Magic: The Gathering Nissa Revane Inspired Makeup

Up next in the Magic: The Gathering Makeup Series, we have Nissa Revane! She has seen a lot of renewed love from the card Nissa, Worldwaker from the M15 set. She is a nature-mage and of the elven race. 

This look was definitely more involved than the Chandra Nalaar look I did yesterday since it involved a lot of facial markings and it was more difficult for me to achieve the right facial proportions, seeing as her head is lean, long and her features are quite harsh (contouring ftw!). 

Here's the concept and art that I based this look of Nissa Revane on:

Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast - Artist: Jaime Jones, 2009

 As before, I'm happy to take you through all the steps involved in creating this labor of love!

Start with a completely bare face, cover up any redness (and general other color you may have) to achieve a creamy smooth complexion. I used a ton of concealer all over my face, including my eyes and eyebrows - I really caked it on my eyebrows since the reference art shows Nissa with very fine brows.

The next step was adding Taupe on my lid, Sable as my transition shade and Espresso to define a larger domed shape around my eye to create the elongated elf-eyes and change my proportions. All colors used were from the LORAC PRO Palette . I made sure to add brown eyeshadows all the way up to my eyebrows around the inner corner since she has a triangular eye look.

I used a NYX Retractable Eye Pencil Brown  to define the fake new crease I created to make the dimensions of my eyes approximately 1/3rd larger. Then I took a light green eyeshadow from my Coastal Scents 88 Original Palette to subtly create some nature elf eyebrows.

I also blended out the liner with brown eyeshadows and carried them under my eye as well to create a cohesive look. I padded Cream from the LORAC PRO Palette onto the inner to center part of my eyelid to create a brightening effect.

e.l.f. Dramatic Eyelashes were applied and topped with a black Physicians Formula eyeliner to create a more defined look.

Then my camera died for a little while so I don't have intermittent photos. I contoured my face and nose by carrying the brown from my eyeshadow down the sides of the bridge of my nose. I minimized my nostrils and the tip of my nose by also applying some contour shades from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit (a mixture of Fawn and Havana).

I applied tape to the straight lines in the makeup, which you can see above. Then I mixed brown and black eyeshadow from the Coastal Scents 88 Original Palette and colored along the edges of the tape. I also used my brown eyeliner to draw guidelines where the markings on her face begin and end so I could connect them symmetrically - however, I would suggest you use a nude eyeliner because I had to go back and conceal the brown color where I didn't apply color.

The lips were an adventure! First, I lined my lips with the NYX Retractable Eye Pencil in Brown. This created a pretty harsh look, just what I was going for! Then I created an ombre by smudging the liner out with a darker brown, then I worked up to a medium brown in the center of my lips. I think they turned out looking rather earthy.

After lots more tweaking and perfecting with concealer, make-shift post-it curved stencils, and free-handing spiky designs, we have a completed look! Phewf! I do have to say this look probably took me about 2 hours to get right, I was surprised just how long it took me to get the contour of my eyes to be slightly less human and more elvish.

Happy Hallowe'en everybody! Hope you enjoyed this look!

New Release: Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna Palette

I received an email from Anastasia Beverly Hills announcing their newly released product: the Tamanna Eye Shadow Palette. It is presently available for online purchase on their website. It will hit stores in the near future (probably at the usual retailers of Ulta, Sephora, and Macys). I am so susprised that they released another palette so soon, the Maya Mia palette was released barely 3 weeks ago (you can see my review of it here).

Tamanna Roashan (@dressyourface) is yet another instagram makeup artist with a serious following that has caught the eye of Anastasia and her daughter, Claudia (you should really look up Tamanna, she does the most beautiful double-winged looks I've ever seen!). Anastasia Beverly Hills keeps bringing us fresh new faces from various ethnic backgrounds who have one thing in common: their love of beauty and style. I give serious kudos to Anastasia for sticking with this theme and making it a true collection. Tamanna chose all of the colors herself and they are her "must haves" which she religiously uses on clients of any skin tone.

The packaging is elaborate and has a repeating scroll pattern, inspired by the middle eastern and Indian background of Tamanna. It is beautiful just like every other palette in this collection, it's diversified and absolutely stunning packaging (I love how the packaging always reflects the shadow choices inside the palette).

For color reference, below this image I have included the Maya Mia Palette, the Amrezy palette, and the Lavish palette (Holiday 2013 release).

Fresh - creamy matte highlight; looks similar to Cream from the Lavish palette
Blush - shimmery highlight; looks very similar to Glisten from the Maya Mia palette and Amrezy palette
Venezia - teal blue shimmer; looks like a greener version of Aqua from the Maya Mia palette
Gilded -  metallic antique gold
Custom - metallic grey taupe
Sangria - cranberry shimmer; looks like a shimmery version of Deep Plum from the Amrezy palette
Bengal - matte warm brown; looks like Caramel from Maya Mia palette and Amrezy palette
Chocolate - dark brown; looks like a warmer version of Deep Brown from Maya Mia palette
China Rose - goldy, pink coral; looks like a more orange version of Fresh Peach from Maya Mia palette
Noir - matte black; looks like LBD matte black from the Amrezy palette

So obviously this palette is going to have some repeats or similar colors, I would say there's 1 from the Lavish palette, 4 from the Amrezy palette and 5 from the Maya Mia palette. Some of the colors will have some slight variations in tone or finish, but if you're a collector like me you're definitely going to want to pick one up! I've gotten great use out of my previous Anastasia palettes and I think the quality for the price ($29) is outstanding.

Anastasia Beverly Hills - Maya Mia Palette

Product Review & Comparison: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit vs. City Color Contour Effects

Today, I bring you a comparison post between the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit and 

City Color Contour Effects. I have seen loads of hype about these products and I really wanted to see if they were worth the hype.

Right away you can tell that the pan sizes of the City Color Contour Effects is larger than those in the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, but you are receiving 3 additional shades in the latter. The City Color Contour Effects only comes with one shade of highlighter whereas the Anastasia Contour Kit comes with three. The Anastasia Contour Kit has shades which can be popped in and out of the palette by the little finger-dip zone to the bottom right of each color. This is so handy since Anastasia Beverly Hills now sells refills and you can build your own palette if you want.

You can tell from my photo that I have gotten quite a lot of use out of this palette in just a few weeks of owning it. I have also made a concerted effort to use drugstore-quality contours and bronzers since this is a high-end option I don't want to have to repurchase refills for in merely a few months.

I mix Vanilla and Banana for the perfect lighting for my face (I do have to point out that my skin is more yellow than pink-toned, so this may be a contributing factor as to why this works so well for me). I use Sand as a pop of shimmer above my cheeks and on my cupid's bow as it does reflect the light beautifully. 

Fawn is the perfect contour transition shade. This works the same way on your face as a transition shade would above your eye crease - it blurs out and essentially makes your face look Photoshop-flawless as opposed to giving you a harsh bronzer or contour line. I use Java to warm up my skin-tone as a bronzer and as the contour shade on days I'm looking for less definition. If I want more distinct definition, I usually use Havana specifically for under my jawline and to lift my cheekbones.

You can see in the swatches that all of these shades are very pigmented and it really doesn't take a lot of layering to get the desired tone. The colors are also not so highly saturated with pigment that they are hard to work with - in my opinion, they are the perfect fine-milled face powders. It is very easy to achieve a "blown out" look with all of the shades and Fawn is an absolute holy grail since it is taupe-leaning and cool contour shades are rather difficult to come across.

The City Color Contour Effects palette consists of 3 shades: Contour, Bronze and Highlight, as well as a guide instructing how to use the shades. Each person's face is slightly different and may need definition in places another person's may not, so always use these guides at your discretion. Remember, you know your face best and makeup is all about having fun with creativity :)!

The texture of the powders is harder in this palette than in the Anastasia Contour Kit, but the shades are highly pigmented. They are so pigmented in fact that you have to be careful not to pick up too much of any shade on your brush. You can see that the Highlight is a stark white shade, Bronze is an orange-leaning bronzing shade, and Contour is a medium-dark brown.

When I apply these colors to my face, I have to use a light hand because it can get out of hand and I can start to look like an awful Kim Kardashian wannabe very quickly. Contour is too dark for my fair skin-tone, this may work better if you are of medium to dark complexion. I can only use this shade lightly underneath my jawbone (since that's probably the place least seen). I am more likely to use the Bronze in this kit as my contour, but since this orange-leaning, it is a little Oompa Loompa for my taste. Also, I applied the Highlight shade to highlight my nose, forehead and cheeks, when I went out during the daylight, even though I had blended the powder, it was a very bright white on my face. So again, this isn't a subtle palette, not for those who like natural contouring and highlight nor those who use their brushes more aggressively in powder.

Here is a comparison swatch line-up so you can see all of the colors side-by-side. You can see that Highlight is much lighter than Vanilla, Banana, and Sand (Vanilla and Sand are much more beige). You can also tell quite easily that Contour is the darkest shade in both palettes by at least 2-3 shades. Bronze is a more orange-toned version of Java. 

All things considered, I really do think you are better off purchasing the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, specifically if you are of a fair or light complexion. I really only see the City Color Contour Effects

working for medium to dark warm-toned complexions. Seeing as I have already purchased this, I will try to give it a whirl when I'm more tan.

Do you own either of these? What do you think?

New Release: Anastasia Beverly Hills Maya Mia Palette (Limited Edition)

This week, a brand new palette was released from Anastasia Beverly Hills, and it is a collaboration between them and the Tanzanian makeup artist Maya Mia (maya_mia_y on Instagram), this is right on the heels of their Amrezy Palette Release last month. I notice familiar names between their latest palettes so let me delve right into my review of this palette.

The outer packaging and the cover of the palette itself are identical on top, the color choice is vibrant and frankly my favorite to date from Anastasia. I feel like their packaging has gotten more attractive and complex as their palettes have progressed over time.

The palette itself comes with the same dual-ended brush that was seen in the Amrezy palette and it is a very handy, usable brush (one side is a shadow packing brush and the other is a fine crease brush).

The back of the outer packaging includes a small preview, short explanation of the style of the palette, and details ingredients used.

Repeat colors from the Amrezy palette: Glisten, Vanilla and Caramel. 

Repeat colors from the Lavish palette: Sienna.

Unique colors: Nude, Deep Brown, Warm Taupe, Aqua, Fresh Peach, Gold Bar.

Out of the unique colors, the ones which performed best were Deep Brown, Warm Taupe, Gold Bar and Fresh Peach. I found that Aqua had to be packed on in multiple layers to get decent pigmentation, otherwise it just seems like a sheer wash of light blue. I really liked the impact of Deep Brown, it's a great shade to cut your crease with and darken your outer corner. I like that although there are repeats of colors in this palette range, the pops of color are unique, since those are probably the colors used least.

This palette included something extra special: 5 free look cards which detail how to achieve each look on the back - this is a great inclusion to inspire your daily makeup, especially if you want to do something extra special.

I used the first look card, it consisted of 4 shades: Vanilla, Warm Taupe, Sienna and Deep Brown. I chose to go with a less dramatic black winged liner, and this is the look I achieved:

Overall, I really thoroughly enjoyed this palette and I was able to pick it up from the Anastasia Beverly Hills flagship salon and store in Beverly Hills, close to Rodeo Dr. - which made it an even better experience for me! I also picked up a Contour Kit and am excited to review that for you soon (I have used it every day since purchasing it!)

Eyes of the Day: Amrezy Palette

Eyes of the Day look with Amrezy Palette - Natural Light

Today's featured look of the day consists of neutral eyeshadows with a pop of emerald green from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Palette. I was so excited to play with this palette, I just couldn't wait to create a look!

Eyes of the Day look with Amrezy Palette - Ambient/Indoor Light

This look was easy to create and the green is meant to appear as a pop of color so I didn't try too hard to blend it with the lid color. I was extremely drawn to the Emerald eyeshadow and Caramel ended up being a lot more tangerine than I was expecting, so I was glad I didn't choose Morocco... these shadows are very pigmented! The photos don't even do this look any justice, the bright sunshine of the day really makes for a dramatic, impactful combination.

Here are the quick steps to re-create this emerald glam look (using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Palette):

• Caramel all over the lid
• Glisten on the inner corner of the lid
• Emerald in the crease
• Blend out Emerald with Vanilla as the highlight between it and the brow
• Line the lower lash line with Emerald
• Physicians Formula 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum in Ultra Black (review coming soon!) to create winged eyeliner
• Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black to gently define lashes (this mascara will separate and darken lashes but not volumize or lengthen but it is very lightweight and easy to wear throughout the whole day)