It’s sweltering hot again here in Seattle. But thank god for powder foundation! Ain’t nobody got time for liquid in this heat.
Been working eight days on two days off, which leads to a whole lot of “Fuck it, I did my eyebrows, good enough.”
Eyes: Urban Decay eyeshadows in Kinky, Freestyle and Back Door, Urban Decay Perversion mascara
Face: Kat Von D powder foundation
Lips: Rimmel Provocalips loosing in Play With Fire
Here are the brushes I used this week. I actually washed and conditioned my natural hair brushes! I hadn’t conditioned them in ages. I used my Daiso Cleanser For Puff and Sponge on my synthetic Sigma Kabuki and concealer brushes (it’s too harsh for natural hair brushes). I used a gentle, SLS-free shampoo and a silicone free conditioner on the natural hair brushes (rinse extremely well if you do this). All good! They are sticking over the ledge of the shelf over an air conditioning vent. 🙂 We are ready for next week!
When was the last time you gave your brushes a little TLC?
I got some really cool nail polish in this month’s Ipsy bag – Essie’s “Fashion Playground”. It is a neutral toned sea green (or as I like to call this particular color, Art Deco Green) with a subtle shimmer. It goes on a bit streaky, so I needed three coats – but ended up with beautiful coverage. And after a top coat of Seche Vite it is positively glassy and beautiful.
A while back I picked up some interesting looking nail decals from Sinful Colors – a mehendi inspired design with intricate swirly paisley designs in a shimmery bronze. For $2.99 why not? I’ve been looking for a color to put them over and decided this would be great.
Now it really looks Art Deco, which isn’t what I was expecting from a Far East pattern. Love it. I wonder if they’re limited edition (gut instinct says yes).
They go on really easily and stay put, especially if you put a top coat over the top. They are clear and cover the whole nail, they’re not cut-out decals.
These pics were taken after an 8 hour shift at work — stayed perfect and put up to the abuse?! Two! Barista approved.
These are probably a limited edition but I’ll definitely try other Sinful decals after these turned out so nice!
Casual day here!
FACE: Tarte Clean Slate Poreless primer only on T-zone, Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hr Foundation in 010 Light Porcelain, MAC Set Powder in Invisible in t-zone, NYX Cream Blush in Glow, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly under eyes
EYES: Too Faced Shadow Insurance, MAC Vanilla Eyeshadow, Taupe shade from Wet N Wild Silent Treatment Trio, L’Oreal Super Slim Liquid Liner Black, Dolce and Gabanna Passion Eyes Mascara, It Cosmetics Brow Power brow pencil
LIPS: MAC Soar lip pencil, Marc Jacobs lipstick in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
What are you wearing?
So, being in a bit of a vintage makeup mood lately, I decided to try out a vintage loose powder compact. I decided that to try one out, I would get a very inexpensive one on eBay first, because I wanted to see how they work and if I could stand to use one at all. I got a 50s model Stratton (a UK brand) on eBay. It’s a bit beat up on the outside, but it seals perfectly, the hinges work great, and everything is in perfect working order. It was only $5.00 with free shipping, so I wouldn’t be out much if it was too much of a pain in the ass to use.
Well, isn’t that cute?
Stratton made compacts for decades, starting around the 1930s on up to around the 1990s. In this blog post, there is some handy information on how to date a vintage Stratton. It appears mine was made in the 1950s.
So, the self-opening inner lid version of these compacts were made from 1948 onward. I have to say, this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! Or, maybe I’m just easily amused. 🙂 Tilt the lid of the compact nice and far back and the inner lid springs open. It’s the most satisfying sound.
Under the inner lid is the powder well where you put your loose powder. You place a powder sifter over it, which presses the powder down. The sifter fits tightly in place and keeps the powder from coming out. The sifter is a fine mesh fabric which only lets a bit of powder through onto your puff or brush. Your powder puff is very flat and fits on top of the inner lid; however this compact didn’t have the puff and modern puffs are too thick to fit inside vintage compacts. There is only one manufacturer I know of, but I intend to use a portable kabuki with this compact. The sifter in this compact was in great shape and easy to clean up with an antibacterial brush cleanser.
I cleaned a spoon with alcohol and filled the compact with MAC Set Powder in Invisible, which I have been using for many years.
Press the sifter into place and close the inner lid, and your powder is pressed and secure.
I’ve found that I actually like using loose powder with a mesh sifter better than straight out of a powder jar. Instead of getting either no powder, or a metric f-ton of powder on your brush, you get a perfect, finely distributed amount of powder on the brush, and a perfectly distributed amount of powder on the face. It’s really pretty brilliant!
This compact doesn’t leak when I tap it on my hand, but I am going to keep it on my vanity just in case. Compact manufacturers started making “convertible” compacts around the 50s that also held pressed powders and I think I will look for one of those for carrying with me, as there are just a few types of powder still made that fit those (two types being Rimmel Stay Matte and Estee Lauder Lucidity). I am a bit nervous about spilling my precious Set Powder in my Coach bag (even if it was a cheap outlet bag, LOL)! So I am looking around for a steal on a pressed powder compact now.
Do you have any refillable cosmetics items? I really think with people more concerned about “going green,” this should be something companies should start bringing back. At least companies like MAC are encouraging recycling, I guess. What do you think?
You guys…if you are now or have ever contoured your face with bronzer…just stop, sit down, and take a couple of minutes to watch this brilliant makeup artist preach the gospel of how to do it RIGHT.
Soooooo, before I even get started, let me just say, this shade of this foundation is only sold in the UK, as best as I can tell. The lightest shade of this foundation in the United States is Light Ivory, which you can see on me here:
HOLY CRAP, NO!! I totally returned that the next day. How about that fabulous lipstick though? (Maybelline Creamy Matte Siren In Scarlet)
I knew that 010 Light Porcelain existed in the Rimmel Stay Matte (entirely too dry and not long lasting on me at all), so I did a quick search for this color in other Rimmel foundations. Apparently 010 Light Porcelain is sold in Lasting Finish and Match Perfection, just not in the United States. Our shades start one shade darker, because the company hates me. (LOL)
I did what any reasonable person would do, and bought a bottle on eBay. I paid $10.00 USD and got free shipping, so only $3.00 more than what the U.S. version costs, and the UK version HAS A PUMP! And it’s a good pump! BEHOLD, look how the other half lives:
Seriously, Rimmel? Why do you cheap out on us in the U.S.? WE KNOW YOU CAN GET THE PUMPS.
And look…oh my god. If you’re a gal with Scots-Irish in ya, I guess you need to buy your makeup from across the pond:
AND THE ANGELS SANG!
As long as this doesn’t break me out, this could become my less expensive replacement for MAC Studio Fix Fluid. I’ve been looking for something that doesn’t dry my skin out as bad as Studio Fix Fluid (which I cannot even wear in the winter) and has a slightly more satin finish. This has that beautiful satiny look once it sets. It supposedly has a “comfort serum,” and I can attest that it’s not drying and doesn’t make my face feel tight. This foundation is a similar shade to NW10 and has more coverage. It’s definitely buildable and blends easily, which is nice. I was able to blend a cream blush flawlessly over this with ease! Most long wear foundations are hard to do that with, as they dry to a very powdery finish. I set this with a loose powder (a super light dusting of MAC Set Powder) and it just looks beautiful. I am wearing it quite full here, but it could be sheered out, too. This does have a light fruity fragrance, but compared to most long wear foundations that smell like paint, I think it’s quite nice. Between the bottle, the feel, and the look of the product, it seems like a higher end product.
Ok, fingers crossed for no reactions or breakouts or dehydration, etc. I will certainly keep you guys posted! American folks, if you don’t want to get this on eBay or Amazon, I have heard this is also carried on Asos!
What’s your go-to foundation?
OK, so I’ve had this reproduction vintage tube of Revlon Fire and Ice lipstick for a few years now. When this came out, I went crazy for this gorgeous metal tube and had to have it. I’m into women’s history and that of course includes the makeup and fashion. This color has been around since the 1950s. Unfortunately, this red shade is very orange and just doesn’t look the best on my pink toned skin. But…the limited edition tube is gorgeous.
Yesterday I obtained the Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipstick in Siren In Scarlet. It’s pretty much the perfect blue-based matte red on me. I actually do like the packaging on the lipstick as far as drug store lipstick goes, but a lightbulb went off in my head. Can you put a lipstick into a vintage case? I turned to blog posts and youtube for the answers. This YouTube video by D Beauty Liv has the best tutorial on how to do it!
So, last night I put my 2 lipsticks in the freezer and hoped for the best. Today, I put down some paper towels on my desk and got to work! I washed my hands with antibacterial soap and cleaned out a little eye cream jar with alcohol to put the Fire and Ice lipstick in (in case I get crazy and decide to wear it…hey, you never know).
Before lipstick transplant surgery
You can tell the Fire and Ice is much more orange than Siren In Scarlet. It’s gorgeous, but I think it’s more suited to a warmer skin tone than I have. You can also see that since they’re frozen solid, they’re a little foggy/frosty. 🙂
I’ll be damned! It came out so easily and in one piece!
The inside of the tube has grips to grab the lipstick bullet, so when you gently slide the other one in, it grips the bullet. Nice!
Siren In Scarlet ready to go in the reproduction vintage Revlon tube.
It fit perfectly! Would you look at that!
Now it can be rolled up and down with ease and is perfectly snug in its base. You know, I remember reading somewhere that Dita Von Teese put MAC lipsticks in vintage cases and thinking, “yeah, but she can probably touch things and turn them into unicorns and if I tried it, they would break into a million pieces.” So, I am pretty damned happy that this didn’t turn into a disaster. Now I can stick this into my 1950’s vintage evening bag when I go to the club and feel all fancy.
(UPDATE: My lipstick has thawed out and I tried it on straight from the tube and it works perfectly well and did not tilt or break, etc – it works like any other tube of lipstick. And it looks awesome!)
FYI: If your lipstick tube is *actually* antique, as in from the 1950s or earlier, there’s a good possibility the diameter of the lipstick is going to be much smaller, so you will need to eyeball it to see if your desired lipstick is going to fit in there. Our modern day lipsticks are quite a bit bigger than they were back then. You can, for example, hold up an old Coty lipstick and see that they are very small compared to our great big lipsticks of today – so just keep that in mind!
What kind of crafty things do you do with makeup? Do you press loose powders, decorate compacts, etc? Or do you make your own shades? I would love to hear about your projects!
I’ve always been obsessed with vintage makeup, fashion, etc. I was unable to sleep tonight and stumbled across this gem! Can’t you just see them doing this with modern day contour/highlight sticks? Our makeup roots are strong…this video is from the 30s!
Women…over-drawing our lips for 80 years! 😉
Eyes: MAC eyeshadows in Vex, Nylon and Beauty Marked, Urban Decay Perversion mascara
Lips: Rimmel Provocalips lip paint in Play With Fire
Face: Kat Von D powder foundation 44, NARS concealer in Chantilly
A Bad Homance 