All posts tagged: addiction by ayako

5 Product Face No. 5

Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur (Medium) // K-Palette Real Lasting 2-Way Eyebrow (101)* // Oslo Cosmetics Eyeshadow (Vela) // K-Palette 1 Day Magic Fiber Mascara* // Addiction by Ayako Cheek Stick (Rose Bar) Et voilà! The fifth 5 Product Face. 🙂 This was inspired in part by the beautiful eyeshadow I used for this look today, which is Oslo Cosmetics' Vela. It's a standard blue-brown duochrome shade, like MAC's Club, or that 2nd Definer shade on the Wet and Wild Comfort Zone Palette. The lowdown: I used the concealer on my under eye darkness, filled in my brows with the lightest shade I have, and slicked on the duochromey eyeshadow all over my lids. I defined my eyes and lashes with this amazing new mascara from K-Palette, and did the cheek and lip with the Cheek Stick. I love multi-purpose products! They make this series so easy to do. 😀 Anyway, I like this a lot and may redo it in the future. 🙂 * PR Sample Follow me: Bloglovin' • Twitter • …

FOTD: I Went to a Wedding Pt. Deux

My cousin got married on the 11th! Here is the face I put on for that day—12 hours after application! I was going to use a palette but ended up going back to a few singles I haven’t used much and an old favorite that I’ve stashed away in one of my drawers. My face base is my usual one these days: a primer (Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer), the NARS Sheer Glow (Punjab), the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Ginger), set with a combination of Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders (Mood Light and Luminous Light) and the Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder (Refresh) for my under-eye concealing. I should note that this is the face of someone who did not touch her base up once for an entire 12 hours. I used the Urban Decay Primer Potion instead of a MAC Paint Pot, and holy shit I forgot how much I loved this stuff. Wowwww. It really is the best eye primer, in my opinion. I used Breathtaking from my bareMinerals READY 2.0 …

Lazy Girl Makeup: Quickly

A look for all y’all who need to get out of the door quickly! Here’s the look, with my old hair, still: It’s pretty basic and safe-ish, but passably put-together if I may say so myself. I don’t tend to fuss too much with base/complexion products when I’m in a hurry, but on a real bad skin day, I will pick up a concealer and target problem spots and areas. Here’s a video in which I talk a bit more about the products and show you how I use them: Products Mentioned: — NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Ginger) — Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (shown: Luminous Light) — K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow 24H (02) — MAC Paint Pot (shown: Constructivist) — MAC Eye Kohl (shown: Prunella. Teddy) — Illamasqua Cream Blusher (shown: Dixie) — BECCA Beach Tints (shown: Raspberry) — Addiction by Ayako Cheek Sticks (shown: Revenge) — NARS Pure Matte Lipstick (Montego Bay) What are your go-tos for a quick makeup look? 🙂 Follow me: Bloglovin' • Twitter • Instagram • YouTube • Facebook

20 Days of Lipstick: Week 3 Recap

Hello to a late and incomplete Week 3 Recap. I only have 3 lip colors to show you this week, because there are times when a hermit just needs to be a hermit. Yesterday, I also wore a neutral lip (more on that later). Anyway, here are the lip colors I managed to wear! If you’re new (hello!), I’ve been trying to not fall into the trap of a neutral/MLBB type of lip… at least for 20 Days. DAY TWELVE feat. OCC Lip Tar in Lydia ACK, Lip Tars. I love ’em, but I don’t wear them often enough. Lydia is a purple-y mauve that translates really pink-ly on me. I love it, but it looks like I’ve cheated because it looks like a normal, not-so-bold lip color, huuu. Sorry, guys. I tried! Also, elephant in the room: my eye is really frakking red. I had to remove an eyelash, so that happened. DAY THIRTEEN feat. Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance 12-Hour Lipstick in Bold Yay, another lipstick from Laala! I love this lip—definitely a statement …

Makeup Inventory: Addiction by Ayako Eyeshadows

One of my undeniable makeup loves as of late has been Addiction. I remember seeing a brown cheek/lipstick and a mustard eyeshadow on Xiao of Messy Wands and I was so intrigued by it. After a fateful visit to Japanese counters (or several), it was pretty much love at first sight. Addiction has similar aesthetic sensibilities with NARS, another favorite cosmetics brand, both with the products, the overall makeup philosophy (at least, it seems like), and the look and feel of the brand. They are like sisters. I’ve mentioned this before, but it doesn’t hurt to mention again: Addiction was created by Ayako, a former makeup artist and “student” of François Nars. It explains the influences and the similarities, but I do think that Addiction isn’t necessarily derivative; it just grew and developed from a foundation in NARS. I find Addiction to be a bit more careful in terms of production and collections than NARS, which is understandable since Addiction is a way smaller brand with a smaller market. A common critique with NARS is …

May Favorites, sort of: Lip Crayons!

I was really thinking about all my beauty favorites this May, and came up with zero things—I either rotated stuff so often, it would be unfair to call them favorites or I didn’t care to wear much makeup. I couldn’t really think of “real” favorites… Except, that is, for lip crayons! These were the lip products I tend to reach for the most the entire month. From the color choices on the lids, I think you can see why I kind of had to go on my Beauty Dare. Anyway, my favorites are the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils (my NARS VMLP in Bahama is missing—I can’t find it anywhere!) and the Happy Skin Shut Up and Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippies, which are the easiest freaking things to wear. I also love the Addiction by Ayako Lipcrayon and the NARS Satin Lip Pencil, but I only have one shade in each (my NARS one is LE, too), so I rarely use either of them. Glossier options are the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss …

Tonal Exercise: Matte Browns

If you’ve ever taken an art class before, you’d be familiar with tonal exercises. Tonal exercises are what you use to study shade gradations. One such exercise is similar to what I have illustrated here—bars of a color, from white to dark/black, shown in varying degrees. Here are some very utilized eyeshadows: my matte browns. Starting from a non-brown but a beige-y off-white, Laura Mercier’s Vanilla Nuts is actually a shade I use(d) fairly often as a base for my entire lid and as a browbone highlight. Le Métier de Beauté’s Tamarack and Laura Mercier’s Café Au Lait are two subtle crease colors, to aid with transition and slight depth. Addiction Truffle is a warm, creamy matte brown I use for the outer corner or crease. Laura Mercier’s Coffee Ground is darker, the shade of cocoa powder. I use that for the outer corner or a really dark crease, too. Last, but not the least, Laura Mercier’s Rich Coffee, which is great for the outer corner, too, but is also a very nice dark brown …