Minimal Makeup

Minimal Makeup

I want to play around with makeup, but I'm trying not to because I have an annoying pimple on my cheek! It's been there for a few days but its getting better since it reached its peak/worse stage about 2 days ago. I'm trying to avoid touching my face, hence this is the first time I've worn makeup in days. A lot of people continue wearing makeup when they get a pimple, but I'd rather leave my whole face alone & not risk touching it more than I have to especially since it's in such a visible spot. So the makeup looks will have to wait for now.

My hair looked like a mess today & I had it up, but I was going out & didn't want to look like I just rolled out of bed so I did something that didn't look like I put much effort into it.  I was only going to apply an eyeshadow in the crease + some mascara, but I decided to smudge some brown eyeliner as well. I've always loved how smudged eyeliner looks on people, but whenever I try it out with black eyeliner it never looks quite right to me. I tried it out with brown eyeliner today & didn't mind it as much.

Products Used:

Eyes

• Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion [all over eyelid till under the brow]

• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in MM17 [outer V + crease + lower lashline]

• MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Stubborn Brown [smudged on the upper lashline]

• L'Oreal Voluminous mascara in Carbon Black [upper & lower lashes]

Face

• Revlon ColorStay foundation for Combination/Oily Skin in 320 True Beige

• Annabelle Cosmetics Zebra Bronzing Powder in Haute Gold [used mainly to contour + lightly applied on cheeks]

Lips

• Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in 063 Eastend Snob [lined lips & filled them in]

• Marcelle Cosmetics Rouge Xpression Creme Lipstick in 853 Jezebel

Do you continue with your usual makeup routine when your skin starts acting up?

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My 1st Apothica.com Haul (Nov 2011)

My 1st Apothica.com Haul (Nov 2011)

If you look at my sidebar, there's an ad for an online cosmetics company called Apothica. A few months ago I got a few items from there, so I thought I'd do a little review.  Before I start, I'd like to add that even though the company advertises on my blog, my opinion in this post hasn't been swayed by that.

I had browsed through the site before I let them advertise on my blog to ensure that the site was selling products that I would be interested in purchasing myself & I was pleased with their selection. When it was time for me to purchase, however, I noticed was that a lot of the products could only be shipped within the U.S., which was a bit disappointing. Even though this meant that I couldn't order the Becca Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector that I wanted to try so badly, I still managed to find a lot of things that I wanted to get.

Here are the items that I ended up checking out with:

• Too Faced Smokey Eye Palette 2011 (I got 2 - 1 for myself & the other as a present)

• Too Faced Natural Eye Kit

• Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer

• Too Faced Teddy Bear Hair Mini Brush Set

• Laura Geller Blush-n-Brighten in Roseberry

• Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick in #25 Soft Beige 

• Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick in #23 Luscious Pink 

I used the coupon code PACK10 for 10% off my purchase + the shipping charge was a little over $25, which brought my total to around $256. I kept checking my account & they took 12 days to just get the stuff together & ship it, which annoyed me a bit. After they sent the items out, it received it in a little over a week. Once the mail lady arrived at my door with the parcel, I also had to pay a little over $27 for customs. If I lived in the U.S. (it takes me 30 minutes to cross the border), I would have avoided the custom charges & the shipping charges as well since shipping to a U.S. postal address is free when your order is over $49. So if I lived in the U.S. I would have saved over $50 & would have probably purchased something else with that money.

Moving on, the items itself were packaged very well & none of them were damaged. I noticed that 2 of the items (the brush set & the Natural Eye Kit) were back-ordered & one of the YSL #23 lipstick could not be shipped so the money for it was refunded. I found it really weird that the site let me check out with the lipstick when it couldn't be shipped to Canada.

The brush set & the Natural Eye kit arrived later. I was upset when I noticed that the eyeshadows had already been swatched before since I could clearly see shimmery fingerprints in the matte eyeshadows. The next morning, I got on the phone & spoke with someone from Apothica & they sent a new palette out right away. The lady on the phone was polite & quick, which I liked.

Once again, I love some of the items on the site & they are priced competitively. If you see an item listed for a lower price on another site, get on the phone & Apothica will match the price for you! Their customer service is great. The negatives are that the wait time after you order items is a bit long if you don't live in the U.S. & that online shopping makes me wish I lived in the U.S. If you're already living there then this would be a good site to shop from.

I plan on reviewing some of the items that I bought, which is why I've just included small pics for now. I thought I'd do a 1st experience/haul post since I advertise their site, so I wanted my readers to know about my experience with the company.

Hope those who are planning on purchasing from Apothica.com found this review helpful.

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Swarovski Inspired Spring Fun

Swarovski Inspired Spring Fun

Spring's here!

I had received an invite in the mail for Swarovski's spring fashion event & I really liked the makeup look for spring. I knew I wanted to try the look & I just got around to doing it 2 days ago.

The picture below is scanned, but if you click the pic it will take you to the picture on Swarovski's site where you can see the look a little better.

Here's the look that I came up with. I used the orange/coral on the lid, darker shade in the crease, light blue on the lower lashline, & lighter colour in the tearduct area. I added a few elements of my own though: winging out the blue & orange + coloured eyeliner on the waterline + a purple-brown shade blended upward & out instead of keeping the dark colour in the center of the crease.

Products Used:

Eyes

• Urban Decay Primer Potion [all over eyelid till under the brow + tearduct area + lower lashline]
• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in WM09 [all over lid + between both wings]
• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in CM02 [crease + browbone]
• Sedona Lace 88 Metal Eyeshadow Palette - light blueish-gray shade [lower lashline]
• Sleek's Paraguaya iDivine Palette - Sandstone [tearduct area + lightly under the brow]
• Annabelle Cosmetics Smudgeliner in Atomic Surf [waterline]
• Annabelle Cosmetics liquid eyeliner in Black Out [winged slightly on the upper lashline]
• L'Oreal Voluminous mascara in Carbon Black [upper + lower lashes]
• ES A134 false eyelashes [1 eyelash cut in half & applied on the outer corners of both eyes]

Face

• Revlon ColorStay foundation for Combination/Oily Skin in 320 True Beige
• Maybelline's Dream Matte Powder in Honey [only on the t-zone]
• Annabelle Cosmetics Mineral Powder Bronzer in Terra [used to contour cheeks + jaw + temples]
• Sedona Lace 88 Metal Eyeshadow Palette - a mix of the cream shades [cheekbones + bridge of nose + under the eyebrow arch]
• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in WM09 [cheeks]

Lips

• Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in 063 Eastend Snob [all over lips]
• Senna Cosmetics Cream Lipstick in Plush
• Marcelle's Vita-Lip Plumping Gloss in 40 Rio Rose

I actually applied lipstick this time & that too a lighter shade. I used the bold orange eyeshadow on my lids & on my cheeks as well & I'm loving the way orange blush looks on my skin tone.

I can't believe I haven't tried an orange blush yet considering how popular it seemed to be last spring/summer. After seeing how good orange looks on my cheeks, I definitely need an orange blush in my life. I'm thinking Rome by Cargo Cosmetics.

Got any recommendations for an orange blush?

Lots of bright colours & vitamin D ahead ;)

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Gradient Orchid Look

Gradient Orchid Look

I haven't ever tried this style, but I love the black eyeshadow winged on the outer edges with the purple blended in between the "wings." It made my eyes seem big even though I applied black eyeliner on my waterline.

Products Used:

• UDPP [lid till under the brow + tear duct area + lower lashline]

• NYX  Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk [lid till browbone +lower lashline]

• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in CS06 [inner third of lid till the browbone + tear duct area + inner third of lower lashline + between both the "wings"]

• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in CS16 [middle third of lid till the browbone + middle third of lower lashline]

• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in MM06 [outer two-thirds of the browbone]

• BH Cosmetics eyeshadow in CM20 [outer third of lid + outer corner/triangle + outer third of lower lashline & winged on the corner] 

• Sedona Lace 88 Metal Eyeshadow Palette [a mix of the cream shades under the brow]

• L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip eyeliner in Carbon Black [slightly winged on the upper lashline] 

• Almay Blendable Eye Pencil in Black [tightline + waterline]

• L'Oreal Voluminous mascara in Carbon Black [upper + lower lashes] 

• Falsies [upper lashline]

  

When I wear coloured eyeshadows I tend to use a lot of purple shades. Which colour do you reach for the most besides brown?

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Birthday Girl's Look

Birthday Girl's Look

It was my birthday on February 26th & I thought I'd share the look that I went for. The whole look along with the hair made me feel glamourous.

Poser:

For my eyeshadow, I used a mix of shimmery cream shades under the brow as the highlight. I applied a matte white in the tear duct area & the inner half of the lower lashline. I topped the matte white just in the tear duct area with a shimmery white eyeshadow. In the crease & on the outer two-thirds of the lower lashline, I applied a dark brown & blended it out. Applying the brown eyeshadow & then lots of mascara on the lower lashline gave me the big doll eyes kind of look, especially with that hair.

You can see the brown eyeshadow best in this picture:

  

Here's my favourite part about the look (makeup-wise): the cheeks! I used Annabelle Cosmetics' mineral bronzer in Terra, Laura Geller's Blush-N-Brighten in Roseberry, & a highlight right above the blush.

I'm going to try remembering to use a highlight on my cheekbones because it really does make the biggest difference & you can notice it in pictures too. For my lips I used a pink gloss that had almost worn off by this point since I took these pictures late at night. I usually ignore my lips in makeup looks & would have been okay with just wearing rose salve too though.

What part of your face do you spend the most & the least time on?

Lately I've been spending more time on my face since I've started wearing liquid foundation now, so I actually have to put effort in to it because I'm always afraid that I won't blend it in properly, especially on the sides of my face & neck area. I then create those natural "shadows" on my face back again with the help of a bronzer since using liquid foundation almost erases those.

I've always spent the least amount of time on my lips. As long as I have my rose salve or lip balm, I'll be fine.

I'd love to know your answer to the question so leave a comment below.

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