FOTD: Elementary, My Dear Watson

On my trip to Ulta today, I saw NYX was having a buy-one-get-one half off sale. I immediately grabbed their matte bronzer in Medium because I was looking for a nice big pan of bronzer with NO shimmer in it for contouring. The second thing I grabbed was their cream blush in Orange. I'm a big fan of this product in Glow, and I love coral and orange blushes on me, so this was a no brainer.

When I got home, I wanted to put a face together using the cream blush. So I was going through my eyeshadows, thinking about combinations that would go with an orange blush. I landed on my Bare Minerals Ready Eyeshadow Quad in the Elements. I've done a look with this quad before, but I didn't use the blue shade in that look. I think this eyeshadow quad is wonderful, and quite "elementary" to apply!

I started off the same way I always do - I prepped my eyelid with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. I swept Earth, a matte greenish grey, onto the eyelid, then blended Fire, a matte rusty orange, into the crease. I blended Air, a champagne beige shimmer, into the browbone and inner corner. I lined my waterline with NYX Slide On Waterproof Eyeliner in Tropical Green, then used a flat liner brush to line my lower lashline with Water, a tealish blue shimmer. (Sidenote: I also tightlined my upper lashline with black eyeliner, but I don't think I'll do that ever again because it kept rubbing off on my contacts all day long and irritating my eyes! Any tips on how to tightline for contact wearers?) Lastly, I swept my eyelashes with Lancome Definicils Mascara in Black.

 To finish the face, I contoured my cheeks with NYX Matte Bronzer in Medium and highlighted my cheekbones with Benefit Girl Meets Pearl in Golden Pink. (I also got this at Ulta today - a mini sample size to see if I liked it - and I do!) I blended NYX Cream Blush in Orange into the apples of my cheeks using my fingertips. On my lips, to go with the orange theme, I applied Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti.




What do you think of this look? I definitely think it's more of a summer look, but honestly, who cares what season it is when you look this good? ;)

I think I'll take photos of myself in my car every day! This lighting makes me look awesome!

Let's start the new year off with my declaration of love for nail polish and makeup!

I have become increasingly obsessed with nail polish over the past year or so, in large part to the blog that started it all for me: www.alllacqueredup.com. From there, I discovered www.temptalia.com, which sparked my interest in eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, etc. I am not a makeup or nail polish expert by any means, but I enjoy experimenting with new looks and collecting interesting new colors and formulas of nail polish and makeup. So I thought I'd start this blog to document my frequent polish changes and makeup looks of the day!

To start off with, I have Revlon Starry Pink on my nails. This is one of the shades that put Revlon on the map for me, and I scoured several Walgreens in my area to find it. It feels very wintery to me, with its almost-white pink jelly base sprinkled with small silver glitter and larger silver hex glitter. I'm normally not a huge pink nail polish girl, but I love how unique and interesting this one is. I've worn this a few times so far this winter and it wears without chipping for a few days. I always change my polish after 2 or 3 days anyway because I get bored! This photo shows three coats because the jelly base is slightly sheer, but I think it looks pretty that way.








I'd been lusting after the Bare Minerals Ready Eyeshadow Quad in the Elements for about a month or so now, and I finally nabbed it at Ulta yesterday with some Christmas money. I have two of the Duos (in Enlightenment and Escape) and I LOVE the formula, so I knew this quad with these interesting colors needed to be mine.

First, I prepped my eyelid with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. I swept Earth, a matte gray sage color, across the whole eyelid, then blended Fire, a matte rusty orange color, into the crease and up. Then I blended Air, a shimmery taupe highlighter, into the browbone and inner corner. I really love how it kind of came out looking like a sunset on the horizon! I did not use Water, a shimmery teal blue color, in this look because this was just a casual daytime look, but next time I'll use Water on the lower lashline. I love the way these shadows applied. They are very pigmented, and practically melted into the skin.

I used NYX eyeliner in Gray to line my waterline (although this photo was taken after a whole day of wear, so it's no longer visible) and on the top lashline. I don't love the way the gray eyeliner became a bit invisible against Earth, so I might try a brown or olive green liner next time. (Black liner looks too harsh on me, unfortunately.) Then I swept my eyelashes with CoverGirl LashBlast mascara in Black.


Have you tried the Bare Minerals pressed powder eyeshadows yet? How would you wear these colors?