All posts tagged: benefit

Sample Stash Sunday feat. Benefit: BDJ Box 7 Day Challenge

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I’m not sure for how long these monthly BDJ Box challenges run, but there was so much stuff to sample from the Benefit exclusive box by BDJ last month that I felt I should try and do it, so I could try everything out, at least! Here’s a diary I began some time in June. The products were used, collectively, for seven days. I tried to get a rotation going, but I missed using all my other makeup, too. 🙂 The eye cream was a mainstay, though, but I’ll put it out there right now—it wasn’t my favorite of the bunch! DAY ONE And on the first day, I used the It’s Potent! Eye Cream, and I saw that it was good. Intended for “brighter, younger-looking eyes,” It’s Potent! fades dark circles and helps smooth fine lines. I noticed that it has a more emollient texture than my current eye cream (Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream), but it also sinks in much faster and isn’t sticky. I’ll try to use this under makeup/concealer during this …

First FOTD of 2014: Eye of Newt & the Storm

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LOL, what a dumb title. Happy 2014, friends! 🙂 Here’s the first full face of makeup I wore this year. Full-ish, I should say. Since one of my beauty resolutions is to do a modified Project Pan, I picked out the things I wanted to/had to use up before I could buy another (if I want to replace that shit in the first place). Base: y.e.t. Cosmetics Fill It Up Primer, Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Liquid Foundation (Cheers to Me… Champagne), Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (Ethereal Light) Cheeks: Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush (Flush), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish (Lightscapage) Eyes: OCC Crème Colour Concentrate (Newt), MAC Prolongwear Paint Pot (Stormy Pink), Inglot Eyeshadow (125R, middle shade), MAC Eye Kohl (Prunella), Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder (Refresh) to set shadows. I should note that Newt creased on my left eye, though I didn’t wear primer. Eyebrows: Inglot Brow Powder (569) Lips: MAC Lustre Lipstick (Jubilee) And that’s it! I’m trying to be more adventurous, too… In case you couldn’t tell. Hee! What …

Open Season: Mascaras in Rotation

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Hello, everyone. I hope you’re doing well. While the typhoon, Haiyan/Yolanda, has been on its way out of the Philippines, it has left devastation in its wake. If you feel like you want to help out affected families and regions, click here for the post I made earlier. I’ll be making it a sticky post for about a week or so, for easy access. Buttons for donations to various organizations are on my sidebar as well. Eula, Shari, Eliza, Julia, and Liz also have posts on how to help. Bea has a nice post on the iffiness of blogging during these times, which is helpful to read before passing judgment on others. I hope you don’t think it callous of me to be posting during this tragedy. Most of these posts are pre-planned/pre-written, so I am not writing them on the spot. I have been doing all I can, as of now, to help out. Anyway, thank you for reading this little announcement. Every little bit helps, and we need all the help we can …

Sephora Birthday Haul

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In my last Makeup No Buy post, I mentioned getting a few things for my birthday. The box arrived yesterday, on Saturday, and I’m fairly excited. 🙂 I only got two sets, but there was a fair amount of samples. First up is the Urban Decay Ocho Loco 2, which won out over the Vice 2 palette and the Shattered Face Case, just because a) I have too many eyeshadows, and b) I’ve never tried Urban Decay eyeliners before. I know, right? Anyway, I’ve only play-tested them out, but I’m pretty happy about all of the colors, and the quality. 🙂 Next, I got a Best of BECCA Set, which includes a Beach Tint (Grapefruit), Eye Tint (Baroque), and travel-sized Shimmering Skin Perfector (Opal), Resurfacing Primer, and The Ultimate Mascara (Black). I can’t wait to try them out, although Grapefruit is quite similar to Guava, which I already have, and Baroque is super sheer. I got a few samples, too. Squee! There’s the Benefit Birthday Set, which has sample sizes of Watt’s Up! and the …

Quick Tips for Bright Eyes

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There are two basic tricks for an immediate bright-eyed, Disney Princess effect, and those involve a light-colored liner on the lower lashline or an inner corner highlight. For that extra-bright, wide-eyed look, use both tricks. THE SCIENCE BEHIND A NUDE LINER The first time I found out about a bright liner on the lower lash line was when I was watching an episode of America’s Next Top Model. I wasn’t so convinced when Tyra said to use a white eyeliner, so it was a tip that went ignored—until people started talking about swapping it out for a nude eyeliner. Placing a light, neutral liner on your lower lash line makes you appear more awake because it cancels out the red on the inner rim of your eyes, without defining it the way a black or brown eyeliner would. It creates the illusion of bigger, brighter eyes, because there is continuity with the white part of your eye. This is why a light-colored eyeliner sort of creates a bigger eye look, where as a black or …

Ace of Base: Making Eyeshadow Stay Put on your Oily Lids

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One of my greatest frustrations when I was starting out with makeup was eyeshadow. I think that’s why I was so ecstatic to find out about primers. They made crappy eyeshadow look good and stay put. I eventually found some awesome eyeshadows that work well, even without a primer, but I couldn’t not wear primer once I started. Eye primers are basically the magic glue that bonds your eyeshadow to your eyelids. If your eyelids are prone to oiling up, a good primer or base will prevent your eyeshadow from ‘creasing’—or bunching up in unattractive lines, around your eye folds—and will get you through the day with pretty flawless makeup. There are a lot of good ones out in the market today, and I’ll share with you a few of my favorites. For your standard, dries-down-translucent eyeshadow primer, my top picks are Urban Decay Primer Potion and NARS Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base. These have worked the best on my eyes so far. Other alternatives are the e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer (though it didn’t agree with …

Stash Shopping No. 3

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Hey everyone! Here’s another edition of Stash Shopping, which is when I look over my current collection and commit to use some selected items for an entire week. I’m on my third week, and it’s been fun. I actually asked the last time if you wanted to see some looks I wore using the selected items and received a mostly favorable response, so before I get into this week’s “haulage,” let me share some looks I made the past week, mostly using the bareMinerals READY 8.0 Eyeshadow Palette in The Cocktail Hour (reviewed here): Just a disclaimer, I work as a freelance writer and graphic designer, so I don’t wear makeup everyday. 🙂 For this first look, I used the coral (Spiked), the taupe-y color (Invite Only), and the purple (Swanky), in that order from the inner corner all the way across the lid. I wore this to a meeting and some errands. I used the Revlon Mineral Blush (Roseberry), and the Maybelline Lipstick (Chestnut) that was also in the box, but I topped it …