Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
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Be your own admirer.
That’s the message behind Illamasqua’s I’m the One collection, a small but eye-catching release with just one lip pencil, a lipstick, one gloss and a nail polish — but man, oh, man, are they bold! And red. Two things I can really get behind. 🙂
Here are pics and swatches of three of the four pieces from the collection…
“This palette is just darling, dahhhhling.”
Why, yes, I have been watching too much Bravo.
What gave it away? Was it the way I said “dahhhling” like Lisa Vanderpump from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? Because that’s how this new spring eyeshadow palette makes me feel.
With its cute crop of neutral browns, beiges and a dreamy pinkish peach, this palette has adorable written all over it.
No, really, it does. Right there on the front of the packaging. “Adorable.” Says it right there. 🙂
Anywho, don’t these six powder shadows look great together? I can see them working in a bunch of neutral looks.
Like this here pinkish brown smokey eye I’m sporting today…
Back from the hospital! The surgery went well (I had a bump on my elbow that had to be removed). I was in and out of there in about an hour, and everything went smoothly…except for the part where I freaked out a little right before it started. 🙂 So what else is new?
Ah, it’s good to be home…
Now let’s talk awesome cheek combos while my sutures heal, shall we? Here’s one I wish I could take credit for because I love it so very much, but I owe it to someone else. I got it when I visited Hourglass Cosmetics headquarters in Venice Beach last summer.
One of the makeup artists I met while I was there grabbed the company’s Illume Creme-to-Powder Duo in Sunset ($40), defined my cheeks with the bronze shade and blended the rosy shade on the apples of my cheeks for color.
Then she dusted sheer lavender Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood ($45) on my upper cheekbones as a subtle highlighter.
I love this combo for “lit from within” cheeks. Here’s a shot of it in action last summer, and yes, I was super tan.
Got milk? coral lipsticks on the brain?
Why, yes. Yes, I do. But what else is new?
Maybe it’s a genetic thing. I don’t know… But last night I was chatting with my mom on the phone about coral lipsticks and my 86-year-old godmother in the Philippines.
My godmother, whom I call Ninang (pronounced knee-nung), is the most glamorous gal I know, and my mom was telling me last night about how Ninang is apparently obsessed with coral lipsticks right now, LOL!
I guess it runs in the fam. 🙂
I think Ninang would thoroughly approve of Hourglass Femme Rouge Lipstick in Muse, the creamy coral lippie I’m wearing in these pics.
My heart fluttered the first time I saw it. No joke.
Then when I slipped it on — oh, my goodness! — I may have hyperventilated a little. The intense pigment, shiny finish and bright color were all too much for me (but in a “I’m perfectly OK with this” kind of way).
Now, Muse looks pretty dope on its own, but if you want to turn up the drama even more, try layering a reddish coral gloss on top, like MAC Star Quality Cremesheen from the A Fantasy of Flowers collection.
Looks phenom! — as does Hourglass Nectar Extreme Sheen Lip Gloss. (Do I need to post pics of these combos? Let me know. I’ve been all about the combos lately.)
I hope El Hub doesn’t get jealous of my Valentine’s Day dates this year.
Yes, girl, “dates,” as in the plural. I’ll be painting the town rosy pink next week with these two new matte Baked Blushes from Milani.
Both are pretty cool cats, not that El Hub isn’t, but ya know… 🙂 The first one, Delizio Pink, is a cool matte bluish pink, and the second one is matte bluish red Bella Rosa.
These two dudes have the moves!
They’re smooove, like that guy who orders you a slice of raspberry cheesecake AND a scoop of salted caramel ice cream when you head to the ladies’ loo after dinner because he knows you won’t be able to pick between the two…
Sorry, I’m craving something sweet right now.
Anyway, smoooooove…
With the amount of pigment you get and the soft, fine feel of the powders, I feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck with these. Both of them pack a ton of color yet remain really easy to buff and blend. On top of that, they aren’t patchy or streaky at all. I just use a blush brush and a light hand, and that’s it. Flushed, natural-looking cheeks.
It’s raining here today, which normally would leave me feeling rather blah (I get the blues when the sun goes away), but today? Not so much.
First, it’s been a dry winter, and we need the rain. Second, the construction guys can’t work when it’s wet…so it’s been gloriously quiet this afternoon. 🙂
All I can hear are raindrops on my window, which is a very soothing sound.
Funny thing is, when it’s sunny outside and the workmen are working (we’re having our siding repaired), I put on my biggest headphones and listen to YouTube videos of ambient rain to drown out the noise, haha! Oh, the irony…
So, because today is kind of cold and gray, I felt like doing something a little springy and colorful. I went with a bright green cat eye with golden coral cheeks and a pink lip using makeup from the new MAC A Fantasy of Flowers collection.
If you ever feel like wearing bright green liner or shadow but aren’t quite sure what to do with it and don’t want anything too over the top, try a green cat eye.
No, seriously. Dude, you can do it!
I like this eye look because there’s a bright pop of color and minimal blending, and sometimes when I’m even lazier than I was today, I’ll skip everything else and just do a single swipe of green on my upper lash lines instead.
With bright green liner like this, I’ll usually tightline my upper lashes with a black liner or eyeshadow (here I’m using MAC’s Carbon Eye Shadow) to give more depth to my eyes and create the illusion of thicker lashes (since mine are naturally wimpy).
Just adds a little somethin’ somethin’…
The green liner I’m wearing here is MAC’s new Sassy Moss from A Fantasy of Flowers, by the way, and woo-hoo! — do I feel like a sassy-pants when I wear it. 🙂
It’s just so vibrant, and all it takes is a couple layers. Very cool. In a way, it reminds me of one of my old-school favorite MAC Fluidlines, Jadeye, but less teal and more green. Similar pop on the skin.
Shocker of all shockers (I’m serious, you may want to sit down for this), I was running late yesterday to go to my parents’ house for Super Bowl Sunday. 🙂
I know! — me, running late? Can you imagine? Haha, but seriously, I was running late, so I just threw some makeup into a bag to get ready in the car on the drive over to their house about an hour away.
One of the things I put into that bag was NYX’s new Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk ‘Til Dawn, one of three $15 limited edition eyeshadow palettes made to be, so says NYX, the answer to your shimmery dreams (assuming, of course, that there’s a lot of shimmering in your dreams).
Well, as far as any dreams I’ve ever had in which I’m putting on my makeup in the car (and there have been a few)…this palette probably would have helped. It does seem ideal for makeup-in-the-car dreams, particularly for ladies (and lords) who like how they look in warm-toned neutrals.
Ten baked shadows in warm shades of gold, brown and beige, along with a sprinkling of purple and black, reside inside. I ended up doing a shimmery gold and brown smokey eye in the car, and I, despite the bobbing of the car as we crossed the Richmond Bridge, I didn’t have to contend with any fallout or battle with my blending.
OK, so maybe NYX’s new Baked Shadows are neither nutritious nor delicious, but they are a treat, and where else can you get a baked dessert this good for $6?
$6… I almost can’t believe that price is real. Almost. Hey, this is NYX. Everything on their makeup menu is super affordable.
Oh! — and calorie-free, which makes my muffin top shimmy with joy/relief. 🙂
First things first, like NYX’s new Baked Blushes (and many other delicious desserts), these have a crunchy outer shell, beneath which exists the really good stuff. Break through the crust (seriously, what’s up with that?), and you’re rewarded with eyeshadows utterly devoid of fallout.
Zero. Zip. Nada.
And blending these shadows is easier than saying “yes, please” to a second brownie. Buffing and softening lines between these eyeshadow colors is a total cakewalk. All it takes is a few swipes of my trusty blending brush.
