Author: Carina

Current Foundation Routine with RealTechniques Expert Face Brush

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My current foundation routine is fairly simple and involves two staples: the L’Oreal Lucent Magique Liquid Foundation, which I’ve stated that I want to use up, and the RealTechniques Expert Face Brush. Prior to using this brush, I’ve tried a stippling brush, a beauty blender dupe, and my fingers. I really like using my fingers and this brush the most. It’s a soft, dense brush, with bristles of varying lengths. It’s rather perfect for its purpose. I actually apply the foundation with a sort of paddle brush first. I put a little bit on the back of my hand and dip in the RealTechniques Essential Foundation Brush from the Travel Essentials set, then draw five lines—one down the nose, then two streaks across each side of the face: one going upward and out, then another going down and out. I blend this out with the Expert Face Brush. It gives a fairly natural finish, though I’ve noticed that if my skin isn’t prepped or if I skip the previous step, it tends to leave streak …

#MakeupMonday with Candy TV: Neutral Smoky Eye Tutorial

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Candy Magazine, which is a local glossy geared for teen girls asked me to do a tutorial for their website. As part of Makeup Monday, I present to you an easy peasy neutral smoky eye using the Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette! This look is for people who are a bit scared of a blacky black smoky eye. It’s also tame enough to use everyday, and the colors are pretty easy to dupe and the effect easy to replicate with other similar colors in your collection. Click here to watch the video. 🙂 Thanks to Candy for the opportunity!

Mineral Madness Day 1: Star-Crossed Baker’s Boy

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This is the first look I came up with, but I wore it about a week ago. This was taken about eight hours after I had put it on. The eye look is holding up nicely, but I can’t say the same for my foundation! I have a bit of redness peeking through. Also, my lipstick is completely gone. Here’s what it looked like when I first applied it. I couldn’t find decent full-face pictures that I wanted to post and show you. And after eight hours… On my eyes, I used MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study as the base, then used Shiro Cosmetics’s Baker’s Boy as the lid wash/color and Star-Crossed on the outer corner/crease. Both are from the Hunger Games Collection. I used a RealTechniques Domed Eyeshadow Brush from the Travel Essentials Set to apply both colors. I used a K-Palette Liquid Liner on my lash line, MAC eye kohl in Teddy for the outer half of my lower lash line, and Majolica Majorca Lash King Mascara on my top and bottom …

Mineral Madness: A 7-Day Challenge

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Hey everyone! So. Mineral makeup. Do you like it or do you stay away from it? I fancy myself a mineral makeup lover, but we all know that while that may be true, I don’t really use the stuff enough. I’ve inexplicably accumulated a lot of colors, though. So! In an attempt to at least use a portion of my mineral eyeshadows, I’ve decided to do a mineral eyeshadow challenge in which I use just those for a week! I was thinking of doing a 52-Look Challenge, where I make a mineral makeup look at least once a week for a year, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Let’s see if I can do this first. 🙂 I thought about not showing my mineral eyeshadows because it’s a little embarrassing, but in the interest of transparency and honesty, here is the mother lode, complete with a nosy puppy: Not the most ideal storage “solution,” but I don’t exactly have a lot of space. I’ll try to do the seven looks on consecutive …

Makeup Inventory: Eyeshadow Quads

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I’ve been racking my brain for an “eyeshadow special” post that I can do, much like my Lipstick Week, but I can’t think of anything at the moment, so I’m going to show you my collection of quads. 🙂 I LOVE eyeshadow palettes. Those are decidedly my weakness. I showed you my favorite palettes a while ago, and here are all of my quads, aka 4-shadow palettes. I have six in total, clockwise from the top left: Guerlain Les 4 Couleurs in Turandot, Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscope Eye Kit in Northern Lights, Suqqu Eyeshadow in Sumiredama, Chanel Ombres Fleuries in Délicatesse, Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscope Eye Kit in Silk Road, and bareMinerals READY 4.0 in The Happy Place. The only permanent quads are Turandot and The Happy Place, but a lot of these are still available online and in store. 🙂 Guerlain Les 4 Couleurs in Turandot: This was my first high-end eyeshadow purchase and it remains one of my favorites. (Review) It’s very warm with a satin gold and pink, a matte …

Quickie: MAC Matte Lipstick in Mehr

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Here’s a super duper quick review of the lipstick I’ve been loving the most recently, Mehr. It’s a matte rosy mauve color and it’s my go-to lipstick for when I’m not quite sure what to wear. I hauled and swatched it previously, but I’ve never written up a proper review. Here’s what it looks like on the tube: And swatched: According to this website, “Mehr means promise, contract, and relationship between two or more people both in Sanskrit and Avestan languages. In modern Persian, Mehr also means love, friendship, reconciliation and promise. Upon such premises, and within the Iranian culture, Mehr is the antidote of lies and liars. You cannot expect a liar to keep her/his promises and whoever remains faithful to her/his promise has certainly chosen the path of rightfulness.” It was originally released in the Mickey Contractor collection in 2011 as a limited edition shade. It was repromoted in 2012 and is now a permanent shade, if I’m not mistaken. Mehr is described as a “dirty blue pink.” Here it is on my …

I <3 Drugstore Makeup Tag

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I saw this tag over at Cosmetic Caitlin and thought it would be pretty fun! I don’t own a lot of drugstore makeup, because I tend to give them away to people when I don’t like them or they don’t work for me. I think it’s also because I decided to go cruelty-free and didn’t really get a chance to try a lot of drugstore makeup. (Most of the brands here are not CF.) Feel free to answer the questions in the comments or link me to your blog where you do the tag. 🙂 1. What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand overall? Counting non-CF brands, I’ve got to say Revlon. My favorite cruelty-free drugstore brand is Snoe Beauty, and Wet n Wild. 2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products? — Face: L’Oreal Lucent Magique Liquid Foundation in G4 or N5, Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear Cosmeceutical Youth-Boosting Powder in Matte Translucent — Cheek: Revlon ColorBurst Mineral Blush in Roseberry — Lip: Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum, Maybelline Color Whisper in …