Tag Archives: Makeup Geek

What I Bought This Month – December 2015 Haul

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Haul time! Here’s the makeup I amassed throughout December – many of them thanks to family members! <3

Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons ($59 CAD)
Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons ($59 CAD)

I’ve become so obsessed with Too Faced that I actually got up at 4 am to order the Chocolate Bon Bons palette on launch day. No, I’m not kidding.

Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons ($59 CAD)
Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons ($59 CAD)

And I’m glad I did it too because the palette promptly sold out by the end of the day! Unfortunately, it took a bit longer to get to me due to a hold up at the post office in the adjacent city being rammed with boxes, but hey, I’ve got it now! I’ve already done swatches which you can see here. A Challenge Week will be forthcoming, but I’m afraid you’ll have to wait till January for it!

Neutrogena Hydrating Wipes (~$9 CAD)
Neutrogena Hydrating Wipes (~$9 CAD)

Are you guys even interested when I buy makeup wipes? Here’s yet another package of Neutrogena Hydrating wipes – once again purchased when they were on sale.

Nemo hanging around as I take my photos!
Nemo hanging around as I take my photos!

Awwww Nemo’s taking a peek while I shoot photos.

Frozen Lip Balm (free - gift)
Frozen Lip Balm (gift)

This one was a joke gift in my stocking, but I had to include it anyway. Frozen lip balm! (And it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be!) There’s tiny flecks of glitter in there as well!

Charlotte Tilbury - The Rebel
Charlotte Tilbury – The Rebel (gift)

Helllloooo gorrrrgeous! This is the Charlotte Tilbury “The Rebel” quad. I’ve loved my Vintage Vamp quad so much that I wanted another one to add to my collection (pricey little buggers) and my husband was kind enough to gift me one!

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipstick in Lost Cherry (gift)
Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipstick in Lost Cherry (gift)

Until now, I had held off trying out Charlotte Tilbury‘s Matte Revolution lipsticks because I just didn’t want to fall in love with a lipstick that costs almost $40! I put Lost Cherry on my wishlist and also got it as a gift. I loooove that colour!

Makeup Geek - Duochrome pigments + eyeshadows and a few random shadows
Makeup Geek – Duochrome pigments + eyeshadows and a few random shadows

And lastly, I put in an enormous Makeup Geek order in November and it only just arrived this month. (The USD exchange rate was not only brutal, but I also got drilled with a customs charge as well. Ugh.) I picked up the entire Duochrome pigment and eyeshadow bundle ($150 USD) and four of the normal shadows that I hadn’t gotten around to picking up yet (Baby Face, Morocco, Pixie Dust and Shore Thing – $6 USD each).

Tell me – what’s the one item you bought/received in December that you loved the most?

2015 Gift Guide: Eyeshadow Palettes

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Gift Guide: Eyeshadow Palettes

Having bought more eyeshadow palettes this past year than I ever even previously owned, I feel like I’m in decent shape to provide recommendations for a gift guide. The focus of this post will be on palettes that I’ve tried, price points, and why I think they’d be a good gift. Since eyeshadow palettes are more of a big ticket item, I personally would consider these as someone’s “main present” rather than a stocking stuffer. Keep that in mind when you’re looking at the prices!

Here are my recommendations:

Kat Von D - Mi Vida Loca Remix
Kat Von D – Mi Vida Loca Remix

Brand: Kat Von D
Palette: Mi Vida Loca Remix
Price: $71 CAD

Let’s start this off with an absolute bombshell of a palette. If you decide you would like to get this (for yourself or otherwise), you’re going to have to get your butt to a Sephora store asap because this has been sold out for a few weeks online (the problem with releasing holiday palettes in September!!!).

Kat Von D - Mi Vida Loca Remix
Kat Von D – Mi Vida Loca Remix

This would be my absolute number one recommendation for an eyeshadow palette present. While the rainbow wheel aspect of it is undeniable and undoubtedly makes this one of the most visually appealing palettes I own, what makes this stand out even more is that inner ring of neutral shadows. This is perfect for colour lovers who need blending and deepening shades alongside their brights. While there are a few misses in pigmentation in the shades (maybe two shades), the overall quality of the Mi Vida Loca Remix palette is off the charts. If you can get your hands on it, you absolutely need to purchase it.

Further reading:

Too Faced Chocolate Bars
Too Faced Chocolate Bars

Brand: Too Faced
Palette: Chocolate Bar or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar
Price: $59 CAD each

Too Faced Chocolate Bars (original on top, Semi-Sweet on the bottom)
Too Faced Chocolate Bars (original on top, Semi-Sweet on the bottom)

While the Urban Decay Naked palettes may own most peoples’ hearts, my true love lies amongst the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palettes. I’ve become obsessed with the scent of chocolate that wafts up from these palettes as soon as I open them. The shade selection is neutral enough for most people to love them, but there are pops of colour to make things interesting. My personal preference is the Semi-Sweet palette, but you can’t go wrong with either of them. The pigmentation and blendability are excellent in both palettes and either one would make lovely gifts.

Further reading:

Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist's Palette
Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist’s Palette

Brand: Laura Mercier
Palette: Eye Art Artist’s Palette
Price: $70 CAD

This palette was originally a holiday 2013 exclusive, but they wisely decided to bring it back within the last year. Although the outer packaging is slightly different now (I have the 2013 version), the shades inside are still the same. I have nothing bad to say about this palette – Laura Mercier has some of the smoothest, easiest to play with shadows I have ever encountered. These are an absolute pleasure to apply to my eyelids and I would recommend this palette to every single person out there! Personally, I consider Laura Mercier a bit more of a “grown up” brand since their average price point is very, very steep (a single eyeshadow is $29 CAD!), but that further reinforces that this palette is a great value.

Sephora Wonderful Dreams
Sephora Wonderful Dreams

Brand: Sephora
Palette: Wonderful Dreams
Price: $13 CAD

Sephora Wonderful Dreams
Sephora Wonderful Dreams

My first look at Sephora’s shadows have been a good one with this little palette. The Wonderful Dreams 8-pan palette slides out to reveal four matte and four shimmery shades. (In particular, the silver is to freaking die for!) I cannot find it on Sephora Canada’s site anymore, but I’ve seen it in stores.  This is a perfect travel palette since it’ll cover all your neutral basics, and it would also make a great stocking stuffer since the price is quite low!

Makeup Geek shadows
Makeup Geek shadows

Brand: Makeup Geek
Palette: N/A
Price: Regular shadows are $6 USD, foiled shadows are $9.99 USD each

I would be totally remiss if I didn’t mention Makeup Geek somewhere in this post! While this isn’t a pre-made palette, you can purchase the shades you desire and create your own perfect gifting palette. Makeup Geek is unbeatable in terms of quality and price tag – they could easily charge double that price and still be considered one of the best shadows on the market. For a holiday-themed palette, I chose the shades Vanilla Bean, Shimma Shimma, Grandstand, Creme Brulee, Cocoa Bear, Bitten, Magic Act, Jester and Flamethrower.

Further reading:

Smashbox Double Exposure
Smashbox Double Exposure

Brand: Smashbox
Palette: Double Exposure
Price: $45 CAD

The Double Exposure palette came out of nowhere in the last few months and smacked me upside the head. I could not believe the quality of the shadows in this palette! I’m a relative newbie to Smashbox so I don’t have a ton of exposure to most of their products, but this one completely blew me out of the water. Pigmentation and bendability are incredible, and there’s enough variety of colour in this palette to make it a liiiittle bit different from all the other neutral palettes out there.

Further reading:

That’s it for this makeup palette gift guide! If you were looking for what to give a friend or family member, I hope this was of some use to you. 🙂

Certain palettes in this review were sent to me for consideration (Sephora - Wonderful Dreams & Smashbox Double Exposure).

What’s On My Face – Volume 43

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With Halloween over, I can finally catch up on my backlog of posts to get through. I had hoped to have my Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Challenge Week up this week, but it seems that isn’t happening, so that’ll be up next week! Till then, here’s a collection of looks that I wore at some point throughout October with a couple guest posts chucked in for good measure. Enjoy!

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I wore this to a preview of the H&M Beauty Department and got a lot of compliments on it. It’s one of my favourite colour combos so I was really happy that others seemed to like it as well!

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Eyes

  1. MAC Illusionary Burning Ambition Duo –  used the white gold shade all over the lid.
  2. Inglot Matte 317 and Matte 338 mixed together on the outer half of the lid with a little bit of Urban Decay Blackout in the very outer corner.
  3. Wet n Wild Brule on the brow bone.

I created the winged liner with MAC‘s Blacktrack fludline and applied Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara to my lashes.

Face

  • Bronzer: Hard Candy Hula Hula
  • Blush: essence pinky flow
  • Highlighter: Becca Champagne Pop
  • Lips: Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask in Maple

201509_womf43_look2.1

The Soul Sister glitter I picked up from Lit Cosmetics at IMATS is quite possibly the most beautiful glitter I’ve ever encountered. My shots don’t do it justice, but it’s primarily green with gold and copper flecks. It’s absolutely incredible.

201509_womf43_look2.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Club all over the lid.
  2. Inglot Pearl 418 on the outer half of the lid.
  3. Lit Cosmetics Soul Sister glitter applied on top of Club.
  4. Wet n Wild Brulee on the brow bone.

Urban Decay Perversion mascara is on my lashes.

Face

  • Bronzer: SST Cosmetics Radiant Finish Bronzer
  • Blush: Hourglass Incandescent Electra
  • Highlighter: MAC Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: NYX Spongecake gloss

201509_womf43_look3.1

I was headed out to Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland and had to wear something festive. Because even though it may not be seen by anyone due to how dark it was, *I* still knew I was wearing something fun! And by the way? Canada’s Wonderland Halloween Haunt? TOTALLY worth it. I had so much fun!

201509_womf43_look3.2

Eyes

  1. Too Faced Millenial at the top of the crease.
  2. Viseart matte orange from the Editorial Brights palette.
  3. Too Faced Girl’s Night on the outer half of the lid.
  4. Too Faced Chandelier on the brow bone.
  5. Lit Cosmetics California Soul all over the lid on top of the orange.

I created the wing with Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner in Trooper and applied Urban Decay Perversion mascara to my lashes.

Face

  • Blush: MAC Gingerly
  • Lips: Revlon Papaya

justmizzj_makeupyourmind_chelle1

I did this look for a guest post over on JustJ last month while she was away getting married!

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justmizzj_makeupyourmind_chelle8

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Frappe through the top of the crease.
  2. Makeup Geek Burlesque through the crease.
  3. Makeup Geek Bitten on the outer half of the lid and a bit through the crease. I also used this shade to line the lower lash line.
  4. Makeup Geek Corrupt in the outer corner to deepen up the look.
  5. Makeup Geek pigment in Utopia all over the lid. I used Too Faced’s Glitter Glue to make sure it stayed on my lid!
  6. Makeup Geek Bleached Blonde on the inner tearduct.
  7. Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean on the brow bone.
I created the winged liner with essence‘s easy 2 use jumbo eyeliner pen and tightlined both of my water lines with Maybelline‘s Lasting Drama Waterproof Gel Eye Pencil in Sleek Onyx. I applied a few coats of Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara to my lashes and popped on some Ardell false lashes in the style 102 Black. I filled in my brows with Anastasia‘s Dipbrow in Taupe.
Rest of the Face
  • Foundation: IT cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+ in Fair and Light mixed together
  • Bronzer: Make Up For Ever Pro Bronze Fusion in 30M
  • Blush: Clinique Cheek Pop in Cola Pop
  • Highlighter: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Too Faced Melted Berry

201909_forzoe1

And another guest post, this time for Zoe! I was going for unicorn inspired and this is what I came up with!

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201909_forzoe5

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Eyes

  1. Inglot Matte 334 through the top of the crease.
  2. Naked Cosmetics Ivory stack (white shade) on the inner tearduct.
  3. MAC Crystal Avalanche on the lid.
  4. Inglot Matte 325 on the outer half of the lid.
  5. Urban Decay Blackout on the very outer corner to deepen it up.
  6. Wet n Wild Brulee to highlight the brow.
  7. Inglot Matte 317 on the outer edge of the lower lash line.
  8. Inglot Matte 343 right beside it to the halfway line of the lower lash line.
  9. Inglot Matte 370 beside it as well.
  10. Inglot Matte 383 as the very last colour on the lower lash line.

I used the Kat Von D Ink Liner in Neruda to create the wing and applied Urban Decay’s Perversion mascara to my lashes. I filled in my brows with NYX’s MicroBrow in Taupe.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Revlon ColorStay in 220 Natural Beige
  • Bronzer: Make Up For Ever Pro Bronze Fusion in 30M
  • Blush: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: MAC Iridescent Powder in Silver Dusk
  • Lips: Inglot AMC Lipgloss in 544

What’s On My Face – Volume 42

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Another roundup! You’ll notice these sets of look go from bright and vibrant eye makeup to darker plums and red pretty quickly. It wasn’t done intentionally, but you can definitely see fall creeping into my looks slowly!

201509_womf41_look1.1

I had received the NARS Rated R duo in a swap a while ago and wanted to try it out. So I wore it out to brunch!

201509_womf41_look1.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Cork through the crease.
  2. NARS Rated R – green side all over the lid.
  3. NARS Rated R – blue side on the outer half of the lid.
  4. Too Faced White Chocolate on the brow bone.

I created the wing with MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline and applied Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara to my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Garnier BB Cream in Light to Medium
  • Bronzer: Revlon Bronzed & Chic
  • Blush: Milani Luminoso
  • Highlighter: Becca Champage Pop

201509_womf41_look2.1

I *loved* this one. I wore it to my cousin’s engagement party and fell in love with the final look so much that I’ve now used it everywhere for my social media profile shot. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

201509_womf41_look2.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Cork through the top of the crease.
  2. Inglot AMC Shine 33 all over the lid.
  3. Inglot Matte 338 on the half of the lid and through the crease.
  4. MAC Print to deepen the outer corner.
  5. MAC Blanc Type on the brow bone.
  6. Naked Cosmetics IV05 (green reflect) on the inner corner of the eye.

I used Catrice‘s Dating Joe Black to create the wing and tightlined my upper and lower water lines with Marc Jacobs‘ Blacquer. I also popped on a pair of House of Lashes Bombshell falsies.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Hard Candy Hula Hula
  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: Becca Champagne Pop
  • Lips: Bite Beauty Fig

201509_womf41_look3.1

I did this to match my JORD watch a few weeks ago and it reminded me just how much I love that L’Oreal eyeshadow.

Eyes

  • Eyeshadow: L’Oreal Infallible shadow in Golden Mahogany (seriously, that’s the only thing I’m wearing on my lids).
  • Mascara: Urban Decay Perversion

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Make Up For Ever UltraHD stick foundation in Y225
  • Bronzer: Hard Candy Hula Hula
  • Blush:  Laura Geller Pink Grapefruit
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Clarins Nude Beige lip liner

201509_womf41_look4.1

Ohhh yes. So much yes to this one.  I was playing around with my Makeup Geek shadows and loved how this gold worked out with that darker rusty red. You can ever go wrong with MUG‘s Bitten!

201509_womf41_look4.2

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Fortune Teller all over the lid.
  2. Makeup Geek Bitten on the outer corner and through the crease. Apparently I blended it out with Peach Smoothie, but forgot to identify that on the chart above.
  3. Makeup Geek Corrupt on the outer corner to deepen it up.
  4. Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean on the brow bone.

I coated my lashes with Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Make Up For Ever Pro Bronze Fusion in 30M
  • Blush: Kryolan Glossy Rosewood
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Clarins Joli Rouge in Soft Plum

201509_womf41_look5.1

I can tell the outdoor natural lighting is starting to get fucked up in my pictures – definitely going to be investing in some studio lighting this fall and winter that’s for sure. I wanted to play more with my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palettes – I love them, but I feel like I’m always reaching for the newest thing that’s been released. However, I still very, very much love these palettes.

201509_womf41_look5.2

Eyes
(all Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette)

  1. Salted Caramel through the top of the crease.
  2. Creme Brulee all over the lid.
  3. Cherry Cordial on the outer half of the lid.
  4. Triple Fudge in the outer corner to deepen it up.
  5. White Chocolate on the brow bone.

On my lashes is Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Revlon Colorstay in 200 Nude and 220 Sand Beige mixed together
  • Concealer: Collection Lasting Perfection in Light 2
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Clinique Cola Pop
  • Highlighter: Becca Champagne Pop
  • Lips: Too Faced Jelly Bean

What’s On My Face – Volume 41

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While this set of looks doesn’t top Volume 40 for epic-ness (seriously – I’m way proud of some of the looks in Volume 40), there’s still some really, really pretty ones in here.

Enjoy!

201508_womf41_look2.1

I can’t even rember why I was so done up for this look to be honest. I must’ve been doing SOMETHING important to warrant false lashes…

201508_womf41_look2.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Cork through the top of the crease.
  2. Inglot AMC Shine 28 all over the lid and inner tearduct.
  3. Inglot Matte 325 on the outer half of the lid and to line the lower lash line.
  4. Urban Decay Blackout in the outer corner.
  5. Wet n Wild Brulee on the brow bone.

I created the wing with the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper and tightlined my water lines with Marc Jacobs‘ Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer. On my lashes is CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara with a pair of Houses of Lashes Bombshell falsies on top.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Hard Candy Hula Hula
  • Blush: Milani Tea Rose
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial

201508_womf41_look4.1

This look (without the glitter) has been a constant favourite of mine over the years. It’s one I know I can resort to if I want to look like my eyes are on fire and don’t have to think about the eyeshadow combination. Kind of a failsafe, you know? I wore this to the VIB Rouge event at the Eaton Centre in Toronto (thank you for the invite Julie!) and had to add on some glitter just for fun. Except I love it so much with the glitter that now it’s REQUIRED for this look…

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Eyes

  1. MAC Gleam all over the lid.
  2. MAC Coppering on the outer half of the lid and through the crease.
  3. MAC Handwritten to deepen the outer corner.
  4. MAC Blanc Type on the brow bone.

I applied some Too Faced Glitter Glue all along my lower lash line, then patted on MAC‘s Reflect Copper glitter (THIS STUFF IS INSANE). On my lashes is Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil
  • Blush: MAC Ripe Peach
  • Highlighter: Becca Champagne Pop
  • Lips: Revlon Lipstain + Balm in Flame

201508_womf41_look1.1

This one is fairly “old” since it’s been sitting on my harddrive since June. I think I was trying to figure out how to balance coloured eyeshadow with bright lips. I actually think this works… but I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince myself of that, you know?

201508_womf41_look1.2

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Fantasy all over the lid.
  2. Makeup Geek Dirty Martini on the outer half of the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean on the brow bone.
  4. Makeup Geek Daydreamer on the inner corner.

I lined my lower lash line with Makeup Geek‘s Masquerade eyeshadow and created the wing with MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline. On my lashes is Make Up For Ever Smoky Stretch mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Hard Candy Hula Hula
  • Blush: essence Life’s a Cherry
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Too Faced Melted Rainbow

201508_womf41_look5.1

With all the hype surrounding the upcoming holiday palettes by Too Faced, I just had to whip out some of my older holiday palettes by them. I love their holidays palettes so much!

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Eyes
(all Too Faced shadows from the Everything Nice palette)

  1. Shiny Happy on the lid.
  2. Secret Lovers on the outer half of the lid.
  3. Be You through the crease.
  4. Kindess is Free barely tapped on the outer corner of the crease.
  5. Dream On on the brow bone.

On my lashes is Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil
  • Blush: Too Faced Papa Don’t Peach
  • Highlighter: Too Faced Inner Light
  • Lips: Too Faced Melted Violet

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And last up is a look I wasn’t sure how to do when I first looked at the quad. This utilizes The Body Shop‘s Pink Poppy shimmer cubes which have a very vibrant hot pink, an orange, a somewhat timid lime green and a silver. That’s one hell of a combination!

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Eyes
(using The Body Shop shimmer cubes in Pink Poppy)

  1. Orange shade all over the lid.
  2. Too Faced Cherry Cordial to deepen up the crease (had to use something else because the look would’ve had no dimension).
  3. Hot Pink shade through the crease.

I lined the lower lash line with the Green and Silver shades from the shimmer cube quad, then applied CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara to my lashes

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: MAC Refined Golden
  • Blush: Hard Candy Skinny Dipping
  • Highlighter: Becca Champagne Pop
  • Lips: Revlon‘s Papaya lipgloss