Tag Archives: Sleek

What’s On My Face – Volume 19

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Time for round 19 of makeup gunk I’ve splashed on my face!

201407_look2.1

I wore this one during Toronto’s Pride Week and really liked how this came out. You can really never go wrong with Makeup Geek‘s Utopia, such a beautiful blackened gold that seems to work with every colour imaginable.

201407_look2.2

Eyes

  1. Inglot‘s Shine 132 (silver) all over the lid. Then apply Too Faced‘s Glitter Glue on top of the silver and tap on Makeup Geek‘s Utopia pigment on top. Utopia is also applied on the inner half of the lower lash line.
  2. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the top of the crease.
  3. Inglot‘s Matte 338 (turquoise) in outer corner and through the crease and blend it in to Utopia. 338 is also applied on the outer half of the lower lash line.
  4. Urban Decay‘s Blackout in the very corner to darker up the turquoise.

MAC Shroom to highlight the browbone, Tarte‘s gel liner in Black to create the wing with Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet pencil liner on my inner rim. Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Extravagant on both sets of lashes with a pair of J. Cat false lashes in EL13 glued on. Instead of my usual MAC Omega on my brows, I’ve switched to Anastasia‘s Dipbrow Pomade inBlonde.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Revlon Colorstay (Dry/Normal) in 220 Natural Beige
  • Bronze: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Highlighter: MAC Whisper of Gilt with MAC Silver Dusk on top
  • Blush: Illamasqua Hussy
  • Lipstick: (not pictured) Too Faced Coral Fire

201407_look3.1

Quick and easy, no-fuss look for a weekend brunch.

201407_look3.2

Eyes

  1. Maybelline Bad to Bronze all over the lid.
  2. Sleek Bark on the outer half of the lid.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow bone and Sephora‘s Full Action Extreme Effect mascara in Purple on my lashes. Anastasia‘s Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde through my brows.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: (also used as a blush) NYC Fire Island Tan

201407_look1.1

One of Nikki Tutorials’ recent recreations was a look that was inspired by Cheryl Cole. I took Nikki’s tutorial and tried to replicate it as much as possible which was, thankfully, relatively easy given that I had almost all of the exact same products she used. So here’s my take on her tutorial!

201407_look1.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Coppering all over the lid as a base layer. Then apply Too Faced Glitter Glue on top of Coppering, and tap on Makeup Geek‘s Vegas Lights pigment.
  2. Combine Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear, Too Faced Semi-Sweet and Too Faced Cherry Cordial and blend that in the outer corner and through the crease. I also ran this combination all along the lower lash line.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the top of the crease.

MAC Shroom on my brow bone, Tarte‘s gel liner in Black to create the wing and Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner on my inner lower rim. Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes with Ardell 102 Demi false lashes. Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde through my brows.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Revlon Colorstay (Dry/Normal) in 220 Natural Beige
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Tarte Dollface
  • Highlighter: Hard Candy Tiki
  • Lips: Starlooks Naked lip liner with NYX Butter Gloss in Maple Blondie on top

201407_look4.1

This look came about as I was doing my “Four or More: Eyes Edition” post and remembered just how much I love the sheen/duochromeness of the Color Tattoo in Waves of White.

201407_look4.2

Eyes

  1. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Waves of White all over the lid.
  2. From Sleek‘s Acid palette, use the darker blue shade in the outer corner and through the crease.

Makeup Geek Creme Brulee blended through the top of my crease with MAC Shroom on the browbone. Make Up For Ever‘s Smoky Lash Extravagant on my lashes.

201407_look5.1

Judging by what foundation I used, I think this look is from a month or more ago. I was going through a pink crease phase and this was one of the looks I came up with.

201407_look5.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Shroom all over the lid.
  2. MAC Copperplate on the outer half of the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Simply Marlena through the crease.

MAC Shroom to highlight my brow bone. Tarte‘s gel liner in Black to create the wing and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: CoverGirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory mixed with Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 51 Light Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Joe Fresh Apricot cream blush with Be A Bombshell‘s Beach Please powder blush on top
  • Highlighter: Too Faced Candlelight
  • Lips: Inglot Lipgloss in AMC 544

Four or More: Eyes Edition

Miscellaneous, Tags, , ,

201406_4ormore-eyes

Last month I did a “Four or More: Lips Edition” post, and this month I thought I’d bring you the Eyes version of that. So here are quick reviews on eye products that I happen to own four or more products!

Maybelline Color Tattoos – (starting on the top row l-r): Tough as Taupe, Tenacious Teal, Too Cool, Barely Beige, (bottom row:) Mossy Green, Edgy Emerald, Waves of White, Bold Gold, Bad to the Bronze
Maybelline Color Tattoos – (starting on the top row l-r): Tough as Taupe, Tenacious Teal, Too Cool, Barely Beige, (bottom row:) Mossy Green, Edgy Emerald, Waves of White, Bold Gold, Bad to the Bronze

These Maybelline Color Tattoos are beloved by almost every beauty blogger, beauty YouTuber and many a person I know IRL. And while I own a lot of them, I just never really fell in love with them like everyone else did. I really did try to – clearly I did, I kept on buying them – but on me they seem to make my lids really “crackly-looking”. I know that’s an odd description, but it’s the best way I can think to describe it.  They also don’t blend out as well as I want them to. And they definitely do dry up over time, even though I store them top-down. They do have insane lasting power however: I wore Edgy Emerald and Tenacious Teal while swimming in the ocean by accident once while on vacation in Florida and they did NOT budge. I will say that I bust these out if I need a really quick eye colour that I don’t want to fuss with, but I’ve put myself on a Color Tattoo no-buy because despite the pretty colours, I just don’t use them as much as I should given how many of them I own.

L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows (l-r): Burning Black, Golden Mahogany, Glistening Garnet, Pepsy Coral, Amber Rush, Tender Caramel, Goldmine, Hourglass Beige
L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows (l-r): Burning Black, Golden Mahogany, Glistening Garnet, Pepsy Coral, Amber Rush, Tender Caramel, Goldmine, Hourglass Beige

I love these so, so much. L’Oreal‘s Infallible Eyeshadows are amazing. Very smooth and incredibly pigmented. They’re essentially loose pigments pressed down by a stopper to keep them from sloshing about. You get the benefit of the pigmentation of a pigment, without the horrific powdery mess that inevitably ends up EVERYWHERE. My absolute must haves from the line are Amber Rush and Hourglass Beige 

MAC Fluidlines (l-r): Midnight Blues, Dark Envy, Dipdown, Blacktrack
MAC Fluidlines (l-r): Midnight Blues, Dark Envy, Dipdown, Blacktrack

(called Iced Latte in the US – I think you guys got the better name on that one!). But the best one out of the lot is that amazing darkened, shimmery red second from the left. It’s called  Golden Mahogany and was only available in Canada for a limited time. I happened to find a complete ratchet one at Walmart about a year ago and snagged it up because that particular shade is completely gone from the line now. Regardless of your colour preference, these are worth picking up just to test out and see how you like it.

Fluidlines are MAC‘s term for a gel liner and a product I always come back to. I’ve been through a few pots of Blacktrack, and continue to repurchase it when I run out. These stay surprisingly creamy for a very long time. That brown shade, Dipdown, is roughly four years old and is still as creamy as when I first received it. There’s something about MAC‘s fluidlines that just make them go on the lashline a lot smoother than any other gel liners I’ve tried. Other liners can tend to skip on me, but these flow on like BUTTAH. The brown and black shades are in their permanent line, but the dark blue (Midnight Blues) and green (Dark Envy) were from their MAC Me Over collection from 2011. Highly, highly recommended – though I will point out that they are not waterproof.

Sleek palettes
Sleek palettes

Oh baby do I ever love Sleek and their 12 pan eyeshadow palettes. So much so that I’ve picked up six of them over the years whenever I’m in the UK.

Sleek palette (clockwise starting from the bottom left): Mattes V2, Mattes V1, Sunset, Au Naturel, Original, Acid
Sleek palette (clockwise starting from the bottom left): Mattes V2, Mattes V1, Sunset, Au Naturel, Original, Acid

The pigmentation on these is incredible for a drugstore brand that is relatively inexpensive. My favourites are the two matte palettes – the bright one and the dark one. It can be hard to find mattes at the drugstore in a variety of colours, never mind actually finding bright vivid ones as well! Hands down Sleek has the best drugstore palettes that exist. If only they’d come to Canada! (That being said, the shipping from the UK to Canada is incredibly cheap, so it’s worth ordering some palettes online if you would like to check them out.)

MAC Mineralize Eyeshadows. Top row (l-r): Illusionary/Burning Ambition, Heat Element, Blue My Mind, Calm, Cool & Collected (bottom row (l-r): Cinderfella, Blue Flame, Blue Sorcery, Midnight Madness
MAC Mineralize Eyeshadows. Top row (l-r): Illusionary/Burning Ambition, Heat Element, Blue My Mind, Calm, Cool & Collected (bottom row (l-r): Cinderfella, Blue Flame, Blue Sorcery, Midnight Madness

I went through a phase of loving MAC‘s Mineralize Eyeshadows, but have stopped collecting them in more recent years. On me, these are best applied wet in order to bring out the pigmentation and shimmer (water works just as fine as MAC‘s Fix+ does). While the duos are easy enough to get your brush into, I will say that the trio get to be a nightmare when you wear down the middle strips. You end up needing smaller and smaller brushes to get just that single pigment and it can be tedious to do so. My favourite of the lot? Of course it’s the red-tinged one: Heat Element.

That’s my round up for Four or More: Eyes Edition. The only thing not mentioned were my MAC eyeshadows/palettes as I’ve already done a few posts on those. You can check them out here:

What’s On My Face – Volume 18: Pride Edition

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , ,

This year, Toronto is the host city for World Pride. I have loved Pride ever since I moved to Toronto and into the Village. I know Pride gives everyone a different feeling, but to me it’s a time to celebrate freedom, be happy, and wear a metric ton of bright colours and glitter.

I’ve been saving these looks for a lonnnng time. Even before I had a blog I was all “I need to photgraph these because some day… I’ll use them for… something.” Since these are all taken over a year ago (during last year’s Pride Week) the quality may be a little bit different and I definitely don’t have any closed eye shots so I could map out what colours go where. But I’ll do my best to describe!

20140611_look3.1

If you’re looking to shock people with a neon look, then this one is a darn good place to start. Although the up close picture shots make it look really cool,  just be aware that this is not an especially flattering look.

I wore this during my soccer league’s Pride Parade float last year and it held up through the heat and the inevitable water bomb attacks that happened throughout the parade.

Eyes

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original all over the upper and lower lids.
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk all over the upper lid – smooth out with your finger.
  • Then using the Sleek Acid Palette: Neon orange on the lid, neon pink through the crease, neon yellow in the inner corner and the neon green to line the lower lash line.
  • A touch of Urban Decay’s Buck to blend out the crease and make the pink a touch less harsh.
  • Physicians Formula Eye Booster in Ultra Black to create the wing.
  • L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes

20140611_look2.1

This is a quick vibrant one that can be done using any two really pigmented colours. The week of Pride, I tend to mix colours based on the rainbow’s gradient and go from there. For example, on Monday I’d wear red/orange, Tuesday yellow/green, Wednesday blue/purple, etc. If you stick to the rainbow gradient, it’s very hard to mismatch colours.

For the above look, I used:

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original to prime my lid
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow pencil in Milk as a solid base – be sure to blend it out
  • Then using Sleek’s Ultra Mattes V1 palette: Sugarlite all over the lid, with Bolt in the outer corner and through the crease. A little bit of Pow! to highlight the brow with a touch of Urban Decay‘s Naked eyeshadow in the crease to blend out the shades through the crease.
  • Maybelline Gel Liner in Blackest Black to create the winged liner
  • And finally, CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara on my lashes

20140611_look1.1

And my favourite one! This came out so much better than I ever thought it would.  Every Pride I end up wearing this to work at least one of the days of the week. I think it’s really vibrant and beautiful. And it’ll definitely get you noticed!

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original to prime my lid
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to create the base
  • Starting from the inner corner, using all MAC shadows, apply small stripes of shadow, then blend them into the next colour. I used (from inner corner to outer): Coppering, Amber Lights, Goldmine, Bio Green, Freshwater and Parfait Amour.
  • MAC Blacktrack Fluidline for my liner
  • L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes with Ardell 102 false lashes on top.

I hope this gives you some ideas for Pride. Keep in mind that pretty much anything goes throughout Pride so you can feel free to wear whatever you like.

What’s On My Face – Volume 17

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When I first created this blog, I was really, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to generate enough makeup looks to sustain any kind of regular “makeup looks” posting schedule. Little did I realize just how many eye looks I attempt and even months later I’ve still got a huge backlog of eye looks for upcoming posts!

20140604_look1.1

Glitter and lashes. You really can’t go wrong. I think this came out really beautifully.

20140604_look1.2

Eyes

I first applied Makeup Geek‘s White Lies all over the lid as a base, then:

  1. Inglot Matte 334 in the outer corner and throughout the crease.
  2. Inglot Matte 325 in the outer corner to darken it up. Also used on the lower lash line in the outer corner.
  3. MAC‘s Transparent Teal glitter all over the lid. To make the glitter stick, I used Too Faced Glitter Glue as a base layer. I also applied the glitter on the lower lash line as well.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow. Tarte‘s black gel liner to create the wing and Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner on the inner lower lash line rim. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes and Ardell single lashes to add some volume to my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Revlon Colorstay (Combination/Oily) in 200 Nude
  • Concealer: MAC Select Cover-up in NW20
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie

20140604_look4.1

This one came to me out of nowhere. I often use Sleek‘s Sunrise palette as my mirror of choice, so I often find myself staring at those colours. The blue in that palette is beautiful, but I never really knew how to incorporate it into a look with that palette. This came to me as a spur of the moment type thing and I think it turned out really well. It’s funny because people say not to wear blue eyeshadow if you have blue eyes because it’ll drown out the colour of your eyes… but I have to say I received so many compliments at work that this brought out my eye colour that I really have to disagree with the “norm” to not wear blue on blue eyes!

20140604_look4.2

Eyes

Using the Sleek Sunset palette:

  1.  From the bottom row, the second shade on the right, apply that all over the lid.
  2. Again from the bottom row, sweep the first colour from the left into the crease and blend out.
  3. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

On the lower lash line, use the bright blue from the Sleek Sunset palette, then smudge it out slightly with Makeup Geek‘s Creme Brulee. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Cheeks: MAC Petal Power
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Lips: Too Faced Coral Fire

20140604_look2.1

This look’s genius comes from Sharon Farrell. Her Tequila Sunrise tutorial was not only unique, but utterly eye-catching. I definitely do not possess her skill, but I thought I’d give this look a shot because I loved her end result so much.

20140604_look2.2

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee very heavily through the crease.
  2. MAC Steamy on the inner two thirds of the lid.
  3. MAC Club on the outer third of the lid. Also applied all over the lower lash line.
  4. MAC Gorgeous Gold on the inner tearduct.

MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow. Tarte‘s black gel liner to create the wing and Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner on the inner lower rim. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Tarte Charisma
  • Lips: NYX Butter Lipstick in Fizzies

20140604_look5.1

I was rooting through my collection determined to use something I had touched in long time. So this look ended up utilizing a few of my older, limited edition products.

20140604_look5.2

Eyes

Using the MAC mineralize eyeshadow trio in Blue My Mind:

  1. The lightest shade on the inner third of the lid.
  2. The blue shimmery shade on the middle of the lid.
  3. The black on the outer corner.

MAC Shroom to highlight my brow, MAC fluidline in Midnight Blues to create the wing and Benefit They’re Real mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla
  • Blush: Tarte Charisma
  • Lips: Wet n Wild 903C with NYX‘s Butter Gloss in Tiramisu on top

20140604_look3.1

Ehhhhhhhhhhh. This one’s okayyyyyy…..

20140604_look3.2

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Simply Marlena and Mango Tango mixed together and blended into the crease. I’d say it’s a lot heavier on the pinker shade.
  2. Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean all over the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Frappe and Goddess mixed together and applied to the outer third.

Vanilla Bean to highlight the brow and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Lips: Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar

What’s On My Face – Volume 16

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You know… I never really noticed just how much white I wear until I started taking pictures of my face for this blog. It seems that nine times out of ten I’m wearing a white shirt!

This entry ended up being highly blue-centric. Enjoy!

20140517_look4.1

I can’t get over Inglot and their colour range. I wish I had easier access to the brand (they’re nowhere in Toronto) but good grief are their colours ever amazing.

20140517_look4.2

Eyes

  1. Inglot AMC Shine 33 all over the lid and on the middle of the lower lash line.
  2. Inglot Matte 338 heavily in the outer corner, blended into the crease. Also in the outer corner on the lower lash line.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee slightly through the crease (not pictured).

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow, Tarte‘s Black gel liner to create the wing and BenefitThey’re Real on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Joe Fresh Apricot
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: Wet n Wild 903C with NYX‘s Tiramisu Butter Gloss over top

 

20140517_look3.1

Seriously love red eyeshadow. My only gripe is that Makeup Geek‘s Peach Smoothiealways does that really annoying creasing thing on my lid every time I wear it on the lid (even with double primers).

20140517_look3.2

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie on the inner third of the lid.
  2. Makeup Geek Mango Tango on the middle of the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Razzleberry on the outer third.
  4. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the crease to blend everything out.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloass in Papaya

 

20140517_look2.1

I haven’t used my Original Sleek palette very much so I pulled it out for this look.

20140517_look2.2

Eyes

  1. The copper shade from the Original Sleek palette all over the lid.
  2. The purple shade from the Original Sleek palette in the outer corner and on the outer corner of my lower lash line.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my top lashes with Sephora‘s Purple mascara on my bottom lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: MUA Matte Foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: MAC Gingerly
  • Highlighter: Hard Candy Tiki
  • Lips: Revlon Colorburst Gloss in Sunset Peach

 

20140517_look5.1

If I look half asleep it’s because I was – this was some early morning IKEA run. I had no idea people actually line up outside IKEA before it even opened for the day. o.O

20140517_look5.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Blanc Type all over the lid and all the way up to the brow bone.
  2. MAC Contrast in the very outer corner.

Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Illamasqua Hussy

 

20140517_look1.1

Mehhhh not sold on this look – wouldn’t repeat it.

20140517_look1.2

Eyes

  1. MAC Fade all over the lid (this is so patchy – the name is apt, it fades poorly!)
  2. MAC Steamy in the outer corner.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Bourjois Rose Gold
  • Lips: Nivea – A Kiss of Berry Swirl