Category Archives: Face

Makeup of the Day

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Finally felt like wearing a little slap today!  Going to keep this short and just post a pic and a list of what I used.  Happy Monday!

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FACE:  Tarte Clean Slate Poreless Primer, Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation in Porcelain with MAC 190 brush, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly under eyes, NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain to spot conceal, Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Powder tapped on with MAC 134 brush to set, MAC Mineralize Blush in Gentle with MAC 116 blush brush, MAC Lightscapade as highlight with Sigma F25 tapered face brush, NYX HD Blush in Taupe as contour with MAC 168 angled contour brush, ELF Mist and Set sprayed lightly to make the whole look a tad less matte

EYES:  Wet N Wild Fergie eyeshadow primer, Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palette (I seriously used about 6 colors?), L’Oreal Infallible Super Slim liquid liner, Anastasia Brow Powder in Ebony with Anastasia #7 brow brush, Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara.  (I used about 6 different eye brushes, most are Sigma and MAC…no clue what all the numbers are but I shall point out that the Sigma pencil brush is awesome!)

LIPS:  NARS Rikugyen lip pencil (Sephora gives this pencil in the NARS duo for your birthday)

What are you wearing today?

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My NYX Memorial Day Sale Goodies <3

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At the end of May, I posted about NYX’s annual Memorial Day sale.  I took this opportunity to grab a few things I had really been wanting, but had not yet trekked across town to Ulta to get (especially considering our Ulta is not always well stocked and it is 20 minutes away).  It took quite a while to get my order, because this is a huge sale and it takes a while each year for them to process that many orders – but the savings are worth the wait!  I got all this for a whopping $20.00 USD:

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NYX Wicked Lippie in 01 Betrayal, NYX Primal Colors pressed Pigment Hot Black, NYX HD Blush in Taupe, NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain

Let’s take a look!  First up, the thing I’m most excited about, the HD Blush in Taupe.  I have been contouring for years with MAC’s Sculpt Powder in Bone Beige.  It is light and sheer enough for my porcelain skin, but it has a bit too much redness in it for my skin tone.  I make it work because it’s in a duo with a favorite highlighter (MAC Shape Powder in Emphasize).  I have been wanting to try a more taupe colored contouring product, though, because let’s face it…shadows are not brown.  I am pleased to say, this blush fits the bill for that purpose (there’s a photo at the end of this post of me wearing it.).  Plus, the compact is very slim and takes up very little room in my kit and has a cute bow on the the clasp:

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NYX HD Blush in Taupe

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Would you look at that?  It’s not orange!  Hallelujah and praise the makeup gods!

Next up, the product I’m almost as excited about, because pale concealers at drug store prices are a bit of a unicorn…the NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain:

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NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain

I’m also wearing this in the photo at the end of the post.  This is a great high coverage concealer that works wonderfully for concealing imperfections on the face.  It’s too thick and dry for using under my eyes; however, your mileage may vary.  I’m using NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer for that.  The NYX HD Concealer shade Porcelain is a lovely pale shade with a slight pink undertone that works great with my MAC Studio Fix Fluid shade in NW10.  It’s a keeper!

Next up, NYX Primal Colors pressed pigment in Hot Black:

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NYX Primal Colors pressed pigment in Hot Black

When I went to use this product today, I used it as an eyeliner with an angled eyeliner brush.  It performed extremely well, but I did have some fallout as I was applying, getting some black powder on my cheeks.  I sometimes forget this is an issue with pigments, whether they are pressed or not.  I would say use this product where you do your eyes first, then the rest of your makeup.  The great thing is, this is blaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.  Like, black like my soul black (hahahaha!!!).  It works great as liner and you could also use it to set pencil or gel liner.  I have not tried it as eyeshadow yet, but hey, goth night is coming up…oh hey, maybe I’ll wear it to the Voltaire show tomorrow!  (I am wearing it as liner in the photo at the bottom of this post, blended with Urban Decay Mushroom eyeshadow.)

All in all, I have to say that while NYX can be a hit or miss brand for me, I love everything I got in this order.  (I am also wearing the Photo Loving Primer underneath my foundation today – a long time favorite!)  I am wearing the concealer, blush for contour, and black pigment here.  I like that the contour is subtle, but I can go heavier for an evening look if I want to.  The only thing I haven’t tried yet is the purple lipstick, but the photos I’ve seen online are (wait for it) Wicked.

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Also shown:  Urban Decay Smoked eyeshadow palette, MAC Azalea Blossom Blush Ombre, Maybelline Lilac Flush lipstick with L’Oreal Extraordinaire Lip Color in Purple Prelude

What are your favorite NYX Products?  Have you tried any of the new stuff for 2015?

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade 

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MAC has released a few versions of this beautiful pressed mineral powder highlighter over the years.  I have the current version in the permanent line with the new magnetized compact (MAC, please do this with all your compacts – never another broken nail!).  There is a limited edition version where the powder top is texturized, but I’m not sure how it compares to this one.


MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade

The product itself is beautiful.  You can see ribbons of gold, blue, and peach swirled throughout the yellowish base.


Swirled together, they come out to a very light champagne color, a light shade leaning slightly warm.  This highlighter is actually light enough to highlight fair skin, which is hard to come by!  I’m a MAC NW10 and this is perfection on me.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Lightscapade swatched heavily

This product can be worn heavily for a metallic sheen, or applied lightly for a barely there glow that’s suitable for daytime.  It’s shimmer without glitter; this will not emphasize imperfections in the skin like something that’s frosty might.


I wish my iPhone could show how it looks on me…I will get my fancy camera out and get a photo in the sun!  I’m wearing it here, but my house was so dark, it’s hard to tell. 😉


Lightscapade on high points of the face, worn with Urban Decay Bittersweet Blush and MAC Up The Amp lipstick

This compact comes with a whopping 10 grams of product.  It’s going to take ages to go through it, which is one reason I allowed myself to shell out $32.00 for a highlighter.  Next, I’m going to try it as an eyeshadow highlight.

MAC makes this great product in other gorgeous shades for darker skin tones and even colors that function like bronzers.  Do you use the Mineralize Skinfinishes?  How do you like them?  For me, I’ve found a new daily staple.  I only wish I had splurged sooner!

Porcelain Means Porcelain, Dammit — Finding Makeup & Techniques for Pale Skin

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Something that drives me nuts is trying to find good tutorials or reviews of makeup for pale skin. And I mean ACTUALLY pale, not “I wear MAC NC25” or your foundation shade contains the word “caramel” or “sand” or “tan”. You might have light-toned skin (in the “light” end of the spectrum, or “lighter than most”), but not pale. Finding a good, true “porcelain” shade is very difficult, and finding good ideas for things like highlighting, bronzing and contouring is even more elusive.

Here’s a great example: When I go to the MAC counter (or, well, many counters, actually!), they always want to match me to NW15, because it’s one of the lightest shades they offer What I’m wearing currently is MatchMaster 1.0, which is much better on me (I wear it daily and it looks very natural on me) – and they still tried to tell me it’s too light! Nope. I am porcelain, with pinky undertones, and the amount of “light” foundations that are far too dark is, well, most of them.

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Check out the difference here — on the right is StudioFix Fluid NW15 and MatchMaster 1.0 on the left. Blended all the way out you can barely see it on my arm, but the SFF is much too dark and yellow! The only time SFF NW15 is even close to matching my skin is when I get home from Burning Man after two weeks in the desert sun, and EVEN THEN it’s BARELY light enough! I do wear SFF in NW15 from time to time, but generally go very, very light with it (sometimes I blend it with moisturizer, it works quite well that way) and always powder over with StudioFix Powder in NW10 to lighten it up.

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It’s harder still to find a good shade at the drugstore, but I think I’ve struck gold with Rimmel Stay Matte in Light Porcelain 010. I don’t think I’d go quite as far as to call it a dupe unless you account for it being much more full coverage and slightly less yellow, but both look very natural on me and I’m happy with each! The MatchMaster blends down so naturally that it’s very easy to wear, the Rimmel Stay Matte takes a bit more paying attention so to not look unnatural.

But the search always continues for tutorials and new products, of course!

Have you found any great tutorials for bronzing, contouring, and highlighting truly pale/porcelain skin? What products do you like to use?

Sephora Birthday Goodies! 

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So, every year I grab an item or two from Sephora around my birthday to treat myself and to get their yearly birthday freebie.  This year, it’s this awesome NARS duo of lip crayons:


Sephora Beauty Insider birthday gift, NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella and Satin Lip Pencil in Rkugen

Cannot wait to try this!  They look interesting.

I ordered myself two rather luxe items.  First, I ordered something I’ve been wanting to try for ages, but I’ve been waiting to use up another product (took me a year to use up my MAC Mineralize Concealer).  The object of lust is NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantillty, and oh my gosh…it appears to PERFECTLY match my ridiculously pale skin tone.  If it covers and wears well like the reviews say, I’m thinking this is worth the $29.00 for the color match alone!

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly

Next is something I have lusted after since before it was released (thanks, YouTube), the Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in the shade Bitter Sweet.


Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Bitter Sweet

Dat packaging tho…


AHHHH GAHD!  Can we talk about purple?  Let’s just talk about purple.  Purple is my favorite color and you can easily find purple eye shadows and lipsticks.  Blushes?  Not really.  You can find the rare lavender, but they usually end up reading as pink on the skin.  I can’t tell you how excited I am that UD is bringing back the COLOR with this blush line.  Check out the other shades and you’ll see what I mean…not everything is nudes!

SO EXCITE.

Anyway, Sephora was having a deal with a coupon code where you could get 3 deluxe samples, so I jumped on that.  Here’s what I got:

Deluxe samples of Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub, Jack Black lip balm, and Dolce and Gabbana Passion Eyes curling mascara

How awesome is that?  I usually make my own lip scrub with sugar and coconut oil, so having one from Fresh is always awesome when they have these samples (it’s a very nice product).  The Jack Black lip balm has SPF 25, so that’s going right in my purse!  I have tried the Dolce and Gabanna Passion Eyes mascara, but not this curling version (I liked it, just not $30 worth, LOL).

Sephora also always offers 3 free samples so I got this Urban Decay card sample of the blush trio in Naked Flushed:


Urban Decay Naked Flushed sample card

I also received a Christian Dior Diorshow mascara sample and a sample of the Kat Von D Lock-It Featherweight Primer (I’m excited to try this, since it’s a water based primer):

Samples of Christian Dior Diorshow mascara and Kat Von D Lock-It Featherweight Primer

All in all, I would say with all the deluxe samples that this order was a great value for the money and made my birthday feel rather special!  I cannot wait to share how these things work for me with all of you!

What do you guys do for your birthday?  Anything special?

Contouring Experiment

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I’ve never done any contouring before. I mean, I’ve done it on other people, but every time I’ve tried to do it myself it looks terrible. It’s because I’m about the color of a bar of soap compared to most people’s having some sort of skin color that isn’t best described by household items.

So I decided to watch a bunch of YouTube videos, and then spend a bunch of time trying to see what all the fuss is about.

I used the Smashbox contouring palette, ELF blush in “Twinkle Pink” and Chella “Ivory Lace” highlighter crayon over MAC Matchmaster Foundation 01. At the end I put on some mascara and a little bit of neutral eyeshadow

Didn’t turn out… too… bad…? I look so weird.

I mean good?

Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless – Translucent Pressed Powder Review 

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Are you known as a PPP over on Makeupalley?  Don’t hang on Makeupalley and wonder what the heck I’m talking about?  Over on that awesome old school site about everything beauty, “PPP” is code speak for “pale porcelain princess.”  Well, I ain’t no princess, but I am pale and porcelain and finding a blotting powder at the drug store is usually nigh on impossible.  I usually use MAC Blot Powder in Light, but it’s very drying and so expensive.  I feel like if I drop and break that sucker, I’ve lost a major investment.  Nobody should feel that way about a product meant to throw in your bag to take on the go for touch ups!  Imagine my glee when I saw a blotting powder THIS LIGHT in the drug store:


Yes, I did take that sticker off!  Once I did, the packaging looked quite classy!


This is the Translucent 100 color.  There is a Porcelain shade, but it looks quite a bit darker and way more pink.  If you’re a very fair shade, go for translucent!  Now, a warning:  Many tanned and darker skinned folks have said the translucent shade is not for everyone.  I’m going to have to agree, because this powder actually has buildable coverage, so it is not completely invisible on the skin.  Get the shade that looks closest to your skin tone!

Hey, look!  Unlike some companies these days, Maybelline did not cheap out on a mirror and sponge!  Totally practical for taking with you.  THANK YOU, MAYBELLINE.  Considering this product is about $6.00, I’m sold.


Here’s what Maybelline has to say about the product:

“Tone + texture-fitting powder for the ultimate natural fit.

Mattifies and matches natural tone for a poreless-looking finish
For Normal to Oily Skin

Why You’ll Love It

Fit Me!® Matte + Poreless Powder from Maybelline New York goes beyond skin tone matching to fit the unique texture issues of normal to oily skin for the ultimate natural skin fit.

Fit Me Matte + Poreless Face Powder provides long-lasting, mattifying, shine control and up to 12HR wear for a natural, poreless-looking finish.

Buildable coverage. Does not clog pores. Oil-free.

For Best Results

With the provided applicator, blot the powder onto areas of face with excess oil. Apply to your forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin and blend all over using gentle downward strokes. Build for fuller coverage.”

Here it is on me over my Rimmel Stay Matte foundation.  I’d been wearing it 8 hours and was very shiny through the T-zone by then.  I love that the finish is not flat.  It’s rather lovely!

  

Please pardon the shoddy blush!  This is what happens when you are testing multiple colors for science!