Author: Carina

Nosy Beauty Vol. 3: Isa

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For this installment of Nosy Beauty, I’ve asked the co-founder of The Better Story Project to share her makeup bay’s contents with me. Isa is a teacher, a lover of words, and she’s also my best friend! We’ve known each other since the second grade, but it was not fraaandship at first sight. Now, we get along swimmingly. “Let me be honest: I don’t know much about makeup. But the rule of thumb that I try to follow is: keep it simple and keep it real. If the discrepancy between your real face and your made up face is too great, maybe you’re doing it wrong. Personally, I use makeup to enhance my better features and hide what I feel self-conscious about.” “The current makeup bag I use is messy (!), sorry. It’s an aztec print bag from Forever 21 that I got on sale. :)” When I asked her to participate in Nosy Beauty, Isa divided her products by brand and then by function for the friendless single products from random brands. She started …

Quickie: MAC Lustre Lipstick in Plumful

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Here’s a quick review of Plumful, a Lustre lipstick from MAC. This is one of my favorite MAC lipsticks, and predictably so! I’m very much into plum and grape shades, especially if they are sheer. One of my first lipstick loves was NARS’ Sheer Lipstick in Vendanges, which I featured on Day 2 of Lipstick Week, in which I picked out my Most-Loved Lipsticks. Another similar color is Revlon’s Lip Butter in Sugar Plum. There is a very juicy feel to these lipsticks that I think is similar to MAC’s Plumful. On the right is one pass of Plumful, and on the left are several passes. Since it’s a “lustre” lipstick, the color comes off very sheer even though it looks fairly dark in the tube. I’m wearing it here! While it is technically buildable, its opacity isn’t really very solid and the finish is somewhat shiny. Since it is sheer and a little glossy, it is a bit more forgiving on the lips than other finishes like creamsheen (the worst, in my opinion) or …

Of a Kind Haul

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I have a love/hate relationship with hauls. On the one hand, I really, really like being nosy and looking at what other people bought. On the other hand, I’m kind of iffy about sharing what I bought. In this case, though, I’m super excited! This is also my way of trying to inject “style” back into this blog. I have a very basic “style,” if you could even call it that. I mean, I really try, but it can be a little off. I’ve gained a bit of weight in the past two years and I’m not really used to my body being this big. But that’s not even the point of this post, because I only bought 1 piece of clothing. So, LOL. Enough about that! Of a Kind was formed in NYC by two ladies, and they basically release “editions” of items that they invite designers of all kinds to create for Of a Kind. There are x “of a kind” of each item, so they are all limited edition, technically. I forgot …

So You Want to Build a MAC Quad? Part II

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This is part two of my “MAC Quad” series. I don’t know if I’ll be doing a third, but if I think of more, I probably will! If you’re new to my blog, this “series” is a way to help you build your MAC eyeshadow collection by suggesting four shades you can play around with/get the most use out of. I tried including “fun” and unusual colors into the mix, which I hope you appreciate. You can check the first post here. Without further ado, here’s what I have for you today! Pinky Promise — All That Glitters, Da Bling, Satin Taupe, Sketch Here’s a quad that’s a little airy-fairy light, but can be built up to a substantial smokiness, or just a bit of drama. I forgot to number these, so (Your) Left Look:, All That Glitters all over the lid, with Satin Taupe at the outer ‘v’. Crease deepened with Sketch. Outer third of lower lash line smudged with Sketch, which blended into Da Bling. (Your) Right Look: Da Bling on the center …

Mineral Madness: Loose Eyeshadow Application Tips

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Hello everyone! The first week of Mineral Madness has come to a close. From reading the comments, I’ve gathered that a lot of you had been interested in mineral makeup, but kind of apprehensive about the messiness of it all. I don’t blame you. Mineral makeup is not for the clumsy or rush-out-the-door types. It really requires most people to sit down and take their time. Here’s a quick post on how to use and apply mineral eyeshadow, if you want to venture out into that world anyway. 1. Use a primer or a sticky base. For my Mineral Madness looks posts, I mainly used Benefit Lemon Aid, which I am trying to use up. Similar things you can use are tacky bases like cream shadows or cream pencils, or even primer. Make sure to pick something that is somewhat sticky or tacky, or just “wet.” This helps the loose pigments and shadows to stick to your lid. L-R: Benefit Lemon Aid, NARS Pro Prime Smudgeproof Base, NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk, Urban Decay Primer …

Mineral Madness Day 7: Hope for Taupe under the Coconut Palms

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For the last day of Mineral Madness, I have a super simple eye look using a pink, sparkly eyeshadow from bareMinerals called Hope. I learned a trick from Patricia Lee of shu uemura for using pink eyeshadow. When you balance it with browns, you lessen the risk of looking like you are sickly or have pink eye. For this look, I put Hope on the inner half of the lid, the other half of which I patted on Coconut Palms. On the crease, I blended in Velvet Taupe, which was from A Vision in Velvet. Hope you enjoyed this series! Watch out for my “tips & tricks” later today. Stay tuned for another round of Mineral Madness in the future. 🙂

Makeup No-Buy Update: Two Month Mark

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Hello, and welcome to the two-month mark of my makeup no-buy! I very nearly bought a lot of items, but I resisted. Mostly. It’s not that hard if you don’t look at makeup on the regular and window-shop, online or offline. While I still do read blogs and watch beauty videos, there aren’t a lot of items that I feel like I need to have now, omg, so it’s not so hard anymore. Some lessons I learned, though: — Do not go to a beauty event if you can’t really buy anything. — Do not go into beauty counters “just to look” That’s pretty much it. I went to a shu uemura event, which was apparently a launch for their 30th anniversary collection and I had like a mother. When the Karl Lagerfeld Collection came out, I bought so many items that I earned myself a loyalty card upon check-out. I was very, very tempted, but then I swatched some of the eyeshadows and the ones I was able to check out were powdery as …