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A Super Easy, Fuss-Free Face

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ASEFFF - Face

Here’s a super easy, 7 product face that looks pretty polished. At least, that’s what it looks like to me. If you’re new to makeup, this is a pretty easy makeup look to do. The eye makeup, particularly, doesn’t need much work. The only tools I used were an eyelash curler and a kabuki brush for the foundation.

ASEFFF - Eyes

I applied a MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist on the mobile lid up to the crease, blending outward, with my ring finger. Then I bring what’s left of it on my finger and run it along my lower lash line for some depth. Then, I smudged a MAC Eye Kohl in Prunella on my upper lash line and (very lightly) on the outer half of my lower lash line. I curled my lashes and applied Maybelline The HyperCurl Mascara on my top and bottom lashes.

Eyebrows courtesy of K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow 24H, and my face base is the Ellana Minerals Loose Mineral Powder Foundation in Caramel Latte.

ASEFFF - Face 2

I applied NARS Blush in Orgasm lightly on my cheeks. I’ve slowly been falling back in love with this blush, which I deemed to be “Overhyped.” Sometimes, it’s just really pretty. On my lips, I have the Le Métier de Beauté Hydra-Crème Lipstick in Sahara.

What do you think? How many products do you have to use for the most minimal “complete” face? Do share. 🙂

Make That Face Monday, Monday, Monday: Tegan and Sara (Heartthrob Album Cover)

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ts-artist-approved-photo

Riding on a show high, here’s a very easy talk-through tutorial on this lewk by the Quin Twins, donned in a photography used for their latest album cover, Heartthrob. Tegan and Sara is a Canadian pop duo that recently performed here. I am still kind of reeling from the awesome experience, which I have posted about on my blog here, in case you care to read about it. 🙂

Anyway, I chose this look because it is deceptively neutral. It is quite wearable and “safe,” despite having orange and violet eyeshadow, a super strong contour and frosty/pearly pink lips. I love how it kinda dupes everyone into thinking that you are wearing neutrals/an “everyday” look because it’s not so loud and not so bold. I don’t know, I didn’t notice their makeup was so colorful, did you guys?

TnS Face

That contour, though! I can’t recreate/wear/pull it off. Also surprised at the pinkness of the lip color selection!

TnS - Eyes

TnS Face 2

And with all the tough-face posing I was doing, I just had to take a break and smile a little. 🙂

What do you think?

To my knowledge, these is a complete list of products I used for this look:
— Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum (53)
— The Body Shop Brow & Liner Kit (02)
— Nichido Clear Mascara
— MAC Paint Pot (Painterly)
— MAC e/s (Amber Lights, Trax)
— MAC eye kohl (Teddy)
— Le Métier de Beauté Anamorphic Lash Mascara (Noir)
— Tarte Amazonian Clay Matte & Waterproof Bronzer (Park Avenue Princess)
— bareMinerals READY Luminizer (The Love Affair)
— Guerlain Rouge G Lipstick (Gemma)

Tools:
— For brows: EcoTools Angled Eyebrow Brush (from brow kit)
— For cream eye base: RealTechniques Domed Shadow Brush
— For lid color: Hakuhodo Kokutan Eye Shadow Brush T
— For crease color: Hakuhodo G5522BkSL Eye Shadow Brush Tapered
— For Tightline: Hakuhodo G521 Eyeliner Brush D1
— For Contour: Marionnaud N°32 Blush Brush
— For Highlight: Hakuhodo G5519BkSL Powder Brush

The Weekender No. 1

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Hey everyone! I’m trying to make this blog a bit more personal, just because it feels so stiff and dry sometimes. You know, try-hard humor can only do so much, lol. So The Weekender is basically a post I’ll do every Sunday that kind of collects all of the stuff that’s been happening the past week, as well as the posts I’ve made on this blog, sort of like an index. Let’s see how often I can actually do this, lol.

Starting off with the most important of this week’s events, I got to see Tegan and Sara play live! I’ve been a fan of their music since around 2005/2006. The Philippines is kind of a hard country to visit, so we always appreciate it when foreign acts notice us and pass by. It was absolutely golden.

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Untitled Untitled

I have more photos & a post on this here, if anyone cares. 🙂

I should note that I don’t go out much (I work from home), so the next “eventful” day was Saturday. I was a bit sick, but I wanted to see these exhibits at mo_. by Pardo de Leon and Mawen Ong, so off I went. I also bought a few books on sale with gift cards I got paid with forever ago.

Saturday

These are the books I got because, YA forever:

books2

And then today, was my godson’s first birthday party. Happy birthday, Arkin!

In case you missed anything on Softly Sometimes this week, here are the posts I wrote:
Reviews – Quickie: Canmake Powder Cheeks in PW05* / Ellana Minerals Loose Mineral Powder Foundation and Let’s Make it Last Makeup Primer* / Maybelline Clear Smooth All In One Shine-Free Cake Powder* / MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Springsheen / Ellana Minerals Lip & Cheek Gel in Amethyst*

Looks – Daytime Smoky Eyes with Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscope Eye Kit in Gravité

Features – Poreless Perfection: Ellana Minerals Re-Launch / Using Dark Bases on Your Eyes / Makeup Inventory: MAC Paint Pots / Nosy Beauty Vol. 19: Maria / Makeup No Buy Month 7

And for next week, I have this in store for you guys:
TnS Face 2 ASEFFF - Eyes
Le Metier de Beaute Hydra Creme Lipstick - Sahara - Face Le Metier de Beaute Hydra-Creme Lipstick in Cashmere - Face

Hope to see you all next week. 🙂

Make Up No-Buy Update: Month 7, aka The End

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Let me cut to the chase. I faltered just shortly after I posted the 6th month update. There was a beautiful Kaleidoscope Eye Kit being offered on the Le Métier de Beauté website as a GWP. I picked 2 “sets,” with the intention of breaking them up and giving some of the items away as gifts for Christmas. I won’t get into the details but just know that I broke my ban “in a real way.” Got no excuse for you this time, just a real moment of weakness.

I also picked up a few items from Oslo Cosmetics, because I just really wanted some items. Other than that—and I’m not saying those are tiny purchases—I haven’t bought much. Despite the VIB sale. Despite the 50% off deal on some of the Le Métier de Beauté items on Saks.

All in all, I think I’ve been better at buying stuff. There are relapses here and there, but nothing really as worrisome as my previous spendiness. I’ve been having a great time playing with my makeup and discovering my favorites instead of accumulating a mountain of stuff that I can’t keep track of. I also don’t want to be the kind of person that just acquires. In light of Typhoon Haiyan and its implications concerning climate change, and also my increasingly suffocating box of a bedroom.

It’s indirectly connected to my realizations of consumption, but I’ve been wanting to try and live more conscientiously and responsibly. I think about all of the waste that gets produced because of consumerism and fickle-mindedness. Plastic isn’t biodegradable, so I wonder where all of my shampoo bottles go. What have I been contributing to the deterioration of the earth?

That’s a really heavy thing to think about but it’s irresponsible to not even consider it. And it’s not JUST related to beauty and cosmetics. Many things in my life contribute to my “carbon footprint,” or to my carbon emissions as a person who consumes things. For example, my choice to consume meat causes me to indirectly contribute to the carbon emissions of the vehicles used to transport the meat, and so on.

To be honest, I don’t really know how to go about it, but I just don’t want to waste and hoard things, you know? I don’t know what that means for this blog, but I won’t be going on a perma-ban or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong, I have no personal feelings if you like buying stuff. It’s just not for me, I’ve been realizing. I just want to be more conscientious. I just want to be considerate. That’s all.

So, all in all, I suppose this ban was good for me. I still spent a shit ton of money, but not as much as I would have, I think, if I didn’t put any type of restrictions. And then I’d be swimming in makeup! Literally swimming.

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. 🙂

white and pink makeup

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 possible.

In my makeup bag I try to carry only the things I need, and over the years I’ve learnt what comes or doesn’t come in handy for me personally.

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

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Le Métier de Beauté - Kaleidoscope Eye Kit - Gravité

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.

Le Métier de Beauté - Kaleidoscope Eye Kit - Gravité - Swatches 3

FOTD Daytime Smoky Eyes - LMdB Gravite - Face 1

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.

FOTD Daytime Smoky Eyes - LMdB Gravite - Eyes 1

Le Métier de Beauté’s trademark technique is used to bring attention to the beauty of the wearer’s eyes, as opposed to the actual colors of the shadows. You’ll notice that most of the kaleidoscopes resulting layered color is usually a dark neutral.

FOTD Daytime Smoky Eyes - LMdB Gravite - Eyes 2

I did smudge quite a bit of the two latter darker colors on the lashline, especially on the outer third for more definition. I think the result is the perfect daytime smoky eye that is office appropriate and a pretty statement.

FOTD Daytime Smoky Eyes - LMdB Gravite - Face 2

On the cheeks, I believe I used NARS Sin, and on the lips I have the Le Métier de Beauté Colour Core Moisture Stain Lipstick in Bondi Beach. I think it’s a bolder alternative to the no makeup-makeup look. 🙂 And also, I am looking towards one side because I poked my eye and was trying to hide the red part, lol. Anyway, hope you liked this! I’ll be playing the Kaleidoscope more this week, I think. Maybe a more “traditional” look, in terms of technique, just to see how the colors operate in relation to each other.

FOTD Daytime Smoky Eyes - LMdB Gravite - Face 3

FOTD Daytime Smoky Eyes - LMdB Gravite - Face 4

Le Métier de Beauté is cruelty-free.

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

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Maybelline Powder - Open Case

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…

Maybelline Powder - Finger Swatch

… but it blends out quite nicely:

Maybelline Powder - Swatch

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 for fair & even skin
  • Long Lasting — Breathable and lightweight, make up stays true and even throughout the wear
  • Visibly smooth complexion — Silky soft texture glides to visibly even out skin’s surface for a smooth application
  • Conceal Blemishes — Blemishes are instantly concealed traceless. Skin looks flawless.
  • Tone Perfecting — Developed for Asian skin tone, each shade blends effortlessly all over for a natural non-cakey finish.

Of these claims, I find only a few to be true, namely: Instant Brightening, Imperfections Blend Away, Visibly Smooth Complexion, Conceal Blemishes (though I don’t have very big spots), and Tone Perfecting. I have no way of knowing if it really has SPF, but let’s assume that it does. It’s decent at Shine Control, but it’s not that Long Lasting. I think that’s a pretty good percentage of pros!

Maybelline Powder - Face

Here I am wearing just the powder as a base. I think it’s quite nice. 🙂 It’s a really natural finish, while still providing ample coverage for spots and redness. I don’t have terrible skin, but I can use this alone for a quick base, even on my mostly dry skin. The SPF is an added plus!

Maybelline Powder - Case

The packaging is alright. It’s a pretty lightweight plastic and not attractive, but it’s functional and acceptable. It fits into my palm and has a decent-sized mirror and a sponge. 🙂 I really like how it’s easy to bring around everywhere since it’s so thin and small. I think you can purchase a refill as well!

All in all, I think this is a great budget buy if you’re on the look-out for a powder compact that you can use for touch-ups throughout the day.

* This item was provided for me, free of charge. I was not required to write or compensated for this review.

Maybelline is not cruelty-free.