Black Friday madness

So, after am enormous Thanksgiving meal, those of us dedicated to shopping, haul our fat butts out the door and waddle on to our store destinations. We do this, hoping against hope that we'll be amongst the first ones there. This is almost never the case, as people have been camping outside of the most popular stores (like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy) for days in advance even in suburban localities outside of Seattle. So without any hope of ever reaching a cash-register within the next 12 hours at any of these stores, my husband and I moved onto ULTA. This store was the complete opposite, it had cutesy deals, very few ladies inside, no pushing or shoving, and we could easily reach the cash register. To me, the decision was simple, I'm a much larger fan of cosmetics than I am of technology anyway, so I picked up a few things.

They had this collection of items which were all just $1, so I grabbed 5 CHI Silk-infusions bottles for $5 because I love the way these make my hair feel (a small bottle usually retails for $14). Then, I purchased a mint lip-balm, swirl lipgloss and 3 ULTA nail polishes for another $5. Most of the items are $3 each, so the savings is of 66%. I purchased two Stila eyeliners in a pack, one being gold (named Koi) and one being silver (named Silver Dollar) as this was on special for $10 when the regular value is around $40, you can still get this deal here. I thought it was a great deal and Stila's smudge stick eyeliners are absolutely fabulous. The pigmentation is strong and they glide on very smooth and easily, they are absolutely perfect for the holiday season. I spent $20 in total on these items and ULTA gave me $5 Bonus Cash, which can be redeemed on the next $25+ purchase at their store. I was very happy with the overall experience.

Colors: The Jungle Look, Alter Ego, Scene Steel-er

I was drawn to the nail polish because the color was very pigmented and festive, also the price was right and I was looking for more colors to perform my 'water-marbled nails' look! This is a fun and funky way to set yourself apart from everyone else.

The next day, armed with new ambition and rigor, we headed out to Southcenter Mall in Renton, Washington. This place was controlled chaos. The parking lot was chock full of cars, there were tons of security guards throughout the mall, but if you can stand feeling claustrophobic, it was a fine shopping experience. The lines to cash out were not that long, especially at MAC. I went to use their BACK2MAC program where I recycled 12 containers and got 2 eyeshadows of my choice, in the colors Brown Script (matte2 finish) and Swish (frost finish). These colors are both very beautiful, and best of all, they were free! The color pay-off is great, as with all MAC eyeshadows and you can de-pot them (which I did) and then recycle these containers as well when you have 6. I only purchased a 15-color palette to house my colors.

MAC's Brown Script (Matte2)

MAC's Swish (Frost)

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving and I would love to hear about your Black Friday deals! Stay tuned for our IKEA haul in an upcoming post!

The Foundations of Foundation: The Basics of a Healthy-looking face

Want to know how to make your complexion perfect? Let's delve into the world of foundation to even out your skin-tone and cover up any blemishes or unevenness that we all suffer from. Nobody is blessed with absolutely flawless skin, so don't feel bad about having to use one product or another to enhance your appearance because most women, and many men, do.

Remember when testing products out on your skin, do not apply them to the back of your hand because the skin there is a different saturation level altogether than the skin on your face, so look in a mirror and apply the tester-color to your neck. This is also a good way to see if your skin will have any allergic reaction to the product since the skin on your neck is very sensitive. A great makeup application is one that looks as natural as your own skin, so when looking for your ideal foundation or concealer, purchase something that best resembles your own skin.

When it comes to price-point, I'm not one to encourage the purchasing of expensive foundation products because, let's face it, they all contain harmful chemicals in similar amounts. So, if you're going to burn through a lot of product, you should opt for the drugstore brands rather than the expensive designer stuff. I personally have been very satisfied with the performance of L'Oreal's liquid foundation in the 'Visible Lift' and 'Infallible' line, as well as Maybelline's 'Match Perfection'. The positive note about these drugstore brands is that they are also at least SPF 15 so you get that little bit of protection that your skin needs from the sun's harmful rays (yes, even in the winter). If you have a choice of which kind of bottle to buy your liquid foundation in, go for the one with a handy pump because it keeps bacteria out of your product and is the most hygienic of the bunch. 

If you're looking for a bit of a sun-kissed look, then opt for a foundation that has a little bit of a tint or go a shade darker than your skin naturally is. Always apply your foundation with either a sponge (which you should replace weekly at the latest) or a foundation brush (which should be washed regularly). All foundation brushes have the same bristle shape because it is ideal for applying your foundation to your skin. You will want a synthetic brush so the bristles do not get ruined from oil-based foundations and they are also easier to clean because the product will not penetrate the bristles, it will stay on top of them. If the brush does not absorb your product, you will also be using less product overall, thus creating less waste.

Coverage

There are various finishes and types of coverage when it comes to foundation products. Usually the terms refer to the opacity of the product, or basically how much it will cover up your own skin. Sheer coverage is very transparent and will not hide your pimples and problem-areas but it will do a fairly decent job of evening out your skin-tone if that is all you're looking for (though, I would say that most of us need more coverage). Light coverage is basically the same except that it will cover very small colored-spots on your skin, such as freckles. Medium coverage is higher up on the scale and can cover blotchiness, discolorations, freckles, and some scarring (something that falls into this category would be a tinted moisturizer). Full coverage foundation, the kind most people probably are using at the moment, is very opaque and will cover anything you need it to camouflage. It is important that when you apply full coverage foundation, you do so very carefully, making sure to use a brush or sponge to blend the color all the way up into your hairline and under your chin, down to your neck. Otherwise, others will be able to see a visible difference in color and consistency between your skin and the foundation (even if you've chosen the perfect shade for you).

Choosing a shade

Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what skin-tone we are, because much of it depends on which light we're looking at ourselves under. It is also important to realize that it is a complete misconception which says fair skin is cool-toned and dark skin is equivalent to warm-tones. This is not always the case as you will come to realize. Your shade can either be cool or warm, and within each of those categories there are sub-categories of light, medium, and dark. 

Cool-toned light and medium skin has a pinkish cast and the inner wrist of the person contains more blue than dark veins. These individuals are highly likely to burn in the sun very easily. The darker shades in the cool-tone range have a blueish cast to their skin, have more blue than green veins, and can also burn easily. Warm-toned skin that falls in the range of fair to medium has a greenish cast and these people have more green veins than blue veins on their inner wrist (the exact opposite of those with cool-shade skin). This group is more likely to tan in the sun rather than burn easily. Dark warm-toned skin has a chocolate tone and shares all the same qualities with their fairer skinned group. 

Make sure you know which category your skin fits into when you are purchasing your cosmetics. If you see 'NC' or 'NW' on cosmetic-codes (MAC uses these codes religiously in their concealers and foundations) know that it refers to 'neutral cool' and 'neutral warm' skin tones. You should stick to the one which best represents your skin tone for a flawless match. Some people can fall right in between, and in this case either of the shades will work for you.

Types of foundation

The types of foundation are classified according to their chemical base. Oil-based foundation is probably the oldest of the bunch, it has been around for a very long time, and the base is usually a waxy consistency or similar to petroleum. It provides the most coverage of all but easily smears and is really not practical to be using on a daily basis. 

Alcohol-based foundation is a specialty product because it is made for people with problem-skin. It reduces the chance for the makeup to clog your pores, it is a difficult application using cotton pads and usually has 'pore minimizer' in the name, providing only very sheer coverage. 

Powder or talc-based foundations are usually brushed on from a compact and they are 'stickier' than their loose-powder counterparts. Powder foundation is often used on top of other kinds of foundation for a fuller more-polished finish. One must be careful though, when applying this type of makeup, because it can look cakey and will probably need re-touching in warmer weather. 

Mineral foundation is slightly different because it tends not to use talc as a base, being more 'healthy' for you in general. The coverage of these solutions is medium at best because they are in loose powder format and do not have so many skin adhesives or chemicals, they are mostly made out of minerals mined from the earth. They usually give a nice shiny appearance which gives the illusion of healthy, dewy skin. 

Finally last but not least, my favorite all time foundation, water-based products! This is probably the most popular of the bunch and is a creamy liquid that can give you medium to full coverage, depending on your application (if you use it lightly, you will cover some of your problems, but if you use it heavily, you will cover everything up). I suggest using this product with a brush as it blends out much more successfully than with a sponge (definitely do not use your hands to apply this). 

BACK 2 MAC: MAC's recycling program

What can you do with your old MAC product containers when you're finished with them or after you've depotted the pans? You can return them back to MAC and get free items. That's right, they GIVE YOU FREE STUFF if you return your old packaging.

The rules are different depending where you go so read up and call ahead to find out specifically what the MAC near you will offer, sometimes it depends on the manager but the rules *should* be as follows:

MAC online
At their website for 6 empty plastic containers (in primary packaging) you can get a lipstick - you give them your preference online and they give you what is available at the time. You do this at http://www.maccosmetics.com/giving_back/btm_return_packaging.tmpl

MAC makeup counters in department stores (like Nordstrom's or The Bay)
For 6 empty plastic containers (in primary packaging) you can get either a lipstick or a lipglass of your choice.

MAC Pro Stores (and some regular stores - you should call ahead and ask)
For 6 empty plastic containers (in primary packaging) you can get either a lipstick, lipgloss, or eyeshadow!!!

MAC has had this recycling incentive for years, possibly to encourage people to buy their products, but also to help the environment. Whatever their reason, this is a program that benefits both the company and the consumer, so I suggest taking advantage of it while it's here. I will be sorely disappointed if this program is ever cancelled. Recently, the items that you can recycle have a 'Back 2 MAC' label on them so you know exactly what you can return to them. You cannot return the box the item comes in that is made of cardboard, that's not worth anything, what you can return is the plastic packaging the product is in. I called my local MAC PRO Store (at Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, WA) and they said it's no problem if you don't have the metal pans in your containers because they don't require those for the program. I have read online that some people do come across this problem because some of the stores require the pans (again, it is at the discretion of the manager of that particular store).

Happy recycling everyone!

Z Palette: to buy or not to buy?

I wrote last week that I had ordered my very first Z palette to house all of my old depotted eyeshadows from various brands that don't fit into a regular-sized palette (which usually holds 16mm eyeshadows). So I decided to embark on this little journey to make my own customized palette of random blushes and eyeshadows that I had laying around. When you are finished, your collection will look like this (but less beat-up than mine because some of my products are really used up and abused):

What you'll need for this project:

• depotted eyeshadows/blushes (if you don't know how to do this, check back to my depotting entry where I tell you how to)
• labels
• adhesive magnets (from an art store or department store)
• scissors
• Z palette or any magnetic palette that's empty and fits any size pans
• rubbing alcohol
• scrubbing sponge

Firstly, you will want to dab a scrubbing sponge into rubbing alcohol and make sure you take the excess glue off of the back of your depotted eyeshadow pan. This will make the whole process a lot less messy and keep your palette looking clean. Take your depotted eyeshadows/blushes and cut a label to write the name of the product, the company that made it and the color for your reference. Unstick the adhesive peel from the magnet and place it on the back of your eyeshadow so that you have reference if you run out of a certain color you love and need to go back and get some more. If you really don't care what the color or product is then just skip this step.

Tools you will need

Then you can cut out a magnet that measures the size of your pan, so place the pan on top of the adhesive magnet and stick it on. Cut around the pan with your scissors or an exacto knife so that you have a perfectly sized magnet. This magnet goes on top of the label to make sure your eyeshadow is securely in the pan. Some pans are magnetized and do not need to have magnets placed on their backs. It is easy to remove the magnetic adhesive strip by hand so if you need name-reference, you can simply do that and re-apply it. If you choose to put your label on the outermost side and sandwich the magnet between the label and the pan, you may not have as good of a grip and your shadows may move.

You can make a separate little paper sheet insert that you can stick to the window of the palette that acts as a guide to your colors. I chose not to do this because I don't use these colors extremely often and will certainly not re-purchase these brands when I can get my hands on MAC and Urban Decay shadows. I have NYX, L'Oreal, Maybelline, Estee Lauder, Lancome, Trish McEvoy, and Clinique products in my Z palette. Most of my stuff is from random gifts with purchases and drug-store buys when I was first starting out with makeup.

My first Z palette!

The last step is simply organizing your pans and popping them in the Z palette however you'd like! I like the concept of the Z palette because you can see everything you have inside, but the problem is that I thought they would be bigger. It turns out the Z palette PRO ($28) and the Z palette regular ($20) palettes only differ by half an inch in width and a very minuscule amount in depth. The depth is important to me so I opted for the PRO palette because I'm putting blushes and mineralized shadows in my next one. But if you're only going to put small eyeshadows, I suggest going for the regular one, as it is $8 cheaper. You can purchase them on Amazon, which is what I did and they arrive in approximately 3 business days. I like the fact that I can now stack all of my eyeshadows and blushes with my other palettes rather than investing in tons of those little Rubbermaid drawers to put them in. When you put things away like this, you risk not seeing all your products for long periods of time and purchasing items even though you already have some at home (but you don't remember because you haven't seen them in awhile). I don't like rifling through my single eyeshadows for a particular color I'm looking for, so this is going to make my morning makeup routine a lot simpler. I suggest buying these if you're a big fan of makeup and have an enormous collection like I do. I'm thrilled with the way I can see all of my colors so I know what to reach for! I give them a 9/10, only because I want more and I think they can be even bigger to fit larger products!

Sephora Mini-Haul and Product Reviews

Lately, I find myself drawn to a particular texture of makeup rather than one brand or another: silky. Silky means that if you rub the makeup mixture in between your fingers, you feel as though your fingers are coated in the finest layer of silk with no bulges, imperfections, or obtrusions. I think powders with this texture will give the most airbrushed makeup look that you can achieve without actually using an airbrush (or even better than an airbrush, depending on which one you have). I used the VIBDREAM sale at Sephora for the holiday season (20% off all items purchased for Nov. 11-14th) for Very Important Beauty Insiders (people who have spent $350+ in a calendar year at Sephora). I was part of this program because my husband bought me the TEMPTU airbrush system as a wedding present, although we ended up returning it multiple times because of all the defects it had, but that's a story for another time.

I bought myself a tried, tested and true favorite: Diorskin Shimmer Powder by Dior, and then I decided to replenish my depleting quantity of Urban Decay's Grifter, feeling adventurous I purchased Kat Von D's Saint palette and the elusive Korres' Wild Rose Compact Powder (because Sephora is usually out of these). I'll be posting photos of all the products and swatches, as well as my impressions of all of them.

Diorskin Shimmer Powder
The original retail value of this shimmer block is $44, which is quite a hefty price, but it was definitely worth it with my discount. I personally buy the Rose Diamond set because of my skin's undertones, since it comes in either pinkish hues or beige/tan hues. Photos do not do this product justice, it is extremely stunning and flattering. This is one of those products that you can wear every day, even though it is shimmer, without looking like you belong in a nightclub. When applied to the cheeks as blush and above for a highlighting effect, it allows your cheekbones to stand out and people will wonder how you're so naturally beautiful. The sign of a great face product is that it looks natural when you put it on, and this is exactly that. The texture is soft and the color payoff is amazing, the colors are not too bright, like some of the Tarina Tarantino or MAC colors tend to be, it is the right amount of color and there is no fall-out or waste. The product is a generous size and there are four shades of color to choose from. There is a highlight white tone, a ballet-pink shimmer, a mauve-rose blush and a fuschia pink blush. However, the fact that you can mix them all together in whichever way you want allows for uniqueness and creativity on your part. I highly recommend this product, it's one of those that get 100% from me.

Urban Decay Grifter Eyeshadow
This is one of my favorite eyeshadows. You have to realize the gravity of that statement when I say this about an eyeshadow that is not from MAC. Urban Decay's color payoff in this shade is brilliant, you get exactly what you see, you can wash the color out a little bit by applying it with a light hand or you can increase its potency by using a mixing medium or Visine when you apply it. Regardless, this is a product that looks great on fair skinned girls with brown eyes. It's got a quite a bit of pizzazz, some may not be comfortable wearing it at work because of the glitter inside of it. The glitter speckles can be quite large and if you have sensitive eyes, then I do not recommend this eyeshadow. I'm lucky enough to be able to wear it and I love it. This product isn't quite as silky smooth as the others I bought this haul, but it's not bad either. It's a good product for a good price ($17 retail) that you will get a ton of usage out of (I get hundreds and hundreds of applications from one of these pots). Just because it might not be for everyone and it's not from the best company ever made, I'm giving this product an 85%, but I would definitely recommend this to you.

Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Saint
Not particularly liking Kat Von D's style in general, I was reluctant to purchase her makeup and that's why I've waited until I completed my thorough research and asked as many opinions as I could about her products. Can I just say that I was blown away by the quality of this palette especially when comparing it to the price (it retails for $35). The similar predecessor of this palette is Urban Decay's Naked palette, which I also have, and the difference here is that Kat Von D's formula is a lot softer to wear while the colors are vibrant and beautiful, you probably have to use less of this product to get the color you want than of the Urban Decay one. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but this palette seems a little more practical to me because it has a lot less glitter-specks (only the color '<3' and 'bookworm' have them) and they are very sheer. The palette also comes with her autograph pencil liner in black and this formula is comparable to the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner. This palette gets a 95% on my scale and it only doesn't achieve perfection because I wish there were even more colors and the palette was a little larger. However, the packaging is darling, the tin is made of metal and not cardboard like most palettes out there. I do wish that 'Pray For Me' was a little darker when swatched and the camera did not pick up the intensity of '<3' but trust me it really does look like the color you see in the palette.

Korres Wild Rose Compact Powder

I have read stellar reviews on Korres products in general but I've never been drawn to them until I randomly was walking through Sephora and touched this powder out of curiosity. Swatching this item feels like you are running your finger through a cloud. It most certainly is a far cry from MAC's studio-finish powders which are a little harsh to the touch. I don't yet know what kind of coverage this gives, but I tend to use my powder after foundations and this will work perfectly for me. Another bonus is that their 02 Golden Fair color is exactly my skin-tone and I rarely find my exact warmish pinkish hue in any makeup brand. I'm thrilled to try this out, you basically can't even see the powder on my skin in the swatch, but I assure you it is there. I give this product an 80% so far because I have yet to try it and I wish it had a little bit of shimmer in it for an even healthier glow (although I realize it's not practical to wear shimmer everywhere, I'm going to try to impress upon you that we should all always be wearing a bit of shimmer). Also, this didn't rate as high on my scale because I just can't get as excited about a powder as I can about eyeshadows, and the packaging was just bland. It opens up to reveal a little sponge underneath the product, which thoroughly annoyed me, because I thought there was going to be a lot more product (as the case would lead to believe) than there truly is. However, this is one of those products that is healthier than the rest because it is formed without parabens, aluminums and other nasty chemicals we shouldn't be putting on our faces, so I guess beauty and quantity suffer for health. It has a pleasant scent, sheer coverage and reduces shine, all bonuses when it comes to powder compacts. It's also $28 which is not quite as much as some of the other powders on the market.

The Kate Middleton look

Want to look like the lovely Duchess of Cambridge? I've found the scoop on what her favorite look is and how to achieve it yourself. She goes for fairly neutral, natural tones with a slight mauve tint to her eyeshadow, accentuated with lots of black eyeliner. To achieve the look of her skin, you'll want to consider bronzer and a light pink blush. She is a fan of Bobbi Brown cosmetics and her wedding day makeup was entirely done by her with their line of makeup products. I have found duplicates of their colors in other lines so that you can easily access the shades she has used. I suggest starting off with your eyeshadow so that you can easily manipulate your eye makeup without rubbing your foundation off with your hand.

Use concealer on your eyes (eyelids and under your eyes) to give them a uniform, refreshed look that can act as a blank canvas for the color application. Then, take an ivory or very light bone colored eyeshadow and apply it all over the eye from your eyelashes to your eyebrows. I used MAC's Sweet Eyes from the Devoted Poppy holiday palette (the one in the top left corner), but you can use any nude color that suits your skin. To cover your eyelid, use MAC's 'Under Your Spell' eyeshadow, the lavender-silver side of it with a flat shadow brush and pack the color in. Afterwards, apply Elizabeth Arden's 'Vintage' eyeshadow in the crease of your eye and don't forget the next step to blend it in thoroughly with a fluffy brush (a brush that is not as dense as those you put your shadows on with) so you can feather out the color. Make sure you also apply this color to the lower lash line.

After blending out the contour color, use an angled brush to place black eyeshadow on your lash line and extend it out to the corner a little bit. Kate Middleton does not create a cat-eye with her liner but does extend her darkest shadow out past the corner of her eye, so if you want to achieve her look, you should do the same. Blend out the black so that it is not stark and obvious. She uses either a gel or liquid liner, but since the appearance is similar just use whichever you are most comfortable with. I used a liquid liner because it was faster and lined my eye all the way around just as she does. She applies the black liner to the bottom lash line and not the waterline. This is the look she goes for, although it is not the most flattering because lining your eyes all the way around is a dated look and will make your eyes appear older than they are. Regardless, I did it to show you the exact way she goes about doing her makeup!

After this all you need is a coat of black mascara and use some darker eyeshadow or an eyebrow liner to fill in your brows. Kate has dark eyebrows and it appears as though she fills them in from close-up photos of her. My brows are much more arched than hers because hers have a more straight appearance, if you can get your brows to go in straighter then you will achieve a look much more similar to hers than I ever will. Make sure to fill in your brows with a darker color because it makes a big difference to the overall look. For your face, apply foundation in a natural color, then contour your cheeks as well as up and around your hairline and forehead with a bronzer. Kate has quite a tanned facial complexion when she applies her makeup so this leads me to believe she uses quite a lot of bronzer, and some light pink blush on the apples of her cheeks. She has quite a matte look to her face so I don't recommend using any shimmer powder or cheek highlights if you're going for her exact look.

She doesn't wear lipstick, just a coat of a nude lipgloss you think is attractive on you will work great. It's a pretty low-maintenance look that's easy to do in the morning if you want an appropriate work look (though I would skip out on the black liner all across the bottom lash line). Hope you have fun making yourself look like Kate Middleton!!! :)

How to Simply do the Perfect Smokey Eye

Following a few simple guidelines, you can create a simple smokey eye and tweak the various steps to create a look that is truly unique and beautiful; truly you.

First you will want to, as always when applying eye makeup, prime your eyelid with concealer or a primer, in my case I used MAC's NC20 concealer to create a flat surface to which the eyeshadow can adhere. Then take your favorite black pencil eyeliner, in my case Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliner in 'Zero', and draw a line overtop of your lashes. Continue this line and smudge it up over your eyelid and even in the crease. Use a brush to smujdge it out and create this 'smoked' effect, don't worry about being too clean about it, the fabulous thing about a smokey eye is that it's supposed to look uncontrolled and sultry. Make sure to color in between your lashes so you don't have patches of skin that show underneath the smokey eye; fill in your lashes. Then use a black eyeshadow or a dark eyeshadow (in my case it is MAC's 'beauty marked') and apply it liberally over top of the smudged black liner. I suggest that if you have lighter skin like I do, you stick to a darker shade of a color rather than going with black. This is simply because you will have huge contrast between your eye makeup and your skin and might end up looking like a raccoon if you overdo it! That being said, you can truly use any eyeshadow for this as long as you blend, blend, blend it in!!!

The next step consists of taking a shade lighter than the shade used to cover the eyelid and contour the shape of the eye, I used Urban Decay's 'Last Call' eyeshadow also available as 'Queen' from the Alice in Wonderland palette. Accentuate the arch of your eye, this is where you can play with scale and shape and give yourself the desired shape you want. Some people choose to not blend in their shadow here but, as you can see, the color will look very potent and this may not be appropriate for wear during the day or at work. I choose to continue blending it in. I also apply a highlighter, usually just a white eyeshadow or a very light neutral, lighter than my skin-tone. I blend the contour color and the highlighter together thoroughly until no edge can be seen. The final step is an application of liquid liner, I used Stila's liquid liner and some black mascara to give it that polished look. Finally, you can line your waterline (underneath your eye, above your lower lashes) with one of the colors used and apply an eye pencil on top just to make the colors pop. This last part is entirely optional in the look, some people prefer not to do it because their eyes are too sensitive.

I chose to go in a purple/plum direction with this smokey eye look, particularly because purple makes brown eyes pop really nicely as it is a complementary color. However, this same look can be done using any color, or any neutral you'd like, just remember that the base color should be the darkest and anything you apply on the contour should be a shade or two lighter. Experiment with your looks and let me know what creative ideas you've come up with!

Depotting your single eyeshadows

Do you ever get annoyed at all the single eyeshadows and blushes you have and wonder how you can consolidate them? Are you looking for an easy way to put all of your eyeshadows together in a palette? Well, look no further because I have all the tips and tricks to do it right in this post!

All you need to depot your eyeshadows:

• your eyeshadow of choice
• a straightening iron (any old one will do)
• parchment paper (traditionally used for baking on)
• a fine-tipped knife that you don't mind getting dirty

Turn your straightening iron on and let it warm up while you're getting a piece of parchment paper and cutting it into something small enough to cover the bottom of your ceramic iron. Make sure you lean the iron down on a flat side, not with the ceramic portion actively touching your bathroom or kitchen counter. I suggest you do not put your iron down anywhere that isn't heat-proof, you may want to find a tile of granite to do this on. The purpose of the parchment paper is so that none of the plastic of the eyeshadow container will melt onto your iron and get it all gunky and gross. If you perform the steps as written, you will have nothing to clean up and your eyeshadow will be depotted!

Place your single eyeshadow compact onto the parchment paper that you have laid on top of the ceramic of the straightening iron, and let it sit for 30 seconds-1 minute, depending on how hot your iron gets. This will cause the glue underneath the eyeshadow pan, which is holding it to the plastic compact, to loosen. You can then wedge a fine-tipped knife between the pan and the plastic, along the outer edges of the circle, to loosen it out of the plastic casing. If you don't care about the plastic, you can really puncture the bottom with the knife and push the pan out very easily. But you won't want to do this if it's a MAC eyeshadow and you plan on sending it BACK2MAC (their recycling program where for every 6 containers you get 1 lipstick/lipglass of your choice). 

You can use a little bit of antiseptic alcohol or acetone to clean off the glue from the bottom of the pan, then you can attach a magnet on the back (one that has a sticker on the other side) and place it inside a Z-palette or MAC eyeshadow palette. Make sure if you do not have eyeshadows that all fit in the same size as MAC, you will want to buy a Z-palette or UNI palette from Amazon or a beauty-supply store so you can place them in. I'm currently looking for one for all of the assorted things I have depotted below. I will also be getting a MAC palette to place the tons of MAC eyeshadows I have and easily reach for them when I need them.

Happy depotting everyone!

Easy Eye Transformation

Do you ever wonder how to do a simple and foolproof winged liner that's appropriate for every day and work? Well look no further, in this post we'll discuss the proper order to put on your eyeshadows and how to easily apply your eyeliner! Firstly, you want to prime your eyelid all the way up to your eyebrows and under your eyes. This is because the eyeshadow won't stick properly all day long if you don't have a base for it. I used Benefit's Stay Don't Stray primer because I like the thick consistency of it, but a good substitute is a Mac concealer that fits your skin-tone, or Hard Candy's Nobody's Perfect concealer (available at Walmart for a whopping $6, including 6 shades!).
Rub the concealer in with your brush or fingertip, using your ring finger to apply the least amount of pressure to your eye (this avoids excessive wrinkles, ladies and gents).

This is a neutral look so I used the Urban Decay 'Naked palette' and MAC's 'Nylon' eyeshadow. For the base eyeshadow color, 'Naked' is a great option because it is just slightly darker than my skin-tone and shows barely a hint of color. This was applied with a regular eye-shadow brush and the color was packed on. Then, I used the color 'Buck' for the contour, going in a crescent shape around the ball of my eye, and you don't have to be too clean when you apply these colors because they will be blended together at the end. For the highlight, I used 'Nylon' from MAC because it's got a frosty sheen and is visibly lighter than my skin, attracting light underneath the eyebrow and away from any dark-circle. This makes eyes appear bright and refreshed.

Base (Naked), Contour (Buck), and Highlight (Nylon) eyeshadow application

For the winged-eyeliner application, I'm going to advise that if you are not experienced in this, you should use either an angular eyeliner brush or a brush-tipped applicator. I'm going to use the latter because I'm obsessed with Stila's 'Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner' (wow, that name is quite a mouthful). The tip is very fine, but the pen rests very stably   in my hand because, especially if I balance my arm on the table during my application. You should always rest your elbow on a flat, immovable surface when you do your eyeliner because otherwise the line will turn out shaky.

If you don't know where to start and you want to achieve an even winged look that is the same on both of your eyes, use these simple guidelines. The first line I draw is from the outer corner of my eye and points upwards to the end of my eyebrow, you can go as far with this line as you want to, it really depends how dramatic of a look you're going for (the farther, the more wingy it will be). Then, I go back to the inner corner of my eye and begin the contour of the line. Do not attempt to fill in as you're drawing the contour because you will not get as smooth of a finish, you want to get the contour done in one smooth stroke. Connect your contour to wherever you like on the winged edge (I go to halfway of the line that I first drew). Then go back underneath your line and fill in from your eyelashes to the outline of your liner. 

Wing, contour, and fill-in eyeliner application

Now apply your mascara of choice and voila, you have a pretty look that is appropriate for anytime of day or night!

Let me know if there's anything any of my readers would like to see in the future! Hope you had fun reading this post :)