More Fun with Bronzers
I wanted to take a minute to explain my last post, in case it seemed random and more self-indulgent than usual. No, I haven't fallen in love with ginormous, close-up photos of myself! I had to employ the "extra large" option on Blogger to get a better quality shot of the everyday smokey eye that I do. I posted it on Sephora's blog because they were having a contest. Don't think I won, but it's all good!
So on to today's makeup adventure -- I'm still spending quality time with the Best in Bronze kit and the next item I experimented with was the Korres bronzer in sunglow light. I already own the darker shade, so I was curious to see how this compared. I like this lighter shade better. To give you an idea of how the color applies, here's a before and after.
All pasty w/no bronzer, but w/earphones. (Sarah & Vinnie on 97.3 are my favorite morning show right now! Can't go a day without tuning in ... thank God for the Nano radio!)
And here I am with the bronzer on:
It just adds a touch of warmth and does a great job of reducing my pinkiness. Nothing overdone, perfect for work. Plus this powder formula is actually moisturizing. I've never broken out from using the darker shade, so as far as I'm concerned, this stuff is awesome.
Here's hoping mother nature will take a break from crying over the Bay Area soon so I can get an ACTUAL tan on! I'm off to LA in two weeks, and I want to look like I belong!
Labels: Korres, Sephora
Smokey for Sephora!
I do a smokey eye with greys and plums that's heavier on the lids/lighter on the lower lashline than a traditional smokey eye. Instead of heavy shadows for the lower lashline, I use a kohl liner. The result is polished enough for a big meeeting, but edgy enough to stand out. I use Korres and Too Faced shadows, plus Make Up For Ever liners for this look.
tools of the smokey trade:
Labels: Korres, Make Up For Ever, Sephora, Too Faced
Dearest Korres,
First, I want to fully disclose that I loooooooooove your products and admire what you stand for (I've even been responsible for a few Korres converts), but I've run across a recurring problem with your lipgloss packaging. This always happens:
The cap that covers your inside cap comes off. Now, most of the time, this isn't a big deal. I throw the cap cover away, and I'm left with a shorter lipgloss that's a little easier to squirrel away in my bags and pockets. But
sometimes the inside cap is made of super-puny plastic, and it splits into lots of pieces when I twist my gloss shut. I don't have a picture of this because I'm forced to throw the gloss away at that point -- otherwise, it just oozes out and gets all over the place. (NOTE: this doesn't happen because I'm super strong. On the contrary, I have a weak grip and am pretty wimpy in general).
Again, I LOVE your products. I feel like a Greek goddess everytime I treat my lips to your cherry oil gloss or lip butter and I've created my most sexy smokey eye with your shadows and your tinted moisturizer illuminates my skin like no other. This is merely a packaging issue that I wanted to bring to your attention, because I CARE. Because I want to see you succeed. Because if another cap splits on me, I don't know what I'll do!!
With the utmost respect & admiration,
e_b
p.s.
Here I am with your Rose 22 gloss on - great color!
and a close up:
Labels: Korres
Sephora's Bronzer Buffet
I love it when it feels like a product was designed specifically with me in mind.
Sephora's Best in Bronze Deluxe Sampler is the embodiment of the EXACT way I like to consume makeup: in small, affordable batches. Unless I'm madly in love with a product (like I am with Too Faced Lock Down), I never go through an entire thing. I'd rather sample a whole bunch of products, it's just more fun that way. And while we're on this subject, this is basically how I like to go about consuming life in general: I like to get a sampling taste of everything, keeps things fresh. This will all make sense in September :)
But more on that later. Take a look at all the goodies housed in this Bronzer Buffet:
On Saturday, I tested out two of the items and they lasted all day long on a tourista-inspired excursion through San Francisco with my sis. Will post more on that as soon as I get her pictures. Here's the Tarte EmphasEYES Waterproof Clay Shadow Liner in Bronze. I put it all over my lid for a heavy liner look:
Like I said, it lasted all day running around in SF, with alternate windy/misty/muggy/down-right HOT weather, depending on what part of the city we were in (gotta love our microclimates)
Here's the Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzing Powder, with little Domino peeking out from behind it. He is a curious little soul:
I thought this was pretty on first application (it has a gorgeous luminous effect), but it settled into my fine lines by the end of the day. Also, warning to all the sensitive gals out there, this has a rose fragrance, so if you're allergic, steer clear! The Pink tones in this product were pretty pronounced on my face, so I would peg this as more of a deep blush than a bronzer:
I'm excited to try out the rest of the kit -- and you'll see it all documented here in case you were wondering about getting it.
Labels: Sephora, Tarte, Too Faced
Sister Nature
OK, how beautiful is my sister in this shot? She was asked to pose for a makeup portfolio because she has awesome bone structure and she's down to be dolled in any style. She's a makeup artist's dream! This was a Mother Nature/Garden of Eden inspired look. I just literally grabbed this picture from her FB profile, so I don't have more details, but when I do, I'll divulge them. I was just so excited to share this with all you beauty aficionados!
Mother's Day Sunday was all about listening to stories of my grandma's days as a quality controller in the Alaskan food canneries (to this day, she
still can't eat fish) and watching my mom transition to a state of controlled panic after my sister told her that "there's another delivery ...
on the way." I guess we could have come up with a better way to hint at the 3 months of flowers following-up the tunic & pendant necklace we gave her as a present. For all her talk and badgering, it sounds like my mom IS NOT ready to be a grandma after all!
On a makeup note, I kept it very simple with Urban Decay's cream shadow in Rehab (loving this), and gobs and gobs of Rimmel's Glam'Eyes mascara. Thanks to the gobs, no liner was necessary:
Lips were done up equally as simple in Korres' Nude 33 gloss.
Labels: Korres, Rimmel, Urban Decay
Makeup Randomness
The Back 2 MAC trade-in program has become a permanent fixture in my weekend plans. Saturday mornings are now all about sifting through my stash and uncovering MAC goods that are either A) too old to come within a 10-foot radius of my face or B) too late to be returned. Sundays are about the trade-in! Last weekend, I got another
gloss: Dazzleglass in Smile. I don't love it as much as Soft Dazzle (I favor creamier opaque glosses), but it's very wearable, and free's free!
In the shot above, I'm also sporting a new Rimmel mascara with my new gloss:
Glam'Eyes Lash Flirt. After reading the haiku review on this product on
makeupandbeautyblog, I had to try it out. And it's on sale at Walgreens right now (buy one, get the 2nd one half off). Homegirl got two mascaras for $12 - get on it, addicts!
And I can't really think of a creative way to end this random post ... so ...
~ FIN ~
Labels: MAC, Rimmel
Clarisonic: To Trash or Stash?
So, I won't actually TRASH this if I don't end up using it, but I really need your opinion on whether or not I should buy this new Mia from one of my friends. Regular price is $145, but I can get it for about $90. Is this deal too good to pass up? Or is this thing gonna sit in my dresser and never see the light of day?
Labels: Trash or Stash
UD's Pony Palette: Perfect for Prom
Say that three times fast! And it's the truth. This palette from Urban Decay was perfect for my little sister's prom makeover. It comes with an eyeliner and a sample size of their primer potion, so we had 80% of what we needed all in this small package! Check out this cuteness:
I used three colors on her eyes: Painkiller (turquoise shimmer), Mildew (deep green) and Flash (electric purple) ... mostly Mildew :) I topped it off with
Ardell Lashes, #102. they're a dead knockoff for Mac #7's.
It was sort of surreal helping her get dolled up for the night. Hard to believe that this little glamazon was the same little terror that bugged me relentlessly while I struggled through homework (in the 7th - 12th grades!!!), who I caught fearlessly experimenting with my eyelash curler at age 5 (I didn't muster up the courage to really try one until I was like 20) and who went around the house routinely replacing pictures of me with pictures of herself in any photo frame she could get her hands on (I guess in retrospect, this DOES sound like a glamazon in-the-making).
The point is, she's all grown up. And even though she's little miss thang in her senior class, I hope that Saturday's makeup lesson was as special for her, as it was for me.
Labels: Ardell, Urban Decay
