I was inspired by this insanity of a dress that I recently picked up:
To create the following look:
And I think it came out amazingly well!
Eyes
IllamasquaAlluvium all over the lid.
Laura MercierViolet Ink in the outer corner and used to line the lower lashline.
MACHandwritten in the very outer corner to darken the edge up.
Makeup GeekSimply Marlena at the top of the crease.
MAC Shroom on the inner tearduct and to highlight the brow.
Urban DecayPerversion mascara is on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: Illamasqua Skin Base in 6.5
Bronzer: Hard CandyHula Hula
Blush: Wet n WildHeather Silk
Highlighter: Hard CandyTiki
Lips: NYX Butter Gloss in Strawberry Parfait
Overly simple for my books, but quite striking in its simplicity.
Eyes
Makeup GeekBleached Blonde all over the lid.
Makeup GeekPreppy on the outer half.
Makeup GeekVanilla Bean to highlight the brow.
For the winged liner I used Tarte‘s black gel liner and used Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla
Bronzer: NYCFire Island Tan
Blush: Wet n WildMellow Wine
Highlighter: MACWhisper of Gilt
Lips: Wet n Wild910D with MACStrawberry Malt lipglass on top
I was struggling with essence‘s All About Candies eyeshadow palette until I started using a solid thick white based underneath the shadows. Use that and you should be good to go!
Eyes
Cover the entire lid with NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk and smooth it out with your finger. Then layer the pale green shade in essence‘s All About Candies palette on top.
MACClub in the outer corner and through the crease and on the lower lash line.
MACBlanc Type to highlight the brow.
Urban DecayPerversion mascara is on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla
Bronzer: NYCFire Island Tan
Concealer: essenceMatch2Cover (darker shade) underneath my eyes
Blush: HourglassDiffused Heat
Highlighter: MACSoft & Gentle
Sunset-themed eyes, a favourite of mine throughout August.
Eyes
I first applied NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk all over the lid, then:
InglotMatte 370 on the inner half of the lid.
InglotMatte 383 on the outer half of the lid.
Makeup GeekCreme Brulee to blend out the crease.
MACShroom to highlight the brow.
Tarte‘s black gel liner was used to create the wing and Urban DecayPerversion mascara is on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
Bronzer: Hard CandyHula Hula
Blush: essenceAutumn Peach
Highlighter: MACWhisper of Gilt
Lips: Too FacedCoral Fire
Another sun-based look!
Eyes
Using essence‘s All About Sunrise palette:
Pale orange shade on the inner corner.
Medium brown on the center of the lid.
Darker brown on the outer corner.
Champagne shade to highlight the brow.
Gold shade all over the lower lash line.
MAC‘s Dipdown fluidline was used to create the winged liner, essence‘s black gel pencil liner to tightline and line the inner water line. essence‘s Get Big! Lashes mascara is on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
Bronzer: NYCFire Island Tan
Blush: essenceAutumn Peach
Highlighter: Champagne shade from the essenceAll About Sunrise palette
I had to laugh when I looked at my favourites this month. The blushes I used this month are near identical! This month was a 50/50 mix of discovering new products and loving some old ones for me. I definitely favoured colours that were more on the sunset spectrum of things, which I think was partially inspired by having heavily used Sleek’s Sunset palette near the start of the month.
I received essence‘s Autumn Peach blush from a promotional package I was sent by PR, and this blush was by far the best thing in there. I love absolutely everything about it: The packaging, the colour, the embossed graphics, the wear time. There is not a single thing about this blush that I dislike. It goes on my cheeks as a subdued bright apricot that I can build up to be quite intense. I defaulted to this blush so much because it’s just so easy to wear and seemed to match an awful lot of my eye looks in the last month.
And this might as well be essence’s Autumn Peach blush’s slightly pinker sister! Tarte‘s Charisma is another shade I defaulted to a lot this month. Considering it’s so close to Autumn Peach, you can see that I was heavily favouring pinky-oranges in August. Charisma has a hint of gold sparkle to it, so I don’t generally use a highlighter when I opt to wear this one. Beautiful shade.
Keeping with the sunset theme is MAC‘s Whisper of Gilt Extra Dimension highlighter. The consistency of the Extra Dimension products has always felt very strange on my fingers (like a chalky styrofoam???) but it doesn’t feel like that when applied to the face. I wore a lot of oranges, bronzes and golds on my eyes in August so I tended to reach for my more golden highlighter to complement the looks.
Alluvium is Illamasqua‘s most confusing pigment ever. Looks purply-bronze in the pot, swatches blue. In an effort to understand this pigment (what am I, the Eyeshadow Whisperer?), I used it a LOT after I bought it this month. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a way to pull out the copper sparkles as this defaulted to a bright blue pigment no matter how I used it. If you’re looking for a vibrant blue pigment however, this is absolutely stunning.
My last favourite of the month is Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara. I received this little baby sized sample in my August Ipsy bag and fell in love immediately. Black, thick and wet (yep, I’m still talking about mascara) – this product is WONDERFUL. I have an unfortunate number of mascaras open at the moment (which is not a particular habit of mine), but I reached for this product over the six others I’ve bought/received lately. The one day I used another mascara instead of this one, I instantly regretted it. Love, love, LOVE!
What colours did you steer towards throughout August?
Something nude-ish for all your neutral lovers out there!
Eyes
MACRicepaper as the inner corner highlight and to highlight the brow.
MACAmber Lights all over the lid.
MACHandwritten on the outer third.
CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Bronzer: Hard Candy – Hula Hula
Blush: MAC – Warm Soul
The nude lips soooo do not work with this one!
Eyes
Makeup GeekMango Tango all over the lid.
Makeup GeekBitten on the outer half of the lid.
Makeup GeekCreme Brulee through the top of the crease.
MACShroom to highlight the brow.
TarteBlack gel liner to create the wing and CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
Blush: Tarte – Charisma
Highlighter: MAC – Whisper of Gilt
Lips: essence – Nude Love
A fun dark one! As I’ve said before, I usually stay away from dark lid colours but when I do try it out I generally quite like the results!
Eyes
Urban DecayDarkside all over the lid.
Urban DecayBlackheart on the outer third of the lid.
Urban DecayNooner to blend out the crease.
Urban DecayStrange on the browbone.
Urban DecayDust to highlight the inner corner.
Rest of the Face
Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
Blush: Wet n Wild – Pearlescent Pink
Highlighter: MAC – Soft & Gentle
Lips: Maybelline – Maple Kiss
This one doesn’t come across as well in photos as I had hoped. Isn’t it strange how that can happen? I really love orangey-reds on my lids and this was one of the first few looks I ever did that really pushed me into using more and more fiery colours.
Eyes
MACGleam all over the lid.
MACCoppering on the outer half of the lid and heavily through the crease.
MACHandwritten in the very outer corner.
MACBlanc Type to highlight the brow.
CoverGirlClump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
Blush: Tarte – Charisma
Lips: NYX Butter Gloss – Cherry Cheesecake
I had been lamenting how much I seem to fail at makeup looks that involve gold, primarily because I tend to combine them with brown. Kalyn showed me that gold just seems to work way better with black, so I decided to give it a shot the next time I incorporated some gold shadow.
Eyes
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bold Gold all over the lid with Sleek‘s gold shadow from the Sunset palette layered on top.
I used a strip of tape on my outer lid to create the super sharp edge, then swept on Urban Decay‘s Blackout.
Makeup GeekCreme Brulee lightly through the crease to blend out the black.
MACBlanc Type to highlight the brow.
I tightlined my upper waterline with the Lord & BerryBlack eye pencil and applied Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara on my lashes.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
My empties bag has clearly since better days. Poor guy.
As per usual, makeup items first.
It’s a mascara graveyard here today. I had so many bite-sized mascara samples to use up and they got completely mauled throughout the last few months.
Anyway, back to the actual product. Benefit’s They’re Real is amazing. I’ve never given in to high end mascara hype because I don’t WANT to love the product. I really do not want to develop a habit of enjoying $30 mascara at all! However… My mom even thought I was wearing false lashes when I had this on. Having used this sample size, I have to say that there’s a high chance I’ll actually end up dishing out the money on this one in the future (once I run through all my deluxe mascara samples!).
Purchase? More than likely.
I used to love this mascara, but this time round the block L’Oreal‘s Voluminous Carbon Black mascara just didn’t cut it for me. I’ll leave it for a while and then revisit it in a year or so. Maybe.
Repurchase? Eventually.
A surprising favourite out of the bunch. MUFE’s Smoky Lash Extravagant builds up quite well and doesn’t clump. It dried up after a month or two though. I didn’t love it more than the Benefit one though.
Purchase? Unlikely.
No. Just no. Useless and dry.
Purchase? Hah. NO.
Love this. I’m one of the unfortunate people that NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base doesn’t actually work on its own to prevent creasing, but it does work in conjunction with Urban Decay‘s primer potion to kill all creasing so I love it for that reason. Word to the wise though, even when the wand pulls out nothing from the tube, cut that baby open and get out the remainder. There is MONTHS more product in there even after it feels empty.
Repurchase: Definitely.
Absolute favourite. Revlon’s Creme Brulee lip butter is my favourite nude lip. This is my second tube of the stuff and it’s one of the easiest lip shades to wear on my complexion.
Repurchase? More than likely.
*The* eyebrow shade for blondes. MAC‘s Omega has the right kind of grey tint to the powder that makes my eyebrows not look overly ridiculously blonde (not that I have much in the way of eyebrows to begin with). I loved this eyeshadow, but I’m currently plugging through my AnastasiaDipbrow Pomade to try something new because this eyeshadow lasted me longer than a year even with daily use!
Repurchase? Maybe eventually, but for now I’m having fun exploring other options.
Second… third maybe? tube of MAC’s Prep + Prime for lips. Fantastic for preventing lipsticks from bleeding outside my lipline.
Repurchase? Already have!
I didn’t notice Murad’s mattifier working especially well, but then I also noticed the expiry date was roughly four months prior to when I used it. Whoops. It also smelled like glue. Ew.
Purchase? No thanks.
Ohhhh yes. Barry M‘s Diamond Glitter nail polish had a lovely home on my toenails for about six months this past year. The bottle is dead empty now which is a shame since you can’t buy Barry M in Canada!
Repurchase? If I find myself in the UK again, I will *definitely* pick this one up!
I swear Quo is the only brand of nail polish remover I can ever find at the drugstore. I default to this because it’s there, it’s functional and it’s relatively cheap.
Repurchase? Yes, because I don’t know of anything better out there!
No shocker here. Neutrogena‘s makeup removing wipes are the only ones I use now. Definite preference to the hydrating ones.
Repurchase? For sho.
I’ve used several bottles of Neutrogena‘s makeup remover now and have another one cracked open. It doesn’t work as well on waterproof makeup as my Marcelle stuff did so I think I’ll be reverting back to the Marcelle one.
Repurchase? I have an open bottle, but aside from that I think I’m going to try something else out next time.
The foil packets of the lot.
MOR Hand Cream in Kale and Watercress smelled nice, but it’s a hand cream… Nothing amazing here.
Purchase? Pass.
Urban Decay‘s Anti-Aging Primer Potion is basically the same as the Original really. I didn’t notice it really having any anti-aging properties (I basically think that anything that claims that is utter hogwash really) so meh.
Purchase? I’ll just stick to the Original one I normally use.
FCS‘s whipped cream body butter is an awesome formula, however, their Captain’s Berried Booty scent was totally nauseating to me. It’s fruitloops and cardboard, basically.
Repurchase? Not in this scent!
Another FCS whipped cream. I liked their Tick Tock scent quite a bit. I have no idea how the scent relates to the Hunger Games, but anyway… it basically smells like clean laundry to me. Very detergent-y, but it doesn’t bother me.
Repurchase? I liked it, but not enough to repurchase it. There are other things I like more.
Sample size of Tree Hut‘s Coconut Lime Shea Body Butter. This was okay, but not amazing. The smell wasn’t really my cup of tea either.
Purchase? Nope.
This stuff isn’t fancy, or pretty, but oh man does it ever work. Dermal Therapy products are a godsend for anyone with incredibly dry skin. I get pretty scratchy elbows and ankles and this works miracles on them.
Repurchase? Definitely.
And this ganked up nasty jar is Dermal Therapy‘s Heel Care. The best thing EVER for heel cracks. This can repair the Grand-freaking-Canyon of heel cracks and make your heels look baby-butt smooth in the span of a week. I’m not kidding because I’ve seen it happen on me. (You’re welcome for that visual.)
Repurchase? Forever and a day.
Burt’s BeesAlmond & Milk Hand Cream smells nice, but it’s super thick and super greasy.
Repurchase? Nah.
One of my usual cleansers. I like how this one has a cool tingle on the skin. I do find your skin gets used to that tingly feeling though, so I tend to swap out my cleansers pretty frequently.
Repurchase? Definitely.
Snagged this from a friend who didn’t want to finish it up. Boots No7Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser is good but the scent is a little bizarre to me. This may be completely offputting to some, but it smelled faintly like cigarettes. Or like the afterburn of a cigarette. It truly wasn’t as gross as I’m making it sound, but there was that scent to it that was really hard to place.
Purchase? Maybe, if on sale.
FCS‘ first skincare item. I liked it at first, but the scent started to bother me over time. Nicely abrasive though.
Repurchase? Nah.
Another product I swiped from that same friend as before. Philosophy‘s Exfoliating wash smells terrible to me. Did not enjoy it at all.
Purchase? Nope.
Dr. Brandt‘s Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant was AMAZING. It completely cured me of a milium spot I had on my lower left eyelid. This stuff packs a hefty price tag, but I fortunately received this sample size in an Ipsy bag. If I had milia again in the future though, I would absolutely pick this up even at the full price.
Repurchase? If necessary due to skin problems, then absolutely yes!
A staple daily moisturizer for me. The packaging’s all messed up though. I normally get the Radiant one, but this one says Clear Complexion in English… but Radiant in French! What the hell? They’re normally two different types!
Repurchase? Definitely. I’m almost done another bottle in the bathroom already.
I wouldn’t normally post hair stuff, but this came in an Ipsy bag so I thought I’d mention it. This is nothing more than a hair conditioner. I don’t feel it did anything extra special to my hair, even when I left it on for a good ten minutes in the shower.
Repurchase? Nope.
PHEW! That’s a lot of garbage to get through. Looking at some of these products, I kind of wish I’d saved them for Kalyn’s Sample Killah month. Darn!
ALRIGHT PEOPLE! It is 1:07 a.m. Friday night (aka Saturday morning), this blog post was supposed to get posted at 8 a.m. this morning, but clearly that did not happen. I’m a few glasses *cough*bottle*cough* of wine down, my photos are edited, I have episodes of Supernatural playing in the background should I require immediate distraction, and I just need to provide you with insightful data on what I loved this month.
Shall we proceed?
WE SHALL.
HNNGGGGGG. Call this my lipstick of summer. (Really, call it whatever you want, I’ll just be over in the corner calling it pretty.) This is Too Faced‘s Coral Fire and it apparently fits into their “red” category of lipsticks. Uh… okay. On ME it’s (oh god, am I really saying this?) it’s a fiery coral. Derp.
It’s deeper than most corals, but I can’t get away from the fact that I do feel it’s actually *coral* in nature. I don’t think it’s red (like Too Faced does), but anyway. It’s beautiful. It’s a colour that just suits me – I’m always shocked by my appearance when I see myself in the mirror while wearing this. It’s slightly pink, slightly “red”, slightly coral, creamy, luminous and it just *works* on me. It’s the kind of shade that makes you want the entire collection because you figure that one colour must make the ENTIRE LINE be as beautiful on yourself as this one shade is. Not to mention the luscious sweet lemon scent of the product which is TO DIE FOR, just so we’re clear, and totally unique as far as I’m aware!
Even if you don’t like this shade, I encourage you to try something from Too Faced‘s La Creme line. All of the lip shades I have from this line are glorious on a level I didn’t even know existed. Plus the name appeals to me. Aside from the colour, we all need to acknowledge the fact that packaging and the naming conventions of products do inspire us to like products more. If this was called “pink-red”, I’d probably like “meh”. But it’s not. It’s called Coral Fire, and it makes me swoon.
Sleek does gorgeous makeup through and through. Their 12 pan eyeshadow palettes are my absolute favourite product by them. I used the Sunset palette extensively throughout an entire week this past month! (upcoming Challenge Week coming this following week with this very palette) and could not believe I had used this palette so little before then. The colours are phenomenally pigmented. The only downfall is a lack of matte colours. But let’s get real here – you’ve got mattes in your collection somewhere, and you can definitely break them out to use in conjunction with this palette.
Like Sarah, I’ve also been loving this liquid eyeliner this month. Nicka K‘s Shimmer Eyeliner in Green (uhhh *sorta* green) arrived in my June 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag. I loved it at the time, but used it a few times and kind of disregarded it.
I’ll say the bad right off the bat: the brush is fucking weird. It’s not felt, foam or brush tip. It’s some weird plastic contraption that actually causes some patchiness when you apply it. The other downside is that it stains.
The upsides? IT STAINS, WHICH MEANS IT STAYS PUT FOREVER. The colour is incredible. The vibrancy and shimmer is completely unparalleled in anything I own. And it retails for $6 freaking dollars. My MUFE Aqualiner (read: is expensive) doesn’t even perform this well. I don’t mind staining when it means I can wear a product forever. And that colour… good lord. This is worth buying. And I want every shade.
I’m writing too many paragraphs, which generally means you’ve skipped over to the next picture and given up on me. But I love this, and it’s been my only eye makeup of choice when I’m visiting nearby friends or on a hot day when I really can’t be bothered to wear multiple eyeshadows.
Kalyn sent me this when I won a giveaway on her blog and I could kiss her for it. This is Julep‘s Paris nail polish. I don’t know much about Julep, but I know I love this. This is a chunky holographic glitter with a gold sheen. As I’ve mentioned before, I wear glitter on my toenails 24/7. When she sent me this, I had just run out of my current glitter polish and needed a replacement. I’ve worn this on my toes for the entire month of July and I only have about a third of the bottle left. I *love* this stuff!
When I boughtMAC‘s Sea Me, Hear Me blush I kind of made fun of it in my head. I mean it… to me, it was a fall colour being promoted in the summer. “The heck am I going to do with this thing throughout the summer? It’s too damn dark!” is what I told myself.
Lies. All lies.
I wore the pants out of this blush this month. Despite the swatch, it goes on my cheeks slightly more orange, which means I’ve kind of paired it with some odd combinations this month… but really, I don’t care. Because it’s an extra dimension blush (which has always meant “harder than normal” texture to me), I need to use a stiff duo-fiber brush to dig into the product. Buff it on, blend it out and pray for the best. It’s beautiful. To me it’s a more vibrant, showy TarteExposed. Which is perfect for the summer!
And really, I bought it because the packaging was pretty. (Show of hands, you know you did it too!)
And this was a blurry Nemo. Because you know he wasn’t going to miss out on on showing off some cat butt for this post!
And now, my favourite gif, because this entire WORK MONTH has felt like this. My boss sent it to me today and I was reminded of how much I love this gif. Grumpy cat, I <3 u4lyf.