EOTD - Pink and Purple

I got the limited edition Zoom Lash mascaras from MAC recently and I've been trying to figure out different ways to wear them! Here is a look I did with the purple mascara, Plum Reserve.

First as always I prepped my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. To start I blended Urban Decay Free Love eyeshadow, a peachy pink, all over the lid. Then I blended Urban Decay Woodstock, a bright shimmery fuchsia pink, into the crease. I accented the outer corner with MAC Passionate, a matte hot pink.

I lined my waterline with Urban Decay Rockstar, an eggplant purple eyeliner. I smudged that with Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister, a bright purple, and smudged a bit more Woodstock around the edges of that too. I highlighted my browbone and inner corner with Urban Decay Sin, a light peachy highlighter.

To finish, I coated my lashes with a coat of the Step 1 Primer side of my Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions mascara. If you want the colored mascara to be extra vibrant, or if you have naturally really dark eyelashes (jealous) then this step is important. Then I finished my lashes with two coats of MAC Zoom Lash mascara in Plum Reserve.

Would you wear colored mascara?

EOTD - Autumn in Summer?

This eye look ended up looking a bit more autumn than summer, but it's still gorgeous! I used a heck of a lot of products in this look so brace yourselves!

As always I started with Urban Decay Primer Potion. Then, I blended Urban Decay Half Baked, a light golden shimmer, into the inner third of the lid. I patted MAC Rule, a light matte orange, into the center, then MAC Red Brick, a darker matte orange, into the outer third. Into the crease I blended MAC Embark, a dark matte brown, and darkened the outer crease with Urban Decay Snakebite, a shimmery dark bronzey brown.

I lined my lower waterline with Wet N' Wild Coloricon eyeliner in Dark Brown and set and smudged it with Embark, Rule, and Red Brick. I lined my top lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Demolition. Finally, I finished my lashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara in Extreme Black.

Hey, that wasn't so bad! Love the pop of bright orange in the center with golds and browns! What do you think; is this summery to you, or does it look too autumn-ish?

EOTD - Pink and Grey

I sure have been posting a lot of eye looks lately! I have been challenging myself to use shadows I haven't used in a while (or ever!) before buying any new ones. So far I'm resisting the temptation...I'm sure when I get paid next week it'll all be for naught, though. The new Sugarpill palette is calling my name...

To start this look, I used Urban Decay Primer Potion as I always do. On the inner third of the lid, I blended Urban Decay Free Love, a light shimmery pinky coral. Then, I packed MAC Free to Be, a matte pinky coral, all over the bottom of of the lid. This shadow is a little hard to work with so you really just have to keep packing it on to get it to be really opaque and bright. It's gorge though so I give it a free pass. In the outer half of the lid, I blended NYX Greyish Brown, which is a matte dark grey with a bit of bluish-looking shimmer (totally don't get why it's called Greyish Brown. there's no brown in it whatsoever). I blended NYX Dune, a dark grey shimmer with a bit of golden shimmer in it, into the crease.

On the bottom lashline, I used NYX Eye/Eyebrow Pencil in Grey and smudged it with a bit of Greyish Brown. I highlighted the browbone and inner corner with...I can't remember. I think it was either UD Bootycall or Mary Kay Moonstone. To line the upper lashline, I used Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Perversion. Finally, I coated my lashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black.

I love the combination of pink and grey! What do you think of this color combo?

EOTD - Vibrant Purples

I recently got a slew of new MAC eyeshadows. I created my own palette full of purples, because I adore purple eyeshadow on me. It really brings out my greenish greyish eyes, in my opinion. Here's a look I did with some of my new shades:

First, I prepped my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion. Then, I patted MAC Vibrant Grape, a matte reddish purple, all over the bottom part of my lid. I blended MAC Plum Dressing, a shimmery reddish purple, into the crease. I darkened the outer part of the crease with MAC Fig. 1, a dark matte eggplant color. I lined my lower lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Rockstar, a dark eggplant, and set it with Fig. 1. I smudged Urban Decay Blackout, a matte black, into the upper lashline.

I highlighted under my brow and in the inner corner with Urban Decay Bootycall, a light champagne shimmer. Finally, I curled my lashes and finished them with Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara in Extreme Black.

I love these purples. The warmer, reddish purples really work with my skintone and eye color. Vibrant Grape was a little hard to work with because it was on the dry side, but with some work I got it to build up to opacity. What's your favorite color eyeshadow to use to bring out your eye color or skintone? 

EOTD - My interpretation of Mac's "Call Me Bubbles" quad

A couple months ago when Mac's "Call Me Bubbles" quad came out, I was dying to have it but by the time I had the money to spare, it was sold out. :( So I became determined to replicate it with other shadows. The quad consisted of a matte pinky coral, a shimmery light orange, a beige highlighter, and a metallic copper. Since then, I've acquired shadows that I think are as close as I'm going to get to Call Me Bubbles, and I'm pretty happy with it! Here's the look I did.

I started by prepping my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion. I used Mac's Free to Be, a pretty close dupe of the matte pinky coral shade in their Call Me Bubbles quad, on the inner half of the lid. This color is gorgeous, but it's pretty dry and takes some time to get the opacity right. On the outer half of the lid, I used Mac's Rule, a matte light orange that's really soft and buttery. It's pretty close in color to the orange shade in the quad, but matte instead of shimmery. In the future I think I could mix it with Urban Decay's Half Baked to get that gold shimmer in it.

In the crease, I used NYX's Copper, with some NYX Rust to darken the outer crease. Both of these shadows are gorgeous in color, but a little sheer and powdery. I could probably use it damp next time to make it a little easier to work with. I lined my lower lash line with  NYX's Slide On Eyeliner in Golden Bronze, and smudged it with NYX Copper. On the upper lash line, I used Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Demolition, a dark brown. I finished by sweeping my lashes with Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in Extreme Black.

Overall, I'm pretty excited about my interpretation of this Mac quad, although now that I see the colors on my actual face, I don't think I love pink and orange together on my skintone. I love pink and I love orange, but together on my eye, they make me look like I've been crying! Hah. Oh well. At least I tried!

FOTD - Spring Nighttime Going-out Look

I love wearing bright lip colors in the spring and summer. In fact, I hardly own a nude lipstick - they are all bright pink or orange! I was going out this Saturday night to see my boyfriend's band play, so I wanted a smokey going-out eye, but I also wanted to wear my new favorite hot pink lipstick - Cover Girl Color Sensational lipstick in Fuchsia Fever. I love how it accentuates tanned skin, and its a great pink for day or night. I sometimes struggle with pairing a bright lip and smokey eye, and I think I successfully did it here! Here's what I did:

First I applied my new foundation, Clinique Perfectly Real Makeup in 22 (P), my new shade for my tanned skin. I then contoured a bit with NYX Matte Bronzing Powder in Medium, and added e.l.f. Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Sun Kissed, a shimmery golden bronzer, to the cheeks and cheekbone. I filled in my brows with the Smashbox Brow Tech kit in Blonde.

On the eyes, I smudged Maybelline Color Tattoo cream shadow in Tough as Taupe, a brownish gray, with my finger all over the lid. To set this, I patted Urban Decay Tease (which I find is the perfect shadow to set Tough as Taupe with because it's almost exactly the same color) all over the lid and lower lash line. I accentuated the outer V with NYX Nude Matte Eyeshadow in Confession, a medium-dark matte gray. For the crease and outer lower lash line, I used Ulta eyeshadow in Mesmerize, a cheaper version of Urban Decay Lounge or Mac Club. It's a reddish brown base with a teal duochrome flash. I used it wet because it wasn't showing up dark or duochrome-y enough dry. I lined my upper lashline with Urban Decay Blackout. I coated my lashes with Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black.

I moisturized my lips with a bit of Burt's Bees balm before applying Maybelline lip liner in Clear. I then applied my Cover Girl Color Sensational lipstick in Fuchsia Fever. This lipstick looks just as amazing for a day look with nothing but a bronzed face and a swipe of mascara!

Ready to go out tonight!

NOTD - Fun with Matte!

Okay, you guys, I seriously think this is one of my favorite manicures I've ever done. I've been dying to experiment with matte/glossy texture combinations, but I always forget until I'm already done painting my nails. Then I saw this mani, and I loved the design of the three colors. I decided to take the idea of the tri-color mani and translate into a matte/glossy texture design.

I started with two coats of Essie Bobbing for Baubles, a true navy creme. Then, I applied a coat of Essie Matte About You, a matte topcoat. I love matte topcoat because it allows you to turn any polish into a matte, however I have problems with it applying unevenly sometimes, leaving still-shiny patches on my nails. Solution? Create a design with glossy topcoat (I used Seche Vite) over the matte, covering the uneven spots! 

For my third "color", I used Essie Pure Pearlfection, a layering polish with fine purple and blue shimmer. Instead of making them super sharp lines like in the tri-color mani, I free handed the designs with an Orly detailer brush (partly because I'm too impatient to wait for my polish to dry and do the scotch-tape method of creating sharp lines!). I LOVE the final result. The contrast between the matte, glossy, and shimmery finish on the navy blue background is gorgeous, especially in the light. I am definitely going to try this again with other colors and effects.

What do you guys think of this mani? Are you as in love with it as I am?? :-D

EOTD - Complementary Colors

I was watching this Wendy's Lookbook video yesterday, and was inspired to try some complementary colors in my outfit and makeup today. I wore khaki green cargo skinnies with a pastel pink sweater today, thinking it's still pretty wintery and not too spring-like. I was thinking of doing an all green eye look, but I was bored of that idea because I do the gold/green combo quite often. I decided to translate the color scheme of my outfit onto my eyes.

I started by prepping my lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Greed, which adds a touch of gold shimmer to the lids. I patted Urban Decay Free Love eyeshadow, a coral-pink shimmer, onto the inner half of my lid. I then blended Urban Decay Chronic eyeshadow, a matte bright grass green, into the crease. (This is why I used Greed to prime my lid - I did not want a totally matte crease color so Greed brought some depth to the shadow.)  I then blended Urban Decay Mildew, a darker olive-y green shimmer, into the outer V and on the lower lashline.

I lined my upper lashline with Urban Decay Blackout, and highlighted my browbone and inner corner with Urban Decay Virgin. To finish the eye, I coated my lashes with CoverGirl LashBlast mascara in Black.



For the rest of the face, I went with my new go-to contour of NYX Matte Bronzing powder in Medium, highlight of Benefit Girl Meets Pearl in Golden Pink, and NYX Creme Blend Blush in Glow. On the lips, I went with NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Antwerp, reviewed here.

Channeling my inner Taylor Swift

What do you think of my colorblocking look? Is this something you would try on your eyes?

EOTD - Smoky Purples!

I was bored a few days ago and wanted to challenge myself to use some eyeshadows that I haven't used in a while. I was feeling in a purple kinda mood, so I grabbed a few purple and pink eyeshadows that I think came together for a very fun purple smoky eye!

First, as I always do, I primed my eyelid with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. Then, I covered my whole lid with the "Eyelid" color, a grayish lavender frost, from the Wet n' Wild trio Silent Treatment. I then blended a Mary Kay eyeshadow in Sweet Plum, a deep shimmery royal purple, into the crease, on the outer third of the lid, and onto the bottom lash line. I used another Mary Kay shadow, in Raisin, a matte reddish purple, just above the crease. To finish, I blended the "Browbone" color, a light candy pink, from the same Wet n' Wild trio into the browbone and the inner corner. I lined my waterline with an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Rockstar, a dark eggplant purple. Lastly, I coated my eyelashes with CoverGirl LashBlast mascara in black.

 

 Hope you liked this eye look! Purple is my favorite eyeshadow color because it is just so flattering to my skin tone and hair color, and it really makes my greenish/grayish eyes pop. What is your favorite eyeshadow color?

Sick Day, Just Lipstick

I've spent the past two days (and will likely spend the next two days) home with a very sick 9 year old girl. Today I didn't even leave the house! I spent the day reading and playing go fish, so I didn't put any makeup on or get out of my pajamas. I wanted to get a quick post up though to keep the momentum going.



I've been curious about this NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream for a while, and grabbed one the other day on my Ulta run. I picked up the shade Antwerp, which is a bright, warm-toned, almost bubblegum pink. Application is easy because of the soft spongy applicator, like a lipgloss applicator. I LOVE the way it smells - like vanilla frosting! It needs a moment to set, but once it dries down, it becomes matte. I had about 4 hours of wear before it wore off when I ate lunch.

Overall, I really like this lip cream, and since it's pretty cheap I will definitely pick up some more colors! What do you think about a matte lip? Would you wear a bright pink lip like this?

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?