Author: Carina

Softly Special: Matte Matters

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Since I posted about the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils yesterday, I thought about posting some of my favorite matte products. LIPS Clockwise from the top: NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita, NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Montego Bay, MAC Lipstick in Mehr, Revlon Matte Lipstick in Fabulous Fig, MAC Matte Lipstick in Russian Red, and Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in La Favorite. Here they are, swatched in the same order. EYESHADOW An obvious recommendation for a matte palette is the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette, which consists of five matte shades, out of the palette’s six. It’s a great companion to all the eyeshadows you have right now, and you can definitely use it by itself. Here are a few of my other favorite matte eyeshadows, from a variety of eyeshadow palettes: L-R: Urban Decay Naked Palette (Buck), Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (Tease), Laura Mercier Artist’s Palette for Eyes (Plum Smoke, Café Au Lait, Coffee Ground) L-R: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (Blackout), Laura Mercier Artist’s Palette for Eyes (Deep Night), …

Quickie: Charm Retractable Kabuki Brush

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Here’s an old brush that I never think I featured on here, for whatever reason. It’s not because the Charm Retractable Kabuki Brush is bad. I think it’s because I don’t really use it that often because I stowed it away, in a place I didn’t regularly interact with. Speaking of which, I’ve reassembled my makeup and now everything is pretty much within reach, so all is well. Anyway. This is pretty awesome. A kabuki brush is something you use for all-over face product application. It’s a dense brush that is often very soft but not bendy. They usually come with short, stubby handles that you can use to prop them up on your desk. Kabuki brushes are used to buff in all sorts of foundation with the aim of a flawless base. I’ve tried this with a pressed compact: Loose, setting powder: and Guerlain Météorites: I’ve also tried this with loose, mineral foundation, but have no pictures. I’m happy to report that it works really well for all of them. I don’t know how …

Mineral Madness Day 6: Charcoal TARDIS on the Nude Beach

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Welcome to Day 6 of Mineral Madness, and today, I have dared to venture into the world of bright blue eyeshadow! If you want to see a true blue swatch, check my haul post. As far as this look goes, however, I decided to take a more toned down route, as usual. I started by patting on a Shiro Cosmetics shade, TARDIS, on the outer 2/3 of the lid. With bareMinerals’ Nude Beach, I blended out the blue edge towards the inner corner. On the crease, I applied Velvet Charcoal from bareMinerals’ A Vision in Velvet holiday set. And that’s pretty much it! 🙂 Easy peasy. I used goat hair brushes for this look which throws away the theory I had that synthetic bristles applied mineral eyeshadow better. On my cheeks, I have Shiseido’s Luminizing Satin Face Color in RS 302, I think. On my lips, I have a NYX Round Lipstick in Peony. Then I just did my brows, business as usual; on my face I have a layer of bareMinerals’ Mineral Veil. That’s …

Drugstore Finds: KATE Matte Black Gel Liner

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Here’s a little gem I dismissed when I first got it, as ‘nothing special.’ The KATE Matte Black Gel Eyeliner is one of the things I got from my Japanese drugstore explorations, because of many wonderful reviews online. I tried it and didn’t really care much for it, until I tried it with another brush. The line it draws is very black and opaque. It’s rather creamy, though it’s not especially creamy, if that makes sense. It’s a little hard to glide it onto your eyelids, so I usually either pack my brush with a lot of product, or double-dip (lol) after doing half the length of the eye. The great thing about it, though, is that it stays put pretty well. This is after I smudged it off with a makeup remover wipe. Impressive, yes? I think this would be particularly awesome for humid climates like the Philippines! While it comes with a brush, similar to the Maybelline gel liner and the MAC 211, I find that I had the easiest time and best …

Mineral Madness Day 5: When the Thrush Knocks, It’s Gonna Be MAY!

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I know I missed several days for this challenge, but work and life have both been very busy. I have a few posts lined up, but no pictures, really, for some of them. I’ve especially slacked off on these mineral makeup looks, so sorry about that! I wore this one a few days ago, though. I used When the Thrush Knocks and It’s Gonna Be MAY! by Shiro Cosmetics. I know you can’t see it very well so I’ll update this post when I get a better picture of it, because it’s rather pretty 🙂 UPDATE: I recreated the look and took pictures to give you a better idea of what the look was. In this version, I packed on more of When the Thrush Knocks and lined my eyes with MAC’s Prunella instead of Teddy. I think it looks similar to Mineral Madness Day 2’s look. Which I am not totally a fan of. Next time, I won’t pack on so much of the goldy color, I think. 🙂 In case you were interested, …

So You Want to Build a MAC Quad? Part I

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Here are just some ideas if you want to venture into the world of MAC but can’t justify purchasing eleventy billion eyeshadows in one go. I’ve posted about my friend Laura’s suggestions over here, but to narrow things down, have a look at the combinations I made with the shadows I already own. 🙂 I chose to put together quads, since they seem to be the most cost efficient for people who are starting out, and because MAC creates customizable quads in their PRO stores and online. Sadly, these are not available in the MAC counters here in the Philippines, but you can put them in Wild Peach palettes or Z-Palettes instead. 🙂 Without further ado, here are three of the quads I’ve “created”: Purple Haze — Malt, Quarry, Trax, Sketch This first combination is an assortment of purples and purpley shades. We have two matte shades (Malt & Quarry), and two velvet shades (Trax & Sketch) This is great for all kinds of purple looks across the board. You can have a day look, …

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in Bahama and Dolce Vita

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The NARS lip pencils have always intrigued me, and Krysty’s review of the Satin Lip Pencil in Sex Machine convinced me to finally go ahead and check them out. I was originally set on getting that, but I went with my gut instinct that told me I wouldn’t like a cool blue pink on myself, so I looked for a different color. The first one I got was a warm, deep brown with red undertones called Bahama. Here it is in action. I rather like it, though it’s a bit too dark a brown than I prefer. I do love wearing it, though with fresh, clean eyes and strong brows, like in this look. The Velvet Matte Lip Pencils glide on with an effortless smoothness, carefully coating each inch of lip with a beautiful opaque shade. I loved this so much, I decided to get myself another matte shade, this time in Dolce Vita, which is a deep pinky red. This is another color that seems to be great for everyday wear, if you are …