might look a little off in the finger-swatch below… … but it blends out quite nicely: The texture is pretty nice, I have no real complaints. I don’t use these types of powders usually, since my skin is pretty dry and just occasionally oily. Maybelline had a lot of claims for this product, including the following: Shine Control — blend of water and sebum repellent powders keep skin matte and wonderfully fresh throughout the wear. High UV Protection — SPF 25, among the highest in sun protection shields from skin darkening and PA++ for added protection Instant Brightening — Infused with pro Vitamin C, it instantly makes skin look brighter and more natural Imperfections Blends Away — Ultra fine powders and coated pigments effortlessly cover spots …

Stashed & Forgotten: MAC Powder Blush in Springsheen

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Another forgotten item in my stash, a gorgeous peachy pink blush: MAC Springsheen. Let’s face it—I bought this, highly influenced by its name. I was looking for a few blushes to try out since I’ve never gotten around to trying blushes from MAC. I know it looks familiar—Springsheen looks quite close to the ubiquitous NARS blush, Orgasm. While they are very similar, Orgasm is a little pinker and a touch more golden. I like this blush because it is light enough to use as a highlighter, but also adds some color when/if you need it to be a blush. This is also pretty perfect as a companion to other blushes, if you’re into mixing shades and textures. It’s a “Sheertone Shimmer,” which I’m assuming means that it has a bit of shimmer to it. You never really actually see the gold flecks on your face, though, which I find pretty awesome. If you enjoy the color, I’ll be honest… it shows up better on fairer skin. On my medium (here, even recently-tanned) skin, it just …

Ellana Minerals Lip & Cheek Gel in Amethyst*

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One of the things I was very lucky to try out from Ellana Minerals is their Lip & Cheek Gel* which I got in Amethyst. It comes in this weird pump packaging that always spells trouble for controlling the amount of product you squeeze out. The liquid is quite runny for a gel, though it doesn’t necessarily drip or run like a liquid would. Amethyst, though pretty plummy and purple in the bottle, registers like a really warm red. I was a bit surprised, since this looks more like a “ruby” than an amethyst. The texture is quite weird. And like I said, “runny for a gel.” Here’s what happened when I tried to spread out that dot. Like most multi-purpose products, the Lip & Cheek Gel works better as one product and not as both—in this case, it is better for me as a cheek product. Amethyst gives me a pretty, natural flush on the cheeks as thought I’d been working out. On the lips, though, it’s a bit too much of a warm …

Makeup Inventory & Short Reviews: MAC Paint Pots

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I was able to get my hands on three more MAC paint pots so I thought it was time to make another Makeup Inventory post. Sarie shot an event for MAC so she could get me some makeup. You laugh, but ’tis true. She is the best. 😀 I got three paint pots and a lipstick. Today, I introduce you to Painterly, Groundwork, and Constructivist. I’d actually argue that there is a bit of logic behind these choices. Though, of course, that is to be expected! In any case, I picked fairly neutral ones. I knew I wanted to get a light, matte base, a dark neutral one, and another neutral matte. I originally wanted Stormy Pink, but it was out of stock so I got Groundwork instead. Some swatches of my new acquisitions: L-R: Painterly, Groundwork, Constructivist I usually use paint pots as a base, so I almost always top it off with eyeshadow. I will get into each shade more, with a closer look at the shades used as a base under shadow. …

Using Dark Bases on your Eyes

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One of my weaknesses are cream eyeshadows. Most are wonderful as eye primers, though even if there isn’t much of a staying power, the many different colors of the cream shadows make for great bases, which would add subtle differences in the eye makeup. I suppose it’s the same idea behind layering eyeshadows, but sometimes the textural difference can add a little bit more complexity and depth to the look. This, for example, is a look made with the same exact shadows from the Urban Decay Naked Palette placed on top of MAC Paint Pots, a very light neutral cream called Painterly—which many use as their everyday eye base—and a warm deep brown called Constructivist: As you can see, the differences are quite subtle. Constructivist, when applied on the eyes, adds depth and tonal difference in that it makes the eye look warmer and pinker. Not a big difference, I agree, but the application of the cream was quite sheer. A fairly popular option: creamy shadow pencils such as the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil, Milk …