Category Archives: Makeup

What’s On My Face – Volume 45

February 9, 2016Makeup, TutorialsBECCA, Benefit, Clarins, ColourPop, Hourglass, House of Lashes, Joe Fresh, Kat Von D, MAC, Make Up For Ever, Makeup Geek, Marc Jacobs, NYX, Revlon, Sephora, Tarte, Too Faced, ViseartChelle

As I was putting together this roundup of looks, I started to realize just how much I’ve been using my Makeup Geek shadows lately. I mean, I use them a lot on a regular basis, but three out of the five looks are solely Makeup Geek in here!

Viseart Editorial Brights makeup look

I did this for a YouTube video tutorial but had to repost it here because I know not everyone has the time for videos (I’ll continue to repost my video tutorial looks on the blog as time goes on).

Viseart Editorial Brights makeup look

Eyes
(using the Viseart 08 Editorial Brights palette) I first covered my lid with NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk and then:

MAC‘s Cork in the crease.
The yellow shade from the palette on the inner third of the lid.
The orange on the middle of the lid.
The red on the outer half of the lid.
The lime green on the inner corner of the lid.
(also listed as 5) MAC‘s Blanc Type to highlighter the brow bone.

I applied the light blue to the middle of my lower lash line and the purple to the outer section of the lower lash line. I created the wing with Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner in Trooper and tightlined my water lines with Marc Jacobs‘ Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer. I coated my lashes with Make Up For Ever Smoky Stretch mascara and applied House of Lashes Bombshell falsies.

Face

Primer: Make Up For Ever Step 1 Smoothing Primer
Foundation: Make Up For Ever UltraHD in Y225
Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand
Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
Highlighter: Becca Champagne Pop
Lips: Too Faced Melted Chocolate Milkshake with Sephora‘s lipgloss in Good Fairy

KAt Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix look

Although I love the Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix palette, I’ve not been using it because I was trying to work through a bunch of other palettes. I said enough was enough, and went back to it for it this look!

KAt Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix look

Eyes
(Using the Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix palette) I first applied NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to my lid, then:

Misfit on the inner third of the lid.
Synth on the middle of the lid.
Dark Wave on the outer corner.
(numbers are screwed up, sorry) Vinyl on the inner corner (to the right of 1).
Ignore this one… I haven’t a clue if I put anything on my brow bone.

Echo is lining the outer half of my lower lash line. I coated my lashes with Make Up For Ever‘s Smoky Stretch mascara.

Face

Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand
Blush: MAC Warm Soul
Lips: MAC Sweet Tooth

Makeup Geek look

Playing around with my new Makeup Geek duochromes!

Makeup Geek look

Eyes
(all Makeup Geek)

Cupcake through the crease.
Kaleidoscope on the lid.
Pop Culture on the outer third of the lid.
Duchess on the outer corner.
Prism on the inner corner
Vanilla Bean on my brow bone.

I used Blacklight on the lower lash line and created the wing with MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline. I covered my lashes with Make Up For Ever Smoky Stretch mascara.

Face

Foundation: Revlon Colorstay in 200 Nude
Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand
Blush: MAC Life’s A Picnic
Lips: Sephora Good Fairy

Makeup Geek look

Before anyone says anything – I know the lips look weird. I was playing around with different shades and I *thought* this went together. It wasn’t till I saw the photos that I was like “ohhh….”. haha

Makeup Geek look

Eyes
(all Makeup Geek)

Prism all over the lid.
Typhoon through the crease.
Dirty Martini on the outer third of the lid.
Vanilla Bean on the brow bone.

I created the wing with Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner in Trooper and coated my lashes with Clarins’ Aquatic Green mascara.

Face

Foundation: Revlon Colorstay in 200 Nude
Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand
Blush: Tarte Blissful
Lips: Colour Pop Donut

Makeup Geek look

More Makeup Geek goodness!

Makeup Geek look

Eyes
(all Makeup Geek)

Peach Smoothie through the top of the crease.
Poppy through the crease.
Fortune Teller on the lid.
Morocco on the outer third of the lid.
Voltage on the inner corner.
Vanilla Bean on the brow bone.

I created the wing with MAC’s Blacktrack fluidline and coated my lashes with Make Up For Ever‘s Smoky Stretch.

Face

Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand
Blush: Hourglass Incandescent Electra
Lips: Benefit Coralista gloss

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color (Review + Swatches of the Full Collection)

February 8, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesWet n WildChelle

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Colors

Let me start off by saying this product actually confuses me a bit. I believe the Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Colors launched as part of the Fergie Wet n Wild line in the USA (and were branded with her logo on it), but I got these here in Canada at a Wet n Wild launch party a few weeks ago. They’re missing the Fergie logo, and they seem to have totally different names when I compare them to the Fergie linup. I wonder if the rights to her line were only for the USS? I’m fairly confident that despite the shade names being different, they are in fact the same shades!

Regardless of their names, this is an entirely new set of products to me. Being the matte lip lover that I am, I was more than happy to try these out! The Velvet Matte Lip Colors come encased in a soft rubberized tube (similar to NARS packaging) and twist up from the bottom and can, thankfully, can be twisted back down. Although five of the nine shades look to be near identical in colour, I found that the colour of the packaging was SERIOUSLY misleading. If you can believe it, there’s actually a pinky-purple and a straight up magenta in there!

These have a soft matte feeling which is starting to become pretty standard for matte lip products. I did feel like some of the shades required a bit more pressure to be applied (almost as if I had to break through some kind of sheer coating to get through to the colour), but once I got there, the colour was fairly solid. Some of the shades were a bit more sheer (namely Lie Lack and Turnt Orange) and you’ll definitely be able to see that in the arm swatches. Overall, I’m impressed with the consistency of these especially given that the price point is around $3-4 USD/CAD.

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color Swatches

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A360 Nude Streak

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A361 Toffee Frappe

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A362 Looking For Truffle

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A363 Hickory Smoked

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A364 Charred Cherry

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A365 Lie Lack

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A366 Berry Tales

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A367 Shelly Shocked

Wet n Wild Velvet Matte Lip Color in A368 Turnt Orange

Final Thoughts

You cannot go wrong with this kind of price point, especially if you want to try out a new lip colour! The texture is wonderful and if you like any of the colours above, I’d recommend checking them out! My personal favourite shades are Hickory Smoked, Turnt Orange (although it looks drastically different on my lips compared to the swatch) and Toffee Frappe.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.

Swatch Sunday: Lorac Unzipped Gold

February 7, 2016Makeup, SwatchesLoracChelle

Lorac Unzipped Gold

Lorac Unzipped Gold Swatches

Lorac - Uninhibited — Lorac – Uninhibited

Lorac - Unpredictable — Lorac – Unpredictable

Smashbox Insta-Matte (Review & Comparisons)

February 5, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesSmashboxChelle

Smashbox Insta-Matte Lipstick Transformer

In the beauty world, we’re pretty oversaturated with products that are virtually the same, just in different packaging. So it’s like seeing a unicorn amidst the pack when you spot something new and totally unlike anything you’d ever experienced before.

The brand new Smashbox Insta-Matte Lip Transformer is that rare mystical beast! As a matte lip obsessor, this has gotten me a little overexcited!

So what is this thing then? The Insta-Matte is a soft transparent gel that can be applied to your cream lipsticks (not for use with glosses, lacquers or balms) to transform them into a matte lipstick. It won’t change the colour of your lipstick either!

The Insta-Matte is also a really comfortable light-weight product that feels cushiony on the lips. It doesn’t add the dryness that most matte lipsticks have and it maintains the colour perfectly. I can liken it only to the new-ish matte formulas that have started to circulate in the beauty world… they have a bit of a gel texture, but they feel soft on the lips.

Application-wise, I apply my lipstick first, then pop a little bit of the Insta-Matte on to my finger tip and blend that in directly onto my lipstick. I discovered that less is better – one time I applied too much and it got a little bit gloppy on my lips. So stick with a small amount of product and add more as needed to mattify your lips. (A little goes a long way, so you won’t need much!)

Anyway, you’re here for the lip pictures. Let’s see the Insta-Matte in action!

Insta-Matte Comparisons

Smashbox Insta-Matte on Too Faced La Creme lipstick in Jelly Bean

The Insta-Matte is recommended for use with cream lipsticks, so I went straight for my Too Faced La Creme lipsticks. The difference between the two sides is astounding. I applied the lipstick to my whole mouth, then applied the Insta-Matte to the left side. You can see the instantaneous transformation AND that the colour of the lipstick stays true to itself!

Smashbox Insta-Matte on MAC Viva Vlam Cyndi lustre lipstick

Now that I know this works like a charm on cream formulas, I decided to give some of my other lip products a try. This is MAC’s Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick (limited edition several years back, but it’s the only lustre formula I own) and it worked out just as well as the Too Faced one!

Smashbox Insta-Matte on Revlon Peach Parfait lip butter

And because I feel like instructions are meant to be tampered with, I decided to see how far I could push this product. The lip product above is my Revlon lip butter in Peach Parfait. This is where the Insta-Matte starts to struggle a little bit. It does work to tone down the sheen of Peach Parfait (which is one of the most reflective lip butters I’ve ever owned), but it’s not something I’d wear with regularity.

Smashbox Insta-Matte on NYX Peach Cobbler butter gloss

This last shot was just for fun. The Insta-Matte definitely says it’s not to be used with lip gloss, but I wanted to see what would happen. And as you can see… the results aren’t glamorous. NYX’s Peach Cobbler butter gloss actually maintains its colour but it starts to go crumbly and chunky.

Final Thoughts on the Smashbox Insta-Matte

My mind is totally blown by the Smashbox Insta-Matte – it’s a really incredible product and unlike anything else of its nature. I never liked the idea of applying powder to my lips to mattify a lipstick (like ew, hello, crunchy and powdery? Gross!) and this is a solution that will actually work for everyone. Although the instructions say to apply liberally, I would encourage you to start out with a small amount of product, and then build on that as needed. The best part is that this actually feels comfortable on the lips – it’s not drying which can be a chief problem with matte lipsticks (as a note, this does not make your lipstick transfer-proof!). So if you couldn’t tell by my post, I love this product – it works well, it’s comfortable to wear and it doubles your cream lipstick collection!

The Smashbox Insta-Matte is available now and can be purchased from Sephora.ca for $26 CAD and on Sephora.com for $24 USD.

The product featured in this review was sent to me for consideration.

No Bleeding Lips (Review + Comparison)

February 3, 2016Makeup, ReviewsNo Bleeding LipsChelle

No Bleeding Lips

As I started to wear lipstick in my 20s, one of the first things I noticed was that I apparently had old lady lips. Lipstick would not stay put on me. It would bleed outside my lip line and collect in the crevices – not a pretty sight at all! (And yep, I tried lip liner, I tried setting powder, I tried concealer around the edges… nothing worked!)

The only thing that has worked for me (thank heavens) has been using some kind of a clear lip priming base or a clear lip liner. Clear lip liners are slightly different from a regular lip liner in the sense that they have more of a waxy, gel-like consistency that acts as a barrier around your lips to prevent your lipstick from bleeding outside the edges.

The No Bleeding Lips secret lip liner is one of these products and I put it to the test! No Bleeding Lips claims:

Stops lipstick & lip gloss bleed (I did not try it with lip gloss!)
Waterproof
Long-lasting
Stops feathering
Free of: mineral oil, gluten, paraffin, preservatives & animal-derived ingredients

One of the benefits of a clear lip liner is that they’ll obviously match every single lipstick colour you possess!

So here it is in action: On the left side I applied No Bleeding Lips to the outer rim of my lips and applied MAC’s Russian Red lipstick on top (this is a lipstick that made my lip line bleed out profusely when I first purchased it). On the right side I just have lipstick on. The shot was taken five hours after application. I’d like to draw your attention to my top lip: Both sides are experiencing a little bit of bleed out, but the right side is definitely worse – you can see my lip line is becoming less defined and the lipstick is starting to spread upwards ever so slightly past my lip. (As for the bottom of my lip, I never experience bleed out there – what you’re looking at is just crummy lipstick application on my part!)

Final Thoughts

Does No Bleeding Lips work? Yes, it does. Does it work as good as I had expected? Not quite as there is still some visible lip line bleed out on the lined side of my lips. I’m actually surprised my lipstick didn’t bleed MORE outside my lip line on the un-lined side as I had expected a much starker comparison based on my previous experiences with unprimed lips. No Bleeding Lips will do me in a pinch and it’s definitely something I’ll use up completely, but I still prefer my MAC Prep + Prime Lips.

Let me know if you’ve tried this product out and what your thoughts were!

No Bleeding Lips can be purchased on Sephora.ca for $15 CAD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.