Today's Face in Review

On my face today I wore:

I have bolded the specific products I am going to discuss in terms of longevity.

1. L'Oreal Honey Eye Gel
2. Cerave AM Lotion (SPF 30)
3. Colourpop No Filter Concealer
4. Maybelline Fit Me Concealer 
5. Wet 'n Wild eye primer
6. Too Faced Glitter Insurance: Along with the Wet 'n Wild primer, this keeps my eyeshadow last all day.
7. Norvina Palette: Lid- Volatile, inner third- Summer, Inner-corner Dreamer
8. Dose of Colors (depotted) Single in Blueberry Swirl from the Eyes Cream Palette. 
9. Colourpop Singles in Hear Me Out (cream color, used to set primer) and Howling
10. LA Splash Art-ki-Tekt Eyeliner. Falling out of love with this liner. Not only did more of the bristles start poking out, today it ran a bit. Not happy with that in the least. 
11. Pixi 188 Mascara
12. Essence Lash Princess Mascara
13. Pixi Clear Brow Gel
14. Blush Pixi Beach Rose. I was a bit disappointed with blush today. Usually when I pair it with Makeup Geek's Puppy Love, it lasts a good amount of time. Today I just felt like using Beach Rose on its own, but by the end of the work day, it was gone. 
15. Highlighter- Too Faced Diamond Light. This lasted the full 12 hours. I was blown away. Everything about this highlighter I love.
16. Jordana Cream Contour in Light (Bronzer and Contour)
17. Shiro Powder Contour (Grey toned- to set the contour). I really like this idea, and am very pleased with myself. Basically, the Jordana stick is a bit warm toned, but works really well as a bronzer. However, using it on the face can be a bit tricky, especially if one does get oily over the course of the day. Using the grey-toned powder by Shiro extended the length of the look because it set the cream contour, but also added a more natural grey cast to the contour/hollows of my cheeks. 
18. Lips- Aquafor Something has been going on with my lips. I think it may be the sudden influx of cold weather. But out of all the balms I have been trying, Aqufor works best. 

 Howlin', Blueberry Swirl, Volatile, Summer, Dreamer. Using all the mattes together was a kind of spur of the moment thing but I really thought they worked together. Blueberry Swirl was truly the perfect transition color, and I feel that perhaps I am just getting better at picking transition colors.

I don't like Dreamer, the light pink gold in the inner corner. I don't think it looks too natural, but it does look great on the lid.

So that's it for now! Thanks for reading.

What I Wore on my Face Today

I keep drafting face of the days, and then deciding not to post them. I think some of the reluctance comes from the fact that I was not able to take pictures of my actual look after a full day of work. To remedy this, I am providing pictures of the products, so that I can actually discuss the panning being done on the product as well.

I really have been liking my looks this week. Today I was pressed for time so I opted for a one shadow look, no concealer, and bronzer and contour. That did shave a bit of time off of my routine.

Here are the products (excluding eyeliner and mascara) that I used on my face:

I did't photograph my face and eyeprimers, either. Face was Cerave AM w/ SPF, and eye was Wet 'n Wild. 

Let's go left to right. Left is a picture of the blush palette I use. The two blushes I've been mixing are the two brown ones: MUG Puppy Love and Pixi Beach Rose. 

Then, we've got stick foundation from Golden Rose. I am such a fan of this! There's been a slight learning curve, as this high coverage foundation is very pigmented, so I actually can use a light hand with this, making my makeup routine even easier. 

The three eyeshadow singles are Brulee by Wet 'n Wild, Painterly by MAC, and Rose Gold by Ardency Inn. I set the eye primer with Brulee, then used painterly on my lid, and then used Rose Gold on top of Painterly. Love the look. 

Highlighter was Lilac Geode, and I set certain trouble spots with Innisfree No Sebum powder. 

I would say it is quite obvious that Lilac Geode and Rose Gold get a lot of love. 

Swatches of the foundation are below. I think it's a pretty good color match on my face, especially when blended. 

So that's it! I only wish I remembered to spray my face with Setting Spray, because I did feel like I got a little oily, but not too bad, by the end of the day. 

FoTD- Orange Matte Gradient (text post)

Argh, I wish I didn't fall asleep with my eyeshadow on and therefore ruin it and therefore I cannot take a presentable picture of my look today.

But, using my descriptive skills, I will paint for you a vivid picture of what I wore on my face today.

So, my alarm was set for 4:45 AM. I woke up, then fall back asleep, and woke up again at 5:30. So there was a bit of a rush routine involved in today's look. When I am rushing I do not use glitter shadows.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

After washing up, I used Cerave AM Lotion to moisturize. My eyelids were also a bit swollen from allergies, so I used First Aid Beauty Eye Gel to calm them down. I then did my face makeup (usually I do that after eyes, but they were watery and irritated so I saved them for last).

Face makeup: The usual foundation, with Coty Airspun to set my oilier areas.  I used Colourpop's Here Kitty Kitty highlighter, and then my current blush faves: Pixi Beach Rose mixed with Makeup Geek Puppy Love.

Then, I primed my lids and used Mac Painterly over top. In the crease, I generously blended in Pumpkin Pie (CS), a matte orange/yellow (more yellow than orange), and decided to put my ol' reliable, Burnt Orange (ABH MR) on the lid. Then, even though I was on a time crunch, I took Fudge from ABH and tried to blend that a little on the outer corner. This shade is super pigmented and a little hard to blend for me, but I think I just need to get a bit better with my technique for these kinds of shadows.

Anyway, lips were simple. I usually forget to reapply lip color and just opt for lip balm during the day.

Eyeliner was Physician's Formula, but I am running out and will have to repurchase again soon.

Overall, I liked this look a lot. I think next time I would try to incorporate the brighter colors that I recently purchased into this look, to see what happens.

Thanks for reading.

FoTD in Review: January 24 (text)

Hello!

Let's go through today's look, and my thoughts about it! 

Eyes:

• Mac Paint Pot in Painterly. I've been enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. The only problem is that it does crease a little for me after the day is over, but then again I don't wear it on top of primer. Perhaps I should start! 
• Carli Bybel Palette Deluxe: I used the cream shade to set my browbone and crease, and then the matte light purple as a wash over the crease and a bit on the lid. Very easy to work with palette. I do think it suffers from an excess of highlighters/shimmers, and I still agree with my earlier assessment that personally, I would have loved if that bit got chopped off. 
• 
• Kiko Milano Eyeshadow in Champagne: 
• 
• Hmmmm..I have been really pining over this one for quite some time. And reviews were good, according to my research. But at this point, I'm not really blown away. I'll try again tomorrow, with a different base. 
• Modern Renaissance Palette, Venetian Red. This was blended a bit in the outer corner, and I've been really pleased with the way it turned out- not garish or sickly. 
• 
• Physician's Formula Eye Booster: The only eyeliner I really am loyal to. 
• Maybelline Total Temptation Mascara: I've been really enjoying this mascara. I don't think it does too good of a job with lengthening, but my lashes have been really difficult lately and this works with them so I am not complaining. I also really enjoy the smell of the mascara- like lotion. 

Face:

• Origins Original Skin Matte Moisturizer (sample). So. A full size of this is $34.....After a full day of using this under my makeup, I have no complaints. My face was matte and did not feel greasy.
• Maybelline Better Skin Concealer. The only drugstore concealer I like. 
• The Ordinary Serum Foundation. Almost out of this! No clue if I am going to repurchase. I really like how light of a formula it is. 
• Wet 'n Wild highlighter, from Fair Trade Coffee Trio. I've talked about this one a couple of times. Though it swatches nicely and applies on the face v. prettily, it does not last. By the end of the day, it was gone from my face. 
• 
• Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer. I've nearly used this up. Not going to repurchase, only because I have other bronzers in my collection. I don't feel like it's that great longevity-wise, but the packaging is so terrible you couldn't bring it with you for reapplication. Unless you pack it in bubble wrap. 
• 
• Milani Blush in Coral Cove . Yeah..same complaints as the WnW highlighter. By the end of the day, gone from my face. 
• Life's Entropy Contour Stick

Lips:

• Vaseline Lip Therapy . Best lip balm- hands down. 

Hair:

• L'Oreal Thickening Shampoo. I did notice increased volume of my hair after using it. Very pleased. 
• Carol's Daughter Combing Creme. This smells so good. I might have over-used it, but I thought today was a good hair day, so at this point I approve. 

FoTD in review!

Hey all! Today we finally finished shoveling the driveway, and so after I made a quick visit to Walgreens' to pick up some essentials...and some non-essentials as well. Let's talk about it!

At Walgreen's, I picked up two things that were discounted:

1. Wet 'n Wild Trio, Walking on Eggshells. I have owned this trio once before, and I was happy to pick it up again. It was half-off, as the original formula is being phased out for their new one, but even with an additional transition color, the old formula seems better. I bought this just to have the old formula in my stash, and because it is a really nice little palette. Let me show you some pictures:

I mean...so good! In my collection, I cannot say that I have a metallic pink that is as good as this. The formula is really soft, and even though I've swatched the product once and used the product once, you can see how the text in the product has eroded.

2. I also picked up a new product from Black Radiance, a sister company to Wet 'n Wild. Both are owned by Markwin's Beauty, which also owns Physician's Formula. Walgreen's has expanded its offerings from Black Radiance. I saw on the display setting powder, as well as really cool looking lipsticks, called Perfect Tone HD Lip Sculptor. I picked one up in the shade First Lady. It came with a dollar-off coupon, so I thought it would be worth the risk. In fact, I am really impressed.

Below, I have the product swatched next to similar products in my collection, for color comparison. From left to right, we have Maybelline's Bold Matte lipstick in Grey Over It, and Mellow matte lipstick in Nude. First Lady is the third one. 

As you can see, First Lady  is very cool-toned, and almost like a combination of the first two shades. It's really pretty, and very smooth to apply. It is a matte lipstick, so I do find that it is slightly drying. 

For foundation today, I wanted something with sunscreen and skin-protectant qualities, so I went with Laroche-Posay Effaclar BB Blur. It has 20 SPF, which is not that much, but I wear a moisturizing sunscreen of 30 SPF under that. This seems to be my extreme weather foundation. I love it in the summer, and enjoy it in the winter as well.

For highlighter, I wanted to continue my quest with panning my Mary Lou-manizer. I keep forgetting how lovely it is. It absolutely completes with my other highlighters. It is long-lasting, and provides an intense shimmer that does not look grainy on the skin. I need to remember to keep using it!

Eyes:
I used Pumpkin Pie by Coastal Scents in my crease. I also want to pan more shades from my Modern Renaissance palette, so I used Burnt Orange in the crease and lid (it is getting there!), and Realgar in the outer corner and blended a little into the crease. To intensify the orange a bit, I took the orange matte from the Not a Basic Peach palette (W'nW), and blended that in as well. On the inner corner and lid, I used the shade Primavera.

Primavera continues to annoy me. It appears to be a light golden shimmer, but it just does not have that intensity that Vermeer (it's cooler-toned sister shimmer) has. With that in mind, I took the two light shades from the Walking on Eggshells trio, the pink shimmer on the lid, and the white in the inner corner, and used that. Love the effect!

FoTD (text post): All Matte

Today was a rather dreary day, and I did not feel like doing much with my makeup. I didn’t wear any face primer, or glittery eyeahadow. However, I do feel like my makeup looked pretty good. Let’s go over it shall we:

Eyes:

Today’s eyelook was a combination of three palettes. Now, I know a lot of people hate doing this, but as I’ve said before, I don’t really mind it, as usually I am working with smaller palettes anyway, because I own mostly small palettes. The three palettes were:

1. Tarteist Pro To Go: Drive- A rosey, dusty, light brown shade used in the crease and all over the lid. This is is beautiful, simple color, that I feel is a dupe for a Colourpop shadow that I used up- I forget the name of it. Unlike the colourpop super shock shadow, though, this one blended with the other colors beautifully.
2. Dose of Colours EyesCream Palette: Berries n Cream: On tbe brow bone. In pictures with flash, this looks a lot brighter than it actually is. Cone: The best matte in this palette. A sister shadow to Drive, I feel, because of how nicely the two work together. This was blended into the crease. Fudge..a dark brown matte that I tried to use in the outer corner. I don’t know....this one was not impressive. Very dry and powdery and did not really stick or blend well with this combination of shadows.
3. Meet Matt(e) Nude: Matt Garcia. In my head I call this shade “Cherry Garcia” after the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, because this is a red-toned (cherry) brown shade. I pulled this in after after Fudge was being disappointing.
4. I also used Rose Chrome, my new shadow from L’Oreal, on the lid to see what it would look like with shimmer, and it did not really wear well. I like this shade far more when it is by itself.

On my face I used:

5. Fyrinnae’s Blush in Mesmerize: I wanted some color on my face to counter the neutrality of my eye look, and I love this warm purple toned blush. I am very close to using this up completely!

6. Wet ‘n Wild highlighter in Royal Calyx: A shimmering lavendar-blue highlight that is not too intense.

7. My Life’s Entropy Cosmetics Contour Stick in Proton: On the hollows on my face and above my temples. I’ve never used this on my forehead before in the typical “youtuber” fashion, but I liked it as opposed to bronzer! I still like the bronzers I have, I just didn’t feel like using it today.

8. The Ordinary Serum Foundation: Still trying to use this up. I still think it’s a decent foundation, and it does not break me out- though I’ve read plenty of reviews where people have had that experience. As of now, I’d be willing to try the Fenty foundation after.

9. L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Original Black, w/ curved wand. Usually I alternate using this with my Lash Paradise. I don’t like it as much, but I do find it helps as my lashes are pretty curled naturally.

Thanks for reading!

Look of the Day (Text Post)

I don't know what it was, but I hated my makeup today.

 I have some breakouts around my mouth area- have no idea what's causing them- and my foundation and concealer did nothing to diminish the redness, not even after using setting powder.

What else?

Even though I used my favorite shadows for my eye look, the weird discoloration/shadow in the crease of my right eye is driving me crazy. I don't know if my mind is just exaggerating it, or if colors do appear muddy on that section of my eye.

I think it all might be tied to coming back from an extra day off at work, and readjusting.

The only thing that I liked about my makeup today was the highlighter I got from ittse, called Hustle and Glow. This stuff is legit. Even one light swipe gets me intense shine.

Tomorrow morning I am going to test out some ipsy October products, including the It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores pressed powder. I think I also want to try the loose eyeshadow from Meech and MIa. It is actually a duochrome, and reacts very well to the Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. I am getting sick of warm eyeshadow looks anyway. I would just have to think of an adequate matte shadow to pair with it. As of now, I am leaning strongly towards the Modern Renaissance to supplement it.

So that's it! A kind of a bummer of a makeup day, but I am looking forward to tomorrow and doing a cool purple look!

Look of the Day: October 2 (text)

For the 0 of you reading this, I hope you don't mind that I don't provide pictures of my face. By the time I sit down at night with a cup of tea to post these things, my makeup is long gone.

I would describe my look today as "cool-toned." I'll go ahead with a description and review of the products used:

Eyes:

1. Milani Eyeshadow Primer: I still enjoy this, and it currently the only primer I use. I am interested though, in branching out to more high-coverage primers, just to see what it's like.

2.Modern Renaissance Palette: Buon Fresco in the crease, Love Letter lightly blended in. I also brought in the Blueberry Swirl shade from the Dose of Colors EyesCream Palette to diffuse the strong pink. Over the lids I used my Ardency Inn Manuka Honey Pigment in Rose Gold.

For me, the Rose Gold shade instantly makes a look special, and I am really glad that I bought it. It's one of those shades that looks great with both warm and cool complementary colors.

I have to say, I was afraid that Buon Fresco would look a little muddy on me, but I've learned that the key with this palette it to take my time. The look was clear and lasted well on the eye. In terms of eyeliner, it's the same old story with the Physician's Formula liner, but for mascara I switched it up a bit with the Starlooks Volumizing Mascara. This stuff works really well with my lashes.

Face:

1. I used the Ordinary Serum Foundation, and the Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer. The foundation is about 60% finished, but I don't know if I would repurchase. I kind of want to try the Fenty one! I also used the Too Faced Rx Primer, but I don't know if I am in love with how it wears. I don't consider my makeup to be high coverage at all, but towards the end of the day- even with setting spray- it looked a little cakey. The primer is also almost done, and I would love to try something else. Nothing with silicone, though.

2. Highlighter: I used the Milani Strobelight highlighter, which I haven't used for a while. Such a pretty and luxe highlighter, and affordable, too! Creates a nice metallic effect, and I don't have to use much.

3. Blush: To go with my eyes, I went with my purple blush, Fyrinnae's Mesmerize. I also purchased a purple blush from the Korean brand It's Skin as a replacement, but I don't have much hope- it looks chalky and grey. I am still on the look out for a replacement warm purple blush, because I really like the look of it on the face.

4. Bronzer: Same old story- Butter Bronzer!

5. Setting Spray: Urban Decay All Nighter- I use this on days when my skin feels greasier than normal, but I did not particularly feel any difference between that and the others I use.

6. Lips: Blistex Lip Serum, and Revelon Lip Butter in Fig Jam. Love Fig Jam- it's very pretty. The formula does dry my lips out, and I am wondering if I should just shell out for the much more expensive Black Honey by Clinique.

So that was it! A simple look with purple. No clue what I will feel like doing tomorrow! Sometimes I feel like I should challenge myself to using a palette, but at 5 o'clock in the morning my aim is to feel as comfortable as possible.

Face of the Day: Brownish Glowy Look and Product Reviews

Morning!

Today I thought I would do an in-depth product review for my face of the day.

On weekdays, I don't really like to stray from my tried and true products, because 1.) the time crunch and 2.) I need to feel secure that they will hold up.

That leaves weekends for experimenting. I very much enjoy trying old favorites and testing new products during this time.

Lessgo!

Primer:

1. Eye primer: Milani. This actually something I do use daily. At one point it seemed like I had tons of different eye primers, but I did a declutter, as well as used up an entire UD primer potion. Milani has a great dupe for the primer potion, and I highly recommend it.

2. Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy: As much as I love this, I do normally save it for weekends or special occasions, on days when I need my eyes to last all day. Today, however, I was curious to see how it would act with a new palette for my eyes, so I also used it.

3. Wet n' Wild Face Primer: This came as a free sample with my purchase of their Photo Focus (or finish?) Foundation. It has a creamy consistency and white color. It absorbs quickly into the skin and has no fragrance. I will update with a wear-report as the day progresses.

Face:

4. Revlon Age Rewind Concealer: This is my second tube of this. I like to combine it with the Maybelline concealer, because that one is a tad too yellow, but has a very nice formula. Today, however, I only used it by itself around my nose and chin area.

5. Dr. G BB Safe in fair. I bought the full size of this after getting an Ipsy sample. I'm quite pleased with the finds Ipsy has made available, especially when it comes to skin products. Anyway, I put this on the back-burner for a while, because I was using the foundation from The Ordinary, but I wanted to switch up my routine today. A little goes a long way with this, and it does have a lingering fragrance on the skin, but it is not unpleasant.

6. Manic Panic Dreamtone Foundation in White. I also mixed this with the above, because it is a tad too dark. It mixes well with the Dr. G BB cream. However, my pores did look more pronounced than usual, so I used...

7. Innisfree No Sebum powder. This has become a staple and I do bring it to work with me for touch-ups, if needed. It did a good job of blurring the aforementioned pores.

8. WnW Highlighter in Reserve Your Cabana. I am trying very hard to pan this and the Mary Loumanizer. I think that the Cabana highlighter gives off a very diffused, gentle glow that is excellent for autumn.

9. Shiseido Oil Free Bronzer in Light- This bronzer is slightly more red-toned, but I don't mind. It gives off a more sunburnt look than my other bronzers. It also paired well with my blush...

10. Pixi Blush in Beach Rose, a very brown-toned blush that has just the right amount of pigment.

Eyes:

11. Milani Earthly Elements Palette: I do enjoy this palette, though I think the mattes are the stand-outs compared to the shimmers. The Pixie Epoxy really did bring out the gold in one of the shimmers, though.

12. L'Oreal Lash Paradise Mascara: Enough said. It is a tried and true favorite of mine.

13. Physician's Formula Liquid Eyeliner: See above.

Lips:
14. Vaseline Lip Therapy in Rosy Lips: Also tried and true.

15. Colourpop Gloss in Ipsy VIP: I really like this gloss. It is not sticky, and though it is not a color I normally wear, it is a color that is easily worn as a flattering wash of pink.