EoTD: Peachy and Golden w/ Fyrinnae!

Hey hello hi.

Today is a look using the very popular shade "Rapunzel Had Extensions" from Fyrinnae Cosmetics. Fyrinnae is an indie brand that I have purchased from in the past, and thoroughly enjoy.

I took pictures of the look after 10+ hours of wear, so my mascara at this point was breaking down a bit.

After applying Wet 'n Wild eyeshadow primer, I set my crease with Coloured Raine Angel Face. Then I blended in Pumpkin Pie from Coastal Scents.

After applying Pixie Epoxy (also Fyrinnae) to my lid, I packed on Rapunzel Had Extensions.

Overall, I really love this shadow. I wish I didn't apply my liner so sloppily, but I think I was just tired. This is a really simple but pretty look that I would wear again, perhaps even with a darker orange matte to make it more dramatic.

Out-of-focus picture so you can see the shimmer!

Sparkly EoTD w/ Fyrinnae!

For today's look, a couple of things going one.

One: I am getting tired of the whole "set your primer" spiel. One, my lids are not oily. Two, I don't think it does me any favors. I have been getting frustrated with a lot of my looks lately because I feel the colors are muddying together.

Two: I am trying something a little new with eyeliner. I have always liked the look of a legit wing, but it is a scary endeavor. Today I think I worked out a "baby wing" thing that I am going to keep practicing, and continue to use.

Products used:

1- From the Tarteist Pro to go palette: Drive (a pink-toned light brown)
2- Wet n Wild Brulee single (a warm toned cream)
3- Warm Taupe from the Modern Renaissance palette
4- Fyrinnae Single Mythical Dalliance ("rosy and bronze sparkle with lime green shift")

sparkly.

5-Stila Cosmetics- Kitten (champagne shimmer)
6- Milani primer
7- Physicians Formula Eyebooster AND Milani Eye Tech Extreme (for the wing)
8- Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
9- Starlooks Voluminizing Mascara

A lot of products for this look! The only one I don't think was necessary was Stila Kitten. That was the look I was originally going for, but I got bored and decided to use a Fyrinnae single instead.

Now, I love Mythical Dalliance, but as the pictures will demonstrate, glitter gets everywhere: in the eyelashes, on one's faces, etc. I have to brush away glitter that has transferred inside the crease.

Overall, I think this is a fun and glamorous look that I intend to replicate. I did NOT set my primer, but did use Brulee only on the brow bone, above the crease.

I continue to love the Pro To Go palette, and am so happy that it is my stash!

Now, onto the pictures:

My Blush Collection and Swatches, pt 1.

I only recently started collecting blushes this year. Before, I had no idea what to do with blushes and would dread using them. However, once I got the hang of blush placement and stopped worrying about the apples of my cheeks, blush became fun.

Today I am going to share some of blush collection. I also bought the Tarina Tarantino Dollskin blush palette a few months ago off of ebay, but I will save that for another post.

From left to right on my arm, we have:
1._ Fyrinnae blush in Mesmerize
2._Makeup Geek blush in Puppy Love
3._ Flower Beauty Blush in Sweet Pea
4._ Nyx Baked Blush (+ Illuminator + Bronzer) in Chiffon

flash

no flash

Let's start with Fyrinnae's Mesmerize. I do not use this often, but I did buy this for its strong purple tone. Besides this, I do not own many purple blushes, and one can see that it is quite pigmented. A little goes a long way, which is why I wish I had a pressed version of this, rather than loose. It makes using it a little difficult.

Next, is Puppy Love. Very pigmented formula and is a little dark for me. I find it hard to blend on my skin. It still is a beautiful rose brown color that I use when I want to avoid pinks. 

Speaking of pinks, Sweet Pea by Flower Beauty is a perfect pink for me. It is buildable formulation, and very easy to apply. 

Last is a weird one, Chiffon by Nyx.  I found these in my local CVS, on the very bottom of the Nyx display. Its packaging is a little bulky, but I do like the product itself. It does give off a lot of shimmer, and works well with highlighter that has already been applied. The color of the powder itself is a very sheer rose-brown.

I read online about a blush application technique for working with more pigmented blushes. It was suggested that you mix the pigmented blush a little with a more sheer one to "dilute" the pigmented one a bit. For me, mixing Chiffon and Puppy Love is perfect, especially with Chiffon's lighter and more powdery formula. 

As far as favorites goes, it really depends on my mood. All four blushes are  useful to me, depending on the season and weather. 

Birthday Post: Game Changers

Today I am feeling extra retrospective. It is my 26th, after all. I would say it has been almost two years since I have gotten into makeup, so today I want to discuss the makeup milestones- or game-changers, as it were.

For me, game-changers are both positive and negative. They have helped me develop insight into technique, aesthetics, and spending. Please read below for my TOP FIVE GAME-CHANGING PRODUCTS. And here's to birthdays.

1. The Modern Renaissance Palette.

Okay, okay. On the off-chance anyone is actually reading this, you've probably heard of this palette. And all of the glowing reviews. And the hype. I will be honest, is this palette perfect? No, of course not. But it is smart. It is excellent. My last higher-end palette was the Nude 'Tude Palette from TheBalm, which was boring and uninspiring. And the MR palette brought to my attention the concept of "neutral" colors, and using brights subtly. As of now, I have panned Tempera, the cream-colored shade, and I tend to cycle through different mattes, based on my mood. I have purchased single matte dupes from indie and drugstore brands in anticipation of the palette running out. I love it.

2. Kat Von D Innerstellar and Chrysalis Palette. These palettes taught me to calm the eff down when it comes to purchases. I have decluttered both, after depotting the few matte shades that I loved. I hate KvD's shimmers in palettes- never have tried her singles. I got both half price at TJ Maxx's, because it was a high end brand for cheap. That is it. And ever since the laborious decluttering process (she certainly makes it difficult to de-pot), I have been able to resist products like Too Faced tin palettes, and Make Up Forever palettes, etc. etc. successfully.


3. Physician's Formula Eye Booster Serum Eye Liner thing- A game-changer because eyeliner always caused anxiety for me. Aside from very few pencil liners, most would leak by the end of the day, and application was always tricky. For me this has made my life so much easier, and I dread eyeliner less now.


4. Dry Shampoo. I am throwing this category of products in here, with no reference to a specific one. I have tried tons of different brands and the only one I hated was the Aussie brand dry shampoo because the smell was awful. My hair gets oily rather quickly, so rather than feel the pressure to wash my hair every day, I can spray some dry shampoo and go. Easy.


5.  Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. A few weeks ago, I read a post criticizing the vast amount of products it seemingly takes in this day and age to make eyeshadow work. The writer explained that before eyeshadow would be made so priming was not necessary. Do I believe this? Not really. I think technology has improved, and yes there are huge mark-ups in the makeup industry, but from what I remember emphasis on pigmentation and opacity is a relatively current trend. With this in mind, I am a big fan of Pixie Epoxy. I was critical, like many others, that one had to buy another product to make their products work, but then I saw that this could be used with everything. And really intensify shadows that do lack pigmentation. Another benefit is that eyeshadow used to transfer from my lid to my crease, due to the fact that my eyes bulge. With Pixie Epoxy, (as well as Too Faced Glitter Insurance, which I used if the shadow is opaque enough already), the shadow does not budge.

And here's an extra one!

6.) Brown-toned lipstick. I am inspired by a post I just read by Brutally Honest Beauty on brown lipstick. My mother used to love brown-toned lipstick in the 90's and early 00's, so I would use it. And for the last year, I've only been wearing brown toned lipstick: Sin-a-mon and Touchable Taupe, both from Maybelline's Color Sensational line. It is flattering, natural looking on me.

In sum:
My gamechangers are gamechangers because they make my life easier. And when it comes to makeup, it should not be stressful. It is just makeup, after all.

Mixing Fyrinnae Shadows

I have a couple of posts for today, but this one is particular was unplanned. I was going through my stash, intending to declutter, when I came across a Fyrinnae eyeshadow called Zanzibar, a highly pigmented bright light blue shade. Though I cannot and will not wear blue eyeshadow, I did not want to declutter it.

So I got an idea.

Maybe I could mix it with another Fyrinnae shadow and change the color?

And that is what I did. I mixed Zanzibar with a rich gold eyeshadow named Gilded Wings, and this is the final product:

"Zanzibar" on left, Gilded Wings on right

So there it is! Green eyeshadow is far more wearable for me, and I am glad that  the product was not a total waste.

Next time you have some Fyrinnae samples that you were not planning on using, I would suggest you try mixing them together, especially if they are of similar formulas!

Mini-Reviews: Empties, Purchases, Tossed Things

Another post! I actually have some empties and recent purchases to talk about. Let's get started.

1. Physician's Formula 2-in-1 Eye Booster Liner, $9. I ran out of this liner two days ago, so I ordered another from Amazon immediately. It is the only liner I've found I can use. Because I had Grave's Disease, my eyes bulge a little. They get irritated and water easily. If I wear regular pencil liner, even waterproof, it becomes a mess by the end of the day. Though this liner is not as black as I would like, it stays put and is easy to apply. I have not mastered wings yet, but who cares. Love this liner. Five stars.

2. Assorted Fyrinnae shadows. Am I down the rabbit hole yet? All this started because I wanted a proper mid-tone purple sparkly shade. A very specific need. Wicked Faeries fulfills this. It is a truly beautiful coppery purple shade. I also love Serendipity and have worn it to work three times now, with shades of taupe and red in my crease. Many reviewers will say that there is a learning curve to this brand, and I am inclined to agree. I have learned to buy a larger-sized Pixie Epoxy. I love that stuff, and can use it with other brands. I have also learned to avoid, for me, shades with a grey/black base. They don't work well for me. For example, Lady Glamis was a total disappointment because of this. Reviews made this shade look almost iridescent, like the surface of mica. But it comes off as a sparkly cloudy mess on me. I would definitely order from Fyrinnae again, though the turnaround time is very very long. 4.5 stars.

3. The Ordinary. Okay, so I haven't actually received my order. I placed it three days ago. But I am so excited. I ordered the foundation and the 2% Retinoid and hope it lives up to the hype. When it comes to skin care, I clean and moisturize, use eyecream, and the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair. For me, I am a little skeptical and far too lazy for the complicated regimens some list. If I can keep it simple, then good enough for me. I am also on the eternal quest for an ideal foundation. More on that below.

4. L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte. Hated it. Fell for the hype. This stuff dries way too fast and is impossible to mix and blend. Very fussy with primers. Not impressed. I think I'll keep it to use as spot concealer, so that I can layer over it. We'll see how that goes.

5. Liquid Lipsticks, in general. I need to stop trying. I just need to give it a rest.