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.
essence – Autumn Peach
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.
Tarte – Charisma
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.
MAC – Whisper of Gilt
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.
Illamasqua – Alluvium
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.
Urban Decay Perversion mascara
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?
Everyone’s already talked about how the bag of the month looks like a deflated beach ball… So now that I’ve stolen everyone elses’ much smarter observation than my own, let’s move on to the contents of the actual bag!
The theme was back to school, but as with all Ipsy bags, the theme never really seems to make any sense. I mean it’s all makeup at the end of the day… we wear this stuff year ’round!
Urban Decay Perversion mascara
The big hitting product this month was Urban Decay‘s brand new Perversion mascara. People were absolutely freaking out over the size of this sample on the Ipsy threads, but when I go back and compare it to previous deluxe size samples of mascara I’ve received through Ipsy before, it’s near identical in volume. Most deluxe size samples are between 0.1 and 0.2 fluid ounces (this one is 0.1 fluid ounce). There is nothing wrong with this sample – heck you can even tell they stuffed the tube because the darn thing makes a squelching sound every time I open it. If anything, I think UD just really knew how to package this sucker.
ANYWAY. On to the actual mascara. Plain and simple: I love it. It has a natural, “normal” brush and it coats my lashes wonderfully. It’s smooth, thick and wetter than most mascara formulas, which is something I like in particular. This one is a winner, and I may very well buy the full size when I finish this one.
Dr. Brandt – Pores No More pore refiner primer
I had amazing results with Dr. Brandt‘s microdermabrasion scrub, but unfortunately a primer just isn’t necessary for me. It smells heavily of tea tree oil, which is really nice (if you like the scent, of course!). It has a silicone feel on the skin, which I quite like, but I couldn’t tell you if this does what it’s supposed to do because I never notice a difference with my foundation whether I use primer or not.
LORD & BERRY Black SILK mini kajal kohl liner
This is a black liner that does absolutely nothing. There’s nothing remotely enticing about this product. Lord & Berry say it’s a kohl kajal, but the damn thing is so stiff that it’s hard to get colour pay off (as you can see in my eye shot above). It was difficult to even get that much on my lid. I tried tightlining with it and I swear it smudged off within 30 seconds. I’ve no use for this liner at all.
Absolute – You’re The Balm – Grape
This one wigs me out. Absolute‘s You’re The Balm in Grape looks, feels and smells like a very cheap product. It’s a relatively clear, gelatinous balm with multicoloured sparkles mixed in. Normally the glitter would fill me with glee, but since it goes on the lips rather gritty, I really just feel like I’m wearing a Wet n Wild sparkly balm from the 90s. I’ve only tried it once and was too disgusted to try it again. It’s sitting in a corner on my makeup desk, waiting for the moment that I gather the courage to try it again…
Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample
These Coastal Scents blushes aren’t too bad actually. The pans are really tiny and I made the mistake of accidentally cracking the product on one of them while trying to get it out of the plastic packaging. It can be a bit difficult to get your blush brush into these products though since the pans are so bloody small. The colours, however, go on my cheeks rather nicely and have lasted throughout and entire work day, so that’s a huge bonus for a relatively inexpensive products.
Ipsy August 2014 Breakdown (all prices in USD)
Urban DecayPerversion mascara (0.1 fl oz @ $5.50, full size is $22 for 0.4 oz)
Dr. BrandtPores No More pore refiner primer (0.25 fl oz @ $11.25, full size is $45 for 1 fl oz)
Absolute You’re the Balm Lip Balm in Grape ($2.99, full size)
Coastal ScentsForever Blush Sample Duo (2.5g @ $2, full size is $7.95 for 10g)
Lord & Berry Black SILK Kajal Kohl-Liner (0.6g @ $7.50, full size is $15 for… double the size? – just a guess, I can’t find sizing info anywhere)
BAG VALUE = $29.24
My Thoughts
Kalyn basically summed up my thoughts in her own post on this month’s Ipsy bag, but in essence… aside from the mascara, this bag bored me. After such an amazing last month, this bag was just an absolute downer. It was so offputting that I’m considering whether or not want to stay subscribed to Ipsy. I think I’m at this point where I’m realizing that some of this is really just unnecessary products that I use, but never really fall in love with. I’ll see how next month goes and then make a solid decision.
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.
Benefit They’re Real mascara
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.
L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black waterproof mascara
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.
Make Up For Ever’s Smoky Lash Extravagant
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.
Pop Beauty mascara
No. Just no. Useless and dry.
Purchase? Hah. NO.
NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base
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.
Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee
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.
MAC Omega eyeshadow
*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.
MAC Prep + Prime for lips
Second… third maybe? tube of MAC’s Prep + Prime for lips. Fantastic for preventing lipsticks from bleeding outside my lipline.
Repurchase? Already have!
Murad – Oil-Control Mattifier
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.
Barry M – Diamond Glitter
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!
Quo – Nail Polish Remover
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!
Neutrogena Wipes
No shocker here. Neutrogena‘s makeup removing wipes are the only ones I use now. Definite preference to the hydrating ones.
Repurchase? For sho.
Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Make-Up Remover
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.
MOR Hand Cream – Kale and Watercress and Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer
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!
Fortune Cookie Soap – Tick Tock Whipped Cream
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.
Tree Hut Coconut Lime Shea Body Butter
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.
Dermal Therapy – Hand, Elbow & Knee Moisturizer
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.
Dermal Therapy – Heel Care Moisturizer
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 Bees – Almond & Milk Hand Cream
Burt’s BeesAlmond & Milk Hand Cream smells nice, but it’s super thick and super greasy.
Repurchase? Nah.
Clean & Clear – Deep Action Cream Cleanser
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.
Boots No7 – Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser
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.
Fortune Cookie Soap – Lemon Drop It Like It’s Hot Microdermabrasion Scrub
FCS‘ first skincare item. I liked it at first, but the scent started to bother me over time. Nicely abrasive though.
Repurchase? Nah.
Philosophy – The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash
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 Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant
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!
Aveeno – Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer
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.
Eva NYC – Therapy Session Hair Mask
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!
