Showing posts with label Season Inspired. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Season Inspired. Show all posts

Monday, 21 December 2015

Holiday Inspired Beauty


Continuing my tradition of season inspired mega posts, the time is right for a holiday inspired one and I set out to do it a bit differently this time. I did a collection of four looks that actually didn't quite pan out the way I wanted to (damn the weather - the curse of the beauty blogger), nonetheless I hope you'll find some inspiration for your holiday makeup or at least feast your eyes on tons of pretty makeup (some of my favourite bits actually).

MAKEUP

Red Lips and Sparkly Eyeliner
Holiday season and particularly New Year's Eve give us an excuse to dust off our glitter products and go to town with them. I've been seeing glitter and metallic eyeliners everywhere in the past weeks, which inspired me to do something similar, but I discovered all of my glitter liners are actually completely dried up (considering I bought them years ago, not so shocking), so got a new one - Golden Rose Extreme Sparkle Eyeliner 103. It's quite a yellow gold and it needs two layers for an intense effect, but it's soo pretty and sparkly under the lights (way prettier in real life than on my pictures). The other star of the look is a red lipstick. I used my all-time favourite L'Oreal's Blake again because it's awesome and so richly pigmented (seriously the more lipsticks I try, the more I realize how brilliant this one is), but I also included a very budget option - Jordana's Modern Matte in 12 Matte Style. I did a similar post on the other blog I write on. It's more of a classic glam look and I used that one instead of Blake. On my cheeks is my new love Milani Powder Blush in 01 Romantic Rose, which unfortunately you can't see well because my camera phone does not like the weird weather we're having, but it's perfect to pair up with red lips. Unfortunately you can't see the highlighter theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer either, so you'll have to take my word and just image that is was indeed super glowy.


All of the makeup 
Base: my princess foundation NARS Sheer Glow Foundation, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer and Bourjois Poudre de Riz Java, which is still my favourite powder (the new navy blue one isn't the same. It's way more glittery). 
Cheeks: the super glowy theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer and Milani Powder Blush in 01 Romantic Rose.
Eyes: theBalm Put a Lid on It eyeshadow primer, Urban Decay Naked2 Basics palette just for a bit of definition, Artdeco High Precision Liquid Liner, Essence Big Bright Eyes eyeliner like in 99 % of my looks,  Lancome Hypnose waterproof mascara and Golden Rose Extreme Sparkle Eyeliner 103.


You'll see the manicure I intended to pair up with this look below the looks, but I used the deep red Revlon's Parfumerie in Bordeaux and my favourite glitter nail polish Rimmel's Star Dust in Aurora. For my fragrance I chose La Rive Moon which is essentially an excellent 10 € rip-off of Hugo Boss Nuit pour Femme.


Statement Lips
Of course I had to include one of my favourite lip colours ever and the one I think I'll wear a lot this festive season - Mac's D for Danger. As a cheaper version chose Catrice's Ultimate Colour in 360 Mattraction, which is different, but still incredibly gorgeous. The eyes are simple, a very neutral look with big lashes using theBalm Nude'Tude palette's shades Selfish and Sophisticated and the super awesome Essence's I love Extreme waterproof mascara. Revlon's Colorstay and Collection concealer took its place as the base duo this time, a contrast to the previous high-end set, yet both pairs provide a high coverage, satin-matte look. Part of the look was Mary-Lou again (to be fair it's my only proper highlighter) and the cutesy pink Physicians Formula Nude Wear blush in Rose on the cheeks.


All of the makeup
Base: Revlon Colorstay foundation for normal/dry skin,  L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer (under foundation for some extra glow), Bourjois Poudre de Riz Java and Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer.
Cheeks: Physicians Formula Nude Wear blush in Rose and theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer.
Eyes: theBalm Nude'Tude palette, Collection Extreme Eyeliner, Essence Big Bright Eyes Eyeliner and Essence I Love Extreme waterproof mascara.
Lips: Mac D is for Danger (retro matte) and to neat up the edges I grabbed Kiko's Smart Pencil in 709 Magenta.
Other products on the pictures: Yves Rocher Perfumed Bath Oil Spicy Vanilla (smells like vanilla and Jaffa cakes), Aqualina Pink Sugar fragrance, Yankee Candle Season of Peace (smells like clean sheets) and eBay rose gold blush brush, which is all kinds of awesome.


Smoky eye and neutral lips

I'm not the best at smoky eyes, at least on me and my camera didn't even pick it up well, but to be fair all it really takes is a black eyeliner and tons of mascara. I used Kiko's Eyeshadow Stick in 06 as a base because it intensifies the looks and keeps everything in place for ages, the good old classic Urban Decay Naked palette (shades Sin, Smog and Darkhorse) and Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Zero in the waterline. I had two options for the lips, even took two sets of pictures, but the weather was so awful that I chose not to include the version with L'Oreal's L'Extraordinaire in 101 Rose Melody, so I'm only showing you the version with Kiko's Rebel Romantic Lavish Lipstick in 01 Lusty Peony, which I wear a lot, but it is unfortunately a limited edition. However, it would be a travesty not to include it here as it the most glamorous lipstick I own (yes, prettier than YSL's Rouge Volupte). For the base I went for something a lot lighter as well as more appropriate for dehydrated skin, the combination of my old favourite Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum and 123 Perfect CC cream, both look incredibly natural on the skin.


All of the makeup
Base: Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer (works great as an eyeshadow primer too), Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, Bourjois 123 CC  Perfect CC Eye Cream and Bourjois Poudre de Riz Java
Cheeks: the universally loved theBalm Frat Boy which really perks up the cheek and theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer.
Eyes: Kiko's Eyeshadow stick in 06 Golden Bronze as a base, Urban Decay Naked palette, Urban decay 24/7 Eyeliner Zero and Maybelline the Sensational Waterproof mascara.
Lips: Kiko's Rebel Romantic Lavish Lipstick in 01 Lusty Peony


Dark lips

If you though I'll use Laetitia again, you were wrong. I got several new vampy shades in the lasts month which inspired me to add this look as well. I bought Golden Rose's Matte Lipstick Crayons in 02 and 03, both excellent vampy choices. 02 is very close to Mac's Diva, so it's a more classic, glam option and that's what I chose. If you want a slightly lighter option, 05 is a great choice. For the eyes I busted out two of my old favourites - Mac's Patina and L'Oreal Infallible 024 Bronze Goddess. Both have that antiqued gold look, but not in bronzy way, rather they are more green. Rose Royce was the blush of choice here, a shade I highly recommend to anyone, but the emphasis was on Catrice's Contour Palette as such a strong lip needs some sculpting of the face if you don't want to look completely washed out. Two more of my favourites for the base: the matte L'Oreal's Infallible foundation, which hides pores better than any primer I tried and my HG concealer Maybelline the Eraser.  


Rest of the makeup
Base: L'Oreal Infallible 24h Matte, Maybelline the Eraser concealer, Bourjois Poudre the Riz Java and Urban Decay Setting Spray.
Cheeks: Catrice Prime and Fine Professional Contour Kit, Catrice Defining Blush in Rose Royce and theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer.
Eyes: Mac Patina, L'Oreal Infallible 024 Golden Goddess, Artdeco High Precision Liquid Eyeliner and Essence I Love Extreme waterproof mascara (Physicians Formula Va Va Voom on the picture. It's great, I just needed waterproof for the pictures)
Lips: Golden Rose Matte Lipstick Crayon 02
Other products on the picture: Essie nail polish Sole Matte, Essence Merry Berry TE nail polish 03 Pink and Perfect, the warm and cuddly Taylor Swift Wonderstuck Enchanted, Yankee Candle Shea Butter (smells creamy and warm, better than the real deal), eBay metallic contour brush, metal hair pony tail clip (which is too small for my thick hair. It's from a Chinese shop) and crystal gold cat ears headband from eBay.


NAILS

You may have already seen all of these manicures, but this was my experimenting phase in the last month. I wanted very simple manicures because I'm not good as these things, but some of these turned out rather well considering I've never done them before. The rings are from H&M.

Black matte base and shimmery triangles
All you need is sticky tape to do this one. I used the latex finish Essence Effect nail polish in 32 The Black Cat as base and then Rimmel's Star Dust nail polish in Aurora for the triangles. Use the regular clear sticky tape because it's the thinnest and it works best. This one was pretty simple and even if the triangles don't look the same size, it doesn't really matter much. Everyone loved this one. Picture tutorial here.

Ice Queen Manicure
I used Maybelline's Colorama Party Blue as a base (discontinued, it just has to be light blue) and silver glitter Catrice Luxury Lacquers Million brilliance in 01 It's Showtime. The ombre thing was causing me some issues, but I think I got a hang of it now. Just get all the excess base fluid off the brush using a tissue and slowly build up the shimmer. Patience is greatly rewarded at this look. 

Pink and Gold
Again a very similar design as at the previous one, except that it's inverted and the shimmer is at the tips of the nails. I used Essence the Gel Nail Polish in 13 Forgive Me as a base and Alessandro Nail polish 297 for the shimmer.

Sparkly Christmas Tree
This one was a hard one and took me several tries. It's similar to the first one, so again it's all about the sticky tape. Use a dense glitter nail polish, one that you know will stick well, I used Rimmel's Aurora. The sticky tape design will take you some time, you can assemble it before sticking on the nails if you wish. Wait for the nail polish to dry completely and then remove the tape by pulling it sideways. It was truly a trial an error for me and this is the way I find I got proper results. I used Revlon Parfumerie in Bordeaux as a base, but I waited a whole day before doing the design. Picture tutorial here.


My most recent addition - a very festive shade with interesting combination of small gold glitter with large copper hexagons. It's not fully opaque even with several coats, instead it's more of a top coat, so you could combine it with a different colour, but here I used it on its own. 


You may have noticed that I'm incapable of taking just a few pictures and be done with it, so this post ended up crazy long (*coughs*…1.84 GB big folder…*coughs*). I still didn't want to waste it, so this last part is like a continuation of getting ready with me and includes the products that I would/will use for special occasions, but no extra descriptions of products, you have links to reviews anyway.

HAIR
Pulling out the big guns for my hair routine 
Care:

Styling:
SAPPHIRE 8 in 1 Complete Curling Wand (I tend to use the 2.5 mm barrel)

SKINCARE

I hope you enjoyed this post and have a great day!
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Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Autumn Picks #2


Although it looks like a standard neutral eyeshadow palette, it does have a very autumnal vibe and the real stand out shade here is the deep burgundy called Sexy. I've never really worn red on my eyes, but this one just works without making you look like someone punched you in the face. Nude'Tude is a fantastic palette that really impressed me with its quality and it's just as good as Urban decay ones, except it's quite a lot cheaper. The eyeshadows are very smooth, pigmented and blend so well that it's truly a joy using it. 

I wanted to include a budget neutral palette, granted the Chocolate version one would fit here better, however, the quality of that one just isn't on pair with the rest, so I picked the original Absolute Nude because it has a basic arrange of shades for a nice bronzy-brown smoky eye that will fit nicely into autumn. These are still my favourite budget palettes, the eyeshadows are nicely pigmented, they blend ok and lasts decently on the lids.


 I love the shade of this. It's such a beautiful warm almost coppery bronze brown that is quite dark and fits perfectly into autumn. However, it's not the best quality cream eyeshadow because it creases a lot and it's better use is as a base. The texture is so soft, almost like a cross between a mousse and liquid eyeshadow, plus it's very pigmented, so I only need to touch the surface very lightly or I end up with too much product.

KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow
06 Golden Brown and 38 Golden Taupe
I adore these. They are seriously the best cream eyeshadows I found. These have an excellent pigmentation, they apply so smoothly with zero tugging on the lids, blend nicely and once they set, they don't budge. Golden Brown is a bronze shade that is very similar to Maybelline's On and on Bronze, but it's a bit darker and cooler and 38 Golden Taupe is a .neutral-warm taupe shade, which is in the same colour family as Satin Taupe, but it has quite a chunky green-gold shimmer in it. 


I rave about this blush all the time. They changed the pattern since I got mine, but I think it's still the same shade. There's something about this natural shade that just compliments my pale neutral skintone so well, it's just a perfect every day, goes-with-everything blush. It's an interesting shade that kind of looks like someone mixed a red-toned bronzer with a warm pink blush.

I always feel that brave dark shades like burgundies need a bit of contouring. This one fits us pale girls well as the contour powder is taupe brown, so it manages to fake a shadow well and it's pigmented enough to show up on my cheeks. The highlighter is subtle though, but in a nice champagne shade for a neutral skintone like mine.


Out all Creme Puffs available here Lavish Mauve is the least shimmery and coolest. It's a coo pink-mauve-violet shade with tiny duo chrome violet-gold shimmer, which I can't see on the cheeks. The texture is soft, decently pigmented and on my cheeks it has more of a satin finish. 

Tresure Rose is the darkest and most pigmented in my selection, it's also the only cream blush. It's a rose-retro red mix that translates into a pink-red flush on the cheeks and the texture reminds me of play-doh, which means it's quite dry to the touch. 


I've heard whispers that this is a dupe for Soar, but I don't have it to compare, it is nonetheless such a beautiful 90's inspired shade. The formula is creamy enough to be used as a replacement for a lipstick and it's cheap as chips. You can't go wrong with this one.

This is my ultimate favourite everyday goes-with-every-thing and appropriate for every occasion lip colour. It's a beautiful muted rose-pink shade that is actually exactly the natural tone of my lips, but a shade or two darker, making it look quite natural on my lips, however, it still stands out. The staying power and the matte formula are winners as well.


01 Lusty Peony is a dark nude type of shade that's easy to wear and would suit many people. But what's even more important is that the formula is just fantastic. It's so creamy and comfortable to wear. I really hope that Kiko decides to make these permanent. The packaging is divine as well, the rose gold tube really is a looker. Love this.

Strawberry Pink is a warm medium natural pink-rose-brown shade that is several shades darker than my lips as well as a bit warmer, but it might be a nice MLBB shade for medium skin tones The finish is creamy-satin and it's the type of lipsticks that at time can feel drying, though at first it's very comfortable to wear. 


Well, of course this is going to be here, it's the best burgundy shade I found with a fantastic matte formula. It's a deep red with no brown undertones and very little purple undertones which I appreciate a lot. I adore this colour on me, it's just so striking. The texture is pleasantly creamy and more waxy or perhaps silicone-y than most lipsticks I tried, but it glides on the lips like a dream and isn't drying at all despite the semi-matte finish.

Aside from Laetitia the other vampy shade. It's much more purple though. It's a deep purple with a bit of burgundy on my lips and it's super pigmented, creamy, applies without dragging - truly the formula is lovely. The lasting power impressed me as well and it wears off into this nice even stain.  


A gorgeous deep berry purple that is a perfect mix between purple and pink-rose. The formula is great as at most Essie, meaning it's really smooth as well as easy to apply evenly and it's fully opaque with two coats. It's on my nails at the moment.

This is without a doubt one of my favourite shades ever in my entire nail polish stash. I love such dark vampy colours especially in colder months. Sole Mate is a beautiful plum-bordeaux shade (supposedly a dupe for Chanel's Rouge Noire) with an amazing quality formula and that fabulous Essie brush. 


A retro rose shade or a dirty medium pink that fits perfectly into autumn. I hear Essence Love my Diary is a pretty close dupe for it and it's a third of the price. Both are gel inspired formulas.

MISSLYN Nail Polish
610 Night Club
A beautiful navy blue with blue frost. It's one of those shades that is almost black, but the reflect shows it's true nature. The formula is a bit on the dry side, so it's not the easiest to apply.


This is that one fantastic transition shade that can easily be worn from autumn though winter into spring because it's such a nice mix of styles. It's a mix of autumn-winter murky taupe and spring pastel lilac shade, so it looks very modern on the nails. Plus this formula has a very shiny finish.

ESSIE Nail Lacquer
Merino Cool 
A mix of violet and grey. It's in the same colour family as Midsummer Mauve, but darker and less grey. The formula is classic requiring two-three coats for full opacity.


The scent of this version is mighty powerful, in fact way too much for a majority of the year, but as soon as temperatures drop, you'll appreciate it more. I'd describe the scent as chocolate-vanilla-musk-woody one in a perfume version, so an oriental type of scent. But otherwise, it's a standard Batiste dry shampoo, which is one of my favourites.

Balea knows what to offer for super dry skin. My legs, elbows and especially soles gets so dry in autumn and winter, so I resort to really heavy-duty stuff. Balea's body butters are thick and intensely moisturising, so it's better to apply them before going to bed. This version smells exactly like Monte (the dessert) so it's an intense chocolate hazelnut scent. If you like foody scents, this is definitely for you.

Combination of central heating and the cold, foggy/rainy weather can make the hair drier - it certainly affects mine. Drugstore conditioners do nothing for me any more and I resort to many leave-in products to fend away dryness. This one is a cream leave-in conditioner or a version of it. It actually has a considerable amount of oil in it, but it doesn't make you hair all limp or greasy and it doesn't leave that silicone felling on the hair. It just helps with the dryness without screwing your hair style and it can be used on both dry and wet hair. It smells like the rest of the Extraordinary line, so a bit like cinnamon. 

YANKEE CANDLE Soft Blanket
It's the season of candles. There aren't many I like and most left me disappointed (though I recently found an amazing one with a peach scent in Eurospin for like a euro), but I adore the scent of this one. Truly it's one of the most amazing scents ever. it's like baby powder and fabric softener, so its soft, warm and cosy.


Have a great day!
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