All posts tagged: cosmetics

Shopping for an End-All, Be-All Eye Palette: What to Look For

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If you’re on a tight budget and looking for an eye palette to meet most, if not all, of your needs, here are a few tips I can share with you. I’ll be basing it off of my Basic Eye Diagram & Go-To Eyeshadow Technique, and the premise that you are looking for a palette to use for everyday. I’ll be demonstrating this using the Urban Decay Naked 2 ($50), NARS And God Created the Woman ($65 for a set), Laura Mercier’s Artist Palette for Eyes (LE), and theBalm’s Nude ‘Tude ($36), under the assumption that you want a more or less neutral palette. I chose all of these palettes because they are either still available/permanent, or they’re LE palettes that have shades that are mostly permanent. BASE COLOR The base color is what you would put all over your mobile eye lid (area under the crease). Usually it’s a light to midtone color, but obviously you can go darker for night/smokier/sultrier looks. I split the swatches into three photos since they wouldn’t fit on …

Illamasqua Precision Ink in Wisdom

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The Illamasqua Precision Ink in Wisdom is a product that I wish I used more. I ordered it a few months ago and I’m a little ashamed to admit that it hasn’t seen the outside world that much yet because it got lost in all of my makeup hoarding recent acquisitions. From Sephora: This long-wearing liquid liner comes with a fine tip that allows for defined application, making it perfect for creating a defined eye—or even painting designs on the body. The waterproof formula dries within seconds and stays true for hours. So, I want to bring your attention to the tip. It’s awesome for application because it’s quite stiff, so it doesn’t really flex much and bend all over the place. You can’t get a super fine line with it, but it’s a thin enough line for me, and I’ve found that I prefer this type of applicator over the thin, bendy brushes from the likes of e.l.f.’s liquid eyeliner (review) or Le Métier de Beauté’s Indelible Inks (review). I love this so much! …

Stash Shopping No. 4b

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Here’s a semi-new stash. I decided to keep the eye products in rotation, because I’d like to play with them some more. I just added some more transitional lipsticks into the mix, in preparation for Fall. Which we don’t really have here, but still. To see more details on last week’s stash, click here. Here’s a photo of it: Here are the lipsticks I added for use this week. Seems like a lot, but let’s see which ones I’ll actually use: Swatched from L-R: MAC Impassioned, Flower Beauty in Ginger Lily, YSL Rouge Volupté Shine in Rose in Tension, Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in RD305, Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait in Gourmandise I picked dark brights and deeper neutrals, if that makes sense. What’s on your to-use list this week?

How to Elongate Your Eyes with Makeup

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This is perhaps my favorite way to do my eyes. 🙂 I like making them appear squintier and longer, because I feel like they make me look more feminine and girl-like. LOL. I just like how this technique makes me eye look! Sineady from The Makeup Chair actually already posted a helpful tutorial, which I mostly followed, resulting into this eye look: The trick is to make a gradation from a super light, shimmery shade on the inner corner, into a deep, dark color on the outer corner. The idea is to put the lighter shade in the inner area, to pull your eyes apart. Concentrating the dark shade or the shadow on your outer area will make it look like your eye is receding, thus elongating them. Easy enough to remember, right? 🙂 I used the Le Métier de Beauté Mélange Palette (reviewed here) for this look, but you can obviously use any shades that you may already have. 1. Take a shimmery cream or off-white color (Nylon Stocking) and apply that on the …

Nosy Beauty Vol. 11: Tina

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I’m Maria Kristina or Tina. I’m an Investment Counselor by day and Graduate Student by night. On my days off, I like to watch movies, try different restaurants, travel and shop. I don’t have a lot of makeup compared to others because I try to hand pick products that I will actually use day to day. Since I work for a bank where looking professional is business, most, if not all, of my makeup lean towards neutral colors. I don’t mind wearing smokey eyes or red lipstick but wild, trendy colors are a big no-no. Since I also don’t have the luxury of time to fix myself in the morning, I bring with me products that I can apply in the car. For my face, I alternate Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 – Oil Free in Nude and Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in Medium Beige depending on my skin condition. I love these because they even out my skin tone and give a dewy effect without looking thick on the face. They’re sheer to …

My MAC Eyeshadow Palette (Swatches, Looks & Video)

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I know I’ve shown these before, but I have this feeling that it shouldn’t be left out of any eye month. Someone is bound to ask for these, so here: My MAC Eyeshadows. MAC eyeshadows seem to be the gateway to makeup madness. It’s a phenomenon quite unlike anything I’ve seen—anyone who’s at least knee-deep in the business of beauty knows what Satin Taupe, Woodwinked, and All That Glitters all mean. I don’t have a lot of MAC shadows and I don’t have a special relationship with them. I bought my first two eyeshadows in October 2012, and bought the rest in one go. Today, I’ll show you my MAC eyeshadow palette (plus, 2 that don’t fit), and give you a rundown of what they look like and how I use them. Here’s a pretty short video, if you want to see the swatches in action (different angles, etc): Here are the two out-of-palette stragglers. The Runaways: Amber Lights, and Trax — Amber Lights is a “peachy brown with shimmer” and has a frost finish. …

Check in your bags for the long haul with these concealers

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An overview of my current concealer products. In case you have no idea what these do, concealers hide our blemishes, red spots, acne, and dark circles. They do almost nothing to your bags. I mean, let’s be real. No matter how much concealer you put on a surface that it not flat, the protrusion will cause a shadow. Like Krysty, I don’t really like hiding my bags because lighter concealers emphasize them and make them look baggier, or at least more noticeable. I think my issue is more on the ‘puffy’ side than ‘dark circles,’ so when I conceal under my eyes, I keep my expectations in check. Of course the puffs will show when I smile! The best thing I’ve ever done about that is come to terms with it. But that’s neither here nor there! I have found a favorite to use, however! Can you guess which one I like the best? 🙂 THE BODY SHOP TEA TREE CONCEALER (02) I think this might be my pinkest shade. I used this on my …