Eyes of the Day - Revlon Colorstay Quad (Goddess)

I recently picked up the Revlon Colorstay Quad in Goddess and I was so excited to try it out that I promptly created an eye look around it.

If you don't know what the consistency of the Revlon Quads is, I have to gush and tell you that they are absolutely smooth, buttery and a dream to blend. The only color I had a slightly harder time with was the deepest taupe grey in the bottom right-hand corner of the quad. I suspect this color moved a little more than the rest during application because it has larger shimmer particles. All in all, this quad was definitely worth the $4.50 I paid for it (originally the price is $8.99, still a good price point).

Here's how I achieved this look:

• Applied bottom-left shade all over my lid on a white base
• Used highlight color underneath my brow and in the inner corner
• Darkened up the outer "V" with bottom right color and blended
• Used the peachy pink shade on top of the crease color to warm it up

Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad - Goddess

For an added pop of color, since I like my looks to be a little more unique, I chose to go with the the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Glistening Garnet. I used this color as an accent under my eye and close to my waterline

Image credit to Temptalia.com

I hope you guys enjoyed this look! I love playing with new products and I'm always so excited when I get something new to try it out ASAP!

IPSY Glam Bag Unboxing - May 2014

 My IPSY Glam bag for this month arrived and I've got a quick run-down of the products and my impressions of them. I've actually had a chance to use the eyeshadows and test them out (as well as show you how they look).

Bag - the recycled spring "Fresh Picks" bag for May 2014 is actually the cutest one I've received thus far from Ipsy. This is one with a pleasant smell and texture (that may sound like strange criteria but some of their previous ones have been very chemically scented and vinyl textured, which isn't my favorite). I have actually started using this bag in my purse to carry touch-up lip products and concealer on the go.

Eva NYC Therapy Session Hair Mask - This has a pleasant Salon-esque smell to it, it leaves my hair feeling softer, more refreshed and I can always use a deep conditioner/mask because I dye my hair frequently and this helps ameliorate some of that damage. Sample value: $4.80

Calvin Klein - Endless Euphoria Perfume - let me just say that perfumes are always the lamest item I can get in my subscription boxes, specifically when the samples are tiny vials in cards. The redeeming quality of this is that it is a rollerball and the scent is quite pleasant, albeit slightly too harsh (and old?) for my taste. I guess this will go in my travel stash for the times I don't care to carry a larger size around. Sample value: $2.23

Jersey Shore Sun - Sans Tan - Mineral Sunscreen - This is not a product I'm excited about but sunscreen is a necessity in my life since I have uber fair skin. This is something I will easily keep in my purse for emergencies where I forget to apply sunscreen and I'm outside this summer. Sample value: $7.50

Avene - Thermal Spring Water - This product is literally water you can spritz out of a can, nothing else added. This is really only good for making your makeup look less cakey if you've applied too much powder, or on a scalding hot day to cool off your skin. Sample value: $9.00

Pacifica - Mineral Eyeshadow Duo #2 (Unicorn and Moonbeam) - I had never tried Pacifica's eyeshadows before (although I am a fan of their scented creams, candles, etc) and I was excited to try these out. Unfortunately, the pigmentation left much to be desired, you really have to rub your brush in there to pick up as much product as you can to pack it on to your eyelid or even to get a swatch. Sample value: $4.00

I really found that the pigmentation was so poor I had to use a black eyeshadow base underneath (I used the black color tattoo but you can also use a creamy eyeliner pencil or cream shadow). The Moonbeam shade (white gold toned) had so much fall out because of the large glitter chunks and it was very powdery, I had to be careful not to lift it off after I had applied it by blending. 

All in all this was a pretty disappointing IPSY bag for me, hopefully next month's is much better. The total value was $27.53 but the selection of products wasn't stellar. It was definitely worth the $10 I paid but I would have rather received more makeup and less skincare and haircare products.

Colorful / Festival Eye Look of the Day

This look I decided to re-create was inspired by Julia Graf's Arab Inspired Eye tutorial from YouTube. If you'd like watch it, I have linked it below.

My rendition of this look differs in several ways. First of all, I did not use full length false lashes, I was debating not using any at all and I used Too Faced's Fiber Lash Mascara, but then I did decide to throw on some Demi Wispies (just a pair I bought in a 10-pack off eBay, really anything comfortable works). I pulled my eyeliner out a little further, I tried using gel or cream but it didn't look as black as I wanted so I finished off the liner with Kat Von D's eyeliner in Trooper. I also mostly used colors from the Urban Decay Electric palette and some of my MAC single shadows. I also didn't use a white base, I used my MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC15, because I actually have to go pick up NYX's Milk pencil.

I'll basically list for you the colors that I used for pinks, purples, etc. to achieve this look. Now while it's not exactly like Julia's, it's definitely quite similar!

Yellow: MAC "Chrome Yellow"
Orange: Urban Decay "Slowburn" from Electric Palette
Chartreuse Green: Urban Decay "Thrash" from Electric Palette
Aqua: MAC's "Aquadisiac"
Pink: Urban Decay "Savage" from Electric Palette and Too Faced "Bright Eyes" from Be Bright Holiday Set
Purple: Urban Decay "Urban" from Electric Palette
White: MAC's "Nylon"
Black Eyeliner: Kat Von D "Trooper" and Clinique Black Kohl Eyeliner for waterline

Hope you guys enjoy this look and definitely head on over to Julia's website for some awesome tutorials!

Mariposa - Glinda Eyes of the Day

My eyes of the day were inspired by the butterflies in the Mariposa palette and the ethereal look of the Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz (and Urban Decay palette infamy). I'm excited that spring is here and the weather is finally starting to warm up, so bright colors and pastels will be the norm!

Here are the products I used for this look (as always I'll let you know exactly how to achieve this on your own):

I really wanted to do something with purples and pinks, but rather than sticking with just the violet color family, I wanted to incorporate the end of frost on my lower lash line. I did this by creating an icy blue on the inner corner that gently melds into the purple. I kept the eyeliner absolutely minimal because I didn't want it to overpower these beautiful colors, as a bold cat-eye can usually make an overwhelming statement and clash with very multicolored eyeshadow.

Primarily I used the Urban Decay Mariposa Palette, which is not part of their permanent collection, but you can still purchase it on eBay or Amazon. I also used some accent colors from the Glinda eyeshadow palette (these pop out of the palette and are full sized shadows, they are very convenient to work with). I finished the look with some bold colored purple and icy blue eyeliners, which I set with powder foundation for long-lasting wear.

1. Skimp (from the UD Mariposa Palette) all over the brow-bone up to eyebrows
2. Limelight (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the inner 1/3rd of the lid
3. Money (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the middle 1/3rd of the lid, blend with Limelight at border
4. Rockstar (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the outer 1/3rd of the lid, blend with Money at border and apply all over crease generously, making sure the color is as deep as you want it
5. Infamous (from the UD Mariposa Palette) used to blend out top border of Rockstar into the brow-bone
6. Apply a creamy black eyeliner to the upper lash line (I used Sumita Beauty's Kala Black Color Intense Pencil)
7. Line the outer 2/3rds of the lower waterline and lash line with a deep purple (I used Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Ransom)
1. "Set" this eyeliner with Rockstar, same eyeshadow used in step 4 above
8. Line the inner 1/3rd of the lower waterline and lash line with an icy blue (I used Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal 008 Light Blue)
1. "Set" this eyeliner with a light blue eyeshadow (I used the blue half of the shade Aura from the UD Glinda Palette)
9. Feather out any parts of the makeup that are too harsh, for me this was the inner corner transition, so I went in with a very light peach to fade the pink eyeshadow I used into my browbone color (UD Glinda Palette "Illusion")
10. To finish off the look, I used the black mascara Jordana Best Lash Extreme!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hautelook Exclusive Pucker Up! Lip Beauty Bag

I've got a great deal to share with you guys today but it's exclusive to Hautelook members (Hautelook is free to join, by the way, so if you aren't a member, go sign up!). The best part of this "mystery bag" is that it's no mystery at all! I will give you the whole list of products and even the colors they come in! Talk about smart shopping! I will also be providing you with the retail prices of each single product. As a bonus, everything comes in a cute lipstick case as a freebie bonus. The only catch is that with Hautelook, you do have to pay for shipping (which depends on your location I believe, but mine was around $7.00). Hautelook values this bag at $160 worth of products and we can buy it for the absolute steal of $24! You can purchase the bag here.

The bag contains the following items (sources are linked for the retail value):

1. Laura Geller Italian Marble Lipstick, Sugared Maple (glazed caramel with creamy vanilla) - Retail: $18
2. LORAC Lip Lustre Gloss, Ruby - Retail: $15
3. Mirenesse Glossy Kiss, Flirty Kiss - Retail: $29.95
4. Mirenesse Lip Bomb #2, Siren Red - Retail: $39.00
5. Swoon Lip Gloss Reusable Wand - innovative cosmetic tool that is designed to retrieve every bit of gloss from a lip gloss tube - Retail: $15.00
6. La Fresh Lip/Eye Makeup Remover Packette - just 1 of these - Retail: 0.83
7. Lord & Berry Shining Lipstick 20100, Fire (orangey red) - Retail: $16.00
8. Allegro Lip Gloss Case - couldn't find this anywhere
9. Crown Brush Lip Liner Brush (synthetic hair) Retail: $3.00
10. NYX Retractable Lip Liner, Ruby, Fruit Punch, Nectar, Nude Pink, Citrus (as far as I can tell, this is the only product with variation) - Retail: $4.50

So when everything is totaled up, I get a value of $141.28, the price Hautelook has of $160 is definitely a little bit over-inflated. But I'm not adding in the values of the lip gloss case or the makeup bag (because those, to me, with any mystery bag or subscription box, are essentially freebies).

Hope you guys enjoyed this and I hope it helps you decide whether or not you want to purchase the bag!

Also, please keep in mind what it says on the bag (at least when I'm looking at the page today)!

Happy shopping!

DIY Concealer or BB Cream! Super fun and easy

Hi everyone,

I'm so excited to bring you this DIY. It was a really fun project that I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of. I've always wanted to make my own concealer, so I read up on various methods and came up with the easiest and most efficient one made out of things I'm sure we all have in our households! Let me know if you like this DIY and I'll do more!

Product Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lavish Palette

Woohoo, I'm so excited that I finally got this palette after eyeing it for half a year! It went on sale, as I mentioned in a previous post about offers from cosmetic companies. I was so happy to be able to pick this up for just $24 (shipping was free). I've seen bloggers and vloggers rave about this palette so I needed to see what all the hype was about.

Here's a closer look at the shadows (picture taken in natural light):

I'm happy with the range of colors, this is definitely a gem-toned palette.... I love the inclusion of pink, green, various light shades and even a black (albeit sparkly), plus there's definitely a good range of transition shades.

Here are my swatches:

Cream: Light peach beige, matte finish (very close to my skintone so you can barely see it) but it had great color payoff

Antique: Grayish taupe, frosted finish, great pigmentation and color payoff

Rum Cake: Copper brown with orange undertone, frost finish, best color payoff in the palette

Moss: Olive green with golden flecks, frosted finish, decent color payoff

Truffle: Reddish brown, pearl finish, so-so color payoff but good pigmentation

Ballet:  Peachy pink with silver sparkles (on the larger side), sheerest of the palette with fairly poor color payoff because it is the second most powdery

Orange Soda: Light orange, matte finish, most powdery shade with the poorest color payoff even though it has good pigmentation - it tends to blend away 

Sienna: Coppery reddish brown, matte finish, decent color payoff

Pink Sapphire: Pinkish coppery  brown, frosted metallic finish, good pigmentation (disappointing, however, because it is a lot less pink than I had hoped)

Black Diamond: Medium to dark brown with copper and gold microglitter, texture is a little dry and it tends to skip so it's more difficult to blend out, but it has good color payoff

I'll have to do a look to let you guys know how I feel about the shadows overall, but from the looks of it you can get very nice brown, copper, or orange-based looks with this palette.... I definitely think it's a great little beginner palette since the colors are very smooth and buttery and none of the pigmentation is too intense (a la Urban Decay Electric Palette) so you won't mess up your look by accidentally applying too much.

I think the value was very good, it came to about $2.40 per eyeshadow (0.031 oz each) compared to a MAC eyeshadow which costs $10 per pan (at 0.05 oz each) - so you're getting shadows for about 2.6X cheaper per quantity. I do have to say that I was hoping the shade Pink Sapphire was going to be more of a saturated pink rather than copper leaning, but it's still very wearable and one of my favorite colors in the palette.

Electric Blue Liner Eyes of the Day

Electric blue eyeshadow is something I always gravitate towards, especially if it's more of a cerulean blue or turquoise shade... however, I always struggle to find ways to incorporate pops of color (especially for spring) without looking clownish. I think this overall understated elegant look (on the lid & crease) with a classic eyeliner is perfect for that extra pop on the lower lash line.

I will tell you that I am not crazy about jamming too much product in my waterline (especially along the inner and outer corners) because I find that my eyes will tear more throughout the day and my makeup will get ruined! So I use a minimal amount of makeup in the waterline for extreme comfort and all day wear (but you could always put more product in your waterline if you prefer).

Here are the products I used for this look (it seems like a lot but it really isn't, I just like to mix and match products from various companies!):

• Eyes primed with E.L.F. HD Lifting Concealer (I've been experimenting with new eye bases and this one works very well and also eliminates staining from highly pigmented minerals such as in the UD Electric Palette!)
• Urban Decay eyeshadow in Hustle (mine is depotted and put into an old MAC palette, pictured above)
• MAC eyeshadow in Retrospeck genereously applied all over the crease
• STILA stay all day liquid wateproof eyeliner in Black (not pictured) - this is my staple eyeliner - to create that cat-eye winged look
• Urban Decay's Chaos eyeshadow from the Electric Palette on the outer 2/3rd's of my waterline
• Beneath Chaos, I used Urban Decay's Gonzo also from the Electric Palette to smoke it out and smudge the harsh line
• On the inner corner of lower lash line - Stila's Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Empress to draw the light in and make me appear more awake (see swatch below)

• Upper lash mascara - Tarte's Lights Camera Lashes (only 1 coat)
• Lower lash mascara - Max Factor Vivid Impact Mascara in 910 (bought these off eBay and they're AWESOME - but more of a dry formula and they have a synthetic brush) - the blue really didn't compete with the blue shadow I was using and this was ideal for my look

Close-up of the completed look:

I hope you're all doing well and having a wonderful beginning of Spring!

Product Review & Look: Chella Eyeliner Pen in Indigo Blue

Today's look was inspired by the Chella Eyeliner Pen in Indigo Blue, which I received in March's IPSY Glam Bag! Initially, I received a sample that was dried out and I contacted Chella's customer support, they were *extremely* helpful and immediately sent me a replacement (I didn't even ask for one). I was so thrilled when it came in the mail 2 days later (wow, so fast, right?!). It's a beautiful, sponge-tip applicator eyeliner pen in a vibrant and very wearable blue shade. Best of all, the color glides on like a dream, it's water-resistant, smudge proof, quick drying, paraben and NANO-free! This is definitely my new go-to colored eyeliner: I much prefer the pen-tip application over a brush, I think you have much more control.You can just lay it down flush against your eyelashes and drag it along, letting the pen applicator do the work for you of creating a straight line.

This look started out as a simple way to showcase the eyeliner, but I just couldn't stop myself, it was so beautiful, I wanted to accentuate it with contrasting and complementary colors (so maybe this turned out a little bit Arabian Nights-esque, is anyone else's favorite Disney princess Jasmine?).

• Urban Decay's Sin all over the moving part of the eyelid 
• Urban Decay's Zephyr as the browbone highlight 
• (these colors were taken from the Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV - the original, not the redux). Feel free to use any similar shades, I know there are many dupes in the Wet 'n Wild Color Icon trios.  

• MAC's Brown Script in the crease applied in a sweeping motion, making sure to blend it out 
• Urban Decay's Freelove on top of that to warm up the crease and transition into browbone color 

• Chella Eyeliner Pen in Indigo Blue to line the eyes
• Annabella pigment in Solar mixed with water to line uppermost part of the Chella eyeliner
• Line outer 2/3rd's of bottom lash line with Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Rehab (bronze-brown)\
• Line inner 1/3rd of bottom lash line with Pixi Catching Shadows Crayon in Beaming Reflection (golden nude)
• Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara in Black applied to upper lashes - I would avoid the lower lashes as this will take away from the drama of the upper lash line with your beautiful blue eyeliner!

 I hope you guys like the look and please let me know if any of you have tried something similar before!

PS. I don't know what I like better, the Chella Eyeliner Pen in Indigo Blue or Chella's customer support! They're definitely both awesome and you should give their products a try.

Urban Decay Electric Palette Eyes of The Day

Since the latest craze is the Urban Decay Electric pressed pigment palette (which is now available for purchase), I love that everyone's getting into springtime pops of color! I decided to use it for my look of the day, which is a green/blue mermaid-like combination.

Here's a quick guide of the colors I used to achieve this look from the Urban Decay Electric Palette:

I started by working from the inner corner out on my eyelid. In the inner corner, I placed Revolt and patted that on gently to get a saturated color. I find that this palette works best in patting motions and gentle blending rather than swiping back and forth to get a concentrated pop of color where you want it. I then went in with Thrash on the middle third of the eyelid. I put Gonzo on the outer 2/3rd's of the lid, layering it over Thrash for a nice transition color. I used Freak and blended the colors up into my crease, making sure to go in with a clean brush to clean the top of the shade up to the browbone. Then I used Slowburn at the very top edge of my crease where I placed Freak and I made sure to blend it out so that it looks close to my skintone for a very natural warmth to the look.

On the lower lash line, I simply used Freak to line the outer 2/3rd's of the eye and carried Revolt to the inner corner of my eye.  For mascara, I used Benefit's They're Real and to line my eyes, I used Stila's sparkle waterproof liquid eye liner in Starry. The colors ended up overwhelming my eyes and they were starting to get lost in all of the color, so I decided to place some half-lashes to finish up the look (I think this makes my eyes look bigger, especially since it draws out the outer corners).

If you haven't seen my review of this palette complete with swatches, make sure to check that out if you're interested in purchasing it (since it is quite pricey at $49 for this medium-sized palette). You may, or you may not know, that there is a disclaimer/warning on the palette which states that the colors Slowburn, Savage, Jilted and Urban are not FDA approved for immediate eye usage. I interpret this as meaning that you probably shouldn't be using them on your eyelid if you have sensitive eyes but you could use them in your crease and upwards. I wouldn't recommend putting these colors on your waterline but I have used them on my eyelid and I didn't have any adverse reaction.

Product Review: Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set

I recently purchased the Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre set from the Rockin' Red Hot Collection (this came out for the holidays). I got it for $16 on Hautelook, which I thought was definitely a steal compared to the $28 it retailed for originally. These are sort of a strange formula which originally looks like 2 layers, one is a bunch of dense glitter that settles to the bottom of the glass container and the top is a more clear tinted liquid. Before usage, these should be shaken well to mix the glitter and the medium.

The color choice gives a nice variety of looks which can be achieved, but the one thing I believe they all have in common is that they shine in the evening, which I think is the ideal time to pop these on top of your muted daytime look to achieve a glittery party look! This product feels luxurious and high end and is not associated by a particularly high price tag - considering I only paid $4 per each of these, they definitely feel worth it! I love rocking glitter (even during daytime) and these can be used on your eyes, face, and anywhere else on your body you want to sparkle!

Here's a look I spruced up with a little bit of the Amethyst sparkle! It gives a nice subtle finely milled glitter which easily applies with a brush (or your finger) and you can make it more or less dramatic depending on how much of the product you layer on.

Look created with Wet n Wild palette "Flirting at the After Party", Lorac 3D liquid luster in Amethyst, Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara, Jesse's Girl liquid eyeliner, Rimmel Scandaleyes waterproof kohl in Nude, Starlooks Gem Pencil in Topaz, and Milani Liquif'Eye metallic eye liner pencil in Black 

Without further ado, here are some swatches:

Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set - Indoor Light

 You can create a look with less or more sparkle, depending on how you concentrate the formula on your eyes, it will dry and completely set - this is much more mess-free than applying a medium and then glitter on top with a brush. These definitely take the guesswork out of which medium you should use and which glitter is eye-friendly. I do not recommend using these on your waterline, however, as no glitter is ever safe to use that close to your eye (it can be quite painful and even scratch your cornea if it goes inside your eye).

Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set - Flash

 As you can tell, with flash photography, these look absolutely metallic and stunning. The diamond shade veers a little pink even though it is meant to be colorless.

Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set - Day Light