Recent Acquisitions

 With one week of my new internship down, a few small surprises greeted me in my mailbox.

Top: Laura Mercier foundation primer. L: The Balm Mary Lou Manizer R: MAC Immortal Flower

 The primer and highlight powder were actually obtained through a swap. I never really got into MUA swaps until recently. They are a great way to try new things without being wasteful. I have never had a negative experience either *knocks on wood*.

The MAC blush was recently repromoted in the All About Orange collection. It's a beautiful light true peach. I heard some people hated the texture from the original Tres Cheek collection, but mine is pretty pigmented and soft. Despite being light, it shows up easily and could definitely be built up. Been wearing it all week!

Note about the highlighter...it is stunning, lots of product but wow it is shimmery. This is not for the faint of highlighting hearts!

 

Have you picked up anything new lately?

The Trials and Tribulations of Naked Lunch

Long time no blog = bad self. Haven't really been sticking to my blogging resolutions unfortunately! I could whine and moan about being a no-life-having college student but fortunately for both of us, I finished spring semester a little over a week ago so I have more time to post now!

Back to the topic at hand. If you've never heard of MAC's Naked Lunch eyeshadow, you must live under a rock that lacks wifi. One of the brand's most famous shades, it was one of the first MAC products I ever bought. Unfortunately, I did not see eye to eye with everyone else's raves.

Naked Lunch: the criminal in question

The pan of Naked Lunch I have is without a doubt one of the hardest eyeshadow to work with in my collection. It has poor payoff, is pretty sheer and usually creases on me, even with a primer underneath.

So, like any other lazy consumer, I let it go untouched in my palette for over a year. In this divorce period, I actually found not only a dupe, but a better version...found in a Wet n Wild trio that retails for $2.99. Yeah...

Top: Wet n Wild "Eyelid" from the Walking on Eggshells trio / Bottom: Naked Lunch

Voila the proof above. Don't get me wrong, MAC is one of my favorite brands, especially for eyeshadow. Hence why I was very let down by ol' Naked Lunch. Nonetheless, I am determined to finish Naked Lunch...for the past few months I've found a great way to do so.

 

Using a small powder brush, I have been applying the shadow as a cheekbone/nose/cupid's bow highlight. Being a pearly, pink shade, it works quite well. I don't find it too stark and think it could work on a variety of skintones.

So that is how I intend to finish up Naked Lunch...I hate wasting things I spent money on so I always try to experiment with other uses. Just because something is marketed as a certain product doesn't mean you can't try it in a different way!

I hope this post was helpful to anyone else that got stuck with a bad pan of Naked Lunch. Definitely check out the Wet n Wild trio if you want a similar shade too! I should really write a quality control letter to MAC while I'm at it...

Copper EOTD Inspired by ChelseaWears

Before we begin with today's eye look, I will be the first to admit the obvious similarity between this EOTD and my last post's. But hear me out - this eye makeup is different AND inspired by none other than the gorgeous, hilarious Chelsea of ChelseaWears. She posted a new "Get Ready With Me" video today (watch here) and immeaditely after watching, I felt the urge to bust out some coppery eyeshadow. This is the result...

Forgot concealer...big fail.

 Now, I am aware that this pales in comparison to Chelsea's look but this is what I ended up with. I mainly used Mac Sable and Urban Decay Toasted as the base. Both shades have a coppery pink base, and they are honestly quite similar (Sable is a bit darker however). I layered them in hopes to create more dimension.

 

I darkened the outer corner/crease with Urban Decay Hustle to add depth. Finally I lined my upper lash line with a brown eyeliner and smudged a mixture of Mac Bronze and Sable over top. This is something I rarely do; I enjoy a defined black liner, but a change is nice! Lastly, I couldn't leave the lower lashline naked since it was/usually is the piece de resistance of Chelsea's looks. She makes a valid point; a defined lower lashline really does wonders for those of us with slightly hooded lids. I just applied more Sable and then Hustle to the outer third.

Voila! Hope you enjoyed this EOTD inspired by Chelsea. Definitely check out her blog/YT channel if you haven't already...she is hilariously entertaining and has an amazing style.

MAC Bronze

The majority of my MAC eyeshadow collection is housed in a 12 pan palette, but I do have a few pots lying around. I decided to showcase a few of my favorites.

MAC Bronze eyeshadow

In the swatch, Bronze to my eye looks like a true bronze gold shade; not too warm nor too cool. It definitely has a brown base with some orange thrown in.

On the eye, Bronze's orange undertones do shine through more, however this is most noticeable at this time for year for my paler skintone. Personally, I would wear Bronze all year round, but I am sure it looks especially stunning in summer when I am darker.

An oldie but a goodie, I am happy to have Bronze in my collection. Although there are most certainly dupes on the market, it's one of those shades that I love against my brown eyes, and definitely consider a staple. When I want a more toned down version, this looks great diffused in the crease and/or outer corner with something complimentary like Patina on the lid.

Are there any shades that you always come back to? I'd love to know more suggestions for spring/summer which is slowly but surely approaching. x

Making MAC Woodwinked Work in Winter

Happy 2013 blogging world! With school and the holidays, I've gone on a blogging hiatus however I decided that one of my New Years resolutions (sick and tired of that 3 word phrase yet?) will be to write, write, write. I need to not get so caught up in schoolwork and expend some creative energy here. But that is another post in it of itself...

Today, I wanted to share a tip I have regarding brassy, gold eye eyeshadow. The quintessential example in my book is MAC's Woodwinked.

Woodwinked bottom front

When I first bought Woodwinked, I anticipated what I saw in the pan/swatch. A lovely, highly pigmented gold with bronze undertones. However, I soon realized that it has a tendency to veer orange on my eyes, especially now in winter when I am quite pale (NW/NC 20). With the holidays and gold eye makeup on trend, I wanted to join the party. I have always loved wearing gold on my eyes, but this brassy, orange look was not flattering. The stubbornness in me decided that I must make this shade work.

My solution? Mixing Woodwinked with Patina (one of my favorite eyeshadows of all time, if you're curious). It is pictured above Woodwinked in the palette shot, and it is a more of an antique, lighter gold color with some taupe mixed in. It is complex, flattering, and I love it on its own. Now I adore it mixed with Woodwinked to give me a nice and noticeably gold eye.

Wearing Woodwinked + Patina with some brown in outer corner

This is pretty much the look I did for New Years Eve as well. The only difference is I added a little glitter on top to jazz it up...a rarity for boring, neutral me!

So there is my little tip for dealing with beautiful shades like Woodwinked that don't seem to mesh well with paler skin in the wintertime. You can apply this to any shadow you may have that has this problem - just try mixing it with its lighter, more non-offensive cousin shade like Patina in this gold shadow case study.

I hope you had a nice holiday and New Years! I hope to comply my 2013 goals/resolutions sometime tomorrow. They will not be strictly beauty-related I think. Thanks for reading x

Matte Eyes

What with the several (I mean everyday...) exams I've had over the past week and half, I haven't been wearing much shadow. No time and no point really. However, now that the weekend is upon us and the last test is done, I was allotted some time to do something. Decided to show some love to matte shades today.

Please excuse my scary brows; been neglecting them too. (big no no)

Eyes: MAC Quarry all over lid, MAC Copperplate in the crease/outer corner

Physician's Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner in black (my HG, no contest)

Maybelline The Falsies mascara in black, waterproof

Quarry and Copperplate are some of my favorite shades from MAC. Copperplate is a Matte 2 formula, which are my favorites; they are pigmented and so smooth aka easy to work with. I never used to gravitate towards matte shadows before except for the crease but I liked how this look came out. It looked interesting but professional; I think if you work in a conservative office, matte shadows would be a great thing to invest in. It's not a ton of color going on, however I think the purple undertones of Quarry make it more fun than say a wash of medium brown (but I still love my browns!).

Do you rock matte eyes or prefer shimmer/satin finishes? I'd love links to some of your matte EOTDs!

A Simple Summer Face

Despite my complaints, mother nature has continued to gift us yet another heatwave this summer. This naturally ties into my makeup, and I've opted for lighter bases, a touch of blush, and focus on the lashes. That luminosity you see...that's all natural. It's summer, I doubt I'm alone!

Face:

Garnier Roller Ball

MAC Studio Finish Concealer NW20

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder in Real Sand

MAC Melba

Eyes:

MAC Quarry e/s to line

L'oreal False Fiber Lashes (waterproof)

Lips:

MAC Cremecup

Are you into minimal makeup lately?